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Adaptive Organism: John W. Campbell’s “Who Goes There?”, Howard Hawks’ “The Thing from Another World” and John Carpenter’s “The Thing”

By scolliga on May 3, 2012 in

In August 1938, Astounding Science-Fiction published a novella by John W. Campbell (then using his pen name, Don A. Stuart) about Antarctic researchers that discover a frozen alien ship and it’s pilot; a monster that assumes the shape and personality of whomever it attacks. Since then, Campbell’s story (Who Goes There?) has been adapted several times in several mediums, including comic books, radio drama (2002) and video games. The most notable works, however, are two of the three motion picture versions of the story (the latest being Matthijs van Heijningen Jr.’s 2011 prequel). The first is the 1951 Howard Hawks-produced The Thing from Another World, and John Carpenter’s 1982 remake The Thing. Within this triad, the same basic story of a menacing space creature attacking unsuspecting scientists in frigid environments is being presented. However, while there are several overlaps, there are significant changes between these three versions of the story. It adapts to whatever medium it happens to find itself in, making use of what the particular art form offers and/or changing itself to (in some cases) gain relevance in a social context. This is, of course, not unlike the infamous monster that all three works share, though portray in very different ways.

In Campbell’s story, it is not immediately established that the monster can imitate other life. In fact, unlike John Carpenter’s film version, it is described in its original state before it takes over anything else. The group’s lead physicist, Connant (who has already been absorbed), describes the monster as having a “split skull [that] was oozing green goo, like a squashed caterpillar…Well, it’s an unearthly monster, with an unearthly disposition, judging by the face, wandering around with a split skull and brains oozing out.” This works best for prose because, although a rough description is offered, the reader still has plenty of room to use his or her imagination to determine what the original creature could look like. This was one of John Carpenter’s central notions when making The Thing. In a short introduction he made for a screening of The Thing at the Fantastic Films Weekend at the National Media Museum in Bradford, Carpenter stated the “kind of secret of the movie…which was, ‘the thing’ can look like anything. It doesn’t have to look like one creature.”

The other work in this triad that presents the monster in its original form is Hawks’ The Thing from Another World. This is because, in this version of the story, the monster does not take over other beings at all. It is presented at first as a tall, humanoid figure (James Arness in copious amounts of then-impressive creature make-up) that simply attacks the antarctic crew. The nature of the monster is changed even further, as it is established as an advanced form of plant life with the ability of reproduction through the use of seed pods. The following is a scene from the film explaining this aspect of the creature by way of Dr. Carrington’s (the crew’s chief scientist) notes. The film was shot in black and white, the following clip has been colorized (start at 1:40):

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sJsZX23WDo[/youtube]

So, although the monster maintains the ability to reproduce itself, it does so in a much different way than in Campbell’s original story or Carpenter’s later adaptation. This gives way to a commercially successful horror film, but it didn’t have much to differentiate itself from other genre “popcorn flicks”. A review in Variety commented that even “the cast members fail to communicate any real terror”, which is more than apparent in scenes like the following, one of many awkward flirtatious moments between Margaret Sheridan (this is the only work in this triad with female characters) and Kenneth Tobey. Start at 1:35:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESNUAmf34g0[/youtube]

Many viewers also saw Thing from Another World as somewhat allegorical for the threat of Communism. As the “red scare” reached critical mass in the 1950’s, this was a particularly strong idea in Hollywood, especially when it came to monster movies. An article by Eric Smoodin describes it as a time when these movies were subtle devices used to “alert us to how vulnerable we are to a powerfully technologized and intellectual enemy from far, far away.” When mentioning Thing from Another World, Smoodin states that it is an excellent example of the “fear of the Soviets which 1950’s culture tried to produce, as well as the emphasis on ‘typical’ American values which work as the only protection against the Soviet menace.” This can be seen numerous times throughout the film in the team’s constant break-taking and wise-cracking, even though there is a murderous vegetable running rampant in their isolated north pole (this is also the only work in this triad not set in Antarctica) facility. Although a major difference from Campbell’s original story and it’s other iterations, this subtext demonstrates the story’s ability to not only change between mediums but acquire new meaning. In this case, this happens by way of a social commentary relevant to the era.

The last work in this triad, John Carpenter’s 1982 film The Thing, sought to return to the certain type of fear that Campbell established in Who Goes There? by once again having a monster with the ability to absorb and imitate other beings. Although the story had already been adapted to film, there had been many advances in practical and special effects since The Thing from Another World was made. This allowed greater freedom in showing viewers the nature of the thing, especially when it was in the process of taking over other life forms or protecting itself. An example of some innovative effects work can be seen in the following clip:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjIXwkX1e48[/youtube]

Although the story was meant to be more reflective of the original novella, some aspects were changed or intensified. Carpenter’s film played heavily on the paranoia aspect of Campbell’s story, in that none of the characters knew who to trust because it was impossible to tell who was absorbed and who wasn’t. In Who Goes There?, the research team purposefully dismantle their helicopters and other vehicles to keep themselves isolated, and give regularly scheduled reports over the radio communicating that all is as it should be in order to drive away any suspicion from other facilities. In The Thing, however, the isolation is beyond the characters’ control. One of the assimilated team members destroys their only helicopter, and the radio has been malfunctioning due to rough weather. Another tweaked aspect of the story can be seen in how the characters eventually try to determine which members of the team are human and which have been absorbed. A blood test is used in Who Goes There? to determine whether or not a sample is purely human. The following excerpt describes one of the tests:

“A little glass test-tube, half-filled with straw-colored fluid. One-two-three-four-five drops of the clear solution Dr. Copper had prepared from the drops of blood from Connant’s arm. The tube was shaken carefully, then set in a beaker of clear, warm water. The thermometer read blood heat, a little thermostat clicked noisily, and the electric hotplate began to glow as the lights flickered slightly. Then – little white flecks of precipitation were forming, snowing down the straw-colored fluid.”

A similar strategy is used in The Thing. However, instead of exposing a blood sample to another solution, heat is used. Theoretically, the blood of a thing will react in trying to defend itself, since each part of the creature is its own organism with the ability to attack and absorb. The test that plays out in Carpenter’s film is a little less subtle:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqVbOSEsJNo[/youtube]

Campbell’s Who Goes There?, Hawks’ The Thing from Another World and Carpenter’s The Thing are three iterations of the same basic story. However, they are each almost entirely unique in the way they tell it. The story morphs in reaction to the medium it finds itself in, current events, etc. In a sense, the story, much like its subject matter, is an adaptive organism in and of itself.

Sources:

Campbell, John. Who Goes There?. New York: Dell Magazines, 1938. Print.

John Carpenter’s Fantastic Film Weekend screening introduction:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0FhSHqGg74[/youtube]

Smoodin, E. (1988), Watching the Skies: Hollywood, the 1950s, and the Soviet Threat. Journal of American Culture, 11: 35–40

Variety Staff. “The Thing from Another World.” Variety. 31 Dec 1950. Print.

