Codename: RUSHDIE

All right, maggots.

Question.

How many of you have seen "The Wizard of Oz?" Classic American film, right? About as American as apple pie and baseball. It's served as a great inspiration for many people, myself included. Don't believe me? Take a look at this piece of Intel that the Major passed down. It's a video of Indian schoolchildren singing a song from the timeless classic. It seems like just an ordinary school performance. But there's far more to this performance than meets the eye. At least, Salman Rushdie would think so. Who's Salman Rushdie!? Maggots, don't you bother reading the bios anymore? Salman Rushdie's a world-famous essayist, and one of his more famous essays was actually about "The Wizard of Oz!" How would Rushdie interpret this special performance?

For starters, Rushdie would comment on the presence of women in the performance. Notice that, in the school performance, all but two of the students are female. They all take the main stage, singing, skipping, and dancing. The two boys merely sit off to the side, partaking in incredibly minor actions. In "The Wizard of Oz," many of the male figures do not act as independent heroes, and rely on the power of women. Dorothy Gale, Glinda the Good Witch, and the Wicked Witch of the West act as the triptych of power in "Oz." As Rushdie states within the essay, the power of men is "illusory; the power of women is real." The power of these girls is much akin to the power of women in the film.

In addition, Rushdie speaks about the morals of "Oz." To Rushdie, "Oz" teaches us "to build on what we have, to make the best of ourselves." In an impoverished country like India, the schoolchildren must really take this moral to heart and make the most with what they have. The film encourages them that there is truly "no place like home." As Rushdie says, "there is no longer any such place as home; except, of course, for the home we make, or the homes that are made for us..." These children enthusiastically sing one of Oz's songs, in unison. Despite poverty and other struggles, these children make the most of their education, their friendships, and their lives, and make a home for themselves on stage.

DIS-MISSED.

Post-Modernist Mona?

Take a look at this picture, maggots. Take a good, hard look. It's Leonardo Da Vinci's "Mona Lisa." But at the same time, it isn't. It's been redrawn in the distinctive cartoon style of "The Simpsons." This show, full of popular cultural icons, has overthrown the original work of art and recreated it in a more stylized manner. What do we call this, maggots? We call this an example of "postmodernism." Fredric Jameson believes that postmodernism is a means of disregarding the classic laws of capitalism and creating a new social formation. This sort of thing has been done countless times before in terms of industrial production, architectural structure, and the countless struggles of various social classes. What do you reckon Jameson would say if he were to take a gander at this "Simpsonized" Mona Lisa? Quite a bit, I wager.

Jameson would say that this does not only represent stylistic change. Within this altered image, an element of altering history is also present. In our society today, we see such works as the "Mona Lisa" as classic works of art. Priceless. However, The Simpsons breaks that mold. How? By bringing this classic work of art down to the same level as a primetime television show. The Simpsons irreverently goes against the classic conventions of Renaissance art by not placing it on a higher pedestal. To the Simpsons, their view of art should be taken just as seriously as the Mona Lisa.

The Simpsons, through postmodernist conventions, are trying to bring a message to the social class. Namely, that this classical work of art should not be taken as seriously as it has been. The world changes everyday. New forms of art spring up everywhere. New perspectives. And these perspectives are all about tearing down the classic laws and universal truths that we are so accustomed to. It's meant to make us think, make us retrace our steps and analyze the very conventions we follow. This image is but one example of a postmodernist change. How many other images can alter our perceptions of foundation? How will postmodernism break our perceptions of normality? And what perspectives will replace them? For Jameson, postmodernism will have many changes in store for us.

DIS-MISSED.

Was That A Freudian Slip, Bauer?

What's the latest buzz, maggots?

