Group Presentations: Day 2

Group 3 Presentation: Life as Fiction and Language

Like Group 2, Group 3 opted to make a movie to present to the class. It was quite funny as well, and was based on a group of people going through a 12 step program in order to accept that our lives are indeed fiction. The pamphlet was a good adition, and it was nice to see who all of the characters that each person played were. I have to say, my favorite was probably Prospero (who looked uncannily like Jesus). One of the questions that Doug, aka Herman Mussert, posed was, "Are we truly real, and what shapes our lives?" Although most people would probably not adhere to the idea that life is in all actuality "fiction," I think that in some ways it is a relevant question to ask. Some people seek an answer to this question through religion, and in many ways adhere to the concept that life is fiction. Some believe that each individual has a specific destiny, and that it is not something that one can stray from. Many believe that there is a higher being who has at least some sort of control over the lives of humans. This question in particular struck me as interesting. Other parts of the movie were simply comical relief. For example, the scene in which Shelby is sucking on the stones like Malloy. Max's interpretation of Neo was entertaining as well. Perhaps the funniest part, however, was when Dr. Sexon entered the room and said "you guys are hopeless." It was another well thought out and executed presentation, and I enjoyed it a lot.

Group 1: The Myth of the Eternal Return

Group 1 took a very different approach to their presentation. The name of their presentation was "The History of Gas and the Myth of Eternal Return." Rather than taking a highbrow approach to their presentation, they took a very low brow approach. In fact, the very lowest of the low: fart humor. Their point, although presented in a different way, was that the concept of eternal return can be seen in gas. "From gas we started and through gas we shall return." This is one of the things that was said, and interestingly enough it is a very valid point. I won't lie, I was not as big of a fan of the fart humor as some of the other members of the class obviously were, but it did serve to illustrate a point. Although Group 1 did not make as many literary references, they did make a few that tied into the class. For example, redemption through fire and the idea of P2C2E. One thing that they did do well was show where high brow and low brow meet. At the very least, one must admit it was an interesting presentation and most definitely unique.