I think fictional pieces can be a fun way to look at a part of life. Take a piece and try to see how it provides insight onto real life situations. See if there might be some metaphors and allegories at play. Those are the ones people tend to remember when they find them. And they might not be even aware that is happening. That’s the fun part. The subversive part that is at play.
The first one comes from the movie Orange County. Colin Hanks plays a young man who wants to get into Stanford College so he can work with a professor (Kevin Kline) whose writing he admires. The problem is he comes from an off-the-wall family environment that is completely disinterested in his dream to be a writer. “I can relate” is an understatement.
The line that always struck me was how many authors were always at “odds” with their environment. And choosing to be a writer with always be a struggle with “acknowledgment and validation”.
The next scene was inspired in part by a friend of mine. He is a college instructor who assigned his class a project that would require them to link to a historic inspirational speech. And he was upset on how many students linked to speeches from movies. Not the assignment. I had a bit of fun with about it. Though I am pretty sure he wanted none of it. If you post about it then you have opened the “flood gates” and people like me strike then.
This scene does acknowledge an historical event although not with complete accuracy.
This scene inspires in the film what would be the final event of the film. The thing about this clip is that after 35 years it still quoted from by many in our society. How all you have to say is, “Germans?” And instantly people know what you are talking about. And if they don’t. You wonder how that could be.
So this scene is part of our culture heritage. And that is what makes it “historic”.
Finally, this scene is surely an allegory. You want to see “bad theater” then just tune in any story on Washington DC politics or Mayor Bloomberg (better yet “Doomblerg”) press conference. WARNING: Both have a high level of “Sanctimony” which is almost ridiculous. I saw this quote on site “Whenever the Government cries Gloom & Doom: I know it’s Nothing. When they tell me it’s Nothing: I start to Worry.”
Right now there the “Sequester” yelling going on in DC. The Mexican Standoff pretty much says it all about it.
What Great Drama for a scene. In the end, everyone “takes a bullet”.
That could have been avoided if the characters took a little time to listen to each other. But everyone was so sure of themselves.
Sound familiar?
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