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Response Paper 4
Happiness has to be found by a person by themselves and for themselves. This is a point that I will continue to stress. I’m not trying to say that we shouldn’t share our happiness w| others, but I’m saying that we can not rely on others to be happy. Not only this, but we can not experience another person’s perception of happiness. We need to live in our very own happiness, because if we don’t we will be unhappy, or just sitting in a pool of fake-happiness.
In both “Hills Like White Elephants” and “The Birthmark” we see two women who let men manipulate them and lead them down a road that was going to a place that was far from happiness. I would say that the only difference between these two women is that Jig was actually changing herself and Georgiana was letting herself be changed. In all honesty, Georgiana was worse off than Jig. She gave up all rights to her happiness completely. The saddest part was their reasoning. They obviously let these men manipulate them to try to make the men happy. But you can not expect to help somebody else find happiness if you have not found it yourself. As humans, we need to realize that happiness is individual. At the end of the day, when we lay in our beds only we know what goes on in our hearts and heads. Letting go of your own happiness to please others is never worth it.
Group 6 Speech:Imagery
“The first thing that struck her eye was the furnace, that hot and feverish worker, with the intense glow of its fire”(pg 272). The imagery in Hawthorne’s “The Birth-mark” sets up a feeling of sinister atmosphere. It essentially gives the reader the idea that they are spending time in a mad scientist laboratory. “He washed the stains of acid from his fingers” (pg 259). The washing of hands, creates an image of Dr. Frankenstein. You don’t know if he’s up to good or bad. All that is known is the fact that something weird or creepy is going down; essentially there is some mad scientist with dark dirty-ass fingers who’s trying to get clean for his love.
“But if any shifting emotion cause her to turn pale there was a mark again, which is a crimson stain upon the snow “. This gives the reader an image of what this woman’s looks like. She is very hot woman, but when she turns her face, people head for the hills. Essentially, through her perfect design, she was made imperfect through the little mark.
To touch on another element which we believe is present, is kyiro sqiro (misspelled) because there is a contrast of colors particularly dark and light, eg. crimson, and white snow. Irrefutably, these images set up a reader for the ultimate feeling that the story will have a tragic ending. The descriptions of the little freak hand that even her husband won’t go near makes the reader realize that this birthmark must be really creepy, if even her husband won’t go near it.
TEAM IRONY
Team Irony
Laura Cvikevich, Elizabeth Kim, Olivia Caban, Danny Shimhayiv
*SCENE STARTS W/ GEORGINA SLEEPING*
*Aylmer walks in*
He says, it is gone! The birthmark has disappeared! “Success, success!”
*Liz Laughing in the background.
*I wake up, and I look in the mirror, and I am happy that it is gone, but I am worried that Aylmer is still not happy.
Aylmer tries to make me feel better by saying I am perfect, and I’m looking good.
I say, “To everyone else, I am perfect, but to you, I was never enough. Now look what you’ve done, I’m dying.”
EHRENREICH GIVES MONOLOGUE
“Hawthorne is allowing the overly appeasing Georgiana to take the typical 19th century feminine role as the naive, eager to please woman. Because Georgiana is so naïve, she’s allowing this “dominant male” to persuade her into believing he had the anecdote to rid her of her ghastly birthmark. Alymer successfully does something that Americans have been doing for centuries, fooling this poor woman into believing that there is nothing to fear… then what do you know? His fair maiden is perfect…perfectly dead. Great job Dr. A, you achieved in creating the perfect woman…by typical male standards at least; she can’t complain, she can’t argue – why, she’s freakishly perfect.”
Option 2
Susan Sontag writes, “the modern style of interpretation excavates, as as it excavates, destroys; it digs “behind” the text, to find a sub-text which is the true one.” She writes this trying to explain that reading is now all about symbolism, allusions, and references. Writing is a way to express thoughts by the author and reading is trying to understand where the author is coming from. i.e. the time period, the age of the writer, and the events happening all around. When we read we have to dig deep into the text to actually understand it, to interpret it.
