For next week, watch the video below which focuses on Chapters 3-4 of Bevis, and respond to the question at the end with a brief comment. This gives you a hint at your first paper assignment, which I'll post later in the week! But don't worry. it's not due until the end of Week 4.
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For Tuesday: A Thousand Acres (1997)
On Thursday, we watched the first hour or so of A Thousand Acres , which is an adaptation of Jane Smiley's novel which is in turn a loos...
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Answer TWO of the following... 1. The final act is peppered with scenes and moments that are often cut or condensed in modern pro... -
Please watch the short video (20 min) on Acts 1-2 of the play, focusing primarily on Cleopatra as an actress, and answer the question that f...
Callie Farley: One of my favorite characters is Leslie Knope from Parks & Recreation! I'm sure you know, but the show is very similar to The Office and it's often argued which is better (I have to admit I think that The Office is better). Leslie is the Deputy Director of the Parks and Recreation Department in Pawnee, Indiana. I think that I love her so much because she even though she is cringe-ily awkward and such a dork, she cares so much about her job, her town, and all of the people she comes into contact with. I think that she is another really good example of a Michael Scott type where she just really wants to be funny and relatable but her awkwardness just gets in the way of that. Although, there are times in the show where we can see her really struggle with trying to not disappoint those around her. I think that this is what makes her such a relatable character, at least to me. She has so many ambitions for herself, but loves her town so much and really wants to please everyone there, however, she also fights with this because people don't really take her that seriously. I would love to have Leslie's charisma, her motivation, and her drive to do whatever she can for the people that she loves. Even though she is ridiculous, you can't help but love her.
ReplyDeleteGreat response--she's an adorable character, though she shares a lot of traits with Michael Scott. In real life, she would probably annoy the hell out of most people! And yet, she does care about her job and town, and tries to do her best (with some small exceptions). And she, unlike Michael Scott, really does make her job family a real family, and supports them as much as she can (too much, maybe!). She's a very over the top character, and often a caricature...but she suggests that if you really want to care, and wear your heart on your sleeve, you're going to look foolish to many people. You're going to annoy people. And you have to be okay with that. Caring = weakness to some, and trying to do your best all the time is seeing as 'dorky' behavior. But without her, what kind of town would Pawnee be? (and I still think she predicted Biden's presidency! She knew he would be the one!).
DeleteI love Lorelai Gilmore on Gilmore Girls. She is funny and bold. She marches to the beat of her own drum. She loves her family and community in a big way. She works hard for her dreams. I feel she is a character. She does everything with flair. She talks and goes 100 miles a minute. She always says the craziest things like, (my paraphrasing) "I couldn't think of what to write in the letter so I just started writing down my thoughts, that was dangerous... rattlesnake, monkey, monkey, underpants." She is a coffee addict. She is so relatable and real. I relate to her love for people. I also get how she has built her own life where she never fit in the world she grew up in. I am inspired by her independence and drive to reach for her dreams.
ReplyDelete#1: Don't forget to write your name in the comment so I can give you credit!
ReplyDelete#2: Yes, she's a great character--at once witty, irreverent, but also a little ditsy at times. She both makes fun of the world and is sometimes made fun of. What's interesting is how her parents see her (as a caricature), compared to how others see her (much more as a character). I think she's an ideal comic character, since she can switch from being cliched at times (if the episode calls for it), to then being very dramatic and satirical. Her repartee with Luke is worthy of Shakespeare's comedy at times, or even Elizabeth and Darcy from Pride and Prejudice. I think it's clear the creator knows her comedy!
Sorry, it had my name where I was entering my info so I figured it would publish it.
Delete- Stacy Haigood...the Gilmore Girls addict
Chloe LaFevers:
ReplyDeleteI know we’ve already talked about “The Office” at length, but Dwight Kurt Schrute III is (in my opinion) one of the funniest individuals to grace the television screen. I think he’s believable because he’s definitely got the aurora of “that one person” we all know. However, the thing that makes him so great is that his personality as a whole makes the quirks of “that one person” seem like perfectly normal behavior by comparison. I think to appreciate Dwight in all his complexity, you have to be able to admit that he’s not someone you’d want to be around for an extended period of time in real life. I certainly think he’s portraying a character when he engages in behaviors such as tattling on fellow employees to his boss and in the way he covets the title assistant (to the) regional manager. However, he definitely crosses the line into caricature with some of his other antics. Staging a fake (but actually quite real) fire emergency in a building full of people, cutting off the face of a CPR dummy to try it on, and hiding numerous weapons of varying lethality in his workplace, to name a few.
Dwight certainly has his flaws. He can be extremely unkind and unbelievably small minded at times. But over the course of the show, he also showcases some really endearing qualities such as loyalty, determination and sympathy. And by the end of the entire series, it is evident that he is a person capable of growth and change. Overall, I think what makes me secretly want to be him (or be like him, rather) is the confidence in which he is unflinchingly and authentically himself at all times. He doesn’t see the need, nor seemingly have the ability, for putting on a fake persona to garner other people’s favor. What you see is what you get, and thought it’s not always pretty or conventional, you know it’s real.
