Abstract for final project: The Proletariat

Who: The proletariat of the United States

What: Fairytale portrayal of working conditions and job opportunities

Where: Hollywood films, The United States workforce

When: The films and literature will be from recent U.S. history and the analysis will stem from current day problems.

Why: To demonstrate that it is not this way; workers in our very own “land of the free” are suffering.

Research:

I plan to find academic articles on workforce conditions and investigate worker’s statements and biographies or autobiographies.  Possible categories to search are: the labor movement, portrayal of workers in media/film, opinion of workers, opinion of worker’s rights, knowledge of worker’s conditions, common perception of workers in the United States (I could search in an international database for this).  All of the previous searches will be specifically for the workers in the United States.

Films I plan on reviewing for this project are: Erin Brockovich, Norma Ray, and other films that attempt to portray the reality of factory workers.  I will comment on how the films’ representation of these workers affected its viewers, i.e. if it was an accurate representation, did it follow any stereotypes or end the film with a bow?  I will also look into current popular movies and analyze their depiction of jobs and workers to compare with the reality of the times.   

2013 Oscar Academy Awards Ceremony: Trashy, Classy, and … Musical?

“Here is to the losers… the losers of them all!!!” belted out Oscar and red carpet hosts, Seth McFarlane and Kristen Chenoweth.  The two formed the tackiest, most obnoxious duo, with derogatory slurs and mindless prattling, for the classiest night in Hollywood.

But enough of the losers… let’s talk about the winners of the evening.

Breaking free from his typecast as a pea-brained heartthrob, director and leading actor Ben Affleck received the Best Picture Oscar for Argo on Sunday at the 85^th Academy Awards ceremony.  Co-produced by Grant Heslov, George Clooney and Affleck, the “sexiest producers alive” approached the stage to thank their crew, family, and “Canada.” 

According to Oscars’ history, there is a direct correlation between the Best Picture and Director awards, but not last evening.  Ang Lee, the first non-white filmmaker who received Best Director for Brokeback Mountain in 2005, also won the honor this year for his Life of Pi.

Claudio Miranda, the cinematographer, accepted his award, and reflected on “wonderful moments” such as the scene made of more than 120,000 candles.  Life of Pi also took home Best Original Score and Best Visual Effects. 

Another first in Oscar’s history was its theme: music in film.  Live performances are a whole new world for Hollywood stars; some cannot do without their cappuccino break, so it was incredible to see actors such as Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Daniel Radcliff, choreographed in song and dance.  Catherine Zeta Jones (43 years-old) made it even more surreal as she (still) flaunted her seductiveness in “All that Jazz.” 

However, the show stealer was the cast of Les Miserables, who performed a medley of “One More Day” and “Suddenly.” No wonder people pay thousands for a seat in the nosebleed section. No wonder Anne Hathaway took home the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.  Wow.

Jennifer Laurence, a winner for her edgy role in Silver Lining’s Playbook, looked star-struck as she gazed in astonishment at the crowd applauding her for winning Best Actress. 

Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln and Christoph Waltz in Django Unchained received Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor (respectively) for their portrayal of characters from the 19^th century. 

Even though Day-Lewis became the most decorated male actor in Oscar’s history, with three Best Actor awards, he received the honor with humility and a smile; he bashfully acknowledged that he has “received more than [his] portion on good things in life.” 

Maybe he’ll offer acting classes to McFarlane and Chenoweth, who could learn a little bit of astuteness.  Or at least learn to feign it.  

Kalamazoo College is Against Sleeping?

We can’t have it all, Kalamazoo College.  Every student has or will have to face the decision: sleep or finish the 150 page reading assignment due tomorrow?  With extensive homework assignments and quick deadlines, it seems unlikely that a student can get the adequate amount of sleep, which studies show is “eight hours or more.” 

Hell, after morning meetings with professors, from afternoon classes, to evening club meetings, sports’ practices, or workout sessions, throw in some dinner and then the homework, our minds barely have a second to breathe, let alone take a “nap” (which researchers say is ‘okay’ if it is a short one).

The vicious cycle of a college student’s life is draining and various articles, published by universities themselves, have recognized it:  “Everyday activities such as going to class, working out, or working on a computer can strain your mind and body.  Sleep deprivation can affect important aspects of your mind and body such as your mood, energy, ability to learn, memory, good judgment, reaction time and efficiency” (The Importance of Sleep, University of Michigan).  If a tired mind is a weak mind, how can we keep up the prestige of Kalamazoo College? 

There is an option; we do not have to go out Friday night.  Or Saturday.  We can stay in and study, and wake up early to study some more.  But this isn’t appealing to any college student, including the college itself.  Kalamazoo College has recently sent out surveys asking about the level of fun or a social life of its students (or lack there of).  It appears the College wants its students to have a good time; we do have days like DOGL and events like Monte Carlos, but why not make free time a daily concept? Surely that will settle any anxieties of the College regarding its students’ free time. 

Not trying to sound too radical, but Gandhi believed “where there is love there is life” every day, not just a choice few.

With two presentations, two papers and one project all due on Monday (true story), do we

a) go out on Saturday night and exercise our time as young, adventurous adults, maybe even treat ourselves to a 10:00am alarm clock on Sunday morning…b) pull an all-nighter (do not get sufficient sleep) or c) not enjoy the sense of a weekend?  The answer: if only a troubled K student knew.

