Malay Frankenweenie Blog

Imagine that you are a film critic for The Maroon.  Write a review of the 2012 Frankenweenie in which you reference the 1984 film.  You should discuss the stop-motion animation of the later film, the ways that animation allows for more freedom of action, and the way that live characters change people’s reaction to those characters.

Sparky in Frankenweenie (2012 Version)

Tim Burton’s Frankenweenie is a fun film that serves as a tribute to his to his early years in film where he produced a short under the same name in 1984. Both Frankenweenie films serve as homage to classic monster movies like Boris Karloff’s Frankenstein, Bela Lugosi’s Dracula as well as many others. The general plots of both films are the same, however some changes were made to the 2012 film in order to accommodate younger audiences. 

The basic plot for both films goes like this: Victor Frankenstein lives in a quiet suburban neighborhood with his parents and his dog Sparky.  Sparky chases after a baseball, but unfortunately get hit by an oncoming car and dies. Victor is devastated and gets the idea to bring Sparky back to life using electricity.  During a lightning storm, Victor goes out to Sparky’s grave, digs him up and takes him back to his attic that has been transformed into a laboratory.  Victor places Sparky on a board attached to pulleys and lifts him up so that way the lightning will hit the bolts in Sparky’s neck, creating enough electricity to jolt his heart back alive.  The plan succeeds and Sparky comes back to life, making Victor giddy with joy. Unfortunately, Sparky cannot be seen since everyone thinks he’s dead, but one afternoon while Victor is at school, Sparky escapes out of the house and wreaks havoc on the whole neighborhood.  Victor’s parents discover that Sparky is alive and decide to let Victor keep him even though the idea of having a reanimated corpse disturbs them (as it would pretty much anyone else). The film ends with Sparky causing more havoc and being chased by a mob of townspeople to a windmill that gets caught on fire. Victor runs into the windmill to save Sparky, but gets trapped. Sparky sees that Victor cannot help himself, so he drags his friend out of the windmill and the townspeople proclaim him a hero and no longer a monster. As Sparky proudly shows the townspeople his dedication to his friend, debris from the burning windmill fall on and kills him. Victor wakes up to see his dog dead once again, but since the townspeople saw what a good dog Sparky actually was, they decide to hook up jumper cables from their car batteries to Sparky and revive him again thus ending the film. 

The 1984 version of Frankenweenie uses live actors, while the 2012 version is all stop motion and computer animation. The use of live actors limits the amount of creative freedom for the filmmaker because people cannot be as easily manipulated as animated characters. In the 2012 version, almost all of the supporting characters were caricatures of some type, which adds an element of humor into the film. Examples of these overdone characters would be Edgar the henchman, Mr. Rzykruski the science teacher and Toshiaki the star baseball pitcher. Having the 2012 version be animated also helped to expand the freedom of action in the movie. There is a scene in the 2012 film where Toshiaki and Bob are testing out a homemade jetpack on Bob’s roof and, of course, everything goes wrong and Bob lands straight on his face while Toshiaki just stands there and films everything. That scene added some humor to the film (arguably) and help to lighten up the mood. That scene could not have been done in the 1984 version for two reasons: 1. Those characters were not involved and 2. Even if they had been, the scene would have been too risky and dark to do especially with child actors. Animation allows more humor to come through because, in this case, no one is actually getting hurt.  

Overall both films are great to watch, it is just a matter of preference which one a person will like most. The 1984 version has a more serious undertone, where as the 2012 version has more goofy, slapstick humor.

Malay Sweeney Todd Blog

   Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street challenges viewers to sympathize with and relate to Sweeney and Mrs. Lovett. How does Time Burton overcome moral revulsion and murder and cannibalism? No matter what iteration of the story one finds, cannibalism is always a central element. This element attempts"to make sense of the most atavistic of human impulses, emotions, desires, and destinies" (The Wonderful and Surprising History 69). See the article posted before doing the blog, so you can discuss cannibalism in relation to growth and urbanization of London.

  Cannibalism is taken to its literal and metaphorical meanings in Burton’s Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. 

