Thursday, December 31, 2009
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
The "Post-Disney" Cartoon
The "Post-Disney" Cartoon
The Disney studio continues to make cartoons in the naturalistic style. But the influence of UPA (United Productions of America) can be seen even in some Disney cartoons, such as the Oscar-winning, Toot, Whistle, Plunck and Boom (Disney, 1953). It's the UPA style that has had world-wide influence, not only for its artistic design but also because it requires less technological investment.
The UPA style is evident in Rooty Toot Toot, Gerald McBoing-Boing, Munro, and The Tell-Tale Heart. The goal of the UPA style was to return to animation basics. This meant a flat background, selective movement, flat plane layouts instead of three dimensions, solid instead of shaded colors, a reflexive style (calling attention to the cartoon, as in Duck Amuck [not a UPA cartoon]), pastel colors, and socially relevant stories, such as warlike human nature (Neighbours), bureaucracy (Munro), pathology (The Tell-Tale Heart), and the attack on the legal system (Rooty Toot Toot).
Chuck Jones was not an independent and was not associated with the UPA style. But his and other Warner Brothers cartoons ("Looney Toons") rank among the most innovative and enduring cartoons outside the Disney studio.
Duck Amuck deconstructs the cartoon genre, with Bugs Bunny taking the place of Chuck Jones.
Fast and Furry-ous and other Road Runner cartoons set new standards for art design with its spare geometric shapes. The characters were pared down types, with the Road Runner as the tragic hero doomed by his mad passion for the Coyote as well as by his confidence in scientific knowledge. The Road Runner's pride deludes him into thinking he can capture the Coyote if only he invents another scheme. He not only fails, but the scheme always hurts him instead of his intended victim, the Coyote.
Neighbours is not a UPA film and, strictly speaking, not a cartoon, since it uses live action. But most of the action is pixillated. Pixillation is a style of animation using live action shot in stop-motion photography, making it look animated.
Selective animation, also called limited animation, means shooting less movement change per second, making the movement more jumpy. This was originally an artistic decision, to insure a stylized (non-naturalistic) design. Soon, however, it was used as a cost reduction method, especially for television.
Fast and Furry-ous (Warner Brothers, 1949)
Gerald McBoing-Boing (UPA, 1950; Oscar)
Rooty Toot Toot (UPA, 1951)
Duck Amuck (Warner Brothers, 1953)
The Tell-Tale Heart (UPA, 1953)
Neighbours (Norman McLaren, 1955; Oscar)
Munro (Gene Deitch, 1960; Oscar)
Monday, December 28, 2009
Home Listening Due 4 January 2010
Home Listening Due
4 January 2010
1. What film is the anchor's daughter dying to see? 4 January 2010
2. The film is doing poorly at the box office. True False
3. The film has received poor reviews. True False.
4. When was the last princess movie?
5. Who is Disney's first African-American princess?
(Do NOT tell me you can't spell the name, since there are resources I've explained about in class. If the name is spelled incorrectly, the answer is wrong.)
6. When did Disney introduce its first princess?7. In what city is Disney's new film set?
8. What other form does the princess assume in the film?
9. What is the nationality of the actor who voices the Prince?
10. What is not a political statement?
11. According to one mother, where does beauty come from?
Sunday, December 27, 2009
STAR IMAGES: Marilyn Monroe and Cary Grant
Star Images
Marilyn Monroe and Cary Grant
TO PREPARE FOR the scheduled screening of Some Like It Hot on 8 January 2010, students may wish to listen to the song, "Candle in the Wind" (music by Elton John, lyrics by Bernie Taupin) written about Marilyn Monroe ("Norma Jean," before she assumed her Hollywood name). The song explores the nature of stardom in terms of fame and the personal loneliness of the star. In this live performance in Australia, the audience cheers the line, "Loneliness was tough," as if they knew Marilyn herself or (more likely) they "knew" her loneliness and identified with it. This is the nature of the public's relation to the star, both imaginary and real (the star is real, but her image is constructed).
Director Billy Wilder tapped into Monroe's star image well in the two films in which she starred for him, including Some Like It Hot and The Seven Year Itch, with its now iconic image of Monroe standing over a subway vent. Both films show how the star is an image recycled in new stories that in turn embellish the star's image.
Since our focus is on mise-en-scene and production design we cannot go further into this issue. But students may wish to view another Monroe film to see how a star's image is recycled, the same but a little different.
Tony Curtis, who plays Joe/Josephine (and later, Junior) in Some Like It Hot also evokes a star's image in his imitation (as Junior) of famous romantic leading man, Cary Grant. To prepare for the film students might wish to study the embedded scene of Cary Grant in North by Northwest.
Besides studying Grant's Cockney accent, which Curtis, as "Junior," imitates in Some Like It Hot, students might wish to compare the forest scene in this sequence with a similar one in Man's Favorite Sport?
Whereas the forest location in Man's Favorite Sport? is used in a fairly shallow way, without narrative significance, the similar forest scene in North by Northwest is used to great effect, showing how Grant's relationship to Eve has become more serious. The now solid relationship is reflected in the sturdy trees behind the couple. Even Grant's voice has a new hesitancy, as if Roger (Grant's character) were choosing his words carefully, no longer reciting witty replies as a defense against intimacy. The long shot that opens the sequence is especially beautiful, before the couple draw closer together.
Saturday, December 26, 2009
FINAL ASSIGNED FILM OF THE SEMESTER, Friday 8 January 2010
SOME LIKE IT HOT
THIS CLASSIC SCREWBALL comedy (Billy Wilder, 1959), scheduled for the end of semester, 8 January, stars Hollywood icon Marilyn Monroe in what may be her finest performance. It was one of the earliest films that focused on cross-dressing as a main theme. We will study the film mainly in terms of visual design: the inventive use of costumes, decor, props, and mise-en-scene. Comedy involves a very obvious use of movement for comic purpose (chases, contrast of movement and stillness, etc.). Since the movie is set in the 1920s, set design (including props, automobiles, etc.) must evoke that period. Since the movie involves cross-dressing, costume changes are important in the film.
But the film's distinction is in its use of these elements for comic effect, including dramatic coherence. A prop well used, like significant dialogue, should be repeated in different ways throughout. As the adage goes, if a gun appears in Act 1 it should be used in the final act.
In Some Like It Hot props and costume accessories (including earrings, bracelet, flowers, a hearing aid, coffins) are used as familiar images throughout. In the same way, in this extremely well written script, every line of dialogue wittily refers to previous dialogue in the film. For students wishing to start a career in script writing, this is as good a script as any to study. But the film is also a model of how to visualize a script, since director, Billy Wilder finds visual means for every dramatic idea. In other words, this is not just a filmed script but a film.
