A modern spin on "The Glass Menagerie"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uASlR5mMLfw

Fact or Fiction?

When it comes to choosing a book, I enjoy books that are fact, and real life situations, oppose to fiction. As a math major, I prefer facts and concrete pieces of information over allowing my mind to wander and imagine about different fantasy’s. I find when I read fantasy books; I question things too much and get frustrated that those things could never happen in real life. I find it hard to just accept that it’s fiction, and I do not enjoy the book usually. When I’m reading biographies or stories based on real life events, I find myself intrigued at the fact that this actually happened. I’m content when I’m reading because in a way I feel like the book is telling me the truth, where sometimes reading fiction, it’s almost like I’m being told a fib. There are a few fantasy books that I enjoy, but overall, I enjoy books based on real life much better.

Because my soccer team was out of town this weekend, I did not get the chance to go to the play “A Streetcar Named Desire”. I did, however, rent the movie. Although it was not the best movie I’ve ever seen, it was very interesting. The thing that bored me the most was the fact that the setting did not really change throughout the whole movie. Once I accepted the fact that I was going to be watching the same room for two and a half hours, I didn’t mind the movie. It does a very interesting job of portraying an “American Family”, which seems perfect from the outside, but truly is very troubled. Stella and Stanley were the biggest example of this for me. At the beginning of the movie she talks about how in love she is with Stanley and acts as though their relationship is perfect. In reality, he is verbally and physically abusive to her, but she stays with him anyways. Blanche also tries to seem perfect on the exterior, but in reality she has so many problems with confidence and facing reality. She wants to remain living in her youth, which is clearly long gone. This movie did a good job on comparing reality to fantasy, and also the fact that things aren’t always as they seem on the exterior. Although I did not love this movie, I thought it portrayed these things very well.

“The Glass Menagerie” You tube Remake

For our You Tube video I will be portraying the character of Amanda in “The Glass Menagerie”. To create a good video, we believe that we need to add more humor than the book did. We believe that by doing this is it will also make it more modern. I will be acting as the “crazy mother”. Similar to the Amanda in the book, I will bask in my youth, and pray that my daughter lives a life like I did. I will be similar to a mom that you see in a show like “The Real Housewives of Orange County” or “Toddlers and Tiaras”. If one hasn’t seen these shows, you can expect a stereotypical blonde, bimbo, plastic mom, who makes her daughter dress nice, wear makeup, do her hair, and try and be popular. My character in our play will be like a “cougar”, still living in her youth and seeking younger men. We believe that by playing with the character of Amanda, making her like one would expect a rich lady from somewhere like Hollywood would act, it will create humor in the story. These kind of mothers are seen everywhere in movies, and by changing Amanda more into this stereotypical character, viewers will be able to relate and respond better to the story. She will respond to her son in the way that proves that he just doesn’t understand her and how perfect she was in her youth. He also doesn’t live up to her high expectations of what a man should be like, and this disappoints her. The “Amanda” that we are creating in our play will be very humorous and entertaining to watch, which furthermore will make a somewhat dull moment in the play more exciting.

Music as Literature

One of the most effective types of literature that is often forgotten about is music. Music does a great job in telling a story, and is very enjoyable. Some people may argue that music is not literature, but why not? It tells a story, and the person listening to it usually has a response to it. It can make you feel sad, happy, mad, or even hopeful. Sometimes the lyrics are what attract us to the song, and sometimes, it is just the music. The rise an fall and different tones can tell stories without needing words. Musicians are so talented in the sense that just by creating sound; they bring the listener into a different world. Instead of sitting down and watching a movie or reading a book, listening to music is also a very effective way to connect with literature.

Protagonist or Antagonist?

It may seem weird, but growing up I always enjoyed the antagonist in a story more than I did the protagonist. The villain always kept me more interested than the hero. I believe that stories that have a strong character for an antagonist are much more exciting than having a good protagonist. Take the newest “Batman” for example. Heath Ledger did such a unreal job playing the Joker, Batman was barely even recognized. The movie would not have been even close to as good as it was without such a strong antagonist. The protagonist does make viewers enjoy the movie because generally we don’t like to see bad things happen, but the villain causes so much controversy it keeps the viewer on his or her toes. Call me crazy, but if you look at any of your favorite movies, I bet you’ll realize that they have a strong antagonist, and it was part of the reason you enjoyed the story so much.

Response to "The Truman Show"

This past weekend I watched the movie “The Truman Show”. I have seen it once before, but I was very young and didn’t appreciate it as much as I did watching it for a second time. After taking a film analysis course in high school, this movie has so many inner messages and meanings that are so interesting. The lighting, word choice, and characters are chosen to perfection. I found it very interesting that all of the characters who live with Truman have “Hollywood” like names. The creator of Truman’s world, Christoff, has the root word “Christ”, which was not chosen by accident. It’s also interesting to note all of the hints that Truman gets that he is living in his own world that he does not pick up on. All the advertising and day to day similarities are somewhat hidden, and I definitely feel like if I watched the movie again I’d pick up on more of them. Overall, I really enjoyed “The Truman Show” and would definitely watch it again.