O'Doherty - The Last Hoorah

Throughout this course, I have learned many things about Tim Burton, myself, and how the world works. Before this course, I thought that Tim Burton was just a really creepy individual who enjoyed making really dark films. Now I realize that I was right...but there is a reason behind the darkness and the mayhem. I did not know about his parent's troubled relationship with his parents, or how he was misunderstood as a child, or that he felt like an outcast all his life. I also did not know that he worked for Disney at one point in his life (though now that I think about it, I should have because there is a ride at Disneyland that is based of Nightmare Before Christmas). One of the things I really enjoyed about this course was learning about the themes, archetypes, and symbols in each of Tim Burton's film. I thought it was clever how Tim Burton incorporated his troubled past into each of the films by making the underlying themes of each movie alienation, rejection, and isolation. It made me realize that, similarily to how Edward Bloom is the stories he tells, Tim Burton is the movies he makes. In fact, many of the characters he creates share some of the same qualities and characteristics as him. For example, many of his characters are misunderstood outcasts who are trying to be individuals in a society that is trying to get them to stick to the status quo. I also really enjoyed learning about the archetypes because I feel like it was a necessary thing to learn. I've gone all my life watching movies with the same types of characters in them. The only two I ever really noticed were the heroes and villains. Now it seems so obvious to me that there are others-- the nurturing mother, the strange outcast, the manipulative trickster, etc. The symbols were also pretty cool and interesting to learn about. I love how much detail and thought went into each scene (how certain objects, like things that people are wearing, give you context about their characters). It takes a lot of work, and I feel like only really good directors who are passionate about their work take time to do so. Now whenever I watch a movie, I can't help but to do mise en scenes of some of the scenes. I ask myself: what is the dominant? What does it mean? Why did the director think that was important? I never really go in depth with these thoughts, but I think it's funny how I acknowledge it. Another thing I learned from this course is how to write faster and more efficiently. I remember I spent well over an hour and a half on the first blog, but by the end of the year I got better at articulating what I have to say.
Overall, I really loved this course and would take it again in a heartbeat! I had so much fun watching movies, analyzing them, and figuring out their deeper meaning. I also really enjoyed having Dr. McCay as a teacher!

O'Doherty-Dangerously Delicious Meat Pies

Although Sweeney Todd and Mrs. Lovett are dark, mysterious, creepy murders, viewers tend to sympathize with them instead of their victims. It may sound scary, but viewers actually relate more to Sweeney and Mrs. Lovett than they do with the rest of the characters. Because even though they kill people, they see the world for what it truly is...The story takes place in London during the Victorian Ages. The story takes place in a high urbanized area-- complete with violence, crime, corrupt leaders, and inhumane working conditions.  
With that said, it is easy for Sweeney to overcome moral revulsion about murder and cannibalism because he sees "man devouring man" on the daily. There is always chaos and crime in the streets, the government officials and people in other high level positions who are supposed to serve the people are actually thieves who use their power solely to benefit themselves, and even the people who are of middle and lower class tend to live by the motto "every man for himself." Everyone takes what they can and they give nothing back. Nobody really gives a rat's behind about one another. 
Another factor that allows Sweeney (and Tim Burton) to justify the murder of relatively innocent people is the fact that London is a highly industrialized city and all the people who live in it are a product of industrialization. Thus everyone is the same...so it does not matter if a couple people are killed here and there. The people Sweeney killed did not have any unique gifts or significant qualities, talents, ideas, etc. to offer to the world. They lacked passion, creativity, and imagination. And everyone who did have any of those things they condemned. Thus the world had not lose anything when they died. In fact one may argue that the world actually benefitted from their deaths. One obvious reason people benefitted was because the bodies supplied people with a good source of protein (meat was very expensive in those days after all). But another reason the world may have benefitted was because many of the people that were killed were powerful, corrupt, selfish, and just plain evil. In fact, Sweeney believed that they were getting exactly what they deserved.
Although cannibalism does not happen often in real life, cannibalism is an important element in this film. In real life, people harm and figuratively "devour" fellow human beings, but we usually do not think of it that way. Perhaps this is why Sweeney's story is so disturbing-- it present to us, what we do unconsciously every day in a literal manner.          

