HON394: CRIMINAL MINDS (FILM)

Ms. Emma (middle name unknown) Carson has another really creative project, using a picture-book to describe the trial of Trina Garnett. From what I gathered very quickly at the end of class, Garnett was being tried for a crime at 14 years old and was tried as an adult. After mandatory sentencing, which some thought was controversial, she basically was sentenced to life in prison. The trial focused on all of her actions without including any outside factors (problems at home, mental health problems, etc.) and some saw this as extremely wrong because the trial did not give a full description of what her situation was. I believe that this is going to be a great project because it has a true theme to it and covers a unique topic. 

However, the century moves on, and so does the social themes that are being portrayed in these crime films. With an increase of female crime rates in the late 80′s and 90′s, the ‘female criminal’ is now being linked to this underlying belief in society that crime is masculine. Monster as well as Thelma and Louise ditch the male character altogether and instead focus on the masculine attributes that the characters portray. It is a strict difference from the earlier types of films. Anyways, this is me and my project! 

Anyways, I wanted to respond to the character of Jerry and how interesting he was as a criminal, if you can call him that. I believe that, because he was not who we usually see as a criminal, he was comedic to the audience due to his unpreparedness. What he saw was a fool-proof plan that would lend him some money without any strings attached. However, once things started to go wrong, his character completely fell apart and began to act insanely irrationally. I enjoyed this characterization shift because it is a trope that we as the audience are not used to seeing on film: the unprepared, nervous criminal. Most of the time we are seeing crime being completed with specific detail, planned by a smart, charismatic man. The Coen Bros. adaptation of the story truly made me laugh just because of the way that Jerry is almost portrayed as too nice and that, now that he has to be worried about the law, he is in-over-his-head. Lastly, I thought that Steve Buscemi’s character also had some of these traits even though he carried out harsher crimes...even more intriguing. 

Challenge Pøst 13: Here is a small clip from a Simpson’s episode in which they spoof the entirety of Bonnie and Clyde. I could not get video of the entire episode, but this is a recreation of the shootout scene at the end of the film. Funny stuff! I love the exaggeration and poking fun at the length of the shooting itself. 

Follow link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFBcjII3QAE

During the Casey Anthony trial,  the press mainly focused on spreading the ideals that she was an irresponsible mother and a selfish type of person. The first two pictures are examples of the images that the news mainly spread across the country, molding in the minds of citizens that Casey was, in fact, a party girl. The other two images, showing Casey with her daughter, seem extremely loving and show the other side of Casey’s possible character. However, these were not spread as much as the party-type images. Because of this, most people remember the negative characterization of Casey rather than the loving one. 

So, I was watching the film and about 1.5 hours in, I kept thinking to myself that it was the music that was being used that was causing me to lose my interest in the film. I honestly thought that I could do a better job scoring the film, so for the last 30 minutes, I tried to. I used multiple Star Wars soundtracks in the background of the film, and my conclusion was interesting. I can say with CERTAINTY that I found myself more engaged with the film once I started using Star Wars music. Dr. Miller, if you are reading this, do not think that I blew off the last half hour of the movie because if anything, it was the opposite. I had a ton of fun watching the film backed by John Williams’s score and again, feel like I engaged with the material even more than before. The music you are hearing in the video above is ‘Duel of the Fates’ taken from the Star Wars: The Phantom Menance soundtrack. I think it fits pretty well. Share your opinion below! 

If I am being honest, this totally cheesy scene really moved me. I thought it was truly cute! On top of that, I really enjoyed the transformation that Judy experienced in The Godless Girl. Her dynamic character staunchly represents the dynamic struggle that a lot of people experience with faith in the real world. Even though the acts that forced her to believe in God, etc, were a little base-level, I think the director did a great job of demonstrating them to the audience. I also enjoyed how metaphorically, their good deed of saving each other along with the prison chief led to their escape from the “hell” that was prison. It was a pretty great example of how cleansing yourself of your sins and doing good onto others stops you from eternal damnation. 

