Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown

This movie was an adventurous, exciting foreign film that was about the theme of romance. The movie was about a female character, Pepa, who tries desperately to find her boyfriend because of news she has to tell him. However, it was not only about her journey to track down her boyfriend, but it also included love triangles. These love triangles were seen throughout the movie between numerous characters. The movie begins with Ivan saying romantic pick-up lines to several different women. From the beginning the viewer assumes that Ivan is a ladies’ man and probably likes many different women. The film explores the idea of romance. Ivan and Pepa share the same job in which they are voice over actors who re-make foreign films. It is assumed that their careers are what connected them and led them to having a relationship. It is also ironic that the scene they voice-over is about marriage and love. This sets up the romance theme that is farced throughout the entire movie. The majority of the movie is about Pepa trying to track down Ivan to tell him some kind of news, which she has learned from the doctor. While she searches for him there are a lot of other side plots. One in which creates many love triangles. Ivan’s son (from his previous marriage), Carlos and his snobby fiancé are introduced into the movie because they are looking to buy Pepa’s apartment. While they are over looking at the penthouse, Carlos’s fiancé drinks Gazpacho, which Pepa previously laced with sleeping pills. Pepa originally meant for Ivan to drink the Gazpacho because she wanted him to stay. Ivan was a man who was always on the move so in order to keep him in one place she spiked his favorite soup with sleeping pills. However, Carlos’s fiancé was the first to drink it and while she was knocked out Carlos hooked up with Pepa’s good friend Candela. This created the movie’s first love triangle. Candela was an old friend who was on the run after being used by recently arrested Shiites. Candela was afraid the police would arrest her for being associated with these recently captured terrorists. Carlos recommends Candela see a feminist attorney. After being approached by Pepa, the attorney wants nothing do with Candela’s case. This creates a lot of tension between the two females. Towards the end of the movie it is discovered that the attorney was seeing Ivan. This created yet another love triangle that director Pedro Almodóvar uses. The two share a deep moment of serenity and try to forget about the crazy day they experienced. It seems apparent that they are both going to ditch their cheating boyfriends in an effort to find true love. Pedro Almodóvar uses the role of women as the focal point in this movie because he believes that women make better characters. His approach was very obvious throughout this movie because it seemed like there were many interactions amongst women. However, it is interesting to note that the subject of all of the drama is the result of men. Throughout this movie men are seen as using women to get what they want. This behavior is clearly portrayed through the characters of Ivan, Carlos and the male Shiite. The drama that follows is seen primarily through the female characters, which Almodóvar uses because he thinks women are more dramatically interesting. This European film maker also created interconnecting love triangles in which the man left a woman for another woman. This created much drama and tension between certain characters. This constant change in partners made the audience very aware that one of the points the movie wanted to make was that love is not always a definite thing ~ relationships change. It was interesting to see that the father and son character were both examples of the men who were in the middle of each triangle. It seemed that the father played a role in teaching the son about relationships. Ivan was made out to act very impulsive, which was also a trait displayed in Carlos. Overall, I really enjoyed this movie because of the comedy and the fun that was being poked at the characters that were involved in the love triangles. The movie did a good job intertwining all of the relationships among the characters. It was certainly not a story that I would have taken seriously, but the adventure and thrill made this movie appealing.

Antonia’s Line

This movie was very different from any of the films that we have seen in class. This wasn’t one of my favorite movies, but I thought it was an interesting view of romance and marriage because it was from a different perspective. The perspective of love was different because it was taken from a foreign country, different culture and it took place many years ago. This viewpoint was not at all like the other films that we have viewed in class. Love, family and happiness were present without the presence of many men. It was a movie that definitely addressed the strength and abilities of a woman to stand on her own. There were many aspects to this movie that I found fascinating. I thought that the movie was about the constant cycle of life and death. This was signified through the timeline of the movie. It viewed many generations of a single family. Life was shown through the abundance of children displayed throughout the movie. The idea of children and fertility was a significant theme to the first half of the movie. The film first introduces Danielle as the child of Antonia who is a creative and artistic little girl. Danielle soon grows up and wants a child of her own. Then her child Therese had a baby of her own with her partner. There was a reoccurring theme of the presence of children and how each interacted within the village. However, Danielle had an unusual situation because she did not want a husband to go along with the baby. This also seemed to be a common theme throughout the movie. At the beginning of the movie we also see that Antonia declines a man to be her husband. These examples allowed the movie to show the strength, both emotionally and physically, that the women had. They overcame many obstacles throughout the film. It seemed that men were not a necessary aspect for some of the women. Danielle used a man for his reproduction ability. This movie was seen more as a Utopia for women. It featured all females from the same family. It showed different generations of family and how things changed over time. The filmed showed an importance of carrying on a family by becoming pregnant. However, as the movie progressed, children we featured less and less. The second half of the film explored the idea of death. As time progressed so did the people of the village. It seemed that over time there were fewer births and more deaths. As the village people grew older, there was a loss of happiness and self-worth shown through some individuals. Finger, was one character who displayed these emotions. It seemed that he couldn’t find a meaning in the world he lived in. He believed that if he ended his life that it would help the lives of the other people. Finger was tormented by his feelings, which led him to commit suicide. In this film, the idea of marriage seemed irrelevant because it didn’t seem necessary. There really was no affect of the institution of marriage on the individuals seen within this village. This film portrayed a different type of romance seen within relationships. Compared to other movies, the relationship aspect was very different from the others we have seen in previous movies. Some of the relationships shown in this film were based off pleasure and companionship, rather than love and security that are a part of the institution of marriage.

