Good Bye

HI GUYS!
BYE GUYS!
This is my twentieth and last blog post. So I am going to try to come up with two hundred and fifty words about this class as a whole.
As a whole, I loved this class! This has been very important to and I have learned a whole lot more than I thought I would! I learned three things in particular that really surprised me.

1) I love documentary work. I thought I hated it because I thought all documentaries were like the History channel or Unwrapped from Food Network. Or idiots on the Animal Planet who risk their lives for some footage of a tiger eating a gazelle. What I've learned is that documentary work is just telling really, natural, raw stories. I love it.

2) I love music videos. I do not know if i would ever want to work with music videos or not but I have found that they are extremely fascinating and I love watching the correlation between the music and the video.

3) This one is the most important to me. I've grown Spiritually through this class. When my mother and I were ordering books for this semester and we started looking up Professor Leeper's books, my mother was not happy with "The Gospel as comedy, tragedy, and fairy tale." I remember my mother saying something like 'That's blasphemous. The Gospel is not comedic and it is most definitely not a fairy tale!' She then proceeded to lecture me for probably an hour about how I have to be discerning and i can't believe everything that every professor teaches. And I believe I have been discerning this semester, and what I've found is that Professor Leeper is right. The Gospel is more than i had ever realized before, and my church is not right about everything, and i doubt that any church on earth is or ever will be.

Thank you to those of you who have suffered through any of my blogs!
Bye guys!

Remakes

Sometimes Remakes are a good thing. Half of Disney's recent films are remakes of their failed films. And Mad Max Fury Road is amazing! However, when you take an amazing movie form an amazing director and announce that you are remaking it, I get a little pissed.
There was nothing wrong with the original Memento!!!!! Why the literal hell is there going to be a remake? Memento is one of Christopher Nolan's greatest works, and that is saying a lot! It one of my all time favorite films! It is perfect! Why would anyone think it needs remade? HOw could they possibly think that they stand a chance at one upping Nolan?? I'll tell you this now, they do not stand any chance! There is no way on earth that this film will be any form of improvement over Nolan's! The acting could never be better either! Guy Pearce was perfect! If you can't tell I am a little passionate about this topic.
Most remakes suck. Not all of them. Narnia was a huge improvement (even though each movie progressively got worse).
Lots of remakes though just.... ruin good movies! Who would want to watch a remake of the miracle on 34th street? Who watches the remakes of the Wizard of Oz? Sure there are spin-offs. Spin-offs can be ok. They usually show the story from the perspective of a different character, which is a concept that I love!
My point is, If it ain't broke, don't fix it. And Memento is not broken!

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/christopher-nolans-memento-get-remake-840587

TT Reboot

Alright so, if any Teen Titans fans actually read this, please do not kill me.
After five glorious seasons of Teen Titans, our heart were ripped out of our chests, thrown on the ground and stomped on. Teen Titans was cancelled. They left us with like one thousand unanswered questioned. Fans everywhere were pissed and broken hearted. Then about seven or eight years ago an internet  revolt broke out. #saveseasonsix was everywhere! Fans started petitions. Fans wrote to Cartoon Network. They wrote to the voice actors. They started facebook accounts, and tumblr accounts, and like a million instagram accounts. Then two years ago, we got the announcement. Teen Titans was being rebooted!
And fans quickly went from excited to enraged as it was revealed that the reboot would be a parody. Teen Titans Go! was born. It is hilarious and it has maybe one serious plot line in every twenty episodes. It is not season six. It does not answer any of our questions. It makes fun of the characters. It makes fun of the original show.
And I LOVE it.
Most fans of the original Teen Titans hate it, but I think it is hilarious. There are so many subtle jokes and references that only the true fans will understand and yet its great for kids too. I truly believe that if Cartoon Network had tried to make season six now, they would have butchered it and it would be worse than just not having the answers.

