Hello class,
I am traveling during our first scheduled class, and so want to introduce you to the course blog and invite you to use this first week to peruse the contents from last year's class.
As you can see, this is a forum for analysis and response to the films and concepts we will discuss in class.
Your assignment for Sept 9 is twofold.
First: Read pages 9-58 of your text, "Film: A Critical Introduction," 2nd ed. by Maria Pramaggiore and Tom Wallis.
Second: respond to the film screened Sept 2, Me and You and Everyone We Know (2005) by Miranda July. Respond here, on the blog.
Please respond in terms of the following questions:
- What is this film about? Do NOT supply a synopsis of the film. Instead, propose a focused description of the concept or meaning or cultural/world view you think the writer-director expressed through this story.
- What aspects of editing, mise-en-scene, cinematography and/or sound lead you to this analysis?
In other words, do not tell me whether you liked it or did not like it. Detail what you feel it's doing (what it means, what it says, etc), and how it uses cinematic tools to accomplish this.
250 words, approx.
See you on Sept 9th.
Jen
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3 comments:
The film is about people who are all trying to communicate with one another, but don't quite do it in the right way, or in the way the other person wants to hear. Though they seem to think they know each other, the lives we see them leading show that they clearly do not. We see the characters telling each other odd things that people would never say to each other in real life. For example, when Christine and Richard are walking from the department store down the street to their cars. They discuss how the signs could be different points in each others lives if they spent their lifetimes together. I for one, have never seen anyone do that before. The funny part about that is, Richard is in his car next, stopping at the intersection, and Christine just hops in his car like it's nothing. Richard acts confused at her actions, no longer following her little game. He puts her out of his car, much to Christine's confusion, because she thought they both had an understanding, or some mutual connection.
The way certain things are edited led me to think this. An example would be throughout the whole movie when Robbie is trying to find out what that pinging noise is every morning. At first, we see him listening and trying to figure it out himself, then he resorts to asking his mother, who gives him an answer that doesn't satisfy him. He resorts to getting up one morning to go see for himself, to see that it's simply a man with a quarter.
Another would be when Nancy is cybering with Robbie, and he gets her so hot that she just has to meet him, and just chatting with him no longer satisfies her. They meet in the park, and her curiosity is satisfied, but she ends up disappointed. Ergo, she doesn't get the "answer" she wants.
One final exaple would be the blowjob contest between Heather and Rebecca. They both decide to use Peter as their guinea pig for their experiment as to prove who can blow creeper dude better. They take turns on Peter, and once they're done, they both want the results, asking who was better. They get an unexpected answer from Peter, who says that they both felt the same. They look at each other then smirk, seeming to be fine with the answer.
The film is certainly edited and written enough to support my answer to the stated questions, as well as my examples.
Dominic Lee.
Me And You And Everyone We Know.
In my opinion, this is a film that expresses through its plot and cinematography the awkwardness of human beings in relationships,as it tries to expose our inability to engage or act in a certain level of intimacy without some kind of filter or barrier. These "barriers", are what I think Miranda July places the most focus on in her film, as throughout the movie they can be noted, such as the importance of technology,shown through the innocent but almost obsessive relationship between Robby and the person of the chat room, and the importance of the "intangible", such as a persons opinion, which is heavily shown through the two girls and peter, and even Richard and Andrew.
In the beginning of the film the first thing the viewer interacts with is the image of what appears to be a man and woman looking out at a beautiful sunset at the beach; a romantic setting, with a romantic dialogue, or monologue as we realize when the movie progresses to the introduction of the main character in the most awkward way imaginable, just an example of the way the movie takes advantage of what is typically perceived and shows it in an uncomfortable yet still generic way.
Kyle Rollins
Miranda July’s “Me You And Everyone We Know,” is a story that attempts to make each of us take notice of ourselves, the lonely world we've constructed, and the struggle of our desire to live and love. This film centers around the themes of communication and relationships.
This film is full of quirky and awkward characters that are put in everyday situations. Even though these characters seem more eccentric than most people do, they are as normal as the next person. The characters in the film are trying to find meaning to their lives. Richard is a perfect example of this. Richard lives a very mundane lifestyle and feels as if everything in his life has gone wrong. He is going through a divorce and his children have a strained relationship. Throughout the film, we see Richard looking a birds and he even has a picture of birds. Richard looks at the birds with envy because he sees how peaceful and carefree the birds are. To Richard, birds represent everything he wishes he could be. RIchard wishes he could be free and without restriction.
In this film, Miranda July really pokes fun at the awkwardness of people and the situations they find themselves in. The lack of communication and people expressing their emotions is the root of alot of conflict in this film. Whenever Richard and his wife have contact, it is always negative and the effects the divorce has on the children is negative and that is very prevalent in the film based on the relationship the boys have with their father.
The interaction between the main characters is fascinating and also very quirky. One memorable scene is Christines walk with Richard outside of the shoe store. Christine sees the walk to the end of the street as their entire life together, when they get to the sign they are at the halfway point. It's their relationship and for Richard, it's still at the beginning, the good part, when everything is fresh and new and full of possibility. They part ways and when Christine confronts him a few moments later the reality is that he's not ready for her, though he enjoyed the fantasy for a few brief moments.
Christine plays the conscience of the film because she is the only character who wishes people would express their feelings. Throughout the film Christine reminds the characters to live life to the fullest and say what they mean In this film, Miranda July was just stating the point that everyday people tend to make their situations harder than they have to be because their is a communication barrier among all of us and if we remove the barrier we will be able to fully understand each other.
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