The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

I thought that this movie was fascinating because of the story line. I thought that the plot was very different from any of the previous films we have viewed. The film was about finding love, losing love and rediscovering it a second time. It starts with two characters that meet and fall in love, then separate because of a malicious fight. Clementine decides she wants to erase her memories of Joel because of the past events. Joel later finds out what she has done so he similarly agrees to get the same procedure done to his brain. While the procedure was taking place he finds his memories to be very important and irreplaceable. He tries to stop the procedure throughout the movie, but can’t find a direct way to stop it. He tries to save his memories of Clementine by evoking different memories and hiding his memories of his relationship with Clementine among other ones. However, this process fails and all of his memories of Clementine are eventually erased from his memory. By the time the movie ends the audience finds out that Joel and Clementine have re-met and fallen in love again. This movie makes a couple points about love and romance. It seems to suggest that love is inevitable and that people are destined to find their soul mates. It reminded me of an old poem, “if you love something set it free, if it comes back to you, it was meant to be”. It felt like Joel and Clementine were intended to be together because of how they complemented each other. It was not a coincidence that they met and fell in love with each other twice. It was also interesting to compare Joel and Clementine’s relationship to Clementine and Patrick’s relationship. Patrick fell in love with Clementine during her procedure and eventually took all of Joel’s mementos of Clementine. He used them to try and make Clementine fall in love with him, but even the same things weren’t enough for her to fully love him like she loved Joel. We even see this same theme with Mary and Dr. Howard Mierzwiak who had previously fallen in love with one another, but since Dr. Howard Mierzwiak was married they too decided to erase all of Mary’s memories. Again after the procedure, she fell back in love with him, which shows that true love is unstoppable. Overall I thought that the movie was excellent because of its sequence. The order in which the movie was created made it very entertaining and kept me watching until the end. I enjoyed seeing Joel’s memories of Clementine, but in reverse order. Watching his memories in reverse order added a twist that I thought really worked to capture the viewer’s attention.

Hannah and Her Sisters

Hannah and Her Sisters is another interesting and thought provoking Woody Allen film. This movie, like the other Allen films we’ve watched in class, combined romance, humor and eccentric characters to tell a story about three sisters. Although similar, I also thought that this film was different in a few ways. First, it was structured differently than his other films. Woody Allen organized the film into 16 different scenes, and each was titled with some type of phrase. Each of the titles somehow related to each scene in a unique and creative way. This style helped to focus and concentrate the viewer on what exactly was taking place during the movie. Although it was unique, I enjoyed it and thought that it helped to guide me through the movie. Second, the story told elapsed over a course of a year. It started with a Thanksgiving dinner and ended with a Thanksgiving dinner. This made the story seem more realistic. Finally, like in all of his films I thought the characters were very interesting people. What was different was the irony he used in making 2 of the characters “actresses”. Both Hannah and Holly were aspiring actresses. It was ironic because they were playing a role within a role. I found that concept to be very intriguing. Although there were some new techniques used to tell his story in this film, Allen still had some very common themes. Once again, there was a strong connection between his characters and their mental health. Woody Allen seems to make a point in his movies to emphasize and draw attention to the psychological well being of the characters in his stories. It seems as if Allen is definitely engrossed with the psychological makeup of people, and his characters usually portray people who are not the most stable or balanced individuals. Allen’s eccentric ways and constant attention to dysfunctional characters, makes me believe he has battled some psychological disorders in his past! The fact that his characters are usually suffering from some type of disorder and there is much talk about seeing “analysts”, makes me wonder if Allen does this to bring attention and awareness to the problems those with mental health issues face or if he wants it to appear more a part of the norm! Regardless, Allen tells stories that in their own eccentric unusual ways grab at an audience and pull them in! Hannah and Her Sisters was no different. The story used humor and sadness to not only entertain, but to pull the audience in and make them care about the characters and enjoy the story that was told.

