Monday, January 30, 2006

Capitolo Due!!

More and more I realize that I really do have a detestable ego. I really enjoy my Article/Essay Workshop, even though we only meet once a week. It's so casual, and Fowler is a cool guy. He's said some things about reviews that while I may not personally or emotionally agree with (especially concerning Star Wars and Lord of the Rings - fantasy/sci-fi in general), I can definitely see the point he's making. For him, these kinds of genres are too far removed from real life to make any real lasting impact. The issues they deal with, while being incredibly emotional and arduous in their own right, are simply not possible and it's because of this that though we may love these films forever and ever, they can't be considered the greatest ever made. The more I think about it, actually, the more I begin to agree. Don't get me wrong - I am just as much as a nerd about these films as anybody, but when I think of what my favorite movies are, I think of things like The Shawshank Redemption or The Hours. Things that are grounded in reality will always have more of a hold on us because we understand it better than anything. We may choose to escape it, or wish for something a little more grandoise than our plain old lives, but when I get right down to it, the movies that always mean the most to me are the ones in which there is no black and white good and evil, and there's no ultimate solution, no ground-breaking new idea that makes everybody's lives better. I've also been thinking about the play/movie Closer the last few days. I went and saw some friends perform it at one of the smaller black-box style theatres on campus and being able to see the entire thing, and not just the movie version, was awesome. I adore the movie to itty bitty pieces, but I'll try not to be overly biased about it. It's so gritty and vulgar, and though Larry and "Alice" are by far my favorite characters, they're all great character studies. Which is pretty much what the entire play really is. Especially when it comes to how we all view tragedy. We all know we love it. Romeo and Juliet would not be so fucking adored if they didn't die (note: I really don't like R&J, but I won't go into that now). Think of all the news hang-ups we've had over huge, catastrophic events or local tragedies - 9-11, the tsunami, Hurricane Katrina, the explosion with the miners, and the thousands upon thousands of stories about the girl-next-door gone missing and found dead (why the fuck is it always a girl? Seriously? Buy a fucking tazer, you bitch.) But why? Because there is a kind of pristine beauty in tragedy, especially when it's not our tragedy. It's always the suffering soul that is the most exquisite. Anna's entire exhibition plays on that: "It's a lie. It's a bunch of sad strangers photographed beautifully, and... all the glittering assholes who appreciate art say it's beautiful 'cause that's what they wanna see. But the people in the photos are sad, and alone... But the pictures make the world seem beautiful, so... the exhibition is reassuring which makes it a lie, and everyone loves a big fat lie." Later, Larry says something similar to Alice when he finds her in the stripclub: "I know who you are. I love you. I love everything about you that hurts." We're taught that it's our mistakes that make us who we are because we learn how to pick ourselves back up and live better and happier for it. But none of these people are happy. They'd rather be miserable and be beautiful in their suffering because they're afraid that without the mystery and the angst they could never really be loved. And that begs the question: is there any real love here at all, or are they all just falling in love with want they want to see? And then there's the whole issue with the truth. Is the truth really better? Dan says somewhere that it's what makes us different from animals, but what can be more primitive about the play then the parts where they are tearing each other apart with their honesty? Especially between the two men - And of course Alice is the epitome of this debate - her entire character is this walking contradiction. The ending in the play is vastly different than the ending in the movie (although I'm beginning to think that one can view it as being alluded to) and I won't spoil it for anyone but it's interesting. Emphasis on interesting. If anybody has any opinions on Closer or on the fantasy vs. reality thing I would love to hear them. I love discussing this shit - that's why I'm an English major. ^_^ Now, onto the pictures! They're all of the Thames in some form or another. View of the Thames From St. Paul's. This bitch was a lot of fucking stairs, but it wasn't nearly as bad as the climb up the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona (which you will see, eventually). Still kind of dizzying though, huh? God, I miss the Thames. South of the Thames. See that white, circular building? Yeah, say hello to the Globe Theatre. I saw four different plays there, and they were all amazing and among the best plays I have ever seen. Mark Rylance is the fucking man. Big Ben and the buildings of Parliament all lit up at night. I don't think there is anything more beautiful than a city at night, especially London on the Thames. It's one of the things I miss most. The London Eye and Westminster Bridge in the background. The London Aquarium is just behind the London Eye, and it's pretty much awesome. It's not too spectacularly big or anything, but there's some cool fish in there and you can adopt fish (as well as receive all kinds of other cool bonuses) for certain prices. They also filmed part of Closer here, heh. It's hard to forget a semester in London, but sometimes I don't realize how much I miss the place until I start looking at pictures or I bust out my map. Even in Shakespeare last week he began talking about the geography of the theatres and I was torn between grinning like an idiot because I'd been to all of those places and could picture exactly where he was talking about or breaking down into sobs because without London there is a small hole in me. I'm homesick for that jolly good city. T.T

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