Asterios Polyp

Having the chance to read a graphic novel for class was a great experience.  I've read comics/graphic novels for a while now, and this was just another one to add to the collection.  The story was something quite different than what I usually find in comics.  The way that Asterios relationship is portrayed with his wife was intricate in a way.  The artist also used art as another way to express what was going on in the graphic novel.  While Asterios had a conversation with someone, he would start to become a somewhat geometric shape.  I thought this added another element to the story and how Asterios' emotions and thoughts were portrayed.  This also happened with his wife, who turns into a more organic shape when they have their conversations. It also had th euse of color and type to take advantage of.  Usually comics and graphic novels are written in the same type throughout the book, for the most part, anyways.  Many graphic novels I read are black and white, so this was a treat for me to have some color while I read the story.

Mediascape in 5 years and in 15 years.

I think that in 5 years there will be new ways to see movies or continued technology in advancing media.  I think phones will get more and more advance and can do more things.  An example would probably be advancement in phone graphics and interface.  There will probably be sleeker and more modern, touch-based phones then there are now.  Even now, games are moving into the 3D or immersive experience with the anouncement and releases of the Kinect for xbox 360 or the 3DS. Now, even though there will probably be advancements and improvements on the technology we have nowadays, I don't think technology will keep moving forward as fast as it has in the past decade.  There's always a limitation to the technology in media that we use and even trying to improve that could take a longer time than just 5 years.

In 15 years, well, I think there will be new technology we haven't seen before.  There could be new variations of technology and how media will be presented in 15 years.  That's a long time away from now, and maybe the technologic slowdown of right now will be past by in 15 years.  I can't really imagine what will be produced in 15 years time.  I would guess that people will be more immersed in technology even more so than they are today.  Things will probably become smaller or larger than they were before and also work faster, too.  What we thoguht might be silly or impossible at the moment, but in 15 years I could see the movement of immersive media and technology to be more prominent and popular than it is right now.

In 50 years, I think the mediascape will be so broad that I really can't fathom what it would be like.  Things will probably be so different from now that I'll probably be amazed at how far we've come in advancements.  There could be holographic immersive media, where you're actually in the scenario.  I think movies will be more immersive in 50 years, and phones will just be turned into small ear buds.  Everything will probably be very different than from it is now.  TV might become something that can be carried around with you or maybe video games will go beyond 3D in some sort of way.

Final Fantasy 9 and How it is Literature.

 

     The first game that came to mind was Final Fantasy 9.  As an old favorite from my childhood, there are many attributes in the game that can make it a part of literature.  Everyday, we are immersed in new and rapidly growing technology that literature doesn't just have to be a book or novel anymore. 

    This game has always reminded me of old adventure tales with princesses and the unlikely hero.  It really took me back to where stories that I read when I was very small, to a story where I can relate it back to it, as well as it also being more for an older audience.  It basically was, at its core, save the world with an unlikely bunch of heroes.

    Which brings me to the next point: characters.  There are 8 total main characters, all drastically different with design and with personality, as well as their background histories.  The main protagonist, Zidane, is a teen member of a bandit group masquerading as a troupe, who eventually want to kidnap the princess of the town he's visiting.  The princess, Garnet, is a princess of which she doesn't remember where she comes from, as she is only an adopted daughter of the ruler of the city.  She wanted to leave Alexandria, her home, to talk to a man by the name of Regent Cid.  She had noticed how her mother had been acting strangely and wanted to speak with him. As they escape Alexandria after a battle with the queen, Brahne, they start their journey and are joined by a knight, Steiner, and a black mage, Vivi.  All these characters, as well as the 4 remaining main characters, each have a story to tell that relate back to locations that are within the storyline.  They are all well-fleshed out character, each with their own style and stories to tell within the greater scheme of things.

