The old story of boy meets girl, boy saves girl, and finds good fortune that enables him to provide for a family is a story as old as time. It is no wonder that Old Holly Wood took the story and ran with it.
In the Charlie Chaplin film that we watched in class, I was reminded of a concept from sociology class that deals with the how the media plays out fairytales. The basic idea behind the Heterosexual Imaginary concept is easy. Basically the stars/lovers are white and find their happily ever after that ends with a family. I think that this film follows this patter to the tee, and probably was one of the first films that inspired others to follow the same plot line.
It is not that I think that these kinds of love stories are bad, or hurtful. I just think that in current times, we could modified the basic template of a love story to allow other races and sexual orientations to have half the spot light. In no way am I blaming Charlie Chaplin for the way things are now, I just think it is interesting that the same plot formula is still being used today. I think this is a mark of the power of Holly Wood.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Bringing up Buster
Buster Keaton is a talented silent film star. In the film Cops I felt bad for the family that lost there furniture. I mean they were just trying to move into a new house, and they lost every thing they had. I felt like I might have liked the movie better if the family had some how come out ahead or if they had won a game show and had gotten all new furniture.
I liked the humor of the movie how he was always slipping right out of the fingers of the people who were chasing him. The par where he was on the ladder was really interesting and showed how the original stars of Hollywood had to work a little harder for their money. I think that it is cool that he did all of his own stunt work.
I thought that it was odd that the end of the movie was him going to jail and I guess dieing from the image of the tomb stone. I think that the girl he liked was a silly reason to get in as mush trouble as he did, or die over. She did not even love him for who he was. I am glad that movies now days have better love plot lines.
I liked the humor of the movie how he was always slipping right out of the fingers of the people who were chasing him. The par where he was on the ladder was really interesting and showed how the original stars of Hollywood had to work a little harder for their money. I think that it is cool that he did all of his own stunt work.
I thought that it was odd that the end of the movie was him going to jail and I guess dieing from the image of the tomb stone. I think that the girl he liked was a silly reason to get in as mush trouble as he did, or die over. She did not even love him for who he was. I am glad that movies now days have better love plot lines.
Madonna
Madonna
In Madonna’s music video, Like a Prayer, she deals with racy topics that were being confronted in the 80’s. It is strange now to look back to what previously was considered controversial compared with today’s standards. I think that if she was going to remake this music video and try to deal with current topics of debate some of the material would be changed in order to still be considered controversial.
I think that some of our ideas about race have changed in the last couple of decades; however it is still a hot topic. By no means do I think that racism does not exist in the world today, because it does. But I think that she would have to push the envelope a little bit further in order to get the same reaction she did back in the 80’s.
I think she would have to make it a gay relationship between two people of different races, or maybe make it a threesome.
The media that we are accustomed to now has much more violence and nudity in it. So I think there would have to be more violence and nudity in the scene where the girl is getting stab and raped. This is because I think that people now days are harder to impress in the genre of rape and nudity, and in order to be truly shocking you have to try to do something that people have not seen done yet.
The whole religious iconography that was used in the music video might have seemed sacrilegious at the time, but times are changing. If Madonna portrayed herself as a Muslim, I think that would shock viewers today. Non-supporters of Obama, are doing that very thing to him in his political campaign. It seems to bee working pretty well, or at least enough for every one to talk about it.
Madonna has been performing, in my life for as long as I can remember. She has proven her ability to entertain millions and provoke responses from people with her controversial actions. I think that her bank account should be proof enough.
In Madonna’s music video, Like a Prayer, she deals with racy topics that were being confronted in the 80’s. It is strange now to look back to what previously was considered controversial compared with today’s standards. I think that if she was going to remake this music video and try to deal with current topics of debate some of the material would be changed in order to still be considered controversial.
I think that some of our ideas about race have changed in the last couple of decades; however it is still a hot topic. By no means do I think that racism does not exist in the world today, because it does. But I think that she would have to push the envelope a little bit further in order to get the same reaction she did back in the 80’s.
I think she would have to make it a gay relationship between two people of different races, or maybe make it a threesome.
The media that we are accustomed to now has much more violence and nudity in it. So I think there would have to be more violence and nudity in the scene where the girl is getting stab and raped. This is because I think that people now days are harder to impress in the genre of rape and nudity, and in order to be truly shocking you have to try to do something that people have not seen done yet.
The whole religious iconography that was used in the music video might have seemed sacrilegious at the time, but times are changing. If Madonna portrayed herself as a Muslim, I think that would shock viewers today. Non-supporters of Obama, are doing that very thing to him in his political campaign. It seems to bee working pretty well, or at least enough for every one to talk about it.
Madonna has been performing, in my life for as long as I can remember. She has proven her ability to entertain millions and provoke responses from people with her controversial actions. I think that her bank account should be proof enough.
