Blog 11. The Painted Bird, ch3+4. Erin

On page xiii in the front of the book, Kosinski details how he chose the title of his book:
"Aristophane's symbolic use of birds, which allowed him to deal with actual events and characters without the restrictions which the writing of history imposes, seemed particularly appropriate, as I associated it with a peasant custom I had witnessed during my childhood. One of the villagers' favorite entertainments was trapping birds, painting their feathers, then releasing them to rejoin their flock. As these brightly colored creatures sought the safety of their fellows, the other birds, seeing them as threatening aliens, attacked and tore at the outcasts until they killed them. I decided I too would set my work in a mythic domain, in the timeless fictive present, unrestrained by geography or history. My novel would be called The Painted Bird."


               "and only God,
                                      omnipotent indeed,
                 knew they were mammals
                                                        of a different breed."
                                                                               MAYAKOVSKI



1) Animal imagery plays a big part in the book thus far. Pick an instance of animal imagery and discuss its significance, or just how it impacted you.

2) There's a lot of horrific stuff in this story - instances of absurd and terrible violence, like the villagers whipping our protagonist (who, remember, is around 6 or 7 years old), or the miller gouging out the boy's eyes, and the cats batting the severed organs about the floor. What is your reaction to these? What do you think these scenes add to the narrative?

You can draw from chapters 1-4 for this blog.

Blog 10. Agasha's Post. "Untitled" ("Almost Famous")

These are Agasha's questions, but I am going to modify them just a little.  Everyone please do number 4: and pick two from 1-3 to answer.  Look too at the information post that I posted on Thursday night.  Nothing to answer, just some info and clips. 
 
1. William's mother's parenting was slightly extreme and freaked some characters out after interactions with her over the phone. Do you think her behavior is justified? Too mellow? Too extreme? And where does this behavior stem from? Losing her daughter? Losing her husband?

2. We hear multiple characters declare: "It's all happening." But what's all happening? In the midst of the lives of rock stars where lots of things are happening, this sentence is pretty vague. So what all is happening and what does this mean for their futures?

3. What is this realness that Russell yearns for so badly? What's so "real" about William that Russell notices?

4.  This was obviously a movie with a happy resolution. But it doesn't give much insight as to what happens in the future for William. Is he still uncool? Having written for an extremely popular publication, his life doesn't seem to have changed much afterword when we see him eating at the table with his sister and mother. And while the relationship is better between the two of them, how they finally came to this conclusion doesn't apply the same way to the other problems within the film. Is the resolution of this movie having to do with becoming more mature and realizing what really matters? Is it realizing that it doesn't mater whether or not your cool? What was it that the movie was trying to get us to see?

Here's Cameron Crowe accepting his Best Screenplay Oscar for Almost Famous.

And finally Russell Hammond proclaiming he is a golden god.

See you all on Monday.  If you want to get a head start on the reading, you can read Chapters 1 and 2 of The Painted Bird that will be due on Tuesday. 

Information for "Unititled" ("Almost Famous"). Please Read Before You Answer Agasha's Questions.

Before Agasha gets her blog up, I wanted you to have some resources to refer back to you when you're answering her questions and for when we discuss the film tomorrow. 

First is the "Tiny Dancer" scene.  Some critics (and viewers) hated it.  I can see why: it's "cheesy" to use a contemporary term.  But I tend to think you have to buy this moment to buy the whole movie, which romanticizes rock music while questioning and critiquing the "circus," as Russell calls it, that exists around it.  

Second is the "The Wind" scene, totally unnecessary to the narrative but clearly important to the movie as it occurs after Dennis Hope and his mercenary view of rock-music-as-business is adopted by Stillwater.  It also highlights Penny Lane's character as a potential "manic pixie dreamgirl" figure, one that Cameron Crowe has used in many of his films.  I think she's more than the trope.

Here is "Stillwater"performing.  Mark Kozelek who plays bassist Larry Fellows and John Fedevich who plays drummer Ed Vallencourt are professional musicians. Billy Crudup and Jason Lee, the Mick and Keith, Page and Plant, of the band, are not: they took lessons from Crowe's wife Nancy Wilson of Heart and Peter Frampton (who for many years had the biggest selling album in pop music, 1976's "Frampton Comes Alive"; he plays a roadie for Humble Pie in the movie—after having really played guitar and singing for Humble Pie in the time the movie takes place).  They look like a real band.

