Dr. Strangelove...an seemingly 'strange' film

The film Dr. Stranglove for me was much harder to figure out than the other films we have watched and dissected. This film did however, strongly include symbolism, cinematography, lighting, and mise en scene. The mise en scene in the film had a great impact on the storyline, since the entire film was done in black and white. This I believe gave the film the needs to flourish in other aspects of the scenes rather than color. The cinematography in the film was supportive of the storyline in such instances as the war room scenes, when the camera was up high above the round table to show how many authorities were in this room making the decisions that was going to affect the entire world. In some ways, all of those people seem like a lot of people, but when comparing it to the entire world and the rest of the people that would be affected by their actions, they seem like a small small group of people. The lighting in the film was significant because since the film was done in black and white, the lighting that then created the shadows and highlighted areas was very important and its what made each scene unique. And lastly, the mise en scene was very important because it mostly is what made this film a comedy. The members of the crew on the B-52 who were wearing a cowboy hat and acting like they were at a rodeo, gave comedy to the seemingly serious situation. Also, the secretary at the beginning of the film, who was in her swimming suit and was laying out beneath the sun lamps, was a good and funny use of the set, props, and the costumes that were used in the film.

"The Bomb"

In Stillman’s article, Henry Kissinger quotes about technology and the fear of war with an opponent. “Technology is volatile. The advantage of surprise can be overwhelming...Every country lives with the nightmare that even if it puts forth its best effects its survival may be jeopardized by a technological breakthrough on the part of its opponent...(Stillman)”. This makes me think of how General Riper called for this attack to happen against the Soviet Union and he had no idea about the Doomsday Bomb that could kill the entire planet. He simply wanted to start this attack but he was not thinking about how the repercussions might affect himself and everyone else in the world.

Paranoid Bucky

I also found it interesting how all of the characters in the film seemed to think that General Bucky was crazy and over exaggerating when he was talking about spy’s from the Soviet Union. “In the film, General ‘Buck’ Turgidson (George C. Scott) is portrayed as paranoid over the threat of Soviet spying by diplomats with hidden cameras (‘tiny equiptment’). In the end it turns out that his fears were not without reason” (Stillman). Although I did think throughout the entire movie that General Bucky was a little strange, he did end up knowing a lot about the subject at hand in the war room, and his gut feelings were correct in the end.

The War Room silence

Another scene which occurred in the war room of the film, was when some of the men that were contemplating what to do with the situation at hand. The men started arguing and fighting around the room and someone made a comment about how there should be no fighting in the war room. "A group of men haggling over morality and strategy in a "War Room" is gloomily comic enough without an American General and Russian Ambassador wrestling with each other and then being admonished by the President that their behavior violates the room's dignity-"Gentlemen! Such behavior in the War Room" (Richardson). I think this is a very ironic part of the film and it makes for comic relief in this seemingly serious part of the film.

Overall, I really enjoyed this movie while I was watching it, but I really did have a hard time figuring out why certain things were done in the film, and what the symbolism was behind it.

Kubrick, Stanley, dir. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love the

Bomb. 1964. Columbia Pictures, 2009.

Stillman, Grant. "Two of the MaDdest Scientists." Film History. 20 (2008): 487-500.

Web. 17 May. 2010.

Richardson, Jack. "'Strangelove' and 'the Silence.'" The Hudson Review. 17.2 (1964): 250-255.

Web. 17 May. 2010.

The Cruel Way Animals Are Treated

Everyone likes to walk into their home at the end of a long, hard day and be greeted by their most adoring dog, with its wagging tail and kisses, or have their favorite cat who they sometimes feel is their best friend, come snuggle up on their lap at the end of the day rubbing their head up against you because they want some attention. Right? There has been an enormous rise in domestic animals in America, bringing it close to “165 million domesticated animals today” (Animal-abuse 1), and Americans are spending close to “$46 billion a year on their pets” (Maloney 7). Most people would assume that this is the all-American dream, but the harsh reality is that there is an enormous amount of animal cruelty happening in this country that needs to be put to an end.

