"Persepolis" movie

This weekend, I saw the "Persepolis" movie. I did not go and see it at the Kenworthy, because I watched it on the website where you can download and watch movies for free. I know this is bad, but I love being able to watch whatever movie I want to for free.

Anyways, there were a couple of things about the movie that suprised me. One thing that I liked about the movie is that it showed Marjane's life in France. I really enjoyed that part, because it was interesting to see how Marjane's life changed once she left her oppressive life in Iran. I feel as if the book ends a little abruptly, and doesn't really provide much closure. I really enjoyed seeing the "awakening" of Marjane, because it was nice to see how her character grew and changed. I liked the book, but one thing I didn't like was that I felt that the book was more focused on Marjane's family's struggle and the opressive government rather than Marjane herself, which is something that I felt was different in the movie.

Another thing that I really liked in the movie was the narration. I know it sounds silly, but I liked the deep French voice of the narrator. I thought it was a treat to listen to. Also, I really liked the animation in this film. I loved the simple black and white pictures in the graphic novel, and I appreciate how these pictures were reproduced for the film, rather than changed or morphed into a more artistic or commercial rendition.

Overall, I really enjoyed this film. I thought that the filmmaker's did a really great job of interpretting this novel. I thought they did a good job of bringing the story and the mood and the illustrations to the screen. I really enjoyed the novel, and I think I enjoyed the film even more.

If I had only seven minutes to pitch my book or movie....

...Then I would pitch the most ridiculous, ludicrous idea on the planet, and after my pitch were accepted, then I would slowly and slyly mold it to become the project that I wanted it to be. I know this is perhaps the most dishonest approach to this assignment, but I thought I would be honest and say what I would honestly truly do. I think that my proposal would be a story about a skinny size two female terminator that walks around with multiple automatic weapons strapped to her back. She would kill people with her automatic flamethrower, and then work as a stripper at night. I would throw in a few explosions, sex scenes, and animals into the mix, and then call it a day.

After I am done doing this, I would probably mold my project into an emotional, personal piece. I think that I could sell my project, because I am quite charming and can make up insane, drool worthy ideas on the fly.

On another note, I think that watching the author's in class did change my perspective of the authors. I have read "Fight Club" before, and I had aways thought of Palahniuk as somewhat of a confident, cynical individual. Reading this short story only enforced this perception that I had before, but after watching the video of him, my perspective has changed. Palahniuk did not seem to be very confident when he was speaking, and his story was not very cynical. It was actually very touching. Also, Palahniuk delivered this story in a way that was gentle, and did not seem to be as big of an angry jackass as I had assumed. It was kind of nice in a way.

If I could back in time...

After the exercise we performed in class, I started to think about where I would go if I could trave back in time. The first things that came to my mind were large scale events in history that I thought it would be fun to witness. I thought maybe Woodstock would be a trip to be at, just frying and listening to music. I also thought it would be pretty cool to go back and see the first time man walked on the moon, or to be in Times Square when World War II ended and people were celebrating in the streets. These events in history would be surreal, and the euphoric atmosphere would be quite a scene to behold.

As I thought of it more and more though, I decided that if I were to go back in time, I would rather go back into my past and alter some of the decisions I have made. I wouldn't alter any big decisions, because that in turn might alter my future and I am pretty content with where I am now at this point in my life. I would go back and make tiny adjustments, and try to alter little mistakes that I made throughout my life. I would go back to when I was in the eighth grade and tell myself not to pluck my eyebrows so thin. I could save myself from looking like a crackwhore for an entire year. It was very unflattering, and I wish I knew that then. I would also go back in time and tell myself not to date half the boys I dated. Some of the guys I dated were just big tool bags, and just a huge waste of time and tears. They didn't change my life, and I didn't learn anything from them, so I would change that in an instant. I would also go back to my early adolescence and tell my preteen self not to be too concerned with what my friends thought. That was something that was definitely a burden to myself when I was growing up, and something that really was a waste of time. In a years time, I wasn't even friends with half of the people whose opinion I held so highly, so it really was a waste of time.

Othere than these instances, I don't think I would change anything about my life. Nor do I think I would travel through time to witness anything in my life. It would be too painful to witness my awkward moments, and I remember my saddest and happiest moments so vividly that I do not need to go back in time and witness them.