Friday, December 25, 2009
New Year's Eve (songs) (Please bring to class on Monday)
New Year's Eve Songs
Welcome 2010 !
What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?
THERE ARE TOO MANY Christmas songs to count and more are written each year. From carols to pop, from bluegrass and Country to Rock, and even Hip Hop, Christmas songs number in the thousands. But oddly New Year's hasn't caught the fancy of composers, or their songs just never caught on with the public. Welcome 2010 !
What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?
So far as I know, apart from Robert Burns' "Auld Lang Syne," there are just two New Year's songs with some recording history, and just one that is truly a standard. That's Frank Loesser's timeless, "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?" which has been recorded by almost every vocalist who matters. We'll hear two recordings of the song, and one with the relatively unknown verse, since it's often dropped in recordings.
(The verse was part of the song in a Broadway musical intended to be a bridge between talking and singing, sung in "parlando" or sing-talk style. Because of time constraints of commercial radio, singers usually dropped the verse on their pop records to insure airplay.)
Its composer, Frank Loesser was a Broadway show composer (music and lyrics), whose greatest work was Guys and Dolls (available in its film version in our library). The Broadway show musical (1920-60 in its classic years) is one of America's great contributions to 20th century culture and is open to appreciation for anyone who cares.
{verse}
When the bells all ring and the horns all blow And the couples we know are fondly kissing. Will I be with you or will I be among the missing?
{chorus}
Maybe it's much too early in the game Ooh, but I thought I'd ask you just the same What are you doing New Year's New Year's eve? Wonder whose arms will hold you good and tight When it's exactly twelve o'clock that night Welcoming in the New Year
New Year's eve Maybe I'm crazy to suppose I'd ever be the one you chose Out of a thousand invitations You received Ooh, but in case I stand one little chance Here comes the jackpot question in advance: What are you doing New Year's New Year's Eve?
HAPPY NEW YEAR
This song, by the Swedish Rock group ABBA, has charted in several countries and in different languages, including Spanish ("Felicidad"). No more champagne and the fireworks are through. Here we are, me and you, feeling lost and feeling blue. It's the end of the party and the morning seems so gray. So unlike yesterday now's the time for us to say
Happy New Year, Happy New Year, may we all have a vision now and then of a world where every neighbor is a friend. Happy New Year, Happy New Year may we all have our hopes, our will to try if we don't we might as well lay down and die you and I.
Sometimes I see how the brave new world arrives and I see how it thrives in the ashes of our lives. Oh yes, man is a fool and he thinks he'll be okay dragging on feet of clay, never knowing he's astray. Keeps on going anyway.
Happy New Year, Happy New Year, may we all have a vision now and then of a world where every neighor is a friend. Happy New Year, Happy New Year, may we all have our hopes, our will to try. If we don't, we might as well lay down and die, you and I.
Seems to me now that the dreams we had before are all dead, nothing more than confetti on the floor. It's the end of a decade. In another ten years time who can say what we'll find? What lies waiting down the line in the end of '89.
Happy New Year, Happy New year, amy we all have a vision now and then of a world where every neighbor is a friend. Happy New Year, Happy New Year, may we all have our hopes, our will to try. If we don't we might as well lay down and die, you and I.
IT WAS A VERY GOOD YEAR
This song, made famous by Frank Sinatra in his twilight years, is essentially valedictory, a farewell to a life full of romances. It has since become identified with the New Year season. The singer reflects on earlier periods of his life (17, 21, 35, old age), each period defined by a different kind of romantic encounter.When I was seventeen It was a very good year It was a very good year for small town girls
And soft summer nights We'd hide from the lights On the village green When I was seventeen When I was twenty-one It was a very good year It was a very good year for city girls Who lived up the stair With all that perfumed hair And it came undone When I was twenty-one When I was thirty-five It was a very good year It was a very good year for blue-blooded girls Of independent means We'd ride in limousines Their chauffeurs would drive When I was thirty-five But now the days grow short I'm in the autumn of the year And now I think of my life as vintage wine from fine old kegs from the brim to the dregs
And it poured sweet and clear It was a very good year (It was a mess of good years.)
AULD LANG SYNE
This song is universally played, not only on New Year's but on other memorial occasions or celebrations, such as Graduation Day. The Scottish poet, Robert Burns notated a Scottish folk tune, with verses, and added some of his own. Commonly only the refrain is sung. The song is loosely translated as "For Old Time's Sake" or "Days of Long Ago."Should auld acquaintance be forgot and never be brought to mind? Should auld acquaintance be forgot and days of auld lang syne? For auld lang syne, my dear, for auld lang syne. We'll tak a cup o' kindness yet, for days of auld lang syne.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Class Assignment for Monday 28 December 2009
Class Assignment for Monday 28 December 2009
Please send to Stella Chen before Monday or on the day she asks. See video: 1, 2, 3.
Please be aware that these files may be removed from youtube at anytime.
1. For whom does the man on the street ask a penny of Scrooge?Please be aware that these files may be removed from youtube at anytime.
2. How many years since Jacob Marley died?
3. Whom did Marley swindle?
4. Where did Scrooge bury Marley?
5. What was Bob Cratchit trying to thaw out with the coal?
6. When does Scrooge say was the last time Bob used coal?
7. How much time does Bob want off on Christmas?
8. How much does Scrooge say he pays Bob?
9. How many years ago did Scrooge give Bob a raise?
10. What does Bob do for his raise?
11. Specifically, what's in the bundle Scrooge throws to Bob?
12. How much interest (percent) does Scrooge charge one client?
13. What does Scrooge say is just another work day?
14. What does Bob tell Scrooge he was trying to keep warm?
15. What kind of dressing will be on Fred's plum goose?
16. What kind of sauce will be on the plum pudding?
17. What does Bob say Fred (Donald Duck) was always so full of?
18. What does Scrooge say the poor won't be anymore if they're given money?
19. What does Scrooge suggest the two charity workers give to the poor?
20. What does Scrooge say people want him to give away?
21. How fast is the clock?
22. What time is it when Bob leaves the office?
23. What time is it when Scrooge leaves his office?
24. What is Jacob Marley (Pluto) forced to carry through eternity?
25. How many spirits will visit Scrooge?
26. How many does Pluto indicate with his fingers?
27. What number step does Pluto trip on?
28. What does Scrooge say is of little use in this world?
29. Whom does Scrooge call the kindest man to work for?
(Try googling for the correct spelling. Get into that good habit
when you're in doubt about anything, whether spelling, facts, etc.)
30. Who's the young man in the corner at the work party?when you're in doubt about anything, whether spelling, facts, etc.)
