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May 6, 2019 at 8:21 am #1411Kelsey KwandransParticipant
<span style=”font-weight: 400;”>I also definitely enjoyed this film, though I was a bit bugged by the lack of explanation in the movie or the interview as mentioned about why the change was made to have women be infertile. I found that I really liked Theo as the main character. To me he seemed a hero in a refreshing way, focused mainly on evading trouble and helping Kee to do the same, trying to avoid fights all-together which seems more realistic for someone just thrust into this situation. I am not sure how the movie would have been different if there were a female lead. I think I agree that it would come across as having a different message, whether that is women supporting women as stated or more about the aftermath of the loss of their child as a connection to saving this child, but if they presented the character in the same light in terms of being detached or resigned in the beginning to realizing the importance of this task and taking on the responsibility, maybe it could have been a similar role, but probably with different implications. </span>
<span style=”font-weight: 400;”>The way the movie is now, I do think that most of the women definitely have more heroic actions, like Julian, Miriam, Kee, and even Marichka. However, at this point I think maybe it isn’t actually about who is more heroic (like Rick or Victor in </span><i><span style=”font-weight: 400;”>Casablanca</span></i><span style=”font-weight: 400;”>, for example), but who goes through the transformation. While it does seem off in a movie with such a focus on women, both through infertility and through those trying to make a change, I think it is Theo’s transformation from inaction to investment that makes him the focus or hero of the movie. </span>
April 28, 2019 at 10:28 pm #1398Kelsey KwandransParticipantAdding a historical context to this movie is an interesting interpretation! I think what you said about the attempts to demonstrate the individuality of each character makes sense. I really see your connection between their waiting around for whatever will happen at the end and the Cold War.
What do you think about the idea of resigning themselves to death so that The Thing can’t escape, rather than trying individually to survive? I know there’s a line where someone decides, “We’re not getting out of here alive, but neither is that thing” and one exchange where I believe Childs says, “How will we make it?” and MacReady answers, “Maybe we shouldn’t.” You wrote that this makes them heroes, which I agree with. Do you think this idea of perhaps sacrificing themselves so that the thing can’t go infect even more people is indicative of a collectivist mindset rather than an individualistic one? Or does it not matter either way- would the characters in both an individualistic society and a collectivistic society have to sacrifice themselves rather than try to survive on their own to be classified as a hero?I also really thought this fit with the definitions of horror and the uncanny that we discussed in class, as it is a great example of something that should be familiar creating a feeling of dread. They felt that they couldn’t trust their own colleagues/friends, and knew that despite looking like their friends, they might have been something much more disturbing which led to a deterioration of relationships throughout the movie as they suspected each other.
March 24, 2019 at 10:22 pm #1360Kelsey KwandransParticipantI agree that many times what may carry the message of a novel is the internal thoughts or decisions a character makes, which is more inconvenient for filmmakers than when these moments happen through dialogue or action. Besides the scene you mentioned, I thought that Ed also gained a lot of character through his way of viewing things that happened to him as a movie, and the men as filling roles. In the novel he would also have almost out-of-body experiences where he visualized something happening that differed from reality or connected a current experience to a past memory, like the model’s eye. These were strange moments that I thought added depth to the character, but I do not have any suggestions for how they could have been included in the film. I did think the movie had a much different mood, like you mentioned, feeling more like an action film, so I guess it makes sense that they chose to cut all of these instances rather than force only one.
Something that interests me, as a frequent movie-goer but someone who rarely watches Netflix, is the trend or idea of turning a novel into a TV show, with episodes being given for chapters or a few books in a series. I wonder if this will continue and if it is really always a better option than capturing the feeling of a novel in the medium of a film.
February 25, 2019 at 12:30 pm #1313Kelsey KwandransParticipantI agree with your comment that it takes the “story” version of Edward’s death for Will to see the use of stories. Edward was sometimes using stories to make reality seem more appealing than it actually was, to hide sad or disappointing truths with something more fantastic. For instance, the doctor tells William the truth about why his father missed his birth. It was not anything as exciting as trying to catch a huge fish with a golden ring, but rather because his father was away for work and Will was born early. I could be wrong, but I think even after the doctor says he prefers Ed’s version of the story, Will holds that perhaps he would have liked to know the truth. I don’t think Will is completely in the wrong for feeling lied to, or that living in fiction is irresponsible, because some of the stories were pretty far-fetched and it is hard to believe someone when everything you know says that they are wrong. Yet Will still comes to see the use of storytelling as a tool for making reality a bit better when his father asks him how he dies. This time, it is up to Will to take everything he has learned from his father to create a less painful, more magical passing for his father filled with the fun friends and loving family he has collected over the years. He is returning the favor of adding wonder to the world, like his father did for him when Will was growing up. Here, we see that sometimes it is comforting to live in our stories, and even the most realistic people can believe them as the truth, actively creating the world they choose to live in.
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