Parents from Master of None

This week, once again, I had to spend thirty minutes to choose the second show on Netflix. I decided to pick an American show beside the cartoon show which is my favorite show. However, this is a challenge for an international student like me to understand the American jokes which contain in each show. Sometimes, in a group study, my American friend usually tell some funny jokes (I know they are funny because my friends laugh all the time), but I do nothing, even a giggle. Wipe out my fear, I finally select Master of none.
This show has two seasons. It tells a story of an Indian guy Dev who was born in America. After scanning through each episode of two seasons, "Parents" episode 2 of season 1 is my final choice. Through this blog, I will reveal some hidden meaning that this episode wants to share with the audience.
First of all, because the episode is named as "Parents", it definitely talks about the relationship between children and parents. During thirty minutes watching this episode, I conclude that we have to be grateful to our parents. Parents always sacrifice themselves for their children to have a better life. For example, Dev and Brian's parents all had to leave their country to find a better job, so their children would not need to live a suffer life like they used to be. However, because they never mention about the past, children will never know what difficult their parents had to experience through. Therefore, they just enjoy present life without questioning how they get it, and they sometimes accidentally do something wrong with their parents just because of the difference between two generations. At the end of the episode, Dev and Brian tried to understand their parents' past through a dinner between two families, and they were grateful to their parents and became closer with them. Through that story, I recognize that we have to be thankful to our parents. We should not just enjoy our life and do not care about our parent. Sometimes, a little regard or some conversation with parents to understand them better is more than enough.
Moreover, the episode wants to condemn racism which maybe still exist in modern life. When Brian's parents went to the restaurant in America, although the restaurant did not crow, they still could not afford a table because the waitress said there was any seat. Through that announcement, I can see the racism in the old system. Although America is a free country for all people to come, there are still some people who are racist. For example, there are a lot of controversies about the existence of racism between American polices and Black people. However, when that happens, the court only said that American police just want to protect them from danger. Therefore, they have to shoot people for preventing the threat. Sound pretty reasonable, but this is just a justification for an act of racism. An episode rings a bell of warning that racism still exists even in a modern life. Therefore, we have to do something now in order to stop it.
In conclusion, I, one more time, recommend people to watch Master of None. Even though the main character is not an American, but the show is still hilarious and contains many hidden lessons which we have to learn.  

Chelsea

Not her first Netflix Original, Chelsea Handler's self titled Chelsea is a great show that dives into some tough topics in a very "Chelsea" way. The first episode "Dear, India" was essentially a culture and travel documentary with a splash of talk show thrown in here and there. Incredibly entertaining, mostly due to her outright expressions and blunt comments, Handler meets super interesting people and has some equally cool experiences in her time in India. 

It almost goes without saying that Handler's style is quite blooper-esque. The entirety of the show had strange clips mixed in that completely reminded me of that small joy in waiting after the credits roll to see the funny scenes that didn't make the cut in a movie-- only this time there was no waiting and no credits, I loved it! For example, walking in one of the Indian markets, she made random conversation with a farmer selling her veggies and ended up just giving him a wad of money and grabbing whatever she wanted from the baskets as she walked along the narrow path. Totally crazy and a little bit illegal, she did it anyway because "why not" is seriously her life motto. Additionally, there were many B-roll parts that gave the scene a particular voice and emotion. That specific type of intercut really emphasized the organized chaos that is India. Showing short video clips of the massive crows and colors all swaying and swirling about complimented with the more reflective and appreciative tone of the narration definitely achieved the desired effect. 

Handler's reason for making the show was purely for teaching, so she told an Indian woman near the end of the episode. That caught my attention because in that moment she stopped becoming just a comedian, she became a teacher, an activist, and a real traveler. She even took it so far as to meet with one of India's well known women's rights activists and take a self defense class together after talking about some of the insane truths of India's lack of action against rape. She asked the questions we all are curious about but never have the courage to ask, like what arranged marriage is really like, how sex works in Indian culture, and what the deal is with Indian food, because she really wanted to blow off the dust and actually teach her viewers the truth.

Handler totally embraced being an outsider at the beginning, but as the episode continued she met people who remind her that there are more similarities than differences, and that those differences can be pretty funny to exploit. I like to pay attention to the way episodes end because they generally have some sort of cliffhanger or meaningful reflection instilled in the viewer that's key to whether I should continue with the show or stop there. In "Dear, India" she concluded by stating that India isn't just a county, it's like a whole world. Opening up that sort of perspective is pretty amazing to think about; there can be so much diversity, so much adventure and laughter in one country that it feels like a whole world. And with that I will be watching more of Chelsea Handler's Chelsea. 

Death Note

Death Note is a thriller based on Japanese manga named Death Note. Light, a high school student, picked up the Death Note and decided to kill all the criminals. With the name of Kira, he killed 400 people with his girlfriend. Kira was favored by some people,but some wanted to catch Kira, a murder. The director used different Mise-en-Scene techniques such as lighting, color, and composition,  to make the story more vivid.

The movie started with a sunny school day. The sun was shining and students were playing on the ground. The weather changed in a suddenly which indicated there were something about to happen. The wind started to blast everything up and it started to rain. A gust of wind brought LIght a mysterious notebook.

The director made the lighting change sharply to introduce the evil from the notebook. All lights were turned off unexpectedly in the school building when Light was reading the mysterious notebook in a classroom alone. It was dark in the hallway and the classroom was dim lit with some light from outside the window.

A lot of glass beads in different color rolled into Light. The colorful bead was strongly contrast with the darkness. At the time the evil showed up, Light was too scared to hit down the shelves. Plenty of small colored paper was flying in the air.   

Ryuk, the evil, taught Light how to use the notebook. Light killed a bully in his school first and killed the guy who killed his mother later. When Light was sitting in a gym reading the Death Note rules, Mia appeared in the screen. At the beginning of the movie, they just looked at each other in a long distance. This time, Mia sat beside Light, then she sat even closer to Light to talk about the bully’s death. The change of their physical distance showed the change of their relationship. After Light told Mia about the notebook, they were in relationship very soon.