After reading Hemingway, I still felt a little confused about who said what in the short. I have a vague picture of whats going on. The male character seems to be on vacation with the female character and she sounds as if she has fallen out of love while he is still madly in love with her. I say this because throughout the whole short, she always wants him to be quite and stop talking, to seize peace. Her reference to the white elephants baffles me though. I cannot picture mountains that look like white elephants because of the sun. The mood of the short also seemed very dull and they didn’t sound at all knowledgable of what they were going to do next, talking about happiness in the past and comparing it to their current state and how their happiness would be after they “do it”. Also, the female character doesn’t seem interested in the conversation at hand with the male. She is constantly looking outside the window and admiring the hills that looks like white elephants to her.
“Best in Show” Movie Review
The movie, “Best in Show” was a hilarious one. From the first scene with the couple and their dog in a therapy session, it caught my attention. In most comedy’s, a structured plot, or even a deep insight is not common. It just so happened in this film, there was one. All of these competing couples and their dogs were fighting for the same thing. The champion dog. This accomplishment would have made any one of the competitors, ‘happy’. It was interesting to see, a various number of couples competing with each other, even one couple, sleeping in a janitors closet, just to have the opportunity to having trained, the champion dog.
Throughout the entire movie, all of these people are fighting and competing with each other to win the competition, and ultimately, be happy. The things they put themselves through in their pursuits of happiness is ridiculous.
But does winning something necessarily make you happy? I think not. I would argue, winning something brings you temporary happiness, but not life long. Quite obviously, the owners of the champion dog were ecstatic to have owned and trained the winning pooch. As for the dog, I’m sure they weren’t even aware of their great accomplishment.
This was a movie that not only portrayed the pursuit of happiness, but the struggle and hardships one has to go through in order to ultimately attain happiness, or in this case, the champion dog. It wasn’t until I discovered the deep insight of this movie that I began to understand the overall theme. Happiness comes from within you, not from your wins or losses. Winning something brings you a temporary happiness, which is a stepping-stone to developing and attaining life long happiness.
“Best in Show” Review
Best in Show, a satirical mockumentary, delves into the lives of the owners of five show dogs and their devotion to making sure their dog is the best in everything–from appearance to temperament. The film gets an A- in humor, as it plays off of many stereotypes we have on certain types of people:
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- The gays: flamboyant, cocky, cultured and with a diva flair
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- The odd, middle class couple: The awkward husband and the “looking good for her age” wife with a past
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- The chic, upper class couple: Neurotic underneath it all, therapist sessions for some of the most (as we might deem them) bizarre reasons, such as the dog watching them one night. The obsession with fashion trends, “high-end” coffee (Starbucks)
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- The redneck: The accent, the slow and monotonic speech, the questionable intelligence, hunting as a hobby
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- The gold-digging wife and the pretty much “ready to die” millionaire: Her intelligence is questionable, his ability to even breathe without help is questionable
Although the mockumentary focuses on the Mayflower Dog Show, there is a hidden message behind it as we observe what makes the characters happy and how the dog show affects them overall. This message is that what we may expect to make us happy may actually make us unhappy, and it may be surprising to find happiness in the most, unexpected ways. I didn’t really notice this message until it was brought up in class, because the film is just too “comedic”, so one has to dig deep to try and find the serious undertones behind the motives of the characters and the ending of the film. I would recommend this movie to anyone who wants to enjoy a great comedy, but I wouldn’t consider it a way to try and find out some sort of truth behind “happiness.”
I was very impressed with the dialogue of the film, because it seemed very natural, which of course added to the humor. I would not be surprised if it is all pure improvisation, because none of the scenes felt forced and the actors did a great job channelling their characters.
All in all, this is a great film to see one day with a couple of friends if you’re looking for a good laugh to end the night right.
Showing Happiness
The question of happiness in “Best in Show” is ever present in the underlying theme. Are the characters happy as they are? Are they happier at the end? What does the transition do for them?
