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Spike Lee’s Mastery Journey In this paper, I will be discussing the path of mastery of my personal hero, Spike Lee. I will discuss how his journey translates to the three steps in the Keys of Mastery in Robert Greene’s book. I will reflect on how one or more of the Emotional Pitfalls, stated in the book, were faced by Spike Lee. Finally, I will provide a cross comparative analysis between my hero’s journey and one of the nine people’s profiles in the Strategies for the Creative-Active Phase. Spike Lee is one of my new-found heroes. I have always heard a lot about his work, but never seen anything he has done. This changed last year when I took a class called The Films of Spike Lee. On March 20th, 1957, Shelton Jackson Lee was born (Lee, 2016). …show more content…
There are two things to keep in mind when talking about The Creative task (Greene, 2012). The first thing to keep in mind is the task you choose must be realistic (Greene, 2012, p. 180). It is one thing to have the skills, but it is another is to learn new thing while mastering the basics (Greene, 2012). The second is you must let go of your comfort and security (Greene, 2012). Spike Lee had to do this because his undergrad was at a historically black university, but his graduate degree was obtained at predominantly white institution (biography.com, 2012). I think these are two different learning environments because I am actually doing the same thing at the moment. Step two is Creative Strategies (Greene, 2012). Loosening up the mind and letting in alternative ways of thinking is key to for the creative process (Greene, 2012). To touch on some of the content in this section, I would like to highlight that all masters possess Negative Capability (Greene, 2012). Negative Capability is the ability to endure and even embrace mysteries and uncertainties (Green, 2012, p. 181). Spike Lee often embraced his culture as concepts for his films (Conard, 2011). He has films based on real world issues and situations that no other director has seemed to do (Conard, 2011). I believe the mysteries and uncertainties are the best subjects to make film about. Step three is The Creative Breakthrough (Greene, 2012, p. 199). According to Greene, A project is connected to …show more content…
Things such as complacency, dependency, and impatience are just three of the most common pitfalls (Greene, 2012). I believe Spike Lee faced a little of impatience as an Emotional Pitfall(Greene, 2012). Impatience is the single greatest pitfall of all (Greene, 2012, p. 203, ¶ 3). Spike Lee did this when he put his heart into making a film called Messenger (biography.yourdictionary.com, 2017). The production of the movie came to a sudden holt when it was discovered to have sufficient funding (biography.yourdictionary.com, 2017). I feel as though he could have put the project on pause and found other means of funding. Lee stated that made him more determined to never fail again (biography.yourdictionary.com, 2017). His next movie She’s Gotta Have It, was a hit (biography.yourdictionary.com, 2017). The budget for the film was about $175,000, and it grossed over $7 million at the box office (biography.yourdictionary.com, 2017). Out of the nine profiles in Robert Greene’s book I believe that Spike Lee can relate more to V.S. Ramachandran (Greene, 2012). Lee First emerged from mass communications and then to film. He believes that hard work is what makes a person success (biography.yourdictionary.com, 2017). Humans are the number one group of opportunist on this
In movies, novels, and life, people are named as heroes. The heroes we establish and the heroes we recognize, however, may not meet the criteria for a mythic hero. A mythic hero ventures forth on his journey, and comes forth from the hero’s path to greatness. Joseph Campbell, a mythologist who studied many of the great human myths and religious tales, realized, in studying these myths and tales, that there were certain steps that every hero went through. Campbell called this “The Hero’s Journey”; it is based on Carl Jung's idea that all human beings have an archetype. After Campbell studied a lot of the great myths and realized this pattern, he published his findings in his book The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Ever since then, authors have used “The Hero’s Journey” as an outline to tell their stories. “It is important to note that not all of these individual steps are present in every hero’s tale, nor is it important that they be in this exact order” (Vogler 20). The Hero with a Thousand Faces gives a sense of significance as it looks into the inner mind and soul. The author, Joseph Campbell, performs two extraordinary accomplishments: compelling his readers that myth and dream, those are the most effective and everlasting forces in life and a unification of mythology and psychoanalysis with a gripping narrative. One well-known example of “The Hero’s Journey” from popular culture is the Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, by J.K. Rowling. In the novel, Harry Potter, the main character, is the chosen one and “The Hero’s Journey” applies to his life from the moment he is attacked by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named as a baby.
