Bittersweet Cats on Tin Roofs

I really felt that the eros article went along with the themes of Cat on a Tin Roof quite well. Love can be both happy and sad. Why do we fight with the people that we truly love? or why are we sometimes jealous of our friends when they succeed? We love the people in our lives, yet somewhere inside us, we continue to have mean or jealous thoughts of them.

I really liked the analogy of the Eros article where love is compared to hunter. Love being bittersweet is very true. The idea of people always wanting what they cant have also seems to be the core of both the play, film, and our everyday lives. Maggie wanted Brick because she loves him, even though he continually pushes her away. Perhaps the reason why she acts so desperately is because Brick is someone that she cannot have. Many of my friends remain in relationships where they are only interested in the other person when they cannot have them. Once that person finally begins to show some interest, they quit wanting the other. Again this is the idea of hunger. Their love is satisfied, they are full and ready to move on.

Not only is Maggie and Brick and example of love only when its unttainable, every person in the play shows this same type of love. Brick has a love for his dead friend skipper because he cannot have him. Skipper's death is what spawns Brick's hate for Maggie. The hate makes Maggie want Brick more. Also, Big Daddy is one who is loud and mean, pushing his family members away. Except for Brick. Brick is the only one who does not shower Big Daddy with loads of attention. Yet Brick continues to be Big Daddy's favorite despite his alcoholic ways.

People are constant triangles of love hate relationships. One is always wanting the other, and never satisfied with the love that is right in front of them. Perhaps without this love/hate, life would be boring and far to easy.

Dissapointing Future

Nothing seems to be enough. During certain times in my life I have tried to convince myself that there is nothing more that I could possibly ask for in regards to my family, relationships, and materialistic objects. It never works. There is always at least one desire that haunts my thoughts, and somehow I convince myself once I attain it then I will be finally satisfied and genuinely happy. Anne Carson in her piece “Eros the Bittersweet” reminded me of multiple instances in my life, and I have to say I did not disagree with any of the points she made. The concept of “bittersweet” defines an aspect of our human nature, and I believe it is one of the most important traits we have as humans. Without desiring the unattainable there would be little motivation to work for a better and more fulfilling life. Without a dream to work for there would be no societal progress. Anne Carson discusses the disappointment we feel, or the “bittersweet” feeling, when we ultimately get what we want.
I made an immediate connection between “Eros the Bittersweet” and Tennessee William’s play, “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”. The pain Maggie feels at not being able to get Brick’s affection reflects the idea of wanting the unattainable. Maggie has fallen in the trap that human nature sets up for us. She has let herself go too far. She gets nothing back from Brick. Brick doesn’t even express any signs of concern at the thought of Maggie finding herself another lover. He tells her to do so and Maggie still holds onto her dream for the unattainable, in this case Brick. “Maggie, I wouldn’t divorce you for being unfaithful or anything else. Don’t you know that? Hell, I’d be relieved to know that you’d found a lover” (Williams 35). She is missing the most important dream of all. The dream of finding a true love. Maggie will not take a chance at finding something better. “No. I’d rather stay on this hot tin roof” (Williams 35). She does not realize her life is flying by her and she is getting nowhere close to satisfying her desires.
There are many other examples of relationships similar to those described by Anne Carson. Big Momma and Big Daddy is one. Gooper and Mae is another. I have come to terms with, at least I think so, that we are all destined to be disappointed. The concept of love is so flawed. I do not even know how to define happiness anymore. Is one truly happy without all their desires fulfilled?

02/27/08 class

As usual the conversation in class was interesting. Everyone's has an opinion if not slightly, way different from one another. When we discussed why we watched America's Next Top Model, some liked to people fail and others like myself watch it for other reasons. I watch this and many other reality TV shows, consisting of average or gorgeous people, because I like the unscripted nature of the show. I like watching because I can relate to certain people in certain situations. For instance, I cannot stop watching Real World Denver, not because its the greatest season thus far( which I think it is not, new orleans and key west are my favorites) but because I intimately know one of the guys. My point is that we have shows that we like and don't like. I want to see how gender is connected to what we like. Also are people stereotyped by the shows they watch? What are some shows that a person for instance would watch base on the stereotype that they fit in to? This can be applied to movies, books, magazines, music, and everything else about him or her.

Who do you think watches America's Next Top Model? I would assume mostly girls and gay guys, but then that's way too general. Gay guys vary as much as girls do. Not everyone is a like.

Also, love, lust, and relationships are always bittersweet. I personally don't know when if I will ever be satisfied with just being with one person. Maybe I like the variety of life and the attention, but honestly, who doesn't?

Differences

Though I didn’t really enjoy the play, I found it very surprising how different the two endings of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof are, especially concerning the character of Brick. In the first ending, Brick is seen as a very distant, ill-tempered drunk that is repulsed by Maggie. Conversely, the second ending portrays Brick as a loving, lost soul that admires Maggie for her determination to sleep with him. I think that I prefer the second ending to the Cat on a Hot Tin Roof rather than the first ending because is sheds a much more positive light on the whole situation. Maybe I’m just a sucker for a happy ending, but it just feels that in the second ending, Brick and Maggie do silently love each other. Brick is willing to back up Maggie’s lie about being pregnant instead of only thinking about drinking. In the second ending, Brick states, “I admire you Maggie,” in contrast with the first ending statement of “But how are you going to conceive a child by a man in love with his liquor?” Clearly there is a difference in the tone of the play at this point. I also liked that the last line in the second ending included the name of the play: “…and nothing’s more determined than a car on a tin roof – is there? Is there, Baby?” This one sentence ties everything together.

Oops

Oops... Didn't mean to post mine twice. Sorry.

The entire time I was reading Cat on a Hot Tin Roof I kept thinking "Margaret, Leave him!" I understood why she stayed with Brick, but I didn't want her to. Loving someone that doesn't love you back will destroy you. It's not healthy and it hurts. Nobody wants to be in a relationship like that, but so many people are in them anyway. Why? Because human beings are hopeful. We are stubborn creatures. We think that it is different with us. We think that this time it will work. We always think that the person we are with will one day open their eyes and see what is standing right in front of them. I think it is funny how friends will always tell you to get out of unhealthy relationships like that, but when they are in one they don't see it that way. Everyone thinks that their situation is different.
In the past I have been in so many relationships where I have been head over heels for someone and they just walked all over me and I let them. And I don't just mean dating relationships. I mean family and friends as well. I don't confront people. I let them walk all over me because I know that they will see what they are doing. I believe in people. I expect them to see their own flaws and love me the way that I love them. It's bittersweet relationships, which for me means that it is bitter for me and sweet for them. Actually it is sweet for me too because I have hope and it keeps me happy and it is bitter for them too because part of them knows that the relationship they have with me is wrong.
Why do we let this happen? Because we desire a better outcome. We want to believe that we didn't torture ourselves for nothing. It is desire that keeps us going. Desire can lead us in a healthy direction, but it can also lead us in an unhealthy one. Margaret's desire for Brick to love her in return has lead her to force a man to make a baby with her so that she can keep him in her life. But we all know that he still isn't going to love her, even with the child, but her desire is too strong for her to know that. It's sad, but it's true.
Human passion is a strong part of our lives. Love can be a positive and a negative. It's bittersweet. It hurts, but we keep on keeping on because we hope that it will get better. We hope that this time it will be different. Doesn't that make you feel so happy that you are human?

The entire time I was reading Cat on a Hot Tin Roof I kept thinking "Margaret, Leave him!" I understood why she stayed with Brick, but I didn't want her to. Loving someone that doesn't love you back will destroy you. It's not healthy and it hurts. Nobody wants to be in a relationship like that, but so many people are in them anyway. Why? Because human beings are hopeful. We are stubborn creatures. We think that it is different with us. We think that this time it will work. We always think that the person we are with will one day open their eyes and see what is standing right in front of them. I think it is funny how friends will always tell you to get out of unhealthy relationships like that, but when they are in one they don't see it that way. Everyone thinks that their situation is different.
In the past I have been in so many relationships where I have been head over heels for someone and they just walked all over me and I let them. And I don't just mean dating relationships. I mean family and friends as well. I don't confront people. I let them walk all over me because I know that they will see what they are doing. I believe in people. I expect them to see their own flaws and love me the way that I love them. It's bittersweet relationships, which for me means that it is bitter for me and sweet for them. Actually it is sweet for me too because I have hope and it keeps me happy and it is bitter for them too because part of them knows that the relationship they have with me is wrong.
Why do we let this happen? Because we desire a better outcome. We want to believe that we didn't torture ourselves for nothing. It is desire that keeps us going. Desire can lead us in a healthy direction, but it can also lead us in an unhealthy one. Margaret's desire for Brick to love her in return has lead her to force a man to make a baby with her so that she can keep him in her life. But we all know that he still isn't going to love her, even with the child, but her desire is too strong for her to know that. It's sad, but it's true.
Human passion is a strong part of our lives. Love can be a positive and a negative. It's bittersweet. It hurts, but we keep on keeping on because we hope that it will get better. We hope that this time it will be different. Doesn't that make you feel so happy that you are human?

