Mini Review #3: The Killing Joke (1988)

During the marathon that was our Batman unit, we looked at many comic books from all over Batman’s timeline. The majority of them were okay- a bit confusing at times when there was a lot of action going on- but I generally enjoyed all of them. Then we read The Killing Joke.  Oh my god, I just need a second to process this story…

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Okay I think I’m good. Out of all of the comic books that I have read (all of which I can count on one hand), this one was by far my favourite. Technically, it’s two stories within two separate time lines, but I’ll get to that… maybe.

The Joker that I was first introduced to was Heath Ledgers portrayal in Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy. When I first saw the movies, that joker generally creeped me out- but not in the bad way, but like in the “holy shi—taky mushrooms I need to keep watching” way. But after reading this, the creep-factor has been raised like a solid 4x higher.

(Going back to the two spate stories within the single story now. And GO!)

The modern plot line in the comic follows the commissioner as he’s kidnapped by the Joker and tortured (whilst being naked) with pictures of his daughter Barbra (no not his mom, or adoptive child-like person, but the other one; the Gordon’s daughter). Surprise, surprise, Batman ends up saving our favourite aged Commish from the weird baby goons of Jokers. A fight ensues and the ending is completely left to interpretation. I’m not going to spoil anything, but I kinda don’t want to joker to be dead.

The second plot line is a plausible back story to our dear friend the Mr. J. I say plausible because the Joker is past the point of insanity where his mind could potentially be making up fake origin stories. Or is he completely sane?! Cue X-Files theme song. ANYWAYS! We find out the Joker left his job at a chemical company to be a stand-up comedian and his pregnant wife is not happy about it. Long story short, whilst attempting to escape the rage of Batman, the Joker falls into a vat of SUUPER CONCENTRATED UNKNOWN CHEMICALS- turning him into the Joker.

But the part that I love most about this comic is not the plot points, or the graphics, or even a new take on a beloved character. The part that I love about Killing Joke is that when you’re reading it, you don’t realize it’s a comic. From what I previously knew, comics had little detail to them, besides the graphics. But in each panel that you read, you pick up on little things that just add to the story. Like the red accents during the Jokers black and white flash backs of grotesque things. Or the panel detailing and mirroring throughout the story. Or even the iconic panel of the Joker laughing that was recreated Jared Leto and his version of the character.

I think that everyone can pull a different meaning from this comic. At the least, everyone learns that choosing madness is always easy. Or just that entire monologue in general.  


I give this comic 10 dramatic reading of the Joker monologue out of 10! 

A Newb-ish Conclusion

Okay- a conclusion to our video game unit in 150 words GO!!

At the beginning of these four days I felt no draw to video games what so ever- I didn't even want to participate in this unit. That's how done I was. So naturally, the on-going question that I set out to answer was "what makes video games so appealing?" After many failed attempts to play a wide variety of video games, I think I as a video game numpty have found the definitive, 100% true answer.

Like any form of modern electrical, technical medium, video games allow the players to immerse themselves into as world that was previously exclusive to books or films. Whether you're playing alone or with a group of friends, a blockbuster game, first-person shooter, movie game or comic book turned game, video games allow the player(s) to escape from the crap-fest that is reality here on planet Earth.

Sure, there are other factors that we discovered like getting to know a different version of your favourite characters, or building your ideal society, or even the joy of killings things, including your friends, but full immersion is the common variable that unites them all. Even if you are aware of it or not, video games allow all, newbs or experts, to escape what ever is going on in the real world, turn your brain off, and focus on a singular task- that is the true appeal of video games.

Video Game Adventures Day 4: Finally! A Game That I Can Play

Part A

Ah! We’ve made it to the last day of our video game adventure. And what a journey it has been- I have never screamed so much at a screen before in my life. Today we played the ever-classic Mario or one of the video games that I was actually allowed to play as a child and I STILL SUCK AT IT!!

Mario has literally been around 5ever and as a result, every time a new game is released, mass hysteria ensues. Mario appeals to everyone, similar to a four-quadrant movie, and everyone can play it. The controls are easy to learn and the objective is easy. (Children can probably play this game better then I can) Today, I learned that no matter your skill level, you will enjoy playing any Mario game because the appeal for every age group is there.

