Sunday, October 28, 2007
The Sea Inside post 3
I think that the most powerful shot in this movie is the point of view shot when Ramon is pretending to jump out the window and flying through the landscape to the beach. Through out this shot are oblique angles of the mountains. The oblique angle emphasizes the imagination of this concept. Eventually on the beach Ramon was making out with Julia. The close up on Ramon and Julia creates a sense of closeness and the understanding for Ramon's unreachable goal.
The Sea Inside post 2
The Sea Inside and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly have similarities and differences. Some similarities are that they are both about MEN trapped in their OWN bodies and are bedridden for life. Some differences are that Ramon, from The Sea Inside, had an accident. Jean, from The Diving Bell and the Butterfly had a stroke which he couldn't help. Ramon wants to die. Jean wants to keep living and keep getting better. Both stories are powerful but send different messages. For this reason only I believe that both can't be compared to which is more powerful.
The Sea Inside post 1
After I watched this film I felt that it was inappropriate for school. I believe that this issue should not be discussed so informally on a blog or should be approached in a learning environment but i will answer anyway.
The Sea Inside is a disturbing film. Ramon's request for assisted suicide is odd. There is evidence for both sides of this opinion. Ramon's point of view is that he will not burden his family anymore. Ramon's family's point of view is that he is depressed and they don't want to loose him. He is making their family look bad from this incident. I believe his friends who agreed to help him were only blinded by a man's last wishes to actually notice the actions he was taking.
The Sea Inside is a disturbing film. Ramon's request for assisted suicide is odd. There is evidence for both sides of this opinion. Ramon's point of view is that he will not burden his family anymore. Ramon's family's point of view is that he is depressed and they don't want to loose him. He is making their family look bad from this incident. I believe his friends who agreed to help him were only blinded by a man's last wishes to actually notice the actions he was taking.
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Week 5 part 2
1. Summarization
Upon coming home from the metal hospital, Deidre brought home a convicted "lumberjack" who she and Dorothy had sexual relations with. After getting kicked out of the house the lumberjack came to live with the Finches for a while until Natalie had sex with him for money. Dr. Finch kicked him out.
Back at the Finch house, Natalie and Augusten went to McDonalds with Natalie's new earned money. In a park near by after they smoked marijuana. The two then decided to become adventurous visiting Smith College and running through a waterfall on campus coming home soaking wet. Hope was disappointed that they didn't ask her to join in on the fun.
The Finches were tight on money so they decided to have a rummage sale. Eventually an entire room was created outside. Most of the Finch family liked living outside and the situation stayed for a while.
Augusten goes to visit his mother's house. She and Dorothy have both gone insane. Their back yard is full of their silverware. Augusten calls for backup, Hope comes and Deirdre is taken away again. This time by Dr. Finch to a motel where Deirdre discovers a very accepting woman named Winnie Pye. Eventually Winnie Pye takes Deidre away from Finch.
Bookman dissapears. After telling Augusten that he was going for more film in his camera at two in the morning he never came back. Hope and Augusten traveled to fin him but a year went on and no word. This absence in Augusten leaves him with an itch he will never be able to scratch. Augusten decides to find a new boyfriend. He discovered a target working at a gas station. Augusten wrote a note to him only to discover that he was straight. The section ends in this sorrow.
2. Reaction
This section of Running With Scissors seemed very uneventful. I think that it seemed this way because I'm an now used to crazy things happening. It's become the norm. I am glad that Natalie and Augusten are becoming so close. Augusten seems to need a friend with all the phsyco things happening with his mom. His mom needs to be institutionalized but not with Dr. Finch. I am becoming very suspicious of his efforts to cure her of insanity. I believe that Winnie Pye will be a good figure in her life to look up to. I believe that Augusten thinks this too deep down. My trust with Dr. Finch and his methods are failing.
I feel bad for Bookman. All he ever loved was Augusten and Augusten barely gave him the time of day. But, Bookman was being to naive.Did he really think that he could keep a relationship with a 14 year old boy? That's illegal. I wonder what Bookman ended up doing with the rest of his life. I stray away from the thought of suicide but more in the direction of a rebirth of Neil Bookman. A new lifestyle was ahead. As for Augusten I believe that he didn't care so much as what happened to Bookman but what more the feelings Bookman left HIM with. I think that is very selfish. Although he did look for him for a year with no luck. Augusten needed Bookman to leave his life for him to think more clearly about his future. What is he going to do with the rest of his life?
