Three Quotes for Thursday

Ahh. Busy busy. I’ve got about 5 chapters to read and then umpteenth documents on top of that for class. I think I’ve finally decided what my story will be for the black and white photos…most likely the adoption of my dog (because there’s this big backstory about how I was allergic to beings of the canine persuasion and then we got this sweet, quiet dog from the shelter and she turned out to be a defensive, loud beast that I still love). Need to start my short essay for this project and then another paper for the other film class.

Lost yet? Good.

Aw. Lost. I want to rewatch the seasons so bad…I think I’m doing that thing again where I’m putting something on a pedestal because I think that some how it’s either better or gotten better than it was the last time I saw it…

THIS IS BESIDES THE POINT!

Since I am so busy and I did want to do a post so it didn’t feel like I’d just abandoned the blog… I’ve been collecting quotes. My favorite quotes from all over. There aren’t that many, but I thought I’d share a few and maybe make it a weekly thing. Tah-dah: Three Quotes for Thursday. For now.

“I must not tell lies, Professor.” –Harry Potter (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix)

I don’t remember if the quote’s in or if it’s even that simple in the book. All I know is that I watched so many Harry Potter movies so many times this summer that I’ve rememorized them. Professor Umbridge is just a horrible person, you want something bad to happen to her. I love it when evil people have their words backfire on them—not because I like seeing people fall, but because I like seeing justice served. Dun dun dun.

"The world isn’t perfect, and the law is incomplete. Equivalent Exchange doesn’t encompass everything that goes on here. But I still choose to believe in its principle: that all things do come at a price. That there’s an ebb, and a flow, a cycle. That the pain we went through did have a reward and that anyone who’s determined and perseveres will get something of value in return, even if it’s not what they expected." –Alphonse Elric (Fullmetal Alchemist)

I think this one can just apply to life. Though it does hang on the negative side, it provides us with hope that things can take a turn for the better.

“Please! Don't all leave... Somebody has to do it, don’t you see? Somebody has to save the world…” –Captain Metropolis (Watchmen)

Strictly from the graphic novel, the quote brings up the uneasy feelings. Someone, some superhero or perhaps some government head needs to save the world. Are mere humans incapable of saving the very world we live in? The Watchmen think they need to do it themselves? What hope is there for humanity as a whole, then?

Ah. I need to get back to the laundry. Happy almost-weekend!

The Thoughts on Tragedy

Tragedy is fulfilling because it allows you an emotional release. It calls for emotional investments in the characters and then allows you to weep for their loss. It allows for a socially acceptable cry? Perhaps, sure. For those of us locked in the same day to day schedule, this is healthy, so we’ve been told by doctors and news articles time and time again.

As my cat plays with a set of earphones next to me, I am beginning to wonder if the cheap $20 headphones will have to endure a tragedy of their own.

Truth be told, I consider tragedy now, as Public Enemies is on the television. I consider tragedy after watching reruns of Fullmteal Alchemist and knowing what horrible trials the characters will have to endure. I’ve mentioned two different types of tragedy here—that found fiction and that of history.

Now, I’ll be honest, I’m only halfway watching Public Enemies, and I’ve only seen it once before at the midnight showing last year. I will admit that really the only reason I saw it was because Johnny Depp was in it. (He is most definitely one of my favorite actors, and I intend to see all his films.) And sheesh, I don’t remember any of it except the end. ….it was a really hard movie to sit through at 2:30 in the morning. Political and serious and what not. But really, the end its what’s important to my argument. In regards to historical fiction (Public Enemies, Valkyrie are two I’ve seen recently, perhaps Inglorious Basterds could fall under this headline) the endings can’t be changed. We know going into things like this that John Dillinger will die. Hitler will live, despite so many heroic efforts against him. People will die, despite the characters whose story we are presented with, whose goals we want to be achieved. In Nazi movies its obvious why we want these people to succeed, but what about in the case of gangster films?

