Age: 20.
Gender: Male.
Degree: Creative writing and Film studies.
Does it relate to my courses? The assessments do.
Too demanding? No, i think the course was appropriate for level 1
Were the topics appropriate? All except bandits, which was more of a history lesson.
Any we missed? Prostitution, Gangs, Body modification could be expanded.
Is the lecture format effective? Yes.
How are the lecturers? Very good.
Did you enjoy the interdisciplinary nature of the module? Yes, it gives a wide range of options for us to write about, so everyone has a chance to write about something they are quite comfortable with.
Taking PH2004? No.
Would you recommend us to a friend? Friends who like the sound of their own voices, and some others.
Blogs, a good idea? Yes, it allowed students to think about the module in a more informal way.
Thursday 8 May 2008
This is the End, My Only Friend, The End.
So then, I think that from this module I become encouraged to think more about the issues surrounding me, to see arguments from both sides and think fair(no biting or hitting below the belt). I believe the modules catchphrase is probably 'everything is subjective' afterall, how can there possibly be many things which are undoubtably 'bad' when we all have such differing needs and wants, hopes and fears, so many different paths through life which affect our choices and how we react to our fellow human beings(aaawwwwww). I think that the most important reason for studying 'bad behaviour' is that it helps us to better understand the actions of others and therefore is an exercise in being good.
Jerks and Knee Jerks
I really cant understand the distaste my generation has for religion, admittidly, im not particularly religious and probably dont have the sort of fortitude of character required to stick to a set of solid principles based on a spiritual belief, but i can understand where faith comes from. I believe that, in essence, a persons individual faith in religion comes from a fear of death, an uncertainty we all feel regarding our own existance and the need to find a meaning to questions which are far beyond any of us. What frustrates, even offends me is the way that people are ignorant and perhaps even selfish enough to take their 'crazy Christian in town' experiences, which common sense will tell you will never be good, (afterall, these guys on the streets are fanatical, aggressive or just plain nuts, they arent elected by the masses to come and enlighten you!) and allow that to become a distaste, not just for religion, but for religious people. Along with a ridicule, which in some people becomes prejudice. The unconsidered knee-jerk reactions typical of the followers(yes followers) of Pat Condell and the like are a sign of an individuals inability to empathise with the fears and needs of others, and unwillingness to consider all sides of the great questions raised by our existance.
You can look up Pat Condell's nose on youtube, though, of course, if you wanted to, then you already have.
You can look up Pat Condell's nose on youtube, though, of course, if you wanted to, then you already have.
"Whoa, dude, my hands are so big, they can touch everything but themselves..."
You saw it here first! My magnificent assignment 3, masochists; enjoy!
Out of my Mind on Dope and Speed
“It’s starting to take effect.” Benny jumped up out of his beanbag chair and kissed Pete.
“Would you piss off, you’re stoned, alright, leave it alone mate, you’re lucky we didn’t give you a sugar pill and watch you make a prat out of yourself, like last time.” Benny slouched back into the chair and picked up his guitar.
“It’s starting to take effect” he sang tunelessly as he played, singing the same words over and over. After a short while Benny stopped and stared at the wall, as though he was listening out for something in the distance.
“Pete? When is this stuff supposed to really kick in, I mean, I feel a little bit heavy, sure, but I’m not seeing giants and gnomes, just Roots over there in the corner. Wake up Roots!” Benny picked up a drumstick lying around and flicked it at Roots.
“Yeah guys, what do you need?”
“What we need is a little bit of effort from you, if we’re gonna get this track sorted”
“You know what Pete, it’s the same with everything, if you want output, you gotta input. Here you go mate, this is where you’re gonna find your words”
“What the fuck is that? Do you even know what’s in that? Forget that stuff, just give me what I was on for the last album”
Pete, man, are you, like, an alien from another galaxy? Well, maybe, but if you’re not then this stuff is all good for you man, it’s from Mother Earth, everything on this rock is designed to nurture us.”
Benny lay around for hours listlessly picking at his guitar as Pete sat with a pen in his hand. Pete was bigger now, his eyes had turned red and his hair wasn’t quite covering his horns. Benny’s was swirling around inside his own head.
“Mercury music prize, one of Rolling Stones top 10 albums of the decade, and now you’re on your arse, forgotten how to write. Easy come...” Roots’ words came oozing out of his mouth like squid ink which crawled up the walls, it read: “easy go.”
“Shut the fuck up!” Pete belched fire as he rose up onto his hooves and clamped his hands around Roots’ neck. “You’ve taken this whole thing to Hell!” His voice shook the room as Benny watched, terrified. Benny lifted himself out of his chair and tottered over towards a table, he picked up a bottle and crashed it against Pete’s head. All of the colours of Pete’s mind came trickling out and Roots closed his eyes and went back to sleep.