  


 

													


						
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I Am Iron Man (And So Am I)

						
By Lee on May 3, 2012  in  

						

							
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Triad: Game of Thrones

						
By airaola on May 3, 2012  in  

						

							
The Game of Thrones television series is meant to quicken the pace to which the viewer follows the Game of Thrones storyline from the book, hence, the chessboard illustrates the momentum of television show which is much like a chess game that has a cause and effect relationship, often times exchanging one piece for another.  The first slide although only a title slide is meant to impress the point of having a grounded rational attack.  The chessboard is meant to represent the plane at which the players namely royalty and members of the Nightwatch interact sometimes ultimately resulting in their death or murder.  The outcome for some of the pieces on the board is indicative of their position on the board.  The first slide I take a closer look at one of members of the night watch Ser Waymar Royce.  Deciding on Ser Waymar Royce as being a pawn on the chessboard came for a couple reasons.  For one the Nightwatch is meant to protect the seven kingdoms and often the affairs of the Nightwatch are kept behind the scenes. The duty of being on the Nightwatch also runs the risk of death by harsh weather conditions and other ends.  That being said the Nightwatch is not meant for the light of heart and typically entails a lifetime of duty to the empire with little opportunity to return home and see family.  The scene in the first slide attempts to capture Royce’s last moment before being killed by a whitewalker.  There is the excerpt from the book included at the top left corner of the slide.   The excerpt gives a more detailed version of Royce’s fight to the death which is overlooked in the television series.  The scene ends in the television series with Royce glancing up with a sense of urgency and uncertainty before being killed.  However the episode doesn’t reveal to us any engagement between Royce and the whitewalker rather we are left to believe that he dies immediately.



From reading the excerpt from the text we learn that Royce died with much more honor then the episode gives him in the show.  The duty of the Nightwatch is to serve and protect the seven kingdoms even if it means putting your life on the line.  Initially Royce and the other two men on the Nightwatch with him are looking for deserters of the Nightwatch which demonstrate how important retaining a sense of honor is to them.  Unfortunately, the episode fails to see Royce through his term as being a leading officer in the Nightwatch.  We are only left hearing the sound of the whitewalker’s sword being drawn and can assume Royce meets his death shortly after.  The Nightwatch whose headquarters are a huge wall called the “Wall” serve as the front line for the seven kingdoms.  In a similar fashion the Nightwatch would be fittingly positioned on the front line of the board where all the pawns are.  Since the seven kingdoms can afford to lose men on the Nightwatch pons are representative of this because pawns typically disappear early on in a chess game and are susceptible to attack or be attacked first.



Losing a member of the Nightwatch is to be expected therefore the seven kingdoms especially royalty in the seven kingdoms doesn’t have time to mourn the loss of every individual dead Nightwatch man.  The purpose of the Nightwatch, the pons, are to serve the rest of the kingdoms and in this case to serve the board in furthering the progress of their side.  Although the conflict in the book and movie begin as being Nightwatch versus Whitewalkers the conflict becomes internalized.  The conflict becomes internalized when the royal families in the seven kingdoms begin to influence one another.  In the next slide three of Eddard Stark’s kids watch him as he beheads a deserter of the Nightwatch.  The Starks are just one of the royal families in the seven kingdoms.  The presence of Eddard’s Stark’s kids on the chessboard is not apparent but it can be assumed that royalty wouldn’t be pawns like members of the Nightwatch fighting out on the front lines.



Rather Stark’s kids are protected by their association to their father who although not king has influence over the king putting Eddard Stark as either a bishop, knight, or rook on either side of the king and queen.  Bran Eddard Stark’s youngest son is asked by his father to be present at the execution of a deserter of the Nightwatch the same man that was with Ser Waymar Royce when he died.  Bran and his brother Jon are there together watching their father carry out the watchman’s sentence.  Bran’s older brother Robb stands ahead of his two brothers desensitized to the whole ordeal.  The purpose of Bran’s presence at the sentencing was his father’s attempt to make Bran into a man.  In the episode we see a young boy who is still conflicted about his father’s reasoning for sentencing this man to death a certain innocence that his older brothers Robb and Jon have left behind.  The television series does well of drawing its attention in this scene to the unfitting presence of Bran who is just a boy and we really sympathize with his character because death is something hard to explain to children.



The excerpts from the book give us more insight into Bran’s thoughts which reveal he still hasn’t given up on his own reservations which are considered child like in exchange for his father’s words.  In a similar fashion the Targaryens internalize the conflict of the seven kingdoms.  The last remaining bloodline of the Targaryen’s are brother and sister.  The brother, Viserys, is older and more commandeering over his younger sister.  His father was the former king of the seven kingdoms making him the rightful heir to the throne.  However, this proposition doesn’t sit well with the rest of the seven kingdoms that already have a new king. Viserys, on the chessboard, would be positioned close to the king and queen as a knight or bishop.  His younger sister is a pon who he manipulates in order to further himself on his quest to be king of the seven kingdoms.  The book offers a much less tame interpretation with Viserys being especially cold to his younger sister when she tells him that she’d rather go home than be queen.  The book’s interpretation also offers a depiction of Daenerys as being much more submissive.  In the excerpt on the fifth slide Viserys seems to have complete and utter control over his sister’s emotions let alone facial expressions.  He asks her to stand up tall, show what little breasts she has, and smile to which she complies to all of these suggestions. In the television series, Daenerys appears to resist her brother’s manipulative tactics more so than she appears to in the text.



In conclusion, the momentum of show often picks up where the book leaves off however the book is more thorough in its descriptions of the characters and as we’ve already seen tends to make them appear more fickle than in the show. Other times the show appears to fall short of doing justice to the characters in the book and their unique circumstances which tend to be overlooked as we’ve already seen with the case of Ser Waymar Royce. The show does however for the most part keep the ideology of the book intact.



 



 



 



 



 



Works Cited:



“I don’t want to be his queen” YouTube. 2012. 29 Jun. 2011 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWqBZQg-RvY&feature=related



“Night’s Watchmans and the White Walkers” Youtube. 2012. 7 Jul. 2011 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhonEowCBUw



A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 1) Amazon. 2012. 22 Mar. 2011 http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0553386794/ref=sr_1_1?p=S005&keywords=game+of+thrones+book+1&ie=UTF8&qid=1336022277



“Winter is Coming” Youtube. 2012. 19 Apr. 2011  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUm6HnNOtIo&feature=fvst



throne.jpg 2012. 20 Dec. 2008 http://photo-dictionary.com/phrase/472/throne.html#b%20-%20throne

													


						
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The Evolution of Bess

						
By Haley on May 3, 2012  in  

						

							
See the visual part of my project here!



