Up in the Air

in this movie, there is battle between the art of firing people and the efficiency it has in modern society. George Clooney claims that there's something important in being with the room when someone is fired. It's indecent for them to treat employees like this. However, the UPenn Grad believes that the company will save tons of money if they use skype instead of flying out to the company that's downsizing. The important structure of feeling is that George feels that people deserve more than just looking at a computer screen, for they are not only taking their jobs; they could be destroying their lives. He finds that this business holds a certain art form that's beautiful. Meanwhile, the recent graduate sees it very clearly that the new technology will save tons of money without diminishing their effectiveness. This is a clear dichotomy of opinions that are at complete odds with each other. But what it argues is that there is a strong attachment to human's sorrows, to the point that it should not ever be taken lightly. It speaks to the rhetoric that human life is precious. There's so much emotion packed into firing people, and so having a physical presence shows that they respect their life.

"Sunset Walks on the Beach"

Ever since I was a kid I would always see in the media the reoccurence of how long walks on the beach are the romantic cliche for dates, and that is why I chose to analyze and read a picture of a couple walking the beach at sunset.

Right away in this picture we are exposed to warm colors of red, yellow, and orange. These colors can be read as a variety of emotions but in the context of this image we automatically think love. The image's colors bring you the emotion of passion and love that the couple has and makes you also want to engage in something this romantic with someone you love. You then have the urge to take someone of significance to a beautiful coast and walk the beach at sunset.

When looking at the setting of the picture it is clear that it is most likely not a heavily civilized region such as a major city. It could possibly be an island or nice vacation spot on the coast. No matter where the place is you get the sense of "escape". You get the feeling that the couple is stress free and all their worries in the world are back at their job, home, etc.. The birds in the sky are another sign of stress free as they are usually symbolized with freedom. Flying freely in the background gives you that sense of care free as well. The couple themselves, have all their cares are with each other and all their focus is on each other. Thinking of that sort scenario gives you that "fuzzy feeling" inside also inviting you to want to take a special person there.

The picture gives that stereotype of romantic long walks on the beach. It is inviting and forces that ideology that you too love long walks on the beach and want to take someone special with you.

You Belong With Me

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuNIsY6JdUw&ob=av2n

The above link is to the music video for Taylor Swift's song "You Belong With Me". The lyrics portray a love sick girl who wants nothing more than the boy she likes to realize they belong together. Though it is rather cheesy, it is easily relatable as we all experience similar situations with crushes and love. The actual music video depicts the all too familiar "happily ever after" ending we so often see in romances. Politically, this song/video is saying that if you wish for love hard enough, it will come true. Everything will apparently work itself out in the end, in your favor. An unrealistic expectation of what love is can be derived from songs and videos such as this. It encourages optimism to an excess amount and therefore songs and videos like this become very popular, especially with teens who want nothing more than their own perfect love story. The way the young couple is drawn together at the end becomes the truly heart-melting moment, and as they kiss at the end, utter bliss is in the air. All the components of a genuine romance are included-the kiss, the lighting, the magical atmosphere. The fact is, real-life romance is rarely as perfect as what pop music like this is showing. Real-life romance is full of quirks and flaws and thats what makes it your own. Every one goes through different experiences with love and romance, and though we may hope for the ideal relationship, chances are it won't be the creme de la creme. We have songs, videos and other media sources to make us hopeful and more willing to try at romance, and this song is a prime example which does exactly that.

Cape No.7

The Cape No.7 Trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BR-mKrkYNs&feature=related

<1945> From Cape No.7:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_P4ABEMaDwM

Everytime when I heard the word "Romantic", i always have a piece of music played by piano flowing arround my ear, the music is called "1945" and it is from a Taiwanese movie Cape No. 7, a movie about the true love, which is indirect but powerful.

The movie is about a story happened in the 1940s near the end of the Japanese era of Taiwan, an unnamed teacher (Kousuke Atari) dispatched to the southernmost town of Hengchun falls in love with a local girl with the Japanese name Kojima Tomoko (Rachel Liang). After the Surrender of Japan, the teacher is forced to return home as Taiwan was placed under the administrative control of the Republic of China. On his trip home, he pens seven love letters to express his regret for leaving Kojima Tomoko, who originally planned to elope with him to Japan.

