Crow,+Brett

My name is Brett William Seaton Crow. My parents gave me two middle names because I was second born and they didn't want me to develop an inferiority complex. I don't know if it worked or not because I am so much better than everyone else that I can't compare myself to them.

I am pursuing a double major in History and Mass Media arts. I want to work for The National Geographic as a documentary film maker some day. I love nature and outdoor activities. I love music. bwscrow@uga.edu
 * bcmusicals**
 * BCAllMySons**

**Assignment 3: Due 9/26/11**
The director of any production has overall creative control and can change the appearance of a work based on what they choose to include or exclude, overall making decisions to filter and construct a production in a unified way. This is very evident in the two versions of King Henry V, by Laurence Olivier and Kenneth Branagh respectively.

Olivier's version was released during the later years of WWII in 1944. With countless dead soldiers and civilians and many parts of London in ruins, the British people had certainly taken a beating. The movie takes place in a bright and cloudless summer day. The enemy are shown to be foolish and overly decorated and tied to ceremony. They wear bright colors, retain many clown-like servants, require cranes to mount them upon their steeds, and engage in the ceremony of pre-battle drinking. The English are more serious; they seem brave and resigned to fight, whatever the outcome may be. King Richard is very cheerful and charismatic without being flowery. While the french are playing their drum corps and drinking the English are diligently planting stakes in the ground and preparing for battle in a more practical way. When the french emissary arrives offering to take the English surrender he is positioned below Henry, and Henry reacts confidently and nonchalantly. The music through out all of this is bright and orchestral.

Branagh's version was released shortly after the Falklands war which the Argentina engaged in with England. This war was not a matter of life or death for England, but more a matter of national pride. England was briefly forced off of the island by invading Argentinian forces, but quickly regained control with a counter offensive. The mood in Branagh's version is much darker. The weather is foggy and cold and wintry, much like the climate of the Falklands. The appearance of the French is sinister; they lack the flowery gestures and costumes which they have in Olivier's version, and are instead stern and cruel in word and appearance. They are shown on a hill top from low angles to give them a feeling of superiority. The English camp, before the arrival of Henry, seem more worried about the upcoming conflict than they do in the earlier version of the film. The music is more sinister and dark as well. Henry in this version is somewhat quieter to start, his appearance is sudden but not as rakishly dramatic as Olivier's. His voice is serious and emotionally touched and when his speech builds to a finale it is in an almost furiously outraged state. When the emissary arrives he is this time placed above Henry's position, again playing into the feeling that the enemy has the upper hand. Henry's response instead of being nonchalant is angry and defiant.

The political motivations behind these films are clear and opposite. In Olivier's time there was no need to exageratte the capabilites of the Germans; they had done much damage to the English and were quite fearsome without any cinema to portray them as such. Instead the cinema portrays England's enemies as foolish and arrogant. England is portrayed as hard working and diligent and not likely to be worn down in spirit. This film was meant to give heart to a down trodden people. The Falklands War was a different matter. Argentina never presented any real threat to English national security and the effects of this war were certainly far from English home soil. This movie was designed to stir up English pride in support of the war which had no real personal connection to the English people. The enemy are shown as more competent than they were in the Falklands in order to give the people of the UK a sense of being the underdog and a need to preserve English pride.

**Assignment 2: Due 9/9/11**
//1. Discuss how racial discrimination is presented in the play, using examples as they occur throughout the work. How does it effect the characters and how do they respond to it?//

There are many examples, some subtle and others blatant, of racial discrimination in "Joe Turner's Come and Gone". The white men in this play, most of whose actions are depicted through the accounts of the primary characters they have acted against, seem to find the black Americans in this play to be inferior. Most of the discrimination which occurs in this play takes the form of the white men taking advantage or marginalizing the black characters. Following this introduction are six specific examples of such discrimination found within the play.

Example 1. Seth Holly wants to be economically independent. To accomplish this goal he wishes to take a skill and capitalize on it by opening his own shop. To do this he needs the money of the bankers to get things started. He talks to two bankers, and both ask him to sign over the boarding house in exchange for a five hundred dollar loan. One asks him where he is going to find five men who can do the work. On the surface this seems like a rational response from a money lender, they want their investment to be assured. However, I believe August Wilson wished to portray in this example that the whites in the area control the larger amounts of money, and while the blacks may be free to do as they please they do not have the economic capabilities to advance their socioeconomic position. Seth's reaction is to be frustrated, because he knows he can do the work and it seems as if without risking the one thing of value in his life he can never hope to gain anything more. While this is surely frustrating to Seth, I believe the bankers decisions were economically salient and a market works on a risk/reward basis. It is also understandable that Seth would be unwilling to risk a property that signifies his independence and freedom, because no one would wish to gamble their freedom. Martha seems unconcerned and unsurprised, indicating that this situation must be a reality for many in their position.