Affects of Release Dates

Has anyone else noticed the huge release day conflict coming up this week?
Friday.
Star Wars and The Fourth Alvin and the Chipmunks movie.
Everyone wants to see Star Wars.
No one wants to see a fourth Alvin and the Chipmunks movie. No one wanted a third one. Heck! No one wanted a second one!!! I didn't even want the first one!
So why on God's green earth would they premiere the stupid squeaky chipmunk movie on the same day as Star Wars?
Most film makers actually want to make money from their films and in order to do that, you have to sell tickets. If everyone's going into the theater next door, you are not selling tickets and you are therefor not making money.
The only thing i can even remotely think of that could possibly justify this action is perhaps they are hoping that people will be stupid enough to take their kids to the theater in hope of seeing Star Wars and Star Wars will be sold out so in order to appease their children, the parents will take the kids to Alvin and the Chipmunks. But furthermore, why would they do that with The Good Dinosaur in theaters?
My point is, the release date is important and it should be considered. I also think its stupid that movies like to premiere on Christmas. Who goes to the movie theater on Christmas? My theater was not even open on Christmas last year, yet there were like 3 films premiering that day!
So in conclusions, release days are important and if you guys ever have movies of your own in theaters, pay attention to the release day!

The affects of fandoms

Fandoms.
Are they good or are they bad?

So most of you know what a fandom is, but for those of you don't, a fandom is like a cult gathering (mostly on social media) for basically anything. Its a kingdom for fans. (FUN FACT: fandom's for bands like to call themselves bandoms.)

I myself am a member of many fandom's and I would like to discuss the pros and con's of fandom's
Pros:
friends who enjoy the same things as you.
Memes related to the things you love.
Inside information on the topic of the fandom.
You hear the latest news as soon as it happens
Leaked photos
Intellectual conversations with people who understand the feels
Shipping wars

Con's:
SPOILERS!!!!!!
fandom vs fandom wars
Shipping wars
The people who in the fandom but know nothing about the actual topic
The people who think that they own the fandom and therefore think they can be b***es

So do the pros out weigh the con's? Well... That depends on the fandom and the fan. Fandom's are great! If you're caught up on your show/book/music/movie/whatever, they're great! If not, get caught up first or the fandom will spoil half of the highlights for you. And once you step into the fandom, you can never get out of it. Ever. If you like one picture on Instagram, BAM! The fandom will forever haunt your feed whether you want it to or not! Fandom's are amazing and I think that everyone should be in at least one fandom, but you definitely have to be careful with them.

Prejudices in Film

Why films support stereotypes?
Films are full of stereotypes. The high school stereotypical divisions. The racial stereotypes. The political stereotypes. Age stereotyping. Gender stereotyping. Genre stereotyping. Metical stereotyping. Regional stereotyping. Religious stereotyping.
Do you see my point?
Film makers hold a lot of power. That is the biggest understatement I have ever made. Film makers hold more cultural influence in the modern era than any other profession. So why do so many filmmakers give in to stereotypes? They are incorrect. They are hurtful to individuals. They are hurtful to our culture. They are truly stupid. They are harmful for the development of the human race. Labels are repulsive. They are judgemental. They stop people from meeting new people. All people are created equal. No one has the right to judge any other person without knowing them, ESPECIALLY not if they are basing their judgement on stereotypes.

Some filmmakers though, manage to use this power for good. Instead of supporting stereotypes, they support individuality. They advocate for a new generation of people who be themselves, People who won't decide how to live based on what society tells them to do. People who won't believe stereotypes. People who will love each other based on who they are and how they act; not their skin color, or their age, or their religion. These film makers are revolutionary. They are teaching people to not listen to societies bull shit. When people decide for themselves, who they are going to be, a beautiful thing happens- They like themselves. We are all God's people and we should all be who we are. We are all different and we should never let stereotypes influence our decision, especially not in the production of our ars.

                                     

Jacob's Presentation-Musical Media

Let me just start by saying that I was all excited to hear about "Over the Garden Wall," and then the show just changed directions and went into a classic scene for the wonderful "Singing in the Rain." I was mildly disappointed, however, I adore musical media so I was super happy once I realized what he was doing. Music Media is very amazing.

