Week Seven: The Novel of Spiritual Education

For this week's class, I decided to read Phillip Pullman's The Golden Compass. I had seen the movie when it came out in theaters, although it was definitely a poor film adaptation in comparison to the source material. I really enjoyed how complex the alternate world was, and the relationship between the individuals and their "daemons". This partner has such an intimate bond with their counterparts, which is a major driving force of the plot, examining the relationship between religion versus science and how far boundaries can be pushed.

The Golden Compass looks at a great deal of themes to help young adults understand and better navigate the "real world" from the eyes of protagonist, Lyra. For example, throughout the book Lyra is literally a "liar", at first using her lying to trick others to her advantage in a negative light. As the story continues, however, we see she uses her sharp wit and lying to her advantage to help others, showing character growth and embedding an important lesson to the reader.

From the different factions--the Oxford Scholars, General Oblation Board, the witches, gypitans, Mrs. Coulter and even the bears-- there is a constant struggle for power and resources. The book prominently looks at the theme of power and how it affects all other parts of one's life. I would say that the spiritual challenges presented in the book were very strongly displayed through Pullman's criticism of religious institutions how much power they hold.  Mrs. Coulter shows the power of the Magisterium's power as one which is corrupt and abusive, and is often paralleled with religious organizations today such as the Roman Catholic Church. The absolute power and insistence of the Magisterium shows the faults and evils of

On the other hand, Pullman shows the benefits of working in moderation, seen in the rulers like the King of Bears and Queen of Witches. This, similar to Lyra's lying, shows the young readers how everything can be used for goodness.

Week Six: An Unexpected Journey

J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit is another book that I've read more than once, but it's one that I find myself reading there and back again. Strangely, I've never seen or read The Lord of The Rings trilogy, but at this point I'm quite knowledgeable about it's folklore and the rich backstory that Tolkien created for this universe. I've always found it interesting to look at the different interpretations of The Hobbit in particular, and how these interpretations differ.

When people think of the first version of The Hobbit to hit the screen, they usually think about the TV movie from 1977 done by Topcraft, the precursor to Studio Ghibli. But there was actually a short experimental film that came out before that in 1966 by director Gene Dietch, which was a very loose interpretation of the Hobbit with a higher focus on the Arcenstone and a fair share of strange decisions, such as changing Smaug's name to Slagg the dragon.



What keeps people coming back to Tolkien's universe is how in-depth all of the characters and their backgrounds really get. Just examining the lore behind the different races in Middle-Earth lends itself to an in-depth analysis and stories for each. For example, there are three types of hobbits which are already a subset of Middle Earth men. There are the Harfoots which most closely resemble the hobbits described in The Hobbit, are the most numerous of the races and found mainly in the Shire as well as Bree. There are also the Stoors who are more apt to be related to water, boats and swimming, while the Fallohides were more adventurous. It could be argued that the Baggins were from the Harfoot hobbits, but had Fallohide in their lineage from the Took side of the family. This sense of adventure fueled the story for Bilbo Baggins, and drove him to his hero's journey.