    Though, even though the story starts off as a sort of “take the princess and have an adventure” type of thing, it grows into even more than that.  Zidane finds out as time goes on about who he is because he didn't know where he had come from.  His brother and antagonist of the game, Kuja, is the one that wants to bring distraught and chaos onto the world.  Through character growth and accepting himself and his friends throughout their journey, Zidane grows to be a strong character, with a bit of a comedic stroke in him too.  The game never has a completely downtrodden or foreboding feeling as Zidane, and a few other characters, bring comedic relief to the story. 

     Garnet as well changes as a character.  She starts off as a somewhat naïve and sheltered girl because of her adoptive mother's upbringing.  She has had memories of what may have been her and her real mother in the past, but she never really knew for sure until she left her home to find out.  Through trial and tribulations, she grows with alongside her newfound friends and finds out who she really is.  She develops and changes, making her into a strong female lead, who I personally love and admire from a player's point of view.  She even goes through the old, cutting her hair off to be a new person type of spiel, but it really was a nice scene within the game because she accepts who she is and Zidane supports her decision. 

    This game has all sorts of elements that could lead it to be literature.  It has action, adventure, fantasy, comedy, and romance, all combined beautifully to make a compelling story that is driven by just as compelling characters.  The characters feel like you can relate to them in a sense of what they feel and what they fight for, as well as the whole game itself being something that could be written down and be read as a true piece of literature.

Female Body in Media

 

 This picture is of a woman body builder. This representation of the female body isn't so prominent in everyday magazines, but more so in advertising, particularly for weight loss or exercise machines.  Having this kind of body takes more work and focus than the ordinary person would usually put into it, misleading the people who watch these commercials.  This type of body shows physique and good muscle tone through work and good health.

Auteur - Akira Kurosawa

Akira Kurosawa was a man that had changed the film industry from his some 50 plus years of work.  He was prolific in making something of 30 or so films in his lifetime.  He shows his auteurship well and deserves the title of being an auteur.  By watching the films Drunken Angel, Ikiru, and Yojimbo, I could see Akira's perspective on how he showed his auteurship in film through different themes and subjects.  He had a common theme of having a noir motif throughout his films and having his characters take a stand by themselves.

    Within the movie Drunken Angel, we see an unusual friendship form between a doctor and a thug that he chooses to help after a gunfight.   This was Akira's breakthrough film and it shows.  The story is realistic and gritty in which he could express himself freely.  The 2 main characters interact well and produce the story with precision and realness.  Though, the thug, Matsunaga ends up being the big attraction to the movie.  He was a compelling character that showed the side of the yakuza and how he was being used as a pawn. 

    There's also the movie Ikuru which goes through the life of a man that has cancer and only has so much longer to live.  He wanted to live his life as freely as he could for the remainder of his life and accomplish something.  He does this by turning a swamp into a playground for children before his untimely death.  Having seen the movie, some of the dialogue between the main character and a woman really brings out the depth that Kurosawa is trying to convey.  Kanji, the main character, talks about how you should live life to the fullest because he didn't give it a second thought until he was face to face with death.

    The movie Yojimbo was a good example of how Kurosawa influenced other people.  A loner of a man comes to a city where there are 2 gangs that are on edge with one another.  The whole movie is setup in such a way that it reminds me westerns, and how they face off with one another in a dessert like town.  Kurosawa also goes all the way with making the characters and people of the town grungy and unclean.  Expressions are also played well throughout the film, giving the viewer some insight to what the character is thinking or feeling.

    I think these movies provide the foundation for Akira Kurosawa's auteurship and how he was a pioneer for such things as the main characters, feelings, and samurai slash movies which in turn inspired other film makers.  I feel that it gives him the right to have the title of being an autuer because of his many movies and strong influences of being innovative.

Director Notes - An Interview with a Vampire

The story of an Interview with a Vampire is just that, somebody by the name Malloy interviews a vampire named Louis over his life.  He talks about how he was turned into a vamoire after the demise of his wife and what hardships and traveling he did with Lestat, the vampire who turned him into what he is now.

