1.Gangs of New York:
Gangs of New York is an American an American epic period drama film that was filmed in 2002. The story takes place in the Five Points district in New York City. The movie was directed by Martin Scorsese and was written by Jay Cocks, Kenneth Lonergan and Steven Zaillian. The inspiration for the movie is Herbert Asbury’s nonfiction book, The Gangs of New York. Prior to the class, I have seen the movie because it was mentioned in my AP U.S History class. This movie instantly appealed to me because of the setting of the story and how close it was to where I live. As soon as I finished the movie it instantly became one of my favorite movies because of his romanticization of New York during the mid-19th century. Although some aspects of the movie have been exaggerated, I still find that the essence that this movie has been written is still very intriguing because the Manhattan I walk in everyday has experienced some of the things the movie showed like the draft riots.
2. Marilyn Diptych:
One of my favorite paintings by an artists based out of New York is Andy Warhol’s Marilyn Diptych. The Marilyn Diptych which was created in 1962 is a silkscreen painting by Andy Warhol and is regarded as one of Warhol’s most noted and recognizable works. The painting was created weeks after Marilyn Monroe’s death as a tribute to her life. What makes the painting so appealing to me at first is that it is one of the first pieces by Warhol that I discovered. The painting is unlike anything that I have seen and the color scheme he uses is unusual but it works together to form an eye pleasing piece. Something about the painting that I found interesting was the divide between the colored Monroe pictures and the black and white side of the painting. Many believe that the divide represents Monroe’s life and death and Warhol’s feelings about it.
3. Whaam!:
Another painting that ranks among one of my favorite paintings by a New York City artist is Whaam!. This painting was created by American artist Roy Lichtenstein in 1963 and it is regarded as one of the best-known pop art works as well as one of Roy Lichtenstein’s most famous and influential paintings. Like the Marilyn Diptych, this painting is currently owned by the Tate and is being displayed at the Tate Modern. The reason why this painting appeals to me is the style of the painting. Although it looks like a regular comic strip-esque painting, when examined at a closer look, there is much more detail that goes behind this painting than many people think. The way that Lichtenstein painted this was by recreating the picture and using different techniques to express the painting. Essentially his goal was to create a piece where people would see ordinary cartoons in a different light. The boldness in the colors of his painting also great appealed to me.
4. Do the Right Thing:
Another favorite movie of mine in the collection of movies about New York City’s history is Do the Right Thing. Like Gangs of New York, I have seen this movie prior to the class and it has become a favorite of mine after watching the movie. Do the Right Thing is an American comedy- drama film that was produced, written and directed by Spike Lee in 1989. This is one of my favorite movies because of the story line and the people associated with the film’s production. The movie does a great job in addressing the rising conflicted between races during the late 1980’s. The movie has one of the most iconic scenes like the racial slur scene as well as what is regarded as the best opening credit scene in film history. Spike Lee has done a phenomenal job in producing, writing, directing and even acting in his own film.
5. Walk on the Wild Side:
One of my favorite songs from an musician from New York City about New York City is “Walk on the Wild Side” by Lou Reed. “Walk on the Wild Side” is a song by Lou Reed from his album Transformer which was released in 1972. The album was produced by David Bowie. The song describes a group of people based off of Andy Warhol’s superstars and it goes further to discuss taboo topics like transsexuality, drugs, male prostitution and oral sex. What made this song so appealing me firstly because of the tune the song had. I had no idea that the famous song “Can I Kick It?” by A Tribe Called Quest sampled their song from this Lou Reed Song. Not only did the tune appeal to me but also the tribute Reed gives to the various people he has met at Andy Warhol’s Factory.
6. Mugging:
One of my favorite poems this semester was Mugging by Allen Ginsberg. The poem was written in 1974 and describes a mugging through the perspective of the narrator. Ginsberg uses imagery to effectively describe what urban life was like during the 1970’s in New York City. What appealed to me about this poem was how explicit and how realistic the poem was. Ginsberg did not in any way glorify or criticize New York City for its dangerous environment. Ginsberg describes exactly how the situation would be and doesn’t try to fluff it up. This leads me to my next point in how Ginsberg’s writing style helped influence Lou Reed and The Velvet Underground in the music style. What appealed to me about Ginsberg also appealed to Lou Reed and I find that Ginsberg’s writing style is very influential and fun to read.
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poems/detail/49310
7. To Brooklyn Bridge:
Another poem that really appealed to me in this class was “To Brooklyn Bridge”. “To Brooklyn Bridge” was written by Hart Crane in 1930 and it serves as a reflection for Crane’s experience living in a Brooklyn apartment during the 1920’s. What was most appealing about this poem was the style Crane writes as he describes the Brooklyn Bridge. The first noticeable aspect about this poem is the narrator’s deep admiration and astonished by the Brooklyn Bridge. Crane praises the bridge so much that he goes as far as comparing it to God. Despite the praise he gives the bridge, he also portrays the dark side to the bridge as he describes a suicide off of the bridge. I felt that this poem did a nice job in balancing out the good and bad of New York City with the use of the Brooklyn Bridge.
https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/brooklyn-bridge
8. Strange Fruit:
One song that I particularly enjoy and appreciate is “Strange Fruit”. “Strange Fruit” was a song that was written by Abel Meeropol and recorded by Billie Holiday in 1939. Meeropol wrote the song after two black men in Indiana were lynched. The song describes the lynching with graphic lyrics about the corpses of the men hanging from a tree while referring to these corpses by “Strange Fruit”. What first attracted me to this song and caught my attention about this song was the fact that Kanye sampled from this song and implemented it into his own songs. It was very interesting to see where a famous and popular song today had its roots from a song created in 1939. What also stuck out to me about the song was the depressing Holiday sang the song with that really gave the song a haunting effect on me.
9. “4’33”:
Another song that appealed to me is “4’33”. This controversial three piece movement was composed by John Cage in 1952. The piece instructs performers to not play their instruments for four minutes and thirty three seconds. According to John Cage, the purpose of this piece was to listen to music through the sounds of the environment. He wanted laughs, giggles, sighs and any sound in nature to be the music associated with the music and not from actual instruments. I found this piece especially interesting to me because in a why, Cage’s ideology behind this piece makes sense and can be considered correct. I think that Cage did a phenomenal job in shedding light on what is and isn’t music. With this silent piece, it really lends the focus to the environment and actually puts the environment as the spot life of the song.
10. Maggie Girl of the Streets:
One of my favorite stories that I’ve read this semester was Stephen Crane’s “Maggie: Girl of the Streets”. This novella was published in 1893 and is Crane’s first piece to be published. “Maggie Girl of the Streets” is also considered to be the first work of American literary Naturalism. The thing that was most appealing about this story to me was how neutral Crane is in his story telling. Because this story is objective and simply states the facts of the story, it allows readers to think for themselves to see who is at fault for Maggie’s downfall. Because of the story telling this novel has, it opens up many discussions about the story because the story becomes so ambiguous in terms of cause and effect amongst the characters of the story. I also liked how Crane uses the time period of the story as a factor of how Maggie matures over the years.
http://pinkmonkey.com/dl/library1/digi236.pdf