For those of you who do not know this, I am studying psychology along with Film Production. My goal in doing this is to learn more about how to make my media appeal to the audience. I want to know how people work so that I can make my media truly connect. You know what connects with people? Music. You know why? Well, you should because Jacob said it in class. Dopamine. Happy music releases the same chemical as some drugs and sex. In the same respect sad music can cause the same effects that the chemicals, whatever they're called, that cause us to feel depressed.

Music can massively impact the emotional state of your viewers. This is why it is so important. And I don't just mean when the actors are singing, but also film scores.

Midterm Paper

So I'm late on this blog, but I'm going to blog on my midterm paper. I have had many papers to write this semester, but the only one that I have enjoyed was my midterm paper for Intro to Digital Media Art. I chose to write about the Gospel as Comedy through the eyes of Forrest Gump. It seems like a strange concept to compare Jesus Christ to a mentally-retard, middle-aged man, but after watching the film and analyzing it for this paper, I have found a lot more parallels with the Bible than I had thought there would be! I think that the most important thing that I learned from writing this paper is that you can learn about faith and religion and the gospel from anywhere. Forrest Gump is not meant to teach you anything from the Gospel, but it did. And I do not think that we should try to connect everything we are exposed to to the Gospel, but I do think that if we see something that makes us thinks of the Gospel that we should pursue that connects because it's like a rabbit hole to understanding. I just wanted to post and appeal to you suggesting that you should not deny that mental connection, but rather embrace it because it can help us in our Spiritual life and growth.

can you spot the Biblical parallelisms in this clip?

The Importance of Documentaries

Documentaries are amazing. Documentaries are life captured on film. The y are recorded life. People. Places. Events. Not recreated, but exactly the way they happened. They have the ability to just grab a moment from humanity and save it for all the future generations. The other day I was scrolling through a photography page on instagram and they had suggested to their followers that we should look into an account named "humans of ny." So since I obviously had no homework or any thing else to do... I decided to look at the page. Its incredible. The owner is basically a photographic documentarian. Brandon Stanton lives in New York City and he goes around asking random people to tell him their story and then he takes photos of them and posts them on instagram and its really cool. So heres one of those stories.

“I’ve been in America since January. But it won’t feel like home until I can get my mom here. For me, home is my mom. It was just the two of us in Panama. We did everything together. The day that I left was a terrible day. We slept together in the same bed that night. We cried in the house, cried in the car, and cried at the airport. I stood at the entrance of airport security for an hour, because we kept waving at each other through the window. My goal is to bring her here. I found a job on the Monster website. I knock on doors for Verizon. I’m supposed to knock on 120 doors a day. It has really been helping me with my English. If I make five sales in a week, I will have my own team. Then if my team does well, then I can be a manager with my own office. If I have my own office, then maybe I can bring my mom to America.”

What is Country Music?

So most people hear the term country music and just think of sad romance song and songs about drunken partying  sang with a Southern twang and a banjo. That's just not all that country music has to offer. There is very little real country music in the main stream music industry of today. Taylor Swift is not country and even in her early days, she created very little country music. Florida Georgia Line is not real country. Johnny cash was real country. Dolly Parton is real country. Kenny Chesney, George Strait, Alan Jackson, George Jones, Randy Travis, Merle Haggard, Loretta Lynn, Tammy Wynette, and many others sang real country music. Real country music is not about getting drunk and partying. It is not about living like crazy rednecks or one night stands. Sure these artist have had their share of songs that did not fit a true country description, but as a whole they represent an era of true country music. Country music is about life in the country. It is about living in the hills and mountains. Its about farm life and living simple. Its about living outside of the city. The romance songs are about true love and real heartbreak. They sing about all the things that make living in the country as wonderful as it truly is. Country music also has a fair share of ballads, which are of course, almost always, related to life in the country somehow. Attached are some great examples of real country music.