Annie Hall

I really enjoyed this film. I thought that the plot was very comical. Like the movie Manhattan, Woody Allen uses his unusual filming style, which causes the audience to enjoy more than just the film’s plot! There were many picturesque shots of New York and he used many photographic techniques, like the rules of thirds and leading lines, to capture the beauty and magnificence of the city. Allen also used a couple of his trademark techniques of talking off picture and also talking to the camera (audience) which leads the audience to focus on the actual picture and notice other small details within the shot. It was an interesting style that not only worked but I thought added to the film’s entertainment value. One theme that I saw throughout this movie was the subject/idea of psychology. Both characters could be described as quirky and odd, and all of the references to Freud and his principles reinforced the fact that they were unique. They briefly brought up Freud’s concept of the unconscious mind. The movie also talked about the latency period, which is another concept that was created by Freud. There were also a lot of references to psychologists and the role they played in the characters lives. It seemed that the “analysts” were a key part to helping fix the characters personalities. I also picked up on a lot of references to certain psychological disorders such as depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, narcolepsy and other neurological disorders. Another aspect that I found intriguing was the presence of drugs in the movie. Throughout this movie people used drugs for many reasons. Some used them for self-medication purposes like relaxing the body and reducing stress, while others used drugs for recreational use. People were shown using drugs at parties and other social gatherings. This casual reference to drugs seemed to indicate the growing popularity and acceptance of drugs during this time period. I felt that there were also some discriminatory comments towards Jews and women. These statements were meant to be jokes because he was a comedian, but I wonder if others took these jokes personally. Overall I thought this movie was not only entertaining but very insightful. I enjoyed the realistic plot and the montage that this film had to offer. It is a movie that is quite symbolic of the times and gives the audience a look at the issues of that era!

Manhattan

Although, I really enjoyed this movie, what I liked best about it was all of the visual effects that were used. The montage of images really stood out and caught my attention. Allen did a fantastic job filming and capturing the beauty of Manhattan. There were many scenes and shots that stood out to me. I thought the director did a marvelous job using the “Rule of Thirds.” This rule is used in any visual art such as photography and film. It’s when an image is separated into thirds and the important compositional elements are placed on these intersections or lines. I thought Woody Allen did a great job using this rule throughout the movie. I especially liked the scene where the two are on a park bench overlooking the bridge. It was such a beautiful scene with the lights and camera angle. Other scenes that stood out to me were the one of the café and most of the outdoor shots that included the skyline, buildings and crowds. I also thought that the director did an exceptional job of using the idea of leading lines. Leading lines are used to lure the viewer’s eye deeper into the picture or to focus their eyes on the importance of that picture or shot. Again there were many scenes and shots that Woody Allen chose to use that followed this style. His use of skylines, streams, rivers and buildings all helped to strengthen his film shots.
Another approach this movie used that I thought was interesting was all of the talking and action that happened off screen. There were many scenes throughout this film that incorporated this. It really made the viewer listen and pay attention to what was going on. All of the conversations that took place off screen during the movie served to enhance the visual aspect as well. At times during these scenes it was easy to lose track of the actors and just really focus in on the rest of the scene. Again this technique of having the actors talk off screen really forced the viewer to concentrate on what the director wanted us to look at.
Overall I thought this movie was very well done. It was very comical and entertaining. This movie also contained many interesting references to very famous philosophers and thinkers. What made this film special was that it was more than a story. Allen captured the heart of Manhattan through his camera and through his creative style. My favorite part of this film was the montage and how the images flowed together. I thought Woody Allen used many interesting techniques to make scenes and shots look appealing. He did a wonderful job of using the Rule of Thirds and leading lines.

The Awful Truth

I thought this was a very funny and clever film. It begins by Jerry lying to his wife Lucy about taking a trip to Florida. He jokes with his friend that what she doesn’t know won’t hurt her. Then in the very next scene his wife was nowhere to be found. She later was discovered with her singing instructor whose car apparently broke down. Jerry gets very suspicious of their story and gets made at her for not telling him the truth. He questions whether or not she was unfaithful to him when he just lied to her about going to Florida. She soon finds out that he had lied about his whereabouts after she finds an orange with a printed label “Fresh from California” in her basket of presents. Jerry seems to contradict himself when he tried to explain where he was. This eventually leads to their divorce, but it also raises the question of marriage itself. Throughout the film, there were a lot of references to what a marriage needs to be successful. Marriage was said to be built on faith and being truthful to your partner. Each character had their suspicions about their spouses. Another aspect of the movie I thought was interesting was the character of the dog, Mr. Smith. Mr. Smith seemed to metaphorically represent a child between Lucy and Jerry. He seemed to be the one thing they had in common and loved. I thought the court scene where they both fought for custody of the dog was very funny. It seemed as though Lucy won the rights to the dog because of her sneaky trick, in which she showed the dog his favorite toy and he came running to her. To me this set up the entire film because after that stunt, I felt that Jerry was trying to get back at her. I also saw the dog playing another important role in the movie. The part when Lucy taught him how to play hide-n-go seek stood out to me. She taught him that game, which in the end hurt Lucy because instead of the dog finding the treat, he found Armani’s hat. This eventually led to Jerry finding out that Lucy was with another guy. To me this also symbolized Jerry teaching Lucy dating ticks. Jerry first played tricks with Lucy during her relationship with Daniel. This eventually led to them breaking up, but like the dog, Lucy learned how to trick Jerry and screw up his relationship with Barbra Vance. The person that taught the tricks (Lucy, then Jerry) eventually got the tricks played on them.

