This week will be harder for me to write because I did the discussion, so some of my post may seem a little repetitive. I am going to touch on a few things that I brought up on Wednesday and go a little deeper.  With Valerie and her Week of Wonders, this was the first foreign film we have watched that wasn’t in English. I feel most time that this is a draw back for me because you spend more time on reading the subtitles than actually watching the movie. For this one, it was a little different because I found myself too busy trying to understand what was happening than reading. We talked about watching as a viewer and not an academic to better appreciate this film. I think that is the best advice for a film with such oddities. I mean the vampire-priest-constable is just one of the mind trick the film plays on you. Each character with the exception of Valerie seems to play so many different roles.  You find yourself trying to see who each person is and who they were at one point. The grandmother goes through so many changes, you can be easily crossed up.

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One of the main talking points from my reading was the idea of the white clothing or the white flower. The symbolism in this film play a big part behind many of the themes. First you have the vampire-priest-constable who is preaching to a group of women in all white outfits. This shows how the group is pure and untainted by the vampire priest whose goal is to corrupt them. The next example of this is the blood that falls onto the flower or daisy. In the podcast, they talk how a daisy is there to represent more than just a white flower, but the daisy holds more symbolism than that. With the blood fall onto to this pure white flower, it shows how easily something beautiful can become stained. This is to represent how Valerie getting her first menstrual cycle have tarnished her innocents. I compared the use of the blood on the flower to be link the little girl in the red jacket from Schindler’s List. In that movie, the red jacket is the only color you see, and it stands out later when you see the little girl has died. It is the same way here because Valerie is no longer a little girl and can be considered a woman now that she has bleed.

After spending so much time talking about Valerie and her Week of Wonders, we got as chance to go back in time with my second reading. This reading was a blast from the past because it was a summary of so much, we had discussed in the first film class. It is always nice to go back and her about Roger Corman. A film director I have gained a lot of respect for because he not only changed the industry but mentored so many directors we have today. I can see why Dr. S likes him so much.

We then move into the cult movie presentations; this week ran a little long with passion. I have never seen Bladerrunner or knew very much on the film, but after hearing the presentation it shows how well it has resonated with some. I laughed because it took more to explain the background need to understand the plot of this film than the actual film. Once again, we got to see someone who really loves a movie and their passion behind it.

The next movie, Scream, is one that most people are more familiar with and can grasp. I could not see the title page without have “What’s your favorite Scary Movie?” pop into your head. That is such an iconic line and stands out. The only downfall is that I have seen parody more times than the actual film, and I think that takes a little away from the horror of the movie. Still a great movie and I do enjoy seeing Shaggy getting more roles in films.