The text that inspired me the most was Zombieland. The bond created amongst the four individuals in the movie is the driving force behind the road trip. When I think of a road trip, it is the memorable experiences that I share with those around me that makes the trip worthwhile. The encounters on the road being that they might be unplanned and spontaneous is the true driving force behind the bonds made on the road.
To recreate a trip along the lines of Zombieland, I would set out to go to New York with three other friends of mine. We would strictly set off with the only goal of getting to New York City. How we got there wouldn't matter as long as we were taking it day by day, as you would in Zombieland fending off attacking zombies. Through the encounters to New York, I'm sure we would see and experience things that we were never previously exposed to before, being that the trip is unplanned, which would allow us to come together and bond through these new experiences on the road.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
The Open Road
After all that we’ve read and seen I still love the way Whitman portrays the road. I love the idea of just dropping everything and taking off. One would be able to forget all about their problems and responsibilities and just do whatever they chose. For some reason Las Vegas immediately comes to mind. I guess because it’s known for being such a wild, irresponsible, vacation-like city. After that, I’d simply take the time to explore America because that’s something I’ve always wanted to do. I’d like to see the Grand Canyon, take a look at Mt. Rushmore, and even, stop by and grab one of those famous Philly cheesesteaks from Philadelphia. In the end, my journey would be carefree and entirely up to me.
Common Goal
I’m all about bonding when road trips come to mind. They are definitely times when the radio just doesn’t do, site-seeing is not enough, and entertaining oneself eventually becomes unappealing. Because bonding is an essential part of the long journey, Zombieland is what inspires me when road trips come to mind. The movie at its heart is a risky adventure that a group of people go through together so they could succeed and reach their goal. While the goal for the people in Zombieland is to survive (or maybe get a Twinkie), they definitely achieved a great deal of bonding and understanding of each other along the way.
Surely, there are those places where your friends would tell you that it’s the “scariest place to go to” and everybody would be frightened to even get near it. However, this is just the kind of thing a small group of people can go together and explore the mystery of the place. If I were to mirror it with a bit like Zombieland, I would bring along people who are merely my acquaintances. Then we would drive over to the so-called “haunted” place and we would walk together to explore the place—cross the river, climb over the woods—do anything other than just standing there so we could get a feel of the place. Our goal? Just to have fun and be proud of ourselves after we get through it. Our hidden goal? Bonding, because chances are, we would have to help each other to get across the river or to go up a hill. We might have to joke around to comfort ourselves or talk to just keep us busy thinking about something else other than anticipating something to pop out. Having a common goal really does pave the way to at least a great start in relationships.
Surely, there are those places where your friends would tell you that it’s the “scariest place to go to” and everybody would be frightened to even get near it. However, this is just the kind of thing a small group of people can go together and explore the mystery of the place. If I were to mirror it with a bit like Zombieland, I would bring along people who are merely my acquaintances. Then we would drive over to the so-called “haunted” place and we would walk together to explore the place—cross the river, climb over the woods—do anything other than just standing there so we could get a feel of the place. Our goal? Just to have fun and be proud of ourselves after we get through it. Our hidden goal? Bonding, because chances are, we would have to help each other to get across the river or to go up a hill. We might have to joke around to comfort ourselves or talk to just keep us busy thinking about something else other than anticipating something to pop out. Having a common goal really does pave the way to at least a great start in relationships.
My favorite trip is Zombieland by far. I wish that I could do exactly what they did, zombies and all. Recreating a trip to just have some of the attributes that the movie had would be second best for me for the sole reason that I want it all! This was my first zombie movie that I had ever seen and it brought out a secret fantasy of mine, kill zombies. I have to admit that my adventures would not be as fun unless I had Woody Harrelson to banter with. I actually got an adrenaline rush from watching Harrelson take down the undead with all his creative ways. It would also be nice to have a gorgeous girl to hijack all my belongings every once and a while, just to keep life interesting.
Did anybody else figure out what they wanted to do with their life from watching this movie?
Almost Famous
Although it's not one of my favorite movies from the bunch, I like the type of road trip in Almost Famous. It seems like a different experience for me, being how I can see alot of myself in William. There's just something so unique and exciting about following a band around the country. It's a time where your parents aren't there watching, and a time for freedom. During this trip, you make the decisions, including the decision to drink, do drugs, or have sex. It can show how responsible a person you are, or just how wild you can get. In the end, no one judges you on the road and your parents never have to know about anything. It sort of reminds me of how college is right now except with studying. Destination doesn't matter to me, as long as you get to have fun. The trip could be a duplicate of Almost Famous, as long as I get to bring a best friend with me, I'm open to anything.
