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“What is your damage, Heather?”
The movie I’ve decided to watch with my friends was Heathers because we heard the movie was a 1980s version of Mean Girls. At the beginning of the movie I can see why some people say it’s an older version of Mean Girls because it’s about a regular high school girl who is invited by the most popular girls in school to join their clique. There were some elements that were similar to that in Mean Girls but as the movie went on, it got more confusing to me and believe me it’s nothing like Mean Girls. I actually had to watch the movie with subtitles on because I could hardly understand what the characters were saying. It’s true the film was in English but they used a lot of slang that we don’t hear a lot of in today’s world. Since the movie was made about 30 decades ago, the way teenagers spoke back then is way different from the way teenagers speak today. When we searched up the movie, we found out that it was suppose to be a comedy but we didn’t find it to be that funny maybe because we didn’t get any of the references made in the movie. Teens of the 80s probably enjoy that movie as teens of my generation enjoy Mean Girls because we actually understood the references made in the movies and found it funny. Throughout the movie, the characters swear at each other a lot but the way they phrase it sounded a bit weird to me. For example at the beginning, one of the Heathers say “Well, fuck me gently with a chainsaw. Do I look like Mother Teresa?” I don’t think anyone would say that nowadays and I’ve actually never heard a person say this phrase before. I also found phrases like “What’s your damage, Heather?” “Why do you have to be such a mega-bitch?” and “Veronica, why are you pulling on my dick?” (said by a girl) to be a bit strange to me but I got the gist of what it’s suppose to mean though. While watching the movie, I noticed the main character used an infix in a word when she was speaking to a friend she said “U.S fucking A” which reminded of Alafuckingbama, something we talked about in Ling class.
Language Village Movie Night “Heathers”
I had a movie night with my roommate Kim. We watched the movie “Heathers” for two nights. It was a very strange and disturbing movie. The movie was on Netflix. There was some connections to linguistics. Some of the phrases were different from the the phrases we use now. The slang was like ” totally”, “awesome” , “rad”, or phrases like “your such a brownie”. The slang today does not really use these phrases anymore. The movie manipulated the English language in order to make their own know language. For example, the cool, popular high school girls were called Heathers. The film makers changed idea of cliques with calling a girl a heather because it is a title of fame in the film. Some of sentences were like “fuck me gently with a chainsaw” which is basically trying to communicate that the character is offended or insulted. Another word “Salutations” is like a greeting but the character said it sarcastically. The language used in this film made a statement about the cool, popular kids that were given the opportunity to be called something else then every other high school student. It is a statement made to show that people in high school outcast other people that are not considered cool or popular. Overall, the movie was interesting. Even though, the guy almost killed everyone.
In Search of Culture
We started out our adventure quite excited in the Love Library in search of a poster in English.
Next, we made our way to the International Student Center where we found a poster with every language EXCEPT Russian. There we met nice people and got help from a guy with broad shoulders. This was the beginning of deception. (He gave us wrong directions to the Cross Cultural Center, so we ventured all the way to Chappy to only find out it was now at the Union -__-)
Before we left, we found a poster with Russian on it. We had to play eye spy to find and make sure that language was on there.
On our way back, we crossed paths with the Calpulli Center and stopped by the Student Disability Services room.
We then made it to the Student Health Services Administration room.
We continued our journey to the Office of the Registrar. Our search was very sweaty and tiring… notice our smiles fading.
At least the Student Life and Leaders room was pretty easy to find.
After a couple of hours of searching, manipulation and LIES… we made it to the Cross Cultural Center!!!
We then had to waddle all the way around the building to the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships #Turnup
After failed attempts in the elevator (thank you Kim), we made it to the Testing Center.
We finally got to this office, but what the heck does OMBUDSMEN mean???
At least our last stop was downstairs from our dorm rooms YAAAAAAAASSSSSS <3
Team Players:
Kiara Grant
Paula Soto
Kimberly Gonzalez
Morphology of Roy Lichtenstein’s Artwork
- What parts of the image do you see?
1st image: I see a blonde hair woman, tears streaming down a sad woman’s face, a thought bubble, a man in his suit and tie, and a yellow background
2nd image: I see a blonde hair blue eyed woman, tears streaming down a sad woman’s face, a thought bubble, words, and a bed or sofa
3rd image: I see a blonde hair blue eyed woman, a window, a thought bubble, staircase, and words
- How do those parts interact with each other?
1st: Since the man is in the thought bubble, the woman is obviously crying while thinking about him.
2nd: The woman is lying on a bed or sofa crying and thinking about something.
