Conclusion

Thanks for viewing Project ANT! We hope we've provided some useful insight and perspective into Realism. Feel free to leave comments wherever you find something interesting.

"Flickr:" Photoblogs and the "Reality" through the lens -Jade

Man has always been searching for ways to truly express how he sees the world, a desire that gave birth to the Realist movement in the first place. And even now, in our modern world, many artists of our generation are expressing themselves not by oil paints or charcoal but through the wonders of the internet. The internet is an exciting tool for anyone who wants their views or opinions to be noticed, and one such way to do so is through a website such as Flickr. Flickr is a photography website online, where members (joining is free) can create their own profile and upload their photography to share with everyone. The members of this website are the Realist artists of our generation; the photos that they post are how they see the world around them, how they capture the world and what the world is made out of.

Websites such as Flickr provide a whole new avenue for people of the twenty-first century to present their opinions of the world as they see it for what it truly is. Much like the Realist artists who wanted to ensure that their works channelled the real essence of the world, photographers the world over take pictures of specific items, places, or people that they feel represent a specific point or theme of the world around them. 

However, even though these artists are able to be more realistic than some other mediums we have investigated, in the end photography as a medium does not capture real life. Photography only captures the visual aspect of that one particular moment--someone can take a picture of the flower, but they cannot capture the smell of the flower or the feel of the sunshine on skin.  Also, many people who are interested in photography are interested in capturing photos from strange angles or with strange lenses, such as fisheye cameras. Thus, while photography and photoblogs do add a different way of viewing someone's life, they still just only see snapshots.

(Last paragraph contributed by Laura)

Facebook--A "Realistic" Social Networking Site -Joe

As the founder of Facebook once expressed, Facebook allows people to portray themselves in various ways. They can express their feelings by posting their "status" or "mood," and they are also able to share their feelings in a community "notebook," a blog of sorts. Facebook is based on the ideologies of realism in that it provides: a channel for individuals to express their feelings, expression of ideas without institutional censorship, and the ability to better understand individuals.

In Facebook, you reveal to the world who you are, what you're feeling at any moment (literally at any moment), and express you're individualistic style through displaying icons that help represent you. Individualism is best served here, as it is a very American trait. In terms of realism, it is what makes social networks a by-product of realist values. Allowing individuals to be who they are, and for the world to absorb it.

People often chronicle events in their life like a trip to some far-off place, or the birthing process up to the time of birth, or embarrassing pictures of an unforgettable evening. Facebook allows people to connect and share things about each other that would otherwise take years, even a lifetime to understand about another person. An example is learning about someone's fear of flying, and how they coupe with it. Most important, is that it is an uninhibited area where individuals can express themselves without the judgement of institutions. While there are things that may be considered revealing, and may eventually reach the head of one's department, it illustrates how uninhibited Facebook is.

What is contrived about Facebook with regards to realism, is the fact that people can choose how to present themselves to the world. Individuals thus frame the reality they present to the world. Anytime we frame reality, it is no longer reality because parts of it are only shown instead of the whole. Although this may seem metonymic, the use of metonymy by realist writers is in itself contradiction to reality (refer to realist stories like "Daisy Miller" or "Editha"). By only presenting part of the whole, we extract the reality into a brand of reality we wish to impart on others. As Whitman says about "perfume extracts in houses," we take the essence of what is real only to present it as a by-product of reality. In reality, the only way to experience realism, is to live in the here and now.  

"Blogs:" A Meta-Blog entry by -Laura

Blogs have become an interesting phenomenon within recent years. People are perfectly willing to share the innermost secrets of their lives with perfect strangers. This may lead one to believe that this is realism at its finest—there are no layers of producers, editors, or anyone else. It is just a person and their keyboard. Yet blogs are still not realistic. Human nature causes utter Realism to still be a fantasy.

I myself have been an avid blogger for over six years. My early blogs were rather candid and sweet. Unfortunately I have lost the URLs to them now and have no idea where they are on cyberspace. In fact, I ended up meeting my current fiancé through my blog. He was a friend of my friend’s and found it through a link on her blog. He thought an entry I had written about attempting to save a seagull very sweet and decided to contact me via instant messaging. Currently I have two blogs, both on a site called Livejournal. One I have had since 2004 and is located at http://blackholecali.livejournal.com. That is the blog where I am most honest about myself, as all of the entries are Friends Locked so no stranger can happen upon them. I do not add people I know in real life because I’ve discovered it makes me less truthful and I cannot vent as easily as I would wish. I have a few internet friends I have made and grown very close with, closer than some of my “real life” friends. My other blog is a public book reviewing journal and is located at http://booksforfood.livejournal.com. I am far more impersonal on this journal because I do not have near as much control over who reads it. I mostly review books, films, or other cultural events I go to. It’s mostly a networking tool to meet other like-minded people to become friends with.