Adam’s Rib

Adam’s Rib had a different plot then the rest of the movies we have seen. This movie was different in several of ways. The married couple had a stable life; both had jobs and owned an apartment together. Their life (marriage) felt more realistic then relationships portrayed in the other movies we’ve watched. The biggest difference that I saw in this movie was the idea of equality. This was the first movie that addressed the notion of equality between men and women. It not only addressed the issue, but also made it the focal point of the movie. The story line was centered on a trial where the defense lawyer used equality for women as their argument. The movie was filled with symbolism which pointed to the subject of equality. The movie raised the question of whether or not men and women can be truly equal. The symbolism used to portray equality was plentiful. It starts with the main characters happily married and sharing the same career. They were both successful lawyers. More subtle symbols were the fact that they both had the same nickname, “pinky.” This showed oneness and equality between the two. Another symbol of equality seen within this movie was the make-up of their bedroom. If split in half, one side would be the mirror image of the other. There were two beds, two closets, and two bathrooms. Again this symbolized the equality between the two characters. Amanda and Adam had made the decision to make up their own rules regarding their marriage and not follow society’s norms. They not only respected each other but their marriage was balanced and based on sharing everything. An interesting scene that questions the rules that society makes between men and women is at the very beginning of the movie. Amanda is in her office with her assistant discussing the morning headlines, which were about a woman who shot her husband due to his adultery. This led to Amanda asking the question, when a man has an affair, what do you think of the man? The assistant replied, “he is not so nice.” Amanda then asked what do you think of a woman who has an affair? The assistant replied, “its terrible.” Amanda questions why the difference of opinion between men and women. The assistant answered, “I don’t know, it’s just the rules.” Amanda points out the fact that we, “society”, makes the rules. This exchange is one of several conversations that raise the question of why society has decided that men and women aren’t equal and could they be wrong. Another scene that raises this question was when Adam cried. Earlier in the movie Amanda and Adam were fighting and she began to cry. Adam responded that he hates it when she cries because he gives into her. He implies that her tears are just a ploy to get what she wants and are not real emotions. Later, Adam uses tears to get what he wanted and then after revealed to Amanda that he faked his tears to get what he wanted. Thus questioning the social norm that says women are more emotional than men and use that to get their way and that men are not supposed to cry or show emotion. Although Amanda wins the case and therefore proves to the court that women deserve equality, she learns through her separation with Adam that the issue of equality is not black and white or as simple as she thought it was.

The work of Art in the Age of Its Technological Reproducibility

I. The development of art was first used for cult value, but overtime changed due to religious and political force.
II. Some believe that technological advances have improved the art of making art, but it can also be argued that all of these advances have made it easier for art to be reproduced.
III. By the use of technology, mass production masked the unique aspect of art of few copies of original authentic art.
IV. Over time, nature and history condition human perceptions.
V. Art became revolutionized from originally being used for cult or ritual purposes to being used for political reasons.
VI. Cult artwork began as artwork that was not viewable to the public, but through time, art work whether in film, photos, painting are viewable to the masses and makes it possible for people to see and learn about things they may have never had the opportunity to.
VII. Humans show more interest in the exhibition value, which overtime decreases the importance to the original cult value art.
VIII. Film is the first type of art that’s success is based largely on its reproducibility. The more a film is reproduced the greater the value of the film.
IX. Technological reproducibility allowed the foundation of cult art to disconnect from the development of new art.
X. The work of art is constructed by the component of montage.
XI. Technological advances such as, the use of film editing, has taken away from the original idea of art. Due to the ability to edit and splice film, a film actor has to only be in character for short takes while the stage actor starts at the beginning of the story and goes all the way through to the end. There are no re-dos.
XII. Being an actor is a unique profession. An actor must become someone that they are not and how well they become another character impacts the success of the film. It is also unique in the fact that your success is based upon an audience that has contributed nothing to the making of the film.
XIII. The technological progressions allowed for more and more individuals to be exposed to art, therefore allowing them to take part in it. It gives many people a voice who may have never had one..
XIV. The way art is interpreted can be significantly impacted by the different uses of new technology used by the film studio. Editing and special effects help to create images that could have never been filmed and stories that could have never been told without their help.
XV. Due to the technological reproducibility, film is being viewed by a great mass of people while original artwork was meant to be seen by few people.
XVI. Film tries to connect humans to the apparatus by tapping into the unconscious mind and presenting man in various ways. It gives people the opportunity to see, experience and think about things they may have never had the chance to.
XVII. Dadaism was a post World War 1 cultural movement that took place in all areas of art. It rejected the war and its statement was radical and meant to stir the public. It was considered by some to be anti-art. Film is now considered to be a vehicle used to make similar statements. Film and other expressions of art expose the public to issues that they may have no knowledge or understanding of.
XVIII. Art has changed from being valued by its quantity or quality to being valued most by its content.
XIX. This section discusses the potential effect and control that art has on the public. Much like fascism, art has the capability of selecting, manipulating and creating a message that is the viewpoint of the artist. The artist is much like the dictator. It also talks about the fact that life imitates art and conveys the theory that politics are a form of art.