O'Doherty - Howlin at the Moon

In the movie Big Fish, Tim Burton takes Edward Bloom, a very optimistic character and throws him into several situations in which he encounters dark, grotesque characters. One of the characters he encounters is Karl the Giant. Karl suffers from Marfan syndrome (which is the same condition that Abraham Lincoln had) which explains why he is unusually tall. When all the townspeople thought that Karl was a monster, Bloom volunteered to get rid of him. When he met Karl, Bloom introduced himself as a human sacrifice, but when Karl refused to eat him, Bloom realized that he was not a monster, he was just a regular person who was simply misunderstood. Another character that is strange and rather dark is Amos Carroway. Amos is the owner of the circus. Although he was a bit odd when Bloom was first introduced to him, Amos only got stranger and more grotesque as the story progressed. In fact, he turned out to be a werewolf. One more character that is rather grotesque is the witch. When Bloom was a young boy, he and his friends went exploring. Bloom was dared to knock on her door and retrieve the eye that was said to show people the way they would die. Bloom accepted the challenge, brought the witch back to his friends, looked into the eye himself, and graciously thanked her for her time. While other people shun these three characters for being strange and scary looking, Bloom befriends them. His sheer optimism allows him to see the good in everyone-- regardless of how scary they appear to be. Although these characters were probably not mythical creatures, Bloom believed them to be so. His optimism and imagination allowed him to take a person's insecurities and flaws and turn it into something cool and fairytale like! And this was the way he lived his life. Whatever went on inside his mind was real to him-- so real that he believed whole-heartedly that everything he said was true. With that said, there was no real difference between fantasy and reality or facts and fiction. He became the stories he told and therefore he continued to live even after he died. I believe that the character of Edward Bloom was inspired by Burton's own father, who used to entertain himself by scaring the neighborhood kids by taking out his dentures and howling at the moon like a werewolf.  

O'Doherty - Planet of the Apes

One of the many dualities that is mentioned throughout Tim Burton's "Planet of the Apes" is man vs. apes. From the film we see that the major difference between the two species is technology. Apes are very intelligent creatures. In the opening scene, we see that scientists have trained several apes to navigate through space. The scientists do this through classical conditioning. Whenever the monkeys follow instructions (pressing buttons and pulling levers) they receive a treat. 

Though they are very intelligent beings, they are not as "advanced" of a species as human beings and therefore they are not capable of building advanced technology. Because they are not as scientifically advanced as humans, they are not able to build advanced weapons like guns. And since human beings have guns and other powerful weapons that the apes do not possess, it gives humans power over the apes. Moreover, the fact that the apes cannot build these weapons or create more advance technology, has led people to believe that they are not as smart as human beings. Thus in the "real world," the humans believe they can have power over the apes. However, what Burton is trying to tell us is that this is just our egos speaking. There is a very thin line between humans and apes, but we justify our control over animals by telling ourselves that we are smarter (and therefore better than animals), and our lives are worth much more than theirs. But who are we to say that apes are less than us? 

In the parallel universe (in which the apes rule over humans), there is an even thinner line between humans and apes. The apes speak english and have a civilized society and are even smarter than humans. But even though they are far more advanced than the apes in the "real world" they are still not able to create advanced weapons. The evil ape's father admits this right before his death. The father revealed to his son that humans possessed guns, (which were ten times more powerful than the apes primitive weapons) which made them more powerful than apes could ever be.

But by the end of the movie, the apes developed the advanced technology, thus there was no real difference between apes and humans-- the only thing that made them different is the physical appearance. In an essence, the movie is a warning against putting humans above all else.       