Well, the Major wants us to analyze one of our greatest American Heroes. No, I'm not talking about Superman! That cape-wearing pansy isn't even on the same level as this guy! I'm talking about someone who should be even more of a household name: Jack Bauer. If you don't know him, though, he's a counter-terrorism operative, and the hero of the hit TV show, 24. What can be said about Jack? In the pilot episode alone, it's evidenced how much he loves his family and his country, and that he'll stop at nothing to ensure that both remain safe and secure. But what more could be said about those characteristics? Well, let's take a look at this hero through the eyes of Sigmund Freud. Freud, as we all know, was the founder of psychoanalysis as we know it today. He even went so far as to challenge the Medical Establishment of Vienna with his theories. He's credited as a sharp mind whose service has greatly benefited us today. Many people (fictional and real) have been analyzed through a Freudian perspective. How could we properly analyze Jack Bauer through Freudian conventions? Well, sit tight and let's begin.

Perhaps Jack's most distinctive characteristic is the fact that he will stop at nothing to ensure his country's safety, along with his family's. In the pilot episode, he goes so far as to tranquilize another of his fellow coworkers in order to gain access to a hidden bank account that could prove the existence of a rogue operative within the system. In addition, he even manages to hack into his runaway daughter's email account in order to figure out where she had run off to for the evening. This proves that he is incredibly focused on maintaining integrity both within his work-life and his home-life. This strong, goal-directed focus could be signs of neurotic behavior, which, according to Freud, is an enactment of essentially childish fears and anxieties.

What sorts of anxieties could be afflicting Jack so much that it would affect his behavior? It is revealed that Jack is returning home to be with his family once again, after a tumultuous affair with a coworker created a rift between Bauer and his wife. Perhaps it is the strong desire for a united family once more that drives Jack to act so aggressively in maintaining a positive home structure. He transfers this need for a positive structure into his workforce as well, aggressively trying to weed out the rogue operative within his organization in order to find out who he can still trust. I'm sure that if Freud watched more than just the pilot episode, though, he'd have far more to say on our hero.

DIS-MISSED.

Operation: Public Sphere Storm

I dunno but I been told! (I dunno but I been told!)
Blogging never will get old! (Blogging never will get old!)

You know what time it is, maggots?! Blog time! What time?! Blog time!

What'd the Major send us this week? Take a look!

Using Habermas's words and Practice of Looking Chapter 5, discuss whether the blog discussion constitutes 'public sphere'.

Now hold on one second? You're asking me what a public sphere is, maggots? Well, it can be defined in several different manners. German Theorist Jurgen Habermas describes the "public sphere" as a social realm that every person can access. Not only that, but within this public sphere, people are given far more freedom to express their views and opinions, in regards to a major public interest. Practices of Looking refers to Habermas' theories of the public sphere. Though Habermas had much preferred the idea of a more public setting, perhaps within a town meeting or a cafe, Practices of Looking argued that this kind of a public forum is possible within a variety of mediums. These can be anything from e-mails, chat groups, the news, talk radio, or even blog discussions.

Now then, with this in mind, let's take a look at Daily Kos: State of the Nation. From the top page, we can see a variety of topics at hand. Bloggers everywhere are discussing issues of Global Warming, the Swine Flu vaccination process, the fate of Iraqi refugees, the current state of the Republican party, and more. An even more striking feature is the Diary Rescue, which effectively bumps old topics up to the forefront, opening the possibilities of further discussion. This continued attention to detail and to past discussions indicates that no discussion is ever truly closed, and that new ideas are always ready to be formed about any issue at hand. Each topic at hand has a multitude of comments already, indicating that these issues have not disappeared from mind at all. The public is still referring to these topics, indicating a strong public sphere within the site.

Shower Up, Soldier! You've Taken Enough Barthes!

Listen up, Maggots!

I've just received this week's briefing from HQ. You may be curious to see how this week's assignment from the Major plays out, and truth be told, so am I. Let's take a quick look at this briefing and see just what HQ expects from us.

...

It appears that HQ has included an image with the briefing. And here's the mission, cadets:

"Find three quotations in “Rhetoric of the Image” that you find illuminating. Discuss them and apply the them to the following ad for the last episode of The Sopranos."

Ah. Well, then, that explains the image.

