Revision: Witches of all Power

It was assigned to use to revise and improve one of our blog post to make it show how much we've learned while taking the class. It was hard for me do decide since I put some of my feelings into certain subjects while discussing them but when making the decision it soon started to make sense. I choose the subject of witches to revise since I realized that I didn't cover a few things that I learned about the Novel and how it directly relates to witches.

 Witches have been known through literature to be either  mischievous, manipulative, or powerful women that use their skills to either bind people to their will or pull cruel tricks to their expense. They are usually seen as old and wicked, which is similar to how they are depicted in the book "Aunt Maria" (Black Mariah). In the story, Aunt Maria came off as manipulative by forcing her family to take care of her and do situations that they didn't like doing by acting weak and helpless. They said she talked in a tone that made them feel guilty and that they owed her since her son (I think) died. Maria pertains an old, weak exterior but uses it to control people to do her biding.

Going a little off subject to the book, witches have many portrays other than old, manipulative women. One example is from a movie called "Kiki's delivery service". This showed witches in a different lights as something positive that people were excited to see instead of something to fear. Kiki's tale was a coming of age story for her to travel to a town and settle down and find her place in the world. Her abilities were limited to flying in her broom and having a black cat, a more simplistic way of showing a witch without casting spells and hexes. This type of directions to how witches were treated in the middle ages is different for how they are interpreted do the stores around them. Even Hermione Granger is seen as a positive witch in stories instead of being something to be feared because of her power.

Females having power was something that men feared since their egos like for them to feel dominant and in control. But with the new development with Kiki and many more, witches just seem to be a mythical part of the fantasy world and have even lowered to things like Sabrina the teenage witch. All and all, there are now a different type of ways to show women with power whether it's with manipulation or flight or even a laugh track and a talking cat.

While there are many similarities between the witches of Black Maria and today's society it was a good read and brought back a lot of old memories to how manipulation and control works in civilization.

Reading of Harry Potter Series: Wizards and Magic and Spells, Oh My!

I've only had time to read the first book of the Harry Potter series after seeing the movies recently. I wasn't and still am not all that into the fantasy world of Harry Potter but the lore is interesting to get into for first time readers of a novel series. Besides length, the reveal of Voldemort was more tension worthy in the book than just viewing it in the film, or maybe it's just me since I created a similar scenario with Psycho. The pacing was boring for me with Harry living with his step-family being much longer than it was shown in the book. Quiditch matches were more common than just one scene like in the movie and  the locations of where events happened like Harry spying on Snape in the forbidden forest instead of the hallway. There might have been other changes that I didn't mention but I'll admit I asked friends since it was also a while since I've seen the movie as well.

Back on the case about me not having a huge interest in fantasy. I love the imagination it came from thinking of a whole universe in the series but I feel this whole finding your place in the world can be used by many other type themes. The magical one just feels overused now and I would like to see more done like have some of the spells be very dangerous to use that it could kill or have them summon creatures as guardians. Just a little more variety on the spells and not just the world around them. But that's just what I'm into

All in all, fantasy is such an open topic for things I feel it should go beyond the fairs and trolls and go all the way to the extreme of the effects it can bring to a different group of people.

The re-reading of Frankenstein

Frankenstein is another of the novels that Ive read to refresh myself in what happened in the story. Basically The tale starts Victor Frankenstein who plays god and creates a monster. After creating said monster he becomes freighted of the very creature he was brought to life. He runs off and leaves the monster to experience the world for himself. While finding it suffering, the Monster than turns to Victor to take responsibility for his creation but he refuses to do so. So the monster kills each of Victor's loved ones one by one and he in no way excepts his role in the story.



When first reading this, I noticed that maybe if Victor just excepted this role rather than be afraid of the creature himself than maybe his family could have been spared. Maybe he could have even thought of the consequences of his actions on others instead of just his own goals then maybe this tragedy could have been fixed and not suffering would have occurred.

Sadly I will admit I was one of the few people of this Earth that thought Frankenstein was the monster and not the creator himself. Than again, could it be argued that Victor wasn't a monster himself by letting all of his family die and not taking responsibility in his creation.

In class assignment: the Future

How the future will look five years from now.

I can imagine that the teens of the future will either be into the latest sensations about celebrities and they will be dressing in more provocative clothing like it’s natural. Technology is changing everyday so there might be new i-phones like the i-phone 6 with the ability to call someone with voice command and have it sync up into your brain. I would be working in my career in designing logos and maybe switch up to explore a more active style.

How the future will look in ten years.

