May the Odds Be Ever in Your Favor

Well...besides the horrible critical reading flashbacks, I really liked the mimesis reading that went along with The Hunger Games this week. The first time I read the series, I never saw it that way: as a commentary on our society and it's pitfalls. But reading the first novel again, and then reading that article, I can see it clearly now.

Our society has always been an entertainment society. Right from the beginning, with minstrel shows and wild west shows, up through today where reality TV is the norm. We as human beings are always seeking out a form of entertainment--something that we can use to escape from our own existence and instead immerse ourselves into the lives of someone else. I won't lie--I do this too, especially with shows like Castle. But I feel like there's a big difference between immersing myself in the lives of fictional characters and immersing myself into the lives of real people. Living, breathing human beings whose lives are on display for the entire world to see. People watch shows like Jersey Shore to make themselves feel better about the lives they lead--watching other people live outrageous lives makes you stop and go "hmm...well at least I'm not like that. At least I don't do that. My life is actually pretty normal, thank goodness."

I feel like to some degree, The Hunger Games comments on this big brother "let's watch the lives of people 24/7" phenomenon pretty well--but with a twist. Like we discussed, Collins was inspired to write this series by flipping back and forth between reality TV and war coverage. It makes me think about the way war has been media-tized...is that a word?... made media-centric in recent history. War was not always covered in the media the way it is today. It used to be just newspaper reports, and for a long time, war photography wasn't shown to the public. But now, almost every news broadcast on every channel is featuring video of war. watching war news coverage is different than, say, watching a war movie. These are real people, real soldiers, fighting and dying on our television screens. This, coupled with the reality TV cameras following around real people for entertainment, is really what makes up the underlying theme of The Hunger Games. All the people in the Capitol--and the districts--are gathered around the television, watching these people--REAL kids--kill each other. And for the Capitol (and probably the career districts too) this is for entertainment. What does this say about our society today, that we are willing to sit around the television and watch the lives of real people fall apart just because it's "entertaining?" It's really kind of dismal when you think about it.

I mean, I doubt that watching war coverage is at all entertaining for anyone, but it's the same general idea--these aren't made up characters pretending to fight in a war. They are real people fighting a real war, while we are safe at home watching coverage on TV.

I hope this makes sense. I'm kind of sitting here, typing this out, trying to make sense of these thoughts myself. I'm not sure if it's working.

Insert Sound Effects Here

I am so glad I got the opportunity to hear Marc Baird speak. Literally...I didn't know that live action movies use storyboards. I thought they were only used in animated movies and television cartoons. But after the presentation he gave, I can understand why. Visual cues make it so much easier to imagine the direction a movie is going to go.

Marc Baird is hilarious. Hands down one of the funniest people I've ever heard. It was obvious at the beginning of both presentations he gave us that he was a little nervous and unsure where to start, but give him a few minutes and he turns into a stand-up comedian who also happens to draw things.

I loved the way he discussed the transition from pen and paper to digital art. "Does it make it faster? Yes and no." Which is really true of all technology. when computers took off, everyone said that they worked so fast and they would make our lives easier and our work faster to produce. And by and large that is true. But just like Marc said, the technology also means it's possible to do more things--and so we take more time doing all those little extras that couldn't be done before. He also expressed a bit of nostalgia toward the old way of doing things--getting ink all over his hands. I think that can probably be said for a lot of things in our culture today too. Sure, being able to download books and newspapers digitally is great, but it's easy to miss the smell of a brand-new (or a very old) book when you first open it...and washing newsprint off my fingers was kind of a satisfying feeling.

I feel this way about television today too. We live in an age of DVR and internet TV, where the shows we want are literally a mouse click or button push away, 24/7. This is FANTASTIC. Trust me. But I still make it a point to park myself in front of the television at 9:59 every Monday night for Castle, just like I did as a kid, when my favorite shows would be on. There is something about that anticipation every week, that makes it important for me to experience the show right when it first airs, rather than downloading it or watching it on hulu later.

I loved the part of the presentation where he showed up the animated version of the 21 Jump Street freeway scene, and then compared it with the actual live-action sequence. It was really cool to watch the way a concept can evolve from "the page" so to speak, to the big screen. It makes me wonder what the original concept of some of my favorite Castle scenes looked like before they were filmed. also, I really desperately need to see the rest of 21 Jump Street now. so thanks for that.

All and all, I'm really glad I got to go to this shindig. Marc Baird was interesting, entertaining, and beyond funny, and being in the same room as someone who has been in the presence of some of the greatest directors in Hollywood is nothing to sneeze at. Plus, I always appreciate a good Sweeney Todd reference.