Alfred Noyes’ poem “The Highwayman” is one of the most beloved story-poems in the English language. Originally written in 1906, it has survived intact into the present day, and has inspired numerous stories, films, songs and uncountable works of art. The poem’s appeal lies in the passionate way it depicts the doomed love of Bess, and the piece’s titular Highwayman. While both characters die at the end of the poem and many adaptations maintain the plot of the original, more recent adaptations have given an increasing amount of power and agency to Bess’ character. The original poem portrays her as almost entirely passive; her only moment of agency is in coming to her bedroom window in order to greet her lover. In The Highwayman’s Footsteps by Nicola Morgan, the daughter of two characters based on the protagonists of Noyes’ poem becomes a highwayman herself, bucking social norms and abandoning the restrictive expectations of women in the 18th century. Finally, Bess herself is reexamined when her character is adapted into a playable character for the tabletop role playing game, “Depths.” What emerges from the relationship between these texts is a representation in fiction of the real-world increase of women’s agency. With the expansion of women’s rights, female characters in fiction have simultaneously become more active in their own stories, and it is through adaptations of older female characters who originally lacked agency that creators explore this progression. In creating a visual representation of the relationship between these three texts using Scratch, placement, size and sequence are employed to convey the evolving nature of Bess’ character. Continue reading →

													


						
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The Death of Objectivism (Atlas Shrugged (book)/Atlas Shrugged (film)/BioShock)

						
By Sam Rodgers on May 3, 2012  in  

						

							
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PN3SXTy8Jms[/youtube]



“Who is John Galt?” This is the question which drives Ayn Rand’s most famous novel, Atlas Shrugged, forward. Atlas Shrugged is also the last novel Ayn Rand wrote, and many consider it one of the most important books in American history. Ayn Rand herself considers it her magnus opus. The story concerns the productive and smart members of society who get sick of government control and taxation and go into hiding. Their leader is the mysterious John Galt, who’s purpose in the strike is to accentuate the problems of a controlling government. The protagonist is a railway owner by the name Dagny Taggart. She experiences first-hand the hardship of the thinking-class going into hiding with John Galt and experiences problems building a new massive railway to match the competition.



Rather than being a straightforward novel with complex characters and quick situations, the 1168 page (in original hardback) novel manages to cover Ayn Rand’s entire philosophy of Objectivism in excruciating detail. Objectivism’s main point is the importance of self and personal achievement. Ayn Rand herself was an atheist, and her philosophy demonstrates this. In Objectivism, mankind is raised to the status of gods in their unlimited potential (as long as man is given free reigns to expand).



Objectivism is an attempt to create a fulfilling atheistic worldview. The philosophy essentially states that everyone should pursue their own happiness in a sort of rationally-induced free-for-all. To use Ayn Rand’s own words in Atlas Shrugged, “My philosophy, in essence, is the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute” (p. 1170). Born in Russia, Ayn Rand built Objectivism largely out of her terrible life experiences there and her reaction to immigrating to the United States.



 



Atlas Shrugged was adapted into a two-part motion picture, the first directed by Paul Johansson (who also played John Galt in the film, the film’s symbol for mankind’s glory and potential). It was released on April 15, 2011 in limited theaters and moved quickly to home video. Produced for $20 million, the film only made $5 million at the box office. To top it off, the film received very negative reviews, only garnering an 11% on Rotten Tomatoes scale. Friends of mine have argued that this is to be expected, given even the original book released to widely negative reviews. However, I propose there are some very important reasons the film adaptation largely failed beyond what issues the source material had.



One of the most obvious issues when adapting Atlas Shrugged to a film lies with the film’s source material. The novel has no realistically logical story and its characters aren’t believable at all. In fact, Ayn Rand’s characters here are about as flat as they come. That’s because Atlas Shrugged isn’t really what I would call a novel. It is really a thinly veiled political treatise masquerading as a novel. Its characters are flat because they are pawns and silhouettes whose sole purpose is to make an overarching political claim possible. Whether the final claim (Objectivism) is a realistic one, even given the flat, unrealistic characters, is not within the scope of this paper. What is at issue here is that flat, unrealistic characters pose an obvious problem to film adaptation. This is compounded by the fact that the film was marketed as entertaining and believable. It’s one thing to read about characters who are taken to the extreme, it’s another to see it in action and hear each character say exactly what they are thinking.



For instance, in the book Atlas Shrugged, the reader might be interested, slightly confused, and also feel sorry for Henry Rearden when he comes home with a gift for his wife, only to have her essentially reject him. However, in the film, virtually the same interaction is played out, only outside of text the language is awkward, the acting stilted, and the reaction totally unbelievable and unwarranted. In fact, by the end of that particular scene I hated virtually every character in the room, whether I was supposed to or not. As mentioned earlier, the book was adapted into a two-part film series. The second part has not been released yet. Presumably it is still in production.



 [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PK5Sq3bIHY[/youtube]



Along came BioShock in 2007. Developed by 2K Games (now Irrational Games), BioShock is a first-person survival horror game which follows a plane crash survivor’s journey through the underwater city of Rapture. Opening to rave reviews, BioShock is now an established game franchise. The most fascinating part about BioShock is that the game is a complete response to Objectivism and deals with many of Ayn Rand’s arguments in Atlas Shrugged. In their review, the Chicago Sun-Times stated, “I never once thought anyone would be able to create an engaging and entertaining video game around the fiction and philosophy of Ayn Rand, but that is essentially what 2K Games has done.”



In the game’s story, an extremely successful business man named Andrew Ryan has done something similar to John Galt in that he took some great scientific minds and abandoned society. He and his fellow thinkers built an underwater city in the middle of the Atlantic and named it Rapture. It was here that ADAM was discovered. ADAM is a DNA-altering substance which gives the host super-human powers. Not only is Andrew Ryan’s name a partial anagram for Ayn Rand, Andrew Ryan is the embodiment of Ayn Rand’s Objectivism beliefs. He had nearly unlimited resources and built a place where science, thought, and progress wouldn’t be hindered by taxation, morality, or any other belief systems.



In the storyline of Rapture before the player arrives, the once great city fell prey to politics and greed. Various factions arose in Rapture, despite Andrew Ryan’s attempts to keep everyone working to better themselves. Once plasmids were derived from ADAM, the whole city broke into violence. The plasmids degenerated the population’s genetic code to the point they were nothing but mindless zombies called splicers. Despite Andrew Ryan’s objectivist belief in no major government interference, Ryan was forced to nationalize Fontaine Futuristics, the producers of the plasmids, or risk the entire city cannibalizing itself. Frank Fontaine, the leader of Fontaine Futuristics, faked his own death and blamed it on Ryan. He then became a protestor by the name Atlas – another blatant reference to Atlas Shrugged. Atlas became a mysterious voice for the resistance, and many signs were even made which read “Who is Atlas?” This is a reference to the “Who is John Galt” question. Atlas became an ironic John Galt type character against Ayn Rand’s own beliefs, leading the scientifically minded away from Objectivism.