(pardon this stupid video...)

depressing music videos

There just something reassuring about depressing music. That deep human connect between all humans when we break together. Your pain is eased by knowing that someone else feels or has felt what your feeling. That acceptance. Knowing that you're not alone. You're not crazy. You're not weak. You're not stupid for feeling the way you do. You're ok. You're going to be ok. Hurting is ok. It's reassuring. So now I'm going to share some depressing music that is truly reassuring and beautiful. Some of these songs have beautiful videos, and the others deserve beautiful videos.

#1
Sufjan Stevens – “Casimir Pulaski Day”

This song is beautiful and I found a video for it but i don't really like it and i think it makes the song seem cheesy which is such a horrible shame.

#2

Johnny Cash – “Hurt”

yes we watched this in class, but thats no reason to not watch it now. Its too beautiful to ever consider only watching once.

#3
The Magnetic Fields – “I Don’t Believe In The Sun”

feeling sorry for yourself? bad break up? Skip the shitty popular break up songs and try something that stabs the heart with every note.

#4

George Jones – “He Stopped Loving Her Today”

                                     
If I actually have to explain why this is one of the saddest and most beautiful songs to ever exist, then you have listened to it all the way through.

#5
Etta James – “All I Could Do Was Cry”

cry  cry  cry. I have nothing else to add. 

#6
Aretha Franklin – “Ain’t No Way”

That perfect song for when that certain someone just won't notice you. This song would be great to play from a boom box under their second story window in an '80s romance film.

#7

The Velvet Underground – “Pale Blue Eyes”

                                   

Ok. so this song is about being used and acknowledging that the other person in the relationship is using you, but letting it happen anyway. If you're ever in this situation, walk away, but its still a great song!

#8

Gary Jules – “Mad World”

                                  

Most. Depressing. Song. Ever. And the video does not disappoint. 

#9

Amy Winehouse – “Back to Black”

                                   

"I died a hundred times." She loves him, but he still loves her.

#10

Sinead O’Conner – “Nothing Compares 2 U”

                                 

When you finally have the freedom to do whatever you want to  do, but all you do is sit there and wish he'd comes back, this is your song.

AND THAT CONCLUDES MY LIST OF DEPRESSING SONGS AND SEVERAL DEPRESSING VIDEOS.

Pixar Theory

so every one knows about the pixar theory right? If not, the pixar theory is a theory perfected by Jon Negroni which states that all the pixar movies are related in one universe and if you arrange in the right order you find the story of a universe, not just individual stories. This theory is not just speculation either as the pixar creators have left hints and clues all throughout each of the movie. For more information on just how amazing this theory is, view Negroni's website: "Jonnegroni.com"

The point of this blog is not to discuss the pixar theory, but rather to relate it to the Gospel as fairy tale and the mythic cycles. So the biggest thing that makes this  so hard to grasp is that, as of now, there is no hero that spans all of the movies; theres no "savior of the universe." Every story follows the mythic cycle. Every story has all four seasons. Every story has a hero, but if this theory is correct, who will be deemed as the hero of the story of the pixar universe as a whole?

This video summarizes the entire pixar theory in the most condensed form possible. So since Wall-E is the one who is on earth after the energy crisis and Wall-E is the one cleaning the earth, and Wall-E is the one who plants the tree, I think that Wall-E becomes the universal hero for the pixar universe. SO if the universe now has a hero, all we have to do is find the seasons in order to  prove that the story in coherent and that it really does follow the mythic cycle.

Well, it does follow the seasons. It starts off with a successful world full of a young society of people like spring/birth, then they evolve and what happens? HEROES which are always symbolic of summer regardless of the other summer season evidence. Then the energy crisis and the world grow old and weak like autumn, and lastly the world actually dies in Wall-E like winter. Which is were we get our saviour to hear the earth and usher in a new spring so that can start the whole cycle over again. 

i just think all of this stuff is fascinating and i think that the mythic cycles just prove the pixar theory even more.

Julian Smith

Ok guys.

Julian Smith is hilarious.

