Taking a Nosedive

"Under the Bridge," by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, was directed by Gus van Sant. Living under a bridge represents hitting rock bottom. The location is standard for homeless people.

Know these words and phrases for the Final Exam, which is next Tuesday: master cut, existentialism, what's eating you?, go to pot, spaghetti Western, plot, characters, climax, pun, adultery, basement, protagonist, revenge, vengeance, couple of, fear, culturally, set in, personality, explain, silly, shallow, paragraph, sentences, mentally disabled, twist of fate, epiphany, in a nosedive / in a tailspin, disparity, dystopia, traitor, annoying

**********************************************************************

The test is next week. I will send the vocabulary tonight.

It’s the same format as the midterm. I will do Inglourious Basterds, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, American Beauty and Nosedive.

Nosedive is today’s movie. The genre is science fiction.

Nosedive is literally when the airplane is crashing nose or head first. As a metaphor, it means our life is suddenly having a lot of problems.

We also say “in a tailspin” using the airplane as a metaphor for the same meaning.

This movie is about the negative influence social media has on our lives. First, it is making us really superficial or shallow, because it is based on how we look and saying silly things.

Because it has hurt or influenced people’s ability to focus for a long time, nobody can read books anymore.

The sad thing is people really care about getting “likes” or approval from other people on social media. But we cannot control how others feel about us We can only control how we feel about ourselves. People feel safe to say mean, cruel, unfriendly things on social media.

 

Pay attention to the clothes and homes. They are almost always pastel and of a solid/plain pattern. This represents the shallow or superficial personality we gain from using social media all the time.

That is what they call “famous” people on social media: “influencers.”

 

The Court Jester: the King’s personal clown

Everyone must kiss the King’s butt and tell him how great he is or get killed.

The only person that can tell the King the truth and much B.S. (bulls*&^) he is would be the Court Jester

Psychological problem: in denial (when you don’t want to see or think about the trut

h)

Lie and be fake to be successful.

Tell the truth to be a loser.

 

I’m still looking for “that.”

What is “that?”

Searching for meaning in life: existentialism.

 

No schlep is Yiddish, the old Jewish language, for b.s. or nonsense.

What does under the bridge represent? Absolute low point in existence in terms of comfort.

Under the Bridge. Two famous songs about this: Nirvana and Red Hot Chili Peppers.

 

Why did she take her clothes off? Metaphor. She’s naked. She’s not hiding.

 

The genre is science fiction. Whenever the story is set in the future, it is science fiction. What the writers of science fiction often do is show us how the world is going to be a terrible place later: This is called a dystopia. It is a common theme in this genre.

 

 

Go to Pot

 

Musicians have this idea called catch and release. It is from fishing. We catch the fish for sport but let it go instead of killing and eating it.

In music, it is when music is terrible on purpose so that the later, sublime, great music will even sound more beautiful.

Master cut / shot: Camera does not move. Things come in and out of the shot.

Idiom: “going to pot”    You try to be handsome/beautiful, charming, fit and healthy, dress well, etc. so you can find a husband/wife. After you get married, you don’t have to worry about this anymore. You can be fat, lazy, a slob dresser.

 

 

If you go to small towns in America, the downtown part is deserted. Not many people go there. Every small town has a street called Main Street. The reason is the big stores like Walmart (that sell cheap garbage that we don’t need anyway – materialism) or Costco, etc. buy up the cheap land out of town to build stores. The people go there because it is easy to park, cheap, they can buy everything in the same place, etc.

Irony: we think something is going to happen while something else is really happening; there is another meaning we missed

The Phoenix is reborn from a fire to a better, second life. Is this a tragedy. They are free now. The mother was a burden.

Trapped in a Small Town

 

Homework:

1.              How is Inglourious Basterds a movie about revenge?

2.              How has the director changed history in Inglorious Basterds?

 

 *******************************

I didn’t put up a homework assignment last week. I will do that tonight.

I did say everyone can have 20%/20% on the homework part.

Some ideas about What’s Eating Gilbert Grape.

It takes place in Iowa in a small town. Iowa only has one city: Des Moines 212,000 population.

1.              Xenophobia: fear of outsiders or strangers. Arnie gets excited though when he sees the campers.

2.              Socio-economic disparity. People in big cities have more money than people in small towns. Most people in small towns never get the chance to go to university. They will feel bitter because they feel they can’t get away or escape.

