Your Background

After watching the film Persepolis I've learned a lot about Muslim and Iranian culture. Before watching the film I did not see Muslim and Iranian culture relating to the culture of Americans, but now I see that Iranians can be just like Americans but with much different beliefs. Iranians are Muslim which believe in Alah or God, like many Americans believe in Jesus or God. I also learned that not all Muslims believe in having multiple wifes in heaven. Before watching the movie I saw Iranian people like the Iranian goverment, which is completely incorrect.

Another movie like Persepolis is Sugar Cane Alley. Sugar Cane Alley was not one of my favorite films because the film was not in English. So you had to pay attention to every subtitle. It is hard to see the emotion of a person when the language is foreign to you. The movie did not emotionally appeal to me. The overall message to me was that one cannot complely rid their original culture from their current or future life. Also another theme I saw was that one should be proud of their background, your background does not always deem who you are as a person. These themes I also saw in Persepolis.

Persepolis and Sugar Cane Alley were a lot alike because they both had a historical background behind their story. The themes were very similar as well. I was shocked to have enjoyed Persepolis so much, usually I do not like animated films. Overall I enjoyed Persepolis more because I was more foreign of Muslim background before the movie rather than African American background.

An Inconvenient Truth

I was not fond of the documentary An Inconvenient Truth. One reason the documentary did not appeal to me was that I am not an advocate of Global Warming, likely because of my conservative tendencies.  I decided it was best if I actually had some background on Global Warming. So instead of deeming Global Warming a lie without any background knowledge, I sucked it up and watched the film. Surprisingly I was shocked by the amount of evidence behind Global Warming. The filmmakers use of evidence and lectures made me want to trust Al Gore.   Because the films use of evidence made me question my thoughts on Global Warming, I did some research.

My favorite line from the Wall Street Journal article is as follows, "Every candidate should support rational measures to protect and improve our environment, but it makes no sense at all to back expensive programs that divert resources from real needs and are based on alarming but untenable claims of "incontrovertible" evidence." After watching the film I am not completely against Global Warming. Evidence exists which proves the levels in C02 rising and it damaging our ecosystem, but I do see Global Warming as an overreaction. Where do we plan on getting the money to fund programs benefiting Global Warming? We have a huge national debt. If I was a taxpayer I would be much more concerned about the national debt compared to Global Warming.

Another reason I did not like the documentary An Inconvenient Truth was the fact it was a documentary. Documentary’s tend to bore me with facts upon facts. I did think the documentary had good information in it. The film was one of more interesting documentary’s I have watched, but still I was not amused.

24 Hours Before the Attack

If I had 24 hours to prepare for a zombocalypse, I plan to survive by hiding in my grandmas tornado shelter. My grandma lives across the street, so not much time would be needed to make my way to her house. I would make sure to raid my kitchen, and pack up on lots of water and food especially the canned kind. Knowing zombies do not like fire, I would pack lots of matches and fire wood. I would also bring any weapons I could find for personal protection.  Incase my personal belongings may perish in the disaster, I would pack up my most prized possessions.

If for some reason my grandma’s house is not an option, I have another option for shelter. Once I was packed, I would drive to the nearest bank and lock myself in a large safe if possible. If I could not drive to the nearest bank on 29^th and Croco, I would drive across town to Vision Bank on Wanamaker. My dad is friends with the owner, so I’m sure if we were able to come in contact with him, he would let us hide there.

A Tim Burton Original

The Nightmare Before Christmas should be a Tim Burton movie because he created the initial idea. A lot of extra work goes into the film which Burton isn’t involved in, but still the characters and story all revolve around Burton’s original idea. Most films are not entirely created by one person. The characters used in the film are Burton’s drawings, so not a lot changes from Tim Burton’s idea. Only detail is added to Burtons story.  

When Batman was redone and turned into Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, and The Dark Knight Rises by Christopher Nolan, the idea was taken from someone else, but the characters morphed to become more modern and advanced. Batman was taken from a comic and movie, and it was turned into a film by Nolan. He added so much more extent to the Batman idea while keeping the Batman persona.

Yes, the directors added more to Tim Burtons The Nightmare Before Christmas idea, but the main idea, and drawings were still existent. Whereas in Batman the main idea still exists but Christopher Nolan takes Batman to an entire new level.

Pleasing Others

In the film Edward Scissorhands, Edward creates beautiful works of art with his scissor like hands. Alike with many artists, Edward is very different from society’s norm. The film expresses the opinion that artists are meant to create for society’s popular enjoyment, and they are not meant to be normal and intermixed in society. The viewer see’s this opinion when Edward attempts to fit in to society. Edward has lived in isolation for what appears to be a long time. He faces social issues, and judgment of his grotesque appearance. Edward causes more trouble than good while he lives in with society, and he is not able to adjust. Edward did not cause trouble in isolation. It appears Edward feels most comfortable in isolation when he cannot cause harm. He seems to be happy knowing he is pleasing someone with his work. The movie suggests Edward is meant to be alone like many artists.  Because an artist is not normal, they are better off alone. Artists benefit from society’s resources, and society benefits from the artist’s work. An artist’s ultimate goal is to create arousal visually or mentally. Edward was able to please society with the snow that followed his ice sculptures.