I enjoyed the clear comparison of the prison society in Orange is the New Black to the mob-based society that we see in The Godfather. The construction of the race groups that form within the prison are mirror images of the five families that form in the timeless film. The dynamic between the groups and the constant struggle for gaining power over the others are qualities that both the show and film’s characters contain. Obviously they make this allusion pretty easy to spot in OITNB when Piper compares one of her inmates to Luca Brasi. This was a great pop-culture reference that has an extremely deep meaning regarding the social constructs of the prison and the roles that characters find themselves in. I think we can assume that, in this particular scene where Piper brings up The Godfather, she does so to place herself in the same type of power-role that Vito Corleone holds. 

One of my favorite movies of all time is The Truman Show, starring James/Jimmy/Jimothy/Jimbo/Jim Carey. I think this is a beautiful film that is truly groundbreaking, unique and one that challenges the viewer to be a bit introspective. It deals with the depression and isolation that stems from complete control of an individual and shows the possible dangers of a life without privacy. The reason that I feel like this film demonstrates the "panopticon" so well is because Truman is watched every second of his life. There are qualities of Jeremy Bentham's ideals that fit perfectly into the construct of the film such as the constant ability to watch the individual, the individual's blindness to actually being watched as well as the control that the creator holds over his prisoner (Truman). Truman's actions partly depend on the people around him, all of which are simulations of a television show; this plot design displays the control that a "panopticon" has over a person. The last little portion of the plot that mirrors Bentham's ideals is that Truman is not technically watched 24/7 by everyone because he is sleeping/the audience is sleeping, etc. but the idea is that technically, he could be. The television show is a live-stream of Truman's life. Go watch this if you have not seen it!

So far, we have seen countless examples of characters who blur the lines between a hero and villain. However, I think that Alejandro is the most conflicting. I say this because as Sicario progresses, we see him doing pretty heroic acts like saving Kate’s life, defending the team at the border, and wanting to stop the clear enemy (drug lord). However, right at the close of the movie, we see him acting selfishly and against the law, shooting Kate in the chest to finish his murder, completing the murder, and then threatening to kill Kate in the closing scene. If we are trying to lump him into the hero role or the villain role, it is close to impossible. Is it wrong that he is murdering to avenge his family? If you answer yes, then you must view Kate as a villain as well because her motive for killing the drug lord is extremely similar to Alejandro’s. I believe that, by the end of the movie, we are supposed to assume that deep-down, Alejandro is a hero, or at least a good guy. This is supported by the fact that Kate, the protagonist that we follow and empathize with the entire film, makes this decision for us by not shooting him. The last scene with Alejandro and Kate shows that she places more importance on his heroism (dare I say friendship?) then of his shortcomings.

We discussed this famous montage scene in class, but I wanted to just give my own opinion on how I read into the details of it. In my mind, the scene is advancing Michael’s character into the true role of ‘The Godfather,’ both literally and figuratively. We all know why he is the literal godfather, but symbolically I think it is because he has made the decisions to put himself in the most powerful position of any one in the Five Families. Another important thing that this scene is doing is showing the importance of religion to the family, but enforcing this idea that it can coincide with the mob crimes. By renouncing Satan clearly in this scene while simultaneously performing horrific acts of violence (which some may view as sins), it is demonstrating that his crimes were bathed in the light of God. In other words, Michael does not believe that these types of acts go against his religious views or the importance of his faith because he sees them as cleansing the system/caring for the safety of his family. That’s what I think anyways... 

Can we PLEASE talk about the symbolic, foreshadowing imagery that is used early in Bonnie and Clyde? These three shots caught my eye because I noticed a distinct similarity between them. Each of them frames our beloved Bonnie behind varying types of bars. The first and third photo uses actual types of metal bars, but the second creatively uses the gas station hose as a type of cell. My curiosity with these images was spawned by the fact that I did not know the ending of the film, so I hypothesized early that she would be caught and thrown into prison or something along those lines. This does not happen, however, I still enjoy the images and think they can still express the ending well. They still perfectly foreshadow her enjoyment (for most of the film) of the crime-driven life. After meeting Clyde, her love for her new life is rooted in her personality and this shows throughout the film. A secondary thought that I had about these images was just how they could metaphorically represent her mind being in a jailed state. In the beginning, she seems destined to live this boring, usual life in her hometown and we can see the unhappiness she carries with her regarding it (picture one). As the movie progresses, she continues to be jailed in her thoughts, only the thoughts change from scene to scene. Anyways, that’s all I have to say. I just really enjoyed the use of the close-angle shots that incorporated these metaphoric, jailing images.