Menu of the day

Welcome to my new blog specifically dedicated to my Project.

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Ladies and gentlemen, may I present you the menu of the day.

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First, the entree:

Postposition,

Idioms,

Kickass phrases you know that if you say them right with the tone and the face you will have the fiercest jock stay low  - or help you through American TV series should you have them in mind.

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Second, the main course:

Malkovich, oh John Malkovich, how many people have you gotten to burst into tears of sadness or laughter.

How many people would want to see through thine eyes.

Let "Being John Malkovich" open your souls and minds.

With the seed planted in your imagination, in the latter it shall grow.

Let dreams flow, why not sketch out a world where you could indulge in theluxury called mind control.

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Oops, no dessert!

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Charles

Oops! Page not found.

The chef has encountered a problem regarding the entree.
Indeed, attaching a wordfile to the post seems to be impossible.
Still want a copy of my vocab list? No problem.
Send me an email at lieu@enst.fr and I'll hand it to you - James helped me correct it so it should be quite mind-blowing.

Intro

I’d like to do my project on ‘Being John Malkovich’, directed by Spike Jonze. I was initially attracted to it because John Cusack stars in it whose character I enjoyed watching when he acted in ‘Con Air’ a long long time ago, and Cameron Diaz, who I very much expected to sport breathtaking looks as in ‘Bad Teacher’ or ‘Charlie’s Angels’. (She turned out not to be even close) The fact is she showed up as the shaggy, pet-obsessed wife of Cusack’s character, Craig Schwartz. (I admit I did have some trouble recognizing her at first.) John Malkovich is one of my favorite actors, and I was curious about how a real actor’s name could be part of the title of a film.

I chose this movie to be the ‘main course’ of my blog because lots of questions popped up during my viewing of it. To what extent can our fantasies lead us to think and act? Why does the plot unfold itself so peculiarly well? 

Film sequence - Craig's tasteless life

**spoiler alert**

The first scene is shot when Craig is in his bed. It successfully sets the mood of the first part of the film: Craig with a four-week beard, unemployed, Craig as a puppeteer, Craig in a forlorn marriage. The only thing he has left is his manual dexterity. He agrees to take a filing job interview. The office is on the 7 ½th floor, accessed by pressing the emergency stop button at the right moment and sticking a crowbar into the elevator door to open it. The atmosphere is oppressing, almost strangling. The ceiling is so low that Craig has to bend over in order to get into the interview room. In the process of sympathizing with Craig, the viewer can’t help but also wish Craig’s life would improve in the near future. And that’s when Maxine steps in. Craig fantasizes about her so much that he creates a puppet replica of her and imagines a story where he and Maxine fall in love with each other in the puppet world. But unfortunately in reality, Maxine has not the slightest affection for him.

Film sequence - Husband and wife fall in love with the beautiful Maxine

**spoiler alert**

One day at his office, he discovers a mysterious portal hidden behind a filing cabinet, which leads to John Malkovich’s mind. He can actually observe, hear what Malkovich does during fifteen minutes after which he’s ejected into a ditch at the side of the New Jersey Turnpike. He talks it over with Maxine and they decide to run a business out of it, allowing people to enter Malkovich’s mind for $200 a turn.

His wife Lotte also aware of the portal becomes obsessed with the experience, as she finds herself affected by transgender desires surfaced while being in a male body.

Later on, she once again gets inside Malkovich’s head and successfully convinces him through his mind to go out to dinner with Maxine. During that dinner, both Malkovich and Lotte are aroused by Maxine’s voice and stare. Lotte admits she hasn’t been looked at by a girl this way before. Right after being fetched at the ditch by Craig, she insists on inviting Maxine over for dinner.

Film sequence - Who's going to be Maxine's choice?

**spoiler alert**

At dinner, both Craig and Lotte make advances to Maxine, who seems not attracted to neither of them. They eventually get on the sofa, where they both immediately try to kiss Maxine on her neck. She rejects them violently, saying to Craig she isn’t attracted to him, and to Lotte only when she incarnates Malkovich. So Lotte begins seeing Maxine frequently and has sexual intercourse with her while inside Malkovich, which drives Craig so mad he locks Lotte in a cage and threatens her with a gun making her call Maxine so that he can fulfill his sexual desires with Maxine in turn. Noticing that Craig has some mind control talents over Malkovich due to his skills as a puppeteer, Maxine agrees to indulge in a lavish life beside “Malkoviched” Craig, leaving Lotte to a life deprived of lust and love.

