I was not sure when I first read this blog question, and I had to think about it for a while. I would think of a movie and then compare it to the complex simplicities that are No Country for Old Men and fear that I had fallen short. It is hard to think of a movie that mixes great content with great acting in a valid, let alone insightful visual presentation.
After much deliberation I settled on the 1999 movie American Beauty. The movie stars two veteran actors in Kevin Spacey and Annette Benning, and features fairly new to the scene and, at the time, fresh off American Pie fame, Mena Suvari, as the teenage temptress that lures Lester Burnham(Kevin Spacey) out of his great depression and into his midlife crisis.
I haven’t watched the movie in a while, so the details may be slightly fuzzy, but the basic plot is that Lester and Caroline Burnham (Benning) are miserable trapped inside their seemingly flawless suburbia bubble. Lester is middle-aged and becoming steadily more depressed at the path his life has gone down. His wife is equally miserable, which puts an unbearable strain on their marriage; while their teenage daughter, Jane, is counteracting her dad’s midlife crisis with her own teenage rebellion. Everything comes to a head when Lester lusts after one of Jane’s slutty friends, who as it turns out, is not so slutty, after all. Irony is oozing out of this dark satirical look on suburban life, and the twists and turns that the movie takes as it comes to a close are shocking, heartbreaking, and humorous. The film’s talented cast is matched by its powerful plot, and, while it is no No Country for Old Men, Lester’s character might have you thinking otherwise. Definitely a movie worthy of a closer look.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Introductions
This semester has had a huge impact on the person I hope to become. Having changed my major more than once (let’s just leave it at that), I am finally able to see clearly, at least translucently, the path that I want my future to take. In my previous majors, I have felt miserable in my classes, and I would look around and feel out of place. The students sitting all around me seemed truly excited by the topics of study, while I sat idly by waiting for my inspiration to hit.
I feel at home as an English education major. I look around me in my classes, and I’m comfortable. I no longer have to wait for inspiration strike, and I am surprising myself with how enveloped I’m becoming in my writing. This semester is the first time that I have written anything worth mentioning since my freshman year (my true freshman year), when I took the mandatory English composition classes. I have no intentions of writing the next great American novel any time soon, I like to think myself a realist, but perhaps something heartfelt that makes you laugh out loud- my own personal definition of the next great American novel!
While I enjoy the majority of my classes, there are some I could do without. The difference lies in the fact that even though I may not be thrilled by some of the topics of study in my classes, I am able to pinpoint what it is that I do not like from a critic’s point of view. I can look at my British literature class, for example, and say confidently that it is not exactly my cup of tea, and list reasons why. While I embrace the opportunity to learn of different cultures, as a rule, I have found that I do not care for the British authors. I was thrilled to read Jane Austen for the first time, yet I found myself highly disappointed. I just cannot get into any story in which the main goal is to raise a girl into someone a rich man will want to marry. I have never considered myself a feminist- I am aware that there are certain things that the male physique and mind frame are better suited for than mine- however, I feel that no man, woman, person should have to stifle his/her abilities in order to appease another human being. Being a female athlete made early British literature especially hard for me to grasp. The point is, I can look at the material in these classes and pick apart what I don’t like and flip the negatives around until they resemble positives.
Another aspect this class, in particular, has helped me to improve upon, is the way I read things. I am embarrassed to say that I had never even heard the term, “close reading” prior to this class, and so I was more than a bit skeptical, fearing the kind of reader I subconsciously already was. However, as it turned out, my original habits were not so far from the goal mark. I am now able look at the context of literary works from a more intellectual point of view, and that is something I pride myself on. Through various basic questions: What is the tone? Who is the speaker? What is the theme? Etc… I am able to turn an immature analysis into one of a skilled close reader.
This semester has also helped me realize my love of the English language. That is truly where my passion is. I always thought that it was a dorky thing to say that you love words, and I’m fairly sure that it still is, but I do. I love how you can manipulate language into anything you want it to be. You can string two contradictory ideas together into one fluid sentence, making connections and associations that can’t really be matched out loud.
I am now in a place where I can honestly say that I look forward to what the future holds. I’ve been so scared of the unknown before, never really feeling at home with any one idea; I had no clue how it was all going to turn out, or more accurately, when it was inevitably going to blow up in my face. I’m excited to continue my studies as a close reader, and manipulator of the English language, and even more excited at the idea of my future students, someday inheriting my passion. As an English education major, I have finally found my niche. This class has served me just as the title promised… as an introduction- the first step in a new direction. The warm-up is over, full-speed ahead.
I feel at home as an English education major. I look around me in my classes, and I’m comfortable. I no longer have to wait for inspiration strike, and I am surprising myself with how enveloped I’m becoming in my writing. This semester is the first time that I have written anything worth mentioning since my freshman year (my true freshman year), when I took the mandatory English composition classes. I have no intentions of writing the next great American novel any time soon, I like to think myself a realist, but perhaps something heartfelt that makes you laugh out loud- my own personal definition of the next great American novel!
While I enjoy the majority of my classes, there are some I could do without. The difference lies in the fact that even though I may not be thrilled by some of the topics of study in my classes, I am able to pinpoint what it is that I do not like from a critic’s point of view. I can look at my British literature class, for example, and say confidently that it is not exactly my cup of tea, and list reasons why. While I embrace the opportunity to learn of different cultures, as a rule, I have found that I do not care for the British authors. I was thrilled to read Jane Austen for the first time, yet I found myself highly disappointed. I just cannot get into any story in which the main goal is to raise a girl into someone a rich man will want to marry. I have never considered myself a feminist- I am aware that there are certain things that the male physique and mind frame are better suited for than mine- however, I feel that no man, woman, person should have to stifle his/her abilities in order to appease another human being. Being a female athlete made early British literature especially hard for me to grasp. The point is, I can look at the material in these classes and pick apart what I don’t like and flip the negatives around until they resemble positives.
Another aspect this class, in particular, has helped me to improve upon, is the way I read things. I am embarrassed to say that I had never even heard the term, “close reading” prior to this class, and so I was more than a bit skeptical, fearing the kind of reader I subconsciously already was. However, as it turned out, my original habits were not so far from the goal mark. I am now able look at the context of literary works from a more intellectual point of view, and that is something I pride myself on. Through various basic questions: What is the tone? Who is the speaker? What is the theme? Etc… I am able to turn an immature analysis into one of a skilled close reader.
This semester has also helped me realize my love of the English language. That is truly where my passion is. I always thought that it was a dorky thing to say that you love words, and I’m fairly sure that it still is, but I do. I love how you can manipulate language into anything you want it to be. You can string two contradictory ideas together into one fluid sentence, making connections and associations that can’t really be matched out loud.
I am now in a place where I can honestly say that I look forward to what the future holds. I’ve been so scared of the unknown before, never really feeling at home with any one idea; I had no clue how it was all going to turn out, or more accurately, when it was inevitably going to blow up in my face. I’m excited to continue my studies as a close reader, and manipulator of the English language, and even more excited at the idea of my future students, someday inheriting my passion. As an English education major, I have finally found my niche. This class has served me just as the title promised… as an introduction- the first step in a new direction. The warm-up is over, full-speed ahead.
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