3rd: The woman is sitting beside a window that gazes at the nighttime city thinking about a man.
- Is this image telling a story?
1st: Yes the woman probably thinking about a loved one she’s lost or broke up with
2nd: Yes the woman is crying and thinking about how things should’ve been.
3rd: Yes the woman is wondering about where a man is at, probably a loved one
- Which parts of this image are characters in the story?
1st: The women is character of the story but the man can also be an important character since he’s the cause of the woman’s tears.
2nd: The women is obviously the subject or character of the story
3rd: Just like the previous images, the woman is also the character of the story
- Which parts of this image are crucial for the setting of the story?
1st: Not really a setting except a yellow background but it could probably mean she’s in a brightly lit room.
2nd: There’s not really much of a setting except for the couch/bed the woman is lying on
3rd: The window, night sky and skyscrapers create the background of the picture
- Which parts of this images are crucial for the plot?
1st: The crucial element is the women and the man in the thought bubble because it shows that thinking about the man make her cry.
2nd: The crucial element is the women and the words in the thought bubble because it shows us that she’s crying and regretting something.
3rd: The crucial element is the women and the words in the thought bubble because it shows us that she’s thinking about someone and wondering where he’s at.
- How do these parts interact?
1st: Shows that woman is thinking about a man she loves that has broken her heart
2nd: Shows that a women is lying in bed crying over a relationship probably that should’ve began another way.
3rd: Shows that its late at night woman is probably waiting for her man to come back hoe but he hasn’t come back yet so she’s worried.
- What parts of this image are “root” or “stem” parts and which parts feel like “affixes”? Why?
1st: The root of the image is the woman, the man in the bubble and the tears b/c they are crucial to the plot of the image. The affixes would be the colors, the tiny dots on the characters faces and the bold outlines.
2nd: The woman and her tears are the roots of the image because she’s the main character of the picture and the tears help show the emotion she’s feeling. The words inside her thought bubble is also the stem because it shows us what she’s thinking about that caused her to cry. The affixes would be the bed she’s laying on, the colors and the bold outlines.
3rd: The roots of the image is the woman and the words inside her thought bubble because it shows us that she’s thinking and concerned over someone. The windows, the buildings and the night sky are also the stem because they make up the background and setting of the image. Without it we won’t know that the woman is up late waiting for someone. The affixes would be the staircase, bold outlines, Ben-Day dots and colors because they kind of hold the hold image and brings it together.
- Of the affixes, can you say which are “inflectional” (they only exist to hold the grammar together) and which parts are “derivational” (they add some important information to the meaning, or change the kind of meaning of a given part)?
1st: I think the bold outlines and the Ben-Day dots on the characters faces are derivational. Without them, we’d not be able to see what the image is about because those are what basically make up the picture. The color of the picture however, is inflectional. Without colors, we will still be able to make out the important parts of the image such as the crying woman and the man in the thought bubble. The coloring just adds to the image but doesn’t affect the plot of the image.
2nd: The bold outlines on the picture are derivational because without them, we wouldn’t be able to make out what’s actually in the picture. For example without these black lines we probably won’t be able to tell that’s a woman’s face we’re seeing. Colors again is inflectional it’s just there to tell there to give the audience some extra details such as the woman has blonde hair and blue eyes but those are just minor details not crucial to the plot. The object the woman is laying on also is inflectional, it’s not really part of the background or anything and is just there to give the audience some extra details about the image. Without these inflectional affixes we will still be able to see what the woman is crying about.
3rd: The staircase would be inflectional because it doesn’t really do much to the image doesn’t tell us much about the story of the picture except the woman has a 2 story house. The bold outline, ben-day dots and colors however are what gives meaning to the picture and brings out the plot. The bold outlines and Ben-Day dots are derivational because they’re basically what forms the entire picture, without it we won’t be able to get a clear idea of what the picture is. The colors in this picture unlike the previous pictures are also an important part because the dark blue background outside the window lets us know its nighttime which is crucial for the plot.
10. Find what patterns repeat across the three images you’ve chosen.
All three images revolve around a sad women concerned about romance. In two of them the women are even crying over love. I assume they’re probably the same woman because they all have the same colored hair and in two of the images we can see that both woman have the same colored eyes. They’re probably also troubled for the same reasons by the same man. Another similarity is that the women are always thinking about something, hence the thought bubble. The art style of these images looks like what we’d see in comic books but there are no dialogues at all in these three pictures. The message these images are trying to send out is probably that women think too much and are always troubled by romance because they revolve their lives around men too much. Lastly the artist of these images tend to use the same colors to create these images. He mainly uses colors like yellow, red, blue and white which helps make the images pop out at people even more.