Obsession

Imagine one's life being swallowed by an obsession. A person may give up their entire personal life for one goal. They do not realize the most valuable things in their life such as family. Obsession exists in many different situations, and has trade offs. A person cannot control their impulses. In the film The Prestige, all of the magican's viewed portray obsession. Angiers and Borden both risk human life to succeed as a magican. Good can come from an obsession. Angiers and Borden became two of the best magicans because of their transported man acts, but deep down an obsession will eat a person a part. Obsession is portrayed in the films The Dark Knight, The Prestige, and High Noon.

Obsession may be described by one as a fixation- one that may take over a personal life.  Obsession to me happens when a person loses sight of what should matter most. The Medical Dictionary defines obsession as a persistent and recurrent thought or idea with which the mind is continually and involuntarily preoccupied and that cannot be expunged by logic or reasoning. Commitment is much different than obsession, a person who shows commitment is impelled to do an activity. A person with commitment may spend a lot of time and effort on an activity, but at the end of the day that person can go home and forget about their work or goal. They can relax and spend time with their family. Commitment is defined in The Medical Dictionary as a sense of responsibility and dedication. "To pledge (oneself) to a position on an issue or question; express (one's intention, feeling, etc.)," Dictionary.com. The Joker is obsessed with his work in The Dark Knight. If the Joker ever had a life before he became a villain; one where he actually had a family, he gave that life away to cause destruction in Gotham. The Joker spends every moment we see planting evil into the city, nothing matters more.

Bruce is also obsessed with his work in The Dark Knight, he cannot leave his life as Batman even for his love Rachel. Good comes from Batmans obsession but it also has trade offs. Batman's obsession allows him to save many people, but deep inside Batman feels empty. His emptiness comes from the fact he cannot have much of a personal life. Rachel was not going to wait for Bruce, even though origianlly Rachel told Bruce she would wait. She knows Bruce's role as Batman is much more important than her. Check out this scene to the right. Bruce wanted to be with Rachel but he sacrificed that option. If Bruce would have chosen Rachel, I'm sure The Joker would have taken her away once he figured out Batman's identity. Even though Batman and Rachel may not be an item, the Joker realizes their connection. The Joker takes Rachel away, so Batman has no chance of living a full filling life, even being friends. In every situation of obsession trade offs exist. These trade offs are usually linked with ones personal life. In High Noon Kane reaches obsession when he trades for his obsession over his personal life.


In the film High Noon Kane spends every moment worrying about the towns safety, just as the Joker spent every moment ruining the town in The Dark Knight. Kane focuses much more on his situation with Frank Miller, rather than focusing on his new wife and her safety. Kane is committed to safety. Kane shows obsessive tendencies but never becomes fully obsessed, because he his able to walk away from his commitment. By the end of the movie the author represents obsession through Kane. Kane realizes his commitment has become an obsession. Check out the video to the left to watch this scene from High Noon. When Kane put his situation with Frank Miller before his wife, Kane crossed the line of obsession. Kane lost sight of what should have mattered most to him, in the end Kane does not continue. In comparison with the Joker, Kane is not obsessed. The Joker is unable to leave his destructive life, where Kane was able to walk away from his commitment. A person may be committed to a situation, but when that person loses sight of what matters most because of an uncontrollable longing to something, they have become obsessed.

 The line between commitment and obsession is clearly seen in High Noon. We know that Kane is commited to his work, and only shows obsessive tendencies when he sacrifices his wife for the town. Obsession will eat a person a part as we see in the Joker's corrupt acts, and also in Batmans longing for more in his life. In the film The Prestige, Angiers and Borden became so obsessed with their work. Borden gave up his personal life for magic. He shared one life with his brother. As an egotistic and self centered person, Angiers continued his inhumane trick without remorse for human life. What the viewer does not realize until the final scene is the extent Angiers and Borden take with their obsession. Check out this scene to the right from The Prestige. Not only does Angiers let Borden die, but he kills a clone of himself each night during his Transported man acts. Murder is an radical extent of obsession.

Success as a Magician

Obsessed is how I describe Angiers and Borden in The Prestige. Ultimately Angiers and Borden risk humanity to succeed as magicians. Angiers clones himself during every transported man act and then one of the doubles is killed. Whether Angiers kills his original or the clone, he is killing a person for a magic act. I find Angiers act cruel and wrong. One should not have to kill a person within every night to succeed as a magician. Angiers success as a magician does not outweigh the negative result.

 

Alfred Borden ends up killing his brother to succeed with his transported man act. Throughout Freddy and Alfred's life they switch roles in order to keep their magic act a secret. The men put their magic first without considering how this will affect their family. This is obsession. Borden becomes so obsessed with his magic act he loses sight of everything else. Alfred’s wife kills herself and still Borden’s acts continue. Someone who is sane would stop doing magic if their wife committed suicide as a result.  The only good that came from Borden and Angiers act was success in their career but it is likely both men are mentally unstable as a result.