Rationale
The creative piece is set in a recording studio type environment and attempts to deal with some issues surrounding drug use and abuse. In the short story the three characters; Benny, Pete and Roots all display one or more elements of drug taking. The story does not, however, question the morality of taking drugs, as my own view is worryingly similar to that of the character ‘Roots’. I believe that as an individual act, taking drugs is not immoral. One of the most easily identifiable arguments for this is the fact that drugs have been used throughout history and in the modern day in a number of different contexts. It is well known that drugs were used in some tribal cultures as part of spiritual ceremonies and experiences, while medicine relies on certain drugs as a form of pain relief. The most well known examples include morphine, which is used on those who have been badly wounded, while cannabis is prescribed to sufferers of arthritis. From a scientific standpoint it is obvious that, in essence, everything that we consume contains some kind of drug or chemical; our food contains naturally occurring chemicals which are needed for sustenance and growth, while prescribed medicines contain chemicals which are used for pain relief and good health. In the context of ‘a person consumes a naturally occurring chemical which affects their behaviour’, drug use does not seem at all immoral.
The issues which are addressed in the story include the use of drugs to enhance creativity or ‘expand the mind’, dependence on drugs, negative experiences with drugs and the overall effect on a persons wellbeing. The story was inspired by examples of authors and artists given in lecture who had relied on drugs to create. Personally, I feel slightly disappointed to hear that an artist or author has used drugs to create, as it is a passive experience where the ideas do not come from the persons own personality, but instead from a chemical reaction in the brain. It was my intention to explore a scenario which I fear would be similar to any experience I might have with drug use, that is too take ‘mind expanding’ drugs and find that there’s not a lot in my mind. The issue of dependence on drugs is shown briefly through ‘Pete’ who requires drugs to make music, while the other two characters ‘Benny’ and ‘Roots’ are examples of a negative experience, and the negative long term effects which drug abuse may have on a person. The more serious issue of death by drug abuse is also briefly alluded to; “What the fuck is that? Do you even know what’s in that?”, It is my opinion that in at least some well publicized cases, that it is mixing and contamination of drugs which leads to death, a possibility which is largely ignored by the media.
In conclusion I believe that my short story explores some of the more irresponsible and dangerous elements of something which, on its own, is not totally immoral.
Out of my Mind on Dope and Speed
“It’s starting to take effect.” Benny jumped up out of his beanbag chair and kissed Pete.
“Would you piss off, you’re stoned, alright, leave it alone mate, you’re lucky we didn’t give you a sugar pill and watch you make a prat out of yourself, like last time.” Benny slouched back into the chair and picked up his guitar.
“It’s starting to take effect” he sang tunelessly as he played, singing the same words over and over. After a short while Benny stopped and stared at the wall, as though he was listening out for something in the distance.
“Pete? When is this stuff supposed to really kick in, I mean, I feel a little bit heavy, sure, but I’m not seeing giants and gnomes, just Roots over there in the corner. Wake up Roots!” Benny picked up a drumstick lying around and flicked it at Roots.
“Yeah guys, what do you need?”
“What we need is a little bit of effort from you, if we’re gonna get this track sorted”
“You know what Pete, it’s the same with everything, if you want output, you gotta input. Here you go mate, this is where you’re gonna find your words”
“What the fuck is that? Do you even know what’s in that? Forget that stuff, just give me what I was on for the last album”
Pete, man, are you, like, an alien from another galaxy? Well, maybe, but if you’re not then this stuff is all good for you man, it’s from Mother Earth, everything on this rock is designed to nurture us.”
Benny lay around for hours listlessly picking at his guitar as Pete sat with a pen in his hand. Pete was bigger now, his eyes had turned red and his hair wasn’t quite covering his horns. Benny’s was swirling around inside his own head.
“Mercury music prize, one of Rolling Stones top 10 albums of the decade, and now you’re on your arse, forgotten how to write. Easy come...” Roots’ words came oozing out of his mouth like squid ink which crawled up the walls, it read: “easy go.”
“Shut the fuck up!” Pete belched fire as he rose up onto his hooves and clamped his hands around Roots’ neck. “You’ve taken this whole thing to Hell!” His voice shook the room as Benny watched, terrified. Benny lifted himself out of his chair and tottered over towards a table, he picked up a bottle and crashed it against Pete’s head. All of the colours of Pete’s mind came trickling out and Roots closed his eyes and went back to sleep.
