Monday, September 24, 2007
Image that "Spoke to Me"
The statue of Athena from the Greek Art section of the Art History Tour. I had completely forgotten about a project I had to do in 6th grade about one of the Greek gods/goddesses. I chose Athena, the goddess of wisdom. She never really got into the soap opera drama that was so prevalent among the gods (never having a 'love interest') and was worshipped by the city of Athens. Of all the goddesses she seems like a pretty cool lady!
I first saw the film Garden State as a freshman at Rio. I sat in my cramped dorm room with the faint smell of dirty laundry in the background all I could do was mumble, “Wow.” My mouth was full of the Wal-Mart brand pretzels I had been snacking on and my head was full of Indie music. I was struck most by the storyline. The coming-of-age tale spoke to my frazzled 18 year old heart; away from home for the first time and overwhelmed by the pressure nursing school had thrust upon me. Garden State was written and directed by Zach Braff a little known actor with no writing experience at all.
The film opens with the main character, played by Zach Braff, sitting on an airplane. He stares straight ahead, emotionless, as the passengers around him panic. Hindi music obliterates any other sounds we might hear. Beside the main character a woman clutches her infant and cries, the flight attendant runs frantically down the isle, and an elderly woman clings to Braff’s arm as his face remains void of any expression. As the oxygen masks drop, he nonchalantly adjusts the direction of the air conditioning vent. The scene abruptly ends with the ringing of a telephone and the audience realizes that the sequence has been a dream. The telephone stops ringing as the answering machine takes over and Braff’s on-screen father leaves a message saying that his wife, (Braff’s mother) has died. Thus begins the main character’s trip from Los Angeles back to his hometown in New Jersey for her funeral.
The audience quickly realizes that the nonchalant attitude the main character displays in the opening dream sequence does not end upon awakening but is caused by years of overmedication with antipsychotics and antidepressants prescribed by Braff’s psychiatrist father. The rest of the film’s events chronicle his realization that there is nothing mentally wrong with him other than general unhappiness and his decision to quit taking the medications. While at home Braff also encounters some of the friends he grew up with and meets a girl (played by Natalie Portman) who provides him with the companionship he needs to face the demons from his past and open himself up to experiencing emotions again. Like the characters in the film the audience is forced to examine how they feel about life and what it means to be truly happy.
I asked a few people who have seen this movie to describe what it was about in one sentence. They all gave a different response. One said, “It’s about getting past your warped upbringing and making the best of it.” Another said, “It’s about going out into the world as your own person.” If I had been asked the question I would have replied that it is about the importance of being open to life, to emotion, and to being whoever it is that you are. The great thing is that all our answers would have all been right. All art tells a story. The story is different to the artist and to every person that experiences it. Each person brings their own individual feelings and experiences to the table and walks away with something different.
In sharp contrast to the explosion filled, big budget movies in the same genre, Garden State stands out as a quiet but powerful example of what film was meant to be: honest and thought provoking storytelling. Even after all the times I have seen it sometimes I still say “Wow” to myself during my favorite scene where Natalie Portman and Zach Braff sit intertwined at the place of his mother’s death. Iron and Wine’s “Such Great Heights” plays in the background as he says, “It hurts,” and she replies, “If nothing else that’s life. Its real and sometimes it f-ing hurts. But its sort of all we have.”
The film opens with the main character, played by Zach Braff, sitting on an airplane. He stares straight ahead, emotionless, as the passengers around him panic. Hindi music obliterates any other sounds we might hear. Beside the main character a woman clutches her infant and cries, the flight attendant runs frantically down the isle, and an elderly woman clings to Braff’s arm as his face remains void of any expression. As the oxygen masks drop, he nonchalantly adjusts the direction of the air conditioning vent. The scene abruptly ends with the ringing of a telephone and the audience realizes that the sequence has been a dream. The telephone stops ringing as the answering machine takes over and Braff’s on-screen father leaves a message saying that his wife, (Braff’s mother) has died. Thus begins the main character’s trip from Los Angeles back to his hometown in New Jersey for her funeral.
