Thursday, May 7, 2009
The Stepford Wives, A Feminine Approach
Feminism is the social equality of the sexes. It is the idea that women should have social, political, and intellectual rights and they ought to be equal to those of men. “When Beauvoir claims that ‘woman’ is a historical idea and not a natural fact, she clearly underscores the distinction between sex, as biological facticity, and gender, as the cultural interpretation…of that facticity” (Butler). Women are often looked in ways that are traditional; that they should be homemakers, housewives, and always make certain that they remain in poise and their appearance should look clean and pleasant. During the 1900 era, women were strictly distinguished by men as being weak and superior to them. After marriage, wives became their husbands’ “slaves.” Their husband’s every wish was to be accomplished by their wives and if by any reason the wife did not perform her husband’s desire, then she was not acting upon her feminine duties. Living now in the more modern era, women are no longer pressured into living a life of “feminine duties.” After watching “The Stepford Wives,” which was released in 2004, starring Nicole Kidman and Matthew Broderick, the plot of the movie was very modern but did portray the ultimate view of feminism; women clothed in floral dresses and frilly aprons cooking and cleaning all day. The view of feminism in “The Stepford Wives” portrays the idea that women are thought to be mere objects rather than be treated like human beings equal to men altogether. This film presents a view of a perfect life, a perfect house, and a perfect wife, a gender bias, and an ultimate view of feminism.
Why should anyone live with a nagging and troublesome woman when there is a possibility of having a perfectly well-made, flawless Barbie doll? The men in “Stepford Wives” technologically make it a possibility to make a wife of their own. These wives are to perform their every desire and command. Their wives will be technologically trained to do whatever their husbands tell them to. Joanna, (Kidman’s character in the movie) moves with her husband and two kids to a suburb in Stepford, Connecticut after she has a nervous breakdown when she is fired from her high-profile job as a television hostess. Everything in Stepford seems perfect; the homes, the grass, trees, and even the people. They are so nice and humble, and so…perfect. After a few days in their new perfectly-made two-story house, Joanna decides to visit the “gym” where a bunch of housewives are dressed in floral dresses and ready to workout. Joanna then approaches the leader of the group and asks them why they are dressed that way to workout and she answers, “Whatever we do we always wanna look our best. We would never allow ourselves to look sweaty and dressed in unseemly clothing in front of our husbands. They should always see us at our very best.” These women are to show only perfection; no exposure of flaws but pursue the ultimate excellence. While “working out” the women are exercising in comparison to the washing machine in its cycle phase. Their domestic aspects are clearly depicted; the women function only when it has something to do with domesticity. Men depict their wives in the movie as their slaves. These women are caught up in such feminine lifestyles and believe that they should look perfect and act perfect, that their idea of pursuing the ideal act of feminism is what would make their marriage better.
Feminism in the movie is depicted through a modern perspective and that a biased view of women is “in” and “cool” and it seems reasonable to view it in such a way. Robert Stam, the author of “Literature and Film,” elaborates on the concept of the modern era and sexist beliefs when he claims that “The nonsynchronous texture of life in Stepford belies Joanna’s historicist misprison that patriarchy is outmoded while feminism is contemporary” (Stam). The movie in some ways presents the idea that feminism is no longer conventional but it is current and modern. The movie allows an acceptable judgment when it comes to feminist biases. In another scene in the movie the women are caddying for their husbands on the golf course. The men use them to their advantage and the women stand there holding the golf clubs supporting their husband telling them that they are playing a great game. Stam continues to state, “Instead, Stepford’s homicidal husbands employ cutting-edge technology to reprise old-fashioned notions of femininity embodying discrepant patriarchal ethos, at one futuristic, coeval, and deeply nostalgic”(Stam). The men have created robotic wives for themselves and their “wives” perform their husbands’ desires and the way that men look at it is that wives should approach their husbands this way. It is the stereotypical aspect of viewing women in this means. The men believe that women should act in such ways and should wait on them hand and foot. They should support their husbands in everything that they do because males are following the conservative judgments of femininity.
Going Beyond the point of viewing females as weaklings of the natural world, femininity assembles the idea of masculine characteristics in women. It is difficult to think that since women have been depicted as being superior to men for such a long time that females carrying the masculine trait within themselves is anything but believable. Philosopher, Judith Halberstam, considers to “reimagine masculinity” and create “alternative masculinities” altogether. She further continues on to say that “female masculinity has been blatantly ignored both in the culture at large and within academic studies of masculinity”(Halberstam). Masculinity is a characteristic of power and supremacy, however, when this theory is applied to women they are only thought of containing feminine aspects. This gender ideology creates a big difference when thinking of women as having masculine characteristics, however, Halberstam convincingly states that women are capable of being as masculine as men are. She explains the idea of James Bond in the movie Goldeneye and how Bond battles with bad guys and one of those “bad guys” tend to be a very “aggressive violent femme type” (Halberstam). She fights like a man, walks like a man, and becomes one with a man and Bond uses the same technique to fight with her as he will with the other men. “His usual performance of debonair action adventure hero, and he has his usual supply gadgetry to aid him”(Halberstam). Bond’s typical take on battling against his enemies is not paused just because there is a woman involved in the battle. “Sexism and misogyny are not necessarily part and parcel of masculinity, even though historically it has become difficult, if not impossible, to untangle masculinity from the oppression of women”(Halberstam). Femininity has become such a big part of women’s lives that thinking in terms of female masculinity is quite unattainable.