Well, first things first, cadets. Let's take a quick refresher on Roland Barthes. Now, Intel's reports have told us that Roland Barthes is a man with a special kind of power. That power? Semiotics. He uses semiotics in order to analyze an image and discover all its secret meanings. He revealed his analytical strategy in an essay entitled, "Rhetoric of the Image." The example he used when revealing his strategy was a Panzini ad. Now, it just so happens that I've been briefed on "Rhetoric of the Image." As such, I found several key points that that were crucial elements of his strategy. Let's do as the Major commands and discuss these three key points. From there, we'll apply these points to the Sopranos advertisement. Any questions? No? Good.

Key Point A.) "What is the signifying structure of illustration? ...does the text add a fresh information to the image?" At this point, Barthes brings up the importance of linguistic code within an image. Namely, in addition to the image itself, Barthes looks to the textual evidence to ensure that it helps reinforce his connoted and denoted evidence. The use of linguistic code is a major factor in image analysis. Though one may simply wish to refer to the image alone, oftentimes it is the accompanying text that can help make an image intelligible.

Key Point B.) "Man's interventions in the photograph (framing, distance, lighting, focus, speed) all effectively belong to the plane of connotation..." What Barthes suggests here is that the composition of a shot itself does not add to the literal message of the photograph. Rather, the image composition is a cunning strategy that photographers use in order to give the image a newer meaning. A meaning that, through interference, ultimately changes the image from one thing to another.

Key Point C.) "...the rhetoric of the image... is specific to the extent that it is subject to the physical constraints of vision..." Barthes indicates that an image can only speak for itself to a certain degree. The manipulation of an image creates different messages, different meanings, and can adjust the different restraints of the image. It could free the image and show us a newer message or restrain the image, forcing us to analyze it deeper.

With these three points in mind, let's turn now to this advertisement from the Sopranos. Move, move, move!

From Point A, let's investigate it through linguistic code. The first linguistic information we see are the words "The Final Episodes," followed by the time. This attaches the image to a sense of urgency. After all, these will be the last several episodes of the show forever. Once these episodes finish, that's all there will ever be. Second, the striking phrase below: "Made in America." Juxtaposing this phrase along with the image, Tony Soprano standing across the water from the Statue of Liberty, this imposes a strong sense of American pride. This could be considered pride of the writers, or perhaps pride of the characters.

From Point B, let's look at the particular techniques the photographers use to connotatively alter the ad's meaning. The picture itself is in black and white, with black and red text superimposed above it. Tony Soprano is the center of the picture's focus, effectively next to the Statue of Liberty, but in some ways, he is not close to the Statue. For one thing, the Statue is across the water from him. For another, both he and the Statue have their backs turned on each other. What could this signify? The country turning its back on its citizens, or the citizens turning their backs on the country? Combined with the textual evidence mentioned just now, this makes an even more striking image. The phrase "Made in America" is suddenly given an entirely new meaning. Could it be sardonic?

Last but not least, Point C. To a degree, this works hand-in-hand with Points A and B. The image has been manipulated in order to convey a certain message about its subject. The positioning of the image's subjects indicate some sort of struggle between country and citizen, and the textual evidence further indicates the struggle. How does it all connect? The composition of the image tells us that this show is about an American struggle, with two moral extremes: black and white. Freedom is at stake, and with only several episodes left, the central conflict will be at its greatest climax.

Good work, maggots! I'll wrap up this briefing now and report to the Major at once.

DIS-MISSED.

Blurring Reality With the Blair Witch

In an especially tense moment of The Blair Witch Project, student Joshua Leonard makes an interesting realization. "It's not the same on film is it? I mean, you know it's real, but it's like looking through the lens gives you some sort of protection from what's on the other side." (The Blair Witch Project, imdb.com) The line itself speaks of film distorting reality, and that the viewers are protected from that distortion. But how protected do film audiences feel when they watch The Blair Witch Project? The film, released in 1999, is a horror film shot by three young actors, in the style of an amateur video. Not only do the three actors film the movie, though; they improvise every line of dialogue, every bit of action we saw on screen. Their fear of the unknown is genuine, as they never truly know what to expect next. When we see the film, told from the direct perspectives of these three characters, we see exactly what they see. We may even feel the dread that they feel. Does looking through the lens of the Blair Witch Project as an audience grant us protection from this blurred distortion of reality?