Upon coming home from the metal hospital, Deidre brought home a convicted "lumberjack" who she and Dorothy had sexual relations with. After getting kicked out of the house the lumberjack came to live with the Finches for a while until Natalie had sex with him for money. Dr. Finch kicked him out.
Back at the Finch house, Natalie and Augusten went to McDonalds with Natalie's new earned money. In a park near by after they smoked marijuana. The two then decided to become adventurous visiting Smith College and running through a waterfall on campus coming home soaking wet. Hope was disappointed that they didn't ask her to join in on the fun.
The Finches were tight on money so they decided to have a rummage sale. Eventually an entire room was created outside. Most of the Finch family liked living outside and the situation stayed for a while.
Augusten goes to visit his mother's house. She and Dorothy have both gone insane. Their back yard is full of their silverware. Augusten calls for backup, Hope comes and Deirdre is taken away again. This time by Dr. Finch to a motel where Deirdre discovers a very accepting woman named Winnie Pye. Eventually Winnie Pye takes Deidre away from Finch.
Bookman dissapears. After telling Augusten that he was going for more film in his camera at two in the morning he never came back. Hope and Augusten traveled to fin him but a year went on and no word. This absence in Augusten leaves him with an itch he will never be able to scratch. Augusten decides to find a new boyfriend. He discovered a target working at a gas station. Augusten wrote a note to him only to discover that he was straight. The section ends in this sorrow.
2. Reaction
This section of Running With Scissors seemed very uneventful. I think that it seemed this way because I'm an now used to crazy things happening. It's become the norm. I am glad that Natalie and Augusten are becoming so close. Augusten seems to need a friend with all the phsyco things happening with his mom. His mom needs to be institutionalized but not with Dr. Finch. I am becoming very suspicious of his efforts to cure her of insanity. I believe that Winnie Pye will be a good figure in her life to look up to. I believe that Augusten thinks this too deep down. My trust with Dr. Finch and his methods are failing.
I feel bad for Bookman. All he ever loved was Augusten and Augusten barely gave him the time of day. But, Bookman was being to naive.Did he really think that he could keep a relationship with a 14 year old boy? That's illegal. I wonder what Bookman ended up doing with the rest of his life. I stray away from the thought of suicide but more in the direction of a rebirth of Neil Bookman. A new lifestyle was ahead. As for Augusten I believe that he didn't care so much as what happened to Bookman but what more the feelings Bookman left HIM with. I think that is very selfish. Although he did look for him for a year with no luck. Augusten needed Bookman to leave his life for him to think more clearly about his future. What is he going to do with the rest of his life?
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Week 4 part 2
Summarization
In this section of Running With Scissors by Augusten Burroughs many interesting events happen. It starts with Bookman and Burroughs exchanging sexual favors that I am not going to go into detail about. Then Natalie and Burroughs decide that they love to sing. They make family members play the piano to theme songs which they belt out. Natalie and Burroughs belt out Blondie in front of the mirror into curling irons and sometimes fans. Hope starts to get annoyed. Eventually they want to preform somewhere. The decided a mental ward. As Natalie and Burroughs sing for crazed patients one crazy old man spits at them and Natalie spits back.
Hope has a temporary brake down where she believes her cat Freud is going to die. The cat, perfectly healthy, is very annoyed. Augusten discovers the missing Hope in the basement lying next the a laundry basket with a trapped cat inside. She wants to be with him when he passes. Freud eventually dies according to Hope by "Kitty Leukemia" but Augusten believes that he died because he didn't have food or water for four days. Hope buries Freud by a tree only to try and dig him back up. Dr. Finch tells her not to so she doesn't.
Hope and her brother Bookman have a quick fight about the matter of love and are focusing on how Hope basically hasn't gotten laid in a long time. Then Hope criticizes Bookman and Burroughs relationship calling it immature. Bookman and Burroughs again exchange sexual favors but then take their relationship a little deeper. Bookman lets Burroughs die his her "blond" which turns out green.