I know this is not really my style but this guys hilarious. Aaron showed me videos from this guy the other day and I have no idea why but i could not stop laughing for like an hour. We just kept watching tons of his videos. So that unexpected aspect of comedy that we discussed like weeks agos, yeah this guy gets it.  who on earth would ever think that it would be funny to watch a brain fried guy sing about a silly ear of corn? And no, hes not mentally retarded. He ate a jelly fish.

                                   

These videos are just a silly guy with a video camera and some friends and some editing skills who make the weirdest videos. Has any one seen "Never Get Naked in your Shower?"

                                    

Its a crazy man singing about how he'll never get naked in his friends shower. Who expects that? Better yet! He plays guitar while the shower continues to spray him. Its mind numbing. Its. Its pointless. The only thing it teaches you is to not eat jellyfish, how to pronounce milk, and to not be racist towards your coffee. Regardless of its pointlessness, they are freaking hilarious hilarious and you guys should check them out.

MCR #3 LEEPER THIS ONE IS REALLY COOL! YOU SHOULD REALLY READ THIS ONE!

OK. So in this blog, I am going to try to explain the amazingness of "Danger Days."


All of the videos associated with "Danger Days" are related. When played back to back, they tell a futuristic story of four heroes called the Kill Joys, and a little girl, the saviour, who are trying to save earth from the, evil incorporation, Better Living Industries. To make all of this even better, the story is the back story for a a graphic novel that Gerard Way (the lead singer) wrote, entitled "Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys." When Becky  Cloonan illustrated the book, she even drew the boys as the Kill Joys in the exact outfits that they were in the videos. Also, on the cd, Dr. Death Defying, an important character in the graphic novel, has voice over appearances between the songs (and therefore between the videos and between the different sections of the story) just like he does in the graphic novel.

So, without further adieu, here are the videos in order:

Look Alive, Sunshine/ Na Na Na

SING

Planetary Go! (this one isn't actually related to the Danger Days Saga)

                                               Traffic Report/Party Poison (unfortunately this one does not have a video)

Save Yourself, I'll Hold Them Back (this one is kind of a mash up of the first two but the song matters)

Goodnite, Dr. Death (no video here either sorry)

Ok, so every song on this album is related to the story saga but these are the ones related to the video saga. I think the videos speak for themselves

MCR videos #2

Here we ago again! As promised, we will now explore my favorite album, "The Black Parade."

The videos from "Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge" were so beloved that the band reserved a significantly bigger budget for videos from "The Black Parade." The boys filmed five videos this album. The album, as a whole, was about overcoming depression. The videos are

"The Black Parade"

"I Don't Love You"

"Teenagers"

"Famous Last Words"

&

"Blood" 

"The Black Parade" is the most famous MCR song of all time, and therefore the video is MCR's most famous video ever. The song is about depressed and hurting people banding together to over come the pain. The video depicts this through the beautiful imagery of a marching band in a parade led by MCR. As MCR marches a long, more and more, "misfits" and "outcasts" join the parade. THis parade became the theme for the cd. 

"I Don't Love You" is about moving on after a breakup. The video is a little more abstract with a man and a woman who look like a doll and a statue separate. After the statue leaves, the dolls stares into the camera and cries.

"Teenagers" is about social anxiety. The song raised a lot of controversy as it, basically, tells teenagers to kill the teenagers who cause their pain. However, the video clarifies at the end that the song is meant to be a healthy expression of the pain that bullying and society anxiety causes. The videos merely shows the band performing at a high school while cheerleaders dance around them with gas masks.

"Famous Last Words" is about having confidence in yourself and not being afraid to live. The video shows the band performing the band in none other that the costumes from the black parade with lots of fire. (MCR TRIVIA: one of the boys accidently caught on fire while filming this video and almost lost his leg.)

"Blood" is a bonus track and kind of an inside joke with the fandom, and the video is the exact same.

MCR carried the marching band theme over into their tour where they wore the costume to (almost) every show.

