The Rachel Papers….but not

By Loren Rankin

 

For my movie adaptation of the Rachel Papers, I have decided to take a totally different direction: each of the main characters will be of the opposite gender. The movie would also be set in LA in the 1990s.

The role of the main character will be played by Bridgit Mendler 

 

The role of the “conquest” will be played by Logan Lerman

 

And the role of the conquests other romantic interest would be played by Emma Watson

 

 

With those changes in mind, here is my soundtrack for the film.

1. Sheryl Crow — “All I Wanna Do”

This would be the opening song, as the credits roll through and would stop just as the scene opens to the main character going through her old diaries and notepads. Because the main character is now a female, our film is set in the ’90s, and the novel is based around “having fun”, this song is the perfect way to begin the movie. Sheryl Crow was also very popular in the ’90s (and even now), so the song would get the movie-goer engaged.

 

R. Kelly — “Bump ‘n Grind”

This song would play during the intimate scenes with the male version of Gloria. Charlie recalls that the encounter was “…a decent orgasm…Gloria has another…five? orgasms; and so it ends” (Amis 23). Because this character was just one of the conquests, a meaningful version of a “love-making” song is not necessary; rather, a song that shows how little it truly means emotionally is the best candidate. Again, being the ’90s, R. Kelly’s song about a sexual venture is perfect.

 

Jennifer Paige — “Crush”

Walking into the party, this is the song that would be playing. This song would fit the emotions of a female with a crush, though she is trying not to emit those feelings. As the main character greets her target, the song would continue to play softly in the background and continue throughout the interaction. Again, though it is merely an attempt to gain an older conquest at this point, the song would create a foreshadowing of the intimacy levels later in the movie.

 

Digital Underground — “Humpty Dance”

Getting ready for their first meeting, this song would play. It is a very nonsense song, but also includes sexual references. The main character is getting ready, putting on her make-up and changing her outfit a few times: “I put on, then took off, then put on again a red white-dotted scarf. Eventually I left it off…” (Amis 48). This song allows her to dance and be silly until she is entirely finished and takes some of the pressure off of her.

 

Beck — “Loser”

The creation of the “Anxiety Top Ten” is the muse for this song on the soundtrack. Because of all of her worries for this certain week (and the fact that she keeps an anxiety list each week that implies she has many more than just ten), I think the song by Beck stands firm here. Many young girls have insecurities as well as general anxieties, and many feel as though they have so many things wrong with them that truly don’t exist.

Amis’s character has this to say about such problems: “You don’t have problems, only a capacity for feeling anxious about them, which shifts and jostles but doesn’t change” (Amis 97). This ’90s song about such anxieties hit close to home with many young teenagers, so why not with our lead character? Again, a way to draw people back in.

 

SIxpence None the Richer — “Kiss Me”

As the title would suggest, this song takes place at the time of the first meaningful kiss between the lead and her (now obvious) crush. The song, still popular today, states that they could do whatever they wanted together, but all she wants is a kiss. In order to gain a conquest, a first kiss must happen, and most girls want a romantic kiss, regardless of the circumstances. The song just creates a more dramatic affect when the kiss finally happens.

 

Backstreet Boys — “Quit Playin’ Games with my Heart”

This song would be played in the scene where our main character realizes that she has been invited to a dinner party at her crush’s house, only to find out that the person he has been seeing is present. Not only that, but he was sitting right next to her, and SHE was sitting next to his mother! Our lead is wondering “why hadn’t [he] told me [s]he’d be here?” (Amis 121).

Much like many young girls, our main character has been blindsided and is not sure what to think. This song has definitely been one that has played in my mind when my heart has sunk like this. And why not for our young female lead? It IS the ’90s, for goodness sake.

 

Heart — “All I Wanna do is Make Love to You”

Again, very self explanatory. During our love-making scenes, this song will appear; in the first scene it will appear very outright, though in the other, slightly less important sex scenes, it will appear softly in the background. For young people in the ’90s, this song would seem to be the perfect song for a first night together. 

The first of these scenes would be very sensual and slow, so parts the song would tie in perfectly with the slow, sensual interactions of the first time making love with someone.

 

Nirvana — “All Apologies”

This song would come during, and a little bit after the scene where the lead character breaks things off with the long-awaited conquest and short time lover. Amis’s lead says “But is is I who have changed, not you. So let me…beg your forgiveness” (Amis 221). The lead is a mess here and does feel sorry for breaking off the relationship. The song’s chorus would loop here.

 

Green Day — “Good Riddance”

As the movie comes to a close and our lead is embarking on her new journey into adulthood, she must say goodbye to the past and embrace the future. This song, played at many graduations over the years (including my own 5 years ago), embodies the idea that we must leave the past behind us and move forward. The movie would fade to black just as the song reaches the end of the chorus “…I hope you had the time of your life” (

 

Amis, Martin. The Rachel Papers. New York: Harmony Books, 1988. Print.

“Green Day – Good Riddance Lyrics.” MetroLyrics.com. N.p. Web. 8 Aug 2013.

The Lyrics of Love

By: Johnnitta Durham

The Rachel Papers is such an interesting read that being brought to life on the big screen would prove to be a daunting task.  As the director I would take the creative liberty of updating the story in both time and place.  I would move the time frame of the movie to the late 80’s, and the story would take place in New York City.  I would shoot the movie in darker frames to give it an 80’s feel, but the costuming would be bright and brilliant much like the actually attire of the eighties.  I’m talking about “memebers only” jackets, and Cindy Lauper style hair and colors. 

As the director I am also at liberty to cast the actors and actresses.  So the role of Charles Highway will be Ashton Kutcher and the role of Rachel will be Lady Gaga’s acting debut. DeForest will be played by the likes of Russel Brand since this will be a reverse of the original setting.  I think this cast will look remarkable together, and have chemistry. 

 

The opening scene of the movie will open with Charles introducing himself and going into a brief monologue on the bus ride to college.  Here I will insert the song “Beautiful Flawed Creatures” by Stacey Barthe. The song is fitting because this will introduce our character and the premise of the movie.

In the song the lyrics say:  Sometimes we’re insecure. We’re fragile sometimes. We laugh at each other. To make ourselves feel better .Sometimes we laugh. Sometimes we say things. That we really don’t mean. But in the moment seems like the thing to do.

[Chorus]We’re all flawed beautiful people

We’re all flawed beautiful creatures. We’re all flawed beautiful people. We’re all flawed beautiful creatures.

This same song will also end the movie, explaining how things come full circle.

The next scene where I will insert a song is the scene when Gloria and Charles are about to have sex.  The song that I think is appropriate for this scene is an old classic by Marvin Gaye, entitled “Let’s Get it On”.  The appropriateness of this song is fitting as Charlie only sees Gloria as a conquest, and has no real feelings for her.

