"Bloodchild" by Octavia E. Butler Question

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"Bloodchild" by Octavia E. Butler

.        What is your reaction to the text you just read?

     I think it is weird because the story shows not only the relationships between human and aliens but also human's pregnant for aliens. In the story, aliens use human as a way of making aliens’ babies. It makes me feel strange about this story because of the way that the aliens born their children. Also, Gan, the main character of "Bloodchild," does not deny this situation even though he sees the progress of giving birth.

2     What connections did you make with the story? Discuss the elements of the story with which you are able to connect.

 This concept reminds me “Alien” series films because aliens in the movie also use human as hosts for the aliens’ babies, and it kills human when the aliens are born. In the movie, the aliens attack people and put their eggs into human's body. Of course giving alien's birth does not end well in the movie. However, in "Bloodchild," Gan decides to give birth to alien babies even though he knows that he will have a lot of pains from pregnant.

3     What change would you make to adapt this story into another medium? What medium would you use? What changes would you make?

     I would change this story into the film because the film can effectively show the story through the images. If I change something for the story, I probably show images that are more about the conflict between human and alien to show Gan's emotion and his last decision in an effective way. 

Elements in Cyberpunk

Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson

Elements in Cyberpunk

     Technology has been developed. People use the smartphone to use the internet and wear VR glasses to have a better experience with entertainment. Sometimes, we imagine what technology we will see in the future. Cyberpunk is one of the Sci-Fi genres that shows near future time. In Cyberpunk films and novels, it shows high technology with different culture.

The Near Future.

     In Cyberpunk, it is hard to find trees and animals. Most Cyberpunk genre shows the well-developed city, but it does not show forest and animals because of the environmental pollution. Also, some of the forests become restrict area because of the pollution and mysterious monsters. In the 'Monsters' movie directed by Gareth Edwards, parts of the United States and Mexico become restricted area after the huge pollution from the crash of the NASA space probe, and armies fight against giant monsters lives in the restricted area.

     Asian culture in Cyberpunk can be found easier than other genres. In Cyberpunk, Asian characters are significant because of the high technology development that East Asia countries have; Samsung and LG are examples of the East Asia company that has high technology. In 'Snow Crash' by Neal Stephenson, Hiro, an Asian-African character in the novel, is a hacker who enters into Metaverse, a virtual reality world, teams up with the mafia to get onto the Raft, rescues people from Snow Crash. Also, in "Blade Runner" directed by Ridley Scott, it shows the Asian restaurant that the main character buys food from.

Paprika (2006)

     Cyberpunk shows beautiful high technology with the various change from the present such as culture and environmental differences. We don't know how the future looks like, but we can guess various near future from cyberpunk novels and films.

Illusion or Real? - Pan's Labyrinth and The Ocean at the End of the Lane

Illusion or Real?

     "Illusion" is a thing that is not real, but some people can see it for specific reasons such as diseases and stress. Some novels and films use illusion to bring people into the story, but some of them give ambiguous stories that people need to ask about illusion. Is it real or not? Here are the two urban fantasy stories that might relate to illusion (or real fantasy,)"Pan's Labyrinth" by Guillermo del Toro, and "The Ocean at the End of the Lane" by Neil Gaiman. Theses two gives beautiful fantasy experiences with horrible reality, but

     Let's talk about the works first. "Pan's Labyrinth" is the story that follows Ofilia's beautiful fantasy and cruel reality in Spain. In reality, she gets a lot of stress from her Captain Vidal, a general and Ofilia's new father who is brutal, new environment, and her pregnant mother's poor condition. On the other hands, in fantasy part, she becomes the most important character, and complete the missions that are given by Pan, the fantasy creature. After Ofilia's death, Ofilia goes to the fantasy world and becomes princess Moanna.

     In "The Ocean at the End of the Lane," it follows the memories of the man who has experienced with a fantasy world. The man also has similar stories with Ofilia that the man has a lot of bad experiences in the real world; he was the lonely boy who does not have single friends at his seventh birthday party, miner's suicide, and has a financial problem. In the fantasy part (it is not beautiful as Ofilia's fantasy,) the boy is choked by the coin and sees creatures throws coins to people.

