zaaaAP Lit SuperBlog

Fourth Quarter, With a Side of Poetry

Turning a deaf ear to the usual groans, I would like to state my fondness for the current poetry unit. While I also enjoyed the first unit, this one comes about at possibly the most opportune time. The transcendentalism fits especially well with my current state of mind.

Think about the subject matter of the poems of Whitman. Instead of succeeding in a laboratory or learning in a lecture, he'd rather be outside, enjoying his beloved country. Amen, I say. Can any of my senior classmates remain studious in classrooms with windows presenting endless possibilities to have more fun than in any class? Sorry Bernie, my mind is 76 percent elsewhere.

Even worse, as Whitman would agree, are classes entirely without windows. Under these circumstances, a mind is trapped in a cage with its foe, forced to duke it out until there is a clear winner. The loser must be either your imagination or your grade.

Of course, to point out a fault in something without offering a solution is useless. I submit this as an argument for Bernie's holding of at least one class outside. We could experience our natural state together and then perhaps write a poem or two. I know I would appreciate some guidance for my exploration of nature.

Native Representations in The Piano

After tearing up during The Piano or getting frustrated with the husbands lack of respect for his wife, did anyone realize how the natives were characterized? Do you remember the scene in which they are performing the play and a the womens heads are bloody in the sheets? As the native man ran on stage to rescue this woman, I sighed at yet another racist depiction of those who are different from us. Or how about when they are banging on the piano like animals. Let's be honest, these judgments are similar to those in Heart of Darkness. Don't forget when the elder natives are laughing and encouraging their offspring to hump the trees...okay need I say more. Even though I loved the movie The Piano, I think it is important to explore underlying judgments made that separate from gender.

Talented Actress

I was reading an article on The Piano online (just a description of the plot and list of actors) and it mentioned something that surprised me.  Holly Hunter, the actress who plays Ada, actually played her own piano pieces for the film.  I guess that this means she is a talented pianist as well as actress.

Holly Hunter received an Academy Award for Best Actress for The Piano, which I think is well deserved.  She had to communicate emotions without speech, and she did so successfully--through her facial expressions, gestures and (of course) playing the piano.  I think that those three things were more effective for communication than her sign language.

Ah what the Heck...

Its ok men, as seen in Piano, it doesn't matter what you learned as a youth about courting women, and the manners involving creating a relationship.  To save all that time and hassle we can just blatantly ask the woman to fufill our sexual desires.  If she says no, its no big deal... really.  Just keep harrassing her until she gives in to your requests.  All you have to do is ask her how she feels every now and again to keep from being a total jerk.  It's just that easy! 

But on a more serious note, this is ridiculous.  The "love connection" and its come to being in the Piano was highly unrealistic regardless of the time period of the movie.

Would You Run Around Naked?

So I've noticed that there seems to be a community within a community in "The Piano". Basically the "savages" vs. the settlers who came there across the sees. These two communities are so easily recognizable because both keep there cultures strong. The Settlers still run around in their fancy suites and dresses while the savages still run around with almost nothing on.

    But doesn't it make sense for the settlers to eventually just start running around naked with savages? The females dresses just get dirty while the men just extremely sweaty in their suites. Its simply adaptation to the environment around them. So what would you do if you  were in the situation? Keep your  manners  strong or adapt to the ways of the land.

The Passion of Music

As we watched the film this week, I started to really think about Ada and her passion for music. Without her piano she was sort of lost, bored even. She carved the keys of a piano into the kitchen table and imagined playing. She will do anything to get her piano back as we have seen. Though what she is doing is affecting her daughter and her husband, she continues, and she will continue until that piano is hers. I only hope that at some point in my life I can find a  passion like Ada's piano playing. To have something in your life you will fight forever for is a gift. Whether it is playing the piano, my job, my family, etc... I hope that I will find a passion.

Who's More Savage?

The motif of savagery and civilization from "The Heart of Darkness" reappears in "The Piano".  The supposedly savage Maoris seem to have more morals than the Anglo-Saxon whites, the very epitome of the "civilization" in the imperialist era.