This song was very popular in the 70’s for the humanization of sexual nature and giving into the needs to be physically fulfilled.  Marvin Gaye puts it best when he says, “We’re all sensitive people, with so much to give”. I think this selection validates the act that is to take place.

 Geoffrey’s introduction into the movie in his drug induced state at the party, the song that will be playing at the pub will be Jimi Hendrix “Purple Haze”.  Whenever I was reading the book, this is the song that I imagined playing in my head.  The reference on page 47 of, “electrified on cut-price death- pills” made this song all the more fitting.

The song is a riveting up-beat psychedelic funk that is laced with the drug induced culture for which it was written.  Geoffrey’s role will be cast to Aaron Paul who is the other half of the duo of the cable series “Breaking Bad”.

The scene when Charles and Rachel meet will be highlighted by the song “Beautiful” by Pharell.  The creative choice that led me to place this song here is the fact that they are at a party, and at parties upbeat music is generally played.  The ambiance seemed fitting for this song, a drunk college party.

Here I will have Rachel and Charles dance together instead of exchanging numbers. This will make the meeting more casual and lead up to the more intimate scene where they meet for tea and become acquainted.  This will also modernize their meeting and make it more visually appealing.

The scene where Charles and Rachel meet up for tea, and she tells him her life story, the song that will be playing softly in the back ground is “Falling” by Alicia Keys. I believe that this is a pivotal point in the movie where Charles realizes that women have more to offer than just sex.  The song fits perfectly into the scheme of the movie to join the two.

We can then see that Charles is aware of the emotion of love although he has never observed how to properly treat a woman in retrospect.  The dysfunctional relationships that he has seen don’t stop him from falling in love with Rachel.  He at first is blind to her flaws, as we all are when we first meet someone and we are wrapped up in the novelty.

When Deforest enters the movie the song that be placed in the scene will be a very popular song by Cee-lo Green.  The song is entitled, “Fuck You”.  DeForest is a subject of disdain for Charles and he wishes he could still her away.  This song would appropriately capture Charles feelings towards DeForest without him having to ever say so much as a negative word.

The connection between the two alpha male characters would be made through music, not words or association.  DeForest played by Russell Brand would be the doting boyfriend who truly doesn’t deserve Rachel adding a twist to the story.

The moment that Rachel and Charles kiss at his sister’s house the song that I would insert here is Etta James’ “At last”.  I’m sure that Charles had been working up to this awkward moment for some time since meeting Rachel.  This song appropriately titled expresses the emotions of a young lover who finally has the one they desire in their arms.

The song is a classic throw back that is timeless and transcends generations having been remade by the likes of Beyonce and Christina Aguilera.  But the one that I will choose for this movie is the original. Complete with the sound of the needle on the record, and grit that vinyl offers.  The music will abruptly stop playing as Jenny’s husband comes home and they are all frantic.

 

The climax of the movie will be when Rachel and Charles finally have sex.  For this scene I will use a song that I absolutely adore and love by two artist who are up and coming.  Both of these artists are from the UK and the song is entitled “Alone Together” by Marcia Ambrosia and Daley.  This song is the epitome of sensuality and will capture the moment without words being spoken.

The actors in this scene will have to rely on the music in order to make the scene actually work.  Facial expressions and body movement will be the focus of this scene in which the actors portray the awkwardness of the first time being intimate with one another. The music serves as an escape for Rachel, but for Charlie he is focused on Rachel.

For the scene where Charlie and Rachel say goodbye I will place a song from a Dallas artist by the name of Erykah Badu.  The song is entitled “Next Lifetime” which I think fits well into the format of the book and the movie.  Charlie still holds out hope that maybe him and Rachel can still maybe make things work in a different time and different space which is the very essence of this song.

The song is a farwell, but at the same time leaves the door open for chance.  It is a creative decision that was without much thinking and the premise of the situation.  In another world, maybe even lifetime (had they both been more mature) things could have worked.  Erykah’s seemingly docile voice captures this moment like no other can.

As the movie and the book draws to a conclusion when Charles and Rachel bump into each other again at the museum I would like to end the movie with a song by Staind.  The song relates to the scene in tempo and correlation to the actual event that is taking place. I thought this song would leave the audience with an emotional pause in which that could relate.  The song is entitled, “It’s Been a While”.

Here we can see the emotional toll that seeing each other takes on our characters allowing Charles to be seen in a way that he previously had not been seen in.  We are allowed the opportunity to feel for him, in a way that his misogynistic attitude blocked.  He becomes human in this moment, in the realization of a love that is gone.

Hope you enjoyed my artistic take on the making of this soundtrack and movie!

 

 

 

The Soundtrack: Music as an Exploration of Emotion in Film

Music has the capacity to function as a universal language. Part of what makes film so fantastic comes from this very notion. Film not only allows audiences to visualize in a way that the written word cannot, but it also dramatizes events by including a living soundtrack. Face it, how much more fantastic would a race to reach class on time be if it were set to the tune of “The William Tell Overture?” Music adds to these moments by invoking an additional strain of emotion. In other words, the music further emphasizes the emotions of these scenes. Music functions to further the point that each scene is making by conveying emotion in a way that perhaps the language cannot adequately express.

This connection between music and film applies beautifully to film adaptations of novels. Music allows filmmakers to shape the novel into their unique perception. For this blog post, I plan on creating a playlist to exemplify my point. For this endeavor, I will be using Martin Amis’s The Rachel Papers, using the playlist as a kind of explicative look at some key moments in the novel.  However, for a moment, I must digress and give readers a little bit of visual context, providing a setting and characters to associate this playlist with.

The setting of this film adaptation would remain in London. However, a central theme of The Rachel Papers is the progression of the comedic mode and then its ultimate disillusionment. In other words, Amis seems to show how society is not so happily-ever-after now. There are “relationships in decay, aftermaths, but with everyone being told a thing or two about themselves, busy learning from their mistakes” (150). In other words, this novel has a timeless aim. Ultimately, my film version will aim to capture the timelessness of The Rachel Papers by interweaving all kinds of music, some modern and some not so much. Therefore, the setting will be modern day, but with many obscurities making the time period almost hard to define.

The lead cast will consist as follows:

Nicholas Hoult as Charles Highway

Emma Watson as Rachel

Zac Efron as Deforest

With all of this in mind, let’s take a look at the playlist.