O'Doherty - Sleepy Hollow

The two Legends of Sleepy Hollow could not be more different. In fact, I think the only real similarities are the names of the characters and the fact that there is the legend of the headless horseman. Even though the characters have the same name, the two Ichabod Cranes are nothing alike. The Ichabod Crane in Irving's version is an ugly and rather awkward school teacher who literally looks like a crane - he has long arms and legs and a long nose (like a beak), while the Ichabod Crane in Burton's version is a constiple who is played by one of the most attractive actors in Hollywood: Mr. Johnny Depp. Despite their many differences, the two Ichabod's do have a couple things in common. One of the main things they have in common are that they are very superstitous. The Ichabod Crane in Irving's version spends his nights pouring over books about witchcraft and listening to wise tales and legends told to him by the mother's of his pupils, while the Ichabod Crane in the movie tries to hide his superstitous side but pays close attention to legends and scares at simple things that remind him of them. Another thing they have in common are that they are both madly in love with Katrina Van Tassel. In the story, Katrina does not return the love Ichabod has for her, but in the movie she does. In fact, one could argue that she loves him more than he loves her. In the story, she falls for "the hero of the country round": Brom Van Brunt. Brom appears in the movie as well, and is surprisingly like his character in the story, but unfortunately he is killed while attempting to kill the headless horseman.
A few smaller similarities between the story and the movie include the scene where Ichabod was "pranked" (someone dressed up as the headless horseman and threw a pumpkin at him) and the fact that Ichabod is an outcast (in the story he was a schoolteacher and in the movie he was a city boy...not a farmer like the other men).
A couple other key differences are the fact that the story of the headless horseman was left an old wise tale in the story, while the movie made him come to life awnd the stepmother and her witchcraft did not exist in the story...nor did many of the other characters that were killed by the headless horseman.  

O'Doherty - Mars Attacks!

In one of the very first scenes when we first meet Jack Nicholson as the President of the United States, we see a lot of stereotypes about the government being played out. For example, when the President is informed that aliens are surrouding planet Earth, the first person he seeks advice from is his press secretary. Not only does this indicate that he only really cares about his image, but it also tells us that he is incapable of forming his own opinions. He goes on to ask advice from the military generals (one of whom is really violent and pro-war while the other is quiet and does whatever he is told) and a scientist (who thinks he is "the bee's knees" just because he has a Ph.D. behind his name). This one scene shows us that there is corruption in the capitalist, patriotic society in which we live. While the president is supposed to be someone who America can trust and admire, he is actually an egotistical individual who cannot make up his own damn mind and is constantly putting himself before his country. It also shows us that the people who he seeks advice from are equally corrupt. In one hear, the president has the military generals urging him to go to war because they think that violence is the solution the every problem and in the other ear we have the scientist (who the president looks to for valid information). The scientist spouts off nonsense-- yet everyone believes him because his Ph.D shows that he is "well-educated." An example of the scientist's arrogance is seen when he makes the assumption that the aliens are a peaceful species because they are an advanced species. He says this as if he believes that humans are peaceful because they are advanced, when in reality, humans kill each other violently everyday-- on the streets, in battle, in a rage, etc. Another scene in which Burton humorously satirizes the government is the scene in which both the general and the president are killed. Before their deaths, they both gave elaborate speeches and acted like big macho men who are willing to do anything for their country, when in reality they both sat back and let other people fight for them.
I think the reason why Burton showed the aliens defacing sacred institutions was because all of them represent America's pride and nationalistic view of themselves. And in order for the world to be saved from the aliens...or anything threatening for that matter, people worldwide have to let go of their pride, accept each other's differences, and ban together. There is strength in numbers (and strength in diversity), but if countries refuse to work with each other because of their differences, then the world will be easier for others to destroy.