At the very end of this section Deidre dumps Fern for one of Dr. Finch's new patients. Her name is Dorothy and waits on Deidre's every whim. Burroughs doesn't care considering she is rich and gives him money for whatever he wants. Deidre is taken to an asylum. That didn't last long considering she came back with a family ditching foreign fugitive. Now there is a relationship between all three which isn't odd to Burroughs strangely enough.
In this section of Running With Scissors by Augusten Burroughs many interesting events happen. It starts with Bookman and Burroughs exchanging sexual favors that I am not going to go into detail about. Then Natalie and Burroughs decide that they love to sing. They make family members play the piano to theme songs which they belt out. Natalie and Burroughs belt out Blondie in front of the mirror into curling irons and sometimes fans. Hope starts to get annoyed. Eventually they want to preform somewhere. The decided a mental ward. As Natalie and Burroughs sing for crazed patients one crazy old man spits at them and Natalie spits back.
Hope has a temporary brake down where she believes her cat Freud is going to die. The cat, perfectly healthy, is very annoyed. Augusten discovers the missing Hope in the basement lying next the a laundry basket with a trapped cat inside. She wants to be with him when he passes. Freud eventually dies according to Hope by "Kitty Leukemia" but Augusten believes that he died because he didn't have food or water for four days. Hope buries Freud by a tree only to try and dig him back up. Dr. Finch tells her not to so she doesn't.
Hope and her brother Bookman have a quick fight about the matter of love and are focusing on how Hope basically hasn't gotten laid in a long time. Then Hope criticizes Bookman and Burroughs relationship calling it immature. Bookman and Burroughs again exchange sexual favors but then take their relationship a little deeper. Bookman lets Burroughs die his her "blond" which turns out green.
At the very end of this section Deidre dumps Fern for one of Dr. Finch's new patients. Her name is Dorothy and waits on Deidre's every whim. Burroughs doesn't care considering she is rich and gives him money for whatever he wants. Deidre is taken to an asylum. That didn't last long considering she came back with a family ditching foreign fugitive. Now there is a relationship between all three which isn't odd to Burroughs strangely enough.
Week 4 part 1
There was one quote that really stood out to me in this section of Running With Scissors.
"A mothermind was a Dr. Finch-ism. It was one part busybody and one part manipulator. It was based on the principle that mothering people is unhealthy after a certain point in life. Like the age of ten. A mothermind wanted to oppress and control you." (188-189)
I believe that this quote is very important to the story because it is a reason why most of the people in this house are so different from the rest of normal suburbia. The Finches believe that parenting should end at the age of ten? Wouldn't the whole world be either a nut house or insanely chaotic if everyone lived by this philosophy? There is also a lot of acceptance. I personally would love if there was no discrimination against anything except negativity itself.
"A mothermind was a Dr. Finch-ism. It was one part busybody and one part manipulator. It was based on the principle that mothering people is unhealthy after a certain point in life. Like the age of ten. A mothermind wanted to oppress and control you." (188-189)
I believe that this quote is very important to the story because it is a reason why most of the people in this house are so different from the rest of normal suburbia. The Finches believe that parenting should end at the age of ten? Wouldn't the whole world be either a nut house or insanely chaotic if everyone lived by this philosophy? There is also a lot of acceptance. I personally would love if there was no discrimination against anything except negativity itself.
Monday, October 8, 2007
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly Reaction
I am going to be completely honest about my views of Jean Dominque-Bauby's The Diving Bell and the Butterfly; I think it's boring, useless, and I regret ever reading it even though it was required. Yes, it is a horribly tragic what happened to Bauby after his stroke but that doesn't mean I have to pity him and read his book. He wrote it with his left eye, which is an amazing feat, but so could everyone if they tried.