• “Here Comes the Sun”-The Beatles
  • This lovely ditty begins the opening credits, flashing between the names of producers and actors interwoven with the images of Charles Highway walking down the street towards his house. Charles walks into his house and up the stairs to his room. He opens his “dinky black suitcase” (4) and spills the contents on to his bed as the song fades out and the audience hears Charles in voiceover, beginning with, “My name is Charles Highway, though you wouldn’t think it to look at me” (3).
  • This most important part of montage like scene is a central focus on Charles’s movement all the way up to the point that he begins to speak. “Here Comes the Sun” aims to capture a somewhat timeless air of new beginnings. In this scene, the audience should feel as if they are being introduced to a character who is one a journey, making big changes in his life. The emphasis should be on the fact that as the song says, “It’s alright.”
• “Psycho Theme”
  • This song will play after Charles voiceover as he goes to discuss Oxford with his father. A few chords from this song will play again later in the movie when Charles’s father shows up a Norman and Jenny’s house with his mistress. The theme will abruptly stop as they begin to speak in both situations.
  • The “Psycho Theme” captures the emotions Charles feels towards his father. He is a great source of stress and misunderstanding to Charles. This theme also suggests that Charles’s father is not a character audiences are meant to like. Ultimately, this song functions emotionally. Charles’s father becomes a source of anxiety.
• “Love Somebody”-Maroon 5
  • “Love Somebody” will begin as Charles and Geoffrey walk into Rachel’s party in August. The song will play somewhat quietly in the background as Charles and Geoffrey make their way around the party, getting louder as Charles first lays eyes on Rachel. For the chorus, the cameral will focus on Rachel, framing her in an idealized pose with an exaggerated wind blowing her hair. The volume will decrease as Charles walks over and begins to try to talk to her.
  • This song will work well for this scene because it accentuates the fact that she is just somebody. Charles sees Rachel and immediately draws his own conclusions that “she must have soul” (30). It is a modern song, which suggests that this film is happening in modern day and captures the spirit of a party. This song will keep the audience feeling as though what is happening is relatable to them and much more timeless perhaps that music entirely from the seventies. Ultimately, this song is an attempt to reach modern audiences who might write this film off as something from another time.
• “You Make My Dreams Come True”-Hall and Oates
  • This song will play as Charles is getting ready for his teatime with Rachel. The scene will consist of Charles trying on his many personas, attempting to settle “somewhere between the pained, laconic, inscrutable type and the knowing, garrulous, cynical, laugh a minute, yet something demonic about him, something nihilistic, muted death-wish type” (42). He will be scene trying on different outfits and posing before a mirror.
  • This song is intended to capture the giddiness of Charles’s initial relationship and thought about Rachel. It displays a playful attitude and shows how much he wants to impress this girl. Having tea with her is essentially making his dreams come true.
• “Ho Hey”-The Lumineers
  • This song will play as Rachel and Charles spend time together at Notting Hill Gate Smith’s. As the song progresses, several scenes of Charles and Rachel spending more time together will play, including their trip to nanny’s. There will be moments in which Rachel does obnoxious or childish things causing Charles to make a face, such as when she eats as fast as she talks (80). However, for the most part, Charlie will smile, looking like a lovesick puppy. At one point, the audience will hear Rachel say, “things are so complicated” (71). The song will end with Charles and Rachel sitting on Charles’s bed.
  • This song aims to emphasize how much likes Rachel. She is a sweetheart to him. Although he begins to see that she is not how he has idealized her from the very beginning of their relationship, he continues with the mindset that they belong together, at least for now.
• “Lovely Rita”-The Beatles
  • “Lovely Rita” will play during the scene it plays in the book, when Charles and Rachel have their first kiss. This song will play because Rachel puts it on the record. In my adaptation, the song will play from an old record player. However, there will also be modern devices such as an iPod and laptop visible in the scene. It will play softly in the background just as it does in the novel. It will abruptly stop and make a record scratching sound when Norman enters the room to tell Charles his father is there.
  • This song will function to capture the essences of the novel. It will keep those that know this scene well happy and also function in the way of suggesting timelessness. This is a much older song than many of the songs played, leaving the audience unsure of exactly when this story is taking place.
• “Come Around”-Rosi Golan
  • This song will play right after the audience reaches the would-be happy ending when Rachel says “that she didn’t want to make two people miserable so she’d make one person happy, if she could” (150). The song will play as Charles and Rachel begin their “sexy bits” stopping abruptly when Rachel announces she is not on the pill.
  • This song will attempt to romanticize what is happening between Charles and Rachel. They have reached, as Amis notes in the novel, the kiss that should mark the happy ending. However, the abrupt stopping of the song will both add comedic effect and imply that there is much still to come.
• “Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony”
  • This song will play as Charles is taking his exams for Oxford. The scene will show Charles writing in a whirlwind like manner. There will be brief interruptive flashbacks showing the three incidents that happen during Rachel’s two-week stay with Charles.
  • This song will accentuate the stress that Charles is feeling about his exams while simultaneously revealing a de-idealization of Rachel. Charles is no longer under the illusion that she is this perfect almost Petrarchan type woman. She is a woman with flaws. Not one that, these flaws deeply bother Charles. The scene will end with the dramatic slam of Charles pencil as he finishes the exam.
• “Dizzy”-Goo Goo Dolls
  • This song will play when Charles and Gloria have their interaction at the end of the novel. It juxtaposes Charles’s interaction with Gloria versus his interaction with Rachel. It is as though Gloria sums up what Charles is feeling when she says, “And I got so bored” (200). Charles seems to be sabotaging himself. Rather, he is becoming restless and acts on impulse, behaving more like his old self than the settled version of Charles he has become with Rachel. “Dizzy” emphasizes the state of this scene because it is just so sudden and jarring.
• “Walking By”-Holiday Parade
  • The first part of this song will play through the chorus at the end of the scene in which Charles and Rachel break up. The song will begin after Charles says, “‘Well, probably anything would have seemed “cold” after what we’ve had’” (222). The scene will then show Rachel leave the annotated Blake and walk out of the room. The scene will fade with Charles staring at the floor.
  • This song emphasizes the confusion and sadness that Charles is feeling. He has lost a significant part of his life by his own choice. He has to let go of what is not there anymore. It is also significant that he is letting go of his idealization of Rachel.
• The film will end with Charles folding up the Rachel papers as “Here Comes the Sun” begins to softly play in the background. The film will end in the same way that they novel does, with Charles refilling his pen as the screen fades.

Ultimately, The Rachel Papers functions as a kind of coming of age story. Charles falls in love at the end of his teenage years and is disillusioned in the end. In a film adaptation, the best way to capture this journey is through the music. Charles ventures from the hopes of falling in love the realization of who he really is. In the end, Amis emphasizes the uncertainty of human nature by simply refusing to answer the question of whether or not Charles will ever change.

Megan Jones

Amis, Martin. The Rachel Papers. 1973. Vintage International. Print.

Modern/Vintage Rachel Papers

Martin Amis’s Rachel Papers under my direction as director will take place in 2013, in modern day London. The great thing about London it is a delightful mix of old and new. I envisioned this project with Daniel Radcliff as a shaggy Charles Highway, Kristen Stewart as Rachel Noyes, and Channing Tatum as Deforest Hoeniger.

