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Jane, I thought of you during the play when they mentioned Moses Ingram and The Queen’s Gambit. I thought that was perfect timing with your blog post. I watched with my friend who is a big fan of the show so she could also get to see Ingram’s performance. And, Zara, I agree with you; it is harder to pay attention to a play online, whereas if you were in person, you could actually be apart of the experience. The online play made me feel disconnected from the story and it was hard to keep up, even though I was not even doing anything else. The closed captions, however, were a great idea and I’m glad those were apart of the experience!
I agree with you Cristian. I was originally not looking forward to watching a play online, but it was honestly a very different and interesting experience that I’m glad I was a part of. Even though it would have been better in person, it was the best we could get, and I appreciate the performers’ effort into giving us a one of a kind experience. I also loved the singing. I also watched the play with others; I FaceTimed my friend who is very into theater and music and we both listened to the music together. The choir was probably one of my favorite parts of the play. I also noticed the passion from the performers throughout the play which was very interesting to see; since we could only see their faces, I suppose they would have to put extra emphasis on their facial expressions. Overall, it was a unique experience that I enjoyed.
Corey, this was such an insightful analysis and I love your takeaways. During the presentation, I also loved Daniel’s exercise that he used to do when he was younger. I don’t play any instruments, but if I could, I’d love to sit around all day and try to capture the moods of some of my favorite images just to see what I could come up with. I think just as music can help explain an image, it can go the other way too. Also, I really loved how Daniel tries to incorporate communities and music together. It was really heartwarming to see his music help bring together so many groups of people from all over the country. I also loved his point on how he used to be worried that he wasn’t doing enough with his music, but now that he’s older, he realizes that bringing people together and simply putting a smile on children’s’ faces is enough for him. I hope I have this same view for my passions as an adult. You also had a very interesting question that I was thinking about, as well. I think Daniel’s answer was very well put-together in that even though blind people are not usually known for contributing to photography, this helped them be apart of something they usually would not have been.
Cory, I agree with you on so many different points. I definitely appreciated her perspective on how we shouldn’t make art to please others. I think this applies to all aspects of life and not just art. I found her to have lots of wisdom, rightfully so, as she’s experienced so many different aspects of life. I definitely think all of her life experiences impacted the way she creates her art, and I find that beautiful. It gives the art a deeper meaning even if there wasn’t meant to be one. Again, it’s all up to how the viewer wants to perceive it, which is another point of hers that I appreciated.
I also thought the relationship with her team was extraordinary. It was clear through the documentary that she had the perfect amount of leadership and friendship qualities with her team. She gave them her vision and trusted them to follow through with it. It was really inspiring to see her have so much fun working with her team members. I found it ironic that she said it’s so fun and easy to work around such heavy equipment and tools all day because it’s the team that helps her through it all. It was clear that they had mutual respect for each other all throughout the team, and that is probably a strong reason why they all worked so well together. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed your analysis, Cory!
Cristian, I agree with you on the abstract art thing. I never really understood it, and, still, I struggle with finding a meaning. But that’s what I like about Ursula’s art. She says that her art is supposed to incite your own feelings and perspectives. Her art does not come with a set meaning; it is up to you to decipher for yourself what the meaning is or if there’s even a meaning at all. I like looking at art from this perspective because it allows me to think outside of the box and form my own ideas after drawing on the artist’s ideas. I think that’s what abstract art really is; there’s no meaning until we give it one.
Similarly, I liked her viewpoint on titling her art. I think it’s really cool how you went and researched more about her art and used your own understand of Polish to find that one of her artworks is titled “Something”. She said herself she doesn’t like to title things so they can potentially skew a viewer’s perspective, and, instead, she hides behind Polish titles. Well, even after translating her Polish titles, the artwork is still ambiguous to the viewer, as the title, “something” will not help us find any hidden meaning. Overall, this was a great analysis, and thank you for letting us know of the English translation.
Ash, I agree with you that the historical context of NYC in the late 1970s definitely shaped the story significantly. As we learned through our Let the Great World Spin projects, there was an economic crisis during this time in NYC. This explains why the best apartment they could find in the whole city was the run-down tenement filled with drug addicts. Even in the movie, this affected how people perceived Johnny; the store owner judged him simply by where he lived, thinking less of him because he lived in the apartment filled with addicts. I also enjoyed your connection of the film and historical context to Let the Great World Spin. People were definitely addicted to drugs back then, and this was seen through Jazzlyn in the book with her addiction to heroin. The connection to Tillie and Jazzlyn in terms of prostitution was also insightful; it seems that people in these struggling situations had higher correlations with turning to sex work as a way to make money. I also like your point of a theme of rising acceptance in the 1970s; this was evident throughout the film as characters like Johnny let go of their initial judgments to become more accepting. For example, Johnny did not have a good feeling regarding Mateo, but after he discovered why Mateo was so shut off from the rest of the world, he began to understand and accept him. Overall, these were great points.
I also thought that the sequencing of scenes was a strong storytelling device throughout the film: the conception scene, especially. Watching that scene, there were so many emotions jumbled into one tiny part of the movie; there was love and passion from Johnny and Sara, there was anger and hopelessness from Mateo, and then there was innocence and oblivion from the daughters. I thought it was interesting that the director chose to juxtapose the creation of life with the destroying of art. The scenes of the girls at the ice cream parlor seemed to serve as a very neutral, balancing side to such strong, emotion-filled scenes from Johnny, Sara, and Mateo. I also enjoyed the use of the camcorder throughout the film to show Christy’s POV. I definitely believe there was innocence found in Christy and her sister from the way they treated Mateo without prejudice, but I also agree that Christy’s view was tainted from the trauma she’s experienced. She was evidently the maturer sister, which may have been impacted by everything she’s been through and being the older sister. Overall, I think this was a very insightful analysis, Jane!
