Film Noir Poem

  

 

Murder in the Shadows

 

Pounding rain on the cobblestone alley

Deafens the sound of the woman’s engine

The motor sounds like a gunshot exploding

The engine howls like a wolf

 

She lays on the asphalt

Her body is cold as night

Her teeth chattering like a fan out of gear

The killer jumps out of the darkness

 

Fingers scraped and bloodied

The body stiff as a fish in an icebox

Keys, money, purse all still by her side

The murderer disappeared like a ghost

The shadows darken as did the scarred marriage

 

Minority Report: Frame Analysis

 

 Witwer is shown in between the heads of the three Pre-Cogs through the fog of the glass, they stare as if they can read his mind. The tranquility is also depicted by the Pre-Cogs floating in water; the water representing calmness and relaxation. Witwer also is taking up the majority of the screen to show how important he is in this serious matter. Generally speaking, blue lighting usually represents peace and serenity. In this shot, the director, Steven Spielberg, is foreshadowing the death of Danny Witwer. 

These creatures look like animals in a cage who are being experimented on, rather than people. Spielberg wants the viewer to know that these three characters are not viewed as human, they are seen as objects, whose knowledge is taken by other humans, or in this case, the United States government. Witwer's discovery is very important because not only is the reveal the first time the audience sees the truth, but it also reveals that Witwer was always someone trying to do the right thing, despite him hunting Anderton for a lot of the film.

I believe the overall lighting in this scene is meant to show the Pre-Cogs in a ‘non-aggressive’ state. Spielberg uses this to show that the Pre-Cogs don’t move, almost as if they are more robot than human. This is foreshadowing because later in the film, Witwer is murder when he discovers the truth about Burgess, but the Pre-Cogs don’t predict it because they are offline. 

Another detail that Pre-Cogs are less than human are the wires coming from their heads, and these could have something to do with their ability to generate predictions. The lighting on Witwer, combined with the fogginess of the glass also gives him this very concerned, anxious facial expression which is something I found super interesting in this scene; even though the blue lighting is supposed to represent peace he has the nervous look in his eye.  

Recent Films I’ve Seen

 The Binge

Karate Kid (Jaden Smith)

Star War III

America’s Greed

Alex Baj

Period 9

5/28/20

    There are a lot of components that make up life in America. While there are a lot of positive attributes that make up this great country, unfortunately there are too many negative factors that affect American societal values. Whether we look back historically or examine current day, these values have remained constant over the years. The natural instinct of desiring what others have goes back in time and exists today, which makes American society driven by materialism and greed.  

    Materialism has been a key aspect in shaping America into what it is today. Even in the 1920s illustrated by The Great Gatsby Tom and Daisy were driven by all things wealthy, “they had spent a year in France, for no particular reason, and then drifted here and there unrestfully wherever people played polo and were rich together”(pg.6). Clearly, their relationship was defined by Tom’s success and wealth, which made him believe he could buy happiness with anything he wanted. Tom felt his elite status entitled him to blatantly have an affair without any consequences. His wealth is what attracted his mistress to him and was also the reason his wife, Daisy, would never leave. However, in present America gluttony of wealth is where we look, “We see it everywhere; on television, in print, and even on the internet, advertisement/materialistic things catch the public’s eye”(sites.psu). This signifies how advertising things everywhere 24/7 has made ‘luxuries as necessities’ a cultural norm. That having nice things and valuing those things will make you “happier” in life. Materialism has done a lot to make America what it is today, nevertheless greed also has had a major impact on American values.

    Greed can cloud happiness that can affect many people in the U.S. In The Great Gatsby, when Gatsby confesses his love to Daisy in front of Tom saying, “ He’s not going to take care of her anymore... Daisy’s leaving you”(pg.133). Clearly, it could be viewed that Daisy loves Gatsby more emotionally throughout the book. However it is Daisy’s greed and love for an expensive life that keeps her from leaving Tom. Her love for money and fancy materialistic things far outweigh her emotions, and because of this she prevents herself from ever becoming truly happy in life. Nevertheless, this also happens in modern America, people caring more about expensive things rather than developing deep, personal connections. There are a lot of people in modern America that believe, “Money, not love, is the glue that keeps couples together”(wealth pilgrim). This is significant because there are thousands of people that would rather be economically stable with someone that they may not love, rather than being less-wealthy and be with someone you truly and deeply love and care about. 

    There are many positive and amazing values American’s possess, which make it the country it is today including: Being self-reliant, a hard worker, along with being a competitor. These are all values that the Founding Fathers had envisioned for the United States. For the most part these have been upheld, however greed and being dependent on materialistic things is seen in The Great Gatsby and it is also seen in daily life in America. These negative values have affected the way life has been perceived in America, by making life more shallow and less meaningful because emotional connections are being out valued more by things and money. 

   

Journal Entries

1. The best thing I ate today was probably a breakfast sandwich I made. I was on 2 everything bagels, with scrambled eggs, bacon and sausage. My family is eating somewhat different types of food like lettuce wraps, and chicken wings, however will still eat classics like spaghetti with meat balls which is always good. I personally have been eating similar food to what I have been usually eating besides eating out as much.

