The scene I chose is when Rath returns to The Blue Angel and is having a heart attack after scolding his students. He drinks the beer that is offered to him and is encouraged by Lola to see her perform. At this time Lola, the clown, a backstage worker and the magician are with Rath in Lola's dressing room. Lola is called to perform and invites Rath to watch her and she leaves with the backstage worker. With his hair messy and his clothes powdery, the disheveled Rath takes a drink offered to him by the magician. After finishing the magician's concoxion, Rath feels pleasure from being drunk. As this all occurs the clown is closely watching Rath and the magician's interaction with a concerned/confused look on his face but his presence is never acknowledged by either of them. The magician then takes Rath by the hand up the stairs to see Lola perform, and of course they are being followed by the clown. When they enter the theatre, Lola is singing "Falling in Love Again." Rath is enchanted by Lola's singing and the whole time the clown is observing Rath's behavior.
This scene is the turning point for Rath regarding his character. He drinks alchohol eventhough he is not accustomed to doing so and becomes intoxicated. He rationalizes his behavior because he is in love with Lola. Rath allows Lola to be his temptress and the magician, his "ally." The clown seems to be an over shadow of Rath's pathetic future if he continues on this path of destruction.
I chose this scene because I find it to be such an important point in Rath's life because he put his guard done as well as his rationale. From this point on, Rath's life takes a downward spiral, he is no longer respected my students, Lola, or the magician. He becomes an outcast in society because of his decisions.
1. Lola and Rath's relationship is similar but every different from Siddhartha and Kamala's. Lola has a strong hold on Rath and he is so in love with her that it takes him to lose his mind to leave her. Siddhartha is infatuated with Kamala and she teaches him many things but being with her and living in that environment lead him to become like everyone else - unhappy. Siddhartha was fine when it came to detachment from Kamala but Rath was so dependent on her it took a lot out of him to leave her
2. Lola seems to be emancipated rather than impassive. She is self-seeking but she shows compassion by defending Rath when the magician makes fun of him. Because she feels free she does what she pleases and has no remorse if the effects on others, especially Rath.
3. I feel that the clown is the reality of what happens when you pursue your fleshly desires -- a downhill spiral of your life. Rath started as a successful and respected man in society. He only thought rationally but when he started to think with his heart, his life unraveled and he became just like the disrespected clown in the beginning.
4. Chaos is represented through the slow transition of light. In the beginning of the film, there is a lot of light but as the film continues you see more usage of shadows and the night to portray the eeriness and gloominess of chaos.
5. The film shows it's important to have a balance between your mentality and your emotions. Before his encounter with Lola, Rath was too uptight and strict over his life and extremely critical of others' lives. Once he meet Lola he was captivated by his desires and didn't know how to balance being rational and his emotions.
6. The comparison of Rath to the Haussmann painting/montage was spot on. Rath is so far from reality; through his lifestyle he has disconnected his mind from his heart. He is so stuck to his intellect and traditions that he is out of tune with reality and his emotions.
What Britt Thinks
Monday, March 12, 2012
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Siddhartha
"In deep meditation, there is the possibility to put time out of existence, to see all life which was, is, and will be as if it was simultaneous, and there everything is good, everything is perfect, everything is Brahman. Therefore, I see whatever exists as good, death is to me like life, sin like holiness, wisdom like foolishness, everything has to be as it is, everything only requires my consent, only my willingness, my loving agreement, to be good for me, to do nothing but work for my benefit, to be unable to ever harm me. I have experienced on my body and on my soul that I needed sin very much, I needed lust, the desire for possessions, vanity, and needed the most shameful despair, in order to learn how to give up all resistance, in order to learn how to love the world, in order to stop comparing it to some world I wished, I imagined, some kind of perfection I had made up, but to leave it as it is and to love it and to enjoy being a part of it."
This is Siddhartha speaking to Govinda after everything has happened to him and he is sharing with Govinda his analysis of life and purpose. Siddhartha starts in the beginning of the book in a very nihilistic mindset, regarding rejecting the Braham and so on, and returns to this mindset with his own twist. His has this mentality of no accountability for actions. He is accepting how and what secular living means and feels since there is no escaping it he might as well join it. He has blurred this fine line between good verses evil because he feels there is no good verses evil. He speaks in absolutism based on his enlightenment.
This quote stood out to me because after everything that happened to Siddhartha, he just decides to give up on following teachings to do whatever pleases him and calls that enlightenment. I also find this interesting that Hesse wrote this during the dada movement and all of the chaos was occurring in Germany. It makes me wonder if he was accepting what was happening in his surrounds and had no desire to go against the grain. Or perhaps he wrote this to encourage people not to think as Siddhartha did. To me this a contradiction to what dada artists were doing at the same time. At the same time it seems as if Hesse was trying to find stable "ground" during this time of chaos.
2. I think writers like Hesse would be interested in Eastern philosophy and religion because of the rejection of western philosophy and religion due to association with corrupt leaders and groups using western philosophies as an excuse or a backdrop to hurt or offend other groups. This negative association with western religion and corrupt leadership drives people to go in the opposite direction: peace, oneness, and tranquility. These are some ideas eastern philosophies offer. In a world of corruption, who doesn't want that?
3. I don't think Siddhartha could have ever reached enlightenment while being in the city and being Kamala because while he was there and with her he was allowing everything in his surroundings influence him.