The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction delves more deeply into perceptions of reality in relation to film, as opposed to the imagery created by a contemporary artist. “The painter maintains in his work a natural distance from reality, the cameraman penetrates deeply into its web. ...for contemporary man the representation of reality by the film is incomparably more significant than that of the painter, since it offers... an aspect of reality which is free of all equipment. And that is what one is entitled to ask from a work of art.” The Blair Witch Project doesn't use any elaborate tricks to try and sway us. The film itself is very low-budget, and the special effects are minimal. What the film does, however, is create a powerful atmosphere out of almost nothing. The film makes us fear, makes us feel! The film is, in essence, a work of art.


It is also stated in The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction that, as an effect of film, "man has to operate with his whole living person, yet forgoing its aura. For aura is tied to his presence; there can be no replica of it. The aura which, on the stage, emanates from Macbeth, cannot be separated for the spectators from that of the actor." The aura of The Blair Witch Project envelops the actors of the film, but to a degree, it also manages to ensnare us through the fear of the situations on-screen. Though The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction would argue that film completely negates the aura of an actor, it is evident that one of the film's primary intentions is to recapture the aura. Though the three characters on-screen are actors, they still do not know what to expect next, making their fear genuine. And when we see the story through their eyes, we can feel that same fear and dread that they all feel. We feel the aura that surrounds the actors. The film effectively indicates that it is possible to have an actor perform in a reproduced film and still maintain an effective aura.

A Question of Realism: Ozu vs. Hollywood

Our class readings define realism as the practice of using art to accurately portray something as it would happen in real life. This concept has been executed in countless mediums, be it paintings, portraits, books, video games, or films, and it's always served to make its subject all the more powerful. In films, realism can be attained in a variety of ways. The film's actions and images, if edited in just the right fashion, act as powerful tools of realism. Whenever we see a realistic film, the images on-screen speak out to us because of their realistic nature, and how similar it all could be to our everyday lives. This process of realistic identification gives the film an even greater impact in our minds.

Yasujiro Ozu's classic Tokyo Story is a perfect example of a realist film. The film is about an elderly Japanese husband and wife, who visit their children in Tokyo in attempt to spend more time with them but ultimately find themselves estranged in their own family. Throughout the film, we see the different day-to-day lives that each of these characters lead. The sons and daughters of the elderly couple each have jobs and families of their own, making it difficult for them to pay more attention to their immediate family from which they all came. In addition to detailing the lives of this dysfunctional family, Ozu also pays great attention to the environment in which they live. The widowed daughter-in-law, Noriko, brings the couple out on the town, showing them the different sights of Japan. We can see the structure of this integral Japanese city, and how it relates to the lifestyle of this family.

Although thematically and narratively, Ozu presents a realistic film, his style of filming and editing it is different than the conventional Hollywood continuity edits. As I read in Film Art, the standards of Hollywood continuity editing typically make use of a 180-degree line in which each of the characters maintain a position on-screen, presenting a much crisper, easier way to focus on each character. It is also much easier to maintain position, therefore, establishing a sense of realistic continuity. Ozu, on the other hand, is well-known for his distinctive tatami-level camera shots, which are low to the ground and unmoving. With this shooting style in effect, the 180-degree line is often completely ignored, creating a scene with shots and character positioning that are not entirely within continuity. Though it might not seem like the worst thing that could happen, the breaking of film continuity may create a disjointing effect that may turn some viewers off. In some respects, the editing style of a classical Hollywood film may present a bit more realism, maintaining a continuous stream of shots with a consistent focus. That's not to say Ozu ignores realism. On the contrary, Ozu's primary focus is on character development, narrative, and main themes. With a consistent focus on these three things, Ozu maintains dramatic film realism---albeit different from the conventions that we're all accustomed to.