“I am ready to face any challenges that might be foolish enough to face me.”
- Dwight Schrute
Great response! Dwight, like Michael Scott, is a caricature who becomes a real character by the sheer effort of his performer. Rainn Wilson is a master at switching his character from logos to pathos, or rather, from sheer comedy to actual sympathy. Sometimes he's there just to represent the 'boor' of the office, someone who doesn't understand or respect women, and thinks that culture is too soft...but at others, he seems to be a misunderstood and lonely fellow who devotes himself body and soul to the office. And as you suggest, he also grows and changes, which a mere cariacture (which is a stereotype) can never do. The question to consider is why the Office feels it's necessary to make some characters, like him, rise above their caricature, while others (Kevin, etc.) always remain one-note. But you're right, he's a major comic achievement, and one of the reasons for the success of the show.
DeleteMy favorite comedic character is from an old SNL show. I can not for the life of me remember who played the character but it was an adult who played the role of a child. The child kept throwing a fit about being touched even though it was not being touched. In the skit the character is just over the top annoying with the constant repeats of "Quit! Stop touching me!" The reason it was so funny is because that is some we all hear constantly as parents but to see it played y an adult made it seem ridiculous. Then to add the obnoxious tone and barrage that they did made it hilarious. This role was definitely that a caricature due to the over the top nature of the role. I relate to the character simply because the skit is something that has played out numerous times within my house. I still to this day use the same obnoxious voice and lines with the people in my family just to be funny. lol
ReplyDeleteYes, like so many caricatures, it stretches the material/character so that we can see the 'truth' behind it. If they had played this more realistically, we wouldn't get the joke...it would just seem like a drama. But by making the normal absurd, we can see our own lives better, and laugh at the reality of it all. There was a funny sketch that I once saw at The Second City in Chicago (where a lot of SNL actors get their start), where someone played a kid who kept interrupting her parents when they were trying to console a friend who was getting a divorce. And whenever the situtation would get heavy, the kid would run in and say "I made a doodie!" And the parents would start laughing and gushing over the child, while the soon-to-be divorced fellow would be crushed because they forgot all about him. And it was a funny reminder that a kid has a different set of priorities, as do parents...that a friend's love life just isn't as important as their 'love life' with their child. It was hilarious, but also kind of sad, since the friend finally left the house with everyone ignoring him. But that's the true point of comedy: it makes us think and emphatize as well as laugh.
DeleteNew Girl is one of the funniest shows I have seen. All of the characters are so great, but my favorite would have to be Jess. She does such a good job at playing her role. Jess plays a kind teacher who pretty much believes that there is no bad people in the world. She sees the good in everything and makes jokes about everything. Jess is played by Zooey Deschanel and I have noticed that any film that Zooey Deschanel is in, she has to be a witty character or else the movie just is not as good. For example, she is Buddy's girlfriend in the movie Elf. She is a funny character in that film and in the show New Girl that it is hard to picture her in a serious film. She embodies the witty characters so much that even in real life I picture her as a silly person.
ReplyDeleteDeadpool is hands down my favorite comedy. The whole movie has surprises and jokes at every corner and I am just a sucker for a good fourth wall break. The main character Deadpool or Wade Wilson is played by Ryan Reynolds. Reynolds is one of the few actors that I like in comedies. The movie is full of tragedies but in the end it is just an all around comedy. Deadpool is more or less about a man who falls in love and doesn't want to die but pays the price for the cure. Wade Wilson was a jokester before he died, and after he continued to hold the same humor as before. I would say Ryan and Wade seem to be all in the same. Ryan Reynolds is just someone who seems to make a joke out of everything in life just as he did as his character in the movie. I guess I could say I like to make a joke out of everything in life, (because life is honestly one big joke) and I do not like to take hardships seriously. On that level I can relate with Reynolds and with his character because why should you let tragedy weigh you down, when you could make the most of it. - Amily Clary
ReplyDeleteMy favorite character in a show has got to be Walter White in Breaking Bad. Once I got through the first few episodes of the series I was hooked. I could not stop watching. Bryan Cranston did a phenomenal job at playing the role of Walter White in this series. What hooked me is that his motive for doing all of the bad that he did throughout the series was for the betterment of his family. I think that the further he gets into what he is doing he becomes hooked and falls in love with the idea of being "the man". You could never really tell what he was going to do next, that is why I loved the series so much. You could generally know what to expect from the bad guys in the series such as Gus. You knew that something bad was going to come from any situation he was involved in. I think that Bryan Cranstons character Walter White flirted at times with becoming a caricature. It got to the point where you almost expected Walter to screw up when the right decision was right in front of him. It sort of became a given.
ReplyDeleteIsaac Bellinger
He's a great example of a very dynamic character, but would you call Breaking Bad a comedy (despite some funny moments)? Can we call him a comic character? I think the show might be too consistently dramatic to really examine his character as comedic, though I see exactly what you're getting at. Maybe focus on a moment when you see him acting/being more of a comic figure than a tragic one.
