Going Once, Going Twice, Sold.

     "To Be Or Not To Be" is one of the most important scenes of Hamlet. It is interesting to see how three directors decided to shoot this scene three different ways. Although the three scenes are of the same speech, they have various impacts on the viewer by using certain settings or props.
     Out of the three, the least powerful seemed to be Hamlet performed by Lawrence Olivier. The opening scene of the beach seemed unfitting and the dramatic music seems to over power the meaning of the actual speech. The way he says the speech also seems awkward and meaningless as if he were just reading lines. Having a knife as a prop was a good idea, but it was executed the wrong way. This whole scene is just a train wreck of over dramatization and kills the "To Be Or Not To Be" speech.
     The next scene that was slightly more powerful to me was Hamlet performed by Kenneth Branagh. Once again the setting seemed slightly off. The emptiness of the big room conveys a feeling of emptiness and loneliness to me which is how Hamlet should feel. But at the same time all the white and mirrors in the room bring a sense of lightness and clarity, which is not how Hamlet feels during this speech. Hamlet speaking to himself in the mirror is definitely creepy, but it accurately represents his insanity. This is also another case where a knife was used as a prop, this time it was used more appropriately and had a stronger impact. I think towards the end of the speech they took the insanity factor over the edge.They portrayed Hamlet as overly crazy and angry, specially while he held the knife against his face as he spoke.
     My favorite representation of Hamlet is done by Mel Gibson. I think the director had the best representation of Hamlet and really captured what Shakespeare wanted his audience to see. This scene is shot in the tomb of Hamlet's father, which I couldn't picture Hamlet being in any other spot during this speech. All the darkness and death that surrounds Hamlet is extremely fitting. Here Hamlet speaks as if he were upset and angry, which is how it should be done. His emotions are confused and so is he, to the point that he is considering the worth of life and death.
     Capturing so much emotion and meaning in one scene is a hard thing to do. I congratulate all the directors that attempted their views on Hamlet. The worth of their attempts is left up to each individual viewer. Even though I do find one better than the other, I believe they all were a job well done.

The Hunt For Creativity.

   Creativity. Everyone seems to be lacking it nowadays. It is almost impossible to listen to a song, read a book, or watch a movie without having that “I’ve seen or heard this before” feeling. Before I continue on to explain what I mean, I must make a few things clear first.  My first point is that there are only 7 non overlapping original story plots. As I recall from Mrs. Hewsen’s class last year, the plots are man vs. nature, man vs. man, man vs. the environment, man vs. machines/technology, man vs. the supernatural, man vs. self, and man vs. god/religion. My second point being that books, movies, and songs, are the same thing, just represented in a different way. My example to clarify what I mean is about Alice. There are numerous books telling the story of Alice and her adventures in Wonderland. On top of the books, there are multiple movie versions and quite a few songs that are about Alice in Wonderland or reference to it such as White Rabbit and Alice. Each different source still shares the common theme of telling Alice’s adventures.
    Books and movies are great sources of entertainment and culture, but when you start mixing the two is when it starts to get disappointing. It’s one thing if you want to make a movie based off a book, but to redo that movie/book over and over again is another. There should be a limit when it comes to movies. If you make one movie based off a book that should be it, no remakes, no special editions, nothing, except what’s already done. Another disappointing thing about the whole movie/book combo is that they always leave out the best parts! I can’t even begin to count how many times I was disappointed to find out a favorite part from a book was cut out of a movie and I’m sure I am not alone.
    Another thing, what is a song anyway? It’s nothing more than a sung poem really… if it’s done right. Songs are great sources of literature, culture, and learning when they’re done well. They also tend to tell a tale as well, almost like a secret story for you to find or piece together.  Personally, out of the three sources of literature and language that I listed, music would be my favorite, but even in today’s culture music is starting to become redundant like books and movies. You know things aren’t going so well creative wise when artists are covering other artists’ songs from the same decade. I just stumbled across a well known artist covering a song that came out last year from another well known artist.  

