And yes, I spent most of my time in front of a T.V. screen. (:
-Post by Kathleen
Just thought I would post up a few pictures that pretty much sum up my childhood, and most of these still relate to who I am now.
And yes, I spent most of my time in front of a T.V. screen. (: -Post by Kathleen
0 Comments
Ahh, that feeling when your English class reads yet another classic by everyone's favorite English playwright, Shakespeare. This year we are reading Othello, which from our small introduction, I believe to be about love, jealously, and racism. Doesn't everybody love those themes. So there are pretty much three main characters, which are Iago, Othello, and Desdemona (Of course there are other important main characters, I just saw these as the most important). So before the book even starts, Othello, a Christian Moor and Venetian general, has eloped with Desdemona, the daughter of the Venetian senator Brabantio. Another person named Roderigo is in love with Desdemona and before the book starts he had Iago try to court her with all his money. And Iago, the book's villain, is Othello's second-hand man, but was passed over for a promotion to lieutenant, so understandably he wants revenge. Okay enough background information, and on to what I really want to talk about: how I see the book in terms of the Pixar movie, Toy Story. So we have Woody as a blend of Iago and Roderigo and Buzz as Othello. Of course, these aren't perfect character matchings, but they work in a way. Iago and Roderigo, like Woody, probably mostly started out as okay people. However through certain events, they became compelled to embrace the road of evil. For Woody, it was being replaced by Buzz by Andy. For Iago, it was being passed over for a promotion, and for Roderigo, it was not getting the person he loved. While it remains to be seen the actions of Iago and Roderigo, Woody certainly showed the extent he would take for revenge, attempting to make Buzz seem lost to Andy so that he would be the favorite toy once again. So Buzz is supposed to be Othello in our crazy Toy Story/Shakespeare mix. Othello in the beginning of the play certainly seems like a hero, honest, well-respected, and of course he's already gotten the girl! Buzz is also honest in a sense, but he is also naive, a trait that I believe will show in Othello later. Buzz is also manipulated by Woody, as he had replaced him as Andy's favorite toy. I get a feeling Iago is most certainly going to manipulate Othello as the book progresses, although for revenge and not necessarily jealously.
So, why are we putting Othello in terms of Toy Story? Well the inner child in me naively hopes that by the end Iago and Othello will make up and be best friends like Buzz and Woody, but of course that probably isn't Shakespeare's style. No, the real reason we put Othello in terms of Toy Story is to see how certain themes, in this case revenge, transcend time and are often altered to suit the prevailing audience of the time. In addition, being able to compare and contrast characters with totally different characters helps us to obtain an understanding of the characters. Their similarities and differences allow us to make certain insights on how we think they will develop and what the plot may have in store for us. -Kevin One of the most universally strongly disliked type of person is one whom we all have known at one point in our lives. It's not the tyrant. Not the hypocrite or the landlord. Not the liar (well perhaps to some degree...). It isn't even the criminal, no. No no, friends. It is someone who can hurt us far worse than that. It is...
The backstabber. just a little mood music....I love Cold Play. "Oh and I don't have a soul to save, Yes, and I sin every single day, We never change, do we? We never learned to leave." A favorite quote of mine goes something like this. " Be the change you wish to see in the world."- Gandhi Now this is a lot easier said, ( liked on Facebook/Tumblr/Pinterest, re-blogged, re-tweeted,re-spammed... etc.) than done. Not many people have the time to think up new ideas to help change the world. Even fewer people have the willpower and courage to nurse those ideas for innovation until they become full fruit-bearing trees; it's a rigorous process. I, unfortunately, feel as though I am stuck in that latter category. I have ideas, so many ideas, yet I've failed time and time again to act on them. Do not fear! I don't think I'm a terrible person because I haven't say found the cure for cancer or miraculously de-polluted our oceans overnight. (I'm working on it though.) There are many things which can block and discourage any innovator's project's. One thing that always got me ever since grade school was something I'll name, The Cruella De Vil Hypothesis. Its basically that feeling you get halfway to halfway through your project. When its 3-am and you're having a meltdown and shouting at a wall "WHO THE **** CARES?!?!? THE WORLD IS NEVER GOING TO CHANGE ANYWAYS!!." It is something which I let prevent my ideas from moving forward. But let me clarify my point in regards to the name. In the Disney movie 102 Dalmatians, Cruella De Vil ( the notorious puppy snatcher of 101 Dalmatians also one of my favorite villains) was put in an experimental behavioral therapy institution in order to fix her tendency toward puppy-slaughter. She emerges after some time utterly changed, almost saint-like and holy with her new found love for dogs. It was so nice to think that even Cruella de vil could change her ways. But after some time it became evident that the psychological work the scientists had done to her could be undone as soon as the subject was exposed to the chimes of Big Ben, London. It was something that left me thinking, "If I can't even fix my sleeping habits, what made me think that I could fix the world?" Growing up I was often overwhelmed pondering the sheer amount of people just alive on planet earth- that's about 7 billion people. And the more problem riddled countries happen to be the most densely populated countries too, Asia stealing 4,140,336,501 of the world's population as of 2011 and Africa with a stunning 994,527,534. That was way too many humans for one girl to help. And what was the point? How much would I help anyway? The answer is I don't know, because I have not tried my absolute best yet. I will not be content with being Cruella, who only managed to change herself temporarily. A complete and permanent change is necessary in order for my ideas to manifest themselves completely and successfully. Like the heroes from 102 Dalmatians Kevin Sheppard (who started his own dog shelter in the movie) and Chloe Simon (who granted Cruella parole! what?), I want to believe in the world and believe in my own capacity to help change it. ~ Tina http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/102_Dalmatians
images from Google search. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZSobH1wiiM |