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!

We are strange creatures

As humans, we have a natural inclination to protect ourselves. Ways to do this include eating, sleeping and reproducing. The “reptile brain” (as my former contemporary literature professor called it) causes us to do weird things in order to keep our morale and sense of achievement up. Aside from necessary actions like eating and sleeping, people often look to others to help validate their existence and keep their spirits high. The thing is, though, that many people don’t look to others when a good thing happens. For example, while it is inspiring to witness someone winning an award or get honored in some way, it’s safe to say many people feel more compelled to watch someone trip, fall down, or get punched in the face. We get joy out of someone else’s pain because we’re thrilled it’s not happening to us. No one wants to be physically or emotionally hurt (unless you’re into that kind of stuff…) so when we see someone else suffering, our reptilian instincts kick. We appreciate that someone else is on the receiving end of some kind of uncoordinated act.
In Woody Allen’s “Play It Again, Sam,” much of Allen’s character is built around his utter lack of bodily control. He knocks over most of the objects he comes into contact with, as exemplified in the blow dryer scene. It seems that most of our section hasn’t had much experience with Woody Allen films, and that the most vocal responses elicited when watching were in response to the physical comedy. Watching Allen as he knocked all of the pills out of his medicine cabinet, attempted to take hold of the uncontrollable blow dryer and “nonchalantly” tossed a record out of its sleeve hooked us in as an audience because our confidence was boosted through his incoordination and awkwardness.
This idea that we get pleasure out of other people’s pain reminded me of Adam Sandler’s 1999 film “Big Daddy.” In multiple scenes, Sandler’s character throws himself into the line of physical pain to make the child he is watching happy. Children are portrayed as “innocents,” which leads me to believe that is a commentary on the true nature of the human mind. Julian, as portrayed by Dylan and Cole Sprouse, can only be cheered up when he sees Sandler get hit by a car, or ailed in some other way. Our reptile brain forces us to do the things necessary to keep us thriving and alive. Sometimes this extends past eating, sleeping and procreating – and extends into the realm of watching someone getting a stick thrown in their path.

"Students acheiving Oneness will move on to Twoness"

They say you either love Woody Allen or hate Woody Allen. I'm not a big fan of his work, per se - but only because I've never set aside much time to watch his movies. I have seen some of his more recent work, including Match Point, and I’m somewhat familiar with the sordid details of his personal life (Soon-Yi, anybody??)
All of that, however, is beside the point. This blog will be devoted to Allen and the works that influenced his films and contribution to entertainment and culture for roughly the past 44 years.
I don’t consider myself a “film buff” in any way, shape or form, but I do spend quite a lot of my time watching movies at home and at the theater. I love watching the Golden Globes and Academy Awards, even when it comes to categories I know nothing about. According to IMDB, Allen’s Vicky Cristina Barcelona was nominated for 28 awards and garnered 19 wins, including an Oscar – which is commendable my standards.
In doing a YouTube search for my “favorite” Allen clip, I was dead-set on finding the infamous fruit scene from Sleeper. When thinking of Allen’s films, one can usually assume slapstick, offbeat, raunchy, etc. The scientifically altered fruit in Sleeper (one of the only Allen film’s I’ve seen wholly) is classic, and portrays what I think the filmmaker is best known for. This scene is a silly, strange and unbelievable situation that one can’t help but laugh at.

In turn, the trailer for Match Point is the total opposite. This film expresses the cross over into the more explicitly cerebral, serious side of life.

The trailer for Vicky Cristina Barcelona is also darker and more of an artistic stretch from films like Sleeper and Bananas:

While both hint at love, deception and scandal (and have Scarlett Johansson running around naked at some point) – they are missing the quirky elements that were once present in earlier Allen films. Given that I haven’t seen most of his works, I’m going to end my first blog post here – in the hopes that by the end of the semester, I’ll really be able to give thoughtful insight into the strange mind that is Mr. Woody Allen.