Terror Films
So I get to teach this Honors course in the fall, right? Well, I'm not actually teaching the whole course. What's happening is that the college is re-initiating their Honors program after not having had one for a while. Since most of the programs at the college are two-year, the Honors program is not terribly specific. That is to say, there is no guiding theme for the course or even a course title. It's just "Honors."
The way it's going to work apparantly is that the course will offer its students the opportunity to sample different disciplines and modes of thinking while being challenged in that special Honors class kind of way and generally having their shit freaked. It's kind of like a semester-long academic buffet, or, to stretch the analogy painfully further, like an academic version of the dessert table at the Chuck Wagon.
Heh. So I will be sharing the course with three other instructors. Randy is going to start things off with a 4-week examination of Southern American writing. I think he's planning to have the students read Light in August, which should take care of any problems we have with the course being overloaded. (I keed.)
Then one of the arts professors will be teaching a few weeks on the physics of dance. I really have no idea what this will entail exactly, but it sounds kind of cool. Hopefully, this portion of the course will offer everyone an opportunity to practice their giggle-stifling skills, a valuable commodity in today's job market.
The third section of the course is being taught by someone I haven't met yet, so I'll have to get back with you on that one.
Then I wrap things up with my section on film. I was offered three weeks to do something bold and innovative and engaging. I thought about what I might do for several minutes, but the only thing I could come up with was something that involved effective comic-book adaptations.
Once I remembered that I was teaching an Honors course instead of operating the AV room at the Bi-Mon-Sci-Fi Con, I gave up on that idea (though I still think I could do a kick-ass version of it sometime). Fortunately, it wasn't too long afterwards that I saw Steven Spielberg's adaptation of War of the Worlds.
I had avoided seeing the film for a while after its initial release, mainly because I was becoming annoyed with Tom Cruise and his couch-jumping antics. Also, I wasn't sure the world needed another remake of a film I thought worked perfectly well in its initial incarnation (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, anyone?). But then I started wondering why Spielberg, who should be busy working on Indiana Jones IV, would bother digging up WOTW, out of all the films he could have chosen, for a 21st-century update.
But of course that was the whole point. The 21st-century has, so far, been a rather dismal era for the United States and its bold concepts of freedom, democracy, justice, and truth. Everything is, it seems, up for grabs or ripe for re-evaluation and/or bombing. This is also, of course, the scenario presented by the story of WOTW, except instead of Dick Cheney destroying everything in sight, including our nations' integrity, we have the Martians.
I'm not the first one to notice that WOTW has appeared at key moments in the history of imperialism. The novel was H.G. Wells' clever way of criticizing his country's domination of the globe in the late 1800's. The Orson Welles radio production appeared just as the U.S. was facing the prospect of yet another devastating global war (and managed to scare the bejesus out of everyone, as well). And the George Pal version of the 1950's coincided with the paranoia brought on by the Cold War. Spielberg is a sentimental idealist (just wait until you see the end of his version), but he's no fool, and his version of WOTW presents a grim portrait of a culture with absolutely no idea what to do after the shit hits the fan.
I could go on about this, and perhaps I will in a future post, but wouldn't it be fun to look at other films like WOTW that offer a cultural snapshot of terrorism and how people respond to it? I thought so, too, so my section of the Honors course will be dealing with films that, in one way or another, deal with terrorism.
Since I only have 3 weeks to play with, I have to limit my choices somewhat. WOTW is set to be released on DVD at the beginning of November (along with, I was happy to find out, a remastered edition of the George Pal version), so that goes on the list. I think I also want to play around with The Battle of Algiers, which was released in a nice Criterion edition not too long ago.
I'm not sure yet what my third choice will be. Hitchcock's Sabotage? Black Sunday? There are many choices. I've been thinking that The Birds might be perfect.
I might also have the kids read Jon Krakauer's Under the Banner of Heaven, which should make for lively discussions in Southern Utah, where they know all about religious extremists and their victims.
If anyone out there has a keen idea, please share. When I checked earlier today on registration, I found that a grand total of 4 students have registered for the course (which begins next week). Clearly, the teaching load is not going to be too taxing, so I really want to take those who are ballsy enough to register for the course on a good ride.
