Macbeth's Royal Netflix Binge

Macbeth:

In the name of Dunsinane,
I proclaim for all a Netflix binge
that shall be remembered for centuries.
For generations they shall recall
those quintessential characters at once develop'd,
and amongst thy strongest fictional addiction
thou couldst love and be loved so dearly.


In the name of that great royal tyrant, Macbeth,
I announce a Netflix binge.
But which shows, you may inquire,
would the ambitious, murderous king desire?

1. Supernatural

First and foremost, Macbeth would adore Supernatural. Supernatural is a TV series that centers around two brothers, Sam and Dean Winchester, as they brawl against all things paranormal, undead, and, obviously, supernatural.  These boys grew up fighting this good fight, but as the series progresses, the clear-cut, black-and-white lines surrounding morality begin to blur. Both boys find themselves on tumultuous pathways of impending doom, and yet they still constantly battle back to maintain their senses of right and wrong.

Macbeth would obsess over Supernatural because of its audacity when dealing with ghosts, demons, and monsters. Losing one's mind after seeing imaginary daggers and the ghost of an old, dear friend could not have been easy; therefore, Macbeth would take comfort in a show filled with paranormal activity. It would make him feel less insane in the days leading up to his usurpation.

2. Beauty and the Beast

Beauty and the Beast, though monumentally more gruesome than the Disney movie, is an awesome TV series about a young woman named Catherine Chandler. Cat is an aspirational detective for the New York Police Department, and when she was just a teenager, she witnessed the murder of her own mother. However, she survived her mother's attackers with the help of an anonymous vigilante-- a man that she would meet years later named Vincent Keller. Vincent, upon receiving the news of his brothers' deaths during the 9/11 attacks on the twin towers, decided to join the military. Once enlisted, he decides to participate in an experiment that is supposed to transform him into a super soldier. Instead, it turns him into an uncontrollable monster. With Cat's help, Vincent will learn to harness his abilities and operate as New York's vigilante.

Macbeth would recommend this show because of the parallels that he could draw between himself and Vincent. After one lapse of judgement, they both became killers. After that first kill, they

could not stop killing, because what was the point? However, Vincent is redeemed through his love for Catherine. Seeing this, Macbeth could hope that one day, he too, could be reconciled.

3. A Knight's Tale

This is the story of a young, ambitious, short-tempered medieval knight. William Thatcher, an impoverished peasant, finds himself at a loss when his elderly master passes away. Then, pushed by a nagging need for food and childhood dream of glory, William masquerades as an honorable knight on a journey to compete in jousting and swordplay tournaments in order to fill his and his companions' empty stomachs. Along the way, he will befriend future-king Edward and, not quite as we might imagine him to be, Geoffrey Chaucer.

Macbeth would spend his binge time drooling over Heath Ledger in A Knight's Tale because of the connections he would be able to make between William Thatcher's nobility and his own previous chivalry. Before being goaded by his wife into killing King Duncan, Macbeth was an honorable knight willing to fight for his country. This movie would remind him of his glory days.



4. Scandal

In this suspenseful, enticing, enthralling TV drama, Olivia Pope owns and operates a crisis management firm. That is, when the latest publicity scandal is released, Olivia Pope is the one to call to mop up your public image. Amidst her fiercely competitive personality, demanding career, and complicated relationship with the president of the United States, she must solve everyone else's unimaginably convoluted problems.

Although Macbeth may have originally written-off this series as a silly chick-flick, he was seriously mistaken. In fact, he has learned many crucial crisis cover-up techniques from the ingenious Olivia Pope and her associates. While not a good thing, many of his deceptions were based off of Olivia's ideas. While Macbeth is not the mastermind she is, he could attempt to learn how to cover-up his murders. At the very least, he could remember to leave behind the murder weapon like he was supposed to. This goes to show you that Macbeth is simply an amateur murderer, and not very successful in his attempts at concealment.