DeleteMy favorite character is Schmidt from New Girl. At the beginning of the series, he was a total douchebag. At the end, he was still a douchebag but definitely the most amusing character in the series. I love Jess, Nick, Winston and Schmidt but their dynamic makes the show spectacular. What's at the heart of Schmidt's douchebaggery is the need to be cool and be seen as completely different from who he was in college (an overweight nerd). Schmidt may seem like a huge tool (and he is), but he also cares deeply about his friends and would do anything for them (especially Nick). The funniest parts of the show are when the audience gets to see Schmidt's dramatic outbursts.
ReplyDeleteYes, he's a great example of a "character," since he is someone who is trying hard to adopt a stereotype/caricature as his true identity. Yet his other character shines through, the more sensitive, less confident person he used to be and still is. We laugh at how outrageously he performs the caricature, taking it to absurd heights...yet this allows us to see how true it is by the many people who perform it daily. And ultimately, he's not defined by it, and is able to shed it, just like Nick sheds the identity of being a "loser" and Jess isn't just as "dork." Comedies start with stereotypes and end in character (good ones, anyway).
DeleteOne of my favorite shows is Gravity Falls, which is a cartoon on Disney. The first character that popped into my head when I heard this prompt was Grunkle Stan (his name is Stanley Pines, but he is the great uncle of the two main characters, so he is called Grunkle Stan). He has a lot of depth in the show, but he is also great for comedic relief because he plays into the role of the Weird Uncle™. He goes between being a character with great emotional depth and realistic flaws and goals, to this caricature of that one really eccentric old relative you see at family reunions. His job is running a tourist trap called “The Mystery Shack” that profits on tricking people into thinking that unicorns made of actual corn and other such nonsense is real, he is always walking around in his underwear, he hates “young people” (ie millennials, so much so that he tries to shoot down a hot air balloon full of them with a crossbow), and he wants to bond with his niece and nephew by fishing all day in a rinky-dink rowboat. Even his name is a nod to how much of a caricature he is. He also lives a double life and has an extensive criminal record. He is just an absurd character and that is what makes him funny. And he is not the only character in this show that toes the line between character and caricature; every main character is a mix between realistic and absurd.
ReplyDelete-Mary Hall
Yes, that's a great trope, the "Weird Uncle" (is it trademarked?! :) ). So many shows allow the uncle to express the weirdness of the family, to flaunt taboos, since uncles are rarely married or have children (in fiction, anyway). It's almost a way to suggest, symbolically, that every family has its secrets, and your parents had a different life before they became parents. But only the uncle can still reveal this identity. Very interesting!
DeleteOne of my favorite comedic characters would be Sonny played by Adam Sandler in the movie Big Daddy. What makes Sonny a believable character is the fact that he takes on an insane amount of responsibility in order to prove to his girlfriend that he is ready to take the next step. Drastic actions to impress women is something men have done for ages. I would say that Sonny is more of a caricature because he could be a real life person, his mannerisms and actions are just exaggerated to create more laughs. It is very possible for a single guy to want to foster a child and have no idea what he is doing; therefore, him and the child simultaneously raise one another. Sunny threatens to cross a line when he decides to give Julian back to DHS because his former girlfriend has already moved on. I would secretly like to be Sunny for the simple fact that I think it would be fun to have a kid as cool as Julian show up on your front door out of the blue and not have to do any of the work socially to have a child.
ReplyDeleteYes, great response; the comedy of this show is how unprepared most men are, emotionally, to have a child. Our society keeps men very immature so that most are emotionally distant from their kids and leave all of the 'raising' to the mother (though they step in for the discipline). So the humor here is that a child would have to half-raise the adult, but also, that the adult could learn to embrace his nurturing side, even if he was as ridiculous as Sonny is. So it's a satire on how we raise kids in America, as well as a jab at American manhood. But it all ends happily in the end! (unlike life, when a lot more therapy would be needed).
DeleteBrian Cranston's role as Walter White in Breaking Bad was something that is still astonishing to watch; even to this day. What made Walter White feel so real was that his goals are easily relatable and believable. They ground Walter within reality and as the show progresses we see Walter abandon more and more of himself over time. Being consistently oppressed and scared made Walter change into Heisenberg. A ruthless drug manufacturer/dealer that doesn't hold back to anyone in his way. Walter White is definitely a character turned caricature. I say this because as the show continues; Walter loses more and more of himself. This is a character I can relate to a little bit, but not too much. I understand his goals of wanting to provide for his family, but the measures he takes is something I can never relate to.
ReplyDelete#1: Make sure to put your name somewhere in this comment so I can give you credit for this! :)
Delete#2: You're the second person to focus on Walter White, which doesn't surprise me, since he's such an iconic and dynamic character. But is he comedic? Is BB a comedy? If so, what makes it often feel/read like one? Can a tragedy also be a comedy? Does it veer between the two? Where do you see that happening?