Week 6 - King Obama

Well it’s a good thing DFTV 1 were arguing for the Democrats or Obama would never have become president! The debate was a bit of a washout. Frankly, we milled them! Actually I was very impressed with all us Democratic speakers and the amazing improvement from last week. I think being smartly dressed (and the American flag) was a nice touch. I was less impressed with my own rebuttal which was a bit rushed, not all that clear and could have been better prepared; however Murdo’s quick note-passing was a bit of a life-saver. There was the old “We love Obama” song which I would have loved to squeeze in somewhere but in the end I’m glad I didn’t do it; it was a serious atmosphere and the event was handled quite professionally so I would have been lowering the standards somewhat! On a serious note the preparation for the debate was a fine opportunity to clue myself in on the presidential situation in America, the Democrats’ policies and the attitude of Obama himself. I can’t help feeling he may start to feel he’s got more than he bargained for… but I hope he makes a good president and the best of luck to him.

Adam was unavailable on Monday afternoon so we just watched two episodes of Still Game (that Rab C. Nesbitt is still evading us!). It’s an interesting sit-com because it is rather serious and sincere about such matters as family, friendship and home whilst being very satirical and light hearted on every other subject. I laughed a few times but I’m afraid the humour didn’t really agree with me; it seemed to stem mainly from the spectacle of old cronies making offensive remarks and behaving immaturely. I think this kind of comedy is a cheap way of getting laughs. Instead of thinking of something clever or witty it’s much easier to chuck in a bit of swearing, some innuendo, a joke on some taboo subject and voila! you’ve got a comedy. One thing it does do well is fit nicely (and perhaps satirically) into the stereotype of a Scottish community.

Had a sort of informal, unofficial assessment on camera with Ray just to check we weren’t going to be dropping it or throwing it around or playing rugby with it or whatever. It was fine and the important thing is both myself and Ray now feel confident about me taking the camera out, which was, I think, its purpose. Funnily enough we can set up, configure and operate a camera and monitor now but we still haven’t been told how to load a tape! Ah well, patience… it will come.

A very warm and wearying afternoon in the DTU learning how to log and capture footage using a tape deck. It’s all good stuff but the conditions are sometimes somewhat summery.

Wednesday morning, first thing, I had a meeting with my PAT (and his black and white cat), namely Andy, and I was disappointed to discover he was not wearing his postman uniform and his nose was much smaller than I remember… Anyway, we both agreed that things were pretty much fine except that I was finding I didn’t have as much free time as I would like; for music, extra projects, writing, etc. However it seems that next term things will be different and the timetable may not be as full.

Biographical films must be a huge challenge. How to fit the story of a person’s life into a couple of hours and still make it interesting and yet as accurate as possible? It restricts the filmmaker somewhat. I do believe that restrictions can be the source of extraordinary creativity but they can also limit the film to a narrow valley of dull formulaic nature. Chaplin, in my opinion, was trying desperately to heave itself out of this valley and didn’t quite make it. However it was fascinating to get an insight into the life and work of Charlie Chaplin; I was impressed with Richard Attenborough’s directing (this was the first of his films that I’ve seen) and it had a certain poignancy about it as it was almost a homage from Attenborough to the man who inspired him to go into film in the first place. Similar, I suppose, to Peter Jackson remaking King Kong, the film that inspired him to become a filmmaker. Interesting also to see the historical link between Chaplin and Good Night, and Good Luck in the form of Joseph McCarthy. Anyhow, I was satisfactorily entertained and informed by this film and look forward to meeting the man behind it all.

I think the phrase most commonly muttered after watching Donnie Darko was “You can take from it what you want”. Let me express that sentiment in a different way, “There’s not really much meaning in it so you have to make that up yourself” or “It’s deliberately vague and open-ended so that, basically, you can think what you like”. Cop out. I don’t think this film was a clever, insightful, meaningful piece of storytelling, I think it was a messy mush of ideas and concepts that were sufficiently stated to enable the viewers to believe some meaningful truth had been communicated surrounded by a black, swirling mist and if they look long and hard enough in order to see through that mist… It reminds me of that Emperor’s New Clothes story where no-one wants to risk being called a fool by admitting that the Emperor is naked. Donnie Darko is naked (not literally), there is nothing of substance in it, and yet people don’t want to be called ignorant or narrow-minded and so they pretend that there is deep, hidden meaning in it and say, “You can take from it what you want” as if it is able to touch each individual in a unique way. Allow me to finish the sentence: “You can take from it what you want, ‘cause I certainly ain’t gettin’ anything from it!”. It wasn’t even particularly well made. I remember thinking when it was halfway through that I hadn’t been hooked yet, I wasn’t rooting for anybody or engaged in the plot. Apparently it ‘speaks to’ my demographic. I imagine teenagers like it because it’s kind of weird (we love to be confused) and because it centres on a teenage character who has psychological problems and turns out to be the most important person in the world. In that sense all teenagers must, of course, be able to relate to him. After all, we all have problems and we all think we’re the most important person in the world… right?

I didn’t really know what to think when watching The King of Comedy. It wasn’t all that funny but it didn’t seem to be taking itself too seriously either. It redeemed itself at the end. The last thirty minutes or so were the best in the whole film and not because they were embarrassing or comical (which they were) but because you saw a man achieving his ultimate goal through sheer determination and foolhardiness. There’s something refreshing about seeing a character who just wants to get on TV. He knows full well he’ll go to prison immediately afterwards and he’ll have no reputation to speak of but he takes it all in his stride in order to live out his dream. Beneath all this though there is a sincere message being communicated; some people will do anything to become famous, and, more worryingly, it works; because the more outlandish they are the more memorable they will be, the more irresponsible they are the more infamous they will be. Look at Big Brother or any celebrity programme and it’s clear to see the relevance of this film; people will do anything to be famous, to be on TV, to get their picture in the paper, and so on. The boundaries of decency and respectability are fast disappearing.

The Open Day on Friday was a bit of a disappointment. When I turned up, in the afternoon, there were no prospective students around to chat with at the booth. The screening of DFTV films was interesting, I’d seen some of them before, and it gives us an idea of what standards we have to meet (and, here’s hoping, surpass!) but, again, no chance for conversation. Anyway, that was that and then it was the weekend.