Modern Masculinity: Chivalry is not Dead

What does it mean to be a good man?

4. How do the values of manhood differ in modern times? What do you think it takes to be a good man? Explain how your views are like or unlike those in the play, using examples from the text.

In Shakespeare's time, men were held to different standards that constituted "manliness." Shakespeare demonstrates this through Lady Macbeth in his play, Macbeth. In one example, the Lady Macbeth is praying to the gods, begging them to "unsex" her: "Come, you spirits That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full Of direst cruelty!" (Macbeth, 1.5.40-43). "Of direst cruelty" is strong, violent diction that conveys Lady Macbeth's view of men-- that they can be brutal, callous creatures. In this scenario, she needs to become more manly in order to do what she believes needs to be done and kill Duncan. 

In another situation, Macbeth is trying to refuse the Lady Macbeth's persistence. He does not want to kill Duncan, and she responds by accusing him of being weak and unmanly. "Macbeth: Prithee, peace! I dare do all that may become a man; Who dares do more is none. Lady Macbeth: What beast was't, then, That made you break this enterprise to me? When you durst do it, then you were a man," (Macbeth, 1.7.45-49). She essentially says that if he does not kill Duncan to rob him of his kingdom and power, then he is less than a man. The way Lady Macbeth sees it is that to be a man you must thirst for power, and to be a man you must take that power with violence.

Macbeth sees it differently. He is an honorable man, and he wants to be a gracious host for Duncan. After murdering Duncan, he feels tremendous guilt and his virtues are corrupted. After the deed is done, Macbeth says that he heard this: "One cried, 'God bless us!' and 'Amen,' the other, as they had seen me with these hangman's hands. List'ning their fear, I could not say 'Amen,' when they did say 'God bless us'... Methought, I heard a voice cry, 'Sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep'," (Macbeth, 2.2.28-33). Through this quote we can see that Macbeth will no longer let himself identify with the Christian faith because he has sinned. He can no longer say "Amen" or "God bless us" because he is ashamed of his transgression. Therefore, Macbeth surely does not define manhood as power-hungry or violent as the Lady Macbeth does. 

The Macbeths have very different views of manhood--one is of cruelty and power, one is of honor and nobility. In modern times, there is a third view. In our culture, men are supposed to be many things: sometimes they should be leaders, sometimes "boys will be boys," sometimes they should be strong, and sometimes they should be everything all at once. However, there is one idea that I hear repeated more often than all the others: chivalry is dead. Men in our society have been given a pass: chivalry is long gone and disrespect is acceptable. Knight-like qualities that used to epitomize manliness are virtually nonexistent, and most ideas surrounding men qualify these boys as jerks. Manliness is nearly synonymous with pride, and such arrogance often comes before others. Robert Jordan once said, “There is one rule, above all others, for being a man. Whatever comes, face it on your feet.” This quote makes one thing clear: if nothing else, at least hang on to your pride, and face your challenges with dignity. Nevertheless, society's views of manliness coincide more closely with the ideals of Lady Macbeth. Now, not all men are like this, of course.

There are some men, in the minority, that represent what I think embodies masculinity. Manliness to society is the exact opposite of manliness to me. I believe that a man can only be considered manly when he is respectful, humble, and trustworthy. A man's masculinity should be assessed by the way he treats others; he should be considerate and kind. And yet, kindness is compared to weakness, which is too often synonymous with femininity, which in turn is the greatest insult to a man. Treating people with care and consideration is not weakness, it's being a good person. My ideals of manliness more closely coincide with Macbeth's.

The Power of Art and Intentional Omission

Limited Visibility. 

Many people, elitists and art appreciators alike, scoff at the idea of contemporary art. "Anyone could do it. It means nothing," they might say. However, to me, contemporary art is beautiful and powerful. With that said, I thoroughly enjoyed our excursion to the Contemporary Art Museum (CAM) of Raleigh and its exhibit, Limited Visibility. What does that even mean, limited visibility? The curator explains in her statement: "Voluntary omission, erasure, withholding, and concealment: these are the methods the artists in Limited Visibility employ in order to draw attention to that which is missing." In other words, the artist will intentionally omit certain aspects of their art in order to make a point: that something is wrong, something is missing, and we should be aware of it. 