Blog 7: His Girl Friday

This film was very interesting because I thought that the normal stereotype for women was flipped around. This movie was released in 1940. Looking back at that point in time, women didn’t have much opportunity to obtain a “good” job. During these times, most women felt their job was to stay home and take care of the children and the home. They completed many in-house chores to help support the family. In this film however, Hildy didn’t follow the norm, she was a career woman who wanted to end her career as a journalist and get married and become a housewife. Hildy wanted to start a family and settle down with her husband. She felt that her career was taking over her life. She was one of the rare women who was given the opportunity to excel in the work place and had a good paying job. She wanted to become a more typical female whose job was to be a domesticated housewife. Her ex-husband, Walter Burns, was a very dedicated and driven man who always put his job first. He rarely focused on his relationships and never made any sacrifices for his love, Hildy. His passion for work ruled over his desire to love Hildy. However, once he learned that his ex-wife was about to get married he began to realize what he was losing and how much he cared for her. He ultimately tricked her and her soon-to-be husband to stay in town while he hooked her to write about an intense story. Throughout this film he played tricks on her husband to land him in jail and delay their departure to Albany. Walter wins back her love by exposing her to a situation where she felt comfortable. Her love and passion was for writing and she had a perfect opportunity to do that with the circumstances that was presented to her by Walter. She ultimately chose to stay with Walter and sacrifice her desire to become a domesticated woman because she felt her passion was for journalism. She relived some old memories with her ex-husband Walter and she finally realized that was who she was and she would never be able to be what others thought she should be.

Blog 6: James Joyce- “Two Gallants” “The Boarding House” Grace Paley- “The Little Disturbances of Man”

Two Gallants- This story was about two young men who needed each other. Lenehan and Corley were two men who were poverty stricken. They both needed their friendships for different reasons. Lenehan needed Corley because he was the guy who could sweet-talk women and get their money. Lenehan used Corley for the money aspect because he was poor. Corley on the other hand needed Lenehan for his friendship. Lenehan gave Corley the attention that he needed to feel good about himself. Corley used his charm and smart wits to trick women to give him money. He used his male dominance to control women to get things he wanted, like money.
The Boarding House- This short story was about a woman who created a Boarding House. Mrs. Mooney had a daughter, Polly, who throughout the story developed strong feelings for one of their guests whose name was Mr. Doran. What started out as “puppy love” turned into a serious relationship. Their relationship is put on hold due to complications with Mr. Doran’s life. Mr. Doran, the dominant male, determines whether or not the relationship will go any further. The males throughout these stories have power over the women because of their status.
The Little Disturbances of Man- This reading was also about a female, Virginia, who gets controlled by a male. Her husband leaves Virginia and his children to “join the army.” Her husband has continually verbally abused and mistreated his wife. The story talked about their strong love over looks, but over time their loved diminished. The husband always expected a lot from his wife and ultimately decided to leave her to pursue other things. During the husbands’ absence, Virginia gets reunited with an old friend, John Raftery who helps to stabilize her family. They have a little fling, but when John wants more from Virginia she rationalizes and denies him the opportunity to continue their relationship. At the end of the story, Virginia’s husband ends up coming back to the family. Virginia, seeming a little brain-washed from his power and control ends up taking him back. She allows his power and control to manipulate her to obey his wants and needs.
Overall these stories all dealt with controlling men who used women through relationships. They oppressed women in different ways, but they all had some type of power over women. Ultimately, the men in all of these stories were able to influence women’s choices and decisions through their power and money.