The audience quickly realizes that the nonchalant attitude the main character displays in the opening dream sequence does not end upon awakening but is caused by years of overmedication with antipsychotics and antidepressants prescribed by Braff’s psychiatrist father. The rest of the film’s events chronicle his realization that there is nothing mentally wrong with him other than general unhappiness and his decision to quit taking the medications. While at home Braff also encounters some of the friends he grew up with and meets a girl (played by Natalie Portman) who provides him with the companionship he needs to face the demons from his past and open himself up to experiencing emotions again. Like the characters in the film the audience is forced to examine how they feel about life and what it means to be truly happy.
I asked a few people who have seen this movie to describe what it was about in one sentence. They all gave a different response. One said, “It’s about getting past your warped upbringing and making the best of it.” Another said, “It’s about going out into the world as your own person.” If I had been asked the question I would have replied that it is about the importance of being open to life, to emotion, and to being whoever it is that you are. The great thing is that all our answers would have all been right. All art tells a story. The story is different to the artist and to every person that experiences it. Each person brings their own individual feelings and experiences to the table and walks away with something different.
In sharp contrast to the explosion filled, big budget movies in the same genre, Garden State stands out as a quiet but powerful example of what film was meant to be: honest and thought provoking storytelling. Even after all the times I have seen it sometimes I still say “Wow” to myself during my favorite scene where Natalie Portman and Zach Braff sit intertwined at the place of his mother’s death. Iron and Wine’s “Such Great Heights” plays in the background as he says, “It hurts,” and she replies, “If nothing else that’s life. Its real and sometimes it f-ing hurts. But its sort of all we have.”
LINK TO MOVIE TRAILER (COPY AND PASTE THIS INTO YOUR ADDRESS BAR) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u82n0e1mgmQ
Quiz Questions:
(Prehistoric) We still do not know exactly what Stonehenge is or what purpose it served. Rumored to have been built by Merlin the magician, Stonehenge may have served religious purposes for the Druids of the Middle Ages. It could have also been used as a tool to track the movement of the sun as it related to harvest times. One lighter possibility is that is was used as a gathering place for celebrations.
(Greek) The Greek culture paved the way for a lot of our modern ideas and fields of study including mathematics, democracy, sculpture, literature, philosophy and architecture.
(Roman) The Coliseum had both cultural and architectural significance. Culturally it provided a source of entertainment for the population as well as a crude but effective method of teaching them fighting techniques. Architecturally it was a colossal achievement for the time period being the largest structure of it’s time and holding a mind boggling 50,000 people.
(Middle Ages) The span of the era known as the Middles ages lasted from around 400 A.D. to 1400A.D.
(Renaissance) Three main artists of the renaissance were Raphael, Michelangelo, and daVinci. Their works include Disputa, Pieta, and the Mona Lisa respectively.
(Prehistoric) We still do not know exactly what Stonehenge is or what purpose it served. Rumored to have been built by Merlin the magician, Stonehenge may have served religious purposes for the Druids of the Middle Ages. It could have also been used as a tool to track the movement of the sun as it related to harvest times. One lighter possibility is that is was used as a gathering place for celebrations.
(Greek) The Greek culture paved the way for a lot of our modern ideas and fields of study including mathematics, democracy, sculpture, literature, philosophy and architecture.
(Roman) The Coliseum had both cultural and architectural significance. Culturally it provided a source of entertainment for the population as well as a crude but effective method of teaching them fighting techniques. Architecturally it was a colossal achievement for the time period being the largest structure of it’s time and holding a mind boggling 50,000 people.
(Middle Ages) The span of the era known as the Middles ages lasted from around 400 A.D. to 1400A.D.
(Renaissance) Three main artists of the renaissance were Raphael, Michelangelo, and daVinci. Their works include Disputa, Pieta, and the Mona Lisa respectively.
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