31. Where does Isabel tell Scrooge she is standing?
32. Where does Scrooge say she is standing?
33. How many years before Scrooge learned to love something else besides Isabel?
34. How late was Isabel's payment on the cottage?
35. What does Scrooge say he is foreclosing?
(Like #29, you may have to look this word up.)
36. What does Scrooge say nobody has ever shown him?37. Whom does the Ghost of Christmas Present say is overworked?
38. Whom does Bob tell his family they must wait for?
39. Whom does one child say the family must thank?
40. Whose chair does the ghost predict will be empty in the future?
41. Whom does Scrooge beg the ghost to tell him about?
42. Who's the richest man in the cemetery?
43. What day is it when Scrooge awakens?
44. What does he say the spirits have given him?
45. How many gold pieces does Scrooge throw to the charity workers the third time?
46. What does Scrooge tell his nephew, Fred, he's looking forward to having?
47. What does Scrooge say that Christmas is an excuse for?
48. What does Scrooge tell Bob he's giving him?
49. What does Scrooge tell Bob he's making him?
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Home Listening Due 28 December 2009
A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS
Home Listening Due 28 December 2009
Copy and paste the link (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CVSpx2d8dg) and answer the following questions. . . .
1. Charlie Brown is happy that Christmas is coming. True False.
2. What doesn't Charlie Brown understand?
3. What does Charlie Brown like to get?
4. How does Charlie Brown say he always ends up feeling?
5. What does Charlie Brown turn into a problem?
6. Who says she didn't send Charlie Brown a Christmas card?
7. Who does Charlie Brown say is the only person he knows who can raise a cloud of dust in a snowstorm?
8. What do the peanuts (children) try to get on their tongue?
9. Which month does Lucy say she waits for?
10. What does Linus say he will make his blanket into?
11. In one word, how does Lucy describe the sound of cold hard cash?
12. In one word, how does Charlie Brown tell Lucy he feels?
13. What does Lucy say she wants to pinpoint?
14. What is pantophobia?
Monday, December 21, 2009
BIBLE: January 2010: Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther (Class Edits)
(1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther)
January 2010
1 Chronicles
The two books of Chronicles are dated after the Exile (after 539). Much of the material in these books repeats, sometimes exactly, material in the books of Kings. Yet there are additions and omissions. Chronicles is focused mainly on Judah; reference to Israel concerns Judah. Since Israel (the ten northern tribes) had ceased to exist, with no promise of return, it no longer concerned the Chronicler. Israel's hope lay with the House of David. So begins the Jewish quest for an anointed king: a Messiah, from the house of David. So Chronicles is an idealized version of Jewish history. Its concern is mainly with "all Israel" represented by the house of David and his son Solomon. "All Israel" suggests a united monarchy, which as we saw in Kings, never was. Missing here are David's faults (adultery with Bathsheba; murder of Uriah; Absalom's rebellion, Tamar's rape [which David ignored], etc.); the battle for succession (David and Solomon peaceably receive their crowns), etc. The focus in Kings is on sin (why God punished the Hebrew people); the focus in Chronicles is on repentance (why God will forgive the Hebrew people). By the time of Chronicles, Cyrus, the Persian, had conquered Babylon, ending the fifty-year Babylonian Captivity (587-39), inviting the Jews to restore their temple in Jerusalem. The books of Ezra and Nehemiah are related to Chronicles, advancing the story of the restoration of the Jews in Jerusalem and Judah.1
1: Adam, Seth, Enosh;
4: Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
Chronicles begins on the first genealogies, to remind the Jews after the exile and to insure a continuous history with meaning. These books are full of such genealogies, omitted here. But the focus is on the house of David, with its eternal promise of a Messiah (anointed king).
10
13: Saul died for his unfaithfulness; he was unfaithful to the LORD,
Saul is dismissed in Chronicles, concerned mainly with the House of David. There is no battle for the kingdom here. David gets the crown easily, from God.
14: Therefore the LORD slew him, and turned the kingdom over to David the son of Jesse.
11
1: Then all Israel gathered together to David at Hebron, and said, "Behold, we are your bone and flesh.
Note the idealized unity here, which Kings contradicts. In Kings we get constant tribal feuds, omitted here. The phrase, "all Israel" suggests a unity of the northern and southern kingdoms that is proved false by Kings (a more truthful record).
12
38: . . . . [A]ll the rest of Israel were of a single mind to make David king.
Again, note the clause, "all the rest of Israel were of a single mind," as if to create an ideal unity of mind in choosing David as king (not so, says Kings).
20
1: In the spring of the year, the time when kings go forth to battle, Joab led the army. But David remained at Jerusalem.
In Kings this is the point where David lusts after Bathsheba; here this is omitted. The writer of Chronicles idealizes David.
5: And there was again war with the Philistines; and Elha'nan the son of Ja'ir slew Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver's beam.
Note, the writer corrects the "mistake" of 2 Samuel 21:19, where it is said that Elhanan slew Goliath, contradicting 1 Samuel 17:49 where it is said David slew Goliath. Consistency is reached here by saying that Elhanan slew the "brother" of Goliath.
21
1: Satan stood up against Israel, and incited David to number Israel.
In 2 Samuel 24:1, God tempts David. This was unacceptable to the Chronicler, who makes Satan tempt David. But this introduces a "dualism" into Hebrew thought; now there are two powers in the world: God and Satan. Soon "Satan" becomes God's adversary, especially in the New Testament, where Satan offers Jesus the world (since it belongs to Satan).
29
23: Solomon sat on the throne of the LORD as king; he prospered, and all Israel obeyed him.
Note again the reference to "all Israel" and "all the leaders and sons of David" (v. 24). This omits the family battles for the crown and Solomon's bloodbath, killing his own family and David's enemies.
24: All the leaders and the mighty men, and also all the sons of King David, pledged their allegiance to King Solomon.
28: Then David died in a good old age, full of days, riches, and honor; and Solomon his son reigned in his stead.
Compare the simple report of David's death in 1 Kings 2:10: "Then David rested with his fathers." So this is a more ideal version.
2 Chronicles
1
3: And Solomon, and all the assembly with him, went to the high place that was at Gibeon; for the tent of meeting of God, which Moses the servant of the LORD had made in the wilderness, was there.
Compare with 1 Kings 3:4: "The king went to Gibeon to offer sacrifices, for that was the most important high place. . . ." Here Solomon prays before the "tent of meeting" (the tabernacle). The writer changed details to make Solomon look as good as possible. Compare with 1 Kings 3:3: "Solomon showed his love for the LORD by walking according to the statutes of his father David, except he offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places." "High places" are forbidden places of worship. So the Chronicler "corrects" Kings by insuring readers Solomon worshiped correctly!
