Sunday, April 5, 2009
8 1/2 and Borges
I know that several of you are trying to start a new thread on this blog with no success. I am not sure what the problem is. So, use this as the start. Others: read along and respond. And, I realize that this week's notes did not make a smooth transition to the webpage; I will bring them along on Tuesday.
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While reading "Borges and I" I as the reader got 3 different reactions as to who "I" in the peice was. At first I got a Jekyl and Hyde feeling about it, were Borges and the "I" figure were 2 personalities of someone with multiple personality disorder. As I continued to read the sensation changed to have a more of a "Last Action Hero" feeling about it, where "I" was a character in Borges works of fiction that has his own idenity and life, but only that which Borges has written for him. The final sensation was more like that of the characters in "Being John Malkovich" were the Borges character in the poem might have had his body and mind taken over by another soul temperorily, however the other soul did not have anywhere else to go once his time in Borges was over.
ReplyDeleteI think the narrator in the piece is expressing how his life has gotten so out of hand to the point where he is unable to control it himself anymore. Borges seems to be the person everyone around him knows, writing literature and traveling about. However, "I" feels neglected from these falsely perceived notions of this character that doesn't truly define who he is as a person. I think great things are expected from Borges, while "I" just wants to be left alone from all the "mythologies of the suburbs" and lead a more simpler life. Guido in 8 1/2 is similar to the narrator in "Borges and I." He is seen as this brilliant director by everyone around him, demanding he do more work, along with all the women in his life expecting him to express his undying love for them. All Guido wants is peace and normality so he can have time to be himself for awhile, because the brilliant director that everyone knows him as isn't necessarily who he is as a person. Both Guido and the narrator seem to have the same troubles of dealing with the person they've become in life, and feel they've lost touch with what really matters, which is life itself.
ReplyDelete“Borges and I”
ReplyDeleteWhen I read “Borges and I” I couldn’t completely follow it. the piece seems scattered. But I now realize maybe that’s the point. In first part/paragraph I viewed the “I” as college student looking at different courses and professors, decided what and who to take. And Borges was a professor “I” he liked and related to. At another point in the piece I thought maybe Borges is a place and not a person at all. And in the second section I had no clue again of what the piece was trying to say or who/what Borges is. And then the last line makes Borges seem like a person again. I realize my thoughts are just as vague and jumbled as the “I” is in the piece. I’m not sure how to read or view it. Reading the other posts gave it an interesting perspective and those ideas make sense. But I kinda wish I didn’t read them before I wrote my own post. Since I have Sherry and Nick’s ideas in my mind instead of coming up with my own ideas about the piece.
8 ½
It is a peculiar film and has an intricate plot. The main character, Guido seems to be going through a life crisis. The world views as this brilliant and amazing director, but he can’t seem to make any decisions or grasp the meaning of the current film he is working on. He is also figuring out his love life, his love for women and love for his wife.
The film also seemed to have shifts between the main plot of Guido, the film Guido is making, as well as fantasies. It is hard to depict from each one and how they meld into each other. Because the editing, lighting and other aspects of mise-en-scene stay consist through the film. i wasn’t able to completely follow the film. especially the part of Guido apparent suicide. It seemed so real and then it cut and he was in the field with set being taken apart and walking away with his wife.
Both
“Borges and I” and 8 ½ are both unclear and have intricate ideas/plots. On the surface it seems simple but they are more complex and has more confusion to them than expected. I’m not sure how to read either or what to focus. There seems to be so many aspects and layers. I don’t want to just agree with someone else’s ideas; I want to be able to have my own ideas and opinions. But I don’t completely know how to develop them when I don’t completely understand the reading or film.
After reading Nick's post I can see his point as well. Perhaps "I" is who Borges use to be before fame came into his life and Borges is the public figure he now must be. Many people have said, "If I ever came into money, or become famous I will not change. I know who I am." But the reality is that society doesn't allow people to stay who they are because the media will be sure to show any and all negitive personality traits one has making them feel like they have to be perfect, even if that perfection cause new additictions or stress.
