Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Freedom Is Not Easy
I think the defining moment in the film was the campfire scene after the characters decide to leave the diner. In this scene, Jack Nicholson's character describes the true meaning of freedom to Billy. This seemed to be the main point of the movie, that true freedom is something that many people claim to have, but do not really know what freedom is. Whenever the prospect of true freedom is revealed to them, they cannot handle it and are “scared” by it. Billy and Wyatt are two characters who are truly free. Throughout the movie, they basically do what feels right at any given point in time. The only hint of responsibility they seem to have is their plan to make it to Mardi Gras in New Orleans before it ends, which is not much of responsibility at all. Their lifestyle reminds me of how Walt Whitman views the ideal road traveler as at war with society. In the end, a man in the truck mindlessly kills both main characters because he hates what they represent. I felt this was symbolic of society in general, that although it may succeed in some cases to eliminate the prospect of true freedom, there will always be those free spirits out there who represent true freedom. Billy and Wyatt were killed, but the fact that they aroused so much attention and reaction showed that they at least succeeded in opening people's eyes to a radical way of life: a truly free life.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
On a Boat
This video portrays America's view of a road trip as a manner of blowing off the real world and doing something no one ever expected, and also drawing attention to your own daring nature. Lets face it, Americans love attention, and this whole movie is about getting attention.
The beginning of the video shows how life is unexpected. They were sitting eating breakfast when their lives were changed. Jorma expects to go on the trip but T-Pain is chosen instead and from that point on he is used as a foil to show the free and powerful nature of those on a road trip.
The other characters on the boat have a wild and crazy Keroac style party, with drinking and fornicating and posing as authority figures (the military uniforms) when they are obviously not mature enough or capable of being authoritative.
The scene where Andy rubs it in Jorma's face that he "has his swim trunks, and his flippy floppies, flipping burgers while [Jorma] is at Kinko's straight flipping copies" portrays a distatse for the normal state of things. Americans basically hate their lives most of the time, and are constantly looking forward to a vacation or any type of escape. This portion of the video shows what life is like when not on a road trip and how the road trip is an escape into an unknown void.
Andy says "oh ma if you could see me now" introducing the idea that being freed from the drugdgery of life is an accomplishment. T-Pain raves about how he "never thought he'd see the day, with a big boat sailing [his] way" showing how Americans don't really believe that they will ever escape from the lives we trap ourselves in.
America is a society of discontented people looking for an escape, whether that be through a road trip or through humor. I think this video has both.
Old Ion Commercial
This ad is definitely meant to represent the resistance to grow up. However, I think it uses the classic image of of being on a roadtrip with friends to communicate that. They appear to be out west, which one can tell from the landscape, and I think that this can be an automatic image created when thinking of a roadtrip in our country--going westward. They are also all in this car together experiencing strange new things. Finally, when they turn around at the the "old age" sign, it is representative of how many times no one wants the roadtrip to stop, that we can escape real life forever and keep on having fun.
Weekend Traffic Scene
Despite the historical aspects of this shot, this scene from Weekend shows the frustrating sides of a road trip. I only want you to watch the first minute and a half because this clip gets annoying quickly.
Alright, you get on the road and begin your adventure. You drive about an hour or so and hit traffic. Your trip is delayed by an uncontrollable entity that forces you to submit to its monotony. Although I feel a road is fun and enjoyable, I further believe that we cannot control every aspect of the "great" road. The road itself is chaotic, frustrating, and at times unrelenting (hint unexpected car accidents). You might say that other people are at fault and the road is just the medium where people are the culprits to your setback. Whether its the road, or other people, road trips are unpredictable.
To an extent, your journey is not in your hands. You have to take whatever the road gives you. The best thing about that is the traveler can either give up or overcome the obstacles. This decision is in your hands and when you decide to persevere that is when the traveler becomes stronger and wiser. Road trips are tests. You create the testament. What will you do when you run into "traffic"? Are you going to develop "road rage" by cursing and blaming others, or figure out another way to get through your situation?
Alright, you get on the road and begin your adventure. You drive about an hour or so and hit traffic. Your trip is delayed by an uncontrollable entity that forces you to submit to its monotony. Although I feel a road is fun and enjoyable, I further believe that we cannot control every aspect of the "great" road. The road itself is chaotic, frustrating, and at times unrelenting (hint unexpected car accidents). You might say that other people are at fault and the road is just the medium where people are the culprits to your setback. Whether its the road, or other people, road trips are unpredictable.
To an extent, your journey is not in your hands. You have to take whatever the road gives you. The best thing about that is the traveler can either give up or overcome the obstacles. This decision is in your hands and when you decide to persevere that is when the traveler becomes stronger and wiser. Road trips are tests. You create the testament. What will you do when you run into "traffic"? Are you going to develop "road rage" by cursing and blaming others, or figure out another way to get through your situation?
