Q: Is it alright to celebrate the death of an enemy?
Griffin's question, I think, is a difficult one to answer. When the news broke of Osama Bin Laden's assassination at the hands of US Navy Seals, it was met in America with cheers and sighs of relief. For almost ten years, Americans lived in fear of Bin Laden and the Taliban. Now, his death has brought an end to an era which began with the horrible attacks that occurred on 9/11/01. I think it is only natural for Americans to want to celebrate this small victory over terrorism. However, the celebration should not overshadow the reality of America's situation; there are still US forces both in Iraq and Afghanistan. Just because Osama Bin Laden is dead, it does not mean that Al Queda and the Taliban are gone forever.
On a more general basis, the death of anyone, good or evil, should probably not be met with celebration. The loss of life, whether good or bad, needs to be first met with acceptance then with either relief or sadness. In terms of an enemy, the celebration of their death just brings more importance to their life. Giving too much attention to their passing ensures that their legacy will live on. I believe it is better to let the enemy pass in relative silence, in order for the rest of the world to move on without remaining in the past.
Q: Do you think there will be repercussions for Bin Laden's death?
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Singing in the Rain
"Singing in the Rain" is a classic song from the musical Singing in the Rain. Performed by Gene Kelly, it is an iconic number used countless times over and over to express the simple joys in life. However, after watching A Clockwork Orange by Stanley Kubrick, this song has an entirely different connotation. In the movie, A Clockwork Orange,, the main character Alex sings this song while rapping a woman in front of her husband. The contrast between this cheerful song and this horrible act of violence not only makes this scene memorable but also changes the audience's perception of the song. I can no longer listen to "Singing in the Rain" without feeling slightly sick and disgusted.
This experience with the song parallels Alex's situation in the movie A Clockwork Orange where he learns to become nauseous at the sound of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. In therapy, Alex is forced to watch horrible scenes of violence all while listening to Beethoven. After his therapy, he becomes conditioned to associate Beethoven with violence, just as I associate "Singing in the Rain" with the rape scene in the movie.
Q: Have you ever had an experience like mine, where a song reminds you of something else?
This experience with the song parallels Alex's situation in the movie A Clockwork Orange where he learns to become nauseous at the sound of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. In therapy, Alex is forced to watch horrible scenes of violence all while listening to Beethoven. After his therapy, he becomes conditioned to associate Beethoven with violence, just as I associate "Singing in the Rain" with the rape scene in the movie.
Q: Have you ever had an experience like mine, where a song reminds you of something else?
A Clockwork Orange and Existentialism
Note: Read Standford Encyclopedia of Philosophy:Existentialism and A Clockwork Orange fror more information before reading this post.
For the first time, not so long ago, I read The Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess. I had orginally entended to use it for my book review, but somehow I decided on Island by Aldous Huxley instead. Not wanting my effort to go to waste, although reading a novel such as A Clockwork Orange could never be constituted as a waste, I thought I would write about it on my blog. Then in class, Israel presented his book report on The Stranger, and all I could think about was existentialism and how it related to A Clockwork Orange.
A Clockwork Orange is based on existentialistic theory. The main character, Alex, commits crimes for no other reason then for the thrills. He is a lunatic who only enjoys life when he is destroying the lives of others. Unlike most psychopaths, Alex did not grow up in troubling circumstances nor did he have a lifechanging experience whcih made him become such a monster. Instead, the only reason for his cruelty comes from the rush of excitement he receives when he is hurting other human beings.
For Alex, nothing matters in life except his constant need to get a "fix" of violence. He has plenty of opportunities to change his way of thinking and reform his actions, but instead, at the end of the novel, he remains the same individual.
The question raised in the novel is whether society or Alex himself is to blame for his actions. Alex has pulled away from society and rejected its norms. Yet, society still tries to help Alex and turn him into a model citizen. As a consequence, however, society ends up making more monsters like Alex. In the end, society has to stop treating Alex and allow him to regress to his former self in order for the rest of society to remain sane.
Q: What is Anthony Burgess saying about societial reform in A Clockwork Orange?
For the first time, not so long ago, I read The Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess. I had orginally entended to use it for my book review, but somehow I decided on Island by Aldous Huxley instead. Not wanting my effort to go to waste, although reading a novel such as A Clockwork Orange could never be constituted as a waste, I thought I would write about it on my blog. Then in class, Israel presented his book report on The Stranger, and all I could think about was existentialism and how it related to A Clockwork Orange.
A Clockwork Orange is based on existentialistic theory. The main character, Alex, commits crimes for no other reason then for the thrills. He is a lunatic who only enjoys life when he is destroying the lives of others. Unlike most psychopaths, Alex did not grow up in troubling circumstances nor did he have a lifechanging experience whcih made him become such a monster. Instead, the only reason for his cruelty comes from the rush of excitement he receives when he is hurting other human beings.
For Alex, nothing matters in life except his constant need to get a "fix" of violence. He has plenty of opportunities to change his way of thinking and reform his actions, but instead, at the end of the novel, he remains the same individual.
The question raised in the novel is whether society or Alex himself is to blame for his actions. Alex has pulled away from society and rejected its norms. Yet, society still tries to help Alex and turn him into a model citizen. As a consequence, however, society ends up making more monsters like Alex. In the end, society has to stop treating Alex and allow him to regress to his former self in order for the rest of society to remain sane.
Q: What is Anthony Burgess saying about societial reform in A Clockwork Orange?
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Fantasia 1940: Night on Bald Mountain and Ave Maria
Fantasia 1940 is for me one of the greatest movies of all time. Below, I have uploaded my favorite part in the movie in which Modest Mussorgsky's Night on Bald Mountain is played against Franz Schubert's Ave Maria. Visually and muscially, the entire piece is breathtaking.
