Free Week

Ok, this is your chance to hijack the blog (within reason; no demanding a Leer Jet to the Bahamas for ransom or anything). Use this week's post to review a movie, praise a band no one's heard of but should have, point out a news story about the art world (did anyone hear about the huge discovery of Anglo-Saxon treasure last week?), or continue the debate about a previous topic, etc, etc, etc....

You have to keep it school-appropriate, avoid name-calling and furniture-throwing, and talk about a medium of art. Other than that, you're on your own, kids!

"Disney Gave Me Unrealistic Expectations of Love"

Many people anticipated this week's question when they responded to last week's discussion of "Cinderella Stories." It seems most people, while they like the idea of a happily-ever-after, have made their peace with the realization that a fairytale ending is just that--for fairy tales.

I'm thrilled to have such well-adjusted classes; however, judging from bumper stickers like the one quoted as the title (and my favorite variation, "Disney gave me unrealistic expectations of hair"), some people are slightly more traumatized when awakened to the real world. Is there harm in "believing" in fairy tales? Do they promote values you would want to pass on to your children, or values you wouldn't? And before you label me a dream-killing ogre, think: how did you feel when you first found out the culture was conspiring to lie to you about Santa Claus? Why did they do it?

Cinderella Story

This week we embark on a study of the archetypal patterns and cultural values of fairytales.

One of the most common fairytales, found in ancient Egypt and China, and nearly every culture since, is Cinderella. It is also one of the most reinterpreted tales (Disney just titled their umpteenth variation on the theme "Another Cinderella Story"), and is frequently referenced in pop culture and news profiles of successful figures. Why does it hold such seemingly universal appeal?

What is it about fairytales, especially Cinderella, that continues to speak to us? Do you aspire to some sort of Cinderella story with a happily-ever-after? What does that even really mean?

Artistic License

If you haven't posted a response to the previous question, do that first. For those who have...

Read through your packet on classical drama theory. Number 14 or so is labeled "Tradition and the Individual Talent," and raises some good questions about the liberties that can be taken when you are an artist working with someone else's original material. If you are doing a 'remake' or 'reinterpretation,' what CAN'T you change?

Several years ago, Gus Van Sant made a shot-for-shot remake of Alfred Hitchcock's classic film Psycho. Critics panned it as an unnecessary, slavish copy of a masterpiece. But remakes are equally likely to get abuse for being too different. It's generally accepted that 'the movie is never as good as the book,' even if the film version works well on its own merits. There are many good reasons why you can't capture everything from one format or version exactly when translating to another. The question is, what MUST an update or adaptation treat as sacred?

Give us a hypothetical, or better yet, a real example of an adaption and tell us what worked and what didn't. Were there vital parts of the book that were left out of the movie? Did they desecrate the memory of your favorite movie when they turned it into a tv show, or vice versa? Did the director of a remake get it right for once?

And why, for Pete's sake, is someone remaking Halloween II?

My personal opinion - I would not read the world's longest poem on twitter, but i would read literature broken up into 140 characters. The reason for this is it would be easier to consume tweets of 140 characters at a time while taking notes in between rather than a poem that is really long. A poem that goes on forever would make me loose interest, and make it hard for me to comprehend. Overall I believe the world's longest poem should be broken up into tweets of 140 characters.