In “Stepford Wives” female masculinity is not revealed by any means because it has thickened the issue of gender bias in such ways that imagining the “stepford” women being masculine is humorous. The women are caught up in their domestic duties that they act like robots. Considering the fact that in the movie the stepford wives are literally robots, however, assuming that they are not, allows one to notice that women yet are being portrayed in a stereotypical viewpoint. In one of the scenes the women are gathered together at a book club meeting and when approached to talk of a book that has nothing to do with domesticity, they are frozen in their seats, lifeless, with no sense of reaction. When the leader of the group brings up the topic about yarn and knitting, the women’s eyes light up with excitement and they are clearly entertained by the idea. This scene depicts the idea that the female gender bias is only to converse about domestic things such as sewing, knitting, cooking, cleaning, and taking care of their husband when they come home after a hard day at work; nothing should excite them but stereotypical feminine duties. Judith Butler, a philosopher, talks of Beauvoir’s claim when he stated that “ ‘woman’ is a historical idea and not a natural fact,” contributing to the idea that the acts of women are historically originated and have not naturally come forth. Butler once again goes back on Beauvoir’s idea, “When Beauvoir claims that woman is an ’historical situation,’ she emphasizes that the body suffers a certain cultural construction, not only through conventions that sanction and proscribe how one acts one’s body, the ’act’ or performance that one’s body is, but also in the tacit conventions that structure the way the body is culturally perceived” (Qtd. in Butler). For example, the wives in stepford are shaped in the way that is conventional for females to act like. Every move they make is feminized and according to Beauvoir, the stereotypical viewpoint of women in the movie is convincing. Going back to female masculinity where females expose their masculine characteristics, it is an obvious factor that the depiction of imagining the stepford wives as masculine is not a possibility.
When thinking about gender, it is a phrase that is described differently than of femininity and masculinity. Butler describes gender as, “an act which has been rehearsed, much as a script survives the particular actors who make use of it; but which requires individual actors in order to be actualized and reproduced as reality once again”(Butler). Masculinity and femininity is something that people express as the stereotypical view that a man has masculine features and characteristics and the woman has feminine features and characteristics. However, gender is described as something that society depicts it to be. The man should act in such ways that a woman shouldn’t and vice versa. If, by any means, a man acts out of their socially structured characteristic they are no longer in the margin of masculinity because they have acted upon something that only concerns women or that is not “manly.” “Surely, there are nuanced and individual ways of doing one’s gender, but that one does it, and that one does it in accord with certain sanctions and prescriptions, is clearly not a fully individual matter”(Butler). Men and women operate their actions according to how society has portrayed it to be and those portrayals are authorized by “prescriptions” meaning the method that society has built it up to be.
Butler presents a theme in her study of gender when she compares gender biases with acting. “Just as a script may be enacted in various ways, and just as the play requires both text and interpretation, so the gendered body acts its part in a culturally restricted corporeal space and enacts interpretations within the confines of already existing directives”(Butler). In “Stepford Wives,” the women are robots, however, if that aspect were to be disregarded, it is a possibility to think that the women are acting the way they should be because the men have given them the “script” to act through. Although the women are technically robots and they are only acting the way they are because they are technologically made that way, they are acting feminine unconsciously; not knowing what they are exactly liable of. Butler continues further to say, “the link between a theatrical and a social role are complex and the distinctions not easily drawn, it seems clear that, although theatrical performances can meet with political censorship and scathing criticism, gender performances in non-theatrical contexts are governed by more clearly punitive and regulatory social conventions”(Butler). Every way that a man and a woman act nowadays is often judged by conventions of stereotypical viewpoints that come across from society.
“The Stepford Wives” presents a stereotypical viewpoint of gender biases. It is a film that has captured the attention of many and is interpreted as a feminist movie. The women portray a typical housewife who’s every intention is to pursue a domestic existence. Femininity and masculinity are built the way they are because of society. Every action that a man takes and every action a woman pursues is a stereotypical bias because culture has caused it to be that way.
Works Cited
Butler, Judith. “Performative Acts and Gender Constitution.” Literary Theory: An Anthology. 2nd Ed. Eds. Julie Rivkin and Michael Ryan. Blackwell Publishing. 2004. 900-904.
Halberstam, Judith. "Female Masculinity." Literary Theory: An Anthology. 2nd Ed. Eds. Julie Rivkin and Michael Ryan. Blackwell Publishing. 2004. 935-938.