My soundtrack I wanted to go back to the great 1980s the music of this era seems to connect to the novel beautifully. Modern London setting and modern clothing, but classic music for the movie.

The first chapter of the book Seven o’clock: Oxford will begin with the song Shout by Tears for Fears. Charles starts out the novel talking about himself and his life. He goes into detail about his “medium length, arseless waistless figure, corrugated ribcage and bandy legs…” (Amis 7) The importance of his birth, parents, siblings, and college plans lends itself to the lyrics of the song beautifully. “Shout, shout, let it all out, these are the things I can do without, Come on, I’m talking to you, come on”. (“Tears for Fears – Shout Lyrics “) Charles is telling us the history of how he gets this point in his life.

The second chapter of the book Seven twenty: London starts out with London Calling by The Clash. Charles is preparing to go to London on the bus. This song is perfect for this scene of the movie. “London calling to the faraway towns” (“The Clash- London Calling Lyrics “) this line is perfect comparing Oxford and London. Oxford is a large town, but it is small and quiet compared to London which is large and noisy. Charles says is the chapter “…my move to London had nothing to do with antipathy towards themselves, nor towards the village…” (Amis 15)

The scene in his sister’s house when Charles is discussing Gloria his booty-call or as Norman states “fuck and coffee is it? Just fuck and coffee” (Amis 19) I think the best tongue in cheek song to use for this scene would be Gloria by Laura Branigan. His sexual conquest of Gloria is awkward and robotic. One great line from the song is “Feel your innocence slipping away; don’t believe it’s comin’ back soon”. (“Laura Branigan – Gloria Lyrics “) Charles states in their post-coital actions “Wow…that really was something. Well-have you got enough pillow there?-night night, sleep well. Until the morning. Gloria looked at me oddly”. (Amis 24)

The third chapter quarter to eight: the Costa Brava at the beginning of the chapter Charles is sitting talking to the Directress of Studies. The song that came to mind was “Take me I’m yours” by Squeeze. The interview is mind numbing to Charles as he is asked questions he thinks “Yes (you stupid bitch …) shouldn’t she know this?” (Amis 26) The lyric to the song that lends itself to the situation is “Take me I’m yours, because dreams are made of this” (“Squeeze – Take Me I’m Yours Lyrics “) He has been accepted to Sussex but not Oxford.

The scene that Charles is talking about his “acute bronchitis” and all of his other ailments the song that came to mind was “Doctor! Doctor!” by the Thompson Twins. (Amis 29) “Doctor, doctor, can’t you see, I’m burning, burning?” is the lyric that relates to poor Charles and his various ailments that he suffers or had suffered from. (“Thompson Twins – Doctor! Doctor! Lyrics “) I had this song running through my mind as I read this part of the novel.

The scene that Charles starts talking about Rachel and his anxiety of calling her on the phone the song choice here will be “Hello” by Lionel Richie. “Is it me you’re looking for? I can see it in your eyes. I can see it in your smile” (“Lionel Richie – Hello Lyrics “) the lyrics are an idealized love and that is what Rachel is to Charles. She is this idealized unattainable girl. He wants Rachel. “In my mind I saw young Charles leaning against Jenny’s passage wall and smiling into the telephone”. (Amis 31)

The scene that Charles describes Rachel when he first sees her at the party the song choice is “Don’t you want me” by Human League. This really is a tongue and cheek song to this scene. Charles wants Rachel, and he wants Rachel to want him too. Charles tells Rachel “…you’re the exception that makes the rule”. (Amis 34) This song only adds to Charles’s want when he sees Deforest kissing Rachel. “Don’t you want me, baby? Don’t you want me, ohh?” (“Human League – Don’t You Want Me Lyrics “)

The scene Charles and Norman are talking I hear “Close to me” by The Cure. Charles tells Norman “I’ve got to ring this girl up in a minute so I’d better be quite pissed”. (Amis 38) The lyrics that seem poignant to the scene are “I’ve waited hours for this; I’ve made myself so sick”. (“The Cure – Close To Me Lyrics “)

When Charles rings Rachel on the telephone “Hello Rachel? Ah. My name is Charles Highway. You may remember we me met at a party you gave last month. Then, some days later, we-. Yes, I remember” (Amis 43) “Big Time” by Peter Gabriel comes to mind. “I’m on my way, I’m making it; I’ve got to make it show, yeah”. (“Peter Gabriel – Big Time Lyrics “) He is excited that Rachel remembers him and as the conversation continues they both find out that the other is cramming for Oxford.

Charles is sitting in the bathtub scene. “I lay immobile in the bath, like a dirty old alligator-not washing, just steaming and planning”. (Amis 44) Charles is thinking about what he would wear, and what persona he would be. Charles is not really going to be Charles for Rachel he is going to be someone else. The song choice for this scene is “Girls on film” by Duran Duran. “Girls on film, girls on film (Two minutes later) Girls on film, girls on film (Got your picture)”. (“Duran Duran – Girls on Film “) Nothing is real about Charles in this scene just like nothing is real in the fashion world.

I could add about another twenty songs to this film compilation and still not be finished with all of the songs that I feel fit this novel. I like these songs because these are songs that I grew up with and really relate to the angst and absurdity of adolescence.

YouTube Playlist

Sources
Amis, Martin. The Rachel Papers. 1973. Vintage International. EBook.
“Tears for Fears – Shout Lyrics.” MetroLyrics.com. N.p… Web. 8 Aug 2013. .
“The Clash- London Calling Lyrics.” MetroLyrics.com. N.p… Web. 8 Aug 2013. .
“Laura Branigan – Gloria Lyrics.” MetroLyrics.com. N.p… Web. 8 Aug 2013. .
“Squeeze – Take Me I’m Yours Lyrics.” MetroLyrics.com. N.p.. Web. 8 Aug 2013. .
“Thompson Twins – Doctor! Doctor! Lyrics.” MetroLyrics.com. N.p… Web. 8 Aug 2013. .
“Lionel Richie – Hello Lyrics.” MetroLyrics.com. N.p… Web. 8 Aug 2013. .
“Human League – Don’t You Want Me Lyrics.” MetroLyrics.com. N.p… Web. 8 Aug 2013. .
“The Cure – Close To Me Lyrics.” MetroLyrics.com. N.p… Web. 8 Aug 2013. .
“Peter Gabriel – Big Time Lyrics.” MetroLyrics.com. N.p… Web. 8 Aug 2013. .
“Duran Duran – Girls on Film.” MetroLyrics.com. N.p… Web. 8 Aug 2013. .
The Rachel Papers Playlist. 2013. Videos. YouTube Web. 8 Aug 2013. .
Daniel Radcliffe. N.d. Photograph. Bing Images Web. 8 Aug 2013. <http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=daniel radcliff&FORM=HDRSC2
Kristen Stewart. N.d. Photograph. Bing Images Web. 8 Aug 2013. <http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=kristen stewart&qs=IA&form=QBIR&pq=krist&sc=8-5&sp=1&sk=
Channing Tatum. N.d. Photograph. Bing Images Web. 8 Aug 2013. <http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=channing tatum&qs=IA&form=QBIR&pq=channing t&sc=8-10&sp=1&sk=

