Monday, May 4, 2020

Act One, Take One: New Lady in Yoga Class

ACT ONE
SCENE ONE
YOGA CLASS
Yoga classroom. Several women in yoga clothing doing their yoga on yoga mats. Fatima in the back. New lady in front. Biniam going through watching each person. Camera shows whole room, the focuses on Fatima, who is staring at the new woman.

Camera shifts to new woman's neck. New woman sweats (maybe some water to oversell it). Turns around abruptly, smiles at Fatima. 

Camera back on Fatima. Fatima averts her eyes, sniffs the air and grimaces. The room smells bad. She looks back into mirror, through which both she and audience see the new woman.

Camera back to new woman. New woman struggles to do the Eagle Pose. 

Biniam: steps behind the new woman and places her hand on the new woman's back helping her with the pose, encouragingly advises "You might do better if you remove your socks." 

Camera focuses on Fatima, so that both she and new woman are shown. Fatima watches as the new woman removes her socks, examines her feet, and (camera focus on Fatima) grimaces. She then smiles a small mischievous, condescending smile and lifts her foot to get her heel into her inner thigh. Holds the pose in a prideful, condescending manner, her eyes on the new woman, though her face still is in a grimace. Fatima clenches her jaw tighter.

Biniam: steps next to Fatima, says smoothly "Relax your face." 

Fatima unclenches her jaw. Camera focuses on sweat running down her forearms and arms. 

Camera focuses on mirror, through which new woman stares at Fatima.

Tuesday, April 21, 2020

Quotations from "Barbie-Q"

"But that's all we can afford, besides one extra outfit apiece." (Paragraph 1)
"So what if our Barbies smell like smoke when you hold them up to your nose even after you wash and wash and wash them." (Last paragraph)

While the idea that these children and their family are not as privileged as other children is ingrained in these quotes, I will focus on a different, perhaps brighter, idea.

These children are making the best and making do with what they have. They can't afford high-quality toys, and the toys they have are burned and damaged. However, the children are still enjoying themselves and having fun. My father grew up in the "ghaw", as in India it is called. The "ghaw" are the more rural/smaller villages. My father and his friends played out on the streets with whatever was close by. They played football with rocks and made goalposts with sticks. The idea is that these children can make a game out of anything and have fun, and they understand they understand the world in such a way where they can make the best with anything they have.

Fruit for thought: how then would their creative, playful mentality change if they grew up with privilege, wealth and thousands of toys? How should parents raise their children with respect to toys? Buy them ten lego sets, or two?

Wednesday, April 15, 2020

Woman

Jamaica Kinkaid titled her story "Girl." I think titling the story "Woman" would achieve the same yet a different effect.

"Girl" is about a girl and all the chores she is supposed to do and the societal norms she is supposed to conform to because she is a girl. She is expected to live and act a certain way, and her mother forces this on her. The girl has to wash the clothes, cook the food, smile properly, and buy bread properly. The story really presents the societal pressures on girls through showing all the chores, tasks and many things the girl has to do to be considered proper.

I feel that if the story was titled "Woman", the story would present the transformation, sort of societal grooming, the girl is undergoing as a means to an end. The story would be not just about the challenges this girl has to face, but also why. The reason is that she is expected to do the same chores and observe the same societal norms as a woman when she is older. The story would not just focus on the way girls are brought up, but present a two-sided narrative, with the girl and the woman both performing the same way they are expected by society. All that is required is a one-word change.

Friday, March 6, 2020

Are Soldiers Humans... or Machines?

Tim O'Brien's "The Things They Carried" provides a very unique and stark insight into the emotional challenges a soldier, Lt. Cross, faces while deployed in Vietnam. The story begins with Lt. Cross thinking about Martha, a woman back home. This introduction creates and presents a relatable and understandable character with emotions, feelings, and experiences that align with many readers. This look into the lieutenant's mind acknowledges his human emotion and humanizes him. At this moment he is not a killer. Instead, he is a regular guy struggling with love, which is every guy.

"The Things They Carried" tells us all the burdens soldiers bear. From firearms, grenades, explosives, they also carried tactical gear for different operations. They lugged all their gear wherever they went, slow and calculated, like machines. But they also carried letters, and good luck charms and religious items. They carried fear, laughter, and emotion. They carried all the things a regular human being has.

Throughout the story, Lt. Cross is infatuated with Martha, obsessing over her at every moment. He lowers his guard and slips into a daydream while his men clear the tunnels under Than Khe. Then, Ted Lavender gets shot right through the head. Cross condemns himself for letting Lavender die, losing himself and his sense of duty in his self-blame. That is undoubtedly super human.