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

I really enjoyed reading Cat on a Hot Tin Roof becaunse it was entertaining. I liked how the women were protrayed in the play as strong and opinionated. I liked big mama's character the best in the play. When Gooper brought up the issue of dividing up Big Daddy's inheritance, Big Mama is adamant is her answer, "They's not going to be any more catty talk in my house!...I'm talkin in Big Daddy language now: I'm his wife, not his widow, I'm still his wife...Nobody's going to take nothing!" (Williams 124-125). Since Big Daddy is dying of cancer, there were also two more important themes in the play: time and legacy. Time because Big Daddy is running out of time and tells Brick that, "Time goes by so fast. Nothin can outrun it. Death commences too early-- almost before you're half acquainted with life-- you meet with the other..." (Williams 126). And that even though Big Daddy was worth over ten million dollars, it does not bring a longer life. According to Big Daddy," But a man can't buy his life with it, he can't buy back with it when his life has been spent...he can't buy his life back when his life is finished" (Williams 66). Big Daddy also said, "the human animal is a beast that dies and if he's got money he buys and buys and I think the reason he buys everything he can buy is that in the back of his mind he has the crazy hope that one of his purchases will be life everlasting!" (Williams 68). That is why it is such a big deal that Brick and his wife have no kids and therefore no legacy to keep the family going while Gooper, his brother, has five kids. That is why Maggie lies to the family and tells them that she is pregnant, even though her and Brick aren't close in that sort of way. They have had a platonic relationship. I also liked how Williams put in the concept of a cat on a hot tin roof. I thought it was very interesting.

After reading Anna Carson’s “Eros The Bittersweet”, I found her views and thoughts very accurate. Through my experience in relationships I have found a wanting and desire from those who don’t give back as much. This point of view also relates to that of the relationships seen in the book “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”. In all of the relationships the women keep wanting more from the men. The women are trying to be in power or form a bond to make the relationship better, although they don’t get a response from the men. Maggie wants Brick so badly, but he has no desires for her because she is willing to give him everything. He drinks so much to put past his sorrows about Skipper. He doesn’t want to face the fact of their relationship, and how he treated his friend. He doesn’t want to be with Maggie, but she just keeps on wanting more from Brick because he has no interest. She wants what she can’t have or what he wont give her. It is also obvious is Big Daddy’s and Big Mamma’s relationship. Big Momma tries to take over and be powerful because she has never had the chance to run things. Big Daddy says that he doesn’t like Big Mamma and it is shown that she demands a lot of attention from him. Through Mae relationship with her husband, I think that they have so many kids because Mae doesn’t want to lose him and wants to keep having children to stay together. All of these relationships revolve around love and lust and different desires that need to be fulfilled.

On another note, I found parts of our discussion in class interesting. I don’t agree with the fact that many people want to be like pop stars or look up to them. I don’t think that people look for defaults in celebrities. To me, I think many of them set examples for kids to follow. Girls may want to be Lindsay Lohan which some think is bad, I think more people have to see the good side of what people are doing. She is going to rehab and setting that example to young girls to show them that its not always easy, and even celebrities fail and have to go to rehab. People may want to be Paris Hilton and people want to diminish her. People post her pictures to show that they aren’t people and that everyone isn’t perfect. I don’t think it’s the desire to be that person, I think it’s the wanting and longing for the same attention that they get. Along with Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie doesn’t set a good example to the youth. The media shows that even people who have such a status, get DUI’s, such as Nicole Richie might get. Many famous stars are just like us and give kids someone to relate their lives to.

Bittersweet Desire in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof"

In Anne Carson’s, “Eros the Bittersweet,” she describes eros as bittersweet, an experience simultaneously consisting of both pleasure and pain. According to Carson, eros or desire can be illustrated by the paradox of love and hate. She writes, “Whether apprehended as a dilemma of sensation, action or value, eros prints as the same contradictory fact: love and hate converge within erotic desire” (Carson 9). Carson later suggests that in Greek, the word eros signifies “want” or “lack.” Essentially then, eros is the constant desire for something we are lacking, something we can not have. As Carson argues, “The lover wants what he does not have. It is by definition impossible for him to have what he wants if, as soon as it is had, it is no longer wanting…desire can only be for what is lacking, not at hand, not present, not in one’s possession nor in one’s being…” (Carson 10). In other words, eros is the desire for what we can not have. Once we obtain what we want however, we lose that desire.
For example, in Tennessee Williams’ play, “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” eros can be recognized when observing the complex relationship between Margaret and Brick. Margaret is devoted to Brick. She strongly desires him even though he shows complete disinterest in her. In Act One, Margaret speaks to Brick, “You were a wonderful lover…Such a wonderful person to go to bed with, and I think mostly because you were really indifferent to it. Isn’t that right? Never had any anxiety about it, did it naturally, easily, slowly, with absolute confidence and perfect calm, more like opening a door for a lady or seating her at a table than giving expression to any longing for her. Your indifference made you wonderful at lovemaking-strange?- but true…” (Williams 18). In this passage, it seems that Brick’s lack of romantic passion and disinterest in Margaret actually caused her to desire him more. Essentially, she longed for what she could not have: the love that Brick was unwilling to give.

Eros The Bittersweet

While reading Anne Carson’s, Eros The Bittersweet, I felt a personal connection to the concept of bittersweet love. Bittersweet is defined by an instant of desire that stimulates feelings of unattainable love. As humans we generally want what we cannot have because we have put an emphasized meaning to the object of our desire. During class we discussed the similarity of desire to hunger and suggested that they are similar because when we are hungry we satisfy that hunger with food, and as a result we become satisfied. This is similar to desire because when we want a personal or physical relationship with someone we will try and pursue that individual, but once we attain that person our desire has lost a sense of appeal. Why do we want what we cannot have or already possess? Personally, I feel that it is human nature to create expectations and beliefs about a desired person or object, so that once we possess that object a sense of accomplishment and fulfillment is achieved. Desire has the ability to create ideas in our mind that contradict or destroy our ideas of love. A person will become jealous from ideas of fear, and will then resent their desired lover. The concept of bittersweet is described through jealousy because it is bitter to resent a lover, but it is also sweet to have a sense of love for desired partner. Carson describes jealousy as, “a dance in which everyone moves, for it is the instability of the emotional situation that preys upon a jealous lover’s mind” (Carson, 14). Jealousy is an uncontrollable feeling that illuminates a person’s feelings of desire. Bittersweet has multiple meaning and definitions, but the main point of the concept is the desire to want what we cannot have, and acts such as desire and jealousy mold our behavior and interactions with loved ones.

The Bittersweet Phenomenon

For class, we read “Eros The Bittersweet” by Anne Carson and followed with a discussion on its central ideas and how they relate to our everyday lives and the literature we have read. We opened our discussion with Sappho, who was the first female poet to call Eros bittersweet. Carson states there is this idea of the necessity of feeling both pleasure and pain in a relationship of love. The idea of bittersweet was first translated from sweetbitter, which might suggest a chronology of feeling pleasure followed by pain—sweetness then bitterness. Carson then proposes that the order put forth is irrelevant because a relationship of love is both sweet and bitter at the same time. The reason as to why there seems to always be bitterness even in the sweetest of relationships is because we are constantly in a state of lack; no matter how great what we have is, we still desire more. This has proved accurate in our everyday relationships. Many times that which we desire most is not the best fixation for our emotional well-being. For instance, an insensible young woman may be in a relationship with a young man who is loyal, respectful, and compassionate—qualities seldom found in a man!, but still finds her eye veering off toward the “bad boy” type. Besides the reason that we always desire for more, I believe most young women do this because they have an innate necessity for drama and feel too comfortable in a relationship with a young man who treats them well; they desire the chase and the pain. Carson also suggests that Eros is not a noun, but a verb. This serves to prove that love always has to be moving; it is an ever-changing and adapting phenomenon. Love may progress from good to bad—bitter to sweet and vice versa. This has been validated by the literature we have read and films we have seen. In “Maurice,” the love shared between Hall and Durham is plentiful and chaste, however, because of society’s construction of norms and laws, they are forced to be separate. In “The Girl Who Was Plugged In,” P.Burke held a strong love for Paul, but could not love him physically for she was living vicariously through Delphi. In the film version of “Minority Report,” Anderton desired his wife Laura who he could not have because everyday when she was with him, she saw her dead son’s reflection emanating from his face. I think “Eros The Bittersweet” was really interesting and relevant to our everyday lives and the literature we have read in class.

