Personal HELL

Everyone has done something bad in life, no person is perfect. But in the end it is about self redemption and doing more good things in life than bad. I do not believe in hell but if I were to create a personal hell most people would land themselves in an in between place like a purgatory, before they were to go to heaven or hell. This is where they would be weighted, and given time to redeem themselves and realize what bad things they have done throughout their life and what they can do to reverse their fortune. The people that have committed crimes that are unforgivable will go straight to hell. These people are people incapable of remorse, they do not feel sorry for any harm they have created on society.  

1. To get into my personal hell you would have to be a person incapable of remorse. After these people committed a crime they would not feel any guilt. People like this do not have a moral compass and are not capable of being forgiven for their sins. Theses unforgivable people are those like Austin Sigg, and James Holmes who take innocent peoples lives. Most all of rapists should automatically go to hell. Though most people that have committed awful crimes can change into a person of remorse and truly be regretful of their sins. These people that are able to redeem themselves can travel to heaven.


2. As a punishment they would be forced to watch their crime on a constant repeat played old televisions. They would see their victims faces, after they have committed the crime. They would be constantly reminded of the torture they placed on their victims. They would also be chained together pulling the "weight" of their crime, also constantly being electrocuted by the energy of their victims. There would be a sewage stench in the air and flames of fire constantly surrounding them. They would be confined to a trash slum to sleep at night only accompanied by rats and other night rodents. To make for an unpleasant sleep there would be a fire alarm sounding constantly. There would be no physical torture only intense mental torture.

3. The hell looks like a run down industrial park surrounded by a slum of trash. People in it are moping around with no purpose and miserable. It would smell of rotting flesh, death, and disease. Because of all of the fire there would be piles of dark ash on the ground and most everything would be burning or burned. There is no silence in the hell only screams of constant reminders of the their wrong doing. A sane minded person could not stand to live in this torturous zone very long without caving in. There will always be an episode of 20/20 playing in the arena.


4.There is absolutely revival and escape. If and only if someone does believe they can contribute positively to society. I can't think of anyone specific that would be able to escape, but personally I believe even the most terrible people have the possibility to change with the right guidance. Some people though that are not capable of change or simply do not want to change will live in this hell for eternity. Escape and revival are all dependent on the persons tolerance for this hell, and their willingness to change. Though people with metal illness, which the illness prompted them to commit a crime should receive the proper treatment so they have a chance to change also.

5. To represent my hell I would choose a television. This television is what is constantly reminding the people in hell of their crime because that's what is constantly playing on the tv. It would become a symbol of disappointment and shame. Though it is still there a constant reminder.


6. As I said before I would put the majority of the people in "purgatory" where they would show to either go to heaven or hell. The people that don't go to purgatory and just straight to hell would be people like James Holmes and Austin Sigg. I would also put rapists, murderers, and pedophiles in hell. Most people would be able to prove themselves and escape though few others, who would not be able to prove themselves a recovered person would have to suffer in hell for eternity. Also self entitled people would be included, these people do not contribute positively to society at all, nor give back. These greedy people deserve to go to hell.  

The Prestige

For the past few weeks we have been working on our tragic hero movie posters in class. We choose The Prestige for our movie poster. My part of the tragedy that I studied was the catastrophe. In our essays, which we turned in recently, I compared my element of the tragedy to the catastrophe in Oedipus Rex. The Prestige has a very complex plot, where two main characters are profiled, it moves between present day and flashbacks. So at some points in the movie it was very hard to understand, though after watching it a few times it all seemed to make more sense. My favorite part of the project was when we finally got to design the poster in a thematic way that related to the movie.