More than 60 years after the teacher left Kojima Tomoko, Aga (Van Fan) is introduced as a struggling young Hengchun-native rock band singer who could not find success in Taipei. After returning to his hometown, Aga's step father (Ju-Lung Ma), the Town Council Representative, arranged a position for him as a postman, replacing the aging Old Mao (Johnny C.J. Lin), on leave after a motorcycle accident broke his leg. One day, Aga comes across an undeliverable piece of mail that was supposed to be returned to the sender; the daughter of the now deceased Japanese teacher has decided to mail the unsent love letters to Taiwan after discovering them. Aga unlawfully keeps and opens the package to discover its contents, but the old Japanese-style address Cape No. 7, Kōshun District, Takao Prefecture can no longer be found.

Meantime a local resort hotel inside nearby Kenting National Park is organizing a beach concert featuring Japanese pop singer Kousuke Atari, but Aga's step father makes use of his official position to insist that the opening band be composed of locals. Tomoko (Chie Tanaka), an over-the-hill Mandarin-speaking Japanese fashion model dispatched to Hengchun, is assigned the difficult task of managing this hastily assembled band, led by Aga along with six other locals of rather particular backgrounds. After a frustrating trial period, Aga and Tomoko unexpectedly begin a relationship. With some assistance from hotel maid Mingchu (Shino Lin), who is revealed to be Kojima Tomoko's granddaughter, Tomoko helps Aga find the rightful recipient of the seven love letters. Tomoko then tells Aga that she plans on returning to Japan after the concert because of a job offer. After returning the seven love letters, a heartbroken but determined Aga returns to the beach resort and performs a highly successful concert with his local band alongside Kousuke Atari while Kojima Tomoko reads the letters.

The Plot of the movie in fact did not give me too much sense of "Romance"until the music kicks in, then everything in the movie became so romantic. And everytime when I hearded or thinked about the 1945, i got moved, and not only because it reminds me about the plot from the movie, but it also gets me sink into my memories. The plot of the movie, especially the 7 love letters did awake my romantic feelings, and I believe both RHETORIC and POLITICS play really important role of it.
As of Rhetoric, the movie used words instead of scenes to express the Romantic love from the Japanese teacher, it displayed little scenes about how the Japanese teacher and
Kojima Tomoko stay together and love each other, but everything was written on the letter. When expressing the romance in the movie, pictures, actions or talks are very direct and powerful, however, they also put too many limitations for our imagination. Literature does not gave us a powerful or direct feeling of love but put lots of space for imagination, everytime when we read the literature, our brain will simultaneously produce many love scenes to fill up our imagination, and that is when literature becomes most powerful.
Politics also helped me to generate the romatic feelings. In most of Asian countries, people likes to express their love using implicitical way, like sending love letters or singing love songs to each other. In addition, everything can be converted into a romantic objects, for example, the moon represents the deliverer of love. As a Chinese, my feeling of love gets awaked by the love letters, it is because those letters gave me more connection with Chinese culture and so that The construction became so powerful to me.

The Notebook

Most of us, if not all, have seen the movie The Notebook. I found this image and decided to write about it because when I saw it I felt a feeling of love. This is one of the most romantic movies I have seen. It is a story about true love. They fell in love at a young age, and because she had to move away, they ended it but they were always in love with each other. After some years passed by, they saw each other again and all of those feelings they had for each other rushed back in. I think every girl who has seen this movie has thought, "I want a love like that!" I know I did. Noah and Allie were in love with each other for as long as they knew each other. Allie cheated on her fiance and ended it with him because Noah came back into her life and that who was she was really supposed to be with. He was her "soul mate." She knew it was wrong when she was getting together with Noah while she was engaged, but she went with her intuition and knew that they were meant to be. She let her emotions and feelings take over instead of reason.
Everything about this movie is romantic. Noah tries to find another woman, but all he can think about is Allie and he doesn't commit to anyone else. That alone is romantic. Every girl wants to find a love like this. We all want our romantic partners to be truly in love with us and to not be able to live without us. This is what is portrayed in this movie. We can see this in what I think is the most romantic line in the movie: when Noah says, "So it's not gonna be easy. It's gonna be really hard. We're gonna have to work at this every day, but I want to do that because I want you. I want all of you, for ever, you and me, every day. Will you do something for me, please? Just picture your life for me? 30 years from now, 40 years from now? What's it look like? If it's with him, go. Go! I lost you once, I think I can do it again. If I thought that's what you really wanted. But don't you take the easy way out." Reading that my heart starts to race thinking of how I would feel if someone said that to me. This movie is all over romantic from the words said, the actions, the kissing, the hugs, and not to mention that Noah tells Allie the story of their love when they are older and Allie can't remember. Noah stays with Allie because that is his true love. Even when their children ask him to come stay with them, he says he can't leave his love. It is a beautiful thing. At the end, they die together laying in bed holding hands. It is such a sad, but loving scene. This movie shows a beautiful romance that a lot of us wish we could experience.

