In Baldwin's Sonny's Blues, the narrator reconnects with his younger brother. The story emphasizes on the hidden language of music and communication. Throughout the story, it is evident that the narrator, as much as he wanted to, did not trust Sonny. For instance, he searched his room and questions him a lot.
Jazz, to Sonny, represented a bittersweet recovery. Doing music again, Sonny could become addicted to drugs but it was his source of utopia, simultaneously. To the narrator, the jazz music symbolized a gateway for Sonny to be addicted to drugs again. At first, the narrator was resistant of Sonny practicing music again. At the end of the story, after observations and understandings, the jazz music represented a bridge of unity between the brothers. The narrator finally understands Sonny's music and how it serves as his piece of self-expression.
The Blues Brothers illustrates the same concept but in a different dimension. In the movie, the brothers have to come together and resurrect their old band to save an orphanage. The brothers performed a mixture of blues and jazz. In the clip above, you can see how the music moves through each person and how it build up. In the story, when Sonny was playing the piano, the music moved through each person in the room, as well.
The movie could serve to be the aftermath of the narrator understanding his brother as a musician. Then, Sonny would teach his brother how to play or his brother will pick up interest in an instrument. Thus, music will be the medium in which the brothers connect on another level.
Alissa, I can definitely see where you’re coming from when comparing “Sonny’s Blues” and The Blues Brothers. Both Sonny, and the Blues Brothers seem to have a passion for jazz music. The music and beats seem to move all of the men in different ways. In Sonny’s case, we have learned that jazz music is his escape from his reality, his getaway to which he can express himself completely. I can also see the comparison of the brothers, and with Sonny and his brother reconnecting, and the jazz music had to be the thing to do it! The music plays as a link or a connection that all of the men need to stay in touch with one another.
ReplyDeleteAlissa, I see how you made the connection between "Sonny's Blues" and "The Blues Brothers." At first, I wouldn't have found a relation between the two, but after I read your post, I can see how you made this connection. I agree with you on the fact that the blues brothers can almost represent the unified relationship between Sonny and the narrator, and I like how you mentioned that each brother, from the movie and the story, can use music in order to improve their relationships with their siblings, and I very clearly saw the relationship between the movie and story after you made that point. I enjoyed reading your post very much, and I respect your creativity uniqueness within this post.
ReplyDeleteAlissa, I like your type of connection between "The Blues Brothers" and "Sonny's Blues." The way you incorporated the future possibilities of more connections is very interesting. I have yet to read another blog that used a connection like that. Also, I agree that the jazz music served as a means to unify everyone. When words were not enough, the music was able to make Sonny’s story understood by his brother. Similarly, the music was able to show that the piano was still useful. While I have not seen the movie “The Blues Brothers” before, the clip that you provided was enough for me to be able to see the connection that you were able to make.
ReplyDeleteWow Alyssa, this comparison is fantastic! You did a great job in seeing the two’s similarities, something I would have never seen! I’m really happy that you were able to relate the two as an “after effect” rather than just a simple “This is just like this” type of thing. I can definitely see how this is something that happens after the story that we have read in class. Great “outside thinking” with that one!
ReplyDeleteAlso the link that you provided us with, is some great music! I haven’t seen this movie in so long I almost forgot what I had been missing!
Alissa, I enjoyed the connection that you made between “Sonny’s Blues”, and “The Blues Brothers”. The narrator found it difficult to connect with his brother because of Sonny’s passion for Jazz and the Blues. He believe that Sonny is using his music has a gateway for using heroine. However, Sonny sees his music has a way of liberating his soul by expressing his struggles in the melody of jazz. The way that you showed the relationship between the movie and the short story allow the reader to focus on Sonny’s music. Also, discussing the outcome of the new bond between the brothers is ingenious.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting media that you chose! Whenever I hear of the "Blues Brothers" I instantly think of the episode of "Drake&Josh" where they pretended to be them for a talent show. Music is the biggest connection between the two, as you stated. I agree that for Sonny it was more of an escape from his surroundings. However, I could understand how his brother was afraid that practicing his music might cause him to fall back on the wrong path. I was glad at the end of the story when the brothers found a connection and reached an understanding. It is truly amazing how music can have that type of impact. Great job!
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ReplyDeleteGreat post Alissa, I found your media outtake to be very interesting. The movie "The Blues Brothers", was different in the aspect that the brothers were working together as a team to save an orphanage by getting the band back together. I do agree with you on the fact that in the short story, "Sonny's Blues", the narrator thinks that the music could possibly be a gateway to his life of problems with drugs and the law enforcement. The narrator does have a point though because Sonny has not shown that he can change his life around and away from his old bad habits and his brother decided that he would no longer watch his brother be in pain and fail at life. However that changed quickly when the narrator's daughter died and opened his eyes to see that the brothers only had each other to depend on and be there through thick and thin. It would have been very interesting ending to the story if the narrator was to join in on the making of passionate music with his brother. Which I believe would create a medium for them allowing them to become closer together and to understand how they feel. Music provides a great connection because of the passion of how they feel both in the story and the movie.