Double Indemnity

I don't agree with the statement that Double Indemnity is, "a film without a single trace of pity or love."  In fact, the movie displays the opposite intentions and motives.  The quote might be true if we were just looking at the character of Phyllis, but as a movie in general, no.  Walter is ultimately blinded by the love that he holds for Phyllis, and in result does what she asks him to do.  From the stories that Phyllis tells Walter he also develops pity for her, so he has yet another reason to do what she asks of him. 

 The truth of it all is that Phyllis is manipulating Walter because she is a gold digger and is doing all she can to squeeze the most amount of money out of people.  Walter eventually figures out the plot that Phyllis has planned, and Walter decides to confess.  His mindset is now, "Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me."  Walter doesn't want to be fooled twice, and now that his mind is not concealed my love or pity he is able to make the right decisions.  At the beginning of the movie love and pity did have persuasion over Walter, but when he unravels the truth he is able to make logical decisions unlike before.  

What's Up Next for Lady Macbeth...

Are you a fan of Lady Macbeth?  Do you want to know every aspect of her life? Do you want to be just like her? If you answered yes to any of these questions you must take a look at the Netflix shows and movies that she recommends every woman, or man, must watch!

Scandal:  This show has a strong female lead.  The main character Olivia Pope defies stereotypes that are set on females in the work place.  Her job is to 'fix problems' of others, and piece back lives together that have slowly drifted away.  Lady Macbeth recommends this show because she can relate to wanting to break the stereotypes that are put upon women way too often in societies.  She wants to be the opposite of what everyone else wants her to be.  Watching Scandal gives her the empowerment to go out in the world and do what she wants.

How to Get Away with Murder:  This is another show that has a outstandingly, strong female lead.  It is about a lawyer named Analyse, who takes on huge law cases.  She knows all the right tactics to take down her opponent and get what she wants.  Lady Macbeth watched this right before convincing Macbeth to kill Duncan.  She was able to learn how to get away with murder, and used the frisky techniques that Analyse used in the show.  

Revenge:  Once again, we are seeing a theme here, this show stars a female who is breaking through society.  The main character Emily Thorn, comes back to her home town to avenge all of the people that had a part in taking down her father, and framing him for a terrorist attack.  Lady Macbeth loved this one due to the amount of power and money that Emily possessed in the show.  It was one of the things that pushed her over the edge to make Macbeth kill Duncan.

Tyler Perry's Temptation: If anyone knows about the power of temptation it is Lady Macbeth.  This movie is about a woman married right out of college.  She meets a new man at her job, and falls for his mystery and liveliness.  While the temptation in the movie and in the life of Lady Macbeth are slightly different, the movie is still able to set a motion within her.  She watched this movie right before she went to kill Duncan herself, yet she failed.  None the less this movie is able to convince her to do the things that she is on the fence about.

Criminal Minds: This show is different from the rest that Lady Macbeth has previously recommended, and it is for a reason completely different than the ones above.  This show is about criminals, the crimes they have competed, and how the FBI cracks the case.  After Lady Macbeth finds out that her husband has killed Banquo she doesn't know what to think of the man she has married.  She watches this show to help her get inside the mind of criminals hoping that it will reveal something about Macbeth that she has missed.

Fate vs Chance

First I need to establish the definitions of fate and chance. My interpretations of these are:

Fate: This is when you have no choice in what happens in your life. Those choices are left to a higher or a supernatural power.

Chance: This is when the events in your life happen because of luck. There really is no explanation, they just happen because they do. 

Now that I have established my definitions of these two similar words I can get into why I believe the events in Macbeth's life are fate.  In the beginning of the story we have the witches telling Macbeth what is going to happen with his life. When a witch tells you what is going to happen you better listen up and accept it. When has a witch ever been wrong in a story? Never. Due to this Macbeth has no choice in what his life was about to become, it is what it is. The proof of this is when Lady Macbeth tries to take over Macbeth's role in killing Duncan. Lady Macbeth claims she couldn't do it because Duncan looked too much like her father. Is that true or is it fate because the witches said so. Lady Macbeth had so much confidence and power in herself and then she couldn't kill Duncan. Coincidence? I think not. Shakespeare has chosen to have Macbeth's life be based on fate. Whether Shakespeare actually believed in fate or chance is unclear as I think it is wrong to base his opinion off of his book. 

Personally I don't believe in fate or chance. I believe everything happens for a reason. Yes, some people call that fate, but I believe that reason is who ever is making the decisions. That everything happens for a reason, but you can control that reason and your choices. I know that's confusing, but I don't know a better of explaining it. 

Fate vs. destiny vs. chance vs. luck. My thought process is you make your own decisions and you shouldn't blame them on anything else except yourself because you are the one that made them. 

