#aplang18remix

[toastgod500]

Rebel Without A Cause

To put it bluntly, the characters in Rebel Without A Cause did not resonate with my classmates that I watched the movie with.  Although, this is not really a surprise, as the movie came out 62 years ago, and the cast was made up of actors and actresses that (with the exception of Plato) were much older than the teenagers they portrayed.

Our group came to the conclusion that the movie did not accurately portray teenagers and their problems in 2018, as no one we knew had gotten into knife fights over a conflict, or risked their lives in a game of chickie.  But, this doesn’t mean that the movie did a poor job of representing teenagers and their problems in 1955, the year the movie was made.  To investigate further, I discussed our group’s findings with my friend’s dad.  

The reason my friend’s dad had enjoyed the movie while my group hadn’t, I found, must be traced back to the difference in emotional appeal of his generation’s teen movies, versus my generation’s teen movies. For instance, his generation’s Rebel Without a Cause depicts the conflict as teens versus figures in authority- parents, the police, teachers etc.  Conversely, in the second movie our group watched, The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012), the conflict dynamic was different from the teen versus authority dynamic of Rebel Without a Cause.  Instead, the movie focused on a teen versus teen dynamic, leaving the authority figure out of the conflict.

Many if not all teen movies that came out in my generation depict the center conflict as teens against teens.  David Denby, in “High School Confidential” notes the recent change in the participants of conflict in teen movies, writing, “The enemy is not authority; the enemy is other teens and the Social System that they impose on one another.”  

It follows then, Rebel Without a Cause is more difficult for my generation to relate to, as we’re conditioned to consume the emotions produced in a teen versus teen movie.  On the other hand, my dad’s friend could relate more to the teen versus authority dynamic of the first “teen rebellion” movies.  Of course, this is not to say that in older generation teen movies, there was no teen versus teen conflict.  There is definite proof of the teen versus teen conflict in Rebel Without a Cause in the knife fights, shootouts, and games of chickie played by Jim Stark.  But still, the movies of my generation seem to derive conflict from the teen social system, as shown in Perks of Being a Wallflower. For the teen rebellion movies of my friend’s dad’s generation, teens rebelled against adults and teens, while for the teen movies of my generation, for the most part, teens rebel against other teens.

With regards to the rhetorical triangle of Rebel Without a Cause, our group decided that the speaker is the adult director of the film; audience is American teenagers; purpose is to depict the problems confronting teens, even if these problems are exaggerated. I’m sure that not every kid can relate exactly to the problems Jim, Judy, and Plato delt with, but at the core of the problems the three characters faced, lie themes that any teen can somehow relate to their own life. Some of these include: social acceptance, trying to stay out of trouble (but failing), family acceptance, and the value of human life.

[simrankhurana]

The Bomb

Although I can concur that everything is a remix of everything else and true originality doesn't exist, the most legendary remix (aka the most original thing I can think of) is The Bomb. I am not referring to the explosive ones, I am referring to the first "computer" designed by Alan Turing. The Bomb was created in order to solve the enigma (the morse code with which Hitler communicated with Nazi soldiers across the world). Turing used many parts and theorems from math, science, physics, and engineering which already existed, but he was not inspired by any other object. I know this to be true because at the time The Bomb was created no one even remotely thought of artificial intelligence to solve the enigma, and no other object with its purpose existed. Turing took his expert knowledge of math and used it to create the very first computer, something which has inspired many after it, eventually leading to the phones we hold in our hand today. Turing did not copy another idea to make money or gain popularity, he created something out of sole necessity, and this is why The Bomb is one of the most original creations till date.

[justslytherinin2-0-blog]

Bohemian Rhapsody

The song Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen is quite an original.

The songs structre is what makes it an original piece. The structure begins with an a capella intro as heard in the line "Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?" It then segways into a sad, almost meloncholy piano ballad that starts with " Mama. Just killed a man." After the ballad of a man confessing to his mother, it transitions into a guitar solo right after the line "Sometimes wish I've never been born at all." The guitar solo makes a clean move into the operatic section of the song. The operatic glides into the heavy rock section with the phrase " Beelzebub, has a devil put aside for me." The heavy rock lives its short life and effortlessly changes into the outro, which is a hybrid of both the piano ballad and an ending that is much like the a capella it had begun with, leaving the last words "Any way the wind blows." quite haunting.

Spanning the years, many songs have followed suite with Queens mystifying song structre, either because they liked it or to pay homage to the original. Either way, Queen still remains the original creators of the song structure of Bohemian Rhapsody.

[rose-hutcheson-blog]

SsSSSSsss(sound of meat cooking)

Cooking is an original. The first instance when some food and fire/heat were mixed together at least. Everything after that was a remix on different recipes, but that first instance is an original. Humans are the first species on earth to ever heat their food. So it was never done before and when it happened it created something magical, something that would continue for hundreds of years. 

