Fat White People

Lately, society has turned its focus to how different races, genders, and cultures are portrayed in media. Most of today’s people would argue the group they belong to has been sighted in some way regarding their portrayal in media. The Oscars’ lack of African American award nominees is the most recent example of this, as it quickly became the theme of the show. While breaking down stereotypes and striving for total equality among human beings is a fantastic and worthy goal that all should work toward, we need to stop being so oversensitive, or we’ll go too far in the other direction. My submission to the textual poaching assignment pokes a bit of fun at this idea.

I belong to the group of people who have the absolute least to complain about. That’s why my piece is a complaint. It is an argument for the demographic of the white, lazy, fat male, to which I belong. We have been misrepresented in media. White men in movies are almost always strong, confident, and with striking good looks. If an actor does not have these qualities, they will most likely be in a comedy. They will be the fat guys in little coats who flop their way to accidental victory. My drawings ask, why must this be? Why can’t our super heroes and romantic heart throbs be lethargic and unattractive? I bet a clumsy, overweight man would be much more likely to fall into a toxic waste spill than Ben Affleck anyway.

The answer to these questions, of course, is because that would be ridiculous. Overweight people should exercise, and white males have had no atrocity happen to them that any other person on Earth hasn’t had to deal with at 500 times the intensity. The point is, society is much better off than we have ever been, yet we complain more than ever. This was the long-winded way to explain the thought process behind my corpulent subjects. It is true that most white men in action or romantic films are beautiful people, so I went to the opposite extreme by taking famous characters: Captain America, Patrick Swayze from Ghost, and Neo from The Matrix, and making them obese. I highlight a stereotype of the white male group to which I belong.

Just like the examples in “How Texts Become Real,” I represent famous movie and comic book characters in a cartoonish, and extreme way because I believe seeing them as fat people would be funny. The people in the passage also rewrote episodes to Star Trek in the way they wanted because they liked it. The fact that I identify more with the drawings rather than the actual characters I portray makes it more personal, but I am not offended by their original forms. The “rewriters” of Star Trek were not doing so because of an issue, and most of the work I make is with the same mentality. These drawings stray from that norm and attempt to recommend the same mentality, at least for some artistic works.

We have made huge strides toward equality, and we continue to make them everyday. Of course there are still some wrinkles to iron out, but overall, life is much better in 2016 than it ever has been. I believe as long as we treat everyone else we meet as equals, we will be fighting inequality in the best way possible.

Medium Specificity

Comedy, A Comedy

Let’s see. What is the funniest way I could start this paper? I need something short, but hilarious or the rest is going to completely bomb. Should I try to be edgy? No, this is BYU. I could always start off with a Harry Potter joke. Everyone here goes crazy over those. I’m pretty sure you have to wait until people know who you are before you can start selling out, though.

Maybe I’ll check my phone. There has to be a good opening liner somewhere in this mess of the thousand jokes I’ve written. I don’t even remember writing half of these. “Cowboy poetry guy?” What does that even mean? “Blue Cheese paint?” Why? Ah! I just saw one, but I can’t find it anymore. Where is it?! It’s too late. It’s gone. Oh wait, there it is! Never mind, that isn’t any good either.

How can I expect to write a paper about comedy if I can’t even think of one good opening line? Maybe I should just write something serious, but that would be even harder. Too bad I’m awful at painting, or else I could just paint a bunch of shapes and call it abstract art, saying things in my artist statement like, “This purple rectangle represents taking a stand against society’s norms;” or “Together, each shape and color tells a story, yet each section of the canvas tells its own.” If I don’t feel like coming up with another BS story, I could just say, “Oh the green triangle? That represents something very personal to me and I don’t feel comfortable sharing it.” No one would even question me. Is that comma the correct punctuation to put in the title, or should that be a semicolon? Okay, focus.

I could start off sarcastically:

Since I’m hilarious, I figured I might as well write about my process of coming up with comedic genius.

That’s not very good.

Or I could take on a mock-serious, historical documentary-like tone:

In the harsh, unforgiving streets of modern Sandy, Utah, one must learn to survive or die. Every day is a fight, a struggle just to make it to the next day. This fight does not include guns nor knives, but rather wit. Daniel Schindler, born February 28th 1992, grew up in the heart of this brutal war, and after making it out alive, he must now share his comedy tactics to save the thousands of others in need.

That last sentence gave off a Lord of the Rings feel for some reason. Oh well; it isn’t bad. I’ll use it as a place holder until I think of something better. I’m also not a fan of “nor knives” in that third sentence. Feels awkward. I’ll figure it out. It’s been two hours and I still can’t decide on the opening line. I need to start moving on.