Robin Lehman

The Grey Area

Iris Murdoch has a long history of using philosophy and psychology in her writings. In fact, Murdoch left “…an academic position in philosophy at Oxford to pursue a full-time literary career” (Antonaccio 310). She also studied the works of Plato, choosing his psychological beliefs over those of Aristotle. It’s safe to say that she knew quite a bit about the subject, but taking knowledge and transferring it into themes in a novel is a harder skill to master. In her novel The Bell, Murdoch delves into the issues of morality and redemption in a series of different approaches. Through different symbols, events, and characters, we can see the importance of morality and redemption throughout this beautiful novel.

            Morality is defined as the fact that we know the differences between good and bad or right and wrong. If we take only this definition into account, we find that there is a specific black and white feel to the idea. However, Murdoch brings this into question in her novel with the three main narrators: Dora, Toby, and Michael. There are numerous instances in which Dora’s morals come into question, though the main issue is her relationship with her husband Paul. The whirlwind romance that she had perceived as having with Paul in college was not truly as romantic as she had thought; she had to give up her studies, she could not see her own friends and was forced to “grow up” rather quickly, even though she was not ready. And, to top all of this off, Paul was not the nice guy she fell in love with. After their marriage had begun, Paul revealed his true self. He was angry, cynical, and mean, and Dora often feared for her life. Bouncing back and forth between thoughts of leaving or staying, she decided that it would be best for her to leave her husband. This is the first moral issue, our first attempt to distinguish between right and wrong. In this time period, and in most time periods, religious beliefs state that it is wrong to leave a spouse. However, Dora is in a remarkable circumstance; for one, she is was married very young and had a jaded view of what her relationship would be like. Secondly, she is in a relationship in which she fears that she will be harmed physically. How could all of these factors still make this situation black and white?

            Toby, the innocent young boy in the novel, has a hard time deciding what is right and wrong as well. Towards the end of the novel, he ends up being intimately connected with Dora, a married woman. Obviously, this is wrong, but we must understand the circumstances that led up to this encounter. Michael, the priest at the Abbey, is sexually confused and ends up kissing Toby one night when they are together. Toby begins to question himself as a young man and questions his sexual identity; this leads up to his intimate encounter with Dora. This action also involves Michael and his moral compass; kissing another man is wrong, especially with his religious beliefs, but kissing an unsuspecting young man is wrong, too.

            So why would Murdoch put characters in these obviously immoral situations on purpose? This, I believe, is because Murdoch wants to call attention to the grey area that is all around the issue of morality. Dora was young and dumb, and afraid of her husband, so she left. Toby was confused and afraid and he became intimate with a married woman. Michael is battling with his sexuality and religion, and he kisses a young, impressionable boy. This is not to say that the things done in these situations were the right actions to take, but there were underlying issues and reasons for the actions. This is the grey area; this is ambiguity that Murdoch is calling attention to.

            Redemption is yet another theme discussed in this novel, and I believe that Dora is the best example of the quest for redemption. After leaving her husband, Dora realizes that she is not happy with or without him, but decides that she is more afraid of him when she is away from him. This, along with his persistent letters, persuades her to go back to Paul. Though she does not expect for things to change, she would like for Paul to be kinder to her because she has decided to come back to be with him despite her fear. Paul does not offer such kindness, though, and tells Dora “…I won’t speak of repentance, since I don’t think you capable of anything so serious” (Murdoch 34). A bell, which seems to ring right at this precise moment, seems to be a symbol of this theme. There is a new bell being installed during their time at the Abbey because the old one was sunk in the lake. However, Dora and Toby decide to resurrect the old bell and replace it for the new one. Later we see that the new bell goes into the lake just as the old one did. These two rejections for redemption look to be Murdoch’s way of letting the reader know that, once again, there is a grey area in many situations. The idea is that we must look at all of the facts and the circumstances surrounding these situations in order to make our best decisions.

Loren Rankin

(Remembered this time, Dr. B!)

 

Works Cited

Antonaccio, Maria. “The Virtues of Metaphysics: A Review of Iris Murdoch’s Philosophical Writings.” The Journal of Religious Ethics,  Vol. 29, No. 2 (Summer, 2001), pp. 307-335. JStor.

Murdoch, Iris. The Bell. New York: Penguin Books, 1958. Print.

Rules, Rules and More Rules!

In Iris Murdoch’s The Bell, we are introduced to a group of people that are staying at the Imber Court Abbey a religious community located next to an enclosed order of Benedictine nuns in Gloucestershire, England. One of the most important aspects of the novel is following the rules.

“I feel sure you’d rather be treated like one of us, wouldn’t you, and keep the rules of the house? It’s not like a hotel and we do expect our guests to fit in-and I think that’s what they like best too”. (Murdoch 52) Mrs. Murdoch chastises Dora for placing a vase of flowers in her room. Why is following the rules so valuable? Can we all fit one mold? In the Sharon Kaehele and Howard German’s article, The Discovery of Reality in Iris Murdoch’s The Bell, “In her novels Miss Murdoch tries to correct the oversimplified concept of man by delineating with great persuasiveness the complicated relationship between the individual and the society; in The Bell the ideas which emerge from a credible fictional world are concerned with the inadequacy of absolute moral codes, the nature of love, reality, the irrational, and freedom”. (Kaehele and German 554)

Rules are meant to make things easier and simpler at the Imber Court, but it seems to just help to make things more complicated for the characters. Mrs. Mark the chief rule follower and reminder “…little rule that try to follow” (Murdoch 53) she tells Dora on the subject of past lives.

Michael tells us “I’m against voting as a general rule” (Murdoch 79) Michael says this when he is trying to appease the group over buying a new tractor. He is opposed by the Straffords and James because they should do it “to God’s glory” and not for profit. (Murdoch 80) “In driving the matter to a vote instead of quietly dropping it Michael knew that he was trying to impose his own conception of how the community should develop”. (Murdoch 80) Michael was pushing his own agenda and his rules before the collective good to the group which caused all the participants to become emotional.