Relationships- The character actions and relationships have an interesting vibe because much of it is a love/hate relationship between Lestat and Louis.  I think that Lestat at some parts of could show more of his arrogant and confident side.  His interactions with Louis were interesting and added drama to the story.  Louis' emotions also played a big part in the story so I'd want to have that more fleshed out.  His confusion for what he has become and Lestat's  mind games allow us to feel that Louis still has a human side to him even though he has become a vampire.  Claudia's character is important because it adds to the depth of what Louis feels as a vampire.  He regretted being part of what made her a vampire in the end.  They played a good father/daughter relationship at the beginning of their endeavors together which later turned into a father/lover relationship for Claudia.  Her sadness for not being able to grow up is played in a cumbersome way and I like it that way.  Also even though the relationship between Claudia and Louis would be considered weird in most cases, it was played well as to not seem that way.

Plot wise - I think the story takes off pretty fast, where as the viewer is somewhat thrown into the plot.  Though, the story does flesh out what exactly is happening by going back and forth to the present and future.  It wades through the story at a general and normal speed.  Nothing is necessarily fast paced.  I think at some of the later scenes that had Claudia and Louis running from Lestat could have a more frantic feel to them.

Struggle – Louis struggles throughout his life to come to terms at what he became.  He must bear the fact that he is immortal and would have a hard time dying other than by the hands of another vampire or by the sun.  The portrayal of Louis' power battle with Lestat about wanting to know where they originated from and how he sometimes ends up following Lestat's ideas emphasizes Louis' struggles.

Conflict -  There is definitely conflicts between Louis and Lestat as prviously stated.  There's also a conflict between Claudia and Lestat that arises later.  She ends up loathing Lestat and proceeds to get rid of him but fails.  From the fall of Lestat to his return into Louis' and Claudia's life is a cnflicting and somewhat scary piece of the story.  Emphasis in these scenes with expression of fear and hate, mainly Claudia, would be ideal.

Overall, I like how the pace and story flows.  There are scenes that would do well if emphasized more.

Lolita: Morality

    The morality in Lolita can be discussed and viewed in several ways.  I think that the narrator of the story starts with some disturbing imagery and words that our society  wouldn't be pleased to hear at all.  The narrator is very clear and distinct in the ways of expressing his love for young girls and doesn't try to hide this from the reader either.  The only ones he's hiding from is the unsuspecting adults of this story, in which he skillfully attracts the young girl of a woman he marries.  He has no shame or what our society would call a normal thought process saying that this situation was full of wrongs that he shouldn't have ever committed.  Cheating on a woman with a child is an embarrassment and a shameful act in itself but he doesn't give it a second thought it seems.  The morals would fall weak even if Lolita was of an older age because he is cheating and deceiving others to have what he wants.  In his pondering about young girls, he comes to call them “nymphets.” He's distressed that “she would not be forever Lolita” and one day “cease being a nymphet.” (pg 15)  This leads him to  say how he'd give up on the girl once she reaches the age of a young girl, saying that their innocence and the like would be gone from him.  He also mourns over not seeing his Lolita for two months because her time as a lolita would come to an end in a short amount of time.  Every instant counted for him to be with his Lolita.  The book in quick defining what the story will be all about and how Humbert's obsession will fascinate the reader with fanciful words but also disgust them at the realization that he's talking about a 12 year old girl.  He also had a peculiar and annoying way of always talking about himself as a high and mighty person.  He'd say how handsome or wonderful he was along with his lines and proceed to do this in a fashion of talking in third person.  It shows how he was a bit narcissistic and obsessed with himself.  Even Lolita's attitude and morality is shaken.  She at one moment kissed Humbert but when he kissed her on the neck at a later point, she wipes t away in disgust.  Lolita comprehends what Humbert is doing and yet doesn't in a sense.  Her morality is low to have let this happen and to also play along with what Humbert wants.  This could also be taken into account that she's a child trying to be a woman in which she has not become yet.  She goes as far as to say that Humbert is a “dirty, dirty old man” presenting that she knows that what they've done together isn't acceptable. (pg 32)  In realizing that both of the main characters come to know of how immoral their relationship is, they continue on with it.  Morals in their mind are thrown out, except for the gnawing fact that someone could find out about them.