Tiffany and Co.

This is an ad for Tiffany's holiday ad campaign. Their ads are pretty classic examples of romance. I really liked this one because it's just simple and sweet. It portrays the cozy feeling of the holidays and being close with your loved ones. The picture is of an assumed couple huddling close in the cold at some cafe as symbolized by the background and the two coffee cups. It's an intimate picture with their faces really close looking as if they're leaning in to kiss. Under the table you can see the man holding a little gift from Tiffany's-pretty obvious with the blue box against their black clothes-ready to surprise his girl (girlfriend, fiancé, wife). It's simple and elegant, but it clearly shows romance mixed with the holiday mood and the man wanting to get a gift for someone he loves. The ad is pretty straightforward to me, and just from one glance I got the warm and happy feeling that made me smile and begin to space out and think about romance and holiday time. I’m sure many people, especially men, don’t feel this way with all of the ads nowadays, but it stirred up some feelings for me.

I think the ad is a representation of a romantic gesture. It’s trying to illustrate that if you really care about someone and want to give them something to show how special that person is to you, then buying a present from Tiffany's is the right thing to do. The ad is making an emotional connection with people and getting the image in their minds that if they buy a gift from Tiffany’s maybe they can be the happy and supposedly in love couple shown in the picture. This kind of ties into our culture of gift-giving around the holidays and the idea that you should give people presents if you really care about them.

Childhood Romance

http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd257/ir3ni30518/cuteness3.jpg

This example is of a photo of two little kids kissing. It shows infantile recession in the sense that it brings a feeling of innocence of when you were a child before being in love got complicated. It makes you think back to your childhood and the butterflies of having a crush. The structure of feeling with the black and white makes the picture seem classic and sentimental. It makes the viewer remember the first time that you had a crush on as a child and the innocence of it. It brings positive/happy feelings with the way that the little boy is clearly smiling as he kisses the little girl. The black and white makes the photo seem more raw and real to an extent. This shows child over adult because it is obviously pictures of child; which makes it innocent and precious. It is romantic because it gives the feeling of before we were aware of just how hard love can be so it bringing back most likely fond memories of one’s childhood. It shows how simple childhood is. Pictures children kissing are more popular than older people kissing because it is considered “cute” and it brings back a lot of positive feelings. Even though it is just a picture of two young people kissing I think it brings a lot of feelings that may not always be very conscious to people but obviously they are there or pictures like this wouldn’t be so popular. It is advancing the feeling of innocent childhood romance.

beautiful nature

Nature is beautiful isn't it? Imagine taking your girlfriend to this place, sitting on the rocks, and getting lost in each other's eyes. Now that is the definition of romantic. What makes this romantic though? Who is to say this is what romance is? This is romantic because it has been constructed this way for hundreds of years by couples deep in love. I need to throw a stereotype out there and say that it is mostly women that find these kinds of things romantic. Men simply go along with it because it pleases the woman. This is not true in all cases, but for the most part I believe it holds merit. For hundreds of years women have looked at scenes like this one and wish they could be there with their prince charming because they have been raised to think this way. This is evident in almost every romantic movie that has been made. Politically, this image is saying that this is romantic. It is simply restating something everybody already knows; which is that nature scenes such as this are romantic.
When I look at this picture I see some trees and water and that's about it. If I were to show this picture to my girlfriend or any feminine female for that matter, she would say "awww wow that is romantic". This reaction stems from years of prior knowledge being crammed into her head from different sources such as: movies, magazines, and children's stories. This sense that nature is romantic will only continue to be passed down to other generations.

