week 4 blog #2

                In comparing the film Blancanieves to one of our readings this week, I found the Brothers Grimm version of Snow White to be most similar. Though the details of the plot of the film are different from the traditional version of Snow White, there are many analogous characters and events that are present in both versions of the story. The bullfighter Antonio Villalta is analogous to the king in the Brothers Grimm tale as he remarries the evil nurse Encarna after his wife dies in childbirth, just as the king remarries an evil queen after dying in childbirth. Antonio’s daughter, Carmen, is analogous to Snow White, the king’s daughter who is said to be fairer than the evil queen in the traditional version of the story. Just as the evil queen despises Snow White, Encarna makes life extremely uncomfortable and difficult for Carmen. She has to sleep in the basement of the villa, perform all of the most difficult chores, and is not permitted to see her father. Encarna even cooks Carmen’s pet rooster, Pepe, in a peppery chicken dish and eats it in front of her. One of the main difference between the two versions of the story is that the father plays a much more important role in Blancanieves than in the Brothers Grimm Snow White. Carmen spends lots of time with her father, listening to his stories and dancing for him while in Snow White, the king plays no important role in the story.

Years later, when Carmen is young adult, Encarna pushes Antonio’s wheelchair down the stairs, killing him. She then sends Carmen far away to pick flowers for her father’s grave, where Encarna’s lover attempts to kill her. She is left in a river, presumably drowned, when a dwarf finds her and revives her with CPR. Carmen then wakes up a short time later in a wagon with seven travelling dwarf bullfighters, including the one who revived her. The seven dwarf bullfighters are analogous to the seven dwarves in Snow White, who assist her and warn against the evil queen and her treachery. Realizing her father’s legacy, Carmen joins the dwarves’ group and becomes a somewhat famous bullfighter. Encarna hears of this and poisons an apple to give to Carmen after her fight. Just as in Snow White, Carmen eats the apple and dies. While in Snow White, she ends up living and punishing the evil queen with a painful death, both Carmen and Encarna die in Blancanieves. After Carmen collapses from the apple, the dwarves chase Encarna through the stadium, where she is eventually cornered and gored to death by a bull. Carmen’s body is recovered by a travelling sideshow, where it is “animated” to look alive if the right person kisses her, just as in Snow White.

I really enjoyed the movie, it was refreshing and interesting to see a different take on the classic tale of Snow White. I generally don’t like silent, black and white movies, but I thought that Blancanieves was very well done – particularly the music. 

Week 4 blog # 1

                I believe that the story of Bruce Wayne and his transformation into Batman will become a myth in due time. This week we have learned about the role that heroes and heroines play in mythology, and Batman fits the bill perfectly. Unlike many other modern day superheroes, Bruce Wayne has no superpowers – he is rich, resourceful, and motivated to combat injustice. His extreme motivation to fight against injustice stems from witnessing his parents’ murder as a child, after which, he swore an oath of vengeance against all criminals. In the original comics, Batman is considered to be among the world’s greatest detectives, and relies on his athletic abilities, martial arts training, and scientific knowledge to best criminals, in contrast to other superheroes such as Superman who are practically gods on Earth. Like many other myths involving heroes, the audience is able to empathize with Bruce Wayne – particularly because he is a mortal man just like everyone else. Bruce experiences an extremely painful and traumatic event as a child, and uses that as motivation to achieve greatness and help the greater good. Since Batman is just a man, yet symbolizes something so much greater, his story is a prime candidate for a modern day mythos. 

Week 3 - blog post # 3

                In the film O Brother, Where Art Thou?, three men (Ulysses Everett McGill, Delmar, and Pete) escape from a prison chain gang in order to find a large sum of money ($1.2 million). The treasure turns out to be made up by Everett, who escaped from the prison chain gang in an effort to get his wife back and stop her from marrying someone else. On their adventures, the three men encounter many characters and events that are reminiscent of those in Homer’s Odyssey. The blind man with the hand-powered railway car is reminiscent of the blind prophet Teiresias. He informs the three men that they will in fact find a treasure, but not the one which they seek – perhaps a reference to their future musical success as the Soggy Bottom Boys. Another important similarity between O Brother, Where Art Thou? and The Odyssey is the fact that Everret’s first name is Ulysses and his wife’s name is Penny (short for Penelope). In The Odyssey, Odysseus’s wife Penelope must deal with unwanted suitors, for it was presumed that Odysseus had died during the fall of Troy (in Everett’s case, Penny said that he was hit by a train). Additionally, in the Roman version of The Odyssey, Odysseus was known as Ulysses.