eros in Cat on a hot tin roof

The “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” relates to the reading of Eros surrounding the issue of desire. Eros is means “desire” or “wanting” according to Anne Carson, who theorizes about the “bittersweet” that surrounds Eros. By bittersweet Carson is referring to the duality of love, that with love comes hate. There are times in which we love someone and times in which we hate them. More often “bittersweet” refers to wanting what you can’t have. Carson describes this in terms of Eros, where when he finally gets what he wants he leaves because he does not want it anymore. Also, using Sappho as an example, you desire someone because you can’t quite fully attain them. That is where the love hate juxtaposition comes into play.
Anne Carson’s theory can be seen within “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”. Maggie is unhappily married to Brick but is madly in love with him. Brick has a nonchalant attitude, and never shows emotion. This lack of fulfillment in the love department is what causes Maggie to long for the love of Brick, but she also hate him for not giving her enough attention. Brick does not sleep with her, and the play even implies that he had a relationship with his friend, Skipper. Brick is now an alcoholic with no feelings for Maggie, but both still put up with the unpleasantness of their marriage. Clearly, desire or longing for desire (for love or money) is a main theme reiterated throughout the play not just through Maggie and Brick but also Mae, Gooper, Mama, and Big Daddy.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

The relationship between Brick and Skipper in the Cat on a Hot Tin Roof reminded me a lot of the relationship between Maurice and Clive in Maurice. What I got out of the play is that Brick and Skipper had an intimate relationship that was completely platonic. Brick has become an alcoholic because of his mourning the death of Skipper. A part of the play that I found odd is how Maggie and Brick are living in the room where the original plantation owners had a homosexual relationship together.

Even though Brick is an alcoholic and has homosexual tendency—he won’t sleep with his wife and had this relationship with Skipper—he is the favorite child of Big Daddy and Big Mama. Gooper is a successful lawyer who seems to keep up the plantation while Big Daddy is sick, but Big Daddy despises Gooper.

Maggie is the cat that is referred to in the title. I think that Brick’s neglecting her has turned her into a “cat”, someone who is bitter and has an attitude. Maggie’s mission is to make Brick appear to be the best heir for the family estate. She refers to Gooper and Mae’s children as “no-necked monsters”. Maggie does not have any children because her Brick won’t sleep with her, so this makes her bitter.

Minority Report

(i finally figured out my password)

I enjoyed watching Minority report very much. Thats funny because, ususally, i cannot stand Tom Cruise at all. I do love science fiction though. I thought it was really interesting how they adapted the movie from the short story, because it was not similar at all. However, the movie seemed to really pull the audience in to sympathize for anderton greatly. Adding the story of Anderton losing his son as his main motive of why he believes so much in Precrime really made alot of sense. The idea of Precrime was such an awesome idea. The idea that people could be arrested before even commiting murder, but even though they didnt commit it yet, was brilliant. What if they could just be stopped, and that be that. instead of putting thousands of people away. My idea of the precogs was completely different when i read the short story. I envisioned them to be like vegetables or really mentally handycapped people hooked up to a machine that printed out business cards. THe movie however made them far more glamourous and futuristic.

I think that the reason why differences between the futuristic elements of the story and movie were so great, have to do with the time periods in which each were made. i remember seeing an episode of an old tv show where someone came from the future who was from the year 2000. i cant remember the name of the show, but i think it was robin williams who was the person from the future. he was rediculously dressed in a spandex space suit with silly silver boots and gadgets. now that its 2007, it just looks silly. its funny how people view the future. Every generation does it. The idea of hovering cars, clones, and tight spandex suits seem to be what we now envision the future to be. What is it that shapes how we see the future? I think that the answer to that question is the technology we have and the films that we see. When one compares the quality of film now, to film ten years ago, there is a huge difference. Now that we grow up watching films like Minority Report, the Matrix, or Aeon Flux, their images have become what we think the future will be like.

I enjoyed both the short story and the film, and i liked seeing the differences in each.

Minority Report

As much as I did not like the movie it does bring up some very interesting issues. I did not like the movie for the simple fact that I am not a fan of futuristic, science fiction type movies nor a fan of Tom Cruise. Anyways that aside, the movie (although nothing like the book) housed some gender issues as well as an interesting plot.
The movie was very masculine clearly reiterating Tom Cruise as the male head figure of Precrime. In fact all of the head characters were notoriously masculine, except for that of Agatha. Agatha was the "talent" of the precogs, the one in which the other precogs would not be able to function. Like the story,the movie portrayed to precogs as selfless and helpless almost mentally uncapacitated in a way. The movie clearly denoted females in a sexist stereotypical way. The women were needy, and the solving of the plot was left up to the males with information provided by the females.
The plot was interesting, and I liked the twist of having Lamar being responsible for the murder. The movie is not what my interpretation would be from reading the story, but the futuristic techonology was really creative. There were several differences that I really didn't think made sense, such as having balls instead of notecards that tell the victem and the killer. The wife was also not thought of to be involved with the conspiracy against Anderton as in the story.

Minority Report Took A LIttle More Thought

I have to agree with many of my fellow bloggers that the gender issues in this film were not immediately visible to me. However, I was impressed by many of my classmates abilities to find subtle gender issues throughout the movie. I liked how some pointed out that Agatha was the most talented precog, that most of the high ranking officers in precrime were men (sad to think that this will probably actually still be true in fifty years), and the different ways John and his wife were portrayed and how they dealt with there sons death.
Rex blogged about how they thought it was odd that John appeared to be more distraught about thier son's death then his wife. I did not think that this was the case. I felt that both were quite distraught but they dealt with it in very different ways which could be related to the idea of gender norms. John dealt with his son's death in a very proactive way. He became part of precrime which was positive (at least at the time) but also began using drugs (proactive in that it was a direct action but a very negative reaction non the less). His wife on the other hand dealt with it in a much more passive way by leaving her husband because he reminded her of Sean and moving away from other people and living in the cottage. I think this is an example of how gender norms dictate that men should/are the more aggressive and direct gender while women are the more passive gender.
Additionally, I found it interesting social commentary that in the film the technology within the next fifty years was so highly advanced and yet things like gender equality within high ranking positions and law enforcement were still so lacking. I believe it is completely believable that technology has and will in the future advance more rapidly then societal norms. If you look at the past fifty years you will see that technology has advanced greatly, and although many strides have been made, gender equality is still far from present.
I do not generally enjoy sci-fi so I do not know that this was my favorite film so far. Yet, I am glad to see a film that did not have it's gender and sexuality issues so blatantly out in the open. This film took a little more thought to flush out some of these ideas. I liked that many people posted about this in their blogs and people were able to build on each others ideas. I hope that class today will lead to additional insights as well.

Minority Report

I consider myself a fan of science fiction, and I was surprised to hear that many people in the class had never seen The Matrix before, which I consider one of my favorite movies of all time; however, the second and third were horrible. The sequels were examples of a profit seeking Hollywood firm crossing the fine line of what is considered realistic and eventually surpassing the “possible, yet not probable” motivation that keeps my attention during a movie. The first Matrix focused on a computer generated world where outsiders who tapped in could bend and slightly break the rules governed by 0’s and 1’s. The next two focused on the love story and on a computer generated world where outsiders who tapped in could bend and slightly break the rules governed by 0’s and 1’s; well… also I guess the real world now. My point is that the basis on realism of this future predicament was thrown out the window and anything could have happened. I wanted to cry.

The Minority Report, in my opinion, is a movie that adheres to the physical laws that govern our world while still imposing a “few” potential discoveries about space-time that scientists are so eagerly studying today. The “foreseeing the future” attribute to The Matrix (original), and to The Minority Report were well constructed and original ideas that provided a background history into how they were discovered, which meant a great deal to me in believing the plot to the movies. It is still unclear to me what the “gender” adaptation was in Dick’s story though. The way in which the precogs displayed their futuristic powers were somewhat different in the story than in the movie. In the story, for example, the precogs only spoke their visions, there was no “mental tapping,” and the movie was centered around discovering the minority report of Agatha (Donna in the story) whereas Dick’s story did not relate the minority report specifically to one precog and the visions were in sequence rather than showing the same times at different viewpoints. There were many other differences, ranging from the ability to leave earth in the story to the character’s names and the way in which they are described. Overall, the plot is completely different; Anderton didn’t even kidnap a precog in the original story. I guess I would have to say that the Movie displayed more gender roles than that of the story. The dependence of so many lives on the visions of a female being more important than that of the two males was an interesting adaptation from the original storyline. Other than that, I didn’t see anything that would have caught my eye relating to gender roles. I hope we can find more things in class that we can discuss.

minority report

I've seen the Minority Report several of times , and I loved watching it again. I am a huge fan of sci-fi movies and this was a good choice. Like a couple of my classmates, I have to comment that I don't really see any obvious signs of gender in the movie or in the short story. There must be some subtle examples that I overlooked. I did not really pick up on anything major. I feel like I did miss out something extremely obvious but I can't put my hand on anything. I liked the vision of the future. All the future murderers in the movie were men, that is possibly interesting to look into.