Humans self-edit. No matter how truthful one is, we filter out facts that make us look bad, or facts we promised not to divulge about others, or we withhold information that may hurt the friends that actually read the blogs. A blogger may exaggerate their views or what they do in order to generate more hits or visits to said blog. No matter how hard one tries, a person cannot fully show their life in print . This breaks away from fiction, as the fodder for their blogs is (usually) actually factual, yet they still fictionalize and sensationalize their life to entertain others.

"The Real World:" The unreality of Reality TV -Jade

The catch phrase for the reality television show, ‘The Real World’ says: “find out what happens when people stop being polite and start getting real” The show then proceeds to film seven strangers who have auditioned to live together in some beautifully set up house for several months. Each season of the show is set in a different city (and sometimes different country) and none of the people have met each other prior to being on the show. The whole goal of the show is the present to viewers not a scripted telly slot, but instead the inside look of seven people’s lives and what they’re ‘really’ like. It is Realism for the 20th century, except the ‘realism’ obtained is so fake it would make Mark Twain and Stephen Crane vomit.

Have you ever tried to act ‘natural’ when you knew you were being filmed? How about those times when your parents cried ‘Just pretend we aren’t here!’ at your sixteenth birthday party as they ran around with the digital camera, and you spent the entire time blushing and hiding your stomach pudge? It is impossible for a human being to act natural in an unnatural environment, yet this is exactly what ‘The Real World’ claims to achieve. And might I add, the situation these people are in is far from natural! Firstly, they are completely aware they are being watched by every person who watches MTV. Secondly, how many times in a lifetime does a human just get up, move to a city at no cost, and move in with six other people whom they have never talked to, never seen, or never communicated with before? And thirdly, the house where these ‘real’ people live is always some huge, fantastic mansion with gorgeous interior design which none of these people could afford even if shared with roommates. Oh, and did I mention, they have to get ‘jobs’ in the show, but half the time they don’t have to be paying jobs, just as long as they are working like ‘real people’.

With constant criticism that soap operas and TV drama are too fake, reality TV has sprung up to be the answer to viewers’ prayers. The only problem is that the reality TV being presented is still phoney; it is just a new kind of phoney. The only true reality TV on the channels right now is the Discovery Channel, when they film the animals out in their habitats. Why, you might ask? Because the animals don’t KNOW they’re being filmed. Hence, you’re filming a reality.

"The Truman Show:" The Desire for Real Life -Joe

The above is a clip from the end of the film of The Truman Show, when the main character realizes that his entire life has been filmed to the entertainment hungry masses.

The Truman Show holds many of the realist elements in that it seeks to present the life of an individual without foreknowledge of the observation of the individual. Truman, the protagonist in the movie, lives his life the same way you or I live our own life. Except, Truman is unknowingly being filmed for the whole world to watch. The director of this worlwide phenomenon is able to achieve this secret form of voyeurism because Truman was adopted by the show when he was born and a whole world was built around Truman, like a whole town serving as the setting for this show. The show begins with Truman's birth and has maintained success long enough to film into Truman's mid 30s. This includes every trip to the bathroom and every minute through his sleep. 

The Truman Show also explores the fascination people have with observing other humans. What makes this accepted form of voyeurism significant, as opposed to voyeurism against the individuals wishes, is the uninhibited observation of other's emotions. In a clip from the movie, Truman suspects that his life is being controlled by some unknown force, and decides to test these forces. He makes several attempts to escape the island where he has lived for years with the only means possible, a boat. Through years of being told he has a fear of the ocean, he makes his escape for the foreign world beyond his town. The director, who is the unknown force, has the ability to create hurricane level storms in the ocean, and do so to the point of capsizing Truman's boat. Eventually, Truman makes it to the ends of the dome that separates TV Land from the real world, and he decides to move forward into the unknown.

The realization of being controlled and breaking away from some force is emblematic of realism. Realist wish to break away from religious or civil institutions and to form the self in nature, where life really happens. The effort to portray life in a certain way is in contrast to realism, as it is controlled by the individual portraying life. As evidenced by the director's need to control how Truman's life is presented to the world as perfect and consistently interesting is contrived and impossible to achieve in real life. Thus, the more we yearn for a realistic depiction of life, the more we stray from reality because we wish to sensationalize and dramatize reality. Reality is just reality, boring and plain.

"Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood: Contemporary Realist Literature -Laura

Technically the Realism movement has ended, but several authors keep the tradition of contained, realistic stories alive. An author I feel strongly carries these tenants is Margaret Atwood. While Atwood has written a wide range of fiction, from historical to speculative, her stories never become too large. She focuses on a small cast of characters and develops them through details, interactions, and dialogue, so that even her works set far in the future still ring hauntingly true.

Atwood’s most realistic novel, of the five or six I have read, is Cat’s Eye. This book is about the life of a girl, Eileen, and follows her life from childhood at the tail end of WWII until a painting retrospective she has in Toronto as a near-middle-aged woman. At first, it seems to be a meandering tale merely about this person's life. But gradually the themes become clear. As a child, Eileen is emotionally and at times physically abused by her two or three best friends. Cordelia is the ringmaster of the group, yet they remain friends in high school. Cordelia and Eileen are dramatic foils--they may initially seem different, but they are far more alike, in the end. Many other themes are explored in this novel--the nature of love and marriage, connections between people, terrorism is explored briefly, all sprinkled with interesting historical tidbits and biology and astronomy lessons.

This story is so realistic that many have questions whether or not the piece is autobiographical. Yet even though these characters come alive on the page, is still is not realistic. Events happen a bit too succinctly. Dreams tie into real life in ways that do not often happen in real life. Details, even in a 462 page book, much must still be omitted to further the plot. The book spans over thirty years of this woman’s life. Describing each mundane facet of her life would be tedious and no one would wish to read a monstrous tome about this woman’s life. In essence, even though true Realism is not actually possible, when authors attempt to work towards this ideal, oftentimes amazing works can arise from the attempt.

"Daisy Miller" -Jade

If you were to pick up a work of fiction from the American Realism Movement, you would find inside a composition of what the author see taking place in the world around them, at that moment, without thinking of the past or the future. Such were the characteristics of many Realist novels; they told stories that could happen in ‘real life’, which is why they varied so greatly from Romantic novels. Realist novels focused on the realm of possibility, seeking to portray a faithful representation of everyday life. And it is upon the premise of Realism than the dear novella “Daisy Miller: A Study” by Henry James, stands.
James’ realism is slightly different than others of his time, as he preferred to write about people of the upper and wealthier classes, instead of focusing on the realities of the lower class. His idea of realism is maintaining true to his characters, ensuring that they do not react to any event in such a way that would be incredibly out of character for them. 

When the reader knows how one of James’ characters will react in a terrifying situation, the reader can make a very educated guess as to how that character will react in another terrifying situation, and probably be dead on. This ‘Jamesian Realism’ is prevalent through ‘Daisy Miller’. Many times the reader hopes that this is the time Daisy will wise up and stop acting so flirtatiously, or that that was the last time Winterbourne would be sucked in by Daisy’s wiles. However, it is not to be, and in these (disappointing) flaws of the characters can we see James expressing his idea of Realism. Essentially, in the real world, people don’t change, no matter how hard you hope and pray they will, wishing that this is the last time they lie about their drinking or staying out late. It is such a truth that such unchangeable aspects about people can sometimes be the cause of their downfall, as was the case for Daisy. Daisy was warned repeatedly by family, friends, and acquaintances to stop carrying on so with older men (and with no chaperone!) but Daisy paid them no heed, including the night when she was loitering at the Coliseum alone with Mr. Giovanelli. However, because Daisy did not heed society’s warnings, she catches the ‘Roman Illness’ (malaria), and eventually dies. James’ final twist on the real world is apparent here too: men and women are to each their own worst enemy.

Yet, while there are many realistic elements and lavish details in "Daisy Miller," in the end it is not a perfect reflection of real life. The narration is so intertwined through the unnamed narrator, Winterborne, and various other characters, we have no true idea of who these people are. We cannot look inside their mind and see their motivations, which is the intentions of the author. We must fill in the gaps with our own ideas and own prejudices, which can result in some people empathizing more with Daisy, and others siding with Winterborne. In the end, we do not know their motivations and who they are, which is realistic, but so much is left from the reader that in the end it is not realistic, though it does hold to the tenants of Realist literature.

(Last paragraph contributed by Laura)

"Editha" - Joe

The story “Editha” focuses on various levels of relationships, some at the intimate level and some at the public level. At the intimate level is the relationship between Editha and George. These two lovers are caught in a period of “American jingoism,” a time of strong patriotism and call to love of country. It is this “love of country” that is the impetus for Editha’s love for George. The relationship between the two young lovers is a metonymic representation of the larger public level where Howell’s reveals the real emotions behind the mask of “American jingoism.”

