O'Connell: The Planet of the Apes

Limbo and Thade

A big duality in The Planet of the Apes was the theme of science vs. primitivism. Even though apes have become the dominant species on this planet they are still far behind technologically. They use old fashioned forms of warfare with spears and armor. The technology that the humans possess, such as Davidson’s gun, strike fear in the apes. One ape goes as far to call it “sorcery.”

                One important scene that illustrates this is when Thade’s father educated him on how intelligent humans can actually be. He tells Thade to destroy the red vase in his room only to reveal a gun that was invented by the humans. Thade’s father explains to Thade that this is a symbol of how destructive humans can be. Thade, who already loathes all humans, hates them even more after his Father shows him their modern weaponry. This shows the technological gap between apes and humans. The apes use a form of medieval warfare, equipped with spears and horses. The gun shines even more negative light on humans because Thade thought they were worthless before, but not he knows that they can be dangerous.

                Another scene that shows this duality is when Davidson goes back to the crash site to retrieve his gun. He retrieves it because it is the only means of defense against the apes. This is also the first time Ari and Krull ever see a device like this. Even on their escape together they still remain ignorant of what humans are capable of. When Davidson first shoots it, Krull calls it “sorcery.” This is shows how the apes will simply dismiss something that they don’t understand. The gun obviously scares both Ari and Krull and eventually leads Krull to destroying the gun all together. Afterwards Ari asks “Who would invent such a terrible thing?” (Or something along those lines)The apes are still totally in the dark because their faith in their religion and lack of knowledge hinders them. They are unwilling to accept something that contradicts their religion.  Krull destroys it because he considers it evil and that they would be better without it. However, he doesn’t understand that it is the only thing that can defend against the ape onslaught. 

O'Connell: Mars Attacks

The first Martian visit

Tim Burton’s film Mars Attacks takes on many aspects of the U.S. government, including the military, political authorities, and many disaster and science fiction films of the last few years. This is probably why so many American moviegoers were turned off by its obvious mocking of American values. Thanks to Pierce Brosnan’s character, the president is under the impression that the Martians are friendly and come in peace. This is until they zap everyone in sight when they first make contact. Even after this happens, the U.S. government still tries to be friendly with the Martians even at the expense of the lives of many Americans. One of the biggest parts of the films is also the biggest mockery of our nation’s defense system. General Decker suspected the Martians were evil all along and is constantly badgering the President to take action against them. None of the weapons work and every attempt is futile. Even when they launch a nuclear missile to the Martian spaceships they simply send out a balloon-like device that sucks up the explosion. One of the Martians makes fun of the humans by inhaling the contents of the balloon like it’s nothing. It also gives his voice a high-pitched squeak. The Martians do a lot to embarrass the U.S. government but nothing is as embarrassing as two small-town people from Kansas doing the job they can’t. Richie and his grandmother figure out how to kill the aliens by accident and save the human race. The government is looked to for help by many citizens and is counted on to fix our nation’s problems. This film mocks the government making every one of their attempts pointless when all they had to do was play a song. Another big way the film parodies the government is by having Jack Nicholson play dual roles as the President of the United States and a sleazy real estate developer named Art Land living in Las Vegas. All art cares about is money and his greediness is fully put on display. Burton is asking us to question whether we really know the president at all and what he’s really like out of the view of the public eye. 

O'Connell: Ed Wood

Lugosi and Wood

One can draw a lot of parallels between Tim Burton and Ed Wood. They have many things in common and you can tell why Burton would want to make a film about someone like Ed Wood. Rather than focusing on Wood’s cheesy films, he illustrates what went into them. Wood is an outcast himself in a lot of ways and that is something Burton can relate to. He wants to show the drive behind Wood and how he didn't let anything stop him Lugosi and Wood from creating his vision.

