Chapter 7: (pgs. 224-269)
"Parallel plots refer to the implied simultaneity of or connection between two different plot lines, usually with their intersection at one or more points (pg. 250)."
There are parallel plot time lines going on in the movie The Social Network (2010). For example, when Mark Zuckerberg, a highly intelligent and socially awkward under class man at Harvard, was rejected by a girl he liked who liked guys that "rowed" and belonged to the Finals Clubs, Mark creates a website for guys to go on to rate the "hotness" of girls at Harvard. He got so many hits, he shut down the Harvard mainframe computer. After hearing about this Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, two handsome twin brothers who were upper class man at Harvard and who were also successful "rowers" and members of the Finals Club, all the things Mark Zuckerberg wasn't, but wanted to be, heard about Mark's success in crashing Harvard's computer system with an overload of Internet hits, they asked him to help them create an exclusive social network for Harvard students only. Mark liked their idea so much that while they were waiting to hear if he was interested in working with them, he began creating what would later be called Facebook, the most successful social networking website on the Internet.
As the movie progresses, Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss see how successful Mark Zuckerberg's website is, they decide to file a lawsuit claiming that he had stolen their idea. Meanwhile, Mark had created a company with some of his friends. His best friend Eduardo was the CFO of the company. He put up the first $1,000 to get the company started. Throughout the movie, as money is needed, Eduardo continues to come up with money to keep the company going.
There is a side plot line where Eduardo Saverin files a lawsuit against Mark Zuckerberg because he is double crossed and the percentage of his share in the company was reduced to 2% without his knowledge. Eduardo realizes how much money is at stake and since he put up the initial money to start the company, he feels that he should have a larger share in the company. Mark justifies his actions by telling Eduardo that he was not getting them the advertisers they needed. He said that he had found someone else who could do the job. That is when Eduardo had enough and files suit. This is going on at the same time that the other law suit is happening. As the movie progresses, we the movie goers, get to see more than one plot line going on at the same time. It was interesting to see how things get resolved in the end. Mark Zuckerberg settles with the Winklevoss twins for $65,000,000.00 and he settled with Eduardo for an undisclosed amount. At the time, it must have seemed like such a huge sum of money. But, since Mark Zuckerberg is now worth billions of dollars, what at first seemed like a lot of money is really just a drop in the proverbial bucket.
"Multiple narratives are found in films that use several different narrative perspectives for a single story or for different stories in a movie that loosely fits these perspectives together (pg. 258)."
In The Social Network (2010) Eduardo Saverin, Mark Zuckerberg's best friend, shares narration with him throughout the movie. Whenever the story relates to him and his story, Eduardo narrates. When the actual character narrates their own story, it helps the movie goer to better relate to that character. You start to see things from their point of view. It helps the story develop depth and it becomes multi-dimensional and, therefore, more interesting. At first, I did not think I would like this movie. However, I was pleasantly surprised at how the actors were able to really give substance and relatability to the characters they portrayed. I think the movie was well written and socially relevant along with being surprisingly entertaining.
Chapter 13: (pgs. 485-494)
"Any system of communication substitutes signs for objects, and such naming is more than a natural process (pg. 486)."
In the movie Inception (2010), the spinning top was a symbol of significance. The first significance attached to the top was the connection of the main character, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, to his children in the story. The second significance was that this object was his only way back to them. I found this symbol to be a very powerful visual effect and an example of semiotics used by the director, Christopher Nolan, in the making of this film.
Am I awake or am I dreaming?
Sometimes, when you are in a dream state it is as if you are in a movie. Similarly, when you are conscious while watching a movie, you can be so lost in the story that you are in a dream-like state. For example, in the movie Inception (2010), it is hard to tell if you are watching the characters while they are dreaming or watching them when they are awake. The dream sequences are set up in such a way that you begin to question your ability to recognize the perceived reality while watching this film. Especially at the end, you are sure that he made it out and that he finally got to go home. But did he really? Did the top keep spinning, indicating that he was still dreaming? Or did it fall, indicating that he was, in fact, awake? I think they should have a sequel to that movie. I would like to find out what happened to him in the end.
"The human subject relates to pictures in a particularly powerful way rooted in one of the earliest images to leave an impression on us, our own reflection in the mirror (pg. 490)."
While watching a movie, people have a way of convincing themselves that an image on the movie screen is real. Even though, intellectually, they know it is an illusion. We have all identified with characters in a movie for one reason or another. Because of the way that movies are filmed, we often are seeing the world through the eyes of one or more of the characters in a movie. It is easy to get lost in that character's world. Also, we see a lot of ourselves in many of the characters we see on the silver screen. Many of our own characteristics are reflected back to us through them. Sometimes you can be watching a movie and you could swear that the movie was made just for you. I feel that way about the movie The Lovely Bones (2009). There were so many similarities in that movie to my own life. I feel personally connected to that movie. The visual imagery in that movie hit me like a ton of bricks. I was deeply affected by the symbols used to tell the story in that movie.
"The novel, the distinctive middle-class cultural form of the nineteenth century, gave the hero psychological and realistic field of action. The novels basic narrative form is adopted by motion pictures, just as many famous novels were adapted for the screen (pg. 488)."
While a novel can tell a story over hundreds of pages, a movie, on the other hand, only has a few hours to tell its story. Film makers have a lot of information to convey to the audience in a short period of time. It takes a skilled storyteller to be able to accomplish this ominous task.
Work Cited
Feb. 2011. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1285016/.
"Inception (2010) - IMDb." The Internet Movie Database (IMDb). Web. 26 Feb. 2011.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1375666/.
"The Lovely Bones (2009) - IMDb." The Internet Movie Database (IMDb). Web. 26 Feb.
2011. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0380510/.
2011. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0380510/.
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