Example 2. Jeremy is about to celebrate his pay day by splitting a pint (of what I assume to be liquor, as opposed to beer due to the quantity involved) with his co-worker. The police pick him up on the street and by the way the story is told it seems as if they do not even bother to charge him with anything, they just confiscate his possessions and lock him up for the night. Seth is not at all concerned with the injustice of the act, but instead with the reflection which may come back to him after one of his tenants goes to jail. Bertha tells Seth not to fret over it because he should know that the police do this kind of thing frequently. Both of these reactions reflect a society in which the police are more of a governing body than a protecting service for this racial group, and that is most certainly discrimination.

Example 3: Jeremy tells a story of a white man offering a prize for the best guitar player. He suckers Jeremy and two friends into playing for a long period of time and exerting themselves for his listening pleasure, and then leaves them a paltry sum of twenty five cents for the three of them to split. This clearly indicates a white disrespect for the dignity of Jeremy's race as human beings. They believe they can take advantage of them for their own whims. The others reaction is next to nothing: Bynum responds simply by saying that this white man gives out better prizes.

Example 4: Bertha tells a story of how Selig knows where to find people, and how he carries them away for free but then charges them to know where they are. This act represents the white man taking economic advantage of black Americans who are not used to the system which they have been abruptly thrust into post slavery. By moving them and charging them, and then charging others for their information Selig acts as a leach on the pockets of the black community, therefore reducing their over all freedom in a capitalistic economy.

Example 5: Jeremy gets fired for not giving fifty cents of his pay to a white man. Seth says he should have taken what was offered to keep his job, Molly says he can go back they won't recognize him anyways because they don't see him as a human, just as a faceless worker. Seth's reaction indicates an attitude of complacence which must come after an extended period of time under the economic discrimination of the white man. Molly's reaction indicates that the white's really do not see the blacks as individuals, simply economic tools which they can use to get what they want.

Example 6: The biggest example of discrimination is, of course, Loomis' abduction by Joe Turner. Turner arrests Loomis and keeps him working hard labor for seven years without a trial or even a sufficient explanation. This shows just how slowly the people of the south were willing to give up the control they formerly had when the blacks were slaves. The simple facts that this crime of the continuation of slavery is ignored by the government, and accepted as a misfortune, albeit an awful one, by blacks go so far to show the horrible state which blacks find themselves so used to in this play.

The over all lack of justice provided by the government which is supposed to protect all citizens equally is the most disturbing and the most obvious, but what may go even further to keep blacks in a lower position than that of whites are the economic constraints put upon them. Blacks in this play are unable to advance in society because they are prevented in many forms from making any more money than the whites wish them to. The discrimination in this play is two fold: physical, as in when Jeremy is arrested and Loomis is taken by Turner, and economic as is represented by the rest of the examples. Both serve to reduce the independence of blacks in America.

**ASSIGNMENT 1: Due 8/29/11**
//1. The lecture in class today involved the making of holy water by a dalang puppeteer. Yet comedy may be introduced by the puppets during the most serious of events. Describe how comedy seems to be communicated by the clown servants in the two videos.//

The island of Bali is a cultural mixing bowl in the south seas which has influences from India, China, and Islamic culture. One of the most famous productions of these people are the Walang Kulit puppet shows, which demonstrate a life cycle message through projected shadow puppets. The puppet shows are very ritualistic and have a long historical precedence amongst the people of this island, and while they are revered they are not completely serious. The shows always involve the comedic antics of specific clown puppets. The physical appearance of one of these clown puppets is likely to entail many of the same details which modern cartoonists use to demonstrate the ridiculous or foolish nature of one of their own characters. The clowns have awkward clumps of hair, fat bodies, large bulbous noses, and protruding teeth which today might be compared to the single baby tooth which is usually applied to infant cartoon characters. The antics of these puppets are always foolish. They perform actions which, to the audience, are clearly mistakes, and their misfortune is usually accompanied by the laughter of said audience.

Response:

//2. Why do you think the puppeteer elects to use such tactics during these serious events?//

There are many possible reasons why comedy can be included in a production, even if the production as a whole is meant to be taken seriously. One possibility is to maintain the interest of young and old audience members who might otherwise might not have their attention held. Another possible reason for the inclusion of comedy is to teach lessons. In many cases a foolish character can be used to show immorality or to serve as an example of inappropriate social behavior. The comedy may also be used to give the play an element of reality and tie it down to day to day life. The clown characters do exhibit behavior so ridiculous as to be hyperbolic, but there are many silly things to be laughed at in the world. If such situations are included in the puppet shows those shows may give a feeling more grounded in reality. The final possible reason, and one which I consider extremely likely, is that the clowns are simply performing the same role of comic relief that we see in modern performances and allowing a tense or built up audience space to relax.