Spiritual Education

I was never really read books like this however I did watch a few of the Harry Potter movies and I see how magical this type of book is. First of in books like Harry Potter or The Night Circus you go into this fanciful world where really crazy and awesome things happen and kids totally dig it because authors who write this genre I feel are bringing out their inner child and just as an example with the Harry Potter books when you in a way grow with Harry Potter through the books you can go back to that magical childhood moment you experienced with him in the first book. As far as the book for this week Night Circus it has a few of the same components as Harry Potter like the girl Celia has an abusive upbringing but I see a big difference in the magic of this book. It isn't so much like witchcraft but an advanced illusion. I guess that would be my best way of explaining it. But regardless this genre of books appeals to children (even inner children) and gives us all a chance to experience magic.

Heroic Journey

Tolkien's stories The Hobbit and The Lord of The Rings is perfect for this segment of class. I have been a huge fan of his work for many years and the thing I like most about his stories is that even though there is a main character who is a hero that hero doesn't succeed without a support system or a group of friends to help guide the hero through (in this case) his adventure. What I really like about this series of his is that it is so in depth and it focuses on relationships between characters. For example the relationship between the dwarfs at the dinner scene and they are all just gathering together and having a good time and then as they are making fun of Bilbow they are all singing about destroying his house and it just goes to show how loyal they are to each other and their friendship can withstand distance and   time to pull through for each other and that is how it is with all relationships built through his books so I think that speaks a lot about his character and that is why I enjoy his work.

Witches

I found this story very interesting, and in response to weather I see any stereotypes I did see a few however I feel like this story is way different than I had expected. I think the fact it's a group of old women is a stereotype but at the same time these women were completely average everyday old bitties. Something I thought was an interesting twist was the all the animal morphing. I can see how that is connected with witches and witches produce magic but I wasn't expecting that as a witchcraft. This is definitely kid friendly the witches aren't particularly scary like in the movie we watched Suspiria where there was a clan and the witch was scary and ugly. In fact most witches in the older films were portrayed as old, ugly and scary and I feel like movie makers made a point of that because back then witchcraft was something feared and unaccepted and now there are all kinds of different witches. Men, women, young, old and in all actuality anyone can practice witchcraft.

Weird Horror

I find that weird horror is just plain weird, which does kind of state the obvious but I can elaborate on that one. I had seen American Psycho a few weeks ago and it fell under your weird horror category and I totally get that because this movie was just plain weird. I feel like it was a joke in a way which I can also connect with cabin in the woods. I feel like weird horror has a twist of humor about the way horror films are made. They use cliches to make statements about how unrealistic horror films can be and over exaggerate the relationships between characters and settings but its executed in a way that makes a great horror film but also shows that its made for movies and not real life and give the audience a sense of security in the horror.

Japanese Horror

I would like to begin with this type of horror that we covered this week blows America's horror right out of the water. I spend a lot of time watching horror films (and mostly to empathize with the killer because there is usually a reason as to why they are killers and that is especially the case in this horror). The second film we saw in class and Audition was scary to me and that says a lot. I feel like Audition was a very psychological film and I really do feel bad for the girl no matter how psychotic she is. Not saying that's how you should respond when your love life goes wrong but I can still level with her. Another thing about this movie is that I couldn't tell what was real and what wasn't. I couldn't tell if maybe he dreamed the whole thing up or if she really annihilated him and he was dreaming about dreaming about her annihilating him (which would cross into inception territory) but regardless it was a very good film that kept my attention the whole time guessing what would happen next and questioning what was real and what wasn't. Another connection I made (as far as ghost and spirit stories go) is I kind of feel like people want to put a face to tragic things. It's like the question why would bad things happen to good people but these ghost stories kind of give a persona to why. Like the Greeks when they created their gods and demigods. When ships wrecked at sea the Greeks created Poseidon in the Snow Woman they created a female spirit to explain why people froze to death in a snow storm (or at least in that film).

Vampires

I love vampires, I love old style, new style and the evolution between it all. To me a vampire is the ultimate "bad boy" and for most females that is very attractive and seductive and I feel like that's a main portion of what makes vampires so popular. The lust factor between a vampire and the person they are seducing is very intriguing to people and as that has progressed vampires have become these lust symbols but also in newer generations they have adapted ways to still have their humanity. In the example of interview with a vampire Lewis tried to hold on to as much humanity as possible by eating animals rather than killing innocent people and in newer things like The Vampire Diaries and Twilight that is the "definer" of their humanity where as in older versions they don't they just drink people's blood. I am a huge fan of The Lost Boys and I find that a very interesting movie because they stick pretty close to the original vampire rules or myths but vampires are seen as damned souls and The Lost Boys has a lot of biblical and religious points in the movie. One of my favorite examples of this is when Michael asks "Where is Star, David?" (as in the star of David).

Gothic Post

When I think of gothic I think of dark, cool color pallets, I think of tragedy (in most gothic films or stories there is a line of tragedy flowing through the story) I think of large towering castles and cathedrals. In my generation I feel like the sense of gothic was in a "clique" I saw at high school. They wore trip pants painted their nails black, all they wore was black, had long dyed black hair and the majority drank and did drugs. Also I think it started carrying into cartoons and shoes such as Invader Zim, Elvira, or even the recent movies made of The Adams Family but as the years went on and the gothic genre grew they added some comedy. But something prominent about the gothic genre is a love tension. A thin line between lust and love and weather its feasible to enter into that relationship. One of my favorite versions of Frankenstein has Robert De Niro as the monster and it is a perfect fit for what I see as a Gothic film. The tragedy would be the relationship between creator and the created or in this case the lack there of. Also the night Frankenstein's wife dies at the hand of his creation which would then cause him to bring her back to life and she was so disgusted she then destroyed herself. It's all about love and the lack of such for the first creation (even though he has sense of good morals which is why I like this version) and a long line of tragedy.