Sterilized Images

This essay brings up many interesting assertions about the effect of technology on images and photography. For instance, Grzinic discusses the emergence of shorter exposure intervals to reduce uncontrollable movements that reduce blurriness in photographs. Grzinic says, “I am interested in this contraction of the interval of exposure time because it depicts a process of erasure, the desire to rid ourselves of the uncontrollable movements and imperfections of long exposure times.”(58) Grzinic interprets the shortening of exposure of time as an erasure because She states that the chance of the aura being present in the photograph is erased. Grzinic defines aura “as the unique appearance or semblance of distance, no matter how close the object may be.” (57) So, the emergence of crisp and clear photographs has reduced the distance between the viewer and the photograph, which she believes has also lead to sterilized images of the world.

First, Grzinic discusses aesthetic sterilization of images. To demonstrate this phenomenon Grzinic cites the photography of Renger-Patzsch who took stylized photographs of tenements and an electric cable factory in his book, The World Is Beautiful. Grzinic criticizes these photographs saying, “It has succeeded in turning abject poverty itself, by handling it in a modish, technically perfect way, into an object of enjoyment.”(58) Grzinic connects these photographs and images from the Gulf War as a continuation of the sterilization process in photography. Through stylistic techniques, Grzinic believes that images have become sterilized because their value lies in their aesthetic qualities not in their content. Grzinic does see hope in future technology to reinstate aura into photographic images. With the introduction of practical problems such as transmission time, bandwidth restrictions, and time delays Grzinic believes that the aura of an image could reappear. Grzinic says, “As I have already noted, Benjamin understands the aura as an appearance or semblance of distance. Telerobotic time-delay brings about precisely such an appearance of distance.”(60) So our technological frustrations, remind us that the image is distant.

Grzinic’s ideas on the aura of images are very interesting, but her ideas about the sterilization of images are complicated. With the Internet, it is difficult for me to believe that images have become sterile. With a quick Internet search, you can discover images of everything from pornography to violence.

Free Advanced Screening of KNOCKED UP on 4/10

Hi,

I just wanted to let everyone know that I am hosting a screening for Universal of Knocked Up next Tuesday at 8pm in Wheeler Auditorium. Everyone I have talked to has said that the film is hilarious, and it has received very good reviews. There are no special tickets for this screening. It is first come first serve. So arrive early to guarantee your spot. If you would like to check out the trailer, go to http://www.knockedupmovie.com. Below is a synopsis of the film.

SYNOPSIS

On the heels of 2005's blockbuster The 40-Year-Old Virgin, writer/director Judd Apatow again mines hilarity from the relatable human in a comedy about a one-night stand with unexpected consequences: Knocked Up. Katherine Heigl (Grey's Anatomy, Roswell) joins Virgin alums Seth Rogen, Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann for a comic look about the best thing that will ever ruin your best-laid plans: parenthood. Allison Scott (Heigl)is an up-and-coming entertainment journalist whose 24-year-old life is on the fast track. But it gets seriously derailed when a drunken one-nighter with slacker Ben Stone (Rogen) results in an unwanted pregnancy.

Faced with the prospect of going it alone or getting to know the baby's father, Allison decides to give the lovable doof a chance. An overgrown kid who has no desire to settle down, Ben learns that he has a big decision to make with his kid's mom-to-be: will he hit the road or stay in the picture? Courting a woman you've just Knocked Up, however, proves to be a little difficult when the two try their hands at dating.

As they discover more about one another, it becomes painfully obvious that they're not the soul mates they'd hoped they might be. With Allison's harried sister Debbie (Mann)and hen-pecked brother-in-law Pete (Rudd) the only parenting role models the young lovers have, things get even more confusing. Should they raise the baby together? What makes a happy lifetime partnership after all? A couple of drinks and one wild night later, they've got nine confusing months to figure it out..

Why is Lola so protective of Manni?

In Run Lola Run, a few details and some luck make a significant difference between the three alternate versions of the same twenty minutes. Tykwer places importance on specific events such as Lola avoiding the dog and interestingly not avoiding Meyer’s car. This makes Run Lola Run compelling because it is not simply a matter of Lola avoiding the snares and pitfalls. However, one area of confusion for me was Lola’s desperation to keep Manni from robbing the grocery store. Since Lola knew about Manni’s deal with Ronnie, she is clearly not adamantly opposed to stealing or committing crimes. So, it is confusing to me that she would be so compelled to stop Manni from robbing the grocery store especially since it could save Manni from being killed. At first, I thought that perhaps Lola was concerned that Manni would get caught, and that was why Lola did not want Manni to rob the grocery store. Later on in the film though, Lola helps Manni rob the grocery store, and holds up her own father to get the money she needs. This makes me feel that she was not all that concerned about Manni or her getting caught because there were several witnesses to both of these crimes. Despite this contradiction, Run Lola Run was unpredictable and gripping.

