L'america (from Ilya)

"Lamerica touches upon a couple of notable themes: Identity, migration, empathy, and cross-cultural communication. The film begins when Gino, an Italian con man arrives in Albania to take advantage of the lack restrictions after the fall of the communist government, in order to set up a fake business and collect money from the government. Though he is not the head of the operation, he is certainly most despicable out of the criminals. He is representative of Italy’s ugly colonial history. Like those before him, he goes to a foreign land, seeking to exploit the native population and justifying it through prejudices and stereotypes. However as he chases Spiro, the show-chairman of the fake company around Albania he undergoes a transformation. He is slowly stripped of his positions, his clothes, his car, and eventually his passport. As he wonders around the streets of Albania, figuring out how to get back to Italy, the audience is struck by the fact that he looks like very other Albanian there. There is nothing differentiating him from the population he came to exploit. This raises the question of identity. Is identity something that is inhere? Is it taught? One conclusion may be that identity is fluid and is governed by malleable forces such as governments. Thus the film begs the audience reconsider their identities in relation to their nation or nation-state. The theme of identity is exercised by the physical and metaphysical migration or diaspora. Gino is eventually forced to endure the gruesome journey that many Albanians partake in everyday in order to reach Italy. His transformation into a migrant himself and Spiro’s(michele)subsequent migration, to what he believes to be New York, also echo the journies of their ancestors to Ellis island. Like the Albanian migrants, their ancestors journeyed to land in search of opportunity and work. This further questions the nation as a concrete identifier in people. Lastly, the theme of cross-cultural communication is repeatedly underscored throughout the film. Namely, through the presence of television. A young Albanian girl imitates a dancer she saw on television, a group of workers are sat down to watch Italian day-time television. What they see on television influences their perception of Italy as prosperous for all. This paired with Gino’s transformation into one of these immigrants may also be read as a statement on class. It seems as if class is the only identifier that held up throughout the film. Specifically, one’s role as a lower class; which seems to be that of exploitation and hardship."

Zentropa (from Ilya)

"Zentropa

Zentropa is a film with a clear purpose, and while it is successful in communicating this purpose it forgoes many of the characteristics that an audience usually looks for in a film to do so. On the surface Zentropa is a story about an American, Otto Kesler, who returns to Germany, the land of his father, as a train conductor. Is idealistic intentions of helping repair the nation soon prove to be fruitless as he finds himself embroiled in the conflict between the occupiers, the americans, and the Wehrwolfs, the fascist resistance.  Through his experience, the audience is forced to question the popular notions of nationalism, and identity. Set in the ruins of Germany, the audience is witness to the birthplace of modern Europe. Within this sphere, Zentropa is rather poignant and Freudian. The logic behind the film is that only when the horrors of this turbulent decade are exposed and confronted, healing can begin. This being said, the Zentropa also has a pointed, if not scathing depiction of the American role in the "Good War". Otto, an idealist, a romantic, and ultimately an irrelevant, hopes to interject himself in a conflict that really has nothing to do with him. He learns that the hard way. If Otto represnts the propogandized American role in WWII, Colonel Harris, the other American in the film, is depicts the true American intention during the rebuilding of Europe. This was to maneuver itself into a more advantageous position than the USSR, the only other superpower present after the destruction of WWII. Morality was never part of the American interjection in WWII. As demonstrated when Colonel Harris pardons a Nazi who directly facilitated the transportation of jews to death camps. On one hand, this is provocative insight into politics to say the least. On the other, it comes at the suffering of the personal stories told in Zentropa. Otto is never a rounded character. The audience is unable to really connect with him because he is so inconsistent. While he has the conviction to go to one of the most dangerous places in the world at the  time, he lacks the hindsight and moral fortitude not to marry a fascist saboteur. His strained relationship with his uncle, a proud German, is never given the screen time to be dissected either. Thus by the end of the film, the audience can only take away the insight made about Zentropa or Europe as a whole. Which isn't necessarily bad. But it would've been nice to explore the personal connections within the film, as well as the motives behind each of the characters, on a more intrinsic level." 

Identity Crisis

We've been talking a lot about European identity in the past three weeks and it's got me thinking a lot about my identity as an American. American identity is also often hyphenated, but people often choose whether to associate with it or not, especially if they are white. For example, one can choose to be Irish-American, or just American. However, as discussed in Mia Tuan's essay, "I'm an American with a Japanese Look," ethnic minorities struggle to have the same freedom to associate with their identities. It's much more difficult for a woman of Asian decent to claim she is American, because the identity is often ascribed by society rather than individual choice. In the film's we've see, identity is located in an external source, by contrasting it with something it is not. For example, in Good Bye Lenin! Alex recreates his mother's German identity through film. In L'America, Gino clings to his passport as if it is his identity. In neither film does identity come from the internal world of the character.

In fact, identity has very little to do with an individual. To identify with something, the concept must already as an established group. You couldn't identify as a German unless there were other Germans. Thus, identity is not really about defining yourself and more about making a choice (or perhaps not making a choice as we saw in Zentropa). The roots of this concept are actually very biological in nature and come from our ancestors' survival techniques. 'In-group' vs. 'Out-group' definitions allows species with similar qualities to maintain genetic similarity and therefore ensure the continuation of a group. Thus, the 'othering' we discussed in L'America between the Italians and the Albanians is instinctive. Identity becomes about what you are not rather than who you are. And this conflict of 'unity in diverisity' poses the greatest challenge for the European Union. Diversity creates an illusion of unity. But what does it even mean to be truly 'unified'? 