Stam, Robert. “Literature and Film.” Serial Time: Bluebeard in Stepford: New York. 5 June 2005.
Why should anyone live with a nagging and troublesome woman when there is a possibility of having a perfectly well-made, flawless Barbie doll? The men in “Stepford Wives” technologically make it a possibility to make a wife of their own. These wives are to perform their every desire and command. Their wives will be technologically trained to do whatever their husbands tell them to. Joanna, (Kidman’s character in the movie) moves with her husband and two kids to a suburb in Stepford, Connecticut after she has a nervous breakdown when she is fired from her high-profile job as a television hostess. Everything in Stepford seems perfect; the homes, the grass, trees, and even the people. They are so nice and humble, and so…perfect. After a few days in their new perfectly-made two-story house, Joanna decides to visit the “gym” where a bunch of housewives are dressed in floral dresses and ready to workout. Joanna then approaches the leader of the group and asks them why they are dressed that way to workout and she answers, “Whatever we do we always wanna look our best. We would never allow ourselves to look sweaty and dressed in unseemly clothing in front of our husbands. They should always see us at our very best.” These women are to show only perfection; no exposure of flaws but pursue the ultimate excellence. While “working out” the women are exercising in comparison to the washing machine in its cycle phase. Their domestic aspects are clearly depicted; the women function only when it has something to do with domesticity. Men depict their wives in the movie as their slaves. These women are caught up in such feminine lifestyles and believe that they should look perfect and act perfect, that their idea of pursuing the ideal act of feminism is what would make their marriage better.
Feminism in the movie is depicted through a modern perspective and that a biased view of women is “in” and “cool” and it seems reasonable to view it in such a way. Robert Stam, the author of “Literature and Film,” elaborates on the concept of the modern era and sexist beliefs when he claims that “The nonsynchronous texture of life in Stepford belies Joanna’s historicist misprison that patriarchy is outmoded while feminism is contemporary” (Stam). The movie in some ways presents the idea that feminism is no longer conventional but it is current and modern. The movie allows an acceptable judgment when it comes to feminist biases. In another scene in the movie the women are caddying for their husbands on the golf course. The men use them to their advantage and the women stand there holding the golf clubs supporting their husband telling them that they are playing a great game. Stam continues to state, “Instead, Stepford’s homicidal husbands employ cutting-edge technology to reprise old-fashioned notions of femininity embodying discrepant patriarchal ethos, at one futuristic, coeval, and deeply nostalgic”(Stam). The men have created robotic wives for themselves and their “wives” perform their husbands’ desires and the way that men look at it is that wives should approach their husbands this way. It is the stereotypical aspect of viewing women in this means. The men believe that women should act in such ways and should wait on them hand and foot. They should support their husbands in everything that they do because males are following the conservative judgments of femininity.
Going Beyond the point of viewing females as weaklings of the natural world, femininity assembles the idea of masculine characteristics in women. It is difficult to think that since women have been depicted as being superior to men for such a long time that females carrying the masculine trait within themselves is anything but believable. Philosopher, Judith Halberstam, considers to “reimagine masculinity” and create “alternative masculinities” altogether. She further continues on to say that “female masculinity has been blatantly ignored both in the culture at large and within academic studies of masculinity”(Halberstam). Masculinity is a characteristic of power and supremacy, however, when this theory is applied to women they are only thought of containing feminine aspects. This gender ideology creates a big difference when thinking of women as having masculine characteristics, however, Halberstam convincingly states that women are capable of being as masculine as men are. She explains the idea of James Bond in the movie Goldeneye and how Bond battles with bad guys and one of those “bad guys” tend to be a very “aggressive violent femme type” (Halberstam). She fights like a man, walks like a man, and becomes one with a man and Bond uses the same technique to fight with her as he will with the other men. “His usual performance of debonair action adventure hero, and he has his usual supply gadgetry to aid him”(Halberstam). Bond’s typical take on battling against his enemies is not paused just because there is a woman involved in the battle. “Sexism and misogyny are not necessarily part and parcel of masculinity, even though historically it has become difficult, if not impossible, to untangle masculinity from the oppression of women”(Halberstam). Femininity has become such a big part of women’s lives that thinking in terms of female masculinity is quite unattainable.
