Exploring Themes of Alienation and Guilt
Since my Viscom final assignment will be a film, I spent quite some time surfing the net and finding short films and animations that could provide inspiration.
Based on my personal analysis of The Metamorphosis about Franz Kafka, I have gathered three key words that will serve as my guideline---alienation, guilt, and religion.
Although many people who read the book choose to depict its horror and absurdity, I think the key theme really lies in the way Kafka becomes separated from the rest of his family, separated by this animal shell of his. Guilt is also a central theme---he constantly laments about his sister, not being able to get her into a conservatory, working his ass off for his family and not for himself, doing a job he doesn't like to support his family, and later resents his father for being dependent on him. It's also funny how the German word for "debt" and "guilt" is the same---"Schuld".
Religion, though is not a prominent theme in the book itself, becomes a prominent external factor. Franz Kafka was a Jewish Czech living in a time when Anti-Semitism was on the rise. Many Jewish people in Czechoslovakia adopted German as their main language. However, the Czechs were generally trying to move away from their German identity in the name of establishing an independent Czech culture. Thus, Jewish people in Czech were sort of the outcasts---shunned by the Czechs and unwanted in Germany. Kafka also grew up in a generation where he saw his Jewish identity as a front---they didn't practice it to the point, it was mostly for show. Thus, Kafka's novels are largely inspired by this self-loathing and feeling of being alienated, unwanted, from the world.
Today, I will be posting some very interesting videos regarding two of the themes---alienation and guilt.
THE SAD MAN - Jake Lava
Short animation that tells of a being clad in a happy-face mask. He/she/it (??) seems to be searching for something, when he meets a little girl, who has lost her parents and tries to fixes The Sad Man. It's very disturbing, not least because of the unchanging surface of the mask (and how it's always moving as if there's something beneath it...), but because I think each and every one of us relate to The Sad Man. Why does he trap himself beneath a mask? Is it because he fears what people will see in him, or because he fears what he will do to other people? It's about alienating yourself for fear of hurting other people, which is exactly what Gregor Samsa does in The Metamorphosis. He knew what his family thought of him, how his sister wouldn't even come to his room if the window wasn't open. Just like the room becomes a way to protect himself and his family, The Sad Man uses the mask to protect others from himself.
It's terrifyingly beautiful and emotional, and I suggest you watch it right now.
ALIENATION - Silvia Caprizio
A very bizzare short animation, Caprizio focuses on the absurdity and surrealism of daily life, by combining real-life scenes and cartoons. This goes to show how the word "alienation" itself has multiple meanings. Before this, I watched a short film explaining Karl Marx's definition of "alienation"---mostly how it concerns labour workers and capitalism. Regardless, a very interesting film.
ZERO - Zealous Creative
Tells a story of a society where an individual's worth is determined by the number he was born with. In this case, Zero was born with a, well, zero on his chest, and faces prejudice and hate from the higher numbers. However, at one point in his life, he meets another Zero, and together they weave a tale of forbidden romance and all that shit. Although, if the other numbers hated zeroes so much, why would they care if two were dating? Let the zeroes pair up with the zeroes and leave the higher numbers alone, man. Anyway, Zero goes to jail and the girl zero gets pregnant, and gives birth in the middle of the street. Only, the newborn has TWO HEADS, and as a result two zeroes sewn onto their chest, looping together into the symbol of infinity, the highest number in that society. It's pretty cheesy, but I love how prejudice is structured in that world, so I'm putting it here.
And that is all for today, sayonara!