Reading #2

In the reading tonight and in class I found the part where Beelzebub sucked up to Satan very interesting. I was kind of confused about there relationship at first, but when Beelzebub started his speech "O Prince, O Chief" I started to see what he was to Satan. The seriousness of this address showed that their relationship is all about business, and also how servile B is to Satan. Even though B is inferior, some of his ideas were really good and his intelligence is probably why he is Satan's right hand man. When B suggests that they are still alive for a reason, and that God has a purpose for putting them in Hell, whether it is to suffer to be slaves. The way the speakers switch up a lot is what confuses me most about the poem, but once we get further into it I think it should be easier to follow.

The Voice of Reason

In our reading tonight, I found the conversation between Satan and Beelzebub to be very interesting. Disclaimer...I could have completely read this the wrong way. What it seemed like to me was that Satan kept going on and on about how the battle with God was not over and how the Rebel Angels can still defeat God because now that they have fought him once, they know His tactics.  After Satan has shared all of this information, Beelzebub seems to be the voice of reason.  He keeps saying that God is almighty,and he is also trying to figure out what they should do while they are in Hell because he is trying to indirectly make the point that they are not going to defeat God, so they should try to make a life for themselves in Hell.

1st reading: Paradise Lost

From what I have read so far of Paradise Lost, I have found it to be very interesting. Milton starts out the poem showing great respect for God and all of the miraculous things that he has done. I thought it was kindof strange that he really just listed alot of familiar stories from the Bible since God obviously already knows these, but maybe they're just part of his prayer. I like that he draws the comparison between the God that helped Moses on the mount Sinai and that he is the same God that Milton is trying to address right here. He seems a little arrogant when he is talking about how he is going to write a poem greater than anyone's ever before him.....but I don't know...maybe he has good reason to be? I really like all of the evil language that Milton uses when he describes Satan and the process of becoming Lucifer to what he is now. It kindof reminded me of Othello when Milton talks about the fact that by God allowing Lucifer to go on living in hell rather than just killing him, he is actually making him suffer more. Those lines are similar to when Othello tells Iago that it would be more desirable to die, which is why he just stabbed him. Othello kindof hopes that Iago will go on living and suffering in the same way the God wants Lucifer to suffer and regret his decisions. I also liked the contrast that Milton made when he described hell and its absence of anything good as the complete opposite of heaven. The images that Milton puts into the reader's head when describing all of these seemingly intangible things is very helpful.

Paradise Lost

I really like this book/poem so far. I think it is a cool perspective on a story that most of mankind knows from childhood. The only thing I wish was that there was a more defined set of rules for angels v. humans. Although speculation isn't necessarily a bad thing, I don't really like how everything we say is either a human rule applied to the angels or a hypothesis.

Man's Possesions

I just wanted to comment on something that I thought was interesting today. Coach Crook pointed out that God was not interested in the unnecessary gifts that man had to offer he was just interested in them being the best self they can be. Immediately my mind went to the dragon in Grendel that hoarded treasures that he couldn't even use. He wanted men to not have possessions, whereas God sees he has no use for them so he helps man make use of them. I don't know quite where I'm going with this, but I thought it was kinda interesting!

Godfather part II

I feel the same way as Carter about the family without Vito. Even though Michael is the new leader of the Corleone's, Vito was a stronger power and held the family together a little better than Michael. I found the abortion news also very surprising, but also, I kind of felt myself waiting for Michael and Kay's relationship to fall apart since it had so many problems and barley any communication. Even though the slap was a little dramatic, I understand why it happened. The fact that he was going to have a son and was to busy in the family business to realize it probably also made him feel guilty. Michael had so much stress building up inside him from everything going on lately in the movie and then the news of his family falling apart puts him over the edge. At the end of the day, he needed his family and when he found out they were leaving him, he couldn't control himself. The fact that he was going to have a son and was to busy in the family business to realize it probably also made him feel guilty.

The Godfather Part 2

Michael's full-of-himself attitude is really getting annoying. Kay obviously had reasons to be mad at him, since he was never really honest with her. I can understand her being so mad at him; however, the part when she told him that she got an abortion was really shocking. She didn't really seem like the character to do something like that, which was what made it so surprising. Yeah it was not cool when he hit her that hard. They were both doing the screaming, and she didn't deserve to be hit. He was being an inattentive husband. He was always consumed with the "family business" and always just left her out of it, for her own safety. Also I really liked the part when Fredo was telling Michael how he was always feeling left out. I always wondered if that bothered Fredo that he was so disconnected, and today we saw that it obviously did. That was the first time that Fredo really spoke up for himself. I kindof even felt bad for him at that point, since the family really did forget about him. He probably only tried to shoot Michael to get some attention out of someone. This family is getting really really dysfunctional without Vito Corleone.

