Frankenstein and Me

   "I will pioneer a new way, explore unknown powers, and unfold to the world the deepest mysteries of creation." This quote from Frankenstein by Mary Shelley in Chapter 3 is spoken by Victor Frankenstein as he passionately relates to Walton about his irrevocable thirst for knowledge and desire to create life. What I first loved about performing when I began as a child was the creation of something amazing that could possibly touch people's lives. I thirsted for opportunities to learn and grow and perform theater, and felt that every time I played a part, I was creating life on stage, even as a member of the ensemble. Much like Victor, I can often get swept away in the power of this creation when I am given too much control, or in Victor's case, too much knowledge, as he learns how to create a living being out of dead matter. In our passionate curiosity and interest in creation, I am very similar to Victor.

Virgin Mary, Is That You?

  

   Looking at the stills from Double Indemnity and L.A. Confidential, there was a clear parallel between these two images of the main female characters in the movies (3 and 9). Both females have very light blond, curly, soft-looking hair and beautiful, angelic faces with high-arching cheekbones. Both images have a sexy quality to them, but the females still look innocent: Lynn, with her white as pure hood and wide eyes, and Phyllis, with a glow of light surrounding her hair and bare shoulders. Both women also have their lips slightly parted, a very innocent, child-like image. What's interesting about how pure and innocent they both seem in these images is that these are the first images of both characters in their respective movies, so it is the first impression of them that we get as an audience member, and that the main male characters gets of them. What Walter doesn't know about Phyllis in this moment is that she is actually a manipulative, murderous woman. And what Bud doesn't know about Lynn is that she is a prostitute, and will continue to work as one even as they're "dating." Both women are perceived in these images as "Virgin Mary's," when we all know Virgin Mary wasn't really a virgin at all- just as these women are deceptive in their posing as innocent angels. The main difference between these two shots is that the one of Lynn is a close-up shot, showing only her face and a little bit of the background, and the image of Phyllis is a high-angle medium shot, looking up at her from Walter's POV, and showing part of her towel-covered body.

All is Still

   This shot taken from Minority Report can be classified as an extreme wide shot, as it is fully zoomed out so the audience member can see far into the distance and the object previously being focused on (the house where the pre-cogs live) looks very small, as seen from a great distance. It's also a down-angle shot as it looks like it's being viewed from the sky. I think this is an important still shot in the movie because it's the last shot of the movie and resolves the plot. You can literally see the "big picture" with this shot. Everyone is at peace and justice has been served. It's also important because it ties into the very first shots of the movie, which involve water- a prevalent theme in this movie. In the beginning credits, there is a ripple in the water and then Agatha's head plunges into the water- in both scenes the water is being disturbed. Here, the water is perfectly placid, also symbolizing the resolution and peace as the movie ends.

What About Brandy?

    Rodgers and Hammerstein's Brandy Cinderella is an under-appreciated movie. It was the first time in history an original Disney princess was replaced by an African-American princess. People have been making a big deal about the new Disney Princess movie- The Princess and the Frog and the fact that it's making waves by starring the first black Disney Princess- not true! Brandy Cinderella is also a musical that features many great Rodgers and Hammerstein classics, Whoopi Goldberg, Whitney Houston, and Bernadette Peters- how can you resist?

The Last Meta-Blog

    Maybe it's because I'm so sentimental, but I can't help noticing that this is the very last meta-blog post we'll have to write. Unless you were held back a year...in which case I'm very sorry. Looking back on the 40 or so posts I've published this year, I am proud of my work. Other than my gratitude journal, (in which I write one thing every night about something I'm grateful for- I highly recommend it), this is the only consistent writing I've done all year. Since I am involved in theater, I am used to expressing myself through someone that is not myself, so I am grateful (gratitutde journal anyone??) that I have found a way to be comfortable expressing myself through my very own words and thoughts. Looking at my first blog post, Titanic Once Again, I remember being quite uncomfortable as I wrote that. I specifically remember thinking, "Do I actually care about this?" as I wrote it. Now, I don't write it unless I care. For example, I feel so passionate about the amazing weather of summer finally arriving that I just had to blog about it in my latest post, SUMMER. I have become much more carefree within the topics I have written about, and even though they are not always hard-hitting journalism pieces that I'm extremely proud of, as Kristen said in her last meta-blog post, blogging about Kate Middleton and the world's hottest pepper is "not necessarily a bad thing." I hope readers have come away from my blog posts having learned something new or realized that there was another way of looking at a topic. That has been my goal all along. And maybe I won't be blogging 4 posts per month next year as I tried to stick to this year, but I think it's safe to say that I will be returning to this blog in the fall. Why not this summer, you may ask? I'll be too busy at the beach.

Please assess "ROT IN HELL"?

SUMMER

SUMMER has finally arrived. And thank goodness. Yes, this is when you start finding spiders in the corners of your room. Yes, this is when you start sweating everytime you leave the air conditioning of your home. But it is also warm weather, sun, shorts, bikinis, beach, water, strawberry daquiris (virgin, don't have a cow), sleeping outside, walking, biking, tanning, shopping, oh and did I say WARM weather? Finally the demise of this May's winter has occurred, and we can gladly welcome the insects into our houses because who cares? It's summer.

2012

   They say that December 21st, 2012 will be the last day of the Earth's existence, effectively ending the existence of the human population, as well. This phenomenon has inspired the creation of movies such as 2012 starring John Cusack, and songs like 2012 by Jay Sean and Till the World Ends by Britney. Whether we're "gonna live like it's the end of the world," or "dancing till the world ends," is irrelevant in some people's opinions, as 2012 does not signify the actual end of the Earth, but rather a drastic transformation of some kind. According to an article (link) in Time Magazine, this change will be a "physical or spiritual" one. My mother, a believer in spirituality has inspired me and raised me on those beliefs. So I, too, believe that on this fateful day something will change within us. My hope is that it is a change for the better. Perhaps it will be the final elimination of racism, sexism, and general nonacceptance of others that still lives in our world. I say and hope this because I'm optimistic, but I'm also fairly realistic, and realize that this hope is a stretch. But if something significant really is going to happen, why can't we make it something positive? Rather than it being the world's death, maybe it will be its rebirth.