                Some other character parallels that could be drawn between the two stories include Big Dan and the Cyclops (both have one eye), the three women by the river and the Sirens (fairly obvious), & Sherriff Cooley (who is unnamed in the film but fits Tommy’s description of the devil/Satan) and Poseidon. In The Odyssey, Odysseus and his men escape from the Cyclops by tying themselves to the undersides of sheep being let out to pasture. In a somewhat parallel scene, Everett, Delmar, and Pete are able to infiltrate a KKK meeting and rescue Tommy from being lynched by dressing up in Klan robes and blinding Big Dan (the Cyclops) with a fiery cross. Throughout the film, Everett, Delmar, and Pete are being chased by Sherriff Cooley and his henchmen. Even after being pardoned by the mayor (somewhat analogous to Zeus) after their first public performance as The Soggy Bottom Boys, Sherriff Cooley still attempts to lynch the three men as punishment for escaping the prison chain gang. This draws direct parallels to Poseidon’s actions in The Odyssey, who spends the large majority of the myth making Odysseus’ journey home very difficult as a punishment for blinding the Cyclops (who was Poseidon’s son).                  

Week 3 - blog post #1

                The events that occur in the Ozymandias episode of Breaking Bad mark a major turning point for Walter White and his family. In this episode, Hank (Walt’s brother-in-law) and his partner Gomez are killed in a shootout and its aftermath by Todd’s uncle and his gang. After relinquishing his money to the gang, Walt betrays Jesse’s hiding spot underneath the car and Todd suggests that they interrogate him to see what the DEA knows. Being extremely angry with Jesse for talking to his brother-in-law and leading him to his eventual death, Walt reveals that he was present when Jane Margolis was dying and did nothing to prevent it.

After a long journey home with just one of his buried barrels of money, Walt tries to get Skylar and Flynn to pack so they can get out of Albuquerque while they still can. Walter refuses to talk about what happened because he doesn’t wish to waste any more time, so Skylar assumes that he killed Hank in lieu of an explanation and refuses to go anywhere. The situation escalates with Skylar using a kitchen knife to defend herself and Flynn calling the police to report that Walt had attacked the two of them with a knife. Walt then leaves the house with Holly (his infant daughter) leaving Skylar and Flynn behind. When Walt calls his house a few hours later to speak with Skylar, he assumes (correctly) that the police are listening. He proceeds to yell at Skylar, saying that she never supported him in the meth business and that she didn’t understand that he was doing it for the family, which in effect, cleared her name and put full responsibility for the Heisenberg empire on Walt. The episode then ends with Walt leaving Holly in a fire station with Skylar’s contact information and calling Saul’s guy to get him a new identity.

                Through most of the episode, Walt’s actions lead me to believe that he is an anti-hero, especially when you look at his entire journey from when he first started cooking with Jesse. He allows his life to slowly spin out of control as he gets greedier and continues to expand his empire, culminating with his personal and professional lives colliding during the shootout in the desert. This leads to the eventual death of his brother-in-law, Hank and his partner Gomez. Walt then gets the large majority of his money stolen from him, and betrays Jesse, allowing him to be brutally interrogated by Todd. Walt then ultimately fails in his final “mission”, as his family refuses to accompany him to begin a new life. These events all draw allusions to the poem Ozymandias, by Percy Bysshe Shelley. In the poem, a traveler encounters a vast monument in pieces surrounded by vast deserts of nothing but sand. The inscription near the legs reads, “ My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!” Just like the king’s statue laid destroyed among the ruins of his once prominent empire, Walter White sees the fabric of his own empire become unwoven in front of his eyes, as his once-partner betrays him to the authorities and he loses his family.  

                Despite all of this, when Walt yells at Skylar over the phone and implicates himself as the sole individual responsible for the Heisenberg empire, he redeems himself somewhat and becomes a tragic hero, in a way. Obviously Walt has done some very evil things over the past five seasons (murder, for one). However, by taking full responsibility for everything, he gives his wife and kids a chance at a new life – even if he is eventually caught and does not have one himself. Even though he couldn’t support them financially with his earnings in the end, Walt allows his family to have a fresh start, in a way.  

