Killing Us Softly

The lecture was rather interesting, and rather disturbing. I essentially agree with Kilbourne, and I thought it was one of the best close-readings of anything that I've seen in a Kunkle class as of yet. The point about the emphasis on childish innocency to be equally mixed with sexuality was what stood out to me the most. I agree that this is a very degrading affect, which is even more emphasized by the magizines that we looked at yesterday with scantily clad women popping in rather irrelevant advertisements. I think there were times when she made some overgeneralizations--some of those ads just seemed creepy to the point where they are probably part of a magazine that's just as creepy as the ad. Or so I think. However, for the most part, these were recognizable media outlets that to this day will make me feel a little more troubled about magazine advertisements.

Kilbourne and I both agreed on what was the most tragic and revealing image in the whole slideshow, which was the little boy and the little girl already taking on the stereotypes of being innocent and rather obedient to the boy who is already seen desperately trying to give a masculine aurora to his surroundings. This image, more than others, signifies to a society and these stereotypes are both morally right and normal. Obviously, I don't think any of us consciously think it's true. However, we see this so much I think many people do think this subconsciously. I don't look at advertisements on a regular basis, nor do most, I believe. However, people are influenced by everything they see to an extent. This proves the effects of advertising. The more striking the image, the longer we remember it. Advertisements realize this, and that is how they thrive. Therefore, I can't say that I'm not completely uninfluenced, for I don't think I know.

I'm very glad that we watched this in class, although it was rather troubling.

A Northern Light

When I was assigned "A Northern Light" by Jennifer Donnelly, I saw the cover and thought-- oh dear: it looks like a chick flick, and the cover is troublingly Twilight-esque. Luckily, I was more troubled by the later, and this is definitely no literary atrocity by Stephanie Meyer. It is indeed a bit of a chick flick so far, but that doesn't bother me so much. It reads fast, and it has an interesting literary structure. The beginning seems to be non-linear, which I think is really interesting. I like the abstract feeling the book has, jumping between Maddie's defining moments in the Adirondacks. "A Northern Light" takes place in 1906 on Big Moose Lake in the Adirondacks. Maddie works on a farm with a struggling Father, who seems rather tired of life after some past family strife. Maddie the creative type living in a conservative town, which makes it rather tough for her-- conservative in this sense meaning she's encouraged to inherit a family farm and reject higher education which is unfortunate, as she's been accepted into Barnard College, but can't pay for it. The plot starts to get interesting when the influence for the book, a domestic murder by Charles Gillette on Big Moose Lake in 1906, appears within the plot. Maddie ends up getting involved with some love letters between the future killer and victim, which end up becoming trial sensations. (For those who don't know, Charles Gillette and the future victim Grace Brown were lovers and Gillette murdered her apparently because she became pregnant). I see lots of potential for this book to become increasingly interesting, and it's already happening. Not to mention that it's a remarkably quick read, which any fourth quarter senior can enjoy.

Del Toro's comments

Thank you, AP Comp test: I've missed the ending of Pan's Labyrinth due to thou. Luckily, I've had it ruined for me. I liked the combined aspects of mature film and the rather simplistic qualities of fairy tales used in this Del Toro film. I never got to understand the analytical aspects of these tales of Spain until today most notably, the importance of the number three. 3 sisters, 3 trials, 3 chances, 3 doors. In this film, the pairs of 3 are certainly noticable. There are 3 doors that Ofelia can open with the key (although she ends up botching that up well), the fascists came in pairs of three (didn't notice that one), there are three tasks Ofelia must perform, and the rather nasty incident where the Captain forces a stutterer to count to three without stuttering to escape torture. However, the pairs of three within this film were different in the fact that it played with my perceptions of fairy tales. For me the signs had changed. By the end of the film, I was trained to believe the signs of 3 ended up being anything but good news. True, I probably can't talk because the last thing I saw was the captain's face get mutilated. However, it only resulted in Ofelia being abandoned to the real world, the death of the stutterer, and waking up a thing with funny eyes on his hands. Del Toro said he wrote this film with a purpose of staying within convention of the traditional "heroic journey" narrative. However, that was only the feel. The heroic journey was followed, but it broke smaller norms on the way. Congratulation, Del Toro.