Is it because life was just so horrible in the depression that we yearn for the excitement, even if it’s of the criminal sort? John Dillinger was been said to be a real Robin Hood figure. Even still, in Public Enemies these men are criminals who have no problem wielding a gun against the police trying to bring them in for their wrong doings. The director paints the cops in a bad light, obviously so because it is Dillinger’s story and we are supposed to root for him. I’m curious and left wondering, why is it that people do this? Why do we tell stories of criminals as if they’re heroes? I could take a stab at the answer, but seeing as I’ve never produced such a work I don’t know the true answer—seeing things from a new perspective is always interesting and thought provoking (I LOVE 'what ifs'). Robin Hood is a classic and much loved story, too. I personally remember watching the Disney version on VHS more times than I could count in my childhood days.

Aw, but he looks perfectly innocent!

Anyways, now that we’re rooting for the criminal, the Nazi-hunters, whoever, why do we endure these stories we know are bound to end up in failure? Its very satisfying to think that their efforts will succeed in the end. In the case of the Nazi-hunter, its very affirming to know that efforts were made against such a horrible and very real evil in the history of the world. In the case of John Dillinger, perhaps its because we want to think that we can get away with anything if we put our mind to it. That we can all have the rich and fast lane life if we so choose. Yet once we get to the end we are slapped in the face, told “No, no, no” a dozen times. You cannot do whatever the hell you want. Whether it be criminal acts or attempting to fell a historic beast, no you cannot. Gah, history is so mean!

Well, if we know its bound to fail in history, why do we then turn to tragedy pieces in fiction? If people couldn’t get away with such heroic attempts in real life, why even bother with the books and movies? Here, generally, there is a better chance of things making a turn for the better at the end. If something does incorporate elements of tragedy (ala Fullmetal Alchemist as stated before), it generally aims to have a happy ending. Such is the way of so many films that aim to make the big bucks. Audiences generally like a happy ending. I say I like tragedy, but I really mean the sort of tragedy that can be over come in the end. Deaths avenged, wrongs righted and the like. That sort of fiction is so truly gratifying to me. The heroes of the story are backed into corners, bound and hurt in ways that most of us couldn’t even believe or really perceive. And even after all of that suffering—losing friends, family, faith and their sense of reality, these people still fight. When the stakes tower over them and the cards are stacked against them, they keep moving forward because they believe they can right the wrong.

to...

and...

Makes me think that there must be real heroes out in the world still, for where would the artists be drawing their inspiration from? Now if only the X-men were real, I'd just be tickled to death.

Cowboys and Alchemists

Unrelated you say? I think not. Two animes I set my sights on this summer were Cowboy Bebop and Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. Both of them are fantastic and really have failed to disappoint. FMA ended here in the States on July 23^rd, and Cowboy Bebop reruns should end in the next couple weeks. Both of them had good pacing and provided lots of laughs and fantastic characters. My new favorite anime character (and one of my new favorite characters period) is Spike off Cowboy Bebop.

If you haven't seen/heard of these series, never fear, I don't intend to post huge spoilers.

Cowboy Bebop I think I like because it’s just a good ol’ classic anime. It was new in 1998 and just looks older, which is nice in a quaint way. I’ve been meaning to watch it for years, but whenever I caught it on TV it was already mid way through the season. It’s also got a great soundtrack, my favorite song off of it is Rain by Steve Conte. The rest of the soundtrack sounds nothing like it, but is great regardless, blending country sounds with jazzy music.

The basic story is about a group of bounty hunters running through space trying to make a buck. I like that it’s something of a futuristic western…IN SPACE, and it’s not idiotic. It does have more than a few episodes that are essentially filler, however the episodes that focus on the specific characters and provide us with some back story are really good. The characters seem real. Not only are they funny, quirky, mellow, etc. for the majority of the time, but they can also kick it into high gear in the blink of an eye when faced with each of their pasts. And the English voices don’t bother me! They’re fantastic, actually, except for those episodes where we meet Spike’s old nemesis where I swear half the characters are voiced by the same guy. I’m looking forward to the end to see what happens with all of the character development.

A good example of the scenery: a spaceship paired with a desert railroad. Old and new technology collide!

Generally, after half the episodes I run off to go write afterwards because I love the characters and want to fashion some of my own as unique and as annoyingly, perhaps stubbornly loveable. The world built for the show is pretty neat too, set in the 2070’s where we’ve colonized the entire solar system and each planet has its own people and so on and so forth. It’s familiar enough but also delightfully futuristic and plays to our fantasies of what the world(s) might come to look like. It’s likely due to the far off future aspect and the fact that so many people like it that it’s stood the test of time. Adult Swim plays the whole thing (all 26 episodes) at least once or twice a year.