One particular piece was mesmerizing: Temple of One Thousand Bells.

This piece by Laura Belém displays one thousand delicate glass bells that were clapper-less. The artist used a melodic voice-over to narrate a wonderful tale of an explorer venturing to hear this wonderful lost symphony. The explorer would only hear the symphony once he stopped tuning his ears. He needed to be natural, relaxed, and comfortable in order to enjoy the music. 

Another one of my favorite pieces was called, quite incredibly, Blind self portrait listening to the beetles while scratching a notched stick so to invoke, the universal magic of the power of destruction.

Created by Abraham Cruzvillegas, this piece may, at first glance, seem unremarkable besides its name. On the contrary! While its name is exceptionally descriptive, the art itself is exceptionally secretive. Behind each and every sheet of paper that is covered with acrylic paint lies a mystery. Lying under one sheet was a packet of sugar. Hidden by another was a picture of a tree. However, we were not allowed to touch any of the paper obstacles (so then, of course, my curiosity burned), and without our tour guide's explanation of the piece, we never would have known that anything was behind these inexplicable papers. And yet, I guess that is the nature of secrets: we don't always get to know them. 

Side note: check out this (something that I think is one of the greatest works of literary expression ever written) excerpt from the prologue of Maggie Stiefvater's novel The Dream Thieves. Her insight on the nature of secrets is astounding. I love it!

Overall, I adored the exhibit. I was touched by many pieces, and it made me realize many societal and personal ignorances that I held. The entirety of the exhibit was eye-opening and fascinating. Each piece was well-presented and easy to look at. However, one thing I would have liked to see was a summary or description of the art accompanying the exhibit. The tour guide did a wonderful job of explaining to us of the meaning of the works, and yet I think I would have benefitted from a written description of the work. 

And now for my personal favorite:

This piece, called The Times Atlas of The World, was created by Agustina Woodgate. The sanded world atlas was complete in 2012. The book is approximately two feet wide and one foot in length. 

This creator of this piece is Argentinian, and the piece was created with regards to Latin America. In this region, geopolitical alliances are often shifting and unstable. The economies of many nations in Latin American are struggling, and some are tilting towards a trade alliance with China rather than the United States. The purpose of the author's creation of The Times Atlas of The World was to illustrate this altering geopolitical landscape. The piece is representational of the geopolitical culture of Latin America. 

Surprisingly, I interpreted this art in a completely different way. At first glance and before our tour guide explained the artist's intention, I interpreted this piece as idealizing a notion that I hold very dear to my heart: do not attempt to understand the world through maps or photographs, shape your own ideas of our breathtaking world through your own adventurous experiences; see the world, interact with the world, for yourself, and don't take someone else's word for it. Woodgate diminished every line, every country's framework until all that was left was its core, and this way the viewer could fill in every inch for themselves. They could make every little discovery that was there to be made without the hinderance of preconceived ideologies. The world was mine to make of it what I wanted! It was fascinating. I was a bit off from the artist's intention, but hey, that's what makes art art, right?

My sketch of The Times Atlas of The World is here:

While my sketch is nowhere near the artistic richness of the original piece, it did allow me to appreciate certain aspects of Woodgate's work. First of all, the texture of the piece was very unique. Woodgate used sandpaper to grind down each and every page of this atlas so that the details and the lines of each page would dissipate. You could feel the settled dust on every page. To me, this inclusion of the dust creates a sense of nostalgia; the lines may still be there, but they have scattered to a hundred new places, and a not much more than a fleeting memory. In addition, the use of the sandpaper created blurred lines in the atlas, nothing was clear, concise, or contour about these edges. This creates a sense of mystery and adds to the fuzzy illustration of the geopolitical state of Latin America. The sandpaper also created a light color scheme. Every color's vibrance was mitigated. This created a mild, calm mood in me as the viewer. This comforting tone was interesting to me, it was as if the artist felt that there was no reason to panic. The atlas was also very thick with 515 pages of maps. The grand book was perfect for depicting the vastness of the world and how incredibly it can change. 