Sweeney Todd and Mrs. Lovett

  Literally, the customers of Mrs. Lovett’s pie shop are eating their fellow citizens because industrialization has forced the price of meat to skyrocket and why pay for meat when you can get it for free? Mrs. Lovett is a businesswoman working her way around the system, but she is also working around the fact that she wants Sweeney Todd for herself. She corrupts him and makes him go mad by telling him the story of what happened to his wife and daughter. Her version of the story makes Todd have sympathy for her for being kind to his wife, but in reality Mrs. Lovett treated Lucy terribly and kept her hid away from the rest of the world. 

  Also, and I am not too sure of this, but I believe she may have conspired with Judge Turpin in trying to get rid of Todd’s wife, but Lovett placed all the blame of Turpin to make herself look like the better person in Todd’s eyes. In this way Lovett and Turpin are metaphorically devouring Lucy by making her his and her object of attention. The metaphor of cannibalism also can be seen in how Turpin uses his position as judge to get what he wants. He “eats up” the people he does not like by giving them harsh sentences such as the scene when he sentences the little redhead boy to be hung until he dies.  He especially uses his power to get rid of Todd in order to have Lucy and Johanna for himself. 

  The urbanization of London is causing the people to become corrupt and “devour” each other, whether it is through power in the government or power in scamming the masses like Senior Pirelli does with his elixir. One thing to be noted about the film also is the lack of color. Everything seems dark and dreary from the clothes to the state of the buildings to the attitude of the people. Nothing seems happy and the smokestacks always looming in the background show how urbanization and capitalism cause the morale of people to become savage towards one another. The people are devouring each other so that way they have a better chance of being the person in control as opposed to being the controlled.

Malay Big Fish Blog

Specter, Alabama

Discuss how Tim Burton merges the sunny character of Edward Bloom with the darker grotesque characters who people the film. Why do those people like Edward, and why does Edward like them? Discuss at least two scenes in your blog. Burton said of his own father that he had forgotten how much larger than life he was than his neighbors' parents.  He had only his canine teeth left, so he wore dentures that he would take out; then he would howl at the moon and scare the neighbors' children into thinking him a werewolf.  He was, said Burton, "a real fairy-tale character."

  Edward likes the darker characters because he does not see them for their darkness and strangeness; he only seems them as people. Others have rejected the darker characters because they are considered freaks, like the circus people, or odd like the people of Specter, but Edward likes these people because he’s such an open, non-judgmental person.  The scene when Edward goes to the circus and meets the Ring Master and the performers show how truly non-judgmental he is. Instead of rejecting these people, he actually ends up working for them doing various odd jobs and such in order to find out more about his eventual wife Sandra.

            The darker characters like Edward because he gives them a sense of belonging and they feel wanted by him. He has such a shining personality that they feel they do not have to worry about being judged or rejected. They also like how optimistic Edward is and his optimism gives them hope that they never really had before. Being shunned by society and then being accepted by someone from the outside, for them, is a really good feeling and it makes those people realize that, yes they are different in society’s eyes, but that being different is okay. A scene that shows this is when Edward meets Karl. Karl is trying to be driven out of the town, but after realizing that he’s just a misunderstood person, Edward takes the time to get to know him and realizes that Karl isn’t such a bad guy after all. Eventually they become good friends and Karl realizes that he doesn’t have to be alone because as long as he has Edward, everything is going to be okay.

            Tim Burton had a similar relationship with his father as Will does to his father. They are just trying to figure out whom the other person is and this misunderstanding drives them apart, but eventually they both learn what their father’s have to offer and that they are not such distant people after all and there are things they can learn and pass on to their own children.  

Malay Sleepy Hollow Blog

Burton incorporates much of the scenery of the story into the film. It’s harvest season and everyone is preparing himself or herself for winter. The city is filled with ghost stories and folklore, but the people of the town are not mentioned too often in the story unlike the movie. A striking difference between the story and the film is that Burton seems to take a more dark approach to the atmosphere. He keeps the season the same, but there is a much more eerie feeling to the town than in the story.  The main character’s names are, generally speaking, all the same, but the plot line is drastically different as most of you probably noticed. Burton goes with a more murder-mystery like approach where as in the original story there is more of a folktale approach. One thing that I really enjoyed about Burton’s take on the story is that he adds a second element of the supernatural through Katrina’s stepmother. The Headless Horseman’s character is mysterious enough, but I really liked how there was also an explanation behind why he cuts off people’s heads.

