Me: Kinda busy right now. I need to somehow connect my English 1A presentation to my blog.
Abby: Well, what's it about?
Me: It's about the effects of comics and graphic novels on movies. They basically defined the modern genre of an action-oriented blockbuster film. Think of The Avengers. It grossed over $200 million in just 3 days in the US. Comic books basically set the bar for what is considered a blockbuster movie. Ironically though, comic books' sales have decreased since the 1990s. Lately, the comic book industry has been used as a character licensing business.
Abby: Do comics and graphic novels influence anything else?
Me: Thinking about it, lately some video games have been influenced by graphic novels. The Walking Dead, for example, originally started as a graphic novel series made by Robert Kirkman and Tony Moore. Since its release in 2003, several other forms of media based their style off these novels, such as the popular AMC TV series and Telltale Games' video game.
Abby: I get why transferring the novel into a show seems like a good idea, but a video game?
Me: Actually, Telltale did an excellent job at producing their Walking Dead game. It won several "Game of the Year" awards as well as "Best Writing" and "Best Adapted Video Game" in 2012. Telltale is also coming out with a another video game called The Wolf Among Us, which is being released into 5 different episodes. This game is also based on a graphic novel series called Fables written by Bill Willingham. The art style in these games seem very influenced by the typical graphic novel illustrations. There's also obviously the comic book influenced games such as DC's Injustice or Marvel's Deadpool. So clearly, comic books and graphic novels influence not just films, but also video games to convey a message.
Abby: You seem to know a lot about these games. Why don't you ever go outside for once?
Abby: Yay! You're back since your last update! What is our conversation going to be about this time?
Me: Oh, you're still here? Umm...I guess we can talk about last night's readings. The one about comics and the other stuff in Persepolis. What did you think of them?
Abby: So far I like these "readings." They have lots of pictures in them, so it's like a children's book. They're easy to understand.
Me: I wouldn't really say that pictures are associated with "childish" reading. It's just another medium to convey a message. Like McCloud's reading said: comics are a balance (or imbalance) between words and images used to tell a story. So comics can be so much more than just a "picture book."
Abby: But they're so simple to read! I'm a dog and I can tell what's happening.
Me: That is true, however, simplicity does not equal less importance of a message. Sometimes lack of fancy visuals can emphasize the actual content. Even though it's not really a comic, think of The Muppets. Obviously, Kermit the Frog is a puppet. The creators don't put that much effort into trying to make Kermit look like a real frog. He is clearly made of felt. Once you get over the fact that Kermit is not supposed to look realistic, you focus more on the content and dialogue of what his character has to say. You forget that he's a frog or a puppet for that matter, which in turn makes The Muppets a very witty and well written show.
Abby: And that's what you think about comics?
Me: In a way, yes. Persepolis is drawn very simplistic: just black and white comic strips. But that can make a big impact. One image that stood out to me was when Marjane Satrapi visualizes how her friend's dad describes prison torture. He describes how one man was chopped to pieces. As a child, she visualizes the image like how one imagines chopping a fruit. The actual torture was much more bloody. The simple image tells us much more about the imagination of a child than a realistic/graphic gore-filled picture.
Abby: So showing less doesn't necessarily mean it's less important?
Me: Yes, in some cases. Wait, why am I talking to a dog at 12:23 at night?
Abby: Ooh! Another website to check often! This will be great!
Me: Yeah. Nothing like another username and password to remember. Why are you here again?
Abby: Because I'm required for this writing assignment. Don't you remember? I'm your Avatar, your alter ego, someone to push forward this dialogue.
Me: Aren't you a dog? Why are you talking? Or typing in my blog for that matter?
Abby: Actually, I don't really exist. I'm just here to personify the concept of thought.
Me: Well, that makes sense. What are we supposed to write about?
Abby: Stuff that has to with class, Persepolis, practically anything! What did you think of last night's reading?
Me: I actually found it interesting how religious Marjane Satrapi was as a child. What did you think?
Abby: I'm just a fictitious dog, so I may not completely understand everything. But wasn't it strange how the author could "talk" to God?
Me: Isn't blogging somewhat like praying?
Abby: I don't get it. But then again, I don't get why you humans don't sniff each others' butts when you greet each other.
Me: First of all, ew. But as I was saying... When people pray, they reach out. They try to talk to someone who might not hear them, they might not even exist. That's somewhat like blogging or posting stuff on the Internet. We write out our thoughts, post pictures, show our interests for people that might not even see them. You just hope someone cares enough to respond. Marjane Satrapi does the same thing as a child. She tries to branch out to someone, hoping they'll listen. Not that I'm comparing you to God or anything. It's just interesting how people bash "religious" people for their "pointless" praying when blogging is essentially the same thing.
This song "The Hymn of Acxiom" by Vienna Teng just reminded me of this post. It's basically about how people on the Internet have a deep need to be noticed, even though they may not admit it. I think that the song is sung through the point-of-view of technology. When interviewed about this song, Vienna Teng describes it as:
"At some level, as human beings, we have this deep need, this deep desire to be understood, to be seen, to have the sense that someone knows everything we do. Then there's the question of what that entity does with that knowledge. In religion, the message is that God loves you and embraces you while holding you accountable for being your best self. Whether Acxiom databases do that is much more questionable." Here are the lyrics for this song if you want to check it out: Somebody hears you. You know that. You know that. Somebody hears you. you know that inside. Someone is learning the colors of all your moods, to (Say just the right thing and) show that you're understood. Here you're known. Leave your life open. You don't have. You don't have. Leave your life open. You don't have to hide. Someone is gathering every crumb you drop, these (Mindless decisions and) moments you long forgot. Keep them all. Let our formulas find your soul. We'll divine your artesian source (in your mind), marshal feed and force (our machines will) To design you a perfect love— Or (better still) a perfect lust. O how glorious, glorious: a brand new need is born. Now we possess you. You'll own that. You'll own that. Now we possess you. You'll own that in time. Now we will build you an endlessly upward world, (Reach in your pocket) embrace you for all you're worth. Is that wrong? Isn't this what you want?
Abby: Wow. That's pretty deep. Wanna go for a walk?
(Me, my brother, and Tory Belleci from Mythbusters. In case you want to stalk us.)
Abby: Do comics and graphic novels influence anything else?