3.              Mentally disabled brother.

4.              The director is a foreigner. Swedish. Foreigners or first generation (your parents are foreigners) tend to make the greatest directors. Why? Because they grow up knowing they are different and constantly thinking identity. This is called existentialism, or the meaning of life.

5.              Their father killed himself in the basement. That is why Arnie is afraid of it.

6.              This was a theme in American Beauty. Adultery. Sleeping with someone besides your husband or wife. Why do they do it? Does it has something to do with the hopelessness and boredom of life in that small town? Existentialism. Why are we here and what is the meaning of life? It is a common idea in literature, film and art.

7.              He was trapped in the small town. He can’t escape. Is she trapped in the marriage? Is that what she feels?

Twist of fate is a surprise ending – a conclusion to a novel or movie we did not expect. Why do we care? We are watching a movie about history. So, if we know our history, we already know what is going to happen in the end. The director Polanski said music should not match the scene or guide the viewers emotions because then the viewer does NOT have to think. He/she can space out.

 

What’s Eating Gilbert Grape

Pun: when the title of a book or movie / play has two meanings. Shakespeare loved puns

Gilbert’s surname is Grape or food. We eat grapes. What’s eating you? Means what is bothering you.

Red in literature symbolizes blood and foreshadows death. What is that genre?

Tragedy.

Jealousy is a green eyed monster.

Green symbolizes jealousy.

What fairy tale is going on here?

Foot fetish.

He is afraid he will go on trial after the war and go to jail. Usually, the top guys committed suicide (killed themselves). Some escaped but were later caught by Jewish special agents. This guy is worried this will happen to him.

Catch and release is more of an idea in writing music. The music goes from very loud and even annoying to beautiful and relaxing. John Coltrane’s These Are some of my Favorite Things or Nirvana’s Aneurysm.

Spaghetti Westerns

 Questions for American Beauty Homework:

1. Why do you think the neighbor is so homophobic? Explain.

2. Why does the mother commit adultery?

3. Why is the movie called "American Beauty?"

1.            I forgot to put up the questions from last week. I will do that tonight.

2.            I used to punish students who used AI to write. But I realize I didn’t say I would do this before class started. I also realize that it the way writing will be now. So, in the future, I need to change how I give scores. I can’t do that in the middle of a semester. The homework is 20 percent of the final grade. I will give everyone a full score on this (20 percent).

It was dangerous for French women to date German soldiers, because the French people saw them as traitors. In Holland, they shot the traitors (the men). The women had their heads shaved so everyone would know they were traitors. The narrator is Samuel L. Jackson. 

I wanted to show The Shining, but my external DVD player is not responding. I will get a new one and we can watch it later.

1.        Why is the father so homophobic? Violently homophobic?

Inglorious Basterds are a special unit in the American army during World War II. For America, WWII is 1941 to 1945.

For Europe, WWII is 1939 to 1945.

For Asia, WWII is 1937 to 1945. Actually, 230,000 Taiwanese people died. They fought in the Japanese army.

My wife’s grandpa fought for Japan. My grandpa was a pilot. He bombed the airport in Kaohsiang on July 7, 1945.

Germany murdered 7,000,000 Jewish people. This unit is ten Jewish soldiers; they are specialists. Even though it is WWII, this is still like a cowboy movie.

Spaghetti westerns. Cowboy movies made in Italy.

There is an idea in story telling called the allegory. If you show a famous image, you don’t need to explain. Everyone will know the meaning.

 

Technicolor is an old style of filming, when we first had color movies and not black and white movies. It started around the 1950s. A lot of famous directors still preferred black and white film then as there is more depth.

Jim Bridger was an Indian fighter.

1756 to 1763, England and France were at war in Europe. But both countries had colonies in North America. So there were fighting in North America too. Some Indian tribes fought for France and some for England there. They told the Indians they would pay them for killing French/English.

Tarantino is paying homage to the Italian/spaghetti westerns.

Anachronism: something is wrong based on time and the years

“He went yard.” Home run

The actor was adlibbing.

 

Epiphany

 

Bag Moved by a Benevolent Force

I said I would point out some camera shots or angles that are typical in film (often used).