O'Doherty - The Mummy Boy

The Mummy Boy is the story of an abnormal child who is the "result of an old pharaoh's curse." Because of his condition, he is rejected by his parents as well as other children (which is a fate similar to many other characters in Tim Burton's works). Other characters who have experienced the same hostility and rejection include the Penguin (who was abandoned by his parents because he was ugly and different), Catwoman (who was a disappointment to her parents because she could not live up to their expectations), Robot Boy (who was rejected by his parents because he was living proof that his mother had an affair with a kitchen appliance...), and Brie Boy (who was ignored by other children because he had a round head made of cheese). All of these children mirror the way Tim Burton felt while he was growing up as a child. He (like all the "little monsters" he created) was different. Although he was fully human and was born without any physical abnormalities, he did enjoy things that many others thought were strange and unusual. He liked dark, mysterious, creepy things like monsters and aliens which his parents and peers thought was rather odd. Their lack of support and friendship made him feel rejected and alienated from society. These negative emotions are what fueled his strange and unusual creative works.
At the end of the novel, Mummy Boy is killed by a group of children who think that he is a pinata. I find it ironic how he is killed by children. Children are perceived as innocent beings, but if you watch them at play you may be surprised to see that they can actually be very mean. Maybe it is because they do not know any better, but children do not have a filter and therefore they can be brutally honest. Children also judge more harshly than adults because they have not lived long enough to experience many things, and so (seeing that it is human nature to fear the unknown) if they see someone that is strange they might not want to play with them. This may have been the case for Tim Burton, which would explain why he had "innocent" children kill Mummy Boy.
And what should become of these innocent children? Should they be charged for murder? Or should they not? The answer to these questions depends on the answer to a couple others: Is Mummy Boy even alive? If he is alive, is he human? And is it justifiable to kill him if he is already "dead"?
We see from the poem that even though Mummy Boy is built differently, he still has feelings, emotions, and he thinks complex thoughts. One could argue that this is enough to make murdering him immoral. But we as humans slaughter animals everyday and use them for research even though they share these similarities with us. So what makes it okay for us to kill living beings? Is is because they are "less than" us? And if so, who is to say what makes them less than us? I think Mummy Boy

O'Doherty - Anchor Baby

In Tim Burton's poem, Anchor Baby, we see a couple of archetypes being used. For example, the woman in Anchor Baby best fits Jung's description of a shadow. She has one and only one desire (which is also her weakness): Walker, and she wants nothing more than to be with him. Thus, she acts on her id and tries many different methods in the hopes of tying him down. Astral projecting, sex, and black magic are just a few of the things she tries, but eventually she comes to the conclusion that the only way to ensure that he'll stay with her is if they have a baby together. Unfortunately, her plan backfires when she gives birth to Anchor Baby - a heavy, grey, gloomy, ugly ball of metal that could hardly be called a child. Since he is made of metal, the umbilical cord is also made of metal and therefore it is almost impossible to break. One would think that her lover would come back with something solid (like a crane) to break the chain...but he doesn't. Instead he returns to the land where he picks up right where he left off (playing music with his band)! What's worse it that he never looks back, he just leaves the woman to sink and raise the ungodly child on her own. One may argue that he fits Jung's description of a trickster because he is a deceiver, a liar, and a troublemaker. He is also very selfish and we see that he used the woman for his own selfish desires such as sex. He does not really love her nor his child, and he does not feel guilty about leaving either of them to sink to the bottom of the ocean, which makes us question if he is capable of loving. The themes of abandonment and loss are clearly present in this poem, and they both appear when Walker walks (or rather swims) out of the woman's life forever.     

O'Doherty - Fractured Fairytale

In Tim Burton's, Edward Scissorhands, the classic fairytale is revisited with a twist! The movie opens just as any other fairytale begins- storytelling. A little old lady tucks her granddaughter into bed and begins to tell the tale. The story opens with what appears to be a perfectly polished neighborhood from the 1950s- all the homes are painted in pastel colors, the lawns are all green and well-maintained, all the men are at work, and all the women are at home. It is not long before we realize that this neighborhood is not all that it appears to be - this utopian society that we were introduced to turns into a violent uproar by the end of the movie. Perhaps it is because the townswomen are all bored out of their minds, and they need a little drama and action in their lives; but they are all immediately interested in Edward. When they first meet him at the barbeque, they all want him to trim their trees, then groom their dogs, and then later cut their hair. They think that he is awesome at first, but as we as all know very well - people tend to fear what they do not understand - and thus by the end of the movie, they all turn on him when they have no one else to blame for the recent chaos that has broken out in their perfect world. 
And speaking of chaos, this tale like many other fairytales (i.e Snow White and Beauty and the Beast) is rather violent. As one would imagine, having scissors for hands can be hazardous, and although Edward is not a vicious, violent person, he does end up killing Kim's boyfriend (in self defense) at the end of the movie. Before that however, there are many things that he manages to get blamed for - breaking into Kim's boyfriend's house, attacking Kim, and trying to kill the little brother. We as the audience know that these are all misunderstandings, but these events cause the gossipy townspeople to form a mob to drive Edward away from the city.
In some ways it seems as if the townspeople project their ugliest flaws onto Edward to make themselves look like better people. We see this happen continually throughout the movie. For example, the woman who tried to seduce Edward went around telling the townspeople that he practically raped her because she was not able to have her way with him. 
Its quite sad actually how quickly the townspeople jumped to conclusions, how they believed every negative thing they heard about him, how they turned on him, and how they banished him. But I guess "getting rid" of him was the only way to ensure that their "perfect" little town stay perfect and peaceful.  

