Paul's English Blog

For the past few weeks my choice of show to binge watch has been Game of Thrones. It has been a wild ride with many characters becoming beloved heroes and then promptly dying in some cruel and unexpected way. Today, I looked at what is remaining of the protagonists and realized that each of them are not a normal Lord or Lady, they all have something different or wrong about them. This fits in heavily with the theme of anti-heroes and outcasts. First, there is Daenarys Targaryen who is the queen of most of the eastern empires. She is an outcast because of her gender. People do not respect her as much as they would a man and she makes them pay for it dearly. She shows everyone that through kindness and stern ruling, the wrongs in their world can be made right. Other outcasts of the realm include Tyrian Lannister, a dwarf, and Jon Snow, a bastard of Ned Stark. Tyrion is always being looked down upon and put aside by everyone when in fact he is smarter, kinder, and a better ruler than anyone in his family. He qualifies as an antihero because he is also a drunkard born to a family who will do anything for the Iron throne. Jon Snow is an outcast because he has no right to his home at Winterfell and he has to earn everything he has in life. He commands respect from his comrades through his kindness, mercy, and bravery in the face of grave odds. These heroes are an odd bunch but are the best rulers that a kingdom could have.

Jon Snow being an absolute badass like usual.

The great theme of power cannot be missed in The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao and the characters in the story use their different traits to do their best to obtain this one thing that almost everyone craves. The most blatant example of this is in the character and dictator, Trujillo. He has the power on the island and uses fear and intimidation to keep his subjects in line. His power immediately affects the characters in the novel through beatings and censorship which keeps the others fearing for their lives. Through Trujillo we see power through strength and control. In Beli, we see power through another lens. She uses her sexuality to achieve what she wants. She wants to get out of the lower class and this is seen when she tries to date the hottest guy in the school, Jack Pujols, as well as the ‘Gangster’. She continually dates men that she think will give her the most in terms of power and social stature. She uses what she has to gain an advantage over the others. Finally, in the case of Oscar Wao, power is created in a totally different sense. Oscar’s nerdiness and looks leave him ousted out of both the Dominican culture as well as the white culture on the island. He does not fit in anywhere well. However, this is what gives him the most power because he does not follow in the footsteps of the other men of the book who cheat, lie, steal and murder their way through life. Oscar has the power over himself to choose the man HE wants to be, not the man that his society wants him to be.

^The dictator Rafael Trujillo.

According to dictionary.com, the definition of an anti-hero is a central character in a story, movie or drama who lacks conventional heroic attributes. From Walter White in Breaking Bad, Frank Castle in The Punisher, or even Tyrian Lannister in Game of Thrones, modern day pop culture has made this new form of character a fan favorite whose on screen thrills captivate the audiences. However, before all this newfangled technology and even before the invention of sliced bread (1928), an author named John Milton wrote a book with the original antihero. His protagonist was Satan, probably one of the most hated characters in the world. Milton allows the reader to step in Satan’s shoes for once allowing them to empathize with Satan and see things from his point of view. Satan is sometimes depicted as remorseful in Paradise Lost and feels bad committing treacherous acts against God who he paints as a tyrant. In book IV, Milton writes,

“Now conscience wakes despair
That slumbered, wakes the bitter memory
Of what he was, what is, and what must be
Worse; of worse deeds worse sufferings must ensue.
Sometimes towards Eden which now in his view”

This shows Satan’s remorseful side in which he despises what he has to do to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden but he must continue if he wants to win his war. This compassion shown from the Devil towards our own kind makes us feel a little bad for him and the battle that he knows he must win in order to survive. This feeling of empathy is what keeps audiences interested in antiheroes because they see a little bit of themselves in a sometimes evil character.

Antiheroes have become a mainstay in modern television and movies. They are people who do bad things but for a right and noble reason. Recently I have watched Marvel’s antihero TV show entitled, “The Punisher”. Frank Castle, the main character and an ex special forces vigilante, is the quintessential antihero. He has no problem with killing, torturing, or maiming others as long as they are bad people. He hunts down the people who intend to do bad as well as those who plot against him. His morals are in the right place and it shows in the way he treats those who he loves and those who show loyalty to him. Throughout the TV show he tries to bring justice through violence to those who are above the law. Even though Frank was part of the death squad that killed an innocent Afghan police officer, his guilt and the loss of his family guide him to find the men who were giving them orders. Frank’s morality is juxtaposed by his eagerness to kill those who who have done wrong. This new version of a hero has become loved by fans all around and they are drawn to the bravery and courage that these antiheroes show but they also see the overall goal and the good in seemingly evil characters. Antiheroes are also looked up to because they justify our flaws and all the wrongs we commit. We admire them because they live outside the social norms and most of the time, even outside of the law. They are who we see ourselves being if we decided to follow a different road.

The Punisher logo^.

