Your Weekly Dose of Sawyer

Why do almost all popular films, novels, TV shows, and just everything in the world of entertainment always seem to follow the same basic structure? Always followed by the saying... First, we get an introduction to the characters' lives then BAM a problem. Next, we're taken through their rollercoaster of a journey and yay, the problem gets solved and they live happily ever after. Right there, I just summed up about hundreds of different pieces of entertainment. Yet, even with this repetitive story line, us, the audience, is almost always left satisfied wanting more but why is that if we can predict what's going to happen? How is something so predictable and repetitive still so entertaining? I think the answer to this question is that the audience likes getting the happy ending because by the end of the movie, novel, or whatever it is, we feel as if we are part of the story. While feeling like we're part of the story, we're taken out of our own stressful lives, just ...

 The Stranger's Meursault, displays a pattern of behavior that is very uncommon in most literary works. While readers are usually able to relate to the main character and sympathize with the emotions that they are feeling, Meursault is the opposite. The way Meursault interacts and feels about certain situations and characters is quite strange, as if he's almost a stranger (hence the title) to the readers throughout the novel. We begin to wonder, is he a sociopath? Where are his emotions? Or why does he act this way? We wonder these questions because of how unfamiliar his character is to its readers. A term to somewhat describe Meursault's perspective and type of behavior would be nihilism. A nihilist is someone that does not believe in anything, has no loyalties, and ultimately believes that they, and society, have no purpose. Wow, that sure sounds like someone I'd love to be around! Meursault's detached personality erupts strange emotional behavior. For example, du...

     Catharsis- purgation of emotions-particularly pity and fear- through art or any extreme change in emotion that results in renewal and restoration. So why do so many people use catharsis in their work? How does it better the creators piece of work?      In many cinematic pieces of work, directors input and utilize the technique of catharsis in order to make their work more enjoyable and relatable for their viewers. However the type of catharsis matters as not every moment that displays catharsis will have the same effect on every viewer. This is because everyone has a different personality which causes viewers to react or be touched differently to moments of catharsis. Therefore, not every cathartic moment will touch every viewer.       Furthermore, as we saw in "Little Miss Sunshine", our class was split between which cathartic moment had the most impact on us. Personally, the scene at the beauty pageant towards the end of the movie...

 Being blonde and a girl defines someone that is just asking for stereotypical jokes to be made. But hey, who wouldn't love those jokes? I personally can never get enough of those dumb blonde jokes, they're awesome! Along with all these great assumptions about a blonde's intelligence is the lovely physical expectations that come along with it. We're expected to be things like tall, skinny, pretty, and etc., and all that sounds easy enough! While many just make the jokes because society has adapted to their common use, they're not always meant to be taken seriously. However with tv shows, newspapers, movies, and so on normalizing these jokes, their existence remains entitled. For example, some our favorite tv shows and movies like Friends, Mean girls, or Legally Blonde all objectify and portray how blondes are idealized due to their looks because they lack "intelligence". So therefore a blonde is expected to be carried through life by their physical aspects...