2 Poems about Dysfunction- 'Child' and 'Balloons' by Sylvia Plath

The poem 'Child' by Silvia Plath seems to be about the happiness of childhood compared to the 'troublous' adulthood. The poem expresses love for a young child and the innocence with which they view the world, the metaphor of a child as a 'stalk without wrinkle' seeming to adhere to this untainted view. Plath seems to be wishing to satisfy a child's (her child's?) sense of wonder and 'fill it with colour and ducks', the following assonance 'the zoo of the new' adding a musical, childhood touch to the first stanza enhancing the happy, almost excited tone of it. In contrast to the optimistic start of the poem, Plath (who struggled with depression) speaks of a troubled life, living a life without light, a 'dark ceiling without a star', her anxiety and distress expressed through the 'wringing of hands'.

A similar idea seems to run throughout ‘Balloons’. The poem creates imagery of a room filled with colourful balloons, ‘globes of thin air, red, green’, ‘taking up half the space’. They are described as ‘soul-animals’, this and other descriptions of their movement (‘trembling’) and the sound similar to the ‘squeak [of] a cat’ giving them a sense of liveliness. The balloons could represent a kind of freedom which Plath wants to attain (hence ‘delighting the heart like wishes’), but which she cannot reach, as seen when the little brother’s unsuccessful attempt to bite through the balloon to the ‘funny pink world’ on the other side. The balloons, similarly to in the other poem could represent the idealistic, imaginative and desirable fantasy-like world envisioned by little children (if slightly alien, hence ‘funny’). These ideas about the world may be falling away for the little brother, who sees ‘a world clear as water’, the idealistic world he used to see falling down, now ‘shred in his little fist’.

Both poems seem to contrast the hopeful, happy views of childhood to the adult world, or maybe (all ideas about childhood aside) they could represent what you wanted out of life with its hopes and dreams compared to how it really turns out.

Reflecting on other songs...

Holocene- Bon Iver

I quite liked this song. I’m still not completely sure I understand the lyrics, but I like the line ‘and at one I knew, I was not magnificent’, and it’s a nice song nonetheless (I tend to pay more attention to the music rather than the lyrics, anyway).

For Good- Wicked

I saw this musical a few years ago, so I already knew what it was about- two girls/women saying an optimistic goodbye, singing that they’ve been ‘changed for the better’ for having known the other

Sweet Disposition- The Temper Trap

This song may be about not giving up, living in the moments and also sharing it with someone else. Again however, I think I prefer the music to the lyrics, though I do like the line ‘won’t stop to surrender’.

Iris- Goo Goo Dolls

I quite like this song. It was written for the movie ‘City of Angels’, about an angel who falls in love with a human and then gives up his life as an angel so that he could be with her. I can kind of see in places how the lyrics relate- but most of it is still a mystery to me.

Braille- Regina Spektor

This song was about a woman whose stretch marks were like braille in that they told the story of her life- being pregnant young to a young father who didn’t want to keep the baby so he left, and then growing up poor and miserable. The song seems to be questioning whether it was worth it.

O’ sister- City and Colour

This song seemed to be pretty much the singer talking about his sister (or someone else, could have been a friend etc. but he refers to them as sister) who is facing a hard period of time. He reflects on how she used to be so strong and seems to think she can make it through it, but she really seems to be struggling. To me, he almost seemed to be asking, ‘what happened? What changed?’

A Whole New World (from Aladdin) 

I really cannot stand this song, possibly because I’ve heard it much too many times but I don’t think I ever really liked it. I’ve never watched ‘Aladdin’ from start to finish, and although I like a movie here and there, I’m not a big fan of Disney.

Fond Farewell- Elliott Smith

This song seemed to be quite personal for the singer- it was unsurprising to hear that he had faced depression, the song being about how he doesn’t understand how his life turned out, the use of the word ‘friend’ being metaphorical for his own life.

Landslide- Fleetwood Mac

I’ve never heard this version of this song before (I didn’t realise the original was by Fleetwood Mac) but I have heard the song before and I suppose it’s really about how things change and life can become like a landslide- things will bring you down.     

Staring At the Stars- Passenger

Tobacco stains our yellow teeth

 And all our finger and underneath

 Our finger nails that clasp on sheets

 As we try desperately to sleep

Hearts are saddened eyes are tired

 And all this Red Bull keeps us wide

 It gives us wings it gives us rings

 Around our eyes

We put three sugars in our tea

 Sit to watch day time TV

 And laugh at moms who don’t know

 Who the father is

And all our girlfriends are long gone

 We watch too much internet porn

 Who needs love when you’ve got silicone

 And strap-ons?