They began to kill people that they thought to be a criminal. A world famous detective alias L was looking for Light. Light wanted to quit, but Mia still thought they were doing the right thing. They could burn a page in order to save the person whose name was on the page. But the burning would only work for once. Therefore, Mia wrote down Light’s name on the notebook. Once Light die, the notebook would automatically passed to Mia and save Light’s life. When Light realized that Mia wrote down his name, he calmed down and wrote some sentences on the notebook. At the time he was writing, many police were looking for Light. Light wrote and ran fast to meet with his girlfriend. In this short period, he used his pen to he killed his girlfriend and saved his own life even though both of them fell from a ferris wheel. His quick reaction corresponded to the beginning of the movie. He was a brilliant schoolboy who wrote paper for other.  

This story was a little bit confuse in the way how notebook worked. It looked like everybody could wrote on the notebook and killed people. If so, why should Mia killed Light in order to become the owner of notebook? Compared to the manga, the characterization in this movie was not as good as the mango. In the manga, the detective L was a genius and always kept calm. However, in this movie, L lost his head when his partner was missing.

Black Mirror

Black Mirror is a Netflix series that numerous people within the past year have raved to me about. The first time that I heard about it was from a coworker last fall. He had been discussing the program with a magnificent excitement, describing it as something that would “freak you out” and make you think deeply about what you see and how it compares to today’s society. It seemed interesting enough, but I just never got around to watching it on my own.

I have found that the best way to describe Black Mirror to those who haven’t yet seen it, is to compare it to the Twilight Zone. The show is a modern collection of science fiction tales, depicting possible realities mainly involving technology and how it could possibly affect the way we communicate with each other and the environment.

For this blog post, I viewed two episodes of the show - one coming from the end of season 1, and one from the beginning of season 3. The episode from season 3 told the story of a man who travels to Europe for a vacation from the stress of his life. He frequently ignores calls from his mother as he leaves the country. While in Europe, he runs out of money and decides to participate in the testing of a new gaming software for compensation. The episode from season one presented the story of a couple whose marriage is collapsing due to fears of cheating. Evidence is presented in an interesting way because many people in that world have chips in the sides of their heads that record all of their memories and stores them to be reviewed on demand at a later date. Both episodes were phenomenally well done because of three main contributing factors.

The first thing I would like to address is the acting. The quality of acting in shows and movies is such an imperative aspect of production. Great acting is at the core of quality pieces of cinema, and without it, there’s hardly any point in fantastical graphics or master editing. There’s so many occasions where I’ll sit down to watch a movie and the acting is so bad, I feel meta. In my opinion, a great viewing experience is characterised by moving you from the real world and placing you into the world that you’re viewing. Black Mirror is one of those shows that creates an undeniably convincing and immersive experience through the skill of the actors.

That being said, the acting alone is not all of what makes the show exceptional. The graphics used within the show makes the show leap off of the screen, engulfing the viewer in what is being shown. The graphics are a complement to the acting, not a main selling point. There’s a broad, dramatic range of light used throughout the episodes that works with the overall tone of the show. Some shows and movies adopt a certain hue that filters each scene. For example, in the movie production of Twilight (2008), each scene appeared to be tinted dark green. While many scenes in black mirror have a dark color scheme, there is not a particular hue present in each scene.

The final factor that contributes to the quality of the program is the use of computer technology that we have today to depict non-existent technology. The various gizmos and gadgets illustrated in the show are so realistic and make the show even more believable because they are not much more advanced than the machinery that we have today.

I would recommend Black Mirror to anyone who is a fan of the Twilight Zone, Ripley’s Believe it or Not or even people who were once fans of R.L Stine or Anthony Horowitz. Like me. I was once a fan of R.L Stine and Anthony Horowitz. I would also recommend the show to anyone who is paranoid that smartphones will one day control our lives and destroy the universe.

Stranger Things Episode 2

In the second episode of Stranger Things, the directors made a point to emphasize the mental condition of each character, how their mental state affects how they interact with their surroundings, and how their mental state affects how each character interacts with one another.  The first episode, while it was a pilot, surprisingly offered much to the development of each character and the second episode followed much in suit.  While watching, the mental state of four key characters were built upon or explored, these characters include Eleven, Mike, Joyce Byers, and Will’s older brother, Jonathan Byers.  It is interesting to see how the similar events that each character experiences affects them differently.  

Beginning with the interaction between Mike and Eleven and how Eleven’s mental development is explored throughout the second episode, the viewer is able to learn a substantial amount of information about Eleven, which gives clues as to why she behaves the way she does.  First, the almost immediate difference between how Eleven interacts with Mike as opposed to Benny, in the first episode, is significant.  Eleven, seemingly, is much more open to using her words and speaking with Mike, although she and Mike just met.  Additionally, when Mike and Eleven are introducing each other, before Mike goes off to bed, Eleven returns Mike’s “goodnight” by saying goodnight to him.  Continuing, when Mike asks Eleven what danger she is facing, Eleven responds by telling him that there are dangerous people involved.  It is important to recognize that in episode one, Eleven’s interaction with others was extremely limited, and as a result, this communication between Eleven and Mike should be seen as fairly significant.  Lastly, exploring Eleven’s mental psyche, the directors allow the viewer to see inside her mind and memories.  In an attempt to hide Eleven from Mike’s mother, Mike pleads to Eleven and asks her to hide in his closet.  She does so reluctantly, and while Mike is away, Eleven has a severely scarring flashback of her time in the “mental facility”, as the viewer knows it at this point.  She is seen being carried away by two men and then thrown into a enclosed space where the door is quickly shut, trapping her in.  This episode gave the viewer much insight as to who Eleven is by developing her character and sharing her thoughts and how those thoughts affect her interactions.  