James gives a sermon, and in his sermon he talks about rules to live by “Surely we know enough and more than enough rules to live by; and I confess I have very little time for man who finds his life too complicated and special for the ordinary rules to fit”. (Murdoch 119) James speaks of God’s laws, but he adds his own rule stating he has no time for a man that cannot live by ordinary rules. This seems to be an interesting take on the rules because it seems no one at the Abbey follows the rules of God’s laws.
When Toby decides to break the rules and climbs the wall into the nunnery he is caught. The nun tells “Besides, we have a special rule which says that children can sometimes come into the enclosure”. (Murdoch 164) Breaking this rule causes Toby to feel ashamed and embarrassed.

Michael’s attention in breaking a rule has to do with his kiss with Toby. “This led him to reflect on how little, in all drama of the previous days, he had dwelt upon the simple fact of having broken a rule”. (Murdoch 189) Michael wonders if homosexuality will be socially accepted. He knows that he cannot ignore the subject. “He felt pretty sure that in any world in which he would live he would judge it, for various reasons, to be wrong”. (Murdoch 189) The interesting thing about Michael’s rule is that he is going against his natural self.

Mrs. Mark tells Dora, “We live by rules ourselves, and if our guests just don’t there’ll be chaos, won’t there?” (Murdoch 224) There seems to be chaos already at the Abbey, but whatever makes Mrs. Mark sleep better at night. In the end, the rules do not help any of these characters to be better people they seem to be someone’s opinion on how life should be.

The mention of rules and living by a certain set of rules fascinates me. I am a government legal studies major so rules are my life. That is the one word that kept creeping up to me while reading this novel. Moral rules and law are different and not different. We have laws against murder because as a society, we feel that killing someone is morally wrong. I think murder is wrong, but at the time that this book was written members of Parliament were trying to pass laws against homosexuality. I think that some rules are meant to be broken. That not all laws and rules are correct or moral. I think that rules that are meant to make everyone fit a universal mold are wrong. We are all different, and individuals and we need to follow our true selves.

Kaehele, Sharon and German, Howard. “The Discovery of Reality in Iris Murdoch’s The Bell” PMLA , Vol. 82, No. 7 (Dec., 1967), pp. 554-563
Murdoch, Iris. The Bell. London: Penguin Books, 1958. EBook.
Rules. N.d. Photograph. Bing ImagesWeb. 31 Jul 2013.
Robin Lehman

The Voice of Reason: Lost Morality

 By: Johnnitta Durham

Very seldom are we given a story line that exists without prejudice, or the intended point of view being politely placed in our respective laps on how we should feel.  For the first time in my “literary” life I have read a piece of work that allowed the characters to be.  By this I mean, I was able to read the book and empathize and sympathize with each of the main characters not for their flaws, but for their flaws.  Double talk- yes, but if allowed I will explain. 

As I picked up the book, The Bell by Iris Murdoch I felt I was going to read another ho-hum boring assignment as proposed by my favorite English professor.  I could hear her voice saying in my head, “This book is fabulous” one of her many “Benderism’s” I had grown accustom to from sitting through her lectures.  To my delight, the word fabulous was just what the doctor (Bender that is) ordered.  I’ll take it that everyone reading this blog is familiar with the characters so now I’ll just pick out one of my favorites to discuss in the following paragraph.  I’ll try not to bore you, and I’ll be brief.

 Dora Greenfield:  I can identify with Dora on so many levels.  The first chapter of the novel begins with the lines, “Dora Greenfield left her husband because she was afraid of him. She decided six months later to return to him for the same reason” (p.1).  I was married at the age of 21 to a man who I was much afraid of, and 14 years my senior.  The reason that I married him was much of the same reasons that Dora married Paul.  He was distinguished in his career, financially stable, and easy on the eyes.  Nothing to do with love, it became like I was his child.  I was constantly reprimanded for the things I did, or said to the point where I didn’t even want to leave the house for fear I would embarrass him accidently in some way.  Finally when I had enough and left, it was a short lived freedom because the reality of being alone set in.  Funny how the one thing Dora feared the most is what she ended up being, alone. 

What each of the characters has in common is the fact that they are in love, or a slave to the emotion called love which commonly causes a spell to be cast upon the more rational senses.  You can’t help who you love, a saying that is the thesis of one and many novels and lives.  Murdoch makes this case and point in her novel, but does it in such a way that she showcases the good, bad, and the downright ugly.  Her approach to the issue of morality is one that she allows the reader to figure out for themselves, as you never really can say for sure her position on religion, homosexuality, or marriage.  The book is told from the character’s perspective, a stating of the fictional facts of the world that Murdoch creates for the reader.  The essay, “The Discovery of Reality in Iris Murdoch’s The Bell” by Sharon Kaehele and Howard German says, “However, at least one modern philosopher-novelist, Iris Murdoch, has succeeded in creating genuine fictional worlds which are enriched but not dominated by her philosophical interests. One of Miss Murdoch’s central theses, propounded in her essays and her book on Sartre, is that both contemporary fiction and philosophy fail to set forth an adequate idea of human personality.”

I believe that Murdoch undertook this particular writing style because there was a respective void left in the types of literature being produced in the 1950’s.  Literature that was produced either evoked some kind of religious belief, or was laced with moral conviction in some way.  Murdoch asserts, “We have suffered a general loss of concepts, the loss of a moral and political vocabulary. We no longer use a spread- out substantial picture of the manifold virtues of man and society. We no longer see man against a background of values, of realities, which transcend him. We picture man as a brave, naked will surrounded by an easily comprehended empirical world. For the hard idea of truth we substituted a facile idea of sincerity. What we have never had, of course, is a satisfactory Liberal theory of personality, a theory of man as free and separate and related to a rich and complicated world from which, as a moral being, he has much to learn.”  This statement Ladies and Gentlemen captures the very essence and spirit in which The Bell was written in.  Formed from the school of thought that causes you to get in tune with your own moral compass, while not shoving Jesus Christ down your throat.  The book gives you all sides of the story, and leaves it up to you to draw a conclusion that best suits you.  I think that everyone can identify with a character that is in the book in some way, whether you admit it or not is on you.  I’m Dora Greenfield, the question now is who are you?

Kaehele, Sharon and  German,Howard. “The Discovery of Reality in Iris Murdoch’s The Bell”

PMLA , Vol. 82, No. 7 (Dec., 1967), pp. 554-563

The Child-Wife Revisited: Dora’s Awakening

            The premise of Iris Murdoch’s The Bell reads almost like a Victorian novel. As Jennifer Wagner-Lawlor puts it in her article about the Utopian-ness of Imber Court, “Murdoch may have begun this novel as a vision of an ideal community in which human brotherhood is restored; that certainly is not how the novel turned out” (15). This statement does seem to ring true. From the start of the novel, both Dora and Michael long for acceptance into several respective communities, the broad community of Imber Court and their personal relationships with Paul, Nick, and Toby. As the novel progresses, Murdoch seems to lead readers into a hope for resolution. In other words, if this novel were written during the Victorian Era, readers might expect nothing less than for the novel to end with all relationships restored and a happy final image of the Imber Court community, Paul and Dora included, going about their work in a cheerful way. Ultimately, however, this cannot be.