[delbattag8-blog]

What is Original?

As I sit here processing things that could possibly be true originals to all of the remixes and revisions of what has been created before and what is created today, I truly cannot think of something that is the actual original. Yeah, there are things like the Big Bang or the first car made, but those are simply what we know to be the firsts or the “originals.” I’m sure that a similar collision happened millions of years before the Earth formed, and that the first car is simply putting the idea of an engine-powered horse-and-buggy together; these things have all happened before, whether we know of it or not and this can be applied to all things out in the world, except one. While I am not heavily involved in church or religion, the one thing that I believe to be the most original is Eve’s sin of listening to the serpent, choosing to go against what God had warned her, and eating the forbidden fruit. While people like to debate on whether or not het thought of eating the fruit or her physically eating the fruit was the actual “original” sin, the fact that she had done both was the original. They were the first people on this earth to sin against God, as they were the first people God had even created, and even if they aren't Christian, who is going to argue that God isn't an original? To further clarify, Adam eating the forbidden fruit was not an original in any shape or form; he followed the actions of Eve, making him the first remix or copy of what Eve had done. Therefore, the sin of Eve listening to the serpent or eating the fruit (whichever you believe) is the original. The real question is “Is everything that came after Eve’s original sin a remix of just that?”

[anironicallymadeaccount-bry-blog]

Originality as we tend to think of it does not exist in our world. Ever though we've had has been inspired by something we've experienced, so I belive that good originality should be based on how well a piece takes inspiration from different places and creates a different experience from those inspirations. This song is mainly based off the Beatles-"Let it Be," a song slow, sad, blues song and takes a bit of chorus and intro, speeds the beat and hip hop aspects of it, Alvin and the chipmunkesk voice editing for the parts from the "original" song and expands on the sad tones with sad story of a kid about the problems he has with his dad, and other personal problems while overall making the song sound very upbeat and cheerful. This song is original because it takes an already existing song expands on it in one aspect, while also completely changing up another aspects. (For anyone that actually looks up the song I really only care for the verses, mot the intro or chorus too much)

[astronomeher-blog]

do u SEE what i mean?

glasses, right.

Gotta love these round, concave pieces of glass I wear on my face that prevent me from slamming into door frames (even though I do anyway). 

But, really though, glasses are quite a unique invention. Yes, everything comes from something and the modern glasses we have today are no exception. Glasses themselves come from a weird history of using bones and precious stones to block the sun’s rays, but the first pair of corrective lenses was actually inspired by looking through a fishbowl. The concept of glasses and the invention itself are actually quite original, though. Why else would someone decide to carve into a piece of glass and affix them to their face? Other than refinements and improvements in technique and precision, glasses have remained a relatively unchanged invention at their base. 

It’s interesting to see the types of impacts glasses have had over the years. Glasses are unique in that they are both a corrective necessity and a fashion statement. Imagine whole stores dedicated to picking out the cutest headgear. That’s right, you can’t. On top of that, glasses have led to a specific medical field: optometry. They are a unique blend of science, aesthetics, and practicality. 

On top of this, glasses have also had a significant social impact. Glasses can be seen as a sign of “intelligence” even though we know that vision problems can be caused by hereditary factors as well. In pop culture, glasses can signify “nerdiness” or be used to denote ugly characters before their transformation. We’ve created glasses in thousands of shapes, sizes, and colors. Glasses are even sold without prescriptions as fashion accessories.

Lastly, glasses have inspired a “spin-off”: contacts. While contacts are pretty similar to glasses, you can’t really make a bold statement and sometimes if you aren’t careful around heat you can melt your contact to your eyeball.

All in all, glasses are an important object to society which I feel contain misleading connotations. We use them for fashion, to see, to appear more intelligent. We need special people to tell us how blind we are and prescribe us the correct number at which our glasses should be shaped. We need special people to just make glasses. Glasses are an entire business in and of themselves. After all, where would we be without glasses?  

[baigm-blog]

The Room

The room to me is an original because it creates comedy through inconsistencies in narrative and intentionally bad acting. Some lines are derived from James Dean’s performance, in A rebel without a cause. “With the line, you’re tearing me apart Lisa.” With character flaws and intentional half-assed acting, the Room has been honored with the title of the worst movie made. I think that it makes it unique, and so many people see how unusual and trashy the film is. Intentionally this film is made horribly and it falls into the category of Trash films. As a part of non-mainstream movies called Paracinema, it is a film with  one of the most cult following and admiration. Theaters continue showings during Friday nights, and people still continue to enjoy it to this day.