#Am so done with egos logos and pathos

[manicpixieyandere]

The Leader of a Queer Generation; The Rocky Horror Picture Show

(This is another college essay we are posting for funzies lmao, enjoy!). (Also had to censor it, sorry!).

With the fall of the Hays Code, the queer demographic was finally able to have their own cult classics and media culture. Most prominently was The Rocky Horror Picture Show (Richard O’ Brien) in 1975. For a bit of history. The Hays Code was in effect from 1934-1968. The Hays Code was a rigid set of rules for television and film that stated all delinquent behavior must be punished on screen. If a character did something immoral, they must suffer the consequences, the consequence usually being death. The Hays Code itself outlined what it deemed to be immoral behavior. Among that list was anything remotely queer. This is where many tropes and writing tools were developed such as the “Burry Your Gays” trope or queer coding. The Hays Code was lifted in 1968 and replaced with something similar to our rating system today. So, what did that mean for queer audiences? It meant it was time for them to be the stars!

​For the first time in decades showrunners and movie makers could show queer activity on the small or even big screen! The most notable product of this time period was The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Originally a musical performed onstage in the early 70s that was adapted into a film in 1975. The original musical and movie shared a similar cast, most notably Tim Curry as the main antagonist Frank-N-Furter. Frank was a self described “Sweet Transvestite from Transexual Transylvania” (O’ Brien 1975). The word transvestite was very different than what it means today. In 1975 it was equivalent to Frank telling the characters Brad and Janet (but also the audience) that he was transexual or transgender (as those terms were not in frequent use until much later).

Speaking of Brad and Janet, they are the audience’s ���straight man”. To quote David J Getsy “One cannot be queer alone” (Getsy, 2017, para. 2). This is to use the original meaning of the word “queer” as in weird. You cannot be weird if there is no normal, so Brad and Janet are the stand ins for an average American straight couple. Throughout the movie though we see Brad and Janet start to learn things about themselves at Frank’s castle. After Frank has s*x with each of them separately they start to see things differently. Janet becomes more open and lustful with her sexuality making many advances towards titular character Rocky. Janet is also seen making out with another girl, Columbia. Brad while less confident, still learns some preferences he did not know he had that can be considered “out of the norm”. Another popular reading being he was a closeted gay man as well. Brad and Janet learn with the audience that it is ok to explore one’s sexuality and gender identity. While Frank-N-Furter does in fact die, the Hays Code still has no effect here as Brand and Janet get to live out their lives after their newfound discoveries.

Brad and Janet aren’t the only ones who have a good time in the castle. In the “Time Warp” the audience along with Brad and Janet are introduced to Riff Raff and Magenta, a quirky sibling duo. Later in the song the character Columbia introduces herself. She tells the story of how she met Frank-N-Furter and how he changed her life. Later in the movie we are also introduced to Eddie and Rocky. Eddie being a former lover of Frank and Columbia’s. Rocky is the man Frank-N-Furter makes, very Frankenstein esq. In the song “Rose Tint My World” each character performs in a floor show expressing how Frank’s lust and freedom has rubbed off on them. Some like Brad and Columbia have their reservations but choose to wear those rose tinted glasses, while Rocky and Janet are completely accepting of this new found life. Eventually the evening is cut short when Riff Raff kills Frank as well as Rocky and Columbia. Riff Raff does this as he proclaims Frank-N-Furter’s lifestyle was just “too extreme (O’ Brien, 1975).

Just like Brad, Janet, and everyone else in the castle, the real world also has a tradition inspired by Frank-N-Furter (and The Rocky Horror Picture Show). Performance groups acting along side showings of the movie become vastly popular. As did a script of “counterpoint dialogue” the audience would shout during the movie. It was also tradition to throw toilet paper at the screen during certain scenes in the movie (although this one has fallen out of fashion at some theaters, being deemed “rude”). For these events the audience can dress however they want! The idea was to be comfortable and be yourself. This means many people show up in similar fashion to the movie. Gothic, gram rock, corsets, you name it! It is a night of community and fun.