Pictures: Conveying Meaning Through it Parts
The three photos I decided to use all depict a woman. This woman is the root of all the images, for she is the main focal point of the pieces. It is her that is the source of the image in which the viewer emotional connects to the piece.
In the first image, the woman cries as she thinks about a man. At this moment, it is unclear whether they are romantically involved, until you view the other two images. Once viewing the other two pictures, it becomes apparent that the man is her significant other. But the third image creates further confusion, for the woman may no longer love her partner.
In the first image, the thought of the man is an unbound affix. Although he is unbound, he is derivational. This is because, the thought of the man gives significant insight to the emotion the woman is feeling. She is either saddened over him or misses him. The emotion of sadness is conveyed through the way her mouth forms a frown, while in the second image it appears to be a smile conveying a sense of pleasure.
In the second image, the man is an unbound derivational affix as well. This is because, without the man, the viewer would not be able to understand why the woman is crying and an incorrect assumption would most likely be drawn. For the woman is crying due to overwhelming joy, but if the man wasn’t there holding her, she would merely appear sad.
The tears the woman is shedding may be considered an allomorph but I would argue against it, for in the first image they appear to be tears of sorrow. But in the second image I believe the tears are tears of joy. This is because she is reunited with her lover and she is crying because she is so happy that they are together. In either case, the tears are bound affixes for on their own they wouldn’t convey significant meaning, but attached to the woman, the viewer is able to sympathize and understand how the woman feels.
In the last image though, the woman maintains a blank composure. She has a slightly empathetic look on her face, but I feel that is because she is about to break it off with her boyfriend. She says, “I love you, too… But…” This creates a very ominous feeling in the viewer; as if the woman is about to say something she doesn’t want to say but has too. The speech bubble in the third image is an unbound derivational affix, for without it, the piece’s meaning would be unclear to the viewer.
#roylichtenstein #popart #comicart #morphology #visualdissection
Turning Pictures into Morphemes
Throughout all of the images there is the pattern of organic life. The child inside the brain of the man who is smoking the essence of butterflies which to me is an allusion to DMT. The reason I believe it provides that allusion because there are endegenous stores of DMT in our brain for which we have no reason; some have theorized its the flash between your life or that it is associated with sleep. No one really knows and those who do usually have ulterior motives. Perhaps the child is a metaphor for the sense of Self. I also see this picture as a blend of the mechanistic sciences that Newton and to a lesser degree Descartes had a hand in to the more modern approaches in quantum physics which does not disregard Newton’s accomplishments but you could say improved them. Then there are the male and female citizens chasing after a UFO (Unidentified Flying Object). Here we see a male and female most likely outside their teenage years holding hands and trying to communicate with this flying object; they presume it is innocent. Perhaps they both had a positive abduction experience and are wanting to thank them. The third one is a ladybug on a surrealist landmark of a fork and spoon intertwined. This intertwining only happens once and the ladybug is located on the spoon. It is done in a very surrealistic form which seems like an influence from Salvador Dali.
The morphology for the man breaks down into the substance he is smoking; for without the butterfly essence there would be no power for the child inside. It is vital to its nutrition. For the male and female citizens following the UFO the morphology must be the organic whole that we can see. We could assume that this UFO is operated by an extraterrestrial which is what the author may have intended but to stick with the pattern it is organic life. The fork and spoon landmark morphology comes down to the tiny lady bug despite the colossal difference in size it still is the only thing that contains organic life. Another theme I’ve been noticing is it is a very unique to Earth to have organic life though Drake’s equation says we are not the only organic beings in existence but for now I’ll stick with what the world knows.
For the man smoking I would say the man is the root since the child is self-contained within him and that the pipe with its butterfly essence is the affix. For the male and female who are chasing the UFO it is the UFO which is the root because without the UFO what would the male and female be chasing? This makes them the affix. For the fork and spoon landmark it is the fork and spoon intertwined as the root and the ladybug as an affix.
Adopting a derivational mode could completely change the root and affixes for all of the images. For example if we changed the meaning of what is the root opposite of the standard then in the man smoking image it would be the butterfly essence as the root. In an inflective sense it could alter it slightly for examples adding an s to ladybug would make multiple ladybugs there is no way of knowing if it would just be like 2 more or over 9000. Say it is over 9000, we would have to change the root in an almost derivational sense.
I was unable to find any allophones because of how distinct each of my images were.
Images from Omni Magazine on tumblr.