Macduff Has Netflix?

Macduff was a down to earth, good person at the beginning of the play but as time drags on, his morals go out the window in order to take revenge. A recent look at his Netflix queue shows that these shows might have shaped his life and gave him skills that others do not possess. These shows have a similar theme as Macduff models his life after one of the main characters of each show and is very similar to them.

 

 

Watched by Macduff:

1.      Lie To Me- this is a show about a behavior scientists who uses his knowledge of human behavior to determine if a person is lying and informs the police. This man studies human behavior and can easily tell if a person is lying. This show reveals some of the techniques that he uses and can be used by common individuals to determine lying patterns. I think Macduff would have watched this show because he quickly suspected Macbeth of the murder of Duncan, before other caught on. He must have been studying Macbeth’s behavior in order to determine Macbeth was lying. Macduff quickly heads to find Malcolm and they plot to overthrow Macbeth as king.

2.      Revenge- In this show, the main character, Emily Thorne, returned to the Hamptons at the beach and plans to take revenge on the Grayson family, who wronged her and her father. This resulted in the death of her father in prison by the Grayson family who framed him for a crime he did not commit. This backstory is very similar to that of Macduff later in the play, as his family is murdered by people hired by Macbeth, and that is why I believe Macduff would love this show. We are naturally drawn towards television shows that are like our lives or like what we want our lives to be. Macduff, similarly, is seeking revenge on Macbeth and achieves it in the final act killing Macbeth.

3.      Arrested Development- This a Netflix original show is about a wealthy family that loses it all and is held together by a central figure, Michael Bluth. At the beginning Bluth has sound morals and was not the bad guy. He was always trying to keep his family together and would do everything in the best interests of his family. As the show progresses, Michael throws morals out the window and makes some poor decisions including sleeping with is son’s girlfriend. He is lying and scheming at the end of the show, much like Macduff. At the beginning Macduff does everything right but after he loses his family, his everything, his morals turn south for the remainder of the play. He begins to scheme to overtake a leader. While it may be warranted, at the beginning of the play Macduff would have never killed a man and the play ends with Macduff taking Macbeth’s life. Macduff would watch this show in order to remind himself that sometimes people turn south and encourage himself before killing Macbeth.

4.      Dexter- This TV show is about an average man who by day works as an analyst for the Miami police but by night is a mass serial killer that is targeting other murders. Dexter continues to murder criminals who do not match his father’s “moral code” and have slipped through the cracks of the justice system himself. Macduff would love this show because Dexter is much like himself. Also Macduff would learn that it is okay to murder those who deserve it, and he would learn how to get away with the murder of Macbeth. Macduff would model his life and his end-of-play decisions based on this show.

Macbeth Power Quote

Walter Creech

11/16/14

4A

2. "Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." - Lord Acton
To what extent would Shakespeare agree with this statement? Use the play and your own experience as your support.

            I believe, based on Macbeth and the characters actions throughout the play, that Shakespeare would wholeheartedly agree with this statement. At the beginning of Macbeth, Macbeth and Banquo receive prophecies from the three witches, “All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter!”, “Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none.” These are the prophecies given by the witches, Macbeth was to be Thane of Cawdor and then king after and Banquo’s decedents or children were to be king. This is representative of the power that these characters could have and the way they act perfectly matches this quote by Lord Acton.

            At the end of Act I scene 3, the first prophecy of the three witches comes true, Macbeth is named Thane of Cawdor. This first prophecy coming true drives the actions of these characters for the rest of the play, as they could have all of the prophecies come true and gain large amounts of power. Macbeth is heavily influenced by his wife, whose drive for power is greater than all others. This and his own desire to own the crown drives him murder the current king, Duncan, in order for the second prophecy to come true. In addition, Macbeth has to kill the two guards of Duncan’s and blame the murder on them, and unholy and horrid thing to do. This desire for power and kingship drove him to commit murder and blame it on someone else.

            Contrast the actions of Macbeth with the actions of Banquo and the “absolute power corrupts absolutely” is addressed. The power that Macbeth would gain from being king would be absolute power, while Banquo’s power was to be his offspring’s not his himself. Banquo, after receiving these prophecies, does not quickly rush to extreme actions like those of Macbeth, but instead pledges his allegiance to the king. Banquo states “So I lose none in seeking to augment it, but still keep clear my bosom franchised and allegiance clear, I shall be consoled.” I believe that he is saying how he is not going to actively pursue to prophecies in an unholy way so he can keep his reputation and his allegiance to the king. This compared to the murdering by Macbeth, is obviously more reasonable. The power that Banquo would have gained would have not been his power so he was not corrupted and continued to think clearly. However the power prophesized for Macbeth was absolute, so it corrupted him absolutely driving him to murder to ensure that the power was his.