24
20: Then the Spirit of God took possession of Zechari'ah [prophet]; and he said, "Thus says God, `Why do you transgress the commandments of the LORD, so that you cannot prosper? Because you have forsaken the LORD, he has forsaken you.'"
21: But they conspired against him, and by command of the king [of Judah, Jo'ash] they stoned him in the court of the house of the LORD.
22: And when he was dying, he said, "May the LORD avenge!"
23: At the end of the year the army of the Syrians came up against Jo'ash. They came to Judah and Jerusalem, and destroyed all the princes of the people from among the people, and sent their spoil to the king of Damascus.
24: Though the army of the Syrians had come with few men, the LORD delivered into their hand a very great army, because they had forsaken the LORD, the God of their fathers.
Zechariah's curse was fulfilled. Jesus refers to the murder of Zechariah in Matthew 23:35 but confuses this Zechariah with the minor prophet ("son of Bechariah").
28
The following story likely influenced Jesus' parable of "The Good Samaritan" in the Gospel of LUKE:
The following story likely influenced Jesus' parable of "The Good Samaritan" in the Gospel of LUKE:
1: Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign; he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: he did evil in the sight of the LORD:
2: For he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and made molten images for Baalim [gods of Ba'al].
3: Moreover, he sacrificed his sons in the fire, after the practice of the heathen.
5: So the LORD delivered him into the hand of the king of Syria; and they smote him, and carried away a great multitude of them captives, and brought them to Damascus. And he was also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel, who smote him with a great slaughter.
8: And the children of Israel carried away captive of their brethren two hundred thousand, women, sons, and daughters, and took also away much spoil from them, and brought the spoil to Samaria.
9: But a prophet of the LORD was there, whose name was Oded: and he went out before the host that came to Samaria, and said unto them, Behold, because the LORD God of your fathers was angered by Judah, he delivered them into your hand, and you have killed them in a rage that reaches up unto heaven.
10: And now you plan to keep them as slaves: but are there not with you also sins against God?
11: Now free these captives: for the anger of the LORD is upon you.
14: So the armed men left the captives and the spoil before the princes and the people.
15: And the men took the captives, and with the spoil clothed all that were naked among them, and gave them to eat and drink, and anointed them, and carried the feeble of them upon asses, and brought them to Jericho, the city of palm trees, to their brethren: then they returned to Samaria.
33
9: Manas'seh seduced Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so they did more evil than the nations whom the LORD destroyed before the people of Israel.
11: Therefore the LORD brought upon them the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria, who took Manas'seh with hooks and bound him with fetters of bronze and brought him to Babylon.
12: And he humbled himself before the God of his fathers.
13: He prayed to him, and God heard his prayer and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manas'seh knew that the LORD was God.
In 2 Kings 21,Manasseh is completely evil. But the Chronicler was puzzled by the king's successful reign (55 years!). So he assumes the king's repentance. Verse 13 inspired the apocryphal Prayer of Manasseh, supposedly Manasseh's words of repentance, quoted in my commentary on 2 Kings.
35
Though Josiah is praised in Kings and Chronicles, the Chronicler must "explain" why Josiah died young, so gives a reason:
20: Neco king of Egypt went up to fight at Car'chemish and Josi'ah went against him.
21: But [Neco] sent envoys to him, saying, "What have we to do with each other, king of Judah? I am not coming against you this day, but against the house with which I am at war; and God has commanded me to make haste. Cease opposing God, who is with me, lest he destroy you."
22: Nevertheless Josi'ah would not turn away from him, but disguised himself in order to fight with him. He did not listen to the words of Neco from the mouth of God, but joined battle in the plain of Megid'do.
23: And the archers shot King Josi'ah.
Josiah was a good king according to Kings but he died in battle. The Chronicler "explains" Josiah's death by saying his battle against Neco was against "the mouth of God." There is no mention of this in 2 Kings 29ff.
36
20: [The king of Babylon] took into exile in Babylon those who had escaped from the sword,
21: to fulfil the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its sabbaths. All the days that it lay desolate it kept sabbath, to fulfil seventy years.
Note the ironic reference: since the people observed no sabbaths, God forces them to observe the 70 sabbaths they missed! This refers to Jeremiah's prophecy (the book of Jeremiah) of "seventy years" (that is, from the Babylonian Captivity in 586 to the dedication of the Second Temple (516-515 BCE).
22: Now the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia so he proclaimed in all his kingdom:
23: "Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, `The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people, may the LORD his God be with him. Let him go up.'"
Cyrus is under God's control (he's called Messiah in Isaiah). Chronicles ends the Hebrew Bible (Malachi ends the Old Testament in the Christian arrangement). Thus the Hebrew Bible ends on hope, based on rebuilding the Temple. Since Christians found their hope in Jesus, not the temple, they arranged the Old Testament differently; Malachi speaks of a "curse," which suited the Christian need for a redeemer. Now begins the post-exile, seen as ordained by God, through Cyrus:
EZRA
1
1: In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing:
2: "Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.
3: Whoever is among you of all his people, may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and rebuild the house of the LORD, the God of Israel -- he is the God who is in Jerusalem."
Cyrus is the Messiah, God's servant. God is still defined by place (Jerusalem), as if each place had a god.
3
2: Then arose Jeshua [high priest]with his fellow priests, and Zerub'babel [governor] with his kinsmen; they built the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings upon it, as it is written in the law of Moses man of God.
9
1: The officials approached me and said, "The people of Israel and the priests and the Levites have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands with their abominations.
2: For they have taken some of their daughters to be wives for themselves and for their sons; so that the holy race has mixed itself with the peoples of the lands."
3: When I heard this, I tore my clothes, and pulled hair from my head and beard.
5: At the evening sacrifice I fell upon my knees and spread out my hands to the LORD my God,
6: saying: "O my God, our guilt has mounted up to the heavens.
7: And for our iniquities we, our kings, and our priests have been given into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, to plundering, and to utter shame, as at this day."
This concerns intermarriage between Jews and non-Jews.
10
44: All who had married foreign women put them away with their children.
Some scholars claim the book of Ruth was written in answer to this policy, seen as "inhumane."
Nehemiah
2
1: When wine was before King Ar-ta-xerx'es, I [Nehemiah] took up the wine and gave it to the king.
2: And the king said to me, "Why is your face sad, seeing you are not sick? This is nothing but sadness of the heart."
3: I said to the king, "Why should not my face be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' sepulchres [tombs], lies waste, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?"
5: And I said to the king, "If it pleases you, send me to Judah, that I may rebuild it."
6: So it pleased the king to send me.
15: Then I went up in the night and inspected the wall and returned.
17: Then I said, "You see how Jerusalem lies in ruins with its gates burned. Come, let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer suffer disgrace."