 



The Randian philosophy is put to the ultimate test three-quarters through the game, when the protagonist, Jack, meets Andrew Ryan. Up until this point, Jack has been led around and directed by radio transmissions from the man known only at this point as Atlas. Jack is in Andrew Ryan’s office to kill him. Before Jack kills him, Ryan says, “Stop, would you kindly?” It is here Andrew Ryan reveals that you the player have actually been controlled through the whole game thus far by Frank Fontaine, and you are merely an assassin. Each time Atlas/Fontaine had asked Jack to do something, he had used the term “Would you kindly?” as a kind of mind controlling term. As a side note, this entire idea of the player being manipulated and controlled throughout the game is a fascinating one which could be investigated in nearly any video game in a future paper or class.



Andrew Ryan’s philosophy does not allow him to be a violent person. As he says in the game, “My strength is not in steel and fire. That is what the parasites will never understand.” Andrew Ryan’s power is his intellect, so he hands Jack his golf club and states, “A man chooses, a slave obeys.” This is the epitome of Ayn Rand’s argument. Ryan gives Jack the choice between politics and Objectivism. Showing Jack the two choices he has, Ryan says again, “Kill!”



[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afMJmgszv-s[/youtube]



Jack kills Andrew Ryan. This is the most important moment in the game’s argument against Atlas Shrugged. Andrew Ryan is the ultimate Randian superhero, yet he is corrupted and is defeated by another faction leader in Rapture. This is a display of the true power of politics and greed over smarts and intellect. Andrew Ryan learned the hard way that, despite what Atlas Shrugged argues, people aren’t inherently good enough to work for the betterment of themselves and thus the whole human race. This one scene in BioShock offers the death blow (pun intended) to Atlas Shrugged’s whole philosophy.



As a general rule, books aren’t directly adapted into major video games. If they are, books are usually adapted to a film first, and the games produced as a tie-in. This makes BioShock a important, and a rare example. However, Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged is also a rare example of a long, unrealistic story with flat characters becoming very popular. Perhaps this is the reason Atlas Shrugged was the perfect match for BioShock. By way of interaction, video games can make long scenes and deep political conversation more accessible, believable, and ultimately bearable than a movie generally could. Ayn Rand’s world is also populated by extremes. Each character is an extreme example of a human trait. BioShock employs this idea generously, each of its villains taking Objectivism to its extremes. Games have typically benefitted from more extreme characters and villains, perhaps this has something to do with why reviewers and consumers accepted the game much more quickly than the film. However, the reason may also be that people love to hate on Ayn Rand. Why go watch a low-budget film praising her philosophy when you could buy a triple-A game which completely deconstructs her ideas? I know which one I would choose.



 



Works Cited



“ATLAS SHRUGGED MOVIE.” Atlas Shrugged Movie (Official Site). 20th Century Fox, 10 Jan. 2011. Web. 01 May 2012. <http://www.atlasshruggedpart1.com/atlas-shrugged-movie-poster-who-is-john-galt>.



“Atlas Shrugged Part I (2011) Reviews.” Atlas Shrugged Part I. Rotten Tomatoes. Web. 01 May 2012. <http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/atlas_shrugged_part_i/>.



Chambers, Whittaker. “Big Sister Is Watching You.” NRO. OrthodoxyToday.org, 8 Dec. 1957. Web. 01 May 2012. <http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/222482/big-sister-watching-you/flashback>.



“Cultural References in BioShock.” BioSock Wiki. Web. 1 May 2012. <http://bioshock.wikia.com/wiki/BioShock_Cultural_References>.



Levine, Ken. “Objectivism in BioShock.” Interview. Kotaku. 15 Feb. 2008. Web. 01 May 2012. <http://kotaku.com/354717/no-gods-or-kings-objectivism-in-bioshock>.



Paul. “Bioshock VS Ayn Rand Ultimate Showdown.” Little Bo Beep. 9 Mar. 2010. Web. 01 May 2012. <http://littlebobeep.com/2010/bioshock-ayn-rand/>.

													


						
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The Modern Performances of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet

						
By Rebecca on May 3, 2012  in  

						

							
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DivPsjOi8jU[/youtube]






 



Baz Luhrmann’s film adaption of William Shakespeare’s classical play Romeo and Juliet offers a fresh outlook on a work that often does not appeal to the modern audience. Through the use of bright color, dramatic scenes with exaggerated movements, Luhrmann has crafted a visual performance of the text that is engaging to both the classical trained mind and those who know little about Shakespeare.   Contemporary artist Leonid Afremov also uses bright colors and dramatic lines and shading to capture the emotional rawness Shakespeare portrayed in the lover’s turmoil.  His art represents his own performance of Romeo and Juliet, manifesting in the form of a painting.



The original text of Romeo and Juliet is in written form, on black and white paper with simple stage directions, which leaves the majority of the imagery up to the reader.  This becomes a problem with modern readers, especially those in high school (when Shakespeare is most often taught) who are more partial to visual modes of experiencing stories.  We live in an era of televisions, laptops and large cell phones that are constantly catching our attention with bright images and movement.  Luhrmann uses this whirlwind of movement in much of his movie, for example, “In Romeo and Juliet Capulet’s ball is similarly treated.  The first meeting of the lovers takes place amid round-dances so dizzying that even the camera is caught up in the whirl” (Hapgood in Boose 88).



As my high school teacher once said, Shakespeare is supposed to be performed, not read in a classroom; it is a performance meant to be experienced.  Luhrmann effectively traverses between written words that hold the capacity for performance and a visual adaptation that is both modern and holds true to the original text.  Luhrmann’s script is entirely true to Shakespeare’s own text, which can be difficult for modern readers to understand if they are not instructed in classical literature.  Coupled with modern scenery, clothing and technology, Luhrmann is able to connect with the intended youthful audience without disregarding the poetry of Shakespeare’s words.  And this approach worked for its target audience, “Romeo + Juliet constructed itself as a youth culture film and was tested at UC Berkeley for people only under 39, and then came in first at the box office on the weekend of its release” (Boose 13).  Earlier forms of British English can be difficult for a modern audience to connect to, very rarely do we hear “O Romeo, Romeo, /wherefore art thou Romeo? /Deny thy father and refuse thy name, /Or if thou wilt not, /be but sworn my love”?  But adding the visual emotions expressed by the actors, lighting effects and the proper music, and the audience hardly needs to hear words to understand what is going on and how Juliet might be feeling at that moment.  Someone reading the original text of Romeo and Juliet may get bogged down by his archaic, though beautiful language, and give up on reading it altogether.  To include the original text in a modern film adaptation was risky for a director who sought a young audience, and yet it masterfully brought the poetic beauty of the language and the aesthetic ease of the film medium together to create a text that is much more easily understood.  “A movie maker who seeks a popular audience must also mediate boldly between the original theatrical medium and film: ‘cinema creates a different chemistry with the audience, a different taste, and the attention of the audience moves so fast…fantasy gallops in the audience in movies (Zeffirelli 261)’” (Boose 13).