            I also agree with this quote based on everyday life, specifically presidential and other election races. For example, the recent senate race between Thom Tillis and Kay Hagan showed how power, or the opportunity for it, can corrupt you. There were many advertisements that put down one candidate or the other pointing out their flaws, which is wrong and corrupt. How would you like it if I pointed out your flaws?  This shows how power and the opportunity of power causes people to do things that they normally wouldn’t do, corrupting their thinking and their decisions. This is another example of absolute power corrupting. If you were offered a candy bar to reveal your best friend’s deepest darkest secret, would you do it? Most people would say no because it is just one candy bar, but many would do it if they were offered a million dollars. This shows how the extent of the power, whether absolute or not, determines the extent of the corruption. Based on this, I concur with this quote and, based on the actions of the characters of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, I believe that Macbeth himself would agree also.

Contemporary Art Museum

The entire exhibition was very interesting and had a good feel to it. I am not a big fan of contemporary or modern art but I was interested in the limited visibility exhibit. It was kind of ominous and up to the viewer’s interpretation, after all the title was “limited visibility.” Since there was something missing in the art or visibly missing, it was up to the viewer’s interpretation to determine what was missing and what is symbolized. The presentation was good but I wish that they had more of the description of the artist’s intention rather than what it was made out of. That being said, the lack of description of intention leaves the meaning up to the viewer as well. Overall the presentation and feeling of this exhibit was good and it was very interesting.

Visual Analysis

Title: Miradas I by: Moris

Date: 2012, Mexico

Size: each panel: 39”x 69” total: 69”x117”

Medium: Acrylic painting over a highly pixelated photo on canvas.

                 This was created in Mexico City, Mexico in 2012 which is ironic because many of the individuals in this painting appear to be white, as far as I can see. This was created in modern times in Mexico and they possibly envy the Americans because of the opportunities that we have. Represented in this picture appears to be six individuals whose bodies blend into the background and you can only see their eyes. This could represent how they are starting to make a name for themselves and break away from society, the eyes not blending in represent that they are stepping out of society. In Spanish, which they speak in Mexico, “Mirada” means gaze or look. This could be important in interpreting the painting. This painting shows many eyes gazing at you or just looking ahead. This represents that everyone has a vision for the future and we all want it to be equal, as the bodies of these individuals all blend into the background.

                   The artist blends the bodies of the individuals into the backgrounds, however you can still see them a little bit. This shows that they are human also, having the eyes visible is a great stylistic point as it draws your attention to the eyes and they obviously represent a deeper meaning. Finally, choosing black as the background was a good choice because the white portion of their faces stand out even more and black represents everyone not just white individuals. This represents a cultural ideal because most citizens of Mexico envy the white Americans for the privileges that they get but, Moris is trying to communicate with them that white Americans have a vision for a future that involves everyone as equals. The eyes looking ahead represents the vision while the bodies blended into the background represents everyone as equals. This is a strong statement and comes from an unlikely source, a Mexican citizen. It adds to the museum because you wonder what their bodies look like as they are “invisible” but the eyes really draw the attention and tell the story. I believe that the purpose of this was to inform viewers that everyone has a vision for an equal future, with vision represented by the eyes and equal represented by the bodies blending into the background.

7 Deadly Sins

Author: Jennifer Mayne

Date of Publication: February 21, 2013

Place of publication: Blogspot- http://jennifermayne28.blogspot.com/2013/02/artifactual-communication.html

Denotative Examination

So, obviously in this advertisement you see a man and women close together. They do not appear to be wearing any clothes and look to be intimate representing the deadly sin of lust. This woman is attractive and draws your attention, while the man has his eyes closed and looks to be exhibiting lust.

Connotative Examination

Looking into this picture you can see that the author uses lust in order to sell the product. In the bottom of the picture it says “the new fragrance for her,” showing that this is meant for women. The layout of this picture profiles the woman in a controlling fashion as she is controlling the man, who appears to be worshiping her. The background in black so that draws your eyes to the fact that they have no clothing on and attracts the lustful viewers. The eyes of this woman are facing you, drawing other women in and having them desire to be like her. The man’s eyes are closed and his position, lower than the woman, represents that he is chasing her and desiring her. The lust by the man is something that the targeted audience wants and this deadly sin is used to sell the product.