The town of Sleepy Hollow

            Burton was trying to do more with Irving’s story, which is why he added so many different elements to it. Perhaps Burton though that Irving’s ideas were good, but that they needed some more background information and explanation. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is a classic horror story and I’m really happy that Burton decided to take his spin on it. Johnny Depp was amazing as always, but I think that a certain element was missing from not going by the original description of Ichabod Crane. Like I said, Depp’s performance was amazing, but I think that if Burton maybe wanted to win people over a little more, he should have gone by the original description of Crane and made him less scientific minded and more greedy since in the original story he just wants to marry Katrina for her land so he can turn around and make a profit on it.

            The two stories are both well done for what they are and if you try to compare one to the other it’s understandable why people might be dissatisfied or confused, but something that needs to be remembered is that Burton was not trying to do an exact remake of the story, he was just trying to fill in some background information while adding a bit of his own flare.

Malay Planet of the Apes Blog

Thade versus Davidson

Power versus exploitation is an obvious duality in Planet of the Apes. The apes are well educated and their social structure is fairly modern which is ironic because for being so educated, they treat humans as less than second-class citizens. There are many historical events that show how the exploitation of the inferiors is for the benefit of the powerful (The French Revolution is a prime example of the powerful taking advantage of those below them or a more modern example would be the exploitation of children in underdeveloped countries working 18-plus hours shifts per day for little pay only to the benefit of the company the children assemble products for.) In the film there are two specific scenes that stand out in my mind especially. When the apes capture Davidson after the ambush in the beginning of the film, other humans are pulling the cart that the captured humans are being crowded into. The humans pulling the cart and the humans in the cart are being treated like cattle for slaughter. The apes are exploiting the cart-pullers by using them like we would horses or oxen and the people in the cart are soon to be treated just the same. The second scene that stands out in my mind the most is the dinner scene at Ari’s house. The humans are the servants to the apes and by being forced into this type of slavery; the apes are exploiting the humans for their own benefit. A historical parallel to this would be serfdom in medieval Europe. The peasants had no hope of social mobility or material advancement the same way the humans have no hope of that either. The peasants were bound to their land and bound to their social class, as are the humans. The humans are born into a society that would not allow them the same freedoms and privileges as those above them and so by not allowing for material or social advancement, the humans were ultimately bound to their owners and their social class.  As stated before, the power versus exploitation theme in Planet of the Apes is obvious and perhaps what Burton is trying to say to the viewers is that there are still forms of exploitation happening today and we should give it attention in the same way we give attention to other big issues today too.

Malay Mars Attacks! Blog

 Choose two scenes that illustrate how Burton humorously satirizes government, the military, capitalism and patriotism inMars Attacks.  What is the film saying about sacred institutions? You might also discuss how the film parodies the science fiction genre taken so seriously by films such as Blade Runner, Alien, and Independence Day. If you have seenIndependence Day, think of the respect paid to the President in that film, versus the treatment of Jack Nicholson's role inMars Attacks.

Mars Attacks! Alien

In Mars Attacks! Burton satirizes government in the scene where the Martians kill all of the congressmen and women. The Martians go to Washington D.C. to apologize for killing all of the people in Nevada, however their apology is not sincere because within five minutes of being there, they annihilate everyone. By killing all of the congress-people, Burton further reveals the true anarchist nature of the Martians. Burton also makes a political statement in this scene criticizing the fact that the American government makes everyone conform to its standards and if they do not, then we invade those people’s country and start war. The Martians in Mars Attacks! are similar to the Martians in Plan Nine from Outer Space in that they represent the fact that American loves to destroy others who are different from us. Burton is saying that the anarchist spirit of the Mars Attacks! Martians are like the anarchist that America feels in that we do not have to abide by everyone else’s rules, but that they must abide by ours. Burton is satirizing the notion of American exceptionalism in this scene.

