I have really been enjoying this course so far this semester. I think that it is an important course to offer because we are so inundated with images and stories of fear that I really feel the topic needs to be addressed and discussed. I do not think that people in our society realize just how much the news is either misleading us, leaving out facts, or just flat out lying to us about very important issues, just so they can press on with their own agenda.
I also have enjoyed a lot of the readings that we have done up to this point. I liked reading the chapters from Glassner that we have read. He brings up a lot of very important issues in our society that we focus on to an insane degree, but we do not realize that we are being lied to and misinformed about. I think that his chapters are not only interesting but also pretty easy to get through, which makes reading them a better experience.
My favorite discussion section so far hands down has to be the one about horror movies. I've stated this about seventy times so far in this blog, but I love horror movies. I love being able to discuss them and look further into them. I took the horror class offered at UMass last semester, and I was sad to see it end. Having that discussion and doing those readings brought me back a little bit and let me extend the class in a sense, so I was really happy and appreciative about that.
The documentaries and films we have been assigned have also all been engaging. I don't think that I have sat through any of them feeling bored or that I haven't taken something out of it. I think that my favorites we have been assigned were "Bowling for Columbine" and "The Golden Age of Horror" (I don't remember if that is the actual title and for some reason I cannot make myself go find out for a fact). I am already a Michael Moore fan and love "Bowling for Columbine". I just think it is such a smart documentary and one that every American citizen should see. Obviously, Moore is an outspoken liberal so he is ignored by many sectors of the United States, but he really s a smart man who knows what he is talking about. I think that it was clear that I would be a fan of the horror documentary. I love horror movie countdowns and interviews with those involved with the films, especially the filmmakers. I love getting their perspective on what went into making the film and the meanings they put behind it or took out of it after it was completed. Although some parts of the documentary made me a little queasy, it was overall an enjoyable experience watching it.
I do not really think that I have any complaints for the class. I guess I would say that some of the readings, such as the Hall articles, were a little slow for me, or did not keep my attention as much as some of the others. Other than that, I don't know if I really have any other issues. I do not feel that we are assigned too much work, and I like that the class only meets one day a week because I like to have free days in my schedule. Although, this would be one class that I actually wouldn't mind meeting multiple days of the week.
I am really glad that this class is a discussion. I think that when talking about such important issues, it is important that all voices can be heard and that everyone who wants to can express his or her opinion about the topics at hand. I am very glad that I decided to take this course, and I genuinely look forward to what we are going to learn in the upcoming weeks.
HAPPY SPRING BREAK EVERYONE!! I'm off to Florida in the morning. I hope everyone has a great week!
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Sunday, March 11, 2012
"War on Drugs: The Prison Industrial Complex" and "Oz"
Going into watching this week's blog assignment, "War on Drugs: The Prison Industrial Complex", I already knew that I would have strong feelings on the subject. I feel that our prison system is completely corrupt and needs to really be figured out. What really stood out to me the most is the idea of how easily someone can be arrested for drug-related offenses, and for how long. Drug crime offenders can be put away for years upon years for crimes that don't cause direct and immediate harm to others, yet people will be put away for far less time or totally acquitted for very violent and dangerous crimes. There is a complete system in place for drug-related crimes, and it's really messed up to me that the police officers interviewed were acting as if that isn't an issue in and of itself.
As someone who has had family members with drug problems, and therefor also trouble with the law, I think it is such a problem that we so easily throw those with drug problems in prison - already extremely overcrowded prisons - rather than putting them in programs to get help and quit their addictions. It seems that in the United States, we want to choose the quickest and easiest solution, rather than what is probably the correct or most beneficial solution.
Something else that stood out to me in the documentary was the discussion about what the police will seize from people who they suspect of being involved with drugs. Someone interviewed was saying the police can seize large sums of money because there is a suspicion it has to do with drugs, but they don't need any solid proof or evidence that this is true. If anything, this just pushes the Hollywood stereotype of police officers being the bad guys and crooked cops, involved in shady business. That makes people not want to trust authority. I think that it's really all just a cycle. Also, I feel like we never hear about this at all, and it reminds me of how we are also not told all information on the news. We aren't given full stories about anything that would make those "above" us be portrayed in a negative light. Also, I feel that like media moguls that run the news corporations, the police officers are working for their own agenda. I feel like nothing is being done for the benefit of the people anymore.
I noticed something very interesting while watching clips of "Oz". On the side of the screen where it gives recommendations for other clips and videos you should watch, almost all of them had the title "Oz: death of ______". It's pretty concerning to me that so many of the clips were only of the deaths of the characters. I think that this says a lot. Not only is it saying that murder is a very prominent subject on the show, but it is also saying that the murders themselves are the most viewed clips and most popular moments on the show. If people sit around watching these clips, they are watching solely scenes depicting brutal murder. This is just saying so much not only about the show itself, but also the audience. The show is portraying the inmates as evil and murderous, and the audience is completely receptive of this. This is a completely misleading portrayal of the prison system. As we saw in the film "The Prison Industrial Complex", these kind of people are clearly not really the most prominent in jails. Rather, it is those there for non-violent crimes. This really is dangerous to viewers of the show. As we read in the Yousman article, people are going to get the wrong idea of those in jail and support the prison system to put these characters away, when they are really in the minority.
