When I saw we were watching Harry Potter during class, I got very excited. Like a lot of people, I read all the books religiously, and watched the movies so many times I pretty much have each and every line memorized. I still have a tradition of reading these books every single year without fail, and will probably do so until I die. It would be funny I just died reading these books, because that might actually happen?
In Harry Potter, the values learned and presented connected with not just me, but with almost everyone who read it. One of the values I personally connected with is that friends are extremely important. The author, J.K Rowling, stresses that interacting and being part of a community is basically the definition of humanity.
Another part of Harry Potter that is stressed, even over stressed in my opinion, is the value of sacrifice. Harry's mom, Lily, sacrifices herself for Harry in the beginning, resulting in Harry having a protective charm over himself, shielding himself from Voldemort until he turns 18. I believe that sacrifice for the greater good is important, but I think self protection is more important. The will to survive is more important than sacrifice for another.
Okay its very tempting to keep talking about Harry Potter, but believe it or not, I've also read other fantasy books! I've read The Chronicles of Narnia multiple times. I fell in love with the first book, the Magician's Nephew, because he literally brings a new world to life in a book. He establishes a world in which many more books can preside in. I went through The Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe, Prince Caspian, Voyage of the Dawn Treader really quickly, but I kind of struggled with the Horse and His Boy and the rest of the books, because the original characters (Peter, Edmund, Susan and Lucy Pevensie) weren't "invited" back to Narnia after the Voyage of the Dawn Treader.
In addition to The Chronicles of Narnia, I've also read the Spiderwick Chronicles. These series successfully merge the real world and a fantasy world into a hybrid world of the characters and the readers second guessing what's real, and what's not.
Monday, October 5, 2015
Monday, September 28, 2015
Week 6: A Rich Fantasy Life
This week I read Eragon, by Chrisopher Paolini. I actually don't particularly enjoy the setting in which there are are knights and kingdoms (because I've just seen so many that bore me), but I actually really enjoyed this book. This fantasy book fits the hero's journey pretty well, as it is about a farm boy who finds a dragon egg, which is very, very rare. This story could be summed up simply with just a few sentences:
Once upon a time, there was a farm boy named Eragon.
Then one day, he finds a dragon egg in a forest. (Inciting incident)
Because of this, Ra'zac(assassins) come and try to find the egg. They kill Eragon's uncle.
Because of this, Eragon vowes revenge (call to action) and travels with his dragon, Saphira (supernatural aid/helper), and Brom, his mentor.
Because of this, the evil shade, Durza, finds out about them. He sends the Ra'zac and other minions to kill them.
Because of this, Eragon discovers he is magical, and has more supernatural aid. (Start of transformation)
Because of this, they get hunted even more, and Brom dies.
Because of this, Brom gets replaced by Murtaugh, another helper. He also frees an elf named Arya from jail.
Because of this, she leads them to the rebellion's hideout.
Because of this, Durza the Shade comes to kill Eragon.
Because of this, Eragon kills Durza.
From then on, Eragon is no longer a farm boy, and is a dragon rider.
Everything pretty much fits into the hero's journey pretty perfectly; when he's in the village, he is in his known space. When he leaves, after the call of action, he goes into an unknown space, which becomes known after he reaches the rebellion. He has a mentor, and helpers to help him in his journey. Eragon is tempted by Durza with power when he confronts him. His transformation "finishes" during his final battle with Durza.
This book fits the important mandatory (and sometimes cliche aka Brom, his mentor, dying) storytelling points on the dot. In the final battle, it looks like the rebellion is losing and Eragon is badly hurt (ABYSS), but then has a REVELATION, which allows him to win the battle.
Once upon a time, there was a farm boy named Eragon.
Then one day, he finds a dragon egg in a forest. (Inciting incident)
Because of this, Ra'zac(assassins) come and try to find the egg. They kill Eragon's uncle.
Because of this, Eragon vowes revenge (call to action) and travels with his dragon, Saphira (supernatural aid/helper), and Brom, his mentor.
Because of this, the evil shade, Durza, finds out about them. He sends the Ra'zac and other minions to kill them.
Because of this, Eragon discovers he is magical, and has more supernatural aid. (Start of transformation)
Because of this, they get hunted even more, and Brom dies.
Because of this, Brom gets replaced by Murtaugh, another helper. He also frees an elf named Arya from jail.
Because of this, she leads them to the rebellion's hideout.
Because of this, Durza the Shade comes to kill Eragon.
Because of this, Eragon kills Durza.