This film is all about the individuality of happiness. I think that the purpose is to underscore how some believe themselves to be happy but require a process of improvement, and how others are happy as they are and that the process simply makes them more so. The film is not trying to tell us that we are all unhappy or that we need a revelation to make us more happy. Rather, it is our perception of our own happiness and of objective happiness which it is trying to hone.
An interesting example of this was the couple form Illinois who were having therapy with their dog. They thought themselves to be perfectly happy. They did reasonably well for themselves and lived a nice lifestyle. They considered themselves happy because they fit the societal standard of happiness: their gourmet coffee, apple computers, designer clothing etc. We discover that they are really not happy at all. They project their personal issues onto their dog as a way of denying that they are in need of change. But even through the process of the show and realizing their mistakes, they never fully appreciate their wrong approach and subsequently end up artificially happy again. Their situation is no more improved because they see their dog as a vessel for their state.
The character from North Carolina, the winner of the contest, is another fascinating case of happiness. He seems to be relatively content with his life to start with. He may not lead the quintessential lifestyle of a happy American, but he most certainly is a happy fellow. He holds an inherently positive relationship with his dog, not one which is based on wining. And when he does not win the championship, he finds another way to improve his life.
I think that the most interesting example of happiness in the film was with the couple from Florida. Their dynamic is certainly one of a happy couple, but with many issues and concerns. The husband is jealous of his wife and they have problems with money, but they essentially love each other and are happy together. However, they certainly needed an intervention in order to make their happiness more productive and conducive to their environment. This is where winning the championship came in to play: it served as a basis for propelling them past their issues and forward into a better life where they were able to fulfill their potential.
The different stories in the film illustrate that happiness is different for different people and that the same events may not change everyone in their happiness. It illustrates the importance of recognizing inherent problems and focusing on essential issues of happiness, not just the apparent because the apparent is different for all of us. What is not different for all of us however, is the need to recognize our own situation for what it is and figuring out a way of working with it.
-Sol
Setting Goals to Achieve leads to Happiness.
Happiness can be attained by setting goals and working toward to achieve them. We become motivated, empowered, and excited when we have a goal to achieve whether it is short term or long term. We feel life becomes meaningful and full with hope when we have a goal. Of course the goals have to be desirable and attainable so we won’t give up too fast. While pursuing the goal, we can gain happiness by enjoying process such as overcoming obstacles in the way, sharing small step of success with others and becoming confident with supports from others. In the movie, “Best in Show” the five entrants all have the same goal that is to win the prestigious dog show “Mayflower Kennel Club Dog Show”. They take time and energy to train their dogs and they all enjoy the process. Before the competition, the dog owners are very nervous about the challenge that is to come; however, they are also happy that they have a chance to achieve their goal. For example, Gerry and Cookie Fleck and their dog Winky, although they encounter many problems before the competition, such as being force to sleep in the hotel’s storage room for they don’t have enough money, they are still very happy that they have each other’s supports during the competition. Another point I want to make is success is the key to happiness. Having able to achieve a goal in the end would bring us more happiness. In the movie just before the final, Cookie dislocates her knees and Gerry has to take over for her. Gerry is really nervous for he is afraid that he won’t do a great job, however, with Cookie’s support Gerry gains confidence in doing it and ultimately Winky wins. The couples are extremely happy for all their hard works have been rewarded. Since the goal is very meaningful to them the final victory brings more to happiness to them.
Response Paper #3: Invisible Third Option (but w/ some Option One)
What’s definitely on my “top ten things that make me supremely happy list?” Of course the answer is my dog Andy. Andy is eight pounds of pure unconditional love and I can’t really seem to remember life before he came into mine. He’s a dog who doesn’t quite know that he’s a dog and secretly, I think he’s smarter than we give him credit for. I am pretty certain that I enjoyed Best In Show, not just because it was a hilarious movie, but because I too am a dog owner. Best In Show was so laugh out loud hilarious particularly because it expertly showcased America’s love and maybe even unhealthy obsession with their pooches. Through the time leading up to a dog show, we learn about how canines have almost replaced children in the sense that now it is they that represent your image and reputation. Do we compete just for the challenge? Of course not! We compete to win! Does winning breed happiness though? Best In Show provides a surprising answer.