4. I feel that the river represents restoration, transformation, reflection, and reconnection through revealing the complexity of existence. This is seen when Siddhartha looks at his reflection while he hung from the coconut tree and saw the emptiness he'd embraced and become. Later being by the river restores him and rejuvenates him after a deep sleep. This is also seen when Vasudeva encourages Siddhartha to listen to the river and find his interpretation of what the river is telling him regarding existence. The river also represents self examination as every time Siddhartha looks at his reflection in the river it brings him to another realization about himself and who he is as a person.
8. Vasudeva is a godlike figure, also the ferryman on the river, by whom Siddhartha finds Nirvana. His humble demeanor and wisdom grant Siddhartha the serenity not to commit suicide. Vasudeva has a very strong connection to the river and attributes all of his knowledge and wisdom from the river and encourages Siddhartha to do the same, which in turn helps Siddhartha to find Nirvana.
10. Siddhartha chose not to follow Buddha because he feels that every man must go on his own pilgrimage to discover themselves. He feels that that is the only way to gain knowledge and wisdom, not through someone else's teachings, knowledge, and wisdom. Siddhartha feels that Nirvana is from within.
Monday, February 13, 2012
Dadaism
Artist: John Heartfield
John Heartfield, born Helmut Hertzfeld in Berlin on June 19, 1891, was a graphic artist who designed political photomontages for the German Communist Party (KPD) after joining in 1917.
In 1916, Hertzfeld changed his names to John Heartfeld in protest to Germany's nationalism and anti-British environment after serving in the German militia for the first world war just a year before. He and his brother founded the Berlin based Malik Verlag publishing house that same year and he produced images for the daily Die Neue Jugend.
His involvement in the Dada movement began shortly after joining the KPD. From 1924 to 1933 he designed illustrations using photomontage for illustrated socialist magazine Arbeiter Illustrierte Zeitung (The People's Pictorial Newspaper.)
In 1938, Heartfield's artwork prompted the German government to arrest Heartfield and so he fled to England, where he produced images for Penguin Books, Reynolds News, and Picture Post.
Heartfield returned to his birth town in 1950 as a set designer for the Berliner Ensemble and the Deutsches Theater. Just ten years later he became a professor at the German Academy of Arts in Berlin. And by 1968, Heartfield died in East Germany.
"And Yet It Moves", black and white collage, 1943
This work is a collage of Hitler's face on an animal's body with a Nazi helmet with horns. He's sitting on the earth with sword in his hand that has what seems to be blood dripping from it. As he sits on the earth it shows that it is moving, regardless of his presence.
The title of the work refers to Galileo's alleged comment of defending heliocentrism by stomping and saying "and yet [the earth] moves." In relation to Hitler, he made his mark on history and despite all of the terror he brought the world survived.
"A Berlin Saying", black and white
This image of Hitler's legs and derriere with giant ears on both sides of the hips.
This image refers to Hitler's though process and ideas regarding Germany and the world. It indicates that Hitler was incapable of thinking clearly and his theories and ideas were incoherent and stupid.
"The German Oak Tree", 1933
This image shows Hitler watering a German oak tree that produced shells with Nazi helmets with swastika and a gas mask.
This black and white image shows a German oak tree or the Donar Oak, which to Germans was an ancient paganism symbolization of loyalty, truth, and longevity and by the eighteenth century became a national symbol of the essence of Germany.
John Heartfield, born Helmut Hertzfeld in Berlin on June 19, 1891, was a graphic artist who designed political photomontages for the German Communist Party (KPD) after joining in 1917.
In 1916, Hertzfeld changed his names to John Heartfeld in protest to Germany's nationalism and anti-British environment after serving in the German militia for the first world war just a year before. He and his brother founded the Berlin based Malik Verlag publishing house that same year and he produced images for the daily Die Neue Jugend.
His involvement in the Dada movement began shortly after joining the KPD. From 1924 to 1933 he designed illustrations using photomontage for illustrated socialist magazine Arbeiter Illustrierte Zeitung (The People's Pictorial Newspaper.)
In 1938, Heartfield's artwork prompted the German government to arrest Heartfield and so he fled to England, where he produced images for Penguin Books, Reynolds News, and Picture Post.
Heartfield returned to his birth town in 1950 as a set designer for the Berliner Ensemble and the Deutsches Theater. Just ten years later he became a professor at the German Academy of Arts in Berlin. And by 1968, Heartfield died in East Germany.
"And Yet It Moves", black and white collage, 1943
This work is a collage of Hitler's face on an animal's body with a Nazi helmet with horns. He's sitting on the earth with sword in his hand that has what seems to be blood dripping from it. As he sits on the earth it shows that it is moving, regardless of his presence.
The title of the work refers to Galileo's alleged comment of defending heliocentrism by stomping and saying "and yet [the earth] moves." In relation to Hitler, he made his mark on history and despite all of the terror he brought the world survived.
"A Berlin Saying", black and white
This image of Hitler's legs and derriere with giant ears on both sides of the hips.
This image refers to Hitler's though process and ideas regarding Germany and the world. It indicates that Hitler was incapable of thinking clearly and his theories and ideas were incoherent and stupid.
This image shows Hitler watering a German oak tree that produced shells with Nazi helmets with swastika and a gas mask.
This black and white image shows a German oak tree or the Donar Oak, which to Germans was an ancient paganism symbolization of loyalty, truth, and longevity and by the eighteenth century became a national symbol of the essence of Germany.
In the image it's showing that Hitler took one of the most nationalistic references in Germany's history and culture and tainted it with his ideas which in turn tainted Germany's history and culture.
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