From then on, Eragon is no longer a farm boy, and is a dragon rider.
Everything pretty much fits into the hero's journey pretty perfectly; when he's in the village, he is in his known space. When he leaves, after the call of action, he goes into an unknown space, which becomes known after he reaches the rebellion. He has a mentor, and helpers to help him in his journey. Eragon is tempted by Durza with power when he confronts him. His transformation "finishes" during his final battle with Durza.
This book fits the important mandatory (and sometimes cliche aka Brom, his mentor, dying) storytelling points on the dot. In the final battle, it looks like the rebellion is losing and Eragon is badly hurt (ABYSS), but then has a REVELATION, which allows him to win the battle.
Monday, September 21, 2015
Week 5: Witches
In Kiki's Delivery Service, by Hayao Miyazaki, a young witch, Kiki, sets out to make her mark on the world. In the film, witches aren't portrayed as they usually are in older western media. usually they would be portrayed with the cliche of them having a hooked nose, a pointy hat, scraggly hair, warts, ugly teeth and horrible skin. On the contrary, Kiki is seen as young, pretty, innocent and pure. There are shared themes, such as brewing potions, flying using broomsticks, a black feline companion, and wearing a big black robe. But the difference is, in old western media, those things were seen as horrible and unholy, whereas in the Kiki's Delivery Service movie universe, witches are generally seen as rare but amazing people.
Adding on to this, Aunt Maria by Diana Wynne Jones was very similar to Kiki's Delivery Service. The first half of the book could totally be a Studio Ghibli movie. It shared all the Ghibli themes: cats, children, nice houses by the sea, mysterious forests, spirits, and beautiful scenery. Just like the movie, it was thrilling, mysterious, supernatural, and quirky.
I also thought Aunt Maria has a lot of similarities to the writing style of Harry Potter. If we're talking about witches in Harry Potter, the tone is very normal, as if they were talking about humans. There are good witches and evil witches and its like a social norm in the story.
Like Kiki's Delivery Service, Harry Potter is a good story in which the witches are not viewed as evil, dastardly beautiful, or anything else; they are seen as just members of society trying to fit in. Kiki seems more human than a supernatural being. Recently, media is trying to go for a witch character as one that is more normal and human (like Hermoine and Kiki).
Week 4: The New Weird
Recently I read a series of books that could DEFINITELY be called weird. Darren Shan's Demonata series is extremely weird in the sense it has many, many themes going on. But it also definitely counts as horror, because its super gruesome.
In the very first chapter of the first book, it starts off with the main character's parents' death. They were killed in an ALTERNATE universe by a DEMON who lives on human misery and CHESS, who they were fighting for a cure for LYCANTHROPY for their daughter. So many factors come into play in the very first chapter. The whole series covers demons, werewolves, magic, the origin of the universe, time travel, alternate universes, death as a physical being, and gods. Quite a bit of topics to cover in just 10 books.
He wraps all these themes around the fact that demons, who live in the "Demonata universe" want to cross over into our world and destroy the human race. The whole series gets more gory as it goes along, even though it was very gory from the start.
There's a lot descriptive, disgusting imagery as well. For example:
Blood everywhere. Nightmarish splashes and gory pools. Wild streaks across the floor and walls.
Except the walls aren’t walls. I’m surrounded on all four sides by webs. Millions of strands, thicker than my arm, some connecting in orderly designs, others running chaotically apart. Many of the strands are stained with blood. Behind the layer of webs, more layers—banks of them stretching back as far as I can see. Infinite.
My eyes snap from the walls. I make quick, mental thumbnails of other details. Numb. Functioning like a machine.
The dripping sound—a body hanging upside down from the webby ceiling in the centre of the room. No head. Blood drops to the floor from the gaping red O of the neck. Even without the head, I recognise him.
“DAD!” I scream, and the cry almost rips my vocal chords apart.
To my left, an obscene creature spins round and snarls. It has the body of a very large dog, the head of a crocodile. Beneath it, motionless—Mum. Or what’s left of her.
A dreadful howl to my right. Gret! Sitting on the floor, staring at me, weaving sideways, her face white, except where it’s smeared with blood. I start to call to her. She half-turns and I realise that she’s been split in two. Something’s behind her, in the cavity at the back, moving her like a hand-puppet.
The ‘something’ pushes Gret away. It’s a child, but no child of this world. It has the body of a three-year-old, with a head much larger than any normal person’s. Pale green skin. No eyes—a small ball of fire flickers in each of its empty sockets. No hair—yet its head is alive with movement. As the hell-child advances, I see that the objects are cockroaches. Living. Feeding on its rotten flesh.
