Category Archives: Monster

extra credit! song about “truly” living

“I Lived” by One Republic

This catchy and heart-warming song begs in its lyrics for you to live a life where “when the water rises, you [build] a wall… when the crowd screams out, they’re screaming your name… when everybody runs, you choose to stay.” The chorus rings, “I did it all, I did it all. I owned every second that this world could give; saw so many places–the things that I did; and with every broken bone, I swear I lived.” The message is simple–you should live life to its fullest and only those who do (live life to its “fullest”) can say they have truly lived. What about the people who don’t have crowds cheering their name? Who don’t ever get to leave their hometown? Who do the same things, every day, for forty years? Have they not lived? If they have not lived, then mustn’t it follow that they’ve been dead their entire lives?

extra credit! characters that singularly overcome obstacles

“Scarface”

In Oliver Stone’s classic, Al Pacino’s character is a Cuban immigrant who pulls himself out of poverty and achieves the American Dream, overcoming obstacles that are, likely, in reality, insurmountable. Tony Montana becomes somewhat of a gangster hero in American pop culture, a phenomenon that is indicative of the widespread ideology of individual ambition and hard work, of one “pulling himself up by his bootstraps.”

project check-in, group e

 

Group E, Monster: Harris, Dylan, Tiffany

WHAT: The current intention is to first collect a number of court room transcripts from hearings where black and/or latino kids (may not limit to juveniles) are being charged, then collect transcripts of hearings where white kids are being charged with similar crimes. The aim is to evaluate the language that is used by the prosecutors, defense attorneys, and judges; and to make note of any similarities and potential differences in the language used to address and describe the white kids on trial and the black/latino kids on trial. We would theoretically post each compared transcript, side by side, on a website with minimal design (possibly just a solid colored background). We may caption each pair of cases with a comparison of the language used, but have not determined if that would dissipate the intended effect.

WHY: In Monster, our protagonist is a black male that is, with the other men he is arrested with, labeled a “monster” by the prosecution. We, as readers, however, have insight into the life of our young protagonist, and are moved to sympathize with him. Although his lawyer successfully defends him, she is suspicious of her client and refuses to celebrate his win with him.

A black male who goes into trial does not enter the court room as himself, the individual–he enters with all the biases, stereotypes, and judgements that precede him. Prosecutors need only use a handful of words, insinuations, and allusions to win their case. Fear, ignorance, and conditioning of the American people do the rest of the job. Language, which is taught and learned, is the foundation of our understanding of the world, and while we as a group (Group E) have not yet sought out any of the transcripts we would potentially use, we are confident we will find stark contrasts in the lingual treatment of minorities and white defendant. Access is a most important factor of education, and we feel that compiling these transcripts so that they are easily accessible can only serve as a positive addition to any viewer’s self-education.

Group D: Final Project , Shatavia, Jeleah, Kye, Angel

What:  For our group project we are going to create a scrapbook.  A scrapbook is a book of blank pages for sticking clippings, drawings, or pictures in.  The scrapbook is going to be designed exactly how we think Jefferson, Grant, or a character from the book would create it.  We will be filling up the scrapbook with Jefferson’s important memories, moments, recipes, and his time in jail.  In order to do this, we will be looking for symbols in magazines, things from the internet, clippings in newspapers and physical objects.  Being in jail and confined to one place causes a person to use their imagination.  Similar to Jefferson and Grant they are both trapped in situations that cause them to do a lot of imagining and thinking.  Something our group will be doing in order to create the perfect scrapbook that represents “A Lesson Before Dying”.

 

Why: In the book “A Lesson before Dying” a lot of the book has to do with symbols and teaching.  Jefferson is being taught a lesson by being sentenced to death.  Grants job as a teacher is to teach and he is also asked to teach Jefferson how to become a man.  Since teaching plays a huge role in this book, the scrap book will be created to teach others about our insights, thoughts, and main ideas about the book.  We all thought it would be a good gesture to create a visual.  This way our imagination and how we views things from the book can be brought to life.