     Many people might have the same question. Is their fantasy real? It is hard to determine that "Pan's Labyrinth" fantasy is real or illusion since there are a few parts that make the fantasy real or not. The evidence that shows the fantasy is not real can be found in the last scene when Ofilia talks with Pan. When Captain Vidal comes to the Ofilia through the forest labyrinth, he saw that she talks with nothing. Also, Ofilia gets a lot of stress from Vidal, it can cause Ofilia's fantasy. However, other evidence that shows the fantasy is real can be found in the chalk that makes the secret door to the baby, mandragora that cures Ofilia's mother for a while, and the forest labyrinth that blocks Vidal. Because of these pieces of evidence, it is not clear that Ofilia's fantasy is true or not.

     What about another story? "The Ocean at the End of the Lane" fantasy is an illusion even though he has a lot of stories with Lettie in the fantasy world. The boy (or the man) believes what he sees in the fantasy world and gets amazing experiences, but the boy forgets everything when he comes back to the reality. This phenomenon is similar to the dream that all people have because the memories from the dream disappear when people wake up from sleep. It reminds me the novel 'Life of Pi,' by Yann Martel, since Patel, the main character, tries to ignore the reality and believes his fantasy that happens on the boat.

     As you can see, these works show the fantasy that is not real; Ofilia's anxiety makes herself as a princess and the boy's situation causes building the fantasy world. Is it important to know that the fantasy is an illusion or not? I think it is really important because the illusion shows the main character's mental state and it makes people focus on the main character. If the fantasy is real, it would not focus on the main character, but the fantasy world like Ofilia, Patel, and the boy. What do you think about this?

The pattern of the Hero's Journey

Superman!!!! 

The Pattern of the Hero's Journey

     In novels and comic books, most heroes save innocents with their super power. Superman has strong power and fly ability, Thor has the special weapon that creates lightening, and Flash has the highest velocity in the world. Even though they have super powers, they get deep troubles by villains, but they overcome their problem and become stronger. As you notice, most heroes have different ability, but similar experiences.

    How heroes' stories have similar patterns? It is because many creators use the template to make a scenario. The template is called 'Monomyth' or 'Hero's Journey.' In the 'Hero's Journey.' In this template, it shows how heroes start journey, get troubles, solve problems, develop skills, and return to their home. 'The Hobbit' is a good example that uses the pattern very well.

The Hobbit movie

     In the beginning of 'Hero's Journey,' heroes show themselves as a chicken (does not like adventure and afraid of going into deep trouble,) but decides to go for adventure for various reasons. In 'The Hobbit,' Bilbo, a main character of the story, is a normal person who likes daily life, but it changes when Gandalf and dwarves come to Bilbo's house and make a disturbance. Of course Bilbo refuses dwarves' offer, but Bilbo changes his mind when Gandalf urges him to go.
     During the adventure of 'Hero's Journey,' heroes get a lot of troubles and regret their decision to go to adventure, but they also find their special ability to solve problems. During the adventure toward to the Lonely Mountain, Bilbo keeps thinking about his hometown and gets depressed when he faces bad weather, hunger, and deadly creatures, such as goblins, trolls, and spiders. However, whenever he gets troubles, he miraculously escapes from the dangers, and finds Smaug's weakness. At the end of the story, Bilbo comes back to his hometown.

Start the Journey!!!

     In conclusion, a lot of novel writers use 'Hero's Journey' to make flexible stories. Most heroes follow the rules that they start adventure for various reasons, learn new skills from troubles, and come back to the hometown.

Elder Stereotype in Film and Novel

Too many old villains...

Elder Stereotype in Film and Novel

     What do you think when you meet your grandparents? Some people say that they are warm, peaceful, and love since they love their grandson. However, most people think grandparents are evil, powerful, and bad because they use power to control people with no actual power, and causes problems such as car accidents and conflict between grandparents and families. Hating elders might happen because of elder's personality, but psychologists found that people are mostly affected by  novels and films. How novels and films make elder stereotype?

SHE IS CRAZY!!!

     What is the best way to make elders as annoying people? It is showing elders as main villains or monsters in stories. Villains are characters who oppose to hero and show themselves as greedy, pitiless, and aggressive people. When elders are villains, they become the most annoying characters in stories. Also, when people constantly watch and read these novels and films, it affects people to get elder stereotype. There are many examples that show elders as villains.