Burton credits Wood by glorifying his life, even though a lot of people viewed him as a loser. He shows how passionate Wood was about his films despite the opinions of a lot of people. He mouths every word to his films and watches intently at the work he has put on screen. Wood remained endlessly optimistic despite his shortcomings and this makes the audience root for him. He is also portrayed as an extremely non-judgmental person, which allows him to have a posse of outcasts. A line from the character Kathy O’Hara pretty much sums up Wood: “You should feel lucky, Eddies the only fella in town who doesn't pass judgment on people.” They remain loyal to him because he has faith in them no matter what. Even though most people viewed Lugosi as a washed up has-been, Wood believed in him and still treated him like the greatest actor to ever live. Wood also went through great lengths to fund his films. Time and time again he struggles to get all his films made despite all the negative criticism.  Burton recognized Wood’s drive to make films and does him justice by dedicating a film to him. Burton also lifts scenes directly from Wood’s films because to pay homage to the kinds of films Wood was trying to make. It gives a wider perspective on what kind of person Wood really was and what he was trying to achieve. Burton gave Wood the praise and recognition he deserves through this film

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O'Connell: Robot Boy

"He just lay there and stared, not living or dead."

                Out of all the poems in the The Meloncholy Deaths of Oyster Boy & Other Stories, one that really stood out to me was “Robot Boy.” This is one of the longer ones in Burton’s book of poems and it probably relates to Burton’s life the most. Robot Boy is an obvious symbol of Burton’s childhood because he is an outcast from society who no one understands, not even his parents. Like Robot boy’s parents, Burton’s parents never connected with him as he did not fit in the world of suburbia. Burton felt that it stifled his creativity, making him feel like an outsider. In “Robot Boy,” Mr. and Mrs. Smith are described as a happy couple before the birth of their son, their lives now are even described as being filled with “misery and strife.” This relates to Burton because he felt that his parents were much happier before he was born. It eventually lead him to live with his grandmother, this is probably why he describes Robot boy as being “mistaken for a trash can,” because he felt like he had been thrown away by his parents.

                When it comes to Carl Jung, his theories about looking for wholeness perfectly match the lives of Mr. and Mrs. Smith, they used child birth to continue their journey for completion. When their child does not live up to their expectations, they become miserable. Their bundle of joy ended up being a cold, metallic trash can. This poses the question of whether parents can love their children unconditionally even if they are born with some kind of deformity. In a way, Mr. and Mrs. Smith are the monsters, instead of taking responsibility for the wife’s wrongdoing and care for their child; they blame him for their unhappiness. Robot Boy still fulfills Jung’s theory of individuation. He is barely mobile at the beginning of the story but is eventually described as growing into a young man. This is Robot boy’s “movement of the Self towards wholeness.” Despite the fact that he is “mistaken for a trashcan,” he goes on to live his life.

O'Connell: Mardi Gras

Bourbon Street on Fat Tuesday

As someone who was born and raised in New Orleans, Mardi Gras is my favorite time of year. It is the time that everyone comes together and focuses on having fun before going back to their normal lives. It is a blast starting from the first big parade of Muses all the way to Fat Tuesday. What I love about parades is how excited everyone is to be experiencing Mardi Gras and doing their best to catch something. Whether it is a shoe from Muses or a coconut from Zulu, every parade has its own unique aspect about it. I always make sure to be at the front of the crowd in order to catch something good. The visual of the floats are also amazing because they are so intricately designed and have such interesting designs. No float looks the same. My favorite day of Mardi Gras is probably Fat Tuesday. My house is downtown in the Marigny area and it is the perfect place to watch the Fat Tuesday crowd. Everyone comes out in their detailed costumes that they have been preparing for months and you can people watch for hours. Everyone goes all out and the streets are filled with interesting characters. It is very cool to see people’s unique ideas come to life. It is also when the French Quarter is packed and buzzing with activity. There is always something to do or something to see and you are never bored. It is a time when one breaks away from their regular routine and goes out and enjoys themselves.