Bringing Up Baby

Bringing Up Baby is a screwball comedy that I thought was very comical. This movie contained a lot of funny one-liners that at times were a little inappropriate. Although, at times this movie just seemed to be simple fun, there were some hidden connotations and attention grabbing scenes that kept the movie interesting! The theme that stuck out to me while watching this movie was the idea of mistaken identities. There were several situations where one character’s identity was mixed up with another characters, but what was really interesting was the film didn’t stop at mistaking character’s identities – props were mixed up and even Susan’s pet leopard had his identity mistaken for an escaped leopard from the zoo!
Starting at the very beginning of the movie, Susan mistakes her golf ball and plays David’s actual ball. This leads into the next scene where she is trying to move her car from a parking spot. She misidentifies her car and accidently gets in David’s car and ends up scratching and damaging his car. These two blunders are just the tip of the iceberg of “mistaken identities” which occur throughout the entire movie. Another funny scene was when David had the psychiatrists wife’s’ purse, which he was told to hang onto until Susan returned, but argued with him over whose purse it was. Susan came back to them arguing only to show David that she had her purse making it look like he took her purse. Here he was wrongly identified as stealing or taking the psychiatrists’ wife’s purse. Another mistaken identity, which I thought was interesting, was that Susan believed that David was a zoologist rather than a paleontologist. It was weird because she called him a zoologist almost the entire movie, but she knew he worked with dinosaurs and was collecting that final “intercostals clavicle bone.” Another scene where props/identities are swapped is when David and Susan traveled to Connecticut. They stopped to get 30 lbs of meat for Baby, but while David was inside purchasing the meat, Susan was outside waiting in her car. At the same time a police man was about to write her a ticket for illegal parking when she told him it wasn’t her car, which it actually was, but then lied and stole the car next to hers. The police officer believed her until the actual owner of the car ran out as they were driving off. Another example of this prominent theme was when Susan’s Aunt Elizabeth first met David. Throughout the entire movie David was trying to get a $1 million loan for his museum and when he first met Susan’s Aunt he acted like a real jerk. He made a horrible first impression, but that was because he didn’t realize it was the Aunt who was donating all of the money. David then told Susan to introduce him as someone different because David didn’t want her to know his real identity. Susan then told her Aunt that David’s name was “Mr. Bone”. David had first mistaken her identity as a different woman, which ultimately made him lie about his identity to her. This was also funny because it led Susan to tell other lies about David, saying that he was crazy and a big game hunter. This leads into the next funny mistaken identity, which was from Major Applegate. Over dinner he talked a lot about his previous experiences of big game hunting, but when they heard the leopard call outside during dinner he acknowledged it as a loon call. Major Applegate kept saying he would never forget the sound of a leopard, which he was sure it wasn’t, he kept saying that it had to be a loon. The next scenario of mistaken identities was when everyone mixed up leopards. There were two leopards on the loose and one was the tame pet of Susan’s and the other was the vicious leopard from the circus. One of the final scenes in this movie, the jail scene, was probably the biggest case of mistaken identities. Constable Slocum, the Sherriff, got everyone mixed up. It was a pretty crazy and confusing scene, one full of mistaken identities. Sometimes accidental and other times intentional – mistaken identities were the stepping stones from scene to scene throughout the movie. It is what made this movie funny, crazy and times unbelievable, but in the end it was what made the movie work and tied it all together!

