Post 16

Essay 3 brainstorming

For Essay 3, I am thinking about writing about Veronica Mars.  I am unsure of what to do for a theme.  I was thinking about doing morality, but I am bored of that topic and would like to expand and do something different than what I did for Essay 2.

Upon reseraching a little bit about Veronica Mars, it appears that this show (I have never seen it before) is about a girl who loses her best friend and is ousted by her group of friends because of it.  Her father loses his job after making statements about the murdered girl's family so he opens up his own private detective business and hires Veronica to help him solve the crime.

This show does sound really interesting and I think it would make for a fun paper to write and do research.

Right off the bat, this girl is a high school student, so I think identity could fit well here.  Also, the father did not give up his identity as a crime solver, so it could work for the front as well.

Another theme could obviously be the role of the detective and the criminal.  Who committed the crime and how do Veronica and her father fulfill the role of the detective.  Also, Veronica and her father have been ousted by society, so in a way, they are in some sense criminals themselves.  How do they cope with this duality?

Post 15

Finding sources for my Essay 2 Media Analysis was more difficult than I had anticipated.  I attempted to search for things like, "morality in Reservoir Dogs" and "Lady Gaga and morality"  "Morals in Judas Lady Gaga" and the like.  It came up with very few usable resources for me.  But after conferences, I was able to find much better sources after being told that searching for things like "American Values" and "Traditional American Values", etc. would be more beneficial to my paper.  And it was!  I was bale to more clearly define right and wrong within the confines on the American value system, which only boosted the arguemtn of my paper.

Post 14

Guilt & Redemption: Blade Runner an example of exploration of this theme.  Finding your moral compass.  Being challenged in your morality.
Human Nature & Identity: What does it mean to be human?  Who are you?  Search for self.  Where did you come from?  Who are you trying to be?  How does your ideal self differ from your actual self?
Memory & Knowledge: What are memories?  Can we trust our memories?  Do our memories matter?  How do they affect us?  What is our knowledge?  Can we trust what/who we know?
Right & Wrong:  What is right and what is wrong?  Who decides?  Why do they get to decide?  How do we determine what is right vs what is wrong?
Good & Evil:  What is the difference between good and evil and right and wrong?  How do these compare and contrast?
Detective & Criminal Roles:  Who is the detective and who is the criminal?  How do we know?  Is it the protagonist or antagonist?  What are the characteristics of each of these roles?  How do the characters fit one or the other or both?


Right & Wrong:  I could narrow this down by exploring how the characters in a specific film define for themselves the meaning of right and wrong.  I could also tie this into existential philosophy of creating your own moral code.  I could explore how each of the characters definition varies from one another.  And then, how those definitions align with American culture at large. Also, when using another form of media, I could analyze how it defines right and wrong and how that compares with American Values as well as how it compares with the film.  Do I choose a medium that compares or contrasts with the film?  Do I choose a medium that has similar or dissimilar values as American Culture?  What type of media should I use?  Music video/song?  And advertisement?  A painting?  A photo?  A website?

Post 13

More Brainstorming I did for Essay 2:

Primary Sources:
Reservoir Dogs
Lady Gaga's "Judas"


ROUGH outline:

• 1. Intro: Written
• 2. Reservoir Dogs
• Tipping scene
• Mr. Pink doesn't tip
• Society = expects tip
• Result of clash: Mr. Pink chastized by group
• Ear scene
• Mr. Blonde torture of cop
• Society = torture and murder wrong.  Empathy for others important.
• Result of clash: Mr. Blonde killed
• Mr. Orange
• Mr. Orange's deception
• Society = don't lie to others
• Result of clash: Murdered by Mr. White
• Lady Gaga
• Judas
• Love of Judas = betrayal of Jesus
• Wrong to betray
• Result of Clash: Gaga stoned to death

Post 12

Logical Fallacy practice:

I've decided to pick out some logical fallacies I see in advertisements.

This ad is a logical fallacy because it assumes that without this particular phone, one's life is disorganized, chaotic, and messy.  If one doesn't buy the Palm, they will have to write all of their reminders and to-do lists on their hands, they'll be messy and disorganized, and will not be as efficient as those with the Palm.  Also notice the messy background on the left side (or the "Chaos" side).  It's a messy cityscape with heavy traffic. This induces a sense of choas in the reader.  But on the right, the background is a crisp clean white.  No mess, no distractions from the phone.

This ad is an appeal to celebrity because it features Brad Pitt.  Brad Pitt is regarded as one of the most attractive men in the world.  And he's married to one of the world's most attractive women.  This ad attempts to sway viewers by suggesting that YOU TOO can smell like Brad Pitt.  Wearing the cologne will make you more like him . And who knows, maybe you'll get a woman like Angelina Jolie if you wear it.  It also uses a grayscale technique to increase the look of sophistication and also to make the bottle of cologne stand out.