The satirizing of patriotism is present in the scene when the Washington Monument is about to fall over onto a group of Cub Scouts.  The idea that one of the most American of American monuments would crush a group of one of America’s most American organizations is ironic. It parallels the idea that America will destroy itself from the inside presented in Plan Nine from Outer Space. The satirizing of patriotism also is a reference to the hyper-patriotism in Independence Day. By making fun of that, Burton is also poking at the idea that America has too much patriotism in general because most of the monuments destroyed by the aliens are American monuments.

A common plague of the science fiction genre is that its films take themselves too seriously. For example, Independence Day is loaded with images of terror and destruction that make the viewers feel that all is lost and there is no hope left in sight. Burton pokes fun at that too by making the aliens look silly and the American people look silly because they lose a war to little green men with giant, exposed brains. Burton shows viewers that sci-fi doesn’t always have to be dreary and depressing.

Malay Ed Wood Blog

After you have watched the Tim Burton Film, read the posted article, and watched the documentary by Jonathan Ross, I want you to discuss three elements in Burton's Biopic that pay homage to what Wood as a director was doing in his films. Some scenes in Tim Bruton's film are actually taken directly from Wood's films.  Why?

Ed Wood

Element #1: Cross-Dressing. Now this might seem kind of obvious, but the fact that it is incorporated states a few things about Burton’s willingness to take risks. Burton could have easily left out the fact that Ed Wood liked to wear women’s clothing and made the biopic solely about how terrible his movies were, but he didn’t do that. Instead Burton focused in on that specific trait and showed how it made Ed Wood feel more comfortable and confident not only in himself as a person, but also as a director/producer/actor.

Element #2: Johnny Depp as Ed Wood. Burton has a knack for reusing actors over and over again in his films, which is what Ed Wood did in his films as well. This element is vital in the biopic because it shows how Burton draws some similarities to what Ed Wood was doing. By reusing the same actors and actresses over and over again in films, it becomes very evident, trademark almost, that “Oh this is an Ed Wood film.” Or “Oh this is a Tim Burton film”.

Element #3: Storybook beginning and ending: A biopic is a story, a film is a story and by having the film start with Criswell and end with Criswell there is a sense of wholeness and completion not only with the film itself, but Ed Wood as a person and his career. Ed Wood wanted to tell stories through motion picture and so it only seems fitting that Burton would tell Ed’s story through a motion picture.

The scenes taken directly from Wood’s films are also a way of paying homage to him because if the scenes were not in the biopic, some people may not have the motivation or want to see any of Ed’s films because of the fact that they are rated some of the worst films ever by one of the worst directors in all of film history. By adding in scenes directly from the movie, the audience gets a better sense of who Ed was and how he went about making his films in Burton’s biopic. Essentially what Burton is trying to get across is that Ed Wood was not a bad person at all, he was just incapable of realizing that what he was putting out was not good.

Malay Oyster Boy Blog 1

Anchor Baby and Mother

The story that I decided to analyze is Anchor Baby and all in all I think the main point that Burton is trying to get at here is that too often girls throw themselves away for something that is ultimately not what they imagined it to be mostly in the form of marriage having children. The lady in the sea seems to be alone and her desire to be one of the people on land is what pushes her to give up her life in the ocean and it seems that she does so without really considering the potential consequences of her actions. All she can see is what she allows herself to see; she does not critically analyze the situation by not thinking of the bad possibilities, but only the good ones. Her loneliness is the motivating force behind her wanting to go to land disguised as wanting Walker for herself. Perhaps she is an outsider in her community and just wants to be accepted somewhere else by someone else. The lady of the sea’s Jungian archetype is The Lover. She wants intimacy and experience even though it comes at the risk (and ultimately results in) her losing her own identity.