19: But when Sanbal'lat the Hor'onite and Tobi'ah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arab heard of it, they mocked us and despised us and said, "Are you rebelling against the king?"
4
7: But when they heard that the repairing of the walls of Jerusalem was going forward,
8: they plotted against Jerusalem to cause confusion.
16: From that day on, half of my servants worked on construction, and half held the spears, shields, bows, and coats of mail.
Nehemiah is a useful text to inspire completion of difficult tasks. Here nothing could stop Nehemiah rebuilding the wall. In this he resembles Joshua who, as the spiritual says, "never stopped his work until his work was done."
5
7: I brought charges against the nobles and the officials. "You are exacting interest, each from his brother." And I held a great assembly against them,
8: and said, "We, as far as we are able, have bought back our Jewish brethren who have been sold to the nations; but you sell your brethren so they may be sold to us!" They could not find a word to say.
9: So I said, "This is not good. Ought you not to walk in the fear of our God to prevent the taunts of the nations our enemies?
This is a theme of social oppression that will occupy the later prophets (Amos was outspoken about this). Hebrew law was based on a kind of socialism, preventing class differences, including laws for a Jubilee year returning land to its original owners, etc.
11: Return their fields, their vineyards, their olive orchards, and their houses, and the hundredth of money, grain, wine, and oil which you have been exacting of them."
12: They said, "We will do as you say."
13: I shook out my lap and said, "So may God shake out every man from his house and from his labor who does not perform this promise." All the assembly said "Amen" and praised the LORD. And the people did as they had promised.
"Amen" means "certainly," as in the Gospel refrain, "Certainly, Lord."
6
15: So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty-two days.
16: And the nations round about us were afraid and fell in their own esteem; for they saw this work was accomplished with the help of our God.
8
5: And Ezra opened the book [of Moses] in the sight of all the people, for he was above all the people [standing on a pulpit];
6: And Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God; and all the people answered, "Amen, Amen," lifting up their hands; and they worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground.
8: And they read from the book and gave the sense, so the people understood the reading.
By this time, many Jews did not understand Hebrew, so the text had to be translated and "explained."
9
2: And the Israelites separated themselves from all foreigners, and stood and confessed their sins and those of their fathers.
6: And Ezra said: "Thou art the LORD, thou alone.
26: "Nevertheless [your people] were disobedient and rebelled against you and cast your law behind their back and killed your prophets, who had warned them in order to turn them back to thee.
30: Therefore you gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands.
33: You have been just in all that has come upon us, for we have acted wickedly;
36: Behold, we are slaves in the land thou gavest to our fathers.
37: Its rich yield goes to the kings whom thou hast set over us because of our sins; they have power over our bodies, and we are in great distress."
38: Because of all this we make a covenant and write it, and our princes, our Levites, and our priests set their seal to it.
The people rededicate themselves to God's covenant.
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30: We will not give our daughters to the peoples of the land or take their daughters for our sons;
31: and if the peoples of the land bring in wares or any grain on the sabbath day to sell, we will not buy from them on the sabbath or on a holy day; and we will forego the crops of the seventh year and every debt.
11
1: Now the leaders of the people lived in Jerusalem; and the rest of the people cast lots to bring one of ten to live in Jerusalem the holy city, while nine tenths remained in the other towns.
2: And the people blessed all who willingly offered to live in Jerusalem.
This action will be repeated during the Zionist repopulation of Israel in the early part of the 20th century.
13
19: When it began to be dark at the gates of Jerusalem before the sabbath, I ordered the doors be shut and not opened until after the sabbath.
23: In those days I saw the Jews who had married women of Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab;
24: and half their children spoke the language of Ashdod, and they could not speak the language of Judah, but the language of each people.
25: And I cursed them and beat some of them and pulled out their hair; and I made them swear in the name of God, saying, "You shall not give your daughters to their sons, or take their daughters for your sons or for yourselves."
Esther
1
The book of Esther is dated between the Persian period (5th century BCE) up to the second or first century BCE. It's fiction (like Ruth) and the only book in the Bible not to mention "God." So text was added in later translations. The emphasis in the original is on luck and Esther's beauty; additions show Esther's devotion to God. "Ahasuerus" is another name for King Xerxes I. (A previous Persian king, Cyrus, liberated the Jews from Babylonian captivity in 539 BCE.)Esther tells the story of a plot against Jews in the Persian kingdom (during the diaspora, or dispersion of the Jews), which, by a lucky reversal, punishes the plotter (Haman) rather than the Jews. The story is built on reversals. The day for killing all the Jews is based on luck (throwing lots). The Hebrew word for lot is "pur" (lots: purim). So Esther is read on the Feast of Purim in March. Scholars agree the book is "etiological": The holiday was the Persian New Year, which Jews now explained as a Jewish holiday.
The king seems so stupid he believes what officials tell him; he orders the killing of a whole people but doesn't remember it. It's a lesson on the dangers of modern bureaucracy, where common sense and justice are lost in a maze of official business.
Irony is used: Haman is hung on the gallows he built for his enemy. Trying to degrade the Jew Mordecai, he raises him in the king's eyes. Begging for his life from Esther, Haman looks like he's assaulting her, so loses his life. And so on.
Mordecai is from the tribe of Benjamin. Haman is an Agagite (after King Agag of the Amalekites). Saul lost his kingdom because Samuel told him to kill King Agag during the war; Saul did not, so God rejected Saul. This tale reverses the mistake Saul made. This time the Amalekites are punished, through Haman. Note the emphasis on the Persian "law," to make it look foolish:
2: In those days when King Ahasu-e'rus [Xerxes] sat on his royal throne in Susa the capital,
3: in the third year of his reign he gave a banquet for the nobles,
10: On the seventh day he commanded his seven eunuchs
11: to bring Queen Vashti before the king with her royal crown, to show the peoples and the princes her beauty.
12: Queen Vashti refused. The king was enraged.
13: He said to the wise men,
15: "According to the law, what is to be done to Queen Vashti?"
16: Then Memu'can said to the king and princes,
17: "This deed of the queen will be made known to all women, causing them to look with contempt upon their husbands.'
19: If it please the king, let a royal order go forth from him, and let it be written among the laws of the Persians and the Medes so it may not be changed, that Vashti is to come no more before King Ahasu-e'rus; and let the king give her royal position to another who is better than she."
The motif of a law not allowed to be changed becomes important later.
2
6: who had been carried away from Jerusalem among the captives carried away with Jeconi'ah [Jehoiakin] king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnez'zar king of Babylon had carried away.
This is the first Babylonian deportation, 597, ten years before Judah fell to the Babylonians (587/6 BCE).
7: He had brought up Hadas'sah (Esther), the daughter of his uncle, for she had no father or mother; she was beautiful and lovely.
