Response to Waking Life and Eternal Sunshine

Waking Life basically gave me a whole new perspective on...everything. It helped me question things a little easier. Some of the philosophies really stuck in my head. Also I really loved the animation technique. I had heard of (and seen) rotoscoping before but never anything like that. I liked how flat and drawn everything was, how painted it felt. It made me say something along the lines of "Holy ****, maybe everything is wrong."
Although Sunshine wasn't quite as collossal and deep, it was incredibly well directed. The special effects were put into use very well and it was all very surreal (the way it was shot) and trippy. It also had some great actors. Jim Carey is incredibly talented, along with that other guy who always gets stuck in those crappy chick flicks (he was in 13 going on 30 and Just Like Heaven and Rumor Has It). He was the eraser who jumped on the bed with Kirsten Dunst (sp?). She is also pretty good, except for in Spiderman. She sucked in Spiderman. Also Elijah Wood was in it and he is AWESOME! Seriously man, Elijah Wood is one of the greatest actors of all time, along with George Clooney and Jonny Depp.
Okay, back to Waking Life. I know I'm skipping around but whatever. Waking Life made me think. I thought about the basic outline of the movie, which to me is "What if what you are experiencing right now is a dream?" Not a dream in the traditional sense, but just not reality. What if what we have been experiencing as dreams is the true reality? Or maybe there is no traditional reality and reality is just what you make of it? What if I am the only concious being in this reality and everything around me I created myself? They say that you only use about 5% of your brain capacity, so what is the other 5% doing? Could it be conjuring up a reality to feed to you? But why? Maybe it's because I need this false sense of trueness to survive? I don't know. I don't know. I don't know (saying it three times helps). Thousands of years ago people KNEW the world was flat. Then the KNEW the Earth was the center of the Universe. Now we KNOW that it's part of a solar system and we are nowhere near the center of the universe. But what do we really know? How can we obtain any true knowledge? How do we access clean, untampered, untouched TRUTH? All knowledge that we contain has been dilluted like mud in water. There have been separate interpretations, emotions, lies, mistakes mixed into the fact. It's not true anymore.
I think this is mans ultimate and pointless goal. I think man exists to obtain TRUE knowledge, but when man finds it, then what? Share it with the rest of the world? that would dillute it just like the rest of the knowledge out there. Even finding it would dillute it. To obtain what we want we must destroy it, therefore our goal is ultimately impossible. I think the solution to this problem is manifested in man's "God". I think "God" could be considered the "clean man" one who would not dilute the TRUTH if they were to come upon it.
However in contradiction, can this "clean man" even be considered a man? In order to obtain this state of clean one would essentially have to lose the very thing that makes them human. Imperfection. And in doing so they would no longer be considered Man, and Man would not have obtained the TRUTH. It is a harsh paradox that sees no end. I think the paradoxicality of this situation is intentional, it is impossible so Man will always have something to strive for, a reason for existence. And that's all we really want. All we really want when it's all said and done is a reason.

Similarities in Miyazaki films

Okay Miyazaki has made a ton of movies in his career and they all seem to have some sort of similarity. First off there is always a strong female character. Usually the main character is female but if they aren't then the secondary one is. Second there is always a war beginning, ending, or going on. Usually the main characters don't really care about the war, it is a background plot. Also there is a very distinct style of animation that is inherent in all of Miyazakis works. They all also contain strangely similar looking and sounding old ladies, most of which are nice. There is always a distinction (with the exception of Princess Mononoke) between the 'good guys' and the 'bad guys'. Also all his american translations of his movies are done by Disney and they usually use a couple of famous actors to do some voices. Miyazaki hates Disney though...