Roughin' it in Zombieland
I'm going with Zombieland for my chosen text that inspires me most. As someone who's normally a horror-averse moviegoer, I was pleasantly surprised and entertained at both the material of the film and how the film was presented. Zombieland was a breath of fresh film air for me.
If I had to recreate the spirit of Zombieland, I'd gather three friends to embark on a trip from
Austin to California. Obviously I can't turn the world's entire population into zombies, so instead we'll challenge ourselves as if we were on our own. We would leave with only a set amount of money to use, and we couldn't use our phones or ask for help. Zombieland's message about the road is simple: You can change for the better on a road trip with others. The road is filled with challenges, but by working together, everyone is the group will change for the better as they become closer.
It's important that two of the friends I bring along aren't best friends of mine. I'll bring along one best friend to mirror the already close-knit relationship between Wichita and Little Rock, but the other two friends won't know each other. And yes, I should technically bring along two strangers, but let's face it: The world's just not as safe as it's portrayed in movies.
Our destination in California will be Disneyland, our mirror to Pacific Playland. I've been there before, but it's been at least five years since I went, so my mental layout of the park is likely fuzzy, just as Wichita's is of Zombieland's Pacific Playland. My other three friends should have never visited there (I realize that Little Rock has been to Pacific Playland before, but I'm assuming that since she's so young in the film that she hardly remembers the physical layout of the park.). We'll enter the park without grabbing a map before heading to the Matterhorn Bobsleds attraction, where we will board the ride and then head to the entrance of the park. Once we got off the ride, we would quickly seek places we could hide from zombies if they were actually attacking like they did in the final scene of Zombieland. Once we found a place to hide, we would note how long we had been at the park and then decide if we realistically stood a chance against the incoming zombies if they had attacked. We would, of course, have to take into account that we will be waiting in line to ride our ride, while Wichita and Little Rock didn't have to wait in lines at all to ride their ride.
If I had to recreate the spirit of Zombieland, I'd gather three friends to embark on a trip from
Austin to California. Obviously I can't turn the world's entire population into zombies, so instead we'll challenge ourselves as if we were on our own. We would leave with only a set amount of money to use, and we couldn't use our phones or ask for help. Zombieland's message about the road is simple: You can change for the better on a road trip with others. The road is filled with challenges, but by working together, everyone is the group will change for the better as they become closer.
It's important that two of the friends I bring along aren't best friends of mine. I'll bring along one best friend to mirror the already close-knit relationship between Wichita and Little Rock, but the other two friends won't know each other. And yes, I should technically bring along two strangers, but let's face it: The world's just not as safe as it's portrayed in movies.
Our destination in California will be Disneyland, our mirror to Pacific Playland. I've been there before, but it's been at least five years since I went, so my mental layout of the park is likely fuzzy, just as Wichita's is of Zombieland's Pacific Playland. My other three friends should have never visited there (I realize that Little Rock has been to Pacific Playland before, but I'm assuming that since she's so young in the film that she hardly remembers the physical layout of the park.). We'll enter the park without grabbing a map before heading to the Matterhorn Bobsleds attraction, where we will board the ride and then head to the entrance of the park. Once we got off the ride, we would quickly seek places we could hide from zombies if they were actually attacking like they did in the final scene of Zombieland. Once we found a place to hide, we would note how long we had been at the park and then decide if we realistically stood a chance against the incoming zombies if they had attacked. We would, of course, have to take into account that we will be waiting in line to ride our ride, while Wichita and Little Rock didn't have to wait in lines at all to ride their ride.
What do you recommend?
The Steinbeck journey is still my favorite. I love the way he takes off to explore and learn. He isn't journeying to cure an ill in his existance, he is journeying because he sees that he needs to. He takes off cross-country to learn about people and places. Thats the type of journey I would want to go on. I would want to go alone or with one close friend and just explore. Once me and a friend were so crazy stressed out that we took my car out in the country, and rock-paper-scissor chose which direction we would turn every time we came to an intersection. I would want to do something like that, turn down every appealing road for days and months on end in my journey. I would want to stop at all those tiny little cafes in cute little small towns and order the special, or the waitress's favorite. I think it that would be a very Steinbeckian way of journeying, and I also think it would satisfy my need to make the journey my own.
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