Questions!

I am coming up with new questions regarding my topic. My cultural text is Gone With The Wind, a movie made in 1939 that is based on the book “Gone With The Wind.” This cultural phenomenon deals with many issues and raises many questions, like those of race, gender, social class, and nationality. How is racism seen in the movie and in relation to what was going on in 1939? How were African Americans portayed in the movie? How were Southerners and Northerners viewed in the movie? How was the Old South validated? Why did people absolutley love this film, but at the same time why is there so much controvery around it? These are all questions I am trying to find answers to!

Add a comment November 7, 2007

What Is Communication?

This class is titled Writing AS Communication because as a class we communicate through our writing. All assignments, links to information, and contact to each other are through writing. I think the ritual model is being promoted through the title of our course because there is a sense of a community in our class, this is seen mostly in our experience of the Wiki and blogging. The Wiki allows for interpretation, we are given clues and vague ideas that encourage us to participate in learning but many students interpret the information that is given to us in different ways. We as a class participate in creating this sense of a community though our class. Even without the Wiki and online bogging this class is a community and we share an experience that becomes a ceremony through coming to class, discussing issues, and writing.

Add a comment October 29, 2007

What’s the Matter??

There is a relationship between the movie Babel, and the subject matter of the course; it is called the Semiotic method. This refers to signs always having meaning especially on the basis of difference. In Babel all the characters are connected even though they are separated and divided by languages, cultures, and space barriers. Even with these barriers the audience is able to relate and identify with all the characters regardless of their diversity. There are many cultural signs in Babel, the gun can be used for an example. It was used by the two boys who shoot the American tourist in Morocco. That same gun was given as a present to a Moroccan villager by the Japanese’s man who is the father of the deaf girl. Her mother was killed when she shot herself. (With a gun) The gun as a symbol is powerful, no matter where it is used (country, region) and in what context, or cultural belief system, a gun represents the same outcome. It connects and affects all the members in the movie. If the woman had not been shot, her two children would not have gone to Mexico and Amelia and her nephew would not have gotten into trouble. This movie reminds me of the “butterfly effect” one incident can change the outcome of many lives. In the subject matter of our communication writing class, we have really looked at the semiotic method and finding meaning in places where it might not be evident that there are symbols that create the meaning. Both the semiotic method and the movie Babel are based on symbolic meaning as a form of communication.

Add a comment October 10, 2007

Babel Continued

After watching the second half of Babel, I feel that my sense of the film has changed. I am able to comprehend more of the plot because I can see how the different parts are beginning to connect and come together. For example, it becomes evident to me that the two children celebrating at the wedding in Mexico belong to the woman Susan, who was shot, and her husband, Richard.

I was able to realize, to the extent that I can, just how much Cheiko’s handicap forces her to see the world and situations differently. When she goes to a rave, she can’t hear the music and the film portrays this very well. The scene switches back and forth from lights with music, to lights with no sound. I was able to get a glimpse into her life and for a second see that her experience is a different one then those who are able to hear.

The two boys in Moroco, who have shot the woman Susan, confess and try to escape with their father but are bombarded by police who begin shooting. It was amazing to me that in this culture it’s acceptable to shoot at children. In the subplot in Mexico with the two children and their nanny Amelia, I also feared for the children. After bing driven by the drunken nephew of Amelia and then being dropped off and stranded in the desert with only a flashlight. Both situations made me feel helpless for the children; it’s as if the adults around them are not following through on their responsibilites. I am very interested to see the conclusion of this film Babel, I want to know how more of the subplots are connected.

Add a comment September 26, 2007

Babel As It Relates to Communication

Babel is a movie that shows how three different sets of circumstances, in three very different parts of the world, all relate to one another in a larger sense. Babel relates to the subject matter of this class because Babel deals with communication, this class is “writing as communication,” although the movie is not “written,” it is all about different forms of communication. In Japan the deaf girl cannot communicate through talking. She is limited in her forms of communication which leads her to frustration, she uses her sexuality and anger to communicate to people. In Morroco, the Jones cannot communicate through talking because they do not understand the language. In a time of emergency, they must find any form of understanding and communication, and trust foreign strangers to help them. In Mexico the children recieve messages and understanding of the culture by watching and participating in a new and different way of life then what they have ever known. Communication can come in many forms I think the movie Babel is a wonderful example of this. Writing is also this way, their are many ways in which you can communicate ideas, thoughts, and information through writing.

1 comment September 7, 2007