Finally,  here's an earlier version of the screenplay and some trivia and information about the film from Cameron Crowe's website.

Blog #9. Chapter 81-92. Mira

Blog Eight. Through Chapter 69. Moey.

"This book came to her like an olive branch. It assured her of God's love for man, of man's love of God: in the ever-lengthening shadow of Hitler and Mussolini her faith was restored, and the comfortable mediations of her minister found lodging" (84)

"Once and a while she would be on the point of questioning her husband, but, after thinking it over, she realized she would be asking silly questions, and he was so overburdened with business problems that she did not want to distract him. Besides, there was not much she herself could not accomplish" (86)

"There's so much scandal and fraud everywhere you turn, and I suppose the papers only print what they want us to know" (86)

"In fact, now that there was no danger involved she had trouble finishing the book; she thought it would be better in a magazine digest" (87)

"And when the moment finally came she pulled the lever recording her wish for the world to remain as it was" (88)

"Unanimity was so gratifying" (89)

"She wondered if he had wept when he learned what had happened, and if he tried to apologize for having allowed her to go home alone that night, or whether he had been with her and had been frightened away by the man's gun. Or had he been struck over the head? Did he still respect her?" (91)

"...she clothed Leda in a flower dressmaker bathing suit not unlike her own" (93)

"She never forgot this moment when she had almost apprehended the very meaning of life, and of the stars and planets, yes, and the flight of the earth" (94)

"To be afraid is, I tell you, Madame, the most terrible thing in the world" (96)

"'Well,' observed Mrs. Bridge the moment the story ended, 'I'm certainly grateful times have changed'" (103)

"'No name,' said Harriet, 'and he looks suspicious'" (103)

"...then she snatched the comb and broke it in half" (113)

"...and wondered if, as a chaperon, she could flatly order one of the stags to dance with Naomi. She had a feeling there would be trouble if she attempted this." (118)

"...consciously beyond the limit: Mrs. Bridge knew it immediately from the girl's apprehensive eyes...the horrifying part of it had been that the girl's back was turned to her partner" (120)

"but because she wanted Carolyn to learn to judge people she said nothing" (120)

"but a moment afterward she thought of the night some twenty years ago when she had barely resisted the pleas of a boy whose very name she had long forgotten" (122)

"I believe not until next week on the customary evening" (125)

"Is my daughter mine?" (134)

"He laughed, and his laughter rang out odd and bold, the laughter of a different man, a free and happy man" (139)

A ridiculous amount of quotes, I know. But there were so many important ones in this chapter. Anyways.

1. I think at this point, it is well established that Mrs. Bridge, to some degree, has internalized sexism. We are now seeing constant allusions to her innate fear of rape, and a sense that sexism limits her personal agency; she doesn't believe she can do anything because of how linked she is with her husband. Yet, I think more in this chapter we see the issue of sexuality emerge for her children; we see Carolyn's argument with Jay, and Ruth's -- propensity -- for Chippendale's dancers. Chippendale's, by the way, is male strip club. Just for fun, I put in the description on their website below... Anyways. A quote that particularly jumped out at me was when Ruth was reading her mother's letter, describing it as "guidance of another era" (140). One might argue that Ruth and Carolyn's problems are fundamentally different than Mrs. Bridge's -- not only because of the time change, but because of how they handle it -- Carolyn with maturity, Ruth simply bypassing the problem altogether by embracing sexuality. Yet, at the same time they seem similar, all women fearing for themselves. So question one: can you compare the issues with sexuality that Mrs. Bridge faces to the ones that her children face? Are they the same? Are there fundamental differences? And the real question: if there are differences (and I think they are), can you blame them all on the time difference and cultural shifts? Or is there something innately fearful about Mrs. Bridge that her children lack, allowing her to handle the situation differently?


"Chippendales Las Vegas is a mantastic, sex-god, abs party that will make you lose your damn mind… in the best way of course! "

A complicated question, I know, but I think it gets at the heart of the text -- is this simply a cultural issue, with Mrs. Bridge being the victim of her society or is there something deeper about her?
2. What do you make of Tarquin's fate? It was incredibly disconcerting to me, particularly because it so closely mirrors Ruth getting ready to punch her mother. Can you compare these two incidences? How do you think Mrs. Bridge can gain the respect of her kids back? Was Tarquin's fate inevitable?