Next, exploring the mental interactions and development of Ms. Joyce Byers was a focus of this episode.  From the moment Ms. Byers recognized that her son, Will, was missing she was thrown into an apparent, but very much expected,  downward spiral.  First, while explaining to Sheriff Hopper the mysterious phone call she received the night before, emotion pours out of Ms. Joyce out of fear of what may have happened to her son, Will.  She explains that she distinctly recognized her own son’s breathing through the telephone and also recognized that he was in danger.  At this point, her desperation to find her son is growing quickly, especially going as far as to claim that she can differentiate her own son’s breathing through a telephone.  Next, further delving into her desperation, Ms. Joyce is shown going to the local market that she works at in order to buy a new telephone since her previous one shorted-out.  As she goes to check out the phone, her boss rings her up and asks for payment as expected.  In her haste, Ms. Joyce explains that she has loyally worked at the store for a decade and pleads with her boss that she absolutely needs the phone and a pack of cigarettes.  It is clear to the viewer that Ms. Joyce is facing much mental dissonance as a result of her son’s disappearance and she is beginning to go the length to find any way she can to communicate with him.  

Continuing with Will’s older brother, Jonathan, the viewer is beginning to see how Will’s disappearance affects him and the directors also allow the viewers to see how Jonathan interacted with Will before he went missing.  Early in the episode, Jonathan is seen posting flyers of Will’s missing person posters around the local high-school.  As typical as this seems, it is important to recognize that the first episode depicted Will to be upset about his brother’s disappearance, while this episode shows him taking steps to find him.  Later in the episode, the viewers get to see a flashback of a time before Will went missing.  The shot was of Jonathan and Will listening to music together in their room while their mother argued in the kitchen.  In order to block out the sound of their mother, Jonathan gets up and shuts the door.  This keys the viewer in on the close brother-brother relationship that exists between Jonathan and Will despite Jonathan’s aloof personality when it comes to his peers in high-school.  This episode made it clear that Jonathan only had good intentions when it came to his brother, which can lead viewers to conclude that Will’s disappearance has a distinct effect on Jonathan and his mentality.  

The second episode is crucial in further opening up the characters and exploring who they are.  Eleven, a fairly mysterious child, was explored largely through her mentality and memories.  In contrast from episode one, the viewer may have never learned much more about her obscure past if it was not for how she remembers it.  Ms. Byers, clearly troubled, is seen as slowly descending further into desperation and the actions she takes in future episodes will strongly influence her character for the remainder of the season or until she finds out exactly what happened to Will.  Jonathan, even while struggling with his brother’s disappearance, continues to move forward in his search, which leads to his development as a character.  While the actions and physical appearance of each character is crucial for their development throughout the series, it is important to acknowledge that how they think and remember largely affects their actions and motives.  

Grace and Frankie

This week’s selection from the vast list of Netflix original content was Grace and Frankie.

The creative introduction shows a large multi-tiered wedding cake, with two sets of wedding toppers. These figures provide a generic backstory, showing the two couples, Grace and Robert, and Frankie and Sol’s symmetry in their lives, getting married, having kids, and the progression of the soon to be revealed relationship between the two husbands, Robert and Sol. There is a lot movement between the figures as well as the movement of the camera spinning around cake to showcase the individual scenes. At the end of the introduction, the cake breaks apart potentially prefacing the ”collapsing” their lives are about to endure.  The wedding cake scene shows the surface differences between wives, one being very business like with a very formal personality (Grace) and the other being more of a calm free spirit and artist (Frankie). This helps implant the background of the characters and general story flow in your mind before the character development really starts.

The opening scene shows the couples meeting for dinner, dominated with high tension between Grace and Frankie. You can tell they aren’t friends but are cordial to one another because their husbands are friends and business partners. This one scene where they greet each other, the tension, body language and tone that they use with one another is exceptionally forced. At the dinner, the husbands announce they are gay, and have been in a relationship for twenty years and then the camera angles begin to build anxiety and drama before the characters start to react. They flip back and forth between all four characters very quickly, where you barely get a glimpse of their reaction before it changes to another character. This plays very heavily with your emotions as you are also feeling lost and confused with what is happening, as Frankie is having an asthma attack, and Grace is chucking food at Robert.

Another scene that is worth some discussion is when Grace and Robert return home and Grace is talking about their relationship, saying that she thought they were normal. She is sitting at a vanity in the bedroom, so it seems she is looking into the mirror and back at her husband to have this conversation. Upon deeper reflection, you can interpret it as she is talking to herself, trying to comprehend their situation and solidify her emotions about the relationship between her and her husband, rather than talking to her husband. Seemingly parallel to this, later in the show this scene is referenced again as Robert watches his wife in a reflection of his computer

screen. She is walking around his home office, noticing details she has never noticed in there before. This seems to signify the attitude of their relationship, her not noticing what he was doing with his life.

Robert and Grace have a weekly brunch with their daughters and their families. Grace asks that it not be cancelled, so they can have one last brunch together as a normal family. The scene starts as they are both seated in their dining room, in silence with all of the food on the table already. Anticipation builds from the silence as you hear the doors of the car open and shut outside. The daughters burst into the house and the anticipation turns into instant drama. They rush in yelling about the situation, making Robert and Grace, and frankly even yourself feel attacked. As they are sitting around the table discussing the situation, I noticed that everything on the table for brunch is a circle. I then went back to the initial dinner scene and saw that everything on the table during the dinner that they told their wives was also a circle. This could be merely a coincidence or tie into what may be the most memorable sentence in the entire episode was as Frankie was crying near the end, Grace pulled a tear off of Frankie’s face and said “Wow, there’s a whole world in here”.

Daredevil

This week, I decided to take on the pilot episode of the series Daredevil as it had been recommended to me by one of my friends. I am a fan of the movies based around Marvel characters, so I had rather high hopes going into this. Granted, I did not watch past the first episode, which I may decide to do in the future, but I found the start to be just okay. Had I not known this show was from Marvel, I wouldn't realize we were about to follow a superhero.

Yes, the show was not my favorite, however the directors did make some interesting choices. One of the better aspects was the usage of lighting. In most of the scenes, the lighting is dim. Pretty straight forward. However, I felt it was used to reflect the main character, Matt Murdock. He is shown as being more mysterious and closed off, to the point. He doesn't need lavish things and prefers the lights to be darker. It's also fair to mention he is blind. The director most likely added in this detail in order for us to relate to our main character more, and see and appreciate things from his perspective (no pun intended). We better understand what it's like to live in a darker world.