Week Five: Witches

“Aunt Maria” by Diana Wynne Jones was an interesting read. Told in the first person, through a series of journal entries by Mig, the main character, Jones weaves together a very interesting plot that delves into the supernatural world of ghosts and witches. The characters in this story are very dynamic to say the least; Aunt Maria is perhaps the greatest personality in the entire novel. She’s interesting to me I think, because in my mind we have all met or at least heard of people just like her. That elderly woman who lounges idly and passes judgment on those around her and somehow manipulates you into seeing to her every whim and worry. Aunt Maria is very much that character to the point that it’s almost terrifying and Jones writes in such a way that you find yourself feeling as though you too were securely under Aunt Maria’s thumb, so to speak. Every small victory over her domineering personality was like a triumphant conquest for the reader and the character that managed to attain that victory, that I think the book becomes that much better of a read, because the reader feels as though they are a part of the controversy. I think that’s why I found myself rooting for Chris’ character despite the fact that he was loud, and rude and brash. It’s that behavior I believe that most of us would resort to when pushed completely to the edge of utter annoyance. A noteworthy part of the story I think, is also how closely things would tie themselves to gender roles. The way Jones writes and deals with gender roles in the story seems to be a nod to how silly and ineffective these roles can be. In fact Jones seems to be saying, through this novel, that gender roles more inhibit rather than help alleviate situations and crises. Jones treats the separation of male and female in this novel as though they were separate species that could not and would not communicate with one another with women being the dominant species in the book, causing the male entities to be distrustful of Mig, the protagonist of the story. This novel reminded me of being a kid again because the plot line seemed like something straight out of a nineties movie, it was the right amount of supernatural antics mixed with terrible relatives and quirky, bizarre happenings like people being transformed into animals and a gathering of tea drinking witches and going out on holiday and finding an adventure. I mostly liked reading it because it lent itself to that notion of bizarre hi-jinks that sort themselves out in the end and make you a stronger person because of it.

Week Four: The New Weird

I find myself once again writing about Joss Whedon, this time about the 2012 film "The Cabin in the Woods". And I will say, if there is one thing about "weird" fiction that I can really appreciate, it's interpretations of the genre from Joss Whedon's perspective.

There's something about horror that I really don't like. Which is, quite frankly, the scary horror part of it. I'm a generally fidgety, squeamish person, so movies or books that are filled with suspense or shocking moments that are meant to leave you scared are definitely not my cup of tea. But the way "The Cabin in the Woods" does it makes it breaks down and makes fun of the formulaic nature of your every day scary movie while incorporating it's own set of rules and lore, as well as it's greater purpose within their universe.

I really liked the idea that the character tropes/archetypes seen in most horror films are exaggerated versions of otherwise normal, capable individuals. Having an underground power controlling and playing the game in an effort to stave off the apocalypse is definitely a different take on things. You think you know the story, but you don't know it. I thought the use of humor juxtaposed against the very harsh gory graphics was successful, although a little jarring for my personal taste. Since I'm familiar with Whedon's work with Buffy, it's interesting to see his take on what I would consider an adjacent universe to the Buffyverse.

Week Three: Kwaidan

This week I chose to read the short stories from Kwaidan from the assigned readings. I found them very entertaining and enjoyed the fact that they were a series of short stories as apposed to long novel forms--I've always fund media to be more digestible and to the point in shorter formats. These in particular kept me reading, the same way you could easily binge watch a tv series on Netflix but not necessarily watch 4 feature films back-to-back. I liked the way some of the stories had abrupt endings, reflective of how the real world situations of the tales would have a surprising end as well. 

Another thing I noticed was that, while they were written down by Lafcadio Hearn in 1907, the language is very simple to reflect the translations of the original stories. I wonder if some elements of the fiction were lost in translation, especially when considering the traditional embellished nature of Victorian English contrasted against the straightforward plain interpretations of the tales in Kwaidan.

One of the stories from the Kwaidan I read was The Story of Mimi-Nashi-Hoychi. It was more like stories I’m used to than others with a distinct beginning, middle, and end as well as being longer.  The creepy supernatural elements kept things interesting, I suspected that there was something going on that more than meets the eye. Well, mostly because Hoychi is blind, he couldn’t see if something was afoot. I definitely didn’t expect his ears to get ripped off though and him to keep completely still. 