Rationale
The creative piece is set in a recording studio type environment and attempts to deal with some issues surrounding drug use and abuse. In the short story the three characters; Benny, Pete and Roots all display one or more elements of drug taking. The story does not, however, question the morality of taking drugs, as my own view is worryingly similar to that of the character ‘Roots’. I believe that as an individual act, taking drugs is not immoral. One of the most easily identifiable arguments for this is the fact that drugs have been used throughout history and in the modern day in a number of different contexts. It is well known that drugs were used in some tribal cultures as part of spiritual ceremonies and experiences, while medicine relies on certain drugs as a form of pain relief. The most well known examples include morphine, which is used on those who have been badly wounded, while cannabis is prescribed to sufferers of arthritis. From a scientific standpoint it is obvious that, in essence, everything that we consume contains some kind of drug or chemical; our food contains naturally occurring chemicals which are needed for sustenance and growth, while prescribed medicines contain chemicals which are used for pain relief and good health. In the context of ‘a person consumes a naturally occurring chemical which affects their behaviour’, drug use does not seem at all immoral.
The issues which are addressed in the story include the use of drugs to enhance creativity or ‘expand the mind’, dependence on drugs, negative experiences with drugs and the overall effect on a persons wellbeing. The story was inspired by examples of authors and artists given in lecture who had relied on drugs to create. Personally, I feel slightly disappointed to hear that an artist or author has used drugs to create, as it is a passive experience where the ideas do not come from the persons own personality, but instead from a chemical reaction in the brain. It was my intention to explore a scenario which I fear would be similar to any experience I might have with drug use, that is too take ‘mind expanding’ drugs and find that there’s not a lot in my mind. The issue of dependence on drugs is shown briefly through ‘Pete’ who requires drugs to make music, while the other two characters ‘Benny’ and ‘Roots’ are examples of a negative experience, and the negative long term effects which drug abuse may have on a person. The more serious issue of death by drug abuse is also briefly alluded to; “What the fuck is that? Do you even know what’s in that?”, It is my opinion that in at least some well publicized cases, that it is mixing and contamination of drugs which leads to death, a possibility which is largely ignored by the media.
In conclusion I believe that my short story explores some of the more irresponsible and dangerous elements of something which, on its own, is not totally immoral.
Hahanotsomuch.com
The issue of bad comedy, has never affected me, as a white male(im sorry, sorry, very sorry, sorry again) I haven't had my race belittled or insulted by many comedians(unless you count Jo Brand, which i DONT, HA!). I can, of course, identify bad 'reactionary' humour when I see it, but from an objective standpoint, I can see where it comes from and why some people choose to tell offensive jokes(thanks to the lecture), it is most likely a sign of insecurity, lack of taste and a complex social situation which leads to an urge to belittle a certain identified 'other' type of people. Objectively, it is easy to analyse and ignore reactionary humour, however, its not my opinion which counts when we are talking about prejudice and racial hatred.
Bod Mods and Jerkwads
The prejudice against tattoos and body modification comes from a place I personally am not from, I can easily accept a persons desire to inject ink into their skin to create a visual effect. I dont have the urge myself, as I see it as a form of 'advertising', something to do with human attraction, but thats simply an educated guess. Those hounded religious types will get a bashing from bloggers on this subject due to the fact that the body is seen as 'belonging to God' and should not be tampered with, however, I believe that that attitude is no different than the 'my body is a temple' attitude that is perminantly popular for about 3 months at a time, its just a way of saying 'take care of yourself'. A lack of taste, however, is inexcusable, i mean, those ear skin rings? yeuk!! please, spare me. The issue of forced castration is an incredably sensitive one which questions morality and the validity of tribal traditions, which I will shrewdly avoid.(hey! look at the lovely weather)
A Fairly rubbish film
As a film student I am required to write an essay about the film 'Kids', it was awful, honestly, dont watch it, read my essay instead, it'll only make you cringe a little bit.
It has been stated that, outside of the world of Hollywood blockbusters whose goals are entirely economical, filmmakers have a responsibility to create art which presents an argument, statement or view which would contribute to the knowledge and worldview of its audience. Critically acclaimed films such as Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange, which made a statement about the nature of good and evil within human beings, are accepted as good films due to the statement they make.
The film Kids has received a mixed reaction, with some critics praising the film for its ultra realistic depiction of the lives of some modern day adolescents, stating that the film is a ‘wake-up call to the modern world’ while others have labelled it as borderline child pornography. In order to analyse the merits of the film we must investigate what the film is intended to say and how it is executed.
