The Distance of the Moon

This particular piece has probably been one of my favorites throughout the entire semester. The first reason being, I related to the story because I also, very much admire the moon. For some odd reason, it has always been a comfort to see it in the sky and I get very excited when there is a full moon. While still at Ringling, my shift at work ended at night, and I would almost always see the moon follow me on my walk home, providing and unexplainable comfort to me. Sometimes I could even see the moon from my dorm window and would fall asleep looking at it. But this piece isn't about my love for the moon, but one of the characters in the story. I think the different love stories going on throughout this work was what stuck out to me the most. They were all doomed from the start, as each person was in love with someone (or something) else. They each pined after their love until the very end and it caused each of them to grow distant until they realized too late what was causing them to grow distant. It's a good lesson to keep throughout life, if you love something, you need to let it go. If they don't return, this is your answer, and time to move on.

Perfect Blue

Before this class came to a conclusion, I did want to make some personal posts about movies and stories I have seen on my own time. One example is the anime film, Perfect Blue, directed by Satoshi Kon. This movie is one of my favorites as it delves into an incredibly interesting side of psychological horror and depicts the difficulty of separating fantasy from reality. This theme is heightened as it tackles the subject of Japanese Idols and how they are perceived by the media and their audience. They are placed on a pedestal and are supposed to keep the perfect image of attainability, the perfect girl. What 'Perfect Blue' shows is how such a title can have extreme mental strain on whomever has to keep this image intact. In the movie, the main character, Mima, has decided to leave the world of idols and instead pursue acting. Her first opportunity is in a video series as the lead, which has a dark theme and even depicts her being raped. Her past fans are furious by her new career choice, saying she is a traitor and has tarnished her image. The film goes further and further, showing a dangerous stalker, what appears to be her own diary being posted to the internet, and a string of murders of the people who helped "tarnish" her image linked directly to her. She soon loses sight of reality and whether or not she truly is responsible for these crimes. Though this is an extreme view, it shows how mentally straining it is to be seen in the lime light, as someone who is "pure" and "perfect", as seen by the masses. The fans only see a little of the person they are so enamored by, a persona created to be appealing and be loved. The persona they are shown is most likely not who the person really is. What can be so damaging is fans seeing this person and being upset when they are no longer the character they fell in love with, and suddenly turning on this new persona they are being shown, going from love to hatred. The movie depicts why such a mentality can be detrimental to a persons mental health and safety, and why this is such a dangerous way for idols to be depicted.

Johnny Neumonic

Johnny Neumonic is a good example of a story that immediately places you in the middle of the action, with little to no explanation. These types of stories are probably some of my favorites, as more pieces start to fall into place as you continue reading the story. Though this is the case for Johnny Neumonic, I was still left a bit confused as to what the goal of this story was. I was incredibly interested by the context and characters itself, showing a new and exciting form of cyberpunk I had barely considered and all the ways humanity might change in the future if enhancements become the norm. (Though if some people can barely accept humans having different colored skin and choosing a different gender to be or love, I don't see them being able to accept humans wanting animal like appendages.) I also found the idea of the main character harboring sensitive thoughts and data, with no knowledge of what it was, as a job extremely interesting. I believe a troupe such as that should be explored further in other forms of storytelling, such as the dangers of harboring sensitive information and the mental strain of being kept in the dark but constantly being threatened for having such knowledge.