One thing I felt as though the pilot struggled with was figuring out what genre it was. At many different points, I felt like it was a completely different premise, and almost made the viewer get lost. There were fight scenes, displaying the show as an action, which I had assumed the whole show would be for the most part. Yet even then, while the show is about a supposed "superhero", it still showed him as a guy fighting local thugs. Later, Matt and his friend Foggy Nelson started up a law firm together, and during scenes of their practice, it seemed like they wanted it to be more political and law-oriented. The show almost tries to take up a good cop/bad cop dynamic between the two, but doesn't quiet get there. Every now and then, the show would throw in comedic elements, almost as though just to say there were comedic moments. And after all that, there is already romantic tension between Matt, and, ironically enough, Murdock and Nelson's first client, Karen Page. While most shows don't focus on one specific genre the entire time, this one seemed to get lost in itself and didn't truly establish what it wanted to be. Going away from the first episode, I wasn't really sure what section I would put a show like this in.

The show itself was not terrible, don't get me wrong. However, had I not heard great things from my friends, I'm not too sure if I would consider watching on. While the pilot typically tends to be the worst and most chaotic episode, this one doesn't seem to show much potential for a pick up. Any positivity about the show would be appreciated, as I would like to be able to watch a stellar series from the Marvel universe!

Ari Shaffir: Double Negative

Shanon,

            This week I wanted to watch one of the netflix original comedy specials, partially because I didn’t have a lot of time, but I also happen to love stand-up comedy a lot and didn’t have a great day so I thought some laughs were in order. The one I chose to check out was Ari Shaffir: Double Negative. I will be completely honest with you, I picked this one entirely because it was the shortest one, and absolutely no other reasoning went into it. I did end up enjoying it pretty well though. I can’t decide if it’s the type of humor you would like, mostly just because I don’t feel like I know you quite well enough to pinpoint that. The humor style of this guy is SUPER crude, which I find really funny but I realize some people are not into that at all. I think when it comes to things of crude nature you really have to go big or go home. If there’s something that’s just halfway crude or is only crude when it comes to certain topics I feel like that’s when people get really offended. Family Guy, for instance, is probably one of the least politically correct shows in existence, but I personally don’t know a single person who gets offended by this show. I’ve often wondered about why this is, and I seriously think it’s because they make fun of absolutely anyone and everyone, there’s no bias in who they target. Things like this are a relief to see, in my opinion, because we all really need to make fun of ourselves sometimes and not take life too seriously.

            All this talk is super relevant to something that happened to me and I would like to write about it and vent a little, so there’s my tangent warning for you I guess. Today something that I tweeted got seen by a community of people that got really offended by it, and although I don’t exactly want to delve into the details of it, I’ll just say it got blown extremely out of proportion and people were being pretty mean to me and throwing out overly harsh comments that I couldn’t exactly defend myself to due to the nature of the arguments. This is something that I have never dealt with before, and to say it was overwhelming is an understatement; not gonna lie, I was on the verge of tears all day. I eventually sat down as soon as I had the chance to make a long and detailed apology statement to post in reply to all the people who were saying these things. I figured this would clear the air and stop all the hateful things people were saying. Yeah, I was wrong. I was attempting to be super reasonable and mature about the situation, and what I realized is that people on the internet are nothing close to reasonable. In my apology I basically chose to take the part that I did believe I had done wrong and run with that, because I also had a lot of things to say in my defense, but I felt like there was no point to that. People continued to ridicule me, and I do think it’s finally over, especially because I decided to put my twitter account on private(probably much later than I should have). I will say that I learned some valuable lessons in this experience, so that was cool, but I really just want to put it behind me. I also gained a belief that I think I always had, but had never really formulated into words, being: when it comes to words, the biggest thing to take into consideration is a person’s intent. There are an endless possibility of answers, and pleasing every single person with your words is an impossible feat. I said something that some people didn’t agree with, in which there is a lot of debate and no concrete answer to, but my intentions could not have been more loving and sincere. I know that, and there’s a chance that wasn’t conveyed to these people, and that’s okay because they have a completely different set of circumstances and were looking at the post through their own lens. Seeing the experience in this light(aka a teary phone call to my mom) made me able to make peace with all of it by the end of the day. Also writing about this just now helped a lot, wow.

-Molly

Amy Schumer: The Leather Special (A Negative Critique)

 Fair warning: Some stuff in this essay is very explicit and relates very much to sex.

Having watched a comedy special last week, I was in the need for some more comedy specials. As I was looking through the Stand-Up section on Netflix, a certain special caught my attention: Amy Schumer: The Leather Special. The reason this got my attention was not because I like Amy's material (in fact, I really REALLY do not like her material). However, while the critical reception for this special was relatively positive, the reception from audiences and the internet was BEYOND negative. Which is why the special sits a lowly 2.9 on IMDB and 1 and a half star on Netflix. I wanted to see what all the fuss was about, and I was in a forgiving mood. Her earlier stuff was absolutely trashy, but she couldn't have gotten worse over time.

Boy, do I hate when optimism doesn't pay off.

The thing about Amy's humor is, unlike Demetri Martin's humor which relies on wit and well constructed jokes, her humor style is more reliant on being as vulgar and offensive as possible. And is that ever amplified in this special. Right after the first joke (which is about a nude photo she sent out over Twitter), we get our second joke about a stranger "eating her out" as she was coming out a drunk blackout. The punchline: He is brave. The reason for that I'd rather not type out because it's fucking disgusting, but I will say it involves bad personal hygiene (mind you, this is after she goes on a minute long shtick about her cleaning "it"). Less than 5 minutes later, we get an oral sex/semen joke. Then we get another oral sex joke a few minutes later. Then a joke involving semen and breasts. And it honestly goes on and on for the rest of the show. The show can largely be summarized as Amy Schumer being a drunk, trashy whore. Although, I do wanna talk about a certain joke because it made me angry. She talks about how she's talking with her boyfriend she found on a dating site about whether either of them have any STDs, and the guy replies with "I haven't actually been tested," only for Amy to reply in a coyish manner, "mysterious." Like, the man possibly has AIDs or HIV. Don't  just think about having sex with him. The man may have a serious condition. I know I'm being a bit critical over a dumb comedy, but let me explain.