3. The last quote I put up, the one about Mr. Bridge: can y'all get to the bottom of this? Why was he so happy, and free? Is it because he got rid of a child? Why do you think he cares so much more about where Carolyn goes than where Ruth goes?

And dobermans!!!!!

Blog 7. Stuart Duffield. 25-35

“...there was one morning when she appeared for breakfast in Mexican huaraches, Japanese silk pajamas with the sleeves rolled up--displaying a piece of adhesive tape where she had cut herself shaving her forearms--blue horn-rimmed reading glasses, and for earrings a cluster of tiny golden bells that tinkled whenever she moved. She might have gotten by this morning except for the fact that as she ate she steadily relaxed and contracted her feet so the huaraches creaked.

‘Now see here, you lady,’ Mrs. Bridge said with more authority than she felt, as she dropped a slice of bread into the automatic toaster. ‘In the morning one doesn’t wear earrings that dangle. People will think you’re something from another world.’

‘So?’ said Ruth without looking up from the newspaper.

‘Just what do you mean by that?’

‘So who cares?’

‘I care, that’s who!’ Mrs. Bridge cried, suddenly very close to hysteria. ‘I care very much.’” (58)

“‘Think what would happen if it fell over ker-plunk and hit you square on the head,’ she continued, ruffling his hair, and reflecting automatically that he needed another haircut.’ (61)

“..the hour was approaching  when she must begin to reason with him as an adult, and this idea disturbed her. She was not certain she was equal to it.” (62)

“All her life she had been accustomed to responding immediately when anyone spoke to her.” (63)

“Mrs. Bridge understood now that she would never see very much of him. They had started off together to explore something that promised to be wonderful, and, of course, there had been wonderful times. And yet, thought Mrs. Bridge, why is it that we haven’t--that nothing has--that whatever we--?” (64)

“‘Why on earth do you think I’m here if I don’t love you? Why aren’t I somewhere else? What in the world has got into you?’” (69)

Mrs. Bridge responds habitually to everything around her. She does not think when she confronts Douglas about the guest towels and Ruth about her eccentric outfit, rather, she reacts intensely and emotionally. She is juxtaposed with an automatic toaster. She is scared with the prospect of trying to reason with Douglas. Why is Mrs. Bridge so averse to thinking for herself? Is she too conditioned by society, by her parents? Does she not have the capacity to really think for herself? Why is it, when she feels doubts about her marriage, she cannot even form coherent questions?

Mrs. Bridge’s family is central to her life, but she seems often unable to control her children and communicate with her husband. So, does her husband really love her? Does Mrs. Bridge really love her kids? Alternatively, answer this: why do you think she married Walter Bridge? She thought she could get away without marriage before, what did the “unremarkable” Walter Bridge have to offer her that changed her mind? Answer both questions if you want to.

Also, small excerpt from the plot synopsis of Tobacco Road (the novel) shamelessly taken from Wikipedia: "Possibly they realize that their way of life is already dead; thus their primary concern becomes not the preservation of that life but its appearance during burial."

Best Blog Ever #6: Mrs. Bridge Ch.10-17 (Jay)

1) RACISM. That's one way to start a blog. Considering we have so little direct insight into Mrs. Bridge’s mind, it's hard to make a definite decision on her stance on race. So, based on Mrs. Bridge’s actions and the little commentary Connell give us, is Mrs. Bridge racist? Is she just complacent? Does she have any opinions on race at all?
2) We haven't talked about Walter Bridge much, but I think he's a fascinating character, though he may be the most bland and static character you ever read about. He managed to be present for the entirety of chapter 12, the longest chapter we've read so far, and somehow say almost nothing. It's obvious that neither one of them like the Van Meters, but there's a stark difference in the way Mrs. Bridge handles their outing and the way Walter does. Instead of going silent, Mrs. Bridge entertains Mr. Van Meters antics. What does this interaction say about Mrs. Bridge’s character, Walter’s character, and the dynamic of their marriage?
3) “You should say the cleaning ‘woman.’ A lady is someone like Mrs. Arlen or Mrs. Montgomery.” I'm going to abuse my power as the blog writer to ask you guys: What the hell does this mean? Is this a race comment? Does it strictly have to do with socio-economic class? I have no idea, so I'd love to hear what you guys think of this quote.