Monsters

In her essay, Monsters, Tacey Rosolowski, recounts her childhood and her and hers sisters obsession with B-movies that featured monsters. Rosolowski grew up in the 1960s but was too young to fully understand the social and political climate of the time.  “…the Vietnam War, the exploding racial tensions [were events] that were beyond our [her and her sisters] grasp.” The manner in which the kids in her age group mimicked their older sibling’s way of dressing and being part of the “love movement” further alienated Rosolowski.  “In these scenes I was always the outsider.”  Being an outsider explains Rosolowski’s fascination with the monster movies.  Monsters possessed several qualities that Rosolowski wished to possess and tried to personalize those characteristics into her life. She was attracted as to how comfortable monsters lived outside of the social construct. Monsters are categorized as something abnormal. Abnormal not just in appearance but abnormal to the accepted social structure. Rosolowski and her sister would not behave in the manner that young ladies were expected to behave.  Watching monster movies offered that escape.  Not only was Rosolowski able to associate with the monster as beings outside the social construct,  she was able to personalize their physical appearance. As a child, Rosolowski battled weight issues, or better yet, was told that she suffered from weight issues.  Rosolowski appreciated the fact that monsters were not concerned with the appearance.  “…plodding monsters spoke to me. They burst out freely, throwing their weight around utterly unrestrained.”  Rosolowski was very much constrained. Into trying to lose weight and having controlled portions of the foods she ate.  Rosolowski desired the power to become free and to define herself outside the social construct. Because of this longing, it is clear as to why Roslowski sought refuge and found inspiration in monster movies.

  1. B-Movies are not as popular today as they were when Rosolowski grew up.  If Rosolowski grew up today, what genre of film do you think she would draw inspiration from?
  2. Children today are being bullied at alarming rates and in some instances resulting in death. Do you think that B-movies would help them find the strength and courage to be themselves?

 

Ladies and Monsters

In “Monsters,” Tacey A. Rosolowski recounts some of her fondest and most fundamental childhood memories–gleefully watching campy horror movies with her younger sister. Too young to understand war, let alone march against it, Rosolowski felt alienated by the peace-and-love hippie revolution that had become her contemporary culture. She didn’t want to draw flowers on her face. She couldn’t yet, given her age and relative experiences, understand how creating and displaying beautiful images could effectively protest war. At the age of fourteen, what she did understand was that there was this idea of a feminine standard that was quickly descending upon her body, mind, and being.

To protest this personal war on herself, a war coming from all sides, including from internalized ideas within herself, she watched monster movies. Monsters, who look and behave exactly the way a modern, civilized lady shouldn’t, would momentarily free Rosolowski and her sister from the feminine mold that was fast closing in on them. In what she later recognized as a safe space, Rosolowski and her sister did not need to look or act any which way; they “pretended” to be the monsters they saw on screen, acting loud and brash and gross. These monsters–Godzilla, The Claw, Mothra–demolished cities unapologetically, in their own interest. Human girls, on the other hand, are taught not to do anything unapologetically–and certainly not when it’s in their own interest.

Rosolowski states “Kids will probably always love huge, fantasy beasts–they hold out the hope of omnipotence to anyone dwarfed by the world.” (281) While that is probably true, the question of why boys more often evolve into men who love monsters and gore, and why girls often evolve into women who shriek at the sight of monsters, follows. Men who relish in monster movies will harmlessly, often affectionately, be labeled “boyish,” or “still a boy at heart,” or simply, “a boy.” Women who hoot and holler or express anything but disgust and discomfort while watching scenes of horror are traditionally labeled, “barbaric,” “unladylike,” or, in many cases derogatorily, “a dude.” The difference between “a boy” and “a dude” is that though both are decidedly masculine descriptors, one (“a boy”) denotes a natural, inescapable, and mostly harmless attitude toward fun, while the other (“a dude”) suggests a slovenly, immature, underdeveloped attitude toward life. That males should be labeled one and females, the other, for displaying the exact same behavior and reaction toward a stimulus highlights much of what we expect of women, and what we expect in growth, in both women and men.

  1. What qualities do outcasted women and B-list movie monsters share?
  2. What qualities do successful men and B-list movie monsters share?