Pollock Lived in the "Now"

Art in its truest form seeks to do one thing – express feelings, emotions and the in
otner workings of the human mind. Some of the most famous and “important” paintings are depictions of realistic life – natural landscapes, portraits and human life in general. While some artists depended on the world around them to create pieces, others went into the depths of their minds to be inspired.
Although a work like Gericault’s Raft of the Medusa roused emotion and helped bring light to a politically fueled cause, it is important to recognize the equal weightiness of abstract expressionist Jackson Pollock. Pollock rose to fame in the late 1940’s when his style of “drip painting” began to gain notoriety. In order to do this, Pollock would pour and drip layers of paint onto a canvas on the floor. This style was deemed “action painting.” According to the text by Rosenberg, this method brought Pollock out of the typical forum that artists belonged to. He was placed into the “arena” and not just tending to a space where reality could be reproduced.

When talking about the originality factor, Walter Benjamin states that even the “most perfect” piece of art that is reproduced can lack. Jackson Pollock’s work serves as an antidote to this because his work is so much in the present. He worked off of his present emotions and the depths of his mind. Although some of the most sought after paintings and works of art are beautiful and priceless in nature, abstract works like those that Pollock created are creatively untouchable. Peter Paul Rubens’ Samson and Delilah is a gorgeous representation of a biblical story, and remains one of the most visited paintings at London’s National Gallery. No serious comparison could be made with Rubens and Pollock though – they’re completely different animals.

It’s been said that Pollock was not famous for the end-result subject of his paintings, but the palpable energy and emotion that went into the creative process. To recreate this would be hard, if not impossible. Sure postcards, key chains and posters can be printed in Pollock’s style – but nothing compares to the original canvas, displaying emotions in their purest, dripping form.

Response Paper - I Love You, Man

If I’ve learned anything this semester thus far, it’s that there is a whole genre of movies and culture influenced by Woody Allen. Whether this influence is explicit or an unconscious reflection of the bumbling neurotic from Brooklyn, New York, movies today often contain elements made most popular by Allen. It’s said that one either hates Allen’s work, or loves it. There’s supposedly no middle ground. Having not been exposed to many of Allen’s plays, movies and/or essays, I remained neutral. While I haven’t yet decided which team I’m playing for, I have been able to make connections with films today.

Actual wit and cerebral humor has taken the backseat in movies today. Titles including the Jackass series, most of Judd Apatow’s films (which I absolutely love, for honesty’s sake) like The 40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up & Superbad are all departures from films like Annie Hall; Play it Again, Sam and Bananas. In the latter titles, the main character is usually some warped form of Woody Allen himself. The plot often revolves around one person or the other missing a session with his/her “analyst,” trying to keep a relationship from going to shambles, or even the actual quest to find a relationship. All in all, Allen’s movies are reflections of his own life – one could speculate that they are an outlet to vent his guilt/neurotic tendencies. For example, he is said to have suffered from an Oedipal Complex. This Freudian theory could be picked out of many of his movies, as he tries to fill the matriarchal void in his life through relationships and sex.

Despite the very apparent direction change in the film industry, one recently-released movie seemed to have multiple connections to Woody Allen and Sigmund Freud. Although I mentioned Judd Apatow as contribution to the demise of intellectual humor, his movie I Love You, Man strikes me as having Allen & Freudian influences. The plot revolves around Peter Klaven (Paul Rudd,) a newly engaged real estate agent with no male friends and little to no social skills. At one point in the film, Peter is asked who his best friend is. He replies, “I guess it was my mom.” It is important to mention at this time, as well, that Joyce Klaven (Jane Curtain) is also a real estate agent. Following in his mother’s footsteps, Peter surrounds himself with women in the office and becomes romantically involved and engaged with Zooey Rice (Rashida Jones) within less than a year. Freud would argue that this lack of male camaraderie and swift jump into marital bliss is a side effect of a serious oedipal complex. From the time a male baby is born, he sees his mother. Because he is unable to realize the relationship from infancy to adolescence (more or less) the child develops a strong connection (Freud would say sexual connection) to his mother, and a resentment toward his father. In I Love You, Man Peter experiences this. He adores his mother, and resents his father. Case in point – at dinner, Peter’s father Oswald (J.K. Simmons) tells him he has only ever had two best friends in his life. A former coworker named Hank, and Robby, Peter’s younger, homosexual brother. It is apparent that Peter feels slighted by this comment, however the the audience shown right away he wasn’t entirely overlooked as a child by his parents – the camera pans to a picture of Joyce and her son, Peter, leaping into the air (holding hands) next to a real estate sign boasting “Sold!”
In terms of connecting I Love You, Man with Woody Allen it would suffice to say that Peter’s character traits wholeheartedly resemble many of the characters Allen has created for himself. He displays the neurotic characteristics of a worrywart (Annie Hall’s Alvy Singer,) and the social incompetency of Allan in Play it Again, Sam. It isn’t until Sydney Fife (Jason Segel [swoon]) comes along to condition Peter into what it is to be an adult male – with friends!

There's No "I" in Team

I've always been the type to handle stress somewhat decently. When I'm told I have to a presentation (solo or group) I freak out, though. I tend to procrastinate, and get pre-production anxiety (so-to-speak.) For lit + film I signed up for the very first group presentation, even though I had that nagging feeling of dread and despair.

The subject of our presentation was Portnoy's Complaint by Philip Roth. It was, to say the least, a very interesting book. I'm not a prude, but I have to say it was shocking to read the combination of every filthy word imaginable for a class.

The group I worked with was one of the more positive experiences I've had with group work. All of the girls were very willing to contribute and make sure the work was equal. Because of conflicting schedules of crazy work and school hours, we didn't have much face-to-face time. Instead, we spent the given class period working and devising our strategy. We also corresponded via e-mail and made sure any new ideas were run by each other.

My particular portion/contribution to the presentation was the analysis of themes between Roth's Portnoy's Complaint and Woody Allen's personal/professional life.

One issue we faced was the no-show in our group. From the beginning, we wondered who our sixth group member was. We asked around class and made an announcement, but #6 never connected with us. Low and behold, presentation day came and we heard, "Who's in group one? Who's in group one?" Not paying attention, most of us called out, "We are!" to which we heard, "Cool, cool. I'm good to go!"

Uh - what?

Apparently the no-show felt no excuse was neccesary, and didn't take into account all of our glaring faces. So, all six of us went to the front of the room to give our spiel...

The kicker was #6's very professional, prepared contribution to our presentation: sitting and TEXTING (while we all stood [even our group member with a severly sprained ankle.])

To finish off, we were treated to this gem...

#6: (after some very general commentary about the book) "Thank you all! We hope you enjoyed our presentation!"

ARE YOU SERIOUS?! We're in college, people!