It Happened One Night

Blog :4 It Happened One Night

It Happened One Night was a story about two people, Ellie and Peter who desperately needed each other. Peter was a journalist whose career had plummeted after being fired, and needed a story to make money and restart his career. Ellie was looking to escape the control of her rich father. The two needed each other to get what they wanted. Ellie was Peter’s story and Peter was Ellie’s way to get back to New York to reunite with her husband. What they didn’t realize is what they thought they needed would lead them to what they really wanted. Ellie had always had someone telling her what to do and making decisions for her, Peter had always tried to find his worth and happiness in his career. While they were on the run, Ellie discovered many things about herself. She realized that not only could she make it on her own (without the help of money) but she liked being able to make decisions for herself! Peter learned how to care for someone else and to care about something other than his career. Through their adventure together, hiding from Ellie’s father and trying to get from Miami to New York, they discover each other and fall in love.
I thought that this movie was fun and very enjoyable! It Happened One Night cleverly weaves its’ theme of social and economic class differences into its story line. From the start of the movie it was easy to pick up that Ellie Andrews was a rich, spoiled daughter who wanted freedom from her father and Peter was the rugged, tough news reporter living paycheck to paycheck. The movie starts with both Ellie and her father on a yacht off the coast of Miami. They are fighting because Ellie’s father disagreed with her daughter’s choice of husband, King Westley. The first scene in the movie made it apparent that they were a high class family and that her father had kidnapped her from wherever she was and took her hostage onto his yacht. It showed their relationship was about control, obedience and money. Peter’s first scene comes a bit later in the bus station. He is in a phone booth and is yelling into the phone at his boss. He has just lost his job. From the beginning it is obvious that Peter and Ellie have led very different lives both socially and financially! Another difference between the two is the fact that Peter is very street wise and able to handle almost any situation that comes his way. On the other hand, it’s very obvious that Ellie has led a very sheltered life! Throughout the movie you can tell that Ellie was raised with no real exposure to the real world. She had trouble making decisions and it didn’t seem like she could fend for herself. A funny example was when she got her bag stolen at the bus stop. Later, she told Peter, “I can take of myself thank you” and so he asked her where her bus ticket was and she thought she had her bus ticket, but had really left it on the bus for Peter to find. These examples led me to think that although she was smart and clever she was used to having her farther take care of her. Another entertaining part in the movie was when she learned to hitchhike. When Peter was walking he first brought up the term “hitchhike” to her and she had never heard of it. There were numerous examples like this that demonstrated to me that Ellie lived in a very different world than Peters. Ellie, a part of the upper class, enjoyed many of its perks, but when she had to travel like most people did back in the 1930s she looked very confused and lost. I blame most of this on her upbringing and on parenting. Ellie was used to being catered too and when she had to do things on her own she couldn’t. There were also times in this movie that Peter called her out about her inexperience of living like a normal human being. An example that stood out to me was when she was trying to buy chocolates on the bus, but Peter wouldn’t let her. She didn’t have much money to begin with, but still had trouble spending it wisely. Ellie was used to living the lifestyle where she probably didn’t worry about being on a budget and she probably bought things based on wants vs. needs. Peter went off on her at the bus station about how money can’t buy you everything and about how money just creates problems for rich people. This put it into perspective for Ellie about her living habits. Another part that led me to think that she took her lifestyle for granted was when she was forced to not ride on the bus. Peter wanted to hide Ellie’s identity so he forced her to walk with him to go somewhere else. She was complaining the entire time that her feet hurt while they were walking. Another part was when she whined about having to sleep outside on the hay. She was more worried about her clothes getting wrinkled then about sleeping. That same scene reminds me of when she was complaining about being hungry and Peter leaves for a couple minutes and she freaks out and is scared. As much as she tried to be tough and act like she could make it on her own, it showed her insecurity and that the reality was that she was used to being surrounded by people who took care of her.
In the end, I thought this movie had a great plot for its era. Looking back, it was produced in the early 1930s, which was during the depression. Movies back then were meant for people to “get away” - escape - and enjoy life in a fantasy world , yet also make it real enough that the audience could relate! This move did a great job of taking people away from their world and making them laugh and cry while also reminding them that what’s really important doesn’t cost anything!

James Joyce “Araby” and “Eveline”

Blog 3: “Araby” and “Eveline”

These were two short stories written by James Joyce that were based in Ireland. Ireland at the time was poverty stricken and had many economical and social problems. These times really seemed to influence the author’s writings. Both stories were very dreary and somber in tone. Araby was a story about a boy who was obsessed with his love and passion for a girl. Throughout the story, the boy fantasized about loving this girl and wanting to buy something for her to show her his affection towards her. He felt this obligation to buy something and when he found out about the bazaar he wanted to go to see what it had to offer. To me it seemed as though that the bazaar was a flee market and a new experience to him. It was a fantasy world where he could go and escape. It was a place of options where he could buy new things that he had never seen before. However, in the end he got all caught up with the notion that buying something would bring him love. At the end of the story he is left in darkness, which to me symbolizes his realization that he can’t buy love. He knows he will not win his love through a gift, so he is left to sit in the darkness and to feel anger and hatred towards reality. The darkness signifies his hope being distinguished. The next short story, Eveline, is story about a girl who is stuck living in a dysfunctional family. She wants to escape to another world where she can be happy. However, on her mother’s death bed she promises to look after her trouble-stricken family, which included her father and brother. She fights over these moral dilemmas and promises made, whether or not to leave her family for her personal happiness and love. Her promise to her mother rules over her conscience and she forces herself to support the family by caring for the father who suffers greatly from alcoholism, yet he is abusive and violent towards her. She is guilted by her memories of her deceased mother who wanted her to keep the family together. Throughout the story she is tempted to leave and join her love, Frank, in Buenos Ayres where she fantasizes about a new beginning. In the end, she stays and sacrifices her happiness to fulfill the commitment she made to her mother. She indeed does the best she can to support the family, but through those times she suffers great anxiety and pain from her father’s behavior. Her love for Frank was second to that of her mother and she chose to stay and give up her dream for the promise that she made to her mother.