     Disney films are good examples that cause elder stereotype. In 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,'  Evil Queen shows herself as a beautiful woman in the world. However, after Snow White survives from a hunter, Evil Queen decides to kill Snow White by herself and Evil Queen becomes ugly grandmother. At the end, Snow Queen survives by prince's kiss and Evil Queen dies by thunder. Like Evil Queen, other villains, such as Scar from 'Lion King,' Claude Frollo from Hunchback of Notre Dame,' and Ratcliffe from 'Pocahontas,' are old, greedy, and powerful. Also, they have a bad ending.

     Elder villains can be seen in the novels. In the 'Aunt Maria' by Diana Wynne Jones, Aunt Maria, an evil old witch, abuses the power to control people. In the story, Maria changes people's name in her favor, orders people to work like slaves, and shows her temper. Also, she uses her magic power to control the village and people. At the end, Maria died in a tragic way.

Jafar in Aladin

     As you can see, there are a lot of films and novels that show elder stereotype. Fortunately, in these days, elder stereotype films and novels have been decreased. Movie directors and novel writers change the way of old people do in the story. Albus Dumbledore in 'Harry Potter' by J.K.Rowling shows himself as a protector and a responsible old magician and Gandalf from 'The Lord of the Ring' by J.R.R.Tolkien are powerful wizard who are against to the dark side.

What is New Weird? - Three Moments of an Explosion

One zombie loves human and it cures other zombies

What is New Weird? - Three Moments of an Explosion

     The word 'Weird' means something supernatural or uncanny, such as monster and magic from fantasy novels. Many novel writers such as Bram Stoker, and Mary Shelley, etc. made weird stories before 21 century. However, in these days, many people don't think zombies, vampires, and ghost as a weird monster because these concepts have been used so many times in different novels. Because of that reason, people are making different weird things and the works make people surprised. How do we define 'new weird'? It is hard to find the answer, but 'Three Moments of an Explosion' by China Miéville shows the answer well.

Ghosts kill people without reason. But Why???????

     'Three Moments of an Explosion' by China Miéville, is a collection of the stories that contains 28 fresh and 'new weird' stories. In the book, some of stories like 'Three Moments of an Explosion' are not story like other novels, but descriptive story. Also, other stories like The Crawl and 'Escape' are plots for video. There are a few examples of stories that explains new weird well.

     Miéville shows the zombie apocalypse in a different way in 'The Crawl.' The story looks scenario version of movie trailer that explain what happens in each scene. One of the scenes shows that two zombies kiss each other behind the violent fighting between human and zombies. Also another scene shows that the zombies do not use their feet, but hands and knuckles like humans raised by spiders. It makes the weird story because Miéville changes the way of zombies' characteristic that zombies supposed to run with their feet and not feel emotion.

     Another story, 'Estate' shows the story about animals that attack everything on the city. In the story, it starts with the animal terror, and the stags have burning antlers, but it does not tell the truth that why it happens. After this happening, some people act weird like Dan, who frequently carries burning stags. These things make the story weird because of the mystery of the incident and the way that the animals attack people.

The man goes into ghost world for saving his son...but

    What is the new weird that Miévile describes and how can we define weird? The meaning of 'New Weird' that Miéville shows on 'Three Moments of an Explosion' is variety ideas that do not come from anywhere like the animals attacks people in a weird way and the zombies fell in love with other zombies.

Zombie(?) + Alien = Horror???

Three Moments of an Explosion Review

     I apologize right now. I cannot read all these stories because this super weird book has the most weird words that does not come from the dictionary (what is the word 'rotvertising' means in the first story???) and the vocabulary that I learned, but I read some of the stories, so I continue to review this book.

     The first thought that I have gotten is the fresh idea from each story. Every story have new ideas that I have never heard from other novels or movies. However, like I said on the first paragraph, the stories make people hard to understand and do not teach us the detail of the stories, which means there is no complete explanation on these stories. That makes the weird stories, and bad for someone who does not like open endings or not-well explained stories. If you are the person who like weird films, I would recommend to watch 'The Thing (1982,2011),' 'Warm Bodies (2013),' 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy(2005),' and 'Grudge (2004).'