I'm tired now, but we'll pick this up later, huh?
The way it's going to work apparantly is that the course will offer its students the opportunity to sample different disciplines and modes of thinking while being challenged in that special Honors class kind of way and generally having their shit freaked. It's kind of like a semester-long academic buffet, or, to stretch the analogy painfully further, like an academic version of the dessert table at the Chuck Wagon.
Heh. So I will be sharing the course with three other instructors. Randy is going to start things off with a 4-week examination of Southern American writing. I think he's planning to have the students read Light in August, which should take care of any problems we have with the course being overloaded. (I keed.)
Then one of the arts professors will be teaching a few weeks on the physics of dance. I really have no idea what this will entail exactly, but it sounds kind of cool. Hopefully, this portion of the course will offer everyone an opportunity to practice their giggle-stifling skills, a valuable commodity in today's job market.
The third section of the course is being taught by someone I haven't met yet, so I'll have to get back with you on that one.
Then I wrap things up with my section on film. I was offered three weeks to do something bold and innovative and engaging. I thought about what I might do for several minutes, but the only thing I could come up with was something that involved effective comic-book adaptations.
Once I remembered that I was teaching an Honors course instead of operating the AV room at the Bi-Mon-Sci-Fi Con, I gave up on that idea (though I still think I could do a kick-ass version of it sometime). Fortunately, it wasn't too long afterwards that I saw Steven Spielberg's adaptation of War of the Worlds.
I had avoided seeing the film for a while after its initial release, mainly because I was becoming annoyed with Tom Cruise and his couch-jumping antics. Also, I wasn't sure the world needed another remake of a film I thought worked perfectly well in its initial incarnation (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, anyone?). But then I started wondering why Spielberg, who should be busy working on Indiana Jones IV, would bother digging up WOTW, out of all the films he could have chosen, for a 21st-century update.
But of course that was the whole point. The 21st-century has, so far, been a rather dismal era for the United States and its bold concepts of freedom, democracy, justice, and truth. Everything is, it seems, up for grabs or ripe for re-evaluation and/or bombing. This is also, of course, the scenario presented by the story of WOTW, except instead of Dick Cheney destroying everything in sight, including our nations' integrity, we have the Martians.
I'm not the first one to notice that WOTW has appeared at key moments in the history of imperialism. The novel was H.G. Wells' clever way of criticizing his country's domination of the globe in the late 1800's. The Orson Welles radio production appeared just as the U.S. was facing the prospect of yet another devastating global war (and managed to scare the bejesus out of everyone, as well). And the George Pal version of the 1950's coincided with the paranoia brought on by the Cold War. Spielberg is a sentimental idealist (just wait until you see the end of his version), but he's no fool, and his version of WOTW presents a grim portrait of a culture with absolutely no idea what to do after the shit hits the fan.
I could go on about this, and perhaps I will in a future post, but wouldn't it be fun to look at other films like WOTW that offer a cultural snapshot of terrorism and how people respond to it? I thought so, too, so my section of the Honors course will be dealing with films that, in one way or another, deal with terrorism.
Since I only have 3 weeks to play with, I have to limit my choices somewhat. WOTW is set to be released on DVD at the beginning of November (along with, I was happy to find out, a remastered edition of the George Pal version), so that goes on the list. I think I also want to play around with The Battle of Algiers, which was released in a nice Criterion edition not too long ago.
I'm not sure yet what my third choice will be. Hitchcock's Sabotage? Black Sunday? There are many choices. I've been thinking that The Birds might be perfect.
I might also have the kids read Jon Krakauer's Under the Banner of Heaven, which should make for lively discussions in Southern Utah, where they know all about religious extremists and their victims.
If anyone out there has a keen idea, please share. When I checked earlier today on registration, I found that a grand total of 4 students have registered for the course (which begins next week). Clearly, the teaching load is not going to be too taxing, so I really want to take those who are ballsy enough to register for the course on a good ride.
I'm tired now, but we'll pick this up later, huh?
posted by Chazzbot at 8:31 PM
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