Permission

I don't understand lacking of fact in this situation. I was raised Roman Catholic, but that doesn't hinder my view on fairness. Treat others as you want to be treated. I don't want to be outcasted, assaulted, hurt, betrayed, belittled. That usually doesn't happen very often for me.

This video is so sad to me. Although not a homosexual myself-I almost feel left all alone after watching this. I don't think I would be okay with asking people for something I thought I was entitled to. According to www.m-w.com, romance is defined as something (as an extravagant story or account) that lacks basis in fact. Lacks basis in fact is what I think of when I think of the ban on gay marriage. I think the problem is that even thought we have a separation between church and state, it's not a clear defined line.

Laws are amended all the time to suit majority needs. Sometimes it takes longer than others but at the same time, I don't think this is a new subject matter presented. Everyone wants to be loved, to be cared for, to feel wanted; so when is it okay to deny that to people?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdvWUEUQDfE&feature=related

This video is from the Sixth Annual Media That Matters Festival. It's a clip that is asking the question: Whose permission would you need to get married to the person you love. It's a short, minute long clip of a nervous, white male adjusting his tie, going door to door asking for Megan's hand in marriage. We don't know who Megan is. The first house is a suburban stereotypical house. The man goes to knock on the door where an older, bigger, white gentleman answers. With sweaty palms, the younger man anxiously asks for Megan's hand in marriage. The older man, who could be considered Megan's father replies "Alright Son" without showing any emotion.

The younger man graciously thanks him and proceeds on his way, into another stereotypical suburban home. I at first thought he was just walking into his own house, but then he asks for Megan's hand in marriage again. And again. And for all purposes of this video 260 million more times. I think it is interesting that the video is predominately white individuals. I think represents that stereotypes are not always true. the It's very moving, seeing someone ask 260 million people so that one person can marry one other person. 260 million people are involved for making the lives of two people better.

The song in the background is a very upbeat song musically, but lyrically is just sad. It is I Don't Blame You by Cat Power. "Been around the world, in many situations. Been inside many heads in different positions. Just because they knew your name, Doesn't mean they know where you came from. What a sad trick you thought that you had to play. But I don't blame you" are the lyrics that play in the background. That's not how the song goes, they cut and pasted it so the lyrics would fit the meaning of the film. It's all about people assuming they know other people just based on a few things. People having to compromise to others' needs in order to survive.

I think everything should be fair. Wouldn't that be nice. But it's not ideal, it won't happen. But this add just makes me so empathetic towards homosexuals for having to ask to marry. While I don't think people need to be married to be happy, I do think they should have the same rights. It's like the civil rights all over again. I do not like conflict, it bothers me, it makes me sick. Doesn't everyone just deserve to feel like they belong? I think that what gets me the most, a sense of belonging. As outcast people are alone, depraved, and possibly even unhealthy. I think it takes a long time for someone to realize that he or she cannot make it on their own. Everybody needs somebody.

The Romantic is Subjective

What is considered romantic and/or beautiful is one of the most highly subjective things I can think of. Of course there are varying degrees and types of beauty that many people would agree with for the most part, but for this post, I’m going to focus on the “anti-romantic” or less cliché depiction.

Don’t get me wrong, I can appreciate all of the awe and serenity that raw nature provides, but there is something special about big cities that make me FEEL something more. It's intoxicating. The feeling I get is a burst of excitement over the endless activities to engage in within the city. The image I’m analyzing is of the Manhattan skyline. In this image, ‘the romantic’ is constructed through the angle in which the photo was taken; it portrays an endless sea of lights and buildings. It’s dusk, the sun is setting over the water in the background, and a purple, pinkish haze lingers in the air. I can just imagine the hustle and bustle occurring at ground level with all of the pedestrians and traffic. This is the time of day when the city comes alive and that’s the exact feeling that I get just from looking at the image. I feel energetic, almost giddy, and feelings are what I believe to be the major source of ‘the romantic’: feelings or emotions over reason or fact. A very small portion of the romantic is based on visual sensory alone.

The message that the skyline portrays, in my eyes, is freedom, opportunity, hope, and change. It‘s incredible to think of all the potential that big cities like this one possess in regards to career aspects, friendships/relationships, music and the arts, dining, shopping, etc. It’s no secret that some of the most successful and talented individuals are discovered in big cities, which is another element that promotes the whole theme of opportunity.