This is only the beginning of the first book. Shan doesn't waste any time setting up a backstory in the first chapter, then just tearing it apart in the beginning of the second chapter, and in the third chapter sets up a transition from the main characters original home to his next living space.
Except the walls aren’t walls. I’m surrounded on all four sides by webs. Millions of strands, thicker than my arm, some connecting in orderly designs, others running chaotically apart. Many of the strands are stained with blood. Behind the layer of webs, more layers—banks of them stretching back as far as I can see. Infinite.
My eyes snap from the walls. I make quick, mental thumbnails of other details. Numb. Functioning like a machine.
The dripping sound—a body hanging upside down from the webby ceiling in the centre of the room. No head. Blood drops to the floor from the gaping red O of the neck. Even without the head, I recognise him.
“DAD!” I scream, and the cry almost rips my vocal chords apart.
To my left, an obscene creature spins round and snarls. It has the body of a very large dog, the head of a crocodile. Beneath it, motionless—Mum. Or what’s left of her.
A dreadful howl to my right. Gret! Sitting on the floor, staring at me, weaving sideways, her face white, except where it’s smeared with blood. I start to call to her. She half-turns and I realise that she’s been split in two. Something’s behind her, in the cavity at the back, moving her like a hand-puppet.
The ‘something’ pushes Gret away. It’s a child, but no child of this world. It has the body of a three-year-old, with a head much larger than any normal person’s. Pale green skin. No eyes—a small ball of fire flickers in each of its empty sockets. No hair—yet its head is alive with movement. As the hell-child advances, I see that the objects are cockroaches. Living. Feeding on its rotten flesh.
This is only the beginning of the first book. Shan doesn't waste any time setting up a backstory in the first chapter, then just tearing it apart in the beginning of the second chapter, and in the third chapter sets up a transition from the main characters original home to his next living space.
Monday, August 31, 2015
Week 3: Asian Horror
Compared to Western horror, J-Horror is a very different type of horror style. For example, Western horror focuses on jump scares and very obvious things, such as vampires, werewolves, demons and ghosts. Whereas a lot of Japanese horror is based on their own set of stories and values. Japanese horror also seems to revolve around ghosts or yokai (Japanese supernatural beings).
I went to Japan three years ago on a study abroad program (also visited again 2 months ago), and I stayed with the same host family both times. My family had two relatively young brothers in it, and I remember my host mom always told them not to wander at night or yokais will snatch them away. This is very similar to American, or really any other culture, in which parents will use scary beings to keep their children safe. Kind of ironic in my opinion.
This week I watched a film called Uzumaki, which means "spiral" or "vortex in Japanese. Based on a Japanese manga series (which I also read), the spirals control the lives of people of a small town, and terrorize the citizens. For example, in the beginning of the movie, a man is obsessed with drawing spirals, and calls it the most amazing form of art. As his obsession grows out of control, he forces himself in a washing machine and "becomes", a spiral. These type of things become more and more serious and grotesque. For example, a woman burns her fingertips to get rid of the spirals on them. But, she forgot about her cochlea, which a millipede decided to live in. Obviously, she goes insane. Contrary to American horror, this film doesn't have closure. In the end, theres only one person left in the town, and it doesn't say whether he lives or dies. American horror usually has a clean ending, whether everyone dies or no one dies, or just some people die. But usually a problem is resolved. In this film, and in a lot of Japanese horror theres a very open ending, with a lot of things going on around the main character, but the main character being relatively unaffected by it.
Monday, August 24, 2015
Week 2: Vampire: Love and Pain
This week I read the first 6 books of Darren Shan's "Cirque du Freak" series. The series revolves around vampire lore, in which the main character (Darren Shan) becomes a half-vampire halfway through the first book.
The author could draw from many customs of vampires when writing, and he did, as well as expanding even more upon them, and even dismissing some. For example, he totally dismissed the rule "Only a stake through the heart can kill a vampire." He made it so any injury can kill a vampire! A rule he placed was "a vampire never kills when he feeds, and is against vampire law, but when the need arises, if a vampire drinks all of a human's blood, they also keep the human's soul." This rule gets used in the ending of the second book, in which the main character fully drains all of his dying friend's remaining blood to preserve his soul.