It could be argued that through graphic representation of the lives of its protagonists Telly, Casper and Jennie, the film is intended to create awareness of the activities of some modern day adolescents. This claim could be supported by the fact that the film uses documentary style cinematography in order to create a feeling of realism; there may have been some intention to present the events in the film as though they may have happened, and indeed the audience does come away from the film with a realisation that such things do happen in some aspects of society. The film had the chance to convey a message about the waste of youth in poor, working class society and the responsibility of parents, and society as a whole, to steer their kids away from such behaviour shown in the film. Themes of society’s failings, accidents of birth and economic hardships are very powerful. Had this been done successfully Kids could certainly be considered to be a ‘good’ film. However, due to its rejection of conventional narrative structure, the ambiguity of the films message (if it attempts to make one at all) and the unnervingly explicit nature of the actions shown within the film make it seem notably bad.
While the narrative in A Clockwork Orange sees delinquent Alex DeLarge involved in equally immoral activities, subsequently becoming ‘brainwashed’ in order to explore the themes of goodness and the abuse of liberties, Kids simply stumbles through a representation of an average day in the lives of a group of New York teens, making no attempt to emphasise the lack of any adult role model in the kids lives(the only speaking adult is Telly’s apathetic mother, who smokes while breastfeeding and seems to have no interest in being a parent) the film makes no attempt to explore why the kids act the way they do, where they have been and what has happened to them to provoke such actions. The filmgoer has to be incredibly cooperative to see the good points in Kids.
Whether the film deserves credit in the message we can find in it is questionable. This is because writer Harmony Korine was himself a streetwise kid when he wrote the screenplay and based a number of characters and events on elements of his own life (much like Shane Meadows’ 2007 film This is England which is based mostly on the writers own childhood), Kids therefore is less likely to have been intended as a thought provoking film than it is simply a retelling of real life events, there can hardly be any artistic merit in simply showing us something story worthy.
Larry Clark’s disturbingly lingering style of filmmaking is what has caused much of the controversy, if we wish to give Clark the benefit of the doubt we could say that this was used first to shock and subsequently draw the audience in to the film in order to convey its message. A quick look into Clark’s past however, reveals just how unlikely that is. His previous work in photography included ‘Tulsa’ and ‘Teenage Lust’ which are both little more than still versions of Kids; explicitly exposing young models engaged in immoral actions. It seems unavoidable that rather than a considered style of filmmaking, Kids is little more than an indulgence in a disturbing fetish on the part of the director.
Kids is, in a way, very much like the characters shown in the film. It is foul, explicit and self indulgent. However, by some fluke, Kids does manage to bring a message across to the audience. It seems that, like a pedestrian unfortunate enough to witness the actions of these delinquents, the audience is provoked into thinking about the issues which Kids should have made in order to justify the films existence. It is this which forces the audience to admit that Kids is, in a way, a good film.
It has been stated that, outside of the world of Hollywood blockbusters whose goals are entirely economical, filmmakers have a responsibility to create art which presents an argument, statement or view which would contribute to the knowledge and worldview of its audience. Critically acclaimed films such as Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange, which made a statement about the nature of good and evil within human beings, are accepted as good films due to the statement they make.
The film Kids has received a mixed reaction, with some critics praising the film for its ultra realistic depiction of the lives of some modern day adolescents, stating that the film is a ‘wake-up call to the modern world’ while others have labelled it as borderline child pornography. In order to analyse the merits of the film we must investigate what the film is intended to say and how it is executed.
It could be argued that through graphic representation of the lives of its protagonists Telly, Casper and Jennie, the film is intended to create awareness of the activities of some modern day adolescents. This claim could be supported by the fact that the film uses documentary style cinematography in order to create a feeling of realism; there may have been some intention to present the events in the film as though they may have happened, and indeed the audience does come away from the film with a realisation that such things do happen in some aspects of society. The film had the chance to convey a message about the waste of youth in poor, working class society and the responsibility of parents, and society as a whole, to steer their kids away from such behaviour shown in the film. Themes of society’s failings, accidents of birth and economic hardships are very powerful. Had this been done successfully Kids could certainly be considered to be a ‘good’ film. However, due to its rejection of conventional narrative structure, the ambiguity of the films message (if it attempts to make one at all) and the unnervingly explicit nature of the actions shown within the film make it seem notably bad.
While the narrative in A Clockwork Orange sees delinquent Alex DeLarge involved in equally immoral activities, subsequently becoming ‘brainwashed’ in order to explore the themes of goodness and the abuse of liberties, Kids simply stumbles through a representation of an average day in the lives of a group of New York teens, making no attempt to emphasise the lack of any adult role model in the kids lives(the only speaking adult is Telly’s apathetic mother, who smokes while breastfeeding and seems to have no interest in being a parent) the film makes no attempt to explore why the kids act the way they do, where they have been and what has happened to them to provoke such actions. The filmgoer has to be incredibly cooperative to see the good points in Kids.