I would hope we will have hover boards and school equipment’s will be electronic and holographic. There will also be new programs that people would use artwork with. We would have fast food delivered to our houses to make people more lazy and gluttonous. The government will be more corrupt and lay down excessive rules just to show dominance. Jails will still be the same but more strict and uneducated. Japan might be developing robots.

How the future will look in twenty years.

I will think about having kids at this time but some kids might need parental guidance. Robots will be our slaves and might try to overthrow us that it will make all of humanity work against them. I hope we fix teleportation and have ways for society to evolve further than what we already are. Might lose a few grandparents and we would have television and movies only shown through holographic computers. We will also have these functions on our phones. The internet lingo will transfer as common language among society and it will cause us to try to do stupid crap like troll in real life.

How the future will look in fifty years

I will have my savings from working as a motion designer and money from my family. I will be an old man who will still try to understand programs and reminisce about the good old days in my childhood. I’ve felt like I’ve lived a good life and hope to have someone help take care of me. Society will do things that were once considered taboo but are now a necessity for living in the future.  Society will be able to make an environment in space and we start to think about words rather than type them. Everything is through thought process rather than through hand work.

Reading: a Clockwork Orange

After finally reading the book I was shocked on the changes it was compared to the movies. This was one of those moments where I saw the movie first and read the novel later. And here I thought the movie was bad when I first viewed it. The book seems to be more violent and harmful than the film with the drugged and rape of 10 year old girls and the sexually assault and murder. The ending had more of a resolution than the film did with having Alex grow up and learn his lesson rather than just being cured. The scenes while Alex was in prison were painful to read since it showed the results of the  Ludovico Technique. Despite it's effects being harmful I believe that in the future, humanity can create something like this in the future. It's a real literary speculation for events like rape and drugs be common and popular in a alternate like society. While a Clockwork Orange gets praise and a lot of love for it's story and character development it still feels unsettling to me and leaves a bad taste in my mouth for what might come in the near future.

The Blood Child and humans role

Reading the story "Bloodchild", it first started out confusing with names and settings. But soon I got into the story and was still confused but understood the difficulties the main character has to go through in deciding that he would take the burden that his siblings didn't know about. I've felt before the struggle in experiencing making a tough decision that you just want to run away from. If reflected values that I've also seen in society. It's like it's hard to see a different species that isn't human. The story showed humans as the side characters rather than the main focus. I think humans role was seen as just objects rather than superior creatures. It was a first for me since society wants to be the dominate species. It goes right back to race, religion, sex, even extraterrestrials for them to be the ones to succeed and the unknown to falter. I wonder does society always like reading about their own species to relate to or separate themselves into other things that we don't know about. It was refreshing to read about a different sub group that others can't relate to since not all of things that are relatable the things people want to view themselves with.

The "Aqua-cockblock" uncle

While reading the aquatic uncle, it felt a little weird to read a literary speculation about a fish and his family evolving and going through changes throughout the world. It was sure a different experience than to what I was used to reading but it was also expected as well. The story was about one stage in evolution left the sea and goes to land. The family wanted their old uncle to get out of the sea and live like civilians but he didn't want to escape his old ways. The story continues with a family member's fiancee taking an interest in the uncle and was fascinated with his life. While he was embarrassed about his uncles life, she embraced it like it was a new experience.

Why I titled this post the way I did was because the main character's fiancé who was interested in the uncles foreign life style, decided to live with the uncle and leave her fiancé for him. It's something I consider weird since it's someones uncle. I understand why she was fascinated by his life but to leave and stay with him rather than convince her fiancé to change his ways seems really scumbag to me. In which cans it goes to "cock blocking".

It felt a little weird to read about aquatic life being exhibited as a change in lifestyle. It's more about a story of evolution and it seems important for a distinction from how humanity lives but also a connection. Humanity considers itself superior to other life forms rather they be aliens or animals. It's just our desire to be the dominant species. I've seen society want to be dominant and not looked down on. It could even go back to race since for me being an african american I've felt and seen people that just don't want to be looked down on upon others and they want so show their evolution being shames. It wasn't wrong for the uncle to not want to change his lifestyle, but I've also felt that he could also understand the society is forever changing and the old ways will never be continued as a part of life (unless it's like a hipster fad).

It was an interesting read and I've found interesting depictions about literary speculation but as it effects my life along with everyone else we all might have speculations based on our own ego itself.

Literal Mind Fuck

The type of reality that was presented by the film, Paprika is through entering people's dreams as a form of therapy. It's a more surreal type of world where they've created devices that can enter people's subconscious and confront different reality of species. It sort of like a world of steampunk world and the cyberpunk world, it focuses on how the world is changed through a single product. The effects of this reality are like a hypnotic form of therapy for the subconscious.


