Alice in Wonderland

Alice in Wonderland. Dir. Tim Burton. Screenplay by Linda Woolverton. By Lewis Carroll. Perf. Mia Wasikowska,Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, and Anne Hathaway. S.n., 2008. DVD.

After a series of strange dreams. Alice Kingsleigh attends a social gathering where she is faced with her society’s expectation of accepting a marriage proposal. Confused she is distracted by a rabbit in a waistcoat, running after this rabbit she accidently falls into a hole. She finds herself transported to a world, called Underland, where she is greeted by that white rabbit the Dormouse, the Dodo, Tweedledum and Tweeedledee, and a couple of talking flowers. They argue over her identity, and whether she is the “the right Alice”- who is foretold to slay the Red queen's Jabberwocky on the Franjous day and restore the White Queen to power. The group is then ambushed by the Bandersnatch and a group of playing -card soldiers led by the Knave of Hearts. Alice manages to escape by fleeing into the woods.

Meanwhile the Knave informs the Red Queen that Alice has returned to Underland, thus a threat to her reign. The Queen orders her Red army find Alice immediately. In the meantime, Alice, still wandering, encounters the Cheshire Cat who leads her to the Mad Hatter and March Hare. On the way to the White Queen’s castle, Hatter tells the Alice of the terror of the Red Queen’s reign. The Hatter allows himself to be seized to avoid Alice being captured. Alice makes her way to the Red Queen’s castle in order to save the Hatter. The Queen does not recognize Alice and therefore welcomes her as a guest. Meanwhile, the Hatter persuades the Queen to let him serve as her personal milliner in an attempt to delay his execution. Alice learns that the Vorpal Sword (the faded sword) is locked away in a case inside the Bandersnatch's den; she manages to retrieve the sword and befriend the beast. However, the Knave finds her with the sword and attempts to arrest her. Alice escapes with the aid of the Bandersnatch and delivers the sword to the White Queen. The Cheshire Cat saves the Hatter from execution, and the Hatter calls for rebellion against the Red Queen. The resistance flees to the White Queen's castle, and both armies prepare for battle. Alice remains unsure about the expectation for her to champion the White Queen, and meets once more with Absolem. He reminds Alice of her past visit to Underland (which she mistakenly called "Wonderland" at the time) and helps give her the courage to fight the Jabberwocky.

When the Frabjous Day arrives, both the White and Red Queens gather their armies on a chessboard-like battlefield and send forth their chosen champions (armor-clad Alice and the Jabberwocky respectively) to decide the fate of Underland. The White Queen offers her sister a chance for peace but is refused. Encouraging herself with words of her father, Alice manages to kill the Jabberwocky. Having regained control of the throne, the White Queen banishes the Red Queen and the Knave to the Outlands, and gives Alice a vial of the Jabberwocky’s blood, which will take her home. The Hatter suggests that she could stay in Underland, but she decides she must go back and promises that she will return. Alice drinks the blood and returns home, where she addresses all of the issues she faced at the beginning of the film and takes charge of her life. She then becomes an apprentice for Lord Ascot, with the idea of beginning trade routes to China.

Tim Burton’s Alice Struggles with identity, especially with the important yet ambiguousness of personal identity. In the film she is constantly asked to identify herself by all the creatures she meets, she has a difficulty in answering them because in every scene she is more unsure of that identity. It becomes harder and harder for her to identify herself because she physically changes unexpectedly several times throughout the novel. The pigeon mistakes her for a serpent, not only because she admits eating eggs, but also because of her long neck. While the Cat Questions another part of her identity that being her sanity. Tim Burton illustrates the struggle of identity all throghout the film, but most importantly the need to understand that identity.

The Outsiders

Hinton, S. E. The Outsiders. New York: Puffin, 1997. Print.

Ponyboy Curtis and his brothers, Sodapop and Darry, belong to a group of poor teenage boys called greasers. Many of them have led hard lives already, and they are tough, angry and unforgiving. They often fight with the Socs, the group of wealthy, privileged boys who beat them up for fun. One night, ponyboy and his nervous best friend Johnny, are attacked by socs. The socs almost drown Ponyboy, and Johnny, defending Ponyboy, stabs Bob, one of the socs to death. Their aggressive, troubled friend Dally, gives them money and a gun loaded, and tells them to hide in an abandoned church on Jay mountain. Ponyboy, and Johnny find the church, and set up camp. Johnny, cuts and bleaches Ponyboy's hair, and cuts his own. Dally comes to the church, and takes Pony and Johnny to get some food. He tells them that a big fight is scheduled for tomorrow, and that Bob's (member of the socs) girlfriend, Cherry, is going to testify that Bob asked for it, since he was drunk, and that the murder was self-defense. They return to the church, and see it's on fire. Some little kids are trapped inside, and Pony, Johnny, and Dally save them. Dally burns his arm and a large piece of wood fall on Johnny, breaking his back, and burning him badly. Johnny, Ponyboy, and Dally are declared heroes, but a juvenile trial is scheduled for Johnny and Ponyboy. Pony is reunited with his brothers, Darry, and Soda. With the fight near, Ponyboy visits Dally, and dying Johnny in the hospital, and Dally declares that they beat the socs for Johnny. The Greasers and Socs fight each other, and the socs lose. The Greasers go and see Johnny to tell him the news. Johnny tells Ponyboy to "stay strong," and then dies. Dally, unable to live with the fact that Johnny is dead, panics, and robs a store. He is chased to the vacant lot by the cops. Pony and the guys arrive, only to see Dally get gunned down by the cops.