The Critic as an Artist or The Artist as a Critic?: Neither and Both

When Oscar Wilde wrote his piece, The Critic as an Artist, in the early 1890s, his idea of a ‘critic’ and of an ‘artist’ was different from the meaning of one today, where there are not any Monets, Manets, Degas and Renoirs sprouting up.  In order to properly understand a work of art, it is important to notice the time it was made.  For example, Wilde reasons that “it is the critical faculty that invents fresh forms” but whose ‘critical faculty’ was he considering (900)?   

Wilde means that critical thinking is the seed of remarkable and legendary art.  Not all artists are critics, some artists regurgitate popular culture, but all remarkable and legendary artists, like that of Da Vinci’s Monna Lisa or even Walter Pater’s words that describe the painting, “hers is the head upon which all ‘the ends of the world are come,’ and the eyelids are a little weary,” are works of art (906). 

Wilde argues that all “beautiful” art, whether it is paintings on canvas or words on paper, is derived from critical thinking.  He explains, “Without the critical faculty, there is no artistic creation at all worthy of the name.  That spirit of choice, that subtle tact of omission, is really the critical faculty” (900).  For a piece of art to be different and exquisite, no matter the medium, the artist has to have a critical eye and a spirit different from the rest. 

Following this thought, Wilde describes, “the mere creative instinct does not innovate, but reproduces” (902).  Wilde acknowledges that not all artists, or critics, are brilliant thinkers—the “mere creative instinct”—and do not have the ability to reflect deeply or develop a profound feeling.  He states the “highest Criticism deals with art not as expressive, but as impressive” meaning that only art that is “impressive” is paired with “impressive” criticism (905). 

He recognizes that not all artists are critics and not all critics are artists.  Only those artists who are exceptional are critics, and likewise, those critics who are exceptional are artists.  

A Critical Essay on Pauline Kael: She’s sassy and she knows it

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New York Times Defense: Afghani Ensemble Visits "Bolero"

On Wednesday Mara and Colin will be covering Anthony Tommasini’s review of the Afghanistan National Institute of Music rendition“Bolero” by Maurice Ravel.

Tommasini is the chief music critic at the New York Times as of 2000, first joining the staff in 1996.

This music critic actually began as a professor at Emerson College in Boston, but after being denied of tenure he pursued music criticism.

We’re going to analyze how Tommasini targets his audience, and how he introduces new vocabulary of traditional Afghani music and its instruments without alienating his readers.

One of the reasons why we’re defending this piece is because of the word choice used to describe the feelings evoked from the foreign instrumentation.

Tommasini describes the unfamiliar sounds of these instruments with familiar comparisons (“Or the sarod, another plucked Afghan instrument [...] could bend the blue-notes of the melody with the yearning of a Billie Holiday”).

We’re also going to explore the use of diction, assonance and consonance, as well as meter (“plucked like a lute to produce a sound both tender and tart”).

Lastly, we’re going to appraise the cultural context Tommasini adds to the review; he draws awareness to social climate of Afghanistan with quotes from Mohammad Asif Nang.

Link.

Delicious Breakfast Done Sunny Side Down

On a sunny Saturday morning, nothing is more relaxing than breakfast in bed, except for maybe a more practical option: breakfast downtown.  Keyword: maybe. Toast, a breakfast café in metro-Detroit, offers delicious morning treats but lacks the warmth and comfort of home.

Despite its bright and funky vibe, Toast offers no neighborly greeting.  The collection of bold colors and vintage toasters makes the joint look trendy, but the hostess-manager is no morning-person, and unlikely a day or night person too. 

However, a case of the grumps did not dispirit the jolly breakfast-goers.  People of all ages and appetites clumsily stacked themselves in the waiting ‘hallway’ for a table. And they sure did have a reason to wait. 

An aroma of cinnamon, doughy French toast, dazzled with fresh blueberries, black berries and raspberries, topped with grandma’s homemade whipping cream, teased nostrils as it danced around tabletops. 

This popular dish, served with breakfast essentials (sausages, bacon, ham) is one of the many funky choices on a menu made for meat lovers, sweet tooths and vegetarians alike. 

According to the server and a friendly regular, a favorite dish is the “Blackstone Benny.”  The poached egg, with a satisfactory ETA of 10 minutes, was a tiny bit undercooked, but its combination with bacon, tomato, and hollandaise, all neatly placed over a sourdough baguette, atone for any minor flaws.

The creamy, mellow-in-flavor hollandaise sauce is a matchless companion.  Like butter to toast, it did not steal the spotlight from the sizzling apple-smoked bacon and the wholeness of the sourdough, but rather it tied flavors together.

Although the baguette could have been crispier to juxtapose the perfection of the succulent yolk, the crust had the right crunch.  The choice of sides, either Parmesan encrusted grits or a medley of crisp redskin potato home fries, seasoned with herbs and spices, would leave any stomach satisfied.  (Note: the house recommendation is the home fries; a Goldilocks pleaser that is not ‘too hot’ and not ‘too bland.’)

Even though the chitchat of morning news and clatter of coffee mugs and silverware may be a burden to enjoy a conversation, the flavorful breakfast and lunch menu certainly keeps mouths occupied. 

Toast offers breakfast fit for a Queen, only without all of the pampering.  Just beware of morning grumps and a 15-20 minute wait. 

…Oh and the king-sized, mouth-watering ooey, gooey cinnamon roll that fits ever so perfectly into a to-go box.