O'Doherty - What a Woman!

Catwoman is a very complex character. Nobody really knows if she is good or evil. We see her good side when she saves a woman from being assaulted by a robber, but we could argue that she did not do that out of the kindness of her heart - she did it because she hates how women are treated in Gothem's patriarchal society. One thing we know for certain is that her dark side is much more prominent. While she certainly isn't what you would call a hero, it may be kind of harsh to call her a villainess. After all, she only targets the people who have wronged her. From the moment she was reborn as Catwoman, she had one goal: to get revenge on Max Shrek (the man who attempted to kill her). She blows up Shrek's department store, teams up with Penguin to get rid of Batman (who she thought would try to stop her from accomplishing her mission), and eventually succeeds in killing Max. The fact that she is out for blood, is what complicates her and Batman's relationship. Both sides of his identity are attracted to Catwoman and her duel identities. As Selina and Bruce, they have a very steamy, easygoing relationship, but once they find out that they both have a secret side, their relationship gets rather sticky- mostly because whenever the two had met as their masked characters, Catwoman had always managed to harm Batman in some way…or at least get in the way of his mission. Likewise, Catwoman may hold a lot of resentment towards Batman for getting in the way of her mission. While Batman wishes to keep the peace, Catwoman causes a lot of chaos. We see the complexity of their relationship during one of the ending scenes where Catwoman is about to kill Shrek. She is finally able to do justice to herself by killing Max, but Batman tries to stop her. He says that they should call the cops and have him arrested instead. He tries to persuade her by inviting her to come home with him. She hesitates for a moment, especially when he calls her Selina, but then she tells Bruce that she could not live with herself if she let him go. She kills Shrek (and takes one of her nine lives as well) by electrifying both of their tongues with a tazer. At first Bruce thinks that she is dead, but when he is in the car on his way home with Alfred, he sees her shadow. The movie ends before we can see what becomes of their relationship, but Catwoman appears to be a very independent woman who can't be tamed.  

O'Doherty - Twisted Tricksters

Tricksters, although they can be funny, are very dark, very evil, very twisted characters. The Joker in Tim Burton's Batman is the perfect example of a trickster. The Joker (even before he becomes the Joker) has a very evil heart. We see this when he murders Bruce's parents right in front of him, when Bruce is just a boy. He doesn't hesitate or show any remorse for what he has done, so it is safe to assume that he doesn't seem to have any problem killing innocent people. In fact, one might argue that he actually finds joy in killing. That's another thing about tricksters - they are very selfish and do things solely for their own benefit. They do want they want, when they want to, and they do not care who they hurt along the way. In fact, they will often use people and manipulate them in order to get what they want. They lure people in and make it seem as if they can be trusted, and then they turn on them, use them and or kill them. We see this happen in the parade scene when the Joker is standing on a float, throwing money into the air for the townspeople to grab. While all the citizens are scrambling to pick up the money, the Joker releases poison into the air. Perhaps, he thought that they should be punished for their greed. The Joker is very familiar with greed, as well as several other negative human qualities, but he seems to think that other people have to be punished for showing off their dark side. One of his goals seems to be to prove that we are all innately evil, sinful creatures. Not only does he prompt the people of Gothem to be greedy when he passes out the money, but he also forces people to unmask themselves when he put chemicals in the cosmetics. Although the disuse of cosmetics only unmasks blemishes (such as the newscasters large, disgusting pimples), the Joker wishes to unmask more than just their physical imperfections. He wants to show the people of Gothem that they are no better than he is. He wants to show them that they all have flawed souls and dark sides. I think he does this so that he will not feel so alone. Society has alienated him and made him feel like he is trapped. They did this by rejecting his twisted idea that every man should have complete free will without any consequences. Which brings us to another quality of the trickster- they seem to be as close to an animal as people can be - not only are they violent. They are also sexual predators. There is no love or emotion, just sex, and what's even worse is that they act on their desires, without thinking about others.      
  