Today for fun I first made breakfast, then I took my dog for a walk. After that I watched TV for an hour or two. Then I went for a run with my mom and sister, trying to do anything to get out of the house. I chill out for a bit then I work out in my basement. Then I took my dog for another walk. After that I showered and got ready for dinner. Finally, after dinner me and my family play board games for the rest of the night, while eating ice cream and other sorts of desserts. 

My musical habits have changed a lot. Before quarantine I listened to a lot more music because of school, like walking in the hallways and just having a good song on. But the music I am listening to is more oldies, rather than rap which I listened to more. I feel like I am doing this because rap music is something trying to ‘hype you up’ however during this time I feel like that sort of ‘hype’ is not nearly as present as it was before. However, oldies songs are something you listen to when your about to go to sleep that make you feel mellow and just make you really think about your life.  

2. Technology is definitely being used in my life more. It does have a different feel especially for school because for me learning is a lot different when we are using technology. However, besides that I use it as a form of entertainment to pass by the time when I am not doing anything else like going for walks or playing board games with my family.

One thing that I do that keeps me more relaxed is listening to music. Listening to some chill music really mellows me out and makes me feel a little more happy and hopeful that we will get through this hard time in our lives. 

Interesting Quote: “Tell me and I forget, Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.”- Benjamin Franklin

3. I am going on more walks, bike rides, and drives to get out of the house and to get some fresh air. Before all of this getting fresh air wasn’t a problem or something I had to worry about. Now getting fresh air is something I have to think about doing, and these activities take up time and are somewhat an exercise.

Yesterday, the governor announced that we will be quarantined until May 30th. This is hard to hear because it has already been a month and now we have at least another month and not being able to go out with friends is getting hard and almost all activities at home are starting to get boring.

The best advice I have heard was from my physics teacher saying that he wouldn’t have gotten to spend time with his son if it weren’t for Corona, and he said we have to enjoy the time we have with our families. So I have done more like playing board games with my family to spend more time with them, which is something I probably wouldn’t have done before this. 

Junior Theme Reflection

                 In my junior theme essay, I focused on the issue of why teenagers spend more time indoors  and how that affects them. I realized that this generation has severity lost its touch with nature, and I was curious to find out what was causing this type of behavior. The most influential factor I found in my research was technology and that this generation specifically, uses technology so much more then previous generations. Along with technology, I found out that parenting strategies/techniques have also changed immensely which limits a teens freedoms. Finally, that being indoors for longer periods of time can make teens more susceptible to anxiety and depression.

                 The topic of why teens spend more time indoors may seem like a bland topic, however through my research I found out there are many factors that affect how much time someone spends indoors. The most surprising thing I found in my research was that most teens or just people in general spend time outside because they are bored and trying to eat up time. This surprised me because when I was younger going outside was a privilege being able to hang with friends, nowadays it is seen almost as a burden for people just going outside. My opinion on this subject didn’t really change during my research because going into it I had a pretty good idea that technology was a major impact on why teens are staying indoors more. In my research I found many great websites, newspapers articles, and a couple books which further helped me obtain facts and statistics that I needed to write this paper. The aspect I am most passionate about is how not spending enough time outdoors effects our health and what benefits this generation is missing out on.

Racism in America

There are many instances today where a person is judged not on their actions, rather they are characterized based on their skin color. The people in today's world that are judged don’t even have a chance to explain who they really are. Coates refers race as, “The child of racism, not the father.” He is explaining how race is merely a tool of racism, and that race can be used to spread the idea of racism. In the United States, the concept of race is environmentally driven, formed from specific biases, and from our history.

The idea of race can be affected by the people you are surrounded by. In the book there are certain areas that Coates refers to as, “The killing fields... to yell ‘black-on-black crime’ is to shoot a man and then shame him for bleeding”(pg.111) Clearly, you are judged by the people you are surrounded by. That means if you are forced to live in a certain area with high amounts of these types of people, then it is more likely to encounter these forms of racism. Specifically in the Michael Brown case, the area that Brown lived in was African-dominate, meaning there is a greater chance of being judged instantly off of you color of skin. Which is exactly what happened to Brown and two other boys who were shot to death at a traffic light. They were judged not for their actions, but solely on the color of their skin. 

Going off of the fact that race can be environmentally driven, it is also driven off of specific biases people hold toward different races. Coates was explaining to his son, “Indeed you must be responsible for your the worst actions of other black bodies, which, somehow, will always be assigned to you”(pg.71) This is significant because it has been fairly common for there to be some extremely harsh biases against African-Americans. Which has resulted in the mis-treatment of African-Americans. Especially in Brown's case, he was at a traffic light with two of his friends, and a white police officer immediately formed his own biases about those kids, which ended up getting them killed for no logical reason. He just assumed the worst out of them because of his racist biases toward African-Americans. 

Finally, it has been a consistent theme, that race, and racism are part of our history and always will be. Coates points out to his son, “In America it is traditional to destroy the black body—it is heritage”(pg.103). Clearly, all throughout history black people, as well as other races have been looked at as inferiors, and these people have been abused and mistreated. Just like in the Michael Brown case, Brown and his friends were seen as inferior, and they were never given a chance to be treated the same as everyone else because they were already given stereotypes that, ‘they are criminals because they are black’ which is the mind set that killed these teens. Coates changed my perspective on how I look about race, because there are so many factors that go into how people of different races are treated as a whole. But in the end, the idea that race is environmentally driven, formed by different biases, and part of our history are the reasons how race is the tool of racism.