You can also look at the game from a merchandise perspective. At any nerd culture store you can buy a Mario shirt, or sweater, or boxer shorts, or assorted jewellery; the possibilities are endless. You also start to see Mario’s little Italian head everywhere whenever a new game is about to be released. If the plot were anymore complex, the game would be 5 movies already!

Finally, after a quick goggle search I found that the budget for creating a new Mario game is close to $50 million dollars. With increasingly better graphics and content, the need for a bigger budget is obvious, but $50 mill?! If I had that kind of money I would pay for someone to play the game for me and kill everyone on my team! (Haha- that’s what you get for killing me every single course!!)

Part B

Okay, I’m not going to lie, I love playing Super Mario Bros. Consider it one of the only video games that I will voluntarily play time and time again. I just end up pressing random buttons the majority of the time, but still. I think the biggest appeal to playing blockbuster games like Mario is the whole social aspect. When my team wasn’t killing me by popping my bubble right before a cliff or on those spinning thingies, we were generally trying to help each other out and having a lot of fun while doing it. Yes, I did die every single round, but I was still able to laugh it off every single time (I had short little shroom legs, I couldn’t jump that high okay!)

Mini Review #2: Indiana Jones (1989)

To this date, on of the most successful Indiana Jones film of the entire soon–to-be 5-movie franchise is The Last Crusade that originally came out in 1989. The Indie franchise had the golden trifecta of blockbuster makers: the Spielberg, Lucas, and Ford trio. Before the splendour of the Golden Trio of the Harry Potter franchise, these three were and still are the be all and end all of blockbusters.

Ever needed a movie just to watch and enjoy with little plot and a lot of young (ish) Harrison Ford? Then Indiana Jones is the movie for you!!

This film has everything you need to fulfill that need: action, sex, Nazis – hot Nazis, backstabbing, and falling off cliffs.  Oh yeah, did I mention Sean Connery shooing away seagulls because that is the best part!

In being the curious kid that I was, I was only allowed to stay within the confides of my backyard. Given in my childhood home, my backyard was a literally forest in the middle of New England, but my point still stands. The Indie movies and others similar, allowed me to explore the world, but through a fictional character’s eyes. Little did I realise that everyone’s favourite archaeologist would heavily impact what I want to study in post secondary.

Films like Indie and The Mummy implanted a futuristic-adult version of my self were I travel the world finding rare objects like a boss and very badass-like in my mind. Then as I’m preparing to bring the artefact home (because it belongs in a museum) I suddenly find my self surrounded by Nazis, or Indian-brain-eating ritualist, or even more Nazis!!! After being beaten to the point of near death, I rally all of my strength and save the girl that I’ve been trying to hook up for the entire movie and usually do in Cairo or some Middle Eastern country.

I had a lot of free time on my hands as a child- don’t judge me.

In all honestly, if this movie were released today, it would not have done well in the box office. The special effects are sub-par, the plot is predicable, and it’s a mystery how Harrison Ford has not killed himself yet. I think that because the Indie franchise cemented itself as an All American franchise way back when, that it will continue to be an ideal action film that many new directors and writers will use as a platform for years to come.

I give this movie 8.2 decaying villains out of 10

Video Game Adventures Day 3: The One Where We All Die

Part A

Left 4 Dead- seriously, the amount of times I accidentally jumped off the side of the building or out the window is uncountable. Right for the beginning of the game you are thrown into the middle of the Zombie apocalypse with a team and a gun. 

When you're playing the game, you don't really know anything about the outbreak or how it happens. It just does. In the other zombie mediums hat we have looked at, all of the focus is on the outbreak and the people who are attempting to survive in this new zombie filled world. There is also an intense focus on the lack of humanity that the survivors have and their ever-changing moral. Zombie films are also a way to express what you think is wrong with society, like Romaro in Night of the Living Dead. 

Game however, are completely different. There is little to no story and plot line, so all of the focus is on the graphics and the survival of your character and team. The audience gets none of the intensity from music, as all you hear is your gun going off, or dialogue or special effects. The majority of the intensity in this game comes from the graphics and the zombies that are constantly in your face. This fear is clear as all you could hear is Team 5 Gays and Lillia screaming about the zombies killing us. 

