Discover Top Posts Tagged with #barretthonorsseminar

Challenge Post 17: Normalizing Sociopathology

There’s little question that the term “sociopath” gets bandied around a lot more today than in years past. This is ironic given that the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), is the “bible” of diagnostics published by the American Psychiatric Association removed the term from its 5th edition, instead placing that “disorder” under the wider blanket term of Antisocial Personality Disorder (APD or ASPD). From films to pop psychology, the media has created an image of the “elite” or high-functioning sociopath who appears more like a glamorized anti-hero capable of outsmarting everyone else around him (and the person is usually male). Think of the titular character in Sherlock or Hannibal in Silence of the Lambs. Or, Jessica Jones in the television series of that name.

IF you follow this link, you can read a sociologist explain why Sherlock is, in fact, NOT a sociopath despite all of the media discussion of his so-called sociopathic tendencies.

Similarly, this article presents a similar challenge to claims that Jessica Jones is a sociopath, or even has sociopathic tendencies, instead arguing that she suffers from profound trauma.

My challenge for you is to find such a glamorized so-called ‘sociopath.’ Provide a brief description of why you think this character, or real-life person, fits the definition of a sociopath. Include an image or links to information about them in your post.

#criminalminds #challengepost #barretthonorsseminar

Challenge Post 13: Spoofing is the Highest Form of Flattery?

The saying goes that you’ve truly made it once you’ve been referenced in or spoofed by The Simpsons. Well, in January of 2009, about fifteen years after the film was released, The Simpsons spoofed Heavenly Creatures in its “Lisa the Drama Queen” episode. In it, Lisa and her new friend, Juliet, invent a world known as Equalia that allows them to escape their torturous reality. I can’t show you a clip from it because The Simpsons is almost as effective as Disney at protecting the series from unauthorized streaming. So, this simple picture will have to suffice.

My challenge for you is to find a film from our syllabus that is spoofed or referenced by The Simpsons. A simple google search will bring up a great many. Then post a still or a link to a video clip of the reference.

#criminalminds #challengepost #barretthonorsseminar

Challenge Post 2: Heist Film or Movie Musical?

Edgar Wright’s Baby Driver has been called more ‘movie musical than heist film.’ While I firmly believe it can be both things at once, the film does present a uniquely musical take on the crime sub-genre. Wright inventively uses the film’s music not just to advance the narrative but synchs it with much of the action--and the link between music and actions gives us tremendous insight into the film’s characters.

The most dramatic version of this takes place in the film’s opening six-minute scene. Every action and image is perfectly choreographed to music. While this clearly stretches the bounds of “believability,’ that is, to my mind, beside the point. It’s about getting us inside Baby’s head, among other things.

While the musical is not a genre I tend to spent much time watching, I do have a few musical favorites, like the pre-Code back-stage musical, The Gold Diggers of 1933. This is one of my favorite moments from that classic early-sound musical.

But like with Wright’s film, there are many non-musicals that incorporate scenes that appear choreographed to music, even when it appears to be non-diegetic to the scene (not part of the characters’ world, but only “heard” by spectators). The Coens’ celebrated gangster film, Miller’s Crossing, includes such a scene, using the Irish ballad “Danny Boy” ironically and thus making a rather gruesome moment laugh-out-loud funny.

Or, there are the films that merge the diegetic and nondiegetic worlds, showing characters reacting to music that is clearly part of the film’s narrative world. This scene from Jenkins’s 2000 film, American Psycho, is one of my favorite examples.

CHALLENGE: So my challenge to you is this: find a scene from a film that makes unusual use of music. It can be a scene in which the characters are hearing and responding to the music (diegetic music), or non-diegetic music (music that is part of the soundtrack and clearly only heard by spectators). Say a few words about why you like the use of music in that scene. What is unusual or particularly effective about it?

#challengepost #barretthonorsseminar #criminalminds

Challenge Post 14: Documenting the “crime of the century”

In making The People v. O.J. Simpson, the producers of the Netflix series had to contend with the fact that they were depicting one of the most watched criminal cases in American history. If they weren’t careful, audience members, even those who might be too young to remember/know the case directly, might find it jarring to see dramatic departures from historical “fact.” The series never claimed to be a documentary; yet, they clearly struggled to get the facts “right.” The series also presents a very complex and compelling combination of dramatized footage and actual found footage from history. Still, there are some striking “errors” in how they depict the case, taking liberties for dramatic effect. For example, prosecutor Bill Hodgman did not collapse in the middle of courtroom. He did fall ill and had to be taken to the hospital, but that happened when he was at home, not in the middle of his team’s opening statement!