Not only does Luhrmann’s performance of Romeo and Juliet bring the text to life in a modern era, but it provides an entire youth culture with the opportunity to think critically about the text.  The modern viewer can take what they hear along with its visual as a mere part of a much larger text.  “The electronic text…allows the critic to offer a fascinatingly accessible complexity of Shakespeares and intertextualities in a medium that invites interconnection and integration.  In the electronic medium the reader is given access to the context of quotation, and the full experience of a graphic or video sequence.  The result is that the critic is more open to criticism, and the reader becomes more fully a participator in the critical process” (Best 280).  With the amount of Shakespearean film adaptations, the ability to connect texts is endless and invites even those who are not PhD holders to offer their take on how one text plays off another.



Leonid Afremov’s painting “Romeo and Juliet” may not seem like the performance of the original text, not in the sense that a film or play is, but it adapts the story into a personal expression of emotion that a film cannot reach.  Afremov came to America from Israel with an arsenal of paintings that he took to various art galleries in New York City.  Only a few paintings, all with similar “sellable” themes were bought, and Afremov was forced to create paintings that would sell.  Thankfully, he discovered eBay and the ability to sell his painting online.  Luckily for him, his paintings were extremely popular and sold very well.  This demand for his paintings that came directly from consumers allowed Afremov to paint freely the emotions he felt without the constraint of a selective gallery.  This type of artistic freedom is not attainable with Hollywood movies, who must sell the story in order to make money.  This is why Afremov’s painting is one of the rawest performances of the original Romeo and Juliet text.  Afremov channeled the emotions invoked by the story directly onto a blank canvas and ended with a colorful, impressionistic-esque interpretation of two lovers surrounded by overwhelming feelings of both love and hopelessness.  A performance is not simply a play or a film, but it includes the act of taking words on a page and morphing them by one’s own means into that holds artistic merit (at least to its creator).  Phillip Auslander argues that (theatrical) performance is art, but I argue that art is performance; it is a process that changes one text into one entirely different, with its own expression of importance.



Afremov’s painting is just as visual as Baz Luhrmann’s film, though it is a stationary snapshot of two lovers in the midst of an embrace amongst the family turmoil (portrayed by the wild mix of bright and dark lines in the background).  It employs vibrant colors and movement by wispy brushstrokes to capture the viewer’s attention, just like its film counterpart.  Someone can look at that painting and feel the emotion that Shakespeare’s words expressed even if they cannot read, and Afremov created a text that is entirely his own representation of Romeo and Juliet.



Below is a picture of the words “I baked a cupcake.”  These words represent Shakespeare’s original text.  It includes action, the reader knows something is happening and can easily picture it taking place, but it is of his or her own imagination, and will vary with each brain.  The performance of this sentence, me actually baking cupcakes (as pictured below) is Baz Luhrmann’s film: an actual acting out of the words he read on the page.  Again, this varies with each person who acts it out; the way I baked cupcakes is not the same way any other person would, though they would follow similar lines.  And the product of the performance, the cupcake itself, is the artwork by Leonid Afremov.  It includes bright colors, and represents my interpretation of what a cupcake should look like, the ingredients that went into it and how I presented them once baked.  How you enjoy the cupcake, now that is your experience, which varies upon the person and their individual tastes, as is experiencing the movie or artwork.









 



 



 



Works Cited



Auslander, Philip. “Performance: Pt. 1. Identity and the Self.” Google Books. Routledge. Web. 01 May 2012. <http://books.google.co.uk/books/>



Best, Michael. “The Text of Performance and the Performance of Text in the Electr.” Computers and the Humanities. 3rd ed. Vol. 36. New York: Springer, 2002. 269-82. JSTOR. Web. 1 May 2012. <http://www.jstor.org>.



Boose, Lynda E., and Richard Burt. Shakespeare, the Movie: Popularizing the Plays on Film, TV, and Video. London: Routledge, 1997. Print.



Worthen, William B. Shakespeare and the Force of Modern Performance. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge UP, 2003. Print.



 

													


						
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Sam and Max: The Psychotic Bunny Leaves the Pages and Invades Our Games

						
By Benjamin Wrightson on May 3, 2012  in  

						

							



The Sam and Max franchise has come in many forms over the years. It has been printed as a comic, featured as an animated television series, and transformed into a point and click adventure game.  The series follows the adventures Sam, a six foot tall canine detective who wears a blue suit and matching fedora, and Max, a violent, semi-psychotic rabbit-like thing as they solve mysteries and wreak havoc as freelance police. Unlike many other franchises, Sam and Max has been able to successfully adapt itself to new mediums, taking advantages of each medium’s unique strengths to provide something fun and unique.



The laid back canine detective and his psychotic rabbit partner were first introduced in the Sam and Max comic book series, which was written by Steve Purcell and debuted in 1987. Most of the series had a light hearted and fun fell as the freelance police become involved in increasingly ridiculous cases, from having a standoff with mobsters in their office, to traveling to the Philippines to stop an evil volcano cult. The freelance police often resorted to violence even when no violence was necessary, with Sam combating his foes with a comically oversized revolver and Max wielding any number of exotic, over power tools of destruction.  The dialogue was silly and over the top, with Sam giving unnecessarily long exclamatory statements, and Max choosing the most violent possible route and lacing it with wit and clever puns. The comic also showed a fair amount of self-parody and self-awareness by pointing out its own inconsistencies, such as when characters comment and things like “If Max doesn’t wear any cloths, then where does he hide his gun?”



The first adaptation of Sam and Max came in 1993 when Lucas Arts released Sam and Max Hit the Road. Sam and Max Hit the Road was a point and click adventure originally released on the Mac OS and DOS. In the game, players controlled Sam and directed him around a pre-rendered cartoon world to solve puzzles and explore the world. The game featured the same over the top story telling as the comic. This time the main attraction of a carnival, a Sasquatch called Bruno frozen in a block of ice, had escaped and kidnapped one of the performers. It was up to our heroes (if you can call them that) to return the rogue beast and rescue the performer. Some of the biggest draws of the game were the exceptionally written dialogue, fun characters, and uniquely applied humor.  The game took advantage of its medium to help tell jokes. Characters would respond to the players’ actions in fun and interesting ways, using the interactivity to help tell the story and keep the player interested and engaged. The game was well received critically, frequently appears in top 100 games lists, and is now considered a classic by many gamers.