Modernism and Picasso: A Look at Guernica
One of my favorite Picasso paintings is Guernica. This mural portrays the bombing of Guernica by German Italian warplanes on April 26, 1937 during the Spanish Civil War. Although the painting is very abstract, Guernica convincinly portrays the horrors of war. This painting is in the style of Cubism where people and things are painted in abstracted shapes such as circles, squares, and triangles. This adds to the ugliness and disarray of the mural, symbolically representing the chaos and turmoil of the war.
For more information about Guernica click here Guernica
For more information about Cubism click here cubism
Q: Who is your favorite artist? Do you have a favorite painting from them? Does the painting have any social or political implications?
In response to Julia's question
"Do you like modern art? If you do, what do you like about it?"-Julia Ashton
To be honest, I am not a big fan of modern or contemporary art. I have visited MassMOCA a few times now, and I always have a hard time getting into the exhibits. Some of the pieces can be cool, but most of the time, I end up becoming bored and confused after about 20 minutes. While this is only my opinion, I have a hard time calling something art that I use to make in kindergarten class. I understand modern and contemporary art is more intellectual and less emotional than other forms of art, so in that case to understand it, I would probably have to become fluent in the language of modern art. I guess my dislike of modern art stems from my lack of understanding.
Q: Are there any modern pieces of art that you think are more emotional than intellectual in nature?
To be honest, I am not a big fan of modern or contemporary art. I have visited MassMOCA a few times now, and I always have a hard time getting into the exhibits. Some of the pieces can be cool, but most of the time, I end up becoming bored and confused after about 20 minutes. While this is only my opinion, I have a hard time calling something art that I use to make in kindergarten class. I understand modern and contemporary art is more intellectual and less emotional than other forms of art, so in that case to understand it, I would probably have to become fluent in the language of modern art. I guess my dislike of modern art stems from my lack of understanding.
Q: Are there any modern pieces of art that you think are more emotional than intellectual in nature?
Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring
The well known experimental psychologist, Steven Pinker, has said that art "should conform to human nature and thus artists should simply give people what they want"(Sanderson 4). He also stated that modern art is "ugly, baffling, and insulting"(Pinker, 2002:416). It seems to me that not only does Pinker have a narrow view of human nature, he also has a narrow view on what constitutes true art.
To prove the inefficiency of Pinker's statement on modern art, one only needs to cite the example of Stravinsky's "The Rite of Spring". Although this orchestral masterpiece is not an example of modern art, it was written around the year 1912, it was considered at its time to be much of what modern art is considered to be now by many critics. As some background information, before Stravinsky wrote "The Rite of Spring" he had found success with the piece "Firebird". This piece, then made into a ballet, had a "fanciful story and gorgeous music in the grand and familiar style of Tchaikovsky"(Gutmann 2001/2002). No one expected Stravinsky to create an orchestral piece that would cause so much commotion as "The Rite of Spring". This piece, as well as the accompanying ballet, told the story of pagans sacrificing a maiden to the gods to help bring about spring. When the ballet was introduced on May 29, 1913, the audience responded in an all out riot. They were shocked not only by the ballet but also by the foreign music they were hearing. Stravinsky pushed the boundaries of his audience and as a result, his audience revolted.
Now almost 100 years after the piece was originally written and performed, "The Rite of Spring" is considered one of the greatest modern pieces of all times. Walt Disney used the score in his masterpiece, Fantasia bringing "The Rite of Spring" to the masses. This goes to show that sometimes, the audience does not know what is best for art, and just because an audience does not react kindly to a piece of art, it does not mean that the art itself is "ugly, baffling, or insulting". Rather, maybe the audience is just not ready or enlightened enough to fully grasp the art.
Below are the pieces, "Firebird" and "The Rite of Spring". These clips were taken from Fantasia and Fantasia 2000. My suggestion is that instead of watching the clips, rather just listen to the music.This is so you can visualize the music for yourself rather than become a slave to Walt Disney's interpretations and miss Stravinsky's original intentions.
To prove the inefficiency of Pinker's statement on modern art, one only needs to cite the example of Stravinsky's "The Rite of Spring". Although this orchestral masterpiece is not an example of modern art, it was written around the year 1912, it was considered at its time to be much of what modern art is considered to be now by many critics. As some background information, before Stravinsky wrote "The Rite of Spring" he had found success with the piece "Firebird". This piece, then made into a ballet, had a "fanciful story and gorgeous music in the grand and familiar style of Tchaikovsky"(Gutmann 2001/2002). No one expected Stravinsky to create an orchestral piece that would cause so much commotion as "The Rite of Spring". This piece, as well as the accompanying ballet, told the story of pagans sacrificing a maiden to the gods to help bring about spring. When the ballet was introduced on May 29, 1913, the audience responded in an all out riot. They were shocked not only by the ballet but also by the foreign music they were hearing. Stravinsky pushed the boundaries of his audience and as a result, his audience revolted.
Now almost 100 years after the piece was originally written and performed, "The Rite of Spring" is considered one of the greatest modern pieces of all times. Walt Disney used the score in his masterpiece, Fantasia bringing "The Rite of Spring" to the masses. This goes to show that sometimes, the audience does not know what is best for art, and just because an audience does not react kindly to a piece of art, it does not mean that the art itself is "ugly, baffling, or insulting". Rather, maybe the audience is just not ready or enlightened enough to fully grasp the art.
Below are the pieces, "Firebird" and "The Rite of Spring". These clips were taken from Fantasia and Fantasia 2000. My suggestion is that instead of watching the clips, rather just listen to the music.This is so you can visualize the music for yourself rather than become a slave to Walt Disney's interpretations and miss Stravinsky's original intentions.
Q: What other forms or pieces of art were originally rejected or criticized by the public but are now viewed as "classics"?
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