The real versus the fictional Hodgman.

My challenge to you is to find another distortion from the series. Provide a link or description of how the series alters the truth and perhaps speculate a bit about why this distortion occurred.

#criminalminds #challengepost #barretthonorsseminar

Challenge Post 12: Juvenile Offenders in Popular Culture

In representing the juvenile offender, there’s often a fine line between the rebel and the outlaw. Many of Hollywood’s young offenders start off as simply misguided youth who take their rebellious tendencies one step too far, thus falling too far outside the bounds of the law. Still, even when they do commit crimes, Hollywood tends to glamourize these young offenders even more than they might with adult criminals. Perhaps the most famous example is James Dean in the 1955 film Rebel without a Cause. He became the voice of an entire generation via the character of Jim Stark, a troubled young man who’s simply looking for some stability and direction in his life.

My challenge for you is to find a representation of juvenile crime that limns this boundary, that suggests the young offender is admirable despite, or perhaps because of, their crime(s). Provide a link to a clip, or some sort of imagery and brief description of the representation.

#criminalminds #barretthonorsseminar #challengepost

Challenge Post 10: If these (prison) walls could talk

Even though Orange is the New Black draws from a personal memoir written by a former inmate, Piper Kerman, no one who watches it is likely to see it as “truth,” as a documentary representation of prison life. However, it does address many real issues that plague America’s prison system. For example, it depicts the problematic economic system within the for-profit prison, with inmates often struggling to acquire even the most basic supplies from an over-priced commissary, like feminine hygiene products.

You can read more about the real-life issue of prison commissaries and how they connect to what you see in OITNB here: https://www.businessinsider.com/orange-is-the-new-blacks-prison-commissary-2013-8

My challenge to you is this: take some sort of debate or issue about prisons that you saw emerge in Orange is the New Black. Then find a link to an article that discusses that issue as it relates to American prison systems. In other words, where is the series “ripping stories from the headlines” by engaging with a real-world issue that concerns incarcerated people or prison systems?a

#criminalminds #challengepost #barretthonorsseminar

Challenge Post 11: Stories Coming from Inside the “Big House.”

https://www.wbez.org/series/written-inside/7b02369b-9927-472b-a5cc-c16ae7bab94dEven though there are myriad “prison narratives” out there, told mostly via the glossy methods of Hollywood or mainstream television, it’s very difficult to find honest, engaging representations of life inside American’s prisons. I have discovered that in this “age of the podcast,” the genre is particularly adept at allowing us to see what it is like to live inside prison walls. In fact, there seems to be a growing number of prison podcasts at the moment, perhaps because the genre is less invasive and can allow for recordings that are less likely to compromise security than video cameras and more able to “capture” the immediate moment than fiction. I introduced you to Ear Hustle, told from within the walls of San Quentin, a maximum-security state prison for men near San Francisco. Another podcast that I’ve found particularly interesting in depicting issues around incarceration and prison life is Written Inside, which is adapted from essays written by prisoners at Stateville Correctional Center near Chicago. While clearly more edited than the stories in Ear Hustle, this podcast provides a very intimate look at prison life. CHeck it out here: https://www.wbez.org/series/written-inside/7b02369b-9927-472b-a5cc-c16ae7bab94d

I also find that poetry can provide the “outsider” with a much more vivid understanding of prison life, or of a prisoner’s anxieties, frustrations, and experiences. I’ll leave this poem by JOseph Aragon for you to consider. He was a prolific poet and essayist who wrote frequently about his prison experiences, especially his time in isolation, and lobbied for the end of the practice of prolonged isolation as punishment for inmates before his death in 2015

My challenge to you is to find some sort of story from “the inside” that you feel provides useful insight into prison life. Look for something that seems more intimate, honest, real than what you might have posted about in relation to Orange is the New Black, a dramatized version of a real former inmate’s experience.

#challengepost #barretthonorsseminar #criminalminds

Challenge Post 16: Gendering the Serial Killer Label

As I explained in class, the FBI gave Aileen Wuornos the title of “America’s First Female Serial Killer” when she was charged with multiple murders in 1992. While that title may be somewhat misleading given that other women, like Dorothea Puente, who killed at least 9 residents of her boarding house in the 1980s, or Amy Archer-Gilligan, who may have poisoned as many as 48 people, committed their crimes well before Wuornos. One has to wonder if gendered assumptions/misconceptions about women’s “propensity for violence,” or lack thereof, have caused fewer of these female murderers to be labelled “serial killers.” My challenge to you is to find an example of serial murder committed by a woman, in any country. Provide a short description of the criminal/suspect and briefly discuss the case. Provide a link or image to supplement your description.