Week Two: Understanding Vampires

I wouldn't say I'm necessarily a fan of vampire fiction, but I am a fan of many things that lie within the vampire genre. In this weeks class, we discussed the different classic elements of vampirism and the rules that are generally accepted in vampire fiction. As a big Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan (TV series only, I haven't had the chance to read the comics yet), I'm most familiar with the "Buffy Rules":

• Vampires are immortal unless killed by the following: Stake through the heart, Fire, Decapitation, Direct Sunlight
• Vampires do not have souls, they are demons that have taken over the souls/memories of the host body
• Their faces can turn bumpy
• Turning someone into a vampire requires the one being turned to drink the blood of the host vampire
• And many more rules

It was interesting to realize these "established rules" that I had etched in my mind were actually pretty different from the rules that are traditionally associated with vampires...such as turning into bats, or using their lustful gazes to entrance unsuspecting women. I started thinking about the way Buffy kick-started the post-modern take on vampires to add a romantic element. There are vampires, but they have souls and love the one person meant to kill vampires! (Spike and Angel) And with that, the lion fell in love with the lamb and the Twilight series became a hit (not a fan, if you couldn't tell.) 

With all of those elements in mind, I chose read  I am Legend by Richard Matheson, comparing the elements of vampirism and storytelling to the perceptions of vampires. I had seen the movie "I am Legend" starring Will Smith--although I will admit I was too scared and left the theater because there was a lot of loud startling noises, and I'm just really not a fan of "scary" movies. I liked the scientific take on the vampire notion in comparison to traditional vampire stories that incorporate more supernatural elements. In this story, the idea of an epidemic with a cure fuels the plot, which reminds me more of a "zombie" horror story. 

When we look at the "vampire" or monster in vampire fiction, we normally see them as the main antagonist to the very capable protagonist. Often the protagonist's journey is an involuntary one, but a duty nonetheless. Robert Neville had to deal with the pain and loss of his wife and daughter to this disease, losing the life he loved to fight vampires and survive in a new world. And in every generation, a Slayer is born...sometimes that slayer is a cheerleader who has to give up her life she loves to fight vampires and keep the world the same...

But Buffy Summers legacy as the Slayer is very different from Robert Neville's journey into becoming a "Legend". Whereas vampires are normally seen as a very black/white interpretation of good and evil, we realize Neville's story actually puts him on the evil side of a new society. Overall, I found I am Legend a novel take on an idea that's rehashed time and time again, and that's really what I like about vampire fiction.

Gothic Fiction depicted in The Black Cat (1934)

I have read Mary Shelley's Frankenstein many, many times at this point. I first read the novel when I was in the 7th grade in my advanced literacy class, where I was most impressed by the word "paroxysm" (I continue to use the word to this day). I then read it again in my senior year of high school in my AP English class, where I thought to myself "I wonder if I'll read this book again." Lo and behold, I did read it again! Although this time was probably my favorite reading of it, because I instead explored the structure of the book as a piece of Gothic Fiction, and elements from it that I thought were really reflective of the genre.

For this entry, I decided to take my understanding of a few key points in gothic fiction from my readings and relate it to another classic gothic piece, the 1934 film "The Black Cat" starring Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff, as well as contrast those elements to Frankenstein. The film, produced by Universal pictures and one of the biggest box office hits of that year, was part of the boom in horror film "talkie" pictures following the release of "Dracula" and "Frankenstein" in 1931.

1. The Sublime Setting
1. One major theme in gothic fiction is the idea of relevance in the context of the world, or the sublime setting. In Frankenstein, there are many grotesque horror elements combined with scientific findings that combine the emerging technology in the world with these 
2. This can also be seen in "The Black Cat", where Karloff's character Hjalmar Poelzig's very modern home is built on the ruins of the fort he commanded during the war, and surrounded by very old traditionally gothic elements.
2. Mortality/Death
1. There is a fascination in gothic literature about the preservation of mortality and the death that follows it, which is often displayed in grotesque ways.
2. Frankenstein examines this idea with Victor trying to keep his professor's mind immortalized by bringing his creature to life, hoping to find a way to take parts of people who were once deceased and bring them back for longer preservation. The results take a turn of the hideous, but the idea is nonetheless successful.
3. This ideal of preserving the beauty of things that were once living can also be seen in Poelzig's hidden dungeon: After being revealed as an antagonist through the film, we see Lugosi's character Dr. Vitus Werdegast finding his deceased wife as one of the beautiful women on display in the glass cases Poelzig has.
3. Descent into Madness
1.