I really want to include that one joke about accidentally asking a deaf person if it was hard to learn Braille. That might not be funny either though. I could also include the screenplay ideas I have as examples. I could write about the one where a woman’s fear of Hawaiian pizza tears her relationship apart. Or I could write about the story of the two friends hanging out when a choking man bursts through their front door and immediately dies in their living room. Maybe I should just create a comedy screenplay about a comedy screenplay for the assignment.

This whole comedy paper idea might not be any good at all anyway. Won’t it seem cocky or pompous to claim myself good at writing comedy? If I start this paper, I had better make it tear-inducing, or all credentials as being funny will be gone and I’ll look like an idiot. Oh, Dad’s calling. Okay, I need to start writing. Kyle and Gabe are  probably waiting for me to start the movie though. I said I’d be done by six. I don’t really feel like watching Sharknado 3 again. I’ll just write this later. It isn’t due until next Tuesday anyway.

Artist Statement

The point of this written work is to comment on the writing process. In a very personal way, I attempt to explain what goes on in my mind while trying to write a good story or screenplay or any other form of writing, especially comedy.

Although the paper is written as a personal process, I believe the thoughts included are not unlike those many other comedy writers have when writing. Coming up with jokes can sometimes be assumed easy and that naturally funny people can crank them out at will. Professional comedians work hard for their jokes. Hours are spent thinking and observing in order to perform that one simple, three-second joke. This writing was meant to celebrate the hard work involved in making a person laugh.

Many comedians, even the successful ones, are very self-conscious. The thoughts I wrote down were meant to express that anxiety of wondering if people will think the hard worked lines were any good. This aspect of the writing was interesting to analyze. Through the assignment’s writing process, I included my actual thoughts throughout the paper. Many came across as self-conscious and unconfident, and it was interesting to see them on paper. They made the comedy less funny. I believe that is not an accident. It is most likely the reason comedians and comedy writers act confident and excited while performing or presenting their work. No one laughs at the sad clown. So the audience sees the confidence in the work, and assumes the naturally funny person simply came up with jokes from the top of his head.

This style of writing thoughts and thinking patterns, which act as the foundation for which ideas are born, pays an homage to the comic from class. The comic was about comics, all the different kinds, their history, and more, but all through a comic. This paper was meant to accomplish the same goal. Like the comic showed the real world of making comics in a different way, I attempt to demonstrate the real world of writing.

In order to express the fact that the words written were thoughts, they were written in italics. The words acting as what was being written in the “actual paper” were with normal font. The sentences written in the paper are also very scattered and unorganized. This was intentional because that’s how thoughts are. The actual organization arrives after being filtered onto the word processor.

Although the paper has its moments, it mostly lacks in humor, which may be surprising to the reader. If it were not written this way, and instead included a joke every other sentence, the writing would not have worked. It would not have been realistic nor a work of medium specificity. It was the best way I could think of to celebrate the realness and hard work that goes into writing comedy.

Historical Story

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Byac-xQoW-s1ZzdNZE9KWlFleVk/view?usp=sharing

The aftermath of the Civil War, referred to by historians as the Reconstruction era, is an often misunderstood part of American history. Our screenplay is a psychological narrative where two flawed individuals, a fictional protagonist named William Cromwell and the infamous John Wilkes Booth, reflect some of the darker ideals of both the North and South respectively as Reconstruction occurred. William Cromwell reflects extreme self-interest of the industrialized North while John Wilkes Booth reflects Southern romantic idealism. Due to shrewdness, Cromwell wins in the end and profits for himself while Booth meets his demise much like the Southern ideals he espouses. Much like Citizen Kane, we wanted the plot to center on complicated characters with whom we could sympathize with, but also criticize. Our story is not only critical of some of the North’s treatment of the South at the end of the Civil War, but it also stands as a caution to current society of the damaging effects of extreme self-interest on American society.

Additionally, we wanted our story to be a bit unrealistic in its presentation by incorporating a bit of humor and improbability much like what was portrayed in our class reading of The Veil, which slightly exaggerates reality and suggests a personal viewpoint of events through its animation style. We too did not try to fully present reality, but rather exaggerate the ideals of the two main characters in order to further establish our theme and caution. We wanted it to be obvious that our story was based heavily on personal opinions and attitudes, yet informed by objective historical events.

The attitudes and beliefs of our protagonist were based off an often forgotten group from the Civil War era--carpetbaggers. We forget that there was more going on than simply North vs South. According to our research, “...most carpetbaggers probably combine the desire for personal gain with a commitment to taking part in an effort “to substitute the civilization of freedom for that of slavery.”” (Eric Foner, Reconstruction: America’s Unfinished Revolution 1863-1877, (1988) p. 296) William Cromwell was based off of this group. Although he did not agree with the John Booth, he worked with the pro-southern man in order to make money. After he acquired such money, he quickly sold out John Booth to the Union soldiers, fighting for freedom in a dark and betraying way. Based on this context, the story stands as a criticism of the North’s treatment of the South post-Civil War, where many “carpetbaggers” took advantage of the South in order to gain personal profit. Cromwell became a microcosm for some Northern attitudes after the war, which were based on self-interest and moral justification.