Part B 

Team 5 Gays and Lillia are self professed video game newbs and can't play any games well- well all of us save Alex. We died a lot. The majority of the time we spent attempting to kill the next wave of zombies whilst screaming about not liking it or curse words along the lines of "OH SH**! OH F***K!!" And it was fun and funny. Between waves of zombie attackers or during them we were laughing and screaming. I think the appeal for survival games or strictly shooting games is that there is virtually no thinking required to play, adding to the experience by being able to fully immerse yourself in the game. Also, there is something oddly satisfying about killing fictional things that are trying to kill you. 

Mini Review #1: Ex Machina (2015)

Ex Machina is a futuristic Netflix movie that invites all that watch to question what consciousness is and ultimately what makes us human. The movie revolves around the developing relationship between Caleb, a blue-collar hottie and programmer, and Ava, an artificial intelligence- also super-hot. All the while, Ava’s “father” Nathan, is observing them for an extra creep-factor. The film takes place over the course of one week and will throw so many plot twists in your face you will not know who to trust and who to absolutely love.

I loved this film. It restored my faith in the magic of movie making. The filmography is spectacular and the cast is beautiful to look at and is equally beautiful in their acting ability. Throughout the course of the film I was able to forget about the obnoxious ones in class playing various things on their various electronic devises, and simply watch. I’m not trying to sound pretentious, but not a lot of movies do that for me.

I was recently reminded of the splendor that is this film when my parents watched it for the first time on the weekend. They both grew up in the era where the future didn’t look like our present what so ever and every problem in the world was solved with the magic of technology!! (Aka, the Jetsons.) But Ex Machina shows the audience almost the exact opposite.

The entire film is set within the near distant future where everything is almost exactly the same- culture, personal appearances, etc, etc- but the technology is much more advanced. Computers scan and analyze people and the ability to create a functional AI is there. Caleb, our blue-collar hottie, “wins” a lottery contest at work (Nathans company, BlueBook) and gets to spend the week at Nathan’s estate. All is not as it seems as Nathan really chose Caleb to test Ava using a method similar to the Turing Test. Long story short, Caleb falls for Ava and as he is helping her escape, Nathan gets stabbed very precisely and Ava in turn ends up locking Caleb into the estate. SAY WHHHAAAAA!!?!?!?!?

From the first time that we meet Ava, we can physically see that she is a robot (one with a very realistic facial and bodily features), and as far as we can tell, she posses a consciousness. But what exactly is a human consciousness, or any consciousness? At what point did Ava develop a conscious? Or like her speech patterns, was she always conscious?

All of these questions bring forth further questions that allow we as an audience to dive deeper and deeper into philosophy.

What makes us human? The age-old question. From a biological stand point, Ava is not human- she does not need to consume food, only sunlight, she doesn’t need to rest and she cannot reproduce- as far as we know. But if you look at humanity from an ethical perspective, you start add things like emotions and emotional perception, intelligence, and sexuality. All things Ava displays. But this is where it gets tricky, did she actually have feelings for Caleb or was she programmed to use his sexual attraction to her against him to fulfill her ultimate goal; escape at any means.

I could probably rant all day and on countless pages and pages of the Internet, but I think you get the main picture here. Well, lets hope so. 

Overall, I recommend this movie to Millennials or people who enjoy good plot-based movies. If you want a pure action movie where you don’t have to think, go watch Batman v. Superman or something.

All in all, I give this movie 9 forced dance scenes out of 5

Video Game Adventures Day 2: Fallout...?

Part A 

Fallout 4 takes place after a nuclear apocalypse and the main goal- from what I understand- is to attempt to rebuild society. Whereas 15 Million Merits takes place during the near future where society is communed into pedaling for fake money, hours at a time. Both versions on the future of society seem equally possible, but I personally believe that the Fallout future is more possible.

From what I can tell, the world of 15 Million Merits contains a whole country within a confined space; possibly the entire population of the world. Even with the technology that we have today, getting the entire population of a country or a world is near impossible. Not to mention the big question of who put them there? What drove that person or group of people to do that. The setting of Fallout is extremely plausible because we've nearly caused a nuclear apocalypse many times through out history. Society is none existent and everyone must compete for supplies and survival. 