Regarding Amy's humor, it's not that anything offensive or disgusting can't be funny. It just needs to be funny. The typical punchline of Amy Schumer's jokes is that she is a slut and doesn't even try to put a funny/interesting spin on it. She is just a slut. If you want something offensive AND funny, there is Sacha Baron Cohen, specifically Borat. The thing about Borat is that the racist jokes can be laughed at because there are racist people that think it's funny on a basic racist level. However, they are intricately made to the point where it's also making FUN of those people who are laughing at the jokes for being racist (key moments include the rodeo, the Jewish cockroach, and the Running of the Jews and "Jews use their long noses to their athletic advantage"). That is funny because there are people that genuinely think stuff like that, and it pokes fun at those people. Not to mention that some of the jokes are recorded in public, so the reactions given from people also help make it hilarious. Two other ways that offensiveness can be hilarious are South Park and It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia, where the comedy comes from the over-the-top nature of it all (similarly to Borat), and the fact that the main characters are horrible, horrible people and thus they either get a comeuppance for being offensive OR something offensive happens to them, respectively.

Amy Schumer, however, does none of that. It's just along the lines of "I love it when guys fuck me" or "Look at my vagina." It's the worst kind of toilet humor. It's BORING toilet humor. Dull revulsion. And that's why this special is as revolted by the internet as it is. I'm sorry if this has been a harsh reading and I may have made you angry because you like the special. You can like it and find it funny all you want, I simply do not want to ever see it again. I promise the next blog post will be on both a non-comedy special and something good.

Thirteen Reasons Why

Recently, Netflix has gotten into the trend of turning popular books into popular tv shows. Thirteen Reasons Why is an example of a book turned into a show. I read the story when it first came out, after being suggested it by a friend. So, after reading the book so long ago, I decided that Thirteen Reasons Why would be a good place to start. 

Thirteen Reasons Why follows Clay Jensen as he listens to tapes that his close friend, Hannah Baker, leaves behind after her suicide. The show jumps into two different periods of time that can be summed up as, before and after Hannah’s suicide. The periods before Hannah's suicide actually follow Hannah herself as she experiences the reasons for which she took her life. These time jumps are made more interesting through the director’s use of lighting for each group of time periods. When the show follows Clay Jensen, after Hannah’s suicide, the show has cooler tones to the point it looks blue-ish. In contrast, when the show follows Hannah it has warmer tones to the point it looks yellow-ish, even more so when Hannah and Clay are together. The immediate thought that came to mind was color theory, where warmer colors such as yellow represent happiness while colors such as blue represent sadness. The question is who or whom’s emotion are we seeing? I think that the lighting is based on Clay’s emotions. At first I believed Hannah's emotions were being portrayed with the warmer tones being her alive as a happy girl and on the other hand the blues being after her suicide, but I eliminated this for two reasons. The first being that we are seeing Hannah experiencing the reasons why she killed herself, so why would she be happy? The second reason being that I had my doubts that the director would try to portray the feelings of Hannah after she is dead. This brought me to my second conclusion, Clay Jensen. Other than Hannah, he is the main character that the show follows and he is the one who is closest to Hannah that cares about her before and after her death. Not only did he care about her, but he loved her and he deeply regrets not telling her. The lighting is symbolic, to Clay. Hannah was the light of the room, someone who brought him great happiness thus the warmer and leaning towards yellow lighting. After she commits suicide, he must live in regret and sadness, he must live as someone who lost his light thus the cooler and leaning towards blue lighting. Besides the obvious controversy about the show and it’s portrayal of suicide, it’s amazing how much someone can get from the show from just its simple aspects, such as lighting. It reminds us that we must not only watch a show, but analyze it as well to truly understand it.

However, a simpler way the director helped show the change in times is by a simple band-aid. Clay Jensen gets hurt and wears a band-aid on his forehead. In the present, Jensen wears a band-aid, while in the past, he's clear of injuries. 

Atypical: Normalizing the abnormal

In an attempt to branch out and find new shows, I chose to watch Atypical. Having never seen it nor heard of it, I read the brief description on Netflix and settled in with comfort food, my dog, and an understanding that I may not enjoy this show. It focuses on a young boy who is on the spectrum and is ready to start dating. On the spectrum means that he is learning disabled, or has an IQ under 70. This typically references things such as Downs Syndrome, Autism, or other illnesses. Having grown up around kids like this as my mother was a Special Education teacher for most of my life, I had certain preconceived notions as to how the main character should be portrayed, and I felt apprehension to actually start it due to how I already feel about people on the spectrum. I want their lifestyles to be done justice and there are many wrong ideas as to how they really live so I was nervous to see if this show would play in to the societal idea of those on the spectrum or the true life they live.

                About ten minutes in the show I started to form my own opinions and some of them weren’t the greatest, but most were very spot on to what I was hoping would be portrayed. The reference to people not on the spectrum as “typicals” is close to how “normal” people are viewed, however I was met with a backtrack when they used the phrase “autistic kid”. That phrase typically brings about the mental implication that the person is their illness before they are a human and all these kids want is to just be treated like a real person. While I spent a lot of time closely analyzing the portrayal of the life of Sam and his family, I still took time to enjoy the show and its production value.

The use of the cameras to differentiate when Sam was thinking to himself and moving into his own world helped the viewer understand when he wasn’t rooted in reality. This helped show how things in the head of those on the spectrum varies. The scene where Sam gets “twat” stuck in his head is a very real thing that happens in those with autism, and can ruin many social situations. The show progresses and continues to portray the struggles that a family with a member on the spectrum may face. From the detailed birthday present never being enough to the loss of a personal life all family members feel in an effort to take care of their affected child/sibling, Netflix portrayed many of the problems in an honest light. It took a fair amount of time to figure out what Sam was affected with as the show didn’t go out and say what disabled him. However, once it became apparent that autism was a part of him, the show went in to more detail about the way it affects people and some of the ways that it can be handled.

