Over The Garden Wall

It is with my greatest pride and deepest pleasure that I introduce you to my latest obsession: Over the Garden Wall.

Over The Garden Wall is a Cartoon Network miniseries that has been airing all of this week. It follows the story of two brothers, Wirt and Greg, as they try to find their way out of a dark forest and back home. Wirt is a bit of a stick in the mud, and is constantly getting frustrated at his brother for running off and being silly. It gets in the way sometimes, but deep down Wirt truly loves his brother. Along the way they meet many interesting characters such as Fred the talking horse, (video)
some interesting pumpkin people, and a spooky woodsman who warns them to avoid the beast of the forest. Throughout their adventure, many of the people of the forest warn them of the beast. Will they ever find it? Will the beast find them? Will the boys ever get home? Go find out!


I do really encourage you to go watch this show. It'll only take out as much of your time as a movie would. The writing is amazing and very witty. When you think you've figured out what strange thing the boys are encountering, the writers pull the rug from underneath you with a creepy twist. I guarantee that you'll love it, and that's a rock fact!

On Blake

Reading William Blake's The Tyger and The Lamb in class was really enjoyable. The antithesis between the two were absolutely great. Even the color of the two pieces that accompany the poems exemplify the large difference between the two. The Tyger's main colors are a deep orange with highlights of black. The Lamb's colors are blue and yellow, which are psychologically calming colors to go with the peaceful nature of the poem.

It was also enjoyable to discover that they were printed next to each other in the original publication. I am curious to know what order though, because The Lamb seemed to be from the innocent perspective of a child, where as The Tyger is seems as though it is written by an adult that is questioning the world through examining the nature of evil. If The Lamb poem were to go first it would make sense, since it could be seen as a chronological progression of faith. With this mindset, the child would be in the state presented in the poem, one that is only seeing God as good and there being nothing wrong with the world. The child would then grow older and would begin to ask the bigger questions such as why evil exists, and how this benevolent God could create such a terrifying creature as the tiger. However, if these poems were published in the reverse order, it wouldn't present as clearly. There would be a very jarring shift from darkness back to innocence. Either way, Blake could be creating a very purposeful reaction by juxtaposing these poems, I would just like to know which.

The Tower - Part One

I had promised a few weeks ago to talk about Adventure Time. And that day has finally arrived. First, I begin with the episode "The Tower". For those of you who don't watch or haven't seen the episodes leading to this, this episode takes place directly after Finn goes on a search for his father. This adventure takes him to the space prison called "The Citadel". Through this, his father and some other baddies escape and Finn's father abandons him. In the process, Finn loses his arm. He is then left with a stump with a flower at the end of it. As he is dealing with the PTSD of losing his arm and his father, the princesses of the land are trying to help. They are making him prosthetic arms made from various things. However, Finn manages to explode each one. After the explosion of his most recent one, Jake gives him some advice:

This is the first piece of this episode that I think is really important. Jake gives us an important way of solving our problems, He gives the idea of a "Melon Heart", to suggest thinking with your brain, but also with your heart in order to deal with struggles and complex emotions. I point out again that this is a children's show, and the show uses this to its advantage. It presents this complex idea in a way that children can understand it and makes the show meaningful. This is also important to note as a parent, because they are being introduced to this idea, and can be a way to direct you child to help them deal with the struggles that they are and will be facing in the future.

Finn then decides to go and think about what "his melon heart is telling him". He lays in the grass and stares at the sky, thinking about space. He ponders that space is where his dad is, and wonders how he could get up there and find his dad again. He then begins to stack rocks. but not in the way that you think. Finn discovers that he is creating a telekinetic prosthetic arm. He sees this tower that his arm has made, and begins making a tower into space. When Jake returns later, he finds the tower to be much taller and with objects flying up to it, of their own accord. Princess Bubblegum is also there, deciding that she needs a way to get Finn down. 
Also really important. This is where it's important for parents to be watching with their kids. This scene discusses the dynamic between choosing to work through issues rather than just pretending that they don't exist. It is important for parents to recognize that stepping back and letting children work through issues themselves sets them up for a healthier future. But this part of the episode also points out the important piece of when it is okay to step back into the situation because your child isn't handling it in a productive manner.

We then learn that Finn has made his tower so large that it has made it into the clouds. While he's building, he is constantly singing this song:

Baby's building a tower into space
Space is where he's gonna find his dad
Daddy's got an arm 
and baby's gonna harm his arm by tearin' it off his dad

I find this song to be very representative of Finn's overall goal. The fact that he repeats it for the entire time that he is building the tower shows his motivation. He is driven solely be the idea of "eye for an eye" that he cannot see anything else. It also shows how little Finn has thought about his plan. Finn has a basic knowledge of space, enough to know that it's a pretty big place. His sole focus is getting just a little closer to where he thinks his dad will be, that he doesn't think about how to get around in space or that breathing will soon be an issue.

Finn then encounters a cloud person, by accidentally entering her house. She seems very alarmed and hits him with some lightning in order to get him out of her house. She makes some vague comments about how Finn must be a "swimmer", and how she's not water anymore, so Finn cannot get her up his nose any more. The cloud person then returns the next day and hears Finn singing his song. She introduces herself as Carroll and asks if Finn is really going to do those things. She tells him that revenge isn't the best way. "I get it, I get it. But let me tell you something. I used to be water. Like a pond or something real wet. I used to hate people swimming in me, kicking and stuff. So what did I do? I evaporated, I got myself out of there." She says. "Listen, you have to stop obsessing about revenge.  Be like me and run away, you have to run away and never stop hating your old life. You gotta really dwell on it."