In “Stepford Wives” female masculinity is not revealed by any means because it has thickened the issue of gender bias in such ways that imagining the “stepford” women being masculine is humorous. The women are caught up in their domestic duties that they act like robots. Considering the fact that in the movie the stepford wives are literally robots, however, assuming that they are not, allows one to notice that women yet are being portrayed in a stereotypical viewpoint. In one of the scenes the women are gathered together at a book club meeting and when approached to talk of a book that has nothing to do with domesticity, they are frozen in their seats, lifeless, with no sense of reaction. When the leader of the group brings up the topic about yarn and knitting, the women’s eyes light up with excitement and they are clearly entertained by the idea. This scene depicts the idea that the female gender bias is only to converse about domestic things such as sewing, knitting, cooking, cleaning, and taking care of their husband when they come home after a hard day at work; nothing should excite them but stereotypical feminine duties. Judith Butler, a philosopher, talks of Beauvoir’s claim when he stated that “ ‘woman’ is a historical idea and not a natural fact,” contributing to the idea that the acts of women are historically originated and have not naturally come forth. Butler once again goes back on Beauvoir’s idea, “When Beauvoir claims that woman is an ’historical situation,’ she emphasizes that the body suffers a certain cultural construction, not only through conventions that sanction and proscribe how one acts one’s body, the ’act’ or performance that one’s body is, but also in the tacit conventions that structure the way the body is culturally perceived” (Qtd. in Butler). For example, the wives in stepford are shaped in the way that is conventional for females to act like. Every move they make is feminized and according to Beauvoir, the stereotypical viewpoint of women in the movie is convincing. Going back to female masculinity where females expose their masculine characteristics, it is an obvious factor that the depiction of imagining the stepford wives as masculine is not a possibility.
When thinking about gender, it is a phrase that is described differently than of femininity and masculinity. Butler describes gender as, “an act which has been rehearsed, much as a script survives the particular actors who make use of it; but which requires individual actors in order to be actualized and reproduced as reality once again”(Butler). Masculinity and femininity is something that people express as the stereotypical view that a man has masculine features and characteristics and the woman has feminine features and characteristics. However, gender is described as something that society depicts it to be. The man should act in such ways that a woman shouldn’t and vice versa. If, by any means, a man acts out of their socially structured characteristic they are no longer in the margin of masculinity because they have acted upon something that only concerns women or that is not “manly.” “Surely, there are nuanced and individual ways of doing one’s gender, but that one does it, and that one does it in accord with certain sanctions and prescriptions, is clearly not a fully individual matter”(Butler). Men and women operate their actions according to how society has portrayed it to be and those portrayals are authorized by “prescriptions” meaning the method that society has built it up to be.
Butler presents a theme in her study of gender when she compares gender biases with acting. “Just as a script may be enacted in various ways, and just as the play requires both text and interpretation, so the gendered body acts its part in a culturally restricted corporeal space and enacts interpretations within the confines of already existing directives”(Butler). In “Stepford Wives,” the women are robots, however, if that aspect were to be disregarded, it is a possibility to think that the women are acting the way they should be because the men have given them the “script” to act through. Although the women are technically robots and they are only acting the way they are because they are technologically made that way, they are acting feminine unconsciously; not knowing what they are exactly liable of. Butler continues further to say, “the link between a theatrical and a social role are complex and the distinctions not easily drawn, it seems clear that, although theatrical performances can meet with political censorship and scathing criticism, gender performances in non-theatrical contexts are governed by more clearly punitive and regulatory social conventions”(Butler). Every way that a man and a woman act nowadays is often judged by conventions of stereotypical viewpoints that come across from society.
“The Stepford Wives” presents a stereotypical viewpoint of gender biases. It is a film that has captured the attention of many and is interpreted as a feminist movie. The women portray a typical housewife who’s every intention is to pursue a domestic existence. Femininity and masculinity are built the way they are because of society. Every action that a man takes and every action a woman pursues is a stereotypical bias because culture has caused it to be that way.
Works Cited
Butler, Judith. “Performative Acts and Gender Constitution.” Literary Theory: An Anthology. 2nd Ed. Eds. Julie Rivkin and Michael Ryan. Blackwell Publishing. 2004. 900-904.
Halberstam, Judith. "Female Masculinity." Literary Theory: An Anthology. 2nd Ed. Eds. Julie Rivkin and Michael Ryan. Blackwell Publishing. 2004. 935-938.
Stam, Robert. “Literature and Film.” Serial Time: Bluebeard in Stepford: New York. 5 June 2005.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Femininity and Masculinity
For the past few decades, Disney Channel has converted disney princesses into a figure of femininity and humbleness. They are portrayed as flawless figures presenting great splendor and magnificance not just physically but characteristically. For example, Bell from the "Beauty and the Beast," Jasmine in "Aladdin," and Cinderella, portray beauty, grace, and perfection. In all these movies, each one of them present a stereotypical perspective from which one can tell that since they are women, they are weak emotionally and physically. Their "prince charming" saves them in the nick of time from their conflicted lives. With Belle's humble personality, she endures the beast's aggressive behavior towards her and because of her lovely features the beast gives in to her grace and modesty. Jasmine is saved from Jafar (the evil villain who attempts to capture Jasmine and force her to marry him)by Aladdin who is possessed by Jasmine's exotic beauty. He comes to her rescue in time to annihilate Jafar and acquire Jasmine as his. It is typical to think that men are known as masculine type; that they should acquire toughness and aggression. Alice Eagerly and Valerie Steffen from the Purdue University on "Gender and Agressive Behavior" state that "Psychologists and popular writers who have analyzed the male gender role have claimed that men are expected to be tough, violent, and aggressive...people expect men to be aggressive(Eagerly & Steffen). This broadens the idea that masculinity is stereotypical in these Disney fairy tales where the princes come to the rescue of their princesses, and the princessess are portrayed as the weak figures.