8: When the king's order was proclaimed, Esther was taken into the king's palace and put in custody of Hegai who had charge of the women.
10: Esther had not made known her people or kindred, for Mor'decai told her not to make it known.
16: And when Esther was taken to King Ahasu-e'rus into his royal palace,
17: the king loved Esther more than all the women, so he made her queen instead of Vashti.
21: As Mor'decai was sitting at the king's gate, Bigthan and Teresh, the king's eunuchs, who guarded the threshold, became angry and sought to lay hands on King Ahasu-e'rus.
22: And he told it to Queen Esther, and Esther told the king in the name of Mor'decai.
23: The men were hanged. It was recorded in the Book of the Chronicles in the presence of the king.
3
1: After these things King Ahasu-e'rus promoted Haman the Ag'agite, and set his seat above all the princes who were with him.
2: And all the king's servants who were at the king's gate bowed down to Haman. But Mor'decai did not bow.
5: Haman was filled with fury.
6: So Haman sought to destroy all the Jews.
7: In the first month, which is the month of Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Ahasu-e'rus, they cast Pur, that is the lot, before Haman day after day; and they cast it month after month till the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar.
This is where the Feast of Purim ("lots") gets its name; it was adopted from a Persian feast and given special meaning for Jews. Purim is celebrated today as a joyful feast, when the Jews saved themselves. On the evening and morning of this feast, the "megillah" (scroll) of Esther is read.
8: Then Haman said to King Ahasu-e'rus, "There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom; their laws are different from those of every other people, and they do not keep the king's laws, so it is not for the king's profit to tolerate them.
9: If it please the king, let it be decreed they be destroyed."
13: Letters were sent to all the king's provinces, to destroy all Jews in one day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, and to seize their goods.
Note the satiric voice against Persian laws. Although laws are passed and there is a great system of advertising those laws, the laws are ridiculous and unjust (as we saw in other parts of the story); so the book of Esther may be a satire on unjust laws compared to God's law.
5
2: and she found favor in his sight.
3: And the king said, "What is it, Queen Esther? What is your request? It shall be given you, even to the half of my kingdom."
4: And Esther said, "If it please the king, let the king and Haman come this day to a dinner that I have prepared for the king."
It's not clear why she doesn't ask her favor now. Perhaps she's trying to soften him up..
5: Then said the king, "Bring Haman, that we may do as Esther desires." So the king and Haman came.
6: As they were drinking wine, the king said to Esther, "What is your request? Even to the half of my kingdom, it shall be fulfilled."
7: But Esther said, "My petition and my request is:
8: If I have found favor in the sight of the king, and if it please the king to grant my petition and fulfil my request, let the king and Haman come tomorrow to the dinner which I will prepare for them, and tomorrow I will do as the king has said."
There is a fairy tale quality to these repeats. Ironically, when Haman thinks events favor him, they're turning against him. He thinks he's advancing in the king's court because the queen has invited him to dinner; the truth is the reverse.
6
1: On that night the king could not sleep; and he gave orders to bring the book of memorable deeds, the chronicles, and they were read before the king.
2: And it was found written how Mor'decai had told about the king's eunuchs who had sought to lay hands upon the king.
6: Haman came in, and the king said to him, "What shall be done to the man whom the king delights to honor?" And Haman thought, "Whom would the king delight to honor more than me?"
7: So Haman said to the king,
8: "Let royal robes be brought, and the horse which the king has ridden, and on whose head a royal crown is set;
9: and let the robes and the horse be handed over to one of the king's most noble princes; let him array the man whom the king delights to honor, and let him conduct the man on horseback through the open square of the city, proclaiming before him: `Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor.'"
The king is thinking of Mordecai, but Haman thinks he means himself! Haman's advice glorifies Haman's enemy, Mordecai. More irony! This is a lot like Hannah's prayer, later adopted as the Virgin Mary's Magnificat (in LUKE); that is, a prayer of reversals.
10: Then the king said to Haman, "Make haste, take the robes and the horse, as you have said, and do so to Mor'decai the Jew who sits at the king's gate. Leave out nothing you have mentioned."
Note the king's ironic words: "Leave out nothing you have mentioned."
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2: And on the second day, as they were drinking wine, the king again said to Esther, "What is your wish, Queen Esther?"
3: Then Queen Esther answered, "If I have found favor in your sight, O king, let my life be given me at my request, and my people at my request.
5: Then King Ahasu-e'rus said to Queen Esther, "Who is he, and where is he, that would dare do this?"
6: And Esther said, "This wicked Haman!" Then Haman was in terror.
7: And the king rose from the feast in wrath and went into the palace garden; Haman stayed to beg his life from Esther.
8: And the king returned as Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was; and the king said, "Will he assault the queen in my presence, in my own house?"
9: Then said Harbo'na, one of the eunuchs in attendance on the king, "The gallows which Haman prepared for Mor'decai, whose word saved the king, is standing in Haman's house, fifty cubits high."
10: And the king said, "Hang him on that."
Haman is hanged on the gallows he had built to hang Mordecai.
8
1: On that day King Ahasu-e'rus gave to Queen Esther the house of Haman, the enemy of the Jews. And Mor'decai came before the king, for Esther had told what he was to her;
2: and the king took off his signet ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mor'decai. And Esther set Mor'decai over the house of Haman.
3: Then Esther spoke again to the king; she fell at his feet and begged with tears to stop the Haman's plot against the Jews.
5: And she said, "If it please the king, let an order be written to revoke the letters devised by Haman, which he wrote to destroy the Jews who are in all the lands of the king.
6: For how can I endure to see the ruin of my people?"
7: Then King Ahasu-e'rus said to Queen Esther and to Mor'decai the Jew,
8: "You may write as you please with regard to the Jews, in the name of the king, and seal it with the king's ring; for an edict written in the name of the king and sealed with the king's ring cannot be revoked."
Since a Persian law can not be undone, the solution was to give the Jews the right to fight back, which is done:
17: And there was joy among the Jews, a feast and a holiday. And many declared themselves Jews, for the fear of the Jews had fallen upon them.
People are so afraid of the revenge of the Jews on the 13th day of Adar, that they pretend they themselves are Jews.
9
13: And Esther said, "If it please the king, let the ten sons of Haman be hanged on the gallows."
14: So the king commanded this to be done; and Haman's ten sons were hanged.
26: Therefore they called the feast Purim, after the term Pur.
ESTHER: A Retelling
Xerxes, king of Persia, held a banquet. He wished to show off his wife, Queen Vashti. But she refused to come. Angered, he made Esther queen.
Unknown to him, she was Jewish and an orphan. Her cousin, Mordecai, raised her.