With all respects given, Atypical does a very good job at portraying the life of those affected by autism. From the handling of the added stress by the parents and sister, to the friend who stands in a position of support and offers normalcy, most of what was shown was accurate. The important distinction to make if you plan to watch is that while this show is accurate in the type of life those affected by autism can live, it is glorified as well. Sam has high-functioning autism which allows him to work a job and go to school like a normal person. He is also just one person, and autism is different for everyone. Given my history with those who have been affected and the idea I already had of how the show was going to portray those affected, I have to admit my pleasant surprise at the ability to actually do it all justice. I plan to continue watching and seeing how things play out and the types of challenges Sam will face.

Flaked

From the first second of the opening scene I had already heard, “ I killed a man” coming out of Chips mouth. The director did a great job in having the viewer at the edge of their seats wanting to hear more, see more, and feel more from Chip. I knew from that first second that I was going to love this show, or so I thought I would...

Looking back on the first episode that I just watched, I pondered around and asked myself the following questions: Why did you start to drift off as Flaked rounded to the twenty-two minute marker into the first episode? Why did the director use the first five minutes to be an eye catching thriller, but then have the playback scene/ foundation scene of Flaked stop and fade away into what Chips life is like today? Why did the director chose to start the introduction off with such strong and vibrant cinematic language, just to have it drop off a cliff (metaphorically speaking)?

One positive aspect that came from this first episode was the cinematography. You can really tell how much thought the director put into each frame because of the angles at which each scene was shot from. When Chip was speaking at his AA meeting the way that the light shines over the other members heads and their hair glistens in the light is such an illuminating sight. On the other hand one negative aspects of the first episode was the costume design. Finally, thirteen minutes before the episode concluded, some sort of color seemed to pop. Making the choice to have bland colors and edits throughout almost the whole episode makes me feel gloomy and not excited to hear what's coming next. Although, the director may have done this to set the theme of how Chips everyday life is today.

I do love how real Flaked is. Every character I can somehow relate back to someone that I know, in some way, shape, or form. The realistic approach that the director chooses to take in creating a universal theme for this first episode is something that will pull in a variety of different people. The theme as stated in the above paragraph is, the everyday life of not so normal everyday people. Society teaches us that it is a disgrace to our culture to have to attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, but in the real world many more people may have these sort of requirements than we think or know.

Flaked gives reassurance to those struggling through addiction or to those who are recovering addicts. The reassurance given is that the decisions you have made/ will make are important and DO affect the rest of your life. One miniscule decision that you make could totally destroy your whole existence. I feel like this whole episode could be a public health announcement saying it is okay to ask for help. It is okay to not be okay. It is okay to be vulnerable.

A Daredevil Insight (?)

So I finally watched Daredevil, the Netflix series not the movie. Well only the first episode as of now, but I think I can only talk about the first episode for school credit. Fortunately I can say I did enjoy what I saw, and plan to watch the full series later.

I know I said I enjoyed what I saw, but I am going to complain about the first scene. I do dislike most usage of shaky cam. I know why they used shaky cam and made such rapid cuts. They used it to good effect. They encapsulated the confusion, chaos, and disruptive nature of a young Murdoc being hit by a car and his father's resulting panic. From a personal taste I disliked that, but from an editing and story telling perspective I think it was a good choice. S why am I complaining? the part of I really didn't like about the scene was switching from a third person view to a first person view from Murdoc's perspective, and back to third. I think this was a jarring choice, even if it was to visually show Murdoc losing his eye sight. It seems weird to switch to a smaller first person shot and then to switch back to a larger third person shot

When we moved into the present I quickly took to enjoying the show. It has only been one episode and I already like this Matt Murdoc more than the one in the Daredevil movie. It is hard to make any notable statements of the characters in the show having only seen one episode. What I can say for sure is that I enjoy Murdoc and Foggy's relationship, and Foggy being the comedy relief character is definitely going to die at some point in the show. Karen Page was so forgettable of a character in this that I had to look up her name to write this. She is the main focal point of the plot of this episode and I'd wager the entire season or series, and she seems here to stay.

I must give praise to the fights though. The way they were shot and edited was fantastic. They seemed to pick the best angles possible, and switched shots at the best time. That's to say nothing of the choreography which was well done. I enjoyed the more human feeling elements of the fights. Most super hero shows would have the characters shake off all hits and get back into the fight. This show had them often on the ground and starting to limp through out the fight, which made them feel more human than anything else in those fights.

I have a few notes on minor things I noticed. First off, I noticed that this show has an obsession with painting any scene involving Murdoc in yellow. This definitely means something but right now I couldn't tell you right now. Another thing worth noting was the show's opening. The opening had many images be formed out what I assume is blood. This ranges from sky scrapers, Hell's Kitchen, and a devil face. These all have something to do with the show's plot, and the usage of blood could be seen many hundreds of metaphors. The final really small thing I noticed was the attention to detail. The easiest example was after Karen's strangling she had been bruised at her throat for the rest of the episode. Nothing huge, but I know would have forgotten about it.

I liked how they tied the title of the episode “Into the Ring”. This title was tied in so many times. The first and most obvious was when Murdoc talked about his father and how he was a boxer. The other times were less obvious, like how Karen's case was Murdoc and Foggy's first case, or step into the ring. The final reference of the name was how this episode was the first time Daredevil crossed the villains, and how both of them are preparing for another round. It's nothing high brow, but I feel like I should mention it.

Those were my thoughts on the first episode of Daredevil.