Master shot: Camera stays back and the actors into and out of the shot

Turning point: when something important happens to change the movie

Epiphany: when we suddenly understand something very important about life

Static character: a person in a story who does not change

Dynamic character: person in a story who does change

Cutaway shot: the scene starts in a master shot. There is a conversation, but it continues in a closeup shot.

In English literature, flower pedals pulled off the flower mean loss of innocence. Growing up.

Roses represent the battle of sexes. Man against woman. Husband against/hating wife. I don't misogyny. x

Some famous directors, Roman Polanski, for example, say the music should not match the scene and guide our feelings. The music should be the opposite of the scene or clash with what is happening.

1.            They want you thinking of many things.

2.            They want to break a mindless focus or spacing out

3.            Irony.

Materialism: believing owning lots of stuff brings happiness

Irony: Did it make this woman happy?

Foreshadowing: Why does the father say "You can't just go around doing whatever you like. There are rules."

What are the rules for specifically? They are for having straight relationships, not gay relationships.

Why is the father so homophobic? Psychology going on here.

Gay people used to taught that being gay was wrong or immoral.

So, gay people had to hide being gay. But some gay people really hated themselves. So, the psychological idea is that people that are the most homophobic or violent people toward gay people do it because they are gay and are fighting themselves.

At the start of the movie, Lester says he will be dead in a year.

Bird's eye view camera shot

Mid Term Exam

For the Midterm Exam, please learn these words or phrases: column, ice cream, synonym, misogyny, misanthrope, paragraph, homophobic, genre, science fiction, explain, disillusioned, director, disillusioned, hint, hatred, mistrust, chronological, hitman, briefcase, structure, respect, chopper, mistrust, picaresque, gold digger, pay homage to, is, dork, do, materialism, dysfunction, similar, match cut, image, eat, hatred, film, literature, pulp, good

Midterm Exam is next week. I will send the information by tomorrow night at the latest.

Part One: vocabulary I will tell you the vocabulary to study, so check your email

Part Two: comprehension questions. I will ask questions about the movies we have watched

Part Three: Paragraph

 

Who has seen American Beauty?

Genre: comedy, coming of age movie (turning from a child to an adult), drama

Themes:

Homophobia: hating gay people / being afraid of gay people

Adultery: having sexual relations with someone other than your husband / wife; cheating on your spouse

Family dysfunction: when you don’t talk to the people in your family; you live together, but you don’t really know those people

Materialism: love to buy things because you are a sad person; you think owning nice things will make you happy; shallow view

Mid-life crisis: when you get to around 40 to 50 years old and you hate your job and life becomes uninteresting

Am I talking about happy themes? This movie seems to be full of unhappy lives. So why is the title called “American Beauty?”

“In a way, I’m dead already.” He has lost feeling for his life.  

Mother: “I watched you closely. You did not screw up once.” 

Screw up: make a mistake

The mother actually expects the daughter to lose or not succeed.

Very negative parenting.

Let’s watch his posture.

Slouch.

Misanthrope

 

Misanthrope: someone who hates other people for being stupid

Misogyny: hatred of women

Homophobic: hatred of gay people

George just got married. Phil it seems is gay. Phil is also an angry man. Why?

This is 1925. America was very homophobic then. It was even illegal. You could go to jail for being gay. Before, people thought being gay was a sickness that could be cured. Now, we think it is just how we are born. So, maybe Phil is angry at himself too.

He keeps talking about Bronco Henry. His brother does NOT like to talk about Bronco Henry.

1.           Perhaps Phil and Bronco Henry were lovers.

2.           Perhaps Bronco Henry is NOT real. Maybe he is a dream.

The director is a woman. How does this show in the movie? She can see a woman being bullied by man and understand that better than a man.

Phil went to Yale University and graduated number one. He studied Classics, which are ancient Greece and Rome. He knows a lot about myths. Again, is Bronco Henry a myth or real?

Phil seems to be torturing her. What will he do next to torture Rose? How did he save his mother? By murdering Phil, who was torturing her.  He used the raw hide that was laced with anthrax. He poisoned Phil.

He is not as weak as he looks. Phil thought he was weak. Phil is super smart and educated. But Peter outsmarted him.

Homework: Answer the questions with a sentence or two apiece. Remember to explain your answer.

1.           How did Peter save his mother? Was it moral?

2.           Do you think Bronco Henry is real or a figment of Phil’s imagination?

3.           Why does Rose start to drink alcohol?

4.           What are some hints that the director might be a woman?