[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vfyp1d3h0gY[/youtube]



An example of gameplay from Sam and Max Hit the Road



Sam and Max would not appear again in video games until the 2006 release of Sam and Max Save the World.  Like its predecessor, Save the World was also a point and click adventure game in which Sam and Max went on ridiculous adventures, solved mysteries, and wreaked havoc. One of the game’s most interesting aspects was the way in which it was released. Save the World was released in an episodic fashion. Each episode was a self-contained adventure that had little to do with other episodes in the game beyond the occasional reference or subtle joke. This actually worked quite well as it kept the game feeling fresh and prevented from dragging for too long on any given story. However, the writing that made Sam and Max Hit the Road such a huge success was nowhere to be seen. Save the World was considerably less violent than its predecessors and the jokes, while still funny, felt tame in comparison to what had come before them. The overall interaction with the game world was also significantly reduced. It was no longer possible to waste hours of time simply wandering around the various locales sniggering at Sam’s and Max’s comments as you observed and interacted with your surroundings. All in all it was not a bad game, but it failed to take full advantage of what was offered by the video game medium and the point and click genre specifically.



The only other appearance of Sam and Max was their appearance in the animated series The Adventures of Sam and Max: Freelance Police.  The show had thirteen episodes, about twenty minutes each, which were largely unrelated to one another. The series was still very entertaining despite the lack of plot and being toned down to be more kid friendly. Max was not as vulgar and it was considerably less violent than other renditions of Sam and Max. The show relied instead on clever writing and outlandish scenarios to deliver its humor and keep the audience entertained. Compared to other children’s cartoons of the late 1990’s, the animation for Sam and Max was quite good. This allowed for fast paced action sequences and effects that were not possible for video games at the time, along with jokes and humor that played off of said action sequences and effects. Once again Sam and Max had successfully adapted to take advantage of their new medium.



[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46KOnkpEe5M[/youtube]



Some footage from the 1997 Sam and Max Animated series



Overall, Sam and Max proved to be a highly adaptable source with an extremely high entertainment value. This was only reinforced by the consistently good writing and humor which took advantage of each medium strengths and weakness. Sam and Max was by no means ground breaking in any field, but was spectacular in the sense that it well it succeeded in what it set out to do: to be entertaining.



Works Cited



Geraghty, Lincoln. Realities… blending as one!”: Film Texts and Intertexts in the Star Trek/X-Men Crossover Comics. University of Portsmouth. 2007.



Picard, Martin. Video Games and Their Relationship with Other Media. Greenwood Press, Westport Connecticut. 2008.



Smith, Benjamin. Spandex Cinema : Three Approaches to Comic Book Film Adaptation. University of Central Oklahoma. 2009



Scolari, Carlos Alberto. Transmedia Storytelling: Implicit Consumers, Narrative Worlds, and Branding in Contemporary Media Production. University of Vic Catalunya, Spain. 2009.



Fair Use Rational



Description: An image of the game  Sam and Max Save the World



Rational: This is a screenshot which I produced myself. It has no copyright and may be freely modified and distributed.



 



Description: The cover of a the comic book: Sam and Max Surfin’ the Highway



Rational: This image is of the cover of the comic book and is only used for identification purposes. It in no way modifies or alters the value of the source material, nor does it distribute any content of the represented work.



Description: The introduction screen of the the animated series The Adventures of Sam and Max: Freelance Police



Rational:  This image is of the introduction screen for the Sam and Max animated series and is only used for identification purposes. It in no way modifies or alters the value of the source material, nor does it distribute any content of the represented work.



Description: Youtube Videos



Rational: The videos used are allowed to be embedded and uploaded freely so long as the original work is not changed or played through a streaming service other than the Youtube player or Embedded player as is stated in Youtube’s terms of service. http://www.youtube.com/t/terms

													


						
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Triad: “Harlem Globetrotters” – > “The Super Harlem Globetrotters” (TV series) – > Harlem Globetrotters Guest Appearance on “Man Vs. Food Nation: Harlem”.

						
By camerongb on May 3, 2012  in  

						

							
Note: Download file provided in replies.



Few names are as recognizable in exhibition basketball in America as the Harlem Globetrotters.  Founded in 1927, the unique combination of physical comedy and athletic skill on the team made them a spectacle that has endured for nearly a century.  Over the course of this time, legendary basketball players like Wilt Chamberlain have played on the court, while famous figures such as Pope John Paul II have been made “Honorary” Globetrotters, helping to show that the team is meant for everyone.  This image of unity through the team quickly became one of the most recognizable features of the Harlem Globetrotters, as they targeted anyone interested in watching to tbe part of their audience.



In America, the team has had a long history of being a “barnstorming” team, meaning they travel to numerous venues in order to stage exhibition matches against opposing teams.  These shows are always an all-ages affair for the Harlem Globetrotters, as young and old fans from across the country are given the chance to watch the antics of this historic team.  When the team began spanning the globe, this theme of unity continued to stay with them, as they undertook such exciting endeavors as touring across the Soviet Union in the midst of the 1980s, despite the Cold War tensions between the USSR and America.  Each of their shows sold out, and the universal appeal of the Harlem Globetrotters was further proven.



Though the team initially consisted of all black American men, this mentality has since changed, as the team continues to act as a representative of unity.  The first female member of the Globetrotters, former Olympic gold medalist Lynette Woodard, was added to the roster 1985, with the first hispanic member, Orlando Antigua, being recruited ten years later.  Today, men and women of all races play on the Harlem Globetrotters, and the team continues to entertain audiences across the nation.



With the advent of forms of media such as television, the Harlem Globetrotters were able to reach an even larger audience.  One of the ways in which they did this was with a Saturday morning cartoon show, known as “The Super Globetrotters.”  In this series, a group of the Globetrotters most popular players were given superpowers to fight crime and entertain children.  The Globetrotters also ended up having numerous additionally appearances over the course of several years, with one of the most recent ones involving them as guest stars on the Travel Channel series “Man Vs. Food Nation.”  During this episode, three members of the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team were challenged to eat an almost impossible amount of spicy barbeque.  During this challenge, many of the members of the Harlem community encouraging them, unifying numerous people who would otherwise be patrons into a veritable cheerleading group.  Still to this day, the Harlem Globetrotters are intensely focused on unifying their fans and creating a family-like following who can all relate over their love of the antics of the team.



“Super Harlem Globetrotters RPG” is an effort to express these beliefs in a different medium than television.  The player controls four prospective members of the Harlem Globetrotters in a fictional setting as they learns what it means to be a member of the team and how they serve as a representation of the community that surrounds the exploits of the team.  The story is light-hearted and interactive, allowing the player to be a part of it.  It’s also done in a manner that is familiar to those who have played videogames in the past, but also is not terribly difficult for those who are not familiar with playing them.



Sources:



Butler, Robbie. The Harlem Globetrotters: Clown Princes of Basketball. Bloomington ,MN: Red Brick Learning, 2002.