Animal cruelty is essentially the infliction of suffering or harm upon defenseless animals, for purposes other than human self-defense. There are two basic categories of animal cruelty which are intentional cruelty, or neglect. Examples of intentional cruelty are dog and cock fighting, or any other harm to an animal on purpose by torturing or killing the animal. Examples of neglect are depriving an animal of its basic living needs such as food and water, shelter, and veterinary care, or simply not knowing how to properly care for the specific animal, in which case, education is needed (Maloney 7). Even though there has been an enormous increase in the awareness and reporting of animal abuse, there is still a major problem throughout the country with putting this abuse to a halt (Maloney 7).

Public Depictions of Animal Cruelty

Since most actions of animal cruelty happen in the privacy of peoples’ homes, there is little to no light shown on those cases, since sometimes its hard to even get them reported with dignified evidence (Animal cruelty 7). Although, some high-profile actions of animal cruelty are being recognized and are being treated fairly harsh. In the article titled “It’s a Dog’s Life”, Michael Vick, an N.F.L. quarterback; is noted with overseeing dog fighting activities where the animals were tortured and then killed in the end. While he is being faced with potentially being locked up for five years, others are looking at this public case wondering if this sentence is reasonable. “In many jurisdictions in the United States, a five-year sentence exceeds the maximum allowed for spousal abuse or assault” (America 4). There is question whether this is a fair punishment, or if this is a disturbing message to the human victims that have physically abused by their partners, that the American household pets are more important than the American people (America 4)? Another public case is about banning the so called “crush videos”, where small animals such as mice or squirrels, are crushed most commonly with a woman’s high heeled shoe. These videos are known to have a dominatrix appeal to them, and give sexual gratification to those watching. People with foot fetishes often are the audience for these types of videos. In 1999 there was a law created to settle Congresses worries about the nature of these films (Animal-abuse 1). In an NPR article, Alicia Shepard expresses her thoughts on the crush videos being produced. “There’s no doubt “crush videos” are offensive. You don’t have to see them to know that crushing a small animal to death with high heels is hideous” (Shepard 1). Wayne Pacelle, the current president of the Humane Society of the United States, said “hundreds of crush videos appeared on the internet after the federal appeals court ruled against [the law]...this court ruling is going to accelerate the trend” (Court Voids Law 1).

Solving the Problem

Many different approaches have been made towards making this problem go away. There was a proposal of a law made which prohibits the depiction of animal cruelty. The Supreme Court rejected this proposal because they felt it was too broad of a law, worrying that it might possibly be interpreted as including animals which were hunted with a bow and arrow, or bullfights, which not all the time would be considered cruel treatment. The government also believes that videos of animal cruelty might be on the same level of cruelty as child pornography (Court Voids Law 1). The Supreme Court suggested that another proposal be made being more specific with the matter at hand. “It has been difficult to prosecute people who take part in violence against animals with a camera rolling, but not showing their faces” (Court Voids Law 1). Certain groups around the country, such as the Humane Society of the United States, are strongly encouraging that the specifications of this proposal are re-created and become a law, so that cruelty towards animals will be considered a crime. “The Humane Society...[stresses] that the ban on pictures of animal torture lessens the abuse of animals and promotes public morality” (Animal-abuse 1). This law making it a crime to treat animals with cruelty they believe will slowly begin to make this issue disappear, and the animals being harmed will start to have a voice for their rights. Other cases about animal cruelty have presented people with the idea that this potential law might be inflicting with the right of free speech. “Our culture is filled with images of repulsive activities and expressions of repulsive ideas, and our free speech tradition stands against it...sending people to jail for it” (Animal-abuse 1). People already understand that animal cruelty is a crime, and that it should not be done, the question is, how far are they willing to take it to make it illegal to have images depicting these actions, and is that inflicting on free speech? Free speech advocates around the nation are in favor of not making videos of animal cruelty illegal. “Speech is protected whether it’s popular or unpopular, harmful or unharmful” (Court Voids Law 1). These people think that the videos are a version of free speech and they should not be monitored or censored.