Post 11

Essay Two Thought Process:

Possible Movies to pick from:

Pulp Fiction

Reservoir Dogs

Big Lebowski

Blade Runner

I was originally going to write about The Big Lebowski and my original theme of exploration was going to be identity. But after watching The Big Lebowski, I only came up with a few notes about identity. I decided to watch another one of the movies to see if I could come up with more ideas.  This time, I decided on Reservoir Dogs and thought I'd look for themes involving right and wrong.  From this, I was able to come up with many more example and roads to take about this topic.  I also felt that there may be more sources available on morality in Reservoir Dogs than on identity in The Big Lebowski, but that was solely a hunch.  I probably wasn't focused enough while watching The Big Lebowski, because I'm sure there is a lot being said about identity looking back on the film.  

I did finally decide on Reservoir Dogs and morality, but then I had to figure out which media I was going to analyze.  I decided Lady Gaga was a huge source of controversy of American values and morality, so I looked through her music videos to see which one I may be able to draw connections from.  Upon seeing Judas, I instantly pictures Mr. Orange as a Judas character.  He betrays the guy who attempts to save him.  The only one who has faith in him.  I figured they were comparable and started on some research!

POst 10

The Motor City is Back Commercial was watched during class and discussed in our group.  This commercial seemed more like an advertisement for the city of Detroit than a commercial for a luxury vehicle.  The advertisement started off talking about the city of Detroit.  It showed an iron fist, the rough cityscape, and had narration which used phrases like, "to hell and back", "hard work", and the like.  All of these things give the idea of toughness, strength, and survival.  The advertisement also featured rapper Eminem as a spokesperson.  I felt like this was an odd Appeal to Celebrity because many of the people that could afford this car may not know who Eminem is, or if they do, they are probably not a huge fan of him.  The use of the church choir, however, I felt was effective because it was very powerful.  The robes were black a red, which are power colors, and their voices sounded inspirational and powerful.  The message of the commercial was that you can "be the best even if you don't come from the best".

I felt that this exercise was a good way to get the class thinking about media and arguments made within the media.  It certainly helps to have practice at looking at different forms of media in a more critical light.

Post 9

Abortion fallacies:

Logical: If you had respect for human life, you wouldn't get an abortion (non sequitur)
Getting an abortion is no different than killing a child (faulty comparison)

Emotional: If you get an abortion, you will regret it and feel really awful and become depressed.

Character: No moral or decent human being would ever get an abortion
The bible says killing is wrong, so you shouldn't get an abortion.

Post 8

Yesterday in class, we watched the film Blade Runner.

Personally, I love this movie!  I think this would be a very interesting film to write about.  Some ideas for writing on this film could be moral and/or ethical issues surrounding Replicants.  Should they have been created?  Why or why not?  Should they have been given set life-spans to prevent emotional development?  Why would this be important to do?  Was it the right thing to do?  What would have happened if Replicants did not have limited lifespans resulting from their emotional development?  How would their emotional development affect society?  What are the moral and ethical implications of "retiring" the Replicants?  Was it ethical to not inform Rachael she was a Replicant?  Why is it so important to implant them with memories?  Is it ethical to implant false memories?

Other areas to discuss would be Deckard.  Is he on a search for his own identity?  Why is his identity so important to the film?  What difference does his role and true identity make for the film?

What is the role of Rachael?  How does her being a Replicant affect the film?  How does her finding out she is a Replicant affect the film?  Why does she rescue Deckard from being murdered by another Replicant?  How is this significant?

Post 7

Things to improve upon in my Draft:

1. Thesis statement:
1. Old: Standing on the line between Classic Noir and Neo-Noir challenges the film, testing its ability to stand on its own when not adhering exclusively to one subgenre or the other; fortunately for the viewers, Chinatown not only accepts the challenge, but passes its test cleverly and gracefully.
2. New: Occupying the line between classic noir and neo-noir challenges the film, testing its ability to stand on its own when not adhering exclusively to either subgenre; fortunately for the viewers, Chinatown not only accepts the challenge, but passes its test cleverly and gracefully while maintaining a complex plot that serves to make the movie an interesting and worthy watch.
2. I also need to transition between the brief plot summary and the introductory paragraph that includes the thesis statement.  I also need to make these flow into one paragraph seamlessly.
3. I need to connect my topic sentences to the thesis.
1. Old:  Chinatown, as the title would suggest, is an important element to the film.
2. New: The return to Chinatown serves to ensure the theme of nostalgia in the film, touching base with characteristics promised by neo-noir.
3. Old: The film does, however, utilize elements often found in Classic Noir as well.
4. New: While Chinatown certainly displays thematic elements found in neo-noir, it displays classic signs showing that it also belongs in the classic noir genre, which helps to enrich the complexity of the film.
5. Old: Another attribute that makes this film so wonderful is its complexity.
6. New: The complex plot enhanced by layers of mystery and clever narration excites the audience and serves to make the film a more enjoyable viewing experience.