S.E Hinton’s novel illustrates the continual struggle of finding social identity in the clash of economics and socialism. In the novel the greasers identity themselves through physical traits, Unlike the socs who use their money in identifying themselves through their jewelry and their cars, the greasers only significant form of identification is their greasy long hair which distinguishes them from all other social groups and classes. At the beginning of the novel one the socs even attempts to cut ponyboy’s hair in an attempt to strip him of his identity. Hinton also illustrates the consequences of social identity when Johnny accidently kills one of the socs, through self defense. Yet knowing his place in society, he decides to run rather then turn himself in, aware that his testimony would never stand in court because he is a “greaser.”

The Namesake

Lahiri, Jhumpa. The Namesake. New York: Mariner, 2004. Print.

“The Namesake” is a story of the struggle and hardship of a Bengali couple who immigrated to the United States living a life outside everything they knew. The story began with Ashoke and Ashima departing Calcutta, India, the only home they have ever known, and settling into Massachusetts. Shortly after, they name their first born son in honor of the Russian author Nikolai Gogol whose magnificent contributions in literature miraculously saves Ashoke from a fatal train accident years back. Although the name was temporary, a series of errors official-ized Gogol’s name. As the parents continue to live in their silent struggle between their homesickness and their new lives “the Namesake” focuses on Gogol’s struggle to understand and accept his heritage despite his American upbringing. Throughout his childhood and part of his adult life Gogol tries to escape his Bengali heritage, trying to find an identity for himself as well as find solace in his many failed relationships. It is after his father’s death that Gogol stops escaping his heritage and actually embraces it. Along with that he yields to his mother, and his society’s, expectation of marrying a Bengali woman – a relationship that ends up in divorce a little over a year later. Gogol then turns to the man that gave him his name, Nikolai Gogol, and reads “the Overcoat.” Meanwhile, his mother, learns that her home is no longer the place where she was born, but, is too the place where her and her husband have build their lives.

Gogol Ganugulie’s journey is symbolic of the struggle of many individuals who have been born into a bicultural world. The struggle they face in trying to find themselves and their identity amid the clash of cultures.

Aerials

System, Of A Down. "Aerials." Toxicity. Zoomstar International Corp., 2002. Web. 24 Apr. 2010.

The struggle with identity is a theme present in “System of a Down’s” Grammy nominated single “Aerials.” This theme is resonated not only in the song’s lyrics but in the video as well. The pictures playing in the video feature an abnormal looking young boy, who is – with his small mouth and stretched out eyes – an alien. Being unlike anyone else, this boy is clearly an outsider.

The video follows the boy from his first appearance in a tent listening to the band. The scene cuts to the boy dancing in the presence of a large group of people. He is then seen walking outside the Hollywood walk of fame with two women in red dresses. While exiting a building, the boy is swarmed with paparazzi and journalists snapping their cameras and questions endlessly. But the boy is never seen responding. The video then cuts to a photo shoot where the boy is being examined with different clothes that are not fitting to him. He is then seen reaching for money that is falling above him and the two women that have been his backdrop throughout the video. In the last scene the boy walks alone to the center of the tent lies down and closes his eyes.

There may be many interpretations, but overall, this song is about human’s natural tendency to be a paradox. As individuals we generally tend to be different people at different times, as the lyric says, “Life is a waterfall, we’re one in the river, [and] one again after the fall.” The lyric goes on to emphasize this tendency by stating right after, “Swimming through the void […] we lose ourselves.” Here, we ‘lose’ our personal identity in the ‘void’ – an ambiguous situation ranging from society, expectations, or even peer pressure. “Aerials” shows the struggle that humans face over their identity, by further stating “Cause we are the ones that want to play, always want to go, but never want to stay […] but we never want to lose.” This means that humans are always after something else when it comes to their personal identity; “playing” would be acting as something else; we want to ‘go’, away from our background; and we never want to ‘lose’ – we fear the loss of our personal identity. To recover our personal identity the lyric says “When you free your eyes, and eternal prize.” Simply, meaning we should free ourselves from the ‘void’ so that we may gain the ‘eternal prize’ – our identity.

Life is a waterfall,
we're one in the river,
and one again after the fall.

Swimming through the void
we hear the word,
we lose ourselves,
but we find it all...

Cause we are the ones that want to play,
always want to go,
but you never want to stay.

And we are the ones that want to choose,
always want to play,
but you never want to lose.

Aerials, in the sky,
when you lose small mind,
you free your life.

Life is a waterfall,
we drink from the river,
then we turn around and put up our walls.

Swimming through the void,
we hear the word,
we lose ourselves,
but we find it all...

Cause we are the ones that want to play,
always want to go,
but you never want to stay.

And we are the ones that want to choose,
always want to play,
but you never want to lose, ooooo.

Aerials, in the sky,
when you lose small mind,
you free your life.

Aerials, so up high,
when you free your eyes,
eternal prize.

Aerials, in the sky,
when you lose small mind,
you free your life.

Aerials,so up high,
when you free your eyes,
eternal prize

Marilyn Monroe

Warhol, Andy. Marilyn Monroe. Andy Warhol Gallery. Web.

After Marilyn Monroe’s suicide on August 5, 1962, Warhol produced a number of portraits based on her publicity. The silk prints, pictured above, portrayed Marilyn Monroe in many colors and shades. In three panels Warhol illustrated Monroe’s identity through three different perspectives by altering the color of the skin, the eyes, the hair, and the lips.

Warhol was demonstrating society’s obsession with celebrities. In creating certain “images” that fictionalized these individuals’ identities. Monroe’s suicide was an example of the discrepancy between societies fictionalized image as opposed to the true identity of these individuals. Warhol’s work demonstrates the struggle for identity that is occurring in today’s pop culture.