Eagly, Alice H. & Steffen, Valerie J. "Gender and Aggressive Behavior." The American Psychological Association, Inc. 1986.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Knowledge is Power
Foucault's notion of knowledge and power is revealed in this scene of a movie titled "Enough." Jennifer Lopez is being trained by a professional self-defense trainer who helps her connect with her inner self to gain the knowledge of power then apply that to her physical strength. In this clip of the movie she is seen to close her eyes as if in a trance of some sort to attach herself to her strength inside, and, at the same time, disconnect from the outside world. When she closes her eyes she is connecting to her inner power of strength and at the same time gaining the knowledge of self-defense. In order to gain knowledge, it is the power one must contain within themselves or even find in oneself to apply that to their physical strength. This scene is based upon the idea that Foucault's theoretical approach of knowledge is power depends upon whether or not one has that sense of self to determine that. Power is anonymous, therefore, it depends upon what type of power will be let loose to determine that knowledge of power.
For example, a child's knowledge is developed from the people around that child. His or her family shapes the child's knowledge and without them the child will not know anything but what is perhaps communicated by the parents, sibling, etc. Another example would be where everyone of us have different ways of communicating and what we say shapes who we are. That power that we have within ourselves that we have the ability to talk is determined by others of how much knowledge we contain.
Even though in this scene of "Enough," Jennifer Lopez is opening her mind to the knowledge of self-defense to gain physical power, she is yet training to pertain to violence whether or not that may be irrational and violence is another Foucaultian substance - although that is another story. "In Foucault's worldview there is no absolute morality. Morality is created through the exercise of power"(Foucault). What this means ultimately is that if one were to think that something is immoral, it may not be immoral in the least. However one determines power, since it is an anonymous factor of life, may be expressed in different ways and how they present their power in general, therefore, knowledge is power.
Steven, Brian. "Power/Knowledge." Selected Interviews. 1972-1977.
For example, a child's knowledge is developed from the people around that child. His or her family shapes the child's knowledge and without them the child will not know anything but what is perhaps communicated by the parents, sibling, etc. Another example would be where everyone of us have different ways of communicating and what we say shapes who we are. That power that we have within ourselves that we have the ability to talk is determined by others of how much knowledge we contain.
Even though in this scene of "Enough," Jennifer Lopez is opening her mind to the knowledge of self-defense to gain physical power, she is yet training to pertain to violence whether or not that may be irrational and violence is another Foucaultian substance - although that is another story. "In Foucault's worldview there is no absolute morality. Morality is created through the exercise of power"(Foucault). What this means ultimately is that if one were to think that something is immoral, it may not be immoral in the least. However one determines power, since it is an anonymous factor of life, may be expressed in different ways and how they present their power in general, therefore, knowledge is power.
Steven, Brian. "Power/Knowledge." Selected Interviews. 1972-1977.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Wage and Labor
In Karl Marx's "Wage Labor and Capital" there were so many ideas that I agreed with due to the fact that laborers are actually underpaid. "Workers put more value in to a commodity or good than they are paid for"(659). His idea of what wealth is and where it comes from also presents a good basis of the underpaid worker. "When goods are sold for more than they cost to make"(659)is when that extra profit becomes the wealth of the capitalist/employer."Karl's idea of concentration of wealth is that people who are rich are rich because they get ideas on how to make something better than the next guy does"(Neill).
When an employee goes into work and their job is to package food supplies to be delivered to grocery stores, the faster they package the quicker they will finish to load the truck and deliver to the store. However, what is the point of efficiently packaging these boxes of food when the labor cost is going to be the same with what the employee started with. The capitalist is going to continue to pay the laborer without any dent in their wage despite the fact that the employee packaged the box a little faster than before. I'm sure my example of wage and labor is an understatement overall but I believe the idea of wage and labor is clearly stated. If a packaging laborer packages boxes of food everyday, he does not do so just to have boxes of food ready to be delivered but he does it to produce capital. "Does a worker in a cotton factory produce merely cotton textiles? No, he produces capital. He provides values which serve afresh to command his labor and by means of it to create new values..."(664).The employee gets paid 2 shillings a day to work in cotton textiles. He works all day long and the shillings double. The employer not only gets the "value replaced that he as to give the day laborer; but he doubles it" (664).Building value and capital is what the employer does while the laborer works for him.
