Babineaux Mardi Gras

http://vbelks.org/category/news/2013/

 

          Mardi Gras is the time of year full of alcohol, masks, and pure madness. But hey, that is just New Orleans. For the people who do not know, Mardi Gras was originally invented for Catholic people. These people were supposed to do all the things they wanted (mostly “sins”) before Lent. Now, these people had to take care of their drunkenness, fornications, etc. before Lent because during that time people were supposed to fast and remain holy. These days, Mardi Gras is for just about the whole Louisiana, Catholic or not. Regardless of where Mardi Gras is celebrated, it is never done the way it is in New Orleans. Back where I am from, people celebrate by going to parades, but that is just about it. But even in New Orleans parades are done differently. This past week was like a huge festival where every day was full of beads and masked people doing things they would not normally do. These people have much in common with the people that Tim Burton has in his films. For instance, the movie Batman has many shared aspects with Mardi Gras festivals. Like the characters of Batman, people participating in the Mardi Gras season had masks on to hide their true identity just like Batman himself. While people were busy hiding their faces, we, the people watching the parades, were much like the greedy citizens of Gotham. When the Joker tried to sabotage the city, he attracted everyone to the same place by saying that he would throw or pass out money to the citizens. These people were so greedy and materialistic that they fell for his trick. The citizens of New Orleans did the same thing. Though there was no Joker, we all went to the parade and screamed and shouted for beads that we really did not need. We only wanted them because they were being given to us and we could get them. In a nutshell, Mardi Gras is a time of chaos. We might not notice it, but chaos is dangerous. Where there is chaos, there is always room for evil.

 

 

 



Babineaux "Voodoo Girl"

http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/voodoo%20girl

 

            The poem “Voodoo Girl” is obviously relatable to Tim Burton’s life. The title of this poem already implies that this is a dark, gloomy, and harmful poem. Voodoo is never used for good. It is only used to get revenge on people for various reasons. In this case Burton could be suggesting something bad or even evil about girls in general. In many of Burton’s poems/stories, he seems to talk down upon girls, but we do not really know the reason why. We just know that it is safe to assume that he has something negative to say about girls when they come up in his literary works. The first stanza of this poem states, “Her skin is white cloth, and she's all sewn apart
and she has many colored pins sticking out of her heart.” At the beginning readers start to see how Burton might relate to the girl in this poem. He gives her white skin instead of a healthy, live skin color and he says that she is sewn apart. Naturally when things are sewn, they are sewn together, so since Burton says apart we know that he feels some kind of incompletion and isolation. This directly coincides with Burton’s neuroses of loss and outsiderness. Another clue that says how Burton feels is that there are colored pins sticking out of her heart. He could have used white or even black pins to stick out of her heart. Readers can infer that Burton could be trying to say that the pins are symbolizing people who have hurt him. The different colors could very well symbolize all of the different people who seem like happy, suburbia, people who could have helped him but hurt his heart instead. These pins could symbolize his parents as well because one would think that all parents go above and beyond to help their children, but that is not the case all times. At some point Burton decides that he cannot win, that he does not deserve happiness or even friendships. Readers know this from the five last lines of the poem. Since Burton had no friends or no one to talk to, he had to rely on his imagination to relieve his pain.



 



Babineaux Edward Scissorhands

http://swotti.starmedia.com/tmp/swotti/cacheZWR3YXJKIHNJAXNZB3JOYW5KCW==RW50ZXJ0YWLUBWVUDC1NB3ZPZXM=/imgedward%20scissorhands2.jpg

           Edward Scissorhands has many things in common with the traditional fairy tale. It is both magical and grim at the same time. For instance, the film opens with the “Once upon a time” saying. From that line alone, we know that the film will have the same characteristics of the traditional fairy tale. The very creation of Edward seems to be magical because in real life we know that humans cannot be made from mechanics. Another big indication that this film is in the fairytale fashion is the fact that Edward lives in a huge castle on top a hill. It might remind people of the tower of Rapunzel, but in this case, a woman was the rescuer. It would seem like Edward was rescued from harm in order to live in the better world, but that is not the case in this film. The Avon lady brings Edward to live with her family, people realize how different he is from the rest of the residents. He also sees how different he is from the rest of society. These people who live in the suburbia are not at all the kind of mentor anyone should look up to. Edward is the character with the physical problem, but the suburban residents are the people with the mental problem. Edward is sincerely a nice person, and society is the monster.  These people are just boring, ordinary, suburban inhabitants who have nothing to do with their time. Since their houses and family structure is so strict and scheduled, one would think that their personal lives were too. But they are more distressed on the inside than they show. They first seem to have everything put together but as the movie progresses we begin to see how the town transgresses. They go from curious to enjoyable to despicable leaving Edward with no choice but to harm them. This is how this film varies from the normal cliché movie. There is really no happy ending because Edward ends up alone, again.

Babineaux Batman Returns

 

http://cdn1.screenrant.com/wp-content/uploads/Catwoman.jpg

 

 

Catwoman is definitely a much more complex character than Vicki Vale. Vicki Vale was just a random, ordinary, and sometimes troublesome woman. She did not help Batman in any way. They had nothing in common, so there was no way she could completely understand the life of Batman. She and Bruce Wayne had an intimate relationship, but it was nothing compared to the relationship that Catwoman and Batman shared amongst each other. They had a connection that was undeniably noticeable.

                When Selena became Catwoman many things changed. At first Selena was a very quiet, soft-spoken woman. All she wanted to do was be independent and make it in life. She respected her boss even when he in no way deserved her good services. The film shows that even though Selena was loyal to her job, she could not dedicate herself to a man. Men just were not interested and did not go for her. Every man in this film that she came in contact with harmed her in some kind of way, but not Batman of course.  Her passivity and shyness turned into rage and hate after she made the switch.

              When Catwoman was Selena, she was very attracted to Bruce Wayne. It was obvious how much she liked him even though she still did not like men. After her change, she began to speak in a more sassy/flirtatious tone when speaking to Wayne. She was no longer shy and was able to say everything she ever wanted. He could sense that something was different about her, but that seemed to only make him want her more. But when Selena was Catwoman, it was almost the opposite. She was the aggressive one. Not because she was attracted to him, but because she loathed him. Not just him, but all the other men in this film. She did everything that she could to cause mayhem for Batman. He was a man who wanted the best for everyone, and she was a woman who only wanted the best for herself. Her motive was to cause chaos just because she was a woman and just because she could.