The novel Extremely
Loud and Incredibly Close is much like the film. The book is written by
Jonathan Safran Foer, and it is written in ergodic form. This is a style
designed to pulling the reader into the emotion of the character on the page.
The layout of the novel also resembles a scrap book of the main character Oskar
Schell.
The story line is much the same as the film. A young boy,
Oskar, loses his father in the 9/11 attacks, and he is on a journey to solve
the last puzzle he believes his father has left for him. The story follows
Oskar on his search, complete with a web of the intertwined characters he meets
along the way.
The novel is complete with one aspect the film leaves out.
There is a back story of the relationship between Oskar’s grandmother and
grandfather, including how they met, how Oskar’s father was conceived, and why
Oskar’s grandfather left. Although this story is left out of film, it is hinted
at by both characters on the screen. So, even though there is no outright
spoken history of their relationship, the complexities between the two are
still implied.
Overall, I would have to suggest seeing the film before
reading the novel. I spoke to a few different people who have read, or
attempted to read the novel first; they claimed to have felt lost throughout
their attempt. They also said they experienced a sense of confusion due to the
haphazard layout of the novel. I can understand why they would feel this way.
However, seeing the film first, then reading the novel, gave me a good idea of
the flow of the story. I found myself having “ah-ha” moments or saying “ooohhhh!”
while reading through the text. I’m not disappointed in the film, but I believe
I would have been if I were to have read the novel first due to all that was
left out. However, seeing the film first, I can see why they left out what they
did.
Bewilderment, empathy, sorrow, these are all emotions one
will feel after watching Phyllida Lloyd’s The
Iron Lady. However, these are not emotions that were felt by Maryl Streep’s
character, Margaret Thatcher. Streep portrayed a cold, hard woman who was not
interested in the lives of her nation’s people, but in the future betterment of
her nation as a whole. Thatcher opened doors for women in Britain that had
never been opened before, yet she was never interested in how far she could go
as a woman, but how far she could go as a politician. In one of the first
scenes, when a young woman is thanking Thatcher for all that she has done,
Thatcher replies back, “It used to be about trying to do something, not it is
about trying to be someone.”
Screen Writer, Abi Morgan riddled the movie with flashback
scenes that leave the audience with a sense of confusion at many points,
uncertain how this scene of that scene are going to fit into the film later on.
The faster snap flash backs are more unnecessary than anything else, and they
play with the timing and lineation of the movie in ways that may be difficult
to determine. However, I have to hand it to Lloyd. She was able to confuse the
audience member just as much as Streep’s character is throughout the film.
The film flips back and forth between a current day Thatcher
and her need to make difficult personal decisions and her younger years when
she had to make difficult political decisions. It reveals the home life
Thatcher had to give up in order to make a change in her nation, and the time
she lost with her children and her husband. It covers the condemnation she
experience when she made decisions during times of recession and times of war.
It covers the love her nation felt for her when she was rallying and running
for Parliament and Prime Minister, as well as the physical changes she had to
undergo in order to be taken seriously among her peers. The film also covers
her difficulty with her husband’s death as well as her recovery after multiple
mild strokes. It’s a classic tale of turning nothing into something and the
sacrifices that must be made in order to achieve one’s goals.
Lloyd was able to play with the speed and overlapping lines
in one particular scene that truly gave the viewer a sense of what was going
through Thatcher’s mind. After she visits the neurologist, she has a constant
run of flashbacks while present day people try to talk to her. The chaos within
the scene is a demonstration of what must be going on within Thatcher’s mind.
There is a sense of anxiety and urgency felt within you that makes you want to
run screaming from the room; and I’m sure Thatcher felt the same way when she
was plagued with her confusion and hallucinations as side effects of her grief
and her current health.
In film, one of the hardest things to execute can be
portraying a real life character. There isn’t much room to move creatively
goes, and historical accuracy is always important. Streep pulls off a
remarkable likeness to Thatcher as does the rest of the cast in their portrayal
of those in Thatcher’s life. Margret Thatcher in her younger years was
portrayed by Alexandra Roach. This is Roach’s first full-length silver-screen
flick and she was a perfect pick for the role. She had an essence of meekness
and frailty about her that made her aggressive, educated voice more shocking
than it would have been from someone with more assertive features. Her overall
performance was well executed and kept a likeness to Streep’s version of
Thatcher.
A common theme throughout the film was terrorism-- an act of
terrorism had recently been committed at the beginning of the film, Thatcher
also experience acts of terrorism against herself as well as her colleagues
during her time in Parliament. These acts of terrorism were parallels of what
Thatcher was feeling within herself. Throughout the film, everyone around her
is telling her how she should live her life; she has lost all control of her
life, much like those involved in the attacks. She was taking suggestions from
her daughter to see the doctor or from the house help to organize her schedule
as seizure of her rights to take care of herself.
Overall, The Iron Lady
wasn’t horrible, but it left something to be desired as far as organization
goes. Thatcher’s story is remarkable, and even if someone doesn’t agree with
her politics, it’s still noteworthy what she did for Britain and its
relationship with Ronald Reagan and the United States. This is true regardless
of how heartless or merciless Thatcher may come off.
Cupcakes, that is. The Park Central Greene
County Library hosted a “How-To Decorate Cupcakes” course as part of their “How-To”
class series, which they hold once a month. These are free classes that start
at seven p.m. and are open to the public. Friday, Feb 17, cupcake artist Lindsay Arnold showed fellow
Springfield residents simple ways to dress up a yummy dessert.