The Godfather Part II

The flashbacks in the movie are starting to annoy me.  At first I liked them, because I saw their purpose.  I also liked the plot they portrayed.  (Background of how Vito comes to power and his experiences as a child that make him the way he was).  While the purpose of the flashbacks remain the same, the spacing of them is frustrating.  I feel like some of them are too short or too long without enough of the present day shown in between. 

The Godfather Part II

I really enjoyed what we watched today. I hated how we ended when Michael hit Kay; that was not cool. I understood how Michael got to face the court, but I was confused about what step in the legal process that was. It seemed like they had no proof of anything they asked him except what I can only think was Cicci's accusations. It definitely didn't appear to be a courtroom, more like a round table discussion of some sort, so that threw me off a little bit. I am still enjoying the flashbacks. I love how Vito is just gaining more and more power. I think as I like Vito even more I start to dislike Michael even more, probably because I am always finding differences between the two of them. I love Vito's calmness and the way he handles things; Michael on the other hand is just becoming annoying.

Vito vs Michale

   When I was watching the first movie, I kind of forgot the fact that the the Corleone Family was an crime family.  During the first movie, I loved all the characters in the corleone family, and I wanted them to stomp out the rival families.   In the beginning of part two, Michale doesn't have the respect that his father had, the family looks unhappy and cynical towards each other, and the business is more white collar crime.  The plot to get the senator on their side reminded me of what the Corleone family really does.  It makes me wonder what Vito did to get the respect and power we saw in the first movie.   When Vito died in the garden, we talked about him dying as a friendly monster.  The more I watch Michale and Tom create the new Family empire, the more of a criminal he seems to me. 

Godfather Part II

So far I think the Godfather Part II is really good.  It is definitely as shocking as the last movie.  One thing I noticed was that Michael is always very calm and fatherly.  Don Corleone in the first movie was not portrayed to be as fatherly as Michael is in this movie.  I also have sympathy for Michael, because he is not treated with as much respect from his family and business partners as Don Corleone was.  Maybe I'm wrong, but I think that later in the movie Michael might do something rash in order to assert his dominance. 

Flashbacks

I am really finding all of the flashbacks into Vito Corleone's life to be very interesting.  The flashback that we saw today really gave me insight into why he did what he did when he grew up.  I also found it interesting that Clemenzo was his "mentor" and how in the Godfather part I, Clemenzo was working for Don Corleone even though Clemenzo taught him the ropes of the business.  I wonder how Don Corleone moved up in the ranks to be more powerful than Clemenzo because in the flashback, Vito follows Clemenzo around like a lost puppy!

The Godfather part 2

Two things that I noticed about the movie today were that, one, the senator was obviously uneducated about Vito Corleone because when he read out the name of who the check was addressed to he pronounced the boys middle name like v-eye-toe. Also, what was the old man blabbering about when he pointed to the band on his arm? the man next to him said "It wasn't a heart attack". I'm assuming they are talking about how Clemenzo died, but I wasn't too sure.

Act 5 Othello

Something I noticed in the movie was the scene when Othello is trying to convince himself to kill Desdamona.  When he says "put out the light, then put out the light," he was holding a candle.  He continues to hold the candle and carry it around as he continues to talk to himself.  Since I thought he meant he was going to put out the candle and then Desdamona, it was distracting when he dragged out blowing out the candle.

Othello Ending

I found a lot of scenes in the end of the movie Othello to be very interesting. First of all, it really made me mad when Othello was walking into the bedroom to kill Desdemona, and he was having to convince himself that murdering her was "the right thing to do." It was like he had to brain wash himself into doing something that he actually didn't want to do. And then Desdemona's face and her whole scared character was rather terrifying. The way that Othello killed Desdemona was really insane and it showed how messed up Othello's mind really was. Also, the end when they put their bodies into the ocean was also cool because it was the exact same thing when Iago dropped the chess pieces into the water. That was very clever of the movie producers to set it up that way.