As I stated before, I really think that the prison and police systems need a reboot. Our money could be going toward finding actual dangerous criminals, rather than throwing in those who need help, not incarceration.
As someone who has had family members with drug problems, and therefor also trouble with the law, I think it is such a problem that we so easily throw those with drug problems in prison - already extremely overcrowded prisons - rather than putting them in programs to get help and quit their addictions. It seems that in the United States, we want to choose the quickest and easiest solution, rather than what is probably the correct or most beneficial solution.
Something else that stood out to me in the documentary was the discussion about what the police will seize from people who they suspect of being involved with drugs. Someone interviewed was saying the police can seize large sums of money because there is a suspicion it has to do with drugs, but they don't need any solid proof or evidence that this is true. If anything, this just pushes the Hollywood stereotype of police officers being the bad guys and crooked cops, involved in shady business. That makes people not want to trust authority. I think that it's really all just a cycle. Also, I feel like we never hear about this at all, and it reminds me of how we are also not told all information on the news. We aren't given full stories about anything that would make those "above" us be portrayed in a negative light. Also, I feel that like media moguls that run the news corporations, the police officers are working for their own agenda. I feel like nothing is being done for the benefit of the people anymore.
I noticed something very interesting while watching clips of "Oz". On the side of the screen where it gives recommendations for other clips and videos you should watch, almost all of them had the title "Oz: death of ______". It's pretty concerning to me that so many of the clips were only of the deaths of the characters. I think that this says a lot. Not only is it saying that murder is a very prominent subject on the show, but it is also saying that the murders themselves are the most viewed clips and most popular moments on the show. If people sit around watching these clips, they are watching solely scenes depicting brutal murder. This is just saying so much not only about the show itself, but also the audience. The show is portraying the inmates as evil and murderous, and the audience is completely receptive of this. This is a completely misleading portrayal of the prison system. As we saw in the film "The Prison Industrial Complex", these kind of people are clearly not really the most prominent in jails. Rather, it is those there for non-violent crimes. This really is dangerous to viewers of the show. As we read in the Yousman article, people are going to get the wrong idea of those in jail and support the prison system to put these characters away, when they are really in the minority.
As I stated before, I really think that the prison and police systems need a reboot. Our money could be going toward finding actual dangerous criminals, rather than throwing in those who need help, not incarceration.
Sunday, March 4, 2012
The American Nightmare
I feel that I've stated this several times before in this blog, but I'll state it again: I am a huge fan of horror movies. So watching a documentary about horror films is really ideal to me. I've actually seen several before throughout the years, so a lot of the information given about the films themselves and people interviewed in the documentary "The American Nightmare: The History of Horror's Golden Age" were very familiar to me. However, I also gained a lot of new information and insight from those interviewed about their personal experiences and feelings on both history and American culture.
The interview that stood out to me the most in the film was that of Tom Savini. I have seen interviews with Savini before, but they were purely related to films, rather than his own backstory and interest in the horror genre. His story about eyewitnessing everything happening in Vietnam was ridiculous to me, because I could really not ever imagine being a witness to the events during any war, let alone what we know of Vietnam. It makes sense to me that someone who has gone through that experience would be interested in doing make up for horror films, and also be interested in horror films in general. I feel like with an experience like that, a person would either be completely repelled by the horror genre or completely interested in it. I don't think there can be an in between. So Savini's story made complete sense to me.
I also found it interesting later when Savini was explaining that George Romero's intention was to make the audience numb to the violence. This fits so well with Savini's story, as he explains how the camera acted as some sort of fence or separation from the real dead bodies he was taking pictures of. He was shielding himself and in a way becoming numb to what was around him because he knew he had to in order to get through his ordeal. That entire interview was just very interesting to me.
Something that also stands out to me is something that was presented on the discussion board. Someone stated that they think it is more the analyzers of horror films who are giving them the cultural meaning the movies then take on. While part of me really agreed with this when I first saw the statement, after viewing this film, I think differently. Clearly, not all filmmakers are going out there to produce a groundbreaking, hard-hitting film that will impact us insanely culturally. However, true filmmakers, such as Romero and Craven, really did have a specific meaning and intention behind what they were doing, and that's completely evident from their interviews. There are those out there looking to say something with their work, rather than to just make money. I do find it ironic, however, that many of the filmmakers interviewed in this documentary HAVE in fact gone on to create some God-awful films all for the sake of making a profit. It's very interesting actually, since Carpenter himself says that the filmmakers of the "golden age" were rejecting the dogma of the 50's, but now have sold out and just want to make money. This definitely seems to be true.
I really enjoyed this documentary. It gave me an overwhelmingly unsettling feeling, however. One reason is because of the clips from the film "Shivers". That was just disgusting. I have heard of David Cronenberg, but never this film. While I love horror movies, I really do not like gore and horrifying malformations of bodies, or whatever it was that was going on in those clips. I understood what Cronenberg was getting at with his work, but those clips were really grossing me out and I had a difficult time watching them. Since horror films are supposed to disturb us to our core, I'd say he accomplished his mission.