Week 2 - blog post #3

                At first glance, it may seem that most of the characters in the film Spirited Away have little in common with characters from other mythologies we have read in class. However, looking closely, one can see that there are in fact many similarities. In the Indian myth of Indra and the Parade of Ants, past Indras that had been very greedy paid for their bad karma by being reincarnated as lowly insects. In Spirited Away, Chihiro’s parents gorge themselves on food meant for the spirits, and as a punishment are turned into pigs by Yubaba. While watching the film, the phrase “greedy as a pig” came to mind as an explanation for why Chihiro’s parents were transformed. In both Spirited Away and  Indra and the Parade of Ants, excessive greed is punished by being either transformed or reincarnated into “lesser” creatures.  

                Another character from Spirited Away that I found very interesting was No-Face. It seems that he is almost like a mirror, reflecting the personalities of whoever is around him. After entering the bathhouse and helping Chihiro procure the bath tokens used in the incident with the polluted River Spirit, No-Face learns that gold is very important to the other spirits of the bathhouse. He lures the greedy frog-spirit, Aogaeru, with gold and subsequently eats him, acquiring his greedy personality, his voice, and frog-like appearance. No-Face continues to gorge himself on both food and a few more bathhouse employees before being confronted by Chihiro with the medicine from the River Spirit. After regurgitating all that he had eaten (including Aogaeru), No-Face returns to his former self and becomes friendly with Chihiro once again. When Chihro and No-Face pay a visit to Yubaba’s sister, Zeniba, No-Face mirrors some of Zeniba’s qualities and finds he is able to spin thread very well. I believe that No-Face is somewhat similar to the Minotaur/Asterion from Borges’ The House of Asterion. Classically, the Minotaur is depicted as a terrible monster (somewhat similar to No-Face when he is terrorizing the bathhouse and its employees). However, in Borges’ telling of the myth, the Minotaur is depicted as Asterion, a simple creature who is simply misunderstood by society. Just as Asterion is depicted as being misunderstood, so is No-Face. The employees of the bathhouse don’t understand that it is their greed for gold that drives No-Face to become a terrible monster. It is not clear whether Chihiro understands this, but nevertheless, she still treats No-Face with the respect and kindness that restore him to his former self. 

Week 2 - blog post #2

                In the story The House of Asterion, Jorge Luis Borges aims to show the reader the classic myth of the Minotaur trapped within the Cretan Labyrinth from a different perspective. The Minotaur (Asterion) is usually thought of as a savage beast who was placed within the labyrinth as a protective measure. However, in Borges’ telling of the classic story, we see a very human side of the Minotaur. Asterion recognizes that he is not a prisoner within the labyrinth for “there are no locked doors [and] . . . no locks” but stays within the labyrinth because the general population is afraid of him. Asterion says, “I cannot be confused with the populace, though my modesty might so desire. The fact is that I am unique”.

In an effort to alleviate his boredom and pass the time, Asterion plays many games including pretending he is being followed, running around until he collapses from dizziness, and taking the “other Asterion” (an imaginary friend) on a tour of his endless house. Despite playing these games and others to pass the time, Asterion still yearns for his redeemer to come and end his loneliness. The story concludes with Asterion falling to Theseus’ sword without fighting back, suggesting that Asterion readily welcomed his redemption (achieved through death).  

Week 2 - blog post #1

            My favorite myth from the Pantheon selections from this week is the story of Indra and the Parade of Ants. In this story, Indra is renowned as a savior by both mortal men and the gods because he was able to slay a dragon that had been “holding the waters of heaven in his belly”. After the dragon is slain and Indra rebuilds the city of the gods, he decides to have a wondrous palace built in his honor by the god of arts and crafts, Vishvakarman. As the years progress, Indra’s vanity is revealed as he continues to ask Vishvakarman for terraces, pools, groves, and other superfluous luxuries. Vishvakarman appeals to Brahma and Vishnu for help, who come to Indra disguised as a hermit and young boy, respectively. The hermit and young boy educate Indra about the vastness of the universe (both spatially and temporally) and its cyclical nature, the nature of reincarnation, and the alternating nature of good and evil. After learning much about living a meaningful life, Indra loses all desire for pompous displays of power and splendor and opts to live out the remainder of his days as a hermit in the wilderness.   

            I enjoyed this story very much because I believe it speaks to many of the issues we face as a global society today. Too often world leaders make decisions without any regard to how neighbors and future generations might be affected. I believe that if world leaders truly grasped the vastness of the universe and how insignificant we are in the grand scheme of things, we might aspire, as a global unit, to something much greater.