His views on his locked-in syndrome are very interesting and mentally provocative. But when reading I put that aside and ponder about who Bauby was before the stroke. Was he a jerk? A caring father? I don't know for sure. He worked as an editor at Elle magazine, divorced, and moved away from his family to be closer to his career. His writing style encourages me to hate him. I get an impression that he manipulates huge words to try and sway the reader to admire his knowledge and high status in society considering every chapter he mentions his job. Although I like who he is when his children visit him. Their trip to the beach broke his heart. Comparing his writing style to his tears leaving his left eye, Bauby seems to me to be a complicated soul.
To me this book didn't seem like a memoir. It seemed like a cry that shouted: "PITY ME!" Other than the sections with his children Bauby only talks about what he can't do, which is a lot but I don't enjoy reading a book of negatives. His regrets, sadness, and memories of what he could do only make me think that it is Bauby’s own fault that he didn’t take risks or make right decisions. Bauby asks me to understand his opinion but all I can do is disagree with it.
In conclusion, I believe that this story should not be required to be read in schools. There is a disturbing nature at every word. I believe those who are interested should only read this story. I will give Bauby one good point of accreditation. He taught me to take risks because who knows if you will be even able to move all your limbs tomorrow.
Sunday, October 7, 2007
Week 3 Part 2
I think that this book just gets crazier as more pages are written. I liked that his brother stayed in contact with him through his childhood. I find that inspiring considering that at the end of this section they don't have the same legal guardian anymore.
Burroughs relationship with Bookman freaks me out. Wouldn't Bookman be consider a pedophile in real life? I also though it was funny how Burroughs told Dr. Finch about it. Wouldn't Dr. Finch stop that? Technically since Bookman and Burroughs both have Dr. Finch as a dad aren't they considered brothers? Overall I thought it was gross because they were still family.
Dr. Finch and his mother agree that Burroughs should fake a suicide attempt to get out of school. That theory is so twisted to me. If my parents told me to fake a suicide by drinking beer, taking pills, and then staying in a hospital for weeks just to skip school i would laugh thinking it would be a total joke. How nuts do you have to be to consider faking a suicide? I start to get skeptical about the honesty of this book even though the writing is incredible.
His relationship with Natalie has become close. I never thought that Natalie would come into the book as a character after she was first introduced in the beginning when Burroughs first met Finch family. I have this weird prediction that even though Natalie is in a relationship with a supposed older man (who beats her) that Natalie and Burroughs will form a special relationship such as Bookman and Burroughs have.
Burroughs relationship with Bookman freaks me out. Wouldn't Bookman be consider a pedophile in real life? I also though it was funny how Burroughs told Dr. Finch about it. Wouldn't Dr. Finch stop that? Technically since Bookman and Burroughs both have Dr. Finch as a dad aren't they considered brothers? Overall I thought it was gross because they were still family.
Dr. Finch and his mother agree that Burroughs should fake a suicide attempt to get out of school. That theory is so twisted to me. If my parents told me to fake a suicide by drinking beer, taking pills, and then staying in a hospital for weeks just to skip school i would laugh thinking it would be a total joke. How nuts do you have to be to consider faking a suicide? I start to get skeptical about the honesty of this book even though the writing is incredible.
His relationship with Natalie has become close. I never thought that Natalie would come into the book as a character after she was first introduced in the beginning when Burroughs first met Finch family. I have this weird prediction that even though Natalie is in a relationship with a supposed older man (who beats her) that Natalie and Burroughs will form a special relationship such as Bookman and Burroughs have.
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Week 3 part 1
1. Summary
This section of Running With Scissors starts off with ending the chapter about his brother Troy. Augusten looks up to him as a normal figure in society, even though Troy's occupation is designing guitars for the rock band KISS. The brothers agree that their mom is insane.
The next couple chapters are about his sexual relationship with Neil Bookman. Neil forces a a sexual act upon Augusuten and eventually their relationship turns mutual. The become sexually close but Augusten questions their relationship while writing in his diary. Neil becomes very desperate for Augusten saying that if Augusten left him he would kill himself. Augusten doesn't care or merely plays hard to get.
Augusten hates school. He hates the people in school. Dr. Finch and his mom come up with a plan. They are going to fake a suicide so Augusten can get out of school for a couple of months and be under the "intensive care" of Dr. Finch. His mom drove him to the hospital after taking bourbon and some certain pill that made him pass out and be very grogy for several weeks. Then when he went back home to his mother she told him that his legal guiardian was now Dr. Finch.