I would like to say that I'm so excited about being in campus movie fest. It's been a fun start and I can't wait to see the final product, which won't be till this weekend. I can't wait though. I wanted to be in campus movie fest last year but I didn't enter on time/make up my mind. I'm glad I signed up.

What I did notice about the movie is that tom cruise's character was much much more distraught and saddened by the loss of his son than his wife. Mothers are usually the ones who would be way more hurt on the outside than fathers are. Tom cruise was more emotional than his wife. He did go work at precrime to prevent other kids from getting killed (even tho thats really not made clear in the movie). His wife did nothing.

Minority Report Also

After reading and watching the film adaptation of “The Minority Report,” I would also like to ask the same question as KAM in reference to how this story is related to the issue of gender. I really enjoyed the story but it seemed to focus on a person’s character more than the issue of gender. The only point that was made concerning gender in the movie was the fact that the Precog Agatha was labeled as the smartest one of the three because she was a woman. I found that interesting while watching the movie; the fact that she supported the two male twins in determining the events of the future. Also interesting was the fact that none of the highly ranked officers in the Precrime division were female. The supported the view of Agatha as superior because all of these highly trained men looked on to her for the main visions of the future. I did enjoy the movie more than the book, which is not usually the case, because I liked the science fiction feel of the future that Spielberg was able to create. The use of retinal scans, mechanic spiders to detect body heat, and the whole emphasis on computer technology was a great touch. However, the movie said that Precrime ended around 1956-ish and I highly doubt that we will be producing such technology in fifty years.

I have found our modernistic readings very interesting, yet confusing. Through these reading it is cool to see how people perceive the world in the future. I don’t like science fiction because I don’t think anyone will really be able to tell how the world will turn out to be. After reading Phillip Dick’s “Minority Report”, I couldn’t really grasp the whole concept. I liked watching the movie because I was able to envision what the text meant. I also liked the movie because I found the reading hard to read, as the movie was able to create more flow of the events. Not only did I find the reading confusing, but I also thought the movie was a little hard to follow as well. In the end I really liked how the viewer has to put the pieces together to understand what is going on. Even though the reading was short, I think the producer did a great job of turning it into a film.
After reading and then watching “Minority Report”, I am interested to see how one would turn James Tiptree’s story, “The Girl who was Plugged In”, into a movie. In my opinion, the modern view of heterosexuality and love could be hard to be seen through such a complex lifestyle. I wouldn’t even know where to begin on trying to make a movie that would be so in depth as the plot of “The Girl who was Plugged In”. I still can’t comprehend how Stephen Spielberg was able to envision this world in 50 years. The way precrime stopped people from dying and putting people in “prison” was fascinating. The movie “Minority Report” leads me to wonder what the world will actually be like in 50 years. To me the texts were confusing, although allowed many questions to arise in my head about how we lead our lives now and how our grandchildren and others will be living in the future.

Minority Report

After watching Minority Report I was a little confused as to how the movie related to the idea of gender. I assumed that the books and movies that we watched would clearly indicate gender issues and ideas relating to both the male and female gender. A connection that I did make as to why we discussed this movie and book in a gender class is that it deals with identity. Identity is closely related to gender because people are labeled, and identified by their sex. There is also the idea of false identities throughout the movie and book with the main character John Anderton. John Anderton was falsely accused for a predetermined murder, which relates to identity because subconsciously he knew that he would never kill a man. Anderton also took out his eyes so that the identification machines would not be able to know who he was. Once again, this is an example of changing an identity. I am not a huge science fiction fan, so I could possibly have a negative bias towards the movie. I felt that the book was easier to follow and made more sense from the beginning, whereas the movie was a mystery that was uncovered at the end. Like many other book and movie adaptations, there were differences. For instance, John Anderton ended up killing the man in order to save the program, where in the movie, everything results in a happy ending. Although this was not my favorite book and movie, I did feel that I gained some perspective into the issue of identity and how it relates to an individual.

Minority Report

After reading Phillip Dick’s “Minority Report” and watching Steven Spielberg’s “Minority Report,” I felt that both of them were good stories. Though Dick’s story was not long enough to create a feature film with, the expansion made by Spielberg was reasonable and made for a great film. I don’t normally like futuristic films, but I always love a Spielberg film, so I enjoyed it. Spielberg wanted to design a science fiction film that accurately depicted what the world would be like in 50 years. Though we will not have a highway system like the one depicted in the film in fifty years, his ideas of advertisements, retinal scan, sick sticks, eye replacement and recognition in a shop provide an ideal illustration of the future. The premise of “Minority Report” is extremely interesting and I think Dick’s story is a revolutionary one. The idea that a crime could be stopped before it occurs is inconceivable! In theory, precime is a great idea, however, at the end of the film when Lamar shoots himself instead of John, who’s name appears on the predetermined red ball, precrime is proved to be implausible. The reason why precrime could be fooled was because Lamar knew his fait, therefore, he could change his future. I loved everything about the film, some things in particular: the spiders that detected body heat, the story line about John’s son and his wife, the plot twist at the end with Lamar and Agatha’s mother, the weird plants in the greenhouse and I especially liked how Agatha was the most essential precog to the trio.

The Unbelievable Future of Minority Report

Everything in the future world of Minority Report was totally cool. I thought all of the gadgets and devices that they were using were awesome. I wish that I could live in a world that was like that. What upsets me is the fact that in fifty years when all of this future stuff is invented, I am going to be way too old to enjoy it. What bothers me even more is the possibility that this sci-fi movie is shooting a little too far in the future. There is a very good chance that we are not going to be living in such a world in fifty years. There is still a chance, but a very slim one. It’s funny too look back twenty years ago and look at the movies they were making about the world we live in today. We don’t live in anything like what movies thought it was going to be. Everyone always assumes that it’s going to be a life of flying cars, food in pill forms, and civilizations on the moon. All of these things would be great to have, but I don’t think that is going to happen in our lifetime. I wish a film like Minority Report would be more realistic and not give the actors really cool gadgets and people who can see the future. Luckily it is a science fiction film and I should remember to keep in mind that the fiction part is very key part to this film.
What I thought was really funny is the relationship between men and women in the future. Women were still fighting for their rightful place in the world. You would figure in a world that was so technologically advanced would be psychologically and emotionally advanced as well. I know it was just a subtle and very small part of the movie, but the fact that the main character, John Anderton, didn’t realize what the scientist woman meant when she said “the more gifted of the three” was a sign that woman are still not completely equals. Also, all of the main and dominating roles in the film were played by men. The lead women were all submissive housewives. Yes, John Anderton’s wife did save him in the end, but yet again she was playing the wife protecting her husband. Then in the end, John saved the day. Also, the other women were secretaries and the “police officers” that stayed in the car while the men went to do the dirty work. What kind of future is it that the women don’t get to play with the big boys? If you are going to make a future movie, make it one where we finally get equality.

Thoughts on the Minority Report

Watching the Minority Report helped a lot to understand the message that Philip K. Dick was trying to perceive. Although there were many differences, I thought the movie was a lot clearer. With the kinds of things and technology that Dick discusses within the story, I think visual adaptation of the story helped a lot to understand it. Some of his ideas within the story got pretty complicated and confusing and making them visual worked well. I loved the technology in the story and the movie. I found it all really interesting, especially how the future was depicted and the identification process. How to identify people they used their eyes, not figure prints and how where everywhere you went you were identified. Even when getting on and off the sub-way you were identified by an eye scanner. That way the police, government and other people in that kind of high status know where you are at all times. The thought of it is almost creepy. It reminds me a lot of 1984 by George Orwell. This book is also set in the future, where “Big Brother” who was kind of like the government was always there knowing where you are. You can not hide, kind of like how John Anderton could not hide, or at least it was hard to. I found it very interesting how two different stories, both written about the future, see the people being controlled and watched over. That people no longer have privacy and have to fear the government and police.

Another thing that caught my attention was the fact that all “murders” that precrime arrested went straight to jail. There was no fair trail, they had completely eliminated it. I can see where they would because they know they are guilty, but there are always different levels or murder, how long they should be imprisoned. There was nothing of that. Such as today premeditated crime has a worse sentence than people who kill out of passion. The fact that they did not have certain years that they would be put away or any trail at all where they can explain why, something that precrime doesn’t always know. The precogs never told motive and that is something that goes into a sentence. Anyways that was just a couple thoughts on Minority Report.