In other situations, some people are potentially taking the wrong road in trying to correct this issue of preventing animal cruelty around the nation. A young 28 year old boy, Kevin Kjonaas, who pays his rent “by working at a doggy daycare”, is currently in a heap of trouble with the government because they believe he has terrorist tendencies (Maag 19). Kjonaas was until recently, the president of Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (SHAC USA), an animals rights group. Huntingdon houses a company which tests household products, chemicals and pharmaceuticals on animals, and there has also been speculation that some employees of this company have been torturing the animals for fun (Maag 19). Kjonaas’s group created a website, and he “helped organize protests in front of workers’ homes, and when he couldn’t make it to a demonstration, he posted other people’s accounts of the event even when they included acts of vandalism” (Maag 19). Even though Kjonaas and his group believed they were doing good for the community in bringing awareness to this company and their behavior, that might have been what got them in trouble in the end. “He saw himself as a conduit for information. Since it wasn’t [his] words going on the site, [he] felt [he] had no place to censor” (Maag 19). Even though some of the things that were posted on their groups website, were not Kjonaas’s words, his group still used terror as their main scare tactic, and they seemed like a threat to the community. Kjonaas was arrested and is awaiting trial which is believed will take up to three months.

Your Pet's Hero

Other people are taking the correct path on preventing animals cruelty and bringing awareness to people around the globe. A very honorable man, Fred Myers, one of the co-founders of the Humane Society of the United States, created this organization because of deep convictions he had about animal cruelty. He led campaigns against animal slaughter and laboratory animal use, and he was trying to strengthen standards of practice in animal shelters across the nation. Myers and his other co-founders saw cruelties all over the nation and decided to resolve this issue by creating strategies that would affect more than just the local organizations, and today the Humane Society is the largest animal organization in the world. His vision on making animal cruelty awareness throughout the country has brought respect to many animals, and thus saving their lives. Fred Myers and other people just like him, should be who the community looks up to when they are trying to prevent animal cruelty. People should not return cruelty with cruelty, because then nobody is standing above the rest.

Animal cruelty in this nation is and will continue to be, an ongoing problem, which may never have a correct fix. People all over are trying to prevent this problem, sometimes putting their own reputations and their lives at risk, for the rights of these animals. Animals are our friends and they deserve the same amount of love and respect that us humans need to survive as well. Treat your animals with the golden rule. Treat them how you yourself would like to be treated.

Alien

When beginning to watch the film Alien, the viewer is automatically forced to think of the limitless possibilities that the plot of the film will take. The vertical line strokes, along with the diagonal line strokes, eventually turn into the work ALIEN, but it creates curiosity from the viewer wondering what its going to turn into, just like the plot of the film. As the beginning of the film continues, the camera shows the stillness throughout the mechanically enhanced ship, with no human interaction or movement. "it is mechanical, devoid of human significance" (Mulhall 14). Not until later do you see the first flicker of human movement when the crew of seven people are awaken by "mother" from their sleeping pods. "The crew appears to be undergoing a kind of rebirth. They emerge like seeds from a pod, as if extruded by the ship itself, almost as naked as the day they were born" (Mulhall 16). This makes human life seem unimportant from the very beginning, since the humans are hardly exerting themselves at all, it seems as though all of the technology on board is doing the work.

The beginning of the film also depicts how you later find out that the humans were insignificant and disposable for this journey and mission. They seem like very important roles in the mission they are trying to accomplish, but in the end, they are only there to carry out the task that the company intended them to. "The subsequent goals [the crew] conceives- finding the source of the transmission, getting rid of the alien- are thrust upon them rather than initiated by the crew members" (Scott 287). The crew are disposable elements in the whole process of getting the other life form back to planet earth.