In conclusion, the romantic is strongly influenced by an individual’s personal comfort zone, where he or she feels content, at home, and at peace. The person gravitates toward the romantic that he or she is best able to connect with. In my case, I feel the most like myself when I am surrounded by diverse people, culture, and creative insight.

*Image best viewed in full here: http://daddu.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Manhattan-Skyline.jpg

Pink Moon is Gonna Get You...

Here is an extremely abbreviated biography of long lost singer-songwriter Nicholas Rodney Drake (for those who don't know him): He was the quiet child of a wealthy music family, wrote some uniquely beautiful songs, got signed to Island records, couldn't handle live shows because of his depression, disliking of social gatherings, and the difficult nature of playing songs in strange alternate tunings for a live audience, made three studio albums, and then died from an overdose of amitriptyline, a prescribed antidepressant. All of his fame and influence came posthumously. If you want to read more about him, here is his wikipedia page.

His first two albums used many studio artist arrangements (i.e. strings, saxophone, percussion, and other instruments that he was not playing). After both sold very poorly, Drake's depression and insomnia got worse. For his last album, Drake chose a simple route, using just his voice, acoustic guitar, and one simple piano overdub in the title track. He died shortly after the release, so Pink Moon is the album that everyone remembers him by. The album is filled with soft, caressing chord progressions that drown in the sadness of his faint voice. His lyrics are almost exclusively reflections of his depression and his love of nature.

I'm going to analyze the title track from his third and final album, Pink Moon. Below are the lyrics

Saw it written and I saw it say

Pink moon is on its way

None of you stand so tall

Pink moon gonna get ye all

and it's a pink moon

You're probably looking at the lyrics and wondering "why is this romantic? It's only five original lines." But there is a lot of content packed in this short song. "Pink Moon"'s main argument is that even if you have it all (broad sense), you don't stand a chance against the pink moon. What does he mean by pink moon? I've read it as an omen of nature created by Drake's depression and insomnia. For the listener, I think it represents the romantic thing that we all fall prey to--the one thing that gets us (to cry, to laugh, to cherish, etc)--every time. The song argues simple over complex and innocence over experience. Even though Drake's mental health was very complex, he clearly seeks simplicity and innocence in "Pink Moon". Consequently, we are argued into valuing the simple things in our lives. When we hear this song, we have no words, because we become so lost in deep thought--we begin to envision our pink moon--whatever that may be. Drake's tragic death at 26 years old further solidifies the power of the pink moon. If we lose sight of our pink moon, then we will inevitably lose sight of ourselves and die in a cluster of manmade structures and concepts.
I highly encourage reading up on Nick Drake and listening to Pink Moon (the album) in its entirety. It is the very essence of "romantic".

Fun in the Third Class

http://www.titanicmovie.com/present/mi_clips_third_m.html



I clip above is a scene from the movie Titanic which is the only movie that has great romantic scenes ans the worst ending, but it never fails to make me sigh when i see the scene where Jack steals Rose away from her mother's uptight, aristocratic social scene to the third class level of the ship where the party is simple and dancing is fun. This romantic scene represents the experienced over the inexperienced and my favorite, the restricted over the free spirit. It is a great feeling when a person knows your limitations and goes out of their way to help you overcome them which is exactly what Jack does. This scene has many political connotation but the most prevalent ideology represented is that happiness is not accompanied by wealth and neither is love. This is definitely the first time Rose genuinely smiles. The class distinction in shown in this scene is clearly has an intertextuality related to centuries of forbidden mixing of different economic classes and they have been conveyed in classic literature such as The Wuthering Heights and the musical The West Side Story.

In addition to the political representation, the above scene is romantic simply because of the setting. Two strangers falling in love on a ship between two continents and two different kinds of life styles seems so unrealistic and the odd of it happening is astronomical but still as a female, I hope for it. "When the ship docks, I am getting off with you" says Rose in the movie but it beneath the surface, I feel as though it is a statement against aristocratic lifestyle and it is a claim that freedom and simplicity are a much better choice that wealth. Why else would someone from a respected family choose to go to the third class section to have fun? Why else can a free spirited stranger see Rose's unhappiness better than her own mother?