The movie is about a detective who has been troubled with recurring dreams and this scientist uses a persona to help him through the dream world. The world is weird but seems to have a hidden message about people's thoughts taking on life and tap into the mind of people's thoughts. To most people the effects of these types of movie make people freak out. However, this also fascinates people to understand a deeper meaning behind the story.

I see the change in body modification, use of steam powered objects and as the movie Paprika did, have   yourself transferred into the subconscious, ways for society to want to improve themselves for imperfections that they noticed about humanity. It's more of the extreme for me but it could have been seen as the potential for the unknown. For most readers this sort of genre is strange and surreal but for others it could be the start of the future.

Space Opera

I've recently re-read the book "the Stars my Destination" after reading it in high school and I loved the book. The lore, the settings, even the telekinesis amazed me to read it all again. The book was written by Alfred Bester and it was on of the few science fiction books that really connected with me. I felt "this is how a science fit ion book should be written and how to engage with the emotions of the audience."

The story of the book stars Gully Foyle, a man who was abandoned by a ship named "the Vorga" when he was in need of rescue after being lost in space for six months. Enraged he vowed revenge against the ship and that's where his journey began.

It was a little different reading about a space themed adventure filled with plot twist and amazing character development. I never considered this a space opera until rereading it for this class. I've found it weird that I've enjoyed this book so much since I'm not the type of person that is really into soap operas. But with all the twist and love scenarios I'm surprised I didn't pick up on certain events since reading it. The romance Gully has for Olivia, the sexual assault on Robin, the scheming for information. All of it is primary soap opera drama that most who watch them relate to it being a theme.

From what I remember about the book I read in high school was our schools discussions about how Gully's actions were understandable but not heroic. We covered how the audience was viewing an "anti-hero". His morals were questionable but near the end he showed some signs of change and guilt for his actions. Even reading this again it was nice to know that he was interesting to read and even when he did disapproving methods I was still rooting for him one hundred percent.

While it was hard to relate this much with Space Opera, I've found this story a fantastic read and recommend that more people have a chance to read this at least once in their lifetime since I had the special privilege of reading it twice.

HP prequel of awesomeness

I've never read the prequel to Harry Potter even though I've read most of the books and seen almost all the movies. It has a feel of rebellious teenagers mixed with fantasy into one exciting package. It's basically a detail of two important characters, James Potter and Sirius Black escaping from police using magic as an aid. They portray what most people would believe to be delinquent teens going through life with cocky attitudes and smart-ass dialogue. While it's a coming of age story like the rest of the Harry Potter series, it depicts it in a rather short humorous tone. It's not necessary to read the prequel to understand the whole Harry Potter series but it's nice and enjoyable if you feel the need for a good laugh.

a troublesome bridge life for a Troll

For the topic of epic adventures I've seen the movie the Hobbit but haven't read the book. However I've also seen spoilers as to what differences the movie had compared to what the book had. So instead I decided to read a different tale called Troll Bridge by Terry Pratchett. I didn't know what to expect when I first started to read the story but to my surprise it was humorous and amusing. I expected action and adventure or at least an evil troll but instead it was just a tale about how the things that were in the past are changing. The troll was the biggest shock as he was a family man with a poor relationship with his wife. The only really fantasy element was the taking horse and that the family were trolls. A interesting read that was unexpected.  
 

Witches of all power

From what I know about witches, they are either mischievous or manipulative women that use their power to either bind people to their will or pull cruel tricks to their expense. But from the reading, Aunt Maria, I've gotten a different taste as to what witches do with their power and how they act upon it. There are only a few details that pertain to theme that make them a stereotype to other witches I've seen. They are pertained as old, weak women but have amazing power and control on the male species. Aunt Maria also takes the villains role of appearing to be weak but has control over the entire town and make the men her puppets. What are some differences to her compared to other witches is that she exhibits her weakness as to old age and manipulates her family. What makes this unique is that the way she gets people to do things for her is similar to how regular humans do so. Rather if their injured or weak or even old, the guilt of seeing them helpless makes people have to take care of them. Those qualities still exist in everyday life and are acted upon by people constantly.

What makes this similar to the way our culture models female is that it interprets women wanting their way while the men just follow helplessly to their control. And if children try to interfere they have them all grouped together into an orphanage. Some women (specifically to feminist) view men as unruly creatures that need to either back off or know their place. Our culture's women with power like to think of themselves as the dominant species and look down upon any action man would take. While there are many similarities between the witches of Black Maria and today's society it was a good read and brought back a lot of old memories to how manipulation and control works in civilization.