A Real Villain in J-Horror? - Battle Royale

Could you kill your best friend?

A Real Villain in J-Horror? - Battle Royale

     In most western horror movies and novels, it should have villains fight against hero or survivors for making an intense scene or surprise scene. For example, in 'Child's play' by Tom Holland, Andy shows himself as a survivor while Chucky shows himself as a devil doll that kills many people with a tiny body. However, in Japanese horror movies and novels, some people show themselves as villains, but it is hard to say that they are truly bad. Even ghosts in Japan have reasons to appear and kill certain people. This interesting setting can be seen in 'Battle Royale.'

Spolier Alart, Shogo does not kill them. :D

     Before talking about the differences between Western Horror and J-Horror, it is good to know about the concept of the novel 'Battle Royale.' The word 'Battle Royale' in wrestling means one of the rules that starts with many wrestlers on the ring and they fight until only one player is left on the ring. However, in 'Battle Royale' by Koushun Takami, normal middle school students fight against themselves (classmates) until only one student is survived in the island. The book shows well about how people easily get suspicious and kill others for surviving.

     Is there a villain in 'Battle Royale' like Chucky? Yes, Kazuo and Sakamochi show themselves as villains in 'Battle Royale.' Kazuo is trying to kill everyone and take the victory and Sakamochi is the commander of this game. However, most students in 'Battle Royale' cannot be seen as a villain and a hero. For example, Shuya, a main character of this novel, shows himself as a humble and nice person, but he cannot save any people except one. Other survivors who trying to kill other students like Mitsuko and Kyoichi might be seen as villains, but it is hard to say because they just want to survive in this crazy tournament. On the other side, Kazuo tries to kill everyone to win the game, but he was a kind person until he gets brain damage from the car accidents. Also, he can be Shuya's friend if he gets another side of the coin on the coin toss game. I wonder what happen if Kazuo wins another side of the coin. At the end, the only real villain that breaks character setting of J-Horror is Sakamochi in 'Battle Royale.'

Creepy :d

     Why there are different concept of character setting between J-Horror and Western Horror? In my personal thought, it is related to the religion and legend story that cause some kind of stereotype. In Bible from Christians, devils can be seen as bad creatures that makes people to kill each other and break promise while angels can be seen as holy sprites that helps people to survive or shows miracle. This devil and angel concepts show the absolute evilness and good. What about the Japanese culture? In Shinto,one of the Japanese traditional religion, there is no absolute right or wrong because people easily get influence from their surrounding. It might be one of the reasons why there is no true villain in J-Horror film and novel.

     Like 'Battle Royale,' there is no real villain and no hero in J-horror while Western Horror has it. It happens because of the different religion idea that shows absolute good or bad. 

Hunger Game is fun too...

Hunger Game VS Battle Royale....and Review

     I knew a little bit about 'Battle Royale' before I read because my friends recommend me to watch the movie when I was in middle school (7,8 years ago.) But I decided not to watch the film because this film is one of the gore films that shows a lot of blood on, and I didn't want to watch that kind of movies. When I read the book, it was interesting because it shows how people make group together and break by small doubt feeling. Also, I like the specific part where Shogo makes the fake scene for the escape.

     I want to mention about 'Hunger Game,' because the concept of 'Hunger Game' is similar to 'Battle Royale,' but different. 'Hunger Game' has similar rules that every player should kill each other until only one player survive, and players decide to fight against government or run away from them, but the genre is close to the action while 'Battle Royale' is close to thriller and horror. I recommend to watch both movies :D. (I'm gonna watch Battle Royale soon!!!)

Character Relationship in Interview with a Vampire

 The movie poster for Interview with the Vampire in 1994. I WANT TO WATCH IT!!!

CHARACTER RELATIONSHIP IN INTERVIEW WITH A VAMPIRE

    Vampires are the creatures that drink human blood to survive, and they do not communicate with humans. However, in the 'Interview With A Vampire' by Anne Rice, the story starts with a conversation between the boy(a human) and Louis(a vampire.) Also, the story shows the interesting relationship between Louis and other characters such as Lestat, Claudia, and the vampires in Theatre des Vampires.