The American Traveler
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dk51ZHlrfs4
It's difficult for me to really know what the true meaning of the road trip is for America; I know what I think a road trip means and this can't help but influence what I see as the general viewpoint of the road trip. But I found this video on YouTube, which I think sums up the general public's view of what a road trip through America is all about. At least I hope this highly optimistic view point represents what many in America feel travel is all about. The people that Matt meets are, as he says, of the utmost importance to him on this trip. All the warm greetings, and the gracious hospitality of a lot of people that welcome him into their home and their open-ness with him, revealing their bizarre hobbies and talents, have a profound effect on him as he travels through out America. A certain line that I really liked in this video was that "you need years" to see everything in America. (1:23) When you look at the states on a map you miss out on what this country is really all about: the vastness of the rich heritage and cultures; the great natural beauty and power; and the relationships you can form with complete strangers through out the entire country. Years must be devoted to the dream of being able to truly say that you have been everywhere and seen everything in this country . You also see how much the people he meets means to him when he is talking about one of the families that invited him into their home and family. He is able to feel and experience something most people, who stay at home and don't take road trips, think of as an abstract, yet extremely pleasant, concept: "American Hospitality." (3:48) There's a very Whitmanesque concept that comes out when he says, "... the right way to approach this American road trip, or really any trip anywhere, is to be open; to be nice, to be polite; and to say yes to everything anyone ever offers you." (4:41-4:54) To me, all of this goes to show that we aren't too far removed from the world Whitman spoke for, at least idealistically. It also represents a very nationalistic image of what the road trip should be made for, growing closer to one's country. To me this is a very American view of what a good road trip should be.
(2008, May 23). Video Title: NYTimes.com - American Road Trip: Reminiscence.
It's difficult for me to really know what the true meaning of the road trip is for America; I know what I think a road trip means and this can't help but influence what I see as the general viewpoint of the road trip. But I found this video on YouTube, which I think sums up the general public's view of what a road trip through America is all about. At least I hope this highly optimistic view point represents what many in America feel travel is all about. The people that Matt meets are, as he says, of the utmost importance to him on this trip. All the warm greetings, and the gracious hospitality of a lot of people that welcome him into their home and their open-ness with him, revealing their bizarre hobbies and talents, have a profound effect on him as he travels through out America. A certain line that I really liked in this video was that "you need years" to see everything in America. (1:23) When you look at the states on a map you miss out on what this country is really all about: the vastness of the rich heritage and cultures; the great natural beauty and power; and the relationships you can form with complete strangers through out the entire country. Years must be devoted to the dream of being able to truly say that you have been everywhere and seen everything in this country . You also see how much the people he meets means to him when he is talking about one of the families that invited him into their home and family. He is able to feel and experience something most people, who stay at home and don't take road trips, think of as an abstract, yet extremely pleasant, concept: "American Hospitality." (3:48) There's a very Whitmanesque concept that comes out when he says, "... the right way to approach this American road trip, or really any trip anywhere, is to be open; to be nice, to be polite; and to say yes to everything anyone ever offers you." (4:41-4:54) To me, all of this goes to show that we aren't too far removed from the world Whitman spoke for, at least idealistically. It also represents a very nationalistic image of what the road trip should be made for, growing closer to one's country. To me this is a very American view of what a good road trip should be.
(2008, May 23). Video Title: NYTimes.com - American Road Trip: Reminiscence.
This is from the movie Road Trip. This particular scene captures the freedom you feel while on the road. These guys are singing the song I Wanna Rock, and they really seem to have lost any inhibition about just acting crazy for a little while. I have been on road trips where I feel the same way and have sung along as loud as I can to random classics. In this movie they have stolen a bus to try and go rescue a dirty video before it reaches the main character's girlfriend. It is a college trip to say the least and I could only hope to one day have some of the experiences they did in this movie. This scene captures what a road trip is in American culture, they set out for one purpose, but ended up finding so many different things along the way. It seems like no matter what you set off to do in a road trip, unexpected experiences are at every rest stop.
The Road: Old vs. New
Despite the fact that we all travel the same road of life, that road differs from person to person, as each person seeks a slightly different destination and takes varying pit stops along the way. What's especially notable is the difference in the choices made by youth and seniors. Due to growing up under different circumstances, our values differ from our grandparents, as does our humor. This clip from "Da Ali G Show" may be funny to you, but it's probably not funny to your grandmother. This clip also illustrates the fact that our own road is one that's open to your own interpretation--this clip may be funny to you, for example, or it may be saddening to see an old man being made fun of. The road is also a repeating one: Just as counterculture films like "Easy Rider" existed to rebel against parents and an older generation, so do comedy shows such as "Da Ali G Show" and "Jackass" exist to rebel against parents. Whether you deem it humorous or not is put one stop--or bump--along your journey.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)