Green, Ben. Spinning the Globe: The Rise, Fall, and Return to Greatness of the Harlem Globetrotters. New York: Harper-Collins, 2006.



Wilker, Josh. The Harlem Globetrotters. New York: Chelsea House, 1997.



“Racial Pioneer at the University of Illinois Has Turned Around Basketball’s Most Storied Franchise.” Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. 55 (2007): 51

													


						
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The Muliple Mediums of Coheed and Cambria and “The Armory Wars”

						
By afrybarger on May 3, 2012  in  

						

							
http://prezi.com/kbehovzgvueu/coheed-and-cambria-triad/



Coheed and Cambria, a band from New York, that formed in 1995 made an extraordinary move in the word of adaptation. The band’s music is tightly connected to the comic book series created by lead singer Claudio Sanchez. But Coheed and Cambria isn’t the first band to dive into this world of multiple adaptations of their music. From songs to music videos to comic books to stage presence and even to promotional vignette video clips, the world of “The Armory Wars” lives throughout the multiple forms of production. With a rise in the graphic novel and comic book interest, it is interesting to witness how a band has incorporated an idea into comic, music, and video form, engaging in transmedia storytelling. When examined more closely, Coheed and Cambria’s decision effects how someone experiences the world created.



What makes the multiple versions of Coheed and Cambria’s idea stand out against other musicians who have tried to carry their presence over into the world of comics is the decision not to create a comic book where the band members are the characters of the work, moving around through the pages (Nagy). Evie Nagy gives the tow options bands have. The other option “today means a lot more than turning your band into a superhero” (Nagy). Taking it further, Nagy quotes Virgin Comics CEO Sharad Devarajan by explaining that moving to the comic book medium is giving the artist and band “another playing field to create [their] lyrics. Let’s create something totally new–a fictional property defined by [the band], but like [their] music, will exist for generations beyond [them]” (Nagy). This is accomplished by Coheed and Cambria in much of their music. For example, the album Good Apollo, I’m Burning Star IV Volume 1:From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness. With songs such as “Welcome Home” and “Ten Speed (Of God’s Blood and Burial)” there is direct connections to the comic. When a reader is going from frame to frame in the comic Good Apollo, I’m Burning Star IV, Volume One: From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness, things jump out and click in the reader’s mind because of the multiple times they occur in the songs. Erica Court, an important character for the sins she committed against the main character The Writer, comes in and out in songs such as “the Suffering” and in moments of the comic where The Writer is remembering her and the pain of her infidelity, which causes him to inflict pain the characters he is writing. The importance of writing is clear throughout each media form of “The Armory Wars.” With a character named The Writer who is in a struggle with the story he is writing and the negative effects on his characters as his own issues affect his writing, it is difficult not to see the importance.



Adaptation crosses into the world of transmedia storytelling. “[Transmedia storytelling] is a particular narrative structure that expands through both different languages (verbal, iconic, etc.) and media (cinema, comics, television, video games, etc.). TS is not just an adaptation from one media to another. The story that the comics tell is not the same as that told on television or in cinema; the different media and languages participate and contribute to the construction of the transmedia narrative world” (Scolari 587). It is not a matter of whether the comic version of the music is better than the other but how it continues the world Coheed and Cambria singer and guitarist Claudio Sanchez dreamed up. With such multiple ways to soak up the story, “The Armory Wars” comics, such as Good Apollo (whether volume one or two), and the lyrics to the songs and the promotional videos released to promote the album all come together to give different experiences. Whether read, listened to, or watched, a person crosses media boundaries when engaging in the world the band produced. It is still important to notice that each part is its own creation and therefore, “each transmedia extension can stand on its own as an individually enjoyable entity” (Long 18). This can sometimes be forgotten by those not wrapped up in the entire adaptation universe of something such as the Coheed and Cambria and “The Armory Wars” relationship. It is uncommon for people who are only aware of a few versions, such as music and the music videos, to understand how only these things are linked and separate at the same time. Long makes a claim that “there is often a noticeable aesthetic difference between those transmedia narratives that were designed with transmedia in mind and those that weren’t” (Long 19), which comes across as only being applicable on a case to case basis. In regards to Coheed and Cambria and their many adaptations, there is an ability to enjoy the comic without realizing there were songs that connect to it and vice versa. As a person who listened first to the music and later was made aware of the comics, there is a personal bias to regard Long as being incorrect in applying his statement to all works that are transmedial and were intended to be so from the beginning.



Marsha Kinder targeted music videos, specifically rock music videos. “One of the most compelling aspects of rock video is its power to evoke specific visual images in the mind of the spectator every time one hears the music with which they have been juxtaposed on television. The experience of having watched and listened to a particular video clip on television establishes these connections in the brain circuitry” (Kinder 3) that when combined with already present images from the comic book or ideas a listener gets from hearing just the songs, amplifies the experience. While Kinder went on to speak more specifically about MTV and the effect of music videos, her work still can be applied to the idea of transmedia. Watching a music video online or on television reinforces the ideas of the song. In the case of “Welcome Home,” it reinforces the idea of the comic through images seen through frames in the music video. Someone watching that video is already experiencing adaptation of comic book and music and video.



Through multiple layers and various ways to experience Coheed and Cambria as well as “The Armory Wars,” readers, listeners, concertgoers, etc. participate in the transmedia aspect. In this case, the multiple mediums allows for further worldbuilding by the creators (Coheed and Cambria and Claudio Sanchez) as well as more to explore. Each version can stand alone but also interacts with another and all parts. Rather than simply being different adaptations with different spins (such as the various adaptations of of Alice in Wonderland), the work of Coheed and Cambria creates a world that the creators can contribute to, keeping it their idea.



Fair Use:



The two videos have standard YouTube licenses and were used to provide information on the adaptations of Coheed and Cambria’s music. The images were also provided for the same use.



Bibliography:



Kinder, Marsha. “Music Video and the Spectator: television, Ideology and Dream.” Film Quarterly 38.1 (1984): 2-15. 30 Apr. 2012.



Long, Geoffrey A. “Transmedia Storytelling: Business, Aesthetics and Production at the Jim Henson Company.” Massachussettes Institute of Technology. 2007:2-183. 30 Apr. 2012.



Nagy, Evie. “Geek Love.” Billboard 24 May 2008. 30 Apr. 2012.



Scolari, Carlos Alberto. “Transmedia Storytelling: Implicit Consumers, Narrative Worlds, and Branding in Contemporary Media Production.” International Journal of Communication 3 (2009): 586-606. 30 Apr. 2012.

