chosehumanity: (george-mitchell: leaning on sill)
chosehumanity ([personal profile] chosehumanity) wrote in [community profile] fandomhigh2009-09-15 03:35 pm
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World Wars in the Media, Tuesday

"'The League of Nations could make no better investment than to buy up the master-print, reproduce it in every language, to be shown in all the nations until the word "war" is taken out of the dictionaries,'" Mitchell greeted them, once they'd entered. "Pretty big, idealistic words, but that's the hope of it. And that's what Variety said about the film we'll be talking about today-- Everything's Silent in the West. It's one of the most famous World War I films ever made. Or should I say, both of them? It was based on a book by Erich Maria Remarque -- that too probably took a different look at it."

"Stories change depending on what time they're told in, and by who. The original film, from 1930, was actually banned by the Nazis for being propaganda." He paused, and smirked for a moment at the class. "Think about that. The second, from 1979, gained no such bans - obviously - but it was also not nearly as well-received. They said it was sanitised, missing some of the point."

He pointed at the TV. "You'll be watching clips of both films today," he said, "I want you to tell me which differences you see in the message that's being put out. More than that, though, I want you to think about how you'd tell this story yourself." He lapsed into a quick summary of the tale, then added, "And nevermind yourself - how do you think people in this time would show it? What would they change? What would seem more important? What would seem less?"

He grinned. "Try and watch the whole films if you can," he said, "Or pick up the book. I'm told it's good for you, but I wouldn't want to encourage it. Might spite my reputation."

[[ ocd up! ]]
solo_sword: (thinky)

Re: Sign In

[personal profile] solo_sword 2009-09-16 02:17 am (UTC)(link)
Jaina Solo
ashockingbitch: (Default)

Re: Sign In

[personal profile] ashockingbitch 2009-09-16 03:50 am (UTC)(link)
Jenny Sparks

Re: Listen to the Lecture

[identity profile] blondecanary.livejournal.com 2009-09-15 03:24 pm (UTC)(link)
Dinah was listening, and not imitating the narrator character and doodling. Although she was wondering what Tony would make of these.

Re: Watch the Clips/Discuss Them

[identity profile] a-demosthenes.livejournal.com 2009-09-15 02:47 pm (UTC)(link)
"The later one," Valentine mused after a moment, "seems fairly standard, 'war has no room for appreciation of life,' in a way that you could imagine from a film of the 1970s. But the first...it's interesting. The timing of it alone gives it an odd perspective, but it's that moment when it flashes through all the propaganda-crazed, war-eager faces of the students that caught me."

Re: Watch the Clips/Discuss Them

[identity profile] blondecanary.livejournal.com 2009-09-15 03:28 pm (UTC)(link)
"You can't say the first one is subtle," Dinah noted. "Then again, it's not trying to be. Since it's showing the very un-subtle recruiting and atmosphere around World War One. Somehow that makes it more believable for the time than the second one does. It's almost a cartoon."

Re: Discuss

[identity profile] a-demosthenes.livejournal.com 2009-09-15 02:24 pm (UTC)(link)
"The thing," Valentine offered, "that's always struck me about this book is that it's told from the other side, but, if you didn't know that, if it weren't for the specific details, you might never even realize it. It's a story of humanity and how war shakes it, not of sides and how war supports one or the other."

Thank you, Locke.

Re: Discuss

[identity profile] blondecanary.livejournal.com 2009-09-15 03:32 pm (UTC)(link)
"I remember reading this a couple years ago, for one of my classes," Dinah said. "And not getting why we'd read a book from the other side, then. But it's really not at all about politics, it's about how war effects soldiers, especially ones who aren't ready for it." She was quiet a minute. "I think if this story were being filmed now, it'd focus more on those politics, like the 1970's version focused on the deprivations and ugliness of war. This one would be more about the mistakes made by people in power."

Re: Talk to the TA

[identity profile] blondecanary.livejournal.com 2009-09-15 03:02 pm (UTC)(link)
Dinah brought coffee and tea this morning. And doooughnuts.

She was considering withholding Mitchell's 'til he explained that doorman during Detention. What the heck was his deal?