As a modern novel, The Bell functions as a kind of disillusionment from the idealism of the Victorian Era. Rather, this novel closely examines characters that might otherwise be brushed over, done away with, or completely disregarded in Victorian literature. For this blog post, I plan on examining Dora Greenfield’s position amongst the utopian Imber Court and discussing her relationship to an extremely similar Victorian character.

          To begin with, it is essential to understand the ideology behind a utopian society and how this relates to Victorian literature. In other words, it is important to recognize what could be considered utopian about Victorian ideologies. Utopian is defined as “possessing or regarded as having impossibly or extravagantly ideal conditions in respect of politics, customs, social organization, etc.” (OED). For example, in The Bell, Mrs. Mark continually refers to Imber Court’s attempt to “imitate the monastic life in certain ways” (Murdoch 52). This calls attention to Imber Court’s status as a utopian society. The residents of Imber Court are trying to live up to their personal standards of the idea life.

This utopian ideal is something that relates quite well to Victorianism. For example, in his book on the Victorian novel (How To Read the Victorian Novel), George Levine explores this utopian idea through a discussion of vocation and connections. Levine writes, “The term ‘vocation’ is important also because it separates, or can separate, the question of work from the question of money…whatever vocation the protagonist chooses it must be chosen for the sake of the work or for the sake of others” (Levine 22). This relates to connections because society, through economic and social transformations, is being forced to consider the connections between the rich and the poor (28). Ultimately, the Victorian Era perhaps possesses some utopian-esque qualities because it was an era that strived to find the connections between people and resolve a peaceable existence amongst society. This is perhaps why Victorian novels by authors such as Dickens or Austen end with a strong emphasis on a familial community formed between individuals.

With this in mind, The Bell seems to deconstruct this ideology in certain ways. In Wagner-Lawlor’s article, for example, Lawlor writes, “Murdoch suggests that the real ‘work’ [or vocation] is a gradual working of the individual spirit, more than the intentional working of a piece of communal land” (16). In other words, the utopian society cannot hope to achieve ideal conditions by forcing themselves into a strict lifestyle. The only way to achieve ideal conditions, Wagner-Lawlor suggests, is to work on their individual spirits and come to terms with themselves. It is not a matter of collective vocation and morality but the understanding and acceptance of the individual spirit.

By far, the best example of the work and development of an individual spirit can be found in the case of Dora Greenfield. Wagner-Lawlor notes, “what Dora discovers for the first time is that a maturity of spirit is the utopian task of each of us, separately and together, and with a maturity that knows it need not force itself forward” (11). This maturity of spirit comes from Dora’s understanding of herself in the end. She seem to more consciously acknowledge who she is and better understands that she needs to do things for herself. Ultimately, Dora is probably one of the least likely characters a reader would think would have anything to contribute or learn from this utopian society. However, perhaps, it is her naivety at Imber Court that allows her to experience a maturity of spirit that the others cannot. She is not trying to live up to any ideals but uses her adventures there to come to an understanding and acceptance of herself.

While Dora’s maturity is extremely significant and worth examining, there is something else significant about Dora that very closely relates Murdoch’s potential rejection of Victorian idealism. Dora Greenfield functions in several ways as a re-embodiment of Dora Copperfield in Dickens’s David Copperfield.

        In David Copperfield, David marries a young woman who is completely inadequate when it comes to the duties of a wife. While David first attempts to educate her duties, she ultimately asks David to call her a child-wife: “‘When I am very disappointing, say, “I knew, a long time ago, that she would make but a child-wife.” When you miss what I should like to be, and I think can never be, say, “still my foolish child-wife loves me!” For indeed I do’”(Dickens 627). Connectedly, at the beginning of The Bell, Dora Greenfield is referred to as a child-wife: “As a child-wife she irritated him continually by the vitality for which he had married her: motherhood would have invested her no doubt with some more impersonal significance drawn from the past” (Murdoch 4). Like Dora Copperfield, Dora Greenfield is in a position that longs for her to grow up. She does love Paul in a way, but she cannot be everything he expects her to or give him what he desires. However, The Bell differs because, rather than eliminating the problem, Murdoch provides Dora with the opportunity to grow up and understand things in her own way. In the end, Dora is the one that remains at Imber, learning to care for and love another person besides herself, Michael.

In the end, Dora Greenfield functions quite literally as a kind of rejection of Victorian ideals. Even her name suggests that she is bringing new life to an pitiable Victorian character. While Dora is by no means an innocent character, she brings to the table a sort of innocence in the understanding of Imber Court. This naivety allows her to grow into an ideal understanding of herself. Perfection is not found in drastically adhering to other’s expectations, but rather in the acknowledgement that life and people are imperfect. Dora simply does the best she can and understands that has to be enough.

Megan Jones

Levine, George. How To Read the Victorian Novel. (2008). Blackwell Publishing. Print.

“Utopian.” Oxford English Dictionary. Web. 31 July 2013.

Wagner−Lawlor, Jennifer. “‘A Particular Piece Of Work’: Love’s Labors In Murdoch’s The   Bell.” Utopian Studies: Journal Of The Society For Utopian Studies 22.1 (2011): 2-18. MLA International Bibliography. Web. 31 July 2013.

Mona Lisa Smile & Lucky Jim

Mona Lisa Smile, written by Mark Rosenthall (also the writer of such movies as The Legend of Billie Jean and Mighty Joe Young) follows a 30-something art history professor named Katherine Watson as she journeys into a new job at Wellesley college in the Northeast. Wellesley, a very real and private woman’s college was, according to the movie, “the most conservative college in the nation”; to have a very liberal woman such as Watson coming to teach at this college posed a very large risk. Many people opposed the hiring of Mrs. Watson, but the college needed an Art History professor, and she was the only one they could get, so they took the chance.

                Upon arriving at her first course, she finds that the young women here at Wellesley are much different from those at her last school in California. These girls come from a much different part of the country and definitely a different background. Mrs. Watson grows discouraged after her first course since the girls have all read the entire textbook, not allowing her to follow the syllabus as planned. This does not stop her from teaching, though; she brings more modern art to the conversation during classes, challenging the girls to broaden their horizons and open their minds. Non-conformity, expanding horizons and seeing things in a different light is what this movie tries to convey as important qualities in women.

                Though she was warned about the people she worked around and with, Katherine Watson demanded on giving these girls more diversity than they were given in their little box of a school. She continued to follow her own lesson plans and pull in her own content for lectures and out-of-classroom assignments, though she was warned a few times by a student, whose mother was a key member of the alumni board, that she would be wise to listen to the students. This group of alumni basically ran the entire school, hiring and firing based on what their daughters said, though they were just students. Early in the movie, the nurse is under fire for handing out contraception, a very conservative (and illegal) move, at a liberal college. In her meeting with the President of the college, she is informed that the board of alumni had chosen to relieve her of her duties. Then, toward the end of the movie, Mrs. Watson finds out that her job was up for renewal; this renewal was contingent upon her doing everything that the board told her to, which was her cue to leave.