            The anchor baby is the consequence she faces as a result of not being more caring for herself and letting her desires completely engulf her. I would argue that the anchor baby is somewhat of a physical representation of the feelings of outsiderness and loneliness that the lady of the sea felt before she met Walker on land. Her emotions are now anchored to her and the thing she once tried getting rid of is now what she ends up with again and everything in this sense is completed. She begins a lonely person and ends a lonely person tied down by this anchor baby (her emotions). This is one of the few stories where I would say that there is a sense of resolution for this fact. As a child Burton was alone and was an outsider and arguably one of the anchors that always held him down was the fact that his parents neglected him as a child and perhaps what Burton is trying to get at here is not only the idea that women too easily throw themselves away, but also that people have these anchors that weigh them down through out their lives and in some cases that comes in the form of giving up ones own identity for someone else or being an outsider and neglected.

Malay Carnival Blog

Mardi Gras masks and beads

Carnival is about doing things that you would never normally do before you have to sacrifice something for Lent and the idea of masks and costumes helps to perfectly keep this idea alive by hiding the identity of the people doing the things that they want that they would normally never do otherwise. This is where the underlying chaos of Carnival comes into play.

I didn’t actually go out on Mardi Gras day, but other than Thursday at Muses I went to 5 different parades over the weekend (Iris, Tucks, Okeanos, Mid-City and Thoth). The colors at all of the parades were very bright and vibrant, reflecting the spirit of the season however there was almost a darker feel to the parades for the fact that everyone was wearing masks and in some cases dressed in full costume to hide their true identities. There were also darker and more evil elements in some of the floats too. At Iris there was a float that was Voodoo themed and had a giant Voodoo doll with pin stuck all in it that passed by and at Thoth there was a float called “The Valley of the Kings” as well as a float dedicated to Stephen King and more specifically the movie IT. Evil is present quite obviously in theses float because Voodoo dolls are used to bring harm to other people and the pharos of Egypt believed in the possible evils faced in the afterlife. The Stephen King float (which kind of speaks for itself) has evil elements in it because IT was supposed to be a nice clown that all the children loved, but instead ends up killing all of them.

Masks and the idea of having a double identity are very evident in Burton’s works; for example Catwoman is not only a secretary by the name of Selina Kyle, but the other side of her is a strong and very powerful feminine figure who calls herself Catwoman. During the day Selina Kyle would never be a strong and powerful woman, but as soon as the night draws near, she puts on the Cat suit and mask and becomes a completely different person, more confident and hard-as-nails, than earlier that day. The double identity concept reminds me of a quote from Alice in Wonderland where Alice says "'I wonder if I've been changed in the night? Let me think: was I the same when I got up this morning? I almost think I can remember feeling a little different. But if I'm not the same, the next question is 'Who in the world am I?' Ah, that's the great puzzle!'"(Alice in Wonderland, Caroll, Ch 2 Pg 8)

Malay Edward Scissorhands

Edward Scissorhands Art

The violence exhibited in traditional fairytales is often linked to the moral of the tale Urban myths are the modern day way of getting people to be controlled out of fear and fear is a huge motivator for most people. The morality in modern life comes from fear whether it be fear of the government, fear of a higher being and the afterlife or fears that are presented in fairy tales and urban legends. By preying on the minds of people who only listen to the news or television or what have you for direction and do not make their own opinions, the fear the media disperses on a daily basis is what runs their lives. Fear has the ability to make people conform and thus be afraid of stepping out of line.

In Edward Scissorhands, everyone’s houses are all plain, pastel colors; the cars are all plain pastel colors. Nothing seems to be out of line and everything runs as it should and no one questions the motives of their actions. They just mindless do as they always have done without criticizing or thinking why, that is until Edward comes into the picture. He stands out more than anyone in the town not only with his physical appearance, but his personality too.  Unlike the rest of the men portrayed in the town, Edward is very shy and very kept to himself. He doesn’t talk about the game on Sunday or how he has that big presentation for work on due Thursday, he just sits back and observes. Even though he doesn’t say much, sometimes it’s the quiet ones that speak the loudest. In this case Edward shows how the morality of the town is decaying. Even though everything looks pristine and nice on the outside, the people, especially the women, are all gossipy and constantly on the phone with one another saying things such as “Did you see so-and-so’s hair? Oh my gosh it was horrible!! And those shoes with that blouse…” The town slowly begins to decay even further when the people begin to take advantage of Edward and then no longer is he just the new guy in town, he turns into everyone’s personal barber, hedge trimmer, dog groomer. Edward is more human than any of the people in the town because he is willing to go out of his way to do nice things for people even when they treat him like dirt when the people of the town are all caught up in their gossip and themselves.

