Kathleen Ross- Crisis of Self?

This class wasn't my cup of tea, I can admit that. The semester I feel i have a a crisis of self if you will or even a crisis of faith. I don't claim to be religious, although somedays I think having that guiding factor could help. This semester I struggled with wanting to please everyone that I forgot what I wanted. As graduation has approached I finally think I have it under control and no one could walk over me, even if the tried. This class, while not my favorite has opened my eyes on other ways to veiw situations. Even if I didn't like the movie we saw that week, once I was removed from being forced to watch it I was able to find some message in it that I could use in my life. With Graduation pending and only days away I now at least know what I path I want to charge down and am making strides towards getting there. Good Luck to all the other graduates and to those who still have time left, cherish it. Dont over analyze anything and love who you are.

Kathleen Ross- Spiderman 3

So I was dragged to see Spiderman 3. I've seen the other two and enjoyed them but people were giving the 3rd one a bad rap. The movie was too long and the conficts between the Sandman, Venom and Spiderman kind of played a secondary role to the true conflict in my mind. I think the real conflict was an internal one. Much like Hirata in Cold Fever. When spiderman decided that he wanted to marry MaryJane he aunt told him that to be married you had to put in front of yourself. The orginially thought he was ready to do that but as the movie painfully wears on her realizes he's not and before it knows it, looses her because of it. This internal fight that spideman goes through I found to be intriguing. Like Hirata in cold fever its almost like he has a lack of faith in himself. Spiderman turns into this cold, sly version of himself and creates havoc on those around him. While Hirata didn't necessarily turn cold, he was cold to start with and treated his journey as a burden.

Kathleen Ross- Karma

Karma to me isn't necessarily a religious thing but I do believe definitly deals with the spiritual side of things and in this class we talked extensively about spirituality , at least i personally feel this way. I have to say this semester by far was one of the hardest ever. Not necessarily in terms of class work, although it wasn't easy but more so personally. My life changed in more ways than one and I struggled to find the reasoning behind the changes and one day I just decided it was Karma. I bought some books on it and slowly began to see that maybe this was the universes way of telling me to wake up and take account for my actions and what I say. So i jumped on the bandwagon and remind myself daily that what comes around goes around. That I should never act negatively or cause harm on other because although I may not see the reprocusions immediatly in time they will come. So far my quest for better Karma has been sucessful. I no longer sweat the small stuff or worry about the future. I take things as they come day to day and do things to benefit myself as well as extend a helping hand. You never know when you may need a little help.

Kathleen Ross- Eternal Sunshine

The film Eternal Sunshine isn't something a would normally veiw in my spare time. In fact most of the movies in this class aren't something I would view. However I am coming to learn that I may like more things than I think and I should just go with the flow as I did with this movie. I liked that the movie focused on a person's ability to effect ones path and life or whether is its predetermined. Like many others have already stated I like that the movie seems to say that both are possible. Which I personally has some truth in it. The relationship between Joel and Clementine is one that is rather typical, starting out well ending in a breakup. I like how they showed that even when their minds were erased and choices were changed on both parites behalf, when the two meet again they are drawn together and again fall in love. This action denotes that fate is as much of a life indicator as choice is. I personally feel that everyone has a plan given to them in some form and that over time your own choices depict how the plan forms as time goes on but no matter what their will always be something things that just happen, just because.

Kathleen Ross- Spirited Away

Spirited Away was an interesting moving to say the least. I can't say that japanses anime is really my thing and the plot of this movie was so strange. Everytime you though it was over is just kept going. I do like the life lessons that were protrayed in the film though, outside of the crazy charcters and weird voice overs. I was intrigued as to how they incorporated the seven deadly sins, mainly gluttony in the first bit of the movie. How the nosey parents just decided to partake and partake and partake without permission until they were essentially turned into the pigs they had been eating like. I also like how the theme of gluttony was continually carried out with all the servants wanting gold from the stinking spirit and how they claimed the little girls friend, I can't remember his name out the moment, wanted to steal the powers of the two sisters, the one who ran the bathhouses and the one who was the sweet grandmother.

Kathleen Ross- Bridge to Terabithia

I was a little slow on the uptake and didn't actually see Bridge to Terabithia with the rest of the class but did make it to see it later that week. My roommate was nice enough to see it, although I fogot to tell her the little girl died in the end, she wasn't too pleased about that point. Its funny cause I read this book back when I was in elementary school and had to see it when the made a movie of it. Even though I hadn't see the the movie in year it still remembered the plot once the movie got going. I think this movie provides a great bridge between fantasy and reality which a majority of this class has focused on. Just like in Big Fish where Edward's stories become his life the two kids in this move did much of the same. They created and enviroment where they were the kings and life was their own. Although i struggled finding the religious symbolism in the movie, the creepy men sitting being my roommate and I provided to be a bit of a distraction, i enjoyed the message the movie brought to me. That life is what you make of it, live each day as you wish it to be, and never leave someone you love beind, you never know when you make not get to see them again.

Anna Backens - Spirited Away

I thought that this film had some great, underlying lessons. One most particularly that stood out to me was the way gluttony was portrayed. The huge, dirty-filled spirit that visited the bathhouse to be cleansed originally was tired and appeared to be hurting but after the main character, the hero, found the plugged in his side, an incredible amount of garbage came out and the spirit returned to its' natural state. This appeared to portray the idea,that hording eventually leads to destruction of the self and possibly to others. After the spirit was "cleansed" by the bath and was relieved of the weight of the garbage that was weighing it down, the bathhouse was seen as a place of refuge for it. The main character throughout, was struggling to find her parents, eventually finding that they had turned into pigs because they had feasted too much. Again, the idea of gluttony and the lack of self control was a theme. The artistry and imagery was fascinating to see. The creativity and colors were brilliant as well. Japanese anime is an interesting combination between providing a venue for imagination and and a platform for learning important parts of life. As the main character continued in faith to find her parents, she endured temptation and danger, teaching that worldly treasures, can have disastrous results. The character refused gold offered on many occasions by one of the spirits, whom she showed kindness to. Others took the gold and sometimes lost their lives to it. I saw here that the indulgence to greed does not reward.