As time goes on and technology reaches new heights, many artists are tempted to take ancient art forms like poetry and combine them with new media. Writing great poetry takes dedication and introspection and is respected by most. Although many students admit to finding poetry hard to understand and not enjoyable, through the right mediums it can be inspiring. I used to find myself sighing in disappointment when my teachers would move on to a poetry unit during English class. I found it hard to pay attention to the details of the poems and would brush them off as meaningless.
Surprisingly enough, what got me into poetry was reading a poem in my Modern American History class last semester. When learning about the 1960’s and the Beat generation; a group of artists who embraced originality and going against societies view of normal, I discovered the work of Allen Ginsberg. The 1960’s seemed like an interesting time period and nothing captured the essence of New York City quite like the poem “Howl” by Allen Ginsberg. I think what initially drew me to this poem was its descriptiveness and the way it went in great detail about 1960’s New York City. Ginsberg described how individuals who weren’t tied down to monotonous daily life were the most free and how the people we would consider today as drug addicts or homeless vagrants encompassed the spirit of the city and were free to live as they wish.While those who followed the pattern of going to school, finding a job, getting married and having kids were conformists and trapped in the idea of the American Dream. He used his writing to express his political beliefs as well as convey his emotions. This poem was like none other that I have read before. It was sporadic and used every adjective possible to really portray the feelings of the author.But what really solidified my interest in this poem was an excerpt of the movie “Howl” where Allen Ginsberg as portrayed by James Franco read the poem aloud while an animated version of the poem was shown in the background. The images really stuck with me and I thought they perfectly set the scene of the poem.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AX46U8DWfE0&list=PL131A4A5FFFB04E6D
I also found it interesting that we were reading Hart Crane in class because he was another poet who was portrayed by James Franco in the movie “The Broken Tower”. These movies not only recite the poems of these writers with passion and intensity, they go in depth about the poets themselves and how their life affected their works. I think it is important to see how these poets lives might not be that different from any of ours and that anyone can create and write from their own experiences.
I think using media and new technology to express a poem in great detail helps the readers imagination and keeps their attention. We should use our technological capabilities to express ourselves and reach wider audiences with our artwork.
