In “Detour,” women were presented as being strictly emotional beings where their actions seemed to be driven by pure emotion and passion without any regard to what may ensue later. For example, Sue decides to leave for California in order to chase her dream of being an actor and singer. When she tells this to Roberts he is stunned, because it does not seem as if she even thought about what this might do to him. Furthermore, Vera was very emotional throughout the entire film. She was always snapping at Roberts with snide remarks and comments which eventually led to emotional confrontations between the characters. Many of these emotional confrontations between Roberts and Vera started with Vera’s unquenchable feelings of greed and desire that seemed to have such an overbearing effect on her decision making.  Lastly, both women were very sensual toward Roberts through physical contact. This can be seen when Sue is singing while slowly caressing Roberts shoulder. In the same way, Vera also rubbed Roberts shoulder in order to signify that she indeed was interested in him physically, as well. In conclusion, women were portrayed as strictly emotional beings that were unable to control their own passions and desires. 

I believe this movie is a proponent of equality amongst all individuals regardless of their physical demeanor. As Hawkins says in her article entitled “’One of Us’: Tod Browning’s Freaks,” it is very obvious that Browning was making a rather progressive claim regarding humanity at the beginning of the film. We see the so called “freaks” going about their everyday lives proving to the viewer that they are indeed human. We see that they love and feel for each other and truly want to help each other in making their lives better. This is in contrast to Cleopatra who although appears quite normal on the exterior, is very dark and sinister in her dealings by manipulating Hans’ love for her. However, Hawkins believes that Browning then contradicts his original claim of equality by demonizing the apparent “freaks” during the scene in which they get revenge on Cleopatra and Hercules. I disagree with this claim. I believe that instead of demonizing the “freaks,” the scene of revenge actually validates their humanity.

Humans rarely make the right choice for every situation in which they are confronted. As a result, to prove someone is human one must not only show the good that he or she has done, but also the mistakes that he or she has made. Browning uses Phroso, Venus, Cleopatra, and Hercules as the benchmarks of human qualities. Phroso and Venus are used to represent the good that humans can do while Cleopatra and Hercules are used to represent the mistakes humans can make.  As a result, during the first portion of the movie, Browning was proving that the “freaks” were indeed like Phroso and Venus where they truly care for each other. However, during the revenge scene, Browning was proving that “freaks” do make poor and scary decisions as Cleopatra and Hercules did. As a result, I believe Browning is making a claim of equality for all humans by simply proving that we all have the capacity to love and make mistakes.

Sherlock Jr. certainly has a wide variety of gags and stunts however their common denominator is their effect on Keaton’s character. These gags and stunts were all self-inflicted causing him some sort discomfort. For example, Keaton placed a banana peel on the ground in order to have his opponent step on it and slip. However, Keaton himself stepped on the banana peel causing him frustration and agony. This trend is constant throughout the whole story where Keaton tries to manipulate the fast paced world that is around him resulting in some sort of self-inflicted predicament. This sort of humor is very relatable and common in comedy and humor today. For example, one of my favorite cartoons of all time is Road Runner vs. Wile E. Coyotes. The story is always the same where Wile E. Coyote attempts to kill or capture Road Runner but despite his best efforts, ends up causing himself pain instead. I feel that this sort of comedy is very relatable to humans simply, because many of the things that go wrong in our lives are indeed self-inflicted. As a result, I feel that people find humor like Keaton’s and Wile E. Coyotes funny, because they are actually laughing at themselves and all of the dumb mistakes that they have made in their lifetime. Although I cannot say I have tried to run on top of a moving train only to fall down and injure myself and others as Keaton did in his scramble to find out who stole the watch, I have definitely hurt myself by doing something I shouldn’t have done. As a result, I feel that this kind of humor is very relevant in modern shows and films and in some ways is very therapeutic, because it allows us to reflect on our own mistakes, laugh, and move on.

Introduction:

My name is John Lewnard and I am a second year in Mechanical Engineering.  I decided to take this film class for one major reason; I truly have a passion for film. I enjoy almost all kinds of films ranging from comedy to action to drama, because each has their own benefits. However, the best movie for me is typically a mixture of all three genres. I enjoy a film that has character development where the protagonist goes on a journey whether metaphorically or literally and develops over the course of time through teaching and his or her own actions. However, character development is not enough. John Irving’s main character in The World According to Garp came to the conclusion that a good story needs to feel real not be real. Furthermore, a story does not need to be a true story for the story to have meaning; it simply needs to have human interaction that is believable. For me, when I watch a movie, I want to experience what is seemingly true human emotion. If a movie has this quality then in my mind it was a success.