Editha is an icon of “American jingoism,” as she is deeply enthralled in the hubbub of country over self. To Editha, the ultimate love is the requited love of a man who is more in love with his country than she is. She writes to George before he is shipped overseas to fight the good fight:

I shall always love you, and therefore I shall never marry any one else. But the man I marry must love his country first f all, and be able to say to me,

“I could not love thee, dear, so much,
Loved I not honor more.”

There is no honor above America with me. In this great hour there is no other honor.
Your heart will make my words clear to you. I had never expected to say so much, but it has come upon me that I must say the utmost.

Editha’s letter to George is taken from Richard Lovelace’s “to Lucasta, on Going to the Wars,” a romantic notion of the soldier going off to war.

The feelings of patriotism become a mask for Editha, and by extension the public. As George points out to Editha: “But I don’t, now; I don’t, indeed. It isn’t this war alone; though this seems peculiarly wanton and needless; but it’s every war⎯so stupid; it makes me sick. Why shouldn’t this thing have been settle reasonably?” Editha responds with: “God meant it to be war.”

If one were to see Editha as the overall feeling of American jingoism, it’s an unrealistic sense of patriotism that ignores the real emotions and feelings of soldiers and their families. At the end of the story, Editha visits George’s mom and expects to find a woman who is proud of her sons bravery. Instead, Editha meets a woman who is against jingoistic romanticism. George’s mother is arguably the antagonist of the story, however, she is an antagonist that Howell uses to put across the point that the mask of jingoism must be removed in order to see the reality behind war. As painful as the truth may be, it is a truth that cannot be ignored.

What is contrived about Howell’s effort to reveal the reality behind the mask is that it ignores why there is mass support for patriotism. In a time of war, it’s important for society to come together in support of each other, to provide encouragement when people have died or experience a loss. This was apparent after 9/11, when Americans became one instead of many, and supported each other emotionally and economically. These feelings are neglected because Howell overlooks them as he judges it to be unrealistic.

"A New England Nun" -Laura

“A New England Nun” relies heavily on Realism, and in my opinion does it more or less successfully compared to many other works, but in the end it is still not truly realistic. The story is quiet—nothing flashy or unrealistic happens. The story rather opens a window into the life of Louisa Ellis, a recluse who has been waiting for her fiancé, Joe Dagget, to return from Australia, where he has been for fourteen years to make his fortune. He eventually returns, and Louisa is terrified of the prospect of a real marriage. When she discovers that her fiancé is already in love with another woman, Lily, she eventually decides to do the best thing for all parties involved and frees Joe from his promise to her, even though he was willing to eventually live up to it. Louise proceeds to contentedly live out the rest of her life “like” a nun.

The story is fairly realistic, for it focuses on the microcosm of the three characters (four if one includes the dog, Caesar, in the cast of characters). I personally have met people in real life who remind me greatly of Louisa, Joe, or Lily. Yet even though there are many realistic elements in the story, it is not a perfect mimicry of an actual person’s life. Because it is such a short story, names and objects must take on a greater significance in order to convey the most information in the smallest amount of space. In every one’s true life story, symbols do not conveniently fall into place. Furthermore, even the names of the characters in “A New England Nun” take on an additional meaning. Louisa Ellis has a melodious, proper sound. Joe Dagget has a harsh, abrasive sound, mirroring his intrusion on Louisa’s life. Lily Dyer has a whimsical, romantic sound to it, and she is the other, third woman. But quite obviously, names do not always fit one’s nature in real life, though they sometimes do. But I have personally met people with awful, harsh sounding names who are the sweetest people I have ever met in true life. Names are merely a coincidental way to refer to someone, but in almost all short stories names are chosen to impart as much information about a character’s personality as possible.

While there are many realistic elements in “A New England Nun,” in the end is still does not fully echo the varied nuances of real life. It would impossible to do in so few pages. Yet even though it is not absolutely like real life, it is close enough du e to it’s loyalty to the tenants of Realism that readers even centuries later can identify with the characters and learn something from the story.

Introduction

For the purpose of this assignment, we have made a vlog of our introduction:

For the rest of the assignment, we will follow this format:

Realist Literature

• Laura's analysis of "A New England Nun"
  
• Joe's analysis of "Editha"
  
• Jade's analysis of "Daisy Miller"
  

Modern Media and Literature

• Laura's analysis of "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood
  
• Joe' analysis of the movie "Truman Show" by Andrew Niccol
  
• Jade's analysis of reality TV such as "The Real World" (MTV) 
  

Internet Social Networking

• Laura's analysis of blogging and video blogging
  
• Joe's analysis of Facebook, a social networking site
  
• Jade's analysis of Flickr and digital photography
  

Conclusion (Vlog)