IB Making Art

The piece that I have chosen is actually a movie clip.  The clip is by Melanie Smith and particular piece of hers that I want to talk about is called Parres III and it about three minutes long.  It is actually part of a trilogy along with two other clips that were created between 2004 and 2005. It is a two channel video projection transferred from 35mm film to a DVD.  The title Parres is a small town on the outside of Mexico City, this is where all of the videos are shot.

The video starts off with the camera looking through a window and what looks like a white girl standing behind it.  All of a sudden the window is painted white and that is all the viewer can see.  Next, someone from the other side of the window starts to wipe down the window but the viewer cannot see who it is.  The majority of the video is spent watching an unknown person wash down the window.  It is finally revealed at the end of the video that the person who is cleaning down the window.  I didn't think much about the lightning or the colors because those didn't have nearly as big of an impact as who was actually in the video.  I was able to pick up that the location was a tad under developed and could be a little sketchy if it were night time.  During the film I didn't understand what was trying to portrayed, but immediately after it ended the message clicked.  It was the colored man cleaning up the white people's mess.   The two points that I thought about were segregation and immigration.  

I thought of segregation because it starts off with a white person and ends with a colored one, even though it is the same location they are there at totally different times.  To me it was hinting at even though we are now in this period of total freedom where whites and colored are allowed to mix and use the same water fountain, it still feels as though we segregate ourselves.  From personal experience I see it every day walking from class to class or passing by the cafeteria.  We tend to stick with our kind and that is just a sad fact of life.  I'm not saying everyone everywhere is like this but I definitely see it happen and thought of that when looking at the piece of artwork.  The second thing that I thought of was immigration.  This came to mind because illegal immigrants usually have low paying jobs because they are not legal residents. I don't want to make assumptions about the piece, but the man at the end could have fit the stereo-typically role of an immigrant.  These people are usually the ones that are cleaning up behind the "white privileged people."  This also brings me to the point of who has the final say of the message?  Is it the artist or the viewer? I have asked myself that many times over the last few weeks when I study an art piece.  If the artist is not there to tell you the message, is the public's opinion of it automatically correct?  There are not definite answer to these questions, and they still haunt me all the time. 

I really enjoyed watching this piece because it is so frank and honest. Melanie Smith points out the sad hard truth that many of us are so ignorant to face. As a society, we think we have come such a far way from the past and we think we have made it.  Made it to where?  There is no one destination that we are looking to land on.  We need to be changing and evolving for the better and we need to be doing it all the time.  Yes, we have come along way, but yes, we have a far way to go.    

What are your deadly sins?

http://media.victoriassecret.com/features/1266431769842/20130517-lp-swm-feature-control.jpg

     Looking at this advertisement right off the bat, two major things stand out.  First off you have a woman standing in a sexual position trying to sell the clothing that she is wearing. This deadly sin showcased is called lust, and it is used as a persuasive technique. Lust is displayed by the model being in a bathing suit and showing it off in a immodest way. The second is that the word 'sale' is the largest text in the advertisement, and is also a contrasting color to stand out even more.  There is also a beach behind the model, and it's all cool colors which creates a relaxing atmosphere. 

    The bigger picture that since the model is beautiful and sexy and she is portraying that; the company wants the viewer to feel of lesser status than of the model. Why would the company want the viewers to feel bad about themselves?  This is why, if the viewer is having a low self-esteem day due to this ad, they might think, "If I want to be as cool and sexy as that model I obviously should buy the bathing suit she is wearing, and they are offering a sale so I see no reason not to."  It might sound silly but it is completely true.  The model is using her body and her location to sell the bathing suit, which may I add comes in over 600 styles. This deadly sin displayed is envy, and it is used to grab the viewer's attention and get them to buy the product. 

     By just passing this advertisement on the street one may say the intended audience could be anyone or maybe just girls, but if you dive into it, it is more broad than one would think.  First off, the consumer has to realize that the brand is very popular and that is why most seek to buy it. The bathing suits being featured can be rather expensive, so it can seem the company is going for the upper middle class of the population. The advertisement also says the bathing suits are on sale.  This is portraying that the consumer doesn't have to be the upper middle class, but if they buy them now the consumer can also be lower middle class and they can look like they are entitled to more money than they actually are. This deadly sin is avarice, the company wants the consumer to be greedy and buy all of their products, because that will lead to more power.  Taking a first glance at any ad, you may not think it has any deadly sins, but look more closely and you may surprised of what you find.

Freebie

Freebie

Marisa, Marissa, Merissa, or Marrissa?