Marx also explains that when people work it is their natural instinct that they work. They are not aware that they are laborers because it is so natural that it has become "his life-activity...[and] it is a means for him to exist. He works in order to live. He does not even reckon labor as part of his life, it is rather a sacrifice of his life"(660). The whole point of laboring duties for one is but one way to survive. It is survival, "this life-activity he sells to another person in order to secure the necessary means of subsistence."(660). The majority of people that work, work for themselves and for their families to achieve the greatest good of life which is survival. It is but a mere fact that his labor is for himself-to achieve the most remarkable amount of happiness and that is in his "life-activity" to work for the means of continuing subsistence.
Neill, Kenneth. "Marxism: The Science of Society an Introduction." Massachusetts: Bergin & Gavey, 1985.
Marx, Karl. "Wage, Labor and Capital." Realism and Marxism. St. Martin's Press. New York, 1990.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Click Five - Just the Girl
"Just the Girl" by Click Five clearly and whole-heartedly describes the feelings a guy has for a girl. She is "bittersweet;" someone who is nice, but mean at one point, cruel, but mysterious at another. The whole idea is that whether it may be from a man's perspective or a woman's, the Id part of our minds exemplifies our needs. It does not matter whether the girl this guy has fallen for in the song is pretty or downright ugly, the way she acts and portrays herself attracts the guy to her even more. Her behavior towards the guy is not the nicest anyone can ever be to anyone else. In the lyrics it states, "She laughs at my dreams but I dream about her laughter, Strange as it seems, she's the one I'm after." In any case, the singer has completely fallen for a girl who has no respect for him whatsoever, but because her behavior is "bittersweet" he finds himself to be unconsciously attracted to her. His mental state of mind determines her as an attractive, beautiful girl and no matter how discourteous and offensive she may be his needs to love a girl matters to him most. He imagines her being in his life; loving her, caring for her, and she may possibly satisfy his every need. He is fully engaged with his deepest affections toward this girl who "ignores him, she won't pick up the phone when she sees its him on the caller ID" but because she behaves in this way, he has fallen for her unconsciously. I believe that all three, Id, ego, and superego come into play because for the Id, his needs are being met because of her attitude towards him he enjoys running after her. His ego which is his conscious state of mind is well awake realizing that whatever she does, she does it to obliterate him from her life. His realization about that is clearly sought out in the lyrics because even though he is aware of the attitude she has for the guy, yet he is in consistent love for her. His superego is also plays a big part here because knowing that she is brutal toward his feelings for her and constantly pushes him away not wanting to do anything with him, the guy still has fallen head over heels for her not wanting to let go. He is up in the air wanting to care for her, love her, and give her all his attention. This song portrays the affects of the Id, ego, and superego in some obvious ways replacing every one of the girl's negative attitude with the boy's positive outlook of her.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Our Natural State of Being
Freud's psychoanalysis of humans are the principles of the Id, Ego, and the Superego. Each one of these function differently considering their ideal settings in the human body. The Id is the natural factor in humans; it is their unconcious needs whether it be food, shelter, or sex. It is basically what we want, want, want; our basic needs and feelings. Ego is more of the rational part of the mind constantly reminding us that we cannnot always get what we want. The ego pretty much brings us back to reality when we are in "fantasy-land." The superego is more of the moral part of the mind helping us to think of our societal values and it stores and enforces rules in our brain.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
My Contribution to My Group
My six group members display enthusiasm, interest, and provide great ideas to make our presentation a hopeful success. Each one of us has taken a part into making a strong effort of coming up with creative ideas to share within each other and then put it together to construct a strong discussion. My personal effort is to come up with a scenario. It would have to pertain to Freud's pleasure principle but it also has to be entertaining at the same time. It is pretty challenging to think of a really good technique to approach Freud's idea "The tie of affection which binds the child as a rule to the parent of the opposite sex"(Freud 435). I am currently in the process of displaying to my group my proposal to create a scenario. Every one of us has contributed in some way or another to show their attempt of trying to make a good and solid presentation. As a group we met at the Fruedian Sip in front of Jerome Richfield Hall to discuss our ideas and share our interests of how we may incorporate it into Freud's theories. This meeting helped us to organize our thoughts and converse with each other of how we should perform it on our presentation day. Every one took part into making psychoanalysis a great discussion and hopefully our presentation/discussion in class will be a success.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Psychoanalysis of Lala
My best friend is perhaps the most down to earth person I have ever met. Her entire personality is simply based upon laughter and she always looks at things from a positive perspective. I shall call her Lala. Lala's personality undertakes uniqueness. She is beautiful inside and out and she makes me laugh at every point in life that is humanly possible. Her actions are only to help others which makes her selfless juxtaposing her position on her unconscious state of mind. When I state this I very well mean that Lala's technique of taking an exam is only beneficial to her. Because she is so well into the exam, she has undertaken the art of sniffling every five seconds not knowing she has undertaken such a position while the others around her are simply trying to concentrate upon their conscious mind of taking the test. Her sniffling and deep breathing during an exam are perhaps the most interesting phase of her personality. Of course, Lala's unconscious mind has overtaken her not realizing what she is doing in a class during an exam. So, to resolve the issue, I kick her attempting to awaken her frozen subconscious. Lala then awakens from her phase and apologizes for her unconscious, inadvertent behavior.