When the general public thinks about the Civil War they usually think about an army of Union soldiers fighting an army of Confederate soldiers, each side commanded by men up upper rank using military tactics to win the battle. What most people don’t think about is the guerrilla warfare that went on between rival citizens in the boarder states. Instead of formal militias, this fighting involved small groups of men hunting down enemies and getting in to savage skirmishes. Kansas Jayhawkers and Missouri Bushwhackers fought this informal, bloody, and guerrilla war. While being on either side was dangerous, being caught in the middle of it was even more so. Ride With the Devil, a 1999 film directed by Ang Lee follows this savage conflict from the perspective of some Bushwhackers played by Tobey Maguire, Skeet Ulrich, and Simon Baker-Denny. Through its realistic portrayal of the Bushwhackers and Jayhawkers, William Quantrill, and the style of fighting that went on in Missouri, Ride With the Devil is a historically accurate film that can be enjoyed for its history as well as its superb entertainment.
Literary works are always affected by the times and places in which they are written. Those crafted in Western America often reflect conflicts that occurred between advancing civilization and the free spirited individual. The 1970’s was a particularly popular time for authors to introduce new ideas for living in the modern world. There are few authors who captured the essence and feeling of culture quite like Tom Robbins. Robbins comments on the differences and similarities between Western civilization and Eastern philosophies. His text offers philosophical and cultural meaning that is completely original. Certain beliefs are threaded through out the content of the story. He includes significant content reflecting the laws of physics; how motion and force affect the life process. Through the dialogue and action of his characters, Robbins illustrates how two very different ideals can coexist. Robbins intentions are to expand cultural perspectives and awareness through his novels. His use of metaphors and stylistic diction emphasizes further how thoughtful and awesome his work is. Tom Robbins writing offers an insightful perspective into cultural themes of our modern world.
Watching a film, one can easily recognize plot, theme, characterization, etc., but not many realize what basic principle lies behind nearly every story conceived: the hero’s journey. This concept allows for a comprehensive, logical flow throughout a movie. Once the hero’s journey is thoroughly understood, anyone can pick out the elements in nearly every piece. The hero’s journey follows a simple outline. First the hero in question must have a disadvantaged childhood. Next the hero will find a mentor who wisely lays out his/her prophecy. Third the hero will go on a journey, either literal or figurative, to find him/herself. On this journey the hero will be discouraged and nearly quit his/her quest. Finally, the hero will fulfill the prophecy and find his/herself, realizing his/her full potential. This rubric may be easy to spot in epic action films, but if upon close inspection is found in a wide array of genres, some of which are fully surprising.
“Do the Right Thing” is a film directed by Spike Lee, which was released in 1989. The film takes place in a small predominately African-American neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York. The protagonist of the film named Mookie works in a pizzeria located in his neighborhood named, Sal’s Famous Pizzeria. Throughout the film, we see different characters who visit Sal’s pizzeria, including Buggin ' Out, who is a neighborhood local who feels offended when he sees the lack of diversity on the pizzerias wall; which only displays famous Italian-Americans. The lack of African-American culture in the neighborhood leads to a building up of tensions, which eventually explodes into a fight between the owner of the pizzeria Sal, his two sons and the locals.
Spike Lee’s Bamboozled is a contemporary critique of the black community, how it’s exploited, how it’s viewed, and how it fails to resist the persistent prejudices it faces in and outside of itself. Though this film is sixteen years old, many of his criticisms are still relevant to today’s media portrayals of black people. It is a continuing cycle that has yet to change on a large scale. Within the film we see a multitude of issues throughout that plays on the so called authenticity of blackness, the selling out of some of them, the poverty and desperation of others, the failure to use platforms of power for change, and the blind consumption of entertainment despite it’s harm to the image of black folk.
African American representation in the film industry has always been a topic for discussion. Whether talking about character types and roles, the actors being cast or not cast, and the lack of diversity in front of and behind the camera. ‘The contemporary status of race in mainstream American culture is intimately bound to the process of representation within and through the mass media.’ (Rocchio, 2000, p. 4). Any role that was to be played by an African American kept in with the dominant stereotypes of the time of production; incompetent, child like, hyper-sexualised or criminal.
Dynamic characters are built by dynamic movement in film. Whether the character is sitting down giving a lecture, or is a ballerina dancing on stage, character are born through movement. Movement in emotion, or physical, a characters action and re-actions are what draw audiences into their story. The characters in the movie Take the Lead gain power through their character transformations through dance, their movement on the dance floor directly impacts the way they carry themselves through life. In this paper I will explore three scenes, each scene will show different levels of progression in each character’s life, and I will show how the characters gain more power in their own lives the more successful they become with the movement of dance.