My next post is the most important as we will be discussing the importance of the comic/movie/videos/album/tour for "Danger Days!"

MCR videos #1- Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge

I have a music video obsession.
Of all the things we have learned about in class, music videos are what I am most familiar with. So be prepared to be bombarded with several post about music videos.

First on the list, my personal favorite, Emo music videos.
I love the "lighter" half of emo music. I have to admit now that I do not listen to BVB or anything in that realm or screamo. My personal favorites are My Chemical Romance, Twenty-One Pilots, and Fall Out Boy. In this post I want to discuss the evolution of MCR videos.

MCR made 4 albums before they broke up. 

In "Conventional Weapons" they were just starting out. Mikey was still learning how to play the guitar. We're lucky they even figured out how to record the cd, so you can forget a music video. However, I do need to mention that it was their darkest album.

Then they got SLIGHTLY lighter, and recorded "Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge." The band set aside a somewhat small budget for videos. They then recorded the videos for

Helena

I'm Not Ok

&

The Ghost of You (If you only watch one of these, please watch this one. It's the most cinematic)

                                      

"Helena" is a song that the lead singing, Gerard Way, wrote after his grandmother died and the video depicts his expression of his pain over her death.

"I'm Not Ok" is a dark comedy about being an outcast in school. The lyrics describe the pain of being a depressed and suicide teenager while the video depicts hilarious ways to deal with that pain instead of self-harming or committing suicide. 

"The Ghost of You" is about the fear of loss, and more specifically, the fear of someone you love dying. Gerard wrote it because his brother Mickey, who is also in the band, was suicidal. Gerard was expressing how much he didn't want to loose his brother. The video depicts a dance where soldiers are dancing with their girls before they leave for the war. MCR is the band playing for the dance, they are also the soldiers that the video focuses on. After they leave for war, you see them charging into battle. Mikey gets shot, Ray as the medic attempts to save him and then declares him dead, and Gerard weeps over his body. 

In my next blog, we will discuss the videos of the next album, "The Black Parade." 

"Two Sisters" Theory

So... I don't have a good opening for this blog. I'm going to write about my psychoanalytical theory about the film "Two Sisters." So... here we go with this crazy brain of mine.

So we all know that Marie was overbearing and quite possibly addicted to power, so how did she come to be in control of her sister? Viola is a grown woman, and yet she lets her sister control everything about her life AND SHE'S SEEMS HAPPY ABOUT IT. So heres where my theory comes in:

What if Marie caused Viola's disfigurements and Viola's just blissfully unaware of it? When someone is physically abusive they tend to also be emotionally abusive; they tend to hurt the person and then convince the victim that it's their fault, that they caused, or that they deserve it. 

Now to explain why I think this is possible, we have to think about where the scars are.

They are ALL surrounding her mouth. Now what in the film would be around her mouth?

 That's right! The cup. And who's obsessed with the cup? Marie.

Now, just to tie all the pieces together, remember when Marie asks Viola to give her the cup back? The guy who came to see Viola tries to touch the cup AND MARIE SAYS: "No. You'll cut yourself!" AND HE DOES. In fact, he cuts part of his finger OFF! 

Now you can think what you want, but I think that, in order to continue controlling her sister, Marie gave Viola a cup that continue to disfigure her, removed all mirrors so that Viola couldn't see herself and the damage being done, and then convinced Viola that she was somehow responsible and that she was worth less than other people. If my theory is correct, then Marie would have had no trouble appearing to be the superior woman in Viola's eyes and therefor Viola would have been willing to listen to her, which she was. Thoughts? Anyone got any oher theories? Let me know if you do!

Why do I laugh at the dying owl?

