lindsayrussell

I am a big Tim Burton fan and so I was excited to watch “Big Eyes”. I too, was surprised at how it differed from most of his work. However, I think it must be taken into account that this was based on real life events. It does seem like an odd choice for Burton, but if he had added his traditional gothic and fantasy elements to the story it simply wouldn’t have made sense. I do see some commonality between this work and many others of his thematically however. The story is about a woman who is repressed by her husband and whose artwork definitley pushes the limits of what was considered good artwork at the time. Much like many of Burton’s characters: Edward Scissor hands, jack the pumpkin king, Ed Wood and others, Margaret Keane like them is a sort of outcast whose work is considered to be a little too “weird” for the world at first. Of course this theme is much more understated than it is in many of his other films. But I found it to be very refreshing to see him subtly implement this aspect of his style into a more “traditional” film.

I do agree that the on-camera violence in “Criminal Minds” is sometimes unnecessary. However, I do enjoy this show for other reasons. What separates this show from many other crime shows, such as SVU, or CSI is that the focus is on understanding the “un-sub” (unknown subject) as they call it, and their state of mind, the way they think. I enjoy trying to put together the pieces, the clues that hint at what the un-sub has experienced, or what led him/her to make the terrible decisions that he/she did. There is a certain element of trying to understand the psychology and sociology of the characters and the world that draws me in. Aside from their, the fun and quirky relationships between of all of the FBI agents often provides some comic relief that is often needed when watching a show filled with such dark content.

With all of the war, destruction, and repression in dystopian novels one would think that the reader would find them discouraging and even depressing. Yet, there is something about the honesty of dystopian literature that’s oddly satisfying. We all see glimpses of these major themes of dystopian literature in real life: government corruption, unfair distribution of wealth, the power and danger of surveillance and the all too common abuse of power. Dealing with these things in real life is often difficult to face. However, reading about these very real issues, but in a fictional setting makes them easier to comprehend and to deal with. Perhaps this is one reason why so many people (myself included) read dystopian novels.