“Virilio’s insights on Speed and Live Television”

Overall, “Indirect Light” is a series of insights on how technology has changed our lives and sense of reality through the increased speed at which images are transmitted. Virilio distinguishes indirect light, which uses electro-optical lighting, from direct light, which uses natural or artificial light sources such as sunlight or floodlights (35). In particular, Virilio makes two comments on speed and live television coverage that I found very interesting.

In Virilio’s essay, he argues that speed has replaced time of duration as a means of determining validity. Virilio states that Einstein believed that the only way to distinguish a correct theory from an incorrect theory was the length of time that it remained valid. Under this example, value is derived from the duration of time in which an idea remains valid. However, Virilio also argues that this method of determining value is no longer used. Instead, Virilio says that, “The real value of the object or subject instantaneously present at a distance entirely depends upon the passage, that is, the speed, of its image, the speed of light of contemporary electro-optics”(33). Our use of technology has encouraged individuals to value speed over duration of time.

Towards the end of his essay, Virilio discusses the role of live television coverage in the Tiananmen Square massacre. The demonstrators demanded live coverage of their protest, but the Chinese government denied their request. After the massacre, the government displayed previously recorded film of individuals violating vehicles and soldiers. Virilio describes this act as a new type of censorship. Instead of refusing to disclose information, “It is the replaying of recorded material, the retarded ignition of the living light of events”(36). This kind of censorship keeps certain elements of an event secret through a manipulative calculation of which images to show.

"The Proletariat: Friend or Foe"

In the latter half of H.G. Wells’ novel, The Time Machine, the Time Traveller is illuminated to sinister elements in the relationship between the Morlocks and the Eloi. After descending into one of the Morlock’s wells, the Time Traveller discovers that the Morlocks are carnivorous, unlike the Eloi. At first, the Time Traveller speculates about the source of their meat. Later, he concludes that the Morlocks must prey upon the Eloi at night, which would explain their fear of the dark and shadows as well. The Time Traveller describes this role-reversal when he says, “Ages ago, thousands of generations ago, man had thrust his brother man out of the ease and the sunshine. And now that brother was coming back – changed!”(48). According to the Time Traveller, the old order had been reversed; a revolution had taken place.

The revolution that the Time Traveller describes between the Eloi and the Morlocks resembles the revolution that Marxists prophesized with the emergence of industry. For instance, the Time Traveller describes the Eloi as, “Like the Carlovingian Kings, [who] had decayed to a mere beautiful futility”(48). This shows a Marxist belief about revolution because Marxists believed that in the future there would be no need for capitalists and that workers would assume control over industry. So in line with Marxists’ theories on revolution, the Eloi had become futile and displaced by the Morlocks. Further, the relationship between the Eloi and Morlocks resembles the relationship that Marxists described between capitalists and the proletariat. For example, the Time Traveller repeatedly refers to the Eloi as the aristocracy and the Morlocks as workers. For instance, the Time Traveller says, “The Upper-world people might once have been the favoured aristocracy, and the Morlocks their mechanical servants; but that had long since passed away”(48). So, the events of the future that the Time Traveller depicts reflect Marxists’ predictions concerning the worker’s revolution and displacement of capitalists.

However, the Time Traveller does not describe the future as a utopian community like the Marxists. The Time Traveller regards the Morlocks as “inhuman and malign” (48). Instead of praising the Morlocks, the working class, the Time Traveller prefers the Eloi, the representation of the capitalists. The Time Traveller explains his sympathy for the Eloi when he says, “The Eloi had kept too much of the human form not to claim my sympathy, and to make me perforce a sharer in their degradation and their Fear” (53). His affection for the Eloi is represented in his relationship with Weena as well. So, had working for ages on the machines underground made the Morlocks inhuman? Perhaps, but the Time Traveller does not have a disdain for machines. When the Time Traveller is in the museum he says, “Here I was in my element, for rising on either side of me were the huge bulks of big machines. You know I have a certain weakness for mechanism, and I was inclined to linger among these” (55). So, the Time Traveller’s affection for the Eloi and his description of the future as ripe with conflict and fear between the Eloi and Morlocks betrays the Marxists’ preference for the working class.