													


						
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Scott Pilgrim vs. The Textual Triad

						
By wmccarry on May 3, 2012  in  

						

							
Will McCarry



Adaptation



Final Project



5/4/12






[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGLshBKEpSo[/youtube]



Scott Pilgrim vs. The Textual Triad



 



 Bryan Lee O’Malley’s successful comic series, Scott Pilgrim, represents the pinnacle of adaptation. Already the character has been featured in video games, movies and cartoons and there is no indication that Scott is going away anytime soon. This is a perfect example of a series that has been adapted well, and has thrived with the freshness that comes from new medium. The two most successful forms that Scott Pilgrim has taken (besides the comic) have been the 2010 live-action movie and game. All three forms effectively tell the story of Scott Pilgrim and Ramona Flower’s evil ex-boyfriends The movie is a wonderful summary of the comic, highlighting all the best moments of the comics, while the game focuses in on the fighting elements, effectively expanding them into a meaningful experience. The Scott Pilgrim comic owes much of its success to the multitude of references to videogames, music and pop-culture in general. This is carried through in both the videogame and the movie. Using many of the same references and jokes from the comic, the movie is able to more effectively connect with the audience by using sound and fast-moving visuals to its advantage, but in the process loses a sense of characterization found in the game and comic.






            The movie is a brilliant summary of the comic, removing extraneous details that do not add to the enjoyment of the series. The editing in the movie is unlike any that has preceded it. The cuts are fast and furious, moving quickly between scenes that take pages to explore in the comic. The comics implement these same sorts of cuts, but in a less effective way that tends to leave the reader more confused. The cuts in the movie work better because director Edgar Wright does a brilliant job of understanding the spatial inner workings of the comic’s world, and in fact, expands on them to make them clearer. For example, Ramona uses an interstellar highway through Scott’s head to deliver packages for Amazon in both the movie and the book. O’Malley illustrates these sequences in nearly all black, which leads to confusion as to where the characters are. The medium of film, however, has the ability to literally show us that Ramona is entering a pathway into Scott’s head, and through the use of modern CGI it is clearer than in the comic. O’Malley uses the technique of moving quickly between scenes and locations in the comic in order to deliver a punch line, using a cold cut to the next image, which reveals some sort of startling conclusion. Ironically In attempting to recreate the feel of the comic, Edgar Wright does this as well, and again, it works better in the film. This is because film allows the viewer to be wholly surprised by the punch line. Even if we expect the joke, the punch line is still funny because the medium of film does not allow the readers to “cheat” themselves out it. The problem with the jokes in the Scott Pilgrim comic is the cold cuts can always be seen coming. Literally. In the medium of a comic book you can always look to the next image and read ahead, ruining the punch line.






The movie does not treat its characters as kindly as the comic and the videogame. When thinking about really strong female characters in the Scott Pilgrim comic, one will find that there are many: Kim Pine, Ramona Flowers and even Knives Chau. While these personalities come off as funny in the movie they pale in comparison to the way Bryan Lee O’Malley so kindly treats them in the comic. As Jen Patton points out in her reaction piece to the movie: “Ramona is, from the very beginning, portrayed as an object; literally she is the girl of Scott’s dreams which he has to get.” This statement, while moderately true for both the movie and the comic, is justifiable only in relation to the movie. The writers of the movie’s attempts to caste Ramona as aloof and uncaring end up making her seem like a flat, emotionless character. The comic is able to see past this with so many subtle reminders in the art and dialogue of her profound character traits and flaws. Ramona’s distance becomes part of her character, and we begin to understand why she feels the way she does about relationships. The movie attempts to do this as well, but Ramona’s descriptions of her past relationship end up seeming cold and calculating, rather than justifiable. The game ironically treats its female characters better than the movie. This is achieved simply by placing all the characters on an even playing field. Since the game is a classic side-scrolling brawler, all the characters have special stats, moves, and special abilities. This leaves all the characters with a unique feel. Each one is fresh and new, and feels like they need to be played to experience their story. By making all the characters fighters, it becomes less about Scott’s journey, and more about the journey of the whole group. This is simply a limitation of the genre, as having some characters simply be non-fighters just wouldn’t work. This actually brings the game closer to the world of the comic than of the movie, which is more grounded in reality. In the movie Ramona only fights once, but in the comic she is constantly fighting all kinds of different enemies. The game is able to effectively capture this feeling without it seeming silly, as it would in the movie.






The references to the pop-culture are more effectively conveyed in the movie. The movie version of Scott Pilgrim begins with the classic Universal symbol painting its way across the screen to an 8-bit rendition of the classic Universal theme. This immediately sets the tone of the movie before anyone even says a word. Sound bytes such as this one make the jokes funnier, and the references more potent, simply because the medium of film can so easily utilize both visuals and sound. The best example of this is being able to truly hear Scott’s band, Sex-bob-omb. In the comic, O’Malley writes chords and lyrics in the margine of the pages of the comic, but this is not an adequate substitute for actually hearing the music.



The game is a very meta experience, as the source material is so filled with video game references. Making the characters 8-bit versions of themselves was brilliant decision by the developers. It perfectly captures the feeling of both old style fighters, and the world of Scott Pilgrim. When the characters are drawn out in pixelized form, it is a very interesting experience. Fans of Scott Pilgrim will be familiar with O’Malley’s constant references to SNES and NES games, so to see the characters painted in the fashion is a perfect fit. Even better, the developers, and in turn the characters stay true to the series, and the moves of the characters are very reminiscent of other popular fighters.



The Scott Pilgrim series is a prime example of adaptation done right. Each version discussed brings something different and unique to the table due to the medium in which it was created. The comic is best at characterization, the game is best at creating a wholly unique experience, and the movie is the best overall, due to its ability to truly show us the world of Scott Pilgrim. Even though the comic spawned the movie, and much of its dialogue, the movie so effectively portrayed, with each joke hitting just the right mark that it is the undeniable king of Scott Pilgrim canon.



 



sources:



Patton, Jen. “Re/action – SCOTT PILGRIM Vs THE WORLD.” Reactionblog. 09 Oct. 2010. Web. 03 May 2012. <http://reactionblog.tumblr.com/post/1097035191/scottpilgrim>.



White, Cindy. “Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World Review.” IGN. 12 Aug. 2010. Web. 03 May 2012. <http://movies.ign.com/articles/110/1108240p1.html>.



Goldstein, Hilary. “Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game – PS3 – IGN.” IGN. 10 Aug. 2010. Web. 03 May 2012. <http://ps3.ign.com/objects/022/022138.html>.








Nemiroff, Perri. “Theories on Why ‘Scott Pilgrim’ Bombed.” The Moviefone Blog. 24 Aug. 2010. Web. 03 May 2012. <http://blog.moviefone.com/2010/08/24/theories-on-why-scott-pilgrim-bombed/>.







O’Malley, Bryan Lee. Scott Pilgrim. Portland, OR: Oni, 2004. Print.






Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. Dir. Edgar Wright. Perf. Michael Cera. Universal, 2010. DVD.









 



 

													


						
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