Blue was very for the theme of the poster because it is the color of electricity which played a huge role in the movie. Electricity is what produced the many clones of Robert Angier, the protagonist in the story. The clones in the movie are what fuelled his hubris and made him feel unstoppable, even though later on in the movie he does realize what he is doing is wrong, by killing one of the clones every night. The birds on our poster also are important because it shows how some birds (Borden, and every other clone) survive the trap and the other, darker, falling birds are the ones that didn't make it (Robert Angier). Lastly the red ball which is bouncing off of every picture shows  the obsession that Angier had with his tricks. Angier became obsessed with these tricks because he was intrigued by the reaction from the audience every time he performed it. The theme was by far the my favorite part about this project.  

Titanic Reflection

While watching the Titanic I began to see all parts of the tragic hero journey play out. What makes the captain of the Titanic a tragic hero is his initial arrogance and overconfidence. He believes that he can conquer anything and in the process he puts other lives in danger. Because of his high status others did not question his risky decisions, at least not directly that is. That fuelled his ego even more and he began to push the abilities of the ship to their breaking point. In this way he is selfish because he realizes if he makes the ship go as fast as possible he will become even more famous and well known. This unity of action is what the audience begins to pick up on, cause and effect chain of events.
 The peripeteia or reversal of intention comes when others realize that the ship isn't supposed to be going so fast but they light up another engine anyway. The captain's hubris gets in the way of reality and others safety. Anagnorisis comes when the crew members see a iceberg in the distance and the captain and his co-workers understand the effects of the lighting of the extra engine. The scene of chaos then comes into play when many on the ship come to a survival or death conclusion. Due to the limited life boats on the ship the majority of people will die, some people except that fact and others do not and fight for hopeless survival. Lastly the cartharsis is shown when the boat is finally sinking and many lives are brought to a close. Also the captain is shown in his quarters going down with the rest of the ship peacefully as he realizes the effect that his small decision has had on the rest of the people on the ship.

Tragic Heroes Reflection

This past week we finished up Oedipus Rex and began discussing tragic heroes. Oedipus like all tragic heroes starts at the top and slowly descends as he learns of his fate. In the beginning of the play, Oedipus has a huge ego that led to his tragic downfall. This hubris, which can be traced throughout the entire play is shown to be Oedipus's biggest fault. Oedipus's hubris has an impact on his judgement. He is so focused on himself, and making himself look good that he begins to loose sight of reality. This shows how extremely arrogant he can be. Tragic heroes in my opinion have more impact than traditional heroes do, because they generally pull more emotion from the audience. It is definitely more shocking and powerful when a hero is constantly descending and never rises back to the top at the end of the story. The play ended some what unexpectedly and gruesomely to say the least at the end. It was definitely a sudden and unpredictable ending.
I am very excited for our next project because we get to work as a team and incorporate creativity into the posters. It will be interesting to pull pieces from Oedipus Rex the play and see how they relate to a modern day film. Though I am looking forward to working on it.

Oedipus Rex reflection

So far what I have read of the play has been pretty interesting to say the least. Oedipus is first in command and many people look up to him to be somewhat of a massager to the gods. The towns people including the priest are begging him for assistance and guidance. Oedipus seems to be under a lot of pressure and has a lot on his plate. As of right now he has the best interest of the people in mind and he is trying to save the city. Through my research so far I have a basic knowledge of the majority of the characters that will be introduced in the play. Though it is hard to understand some aspects of the storyline because it is crucial to know about all myths and underlying meanings. In the play the use of dramatic irony in Greek tragedies is brilliant. I never really understood until now the amount of effort and intelligence it takes to create such a production and intricate storyline.  

Oedipus Rex Introduction

Dramatic Irony- Used in many Greek tragedies, dramatic irony is when the fate of a situation is known by the audience but not by a certain character or characters. This literary technique is used to build suspense in the story line. It also builds on the personality of the character and how the audience my view him or her because the audience has knowledge the character may not have. 

Sophocles- He was born into a wealthy family and was offered lots of opportunities including very good education. He was a dramatic poet who competed in many competitions and won a good amount of them. The Athenians elected him to a high military office in his advancing age. He wrote over 100 plays which many have been published today.