However, we see Cross choose to relinquish part of his humanity. He burns the letters Martha sent him. He burns away his emotions, and the distraction he feels they bring. He sets his mind on the mission and only the mission. He embraces his role as a leader and starts marching. No breaks, no complaints, no diversions for him. He falls into a machine-like state, and the soldier takes priority over the human.

Are soldiers humans, or are soldiers machines?

Soldiers are bred to be killing machines. The US army does its best to crush emotion in the early days of boot camp. Emotion is weakness, and soldiers cannot be weak. Soldiers cannot complain, vent or be caught doing so, instead, all they can do is "suck it up" and follow orders. When soldiers return home to their families, they have trouble reviving that sense of emotion and empathy crucial for their relationships.

However, as Tim O'Brien shows us, soldiers do retain some of their humanity. They retain love, and regret, and brotherhood. They also retain humor, though their jokes may seem gruesome to us. "Zapped while zipping."

I say that soldiers are either more human, or more machine. Some soldiers retain their humanity, while others embrace the machine to complete the mission.

Wednesday, January 22, 2020

The Pale Woman


“Who’s there!” The tapping of light footfalls on the weathered wood floor echoed in the dark hallway. Eldric gazed into the shadowy abyss, searching for movement. The tapping stopped. Eldric’s heart pounded in his chest, his breath caught in his throat. Nothing moved; he heard no noise other than the patting of the night rain on the window. Eldric released his breath and relaxed. He turned around and continued down the hall toward the main entrance of the Usher mansion. The moonlight cast long, thin shadows of dead trees through the windows and along the carpet. Eldric stared through the window at the horizon. Lighting flashed ominously through the dark storm clouds. Heavy gusts of wind shook the old trees and battered the rotting wood planks of the mansion. The air outside whistled past the window.

Footsteps echoed down the hallway once again. Frightened, Eldric whipped his head back, but the butler felt relieved to see his brother, Aldric coming toward him. “Why are you so pale?”

Eldric replied, “This wretched house haunts me! Footsteps in the dark, and such! And this approaching storm is no help.” As in response to Eldric’s statement, lightning struck the dry plain a mile away from the mansion, setting it on fire. Eldric stared out through the window, wary of the fire, but Aldric dismissed it, “The storm will put it out.”

Together, the brothers walked down the hall into the large entrance chamber. A large dusty chandelier hung over the room, its candles put out. Underneath, bridal stairs curved down from the second floor opposite large arched double doors. A dark red carpet, bathed in white moonlight, lay in front of the door. Decorative suits of armor guarded the tall pointed windows on either side of the door, lining the hallways.

The floor upstairs creaked softly, followed by the crash of a glass vase. The servants glanced up, startled. They met the haunted, bloodshot eyes of Rodrick Usher, staring down at them blankly. He muttered something under his breath, and then he shouted it at the servants, causing them to jump. “alive… alive… SHE’S ALIVE!”

He turned away and disappeared into the dark.

“He mourns the death of his sister. It has driven him over the edge…”

Outside, lightning thundered, illuminating the main chamber, but with it came a low moan. Eldric and Aldric glanced at each other; they both heard it. The rain began to pound on the windows, and the wind outside started screaming. The moan echoed through out the house, growing louder and higher pitched. The floor upstairs groaned, and footsteps creaked. Aldric gasped. “It is Master Usher! He must have hurt himself!”

“Aldric, wait—” Ignoring his brother, Aldric sprinted up the stairs toward the loud moaning. Eldric started after him but paused to light a lantern resting at the foot of the staircase. Aldric vanished into the darkness upstairs. With the lantern in hand, Eldric followed. The moaning ceased.

“Aldric! Where did you go! Is everything alright?” Aldric did not respond.

Eldric creeped down a long, quiet hallway lined with doors, listening for his brother. Thunder boomed outside and lightning lit the hallway in a strange, faint orange glow. The wind blew stronger and louder, and with it Eldric could faintly hear what sounded like crackling flames. “Aldric, if this is some foolish joke you’re playing, know that it is in very, very bad taste!”

Ahead, a door lay open. Eldric, heart hammering, tiptoed through the door into an empty room. Eldric lifted his lantern, but in the dim light of the lantern and the dull orange light from outside he could only make out furniture. The deluge quieted down, and the thunder stopped. Through a door at the other end of the room, Eldric heard faint sobbing and a voice, but neither belonged to Aldric. It sounded like Master Usher and the guest.

…Aldric…where did you…?

An explosion of thunder and lightning pierced the momentary quiet. Powerful blasts of shrieking wind shattered the glass windows across the room, tearing through the gothic curtains. Bright red-orange light flooded the room. Rain pelted the walls and floor, and smoke engulfed the ceiling. Blinded, Eldric fell to his feet, coughing. Slowly, he uncovered his eyes. He dropped the lantern in horror.