   Also, it seems like every time the radio is turned on, quite a few of the “new” songs that they are playing are just remixed and redone versions of songs from the early 90’s and 80’s that they don’t think we’ll catch on to.  I’ve noticed that it is mostly hip hop and rap type artists that are making these remixes. I think the worst part about this is that they usually don’t give credit where credit is due, usually due to some ridiculous loophole. If you are going to reuse someone else's creatively put together song, their own poetic words, at least give them credit. There are many examples of this but I think the most obvious one that I can think of at this moment would be Jason Derulo. The Chorus and name of Jason Derulo’s Watcha Say is clearly taken Imogen Heap’s Hide and Seek. But how many people know that or even know who Imogen Heap is? As much as I recommend listening to the whole song, for educational purposes, you can skip to 2:50 in Imogen Heap’s song to hear where the original “mmm watcha say” came from. Hide and Seek was released back in May of ‘05 and has received barely any recognition. Jason Derulo used the song for his ‘09 hit which topped charts and received other recognitions, which Imogen Heap didn’t get any credit from.
    Not to go too far off topic, but speaking of rap/hip hop and language, I find it extremely funny how the tone of a song will decide how a person reacts to it. I know many people that claim to hate particular rap songs, yet when they hear a cover of it by a pop or punk artist, aka punk goes crunk, they fall in love with it automatically. I don’t mean to be so negative about books, movies, and music since I love them just as much as the next person,  but this lack of originality and creativeness is slowly starting to get out of hand. What’s the point of having all these wonderful options if they are only going to steal the original works and words of other people and pass them off as their own?

The Paper Market

     After listening to The Paper Market my opinion about Nick Mamatas has certainly changed. You can usually tell a lot about a person based on how they talk and present themselves. That tends to be more accurate than basing one's personality off of their writing or whatever else you choose. Honestly, my opinion of Nick Mamatas after reading his article, The Term Paper Artist, was that he was sort of stuck up and a English fiend. I also believed that he looked down upon those inferior than himself.

     Now that I have fully listened to the interview, I feel that I can make a more accurate conclusion about Nick Mamatas and who he really is. I must say that I am actually somewhat disappointed. He didn't talk or sound like anything I imagined, except for the fact that he still talked badly about his "dumb clients". Also, for someone who writes for a living, you would think that they would have better speaking skills. I'm just as guilty as the next person, but I find it less acceptable for someone like him to continuously use place holders such as like, uhm, and uh. I also can't believe that he would purposely send papers to college professors. I understand where he's coming from, but just because someone is rude to you, that doesn't mean you can just go meddling with their papers or class. They paid for your service after all and it's bad for business. Until I read or hear something to prove otherwise, I'm under the assumption that Nick Mamatas is nothing more than a big-headed bully.

Nick Mamatas, The Term Paper Artist.

     Nick Mamatas is an accomplished author, who recounts his days as a term paper writer. According to him, it was a way to make ends meet while working on his independent works, that of which eventually lead him to the prominence, or success if one will, that he has today. According to Mamatas, "Thanks to the First Amendment, it’s protected speech, right up there with neo-Nazi rallies, tobacco company press releases, and those "9/11 Was An Inside Job" bumper stickers." He recalls the instances that made him laugh, and the necessity of doing so. As he states, "The secret to the gig is to amuse yourself. I have to, really, as most paper topics are deadly boring." Additionally, he described other parts of his successful process for paper writing, including the ability to fill pages. For instance, he describes a time when he finished a paper that his peer could not by, "ending paragraphs with the last word on a whole line in order to fill up space."
      The article, THE TERM PAPER ARTIST by Nick Mamatas is really a slice out of the autobiography of any writer. In it, he identifies the main struggles of any writer, the ability to generate income by one's profession. He begins his article in the setting of a party, stating, "One great way to briefly turn the conversation toward myself at a party is to answer the question, "So, what do you do?" with, I'm a writer." This implies his accruement of wealth, even to a small degree. Even if it doesn't to everyone, it implies that he isn't homeless (as some writers practically are). Then, he essentially flashes back to his days as a freelance writer. He goes about chronicling his experience as a term paper writer, with both its good points and bad. His recounting of money and the ability to pay the bills comes up more than once. For instance, he describes, "boiling the 1000-page New Testament Theology by Donald Guthrie into a 30-page précis over the course of a weekend for a quick $600." Through his telling of his own time period of writing papers for money, he alludes to the fact that it is not an example of unordinary circumstance, but rather a happening that can be considered even to be a uniting occurrence between authors. Ultimately, I feel that he seeks to reveal the struggle that almost all writers encounter through his own clever and at least outwardly humorous recounting of his own experience.