POST 14: Elephant, a Gus Van Sant movie (2003)

Elephant : 




                                     

   
1) What struck you most in the film?

- What struck me is the fact  that teenagers of our age can commit such a crime and be passive as if it was a game.

2) What also impressed you?

- What is also impressed si that both  are not at all check or control and can buy weapons on the Internet without  any check or concerns from their parents.

3) Did you find anything more particularly upsetting?

- I find more particulary upsetting when the deliverer delivered weapons to the house and that the parents or relatives do not appear in all the movie. They are delivered to themselfes.

4) What did you find very disturbing?

- I find very disturbing the idea of killing people in general. In addition to this, both have a great deal of luck and they lead a quiet life.

5) What was most shocking?

- I think that the most shocking is the insecurity and the unconsciousness. They returned into their
high school armed and nobody intervened.

6) What does the film  suggest about the two school shooters?

- The film sugests that  they are not known  compared with other characters and that they have no friends or experience. They live in their world.
However, it does not mean that they have a bad

7) What's more, what does the film director make clear about the two killers?
- The film director shows us that they do not feel at ease in their own life, they are a little lost and that is why they kiss each other. Furthermore, they undergo many mockeries by them classmates.

8) What kind of approach to the school shooting itself did Gus Van Sant opt for?

- Gus Van Sant did a very poetic but also realistic approach of the school shooting. The figure of Benny is very poetic he is like a real angel, his steps, his figure,everything in him is not real. However he shows persons with real problems, like the three girls with bulimia or the guys in the meeting to talk about gay people, that makes the shooting very real.

9) Moreover, what's the main consequence of the realistic treatment he uses? What about the 'poetic' touches he instills throughout the film

- This realistic treatment, we immerce in this mood of serenity and then, horror, fear and mutilation. In the middle of the higher tension scene, we can see a sky with some clouds on it that can give calm and serenity. The piano scene, can give a poetic vision of one of the killers.

10) As a conclusion, what must we admit about the way in which the killing and the killers are perceived by the film viewers? 

- As a conclusion we must admit that the killers are shown as victims of the society , surffering bullying because of high school Young guys , and actually they really need help, they can't being forget and marginalize by the others because this can create a tragedy. Maybe his aim wasn't to denounce the act of the killers, but to criticize the fact that in the United States, it is too easy to get yourself some weapons. But anyways their act is inconceivable.

Post 13

Post 13: 

                                       

                          Steve SACK, on www.startribune.com, Gun Lobby and Congress (2010)

-Definition of Founding Fathers of the United States : 

The Founding Fathers of the United States are the individuals of the Thirteen British Colonies in North America who led the American Revolution against the authority of the British Crown and established the United States of America. The term is also used more narrowly, referring specifically to those who either signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776 or who were delegates to the 1787 Constitutional Convention and took part in drafting the proposed Constitution of the United States. A further subset includes those who signed the Continental Association or the Articles of Confederation. During much of the 19th century, they were referred to as either the "Founders" or the "Fathers".

     The first document is a cartoon by Steve Sack who is an American cartoonist who won a 2013            Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning. 

     There are two caracters in front of the Capitol. One represent the Gun Lobby saying ´Now, where were we, before we were so rudely interrupte` and the other one the congress and the Gun Lobby is giving to the congress a bag which represents money.They are both smiling,which is very caricatural.The blood in the stair can symbolize the fact that they have been shooting in the congress. Steve Sack criticizes the access to guns, and the violence caused. And of  course the government which is more interrested by the money, the congress toward the gun  culture in the United States. 

                    

         Dave GRANDLUND, on www.davegranlund.com, Second Amendment and             NRA (2013)

-Definition of The second amendment : 

The Second Amendment (Amendment II) to the United States Constitution protects the right of the people to keep and bear arms and was adopted on December 15, 1791, as part of the first ten amendments contained in the Bill of Rights. The Supreme Court of the United States has ruled that the right belongs to individuals, while also ruling that the right is not unlimited and does not prohibit all regulation of either firearms or similar devices. State and local governments are limited to the same extent as the federal government from infringing this right per the incorporation of the Bill of Rights.

The Second Amendment was based partially on the right to keep and bear arms in English common law and was influenced by the English Bill of Rights of 1689. Sir William Blackstone described this right as an auxiliary right, supporting the natural rights of self-defense, resistance to oppression, and the civic duty to act in concert in defense of the state.

-Definition of National Rifle Association:

The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) is an American nonprofit organization which advocates for gun rights. Founded in 1871, the group has informed its members about firearm-related bills since 1934, and it has directly lobbied for and against legislation since 1975. It is also the oldest continuously operating civil rights organization in the United States.

Founded to advance rifle marksmanship, the modern NRA continues to teach firearm competency andsafety. It instructs civilians and law enforcement, youths and adults, in various programs. The organization also publishes several magazines and sponsors competitive marksmanship events. Membership surpassed 5 million in May 2013.

Observers and lawmakers see the NRA as one of the top three most influential lobbying groups in Washington. Over its history the organization has influenced legislation, participated in or initiated lawsuits, and endorsed or opposed various candidates.

    In this cartoon there are two parts. On the left, a statue which represent the second             amendment we can see a soldier holding a gun and one the left a "parody" of this statue       with a member of the National Rifle Association who have many guns and who is standing   on munition.This cartoon criticize the fact that the second amendment (as we cann see in    the definition) have giving to the population of USA the right to bear arms and not to protect  themselfs anymore because this right have become danger. It also criticize the NRA which    had taking profit and made a buisness of gun´s culture. 

POST 7; THE IDEA OF PROGRESS: QUANTITY vs. QUALITY

At the beginning of the year we studied the quality and the quantity of the idea of progress, here is both documents which I chose to raise this subject: 

Productivist farming 

Organic farming 

We can see that both documents involve a caricature. The first document concerns the Productivist farming  and it is illustrated by a man who wears a mask or a uniform to put chemicals on plantations while a small  animal asks him ironically if he keeps his mask to eat these products. We can at once associated this cartoon with progress and the idea of quantity, because productivst farming is made to have more quantity of vegetables and products, even if there are limits and consequences.

The second document is ironic too, because we see two children who try to sell some lemon juice, and to sell it more quickly they put a leaf where they claim that the product is an organic lemonade. So we can understand  that  the organic products are faster sold because they are better for the health and for our  planet (Even if they put more time to be produced).

We have then two paradoxical caricatures, one which  makes walk the economy and the quantity, whereas the other one touches the environment, the health and the quality. 

We can then associate them with the idea of  progress and the fact of puting first the economic property and the quantity of products before the health and the quality.