Malay Batman Returns Blog

Batman admits that there are two truths about himself. What are those two truths and how do they apply to Catwoman and Penguin as well? Make sure you discuss all three characters and scenes to support your blog.

Batman Returns Movie Poster

The two truths that Bruce Wayne admits about himself are as follows:

1.  He is actually Batman which is the most obvious and

2. He has never come to terms with the death of his parents, which is why he feels almost obligated to be Batman.

How these two truths relate to Catwoman is that he is not able to progress in his quasi-relationship with Catwoman because it would violate the idea that superheroes remain celibate and do not become involved with romantic types of relationships.  During the scene when Catwoman and Batman are on the roof there is obvious chemistry between the two and Catwoman acts on her desires more than Batman does by instead of kissing him, licking him like a cat would. This concept can also be applied when Catwoman becomes Selina Kyle during the day. The relationship between Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle is still not completely romantic because there is still any air of wanting to remain celibate from Bruce, but the chemistry is still evident between the two and funny enough more so from Bruce. By night Catwoman seems to be more wanting of a serious relationship and by day it switches to Bruce. Also to be noted is the fact that there seems to be a sense of distance between both Bruce Way and Selina Kyle as well as their alter egos. The distance is not just the desire to remain celibate, but for Bruce specifically the fact that he lost his parents so young contributes, if not the sole reason, for he fact that he is so lonely and distant. Here is a single guy with his butler in a house that could easily fit 20 plus people.  The might also parallel Penguin in that he lives in a huge penguin exhibit and the sewers which themselves are huge and he is still all alone outside of his penguin “family”.

            Penguin, like Batman, was also without parental figures in his life and he grew up as an outcast of society. His motives to find his parents can be paralleled to how Bruce Wayne needs to find closure to the loss of his. Penguin cannot function in society because he is disfigured physically and thus takes his anger out on the society that never accepted him where as Batman is emotionally and psychologically disfigured, however instead of causing destruction and chaos, he prevents it because he feels a moral obligation to. Penguin feels no moral obligation to help society because they rejected him and his own parents failed their moral obligation to love their son and accept him even with his disfigurement. 

Malay Batman Blog Entry

The Joker is a trickster character. Discuss what makes him that and show how Burton both supports and undermines the idea of the trickster.

The Joker is a character that, unlike Batman, is very one-dimensional and Burton supports the concept of a trickster character by making the Joker this way. The fact that his only goals are to not only get rid of Batman, but also destroy Gotham city are classic qualities of a trickster whose ultimate purpose is to destabilize society. What also is very supportive of the notion of a trickster character is how greedy he is. In the movie his greed is shown in several ways, a few of them being his desire to have Vicky Vale all for himself and also the fact that he kill his boss. By having that intense amount of greed within himself, the Joker is able to do the tricks he wants because he knows that ultimately there is something in the end for him whether it be having Vicky all for himself of destroying all of Gotham. The trickster character is very self interested and highly motivated to get what they want, even if it means to going to the extremes of destroying an entire city.

Jack Nicholson's Joker

Burton’s use of film noir elements helps to further bring out the darkness of the Joker and not just the actual setting itself. The film noir elements help to highlight the true disturbance that lies within the Joker’s consciousness and further add to the fact that he is as evil as he comes off being. There were a few moments where Burton undermines the trickster character, namely the fact that he does not make a deal with anyone. No one is asking him for something and he expects anything in return, the Joker is pulling his pranks solely for his own entertainment. There is no bargaining involved and if anyone does decide to question his authority the Joker has no problem with killing that person right on the spot. This adds to the idea that he is very self interested, but also undermines the idea of a trickster because he is not willing to make deals with anyone who questions him.  Another part of the film where Burton undermines the idea of a trickster character is in the fact that the Joker has henchmen where as the traditional trickster character works alone. This goes to show that the Joker is not able to function without the help of others and does not completely rely on his cunningness to get his way.