A woman dressed in white with skin as pale as ash stood across from Eldric. Long dark hair covered her face, and blood from her mouth streamed onto her clothes. Blood covered her fingers and dripped from her torn nails down onto the floor. Slowly, she stepped forward.

Petrified, Eldric stared fearfully. His mouth felt dry, and his heart stopped. Tears gathered in his eyes.

She took another step, trailing cold blood behind her.

Lightning flashed through the room, and the woman released a shrill screech, lunging toward Eldric, blood-covered claws outstretched. Eldric screamed and scrambled back toward the door. He gained his footing and fled out of the room, back down the hall and flung himself over the railing between the stairs. He landed on his left foot, snapping his leg beneath his weight. Ignoring the searing pain, Eldric fled outside, bursting through the entrance.

Fire engulfed the trees and burned through the field, casting a forest of flame around the mansion. A severe gale drew the red-orange blaze up into the clouds. The inferno began to swirl with the wind, creating a flaming tornado. Lightning blasted the field and trees, leaving fiery craters. Behind him, Eldric heard screams come from the second floor of the mansion. He turned around to see the guest crawl out of a window and onto the balcony, but Eldric was blinded by a second flash of lightning. The roof of the mansion exploded.

The force of the strike blasted Eldric to the ground. The mansion caught fire and began to crumble, and furniture and splintered wood flew out of the house into the growing cyclone, catching fire. Eldric tried to get up, but the pain in his leg had paralyzed his lower body. He began crawling, dragging himself along the dirt, toward the tarn, but the grass in front of him erupted into a roaring fire. The wall of flame encircled Eldric, trapping him. Eldric tried to push through, but the heat of the blaze forced him back.

The flaming tornado tore up trees and destroyed the ground beneath it as it zigzagged toward the mansion. Eldric watched helplessly as the cyclone raced in his direction, and he turned to look back at the mansion. Half the mansion had fallen apart while the other half burned.

Eldric’s eyes bulged out in terror. Through the flames, he could see the entrance, and out of the dark mansion came the pale woman. Eldric curled up into a ball and began to cry.

The pale woman screeched and began limping toward him.


Alternative Ending Analysis:

I tried to add more horror and thrill to "The Fall of the House of Usher." I did not get that feel in the original at all. Maybe it was the dense and old-timey language. I tried to write horror into the ending of the story. I started with a creepy setting to set the scary mood and I created a character timid in nature. A perfect combination suited for horror. Then I added tension with frightening Eldric when Aldric sneaks up on him. After that, I expanded on the creepy haunted house environment and then I tied everything together with the appearance of Usher, which both set the time frame and confirmed the setting. I threw in a fast-paced tension and then slowed it down to build up a thrill. The scene in the room brought the horror to light and then we have a heart-pounding escape. Everything goes insane, with the firey tornado and the explosion.

Speaking of which, the use of weather was extremely important for setting and plot. The story starts with night, rain, a storm, heavy moaning wind--classic horror stuff. Lightning strikes the grass, causing a fire, and this is very important in the denouement. Like in the original, the storm in my ending also aligns with the moaning of Lady Madeline. Eldric can faintly hear the crackle of flames, but he does not realize where that comes from. The storm intensifies with the tension and calms right before the big reveal. Then BOOM! Lightning, windows explode, water and hail flies in and the horror lady Samara screams. As soon as Eldric gets outside, the lightning strikes the mansion and the tornado catches fire and there are flames everywhere cutting off Eldric's escape. The flames close in on him.

Weather played an important role in the plot and setting and emotion of the story, but I also included to practical things in the plot to advance the story. The first is the lantern. I did not want Eldric to go up with his brother--I needed some space between them. So, Eldric conveniently finds a lantern at the foot of the stairs, which he takes a moment to light and then follows his brother into the darkness. Then, I had to tie up the lantern narrative (can't have any loose ends), so I had him drop it when he fell over. Eldric had broken his leg as he escaped the mansion, which is why he could not move his lower body after he was blown off by the lightning explosion, and also why he was trapped in the fire. Rather than having him trip over like in cheesy horror movies (seriously), I had him jump the railing of the stairs and snap his leg. That accomplished two things: one, it showed Eldric's desperation to get out of the mansion, and two, the injury sounds legit enough to not be able to move after a bit.

I made sure to reference the events of the original story's ending. Eldric heard screams from the second floor as he ran outside, presumably from Usher and the narrator as they see Lady Madeline. Then, he sees the narrator crawl out the window and run off before the lightning knocks him to the ground. That is where the original story ended.

Concerning Lady Madeline, all I really embellished was her demeanor, which I made more terrifying. In addition to the original bloodstained white clothes, I made her volatile yet slow, like an animal stalking its prey. I also gave her this blood-chilling scream as a cherry on top. Her last appearance shows her scream and slowly limp toward Eldric.

Only one question remains unanswered. What happened to Aldric?