Friday, April 11, 2008
Film, a part of us.
The way the world is today, I would be surprised to find any one who has never seen a film. Actually, I would be surprised to find that there were any of us that made it through the day with out seeing at least one film clip. Film has brought so much to our daily lives. It brings us the news of our time and embodies the stories that we love.
Film has become a new medium that we use to relate to each other and express ideas and desires.
It is not a rare occurrence to be sitting in class and talking about any old topic and someone in the room say something to the affect of, “Hey that is like the thing that Tyra talked about last night” or “Yeah, that reminds me of the situation in this move I saw last week”. Some go as far as to offer advice on relationships based on cinematic knowledge of the endings of movies that dealt with the same/similar problems.
In the media culture that I am immersed in today, the medium of film has become a way of assimilating ideas and concepts. Film allows us to draw nice comparisons in our own lives and the lives of screen inhabiters. Film has also become away of relating to each other and the world we live in.
Film is powerful, and like what was most likely a dead white guy once said, “And with power, comes great responsibility.” Powerful films have changed the mindsets of people to think in new ways. Film has given people like M. Moore the power to share his ideas with others.
More recently since the birth of Youtube, any old schmuck with a USB port and a camera has the ability to send their message to infinite numbers of homes. Giving the power of film to the every day person opens up new worlds of possibilities. We can all me our own Youtube supper star, the fore runner for our own personal crusade.
Film has become a new medium that we use to relate to each other and express ideas and desires.
It is not a rare occurrence to be sitting in class and talking about any old topic and someone in the room say something to the affect of, “Hey that is like the thing that Tyra talked about last night” or “Yeah, that reminds me of the situation in this move I saw last week”. Some go as far as to offer advice on relationships based on cinematic knowledge of the endings of movies that dealt with the same/similar problems.
In the media culture that I am immersed in today, the medium of film has become a way of assimilating ideas and concepts. Film allows us to draw nice comparisons in our own lives and the lives of screen inhabiters. Film has also become away of relating to each other and the world we live in.
Film is powerful, and like what was most likely a dead white guy once said, “And with power, comes great responsibility.” Powerful films have changed the mindsets of people to think in new ways. Film has given people like M. Moore the power to share his ideas with others.
More recently since the birth of Youtube, any old schmuck with a USB port and a camera has the ability to send their message to infinite numbers of homes. Giving the power of film to the every day person opens up new worlds of possibilities. We can all me our own Youtube supper star, the fore runner for our own personal crusade.
film, a love story.
One of the most precious gifts that film has given us is the ability to escape our lives and experience the world in someone else’s shoes. As the house lights darken our psyches leave our moral bodies and transcend into the bodies that inhabit the silver screen. We are drawn to the screen. We crave the sensations that await our viewing pleasure.
In this new age shrine we pay homage to the great film stars and pray that they will enlighten us and help us transcend our mundane lives and bless us with an exceptional experience. It is then that we receive visions of heroic men, and attractive women overcoming unthinkable obstacles ultimately achieving their “Happily Ever After”. When these silver gods are blessed with good fortune, we receive warm fuzzy feel good sensations knowing that love can conquer all. Similarly, when our silver friend that we have gotten to know over the year in a matter of minutes are cursed with misfortune some morn in the audience and some receive feeling of joy in knowing that they are not the only one’s who have streaks of bad luck.
Some people are devote and committed in their viewing relationship with “their shows”. They develop a long term relationship and become invested in the lives of their favorite characters. Some people may go as far as to say that they know their weekly and rerun friends better than they know the people around them. People turn to the familiar screen when they feel alone and just want to see a familiar face.
Our relationship to film is a deep and romantic affair. Film takes us the glamorous parties that we will never go to. It introduces us to witty and fascinating people who will never know our name, much less our deep thought or emotions. But film will always be there for us to turn to when times get tough. Film will always have room in it’s heart to take us in and show us a world that we could otherwise only dream about.
In this new age shrine we pay homage to the great film stars and pray that they will enlighten us and help us transcend our mundane lives and bless us with an exceptional experience. It is then that we receive visions of heroic men, and attractive women overcoming unthinkable obstacles ultimately achieving their “Happily Ever After”. When these silver gods are blessed with good fortune, we receive warm fuzzy feel good sensations knowing that love can conquer all. Similarly, when our silver friend that we have gotten to know over the year in a matter of minutes are cursed with misfortune some morn in the audience and some receive feeling of joy in knowing that they are not the only one’s who have streaks of bad luck.
Some people are devote and committed in their viewing relationship with “their shows”. They develop a long term relationship and become invested in the lives of their favorite characters. Some people may go as far as to say that they know their weekly and rerun friends better than they know the people around them. People turn to the familiar screen when they feel alone and just want to see a familiar face.
