Randy Mootooveran

Lit Media

October 25, 2016

The Punk Singer; Commentary or Experience?

            Artists have always been able to show off their beliefs through their work. Sometimes, it can be difficult depending on which type of medium you’re trying to work out of, but that wasn’t the case for the protagonist of The Punk Singer. Many people will tell you writing meaningful lyrics isn’t a focal point (usually successful artists who believe repeating things like “I’m in love with the cacao” or how much money you have are good enough to release to the public), the girls in The Punk Singer managed to find the perfect balance of a good tune with lyrics meant to be thought about.  Anyone can tell you that when they hear a great song, it usually stays on your mind, instead of being thrown aside for a new one every other week. It’s very reminiscent of blues musicians or Bob Dylan, who take the time to make something that illustrates a point, whether it is about society, their place in the world, and how they want to push for change by appealing to the people not roped in politics. In many ways, the songs are both commentary and an experience. It’s most apparent when the lead singer has slutt written across her chest and asks all the ladies in the room to come to the front. She wants her viewers to have the experience of not being second to men or tied down in the real world, but to have the ability to express themselves as people who won’t take shit from anyone by getting up on stage with the band during their performances.  It’s all meant to make the audience feel a deeper connection to their content.

Randy Mootooveran

Lit Media

September 22, 2016

1.    Metonym is like a saying used to substitute words for something onger, like “THE PEN IS MIGHTIER THAN THE SWORD,” is a substitute for words are far more efficient than brute force. Texas Chainsaw is f things that can be substituted or symbolic, like how oil is a precursor for blood, with the van, the generator, and Leather face’s chainsaw all rely on it and how it flows as much as the blood.

2.    New Historicism understands culture and intellect through a piece of work or text. It is strongly tied to film as both critics and audiences watch them to decipher what kind of subtle messages or hints of symbolism filmmakers and authors use to get across a point or theme.  It’s mainly searching between what’s been shown to you in order to find out why certain elements pop up.

3.    The opening of Texas Chainsaw goes through 5 different stories, each one grizzly, dark, and unpleasant. It sets the stage for the mood the film and what kind of unpleasantness the audience should expect from here on out. The argument of what the elements mean is quite extensive. Franklin falling over due to the big truck symbolizes oil as a big part in the film and that oil will be a key player in the film.

4.    Genre usually dictates what kind of symbols is incorporated. Normally in action, sci-fi, or thrillers, corporations are depicted as a dominant force with an enormous level of control or influence, and are usually tied to whatever conflicts are in the story. In Texas Chainsaw, it doesn’t have any apparent corporate signage throughout the plot, except for the very beginning and ending. A large fourteen-wheel truck knocks Franklin over, showing his fragility as both a character in this slasher film and as the every man being pushed down by large corporations. However, the truck comes back in the end when Sally is running for her life, running over one of the cannibals while stopping to save her. It displays how some good can come out corporations as we do depend on them for our survival every day. However, it also shows that the corporations can’t always be relied on, as the driver runs and leaves Sally by herself after incapacitating Leatherface for a moment. It shows that people need to be self reliant in the face of danger, as people won’t be able to protect you forever and that survival comes from learning to become independent through your own actions.

Randy Mootooveran

Lit Media

September 14, 2016

Romeo and Juliet/ Prince of cats Analysis

             When looking at both stories, it’s clear that while both have their differences, they both deal with themes of conflict, lust, young love, and how things that are forbidden for us will always be sought after. I believe when Shakespeare wrote the play, it displayed all these themes to represent the same kind o conflict that erupts between two countries with little to no justifiable grounds for disagreement. Yet beneath all of that, it shows people at the core of the fighting still acting like normal people, like Tybalt wanting to protect Juliet from a crowd he despises, people like Mercutio, who damns both houses for taking away his promise of a future for their petty squabbles, and of course how two people look past the hate between their respective houses and search for something more. In every variation, from West Side Story, Prince of Cats, and the1996 version, they all depict two factions feuding over the same basic foil, just with an added backdrop of social order, status, immigration, and racism. All versions also have the star crossed lovers, who meet one night and declare true love. I believe that this is an element that also remains constant in every version because it shows the dangers of rushing headlong into a serious relationship, what the ramifications can be when pushed to the extreme, and how people will only really learn to cooperate and be understanding if something they cared for was lost by the fault of their own actions. At the end of all the stories, the two groups cease when they see what their petty squabbles resulted in, which proves Shakespeare knew harmony will not be born without tragedy.

Randy Mootooveran

Lit Media

August 31, 2916

Lit Media Assignment 1

            I believe the main reason that audio based media is still mainstream because of its convince, portability, and appeal to those who are mainly auditory learners. Technology is always advancing, so there should be no reason to continue to rely on the same forms of media when we can expand our horizons.

            It’s safe to say that textbooks are seeing a great loss in popularity. With the advent of kindles, IPads, and laptops along with significantly lower prices, online books are becoming the norm. With that and teaching channels on You Tube, people get a much deeper and meaningful experience than just reading the words on a page. Sites like Crash Course will always get viewers because they implement the same logic visual mediums like movies and games abide by: show-don’t-tell. Textbooks are like opening narration or audio logs in games: unless it’s meaningful and captures your attention, chances are you’ll either forget the information or disregard it.  The way information is distributed can have an enormous impact on anyone; Textbooks and news articles are mostly facts without context or any sort of meat that give what’s said any gravity. However, podcasts and You Tube channels have people just like the viewer articulating their opinions and feelings toward the subject, as well as delivering solid facts and usually saying something that connects the viewer to it in some way. For example, say you read an article about world pollution causing vegetable fields to die. You’d read it and most likely forget it an hour or so later. But if you saw someone like Neil deGrasse Tyson talk about the same subject and compare it to things like the world in Interstellar or Blade Runner. Immediately, you form a mental connection, and will likely use what you’ve seen in these films as a template for imaging the importance of that statement. All people are more likely to believe words they hear from someone they feel they can trust rather than written, depthless fact.

Randy Mootooveran

Lit- Media

August 18, 2016

1.     The essay implies photography is meant to make some sort of statement by capturing and displaying one fragment of time of something unique.

2.     The writer implies the woman herself is a go-getter, trying to use work as a symbolic piece about the hypocrisy and injustice floating around the world.

3.     The repeated use of the word Go- Getter is meant to be a symbol of what the woman and the people going to the market hope to be. Neither party can say that’s what they are in real life, but they both use the store as a means to elevate themselves above their current lives.

4.     The final sentence is the collation of everything the woman has been planning. She believes that at this moment, her taking this picture will be what gets her name recognized and is the perfect representation of what she intends to say.

5.     I would say the surprise in the final sentence is how the woman is exploiting the underclass herself to make her big break. Ironically, she sheds light on hypocrisy by indulging in it herself.