The Lady Eve

Blog 2: The Lady Eve

The Lady Eve, like The Philadelphia Story, was a comedy about the idea of remarriage. I thought that this movie was very humorous and entertaining. There were some very funny one-liners and a lot of interesting symbolism that kept me interested and attentive throughout the movie. The writer’s use of symbolism and the themes created through the character’s actions and relationships really caught my attention while watching this movie. For example, the use of “horns,” the relationship between fathers and siblings, and how society viewed people of wealth. However, the theme that stuck out most to me was the one surrounding deceit. I felt that the act of being deceitful was depicted by so many of the characters and involved so many relationships that it was one of the most prevalent points made in the movie.
First, I thought it was interesting that each character went by two different names – two different identities. The use of different names and sometimes different personalities for a character plays into the theme of deceitfulness. Each character had a different name and each name was significant to one person or the situation they were in. Meaning, when they were called one name – they tended to act differently than when called by their other name. For example, when Jean was around Charlie she would always call him Hopsie. When Charlie was around Jean’s father she would always call her father Colonel or Colonel Harrington, but when she was just by herself she would refer to him as Harry. Also when Jean came back to Connecticut to see Charlie she introduced herself as an English women named Eve. She also said she was the niece of her actual friend. I thought it was funny to that they both lied about how she had gotten to America on a battleship/submarine. I also thought that it was interesting that Charlie’s friend Muggsy was referred to at some points as Ambrose. The main idea here was that people had different names and identities which could be very misleading at times to the other characters in the story. This idea of different names, different identities symbolize how complex people are and how deceitful people can be.
The writers also used deceit to manipulate relationships of friendship and love. Jean misled, deceived, Charlie about who she was and what their relationship meant to her. It seemed to me that she was interested in him, but acted like she didn’t like him. She played hard to get and at times seemed disinterested. An example would be when she took him back to her room and massaged his head and got all close to him and then told him he should leave. First, Jean acted like she was interested in Charlie and then changed her actions to say that she was not interested in Charlie and sent him away. Another example was when Jean came back and remarried Charlie as an English lady named Lady Eve Sidwich, however she only remarried him to get back and have revenge on him and so that she could crush his heart. She made him fall in love with her as “Eve,” but she didn’t want his love so she played him. This was another example of how deceit and lies were used throughout the story to manipulate love and friendship.
Finally, I saw the theme of deceit being very prominent in the scenes involving gambling and playing cards. Jean and Harry had always meant to steal money from people. They were con artists at their best, losing money one night only to take away much more money the next night. They were obviously known for doing this because they had previously been caught for cheating someone out of their money. It was this creating friendships, then losing their own money, but then cheating someone out of more money that made them so deceitful.
Overall, I thought this was an amusing and enjoyable movie. There were many funny lines and scenes that kept me engaged through this movie. There was a funny plot, but throughout this plot there were many lies told and tricks used to deceive people. People were very deceitful throughout this movie whether it was their identity, the friendships they made, in their love relationships, or just being cheated out of their own money. This made me believe that people are not always who they say they are!

The Philadelphia Story

Blog 1: The Philadelphia Story

I thought that this movie was very well done. The Philadelphia Story was a very comical movie about love and relationships. There were many reoccurring themes and aspects that to me were very interesting. I thought that the major themes were the role of women in society, the role of class seen within society and the role of men in relationships.
First, I saw that there were many references throughout this movie about how women should act. There were a couple scenes where the little girl was corrected by her mother because she said, “smell” instead of “stink” or “sock” instead of “strike.” I thought that this was very interesting because during these earlier times, women were expected to act very proper in public. The mother’s job was to make certain that her daughters were always “behaving like ladies” in public. Another scene that reminds me of this pre-conceived notion of women was when Tracy was reading one of the books written by Mike Connor and he asked, “what happens to girls like you that read my books, they think.” It was quite a surprising remark because he of what he intended it to mean. What it said to me was that a woman was not supposed to have a brain that actually thought about anything other than housework or being a good wife. I just thought that this movie had some interesting insight about what a woman’s role in society was supposed to be in that era.
Another theme that I took away from this movie was the necessity for the upper class to live up to a certain lifestyle. They were expected to live extravagantly and as if money was of no concern. There was a funny saying in this movie that was used to describe the upper class, “the privileged class enjoys its privileges.” It was really funny to see how the family acted when the reporters came into their house. To me, they put on a show and they were really fake about their lifestyle and how they acted towards each other. It was funny to see them put on this act, trying to look like a “normal” and “functional” family. This family really valued their “high class” reputation so they put on quite an act to pretend to be this lovely and happy family.
Finally, the last theme that I saw throughout this movie was the interesting role that men played in their relationships with of women. It seemed to have all the stereotypes of how men treated women back in the old days. There were a couple scenes of domestic violence, when women got physically and verbally abused. It made me realize how some men treated women with so little respect back then. The father also has a negative relationship with his daughter, which I found very interesting. It reinforced my belief that a woman was more susceptible to divorce or unhealthy relationships with men if she grew up with an abusive or unstable father figure. It was also interesting to see that the father and mother were divorced similarly to the daughter.
Overall, I thought that this movie not only entertaining but had some interesting perspectives. I have never watched old movies and it was a nice change. It was very fascinating to watch an older movie like this one because not only could you get a real sense of what our culture was like back then, but it also helped me to appreciate how far our society has come today!