9/11 memory

I have many memories about 9/11, but my most vivid was probably the day that it happened. I can clearly remember that school had just started, and I was in the eighth grade. It was my eigth grade boyfriend's birthday, and I made him brownies the night before to bring to school. I had just come out of the shower, when my mother came downstairs and was really wound up over whatever was on the news. I really wasn't that concerned about it, and I just sort of ignored my mom because she always gets excited over the news. But when I went upstairs to eat my breakfast, I remember the television was on and it was showing that clip of the plane actually flying into the building. I just remember seeing that and being so bewildered. I remember thinking holy cow, a plane REALLY just flew into a building. It was just so strange. I didn't know what was going on, and if a plane just flew into the building by accident or what was going on. Then my mom told me it was an attack and I just was confused. I don't think the weight of the situation really registered with me. I didn't think 9/11 was tragic or earth-shattering when I found out, or even in the next day that followed. I remember just thinking it was very odd, and that what was going on was just so crazy. I also remember all the kids at school talking about what had just happened and them not really understanding the significance of what had just happened either. We were all just stunned. All the kids that had to present current events that day did that one, and our teacher spent time talking about it and asked us how we felt. It was just so surreal, and I can not believe that I remember everything so clearly, because I have a terrible memory and seven years ago is a long time. But I don't think I will ever forget that day, or seeing that image on television.

Are Graphic Novels Literature?

After much debating, I have decided that I think that graphic novels can be read as literature. At first, I was a little apprehensive to consider graphic novels as literature, because I thought that graphic novels were really just picture books for the older, nerdier demographic. After reading Persepolis and the other comics we were assigned to read, however, my opinion on graphic novels has shifted slightly. I thought that the comics we read did a really good job of expressing raw emotions and telling good stories. I also thought that Persepolis was a really good example of why graphic ovels should be considered literature. This graphic novel told a story almost as adeptly as any other form of prose could, and really had substantial characters. I almost think that the pictures in this novel added an element to the story that most normal novels do not have. I really think that graphic novels shouldbe considered literature, because they do the same thing that any other form of literature does. Graphic novels tell a story, and they take the reader on a journey. This graphic novel touched the reader and expressed more emotions than maybe some other "normal" novels. It is because of this that I think that graphic novels and comics can be considered literature.

Thoughts on "Persepolis"

After reading the memoir Persepolis, which is my first forray into the graphic novel genre, I have a greater appreciation for the comic book. Actually, I have a lot more appreciation for any method of story telling that is accompanied by an illustration. It was really interesting to read this author's story, and to look at her illustrations. I thought it was cool because these images served to show the reader every aspect of memory that the author had, not just to describe to the reader what was seen.

It is because of this that i think that the memoir is a perfectly suited for the graphic novel format. It adds a unique dimension to the story of the author. It allows every aspect of the story to be available for the audiences to consume. It also allows the author to present the full picture of what they have experienced, and this really adds a more intense element to the story. Instead of just interpreting a description of what was going on, readers are able to see what is happening through the perspective of the author. There were many things that were great to see and gain a full understanding of as opposed to just reading. One example is when Marji is just walking down the street and it is a line of men in black coats, literally touching shoulders as they are trying to sell her cassette tapes on the black market. That is something that the reader must see in order to comprehend.

I also thought that taking the history of these revolutions and oppressive governments in Iran and having these as the background for the memoir was interesting as well. It was fascinating to see these hefty, formidable moments in history juxtaposed with the story of an adolescent girl growing up. There are some things that happened that are much more toughing or much more fascinating when they are presented from Marji's perspective. The stories of the political prisoners that Marji knew were a lot more affective when you considered how Marji had known the families of these prisoners. Also the irritation and reluctance to accept the new religious government was a lot more understandable when we saw all the daily annoyances that Marji and her family had to endure. When Marji's family had to always run down into the basement for bomb scares and had to get black curtains so their neighbors wouldn't know that they had parties, readers saw how difficult it would hae been to live in Iran at this time. The story took on a new personal element with these little anecdotes, and the full weight of the oppression was felt. It was very interesting to see.

Overall, I really thought that this political history element really added an interesting dimension to this memoir. Likewise, I think that the graphic novel format really made for an interesting element as well. This was a really cool book, and I really enjoyed it.

Review of "The Ladies of Grace Adieu"

Last week, I really did not enjoy reading the short story "The Ladies of Grace Adieu." I was one of the students in class who were dismissing the story as terrible, and my argument for this was that I just "didn't like" the story. I was thinkning about it after class, and was trying to think of the reason why I simply did not like this story. After much thought and consideration I think that the reason why I did not like this story was because of the boring pace and the uninteresting characters of this story.

I do not think that there is one character in this story that I identified with or became attached to. I thought that although Casandra is supposed to be spunky and fiery, she just comes off as droll. And all of the other female characters are really boring, and I feel that everything that they say is just tedious to read. To be honest, I have no interest in reading the dull things that these dull characters have to say.