Madame X by John Singer Sargent #LitBlog3

Choose a painting that you have explored at MET and discuss how it has amplified your understanding of the literary themes and forms that we have been exploring.

 

Madame X by John Singer Sargent  was one of the most interesting paintings that I had explored because of her youthful yet powerful appearance. This painting is a representation of strong female characters emerging during this time as paintings of female figures was not popular. Her pose consists of her holding her dress while her other hand rests firmly on the table as she looks out with her very pale face. Sargent had masked the name of the figure and when he had sold it to the metropolitan museum, he had requested that her name remained anonymous. Prior to this, he had originally painted the figure with her strap coming off her shoulder which had caused immense outrage and the Gautreau family were left feeling ashamed and asked the picture to never be shown again. He had eventually repainted her with the strap on and now I believe was one of the most beautiful oil, watercolour and pencil artworks in the gallery. The major use of colour in the painting consists of black and other dark colours besides her skin which stands out and illuminates the mysterious and striking contrast the painting explores.

 

 

 

Maya Angelou and Harlem #LitBlog2

Write a paragraph in the style of Maya Angelou– and using Angelou’s style of narrator- describing an event experienced in New York that gave you a new understanding of this autobiography. Briefly say what this new understanding is.

Harlem was one of my favourite places in New York City because majority of what I witnessed was raw in nature and enticed with rich history of the African American world. In the morning we attended a gospel mass church which gave us a small, yet important glimpse into the African American cultures and ideologies. I heard some other students commenting about how comfortable they felt – some loved it and some did not. I for a fact loved it so much! I got up and sang, clapped my hands and even danced a little. I read the lyrics off the screen, and the words they were preaching resonated so deep within me that I felt quite emotional and it made me think about Harlem and the people on a much deeper scale. After the ceremony we left the church and we were introduced to our tour group leaders for the day. Before we had even begun the tour, a local from Harlem came to us with his book of art showcasing his drawings and explaining his situation. I am not sure if his story was true or false, but it was good to see Harlem in action and how people living there attempted to make a living out of their art, talents or whatever you want to call it. Harlem was fascinating, I did not want to associate myself in little groups or talk to other people because I was so immersed in everything around me that I just wanted to be silent, observe and listen to the comments made by the tour leaders.  Eventually we walked into a street, filled with beautiful architecturally designed houses and we stopped at one with the number “58” written on it. Ofcourse, Maya Angelous residence! The women that we have been studying and reading had lived here until she had passed away? I questioned. The answer was yes… I was amazed. I had actually forgotten that she resided here and I was amazed and felt really blessed to be standing in front of her house, knowing many other authors such as James Baldwin had stepped foot here.

Waitress #DramaBlog3

Choose a theme that has some resonance with American life or culture and comment on the way this is explored in the musical version of Waitress. For example, you might write a blog post that critiques the musical in terms of its exploration of American middle-class apathy OR its critique of American capitalism. You are encouraged to explore a theme that has not been discussed in class.

The film along with the musical  critiques the American lifestyle by challenging traditional beliefs and ways of life through the comical portrayals of the characters.  The musical explored Jenna’s oppressive situation as she is stuck in a loveless, abusive marriage with Earl, falls pregnant and goes on the ultimate quest to find happiness. Her finding fulfilment does not adhere to the typical “happy-ending” fairytale that we are used to, in fact it completely overthrows as she rejects Earl and her prince-charming Jim.

The musical endorses financial security as the most important aspect in life as the title of the film is Waitress and her whole life is surrounded by pies. For instance, Jenna uses her pies to win the heart of the doctor and her general interactions with others in her daily life is through her pies. The musical begins with Jenna living in struggle, fighting to reach the top of the period as she journeys on a quest to win that pie contest in order to survive as a single mother. 

One big difference in the musical compared to the film was that their was the mix with race. I found this to have improved and strengthened the overall interpretation of the film. For example, in the musical one of Jenna’s waitress friends is of African descent as well as Jim’s secretary. Both of these characters are stereotyped through their postures, actions and tones to fit the supposed African American portrayal. For example, Jim’s secretary walks around with a hunched back with her butt sticking out.

The musical did show the harsh realities of America despite the fictional storyline and over dramatised characters. Dorn and Oddy go against social norms and decide to commit to one another in a interracial relationship. Even though it is humorous watching these two characters, it is an important attack on traditional ideologies as both Dorn and Oddy are the only characters in the musical who find true love without being hurt or hurting others.

The musical endorses feminist culture, however it also subverts this at times as Jenna is living the American dream as she struggles financially and wishes to win the pie contest to escape her situation. She has an affair with another man, lies to her husband and her actions lead to hurting another woman. However, Jenna inherits money from Joe at the end, despite her efforts to be independent and strong as a woman, she is still saved by a man. Ultimately, the musical does not end with her falling in deep romance but instead she reachers financial success.