Mad Max Fury Road is a really good example of a feminist film that is not totally shoving the idea into the audience’s face. Instead, they make it seem like a normal occurrence, which it should be. I feel like the message of feminism is received better when the writers just create a story instead of focusing a story around an ideal that they want to teach an audience. Fury Road focuses on an apocalyptic wasteland where there is a struggle for resources and all the women are enslaved. The makers of the movie are showing what a world would look like if only men had a say and it does not look pretty. I found it interesting that the true main character was Furiosa and not Max whose name is in the title. I love how the makers do not shy away from the different strengths and weaknesses of the genders because in all reality we are not biologically made the same. Instead they show that when one fails at something, the other can supplement with their skill and become equal through opposites. For instance, there is a scene where Max is missing his shots when taking out an enemy who is following them. Furiosa does not just show Max up by shooting the same shot, she uses her head and stabilizes the gun on Max to hit her mark. I think modern day equality between genders could be similar to that of this movie in the way that it shows that we are not truly equal, but one is not better than the other and we should all appreciate the different talents we have.

Captain Marvel is one of the few superhero comics to come out with its main character being a woman. Because of this, how she is depicted creates a lot of controversy whether it makes her seem overly feminine or manly. Many people believe she should be portrayed as mostly feminine to show that women are equal to men. However, the other side feels the exact opposite to show the same result. For me, I think creating a happy medium would be ideal for the comic and feminism alike. The comics cannot turn into to much of a social commentary or comic fans will reject it because it is politicizing their hobby but also, the writers need to show that Captain Marvel can kick just as much ass as everybody else. I do not believe that most comic readers have a problem with a woman superhero, in fact a lot really like Captain Marvel. Overall they just want a comic that is exciting and entertaining because after all, that is the purpose of comics. Marvel has every right to spread the message of feminism and I believe that they should. In this case I think it was a great idea to promote feminism in their comic and new movie because I think it will bring in a larger audience to the Marvel movies where women are noticeably the smaller portion of all viewers.

                       Here is Captain Marvel taking the stance of Rosie the Riveter from the World War II propaganda posters.

An anti-hero is according to Google’s dictionary, is a central character who does not have the conventional attributes of a heroic figure. This creates a varied range of different characters who are seen in books, novels, TV series, and movies. Anyone can be an anti-hero from a weak and nerdy high school kid trying to make his way through unseen to a drug kingpin whose story we followed from back when he taught chemistry. The perfect example of an anti-hero is Walter White, AKA Heisenberg, from the hit TV show Breaking Bad. White does not have any true heroic attributes except for his uncanny ability to create the best Meth in the business and evading seemingly impossible situations. We love to follow a character like Walter White because we see his whole path including his beginning which looks a hell of a lot like ours. By White going off the beaten path and leaving his old and boring life behind, he makes us think of what would happen if we too gave up the normal house and discontent family for a gun, test tubes, and a whole lot of suspense. Because the watcher can relate to Walter White, the true anti-hero is now the man they look up to like a hero. Also, I believe Anti-heroes also need to have at least some morals to be considered just like how White started out wanting to make a little money and tried to be as good as possible till the business ended up collapsing in on him forcing him to become like his new environment.

Walter White looking all Anti-heroic and stuff.

Feminism in its beginning was a word that to the masses used to mean equality. Now it is sometimes seen as a word that promotes the hatred of men and all of the little things that they do. Unfortunately, the small amount of radical women that think like this have ruined the word for the rest of the people who want actual equality for both genders. People no longer take these women seriously and therefore things are not changing for the women who actually deserve equality. Joss Whedon had a great idea in making a new word because hopefully a better connotation of the word will be developed and things around the world can change. Although I think that there is still things to work on here in America, I believe that the real feminists should focus on women in foreign countries that are being severely oppressed. Women all around the Middle East have little to no rights and even though it would be extremely hard to change the minds of the people there due to the fact that it is built into their religion and society. Women are sometimes treated worse than farm animals and often sold off by their fathers. Slowly, I believe that things could change for the better for these women if we slowly chip away at the system that is practically keeping them enslaved. Just like how women finally got the right to drive a car in Saudi Arabia recently, the rest of the Middle East can change.This photo is an ad by Ford when women in Saudi Arabia achieved the right to drive.

The television series Daredevil has reminded me that blind people have to go through an enormous amount of challenges just to lead a semi normal life. They go through life relying others and having to trust their other senses like feeling and hearing. They have to put so much faith in what they have. However, there are still a few blind people who push what they can do and beat the odds that were given to them. Jack Chen, a blind lawyer for Google, commutes to work by taking three separate subway connections from New Jersey into New York. He navigates people, columns, and busy streets everyday without the help of anyone. Chen uses a program on his computer that reads at 620 words a minute which is so fast that the untrained mind cannot understand it. He has done multiple Iron Man competitions where he bikes, swims, and runs numerous miles while attached to another competitor with a rope for guidance. He has not let his disability slow him down and he has proved everyone wrong. In the show Daredevil, Matt Murdock is a blind lawyer just like Jack Chen but instead of running Iron Mans and hiking mountains in his free time, he fights crime. Being active is one thing but I find it hard to believe that Daredevil could fight the crime in the city without a devoted sidekick helping him through all the obstacles. However, I do realize that this is a TV show and it is meant for entertainment so I will be lenient.