America struggles with the inherent conflict very similar to this - the simultaneous desire for individuality vs. community. As we define ourselves closer with a group, we simultaneously reject it, hoping to remain a unique individual. But individualism is lonely, and a community offers the affirmation of values, beliefs, and decisions. Elsaesser suggests that 'a community looking for pragmatic consensus in the end betrays itself if it is not guided by fundamental or non-negotiable principles' (9). Capitalism represents this principle in America. Intrinsic to capitalism is the drive for individual success, to separate one's identity from the community. Yet, we betray ourselves. If we all unite on a single front, are we really so diverse after all? Seems a bit of a paradox, indeed - one which America and Europe have fathomed for a long time.

NYTimes on the real meaning of Auschwitz

What did it mean to be a wehrwolf in Europa? What is the significant difference between a perpetrator and a sympathetic bystander? If we consider sympathy - or at least apathy - to be an essential element of genocide, how does this implicate the protagonist of Europa - who wishes to show 'kindness' towards Germany - in the crimes of his wife, uncle, employer, and adopted country? How does this implicate non-German Europeans?

"To understand the politics of mass murder and eliminationism, the technical means of carrying out the deed are almost never the central issue. Rather, the crucial elements are the political leaders’ decision to commit genocide, the willing participation of a large population of perpetrators, the sympathy of an even broader civilian population — in the case of the Holocaust, principally ordinary Germans, but also many other Europeans — and, above all, the ideology that motivates them all to believe that annihilating the targeted people is necessary and right." - How Auschwitz Is Misunderstood

Read the full article here, it talks about the symbolic meaning of Auschwitz, given that its technology did not necessarily add efficiency to the mass-killings in the Holocaust:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/25/sunday-review/how-auschwitz-is-misunderstood.html?smid=nytcore-ipad-share&smprod=nytcore-ipad&_r=0

Zentropa

I am posting my after thoughts on Zentropa since I now have access to post!

Although I was confused on some scenes, this movie just gave me chills.
I felt like none of the characters were on their right mind set.
Kathrina says to Kessler that in the Bible God tells us to either be hot or cold. Not being either is a sin.
Throughout most of the film, Kessler was kind of in the middle, not really being on a specific side.
This eventually led to his destruction. But I thought, what do you do if you feel like both sides are wrong? I felt like what von Trier was trying to say was that this is the aftermath of war; ultimate destruction that blurs the line between right and wrong.

Also, the way he chose to make the in black and white showed the war's darkness and oppression.
I felt like I was oppressed the whole time I was watching it, from the narrator's voice that seemed to force me to places, and usage of water that even made me hard to breath sometimes. The raining scene in the beginning and the drowning underwater scene at the end seemed to make even the air around me dense.

Going on to some questions I had:
On the scene where Kathrina says "I am a different person in the day and night" (something along those line) what did she mean?

Also, before Kathrina's father committed suicide, he says "Kathrina!" Does that mean he knew Kathrina was the one who was sending him threat letters? If not, why did he call out her name before his death?

Lars Von Trier reference?!

When I say three, you will notice the train tracks. Three. When I say four, you will watch Mr. Nobody on Netflix. Four.

When I say five, you will make a delicious cheesecake and give me a slice. FIVE FIVE FIVE FIVE FIVE!

Who is the next Boogie Man? posted by Khalif 1/22/2015

Spike Lee In Conversation: On Hollywood, the NYPD, the Knicks, and Islam

LINK:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/01/19/spike-lee-in-conversation-on-hollywood-the-nypd-the-knicks-and-charlie-hebdo.html

I've posting this latest interview/conversation with the famous African American filmmaker Spike Lee because I thought it provided an interesting perspective about the topic of fear and violence in America; an issue we touched on briefing in class.  The article highlights Spike Lee's newest micro-budgeted film "Da Sweet Blood of Jesus";  a remake of Bill Gunn’s cult film Ganja & Hess that centers on Dr. Hess Greene (Stephen Tyrone Williams). The link also discusses some of the changes in the Hollywood film market, Islamphobia in the America, police brutality in New York, my lowly game-less New York Knicks and some personal insight about Spike Lee's past films.  I felt Spike comments shed a little light on the pattern of fear and violence in America by making this statement:
"Here’s the thing: the United States is always going to need a boogie man. The Native Americans, black people, immigrants, the Nazis, Russia and the Cold War, and now it’s Islam."

Its hard to anticipated how students will react to the overall discourse of oppression in regards to race, gender, and class in our society. But I hope by examining this text combined with some of the contexts of Spike Lee's contemporary films we can open a discussion about the struggle to claim a national or cultural identity against aggression in America.  Also focusing on how these issues are linked to some of the geopolitical problems in Europe.

(Trailer from the interview)
"Da Sweet Blood of Jesus strikes me as a metaphor about black assimilation in America."

On a Lighter side I'm happy to be the first to post here and looking forward to reading other USC students post. Fight On!!.... as we struggle to expand our minds against the rigorous expectations of our USC professors and TAs.

POST By Kelly (Khalif) Simley

The Face you Make when you've arrived at class on time ready for lecture, discussion, and your writing assignment...Then you notice an email that your professor has cancelled class for today.

Welcome to the CTCS 403 blog for Spring 2015. Please use the link I sent to your USC account to sign up for access, but register with your personal gmail account or create a new google account to use with the blog. If you get an error message like

"We are sorry, but you do not have access to this service. Please contact your domain administrator for access."

when you try to accept the invitation using your USC account, that's normal -- ITS is blocking our blog registrations for some reason.

Just use that link I sent to your USC email address to sign up under a personal gmail account.

You can also just let me know what your non-USC gmail account is and I can send you a new invite to that address.

Sorry/Thanks.