Malay Beetlejuice Blog Entry

America is a country that denies death.  Why do you think Americans refuse to incorporate the reality of death into their lives? Think about death denial in terms of Beetlejuice. How does the film, rather than accepting the reality of death, actually deny it?

Betelgeuse Headstone

Death is something that at one point or another, generally speaking, most people have questions about such as “Is there an after life?” and “How does it feel to die?” along with many others. Americans are afraid to accept the reality of death into their lives simply because it is unknown not only what happens after we die, but also because everyone is just as vulnerable to die as the next person. Death has no clock on which it follows. An example of this can be seen in the movie when the Maitlands die. They had no idea that on their way home that their car was going to fall into the river and they were going to drown to death. More than likely they both had crossed that bridge hundreds upon hundreds of times with out any worries of anything happening to them at all. The thought that something tragic may happen probably never even crossed their minds.

It is well established into the American culture that America is the invincible country, which no one can touch, and if you try and mess with us, they will get back a hundred times what they tried to give (usually in the form of invading said person’s country, but I don’t think I need to get into the details of that.) Furthermore, by denying death we are imposing the ideas that materialism hold causing people to over look the little things in life. There is a fantastic poem by Swedish poet Tomas Tranströmer titled April and Silence that illustrates this very fact in however in a not so obvious way. (I’ll post the poem at the end of this blog along with a link to Tranströmer’s biography if you’re interested in reading more about him. Don’t worry if you don’t understand the poem the first time through, It takes a few reads to really grasp what he’s getting at here.) An aspect of the film which denies the reality of death is The Handbook for the Recently Deceased. Any person of sound mind would be willing to accept the fact that the dead cannot read and therefore by having a book for the dead to read about being dead shows how the denial of death is present not only in the movie, but in society in general. When this film first came out I’m sure that not many people understood or realized what the book symbolizes which is ultimately the denial of death in American society.

April and Silence by Tomas Tranströmer





Spring lies deserted.


The dark velvet ditch


creeps by my side


not reflecting anything.


All that shines


are yellow flowers.


I am carried in my shadow


like a violin


in its black case.




All I want to say


gleams out of reach


like the silver


in a pawnshop.

Click here to read Tranströmer's biography. 

Click here for the link to the poem.

Malay Introduction

Hello! My name is Tara and I am a freshman philosophy major from Dallas, Texas. After college I would like to go to graduate school and get my masters in either Philosophy or Psychology. I can speak, other than English, German, French, Swedish and Finnish. Knowing these languages has made my life significantly easier considering my major as well as just communicating with my family and friends who live in non-English speaking countries. My favorite sport is hockey and my favorite team is the Dallas Stars, though I am also a fan of a few European teams as well.

Other than watching hockey, I love reading the works of J.R.R. Tolkien and Edgar Allan Poe. I am in the process of finishing The Lord of the Rings series as well as watching the films which really do not do the books any justice at all as is usually the case with books that are made into films. I am not much of a television watcher however I do love movies; some of my favorites include The Nightmare Before Christmas, Star Wars, Sleeping Beauty (Disney 1959), Sweeney Todd, and all the Christopher Nolan Batman movies. The most recent film that I have seen was Les Misérables and it was truly an astounding piece of work. I have not seen the Broadway production of it, but it is most definitely on my list of things to do in the future. I saw The Phantom of the Opera on Broadway in 2006 as well as the film adaptation and thought that both were very well done for their respective mediums of art. I am an avid coffee and tea drinker and when I am not doing that and have some free time I can either be found on Facebook or Skyping my boyfriend who lives in Stockholm, Sweden. My favorite holiday is Christmas, but not in a religious sense, more that I enjoy the atmosphere of being with the people who mean the most to me. I play many musical instruments such as the bass guitar, the electric guitar and piano. I could read music before I could read words and I thank both of my grandpas and my uncle for instilling a love for the arts in me from a very young age.

I am really looking forward to this seminar class and this semester as a whole. My classes this semester are a lot more of what I am interested in rather than just required courses that I have no interest in. Other than this seminar class I am taking German, French, History of 19^th Century Philosophy, World Civilizations to 1650 and Critical Reading and Writing.