Rmaxwel1_LMST_345_Blog

Assessment: What is your reaction to the text you just read? The text is rather disturbing due to the provocative nature of the subject matter. It handles interspecies relationships and provides a large amount of detail surrounding the reproductive acts the alien creatures “force” upon their human “Families”. I use quotations because these are grey areas, there can be arguments either way as to whether or not the humans are forced into this, and we are able to see how the dynamics between the main character and the alien develop after Lomas “gives birth” to the grubs. The gruesome nature of the ordeal, as well as the visceral imagery, are very effective at setting a mood and conveying some of the emotions. There is a sharp contrast between the mood at the beginning of the story and the mood towards the end, a journey has been made. What connections did you make with the story? I didn’t really make any connections with the story. I did not see any parallels between this sto...

Dune is a story where a single man changes the face of a planet using mystical powers he obtains to create a religious following. The story essentially forms the outline to a modern cult except for the exalted leader actually has some form of power that makes him special. Paul’s ability of precognition allows him a vast advantage over his adversaries as well as his people which forces him to explore the philosophical questions concerning his actions. This dichotomy is intriguing because we are able to learn much more about his character and are able to glean insight into what we might do if placed in such a situation. Is it just to use your powers to exact your will even if it means deceiving your people and slaughtering those in your way? It is most likely you deceiving yourself and allowing yourself to be blinded by greed and lust for power.

Altered Carbon is one of my favorite book to television adaptations in quite a while. Netflix was able to visually represent the contents of the book with toned down grit but still made the world feel tasteful and interesting. Realities within this stories framework are more or less depending on how much money you have. Being able to choose what body you want and do whatever you want with it brings out some of humanity’s darkest natures. By removing the deterrent of death from human society grows bored, eventually becoming deviant and apathetic towards societal issues and those around them. The more free people feel, the less they seem to care about anyone else. To most people within this society, it is likely that they feel omnipotent and free from any adversity much like someone high on stimulants. The atmosphere of the story when you sit down and examine it feels like a feverish nightmare that ensnares the reader to follow the plot and become invested in the magical SCI-FI world tha...

Spiritual Education Within harry potter and other works that align to the spiritual education archetype the students are faced with supernatural challenges as well as ordinary challenges. The supernatural challenges often seem to reflect those that we go through on a daily basis yet are portrayed in the light of the supernatural. The work I examined for class was The Magicians. The television adaptation does a better job of relating to the spiritual education archetype and is quite refreshing for using a college setting instead of an elementary or primary school setting, Quentin is interrupted from his normal non-magical life when his Princeton interview is swapped for one with Brakebills. Like most spiritual education texts the person introduced into the magical world has little or no understanding of it yet needs to escape from the world they are currently inhabiting. They feel out of place and use escapism as a means of fighting real world issues like depressio...

Hero’s Journey The Hobbit The hobbit follows many parts of the classic hero’s journey archetype but somewhat differs in the execution and set dressing. The Call to action does not meet a strong refusal, instead the call is accepted with minor amounts of convincing. The supernatural Aid would be Gandalf coming to convince him and his other hobbits since “Hobbits don’t go on adventures”. The belly of the whale as well as the fight with a dragon seem to intersect within the story. Bilbo and friends approach a large cave. Bilbo faces another ordeal versus Gollum. He finds the primary ring being the McGuffin and is faced with riddles in order to escape Gollum’s wrath. Within a large mountainous cave they find they find the Tests and Ordeals trope, being the dragon Smaug.

The new weird is a somewhat ephemeral genre to identify. One could relate this to the definition of pornography; You know it when you see it. As with most experimental genres that we explore in the modern age of film the concept is hard to pitch to potential investors. The low or mid budget nature of these films helps to pin them down in the faux reality that they reside within. Much like the found footage films they bring a sense of authenticity to them while residing within a truly supernatural and strange world. This sharp contrast is likely a large part of the appeal. This is perhaps the strongest portion of the formula, by giving the viewer enough to root themselves in a possible reality the supernatural reality becomes that much more believable and intriguing. Perhaps this hyperreal or surreal tendency aids in the horror aspect of the genre. The fundamentals of horror come from the roots of human nature, the untapped unknowns. This is displayed in monster myt...