Our next class is on Harold Bloom, my personal favorite! Comment below with examples I can work with to explain him — give me a movie or TV show and I might be able to tell you what they are responding to. PLUS I GOT A SELFIE STICK! AND DRESSED BETTER!
Tuesday, March 24, 2020
18 comments:
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You're looking good with those glasses professor :)!! Have you heard of a movie called Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie? That's my favorite movie even though it's on demand. You should check it out since that movie deals with magic and fantasy a bit.
ReplyDeleteWhat would be interesting to do in the context of this class is think of the traditions that the move revises — think of past portrayals of Wizards that this new thing is a twist on.
DeleteSpeaking of QT, Tarantino is attributed to a quote that he (probably) said somewhere, and it's that: "good artists borrow, great artists steal." And of course the hilarious thing about Tarantino having this quote attributed to himself is that the quote actually comes from T. S. Eliot: "Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal..." But in any case, there is a conflict with Tarantino having uttered this quote: if Tarantino believes in Bloom's philosophy in a verbal sense, he would not have uttered that quote without changing it into something different, as Eliot did. Eliot derived the axiom from W. H. Davenport Adams, who wrote: “That great poets imitate and improve, whereas small ones steal and spoil.” Eliot, by coming up with his own variation, or rather, reversal, of this phrase, abides by Bloom's philosophy both personally and in his writing/speech. Tarantino only parrots what Eliot has already said, meaning he goes against Bloom's philosophy verbally despite personally following it himself in his work and in his films. My favorite of these manifestations of Bloom's philosophy among filmmaker quotes/philosophies is as follows:
ReplyDeleteGodard: Photography is truth. The cinema is truth 24 frames-per-second.
Haneke: Film is 24 lies per second at the service of truth, or at the service of the attempt to find the truth.
What is PERSONA responding to?
That is a fun revision — and FUNNY GAMES has maybe the greatest twist in any movie ever and i love it just for that.
DeletePersona, honestly, I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IT IS RESPONDING TO. The reason I am interested in it is because of all the things that RESPOND TO IT (Hannibal, The Lighthouse, Mulholland Drive etc). I do need to look into the background of that film. As a preliminary I am gonna suggest that the film is a response to Carl Jung?
I found Harold Bloom’s idea of originality very interesting because it’s true it’s hard to come up with something original. I experienced it recently trying to write a script and taking inspiration from different movies and shows by adding my twist. I was wondering if the show The Walking Dead is just a twist based on the comics that came before it.
ReplyDeleteThe Walking Dead does twist the comics but its also a response to ALL the zombie movies. I wish I could say something more interesting but The Walking Dead never impressed me much so in my mind it actually isnt twisting much — its just repeating old things endlessly. but thats just me! If you like it you may have a better sense of what it is doing than I do! I have to admit I am not a real big fan of the genre of Zombie movies.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the official intro to Bloom. I'd heard of him as a critic but didn't really follow his work at all. I cou;dn't love his take on things more.
ReplyDeleteIn directing, this is pretty much all you do. Take influence from other works of art as you interpret the text. Designers ALL do this well. I'd go on further but don't want to blabber here - I'll put it in my paper!
At first I wasn't sure which philosopher to choose when approaching my assinment, and was counting on having to kind of BS my way through it. Now I'm actually excited to delve into the essay portion of the directing thingy.
Directing is an interpretive art form!
Love this and love Bloom!
I am so glad you love it! I do too but I often have a hard time explaining what is good about him — i am too close to it maybe? Also the two pages I picked are maybe not the best two pages? I dunno! Thanks for enjoying what I enjoy it really means a lot to me!
DeleteI love the idea that everything is a response. That somehow takes the pressure off. I recently read and then watched Watchmen for the first time, and it seems like the original comic book is a response to the idea of superhero comic books, and how we idolize the characters. It feels like satire in that way, but then the movie was basically (except for the end) perfectly scene for scene the same as the comic book. The first two Harry Potter movies are the same, almost exact replicas, but in a different medium. Clearly they are responses, but how are they twists? Are they sort of boring and insipid as art because there is nearly nothing new?
ReplyDeleteI think that yes — the early Harry Potter films and the Watchmen film are sort of boring because they are not doing anything that is not already in the books. Interestingly tho there is a Watchmen TV series that is ONE OF THE MOST FACINATING AND AGRESSIVE RESPONSES TO ANYTHING I HAVE EVER SEEN.
DeleteAlso this is too late and no one is going to see this but if you really want to see Harold Bloom at work watch Ridley Scott’s Alien (1979) and all the sequels — EACH SEQUEL RADICALLY CHANGES THE ONE THAT CAME BEFORE, and each one is basically A DIFFERENT GENRE
DeleteThat's really interesting. I've been planning to watch the Watchmen (lol) series, so now I'll keep an eye out for how it is a response.
DeleteIt is a jaw droppingly agressive response (tho heads up the final espisode is the weakest of the bunch). I would recommend reading the comic book so it is fresh in your mind — the series makes all kinds of use of details from the comic. It’s fascinating.
DeleteI've recently been introduced to Monty Python. (I know. How I didn't know about them is shocking). The person who introduced MP to me said it was the father of modern comedy (I'm not sure this is true- but who do you think influenced them?) I definitely see that they influenced sketch comedy quite a bit, but where did they draw influence from.
ReplyDeleteI have to AGREE with the person who said MP was the father of modern comedy — look at Family Guy and tell me that entire show is not based of the sensibility of MP! I unfortunately do not know enough about pre MP comedy in England to know where there influences were tho! Gotta find a comedy historian!
DeleteFirst of all, love the glasses vibe. Second, i know i wrote an essay on Bojack Horseman, but i would love to hear what you think they are responding to and whatnot.
ReplyDeleteI think its main thing is revising kids shows involving talking animals where kids learn a lesson — this is a MUCH more COMPLEX lesson that adults need to learn. There is also big revisions of Charles in Charge, True Detective, and Hollywood Biopics.
DeleteI’m going to check all of those out! Also so true, whenever i tell people that my favorite show is animated they’re like... um a children’s show? And I’m like no. Quite the opposite and basically destroys your souls but pls watch it lol
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