The Minority Report- Story vs. Film

It was interesting how very different Philip K Dick’s science fiction story, “The Minority Report,” was from the film. Of course the story’s main ideas were still included; the film took place in the future and centered on the concept of “Precrime.” In both the story and the film, the precogs envisioned that John A. Anderton, the Precrime Commissioner, was going to kill someone. This story line in Dick’s work, however, simply did not seem to be enough for a full length feature film. Therefore, the film incorporated all kinds of new plot twists; for example, the story of the disappearance of Anderton’s son, Agatha, the female precog’s mother’s death, the intense scenes in which Anderton under went a procedure to receive new eyes etc. I am typically disappointed after watching a film based on a book or story that I’ve read; the films tend to never meet the expectations set by the original literature. Usually, I find that new and additional plot twists in the films which change the original literature are unnecessary and do nothing to enhance the story. In this case, however, I felt just the opposite. In my opinion, all of these new plot twists found in the film seemed to enhance Dick’s vision. Because “The Minority Report” was such a short story, there were many aspects of this future world, including the Precrime System, that were left without further elaboration or description, leaving the reader to question and speculate. The film, therefore, was able to answer those unanswered questions, and give the viewer a better idea of what Dick’s vision could have looked like in more detail.

In Tiptree’s “The Girl who was Plugged In”, we once again are forced to question if heterosexuality truly suits the majority of the people living in the developed and structured world. I say developed and structured because in advanced countries the pressure to conform to heterosexuality is much greater. Tiptree emphasizes how overrated love is. Through his story, Tiptree makes it clear that what his characters perceived to be true love turned out to be a complete disappointment in the end. The “realness” of love is under serious scrutiny, and both males and females alike are destined to not be fully satisfied. Despite all this, Tiptree reminds us…thankfully…that no matter what it is human nature to look for someone to love and to want to receive love from another. This message speaks directly to me, and I find it important that everyone accepts that this need to be loved is beneficial and crucial to our progressive society. Without something to strive for as ideal as true love is made out to be there is nothing to fantasize about besides superficial needs. Although Tiptree pokes at the idea of love, I believe without the desire to obtain “real love” humans lose a part of their humanity…or what is left of it in some people. I find that what Tiptree is trying to show is true only in some people. There are mature people of both genders who do find a “realness” in love, and would not change their relationship with their significant other for the world. It would be sad to think appearance rules all. I do not mean to say physical attraction is not important or does not determine who one falls in love with, but in order for a serious relationship to exist there must be a compatibility and connection in a couple’s personalities. The story we read does not end with that message. The series of events leading to P. Burke’s death made me believe that Paul loved P. Burke in the form of Delphi simply because of how she looked. Was the connection Paul and the robot found in each other rely on Paul’s undeniable attraction towards Delphi? I believe Tiptree would say yes and in the context of the story I agree, but in real life the “realness” of love varies too much from couple to couple. There is no way a reliable conclusion can be made. After reading the story, I continue to be convinced that although finding a soul mate where true love lingers endlessly may be easier said than done, real and legitimate connections between homosexual and heterosexual couples do exist. The depressing truth is that many never find true love, but I believe that is judged by luck and circumstance more than anything else. It is a large world and the search for a life-lasting lover cannot possibly always have a happy ending. Tiptree shows the flaws of humans in their weakness to physical attraction and shows how it may cost men and women an opportunity to find someone they can love and be loved by.

Ignore Tiptree- - - recovered google account

In Tiptree’s “The Girl who was Plugged In”, we once again are forced to question if heterosexuality truly suits the majority of the people living in the developed and structured world. I say developed and structured because in advanced countries the pressure to conform to heterosexuality is much greater. Tiptree emphasizes how overrated love is. Through his story, Tiptree makes it clear that what his characters perceived to be true love turned out to be a complete disappointment in the end. The “realness” of love is under serious scrutiny, and both males and females alike are destined to not be fully satisfied. Despite all this, Tiptree reminds us…thankfully…that no matter what it is human nature to look for someone to love and to want to receive love from another. This message speaks directly to me, and I find it important that everyone accepts that this need to be loved is beneficial and crucial to our progressive society. Without something to strive for as ideal as true love is made out to be there is nothing to fantasize about besides superficial needs. Although Tiptree pokes at the idea of love, I believe without the desire to obtain “real love” humans lose a part of their humanity…or what is left of it in some people. I find that what Tiptree is trying to show is true only in some people. There are mature people of both genders who do find a “realness” in love, and would not change their relationship with their significant other for the world. It would be sad to think appearance rules all. I do not mean to say physical attraction is not important or does not determine who one falls in love with, but in order for a serious relationship to exist there must be a compatibility and connection in a couple’s personalities. The story we read does not end with that message. The series of events leading to P. Burke’s death made me believe that Paul loved P. Burke in the form of Delphi simply because of how she looked. Was the connection Paul and the robot found in each other rely on Paul’s undeniable attraction towards Delphi? I believe Tiptree would say yes and in the context of the story I agree, but in real life the “realness” of love varies too much from couple to couple. There is no way a reliable conclusion can be made. After reading the story, I continue to be convinced that although finding a soul mate where true love lingers endlessly may be easier said than done, real and legitimate connections between homosexual and heterosexual couples do exist. The depressing truth is that many never find true love, but I believe that is judged by luck and circumstance more than anything else. It is a large world and the search for a life-lasting lover cannot possibly always have a happy ending. Tiptree shows the flaws of humans in their weakness to physical attraction and shows how it may cost men and women an opportunity to find someone they can love and be loved by.

Minority Report

One of the things that I found the most fascinating while watching the Minority Report, is the technology that they showed. I do not think I would like having my eyeballs scanned while shopping in stores and being targeted for advertising. I already find it annoying when workers come up to me while I am shopping, and the thought of having it done every time I walk into a store does not excite me. I also think that I would get a headache if I was walking through a city and the advertisements around me are constantly changing, or how the newspapers were digital and constantly changing. Everything in the society seemed so fast paced that I can not imagine keeping up with it all.
What is even more amazing than the technology advances is the fact that murderers are arrested before they commit murder because three people can see the future. I found it interesting how they could set up John Anderton by finding someone who would say that he killed John’s son. Knowing that this would make John commit murder makes me wonder if John’s character was a female, would the movie get away with a female committing murder over the death of her son. I can see gender roles taking place in this situation because men are usually portrayed as more violent than females.
Another thing I noticed related to gender is how in the beginning, the first arrest occurred when the guy found his wife cheating on him. Also, when Anderton and Agatha were walking through the mall, Agatha said to a lady, “Don’t go home. He knows.”. This part of the movie is suggesting that the lady has cheated on her boyfriend or husband. I found it interesting that the two unfaithful people that were shown in the movie were both females. I do not know if this was intentional or not.
The only other gender issue I noticed was that Agatha, the only female, was referred to as the smartest of the pre-cogs. I am interesting in finding out what other gender issues were present in both the film and the story.

Minority Report

After watching the flim "Minority Report" based on the story by Phillip Dick it made it less confusing. I had also se the movie once before so that also made it easier to understand. I am not a big fan of the cyberpunk genre but I do like a few in the category such as Judge Dredd, and The Fifth Element. According to an internet site, one definition of cyberpunk is, " a literary movement, born in the 1980s, that seeks to completely integrate the realms of high tech and of pop culture." I think that is an accurate definition of the film's style. I think it is interesting that the main precog in the story was Agathon, the only female precog and the two twins were male. There has to be some significance to that. It is also interesting how the precogs look: they have no hair, and little color if any. The director could have made the precogs look like average people but instead made them stand out by their appearance. The main character of the precogs, Agathon, is also portrayed as weak, vulnerable, and dependent. She can not walk without the assistance of John Anderton. Looking over various websites I also found out that Phillip K. Dick wrote stories for other movies such as Totall Recall, Blade Runner, and A Scanner Darkley. To me the movie signified that a person has a choice over his or her actions, nothing is predetermined because in the movie John Anderton decided not to shoot Leo Crow when the precog had a vision of it. And Lamar Burgess choose to kill himself instead of killing Anderton or not killing Anderton. I think the movie shows that we have the chance to make decisions as humans. I think that is a good message because that means we can have a choice to make both bad and good decisions and not be determined by destiny.

Appearance versus Personality

In our class discussion about surface versus depth we uncovered that James Tiptree liberalizes this idea within “The Girl Who Was Plugged In.” In her story, the remote represents the surface and the waldo represents the depth. P. Burke, the waldo, controls the mindless remote, Delphi, therefore providing her with depth. P. Burke is portrayed as a deformed, rotten, dirty, ugly girl of seventeen, whereas Delphi is beautiful. When Paul falls in love with P. Burke in the body of Delphi, he sees both beauty and depth. However, when he finds out Delphi is merely a bot, he wants to rescue P. Burke from the underground vault, but he ends up killing her because he does not understand. Tiptree’s story leaves her readers wondering whether Paul is a sincere character; if he loved Delphi for her appearance or for the depth/personality P. Burke brought to her. Our discussion of surface versus depth led us into a discussion of appearance versus personality, as to which one initially draws us into a new relationship. While for some to say that it is human nature for appearance to be the initial draw in to begin a relationship, I believe that is superficial. It is true that one must be physically attracted to the person they are involved with, but I feel that in some instances one’s personality can shine so bright so as to draw in another and the importance of appearance can be thrown out the window. Each of us has our own set of experiences which lead each of us to believe that our argument is credible. In my experience, I have not yet found an individual who is ideal in his or her appearance and who treats an individual of the opposite sex with respect. I have, however, found an individual who is not perfect in appearance, but has the kind of personality I would like to surround myself with. Therefore, I believe it is possible to live in a non-superficial society in which personality is the initial draw in to a relationship.