​In 2016 The Rocky Horror Picture Show was remade as a filmed stage musical titled The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let’s Do The Time Warp Again (Kenny Ortega, 2016). In this production, actress Laverne Cox was casted as Frank-N-Furter. Cox is a transwoman, marking the first official time Frank-N-Furter was played by an actual transwoman. Laverne Cox is also African American and finally sheds some light on black queers in this production, something sorely lacking in the original production. There are stark differences in the interpretations of the character Curry and Cox portrayed. The outfitting of Tim Curry’s Frank-N-Furter implies shock value by using feminine clothing to show off a masculine body, while Laverne Cox’s costuming is more feminine in nature. Cox’s Frank-N-Furter is still compared to the “straight men” of Brad and Janet but not in an oppositional nature.

​The influence of The Rocky Horror Picture Show still goes on today. There are still many notable screenings of the movie with live actors and scripted audience responses. The 2016 remake was just one production of many put on through the years. Popular media nowadays even references The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Even in places you wouldn’t expect such as kids shows like Phineas and Ferb (Dan Povenmire and Jeff Marsh, 2007). The Rocky Horror Picture Show introduced an audience to queer culture and continues to be a part of said culture many decades later. The way in which this movie carried itself into queer culture signifies its strong se of rhetorical devices such as; ethos, logos, and pathos. The ethos present in the film is that of Frank (who has experience) showing the characters AND the audience how happy they’d be to give into desire and to simply be themselves. This ties into the logos being that these characters do in fact end up happy in their newfound situation, especially Janet. The pathos plays on the fact that all humans have some sort of desire they push down. The Rocky Horror Picture Show uses these literary devices to tell its queer audience for generations to be themselves and have fun!

[gachagon]

I definitely think that this moment is all of the little moments where Isagi zeroed in on just defeating one person and trying to become the best piling up to his ego becoming pure hubris. Like before it was just Isagi slowly becoming more and more like a machine who works towards a goal, but I fear he has fully embraced his role as an analyzer of the field, to the point where he's abandoning the thing that really made him standout as an analyst to begin with:

His empathy. I read a post a while ago from someone who talked about how it's actually because Isagi is so empathetic that he's able to read so much about his opponents. And I really agree with that, because Isagi Yoichi is the most empathetic person the field. Or at least he used to be before he became enamored with making goals and scoring. Then he only cared about trying to score because he brought into the Blue Lock philosophy hook, line, and sinker.

I think this moment is a result of Isagi abandoning the things that he felt were holding him back from becoming a "genius" like the others, and that thing was literally his ability to understand another person by thinking about what it must be like to be them, essentially. He's only thinking about how they can fulfill their actions on the field, and not why and that was a huge core of early Isagi's mindset. Thinking about others isn't a selfish act, and is the least egotistical thing you can do. But it's what got Isagi ahead for the most part, and a key part about being an egoist isn't getting rid of the parts that make you unique, it's turning those things about you into weapons for you to use to your advantage.

It's a little ironic that he'd turn to Kaiser in the end for help defeating the "neo egoist league" all together, because Kaiser JUST learned the whole "I need to be more empathetic and caring of others to truly learn the value of myself" lesson, he had this whole inner monologue where he truly realized that using other people like cogs in a machine wasn't what made him a great striker. Or even a great player, and that his detachment to other people was the thing that was secretly holding him back, not the other way around.

And here is Isagi, becoming just like Kaiser, abandoning the thing that made him special as a striker for what he thinks he "needs" and not what is actually beneficial to him.

In a weird way, its almost like Kaiser and Isagi have swapped places. Isagi is the unfeeling antagonist who wants to use this all feeling "side character" to get ahead, and I think he's going to fail because he doesn't realize that he's falling behind in the wrong places. Early Isagi from before this arc would have whole moments where he'd talk to his teammates and even learn about how they think specifically, and even their past achievements, the things weighing them down etc.

But this Isagi has not once done that, and that's what has led us here. To an Isagi who is wholly addicted to the feeling of making goals that he has forgotten to consider the other part of what makes a striker great.

