Reflections on Brokeback Mountain

Reflections on Brokeback Mountain

            If there ever was a threat to “heteronormativity” it was with the movie Brokeback Mountain by Ang Lee.  It is a story of love unrealized between two of America’s most revered symbols of masculinity, the cowboy.  The seemingly invisible fabric that homosexuality weaves in the enclaves of American life is wonderfully presented in this film.  Ang Lee does a phenomenal job of bringing to the screen the pain, frustration and longing that accompanies homosexual relationships in a staunchly heterosexual society.

            Ang Lee presents “heteronormativity” as a ferocious device that provides homosexuals at once with societal acceptance and simultaneously with their demise, as they are not able to truly achieve the fruition that their orientation designs.  The homosexual men in the movie were married to women and their marriages were in various stages of dysfunction.  The men are desperate and ensnared.  They want affection.  They want attention.  They want a real connection.  They want love.  And they find it in each other.

            The lengths to which the same-gender-loving individuals in the movie go to in order to experience being together are very reveling.  The movie’s main characters try repeatedly to make plans to be together, but the violent threat of “heteronormative” reprisal was an ever present barrier.  The two main characters in the movie, Ennis Del Mar and Jack Twist continue a long distance relationship for over ten years.  They spend months apart and see each other only once or twice a year so they can re-experience their homosexual passions.  The character Jack Twist has to take sporadic trips to Mexico in order to fulfill his homosexual longings in the absence of Ennis.

            The bonds between the two main characters last a life time.  After the violent and tragic death of Jack Twist, Ennis kept the mementos of their union when they were cowboys on Brokeback Mountain.  The last scene in the movie shows Ennis pining for the love he was never able to fulfill at the hand of “heteronormativity”.

Published:  http://www.cafedelapensee.com/node/1310

Judas Iscariot

Judas

             I was living a disillusioned life in Judea.  Life was hard.  Injustice was rampant.  Taxes were high and the Sanhedrin, Pharisees, Sadducees and Romans were oppressing the masses and stealing from them in the name of God.  I want to change this injustice.  This type of life is unfair.

            There is a growing movement among the people that seek to change this mode of existence.  The name everyone mentions is Jesus.  When I heard his message it was like water to my soul.  He was for the people.  He was liberating them.  Blessing the poor, feeding the needy, and breaking the established rules on the Sabbath.  This is the revolution.  I would follow him.

            After (3) long years with Jesus, I am at a breaking point.  Like a lover who has discovered his beloved’s unfaithfulness, knowing Jesus has left a bitter taste in my mouth.  I have no use for money as many may think.  I want to pay him back for his fraud.

            The Roman government has not been overthrown.  Jesus is saying things that show his weakness.  He is not as strong as he used to be.  He is making statements that are not helping our people.  Do onto others as you would have them do onto you?!  Turn the other cheek?!  Forgiveness?!  The kingdom of God is within you?!  He is misleading the people and does not deserve their devotion.  I have grown tired of Jesus and at times cannot stand to be in his company.  I have spoken to him about our differences, but he persists.  He needs to be gotten rid of.  I have wasted my time and energy with this man.  He has betrayed ME!!

            Like a jilted lover driven to desperate acts out of frustrated passion, unable to see my way out of my anger, I went to the chief priests to pay Jesus back for his deception.  “…I will deliver him unto you?  And they covenanted with him for 30 pieces of silver.” - Matthew 26: 14 & 15

            We arranged to meet in the Garden of Gethsemane.  After our last meal together, I kissed Jesus and the soldiers took him away.

            A temporary victory, that passes upon the shock of hindsight.  I am overcome with iniquity with the accomplishment of my treachery.  I am so taken with anguish, shame and sorrow.  I beg my co-conspirators to take the money back, but they have gotten what they want from me.  I am alone.  I can’t stand myself.  I can’t live with what I have done.  A rope around my neck and a tree will be my only escape.

Published: www.revistacruce.com/artes/judas-iscariot.html and
                  www.jukepopserials.com/home/read/1120

The White Witch of Rose Hall

The White Witch of Rose Hall

            After my parents died of yellow fever in Haiti, I was reared to maturity by my nanny.  When I came of age, I left the island of Haiti for the island of Jamaica in search of a better life.  I intend to have financial security.  I met and married John Palmer and lived on his beautiful plantation estate, Rose Hall.  Complete with a sugar plantation and thousands of slaves.