The author also played on human and vampire conflict, especially in the main character. Being a half-vampire, and very recently so, within the first 6 books, the main character struggles between his humanity and his vampire side. In the second book, he refuses to drink any blood, which is crucial for vampire health. This weakens him until he finally gives in to his dark hunger and preserves the soul of his dying friend.
Shan also played on human and vampire relationships. In the books, vampires age one-tenth at the rate of humans. They also have super-strength, super-speed and superior senses. They even have saliva that can heal wounds faster. On the downside, they can't mate and they are vulnerable to sunlight. Because they age slower, they can't form proper human relationships. Because of their super strength they can accidentally hurt humans. Even as a half-vampire, the main character accidentally breaks a human boy's ankle while playing a seemingly harmless game of hockey. Vampires seem to go to drastic measures to not get attached to humans. The main character had to fake his own death to break away from his family.
The author also creates a culture surrounding the vampires. As well as normal vampires, there are Vampire Generals and Vampire Princes. Vampire Princes command all vampires, and there's only 3 or 4 at a time. They are also above the law. Vampire Generals command normal vampires, but answer to the Princes. Evil vampires are called "vampaneze", and they oppose vampire traditions such as not killing when they feed. They were originally vampires who broke away from the clan. Because they kill everytime they feed, they're purple skinned.
The author could draw from many customs of vampires when writing, and he did, as well as expanding even more upon them, and even dismissing some. For example, he totally dismissed the rule "Only a stake through the heart can kill a vampire." He made it so any injury can kill a vampire! A rule he placed was "a vampire never kills when he feeds, and is against vampire law, but when the need arises, if a vampire drinks all of a human's blood, they also keep the human's soul." This rule gets used in the ending of the second book, in which the main character fully drains all of his dying friend's remaining blood to preserve his soul.
The author also played on human and vampire conflict, especially in the main character. Being a half-vampire, and very recently so, within the first 6 books, the main character struggles between his humanity and his vampire side. In the second book, he refuses to drink any blood, which is crucial for vampire health. This weakens him until he finally gives in to his dark hunger and preserves the soul of his dying friend.
Shan also played on human and vampire relationships. In the books, vampires age one-tenth at the rate of humans. They also have super-strength, super-speed and superior senses. They even have saliva that can heal wounds faster. On the downside, they can't mate and they are vulnerable to sunlight. Because they age slower, they can't form proper human relationships. Because of their super strength they can accidentally hurt humans. Even as a half-vampire, the main character accidentally breaks a human boy's ankle while playing a seemingly harmless game of hockey. Vampires seem to go to drastic measures to not get attached to humans. The main character had to fake his own death to break away from his family.
The author also creates a culture surrounding the vampires. As well as normal vampires, there are Vampire Generals and Vampire Princes. Vampire Princes command all vampires, and there's only 3 or 4 at a time. They are also above the law. Vampire Generals command normal vampires, but answer to the Princes. Evil vampires are called "vampaneze", and they oppose vampire traditions such as not killing when they feed. They were originally vampires who broke away from the clan. Because they kill everytime they feed, they're purple skinned.
Sunday, August 16, 2015
Week 1: Frankenstein/Goth
The gothic look/concept has been present in popular culture for many years, especially in the form of 'counterculture', which is defined as "a way of life opposed to the prevailing social norm". I'm certain it was thought of as weird and scary even back when it first came to be. Even now, there seems to be a negative connotation on the word.
The first thing that comes to mind when I think of goth is fashion. The "gothic look" has been around for the last 15 years or so, and has been relatively popular in the last 6 years. Whenever I see someone sporting the "gothic look", I usually see black clothes, black lipstick, heavy eyeliner/eyeshadow, big black boots, and some sort of dark jewelry. Sometimes these would be paired with something red. A lot of the time the jewelry is in the form of skulls, wings, or crosses. People will also wear the apparel of gothic bands, ripped jeans, black nail polish, black necklaces and wrist braces. If the individual really wants to commit to the culture then they would get tattoos that are usually big and show-offy. One person I saw on "America's Got Talent", even had eye contacts to show off his look. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_3jsyDW76E
In any case, it became extremely popular, and I don't think anyone wouldn't know about the goth look.
Also, I've noticed many younger kids in middle school wearing goth clothes and sporting counterculture wear, but I feel like we think its okay when we're younger, but we become much more self aware when we become older. Even though I didn't wear gothic clothing then, I still ask myself why I wore the horrible clothing I did.
All in all, gothic fashion is very prominent, very popular, and is amazingly still barely socially acceptable.
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