The author uses the coloring and background to draw your eyes to the woman and man and how close they are. The woman’s eyes are enticing and draw you into the picture where you quickly notice that the man’s eyes are closed and he is desiring the woman. This lustful image was created to sell this perfume and draw the audience into buying the product.

Intended Audience

I believe the intended audience is for lustful women who desire to be sexy and have guys after them. These women are obviously not of the lower class because this perfume is expensive, however, there does not appear to be a social class target as the woman has not clothes on or accessories to point to a social class. The woman that would buy this perfume would be younger, middle-class women that desire to have men after them and to be lustful. This lustfulness is shown through this advertisement and is the main selling point for this product. This advertisement uses the deadly sin of lust to lure in women and make them want to buy this product.

Freebie First Semester

For blog post number 3 - Walter Creech

What's in a name?- Walter Creech

My Name: Walter John Creech

 

My name represent my ancestry, my relatives that have led to where I am today. My first name, Walter, comes from my mom’s grandfather while my middle name, John, is my grandfather’s (from my dad’s side) first name and my dad’s middle name. These people are important to my family and were all hardworking and embody the values that I strive for today. This name defines me, as I want to be like those before me that carried this name. I will always try to be my best in order to bring honor to my name. My name comes from the past and will continue on in the future to embody the ancestors that made a profound impact in my family history.

 

Being "Two"

                I have been “two” a number of times as I am part of many groups and teams but I am also an individual myself. The two sports I play, tennis and cross country, are both individual sports that can be put together into a team where as other sports, like soccer, you always play as part of a team. This dilemma of being “two” has been brought about a number of times during my years playing these sports as well as during other activities. One time in particular is sophomore year tennis season. During this time I was the number 8 seed on our team, only the top 6 play singles. I as an individual really wanted to play singles in order to get better and succeed, but I as a part of the team realized that it was for the best of the team if the other players played singles. As a result, we won the state championship that year. I was tremendously excited to be a part of this team.

                There are many times that you may have to put a group above yourself. Another example is this year, I ran for student body president. I lost and was obviously individually disappointed about it but I will continue to fill my role as a member of this organization to do the best I can to help out. In these types of dilemma’s I usually do what is best for the team even though it may not be best for me individually. These times when you are “two” may be tough to choose, but I tend to choose the one that would benefit the most people.

Wing Young Huie

 

Author: Wing Young Huie

Date: 2012

Place of Publication: http://know.wingyounghuie.com/tagged/We_are_the_Other (k)now blog

 

Summary

Clearly in this photo you notice the battered American flag hanging outside of a house in Chicago. The gloomy sky also catches the eye and adds to the drowsy and ominous effect on the picture. You also notice that the flag is still hanging on by a thread despite the fact that the majority of it is destroyed. I think that this picture represents America and the American spirit. No matter what the situation or how beat up America gets the American spirit lives on, like how this flag hangs on by a thread. The American flag continuing to fly despite the destruction it has endured symbolizes the American spirit continues to dominate the world no matter what.

 

Atwood and Huie

 

Wing Young Huie and Margaret Atwood both present the concept of "othering" by the use of their symbols and through their characters or main focus of their works. In the above photograph Wing Young Huie shows the American spirit and unity through the flight of the American flag holding on by a thread. Margaret Atwood shows othering through the main character Offred who is constantly looking for a way out of the world to escape the government. Other characters and language are used to represent this othering as well. The Commander invites Offred into his room, which is forbidden, and lets her read, which is also highly forbidden. Neologisms within this work such as "Mayday" along with the language that Offred uses throughout this text serve her purpose of othering (Atwood 43). She is trying to distance herself from this terrible society. 

 

Wing Young Huie presents "othering" by contrasting people with their racial or cultural stereotypes or putting two people together that do not commonly go together. She also choses to put the photographs in color, so you can see more distinction between people, or in black and white, so the differences are few but very evident. The photo of David and Lou puts two people of contrasting backgrounds together and they are now "brothers from another mother." David grew up in safe Minnesota while Lou grew up in violent Chicago. With these different backgrounds you would think that these two people wouldn't get along but they answered the questions the same and are connected like brothers. The battered American flag is an example of “othering” because it is battered and destroyed but it is still hung outside the house to represent the spirit of the nation. Despite the gloomy sky and battered flag, the flag is still flying. 

 

Atwood choses to represent "othering" through her characters actions while Huie choses to show "othering" through her choices of who and what to put together in an image and their language as well as the colors in the image. Two very different styles but both highly effective in representing the "othering" of our society.