                While both the novel and this movie discuss the disgusting qualities of the hierarchy of the academic systems, they do so in different ways. In Lucky Jim, the hierarchy is almost an issue of seniority; students must answer to Jim, who must answer to his elder professor, and above the professor is the principle. We see in this novel the comingling of class and seniority; Professor Welch is an elder professor from the upper class and therefore Jim, a lecturer from the middle class, must answer to him and put up with ridiculous things in order to try to further his career. In Mona Lisa Smile, the hierarchy is quite different; it seems as though the alumni board controls the school, not the principle/headmaster. Most of the alumni have daughters who attend the school and who listen to every word that they say. This said, it seems that the hierarchy in the movie is as follows: Students > Alumni Board > Principle > Teachers. Although both call attention to a hierarchy problem in academia, this is seems to be a little different than just an issue of class; rather, it seems to be an issue of different backgrounds and gender differences.

                In the movie, the girls are raised to believe that school is not a right, but a privilege, and that by graduation or shortly after, they should be married and playing the role of housewife and possibly mother. These beliefs are a little different in Lucky Jim. Though Amis does tend to focus a lot on the differences of women and men and the fact that he thinks women are a little beneath them, it does not seem to me that he has ever assumed that women’s education is a privilege. He also does not seem to assume that they should stay housewives and mothers after they have received an education. Margaret, for example, is actually above Jim, seniority-wise at the university.

                The two different backgrounds between the novel and the movie are really what set them apart. Though set in the same time period, these two are an ocean apart; Amis’s novel was set in London, while Mona Lisa Smile was set in the Northeastern United States. This in itself is a very big difference; the way the people were raised, the women’s treatment, even the education system are all very different when you take a closer look.  This movie, however, does give us some insight into what Amis’s novel might have been like had he written it about an American university and lifestyle, rather than a British university and lifestyle. Unfortunately, though these two both identify a hierarchy problem within the academic system, these differences push them apart, rather than pull them together.

The School Daze of Lucky Jim

By: Johnnitta Durham

Director Spike Lee who is responsible for producing such works as, “Do the Right Thing” and more recently “Malcom X” has identified himself  as the go-to guy when it comes down to capturing the essence of the African- American community on film.  One could categorize his films as controversial in his attempts to portray life from his very one-sided view.  His movie, “School Daze” is no exception to this rule as he tells the story of life on a historically black college through the eyes of an outcast.  The movie which was released in 1988 is a musical and drama based love story, which takes place homecoming weekend on a campus comparable to Clark University.  There are so many different elements to this movie that one may find it hard to keep up.  The moral of the story however remains the same, no matter where you attend college it’s hard to fit in.

The breakout actors in this movie are Lawrence Fishburne, and Tisha Campbell both who would later go on to more popular fame in classics such as “The Matrix” and “Little Shop of Horrors”.  They are portrayed as your typical popular college kids, who are trying to make the most of their college experience.  Lawrence Fishburne a morally conscious student leads an anti-apartheid movement on campus in the midst of the politics of an inept college administration.  Tisha Cambell’s character is accused of “thinking she’s white” because she is a fair skinned black girl and belongs to a sorority that consist only of her kind.  The movie does little to actually show the cause of the college administration’s dysfunctional nature, but more pits the students against each other by showing the discrepancies of college life in respect to class in society and color of skin.  The movie is an intuitive look into the middle-class black American issues, and the discrimination that exist within the race.  The motto of the college is, “Uplift the race” but the actions of both the students and faculty prove little to make this true.

Upon the movie’s debut members of the African-American community were unhappy with the racial slurs infused in the script along with the unfavorable portrayal of the black university experience.  Director Spike Lee received back lash, and was forced to move the remaining portion of the movie set to another university as fears mounted that this movie would defame the concept of what historically black universities typically have to offer.  The politics of this event show just how corrupt and unjust these facilities can be in their effort to protect and preserve their image.  The university life presented in this movie was seen as negative, and exposed a side of college life based on the tradition of the past as the students worked to break through these barriers to force change.  The dynamic of the movie shifts between invisible hierarchies between the school and students, and amongst the students themselves.  Resolution is undefined leaving the viewer to draw their own conclusion of how things will change for the future.

In my opinion the film is very realistic and embodies the climate of college life for blacks enrolled in institutions that were supposed to be iatrical.  It exposed the hate between young black men that existed, and young black women, a subject so taboo that most dare not talk about but only whisper like a secret in the beauty shops of the ghetto.  I applaud Spike Lee’s effort to expose this issue, and his approach.

Now, what can I do to bring these two works together when they seem so different on the outside?  What I will focus on is the protagonist’s like desire to affect change.  Jim and Lawrence Fishburne’s character are both discontent with their environments and want to break out of the box that society has put them in.  They were not concerned with the politics of the university, and they didn’t fit in.  I can surmise from both the book and the movie that they both fit into the mold of “Angry Young Men”.  Both of them middle class and both struggle with society’s ideal of life as prescribed by tradition.  Jim’s angst has multiple directions, all of them working together to expose the underlining elements of change.  The elements which make the two characters alike are their positions in society, or their lack thereof to speak frankly.  As if by being men of their age, and a part of the middle class they are of less value.

How do the women in these two works line up?  They are portrayed in both cases in a very misogynistic- catty way.  The plot of jealousy amongst women never gets old, nor the appraisal of women based on their physical appearance.  They appear in both works to be manipulative and use their status as women to appear weak.  Their characters are of little importance unless attached to a man.  The image drawn of women for these two works I believe is reflective of the personal feelings of the director and author.  Women are categorized by their physical beauty, and I find it hard to identify a positive female character in either.  Sign of the times does not apply in either case, but more a stereotypical enactment of the feminine role assigned by males who have creative control over the perspective received.

The contrast in these two is the time period for which they are set and the race of the main characters.  Lucky Jim takes place in London in the 1940’s while “School Daze” takes place in Atlanta in the later years of the 1980’s.  Clearly two different time periods, with two totally different concerns as experienced by two different races.  The focus of the movie highlights issues from both a male and female perspective, while the novel only shows the thoughts of Jim. Jim also seems to be more self-absorbed, while the protagonist presented in “School Daze” wants to unify the people for a purpose.  The protagonists are also different in that Jim is professor while the other a student.

I liked both the film and the book for the insight they shared into the lives of two totally different men from pivotal points in time.  I cannot imagine the weight that men must feel in these types of positions, having reviewed each work gave me perspective.