Another part of the movie which is discussed in the article, is the scene where the alien bursts out from Kane's stomach after everyone thought he was better after the species detached from his face and throat. The scene is very chaotic at the time, with everyone screaming and trying to hold him down, but as soon as the alien bursts out from his stomach, everyone stands still, quiet. The article expresses its understanding of the scene with being a type of sexual intercourse, pregnancy, and then birth process. This idea is something I had not really noticed while viewing the film, but after reading their theory, it makes good sense and it seems to possibility be the reason for the symbolism. "The monster itself is the incarnation of masculinity, understood as penetrative sexual violence; but as such, it threatens the human race as a whole with the monstrous fate of feminization, forcing our species to occupy the sexual role that women are imagined to occupy in relation to men" (Mulhall 20). This to me also explains how the women in the film were overpowered by the men. When Ripley says to not open the air chamber, but the men overrule her and do it anyways. Also, when the other women is out searching around the unknown planet and she continuously says how they should go back and get out of here, but they continue searching against her suggestion. This film has a variety of hidden messages in it, with the use of many different forms of symbolism.



Scott, Ridley, dir. Alien. 1979. Twentieth Century Fox, 2009.

Mulhall, Stephen. "Kane's Son, Cain's Daughter." On Film. London: Routledge, 202. 12-32. Print.

Thompson, Kristin. "Alien." Storytelling in the New Hollywood. Cambridge: Harvard UP, 1999. 283-306. Print.

Pan's Labyrinth

When watching Pan's Labyrinth, many elements are seen by the use of symbolism. Sound effects, Cinematography, and Lighting were the three types of symbolism that I noticed the most throughout the film. The sound effects throughout the film enhanced the intensity of the scene where it occured.

The watch that the Captain carried with him, which was his father's watch previously when he was in war. It was shattered by his father when he got shot and was about to die, because he wanted his son (the Captain) to know exactlly what time his father died. When the Captain was in battle in the forrest, he carried the watch with him and when he was hiding behind the tree before he turned around and shot at a man, he held out the watch and the music in the background got quiet. The ticking of the watch gradualy got louder as he stared at the watch in remembrance of his father. This change of sound effects emphsized this moment and made the audience also remember his father just as he was. At a time in the film where his father was not being mentioned, the audience thought of the memory of him and it made you think about the potential fear that the Captain had of dying while in battle, just as his father did.

Another part of the film which held substantial evidence of having symbolism was the parts of the film which had Ofelia walking alone on her excursions. The scenes would start off with her wandering off alone towards the woods, with interesting, intreging music playing in the background. Then the music would die down when Ofelia began to get nervous and scared because of the situation she has put herself in. Her breating would get louder and louder as the time went on, and everything else would become close to silent. This occurred a few different times throughout the film, and it depicted her curiosity of exploring and of this second life she has the possibility of having, but it also depicts her fear of the possibility of it not happening, and
her just getting in trouble and making things worse for her in the present.
The cinematography in this film also held substantial weight in the effects this film had on the audience. The proximity that the camera had on the characters in the film created the illusion of certain places and certain moments in the film being more intense and scary then other moments. When Mercedes was in the room alone and she
was bent down to the floor retrieving papers from a hole in the ground to take to her brother, the focus was on her and the task she was doing, the music was intense and progressively getting louder, and all the sudden the camera view moved further up and you see a blurred image of a man in the background, just as the music gets to
its most intense. Mercedes gets startled and jumped up, but it only ended up to be the doctor. Moments like these create a sense of fear in the audience because you fear for the people in the film that are in danger.

All of these kinds of symbolism were shown throughout the flim and they all play their seperate roles in making the film what it is. They all create a sense of mood and intensity for the audience.

-Melissa


Pan's Labyrinth. Dir. Guillermo Del Toro. Perf. Ivana Baquero and
Sergi Lopez. Esperanto Films, 2006. DVD.