The not so obvious link between body and mind

It is hard to say who between Craig and Lotte is the most affected by the arrival of Maxine. The helpless souls trapped in unattractive, disposable bodies, love the same woman; they have a common need to be inside Malkovich to live life at its fullest, which in a nutshell is, being with Maxine. They can’t think of another solution, mainly because Maxine isn’t the sympathetic type. Thus the one and only way to live up to her expectations is to incarnate Malkovich. The affliction does not come from the sacrifice of their own body (they don’t care whichever “vessel” they use, provided they have Maxine) but from the fact that both can’t be within Malkovich at the same time. This proves the not so obvious link between body and mind.

The sole appearance of Maxine can be seen as the last straw that breaks the camel's back. The already fragile and forlorn marriage lacks freshness, and suffers from the disparities of interests between the two. The need of a possible third member within the couple is heavily hinted at. It is safe to say that each time the plot of the film reveals itself, something unexpected happens. It is like the whole film was initially created from a background context, and what popped out in the screenwriter’s mind was immediately added to the plot, unimaginable as it could be: the 7 ½th floor, the portal, the business run out of selling “trips” to Malkovich’s mind… (which does not seem very ethical by the way).

Another question that arises is: would you want to be in anybody’s mind for 15 minutes? In Donald E. Hall’s “Literary and Cultural Theory”, he states that “It is clear that no one is fully self-aware and in control of all of the fears, desires, and conflicting emotions that can propel actions.” As far as I’m concerned, there’s a part of our mind that is constantly inhibited just as gravity binds our movements, as nature limits us in our abilities. Therefore, that part has the unique desire to break its chains and go wild.

And if Malkovich portals were real?

Imagine a world where it would be possible to enter a portal and stay in another person’s mind for 15 minutes.

I believe that if people could just have their own personal “Malkovich”, a sort of puppet or vessel that they could use at will, people would feel freer, and be more aware, more than ever before. Mankind would enter a new era, that of an enlightened mankind. I can’t begin to think of all the improvements that could be made regarding children’s education for instance. Letting our children see through the eyes of other children of their age, anywhere in the world. Acts and thoughts of homophobia, intolerance and racism, amongst others, would slowly vanish from society. And relieve society from negative primal Neanderthal instincts, which I believe are still hindering peace, generating hate that should not belong in civilized society. 

Love explosion!

Maxine and Craig could never be together and fulfill their own desires if it were not for Malkovich as a link. The phenomenon would spread out exponentially should portals be commonly used. The whole world would be overflowed by love and care, which would take over from frustration and deprivation. One could adjust to his or her partner’s tastes for 15 minutes, for one night, or forever. Maybe there would even be a Meetic-like website whose sole purpose would be to help people seeking to swap “body vessels” for 15 minutes in order to surprise their partners! One could see such billboard catchphrases in the streets: “Get sucked up into that portal and make your partner’s fantasies come true.”

Other improvements due to portals

Investigating their inner thoughts could cure the mentally ill. Therapists could dive into their patient’s fears and recollections to single out the epicenter of their psychological disease.

Unfortunately, travel agencies and flight companies would have to change their business models. Are you catching my drift? People could “travel swap”, as in swapping with a person in a foreign country to discover another culture, and vice versa! Families could even make family swaps!

I’ve been dreaming about the existence of these portals, in what ways they could enhance our daily life. I’m too optimistic of a person to assess the drawbacks such as privacy issues or so on. Not that they are irrelevant or anything of the sort.

What has this movie inspired in you? How else could these portals be made use of, according to your imagination? Feel free to post your comments, let this ‘main course’ be the largest ever.

And what would a mind swap masquerade be like?

Imagine masquerade parties run only with mind swaps. Mask-free. Tricky! Of course it would be very confusing at first, as you have no idea who is in front of you, or who they will be in 15 minutes. You will have to adapt, every 15 minutes, facing the same person, to a new conversation, unless you choose to change your body vessel. Intriguing. But there’s more to it than meets the eye. Is your interlocutor male? Or female? Some information could leak out from his or her traits. Or is he or she acting out a part? You will never know, and it’s part of the game.

But deep inside, is that what counts? Are you ready to get hooked by the sole aura of someone’s personality? Is ambiguity challenging, amusing, or rather oppressing? Love it, or loathe it. Your appeal will depend on how you make use of your surrogate body and of your own personality. Freedom will be in such an extensive state, that control isn’t a watchword anymore. So, are you game or not.

If I were asked to attend an event of that sort, I would be tempted to say yes. I’m too curious to let such an amazing opportunity slip by.

I hope you enjoyed taking this journey into my imagination, as much as I enjoyed writing it down. Montaigne wrote, “A strong imagination gives birth to the event.” Food for thought.

And an apple think different ad wrote:

Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. While some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do. - Apple Inc.