Psst. Also this movie based on the series was not bad either. You really don’t need much knowledge on the series to enjoy it.

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood…my first real exposure to FMA at all. I realize now it was a good place to start. Following much closer to the manga than the first anime series, Brotherhood…in one word was epic. I said so on many the occasion and was often left screaming at my computer when the episodes cut off after 24 minutes. Not enough, Funimation, not enough!

Emotionally charged but not over the top nor uncomfortably dramatic, Brotherhood is in essence the story of two brothers who are budding alchemists (more or less magicians who rely on science to back their skills. Yay science!) who suffer a great loss early on which sets them on a quest to get their “bodies” back when they don’t obey the laws of alchemy. The plot gets much more complicated from there when Philospher’s stones and demons called homunculi come into play. The brothers’ journey gets tangled with the very fate of the state and it results in…epicness.

The story examines the value of friends and family, allies and enemies, and I’m certain there’s not an episode that fails to remind us of the value and preciousness of life itself. It does reference religion a few times and refers to God quite a bit, but not in a manner that is preachy per say, but to reference power over man and the potential terror a god-like being on earth could instill in humans. (Because if there’s one thing that will really irk me, it’s religion in my entertainment. I have nothing against religion, I have my own beliefs and anyone else is free to have theirs, but I’d rather not have them thrown in my face as the key to the plot while I’m trying to enjoy a film/etc.)

This one has a great array of characters as well, each with their own temperaments, desires, and weaknesses. By far my utmost favorites are (predictably) Mustang and Edward. This of course is due to my love of people with power who have a lot to lose. Can we tell I enjoy tragedy? But really, the rest of the main cast is only a half step away from favoritism. I think TV Tropes explains just why the best with the term ‘iron woobie.’

“A Woobie is a character who you like to feel sorry for. … An Iron Woobie is a character who has something noble about his Woobie nature. Maybe they became a Woobie of their own free will from a Heroic Sacrifice for the sake of The Power of Friendship. Maybe just their passive powers of endurance show a Heroic Spirit. …”

It’s like they all friggin’ fall under it, though the term still sounds silly.

Brotherhood is inspiring in like X-ty trillion ways. It’s been a massive inspiration on my latest work because I love the relationships between these people who have been brought together to fight the big bad evil thing at the end of the road. Brotherhood was the right blend of magicky stuff and science and big arching questions that just did the trick for my little geeky mind. Its characters really inspired me, each of them having a back story worth hearing and each of them turning out to be people you really cared about, likely because they were all put down so bad that come the end you want them to not only win but kick ass (of course that’s how it goes, stupid. It sounded better in my head)! Overall it was like an epic, but not so totally spread out as a Lord of the Rings-esque epic. It doesn’t mean to tire the viewer out. I will admit that some of the explanations were so…six feet over my head that I kind of just went with it, and I’m not sure if it’s because the logic was just utter bullshit that it sounded like it would work or if it was because I didn’t pay close enough attention or what. I like the show enough that I don’t want to tear it down. One real qualm? There was so much bloody violence in this! I mean, even when they’re being humorous…

(It's not that it offends me, but there is a ton of blood shed in this series.)

Oh, and let’s not forget about the music! Brotherhood had so many beautiful openers and closing credit sequences. My favorites were the final opener, “Rain”, because it really gets me every time, the desperateness of the situation and the tears and the…yes. You get it. And then the “Shunkan Sentimental” closer, because this was when the characters still had hope that things were going to be okay and the song just fit the feeling so well. But dear God, I cannot stand the English voices after I started watching this in Japanese. They are all wrong in my honest opinion.

Heyy…so I talked about FMA more because it’s done. And Cowboy Bebop’s (reruns are) not. And because there was, like, three times as much material for Brotherhood. …I love them both. So. Much.

On a side note: fuuuuuuu… I really want to do a post about Inception but it’s been a while since I’ve seen it and I’d really like to see it again before doing an analysis or review or whatever the heck you want to call it. Blargg.