I did not know what to expect from the actors in this film from the first few scenes, but by the end of the film I was truly amazed by their performances. The quality of acting was phenomenal; the way the actors portrayed their characters so realistically made the film seem more like a documentary at times; this may partly be due to the film’s focus on such raw topics like illegal immigration and struggling to make rent every month. My favorite performance by far was the scene at the fair where Johnny gambles with rent money just to prove to his daughters he can win. The intensity of the scene was so well-displayed by the father’s recklessness, mother’s anxiety, and daughters’ powerlessness. The public setting
of the scene added to the suspense, as well. With the camera centered on the family and the background spotted with blurred faces in a crowd, just waiting for something to go awry, the scene definitely kept me itching to know if he’d make the winning shot. It was very uneasy to watch the father risk all their money just to prove something so seemingly meaningless to his children. However, it was such a moving scene because it showed me just how important his daughters’ opinion of him meant to him; it showed me what a good father he wanted to be, despite making such reckless decisions that could cost his family the roof over their heads. In addition, the chemistry between the actors contributed to the effectiveness of their performances. This was clearly illustrated by the touching connection between the two sisters and Mateo. It seemed that Mateo was misperceived by almost all the adults in the film, labeled as “the man who screams” by the people in the apartment building; however, the sisters, uncorrupted by the pessimism and negativity that come along with adulthood, only saw him as another person to trick-or-treat from. The girls did an excellent job through their acting in depicting how a little kindness can go a long way in someone’s life. Their genuine curiosity regarding Mateo distracted him from his usual wallowing in despair, leaving an impact on him even that he would cherish until his final moments. Overall, I found the performance of the actors in In America incredibly striking, and it left me thoroughly impressed.I appreciate your connection of the novel to current issues like the implications of the Coronavirus pandemic; these similarities never occurred to me while reading the book, but I’m glad to recognize this perspective now, as it helps us to relate to the characters as readers. I especially love your comparison of the world being forced into isolation to being frozen in time in amber; it reminds me of how the dinosaur DNA was fossilized in amber for millions of years in Jurassic Park. In each situation of being “stuck in amber”, a piece of history is being preserved. It also never occurred to me how similar we are as students to Sam. I perceived Sam as one of the lesser important characters, serving only as a link to the story of the tightrope walker. I can definitely say that after reading your analysis of Sam, I feel more of a connection to him than to other characters. Though he wasn’t directly essential to the plot, he allowed the readers to gain more insight on what was happening on that day through another perspective outside of NYC. His struggle, as you called it, to figure out what was happening through technology alone is similar to students trying to learn an entire semester of school solely through a screen; it is indeed a struggle, but we persist, as Sam did, and find new opportunities along the way.
While I read the book, I only picked up on a few biblical allusions that were scattered throughout the novel, but after reading your analysis of Corrigan, I realize that there were so many more than I thought. I especially enjoyed the part in the book when Ciaran relates Corrigan to the story of the forgotten saint, as it fits him perfectly. Corrigan kept his pain to himself, even though he had so many people around him who cared for him and would be willing to listen to him. He was so selfless to the point where he didn’t want to burden anyone with his personal struggles. I do agree with your idea that Corrigan was ultimately a martyr; in his last moments, he was still performing a selfless act: going out of his way to pick up Jazzlyn. He believed in taking others’ pain away, and by being with Jazzlyn in her final moments, I feel like he helped ease her pain, as well. Lastly, I enjoyed how you made a connection between Corrigan’s bald spot and saints; I didn’t pick up on this at first, but after hearing your reasoning, I doubt it was just coincidence. Overall, I appreciate your analysis of Corrigan as the Forgotten Saint as it helped me to look at the book from a more biblical perspective.
I strongly agree that Smoke depicts “mundane exchanges of humanity”. When I finished watching the film, the first thing that came to mind while reflecting on it was how many exchanges there were throughout the film—regardless of whether they were positive or negative exchanges. I also think your word choice was very efficient, as mundane is a perfect way to describe these said exchanges. They’re nothing out of the ordinary, but they are unique. From each exchange, something is learned; it doesn’t matter how dull they is. I also love how you brought up the idea of a chain reaction; I kept this in mind throughout the movie, as well. As you mentioned, regardless of their socioeconomic status or backgrounds, whatever exchanges they made led to a chain reaction of even more exchanges or events. I appreciate your connection of these exchanges to a balance; some exchanges were positive, but some were negative. Your emphasis on the trauma or the characters allowing them to seem more life-like was also something I think is very accurate. We all experience bad times, and that’s what makes us human. Lastly, I agree with your idea of smoking evidently being a motif throughout the film. In almost every scene, someone was lighting a cigarette or grasping a cigar between their lips; this tied the characters together subtly yet efficiently.
I appreciate your emphasis on the deeper analysis of things that could be easily overlooked. I agree that throughout the film there were many times that I quickly glanced over certain scenes and did not make anything out of them. However, after completing the film, I had time to reflect on the movie in its entirety; this really guided me in discovering the “secrets and deeper meanings”. I especially admire your comparison of riding the subway, surrounded by a sea of New Yorkers, and Auggie’s photo collection. They may be ordinary at first glance, but after a deeper reflection, you realize the true meaning of the strangers and the photos is that they all have their own unique story; the individuality of this city’s residents is what makes the diversity of New York so special. I also believe the analysis of Cyrus’s hook arm is extremely relevant to the idea of having our own secrets; He evidently regrets his past and his deformity is a constant reminder of his mistakes. Lastly, I think your last line is an inspiring way to look at life, and after having seen Smoke, I will be implementing this into my lifestyle.