Whether the film deserves credit in the message we can find in it is questionable. This is because writer Harmony Korine was himself a streetwise kid when he wrote the screenplay and based a number of characters and events on elements of his own life (much like Shane Meadows’ 2007 film This is England which is based mostly on the writers own childhood), Kids therefore is less likely to have been intended as a thought provoking film than it is simply a retelling of real life events, there can hardly be any artistic merit in simply showing us something story worthy.
Larry Clark’s disturbingly lingering style of filmmaking is what has caused much of the controversy, if we wish to give Clark the benefit of the doubt we could say that this was used first to shock and subsequently draw the audience in to the film in order to convey its message. A quick look into Clark’s past however, reveals just how unlikely that is. His previous work in photography included ‘Tulsa’ and ‘Teenage Lust’ which are both little more than still versions of Kids; explicitly exposing young models engaged in immoral actions. It seems unavoidable that rather than a considered style of filmmaking, Kids is little more than an indulgence in a disturbing fetish on the part of the director.
Kids is, in a way, very much like the characters shown in the film. It is foul, explicit and self indulgent. However, by some fluke, Kids does manage to bring a message across to the audience. It seems that, like a pedestrian unfortunate enough to witness the actions of these delinquents, the audience is provoked into thinking about the issues which Kids should have made in order to justify the films existence. It is this which forces the audience to admit that Kids is, in a way, a good film.
Hold on, what did you say? A cigarette represents what???
My experiences with smoking? Well, my dad smoked, and he smelt bad, my nan smokes, and she smells bad, and you, you smoke, and you stink! sorry to be the 1 millionth person to tell you, but its not big and its not cool. But the discussion on this is a fairly short one; anyone with a shread of sense knows that smoking is a self destructive habit, however, what does an addict care when a craving sets in which cant be fought, its a chemical reaction which happens in the brain. As senseless as it seems to outsiders, smokers wont think twice before lighting up and taking in a lung clogging drag of that musky old road, yum yum, and I think we can all understand and sympathise, dont we all have our irrational quirks and drives? One quick reflection from the lecture; Never in my life have I ever thought a cigarette represented a penis, for one, I give a little more credit to the human race than to assume that we all run around saying 'hey! look at my nob, isnt it great?!' but perhaps you'll all say im just naive. In my own experience, ive never found smoking sexy, no matter who's black teeth and yellow fingers are holding the cigs, am I wrong? in this case, im really not bothered.
The plotpoint of pretty much every Eastenders episode, ooeer missus.
Infidelity! yay! why not, eh? Betray a unique trust built up between two people for a cheap thrill? great fun! But really, as a small town boy who has never felt this sort of thing first hand I can spoil you with my cold, objective point of view, a departure from the flurry of red hot bile that is so typical of a blog. Most religions, being a sort of general 'guide to being nice' as I see them, say that people should be monogomous, and that infidelity is a sin!!! The fairly widespread rejection of religion in the face of science and a human need to find something more stable and tangible, has seen a change in peoples values, and now, apparently, infidelity can be justified. Some may argue that the animal need to continue the race and mix up the gene pool makes monogamy an irrational convention, however, surely the fact that human beings feel the need to pair up and get married, even to the point where it requires sacrifices in peoples lives, shows that people are perhaps inclined to monogamy. An issue which is far too expansive for us to totally understand, and far too personal to approach from an objective, scientific point of view, perhaps only needs a glance at the blogs of those who have been cheated on by a partner to understand the damage it can do to your fellow human being, which is, of course, the definition of bad.
Short, sweet, spanky, if you will/First day of school.
Yeah, you guys really know how to sell this stuff. Todays lecture involved confessing what 'bad' things we have done in our past. More than a couple of you had cheated on partners(blah, blah, blah), many had done drugs or overindulged on alcohol, while some stole and others committed some pretty senseless acts(a dog for crying out loud!!) while I myself was one of those 'individuals' mentioned on the WOLF website. To be honest I have never been very 'bad', ive always had a fairly solid sense of right and wrong, I have, however, done a few things which were fairly irresponsible and careless in regards to other peoples feelings. Reflecting on some of the 'bad things' mentioned, I believe that most of the acts admitted to were examples of this, an irresponsible and uncharictaristically selfish thing which most would regret. Now, look forward to some good ol' infidelity.
Thursday 21 February 2008
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