The heroic archetype is a creative expression borne of the individual's desire to know and to understand the uncontrollable and often chaotic world in which he lives. In the popular culture of America we can find many reflections of the heroic figure; in writing, in the graphic art of comic books, and most certainly in the aftermath of September 11th, heroes are ever present. Our cultural champions speak to our collective need to make sense of the nonsensical and to establish order in both our external and internal worlds. Indeed it is through the internal world of the psyche and the lens of psychological thought that we may gain a better perspective of the fusion of creativity and knowledge that we have come to call the heroic figure.
This essay shows the subtle differences that can occur between directors, even when they are basing the movie off of almost the exact same script. Almost no two movies are exactly alike, no matter how hard the directors and actors might try. Minor personality differences and scene changes greatly affect the atmosphere and meaning of the same movie. One example of this is the movie Romeo and Juliet. This movie tells the gripping story of two young lovers who are forbade to see each other because of a viscous feud between the two families. I'll be looking at the older 50's version of Romeo and Juliet and comparing it to the newer version of Romeo and Juliet.
...es Art an inner power struggle. Subsequently, Art becomes resentful. Art’s resentment towards Vladek does not allow him to emotionally mature. Yet through writing Art forgives his father and becomes a man.
The only real way to truly understand a story is to understand all aspects of a story and their meanings. The same goes for movies, as they are all just stories being acted out. In Thomas Foster's book, “How to Read Literature Like a Professor”, Foster explains in detail the numerous ingredients of a story. He discusses almost everything that can be found in any given piece of literature. The devices discussed in Foster's book can be found in most movies as well, including in Quentin Tarantino’s cult classic, “Pulp Fiction”. This movie is a complicated tale that follows numerous characters involved in intertwining stories. Tarantino utilizes many devices to make “Pulp Fiction” into an excellent film. In this essay, I will demonstrate how several literary devices described in Foster's book are put to use in Tarantino’s film, “Pulp Fiction”, including quests, archetypes, food, and violence.
In the article “The Thematic Paradigm” exerted from his book, A Certain Tendency of the Hollywood Cinema, Robert Ray provides a description of the two types of heroes depicted in American film: the outlaw hero and the official hero. Although the outlaw hero is more risky and lonely, he cherishes liberty and sovereignty. The official hero on the other hand, generally poses the role of an average ordinary person, claiming an image of a “civilized person.” While the outlaw hero creates an image of a rough-cut person likely to commit a crime, the official hero has a legend perception. In this essay, I will reflect on Ray’s work, along with demonstrating where I observe ideologies and themes.
A quick glance at Life of Pi and a reader may take away the idea that it is an easy read and a novel full of imagination, but take a Freudian view on the work and it transforms into a representation of the human psyche. Martel’s novel takes the reader on a journey with Pi as he struggles for his own survival. Pi experiences a breakdown of each component that makes up ones personality according to Freud throughout the novel. One by one id, ego and super ego both express a huge factor in Pi’s choices and emotions throughout his story. The readers are also introduced to an alternate ending to choose from. This alternate ending plays a key role in understanding how to view the novel through Freudian lenses. Freud’s theory of psychoanalysis clarifies many troubling issues raised in the novel Life of Pi.
One can learn from Tony’s mistakes. One can learn that family comes first. Society can also learn that taking shortcuts in life sometimes lead to a dead ends with no u-turns. This film showcases the time line of how a drug lord could rise to power from nothing. This film also shows how that same power one gets from becoming a drug lord could be taken at any time. Studying how to analyze a movie has definitely changed my perspective on how I view movies. I actually look at all the detailing in movies. I look at the camera angles and how they affect the scene. I even start to question why the director did not use a different angle for certain shots. By using film theories and criticism one can generate enough ideas in order to understand the movie better. When a film is being captured the director focuses on certain angles and lights to get the meaning of the scene to the audience. Just like everything in life has a meaning, everything in film also has a comparison meaning. This course has widen my intellect on how movies affect our societies. Movies can play a major role in how we act or how laws are even created. Movies has the same power as music. I say movies has the same power because one can look at a movie and want to become whatever he or she saw in the movie. One major skills that I developed in this course is being able to focus. Before this course, I could not focus on anything at all. I was the type to focus on three or