Power & Fear

Whoops!  Time snuck up on me – the end of the semester will do that, as well as another project that I can't quite talk about just yet, but hope to soon! – and I’ve missed an entry here.  Let’s get back on track.

In the film class, students have presented their individual projects.  Themes ranged from “life in a post-apocalyptic world” to “bodily transformations” with others to boot.  Interesting, well-researched work was presented and students seemed to actually have a good time showing what they’d learned about how their theme was presented and developed in science fiction.  (Great movie clips, too!)

Then this week, we started our final theme – POWER!  Who has it, how did they get it, and what lengths will they go to in order to keep it are a few of the angles the class will examine by looking at our final two films.  This week was the classic Planet of the Apes which I find to be a very good starting point for this discussion, in part because humans are no longer at the top of the food chain.  We’re not used to being the subjugated ones, so this film forces viewers to look at issues of racism and environmental degradation from another viewpoint.  (And, c'mon - it just goes with my profile pic!)

Next week, we’ll compare it to a film in which humans are on top, but maybe shouldn’t be there.  District 9 takes a different look at racial superiority and, quite frankly, humans don’t come out all that well.  It also is a nice point to begin wrapping up the class, since it includes so much that we’ve discussed – the documentary feel of the film, a foreign point of view, technical aspects in the creation of the “Prawns,” color, and setting are all important elements of the film.

Meanwhile, things have not been quiet over at the Rewatch.  I missed posting on last week’s write-up, which is a shame.  Let me make up for it here.  Crissy Calhoun took on three episodes that can be viewed as the turning point for the final season of Buffy – the Big Bad is revealed and seriously – “Conversations with Dead People” is just a killer of an episode.  Read about it here. Power and fear are becoming very big issues in Sunnydale. 

Then this week, Jennifer Stuller heads up the recap as Season 7 continues to heat up.  Buffy has always been set apart from others by her identity as the Slayer and suddenly, she’s beset by a house full of Potentials.  Read about it here.

OK – I’m back on track!  Season 7 is going to get better and better (and tearier and tearier) and District 9 is going to (hopefully) both pull everything in the class together and blow expectations apart.  All in one week!