Morality seems to be unchanged within 15 Million Merits. The people still have the same values that we have- discrimination, social order and sexuality. If the worlds society was crammed into a non-existent box, you'd expect some rebellion, and not just from one character. The people are completely compliant. If you look at Fallout, society is completely destroyed, forcing people to become a reflection of their true selves. If society was truly destroyed, the morality that we hold so dearly today would not remain. 

Finally, the people within Fallout seem to revert to a simpler form of currency whereas those within 15 Million Merits are constantly aiming to get more digital credits. To me, it's more likely that we will revert rather then continue to move forward. Especially if the nuclear apocalypse was to happen. 

Part B 

Fallout is another story game that heavily relays on knowing what you are doing- we did not. The majority of the time, like Batman, we spent running around and almost dying, like twice. As much as I was confused, I really enjoyed the inversion factor of the game. As soon as you create the character, you are launched into world where you have to figure things out as you go and fly by the seat of your pants. For games like this where you create a world around you, I think the main source of appeal is being able to escape your world and go into another, much like books or movies or fanfiction or any other immersive worlds. 

Video Game Adventures Day 1: Lets Run Around With Batman!!

Part A 

Each medium that Batman is portrayed in, the character is different. The essential story is still there, like his back story and the villains that he fights, but there are some differences between all of them. 

The Batman movies tend to focus more on the character development of Batman and finding the reasons for why he does what he does. The also tend to have flashier fight scenes within them because they can afford to make elaborate fights with special effects. I was introduced to the movie version of Batman first, so that is what I am drawn to the most. Before I began to learn more about Batman and actually read some of the comics, I thought that the movies had the better portrayal of the character because that is all I knew about the character. But know I think differently. 

To me, the video game tends to focus less on the character of Batman and more on his ability to fight, similar to the movies. In the little time that we had to play the movie, all Bruce did was walk around and fight people in orange suits. Because I am not a video game person, I don't prefer this portrayal. I think maybe if I knew more about Batman or I played the game for longer and was good at it, I would like this medium the best. But I don't. 

This leaves only the comic books. Being the person that I am, I prefer mediums and stories to stay within their original mediums. I think because Batman existed solely as a comic book character, it's the best way to express the character of Batman. Coming from the perspective of knowing next to nothing about Batman at the beginning of the semester, I found that reading comics was the easiest way to learn about the character and what he stands for. I think both the games and the movies relay so much on the comics for story ideas and theme, you have to read the comics to get a feel of the character and to get to know them. Without reading the comics, and just watching the movies or playing the games, you would really have no idea whats going on

Part B 

I was never raised with video games in my life and as far as I know, it's something that other people do and not me. I have never felt any draw to play video games or to learn how to play them. Arkham City is a pretty heavy story game and if you don't pay attention you will be completely lost. The majority of the time, my group and I spent laughing at the people getting beaten up by Bruce Wayne or breast physics. We didn't care how well we did or how well we were following the story, and that made it more enjoyable. For Arkham City and games similar to it, I think the appeal is getting to know a famed or favourite character, but from a different perspective and see them in a different light. 

The Green: A Future Assignment

The Green: A Black Mirror Story. (Based of the episode 15 Million Merits)

They lie. They always lie. They have turned our lives into an endless cycle of cycling. Pedal for the greater good, as if that’s all we’re capable of. They like to pretend like this metal box that we were shoved into is a society; that this is living. But everything you see is a lie. And yet, they believe the truth that is spoon fed to them and shoved down their throats till they are satisfied.

They lie. This is not life. This is not what living- truly living is like.

Green. My only memories that remain are of green. Green everything. Green and blue, the colours of the real world. The real world that I destroyed.

There is a feeling, flickering somewhere in the back of my existence. The air above is blue, so blue. The Blue seems to last forever, expanding past the realm of thought itself, pushing further and further into the Endless Black. The Black that now controls us, controls them. Below, The Green reaches up to you like little hairs. As if it could somehow climb your body only to reach further towards the Expanding Blue. 

The Green is tangible, taking the form of small blades, each with its own distinction. But The Green is varied, unlike The Endless Black, which has nothing, and nothing ever grows.

Growth. Everything grows in this memory; even I grew for a short time. More than physically, my conscious grew and grew until it felt like I could shut out the Endless Black from me, from everyone. It felt as if I could somehow end the Black. Like a weed I could kill it at its very heart.