Our relationship to film is a deep and romantic affair. Film takes us the glamorous parties that we will never go to. It introduces us to witty and fascinating people who will never know our name, much less our deep thought or emotions. But film will always be there for us to turn to when times get tough. Film will always have room in it’s heart to take us in and show us a world that we could otherwise only dream about.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
My Face Is Your Fortune
Barbra Kruger
In her piece “My Face is Your Fortune” there are multiple points of interest in the title that are relatable to both society and the price of art and advertising.
One being the obvious ownership of the face. The face belongs to two people: One being the person born with the face and the other being the person with the camera who has captured the face. This mirrors the text across the image as the “My” and “Your” text. However, Kruger herself is making a pretty penny off of the image herself and is in a way exploiting the owner of the face for her own financial benefite, which is mirrored in the “Fortune” portion of the Text. This dichotomy that the artist brings up leaves one hanging and wanting to know an unanswerable question.
Scondly. Women have become prime target market in the advertising world. Many products and PROCEDURES can be bought to “fix” one’s face. These lotions and powders are sold by the cart load to women. Many companies are manufacturing products knowingly exploiting insecurities in woman that the companies themselves have instilled in these women through media and ads. These companies create false problems in women’s bodies in order to self unneeded products to these women just to make a profit with out even worrying about the social ramifications of their actions.
The comodification of women’s faces for the profits of another is both unnecessary and just plain mean. Aging is a losing battle, every one will age no matter how hard one tries not too, or what one bys to prevent it.
In her piece “My Face is Your Fortune” there are multiple points of interest in the title that are relatable to both society and the price of art and advertising.
One being the obvious ownership of the face. The face belongs to two people: One being the person born with the face and the other being the person with the camera who has captured the face. This mirrors the text across the image as the “My” and “Your” text. However, Kruger herself is making a pretty penny off of the image herself and is in a way exploiting the owner of the face for her own financial benefite, which is mirrored in the “Fortune” portion of the Text. This dichotomy that the artist brings up leaves one hanging and wanting to know an unanswerable question.
Scondly. Women have become prime target market in the advertising world. Many products and PROCEDURES can be bought to “fix” one’s face. These lotions and powders are sold by the cart load to women. Many companies are manufacturing products knowingly exploiting insecurities in woman that the companies themselves have instilled in these women through media and ads. These companies create false problems in women’s bodies in order to self unneeded products to these women just to make a profit with out even worrying about the social ramifications of their actions.
The comodification of women’s faces for the profits of another is both unnecessary and just plain mean. Aging is a losing battle, every one will age no matter how hard one tries not too, or what one bys to prevent it.
Stieglitz, O'Keeffe, body of work
Stieglitz and O’Keeffe
The photo graph of Georgia O’Keeffe’s torso by Stieglitz is a wonderful twist on the “body” of work by the two artists. I have for a long time loved the upclose paintings the centers of flowers that O’Keeffe has produced. I always thought it was odd that some people were offended by her art work. I never really saw a great resemblance between the center of a flower and a the female genitalia. Similar to the art of Edward Weston, O’Keeffe’s work could be mirroring nature and the human nude. I think it an odd idea that people would be humanizing nature, where as I would think as it more naturalizing humans. Nature is not vulgar or obscene. People’s social constructions are what governs this idea of what they think to be obscene, not the natural world itself.
That being said, I think that it is very moving that O’Keeffe’s lover documented her body. One’s body is a very intimate and personal thing and being able to capture images of it and sharing them with the world is bold and touching. I find a kind of naive sweetness in the boldness of this action, similar to the way I find young children swearing. I think that the human body is a very beautiful thing and to show one’s body and progression of aging is wonderful. It takes guts to show one’s guts starting to sag and hang feeling the weight/wait of gravity and time.
The photo graph of Georgia O’Keeffe’s torso by Stieglitz is a wonderful twist on the “body” of work by the two artists. I have for a long time loved the upclose paintings the centers of flowers that O’Keeffe has produced. I always thought it was odd that some people were offended by her art work. I never really saw a great resemblance between the center of a flower and a the female genitalia. Similar to the art of Edward Weston, O’Keeffe’s work could be mirroring nature and the human nude. I think it an odd idea that people would be humanizing nature, where as I would think as it more naturalizing humans. Nature is not vulgar or obscene. People’s social constructions are what governs this idea of what they think to be obscene, not the natural world itself.
That being said, I think that it is very moving that O’Keeffe’s lover documented her body. One’s body is a very intimate and personal thing and being able to capture images of it and sharing them with the world is bold and touching. I find a kind of naive sweetness in the boldness of this action, similar to the way I find young children swearing. I think that the human body is a very beautiful thing and to show one’s body and progression of aging is wonderful. It takes guts to show one’s guts starting to sag and hang feeling the weight/wait of gravity and time.
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