01 November, 2006

An “Other” THING


Linda Williams has pertinently described the curious affinity between monster and woman, the two 'Others' to normative male sexuality and desire, in classic and modern horror film in "When the Woman Looks," Mary Ann Doane, Patricia Mellencamp, and Linda Williams (eds.), Re-Vision: Essays in Feminist Film Criticism (Frederick: University Publications/American Film Institute, 1983), 83-99.


In this paper, I shall attempt to illustrate, through the evolution of the violent manifestations of the Thing organism, from its original conception through adaptation and readaptation, and its historical contextualisation, the power of the creative processes as a perception of the present as history.

29 September, 2006

Repetition of Image

Image is not something inert, static or unchanging, on the contrary, it implies some type of temporal process in its production, reception, and circulation. A temporal categorisation of repetition is therefore not as irregular as at first it might seem. Much contemporary theory, it seems, leads into and evolves from philosophicalthoughts on repetition. There appears to be as Samuel Weber states; "a genealogy of questioning that can be traced back at least to Kierkegaard, which is to say, to the immediate aftermath of Hegel, following the culmination of philosophical idealism. You can follow this question of repetition at work for example in Nietzsche's thought of the Eternal Return, in Freud's speculations on the repetition compulsion and the Death Drive, in Heidegger, in Derrida's idea of iterability, and in Deleuze's Repetition and Difference. The question of repetition imposes itself once the idealistic system of thought exhausts its resources, finds itself "blocked". In the wake of such a blockage, repetition can no longer be taken for granted as a mechanical, self-evident and subsidiary phenomenon. in Nietzsche's thought of the Eternal Return, in Freud's speculations on the repetition compulsion and the Death Drive, in Heidegger, in Derrida's idea of iterability, and in Deleuze's Repetition and Difference. The question of repetition imposes itself once the idealistic system of thought exhausts its resources, finds itself "blocked". In the wake of such a blockage, repetition can no longer be taken for granted as a mechanical, self-evident and subsidiary phenomenon."

02 August, 2006

Tonight, tonight

Music Video for Tonight, Tonight by The Smashing Pumpkins

17 May, 2006

14 May, 2006


John Carpenter
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06 May, 2006

YAHOO


20 April, 2006

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19 April, 2006

Scarey stuff


Hello,

Thank you for contributing your abstract to our proposed film remake collection. We are pleased to inform you that we would like to use your idea in our project. We will be in contact concerning the deadline for the final version of your paper once we have secured a publisher.

This was my dream and now it has happened it scares the crap outa me...LOL
But it has inspired me to get off my butt and start writing again...

04 March, 2006

A Remake Thing.

Every ostensibly new thing proves to have its antecedents. Perhaps we should not look for originality in some innovatively exceptional creation, but rather in the reworking of pre-existing material, in the ability to find new connections, contexts and hence meanings in what is already at hand. No film or in fact “thing,” thought or idea, can stand alone as a wellspring of innovation. As such, the film remake occupies a paradoxical position. On the one hand, however divergent or different a remake is from the original, it is still a repetition or maybe an attempt to hold onto the past. On the other hand, even the most mimetic of remakes differ from their reference points.
Like the myths of old that are told repeatedly in differing ways, film remakes offer-updated perspectives on old ideas. While remaking may attest to the intrinsic timelessness of the material being treated, repetition alone is not a criterion of timelessness. Repetition develops, expands and reflects on the previous occurrences, to elucidate the past turned present. Thus, all events and proceedings are formed of precedings. The practice of repetition does not make or even attempt to make perfect but rather makes richer and more textured reproductions of unfolding revelations. Thus, humankind becomes a historicist.
In this paper, I shall illustrate, through the evolution of the Thing creature to its culmination in John Carpenter’s The Thing, that remakes not only reflect the time in which they are made, but they also, examine through restructure, the death and rebirth of the creative process reflected in the motifs of the “eternal return” and resistance to change. Further, I would argue that remakes like Kierkegaard’s concept of repetition are in constant motion and connected to the future. Thus the act of repetition forwards in a culture, where progress counts most, suggests remaking signifies humanities historicism through repetition.

24 January, 2006

Mythical Metamorphoses

Mythical Metamorphoses; Things are not always, what they seem.
Over the years, all manner of metamorphoses and magical transformations, even in their most prosaic forms, have continued to fascinate, allure and astonish, while invoking fear and reverence, in peoples from all cultures throughout time. The various representations and renderings of metamorphosis present the viewer with a sensate assault on vision of the uncanny processes of shapeshifting that question notions of “coherence and self-identity in space and time, of narrative and character, of evolution and devolution.” P xiv [1] Although metamorphosis can be found in most cultures and has been the subject of much theoretical discussion, for instance in relation to Ovid’s Metamorphoses, the medieval and renaissance metamorphic imagery, and to Kafka's Verwandlung it is impossible to give overview of the standing of metamorphosis within a historical and mythological context. Metamorphosis comes from the Greek meta beyond, over above and morph shape. It means “to change physical form, structure, or substance especially by supernatural means” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary)
In order for a change to be described as a metamorphosis, it requires a presupposition of an original form. Metamorphosis goes by a variety of other names, including mutation, morphing, transformation, transmutation, transfiguration or transmogrification. metamorphosis has been the subject of much theoretical discussion from its earliest to most recent presentations. In mythology and non-rationalistic cultural traditions, human beings are often viewed as having the ability to metamorphose. Those with such abilities are referred to as shapeshifters, doppelgangers, changelings, skin-walkers, mimics, mutants, and mimics.
Shapeshifting often refers to characters that change form or morph on their own, whether voluntarily or involuntarily, while transformation refers more commonly to externally imposed change of form or are morphed, whether by magic or sufficiently advanced technology. Those who morph or are morphed, such as werewolves, vampires and their victims, are generally considered monstrous and/or “other” within the narrative and social order.
To metamorphose is to change in appearance, character, condition, or function; it is the embodiment of change. Change as a fundamental certainty has been acknowledged from even before the time by the very first civilizations from around the world, yet many philosophical questions and arguments continue to resonate about the permanence of change.