 

The Book of Mormon #DramaBlog2

This blog post asks you to employ your knowledge of the elements of drama in relation to the stage play The Book of Mormon. Choose three to four elements of drama (discussed in the first drama lecture) and consider how these are employed to symbolically represent pertinent American issues in the performance of the musical. In other words, you need to consider how the theatre techniques employed by the director and company critique, endorse, criticise or expose particular American themes. For example, you might focus on a character that is a caricature of a particular American type OR you might focus on a piece of set or a prop that symbolises some aspect of American life.

The Mormon religion was satirised in the “All American Prophet” as a way to shape and build the audiences understanding behind the history of this American religion. Both Lopez and Stone are criticising the cultural egocentrism through the song. The purpose of the satire is not to ridicule the Mormon religion; in fact, it is used to allow the audience to question the nature of American ignorance. At the beginning of the musical, we had Jesus present himself to the audience on a high pedestal, dressed in a white cloth with shiny, golden jewellery showcasing the typical, stereotyped depiction of Jesus. The tone of his voice adds more humour as he speaks “Hey guys, it’s Jesus Christ!”  along with the founder of Mormonism, Joseph Smith who is also heavily satirised. The tones, movements and the dialogue of these two characters adds to the humour and mock of Mormonism in order to show the ignorance of American attitudes towards other issues and belief systems.

The portrayal of Ugandan characters in the musical was a representation of American ignorance rather than Africans and their culture. For example, the character of General Butt Naked who is a ruthless killer who rapes women and sacrifices young children. In reality, Joshya Blahyi is now involved in a ministry, creating programs and services that help traumatised child soldiers. His name stemmed from his former position as “General Butt Naked” where he operated bare in order to create fear amongst his civilians. He killed young children and drank their blood, feasted on their hearts taking away more than 20 000 lives. Mormon religion began with Joseph Smith who found the book (that he was only allowed to see) and re-wrote it down for others to see. In this sense, Joshya Blahyi, was supposedly told in a dream by the “devil” that if he commits all these acts, that he would become the most powerful man if he continued to practice cannibalism and sacrifice lives. However, the belief of God and Christianity he argues, has saved his life and made him  a better person.  Similarly to the musical which represents the idea of revolutionising a person or a community and leading them to the “right path” in the quest to find happiness and fulfilment.

The theme of the American Dream is present in the musical as it explores the need for financial success, fame and fortune through certain characters such as Elder Price. While he sings, he exposes his strong desires for fame in “you and me, but mostly me…I’ll do something incredible that blows god’s name” suggesting that he wants to be even greater than God. Economically successful companies such as Sea World and Disney World located in Orlando are his favourite places as they are a false representation of “happy places” and pure fantasies of reality. Just like the Mormon religion creates suspicion amongst the audience and the Uganda community, Elder Price is saddened to see that “Africa is nothing like the lion king!” Elder Cunningham uses these false words as tools to link the Mormon faith with popular culture to increase his number of baptisms showing the world that American ignorance and single sides stories can make anything seem real and logical.

 

 

“The American Dream” #DramaBlog1

Choose one of the performances that you have seen and detail what you think it suggests about the American Dream.  In your post, make sure that you compare the musical with the play Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller.

I have finally returned from my trip and I am back in Australia…phew! It feels good to be sleeping in my bed, eating home cooked meals and being with all my friends and family. It is about 4am at the moment and ever since I landed in America my wake up time has been during these early hours. Nevertheless, it is actually really beneficial as I can wake up with a fresh mind and get to writing my blogs as I have a-lot-to-say.

The play Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller, in comparison to the Bronx Tale directed by Robert De Niro, are vital critiques for the working class due to the constant struggle to achieve “The American Dream”.  The characters of both Lorenzo and Willy are strong representations of how this portrayal of America to be welcoming everyone who has being socially excluded, marginalised and attempting to find fulfilment, is a complete false portrayal of the reality that America supposedly promises.  The Bronx Tale on stage was a fantastic translation from the movie itself, as it explored the morality code behind the play. This was shown through C who was stuck between right (working class) and wrong (Sonny’s gang and “easy money”) by addressing religious beliefs in the musical. in addition to this, the “morality” messaged that De Niro endorses in the film was well represented in musical adaptation.  The movie itself is simplistic in the messages that it attempts to deliver of good and bad, similarly with Willy Loman who is quite obvious in what he wants  in his life which is the typical American dream, filled with luxury, title and the ultimate success.

The characters in the Bronx Tale do not contain much psychological complexity and the narrative itself is straight forward, therefore, the musical was showing this even less. This meant that unless you have watched the movie, the characters and the overall musical would have seemed dull and empty. Along with this, the simple language and characterisation created for the film it would need to be adapted for a musical which would lose the realism that the film tries to portray when exploring the everyday lives of the characters. For example, this “dream” that majority of American’s have built their lives on is only a capitalist ideology that creates people like Willy to feel the need to compete in society rather than live in their own pace which results in “wasted talent”. This is further supported by Willy’s quote “That’s what’s ruining this country! Population is getting out of control. The competition is mad- dening!” This conversation with Linda, is significant as it proves that he is conscious of his situation and America, but still continues to allow himself to be vulnerable to being treated as a failure and controlled by these false promises. Unlike Willy, Lorenzo who stands up for the working-class man, is more content with his income, his wife and job and finds happiness in his situation. Willy attempts to be more than his class, he wants to be at the top of the pyramid while knowing that he will never reach it and eventually dies trying.