            I have a way with men, and I have way with my male slaves.  I’m as brutal and sadistic as any male plantation slave owner.  I’m also gaining a reputation as a “black widow”.  People are starting to wonder why every husband I have gets sick and dies.  My fortune grows after each husband’s untimely demise.  I am three times a widow.  My slaves are also getting restless.  They don’t like my treatment of them.

            Well, no party lasts forever.  I was done in by my black lover and company.  But I still can’t leave this place, its beauty, the scenery, the memories.  People claim to see me riding on horseback and hear my footsteps in the mansion halls.  Come by and see me sometime.  Tours of my former estate are a popular attraction.

The Star Spangled Banner Deconstructed

The Star Spangled Banner

The national anthem of America, typically invokes feelings of pride, devotion and loyalty.  It symbolizes freedom and the championing of human rights.  However, a second look at this national symbol exposes one to its warmongering, gory, pro-slavery themes.

The Star Spangled Banner is actually a four stanza poem, of which the first cadence is most commonly known as the American national anthem.  It was written in 1812 by Francis Scott Key, after seeing the American flag still flying after the battle of Fort McHenry during the U.S. War of 1812 against England.  The original title of the poem was “Defense of Fort McHenry”.  The poem is set to a popular British tune called “To Anacreon in Heaven”, a drinking song that celebrates, women, wine and carousing. 

Mr. Key was a slave owner and a lawyer who prosecuted anti-slavery activists for their abolitionist work.  Upon closer inspection, his activities seem to be in stark contrast to the last sentence in each verse of the poem “O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!”  The poem continues on with its pro-slavery sentiments with the verbiage in the third stanza and line “No refuge could save the hireling and slave.”

The poem is a call to war with bloodthirsty imagery.  This could possibly serve as a prelude to the many wars and invasions the United States has been involved in over the years.  This is embodied by the usage found in the second line of the third stanza “Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps’ pollution” and in the fifth line of the fourth stanza “Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just”.

These are concepts far removed from the more popular view of this national symbol.  A deeper look at the history of the poem provides the opportunity to inspect uncomfortable aspects of its message.

Published:  http://www.democracychronicles.com/star-spangled-banner/

Psychoanalytic Criticism of the Seventh Seal by Ingmar Bergman

Psychoanalytic Criticism: Seventh Seal by Ingmar Bergman

            This critique will look at a screen director’s use of his film to project his contempt for religion, the religious and women.  He goes to great lengths to explain a tumultuous, tortured view of the part religion plays in the lives of its adherents.  The dialogue in the film is very captivating and poetic.  It is laden with jarring scenes imitating the directors’ belief in the human torment that can be inflicted by blind religious fervor.

            The film maker allows his id to run amuck in his version of women.  The image of women is paradoxical in this work.  The Virgin Mary and Jesus permeate the visions of the characters.  Women are cast as devoted mothers and caretakers, or as untrustworthy seductresses that summon death to befall their community due to having carnal knowledge of the devil.  Misogyny is palpable in the scenes where woman are being tortured and burned at the stake, and where they are pitting men against each other.

            The cinematographer’s ego is in conflict about the reality of God and the relevance of faith.  The character relationship between a knight and death portraits this conflict.  A knight and his knave have recently returned to their homeland from fighting in the Crusades.  The specter of death appears to claim the knight.  The knight challenges death to a game of chess in exchange for his life.  In a very profound scene, the knight bares his soul regarding his conflicted beliefs about God.  The knight reveals:  His indifference to mankind and his inability to be around others.  He speaks of living in a world of phantoms and of being a prisoner of his dreams.  He wants to die.  He believes God’s promises are half-spoken.  He wants to believe in God, but he can’t.  He believes God is a mocking reality that he cannot shake.  He wants to know God, but God is silent and doesn’t answer him.  Without this knowledge of God he is unable to face death due to life being meaningless and lived in vain.  He needs God in order to find meaning in life.

            Initially the knight believes that he can beat death at chess, however, as he journey’s through the film and resolves his conflicts with God and life, he is beaten in the end by death.  This answers the director’s ego and reconciles his conflicted views about God, life and death.

            This is a thought provoking movie by Swedish director Ingmar Bergman that really speaks to man’s eternal search for the meaning of life.

Published: 
http://senuxjohnson.hubpages.com/hub/-Psychoanalytic-Criticism-Seventh-Seal-by-Ingmar-Bergman

Marxist Criticism of Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis

Marxist Criticism of the Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

           There is a very oppressive, top down theme present in this writing.  The feeling of fear and hopelessness is very evident.  As I am preparing this writing, I too am feeling the residual effects of working class terror - fear, guilt, shame and anxiety for not adhering to a predetermined schedule. 