An Execution-Journal 11/13/06

The warehouse was huge, cavernous. There were about six naked lightbulbs hanging by their chords from the roof, barely illuminating the three figures that stood facing each other in the middle of the floor.
"He must die." The first one stated. He was wearing a business suit with a skinny black tie wrapped around his neck. Although it was already very dim inside the building he wore pitch black, thick-framed sunglasses. He carried a leather briefcase in his left hand.
"Of course. He deserves it after what he did." The second man was wearing a white collared shirt with the sleeves rolled up. A black leather belt held up his tight-fitting blue jeans. He had long, wavy black hair that curled down his head and rested on his thin shoulders. His shirt and pants were stained in various places with paint, and he held a paintbrush in his left hand. The two men turned to the third person, a woman, expecting her to say something.
The middle-aged woman merely adjusted the white pearls that hung around her throat and flattened a crease in the white polka-dotted blue dress that reached her bare ankles. The two men went back to talking.
"Although we all agree that he must die, we should still determine it righteously. That is to say, we should still go about the process of justifying his execution." The man in the suit said.
"You're right." The painter said. "So, what did he do?"
"He killed her."
"Who?"
"You know who."
"Yes but for the sake of justification, we must state exactly who he killed."
"Why, there is no one here to hear it but us, and we already know."
"You are scared of speaking her name, aren't you?"
"What? That's ludicrous!" Then suddenly, the woman began to speak. Her voice was clear, crisp. It echoed through the warehouse as she spoke.
"You are both pathetic. You are afraid of speaking the name of your own lover, and you are so inept to kill a man that you must verbalize some sort of justification."
"I'm not afraid to speak her name! I just don't see the point!" the painter yelled. While he did so, the man in the suit stood completely still, shocked.
"Wait, what do you mean 'your lover'?
"I mean the woman he loves, what the hell do you think I mean?"
"You bastard, that was my wife!" The man in the suit screamed at the painter.
"Your wife? She was my wife!"
"What the hell are you talking about, you son of a bitch!" As the man in the suit spoke he ripped open his suitcase and yanked out the pistol that he had contained in it. One, two, three, four, five shots rang out, echoing in the depths of the warehouse. The painter fell to the floor, the paintbrush that he carried rolling out of his hands. It was stained red. With paint or blood, none would know.
As the man in the suit stood, poised, with his arm outstretched, holding the smoking gun, he slowly cocked his head toward the woman. She was crouched down, one hand over her head, the other fingering the white pearls around her throat. Sure that the gunfire was over, she stood, shaking.
"What was your wife's name?" Her voice quivered as she spoke. Right as the man spoke, lightning flashed outside and thunder roared as the first raindrops fell on the tin roof of the warehouse. His voice was lost in the noise. "The painter's wife was named Michelle, you fool."
The man in the suit was dumbstruck, he fell to his knees in utter awe.
"I killed him. I killed him for no reason." he slowly turned his head to the body laying inert on the floor. Once his gaze finally fell upon the lifeless corpse, he was suddenly animated. Leaping up, he grabbed the gun and pointed it at the lady. "And you saw it. You saw it all. I should kill you. I have to kill you." The woman staggered backwards, studdering.
"W-wait," she stammered, "I w-won't tell anyone. I p-promise. It's not my fault he's dead, you're the one who refused to say her name. If you had only s-said your wifes name then y-you both would have realized that th-they were two different people. It's not my fault." The mans eyes widened and his pupils dialated as this utter truth roared through his brain. It's all your fault. It's all your fault. The rain had increased to a deafening roar as it slammed against the tin roof. It's all your fault. It's all your fault. "NO!" he screamed. "IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!" The sound of the bullet flying out of the barrel of the gun and ripping through the lady's body was lost in a sudden deafening clash of thunder and lightning. When she fell her necklace broke, her pearls spilling out onto the cement floor and clattering about. The man in the suit took off his sunglasses, revealing bright pale blue eyes. He waited for the last pearl to stop rolling before shoving the gun back in his breifcase and trudging out into the rain.

thesis and research

Okay Ms. Chiang, here's my thesis: "Director Richard Linklaters film 'Waking Life' is a cinematic masterpiece. Its philosophies, theories, and ideas are amazingly intricate and provocative. It is a work of art that has exceeded its fullest potential." I think my thesis is fine, but I am having problem with subtopics. There are about 34 different encounters and scenes in 'Waking Life' and I want to talk about probably 20 of them. maybe more. WHAT SHOULD I DO?

the afterlife -journal

I don't really care what happens to my body after I die. I'm not saying I don't beleive in the afterlife, but I'm not saying I do. If there isn't an afterlife then it doesn't matter, and if there is an afterlife then I don't beleive that what happens to your body will affect your soul or whatever it is that travels to the otherworld. The thing is, I don't really understand why there would be an afterlife. At least, not a traditional one. From what I hear, all you do when you go to heaven is sit around with a bunch of virgins and drink wine. It serves no purpose. I mean sure it's nice that God wants us to feel good after we die, but what's the point? You can't do anything in heaven. You can't affect anything. No, if there is an afterlife it would be a useful one. There would be a reason for us to continue consciousness after we leave our bodies. From what I hear, there isn't. That's why reincarnation makes more sense to me than Heaven. At least there's a point to it. But at the same time, reincarnation can't be true because the world population is constantly rising. Where are all the new souls coming from?

what are your disadvantages/weaknesses? -journal

I think one of my weaknesses is that I am not good a talking on the phone. I never know what to say. People are always on the phone with me and they always say "you're so boring" or "why aren't you talking Will?" and stuff like that. I don't really know why, but I just don't like to talk on the phone. It bores me. I also am very quiet and don't talk much around relatives. They scare me. They always ask you all these stupid questions that they don't actually want to know the answer to but say them anyway just for the sake of talking. We had a family reunion on my last day of summer. At least twenty people asked me if I was "ready" and if I was "excited". I never really knew what to say to that. I usually just end up saying "no" and walking away as fast as I can. I hate family reunions.

a-z biography

All of my life I have been a
Boy.
Could I have been anything else?
Don't worry, I couldn't have. I will be a boy for-
Ever and ever. i don't really remember my
First word, but I have been told that it was
"Gaga."
How is that even a word?
I guess it is. I dunno.
Just pretend it is. Looking bac
K on my childhood I remember constantly playing a-
Lone, by
Myself. But I wasn't lonely, I just was very solitary.
Now that I'm a teenager, I feel like a different pers-
On. The traits that I
Possesed as a child have
Quietly disappeared. I like very different things. I
Remember I was a total fantasy RPG nerd. I thought it wa-
S Sooo cool. Now I don't dislike it, but I don'-
T do it either. I gave
Up playing Magic: the Gathering. That as a
Very sweet game. I still have all my cards. I
Was trying to sell them at one point. It didn't work.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
You know the Comic Company up by North Dekalb Mall? They got
Zapped. That used to be Magic central. Now it's just another fading memory...

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