FWD from Week 1 discussion

Here is my first attempt at using the internet as a form of education and learning. It's strange how technology has evolved since I graduated from high school in 04. I always thought a blog was just another way of saying "online journal". I never thought I would be blogging through the virtual universe and at the same time gaining twice as much information as the verbal language. For the first week of ENG 313 I actually was surprised at the foundation and structure of the class discussions. On the first day we saw clips from Anchorman and Fatal Attraction, two films which, I feel, have different perspectives on gender roles. In one hand, we have Ron Burgundy, a middle aged womanizer, who uses his class and status as means to charm women. In the other hand,we have the thrilling drama of Fatal Attraction, an exaggeration of real life Jerry Springer scandals and affairs, but wrapped up nicely in a narrative suspense. I believe Ron Burgundy in Anchorman is portraying men primitively, especially in the clip we saw in class, because we see Burgundy mock the cliche theme of "winning a woman's heart". It's a form of satire that demoralizes men and thus, allows the female character to stand out
as Burgundy's attraction and desire. In contrast to the satire of attraction, we have the opposite in Fatal Attraction. Much like the title hints out, the film deals with those powerful emotions correlated with love and drama. I believe the women are given the power in this film moreover Michael Douglas' character, who only serves as humanistic object of desire, much like Christina Applegate's character in Anchorman. The women fight over Douglas in a form of violence, depicting our subconscious desires that we only experience in our nightmares. I believe both films can be viewed in a different perspective on how we view gender roles in our culture. Both films make us think about the tradition of marriage and love, how it is attained, and how it is held together, regardless whether it may be through a form of comedy or tradgedy. See you all in class tomorrow. My time has expired on this internet station. As I said on the first day of class, I'm sadly in between homes, without a computer, borrowing a neighbors pirated internet signal on Labor Day.

Jeremy Hill
hillblogs.blogspot.com