At the end of this section Augusten and Natalie decide that the ceiling is way to low so they knock it out. Their project was messy, dirty and destructive. After putting in a sun roof the whole family was pleased because it lit up the entire kitchen, even if they did have to leave a pot to catch the rain under it.
2. Biography
Picture: http://www.popmatters.com/books/interviews/images/burroughs-augusten-051117.jpg
-This book was made into a major motion picture and there is some controversy considering that the real Turcotte family is suing Burroughs and movie directors.
-Burroughs dropped out of school and got his GED at age seventeen. He got a high paying job in advertising.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augusten_Burroughs
-Born on October 23 1965 in Pittsburgh Pennslyvannia.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1802493/
-Six members of the Turcotte family, survivors of psychiatrist Rodolph H. Turcotte, last year sued Burroughs,who was named Christopher Robison, for defamation, invasion of privacy, fraud, and emotional distress.
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/living/articles/2006/10/18/family_settles_with_sony_over_scissors_suit_against_author_remains/
This section of Running With Scissors starts off with ending the chapter about his brother Troy. Augusten looks up to him as a normal figure in society, even though Troy's occupation is designing guitars for the rock band KISS. The brothers agree that their mom is insane.
The next couple chapters are about his sexual relationship with Neil Bookman. Neil forces a a sexual act upon Augusuten and eventually their relationship turns mutual. The become sexually close but Augusten questions their relationship while writing in his diary. Neil becomes very desperate for Augusten saying that if Augusten left him he would kill himself. Augusten doesn't care or merely plays hard to get.
Augusten hates school. He hates the people in school. Dr. Finch and his mom come up with a plan. They are going to fake a suicide so Augusten can get out of school for a couple of months and be under the "intensive care" of Dr. Finch. His mom drove him to the hospital after taking bourbon and some certain pill that made him pass out and be very grogy for several weeks. Then when he went back home to his mother she told him that his legal guiardian was now Dr. Finch.
At the end of this section Augusten and Natalie decide that the ceiling is way to low so they knock it out. Their project was messy, dirty and destructive. After putting in a sun roof the whole family was pleased because it lit up the entire kitchen, even if they did have to leave a pot to catch the rain under it.
2. Biography
Picture: http://www.popmatters.com/books/interviews/images/burroughs-augusten-051117.jpg
-This book was made into a major motion picture and there is some controversy considering that the real Turcotte family is suing Burroughs and movie directors.
-Burroughs dropped out of school and got his GED at age seventeen. He got a high paying job in advertising.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augusten_Burroughs
-Born on October 23 1965 in Pittsburgh Pennslyvannia.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1802493/
-Six members of the Turcotte family, survivors of psychiatrist Rodolph H. Turcotte, last year sued Burroughs,who was named Christopher Robison, for defamation, invasion of privacy, fraud, and emotional distress.
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/living/articles/2006/10/18/family_settles_with_sony_over_scissors_suit_against_author_remains/
Monday, October 1, 2007
Week 2 part 3
My Reaction
To the reading in this section I was very curious about the character of Augusten. I compared his life to mine and noticed the many differences. Is he really real?
His confession to being gay did not surprise me. Sadly I have a small stereotype of gay men as being very feminine. Augusten's obsession about his hair, clothes, and sense of music gave me a hint to his current direction of sexuality. In this section when Neil Bookman conversed with Augusten about his life situation including his mother, the Finch family, and eventually his sexuality. It was surprising to Bookmen that the real reason for this meeting was the concept of Augusten's liking for men. Bookmen's reaction surprised me too. What did he think they were going to talk about? What did he think Hope contacted him for?
Deirdre is a lesbian and is in a relationship with a minister's wife named Fern. It seems so unreal yet the crudeness of the context where Augusten's view of the relationship is explained compels me to accept in it and believe it as true as holy scripture. Likely because i would have reacted the same way as Augusten in the situation he was in. Accept it and move on. His mother is a chain smoking, broke writer who left her child with her shrink. Would anything strike him anymore? I wouldn't think so.
