An Inconventient Hero On a Wire

I don't think a hero can be defined. If you watch the news or know of someone who goes out of their way to commit a selfless act of kindness, they can be considered a hero. It can be the store employee who helps carry your groceries to your car, or a teenager volunteering at a shelter or home. To be considered a hero a person does not always have to do something heroic. An individual can be anyone's hero. An adult can be a hero to a small child, kind of like a super hero. Sometimes a person can be a hero by rescuing another person or pet from a flaming building or saving someone from jumping out of a high place. It all depends on an individual's perspective. There are so many variations of a hero based on people's beliefs and even religions so it can be difficult to determine what the actual definition of a hero is. In the movie Hero there were many ideas that steered towards loyalty to one's nation or king/leader and also about honor which plays a major roll in their everyday lives. But the reason why this movie has this title is because of how the assassin chose when it came time to kill the king. He knew that in order for their country to come to peace the king must live, even after Falling Snow and Broken Sword tried to kill him once before. To me, that is being a true hero. Realizing that something you were sent out to do could possibly cause the exact negative effects that you were not searching for to happen. But instead looking at the bigger picture and wanting better for your nation.

Night of the Living Dead

If a zombie apocalypse were to happen, the very first thing I would do is make sure I have enough food and water supplies for a while. I would also bolt up my doors and windows so no one could get in. There would be an opening in the roof I would be able to access with a ladder to climb up and down. Another thing I would do is put some sort of fire accelerant on pieces of wood and lay them around my house. Everyone would be wearing or carrying a weapon of some sort. It can be a gun, knife, axe, chainsaw, etc. that way I would not have to worry about someone getting eaten because they could not defend themselves. A running vehicle will be kept up by the house at all times so that if we need to go out and get some more supplies we wouldn't have to run so far. There would also be gallons of gas in the trunk so we'd have fuel. Of course these chores would be split up among the number of people that are in the house so we could get more done. Although I do believe that is the most you could get done in under 24 hours without getting attacked in the process.

The Nightmare Before Christmas

It's difficult to get ideas on Tim Burton's beliefs about Christmas but what it comes across to me as is that he believes in the original spirit of Christmas and not the thing we've made it out to be with all of the presents and Santa Clause, the elfs, the Reindeer, or talking snowmen. In Edward Scissorhands the message I get is that the Christmas season isn't starting out well and keeps getting progressively worse and finally after Edward leaves, the town may have realized what Christmas is all about. In this movie, however, the message that I receive is that Christmas may not be for everyone but if you are open to trying new things, holidays, and things like that you might just discover something you never knew you liked. It also comes across in the way that not every holiday is for everyone but the man upstairs will love you all the same.

Edward Scissorhands

If you take a look at the two outsiders in this movie Edward and Peg, there are many similarities between the two characters but they do not get the same ending. Peg lives in the community but isn't quite accepted or considered normal because of her very religious behavior or the things she says. Edward on the other hand isn't accepted, at least not right away, because of his "hands". Unlike Peg, he is soon accepted but only because of his ability to cut bushes into fantastic objects, creatures, people, and his new found ability for cutting people and animal's hair. As the story progresses, we start to see that maybe Peg isn't so crazy in saying that Edward is (can be) dangerous and that they should "cast him out". It may not be his fault since he wasn't "raised" like we were to decipher right from wrong but having knives constantly on my person would definately raise some questions from my neighbors. Edward is finally cast out at the end of the movie after saving Kevin from Kims drunk boyfriend and his friend. He finally tackles Keving but having scissors for hands he started to cut Kevin's face trying to see if he was alright. This made the neighbors think that Kevin was being attacked. Edward was told to run back to the mansion, and as he did so he tor off all of the clothes and cutting down bushes and even torments Peg. Looking at what Peg had said earlier on in the film maybe she knew what she was talking about. Since Edward had no human contact he didn't understand how to handle anger or how to release it for that matter. After Kim met him at the mansion Edward and Jim got into a fight and he killed Jim. To get the townspeople to leave him in peace, Kim found another hand that looked like Edward's and showed them. They finally left and it seems to me that after that Peg was more accepted because they knew she was right.

The Big One

How does obsession figure into the films that we have already watched to far?

This question is directed for those in this class but if you have watched any or all of these movies then feel free to comment and debate as you would like. The movies we have watched so far (Singin' In The Rain, The Dark Knight, High Noon, The Prestige, Proof, and Alfred Hitchcock Presents: The Sorcerer's Apprentice) most of the time have a definite line of obsession and commitment but defining what some may consider obsession may just be commitment to others. In my opinion, the movie that it is most easily demonstrated is in The Prestige displayed by Angier.

There are other characters that are more easily spotted in the other movies like Singin' In The Rain. Lina Lamont was set on the idea that Don Lockwood loved her. Then another woman came along, which was Kathy Selden, so then jealousy and anger arose. Lina kept trying to tell him that he didn't love Kathy but that he was in love with her even after he repeatedly said that he didn't love her and their image together was just for publicity. Well, Lina obviously didn't like that too much especially when she found out that Kathy had spoken and sung for her in their film because her voice and the accent she spoke with was too funny to be taken seriously. So what she did was take her acting contract to a lawer and she came back to the head of the production and showed him that she controlled her own publicity. She blackmailed him by telling him that if Kathy didn't keep singing she would sue the company and take control. In the end Lina ended up not being with Don but Don and Kathy got together and took over the company. In this situation Lina's obsession with herself, Don, and their image together didn't get her very far.