When talking about Burton’s films, a lot of his characters seem like they would be right at home in a carnival setting. A lot of his costumed character’s elaborate appearance could easily be compared to the craziness of Fat Tuesday. Characters like The Joker, The Penguin, Catwoman, and Edward Scissorhands all mirror the costumes one would wear during carnival season. The best example is probably The Joker, whose antics and crazy get-up create a colorful character that fits the mold of a trickster. Mardi Gras involves a lot of trickery which suits him perfectly. As for the underlying chaos of carnival, a lot of Burton’s characters are vividly colorful and flamboyant on the outside, but are actually dark and evil on the inside.

O'Connell: Edward Scissorhands

The hedges of Edward's castle

Edward Scissorhands has many elements in it that makes it similar to a fairy tale. For example, Edward lives in a castle on top of a giant hill that overlooks the town. This is similar to the fairy tale castles that reoccur in many tales, an example of this is the Disney castle. Edward is also not human, but a machine that was created by an ingenious inventor. He becomes the misunderstood monster that you see in so many stories whose only desire is to fit in. Edward’s deformity rouses people’s curiosity at first but this eventually leads to fear. Kim is also a link in the film to several fairytales; she is the beautiful girl that the monster longs for. Edwards’s condition startles Kim and makes her apprehensive at first but like so many other fables, she sees the good in him and eventually falls in love. Though their predicaments keep them apart, Edward experiences love with another person for the first time. Even though fairytales, especially Grimm’s fairytales, contain many violent elements that teach a moral; Edward is not a violent character. Sometimes he hurts people by accident, but he would never go out of his way to hurt someone intentionally. It is actually the people of the suburb that are much more sadistic than he is. They don’t even begin to try and understand him. At first they use him because they find out he is skilled in certain things, such as trimming hedges and giving haircuts, but ultimately none of them care about him. Edward physical appearance is simply too much for the townspeople to handle, making his quest for completion that much more difficult. Edward is almost immediately thrust into an environment by the Avon lady that is almost totally identical in every aspect. The houses are all the same other than the paint color and all the woman in the neighborhood are bored and petty housewives. Despite the bright and welcoming image that the town puts on, the townspeople are unkind and thrive off of gossip. An especially nasty character is Joyce, she is just as bored as all the other woman but also manages to be promiscuous at the same time. She tries to seduce Edward and when he rejects her she turns it around on him so that all the townspeople think he tried to rape her. This is just one unfortunate event out of many that lead to Edward’s exile from the town. 

O'Connell: Catwoman

Batman Vs. Catwoman

Catwoman and Batman are both characters with complex personalities. They both have dark pasts and mysterious personal lives. The most important similarity between the two is the fact that they both have dual identities. Catwoman during the day is just a normal woman named Selina Kyle. She is a beautiful and confident woman that Bruce Wayne is instantly intrigued by. She is a much more mysterious and sexualized version Vicki Vale. But much like Bruce, she has inner struggles of trying to dicscover herself. Before she was thrown off the roof, left for dead, she was a shy and soft-spoken young woman. Her new found confidence was awoken when she came back to life as Catwoman. Her alter-ego was the answer to her desires of becoming an independent woman. It also brought her a new feeling of hatred for all men. Outside of the bat suit, Bruce Wayne is a reclusive and depressed individual that hardly leaves the house. The complexity of each character’s personality brings a certain kind of balance to their relationship. The new Selena is able to say whatever she wants without hesitation, causing her to talk to Bruce flirtatiously. Bruce is attracted to her in a way that he never felt when she was just the regular shy Selina Kyle. She is also obviously attracted to him in spite of her hatred for men. This hatred comes out when she puts on her mask. Her sense of empowerment causes her to be very aggressive towards Batman. But even under all the violence there is a lingering sense of chemistry between the two. This is what ends up being the downfall of Catwoman. Even when they discover each other’s true identities, Bruce feels that it could work out because they are so similar. He feels like he’s finally met someone who understands him. Selina, on the other hand, is still trying to figure out her true identity. She has not come to terms with herself so early in her resurrection as Catwoman. Her attraction to a man that she should hate scares her. It contrasts with her secret identity and eventually leads to her demise.