I recently asked my parents how they came about the name Marisa.  Although I've heard the story before I want to hear it again.  My mom told me she wanted to name me Zoey.  Thinking about I don't think I would have been a good Zoey.  Everyone grows into their name and it seems to eventually fit them, Zoey would not have fit me.  So my mom was basically saying my dad came up with the name.  My dad said he had really like the actor Marisa Tomei at the time, and really liked the way that it was spelled.  The way it is spelled (with only one “s” compared to two) has definitely caused some frustration and awkwardness throughout the years. Most people just assume that I spell my name the “regular” and don’t even think to ask.  This definitely has gotten on my nerves over the years, but the worst is when people pronounce it wrong.  There are many different spellings, but only one way to pronounce it, MAH-RIS-AH.  I had a teacher one year that said it wrong the whole year, you may ask why I didn't correct her.  Well I did about the first three times and then I gave up hope. 

I recently looked up the, meaning of my name and the one that I like best was, “Of the sea.”  This doesn’t mean much to me, although I really do enjoy the beach.  This definition doesn’t define me, but do names in general define someone?  My name is not as common as most, I only know a few other Marisas and even then they don’t spell it the same way.  I would say it doesn’t define me, my personality does that.  However, when I meet someone with a name that I have a friend with the same name it does define them.  For example, when I meet people named Christopher or Chris (which is my brother’s name) I think of them differently.  It puts a taint on them, for better or for worse. 

There are definitely times in my life when I think of myself as being two different Marisas.  My full name is Marisa Ritter Florentino.  My middle name is my mother’s last name. She never changed it and also felt it was wrong to hyphenate our last names.  I like this because I am representing both of my parents, not just my dad.  There is the side of my name that everyone besides my family sees.  This side has no boundaries and is very independent.  When people meet me they don’t meet my family, so they don’t see where I have come from but where I am. I’m not trying to put my family down in anyway, sometimes it is important to be your own person and not have any expectations from anyone.  When I become a successful restaurant owner one day, I don’t want people to say, “Oh, her family is Italian that’s where she got it from and is why she is successful.”  I want them to realize all the hard work I have put into and say, “Wow, she earned her spot at the top.”

On the other hand, I am very proud of my family and will tell anyone all about them.  My dad’s side is one hundred percent Italian making our family vacations very loud and full of amazing food.  My mom’s side is a lot smaller and from the German (and a few other places) area, but surprisingly my love of baking came from my grandmother on this side.  Neither side of my family pulls me down, but as family is they expectations of me.  They want me to do things as the family would and while that’s not all band, once in a while I need to be own person, and, while keeping my family and their traditions in mind, I need to make my own path for myself.  This when the other side of Marisa Ritter Florentino emerges.

Huie vs. Atwood

Taken from the website: http://photos.wingyounghuie.com/p709406511/h79df8012#h74051bc3

 I have chosen a photo that I thought really stood out.  The photo was taken by Wing Young Huie from his collection called "We are the Other" taken between the years 2012-2013, and is published on Wing Young Huie's website.  In this picture I see two people, a boy and a girl, standing in what seems to be the inside of a gas station.  They both are wearing red and have on hats while standing in the middle of an isle holding a chalk board that contains a statement.  At first glance the guy could possibly be stereotyped as uneducated. This could be due to the color and type of clothing he is wearing along with the fact that he is a guy.  Nothing in particular about the girl stands out except that she has long messy hair.  What really has an affect on the opinion of the picture is what it is said on the chalk boards.  The guys chalk board says, "People think I'm in a gang, I'm in college."  While the girls says, "1. Pull up your pants. 2. Stay out of the wrong place. 3. Be more careful."  The guy is trying to express that based on his appearance he is judged, while the girl's message is saying, "Yes, people judging you is inevitable.  If you fix a few things and watch out people might not get a bad impression."

I think the message is very strong and relevant here.  That message is this: People are going to judge you at first glance, yes judging is wrong but can't be helped.  If you want people to look at you differently you have to do something about it. There's no way you can change a habit that has existed for a long time and is unfortunately something that humans do without thinking about it.  This relates to Atwood's work The Handmaid's Tale because the entire book is about judging.  Everyone is judging the handmaids.  The wives, the Commanders, the Marthas, are all making opinions about the handmaids.  The societies and therefore culture between this picture and in the book are different, but the concept is the same.  These people are being judged before the other person knows anything about them.  The cultural difference comes in when you look at the fact that the people in the picture are not told what to wear. They can wear what ever they please.  While the handmaids are told what to wear and do. Yet both groups are being judged.  Having opinions about different groups of people creates distinctions which eventually creates othering. Othering is alienating people or groups of people, and both of these examples are being alienated.  The difference is that the people in the picture are conscious of what they are portraying themselves, or have a way that they could change it, while in the book, the handmaids are being forced to be different.