The Future of our Society?

Just like the matter of sexuality in previous discussion, there seems to be more to what some people consider an attractive person or not. In reading some of the previous posts, I have witnessed how some of the classmates view attraction in their own experiences. Based on their discussions, a physical attraction is the most prevalent in making the decision to pursue someone further. This is a basic characteristic of a shallow and free America; to much of the free world, this concept is true, but to the conservative world, inner beauty plays a much greater role. Do the arranged marriages of many societies around the world depend on physical attraction or more on social, political, and economic expectations of those who are negotiating those marriages? Stories like The Importance of being Earnest seem to point in the direction of the latter.

What constitutes a success or failure in a marriage? Do people grow bored with the company of their spouse over time or does the physical attraction of one or both mates dwindle to a level that is considered unworthy of the other? I believe that marriage is the paramount relationship level that portrays the love two people share with each other on a physical and emotional level. Without emotion and love, marriages are usually rare (except in Las Vegas), and without physical attraction, many relationships will never even develop long enough to discover those emotions. What constitutes physical attraction and what constitutes love? Are they inseparable? Do they completely complement one another or are we destined to find someone who satisfies both of our self proposed standards before we can settle down? Is there such thing as a beautiful mind and personality hypnotizing another soul into making them perceive the physical body of that beloved as more attractive than previously concluded? If someone were to ask me what was more important to me in developing a relationship with someone, I would tell them that it is not just how I depict physical beauty or emotional feelings, but how I piece together all the little pieces of my mental position, the “connection” between us, their physical attractiveness, intelligence, personality, etc. etc. etc. We cannot define a personal attraction with two equal characteristics.

As noted before, many people regard physical attractiveness as the preliminary step into pursuing someone. This is not a cultural or social phenomenon. It is inherent in human nature and is vital to the continuation of human life through facilitating reproduction. Without a population with a majority physical attraction to the opposite sex throughout most of human history, of which more than 99% is categorized as hunter-gatherer and primal, our species would not have reproduced and evolved to the state we exist in today. For the most part, mental note; think of this as not much different than what we see on the discovery channel, where instincts are critical to continual existence. Most of what we consider “attraction,” beyond physical, is a fabrication of modern society which is manipulated by economic, political, and cultural desires. In today’s free society, this is the norm, and for those who were born with the unfortunate genetic composition that human society has rendered substandard, are encouraged to have lower standards themselves. When this person sits on the couch watching the Victoria Secret fashion show with bewilderment we look at them and say, “sorry for your luck” or “not everyone can be a model.” On the other hand, Hugh Hefner has 3 playmate girlfriends. Who hasn’t looked at the “unfair” society we live in and questioned the morality involved?

In The Girl Who Was Plugged In, Tiptree leads us into a world on the verge of a Cultural Revolution. I believe one of his messages was that the free world was beginning to become so obsessed with “luck” and self greed that it began to push aside the belief in even the most simple welfare needs of the less fortunate. When our liberties are compromised and free trade is regulated by the government, this has an affect on social and political situations. The concept of society and economy as becoming interlinked and inseparable was vigorously demonstrated by the social economist Karl Polanyi in The Great Transformation, written in 1944. In his work, Polanyi reassured the world that capitalism will eventually lead to a society that will become so intertwined in the free market belief that developing sociological problems will breed global revolutions as people realize that their communal priorities are becoming the forgotten shadow of capitalism. Delphi and P. Burke resembled the vast inequalities that we treasure in our world, and how the future will be on the path we have chosen: Delphi the beloved and P. Burke the Waldo closet nobody. The GTX Corporation is the loophole seeker/capitalism conformist with no conscience whatsoever, and Paul the revolutionist confused about what part of his significant other he truly loved; the outer skin of capitalism or the inner beauty of society. I’d continue the relationship analysis, but I think I’m getting carried away.

Just a few comments

I think that the narrator in The Girl who was Plugged In gives the story a very interesting, witty twist. From the very beginning, the narrator is extremely sarcastic about the whole situation with P. Burke and the events of the future. The word “future” is even capitalized a few times to exaggerate the fact that anything can happen. For instance, when P. Burke is taken away to begin the training to control Delphi, the narrator says, “You were warned, this is the FUTURE.” This story could have been told completely different to sympathize with P. Burke’s unfortunate ugliness and then shed an almost heroic light on the fact that she finally finds happiness in being beautiful…but the narrator’s tone does not allow that. Even though I did sympathize with P. Burke at the end, I thought that the hostile tone throughout the story made everything more complicated and interesting.
Also, the theme of advertising is very ironic in the story. Public advertisement is outlawed through billboards and television and other media, and the corporations rely on the “gods” or celebrities to promote certain products. This is also the main purpose of Delphi, who is only fifteen. It almost seems like Tiptree is trying to make a reference to the fact that young, beautiful girls can sell anything in our society simply by having it in their possession. The narrator even states, “What do gods do? Well, everything beautiful. But remember, the main point is Things.”

The girl who was plugged in

Although I thought the reading was kind of difficult to understand at points, once we talked about it in class I found "The Girl who was Plugged in" really interesting. The ideas that were brought up within the short story were way beyond that time and really do relate to today. After the talk in class and feeling that I understood the story better, I love the title. The title makes so much sense and even has kind of a double meaning. Where P. Burke was the one that was literally plugged in, Delphi was the one that was "plugged" into society or accepted, showing that there could be more than one explanation to the title. When I think about someone who is plugged in, it is someone in society who knows what’s going on, accepted in society and believes what they are told in society. This becomes the type of person that the society in the story idolizes but at the same time kind of fears. They banned advertising in society because they fear these kinds of people who fall for everything, who believe this and are in the know all. These people are also what they consider the "gods" of the celebrities that everyone idolizes.

I also love the double meaning in the fact that Delphi is just the pretty face and body, she is the surface. She is not only just figuratively but literally as well, the way that Delphi is the one that is allowed in the world, to be on the surface. Where P. Burke was the one with depth, with the soul and she was the one who had to be hidden in the “depths” of the earth. The double meanings in the story were very interesting, as well as the way that society today shown through.

Many of the themes and ideas that are relevant in the story run over into today’s society and life. The “gods” are idolized is one thing that happens constantly in society today. Celebrities are treated like gods and worshiped, the run what the fashion is, where the hot spots are and even what the news is. The way that society defines what is ugly and what is acceptable. That what they define as ugly should be hidden.

The Realistically Unrealistic

“The Girl Who Was Plugged In” and “Minority Report” were both interesting stories but I generally dislike that genre. I like more realistic stories because I think I can more easily relate to the story and connect with the characters. I always find it somewhat difficult to really feel sympathy, like, dislike, or other emotions towards the characters when the story is so unrealistic. However, sometimes, such as in “Minority Report” it makes me pause and think about, and often question, the direction or current society is moving in. I recently watched the movie “Children of Men”. It paints a very stark picture of the future. The world has turned into a fairly chaotic, violent, racist, unsympathetic, and individualistic place. It is of course an extreme version of a particular society. But sometimes I question whether or not our society is moving to far in that direction. For example, one of the main themes in “Children of Men” is anti-foreigner and anti-immigration sentiments. With a recent move in American and Britain in this direction it makes me fear how far we will spiral in that direction in the future. This genre of writing and film sometimes makes me think about how far of is this movie when it really comes down to it? I think some of the themes in the girl who is plugged in, like the struggle between physical beauty and societal approval and excepting yourself and appreciating your intellect is clearly an issue even in today’s society. I think almost every person faces the internal struggles faced by Delphi/P. Burke. I think sometimes these stories/movies are so successful because they find an exciting, edge of your seat, way to address some underlying real life themes.

Earnest Again

Sorry guys I forgot to post this blog about the importance of being Earnest movie earlier so her it is now:

The way I interpreted the phrase “the importance of being Earnest” was not about a name, or about impressing a women with that name. To me “Earnest” meant being a “better” version of yourself. I think that Jack in particular was trying to be, or at least portray that he was trying to be, better then he was to Gwendolen. Sometimes there are people or situations in your life that inspire you to improve yourself. I think Jack felt some degree of remorse for some of the things he had done in the past and wanted to attempt to be a better person in the future. I think that he in some ways was trying to represent himself as a good person. First of all he made his brother Earnest seem like a worse person then himself, and in that regard made him look like the better half of the family. Additionally, by going and visiting his brother he looked like a kind and caring person. This is how he attempted to look impressive to Cecily and Miss Prism. His calling himself Earnest and presenting him self as a “upper class” person to Gwendolen he was also trying to impress her. I think his alias of Earnest really just represented his desire to be an improved version of himself although I am not sure how sincere his attempt was.