There is another reason, however, as to why I think the film was unsettling. The interviewees all discussed the idea of the inevitability of death. Romero even went as far as saying that all humans are in fact the living dead, because we are all going to die. Talk like this just unsettles me and makes me uncomfortable. I understand that death is inevitable, but I hate thinking about it. I hate thinking about what happens to us after we die. So to hear all of these filmmakers discuss these ideas really made me unhappy. They are completely right, though, and I know that. That's what I think makes it even more unsettling.
Overall, I really enjoyed this film. Aside from the clips from "Shivers" and also from "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre", which I have seen but really don't enjoy very much, I liked watching the film and hearing what all those being interviewed had to say. (I dislike "Texas Chainsaw" mostly in part because it claims it is based off of a true story, when in reality, they took a very abstract concept about a serial killer named Ed Gein and ran with it in a completely inappropriate direction. I highly suggest that everyone looks up Ed Gein, by the way. I think he is completely fascinating. And anyone who has seen "Silence of the Lambs" or "Psycho" will see that there are far more accurate representations of him in cinema). I think that any horror buff would definitely want to watch this film. The 60's and 70's really were the golden age of horror films. Films since then have been unoriginal, taking cues from the films of the past but never hitting the same stride. The films from this time are absolutely worth watching and definitely have a story to tell and message to send out.
The interview that stood out to me the most in the film was that of Tom Savini. I have seen interviews with Savini before, but they were purely related to films, rather than his own backstory and interest in the horror genre. His story about eyewitnessing everything happening in Vietnam was ridiculous to me, because I could really not ever imagine being a witness to the events during any war, let alone what we know of Vietnam. It makes sense to me that someone who has gone through that experience would be interested in doing make up for horror films, and also be interested in horror films in general. I feel like with an experience like that, a person would either be completely repelled by the horror genre or completely interested in it. I don't think there can be an in between. So Savini's story made complete sense to me.
I also found it interesting later when Savini was explaining that George Romero's intention was to make the audience numb to the violence. This fits so well with Savini's story, as he explains how the camera acted as some sort of fence or separation from the real dead bodies he was taking pictures of. He was shielding himself and in a way becoming numb to what was around him because he knew he had to in order to get through his ordeal. That entire interview was just very interesting to me.
Something that also stands out to me is something that was presented on the discussion board. Someone stated that they think it is more the analyzers of horror films who are giving them the cultural meaning the movies then take on. While part of me really agreed with this when I first saw the statement, after viewing this film, I think differently. Clearly, not all filmmakers are going out there to produce a groundbreaking, hard-hitting film that will impact us insanely culturally. However, true filmmakers, such as Romero and Craven, really did have a specific meaning and intention behind what they were doing, and that's completely evident from their interviews. There are those out there looking to say something with their work, rather than to just make money. I do find it ironic, however, that many of the filmmakers interviewed in this documentary HAVE in fact gone on to create some God-awful films all for the sake of making a profit. It's very interesting actually, since Carpenter himself says that the filmmakers of the "golden age" were rejecting the dogma of the 50's, but now have sold out and just want to make money. This definitely seems to be true.
I really enjoyed this documentary. It gave me an overwhelmingly unsettling feeling, however. One reason is because of the clips from the film "Shivers". That was just disgusting. I have heard of David Cronenberg, but never this film. While I love horror movies, I really do not like gore and horrifying malformations of bodies, or whatever it was that was going on in those clips. I understood what Cronenberg was getting at with his work, but those clips were really grossing me out and I had a difficult time watching them. Since horror films are supposed to disturb us to our core, I'd say he accomplished his mission.
There is another reason, however, as to why I think the film was unsettling. The interviewees all discussed the idea of the inevitability of death. Romero even went as far as saying that all humans are in fact the living dead, because we are all going to die. Talk like this just unsettles me and makes me uncomfortable. I understand that death is inevitable, but I hate thinking about it. I hate thinking about what happens to us after we die. So to hear all of these filmmakers discuss these ideas really made me unhappy. They are completely right, though, and I know that. That's what I think makes it even more unsettling.
Overall, I really enjoyed this film. Aside from the clips from "Shivers" and also from "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre", which I have seen but really don't enjoy very much, I liked watching the film and hearing what all those being interviewed had to say. (I dislike "Texas Chainsaw" mostly in part because it claims it is based off of a true story, when in reality, they took a very abstract concept about a serial killer named Ed Gein and ran with it in a completely inappropriate direction. I highly suggest that everyone looks up Ed Gein, by the way. I think he is completely fascinating. And anyone who has seen "Silence of the Lambs" or "Psycho" will see that there are far more accurate representations of him in cinema). I think that any horror buff would definitely want to watch this film. The 60's and 70's really were the golden age of horror films. Films since then have been unoriginal, taking cues from the films of the past but never hitting the same stride. The films from this time are absolutely worth watching and definitely have a story to tell and message to send out.
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