Why did I laugh when the owl died? Can anyone explain to me why I find it hysterical when Mr. Owl, from The Owl who Marries a Goose, sinks to his watery doom? I have a theory, but it's probably wrong:
He's an owl. He's not a goose. He physically cannot swim. But I found his love for Mrs. Goose to be beautiful and compelling. The reason that I think I find it funny is because Mrs. Goose lets him die! Her husband risks everything for her, and she realizes that he's gone too far, and she makes him decide for himself whether he wants to die with her or whether he will stay on land where he belongs. The problem is, why is this funny? Surely she loves him, right? Or at least she used to, because she married him by choice. So what changed, or did anything change? Does she no longer love him? Is she sick of him? It doesn't seem like he did anything wrong. Perhaps if this film was in my language, I would not feel conflicted right now. I feel that this film is a very cultural film and because I am not an eskimo, I do not try to understand it from their point of view, but I would love to have a native Eskimo explain it to me from their point of view.

The mask of laughter

First of all, I'd just like to say that I'm sorry that I didn't post last week. I did a lot of self reflecting and I felt too emotionally unstable to be throwing my opinions out there and influencing other people.

I have no clue what has influenced me to write on this topic. Something was said in class Tuesday, I made a note about this subject, and here we are: the mask of laughter.
"It is better to laugh than it is to cry."
"I smile because I have no idea what is going on."
"Laughter is the best medicine."
We've all heard these saying so frequently that we tend to throw them in with other cliches and not actually think about them. Its true, people sometimes laugh because it is better (or at least it feels better) than crying, People smile when they have no clue what's happening around them, & laughter can make any one feel better no matter what state they are in. But perhaps we hide too much behind smiles and laughter. We take it for granted and believe every smile we see. A smile is one of the most powerful things in the world and it is also the easiest to fake. Now I am not by any means saying all smiles and laughter are fake! I am merely saying that emotions are deeper than our face and vocal chords and I believe that laughter can hide a lot of things. After all we laugh when we are happy, we laugh when we are confused, we try to smile when we're sad, some men even 'laugh in the face of death.' All of this suggest the power of laughter and the almost indistinguishable line between laughter and sorrow. We cry when we laugh yet we laugh to avoid crying. Maybe we don't need to distinguish the line. Maybe I'm over thinking things (as I tend to do). Maybe you guys have better opinions and maybe Id like to hear them. Maybe you could leave you comments in the comment section. (Please?)

Richan B Anderson

     Hello everyone! My name is Richan Anderson and, as you probably already assumed, I am in DM 115 with Professor Leeper. I have never had any experience with blogging before, in fact my Twitter account consist only of retweets of simi-famous people. So with that thought in mind, lets get started!

     Professor Leeper's lecture in class last Thursday was extremely insightful. I especially enjoyed the video of the little  girl in the red dress. (I greatly regret not writing down the names of the films as we were watching them.) The beauty of the still shot of the young girl paired with the slow motion footage of her dancing, created quite an unsettling atmosphere.The child was completely unaware of, not only the horror in her performance, but also of her natural beauty. As the filmmaker distorted time, he/she (I really do wish I had written the information down) was able to make the child look guilty, like she had intended to create that horrific image. Through this portrayal the filmmaker showed us that the child was guilty of creating any atmosphere, whether she was aware of it or not. This revelation causes us to rethink the term "innocence." 

     We have all heard the cliche "the innocence of a child," but have we ever really considered its meaning? Usually people use this phrase after a child does something wrong, but they have never been taught that it was wrong because they were believed to be too young to need that instruction. However, the age of the child does not truly affect whether or not they are guilty. I believe this message was deeply portrayed in the video in question. The child was beautiful and very young, the picture of innocence, yet she created something horrifying, without being aware of it at all. Even though she was unaware of the filmmaker's intentions, she still did what she was asked to do, and was therefore 'guilty.' So the true question raised through this film is, "What is innocence?" Does innocence truly exist? Surely it must, for I am innocent of murder, because I have never killed anyone... that I am aware of. What if, we are all guilty of crimes which we have no knowledge of? 

     So, in closing, I would like to ask you to leave any opinions you have on the matter in the comments! I am truly interested in this topic now, but for now, I leave you with some seemingly (mostly) innocent looking children. I would also like to hear if you know who they are, so if you figure it out, please leave your answers in the comments. Bye!