 

Photo taken on the 28.01.2018 while walking through Brooklyn.

 

 

 

 

The Metropolitan Museum of Art #LitBlog1

This morning I woke up at 5.30 am and made my way down to Starbucks, ordered my usual coffee and then headed off to breakfast! It was going to be an exciting day as we were going to be visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I had heard many things about the museum particularly about how it holds over 2 million artworks from all parts of the world and cultures. It has a strong reputation for being one of the most prestige and biggest museum of today. It was about a 45 minute walk down to the MET which I actually preferred because it was interesting exploring and observing the normal routine of the city. Once we had reached our destination, I remembered when Holden Claufield from Catcher in the Rye was waiting for his sister Phoebe. I loved this moment because Claufield has being the only fictional character to have made feel like he was an actual person that had really existed during the time that J.D Salinger had produced the novel.  As we explored a number of paintings and artefacts I saw many school tours filled with young children aged between 5-12 walking around in groups with their teachers. I couldn’t help but be reminded of the section in the novel where Claufield talks about Phoebe and the times that she makes her way down to the MET for schools trips. This really brought the book to life for me as I was watching the little schools kids go around and look at the paintings and I couldn’t help but imagine Phoebe in one of those groups. I also remembered a moment in the book when Holden is kicked out of school and heads down to the Museum of Natural history and his most liked room was the Indian room because it always remained the same as he remembered it when he was a kid. Walking around the MET made me understand what Claufield had meant, it was like everything was frozen in time and you were captivated within so much history. Holden stated that even though the museum remains the same, the person visiting would have changed as they progress to adulthood. While I was there I had thought about his statement and the next time I will come to New York and visit the MET, I will not be in the same situation or person either. This made me feel connected to the book and Holden in a way as I connected to what he said because of the reality behind it and as he always says, it made me feel kind of sad! To the left of the MET was Central Park which was another reminder of the time that Phoebe was riding the carousel. The visit to Grand Central Terminal was another recollection from the novel as Holden had spent a night there on a bench there after he had left Mr Antonili’s. Overall, the trip to the museum really built my connection  with J.D. Salinger’s novel and the protagonist Claufield because I felt the description and moments in the book, felt so real when I was actually present in the moment and visiting all those places. 

 

 

The City That Never Sleeps

The second day of my New York trip has passed! It is overwhelming to believe that I am finally here and it is even more than I had anticipated. There are many good things about the city that I can already feel and it is all the amazing, bright lights, monuments, restaurants and just the twenty-four hour lively nature of it all. This morning though something happened, it made me think deeper about the life beyond the glamorisation that we are fed into as I listened and watched for things that are beyond this exterior image and more into the heart of the city. I thought about the actual people who live here, that get up in the cold weather during the early hours of dawn and make their way through the crowded streets of the city.  Last night I had woken up at 2 o’clock in the morning and I couldn’t fall asleep so I woke up and made my way to the gym. I got back into my hotel room, had a hot shower and then went into bed writing a blog when I heard the rubbish truck outside and I walked to the window and watched. I saw an African American man picking up the dump one by one and rubbing his hands together to keep them warm. As I am writing this blog (I am still struggling to fall asleep) at the exact same time, I hear the rubbish truck again and I see the same person doing the same thing all over again. This morning, I got ready and headed to Starbucks at around 5.30 and ordered myself a blonde caramel latte and I took a chair on the bench that stares right outside on 8th avenue. I just watched people walk past and they looked miserable and lifeless making their way down to wherever they were going. Perhaps it is just how I interpret things, but to live here it doesn’t seem as much of a happy place as they make it out to be on social media, movies and so on.

 

 

Before the Big City

It is my final night in Sydney for almost the next three weeks and right now I am feeling many mixed emotions. Today was a busy day as I was getting everything ready and just thinking about the adventures that are ahead of me. I fly often, although I do hate it and no matter how many times I fly I will always have the deep fear of it. Nevertheless, I can not wait to get the 19 hour flight over with and as soon as I get into the hotel I want to put my bags down, soak myself in a hot bath, get dressed and head of to Times Square! Precious time should not be wasted! I figure while I am here, experiencing this moment in such a vast, beautiful city, I do not want to waste any time and I want to immerse myself in everything that exists in it. I am most excited for all the musicals that we are going to visit such as Waitress, Bronx Tale and Book of Mormon as well as the sight-seeing that we will get a chance to do, particularly the places that we read in our prescribed texts.  I am both nervous and excited! I do not know what is ahead of me, I do not know of how I am going to interpret New York city, but I do want to be patient with everything and appreciate the fact that I am there.