The second part of our historical research went deeper into the events surrounding the Lincoln assassination and the motives (as history suggests) of John Wilkes Booth. We knew the Lincoln was killed at Ford’s Theater by a gunshot wound, but were surprised to find that Booth’s plan included conspiring with multiple individuals in order to cripple the U.S government beyond President Lincoln. A noted Civil War reporter, George Alfred Townsend, stated in regards to the co-conspirators, “Booth informed Powell, Herold, and Atzerodt of his intention to kill Lincoln. He assigned Powell to assassinate Secretary of State William H. Seward and Atzerodt to assassinate Vice President Andrew Johnson. Herold would assist in their escape into Virginia.” We also learned that another target was going to be Ulysses S. Grant, but he decided not to show up to the theater at the last moment. Given these facts, we were inspired to place our protagonist in the assassination scheme and have his target be Grant, as this would set up the opportunity for the protagonist to separate from and betray Booth in the aftermath of the assassination. Since our protagonist was fictional, it presented a nice “what if” scenario we could play with in order to further establish the theme of self-interest over ideals.

On this topic, we also looked into reports regarding Booth’s personal motives for assassinating Lincoln.  In his 2005 analysis of Lincoln's assassination, Thomas Goodrich wrote, "All the elements in Booth's nature came together at once – his hatred of tyranny, his love of liberty, his passion for the stage, his sense of drama, and his lifelong quest to become immortal." We thought that Booth should be a complicated character much like the protagonist. By making him a character with somewhat plausible reasoning behind his actions, and being betrayed by his ally, Cromwell, we wanted to portray Booth simply as a man with a strong credo. He believed in freedom and standing up for personal truth, which are both inherently American ideals. In the end, Booth and our protagonist both wanted to assert their individuality and achieve some personal end by their actions, but went about it in very different ways. The characters remind us to be careful with our own ambitions, as we too can be caught up with outside circumstances as we make our own history.

Process Piece

Initially, telling a story strictly through audio without the accompaniment of video, or any other element for that matter, might seem to be difficult and confusing. For us it certainly was. One of the elements we found most compelling about processes we watched before class such as “The Smokehouse” or “Five” were the visuals (especially of delicious food). However, upon completion of the audible sequence, the result was surprisingly beautiful.

For this project, we struggled finding the right process to present. Originally, we wanted depict what it is like trying to find something to watch on TV, but on our first attempt, we realized we wanted something a little more engaging. Certainly watching television is a common human labor, but besides the clicking of the remote and the sounds of the shows, there aren’t very many ways to go with it.

As we explored the idea, our original concept evolved into the process of going to the movie theater. Sounds of popcorn, tickets ripping, and friends and family enjoying themselves permeate the audio clip. Each sound invokes a memory, as all of us in this class have been to the movie theater. We decided to take that aspect of nostalgia one step further by creating the process of seeing a movie being shown on film. Because of this element, we had to create a composite of sounds from the past and present. Probably the most compelling aspect of the created piece hearing a film projector, giving the audio piece more of an authentic sound.

The piece follows the basic story model well. It was created as a sort of audio POV piece of the process of going to see a film at the movie theater. There are even different sounds in each ear, not unlike the “Virtual Barber Experience” found on YouTube. Our process starts with the ambiance of waiting in line to buy a ticket, then leads to ripping the ticket, buying popcorn, and finally arriving at the seats. With a distinct beginning, middle, and end, the story is able to be told without the use of dialogue.

It is interesting that a story actually can be told without a narrator holding the audience’s hand to guide through the tale, or even visuals. Instead, we experience a narrative simply through real life sound effects. The fact that the audio clip turned out realistic and rather easy to follow was a surprise because of the aforementioned beliefs on the subject.

The process of finding a process to record was the largest task. With digital films currently dominating the theater market, it is difficult to find a theater that even has a film projector anymore. After various phone calls and research, we were fortunate enough to get in touch with the one theater in Provo that still owns a film camera. They graciously gave us a tour. Possibly more enjoyable than actually creating the piece, learning about the old projector as well as taking a tour of the old SCERA Theater was an unforgettable experience. The kindness of the theater’s employees was what ultimately made this project possible.

Hopefully the audience of our process piece is able to further appreciate all that goes into screening a film, as well as reminisce on wonderful experiences of going to the pictures. We also aimed to reflect on the beautiful history of film’s progression to the point where it is now. Perhaps next time the listener goes to a movie, he will think more about the process after listening to this piece.

https://soundcloud.com/barrett-burgin/film-process-piece