Lala's behavior is unconscious and it defines her unconscious behavior while taking a test in class. This is her usual way of taking an exam but it is not done on purpose but her unconscious mind has taken over and this stifles her to become aware of her unpremediated behavior.
Two Identites in One
Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen are very well known for playing the role of Michelle Tanner on "Full House" since they were only nine months old until the age of five or six. Their career in acting began since infancy and they continued with it through many television series along with filming movies and making commercials and being interviewd. Mary-Kate and Ashley duked a very high-stream career making the list of the eleventh richest women in entertainment and they had an estimated net worth of $100 million. Perhaps their talent in acting bumped them into a world of media. These two perhaps did pursue a career of popularity, however, media did overtake their privacy along with their adolescent years to grow up like two normal girls. In 2004 Mary-Kate checked in to rehab because she had an eating disorder called anorexia and Ashley was accused of doing drugs while she informed the media that she never did drugs and she does not use them or sell them. It was perhaps the beginning of a very rough road for Mary-Kate along with her sister Ashley. As they pursued their goal of becoming famous and enjoying a life of pampering, media fully took advantage of them and their personal lives.
The position that I am taking on this is that the system of signs according to my research criterion is that the media went against Mary-Kate and Ashley because of how rich and famous they became. The girl's lives had become a source of public attention and their life seemed "hazardous" because of the certain kind of medium people had approached them with. Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen are the labels of popularity in the entertainment business and how rich they are which juxtaposes with their talent of becoming fashion designers later in their careers. Most people tend to see them as cocky and stuck up even though there is a lot more to them than that. I may sound stupid writing this but cockiness does not define who they are fully. Every time I hear about them I think of talented, stylish, sophisticated,and perhaps cocky. Of course, the celebrity world does invenst more in cockiness than it does in actual talent to be cocky in the first place but that is just my opinion.
Fince, Dan."The Biography Channel-Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen Biography." Grantway, Texas.2004.
The position that I am taking on this is that the system of signs according to my research criterion is that the media went against Mary-Kate and Ashley because of how rich and famous they became. The girl's lives had become a source of public attention and their life seemed "hazardous" because of the certain kind of medium people had approached them with. Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen are the labels of popularity in the entertainment business and how rich they are which juxtaposes with their talent of becoming fashion designers later in their careers. Most people tend to see them as cocky and stuck up even though there is a lot more to them than that. I may sound stupid writing this but cockiness does not define who they are fully. Every time I hear about them I think of talented, stylish, sophisticated,and perhaps cocky. Of course, the celebrity world does invenst more in cockiness than it does in actual talent to be cocky in the first place but that is just my opinion.
Fince, Dan."The Biography Channel-Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen Biography." Grantway, Texas.2004.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Starry Night
Starry Night makes me think of the time I spent a night under the stars. That hint of fresh air and crispiness of the night perhaps makes everything seem clean and refreshing. Its the kind of experience where imagination takes place and so you look up and see the sky like you've seldom seen it before. It is a feeling of happiness, perhaps even sadness. Something that one experiences may be expressed in different ways.
Vincent Van Gogh at the time was in an asylum when he painted Starry Night. Van Gogh's painting expresses his deep thoughts and emotions while emphasizing the colors he painted with; yellow, blue, and dark velvet to almost black. The painting overlooks a small village at nighttime emphasizing the tall black tree which happens to be the first noticeable object in the painting. The night sky is painted very wavy and swervy using elongated brush strokes while the rest of the picture happens to be in the background; being not as important as the rest of it. The stars are painted yellow twirling in the night sky scattered around the moon and the moon is the deepest yellow of all, perhaps. The village right beneath the night sky probably represents the small fraction of power in the world because it is painted in dark colors mostly giving way to the starry sky overall. Van Gogh's painting is a mixture of the loss of hope or the gain of happiness. It is the colors that portray the painting and bestow upon the onlooker what is Van Gogh perhaps feeling in this one.
Vincent Van Gogh at the time was in an asylum when he painted Starry Night. Van Gogh's painting expresses his deep thoughts and emotions while emphasizing the colors he painted with; yellow, blue, and dark velvet to almost black. The painting overlooks a small village at nighttime emphasizing the tall black tree which happens to be the first noticeable object in the painting. The night sky is painted very wavy and swervy using elongated brush strokes while the rest of the picture happens to be in the background; being not as important as the rest of it. The stars are painted yellow twirling in the night sky scattered around the moon and the moon is the deepest yellow of all, perhaps. The village right beneath the night sky probably represents the small fraction of power in the world because it is painted in dark colors mostly giving way to the starry sky overall. Van Gogh's painting is a mixture of the loss of hope or the gain of happiness. It is the colors that portray the painting and bestow upon the onlooker what is Van Gogh perhaps feeling in this one.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
The True Sublime Analysis #1
Longinus describes the sublime as something beyond human sense. It is an illusion that draws the reader to different levels of thinking. It is something that overcomes every effort of intelligence and thought to depict it.