A part of me is still also thinking about Bachira in all this, and how we haven't seen in literally a year at this point. And I am wondering if when we do see them, it will be like two sides of the same coin (because if I remember correctly Bachira's team hasn't won a single game for some reason, even though Bachira's scored the most)

I can definitely see Isagi becoming full on "Logos" in his ideas, while Bachira is completely "Pathos" and is honing too much in on his creativity and not enough on how to make that translate into a victory. (i also just miss bachira in the story </3)

[weeniebaby42blogs]

re-beginning of the transition between the bigger beginning and middle

Here I am, 19. A year of absolutely no expectations. What a perfect age to be as I embark on my surprise gap-semester, as I can no longer tolerate my at-home(s) situation(s). Also a perfect age to update my introspection and overall stance on myself. I like to actively engage on reflections of myself to make sure I’m not really the asshole everyone says I am; and I know what you’re thinking, only an asshole would say that. Or maybe they wouldn’t, as it is a common belief that only good people question if they really are good people. Well, I’ve done my time, two years of crushing, debilitating, and clinging depression to be exact. And so I’ve worried since then, because although I don’t consider it an ego death, I know it was of some sorts, I can’t help but feel like I’ve been due for a new one. 

But I think it’s finally here; I can just notice little inklings and clues of a new perception of myself and who I am, now. I have finally grown enough to be analyzed as a different person than I was before. It is one of my favorite hobbies: thinking. Thinking about myself, I’ve noticed, is one of the things I think about the most; not because I’m conceited or vain, but because that is all I have unlimited access to. My rotten brain has made so many dark corridors with covered furniture and dusty picture frames that are ever changing it would take a lifetime (my lifetime exactly) to actually decipher how it’s actually all connected, not just to itself, but to the world (and possibly beyond). Let me be clear that I am by no means religious or that all spiritual; in fact, I consider myself an absurdist. However, while all of this this just absurd and has no real purpose, such a nihilistic observation can lead one to want to kill themselves. Having been down that road (good times), I have now accepted that I must create much smaller “goals” to achieve or “distractions” in my life to keep myself from dying from complete utter boredom of my meaningless existence. 

I need to get to the point here. I am sitting in my dad’s big leather reading chair claiming to be writing my final essay for cinema when I am here, writing a post of my thoughts to an imaginary audience. Gee, when I say it like that, I actually do think I’m crazy. It’s crazy, how the mind works, and how tricky and manipulative it can be, even to you, who is not all the same person, or thing, as your mind. Anywayyy, my mind has been so kind to leave little clues of who I am now, nothing like the gigantic, overwhelming waves it drowned me in during junior year. I am much more assertive now, an effect whose direct cause was said ego death in junior year. And being the assertive young woman that (I think-- (how ironic)) I am, I have become a much more opinionated woman as well. I am surprisingly proud of my biases, because I support them with my full chest because I know that they are backed my (the) soundest logic and reasoning, applying to all structures of great speech (pathos, logos, ethos).

With such a stately introduction, I can’t help but admit my insecurity in the occasion that inspired this very entry, the point of this whole post. I have realized, as I liked a post claiming only dark academics would relate to, that I was a dark academic. Never in my life have I felt that I have fit into a certain aesthetic, growing up as a humble, but white-washed (to an extent) first-generation daughter it was near to impossible. But I have realized, as I think about myself as a woman (an experienced and cultured woman) and what my life will be like and what I will have lived, I see a (young) future in academics, for a bit, for a period, only to hone in my skills. I have no intention in living a life revolved around academia, I would, and I say this most matter-of-factly, kill myself. 

But I do see myself readings loads of novels- philosophy essay mostly, as that is where I want to distract myself with the most in life. I see myself talking with great philosophers and activists of my time and writing great novels that people or may not recognize for their and my greatness before my death. I want to die smart, intelligent, brilliant, ahead of my time. Okay, now I know these sound ambitious, but they don’t have to be well spread, they can be reserved for only the smartest individuals, who will aim to be as smart as I was in my prime. 

I am not at my prime, I am nowhere near it. I am barely at the beginning. And my task for now to keep me from killing myself as I take this gap-semester, which essentially frees myself of all sense of purpose, is to force myself to express my thought outside of my head. Because that is the very basis of a philosopher’s work. Now that I am free from k-12 public education I have the ability to do what I see best fit in my best interest (or not, but regardless, the choice is mine), so I will assign myself with this log as a way to keep my mind sharp until I return to school. I think it will also be interesting to see the progress of my thoughts as aging and experiences affect my view on life.