Cut-up RATS

Postmodernism in Cut-up Technique

By looking at the video you may realize that there is not only one chronologically ordered sequence of events that takes the viewer from the beginning to the end of a specific story. On the contrary, the video shows pieces of movies brought together in a repetitive but interesting way in which there is a desorganized presentation of different events that seem not to have any relationship between themselves but that, as a whole, can be interpreted in a number of ways. Anyhow, the viewer has to take an active role while watching the video, and this is one of the most important characteristics of a postmodern structure. At the same time, it is evident that the sequence of events is not chronological from beginning to end, which is also another very important characteristic that differentiates the Aristotelic narrative style from the postmodern one.

Comparative Essay

How to write a comparative essay? Ask Wikihow or UToronto:
http://www.wikihow.com/Write-a-Comparative-Essay "The Comparative Essay." Writing at the University of Toronto. Web. 15 Nov. 2011. <http://www.writing.utoronto.ca/advice/specific-types-of-writing/comparative-essay>.
http://www.writing.utoronto.ca/advice/specific-types-of-writing/comparative-essay
"How to Write a Comparative Essay - WikiHow." WikiHow - The How-to Manual That You Can Edit. Web. 15 Nov. 2011. <http://www.wikihow.com/Write-a-Comparative-Essay>.

Reading Schedule: I plan to finish reading The Invention of Solitude by Monday, November 21. And, I plan to finish reading Franz Kafka by Monday, November 28. Then, I can start writing the essay.

Topics: 
The loss of a beloved relative.
Memory.
Chance and the changes it produces in one's life

Chance

"We are continually shaped by the forces of coincidence," he said. "Our lifelong certainties about the world can be demolished in a single second." (Paul Auster)

I think Paul Auster is such an important writer precisely because of his views about life and chance. While he writes, he tacitly states, one time after the other, that chance is the driving force of human life. The possibility of drawing conlcusions from events occured because of pure luck is essential for his literary style. In fact, my personal view about chance is very similar to what Auster expresses in his novel The Invention of Solitude. 

I believe that, many times, our life is driven by an autopilot. There are circumstances that we are not able to control, that end up affecting the development of our daily lifes. Nontheless, I think that this autopilot is not controled by "luck" itself. I think that, most of the times, God´s influence is what produces different types of events or circumstances that change our life´s route. 

Maybe, to say that God is the power behing changes and coincidences is just a way of being calmed and not to think that your life is just like a sailing ship in the middle of a storm. But, anyways, I do think that our free will and judgement capacity is limited by these events that happen out of our rational control.

For example, while I was presenting the SAT, alongside with hundreds of other young guys, it was pure luck what made a very good friend of mine, that I hadn´t seen in years because she was living on the other side of the globe, to be sitted besides me while presenting the exam. Thinking about all the coincidences in one´s life, I come up to a concluison that I believe is applicable for me and for many others: Chance (or God´s hand) is the deepest influence that causes changes in our life.

Why do Writers Write

When there is something to talk about, you talk about it for others to know what you are feeling, what life has brought upon you. The same happens to writers, if you have something to say and you want everybody to know it, you write. Or, perhaps, when you are so isolated from the outside world that you only want a sheet of paper to know what you are thinking. 

In conclusion, writing is a way of expressing feelings or thoughts in paper. If you want to get rid of some experiences but want them to "stay there" forever until a lonely voyager, who maybe is feeling in a similar way, finds them, reads them and ends up remembering you, then what you have to do is simply to use a pen and start writing.

Memento

Usually, I watch movies to have fun. Usually, I understand what movies say. Usually, movies are made for people to understand them. MEMENTO (Christopher Nolan, 2000) is definitely not done for people to understand it. Still, we could say it is a good and fun movie to watch (perhaps because its real climax takes place inside the confused viewer´s mind when he tries to find blurry matching dots inside his head).

Anyway, MEMENTO deals with a disease called Amnesia, which prevents the central character from remembering short-term events. He loses his memory and has to rely on notes that he writes while he is counscious. During the whole movie, Leonard tries to find a guy whose name is "John G." This man killed Leonard´s wife and escaped the scene. Therefore, Leonard wants to find him and kill him. 

Leonard meets a man called Teddy and they become good friends. But Leonard has a Polaroid camera and he wrote a note on it saying that he shouldn´t trust Teddy. Therefore, their friendship never really works and at the end of the movie Leonard ends up killing Teddy when he realises that Teddy is "John G." 

So, during the whole movie, Nolan plays with the viewer until a feeling of amnesia is virtually produced inside the viewer´s mind. That is what makes the movie so interesting. At the end, I can tell you, Nolan´s work is so great that I don´t even remember some parts of the movie, and looking at the movie´s plot in the Internet I finally realized that the black-white images in the movie actually make sense and present a chronologically ordered story.

In conclusion, if you want someone to play with your short term memory and to show you something really difficult to understand... watch MEMENTO.

The Father Figure

When you look at Michelangelo´s "The Creation Of Adam" you see an image of the Holy Father that is much closer to the human race than it was ever before. Although there isn´t direct contact between God and Man, there is a tacit link, a spiritual connection between Father and Son. So, thanks to this painting, done circa 1511, the Father figure started to be seen as a close and active one rather that an authoritarian and enthronized figure.

On the other hand, there is a very important aspect about this picture which is the red-pink clothing that God uses. This feminine clothing seems almost absurd becuase it places God in a "pseudo-gay" position. Nevertheless, I would say that, far away from this childish interpretation, the red-pink color represents the tender and soft face that every human being has. Yes, even God, the supreme authority, the King of kings, has a tender and soft side, a side that cares for others and gives everything to us humans without expecting anything in exchange. That is, for me, the perfect image -the real meaning- of the Father figure. Far from being rigid and distant, the Father figure has to be active, close and underestanding of its son´s situation.

Three types of death

In Tibet ...
Budhists believe that there is life after death and that death is just one part of the ongoing circle of life. Therefore, people shouldn´t worry about death. Accordint to Tibetan´s tradition, there are three moments in the process of death or "life". First, there is the moment of the person´s physical death "Chikhai Bardo". Then, there is the experiencing reality in which deceased persons see visions of Buddha "Chonyid Bardo". Finally, there is the rebirth "Sidpa Bardo" in which new life begins for the individual.

Talking about the death ritual itself, there are two ways to do it. The first one is simply to cremate the person´s body, since there isn´t too much space for burials in Tibet´s small land surface.
The second one, and the most interesting one, is called the Sky Burial in which the person´s body is left for animals to eat it. The reason why this process is not desrespectful towards the deceased one or his family is that Buddhists believe that the body is just an "empty vessel" that should be useful for other animals after death.

In New Zeland ...
Maoris have an elaborate death ritual. When a person dies his hut is burned. Then, the body is taken care of and it is dressed with beautiful clothes to be viewed in public. While the body is exposed, mourners cry and wear green leaves around their necks. While praises are chanted in order to honour the dead, close friends of the death person´s family have a feast where they give the dead´s relatives various gifts. After some years, the deceased person´s bones are cleaned and covered in red earth.

In Muslim Countries ...
First, the body must be bathed while a piece of linen covers it´s private parts. Next, the body must be enshrouded in a white cloth, called Kafan, so that it´s dignity and privacy is preserved. Then, the body is displayed for the deceased person´s relatives to gather and show their condolences. After that, there is a prayer called the Salat al-Janazah which must be said so that the death person´s negative actions are forgiven. Finally, the body is buried in a grave and the head of the deceased is positioned so that it faces Mecca.