Fast and Furious

Fast and Furious

After reading the short story “The White Heron” and having a few great discussions in the class last week I found a great connection for this short story. I notice that Sylvia was a poor girl that just moved to the country with her grandmother and was faced with a big dilemma which could change her life financially. As I finished reading I started to think of the movie “Fast and Furious” starring Paul Walker and Vin Diesel. In Fast and Furious Paul Walker goes undercover to bust his target Vin Diesel for a reward from his police staff.

         I connected these two together because in the movie and the short story they both faced with a dilemma with the outcome of rewards.  In The White Heron Sylvia could either tell the ornithologist if she had seen the bird that he was looking for or keep the birds where about a secret. In fast and furious Brian was faced with turning his friend in to the cops or keeping their bond and loyalty together and letting him go.  Both Sylvia and Brian wanted to turn in the bird and friend for rewards but as the movie and story progressed they both made a connection forcing them to change their mind. When Sylvia climbed up to the tree to find the bird she found out that the money was not worth killing the bird. When Brian started to build a new relationship with his friend he decided that his friendship was more valuable than a small reward.

At the end of the short story and movie both main characters decided to keep their loyalty toward something they were familiar with. In Fast and the Furious Brian the main character decided he rather keep his loyalty to his new friend that he had acquired rather than turn them in to the police for a reward. And in the short story Sylvia decided to forgo the decision of telling the man where the bird was for money and kept it to herself because she was familiar with the bird and nature.

 http://youtu.be/LuJuxoBknhc

http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=uSxC3MYkVZlpTM&tbnid=7TDBvDQzjEGV_M:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fflawintheiris.blogspot.com%2F2013%2F06%2Fthe-fast-and-furious-series-review.html&ei=uUnfUYXcC5a34AP-g4DgCg&bvm=bv.48705608,d.dmg&psig=AFQjCNGaiqrRQ0lmeMwVbVhBNJS39eHJ1Q&ust=1373674288832296

Media Outtake #2: The Affairs

Jhumpa Lahiri’s “Interpreter of Maladies” describes the interactions that take place between an Indian tour guide, Mr.Kapasi, and a visitor from New Jersey, Mrs.Das. They both seem to misinterpret what one wants from the other. These misinterpretations being Mr.Kapasi thinking Mrs.Das would want to be involved in a future relationship with him and Mrs.Das only wanting some advice on her dilemma of a past affair. The outcome of that affair was a child being born and Mr.Das not being the father in which he has no idea of this.

I made the connection between “Interpreter of Maladies” and a song called “Hypothetically” by Lyfe Jennings. Although the outcomes of this short story and the song are very much different, there are still many similarities that I made between the two. “Hypothetically” is a song which describes the conflicting relationship between a man and woman in which they both state their “hypothetical confessions” and the woman is contemplating whether or not she should tell her mate about the affair she had.

“Hypothetically” reads, “what if I told you that I had a confession, what if I said four years ago when we were arguing he came and comfort me and I wound up pregnant.” I connected this verse with Mrs.Das because she too had an affair with another man when she too was in a state of distress with her being a lonely housewife. “What if I confessed it and it turns out not to be your baby.” I connected this verse with the fact that Mrs.Das also became pregnant by the man which she had an affair with and that the baby was not Mr.Das’.

The overall connection that I made between “Interpreter of Maladies” and “Hypothetically” was that Mrs.Das was contemplating what to do in terms of telling her husband, Mr.Das, about what she had done and what the resulting factor of that mistake was. In “Hypothetically”, the woman is thinking hypothetically about the affair she also had and that result and whether or not she should tell her mate. “Would you rather have me tear you away from the only family you know or is this just too big a secret to keep it on the low?” Both of these women are unsure if they should tell their significant others about the mistake they both made because they know that it could possibly tear their families apart.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RE46T7ruqV8

Media Outtake #2: Mrs. Das’s “Friend”

Interpreter of Maladies is about a vacation trip that a family takes to India. They hire a taxi driver to show them around and to enjoy their time overseas. Mr. Kapasi, the taxi driver, realizes that this family is not as you would expect. The father is completely absorbed into his tour book and captivated by his camera, more willing to capture on film the good times with his family versus actually taking the time to enjoy it physically. The mother goes further out of the norm when she seems to show no outward feelings towards her husband and kids, especially when one of her kids become endangered later on in the plot. Mr. Kapasi manages to strike her fancy when he starts to talk about his past and his job. Because of the miscommunication between the two (Mr. Kaspasi thinks this sudden attention is love, Mrs. Das thinks Mr. Kapasi is skilled enough, possibly even qualified to be a counselor) Mrs. Das goes ahead and tells him her darkest secret; she had an affair and one of their kids isn’t Mr. Das’s.

            The song “Just a Friend” describes a situation where a guy tried to date a girl but throughout his efforts, she had less and less time for him. Her excuse was that “she only had a friend”… At the end of the song the guy finds out in person that she was having relations with her so called “friend” and was only using him for attention.