All in all, it was a fabulous trip, a wonderful experience, and I will definitely be visiting CAM again!

Envy: Love's Adversary

Envy: Love's Adversary

Modern day marketing is more vicarious than ever before. Product promoters will accentuate any angle within reach: sinful or otherwise. The Seven Deadly Sins to be specific: pride,  envy, wrath, sloth, avarice, gluttony, and lust. All of which deter love from taking its rightful place in the hearts of men and women. In order to demonstrate this, I will examine a popular magazine advertisement for perfume.

This advertisement was created by the perfume company Dior, and the perfume is called J'adore. It was created by Christian Dior, and this ad, along with many others displaying the same model, was published in various magazines. The perfume was invented in 1999.

The advertisement is promoting Dior's product J'adore. Similar to all the other advertisements surrounding this product, J'adore is presented in a warm, golden light. The model, Charlize Theron, is beautiful and glowing. Her luminous skin, gorgeous hair, and femininity are supposed to epitomize a woman. This is interpreted by the viewer of the ad and, in turn, the audience now covets such effeminateness. This creates a mood of envy in the viewer, and this jealousy will make them more likely to purchase the perfume. The name, J'adore, is French for "I love" or "I adore". The French language is often associated with romanticism and love, which adds to the allure of the fragrance.

The target market of J'adore is mostly women, ranging from about 16-50, that are well-off financially and looking for confidence and glamorous beauty. These women would be fined-tuned into popular culture because J'adore advertisements can be found in well-known fashion, beauty, and gossip magazines.

Put simply, the goal of this advertisement is to sell J'adore. The company uses Theron's beauty to sell a product to women who want to be more beautiful. The company has been selling J'adore for more than a decade, and the popular name-brand, high-class product sells for an expensive price. However, in the bigger picture, we can see that this company and many others target their audience's sinful side to sell the product. They play on the viewer's insecurity, their desire to be considered beautiful, and use it to run a lucrative business. This envy displaces the viewer's love for herself and exploits her self-confidence. According to Evagrius Ponticus, the second most deadly sin of mankind is envy; marketers are flourishing with the freedom that society acquiesces, and they use this sin to appeal to humanity's sinful nature. While the marketing may be lucrative, the heart abuse is also effective.

Can't Bury These Tales

Freebie :)

So, What's in My Name?

According to babynamewizard.com, the name Emily is derived from the Roman family name Aemilius and means to excel or rival. Now, I do not believe this played any role in my parents' motives for naming me Emily. In fact, I believe that this is the case for most people in our society. People have strayed away from the meaning of names and are beginning to name children based on what sounds right. However, my name is not completely meaningless! My middle name is Susan, named after my aunt and godmother. All of my siblings were named the same way: random first names and meaningful middle names. I love this tradition, and plan to continue it. However, I am going to add a little twist. The middle names of my children will be family names, but their first names will be after my favorite book characters (yes, I'm THAT nerdy). This is not only because I love these characters, but also because the personalities, values, and characteristics of these heroes will be the vehicles with which I teach my children how to be an admirable and honorable people. 

Truth be told, I never really liked my name. It is so popular in my generation that it always made me feel insignificant, ordinary. I would have rather had a unique name that did have more meaning to it. I wish I was named for something more meaningful than "it just sounds right" or "she just looks like an Emily". On the other hand, I have always loved it when my friends and family called me Em. For the exact opposite reason as to why I dislike Emily, I love Em because it feels more personal, intimate, special, more unique to me. The nickname was only created because it is a shortened version of my full name, but only my family and closest friends call me Em; therefore, it is much more exclusive. 