Now Carroll presents Finn with some very important advice. She states that revenge isn't the best way. But she also presents and equally unhealthy way of dealing with issues. Carroll took one good step, and that was getting out of the situation. However, she never dealt with the trauma that it caused her and is still suffering as a result. She is even still paranoid about something like that happening again, like we saw in their first encounter. 

The next thing she says is representative of her pushed-down feelings. 

I find this wording to be incredibly clever. Carroll describes what it feels like to think about past hurts. When we don't deal with these hurt feelings, thinking about them can be like touching something hot and wanting to pull away. Sometimes the more we think about them, the more they hurt. But Carroll is an example of how we need to deal with these issues. Because if we don't they'll just fester and leave us afraid of new relationships.

That's it for part one! Stay tuned for the second half in the coming weeks!

Frankenstein

The ending of Frankenstein seemed oddly reminiscent of the ending of Othello. I was slightly surprised that the monster seemed so remorseful immediately following Frankenstein's death, which is similar to Othello immediately discovering that the death of Desdemona was unjust. After some reflection, I suppose that it would make sense that he would mourn the death of his creator. The monster was an emotional creature, he certainly wasn't heartless. However, he had seemed so bent on Frankenstein's destruction and knew the consequences of his actions beforehand, for him to turn around and immediately regret them. The ending also seemed anti-climactic with the return to the epistolary frame. It seemed to just end. I was hoping that the speaker would at least have continued to seek his goal or offer some sort of closure to the novel outside of Frankenstein's death. But perhaps that was Shelley's goal. Not all  stories are meant to have a satisfying ending and serve the novel better to leave the endings as they are.

SnafuCon 2014

I had the pleasure of attending this year's Snafu Con this past weekend. I had an amazing time getting to explore everything the convention had to offer. (For those of you who aren't familiar with the event, it is Sierra Nevada Anime Fans Unite, and takes place in my home town every year.) Everyone was dressed in fabulous cosplays, and was having an incredible time. I love that events like this because they bring so many amazing people together over a similar interest. It was like one giant geek fest, with no one looking down on anyone else. Everyone I met was nice and just excited to be there.

For a good chunk of the time, I was there to support my friend at her artist's alley table where she sold her artwork. She sold a variety of prints, key chains and even a bunch of stickers.

(If you see something you like, she has an online store that you should go check out!)

I also had the opportunity to cosplay for the first time! I made one for Mabel from Gravity Falls. It was so much fun, I can't wait to make another. I even got a few compliments, and asked for pictures.

You made me this way! You're my glob!

I've been discovering recently that experiencing the original content for something that pop culture references constantly, is an incredibly rewarding experience. While yes, there is some disappointment in not being able truly experience something for the first time, free of stigma and spoilers given away in endless references. But I've been finding that pop culture has skewed the original content, and that the original is never given the credit for being awesome that it deserves. However, one thing has bothered me in the time that I have been reading Frankenstein. It seems that I have overlooked an amazing reference to the novel, a reference that holds mostly true to the character of the novel. This reference resides within (you guessed it) an episode of Adventure Time. 

In the episode "You Made Me", Lemongrab, who is an artificial creation of Princess Bubblegum, has an existential crisis of sorts. While the obvious reference is the creation of life, Adventure Time manages to slide in a few more clever references that stay true to the creature in the novel. In the episode, Lemongrab is discovered to be spying on the candy citizens, by hiding in the dark while they are asleep. This is reminiscent of the monster hiding in the shed of the side of the cottage. Lemongrab observes them in a similar way, trying to learn about these creatures that are like him, and yet so different. The next, which I would argue is the most clever of the episode, the confrontation between Lemongrab and Princess Bubblegum. Similarly to the monster and Frankenstein, Lemongrab approaches Bubblegum saying "It's all your fault, you made me this way." Bubblegum tries to reason with him, asking him what he wants. Lemongrab then responds with the argument that, being the earl of Lemongrab, he governs no one. He wants candy people to be under his rule, to alleviate his solitude. He then blames Bubblegum again, and falls out a window. He runs down the road, screaming, "You made me, you're my glob (the adventure time equivalent to God)" This is where I believe that this episode keeps the idea of Frankenstein the most. It makes a direct reference to the reference (reference-ception?) to Paradise lost, and the idea of Frankenstein being in the same predicament as God, and rejecting his creation. Even more interestingly, however, is that Princess Bubblegum never openly rejects Lemongrab. She shows compassion and the willingness to do whatever It takes to get Lemongrab to a healthy state. Whether her motives simply stem out of her concerns for her citizens and the absolute rejection they have of Lemongrab (just like Victor's concern for his family) I cannot say, but it is certainly another excellent reason for my love of Adventure Time.  

 

Meditation on Death

It has been quite a week for death. On Wednesday, I had to discover on Facebook that a friend has taken their own life. This morning, I find out that a friend has also lost their mother to the same cause. I can't even imagine what he must be going through. Death seems to be everywhere, even in English. It seems so unfair to me to have to study Othello's murder on a day like this. It is unfair that he believed taking Desdemona's life was just because of her "unfaithfulness", when people around the world are taking their own lives because they cannot find a reason to keep living. The fact that Othello takes the life of Desdemona, a pure, innocent, and joyful person, to save other men from her, angers me to the core. And I know that this is no fault of Shakespeare, or even my teacher for having us study this on such a difficult day. Heartbreak over Desdemona's death was what Shakespeare intended. But today was just not the day for it.