I found it interesting that in the movie they did not make his name Earnest but made it John. It changed the ending moral message of the story. I think the books message was the hope that everyone can be a better version of themselves. Where as the movies ending sent the message that you should be happy with who you are and not try to be someone you are not. It is very interesting how this one seemingly small detail could change the message of the movie and the book so greatly.

Attraction

"The Girl who Plugged In" by James Tiptree is an interesting essay for the issues that it brings up. On issue is the idea of attractiveness. In our class discussion we discussed whether looks or personality attracts us to a person. Many people said that personality is what they initially look for in someone. I tend to disagree. I feel that people try to be morally upstanding when stating that personality is the initial "draw-in". When out, about, and mingling one does not go up to someone to socialize because their personality "looks good". We do not know someone’s true personality until after the fact! The initial impression is what someone looks like. Why do we go to the gym, dye hair, wear makeup, or lose weight. We want people to be somewhat impressed with our outer appearance. I am not saying that everyone goes for the most gorgeous male or female, but you go for someone who entices you by the way they look. Now after meeting someone, then personality plays a big factor in continuing any sort of relationship. However, for those of you who don't want to think that you are in any way superficial, I feel that we are manufactured to think this way. It is human nature to be attracted to beautiful things (and creatures), but I think with the rise of media it is taken beyond the limit it should. For the sake of being beautiful too much is sacrificed by some people. There should be a line drawn between striving for your natural beauty potential (braces, color your hair, etc) which people should do, and going so far beyond what you naturally are (the swan).

What's more important?

In my opinion, first impressions are initially based on a physical attraction. Some people may consider this to be superficial; however, I consider it to be reality. In today’s American society we are constantly surrounded by materialistic objects and advertisements. Now, a product has the ability to change, enhance, and even manipulate a person’s appearance in order to portray their image of beauty. We are taught from a young age that beauty is only skin deep, and although I am a believer of this saying and do feel that personality is more important that physical features I also believe that it is difficult to encounter someone based on personality alone. For example, in class we discussed the issue of meeting a stranger at the bar, and how someone is more likely to approach a man or woman if they are physically attractive. What changes our motives about people is when we are exposed to their inner self and true personality. In the story, “The Girl Who Was Plugged In” Paul had an initial attraction to Delphi because she was beautiful. It is hard to say whether or not Paul would have approached P. Burke even though it was her personality that he fell in love with. What makes a person’s instantly attractive? You may be drawn by a certain appeal such as humor, romance, or mystery but subconsciously you have already decided if you consider someone attractive. I do not base my attraction solely on appearance; however, I do feel that some sort of physical attraction is necessary, and that personality is the most important quality of a partner for a relationship to work.

so hot so fine..

I am devoting this post to a discussion that we had in class yesterday. We talked about what attracts us to a person, if it is their looks or personality. This was ignited by Tiptree's short story the girl who was plugged in. As we all know P. Burke, a very ugly girl who lived in a dungeon somewhere, was pretty much in control of Delphi, a gorgeous goddess. P. Burke lived vicariously through Delphi. Paul (I think that is his name), falls in love with Delphi, not knowing that she is controlled by P. Burke. Paul finally meets P. Burke and kills the ugly beast. Delphi lived on.
The question then arose in class. I think that a person's look is the single most important factor in determining whether or not I am attracted to them. The majority of people do this, yet some people don't want to admit it because they want to seem to have morals. If a guy is ugly, fat, dressed badly, has acne, smells, had bad teeth, an awkward nose, greasy hair, bad body odor, too short, too tall, has ugly footwear, or has to much body hair, I refuse to talk to them. I'm not gonna flirt with someone if they do not meet my standards, it make seem shallow, but guess what? I am. I want a guy that I will be proud of, and who will make me melt every time i see him. Personality is important only if I want to pursue more. Otherwise its irrelevant for the most part. I am honest.
I have chatted with several guys online, only seeing pics, and then meeting them. Twice, I sent them away in a matter of seconds. I wasn't going to waste my time duh.

Throughout the book Maurice, by E.M. Forester there are many references to that of “Plato’s Symposium”. E.M. Forester makes many references to the Greek Culture regarding the way that gender and sexuality have changed throughout time. During the Greek ages gender and sexuality were not often linked together to stereotype someone as who they were as a person. On the other hand, in London during the early 1900’s it was complete “rubbish” to say that you liked men and it was considered socially unacceptable. Forester shows qualities in Maurice that reflect those of the men during the time of the Greeks where Clive, another main character, rejects those beliefs of being with another man. E.M. Forester alludes to “Plato’s Symposium” in a sense of how sexuality and gender characterize a person between love and lust, surface and depth, and homosexuals in different times of society.

inner beauty vs. outer beauty

In James Tiptree’s short story, “The Girl who was Plugged In,” the classic struggle between physical beauty and inner beauty is dealt with. In the story, the character of Paul essentially develops feelings for two incomplete young women, falling in love with Delphi’s appearance and P. Burke’s personality. Once Paul realizes that Delphi is just a manufactured body, he attempts to save P. Burke, the person who is truly controlling Delphi. Once he sees what P. Burke looks like however, he’s horrified. Her grotesque body disgusts him. In regards to P. Burke’s startling appearance, Tiptree writes, “Paul is furious, the thought of that monster fastened into little Delphi’s brain nauseates him” (Tiptree 76). It seems that inner beauty just was not enough after all.
After our class discussion on inner beauty vs. outer beauty and Paul’s love for both Delphi and P. Burke, I began to think more about this complex relationship between appearance and personality. Are both characteristics necessary for a meaningful relationship? Can a relationship survive with one, but without the other? I know its possible to create a sustaining relationship solely based on physical attraction. But, is it truly possible to have a relationship which involves no physical attraction what so ever? Essentially, I think physical attraction and personal compatibility both play important roles within a meaningful, long lasting relationship. In other words, most of us desire the “whole package.” In Paul’s case for instance, it became clear that he could not have loved Delphi without P. Burke’s personality; yet he could not have loved P. Burke without Delphi’s appearance.

the girl who was plugged in

I really enjoyed reading this short story. Despite the initial confusion, i really began to get into it. The idea of someone being able to control someone as if playing a video game, is something i could have never come up with. James Tipree was way ahead of her time.

I think everyone could sympathize with P.Burke. All of us, as much as we deny it, have some sort of ideal which we strive for, or wish to be. When i think of myself, I always wish to be a bit taller, thinner, and more out going. I wish i could be one of those people who can just be satisfied with the way things are, but no one is perfect. there is always room for improvement, and we always seem to find the imperfections in ourselves. Burke idolized celebrities, because they were everything that she wasnt.

In my psychology class today, we were talking about Jung's theory on personality. One of this theories were that all of us are either an introvert or extrovert. He felt that each of us, whether an extrovert or introvert, secretly wish to be the opposite. Aggression for a person who embodies our opposite, isnt because we hate them, but because deep down we truly want to be just like them. A shy person may wish that she were loud and outgoing, while an extroverted person may secretly wish to not always be the center of attention. My professor did an exercise where we wrote down all the qualities of a person that we hated. After we finished our lists, he told us to draw a box around it, and then on top, write My Shadow. The point of the exercise is that we internalize the the so called things we "hate" because deep down we wish to have all the qualities of our ideal image, or they are also just qualities of ourselves. For Burke, it was celebrities. And then Delphi, for she finally could be someone she always wished to be.

"The Girl Who Was Plugged In"

"The Girl Who Was Plugged In" was a very interesting read.I think it is very interesting that James Tiptree is a woman. When first reading I thought that I man had written the story. I thought the story was confusing until we went over it in class. I thought that we had very interesting discussions about gods as celebrities, parents living through their kids such as P. Burke living through Delphi. I think that people look at magazines like US, In Touch, etc... partly because they are bored with their life and think that a celebrities life is so much more exciting. Another reason people read those magazines is because they want to be them; they want the fame, fortune, and recognition that comes with celebrity. But people do not realize that with fame and fortune, comes a price. Loss of privacy is one big disadvantage of being a celebrity. Being a celebrity is also temporary because a person is rarely famous their whole life. People do not stay the same age throughout their life and do not necessarily have the same talent throughout his or her life for example, professional athletes get older and are not as athletic as they used to be, i.e. baseball players, soccer players, and any other sport have only a short period that they can play. Some will be famous throughout their whole life after their sport is over(Mickey Mantle) but some will fade away after time and new younger stars come into play. There are some people that are lucky! I think our society has become too obsessed with beauty because of the shows like The Swan, Extreme Makeover, and Dr. 90210. That is the reason so many girls are so insecure and turn to plastic surgery, anorexia, and bulimia. In other cultures women are not supposed to be thin, in cultures in Africa, women are considered wealthy and healty if they have meat on their bones because that means that they can afford to buy food. But now in the news, the rate of eating disorders in Africa has gone up incredibly because of Western influence. According to an article, there has been a 200% in eating disorders in South Africa because of the media's influence. I think that it has become a problem because many parents are living through their kids and the kids aren't having a real childhood doing what they would like to do. It is addressed in the movie, Center Stage, and many others like it. I enjoyed reading "The Girl Who was Plugged In" and discussing the many issues involved with the story.