Horror in terms of "Weird"

I've heard this word stated by many people for many different subjects and it can either have a negative connotation to it or a positive one. Some people that find things weird and abnormal so they try to avoid those types of things because it's things that they aren't accustom to with their everyday life. It's sometimes rare that people try different things or experience different actions that they normally would and just want things to usually be the same. I'm no exception to this but my taste tends to be different than others in other subjects. People description of "weird" is completely opinionated. It's to what is different and out of the norm to them. Several movies and books use "weird" to strength their plot and setting.

Brazil is a movie that most would classify as weirdness to it's max. The setting is in the future where appliances are auto operated, food looks different than what one would expect, and torture is applied with people in lab coats and wearing mask. The most notable part of the film itself is it's main character's plot sometimes has the audience going through his mind and how he views things compared to how they really are. Kind of like escaping reality for your own pre imaged dreams. To others this is wacky and confusing but a rare few would find this natural as many people find reality difficult and wish to escape their hardships.

To bring the topic in focus with horror, I've read a online novel called "Monster Island". It describes a former U.N employee trying to survive a zombie infested island. Through the middle of the chapters it tells of a zombie himself who was a medical student and he's retained his consciousness, which is abnormal for zombies to do. The whole pacing is confusing at first and it doesn't help that the first novel starts in the middle and the second is more of a prequel.

The positive thing about weird is that is can also fascinate people. While some feel comfortable with their normal lives, others like in the movie "Brazil" wish to escape to find something different. Whether it is abnormal or just wacky, the boredom of regular life can weigh people down.

Assumptions of J-Horror

My thoughts on the reading and films of J types of horror seem to seem to tell me the differences between the themes in western views. I watched the film, "Audition" since the name looked harmless over all things and I was curious as to what approach they would use to generate horror as a theme. I won't spoil too much what occurs in the film but I'll get into details later as to what use of gore they used to demonstrate horror. For now I'll tell how the movie enticed me enough to watch through it without a lack of interest. It starts off a bit slow setting up the mood to get the viewer familiar with the plot and the situation that befalls the protagonist. As the film continues we get a sense that something is wrong with a certain persons actions and are cautions as to what they my do or have hidden. Right in the middle either something paranormal happens or we get to the core of the plot as to what's going on and start to feel tense in the context. The finale has the female character torture the main protagonist with needles and goes as far as to saw one of his feet and attempted to saw the other.

What themes that came off this film as well as others make j-horror movies a theme in themselves. They focus on the atmosphere so the pacing is slow but the feeling is unsettling and eerie. How good and evil is expressed compared to common western themes is completely different. When the audience sees the ghost or monster type creatures we're rooting to the characters to survive the situation and destroy the beast. But with J-Horror, there's either a paranormal entity that has a reason for it's actions then to just be malicious or the suppose villain had a dramatic past that has changed how they view things then to just kill for fun. The directors of J-horror know how to build up suspense in a scene and not rely on music and sounds as their dominate focus for shock value. They also let the result speak for the type of horror they create rather than have murder the first few seconds of the film. This type of direction isn't usually seen in gothic horror but it's more integrated with the psychological aspect some films care to create. It's more about what's thought out in emotions like depression or trauma and it builds off through the paranormal.

J-horror has a different sense of horror that most westerns are accustom to and it breaks past assumptions people (including me) has seen in the field of horror.

Gothic themes transforming Video Games

The term "Gothic" has been used in many different ways to represent a variety of different things. Gothic could mean the skulls that some people have in their room. The black clothing people wear to associate themselves as individuals. Or maybe the grim movies that give off an eerie presence that just excites them and everyone else. Of all the different ways the gothic has been used by many writers, directors and fashion designers only a few that I've seen have been able to incorporate these themes in a video game. An example of a game  that uses gothic elements as the main focus and an interesting result is the game called "Alice Madness Returns". This is a sequel to the game American McGee's Alice where is has Alice going through Wonderland in her head through insanity. It's a psychological horror action adventure game where you control Alice going through the destructive world that was wonderland within the psyche of her mind. The style that the game uses are what most would consider gothic elements. It has the main weapons being a knife, a lot of blood, abnormal enemies with blood stained attire, etc… The landscape and environment give an unsettling feeling that many associate with gothic. All of of dark, bloody areas with threatening monsters are different with how people used to associate the gothic style that was back then. Some elements have remained the same like the dead corpses of people, the rusty chains, even the castles and dungeons have been retained for the world of today.

With the ways gothic is expressed, I've found this game to be the most interesting in terms of use since in combines a simple children's tale with a dark, unsettling theme to create a game that came of interest to today's society. With the different themes that represent gothic today, there is no question as to people agreeing that the dark style associated with death and insanity has been a recurring element to the lives of society. Whether it be books, films, fashion, and even video games, the term "gothic" will continue to grow but stay consistent.