Tuesday, September 20, 2011
"What do you mean, anime doesn't count?!"
Considering the number of genres we've looked at for stories of rites of passage, we have been staying fairly consistent in our conversations in that we identify the rite and attach it to ourselves. This isn't meant as a blanket statement, but I am wondering if the presentation of the story affects how you view the 'crossing over' theme of the story. For example, I find that the Oresteia did a better job of portraying a rite of passage than some of the short stories because it made Orestes's actions more cinematic or visible to me. Please consider whether the medium of a story affects whether or not it affects how the idea of a rite of passage is portrayed, or whether or not it is entirely dependent on the plot.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I really feel that while plot is important, the medium is essentially the foundation that you build a character on. A photo can say a thousand things, but is it possible to illustrate something almost intangible that takes place over a long period of time in a single shot? Can visual art say as much as a novel, or even a short story? Of course film and animation are the obvious responses to this question, and there is stuff that you can illustrate in mediums like these that is much more difficult, and even impossible to do in writing. With film you can't be blunt, though. No one wants to listen to someone voicing the internal struggles of a character throughout the duration of the movie. Overall, it takes a really good director to make a movie relatable and compelling, and it takes a really good author to make a book cinematic.
ReplyDeleteUm...so, so answer the question, yeah, I feel that the medium makes a big difference. If I were to organize a tier list of "the best mediums for rite of passage stories",I would probably put novels at the top. Of course, it's really depends on what the artist can do with that medium.
I think that the story is the most important part. If a book's plot sucks and then a director decides to make it into a movie, it's probably not going to be very good movie. The medium usually does make a difference because the adaptation isn't ever really going to be completely spot on. With the right of passage stories i think the plot is even more important. I preferred most of the short stories from the "Coming of Age" book to Twelfth Night but it's not because they were short stories and it was a play. The individual stories were just more moving to me. We can't really look at a story by it's medium, we have to see it first hand and judge it afterwords.
ReplyDeleteI believe the plot is the most important part of portraying the coming of age. The medium is secondary. I also found the short stories to be more moving than The Oresteia and The Twelfth Night. There was less content in a literal sense but I felt much more was said in just a few pages. As for movies, I feel they can be equally effective in portraying a character's coming of age as the short stories were, but like Kevin say, it takes a good director and good actors to accomplish this. The medium has some to do with whether or not a coming of age is portrayed, but in my opinion the plot/story is far more important. If the story isn't there, then it doesn't matter how you present it, it simply won't be any good.
ReplyDeleteWhile I agree that the plot must be solid first and foremost, personally I think the medium affects whether the full message of the coming of age story is effectively portrayed to the reader. The medium certainly does not "make or break" a story, but it can make the message more accessible. For me, a play is not near as effective as a short story. A short story "packs a punch" while a play tends to be laborious and i get tired of reading. So i am not really sure whether, universally, the medium matters, but for me it certainly does. I completely agree with "Ky Safa"- the short stories were much more moving than Orestia or Twelfth Night, simply because the message was portrayed succinctly.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the shorts stories were more moving than Orestia or the Twelfth night. The medium is important in the story, but the short stories pack so much into them that I do not believe it is less effective than a longer novel or a play. Novels and plays explain more of a character's backround which does effect the total outcome of seeing the coming of age process, but the main point in short stories is very definite. the coming of age process depends manly on the story plot, although the medium does play a part I believe that it comes second to the plot.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the short stories were most effective at conveying the intensity of the coming of age moments. They were more concentrated and instead of lots of confusing moments, they usually had just one coming of age moment.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I do not believe that seeing into the mind of the characters as in novels and short stories is necessary to convey the message. To me, the coming of age moments seem to be more about the choices people made than about the thought process behind them. Of course the thought process is important, but what the character does after their coming of age moment is far more significant. The biggest obstacle perhaps that a more visual medium such as a picture or an animation might face is that sometimes the characters can be difficult to relate to because the problems seem so beyond life. However, done well, I believe the visual mediums can be just as effective or perhaps even more effective than text (I don't know about you guys but I get the story much more intact when watching a movie than reading a book and getting distracted). Plot is most important in that the right of passage needs to be significant, and enough information needs to be given that the reader feels they can know the character.
-Danyelle W.