Post 6

Outline of the Film Review Essay

• I. Intro: Brief synopsis of the film (include Director and release date).  What made it great (Complexity of plot and pulling from two subgenres in film noir.
• II. Neo-Noir film and Classic Noir films are different in a few ways.
• a. Different dates for phenomenon in film
• Classic: 1941-1958
• Neo-Noir: Post classic noir
• Themes
• Classic
• Murder
• mystery
• detective vs. villain
• External/Environmental conflict
• Impending doom
• Neo-Noir
• Internal conflict
• Search for self
• Return to roots
• II. Complexity of Plot
• Numerous mysteries/subplots
• Murder of Hollis
• Political corruption of Water company
• mrs. Mulwray
• Narration
• How it improves audience experience
• Offers particiaption that would not otherwise be achieved with heavy narration or an omnescient narrator
• IV. Conclusion
• Film is excellent due to plot complexity and pulling from two different subgenres to make an unpredictable and more interesting film.  Shows Noir in a new light.

Post 5

The movies was amazing!  So many twists!  I love how everything tied together in the end and I also loved how the ending was not a happy one (which, I learned was a debate between Polanski and another person writing the film.  Polanski wanted an unhappy ending, while someone else wanted a happy one).  I especially felt it was approrpaite to have a tragic ending due to the film ending in Chinatown.

I enjoyed this film more tahn I enjoyed Double Indemnity.   I felt this film was more captivating and complex than Double Indemnity was.  There were multiple mysteries to be solved.

For example:

• Who killed Hollis?
• Why?
• Who is Katherine?
• Where is she?
• Why is she important?
• What is really going on with the water and the Water and Power company?
• What is Mrs. Mulwray hiding?
• What does she know?
• Why does Noah cross want Katherine so badly?
• What does he mean to her?
• How are all of the above questions related?

Post 4

Lists of possible topic for writing about a Neo-Noir film:

• Which genre or category does it fall into? 
• Neo-Noir
• Classic Noir
• How do we know which type of Noir the film falls into?
• Neo-Noir
• Identity
• Search for self
• "Nostalgia"
• Internal Conflict
• Date film released
• Femme-fatale
• Exploitation of others
• Classic Noir
• Murder
• Detective vs. Villain
• Exploitation of others to get what you want
• Femme-fatale
• Money
• Date released
• Doom
• External conflict
• Acting
• Good
• Bad
• Gender Roles
• Male vs Female
• Does the film hold true to stereotypical gender roles?
• What is the role of the Femme-fatale and how does she portray the change of female gender roles?
• How god we know how the gender roles are being portrayed?
• Does the film seem to be saying something about gender roles?
• What does the film say the role of the man is?  How do we know?  Examples?
• What does the film say the role of the woman is?  how do we know?  Examples?
• Is the film saying the gender roles are good or bad?

Post 3

Word webs are often useful to help us brainstorm for writing.  By using a word web, we can get an idea of something to write about and narrow our topic from something broad to something narrow.  For example, I started out with an incredibly broad subject (film).  From creating a word web, I could narrow my topic down to something as specific as the use of plant life (such as trees, gardens, flowers) to symbolize life and growth in a particular film.  Or, I could go about developing other themes such as the battle between good and evil, or identiy and alienation.  Further, I could also explore the different aspects of cinematography in film.  For example, I could focus on a film's use of lighting and the effect that the lighting has on the film.

Week 1 Post 2

Today in class we learned about how arguments are constructed.  I found that when proposing points for an argument, it helps to organize it by coming up with arguments that fit into the three categories of "Pathos", "Ethos" and "Logos".  When one assesses an argument from this perspective, it makes it easier to determine not only what type of argument you are using, but also what may be the most effective.  For example, our group was arguing the affirmative side of the smoking ban on campus.  I felt that our most effective argument was under our "ethos" category.  This argument stated that it is unethical to subject non-smoking students and other bystanders to the harmful effects or discomfort of second hand smoke.  I felt like this was a good argument for our side.  In the future, I think it will be helpful to organize or brainstorm for ideas and points for an argument by organizing them into these three categories and finding out which arguments make stronger points than others.

Week 1 Post 1

Yesterday in class, we watched the film Double Indemnity.  The film is about an insurance salesman who is seduced by a beautiful woman and becomes an accomplice in murder.  What interested me most about this film was the portrayal of women.  The minute the audience is introduced to the woman, she become an instant sex symbol and an object of lust.  She also is portrayed as the "contemporary" or "modern" woman in this way and this point is further exemplified by her being introduced initially only in a towel.  She also demonstrates the contemporary woman as she tells the main character, Walter, that she is not free, insisting that her husband "keeps [her] locked up".  She longs to be free and independent and uses sex to manipulate a man to help her get what she wants.  And this man, Walter, bends over backwards to help her.  He clears his busy schedule to meet with her, and even agrees to commit murder for her.

I think the topic of the romantic relationships in neo-noir films would be a great research topic for a future paper.  One could analyze how women are portrayed in these film and how that portrayal of women reflects that changing dynamics of relationships at that time.