ReplyDeleteTo me, Borges represents the public persona that he embodies. At home, he is "I." On campus, certain things are expected of Borges. At home, "I" is free to be himself. When in public, Borges compares himself to an actor. He has to put on a certain persona, whether it be an outgoing professor, an intellect or just a friendly passerby. We all act differently according to the situation we are put in, and Borges is no exception. He, like us, must make himself acceptable in his environment, and must change some things about himself according to his company. I know that I act differently around different groups of friends. I have different things in common with different groups, most of the time relating them to a certain time in my life and the experiences we had together. Most of the time it is a subconscious change, but at times I have noticed that I am acting differently in a situation with certain friends than I would with another group. Borges recognizes that this notion of self is inherent to people, not rocks or tigers or anything else.
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ReplyDeleteFellini once said, “Even if I set out to make a film about a fillet of sole, it would be about me,” which makes me wonder if he would agree with Borges on the essentially autonomous nature of a piece of art – whether it be a film or a novel - or if he would subscribe to a more auteuristic philosophy. 8 ½, as a self-referential text, comments on itself repeatedly - at times even critiquing the very scene in which the critique is taking place – but does not rely on extra-textual context to create its meaning, instead employing filmic devices like camera movement, lighting, etc. That is, Fellini’s involvement in the production of the film – really, the audience’s awareness of his involvement - does not alter the audience’s experience of it in any meaningful way. On the other hand, the film’s internal narrative, revolving as it does around the director’s struggle to create his work of art, buttresses the importance of the production’s circumstance and its director, as opposed to what they actually create. Perhaps he meant to echo Jean-Luc Godard's (and others') feeling that "all films are documentaries," in that they document specific things - actors, places, times - that exist both inside and outside the frame.
ReplyDeleteBorges and I asks a good question about who we as people are, are we the person that sits at home on a Tuesday night folding laundry, or are we the person who paints on the makeup and stuffy skirts in order to meet with her business partner first thing Monday morning? Because there are different aspects to our personalities we have to choose which ones to present at different times in order to make the right impressions. Borges and I makes the point that there are times when one cannot tell the person they are trying to be or the person they are.
ReplyDeleteBorges and "I" are the same person. This passage is merely an overtly dramatic telling of a man who feels that he is losing his original self. As Borges/I admits that it is a falsification in the literal sense of things. He admits, I am giving over everything to him, though I am quite aware of his perverse custom of falsifying and magnifying things." It sounds like Borges has become his own tortured muse, and now that burden is sucking him dry, yet it is justified for some reason. I would say that Borges represents the outside of himself that he lets everyone see, while "I" is the inside man whom people only see in writing. He is becoming the alter ego on the outside.
ReplyDelete'Borges and I' seems to be an attempt at describing the feeling of losing one's identity. The author writes about himself in a third person or as a character while remaining separate from his description. Maybe something happened to him that has caused a feeling of disillusionment with something and he's 'going through the motions' so to speak. Operating autonomously while his mind continues to think and reflect.
ReplyDeleteThere's a good feeling of despair when Borges talks about how he is losing everything to 'the other one'. This could also be an attempt of the writer to describe how his own writing seems to come from some other internal persona.
I suppose another way to take this piece would be the struggle in a writer's mind as to where the source of his inspiration comes from. Is it himself or some other internal identity? It could also be as some have said previously, the struggle between how one truly is and the front that one shows to other people.
I definitely agree with the first part of Sherry's post... I did a Jekyl and Hyde feeling while reading this. Two split personas living in one body. One being named Borges- the one things happen to- and the other persona being called "I". It also came off to me as Borges having more control over "I". I thought it was interesting how he said that he is just living so Borges can put out his literature. It kind of came of as "I" being depressed because Borges was basically running the show. I'm not sure... the reading was a bit confusing especially toward the end when he said he did not even know who was writing this piece. It seems that the real Borges has gotten lost within himself.
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