So Dear Self

Dear Self,

So as you are probably aware, you and I decided to watch Puss In Book: Trapped in an Epic Tale for this assignment. The reason was because we were curious about how exactly they were going to achieve making the show “interactive”. In the beginning of the show, netflix uses a cat meow and purr to clue the audience in that the story involved a cat. Then they used a combination of cartoon animation and music to introduce Puss in Boots by displaying the general behavior of the character. The music was composed of guitars, tambourines, trumpets, and maracas. This was a subtle clue that the story was set in Mexico, the first lines in the show are “EL GATO!!!!”. Even the maiden that PB saves is in Mexican clothing. It was an interesting choice that they made with the maiden because even though she is wearing Mexican clothing she has red hair, pale skin, and a small beauty mark on her cheek. Even the roughians that are in the very first scenes are all red or a dark blue. Which I found a very odd choice considering that our hero is orange but I guess it was a way to convey that PB is a robin hood kind of hero. The colors at the beginning were bold and strange because they seemed very decisive without connection. They used the red for when PB was saving the maiden, yellow for when he was fighting a bad guy, the blue for when he was a thief, purple/pink for when he was being beaten, and then a yellow/green for stunts. Then we have a jump cut to a close up of Puss in Boots’s boots from the back and then a shift up to his face where he faces the audience in the animation that is primarily used for the episode. The pauses in the music were interestingly timed, typically the music would pause during a character’s lines but only during longer lines and almost as if it were for dramatic effect. In the first scenes they use the music to convey PB’s heroism and after he is finished doing what his character is known for (i.e. fighting) they use the music to support curiosity that they are portraying in the next scene. They used an angelic sort of sound when PB found an object of interest, which is quickly thwarted when they used a yellow/orange light and a magical sound that emitted from said object of interest while PB yelled in distress to have the audience conclude that PB had been magically transported. They used breaking the fourth wall all throughout the show to make it interactive by giving the audience the options to control pieces of the plot. Even the narrator was interacting with PB whilst being the faceless godlike overseer. They used a zoom out and back in during the part where the audience chooses the plot and a similar animation to the intro. During the options: PB discusses the options, argues with the narrator, and even pleads with the audience. It was a new experience, it was fun. 

Tales by Light: The Photographer's Dream Show

Searching for something new on Netflix this week, I stumbled upon an interesting looking documentary focused on the art of travel photography. I ended up picking this documentary entitled Tales by Light perhaps due to the fact that my boyfriend is a photographer but also because I find travel photography incredibly captivating. The documentary currently has two seasons, both with six episodes each and all entitled with the region or subject of the photographer so that viewers can easily choose one to watch on a subject that interests them.

"Himalaya," the second episode in the first season, focused on the photography of Richard I'Anson as he captured the rich history in the various festivals and wildlife in India. I really appreciated the smoothness of the camera as it curiously glossed around the surroundings, much like how a viewer would if he or she was actually there observing for the first time. Often through the episode as I'Anson spoke over the video explaining his experience in taking photos, the scene was interjected with his actual pictures almost like a slideshow. I thought this was particularly interesting because the editors of the show wanted the audience to have that advantage of seeing the "backstage" aspect of photography.  Seeing him taking the photo and transitioning into the real shots allowed the viewer got a complete view of the event, again like he or she was right there with him. Even more so, the editors included the click of the camera when showing his pictures to give a spectacular auditory layer of inclusion in the event. 

Later, I'Anson took part in capturing the famous Festival of Holi, in which the people of India throw colorful powder and celebrate regrowth and joy for the coming year. As you could imagine, the scene is set in complete explosions of vibrant color and rapid movement. I thought it was a brilliant touch to manipulate the video into slow motion so the audience could take time to look around within the frame and take in everything that was happening. I'Anson really dove into the culture by allowing the Indian women to hit him with wet clothes as he walked by, something that is truly just a norm for the occasion among locals. When his photos from the festival were interjected that time, the viewer could easily tell the level of passion and movement caught in each and every shot.

To compliment the final slow motion video of the mountains via helicopter, I'Anson ends saying that photography can be simply a visual record of a place visited or it can be a window into the deeper, more diverse places of the world, providing other photographers watching with an option to make that choice for themselves. 

Hemlock Grove

When searching for a Netflix Original to watch for this blog entry, I started to watch a couple of things that looked interesting, and after several hits and misses I ended up on Hemlock Grove. While I had heard good things about this show I was interested to know if the rumors of how good this show was were true, and I was not disappointed! What struck me as I was watching multiple episodes of this show was that I was glad this came around in a time where special effects seem to be at their peak, and only getting better. One scene in particular stands out to me, and if you have ever seen, at the least, season one of Hemlock Grove you can probably guess which scene I’m talking about.

While the special effects were not used for a lengthy period, they were used over a fairly large area and were quite extensive. The question then becomes were the special effects appropriate for that particular scene? In my opinion, yes they were appropriate. The special effects propelled the storyline further and only increased the intensity of the already mind boggling situation. While you seem to be questioning everything you know about this show and what could be happening next, they throw one more thing into the mix that only makes you want to keep watching to solve the mystery that is Hemlock Grove.

The storyline plants doubts in the audience's’ minds and makes them think about what they truly want from this t.v. show. The intimacy that is fostered in this scene between two teenage males that barely know each other, the secret they are both now forced to keep, and the possibly severe implications that could stem from this scene are carried through the next couple of episodes; the trial that seems to be happening on one side of the point of views keeps you on the edge of your seat doing the only thing you can do… hope things go your way and wait to find out in the next episode. (Although that wait isn’t more than thirty seconds most of the time, it is agonizing!)

Beyond the fact that the storyline greatly benefits from the this scene in particular, it also make the actually storytelling more effective. This added scene gives you a feel for the character and what they are going through, along with the simultaneous sense of security that the scene gives to the budding friendship between the two main characters, and the sense that nothing is ever as it seems. Watching this slightly cringe-worthy scene, makes the audience feel sympathy and stirs the want to know that everything will turn out the way they want it to. This scene while mildly unrealistic to the logically sound of mind, gives you an accurate feel for what this scene might  possibly be like in real life. Is it entirely realistic and accurate? Who knows, I certainly don’t, but if this were to happen this is how I would expect for it to go. The fact that it seemed agonizing, and terrifying is enough for me to expect that no matter what other movies and t.v. show portrayed this scene as, this is definitely the one I could see happening the most in my everyday life.