Starting out, Ms. Arnold addressed the
class, explaining everything from the proper way to fill a cupcake to what
types of food coloring to use when baking and preparing frosting. (Gel food
coloring, found at Hobby Lobby and Michaels.) She was also full of fun facts
about these yummy treats. For instance, cupcakes do not need to be sweet. There
are such things as a maple syrup bacon cupcake, as well as a white chocolate wasabi
cupcake. Also, Arnold is an advocate of not baking from scratch. I must say, I
agree with her. Why waste most of your time buying and prepping ingredients for
something that is already prepared for the average consumer, plus, mixes mean
less mess. Arnold also suggested using Martha Stewart's cupcake decorating ideas,
but using mixes in place of Stewart’s made from scratch recipes.
Arnold went on to demonstrate to
the class how to use a pastry bag to pipe icing on to a cupcake “just like
milking a cow”. She proceeded to explain how to make simple decorations using
things such as pre-prepared fondant decorations cut into fun shapes
(snowflakes, stars, dinosaurs) colored on with food coloring pens. (No worries,
these pens are kosher; it says so on the label.)
After about a 20 minute lecture on
how to decorate cupcakes and the different ways to dress up flavors, using fruit
preserves and extracts, Arnold left us with one piece of advice. “Practice,
practice, practice, you’ll get it down.” Finally, the patrons of the class were
allowed to decorate their own cupcakes. This
was the fun part. Everyone from small children to elderly ladies were up on
stage piling buttercream icing onto their personal cakes. The smiles were
endless as the crowd indulged themselves in the delectable sweetness of a
beloved dessert. My favorite was the yellow cupcake with the strawberry buttercream icing, topped with sprinkles, of course. Let us eat cake!
This experience was fun, free and
for all ages. I highly recommend looking into what else the Park Central Library
has to offer.
The assignment this week was to write on a current event. Well, I chose to write on an event that affects me directly. I’m a college student at a private college in the state of Missouri. I also work at a public community college in the state of Missouri. Over the past few years there has been an immense uproar over where all our money is coming from to keep these schools funded. The last three years have been full of nothing but cut after cut after cut, and now we’re starting to feel it.
Last month, Governor Jay Nixon announced his budget plan to cut $106 million from the higher education budget for the state of Missouri. All state funded schools were warned they may have to increase their tuition and put the weight of the difference on their students. Nixon also stated, “I am calling on all our colleges and universities to continue to look for more ways to cut overhead and administrative costs and run smarter, more efficient operations.” Unfortunately, due to budget cut suffering from the previous three years, these schools have trimmed off all the fat they can. At this rate, the schools are heading toward academic anorexia, and what kind of education can anyone get out of that?
Nixon’s plan was met with an uproar. According to the Kansas City Star, Kurt Schaefer, the Senate Appropriations Chairman, stated, “At some point, we’re going to have to accept responsibility for funding our public universities.” I suppose it’s due to this uproar that Nixon amended his budget plan.
Last week, Nixon announced he would add $40 million to the Missouri Higher Education fund. The catch is this addition is pending on the state winning a lawsuit against mortgage banks. If it is settled in the state’s favor, then they are awarded $140 million, $40 million going to the struggling universities, community colleges and tech schools of the state. But what happens if they don’t win? What happens if the case goes south? Where do we get our money then? I would assume it is back to plan A. Also, according to the same article, it never states whether or not the $106 million is still disappearing from the original budget cut. Could it be that even if the state does win this hopeful case higher education will still be losing $66 million? Looks like smoke and mirrors to me.
Nixon claims his purpose for all these budget cuts is to “help balance the state’s finances without increasing taxes.” I’m sorry Mr. Nixon, but taking money away from where it is needed in order to keep taxes down is no solution. As a full time student, an employee of a state funded higher education institution as well as a tax paying Missouri citizen, I would much rather pay more taxes for a better education than less taxes for an education that will get me nowhere in the world’s competitive economy.
This doesn't really go with the theme of my blog; however, I thought I would share it with you lovely people.
This weekend I attended the Buckle at the Belt Poetry Slam at Nathan P Murphey's.
This was the first poetry slam I have ever been to, but I was highly impressed
with how well it went. At first, some of the poets were going a bit quickly for
me to catch what the overall purpose of their piece was. But, the further into
the evening it got, the more my ear became accustomed to the poets and their
styles
There were
a few poems that stuck out to me for a number of different reasons. Although I
do not remember the individual poets’ names, I do remember their pieces and how
well they executed them in a performance manner. There was a poem that was
battled out between two lovers of music, there was a poem about a father and
his habits of nonexistence, there was a poem about Detroit that I found highly
ironic, and many others.
I was
surprised at how informal of an environment this formal competition was set in.
Half of the time, most people weren’t even listening to the poets on the stage,
but the teams that were competing against each other were still treating each
other with the utmost respect.
There were
ritualistic aspects of the slam that I noticed as well. Each team had a routine
answer phrase whenever it was called upon. Each team said its team member’s
name a certain way right before they were to take the stage. The acts of the
sacrificial poet, as well as the audience’s participation in the scoring of the
competition were also of a ritualistic manner. I would imagine all of these
things are what keep the atmosphere of slams familiar to the fans, which is all
part of the draw.
Fayetteville’s
team was very good. I don’t necessarily agree with the outcome of the
competition. I think they should have taken first place, yet they came in last.
Although, when I was talking Jeremy, one of their team members, he said
something that I have to agree with, “It’s just for fun, you can’t try to put a
number on it.” He seemed ok with the outcome of the judgment, so who am I to
argue with it? He also informed me that in August, Fayetteville will be holding
a top 100 competition. The top 100 poets in the nation will be there and it
should be great fun. My friends and I have already started planning a road
trip.
Over all,
it was a great experience. The musical entertainment afterwards was a lot of
fun. I ended up purchasing both of Michael Stone’s albums and Nora and Gnoll
were great. I was highly impressed with the whole scene and I’m glad I was
given this opportunity and shared it with my friends.