            “Just a Friend” is similar to the story “Interpreter of Maladies” because Mrs. Das had an affair with one of Mr. Das’s friends. At first it was a surprise but she let it happen. She has his son and pretends it was her husband’s all the while letting Mr. Das still think that his friend was still a “friend” of the family. Eventually this secret and being in a married she feels trapped in causes her to lose all interest in her family, just like how, in the song, the girl has no interest in the guy and would rather be with her “friend”.

http://www.lyricsfreak.com/b/biz+markie/just+a+friend_20018799.html

Media Outtake #2: Love Is Color Blind

The short story that I will be connecting with media for this week is Black Man White Woman in Dark Green Rowboat by Russell Banks. This story was about an interracial couple that wanted to be together, but others would give them looks when they saw them together. In other words, society was not ready to accept the fact that a black man and white woman were romantically involved. Also the girl had gone through periods of depression and she was seeing a doctor because of that. The media that I will be connecting this to is the movie “Save The Last Dance”, which was directed by Thomas Carter. I found a couple similarities between the two. Both deal with a black man and a white woman who are romantically involved. In “Save The Last Dance” the peers of the main characters were also not accepting of their relationship. Moreover, the woman in this movie also dealt with depression. She was depressed because her mother passed away in a car accident on the way to her dance recital; she blamed herself because of this. Another noteworthy issue is that in the short story the couple was indecisive about having an abortion, which was their man vs. man conflict. In the movie, their conflict was the girl was afraid to let the boy love her. 
Here is the trailer of "Save The Last Dance"

Media Outtake #2: The Story of Gravity

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_U6iSAn_fY

            Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” is about a woman, Louise Mallard, who finds out that her husband died in a railroad accident. Initially, she seemed to be overwhelmed with grief, just as any other wife would be.  However, as Louise went upstairs alone to grieve and collect her thoughts, her mind seemed to wander in a much different direction. Louise began to feel a sense of relief and happiness about her husband’s death because of the freedom that it allowed her to receive. Without her husband, Louise felt as if the world was full of opportunities and that she could now do anything that she wanted to without any restrictions or anyone holding her back. At the end of the story, it was revealed that Mr. Mallard had never been on the train that day, and that he was alive and well. Louise ended up dying of a heart attack in the end, but I saw it as more of a broken heart due to her newly found sense of freedom being demised by her husband walking through the door. Personally, I felt that the song “Gravity” by Sara Bareilles connected very well to the situation that Louise went through. The song is about a woman feeling confined and held down by her significant other, and with the lyrics “set me free, leave me be, I don’t wanna fall another moment into your gravity,” I was able to relate those feelings with Louise. Just like the lyrics expressed in the song, Louise seemed to be confined to her life with her husband, and the thought of him not being there lead her to explore and embrace the thought of being free. Louise yearned for freedom, and her sense of joy seemed to escalate at the thought of it. With that being said, Louise’s feelings of confinement led me to find the connection that she didn’t want to fall into her husband’s gravity and be forced to be with him. Lousie, just like in the song gravity, wanted to be free and independent, yet some gravitational force seemed to keep her with her husband until her lack of freedom led to her ultimate demise, her death.

Media Outtake #2: Emily`s Obsession

As I read and understood the short story A Rose for Emily I was able to connect it with a 2009 American thriller film directed by Steve Shill called Obsessed. The movie features two very well-known people, singer Beyonce` Knowles and actor Idris Elba. The movie is about a male executive vice president of a finance company named Derek who has a new office temp who immediately gets a misconception about him. It turns out that he is happily married with a child and the office temp, Lisa has an obsession with him. She took several of Derek`s actions as if he were flirting with her. She starts throwing herself at him showing that she was interested in being with Derek. Lisa`s way of approaching him did not sit too well with Derek`s wife. His wife, Sharon thought that maybe there was an affair taking place. The most important connection I made between the movie and story came about when Lisa was willing to get rid of Derek`s wife. By her constant actions, I saw that she was okay with doing whatever it took to be happy. Sharon also related to Emily because she was not going to let someone ruin her happiness throughout her marriage. She was willing to cause great harm just to keep her family together. I was able to notice how the two women were okay with fighting for their delight. With all of the tussling involving the women, Lisa ended up dying and concluded that Sharon did what she thought was best to remain happy. In comparison, Emily felt that by her killing her husband she became happy because she knew he was not happy with someone else. Like Sharon, Emily refused to live with the fear of being without a husband who they felt made them a happier individual.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9jypNpovbs

Media Outtake #2 : Emily Settle Down

The song "Settle Down" by Kimbra vividly describes how Emily from "A Rose for Emily" must have felt while she was alive. The connection I made between the two was that they both dreamed of having a family and a husband. In the music video one see that the singer dreams of having a family because instead of having a real male in the video, there is a manikin in his place. Both Kimbra and Emily are searching for their happiness through marriage and having a family. The manikin in the video represents the husband Kimbra dreams to have. As for Emily her dream husband, turned out to be a fail. Just like in Emily's house, the house in the music video is decorated lavishly with antiques to paint their individual picture of happiness. Also, within the song lyrics I believe that Emily would be able to relate to Kimbra's song because it illustrates Emily's desires through music. This was my second time reading "A Rose for Emily" and I still firmly believe that Emily murdered Homer because of the oppression she endured from the hands of her father. All she ever wanted was to have a husband and a family, but in fear of losing her chance because Homer has interest in men, she decides to kill him and live out her fancy in her home because it is all that she has left. I think we as people hold onto our dreams because it is the one thing we as a society cannot take from one another. If one were to be push into a situation where there dreams, hopes, and aspirations are dwindling at the edge of a cliff, one will do anything possible to keep it alive. Maybe even harm someone in the process. Do not mistake me for trying to justify Emily's action but simply as something to think about.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHV04eSGzAA