Regarding my last name, I believe I will change it when I am married. This belief is very traditional, but all the same I will probably follow through with it. However, Arundhati Roy in The God of Small Things makes a great point. The mother of the two main characters believes "choosing between her husband's name and her father's name didn't give a woman much of a choice" (Roy 37). I could not agree more with this quote, and never realized this chauvinistic idea existed because it is so ingrained in our society. With that said, I will take my husband's last name, but this is because this quote has made me think: does it really matter which I choose if both options are virtually the same? No, it really doesn't. On top of that, my last name, Fordice, is much too clumsy for a hyphenated name, so that's out!

I can completely identify with the idea of being more than one person. There are definitely two me's, as Anne Quindlen points out: "there are two me's, the me who is the individual, and the me who is a part of a family of four...", but perhaps not in the same way. For ten years, I have switched between my mother's and father's houses five times every two weeks as a result of their divorce. For ten years, I have not spent more than a week in the same bed. Because of this, I lead two very different lives simultaneously. At my mom's house I follow her rules, her conventions, and try to be who she wants me to be. Similarly, at my dad's house I act more independent, but still follow my dad's completely different set of rules. This brings a whole new meaning to "you're under my roof, you follow my rules" and, frankly, it's exhausting. This combined with the struggle to become who I want to be in the whole of society is quite difficult. 

The dilemma posed by being an individual and, at the same time, a part of a bigger picture is that the people who look after you and are in charge of you may want you to be someone other than who you really are. And yet, this should not stop you from playing the role you want to in the whole of society. This roles presents itself in the form of your job, your vote, your beliefs, and your contributions. You must take your place in society. Be your own individual and a part of society in equal measure. 

Decode this secret message :)

The Concept of Othering

The Concept of Othering

 

http://photos.wingyounghuie.com/p929219206/h6b00ac63#h6b00ac63

The photographer Wing Young Huie snapped this beautiful shot for his University Avenue Project sometime between 2007-2010. Now, I call this image beautiful not for conventional reasons, but because of the powerful message it sends. Huie has taken dozens of photos like this one: black and white, with only one or two people, holding a chalkboard with a meaningful message inscribed on it. However, this message hit me harder than all the others. The man in the photo is staring off into the distance wistfully, and his chalkboard reads: "Race is an unfair tool by which to measure a persons character." This man has obviously been a victim of racial discrimination. The severity of this issue is portrayed in this photo, and the true words written on the chalkboard are supported by the look on this man's face: pain, morose, solemn, and critical. However, what you do not see in his face is hopelessness, pessimism, or anger. The man still believes in the goodness of people, no matter how they have clearly wronged him. 

In the bigger picture (no pun intended), there is our modern day society. Modern society has constructed norms, taboos, and most importantly "isms". By "isms" I mean racism, sexism, chauvinism, misogynism, anti-Semitism, and more. These are ridiculous constructs of society that are meant to separate anyone who is different in appearance, culture, belief, and many other things from those who are culturally accepted. These isms create "others". People who are perceived to be different, inadequate, or socially unacceptable. The man in this picture was once, and may still be, an other. 

Huie presents the others in a black and white scene, and he gives them a board. This chalkboard, in turn, is a voice. On this board and with this voice they can write their inner feelings, thoughts, ideas, beliefs, or just anything about their personalities that may reach the viewer. Most of the others just want to prove that they are just like everyone else. They have thoughts, beliefs, and most of all feelings that should be acknowledged by the people around them. Similarly, Margaret Atwood uses her fiction to highlight real issues, and bring them to light. She gives her characters their thoughts, feelings, and voice to tell their story. However, Atwood uses more words, and lets the reader's imagination take care of the rest. Both author and artist create vivid images pertaining to discrimination, and both are powerful. Nonetheless, the man in Huie's image wants to be seen, and the woman in Atwood's book wants to be heard.