O'Doherty - Bettlejuice

America recently celebrated its 237 birthday on July 4 2013, making it one of the youngest countries in the world. Seeing that it is a relatively new country, it is no surprise that America has not yet incorporated the reality of death into its culture. While many older countries such as Mexico celebrate death and see it as an exciting journey into a new life, Americans view death as the end and therefore as something to be feared. Perhaps another reason Americans have such a pessimistic view on death is because it is used as a form of punishment in our society. As Ms. McCay mentioned, we as Americans seem to think that there should be a relationship between the way a person lives and the way a person dies. This explains why criminals who commit nasty crimes like murder are put on death row where they are subject to die from painful techniques such as electrocution and lethal injections. 
I believe the reason why death anathema exists in American culture is because we fear what we do not know and instead of trying to understand it, we simply act as if it does not exist. In Tim Burton's film, Beetlejuice, Burton reflects America's view of death, by seeming to deny its existence. He does this by making it seem as if the dead live among us everyday, but instead of acknowledging and accepting the dead and integrating them into our culture, we choose to ignore the signs that they send us. In the scene where Lydia meets the Maitlands, she is able to see, hear, and interact with them as if they were live people. The Maitlands are confused by the fact that she is able to do this, but Lydia explains to them that anyone would be able to see the dead if they were willing to acknowledge and embrace the strange and unusual. In another scene, we learn from Lydia's father and stepmother that many people have a tendency to only see what they want to see and hear only what they want to hear. When Lydia takes a picture of Adam and Barbara floating around in their sheets and presents it to her parents, they brush it off and make comments about her unruly disposition and imagination. It is only when they believe that they have an opportunity to make money by turning their house into a haunted amusement park, that they start to believe Lydia. Burton also uses several other characters to make it seem as if life and death are not so different. Many of the characters in the world of the dead (including Beetlejuice) have lively personalities - they crack jokes and make it seems as if being dead is just as fun as being alive!

O'Doherty - Introduction

In the past week that I have been at Loyola, I have learned several things about myself. For starters, I
learned that I am not as shy as I once was. I came from a small all-girls Catholic high school in San Jose, California, and I was a little worried about going across the country without knowing anyone. However, as soon as I moved into my dorm I surprised myself! I started talking to people- asking them what they were majoring in, where they were from, why they chose to come to New Orleans, and then more random questions like what their favorite fruit is. I was surprised at how easy small talk became, especially for a girl who usually waits for others to initiate conversation. With every new person I talked to, I gained more and more confidence, making it easier to talk to the next person. Another thing I learned about myself is that I get along with all different types of people- hipsters, jocks, nerds. I think the reason why I enjoy hanging out with a variety of people is because I am a listener. I've learned a lot from the people I have talked to this week! Not only did I gain new perspectives, but I also realized that there is so much more that I have to learn! Not only am I excited to get to know more people, but I am also excited to get to know the culture and the city of New Orleans. I have heard so many amazing things about the city, but I have yet to experience them, which is to be expected considering it is only the first week. So far this week I have gone on a music tour, walked through Auboun Park, went down to the Fly, and watched live music in the French Quarter. I've created a Bucket List of things I have to do before I leave Loyola like go on the swamp tour and ghost and vampire tours, go to the zoo, celebrate Halloween and Mardi Grasm, and go to the French Quarter at night! I can't wait to go meet the rest of you and go on all these adventures!