What most of us fail to see when we enter a competition of any sort is that despite the outcome, we will be ok. Sure, we hate to lose, but we seem to have trouble remembering that we have lost before but we’ve managed to come out of it unscathed (hopefully). This is true in Best In Show where we follow the owners of six dogs as they spend countless hours, time and money grooming and preparing their canine companions. As the show date draws near, the pressure mounts and it literally consumes their whole lives. While watching, I was sure that the losers would be miserable for the rest of the film but quite the opposite happens. Not surprisingly, they move on! The bickering couple regain their relationship, a ventriloquist follows his dream and even the winners move on to bigger and better things. I think what the film is trying to tell the audience is that we cannot base our happiness on winning because otherwise it would be so fleeting and not even be genuine. We have to learn that despite the failures, there is still a lot you can do and you should remain positive.
It was especially funny how quirky the characters were. I’m a firm believer that a dog’s personality is analogous to its owner and that you can learn a lot about the person from the pet and vice versa. This couldn’t be more true in Best In Show. The neurotic couple Meg and Hamilton Swan rage at the drop of a hat and this is quite evident in their Weimaraner’s quick-to-bite demeanor. Country guy Harlan Pepper is perfectly represented through his easy going, kind of slow moving Bloodhound, Hubert. Perhaps the reason why they’ve been dubbed “man’s best friend” is that dogs are indeed so moldable and learn to adapt to your personality.
After the film I just wanted to rush home and give Andy a big hug. I could gush about him all day long but when it comes down to it, my dog makes me utterly happy because he gives me his heart without wanting much in return. It may sound selfish, but sometimes you just want someone who loves you, blind to your faults, who’ll always be waiting by the door when you come in.
Movie Review on ‘Best in Show’
Malisa Basic (JM13D)
OPTION 1: Write a movie review of “Best In Show.” Do NOT just summarize the film. In fact, for this response paper, you are to use no summary unless it is a detail or scene that helps you to prove the argument you are trying to make about the film.
Though I am not to write a summary about Best in Show, its hard to really go around that, so I’ll keep the summary brief. The movie depicts a dog show held in America annually of dogs all across the country; the dogs focused on mainly in the movie are different from one another as well as their owners. My first initial thoughts about the movie was quite unusual. I had never heard of this movie before, and to be quite honest, I was skeptical of the concept, and how the movie began. I was also surprised to see how many familiar actors were in the movie that I recognized from other films. I was surprised because not only did I never hear of this movie, when I was introduced to the outline and general concept, I thought it was quite silly. All popular stereotypes are depicted in this movie; From the the ”nerdy” husband with a ”hot” wife that live in a Suburban area, the overly dramatic gay that acts somewhat feminine, to the angry couple that blames each other for anything that happens. In addition, their pets even resemble their personalities which is what I thought was quite interesting.
One thing that I thought was interesting was the fact that a dog show was chosen to portray this hidden message of happiness. The reason I thought this was interesting because American people all LOVE dogs. There are dogs every where around us. Sometimes I wonder if there are more dogs than people. That’s probably where the saying ”A dog is a mans best friend” comes from. i believe that there is a specific reason a dog show was used rather than any other competition. The reason why it may have been used is because even after the competition, the joy the dogs bring to these peoples lives does not end. Even after the show, they are able to go back home and take care of their pets. This was shown to be true when the lives of these characters were shown after the show. Even though there was only one winner, the lives of the other contestants did not change all too much, and the changes that did occur were actually positive experiences they had gained from the whole experience itself. Even the winners did not have much of a change with their life. Sure they did make a new CD of their music which they haven’t done before, but the endless men that seem to recognize his wife through the past, never ends which shows that winning doesn’t necessarily mean everything will change, or change happiness more specifically. In general, winning does not mean that happiness will come, or that losing will have the opposite effect. People need to find their own happiness within them self rather than showing of their cute dogs they believe will make them happy if they win because they appear to have the ”best” dog.
