POST 4: My own choice of a a film, series, song or book (novel, play, essay, comic, graphic novel) dealing with the 'MYTHS & HEROES' notion

BRAVEHEART

Trailer:

The Movie:

Braveheart is a 1995 American epic war film directed by and starring Mel Gibson. Gibson portrays the main character, William Wallace, a 13th-century Scottish warrior. The film was nominated for ten Academy Awards at the 68th Academy Awards.

In the England of the 13th Century , after several years of political issues with Scotland, King Edward I of England has decided to conquer the country. After invading Scotland and winning the war, King Edward decides to give lands to English nobility and the rights to some “privileges”. 

Braveheart tells the story of the legendary 13th Century Scottish hero named William Wallace. When he was a young boy, William's father and brother lost their lives trying to free Scotland from the English. When his secret bride, Murron Mac Clannough, is executed for assaulting an English soldier who tried to rape her, William Wallace begins a revolt against the cruel King Edward I of England, also known as 'Longshanks'. He will fight to make Scotland free once for all, along with the assistance of his friend Robert the Bruce. But he will be captured by the English, and tortured in public. William refuses to submit to the king and when the magistrate offers him a final chance to say the word, "Mercy," he will instead shout, "Freedom!”. Moments before being beheaded, William has a vision of Murron in the crowd, smiling at him. The movie ends with Robert who, in memory of his friend, leads his army into battle against the English, leading Scotland to its freedom.

The notion Myths and Heroes:

I think we can relate the movie Braveheart to the notion of Myths and Heroes because the main character, William Wallace, responds to the definition of the hero. He is a character with noble qualities who, in the face of danger and adversity or from a position of weakness, displays courage and the will for self sacrifice – that is, heroism – for some greater good of all humanity. William is not invincible and does not have any superpower, but he is going to fight and risk his life for justice and freedom in his country. He will die in a heroic way and become a model of courage, fortitude, justice and moral goodness.

POST 6: An Art Exhibition Review

🔺 POP ART MYTHS 🔻

10 JUNE - 14 SEPTEMBER, 2014

Madrid - Museo THYSSEN-BORNEMISZA

 Paseo del Prado 8, 28014 Madrid, Spain

Today I would like to talk about the “Pop Art Myth” art exhibition. It took place in Madrid (Spain), from the 10^th of June to the 14^th of September 2014. It was exhibited at the Thyssen Bornemisza museum , situated on Paseo del Prado 8, one of the most artistic area of the city. The exhibition is about the famous liberating movement of Pop Art, its purpose, and its culture, during the late 1950’s and early 1960’s. 

If you would like to have some more information on the exhibition, you can click here.

                                               Roy Lichtenstein Woman in Bath, 1963

The artists exhibited were Andy Warhol, Wolf Vostell, Peter Blake, Mimmo Rotella, Tom Wesselmann and many more. "Pop Art Myth" wanted to assemble all the Pop artists of the time: from the pioneering works of British and American artists, to the Pop derivations that surfaced in France, Germany, Italy, and Spain, they all shared the same ambition of making a break with the past.

The exhibition was actually divided into pertinent "sections". It opens with several "collages" by Pop Art precursors Richard Hamilton and Eduardo Paolozzi. Moving along, comes the "emblems" section where great artists such as Jasper Johns, Briton Peter Blake and Andy Warhol represented certain everyday objects. Robert Indiana on the other hand, turned words such as "food" or "eh" into emblems. The other sections in the exhibition are "myths, portraits, landscapes, interiors and still life's, urban eroticism, and history painting".

I found this exhibition very interesting in the way that it was organised by different sections. It really helped me to see and understand the different topics which were represented in Pop Art. During the visit I could really notice the big changes that were involved during this time. Big brands were being created, advertisement were popping up everywhere, Hollywood and all the celebrities were the centre of the attention and had people dreaming.

In my opinion "Pop Art Myth" can bring viewers back to the 50's. What is really worth seeing is how a simple object, like a box of soap, artist's such as Andy Wahrol, managed to create something really complex, innovating and even a little enigmatic. The artist changed our way of  looking at apparently ordinary things, objects of everyday use transformed into a piece of art.

                                       

 

                                                   Andy Warhol Brillo Soap Pads, 1964 

I personally find the pop art sculptures really fascinating, but I must admit that one of the paintings that really caught my eyes is Still Life #34 by Tom Wesselmann. I find the idea of doing a still life with usual products, such as a Coca-Cola, remarkable because it illustrates the contrast between the new consumer culture with the reinterpretation of the art of the past.

                                                  Tom Wesselmann Still life #34, 1963

                                 

This exhibition can be related to the notion of Myths and Heroes by the way Pop artists often based their works around celebrities and famouse figure of their time, such as Marilyn Monreo or James Dean, or famous cartoon character, such as Mickey Mouse. They are represented as heroes and/or myths in order for people to identify themselves to the piece of art, threw something they already know.