In my former life, I did not possess the Endless Black my vision was always red. Red like the hearts of men, the same red we all possessed. I never cared much for The Black; never saw any gain from it. The only concern I had been for the red of humanity that was being tainted with the constant Black. Greed, they used to call it. But I changed that; I changed all of it.

I had set out to end greed, but instead I expanded it in the eyes of the men whose hearts were only black.

During the prime years of my growth, I came to learn about a man who also saw what I did. He made a red square that contained his ideas, his manifesto. In it, I saw the way to end greed. To end the Black hearts of men, I had to make them all the same. I had to commune them.

The men. I thought they were similar to me. I saw them as red and willing to help me. But they lied. The red they possessed was a costume, a cloak used to conceal the Black. They took me, tricked me into creating this, The Metal Box. They tainted the box, the haven I imaged for their own good. Making it so that only they could control us, instead of us controlling ourselves- the way it was meant to be.

Decay. Decay is all that awaits for me. Bodily decay came first and when my muscles in my legs stopped working, they made me pedal like all of the others. Endlessly; day in and day out. They said it would elongate my growth, but I knew what they were doing. Next, decay of the conscious. Physically, all I see is the Endless Black stretching out beforeme like a void. Next came the wires, forcing my psyche into The Metal Box.

I am The Metal Box.

They lie. They always lie. My life is an endless cycle of cycling. Pedal for the greater good because that is all I am capable of.

Answer Key for Newwwwbbbs:

 The Expanding Blue = the sky

The Green = grass/ anything that grows

The Endless Black = financial gain/ the world they live in, everything that is wrong with the world

Red = financial loss/ humanity

The Red Square = the Communist Manifesto by Carl Marx 

A Bad Attempt at Fan Art

When given the choice between writing and researching about my personal favourite Batman topic or recreate some memes out of perfectly edible dry pasta, the macaroni arts wins hands down.

That Dank Meme

                             

The first masterpiece that I decided to recreate was the “Goddamn Batman” meme. Is it considered a meme? Or because its from a comic panel, it’s it just a quote then? But then again, what defines a meme? Oh, sorry, back to the Bats.

I chose this meme not only because we talked about it in class, but also because going into it I thought it was going to be easy to recreate. And boy wonder was I wrong. Looking back, I should have painted the backdrop before gluing in noodles on because that would have been the sensible and logical thing to do. But who has time for that?! I only had the room to horribly glue on the words “He’s the Goddamn Batman” and even then you can’t really even read it properly. The paint job it kind of (more like really) sad, so I think generally, this fan art turned our really poorly.

Kind of like that. 

I think I really picked this meme because today, everyone knows who Batman is because he is so engrained into our popular culture. Recently there has been a serge of newly edited comics, replacing the ex-text with something humorous. But for this particular comic/art, it seems to be the original text. So I think it’s kind of making fun of the ridiculousness of Batman, but at the same time loving everything that he is.

The Surfing Bowtie

The second fanart that I made, I think is probably the best one and my favourite. I attempted to make a noodle version of Adam West as Batman whilst surfing, but that didn’t work out. So eventually, I settled on just the surfboard. But instead of adding the bat symbol, I used a bow tie noodle. I think that it adds to the overall weirdness that is my creation. This piece was also easier to make because I had more of an understanding of generally how to make macaroni art gracefully.

 

I decided on the surf board because looking back and leaning more about Batman’s history, I now see Adam West’s Batman as this ultimate version of Batman that every recent movie, TV show, or portrayal tries to live up to. So this is my paying homage to the work of Adam West.

Childhood Noodle Redemption

As a kid, I never watched the animated Batman series. I wasn’t allowed to watch that many cartoons and Batman was on the list of “moms-no-go’s.” So to make up for that, I attempted to recreate the bat signal used in the animated series. I personally don’t think it’s identical, but that’s what the power of imagination is for kids!!

This piece was by far the easiest to make. By the time I made it, I knew what to do and how to do it effectively. Besides waiting for the paint backdrop to dry, gluing everything on maybe took 20 minutes, in comparison to the hour that it took to spell of “Goddamn Batman.”

Overall, this was a really fun project. I was able to be creative in a silly way that helped channel my organic chemistry stress onto something expressive and productive.