 It is interested scene that how Lestat catches a mouse, kill it, and pour its blood on the wine cup.

     Claudia is the most important character in 'Interview With A Vampire' because she is the one who makes Louis feel guilty. Claudia becomes a vampire when she was five years old and she cannot grow up. It makes the story interesting because it makes Louis to protect Claudia and feel guilty about Claudia's problem. Because of the guilty that Louis has, Louis kills every vampire in Theatre des Vampires for the revenge after Claudia's death.

     Lestat, Louis' advisor, is also an important character in 'Interview With A Vampire.' In the beginning of the story, Lestat shows himself as a cold hearted teacher. However, he changed after the burning on  Theatre des Vampires, he becomes strange and weak in front of Louis. It is hard to see Lestat as a villain. Even though Lestat kills Claudia for the revenge, he does not try to kill or destroy Louis, but wants him to become an Lestat's assistance.

     The boy in 'Interview With A Vampire' cannot be forgotten because he is a human who talks with a vampire, Louis. There is not much information about the boy, but he makes the interview with the vampire, and catches important information from the story such as Louis' name and vampire's ability. However, it is strange that he wants to be a vampire at the end of the story because Louis' story ends with no happy ending and does not encourage people to become a vampire. Why the boy wants to become a vampire?

Poor Claudia...

     'Interview With A Vampire' brings the story well with the relationships between Louis and characters. Louis gets guilty feeling from Claudia, has problems with Lestat and the vampires in Theatre des Vampires, and shows his feeling and story in the conversation with the boy. It is interesting that how a vampire can be seen as human with emotion, not a monster.

INTERVIEW WITH A VAMPIRE REVIEW

     It was interested that the story goes with conversation between the boy and Louis, and the boy catches important information from the story. (it makes me easy to read XD) Also, I like the ending that does not end with ending interview, but shows what the boy is going to do (open ending.)

Gothic in Frankenstein

Gothic in Frankenstein

     Before I read Frankenstein, I think monsters as non human creatures such as Dragon, Alien, and Cookie Monster from Muppet. However, in 'gothic' novel, monsters look like humans, but they are different. In the Frankenstein, gothic novel by Mary Shelley, the monster has 4 limbs and a body and a head like human, but his height is 8 ft and he was made by Frankenstein, college student who interests in chemistry. Even though it was written in 1818, the storytelling is impressive and the idea makes me interest to read Frankenstein. Even though it is the first science fiction novel, it shows the "gothic" aspects very well, such as monster, secret place, and atmosphere.

      Like other gothic novel, Frankenstein story focuses on supernatural monster. In the story, Frankenstein creates life with dead bodies and spark. The monster has supernatural power to kill people, survive in North Pole, and bring the dramatic atmosphere change. but the hideous and gigantic body that makes it impossible to hide in human groups. Like the monster in Frankenstein, Dracula in gothic novel cannot hide because of the sunlight, sliver, or religious mark that kills Dracula.

      Also, Franskenstein makes the monster in his hidden place that can be seen in other gothic novel. Frankenstein needs a place where he can hide dead bodies and create a life. The story does not give the details of the room clearly, but it should look like a room with huge electric machines attached to the monster. The place where Frankenstein studies the monster represents itself as the mysterious and scary place like Dracula with Bran Castle in Transylvania.

    The world of Frankenstein shows the supernatural monster coming from the death, the mysterious place where Frankenstein studies, and the atmosphere change when the monster comes to the Frankenstein. These elements represent the 'gothic' aspects clearly. 

Frankenstein Review

Before I read about the Frankenstein, I thought Frankenstein was the monster who helps Dracula to capture human from the village (I saw this information from the movie.) I agree that the concept of the Frankenstein is still interesting and I surprised that the concept came from 200 years ago. Also, the conflict between Frankenstein and the monster is interesting because the atmosphere changed suddenly. Also, the monster is not just a crazy monster who likes to kill people and Frankenstein sees the monster as a devil. However, it was hard for me to read twisted long words (or just my personal problem because English is not my first language) and it is board to read the first few parts until the monster shows himself to Frankenstein.