The Medium Is the Massage

"The book is an extension of the eye"

- Marshal McLuhan

After reading Marshal McLuhan's work I found this interesting quote that was relatable. The "book is an extension of the eye" is one of Marshal's ideas that our senses have extensions we don't always realize. Everyone understands that when you read you visualize what is happening. Another thing to think about is how reading forces you to use your imagination. I wanted to represent the world building that readers imagine.

Ninth Assignment - The Auteur Theory

             Auteurnship is the idea of a director having his or her own repetitive style in a movie. There are many opinions on whether auteurnship exists. There are directors that actually have a unique style and type of cinematography they use. While we recognize directors for their style we don’t actually know whether the director came up with the style or if it was referenced from old directors. There are people who realize that a good director can hide his/her references and therefore auteurnship doesn’t exist.

            After watching movies by Wes Anderson I noticed some elements that repeat in each of his movies. When I think of these things I realize that Wes likes to direct certain types/genres of film. This could just be a preference or theme based on his life. It is not that Wes Anderson has invented the types of movies he directs but in terms of auteurnship he is recognized because he only follows these themes and styles.

Wes Anderson has become very well known for his distinct style as a director. His movies tend to be comedies with some aspects of seriousness. These themes are often about dysfunctional families, abandonment, and rivalry. In terms of cinematography, Wes Anderson’s visual style often uses flat camera pans and symmetrical compositions. He also uses slow motion a lot for drama. After watching Fantastic Mr. Fox, Darjeeling Limited, and Moonrise Kingdom I was able to compare the films and find similarities that create the auteurship of Wes Anderson.

            Wes Anderson’s themes of abandonment and dysfunction are created through his character development. In Darjeeling Limited the three brothers rival each other and try to avoid being together. Throughout their spiritual journey they become more connected and lose sight of the dysfunction. In Fantastic Mr. Fox, Mr. Fox is a thief that creates dysfunction between his wife and son. After things don’t fall into place, as he seemed, he realizes his problems and makes a change. The two movies show dysfunction and abandonment between the characters but in the end they make changes and problems are relieved.

            The themes and use of cinematography by Wes Anderson has definitively been recognized as his style but that doesn’t mean we haven’t seen it anywhere else. It is not often that we see good work that is completely unique to one artist or director. Although Wes Anderson is known for his style there must be other directors that have done things similar and maybe haven’t been recognized using the style. I know for sure that there are tons of movies about dysfunction and abandonment. There are also plenty of movies that like to pan and use symmetry. When it comes down to it there are plenty of other sources and movies that use these techniques and styles. In terms of auteurnship, Wes Anderson has been the one to claim the style as his own. Auteurnship doesn’t necessarily mean the director invented the style but it is known that the director has claimed it or has been known for using it consistently. 

Eighth Assignment - Comic of ''Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas''

A scene from Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas when Duke watches war film on TV and the new photographer he just met turns into and soldier.

Seventh Assignment

Much Ado About Nothing

Act 4 Scene 1

Sixth Writing Assignment

       Karen Russel's recent novela, Sleep Donation creates many connections and ideas about our world today. Although it is based on a fictional issue, the story hints at symbolism of current issues that we face. The issue I felt most connected with while reading this is greed. This greed is the problem of leaving little to nothing behind for younger generations. The novela's story is based on the idea that people have lost their ability to sleep yet they still need to. This led organizations to control and donate the sleep of healthier sleepers to people without the ability. Already we notice groups of people like large corporations wanting control although for the most part they seem helpful. The organizations have used children and babies to donate their sleep when they have no will or power to refuse. With this part of the story, Karen Russel gets at the idea of how many people today will feed on innocence in order to fuel themselves. What we should realize are current issues like the lack of natural resources the world has left and the way humans are taking advantage. Companies are filled with greed and are leaving nothing for future generations, ultimately leaving them to deal with the aftermath. Karen's idea of donating sleep is not entirely wrong because people can choose to donate if they want. The problem is when people decide they can take from the youth that is not informed and has no say. If Sleep Donation had been published a couple of decades ago this leading issue would not be as important. In fact, most people would have never thought about our limitations and affect on the future. It hasn't been since recent advancement in technology and corporate expansion that people have focused on the resources we are losing.  Although many try to save the world and prevent this greed, the chain will keep growing as each generation ages. There will always be the ones that care only for their prizes and money. These are the people that willingly take and donate the sleep from children. These are people that give up morals to save themselves.

Fifth Writing Assignment

      After reading "The Dewbreaker", by Edwidge Danticat I had some feelings of sympathy and then a since of connection and respect. As always we feel sorrow for people in Ka's position that encounter problems with discrimination and neglect. Being a white male it isn't often that i'm discriminated but throughout my childhood I have been in positions of a minority. Moving around a lot I have have lived in many dangerous areas. While living in most of these places I had been one of the few white people around. Then of the white people, I wasn't really the one that acted like everyone around either. I learned that most people tend to keep to themselves and so I had done the same. In doing so there were still some people I talked to and then those I knew to avoid. For many this would be an uncomfortable situation. People like Ka that come from other countries really had it bad moving to the states. There are so many people that are filled with hate that just don't care whether they hurt you. My situation wasn't really as uncomfortable as it could of been or as Ka's had been but that was only because I never aloud it to be. I had learned a lot from being in situations like that. I learned to blend with others while still being the same. Many would say I was not acting myself but I was. I am often able to judge someone and how I believe they would act and talk, then while being myself around them I am also able to connect and be on a similar level of sorts. It seems like a weird concept but it feels like I pull different aspects out when around different people. This has led me to be true to myself and others as well as being able to get along with people of all backgrounds and personalities. Ka's experience had been more intense than mine so getting along and blending in had been much more dificult.
     When it comes to Ka's father she discovers many things about him that she never knew, leading to her anger with him. I feel like everyone has a friend that has never told you certain details of their life. Connecting to Ka my parents have always been sort of a mystery. Never being together you can assume that they chose their own sides of a story. The thing is my father barely talks so I am sure there is plenty I do not know. My mother, however, never shuts up so I don't know what stories are true or not. Some I could see being true and then there are some that I could never imagine. A lot of my mom's history was revealed to me when I was young but as bad as it always was I would never be angry or judgmental like Ka. I understand that it's always hard growing up and not having honest knowledge of the truth. It has never seemed as important as simply knowing that I have two more people that care about me.
     Ka's situations were much worse than mine probably have ever been. What I have done to solve mine is to look passed the struggles and worries in my life. If Ka was able to create her own ways of letting go in the moment and in the past she would be more free spirited about her situations.