Fall 2012 Tu/Th Survey of Art

i have also viewed the movie “Gladiator” and i believe that the portrayal of him in that movie was a somewhat true account on who he really was as a person. According to Historia Augusta, Commodus killed many people, had sacrifices performed and other various methods of death by his hand/association. This seems as if he was just a ruler gone mad with power or he really had a thirst for human suffering. Even in his childhood he was “gluttonous and lewd” and a trickster. Maybe he did not mean intentional harm during his jokes. However it looks like he honed into a violent nature based on the outcomes of his humorous times. These unintentional moments started a thirst for his violence side and he grew a custom to this nature of himself.

I think that the accuracy of the movies is flawed as compared to the actual character of commodus. In the movie commodus was portrayed as being a jealous son and killed his father to take the throne who he believed was rightfully his. Rather the biggest personality flaw that commodus actually had was his lacking ability to delegate the roman empire. i think that the real commudus was not nearly as evil as he had been described in the movie.

I have seen the movie “Gladiator.” In the movie there were little different from the actual history. In the movie Commodus kill his own father in order to become a king. In the real history his father was died of an illness during the war with Germanic. I don’t think Commodus was actually an evil man. When he becomes a king, no one taught him how to manage the country. That’s why he didn’t have any support by the senate and peoples. This cause him addicted to become a gladiator and didn’t take cares the affairs of state. Even though he had killed many people that he didn’t trust. We should understand because every king will get rid of the people who are threatening his authority. We should know the actual history rather than just watch a movie. Commodus had brought Rome peace for 60 years and give people time to recover by the war by ended the war with Germanic.

How evil was Commodus? From my perspective and interpretation of the long passage I was given to read, I did not think that Commodus was actual a bad individual. I haven’t seen the actual movie of Gladiator but I have heard from sources that Commodus was portrayed as a bad individual; killing people, such as his sister just because he decided that he did not like her and so on. But on my defense of why I think he is not as bad as any of us, is because he was raised to behave in the manner of how he seems. As it says in the long passage of “Historia Augusta” that  “For even from his earliest years he was base and dishonourable, and cruel and lewd, defiled of mouth, moreover, and debauched.” I believe that in your young age a grown up must teach the individual what is right and wrong, and sadly for Commodus no one was there to teach him. And in result of this he is now remembered as this terrible villain in every “Gladiator” movie.

Graffiti expresses the individualistic and unique style of its creator and so it is definitely a form of art. Graffiti is displayed and acknowledged throughout the world, and ranges from simplistic pieces, such as tags, to dramatic and detailed murals. I have encountered very beautiful works in New York and Canada that inspire and possibly convey messages to its viewers, but on the other hand there are also works out there that some may not find appealing or capturing; graffiti is diverse and provides a wide array of styles for anyone interested in it. Graffiti has a historical background that extends further than most people know. I believe it wasn’t until about the 80’s that graffiti really began to flourish, or at least in New York- so naturally, many might think that time period was the origin of graffiti. Evidently, the video on Roman graffiti proves the notion to be false. In archaeology, the word “Graffito” actually means ancient drawings or writings that have been scratched on the surface of walls and other surfaces, such as the inscriptions presented in the video on Hadrian. Graffiti may not be acknowledged or accepted by the entirety of society but it is definitely an art form with strong historic roots.

Graffiti has always been around if its in stylized letters, or just a simple portrait and there is still a struggle where some might say graffiti is not a form of art. The way i see it, you can  learn a lot from a person from just looking at there work or tag. It can show the way they lived or what kind of person they were, hieroglyphics can be an example because they convey a message or a story for other people to discovery. Besides the risk behind graffiti, artist tend to go the extra mile because you can learn something new about yourself or just think of your next masterpiece. Every form of art has a story to tell, whether if its in a gallery room or a wall on the street there is always a purpose for the art work to exist.