Monthly Archives: December 2013

Course Archive

This site contains student blog posts and teaching materials related to ENG 2400 — Films From Literature: Shadow Play, a course taught at the New York City College of Technology in Fall 2013 by Prof. Matthew K. Gold. The course focused on the evolution of the film noir genre in the twentieth century and included discussion of filmed and written texts such as The Maltese Falcon, Double Indemnity, Out of the Past, The Set-Up, Murder, My Sweet, The Asphalt Jungle, 1984, Brazil, Chinatown, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, and Blade Runner.

The content of this site will remain available as a record of our class and a resource for others who might be interested in the topics covered. Please contact Prof. Gold if you have any questions about the course or the materials that appear on the site.

Blade Runner

This film shows highly developed technology to make human cloning itself possible. This copy looks like we have the impression that today’s “clone”, even though people copying our humanity itself no different in appearance, but its “flesh” is based more on mechanical and electronic technologies. Therefore, it is difficult to create with its own independent thoughts and feelings, only unconditionally obey the command of humans, but life is also limited in just four years. So inevitably lead to unfair treatment against human cloning. To extermination of these renegade clone, a SWAT team called “Blade Runner” is dispatched, Harrison Ford plays Dyke is one good one. However, in the Dyke hunting human cloning process, in which a beautiful game but then produced a subtle emotion. This will be love it? How people can fall in love with machines? The most basic of human emotions and traditional ethical tangle here.

Human beings for their own selfish desires manufacture its own copies, but they do not want to think about empowerment. In fact, the presence of humans in this process only difference with other substances, so-called human nature, was completely destroyed themselves. Sadly, people are not aware of such destruction from beginning to end, is still enjoying the dictates of wanton pleasure. When the self-destruction toward irreversible direction, everything is turning back the time, has always been considered a cold-blooded ruthless robot already has ceased to have human feelings. Save the lives of the dead are about to show their nostalgia for the world, even though the world is no longer worthy of their nostalgia.

1984

The opening film is good, and the scene is very strange hatred, not me and other modern people are familiar with this very attractive.

But the protagonists seem to see that this is a person who committed a thought crime because his eyes will turn, and he was in full swing when the hatred of others to maintain a calm appearance, took the diary diary seems to be very easy, but not Street prostitutes while on the go, caught in a grocery store owner, and the girl on the head, as if it all done quite easy.

1984 The novel is not the most attractive place and tortured protagonist’s revolt, but rather to show the overall concept of the rule of despotic totalitarian society. I think so.

Brazil

You can see in the movie is full of pipes everywhere is to fill out the form, presentation graphics and plot works to make people very angry. Video absurd imagination through bold, vivid everything stereotypical descriptions. Alternating dream and reality on the emergence of the more confusing plot escape, especially when the end of the protagonist in the struggle between reality and dream, cruel to break the seemingly good things to show, it is clear by the current satirical future the pen has a deep sense of social reflection.

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

Almost all science fiction always recycled and reset ” world view ” setting , ” Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? “Is no exception . From the ” software ” is concerned , the book and science fiction In general not much compared to a new place, whether it is a variety of high-tech new invention, or human social organization, they all look rather clumsy rough, so-called science fiction can be predicted specific future technological advances in this book is not visibl . But this is not important, important is the book of “hardware”, including the bionic man later fled to various versions of the clone NPC is often interpreted to get rid of the people or the Universal Declaration of Human Bondage Interpretation pursuit of freedom, but the book is not intended to explore these things.” Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” Looks like a bionic man in the questioning has no soul, but asked repeatedly by experts in the bounty hunter Rick • De Kad ‘s mouth, and then he felt different thus ordinary people seem very “unusual” and into the emotional confusion of despair. From here we can peek into Philip Dick’s writing • Intent: bionic man has no soul is not the key, the key is in the end is what makes us think bionic man without a sou , and to feel bionic man without a soul this argument may not be reliable in De Kade was “not normal”, in short, designated “normal” and “abnormal” logo and the boundaries of what exactly.

Chinatown

Argumentative structure of the narrative portion of the whole movie is very similar. The story began is part of argumentative thesis leads, leads Jack further investigation; argument against that is part of the discussion of the “murder with impunity, you have the money,” the proposition that all things in this part are experienced Jack to illustrate the money, power and corruption of the impact of these forces is a predisposing factor for all murders and shady. The end of that conclusion, the final end of everything, have been swallowed up by evil forces, and concluded that in Chinatown and throughout Los Angeles, as long as you have money, you can do things outside the scope of the law, such as murder, incest.

Out of The Past

Jeff is an ex private eye who is hiding out in a small town gas station. One day this big henchmen heads into town and says he wants to see Jeff. Jeff begins to tell his current girlfriend about a story about how he is hired by this man to find his girlfriend who has shot him and ran away with a large amount of his money. He says he doesn’t want the money back as much as he wants the girl and thinks he has tracked her back to mexico. So jeff heads to mexico, and finds this girl, and ends up falling in love with her. The femme fatale in this film does not come off as a standard femme fatale, she starts of playing a “girl next door” type of role. This is until she kills Jeff’s partner who discovers them and wants in on the money. She leaves Jeff with the mess and runs away. By the time he is finished telling the story they arrive to his home, where he sees Cathy. This film is non stop action, with many underlying stories throughout and hidden tensions.