Mordecai was the king's gate officer. He heard of a plot to kill the king and told Esther, who told the king. The men who planned to kill the king were hanged.
Then Haman was promoted. But Mordecai refused to bow to him. So Haman planned to kill Mordecai and his people.
He cast lots (purim) to choose the day. The 13th day of the 12th month was chosen. A gallows was built for Mordecai.
Haman told the king there were subjects who did not obey the king's laws. So the king agreed to have these people killed.
When Mordecai heard of the plot, he begged Queen Esther for help.
One night, unable to sleep, the king read the history of his kingdom and learned how Mordecai saved his life.
He asked Haman how a good man should be rewarded. Haman thought the king was speaking of himself and recommended high honors. So Haman, by his own words, was forced to honor his enemy, Mordecai.
Esther took a chance and asked her husband, the king, for a favor. He agreed to hold a dinner and invite Haman, who was happy to be favored.
Esther then asked for another favor, to save herself and her people from death. She explained that Haman was the cause.
Angered, the king left his room, while Haman begged Esther for his life. Returning, the king thought Haman was attacking his wife. He ordered him killed on the gallows made for Mordecai.
In Persia a law could not be changed. So a new law was made, allowing Jews to defend themselves. So the fate of the Jews was reversed: they killed those who meant to kill them.
This day is honored as the Jewish feast called Purim, based on the lots ("purim") Haman threw to choose the day the Jews should be killed. The lot ("pur") cast for the Jews' death became their feast day instead.
The megillah (scroll) of Esther is read on this day.
The book of Esther can be read on many levels. One way is in view of the feud between the Amalekites and the Jews (here, the Bejaminites).
Another reading is the Jewish idea of reversal, similar in Hannah's prayer and Mary's Magnificat (LUKE).
Though the book of Esther never mentions "God," the text suggests God's power to reverse laws and Fate.
TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT: Scheduled film for 25 December 2009
NO STRINGS: TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT
THE CINEMA OF HOWARD HAWKS is difficult to illustrate because it is mainly a behavioral art. There are few shots in a Hawks film to illustrate film technique, such as a low- or high-angle shot, "artistic" lighting, etc. Hawks' cinema is mainly an invisible art of action, or even actions (gesture, expression and significant looks). In To Have and Have Not, the plot is a pretext for scenes between characters that show an already bonded relationship or the making of a new bond.Though supposedly based on Ernest Hemingway's novel, the film has little relationship to it. Hawks is more concerned with male bonding and the acceptance of a woman when she proves she shares the hero's values.
The film's subject is the conflict between the individual, Harry Morgan (Humphrey Bogart) and outside (ideological) pressures (the Nazi-established Vichy government officials and the French Resistance). This summary hardly does justice to Hawks' film, whose focus is on Morgan's relationships with Eddie (Walter Brennan) and Marie, nicknamed Slim (Lauren Bacall).
Typical of Hawks' films, several characters have nicknames (Slim, Steve, Cricket, Frenchie), which signifies their special (not formal) relationships. The nicknaming between Harry and Marie (Steve and Slim) is not that important. What matters is the ritual nature of the naming, a private understanding based on a natural and mutual sympathy.
Relationships in Hawks are instinctive, based on feeling not thinking. It may even be based on nonsense, as in the familiar image of Eddie telling the story of the dead bee. What matters is liking someone.
For example, Harry and Slim like someone or they don't. It has nothing to do with politics, which doesn't concern Harry, who prefers to mind his own business, as he says.
Nor does it have anything to do with money, unless money can be used to help people one likes. Harry likes Slim and helps a political cause for that reason. He even sides with the people in that cause, but only because he likes them.
These are themes. But where's the art?
The art is in the way Hawks shows relationships. For example, the way Harry fondly grins at the rummy, Eddie, throughout the film. The camera stays on Harry long enough to show a grin emerge on his lips as he watches Eddie, at first in seeming disapproval of him.
A useful analogy here might be a song from the musical, Fiddler on the Roof, "Do You Love Me?" The wife never answers her husband directly. She says only that she ironed his clothes, raised his children, etc.
Love here, as in Hawks, is behavioral. There are no high sentiments or big speeches. There are just ritual actions routinely performed, such as Harry pouring a bucket of water to wake up his rummy pal in the beginning of the movie.
Some of these become familiar images. Slim asks Harry for a cigarette lighter. He throws it at her. She throws it back at him. Later he just points to a drawer where the cigarettes are kept. Slim asks a stranger for a light and he follows her out the door.
Other familiar images include the passing of a wine bottle, money, or airline ticket back and forth.
There are also the many times Eddie asks for a drink. Sometimes Eddie doesn't have to ask. Harry merely says, "You can have a drink now."
In an encounter with the tourist who tried to run out without paying Harry his fee, Slim instinctively stops Harry from beating the man by getting between them. This is out of sympathy for Harry, not the man, as she says: "I don't like him either." A later shot shows the two facing the tourist in sympathy with each other and against him.
After their first exchanges, Slim starts to complete Harry's sentences, in overlapped dialogue. She has developed an understanding of how he thinks.
This sympathetic understanding extends to music. The great American songwriter, Hoagy Carmichael ("Stardust," "In the Cool Cool Cool of the Evening") has a featured role as the piano player, Cricket. Scenes are built around the sympathetic duets that emerge between Cricket and Slim.
Music involves natural sympathy. In one shot we see a drummer join band mates who have already started a song.
The final shot of the film shows Slim swaying to the rhythm of the music Cricket plays. Her spontaneous smile at Harry suggests the theme of the entire movie: the natural sympathy between individuals who trust each other.
Music plays another role in the black dancers, who suggest the primitive instincts that Hawks values above intellectualism and organized politics.
This primitive or instinctive response to life is shown in Harry's violent reaction to the knowledge that his friend, Eddie, is being held by the Vichy police. His mutual sympathy with Slim is shown in the way she leaves the drawer open to allow him to fire the gun.
The final shot of them, as she smiles at him, is something the cinema, the only behavioral art form, can do better than any other art.
Friday, December 18, 2009
Tarantino on Hawks
Tarantino on Hawks
This is part of an interview with contemporary director Quentin Trarantino, where he discusses Howard Hawks.
CHARLIE ROSE: If you had to name - I mean, I, I know you don't want to leave somebody out - who's influenced you the most, filmmakers? You said Howard Hawks- QUENTIN TARANTINO: Yeah. Howard-
CHARLIE ROSE: -is one.
QUENTIN TARANTINO: -Hawks is a gigantic influence, but-
CHARLIE ROSE: Because?
QUENTIN TARANTINO: Oh, well, he is the single, as far as for, for my money, he is the single greatest storyteller, all right, in the history of cinema.
