Do You Want to Dress Up As a Unisex Snowman?

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Do You Want to Dress Up As a Unisex Snowman?

It’s that time of the year again. That time where many people can’t wait to dress up and have fun, while others (including myself) want to escape and hide for a weekend until it’s all over. I wrote about it last year and not much has changed from that article. But this year it is harder for me to escape the claws of Fasching.

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Here's My Future (2)

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Here's My Future (2)

In Here’s My Future I’m talking about my transfer from a traditional school after seven years to an integrated, more alternative school and all the changes that this change brings for my profession.

I’m sitting at my school right now, as the minutes tick down to my grandiose, silly goodbye ceremony that I agreed upon for some obscure need for closure. It’s the kind of thing I tend to hate (and used to skip in the past), in part done by people I’m happy to never see again. But this is the end, my friend, and for some reason I feel like going through with it until it’s over. But it’s also the beginning.

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The Battle of Fear: Politics vs. Terrorism

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The Battle of Fear: Politics vs. Terrorism

When Paris happened, I said it won’t be different. What I meant was, that the reactions to it will be the same as after every other major terrorist attack. On the one hand, I was wrong, because I was surprised by many people bemoaning the same reactions and criticizing our ignorant view on these events, which makes me hopeful. On the other hands, seeing how politicians react, how the bombing started right away, how everything became a little bit more insane and extreme, I realize that it’s exactly what I feared, only worse. I’m not the first to say that terrorism’s goal is to instill fear and what most politicians are doing right now, is taking that fear and riding on it to do whatever they want, they increase and nurture it and keep it alive. They do exactly what the terrorists want them to do.

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Behind These Castle Walls, Part I: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)

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Behind These Castle Walls, Part I: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)

Ever since I read J. Zornado’s revolutionary important book Inventing the Child, in which he examines children’s fiction and its underlying messages, I looked at books and movies in a different way. Among all the brilliant things this book achieves, what spoke to me in a special way was how he dissected Disney movies, specifically The Young Mermaid and The Lion King. Uncovering their themes of parent authority, gender politics and identity manipulation was a big revelation to me. And ever since then I wanted to look at Disney movies, which are so beloved and popular until today, and see if I could figure out which ideas they sell to kids. So, today I’m starting a new series in which I’ll chronologically go through every major animated Disney movie and try to analyze it closely. I’m not the first one to do this, but I hope I have something new to say anyway. I have seen most of them already in the past, but I will watch them again with different eyes now.

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Revolutionary Road (2008)

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Revolutionary Road (2008)

(no real spoilers)

Revolutionary Road is the adaptation of a great novel by Richard Yates that I read many years ago and dearly loved as an amazingly early criticism of our culture.  The movie achieves to portray the problems from the novel in a very effective way. I don’t want to compare both of them too much, because I think the movie is its own thing that works well. It features great performances, especially by Kate Winslet and Michael Shannon, but really, all the actors are great. It’s beautifully directed and shot, with a great Thomas Newman score. Director Sam Mendes treads very similar territory as in his American Beauty, but the movies are very different in their tone.

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Exceptional Circumstances (Into the Not-Normal) [or Hell-Au]

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Exceptional Circumstances (Into the Not-Normal) [or Hell-Au]

Every year in Germany (and in other parts of the world), Carnival is celebrated. In Germany it’s called either Fasching or Fastnacht or Karneval and to me this always seemed like a typical German tradition. It is a strange time of the year, as for 5-6 days people go a little crazy. I hate it. In recent years I noticed more and more that I’m not alone in this, but in general people seem to be into it and in more than one instance my dislike provoked people to ask if I don’t like “fun.” Ha. Here’s what I don’t like about Fasching.

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Ordinary People (1980) [Part 1]

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Ordinary People (1980) [Part 1]

(spoilers ahead)

Ordinary People is an exceptionally observant movie about families, psychological problems and relationships. It shows hard truths about people and is not idealizing anything, which is not what I had expected from a 1980 movie. Its screenplay (by Alvin Sargent) is excellent in its dialogue and structure. Robert Redford’s direction is so deliberate, his touch is almost too visible (not for me, but I assume some people might be bothered by it). The acting is flawless throughout, it’s almost impossible to pick anyone. But overall, the movie is just good in the things it has to say and how it says them. It obviously worked in 1980, but I think it’s just as relevant today.

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The Three Flawed Pillars

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The Three Flawed Pillars

After over 5 years of teaching critical thinking, some ideas seem to repeat themselves, so last year I turned it around for my English course and first introduced what I think are the cornerstones for most problems in our society, before moving on specific topics where you can find those ideas. It worked insofar as that everyone is more aware of these things, but it also makes a good running joke whenever I mention them again. And the students now try to use them for an answer when I ask something. They learned fast that in most cases, they’ll be right with one of the three words I introduced. And I use those words often enough in my posts to warrant some explanation. Which words am I talking about and why are they so important? Good thing you ask, that’s what we’re here for today, kids!

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American Hustle (2013)

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American Hustle (2013)

(spoilers ahead)

American Hustle is like a dream come true for an actor. Looking at those amazing performances you cannot imagine anyone turning down a role in this movie. Every character is interesting and different from anyone else, there are so many nuances that’s it’s both a challenge and a blessing for every performer. The acting is as energetic as David O. Russell’s direction and you can feel the enjoyment everyone probably had while making this movie, but also the exhaustion of inhabiting and showing these characters, who constantly upset each other and live at the edge of a heart attack. It’s a great movie, entertaining and thought-provoking. The story, based on the ABSCAM scandal, is not easy to follow and it’s probably hard to understand what exactly everyone is doing, but since the movie is mainly there to showcase its characters, that is only a minor flaw.

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Book Report: Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go (2005)

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Book Report: Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go (2005)

(spoilers ahead)

Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go is a tricky novel. It seems almost innocent in describing the lives of its three main characters which live an uneventful life in a boarding school and how they grow up. But beneath that unexciting surface lurks a dark story about rearing children in ignorance, teaching them to pretend and making them believe in authority at all times. Yes, the book also deals with cloning and what makes us human, but this has been dealt with in enough other books and movies. What fascinates me about that book is the way it portrays education and society but also the way it incorporates the three things I tell my students too often about: ignorance, authority and pretense. I just finished reading the book in my main class and was happy to see it was received (mostly) well, because I wasn’t sure students would find it appealing. But now I know that I would read it again and while working on it, I was surprised how much the novel has to offer and how thought-provoking it is. It has a lot of aspects to discuss and I want to try to get at most of what I deem important, which will still be a lot. For structure’s sake, I will follow the three-part division of the book.

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