It is a Maori who displays chivalry during the play when he rushes the stage with a club to defend the soon-to-be decapitated woman.  It is also the Maoris who encourage marriage, while it is Eda, the white woman who sells her body for the piano, and a white man who requests her to do it.  Eda, in fact, is the best example of white savagery through her childish tantrums, her use of seduction to get what she wants, and her obsession with the piano, she, like Kurtz, reveals the savagery of lurking in the supposedly civilized whites.

The Key to Her Heart

Although this movie is somewhat wierd to watch in class, I think there is a great analogy.  This sort of piggybacks off of Kyra's post.

Early in the movie, we find the woman playing the kitchen table (carved to be like a piano).  Her husband finds this very wierd and wonders whether she is mental.  Then, when the other man (sorry, I don't know the characters' names) asks her to gives him 'lessons', he tells her just one for every black key.  She agrees, and the movie continues with her playing for him while he watches her (sort of creepy).  By the end though, he wins her heart with the piano keys, signifying the key to her heart.

Earlier, we learned that the man can not read, so the woman's notebook is useless.  She won't talk to him, so they can't communicate that way either.  And again, they can't communicate through the daughter because she is not allowed in the house during the lessons.  So then how does the man win her love?  Is it merely the piano, signifying that the way to someone's heart is through their own beloved possessions?  Is there some way to express love by gestures and expressions?  Is it something else untold? What are your thoughts?

Do We Even Need to Talk?

The new relationship between Baines and the main woman is interesting to me. She does not speak and does not have her daughter with her during the lessons to act as a translator. Her only way of communication is her little notepad that she carries around her neck. This does not stop their growing relationship and obvious affection towards each other. She gives him "the look" and he just melts. My question was, then is speech necessary? I mean, he speaks, but her only way of communication is through her motions and her facial expressions. I have heard of people falling in love who do not speak the same language and I was wondering if speech is overrated. Do we really need to talk to communicate what we want in life?

An Unhealthy Relationship?

I have found the movie The Piano to be quite enjoyable thus far.  However, I cannot help but to wonder about the relationship between mother and daughter.  What the mother chooses to do is her business, and she chooses to keep silent, but if it affects the development of her young daughter (as I suspect it has) then it might be time to compromise.  The mother refuses to speak, and her daughter is the only person who is able to translate, understand, and communicate with her.  Unfortunately, this puts her daughter in an awkward position because she is forced to be a mediator between her mother and everyone else.  The daughter is caught in the middle of arguments between the newlyweds, and the result is that she is unable to live in the blissful ignorance of childhood naivete.

Though it is true that the pair has fallen upon rough times, and the daughter is already being forced to grow up faster than usual, her life doesn't necessarily need to be as encumbered as it is.  I feel like the mother could control her behavior more, even if just for her daughter's benefit.  They are very close, and the mother's feelings are transmitted directly to her daughter--a phenomenon that the mother does nothing to protect her daughter from.

The thing that surprised me the most in the movie was the mother's temper tantrums. I recognize that she has had a rough life, and is in a situation that she is in is new and extremely disagreeable.  I also recognize that due to the fact that she is a woman, and a mute woman at that, she does not have much power.  Nevertheless, resorting to breaking dishes and tearing things down from a washline to make her point seems a bit childish, especially when the event takes place before her daughter's observant and impressionable eyes.

I am really enjoying the movie Piano. So far it really exemplifies the power of a relationship between a mother and daughter. It is amazing to me that although the mother never says a word, the daughter still feels a certain tone through signing. The affection usually seen through song or comforting words, is just as powerful through touch and sign. The piano seems to be the vehicle of expression and a relaxer. I think that the mother depends on this outlet, like most people, and that is why she is willing to go to such measures to keep the piano.  I loved the scene where the daughter (Who is actually Rogue in X-men) continue to interrupt the new husband as the mother signs. It is an interesting dynamic of how much can be said without saying anything at all. It would be a difficult task as an actor I think to be able to portray so much emotion with out the use of voice and tone and volume and primarily on body language and facial expression. I like it!