Beer bloats our spoiled guts

 And shit jobs keeps us in ruts

 And keep us sighing up the what’s and if’s

 And some buts and maybes and

Falling over in this tree

 It’s just a part of every week

 When we lie drunkenly

 Just staring at the stars

Remember when they were in reach

 And all the teachers used to teach

 You can do anything

 if you put your mind to it

We put our minds to it all

 But disappointment crashed the ball

 We could have done anything

 We just never quite knew it so…

Tie your scarf on tight

 It’s to be a cold night

 Tie your scarf on tight

 It’s to be a cold night

Tie your scarf on tight

 It’s to be a cold night

 Tie your scarf on tight

 It’s to be a cold night

I interpreted this song as a rather cynical outlook on life, in particular on regret for the past, the ‘whats and ifs’. The lyrics are quite straightforward lacking elegant phrasing and a poetic feel, but they still paint the picture of a rather sad, pathetic person with tobacco stained teeth and ‘rings around [their] eyes’ with ‘spoilt guts’ who would stare ‘drunkenly’ at the stars. For me, the stars represent ambitions and hope for the future. But the song reflects on how dreams were met with ‘disappointment’, things don’t always turn out how you want them to. Some of the last lines of the song say ‘we could’ve done anything, we just never quite knew it’. But now it seems, it’ s too late, the hopes ‘long gone’,  and ‘we’ (as the writer puts it) are left to experience a bleak existence, a wasted life filled with regret for what ‘we’ didn’t do.

The song links to another by the same musician called ‘Lifes for the Living’, which talks about making the most out of life as its for the living, not for the dead.  

I also felt that the lyrics contrasted somewhat with the music, which has a rather light and bouncy bluegrass feel.

‘And now for something completely different’ (Directed by Ian MacNoughtan)

Why did the chicken cross the road? To get to the other side, of course. That joke, and Monty Python films share one thing in common. Simplicity. The difference? If you thought that the chicken joke was funny, you may need to go see a psychiatrist. Monty Python is funny, at least to my tastes. Most of the time, anyway. It’s true, their jokes can be rather crude but this scene (titled ‘Self Defence class.’) is harmless. Relatively.

This clip is probably not so much a scene, but rather a comedy sketch from the TV show ‘Monty Python's Flying Circus’, re-filmed and pasted together with a bunch of other completely different scenes to make a movie.
The scene is set in some kind of gym/hall, where an over-exaggerated (and paranoid) instructor is trying to teach a group of unwilling men how to defend themselves against someone armed with fresh fruit.  And if you’re wondering why there was someone who looked like a nun at the beginning of the scene, that was just incorporated to link one scene to the next.
There is very little to say about this clip. It has no symbols, and as far as I can tell no nessages or hidden meaning. It has no depth. Most of the film reeks of a low budget- poor animation, limited camera work, no music.
It’s the dialogue which makes the clip interesting, as well as the exaggerated actions of the cast (John Cleese in particular). The storyline of the clip itself is senseless, and completely ridiculous, with absolutely no morale inclinations. The camera work is simple, only really consisting of group shots of the four mean that are being instructed, and close ups of the instructor as he yells at them. 
It may not have been the best clip to choose to analyse in terms of techniques and messages etc, but Monty Python does what it intends to do. It does not make me think, or cry. It simply makes me laugh.

Film Texts

1. The Seventh Seal- Ingmar Bergman

The first clip, from 'The Seventh Seal', showed a knight faced with death, though he manages to avoid his fate by challenging death to a game of chess. The first line of the film (read by a narrator) is a reference from the bible: 'And when the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour... And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.' (Revelation 8:1 and 8:6). This passage is about the apocalypse. Shortly after this is read, death appears before the knight. Death is depicted in an interesting way in the film. The actor themself does not look particularly frightening and does not wear a mask or anything similar to cover his face. A human figure, death is dressed in a black cloak, giving you the impression that he (or it) is something like a shadow, rather than the horrific figure you might imagine. The lack of music in this portion of the clip (and sound altogether besides the dialogue) adds to the sinister mood. Another technique in the film is the use of black and white, which I think may have been used to create contrast. For example, the idea is good and evil in relation to the colours of the chess pieces (death uses black while the knight uses white). The idea of man cheating death is hardly a new one- is has been a commonly used idea in popular culture probably for centuries, and neither is the idea of death playing chess, but the clip is still an interesting one.



2. All or Nothing- Mike Leigh

This clip (towards the end of the movie 'All or Nothing') involved a couple coming to terms with the unhappiness of their relationship, enabling them to then have some form of reconciliation. Phil and Penny's son has just had a heart attack and after an angry and frustrated outburst from Penny, Phil opens up to his wife about how he doesn't think she loves him anymore. It's a rather confronting scene- lots of dialogue, close-ups and tears. Even before they started talking, the scene was bleak and sad, with a rather grainy, drained of colour look and dull lighting- showing that there is a lack of joy in their household. Phil, who has very poor self esteem and could very easily have depression is shot mostly from a side view, hunched over himself. This gives the impression that he is hiding, protecting himself and that he's insecure, unable to look at Penny until he confronts her with his thoughts. He describes himself as 'an old tree that ain't got no water'. Penny reacts badly to his accusations and I can't decide whether she reacted the way she did because she really does still love him or if what he was saying was true and was forcing her to confront her own feelings. I think for now I'll believe she still does love him, just not what he had become.


3. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg- Jacques Demy

'The Umbrellas of Cherbourg' is about a young man and woman who are in,love, but then the man has to go to war (on National service) for two years. In contrast to the previous two clips, the colours and lighting in this clip were very bright and cheerful, despite the fact that the man was leaving (they were more reflective of the love story as a whole rather than what was happening at that specific time). Despite not being a fan of musicals, the film still looked to be quite interesting, as the whole movie is sung. Because of this, the film seems to be even more dramatic than your average love story. Also, the language suited the sad scenes well as the use of French (as opposed to English which can could very crude in distressing situations) suited the genre well. At then end of the clip, the woman became smaller and smaller as the train drew further and further away from the station, signifying how lonely and sad she was feeling.


4. Don't look Now- Nicholas Roeg

I thought that this clip, the opening of 'Don't look Now', (directed by Nicholas Roeg) was quite well done. Editing was very important for this clip, with the camera jumping forwards and backwards between the characters. Parallels were drawn between what the children (a boy and a girl) are doing outside and what their parents are doing inside, ending with the tragic death of the daughter, having drowned in a large pond. Some examples of this technique include the father throwing the cigarettes and the girl throwing the ball, the girl and the mother both touching their face, and the glass being knocked over and the ball falling in the pond, resulting in the spreading of the red section of the photograph and the death of the girl. Though this scene was rather confusing at first, it proved to be rather effective. The colour red also plays a big role in the film, mainly due to the fact that that is the colour coat that the girl is wearing at the time of her death (her name also happens to be Scarlett). Something else I noticed when watching this clip was a rather creepy sound effect. I know that is used at least once more towards the end of the film, but it likely also plays multiple times throughout. It's a hard effect to describe, but it just gives you that feeling that something bad is going to happen.


5. Walkabout- Nicholas Roeg

The last clip from the film 'Walkabout' showed Adelaide in the early 70's. The majority of the clip showed the children of a small family and their father. The city is shown to be very busy and modern, and was shown in contrast to the barren landscape of central Australia. Many interesting shots are used in the depiction of the city. The director included many shots partly obstructed by buildings, and others showed things such as the sky reflected from the windows of buildings, and the sunlight struggling get beyond the ugly man-made city. Overall, it is shown as bleak and rather unhappy, dominated by man. There are also many shots only showing people from the waist down and others in uniform, suggesting that there is no sense of individuality in the city.
I got the impression that the father in this clip was depressed. He seemed unhappy with the man-made world, which may have been why he took his children into the outback in the first place, although there is no real explanation as to why he did this, or why he then shot at them, destroy his car and then killed himself. Regardless of whether or not he was depressed, he obviously wasn't in his right mind.
The clip clearly showed modern Australia conflicting with Aboriginal Australia, in both the use of the scenes of the city and the outback, and in the use of aboriginal music during the city scene.

Superman and Paula Brown's New Snowsuit

 Superman and Paula Brown's New Snowsuit by Sylvia Plath is a story about a young girl who leaves the innocence of childhood and is confronted by the ugly reality that life is unfair and cruel. Initially, the narrator lives a happy carefree life, and although she is aware that there is a war raging, it has little impact on her. Superman largely represents her childhood years- he is like the figure who protects her from the cruelty of the world and teaches her to be carefree in her dreams (and in her mind he also bears a large resemblance to her Uncle Frank). I think that the moment in time in which the narrator becomes more aware of reality is when she is watching the war film at Paula Brown's birthday party. She says herself, 'our war games and the radio programmes were all made up, but this was real, this really happened' (lines 91-92). When the narrator runs from the theatre to vomit up the cake and the ice cream, this could be seen as the moment when she truly lost her previous childhood innocence, the food being representative of this. From this point on in the story, the narrator doesn't see things quite the same, and her imagination is weakened. She is haunted by the film, and 'no crusading blue figure came roaring down in heavenly anger to smash the yellow men who invaded [her] dreams' (lines 103-105). Superman was gone. The exuberant colors which filled her life before we're no longer present, and everything was bleak and dull. The destruction of Paula Brown's snowsuit reinforced the truth of this new reality. I think that the end part of the story when her family questions her about what had caused Paula to fall is significant, particularly as it was not only her mother who did not believe her but also Uncle Frank, who previously had been her Superman figure, protecting her from the harsh reality of the world.

Snowdrops

Snowdrops by Leslie Norris is a short story about a six year-old boy who wants to go and see the snowdrops (flowers). It is essentially a story about grief from the perspective of this boy. Your typical six year-old, he is very observant and curious, but also very naive and his life is very sheltered. At school, he and his peers are unable to grasp the idea of emotional pain and whilst they know that something is the matter with their teacher, Miss Webster, they cannot work out what. The boy knows Miss Webster to be rather tough as thinking pain as only physical, mentions that 'she had trapped [her finger] in the cupboard and hadn't cried'. Because of this inability to understand the depth of Miss Webster's emotional pain from the death of her boyfriend, the children are shocked and frightened at the end of the story when she breaks down crying.
Overall, I quite enjoyed the story. The author did a great job of capturing the boy's innocence and clearly shows the sharp contrast between childhood and the adult world. The snowdrops are probably the most significant of symbols in the story, representing the fragility of humans. The boy's ignorance of grief is particularly evident when he looks at the snowdrops and 'felt a slow, sad disappointment', unable to understand the flowers.