Oedipus Rex (person/ myth/ play)- Oedipus becomes king of Thebes after solving the riddle of the Sphinx. He was adopted into the royal family after he was found left in the mountains with his feet bound together. Later in life he ends up killing his father and marring his mother. There is still no evidence that Oedipus is a real person, for all we know now he is a character based on a myth.
          Myth- Oedipus is born to the King and the Queen of Thebes. It is fate that he kill his father and marry his mother. In order to prevent this terrible fate his feet are bound together and left to die on the side of a mountain. The baby was later found and was raised by the kind and queen of Corinth. He learned of the prophecy and ends up killing his father and marring his mother in the end, and obtaining the thrown.
                                                    The play- it is a Athenian tragedy written by Sophocles, it was originally performed in 429 B.C.E. The classical tragedy is a story about Oedipus that begins after he has beaten the Sphinx and married his mother.






Greek Tragedy- Form of theater in ancient Greek and Asia minor. It's plots generally originated from ancient myths. Usually a character in a Greek tragedy is doomed from the start and is usually destined for disaster using dramatic irony often.






Teiresias- Was a blind prophet of Thebes. He was most known for transforming into a woman for seven years. He aided in the investigation of the killing of the former king Laius. Though his investigation revealed that Oedipus himself killed Laius. Due to this information that he reveals, he is thrown out of the palace.






Greek Theatres- These are large open air arenas, that use the natural surrounding to give the theatre a dramatic sloped effect. At the center of any Greek theatre there is an orchestra where all of the performing takes place. The audience is seated in the theatron where upwards of 12,000 people can be seated. Seats are divided into sections by stairs.



   Fate- this is a very influential topic in many Greek myths, many people try to alter or change their prescribed fate in some way. Many times when someone tries to change their fate they end up in more trouble than they were in, in the first place. Many believe that your fate is associated with the gods and the gods may decide the fate of a person.






Aristotle (tragedy)- This is a dramatic performance where a very serious topic is disgusted and acted upon by the tragic hero. Throughout the performance the audience should have emotions of pity and sadness for the hero that progressively get stronger throughout. The performance should usually close with a ultimate climax.


Aristotle (hubris)- This is extreme pride or pretentiousness in a character that leads to failure. This is a overestimation of someone's strength or personality qualities. When someone has hubris they are often disconnected with reality.

Baraka

The film can relate to studies in first semester in the fact that many of the scenes portrayed some believes of the philosophers we have studied. Like Joseph Campbell has famously said, "follow your bliss". In the film there were many people that were doing just that and following their true passion through meditation and connection to a higher power.Though as Jonathan Swift commonly assumes that humans are simply machines. In the film there were many people that seemed to just be going through the motions of everyday life and never stopping and enjoying themselves. This is a very accurate representation of society. Towards the middle of the film they showed a assortment of cluttered buildings, stacked on top of each other tarnishing in the air day by day. This collection of buildings was not well kept and lacked care and compassion. There is little acknowledgement for this forgotten place in the world and lack of compassion. Most people tend to forget about the less fortunate people of society.

I thought one of the most frightening images of the film was when they were sorting out the baby chicks. Most of the time in our sheltered society we don't see what lies behind closed doors and many people are unaware and uneducated of where our food and resources come from. It was eye opening and really gave me a different perspective. I also thought that the man walking through the Chinese town ringing a bell and meditating by himself shows how the outlier in society takes a different path in life and really follows his or her passions where most people just do what makes the most money or what is socially acceptable. My ideas are different from Brussat because I believe Brussat looked more for compassion, where I looked more for the things that are hidden from our everyday lives. The sound throughout the film was very important. It really set the mood and toyed with my emotions. I think the film teaches viewers to have more compassion for people outside of their comfort zone, and also to become more educated, and aware of our surroundings. The whole world is intertwined and not everyone can stay in their own bubble.