Bogle

     It is hard to believe that my first semester of college is ending this week. It has been said many times by many people, but college is such a big change. Going to college means leaving your comfort zone, learning how to live alone, and eventually finding yourself. Obviously this will not all occur within the first semester, but I can tell you it has started to happen.
     Having my freshman seminar as "The World of Tim Burton" was such a fun way to ease my transition into college life. I have always loved Tim Burton movies, and a whole class on him is perfect.  Although I have always loved his movies, I never knew the meanings behind them, or who Tim Burton really is. Through this class I have learned why Burton is who he is. He does not write movies just for fun, (although sometimes he does have fun with them) but he writes movies to convey a message to the world. Growing up in the suburbs in the 1950s and 1960s, Burton saw conformism at its peak. He knew he did not fit into this conformist society, he did not even fit into his parent's ideal lives. He moved in with his grandparents and began to truly bloom as this individual he is today. The movies Mr. Burton directs are usually about conformism versus individuality. In his movies he often utilizes satire. By using satire he pokes fun at today's society, the American government, and archetypical characters.
     One thing that now is extremely obvious to me, which was not before, is how Tim Burton reuses characters. I particularly noticed a link between the characters of Frankenweenie and those of The Nightmare Before Christmas. The one link which I picked up on right away was the character of Igor in Frankenweenie, and the minion of Dr. Finkelstein in the Nightmare Before Christmas. A more general character, or archetype, which Burton reuses is the trickster. This character is shown in many of his films such as Beetlejuice, Batman, and The Nightmare Before Christmas. The trickster is a character who is out for his own good. He tricks (hence the name) and manipulates people in order to get what he wants, is mischievous and usually inappropriate. Early on in the class, we learned that Burton himself, used to play practical jokes when he was a child. Although he is not, and was not manipulative, I find that as a why he uses the trickster character so much. He is entertained by the trickster and what the trickster does.
     Along with reusing characters, he reuses his films' casts and crews many times. Although this is a known fact, I did not realize all of the cast and crew members which he reuses, and why he reuses them. It is a well known fact that Burton uses Johnny Depp, and Helena Bonham Carter, but there are many more he uses. I did not realize how Michael Keaton, Danny DeVito, Catherine O'Hara, Christopher Lee, and many more were reused so often. Also, Danny Elfman, writes almost all of the music for Tim Burton films. Often, people like to make fun of Burton as being in love with these actors and actresses, but that is not the reason he chooses them. Burton has made a film family with the reuse of actors, actresses and film crew. It is his own little island of misfits, which is how I see the classmates I have in this class.
     We are all very individualistic people, and Dr. McCay respects that about each of us. In a sense, she is our Tim Burton. I am very happy I chose to take The World of Tim Burton as my freshman elective, and I am sure everyone feels the same as I.