The true sublime gives an example that if an intelligent man “read a passage several times and it does not touch his spirit…then it cannot be an example of true sublimity”(120). Longinus definitely conveys the true sublime with this example in my opinion because the mere thought of a man not sensing the true and rational being of a passage or of a poem does not understand the effect of it at all. The intellectual man who has written the passage or even written poetry writes in prose, therefore, reflecting upon every person’s diverse style of writing. Each man has the gift of writing in various styles and when it is presented in front of others true sublimity should be presented by way of understanding the true meaning of the piece of writing whether it may be poetry, literature, etc. Poetry is a style of writing that portrays the art of sublimity. I think that poetry is a true way of discovering the sublime because inspiration and motivation undertake it. It is the way writers express their feelings, judgments, and stance on certain aspects in their life. When it is unappreciated it is typically done by those who have no resilience to poetry whatsoever. It does not effect their soul or their mind. Longinus explains that the true sublime is poetry. “The grand style in poetry and literature,…whether certain passages do not simply give an impression of grandeur by means of much adornment…we are filled with proud exaltation and joy, as though we had ourselves produced what we had heard”(120). The joyous feeling we endure after experiencing the divine intellect of the producer of the piece in many cases definitely is blissful.
In this video Alicia Keyes expresses her deepest feelings through poetry. Her intense expression of words are so dramatically put together that the audience relates themselves in her character’s position, therefore, appreciating her performance. This video defines the art of poetry, the true sublime
The true sublime gives an example that if an intelligent man “read a passage several times and it does not touch his spirit…then it cannot be an example of true sublimity”(120). Longinus definitely conveys the true sublime with this example in my opinion because the mere thought of a man not sensing the true and rational being of a passage or of a poem does not understand the effect of it at all. The intellectual man who has written the passage or even written poetry writes in prose, therefore, reflecting upon every person’s diverse style of writing. Each man has the gift of writing in various styles and when it is presented in front of others true sublimity should be presented by way of understanding the true meaning of the piece of writing whether it may be poetry, literature, etc. Poetry is a style of writing that portrays the art of sublimity. I think that poetry is a true way of discovering the sublime because inspiration and motivation undertake it. It is the way writers express their feelings, judgments, and stance on certain aspects in their life. When it is unappreciated it is typically done by those who have no resilience to poetry whatsoever. It does not effect their soul or their mind. Longinus explains that the true sublime is poetry. “The grand style in poetry and literature,…whether certain passages do not simply give an impression of grandeur by means of much adornment…we are filled with proud exaltation and joy, as though we had ourselves produced what we had heard”(120). The joyous feeling we endure after experiencing the divine intellect of the producer of the piece in many cases definitely is blissful.
In this video Alicia Keyes expresses her deepest feelings through poetry. Her intense expression of words are so dramatically put together that the audience relates themselves in her character’s position, therefore, appreciating her performance. This video defines the art of poetry, the true sublime
Sunday, February 1, 2009
"Ion"
Plato’s take on the human genius only falls short of my opinion about it. His
theory is that humans are only geniuses because they are “possessed” by something.
He mentions poetry in “Ion” that “All good poets utter all those fine poems of theirs not
through skill, but when inspired and possessed”(Ion, 5). Personally, it bothers me to
think that our past-on geniuses may have been spiritually taken over my something out
of the blue and, therefore, would create or have a “genius” idea about something.
Plato’s argument really sounds unrealistic because not everyone of us are gifted to be as
smart as like Beethoven, for example. However, each one of us does have some type of
knowledge about certain things that others don’t, furthermore, that “genius” that we have
in us does not mean that we are possessed by some kind of power. The only part that I
agree with Plato is when he mentions the inspirational reinforcement of genius.
Inspiration is always an emphasis to me when hearing about a great idea or plan, etc. It
is definitely possible to be inspired by something and come up with a “genius” idea
afterwards
theory is that humans are only geniuses because they are “possessed” by something.
He mentions poetry in “Ion” that “All good poets utter all those fine poems of theirs not
through skill, but when inspired and possessed”(Ion, 5). Personally, it bothers me to
think that our past-on geniuses may have been spiritually taken over my something out
of the blue and, therefore, would create or have a “genius” idea about something.
Plato’s argument really sounds unrealistic because not everyone of us are gifted to be as
smart as like Beethoven, for example. However, each one of us does have some type of
knowledge about certain things that others don’t, furthermore, that “genius” that we have
in us does not mean that we are possessed by some kind of power. The only part that I
agree with Plato is when he mentions the inspirational reinforcement of genius.
Inspiration is always an emphasis to me when hearing about a great idea or plan, etc. It
is definitely possible to be inspired by something and come up with a “genius” idea
afterwards
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