            There is a tug-of-war incident between the harsh and dismissive perspective of the “boss” and “the insurance doctor” in that they believe “everyone is completely healthy but really lazy about work”; versus the general perspective of “the worker” who is trying to  resolve his right to survive, which is entangled with dehumanizing, miserable work conditions.  The “boss” and “insurance doctor” gang-up and crush the worker with their policies.

            Throughout the composition, there is an absence of the names of the characters.  There are only functions: the boss, the errand boy, the insurance doctor and traveling salesman, erasing the need to be concerned with the individual, only with their utility. 

            The “worker” does not have control of his own life.  His life is run by machines - clocks, watches and trains.  His life is excruciatingly regimented.  He has never missed a day of work in (5) years.  He must get up at 4.  He can’t be late.  He must get up early.  He has an ever looming fear of losing his livelihood.

            The image that comes to my mind when I read the description of Gregor’s boss is of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.  A fat, loud, domineering, red-faced, cigar chewing, type A personality.  The boss is placed physically above “the workers”, talking down to them, forcing them to look up at him in an uncomfortable, awkward way; amplifying their insignificance and his dominance.  Gregor’s boss is apparently “the boss” everywhere.  He is able to enter into the personal home and family life of “the worker” and can usurp the family hierarchy.  The “boss” knows Gregor’s parents.  The “boss” is able to disrespect and criticize the parent’s child rearing skills.  There is an indentured servant relationship between “the boss”, Gregor’s family and Gregor.  The parents are indebted to the boss, and have handed over their son to work off their debt.

            Our protagonist is so dehumanized that he is in the form of an insect.  He finds himself on his back, wriggling and writhing, unable to stand, turnover or control his legs.  His underbelly is exposed, which is the Achilles heel of an insect.  An insect is something that you step on.  It is miniscule.  It is unwanted.  It is something that disgusts others.  It embodies how the worker feels, and how he is viewed by “the boss” and society.

            Gregor is isolated and has no one to talk to about his feelings.  His family serves as reinforcement of servile working class values.  Everyone in the house comes to the door to encourage him to go to work.  He is unable to share with them that he has serious “physical problems”. 

Gregor wants to break free from his servile life.   He states: “If I were to try that with my boss, I’d be thrown out on the spot.  Still, who knows whether that mightn’t be really good for me.” And further when the insurance doctor makes his poorly thought out statements about everyone being healthy but lazy, Gregor adds “And besides, would the doctor in this case be totally wrong?”

This excerpt from Franz Kafka is a wonderfully creative and thought provoking way of presenting working class struggles, worker vexation and iron-handed capitalism.

Published:  http://www.cafedelapensee.com/node/1222

The Twilight Zone: The Hitchhiker

The Twilight Zone: The Hitchhiker

 

            In this episode of the Twilight Zone, a woman is being followed by a strange man everywhere she goes, foreshadowing her death.  The writers of this scene were expert in casting a woman as the protagonist.  The use of a woman heightens the thrill of the story, and serves to further perpetuate stereotypes of women.

            A young, attractive, 27 year-old woman, seeming to take charge of her life is driving alone on a difficult journey from New York to California.  The casting of this feature shows gender bias.  The only other characters in the episode are men.  This delivers a message that it is a man’s world and women are incidental in it.  The men facilitate her journey.  Whenever she runs into trouble, a man comes to her rescue.  They change her car tire.  They escort her on her trip and provide her with advice, fortifying the convention that women need men to solve their problems.  The scene where the woman begs the sailor to stay with her is an excellent illustration of this point.

            Throughout the story, there is a frightening acceptance of the objectification of a woman.  The character of death is an unassuming older man that leers, stalks and targets the woman, disturbing her peace of mind, violating her right to privacy and ignoring all of her wishes to be left alone.

            The woman is shown as a poor decision maker.  She decides to make an ill-fated, poorly planned trip.  She is careless.  She abandons her car in the night and walks alone looking for gas.  She takes no safety precautions.  She foolishly stops on the rail road tracks and narrowly escapes her demise.

            The woman is also represented as emotionally frail and irresponsible.  She cracks under pressure.  She has no coping skills and is unable to resolve her own problems.  She falls apart emotionally when the character of death talks to her.  When she runs into trouble, she calls her mother to hear a familiar reassuring voice.  She asks the sailor, whom she doesn’t know, to accompany her on her journey, again carelessly putting herself in a potentially dangerous situation.

            This feature leaves the viewer, particularly the female viewer with a considerable message that it is perilous for women to venture out alone.