My name is Emanuela Polo and I'm a twelfth year student in high school in the Lycee Francais of Madrid. My mother is an artist and I often go to some exhibitions. On top of that, I would like to work in art later, so I do have a little bit of experience in this field. I lived in Portland (Oregon), Vienna, Turin, Amsterdam, Barcelona and Madrid. Different types of culture always interested me a lot, that's why I enjoyed this exhibition so much.

When it comes to Pop Art, I personally find this movement captivating. While visiting the exhibition, I discovered a piece of art called Marilyn Idol that caught my attention. It was realised by the talented artist Wolf Vostell in 1962, during the Pop Art movement, and it represents several posters stick together and half torn of Marilyn Monroe. I must admit that it is the piece of the exhibition which strikes me the most, there is no denying that it is really interesting to see that simple posters can create something really captivating and beautiful in my opinion .The intention of the artist was to show the icon who Marilyn Monroe was for Americans. I would relate this Art work to the notion of Myths and Heroes because of the idea about this famous and immortal figure that is Marilyn Monroe, and the way she is transformed into a kind of heroin and even a myth.  The way she is represented several time, like a fan would do , shows us how the artist aims to insist on the bomb shell image of Marilyn during the 60's and how people would look up to her. Another way of looking at this piece is that through all of those pictures of Monroe there is a hidden message of the harassment whom celebrities were going through because of the insane curiosity of the paparazzi and journalist regarding their personal lives and intimacy. 
Furthermore, it is true to say that Vostell was right to consider Marilyn Monroe like a myth or a legend, as she stays even nowadays an idol and her unique style is still being copied.

                                                              Wolf Vostell Marilyn Idol, 1962

(detail)

ㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡ

                            🔺 About the Artist 🔻 

Wolf Vostell (14 October 1932 – 3 April 1998) was a German painter and sculptor, considered one of the early adopters of video art and installation art and pioneer of Happening and Fluxus. Techniques such as blurring and Dé-coll/age are characteristic of his work, as is embedding objects in concrete and the use of television sets in his works.

                                                    

Wolf Vostell

             

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolf_Vostell        

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Finally I would like to talk about an other exhibition which was shown in Madrid at the same time of the Pop Art Myth one. It was at the Museum Reina Sofia and it focused on one of the great protagonists of Pop Art, Richard Hamilton. 
If you would like to have some more information on the exhibition, you can click here.

Both exhibitions, made up of more than 300 works of art, look at the traditional myths of the Pop movement in a different angle, highlighting the turbulence of a society that sought to forget the trauma of the second world war.  

That was it for my art review about the exhibition "Pop Art Myth", I hope you liked it and I'll see you next week for a new art review!

POST 2: Chris/Alexander & the myth of the noble/good savage in Sean Penn's Into the Wild movie

1)

Chris/Alexander in Sean Penn's movie: Into the Wild 

Painting of a representation of the noble/good savage by George Catlin

2) Defintion of "The noble savage"

The term "noble savage" is an idea people had: Without civilization, humans are essentially good; it is civilization that makes them act in bad ways. The idea started in the 17th century and developed in the 18th century. One of the first to express it was Shaftesbury. He told the would-be author “to search for that simplicity of manners, and innocence of behaviour, which has been often known among mere savages; ere they were corrupted by our commerce”. His counter to the doctrine of original sin, born amid the optimistic atmosphere of Renaissance humanism, was taken up by another author who lived at the same time, the essayist Richard Steele, who attributed the corruption of contemporary manners to false education.

In the eighteenth-century cult of "Primitivism" the noble savage, uncorrupted by the influences of civilization, was considered more worthy, more authentically noble than the contemporary product of civilized training. Although the phrase noble savage first appeared in Dryden's The Conquest of Granada (1672), the idealized picture of "nature's gentleman" was an aspect of eighteenth-century sentimentalism, among other forces at work.

3) a) Alexander seems to believe that you can only find ultimate freedom in the wild, and that nature is something truly peaceful, beautiful and inspirational, opposed to the human society where the only things that count are material stuff. He believes that humans are brain washed by their society and that the only thing we seem to really care about is money. This idea is represented in the movie when Chris refuses his parents new car as a present, and complains about them always wanting more and more “things”. He also believes that we should “hit the road” and explore nature, and the idea of having a perfect “career” is something that society forces upon us. This is illustrated in the movie when Ron, worried about Chris’s future, asks him if he has a career, in which Chris replies “I think careers are a 20^th century invention, and I don’t want one”. Chris is clearly a nature lover, and also embodies certain aspect of the myth of the noble/ good savage. He is against the common belief of society, and refuses to be influenced by it. Therefore, he cannot be completely compared to a noble “savage”, as he was born in the city and lived in the society for a long part of his life.