So final decision time: will I be watching this again? You bet I will! I foresee this becoming one of my many netflix staples that I come back around to when I have finished a series or all the available episodes on Netflix. We all have our staples that pass the time between new series, and are always a pleasure to rewatch, and I am happy to say that Hemlock Grove, if it goes the way I’m hoping it does or even if it doesn’t, has proudly made its way into my list of many other classic rewatch shows. Criminal Minds, CSI (all of them), Supernatural, 30 Rock, The Office, and many others have to make room for one more… Hemlock Grove.

"Hidden" from The Adventures of Puss in Boots

This week, I decided to sign up an account for Netflix which was a brand new experience for me. After a few hours of wondering what show to watch first, The Adventures of Puss in Boots was my final choice. Sound ridiculous, a college student like me choose to watch a cartoon show, but cartoon always has a place in my heart. The show has five seasons at the moment, and I have just watched episode one of season one. However, through the music, the way the movie shape the main character, and the lessons in each conversation, I will explain why this show is worth to watch not only for children but also for adult.

First of all, the opening music knows how to follow the spirit of the cartoon. Begin with the guitar's rhythm and the monologue of introduction from Puss, the audience can right away feel the spirit of adventure. With the warm voice and the dramatic in storytelling, Puss knows the way to light the fire inside everybody. To me, after hearing the opening theme, I was being excited and felt the heat was burning inside my heart. This might be a little trick from the filmmakers. Because this show wants to focus on the little kids who are easily got passionate after listening to a vibrant music. Therefore, they will be attracted to the rest of the show which can be benefit to the film studio in increasing the viewer. Furthermore, during the fight scene, the horn and the drum will be raised. The sound of the hitting swords along with the sound of screaming people create a big contribution in describing the breathtaking fight scene.

Secondly, the way that the filmmakers establish the main character Puss is extraordinary. Always be alone, always seek for adventures, Puss somehow become an outlaw who is wanted by the government. Although he is a little orange cat, he fights like a true knight. With a pair of boots, a hat, and a sword, he creates his own reputation as a true hero who always helps the ladies and the orphanages. The filmmakers want to create Puss as a hero of the people who always fight the bad guys, rob gold and stuff from the rich, and share them with the poor.

Last and foremost, each scene in the movie leaves us some important lessons connecting to the real life. In the movie, after stealing a coin from a secret temple, which causes a serious trouble for the hidden city, Puss tried to escape from what he has done. However, at the end, he decided to stay and solve his own problem. Through his action, we can learn one thing that we cannot run forever from what we have done. We have to face it and solve it. For an outlaw and a free man, running forever is an easy choice to make, but if we want to be a hero, we have to stop running and fix our problem. Furthermore, this cartoon may reshape our perspective about the outlaw person. Although criminals usually do crazy stuff and break the law, they sometimes help others get out of deadly situation. Like in the movie, Puss might be an outlaw, but he always helps children and poor people from the tyrants.
I
n conclusion, The adventures of Puss in Boots is a wonderful cartoon show which I recommend you to watch it. Not only the sound effect is fantastic, but also the implicit meaning is priceless that you can apply it in the real life.

House of Cards

The first original show to be fully produced by Netflix House of Cards set a precedent for Netflix originals. I had been meaning to watch House of Cards for quite a while, but each time was distracted by some other show appearing in my "Because you watched" sections of Netflix. When I finally decided to give the show I was given a drama full of political intrigue, betrayal, and scandal.

The OA

I’ve heard many things about The OA. Some love it, some hate it, most recommend it, and yet I had no particular desire to watch this show. I tend to stay away from science fiction thrillers, as I find myself constantly analyzing the probability of the show’s situation rather than actually enjoying the show. But, in the spirit of trying new things, I pressed play, and prepared to be underwhelmed. That definitely wasn’t the most optimistic outlook, but it was honest.

For the first thirty minutes of episode one, I was in a state of utter confusion. Who is this girl? What happened to her? Where did her scars come from? Are they a metaphor for some deep truth to be revealed in a later episode? I knew nothing, and unsurprisingly, I felt nothing. But by this point my interest was peaked, so I decided to at least finish the first episode.

Let’s just say one episode turned into two, and then into three. I found myself captivated by a show that shouldn’t be captivating, at least not to me. I wanted to watch more and more, but after three episodes, I was mentally exhausted. The expertly woven plot covered my mind like a thick blanket. Even now, several days after completing those episodes, I randomly draw ties between seemingly unrelated details.

In my opinion, that’s where the true value of the show lies: in the details. I could use the platform of this blog to draw conclusions about the innovative filming techniques, or about the use of colloquial language in the script. But I’d rather talk about the details that make this show worth watching.

The dramatic difference in the length of Prairie’s hair, before and after the incident. The depiction of another dimension, framed with stars in groups like you’ve never even imagined. The diverse group of confidants that play such an important, but quiet, part in the story: they remind me that sometimes, all you need is someone to listen. The light that refuses to leave Prairie’s eyes, even when she can no longer see what light is.

These are the details that kept me watching. I found myself unable to turn away, for I feared that every distraction would cost me a detail, and I’d be one step further from piecing it all together.

Clearly, this show was not dreamt up overnight. Even from the pilot episode, the complexity of the plot is overwhelming. Normally, I don’t enjoy shows that are so mentally taxing to watch, but something about this one keeps me coming back for more. Maybe I feel some connection to the plot, or I want to see the heroine of the story get her life back on track. Whatever the reason, I know that I will continue to watch.

Maybe Prairie will find her long lost love. Maybe, she won’t, but she’ll rediscover herself in the process. Maybe she doesn’t reach any sort of resolution, and continues to exist in a state of mental instability. Here’s the catch: I don’t think I really have a preference. I don’t want the story to end, I just want it to develop. Do you remember that old cliche, “It’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey”? I’m beginning to think that maybe, just maybe, it could be true.