CHARLIE ROSE: The single greatest storyteller.
QUENTIN TARANTINO: Yeah. He- and, and, and probably the single most entertaining filmmaker in the history of cinema. It's, it's so funny, because when you get into this- I mean, when you're talking about people who've like, you know, worked for 30 years and have like, you know, 25, 30, 40 films to show for it, you know, the old guys, the pioneers, all-
CHARLIE ROSE: Yeah.
QUENTIN TARANTINO: -right, when you go through their films and everything like that, you know, you're, you're looking at this film and, and like you go, 'Oh, I, I never saw this one, and I never saw this one that I really want to.' And then, like, you start seeing some of their later works or some of like, early minor work that-
CHARLIE ROSE: Yeah.
QUENTIN TARANTINO: -you, you had always heard about, but never saw it, you always are, more or less, kind of disappointed. It's like, you know, 'That's okay.'
CHARLIE ROSE: Yeah.
QUENTIN TARANTINO: 'It's good to see it so I could say I saw it and everything.' Howard Hawks, except for one movie, never disappointed me. All right, it's like, you know, it's like, even like his, you know, even the ones that didn't get any credit whatsoever, like the ones he did later in his life. like something like, like, like Man's Favorite Sport, which is just basically, this kind of crazy paraphrased remake of Bringing Up Baby, is funny. Is it as good as Bringing Up Baby? No, but it's like really good. It's, it's really funny. Now if I'm going to watch Bringing Up Baby or Man's Favorite Sport, I'll watch Bringing Up Baby. But if Man's Favorite Sport's on TV, I'll watch it in two seconds.
CHARLIE ROSE: Yeah.
QUENTIN TARANTINO: If it's playing at the theaters, I'll go see it.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Home Listening Due Monday 21 December 2009
2. What has shown an increase in popularity in the last couple of years?
3. How many years does the class focus on?
4. What 1922 silent film does the professor refer to? (NOTE: Students might wish to google for help here.)
5. Besides Twilight and True Blood, what other text does the professor mention?
6. Has the student read the Twilight books?
7. What series is she a fan of?
8. What does she hope to read soon?
9. What series is the interviewer's daughter a fan of?
10. Besides media, what subject is his daughter interested in?
11. What is the professor's department called?
12. The professor's class analyzes popular media in relationship to which values?
13. What does the interviewer say the student should be studying?
14. From what city are the two interviewees at the time of the interview?
FOUR O'CLOCK (for Monday's class, 21 December 2009) Email to Stella Chen BEFORE Monday's class.
FOUR O'CLOCK
AFTER THE SUCCESS of his half-hour suspense series, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Hollywood director Alfred Hitchcock started an hour series, titled Suspicion (also the name of his 1941 movie). The first show in this series (1958) was directed by Hitchcock himself, and written by Cornell Woolwich, who also wrote the novel on which Hitchcock's 1953 film, Rear Window, was based. The show is called "Four O'Clock" and stars Nancy Wilson and E. G. Marshall (the doctor in the film, The Left Hand of God). View the show in 6 parts (6/6): 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. It's also available on youtube in eight shorter segments. If you choose not to use these links (above), do a search (<Suspicion Four O'Clock>). Don't confuse two different uploads (6/6, 8/8) or there'll be an overlap in the video. Make sure, for example, that segment 2 says 2/6 instead of 2/8! Then answer the following questions by Monday.1. How long does the customer say it been raining?
2. What did the customers come for?
3. When does the customer say it should have been ready?
4. When does Paul (the man character) tell the customers to come back?
5. Does Paul overcharge for his work?
6. What time does Paul set the clock timer for?
7. What will there be instead of the house after the bomb explodes?
8. According to Paul, when did it rain?
9. What time does he say should be right to set the timer?
10. What is Paul's wife, Fran, cooking?
11. What does she ask if Paul wants?
12. What cheese is in the refrigerator?
13. When does Fran say she plans to eat the cheese?
14. In this scene, how many beers are in the refrigerator?
15. How many beers does Paul say someone drank?
16. When is Fran usually at the market?
17. What kind of a guy does Paul tell Fran that he is?
18. According to Fran, what makes the noise on the stove?
19. How many beers are in the refrigerator the next time we see it?
20. What does Fran say is in the living room?
21. When will dinner be ready?
22. What does Paul say is full?
23. Who is calm, casual?
24. What kind of character does Paul say he is?
25. What kind of character does Fran say he is?
26. What do the burglars want to do upstairs?
27. Who do the burglars say is out cold?
28. What does Paul say to the burglars before they gag him?
29. What animal does one of the burglars call Paul?
30. In what division of the military did one of the burglars serve?
31. What does he say is going to hold?
32. What did one of the burglars say he forgot to do?
33. What does Paul do that makes the burglars laugh?
34. How, according to the burglars, does Paul take things?
35. How many dollars do they take from him?
36. What kind of emotions do the burglars say Paul has?
37. In one word, how do the burglars describe the home?
38. What does Paul say to himself he has to do before Fran comes?
39. When does Paul say Fran will be home?
40. What won't Fran notice?
41. What will Fran see open?
42. What time is it when we see the clock soon after the burglars leave?
43. Who does Paul say is too old for Fran?
44. According to Paul, if she settled down a second what would Fran be able to do?
45. What does Paul imagine that Fran and the man who rings the doorbell is doing?
46. Who does this man turn out to be?
47. How much money does Fran say is missing?
48. What kind of package is missing? C.O.D.
49. Besides the money and the package, what is also missing?
50. Besides burglars, whom does Fran think may have taken the watch?
51. Whom does she phone?
52. What does Fran offer the man in the kitchen?
53. How long has it been since the man has been out of prison?
54. What appliance does Fran say once made a noise?
55. Where does the man say he once heard a similar (humming) noise?
56. What kind of past does the man have?
57. What does Fran say that Paul can help the man find?
58. How do people's eyes look when they find out about the man's past (two adjectives)?
59. What time is it when we see the clock now?
60. What does Fran say she will get before she leaves the house?
61. What does Fran say she will look for in the basement?
62. In whose car does the couple (Fran and the man) leave?
63. Who knocks on the door after they leave?
64. Who does Paul say must have locked the basement door?
65. What does he say is going too fast?
66. How many minutes does he say remains on the timer?
67. What is the boy's name near the window?
68. What does the boy say that "the funny man" is making?
69. How many minutes are now left on the timer?
70. What does Paul say will disintegrate?
71. How high will he blow up?
72. In one word, what does Paul say the explosion will be?
73. What does Paul say he feels on his skin?
74. What are Paul's final two words before the clock strikes 4?
75. What does Fran say she blew in the morning?
76. What does Paul say he doesn't mind anymore?
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