To the reading in this section I was very curious about the character of Augusten. I compared his life to mine and noticed the many differences. Is he really real?
His confession to being gay did not surprise me. Sadly I have a small stereotype of gay men as being very feminine. Augusten's obsession about his hair, clothes, and sense of music gave me a hint to his current direction of sexuality. In this section when Neil Bookman conversed with Augusten about his life situation including his mother, the Finch family, and eventually his sexuality. It was surprising to Bookmen that the real reason for this meeting was the concept of Augusten's liking for men. Bookmen's reaction surprised me too. What did he think they were going to talk about? What did he think Hope contacted him for?
Deirdre is a lesbian and is in a relationship with a minister's wife named Fern. It seems so unreal yet the crudeness of the context where Augusten's view of the relationship is explained compels me to accept in it and believe it as true as holy scripture. Likely because i would have reacted the same way as Augusten in the situation he was in. Accept it and move on. His mother is a chain smoking, broke writer who left her child with her shrink. Would anything strike him anymore? I wouldn't think so.
Week 2 part 2
pg. 58 Crazy-positve, fun, Finchs
pg. 60 Disease-normal, expected, accepted
pg. 66 Weary-tired, bad
pg. 72 Coward- scared, weak
pg. 73 Comfort-(to Augusten) cigarettes
pg 79 Bible-dipping-fulfilling, relief
pg 86 Shame-being different
pg. 89 Support- positive, family and friends
pg. 95 Bitch-negative, not the female dog, disgraceful
pg. 99 Mental Health-(to Augusten) unattainable??
pg. 60 Disease-normal, expected, accepted
pg. 66 Weary-tired, bad
pg. 72 Coward- scared, weak
pg. 73 Comfort-(to Augusten) cigarettes
pg 79 Bible-dipping-fulfilling, relief
pg 86 Shame-being different
pg. 89 Support- positive, family and friends
pg. 95 Bitch-negative, not the female dog, disgraceful
pg. 99 Mental Health-(to Augusten) unattainable??
Week 2 part 1
After living in the house for a while Augusten is starting to become more comfortable with the family. In this section he is introduced to Dr. Finch's wife, Agnes. She is basically the cleaning lady. The house they live in is disastrous. Everything is dirty, grimy, and messy yet the Finch's like living this way. It is homey and free-spirited. Agnes is very accepting, except when it comes to Dr. Finch's many extra lovers whom Agnes despises yet grows accustomed to.
Augusten is introduced to another house guest who never leaves her room but will be moving out in a matter of a couple of months. In this section of the book, Augusten also reveals that he is gay to Hope. Hope understands and expected it. She calls her adopted brother Neil Bookman who agrees to meet and talk with Augusten about the matter. Hope also shows Augusten an interesting way of answering life's questions, called Bible Dipping.
When visiting home, Augusten finds that his mom is having a lesbian affair with Fern Stewart, a minister's wife. Augusten's view of his mother at this point is that she is selfish and crude, that she only thinks about herself. This motivates Augusten to spend more and more time at the Finch's.
Also in this section Dr. Finch held a UNITE THE FATHERS OF THE WORLD parade. In which many pedestrians called the police afraid of being sexually assaulted. The police arrived and asked many questions to which Dr. Finch answered and was innocent of all accusations.
Augusten is introduced to another house guest who never leaves her room but will be moving out in a matter of a couple of months. In this section of the book, Augusten also reveals that he is gay to Hope. Hope understands and expected it. She calls her adopted brother Neil Bookman who agrees to meet and talk with Augusten about the matter. Hope also shows Augusten an interesting way of answering life's questions, called Bible Dipping.
When visiting home, Augusten finds that his mom is having a lesbian affair with Fern Stewart, a minister's wife. Augusten's view of his mother at this point is that she is selfish and crude, that she only thinks about herself. This motivates Augusten to spend more and more time at the Finch's.
Also in this section Dr. Finch held a UNITE THE FATHERS OF THE WORLD parade. In which many pedestrians called the police afraid of being sexually assaulted. The police arrived and asked many questions to which Dr. Finch answered and was innocent of all accusations.
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