I feel so unwanted… *sniff* *sniff*
So there i am sitting on the corner of rex and St. Mary with Trey talking about philosophical matters when i see Scnaars and Graden heading down the street. As they get closer i see them cut off into the parking lot of follets and lose them. Apparently they did not see me. Apparently they didn’t even walk to the corner of Rex street, but fine i’m a better man. I ate lunch with Trey.
In other news about individuals who are my friends… 😉
HLF and I watched a movie yesterday called Infernal Affairs. It was a very interesting film. It was the jappanese interpretation of a cop drama. It was a very beautifully told story. The story follows two characters through their life. And there is this symetry of storytelling that holds very well. During the tale there were two spies in both camps, the police force and the triad gang. They worked off of each other during the breadth of the storyline in a very symmetrical fashion.
HLF and I got into a discussion about movie imports and how we tend to get branded version of movies.
My idea is that the movie industry of america filters out the various movies we recieve from other countries, at least in respect to popular films.
Brief generalization
1) Britain crime flicks (shifting scenes, rapid cuts, etc.)
—-Any Guy Richie film
—-Millions
2) British comedy films
—-Monty Python of course
—-Full Monty
3) China Martial Arts Films
—-Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon
—-Hero
—-Kung fu hustle
4) Jappanese Anime (this is the only category that is completly original to this coutnry)
—-I can list tons, but i’m sure you recognize anime for anime.
Anyways my point is that if you don’t search for films of another country, this is the products your going to recieve from the basic filter.
My argument is weak, but i’m thinking i can take it further to suggest that we are imprinting stereotypical images onto other cultures. If you are from china, you must know martial arts right? If your british you should be funny eh?
I wonder how many people believe these unconsciously. Who knows i might be completely off base here.
I am absoleutly positive about this though, every culture approaches art in a different manner.
April 5th, 2005 at 8:42 pm
Man, I am SO sorry! Please accept my deepest apologies. We were walking to meet you. I said to Graden, “I’m not sure if David is going to meet with us today. I didn’t see his car where he usually parks and I know he was working hard to turn in his metaphysics paper today.” So we were walking along we got into a deep discussion. We get to the point where you must have seen us and so we ducked into the parking lot …. er, no, I mean, there was a fallen student in the parking lot and we went to see if he needed help. That and … um … the sun was shining in our eyes really brightly so we thought we should aproach the intersection from a different angle. No? Plus did you notice the wind was blowing really hard today? We needed to find shelter because I got a speck in my eye. I had to take it out before it got infected and I lost my eye, you know how it is. Especially with that sun glaring. It was really, really painful and i’m lucky I didn’t have to go to the hospital. I’m all right now, though. No seriously, Graden started to cut through the parking lot and I just didn’t think twice about it, I just went along. It wasn’t until a few steps later he asked me if it was okay to go to Burger King, which brought me back to reality for a second and I wondered if we had missed you. But I didn’t say anything because I just figured one of us would have seen you. In truth I was so intent on explaining my own paper to him that there was really very little room left in my little egotistic sleep deprived brain for anything else. Looking back on it I think he must have thought I meant that you were [i:e757f08ddf]certainly[/i:e757f08ddf] not going to meet us for lunch, when I only meant there was a chance you wouldn’t. The fault is totally due entirely to me and my pea-sized intellect. Sorry I missed you and Trey.
April 5th, 2005 at 9:33 pm
My guess is they think that if you are from America, you are… (1) A brainless blonde bimbo ex-cheerleader turned stay-at-home mom or her patriotic ex-football player turned hardworking farmer-Bob husband. (2) An educated and culturally enlightened somewhat liberal yet self-absorbed and possibly money-grubbing citydweller in one of only three extant American cities (New York City, Chicago, and anywhere-in-California). (3) A fallen Southern aristocrat whose relatives have done nothing but sit on the front porch and swat mosquitos whilst sipping mint juleps since the fall of slavery (4) Black Thank you: Bring it On and American Beauty; Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Sex and the City; Water Boy and Wild Things; and the Wayan Brothers, respectively. Ugh. I hate office hours!
April 5th, 2005 at 10:33 pm
After a brief consultation with my brother, we came to the conclusion, “Fuck you, we didn’t want to have any discussion with you whatsoever.” hehe… we will take our logical discourse and discuss elsewhere… We ate at the copy center because we lost you guys after following you near there, we thought perhaps that was where you were eating… -=-=- As for the movie thing, I hear harrison ford is very admired over there… action films are enjoyed.. big budget hollywoody kind of films…
April 5th, 2005 at 10:38 pm
A lot of people like to think that they have discovered something really good that they think no one else knows about. This could be a movie, a comic, a good book, a little coffee shop, a hobby, etc. If they knew that the product had been mass-marketed, it would take something away from the enjoyment of the product. I can think of a lot of movies that have made HUGE amounts of money through being marketed underground and gaining a cult following. A lot of advertisers have gotten wise to this. It is possible to make lots of money from a product without mass-marketing it, as long as you can get the message to the right consumer. I saw a show on PBS a couple of months ago about this. Car companies are drastically cutting the dollars they spen on tv advertising in order to get exposure on the internet and at shows and gatherings using targeted advertising. They sponsor clubs and sporting events that their targeted demographics are likely to participate in. They are finding this to be very effective.
April 7th, 2005 at 2:00 pm
I have no idea what my last post was about. I’m just re-reading everything and I have no idea why I brought up that last bit. SDP, I love your list of stereotypes. I could add one more: an awkward and inept male teen with raging hormones in a high school or junior college where unjust social boundaries and half-way together guys with muscles prevent him from realizing his sexual fantasies.