b) Chris goes to Alaska on his own because he wants to connect himself with nature. He was deeply affected with what he found out about his father’s hidden past. He thought his whole life was a lie and felt the need to run away. Chris also has some lofty ideals and he seems to be sure he will reach them going into the wild. What seems to be the most important for Chris, is his pursuit of the ultimate freedom that he is longing to reach during his trip.

c) What Chris fails to grasp about living close to nature is:

Firth of all he does not realize that he is going to need some provisions to survive in the wild. In the movie we can see him taking some provisions but finally he decides to leave them in the car of the man who dropped him off, as he felt he didn’t need them.

He is also too sentimental. In the movie we can see Chris refusing to kill a deer after realizing it is a female with her baby. But what he doesn’t seem to understand is that he has to hunt in order to feed himself.

Finally he does not seem to understand that nature is full of danger and not as perfect as he would like it to be. This is illustrated at the end of the movie when Chris poisons himself by eating a deadly plant.

Chris is not truly aware of what he is going to face in the wild.

d) I do think that Chris is more of a romantic rather than a good savage. He has the same ideals and beliefs, but a noble savage is "uncorrupted by the influences of civilization", and Chris was born, raised and influenced against his will by the civilization. Romantics live in an very ideologic way. They tend to see beauty every where and also feel like there are not understood by others. I think that Chris's personnality is like the romantics, as he does not realise that nature is not only beautiful, but dangerous as well.

e) I do think it is possible to live in the wild after living in society, but it takes a lot of motivation and preparation to do it well. Chris was not ready and aware enough. I do also think that being alone in the wild is not something that should be done. We can see at the end of the movie that Chris realises it as he write "true hapiness only real when it is shared".

THE IDEA OF PROGRESS

1. Read the definitions and fill in the gaps with suitable words.
PROGRESS

1. Forward movement, as toward a goal . Advance . Development . Increase =

=======>> Quantity

2. Gradual betterment . Steady / Progressive improvement of society / civilization / humankind.

=======>> Quality
2. Brainstorming: Here is a list of questions you must ask yourself about the notion. Complete the blanks.
What type of progress?

technological / scientific / social / medical / educational / agricultural / personal /__________ / __________/ (...)

Who are the people concerned?

individuals / companies / governments / associations/ NGO's / family / doctors/ (,,,)

Which period of time is concerned?

the past / the present / the future/ eternal (...)

What is at stake?

medical issues / physical performances / technical advances / innovations / dehumanization / domination / environmental issues / animal rights / place of women in society / race relations / social inequalities / economic opportunities / globalization / scientific advances / cultural differences/ human rights / educational advances(...)

What are the advantages and disadvantages (= drawbacks) / the pros  and cons / the upside and  downside?

Is it profitable (= technologie/ saving lives/ creating economical growth)  or is it potentially dangerous  (global warming/ over population /increasing inequalities)

for human beings? Why?

The negative side is the lost of humanisation increase by technology and the destruction of the environment that the consumerism is leading to.

The positive is that, with new technology, we are able to find solutions.

Is the impact positive or negative?  For whom?

The impact is both positive and negative. It is positive because of the efficacy behind thesystems. But it is also negative for biodirvesity and the animals that are going extinct because of the destruction of their living spaces.

Can we afford to reject progress  or can’t we do without it (nowadays & in future)?

I do not think we can reject progress. As an human being, we are always wanting to do better, bigger and faster things.

Can’t we improve on the idea of progress  commonly accepted  in  our  modern world and consumer society?

If so, how?

We can try to limit over-cosumption.

3. Build up your vocabulary

Complete the grid during the school-year with words and phrases suitable for the notion

UPSIDE / THE PROS	TYPES OF PROGRESS	DOWNSIDE / THE CONS
Enable  people to work  more efficiently  / improve our living standard  / ...	Technological progress	Cut people off from the real world /  lose touch with nature  / ...
Increase the knowledge  of  the world  / discover new materials  / ...	Scientific progress	Raise  ethical issues  /  create new inequalities  /  ...
Upgrade education  /  reduce gender and racial discrimination  / ...	Social progress	Lose traditional values  /  disrupt conservative lifestyles  /  ...
Acess to education for everyone/ more educated population	Educational progress	It create some difficulties to get into universities or education programmes
Increase solidarity between people/  reduce gender and racial discrimination  /  eliminate social inequalities	Social progress	Lose traditional values  / Increase conservative lifestyles  / lose touch with different cultures

POST 1: THE IDEA OF PROGRESS

THE IDEA OF PROGRESS

As an indroduction to the idea of progress, we have acess to this worksheet on