Plugged In

While reading The Girl Who Was Plugged In, I found myself sympathizing with P. Burke. All I could picture was this unattractive girl who had just tried to take her own life and is now given a second chance at having the life she always wanted. But then she realizes that she can not fully have that life living through Delphi. As Delphi, she can’t feel, taste, or touch. When P. Burke falls in love with Paul, she can’t truly be with him as Delphi.
Reading this really got me thinking about giving up the sacrifice of being myself to become a celebrity. It is hard for me to completely relate to P. Burke because I am not unhappy with my life. Sure there are lots of events I would change in my life if given the chance, but there is nothing about my body I would want to change. For me, I would not want to live a life without privacy. I especially would not give up most of my senses to become a “God”.
I also got to thinking a lot about our society after reading this story. I find it said that we think of celebrities as being gods in a sense. They are not perfect, and many of them do not have qualities worthy of being looked up upon. Should we really honor a person who has a beautiful outside appearance, but does not show any beauty in their actions? I don't think so, but obviously a majority of us do it anyways.

Importance of Being Earnest

After our conversation about bunburry and what it means in the book, I went into watching the movie trying to see it with that point of view. I still did not pick up on that side of the story. Even in the movie, I only saw bunburry as the name of what they did, the name of Algy's other person. It was just a way to have a double life.

I really enjoyed the movie and loved all the cast. When reading The Importance of Being Earnest I was unable to visualize what was exactly going on and found myself confused at times. While watching the movie it helped me visualize what was happening and clear up some confusion. I think the movie was also easier to understand because of the language that the play was written in. Since the play was written in the Victorian Era, it is written in old English. Old English can be very hard to understand if you are not used to it. Even though in the movie they are talking in the same old English and language, because you can see the facial expressions and actions it helps the watcher understand what’s going on.

We were supposed to think of who the character would be and how a seen would be acted out. However when watching the movie, I really enjoyed the cast. I love how it was made with modern day stars. I felt like I was able to connect with the movie. If the movie was an older version with actors I could not associate with I think it would not have been as interesting. I love Reece Witherspoon and having her portray one of the characters was interesting and I think she did a very good job. The other characters did wonderful jobs portraying the characters as well.

Earnest

After reading and watching The Importance of Being Earnest, I am fascinated by the fact that the same humor 1895 can be applied to our society over 100 years later. Oscar Wilde uses numerous puns throughout the play to mock society. An example of one of Wilde’s puns when Jack says, “It is very vulgar to talk like a dentist when one isn’t a dentist. It produces a false impression.” (18). False impressions represent both the social impression that are made and the dental impressions that dentists use to create false teeth.
I enjoyed how Wilde used many characters to show how society views marriage more about a social act than about love and passion. Cecily and Gwendolen both want to marry a man named Ernest and do not wish to marry Algernon and Jack unless their names are Ernest. When Cecily and Gwendolen find out that neither is named Ernest, they are more upset that their names are not Ernest than the fact that both men have been leading double lives. They both forgive then men when Jack and Algernon say they are changing their Christian names to Ernest.
Lady Bracknell makes marriage to be about social status and not love, and this is presented by how she thinks she will be the one who decides who Gwendolen will marry. I loved the scene where Lady Bracknell questions Jack to see if he is worthy enough to marry Gwendolen. I thought it was hilarious when she said it was “carelessness” for Jack to lose both of his parents, and that he most produce at least one parent before he can marry Gwendolen.
My favorite quote in the play is when Algernon says, “All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does. That’s his.” (29). I like how he alludes to how men would be better if they adapted some of their mother’s characteristics, but women are flawed because they adapt them all. I also find it funny because as I get older, I notice that I do more and more things like my mom.

A whole new twist

I want to agree with Gator (The Unrealistic Earnest) in the fact that the play just didn’t do it for me as far as an interesting, fun reading. I think The Importance of Being Earnest was just too far fetched from reality and almost too much of a satire of society; to the point of being drastically unrealistic. It seems that every situation and conversation was very witty but over-dramatic. Author Oscar Wilde pounded the reader with his views on social status, gender roles, bachelorhood, love, and, as was pointed out in class, homosexuality. For example, on pages 25-28, Lady Bracknell asks Jack many questions regarding his social status and then criticizes him for his lack of important family and upbringing. Then on pages 62-66, the importance of social status is again questioned, this time about Jack’s niece Cecily Cardew, while implications of gender roles are touched as well. On page 63, Lady Bracknell states,

“ A hundred and thirty thousand pounds! And in the Funds! Miss Cardew seems to me a most attractive young lady, now that I look at her. Few girls of the present day have any really solid qualities, any of the qualities that last, and improve with time. We live, I regret to say, in an age of surfaces.”

This one quote alone summarizes the theme of the play; that high society is purely based on surface behavior. I just felt like the author could have made his point by at least having some non-flighty, realistic conversations and actions occur.
However, I did find it extremely interesting when the subplot of “bunburying” was highlighted in class. I honestly did not pick up at all about the possibility of a homosexual undertone, but I also didn’t know the background on the author and the fact that he was “outted” right after the play was published. Once this undertone was revealed to me, the play then took on a deeper, sneakier meaning that did provide some substance in each conversation. I think the best quote regarding bunburying is found on page 20, as Algernon states, “A man who marries without knowing Bunbury has a very tedious time of it.” Algernon is hinting that most men do experience homosexual love before they are married, which gives them a sense of being and allows them to deal with marriage. This is a whole new twist on the plot and sarcasm found throughout the play.

Truly Earnest?

I thought The Importance of Being Earnest was the best reading so far. I had never read the script before and I was intrigued with the predicaments that were beginning to show themselves at the climax of the story. I did not expect Algernon to show up at Jack’s residence in the first place, and completely disregarding the opinion of Jack. Before they knew they were brothers, Algernon treated Jack with disrespect as far as I can see. It did not seem much like they were brothers at all, so it was originally hard for me to take the bunburying concept to the level that Wilde was probably intending it to be. Now that I have been introduced to the hidden meaning of Bunbury, I look at the whole script in a different manner. For instance, Jack was being a smartass by asking Algernon if the situation “was what he meant by bunburying” when Cecily and Gwendolen retreated into the house after they found out that “supposedly” neither man was Earnest, inevitably leaving Jack and Algernon to be with each other in the garden. It is interesting to go through the movie and look at the pun’s associated with the bunburying because I was originally fascinated with the two men’s decisions to fall in love with these two women so rapidly and without much question. At first I believed Wilde was intending the reader to believe in love at first sight, but now I know that in the end, Jack and Algernon were not being Earnest as much as they wanted to be. I will be watching the movie tonight, and im interested in seing how the non-verbal actions that are so important to the language of our time show any of these hidden puns.

Some of the questions that I came up with in the reading refered to the way Algernon treated his company and his manservant. Did Lane take the blame for Algernon eating the cucumber sandwiches, in saying that the market didn’t have any for sale that day? Also, what sort of relationship was there between Chasable and Lady Bracknell, if any?

The Unrealistic Earnest

I thought the play The Importance of Being was kind of silly and outrages. The situations in the story would not happen in real life. The coincidental situations such as Jack and Algy being brothers and Jack’s real name being Ernest were just a little too much to take the story seriously. I was also confused by how easily the whole situation was resolved in the end; how easily everyone was forgiven and how “happily ever after” it appeared to be. I think for a story to be truly intriguing to me there needs to be a basis of reality so that I can actually relate to the story as if it could be a real life situation.

One thing I did find interesting about the story was the issue of gender equality or inequality that was highly prevalent in the story. On multiple occasions they discussed whether the sexes have equal status within society. Often it appeared that the women expressed that they felt the genders where unequal more so then the men. For example, one thing that was disheartening was when Gwendolen said “How absurd to talk of the equality of the sexes! Where questions of self-sacrifice are concerned, men are infinitely beyond us” and Cecily responded “They have moments of physical courage of which we women know absolutely nothing (pg. 61)”. In another scene Jack states “Why should there be one law for men and another law for women (pg. 69)?” However, I think it was pretty clear throughout the story that both genders felt the sexes were unequal, as was standard at that time. I believe some comments were made, such as Jack’s, that only superficially denied that inequality.

I am watching the movie tonight and am anxious to see how the different themes play out within the film as opposed to the play. I would like to see it be slightly more realistic and am interested to see how the gender relations are portrayed as well.