Jack and Rose's love

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=en8SRbLX6t8

When people go on cruises for vacation, they expect to find romance and love. Due to the medias representation of what a “cruise vacation” will bring, vacationers expect to have their own "Titanic" love story aboard. However, without the frozen bitter end of course. Since the days of, The Love Boat, and Titanic, cruises have been stereotyped as the vacation spot where you will no doubt find romance at sea. For example, the end scene of Titanic when Jack and Rose are holding hands in the open frozen sea. The two of them are on the brink of death, yet the two of them are holding hands and confessing their love to each other with their last breaths. In this scene, the romantic is formed by the relationships the audience has made with Jack and Rose. Also, it is easy for girls to relate to Rose, and the romance of the two lovers as he is of one status and she belongs to another. Throughout the movie, the two lovers meet in secret against Rose’s mothers will. The 'forbidden' love story drives girls to be attached to the two of them even more. However, in the scene between Jack and Rose where they are in the ocean freezing, not EVERYONE who watches that scene is convinced of their love. In fact, some people may even find the scene humorous. An over-dramatization of romance. One of many arguments that could be made from this scene is that the love between Jack and Rose knows no bounds. Even though Rose’s mother does not agree to her being with Jack, she continues to see him because she loves him so much. Also, when the ship is sinking, both of them had the opportunity to go aboard the life boats, but neither of them did because they were not together and therefore would rather risk their lives just to be together.

Rhythm of Love

The song "Rhythm of Love" by the Plain White T's is an example of a romantic in action. It is trying to persuade the idea that love is rhythmic by the title and to make listeners "sway to the rhythm of love." With this song, the singers are making listeners forget their worries about not being with their love ones and to just enjoy the simple pleasure of being with one another at the present moment as the Plain White T's sing "We may only have tonight, but 'til the morning sun you're mine, all mine." It is conveying that though one might be far in distant from their love one, the thoughts of one another will stay with them and that love will still be present so one shouldn't be worried about being away from their love ones. I think that the song is optimistic and brings about a happy feel to it with the beat and lyrics. The song is also about happiness and being with the one you love is a happy feeling as it goes, "Alll your tears will subside" while they dance. As I listened to this music play, it attracted me right away with its giddy beat. It was fast paced and had great instruments incorporated in it. In addition, listening specifically to the lyrics makes one optimistic and happy as well since the lyrics are pretty true for some cases of couples. I think the most one can take out from this song is that though time is short, one can make the most of it with their love ones just by being with each other for a night or thinking about each other when apart. This song does fit the romantic image from the beginning.

If high school is the anti-romantic, what is college?

The way high school is portrayed in movies, it makes it seems like it is a living hell. Movies such as "Mean Girls" and "Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion" portray high school as an awkward time filled with misery and ridicule. Cinema has created high school as it's own little world. This extreme anti-romaticism of high school creates a romantic spin on the cinematic experience of college. In the famous movie "Animal House" and many others college is viewed as a catalyst for the transformation from childhood and repression of freedom through one medium: partying. But how accurately do these movies describe our society? And what effect do these portrayals have on our society and culture? These movies take the extremes of high school and college and create a stereotype that give people the wrong impression of what high school and college are. Before I went to high school I was terrified. I taped up my locker because I was positive the seniors were going to harass me. High school was not that experience at all. And college hasn't been the partying experience that "Animal House" portrayed. These movies that romanticize and de-romanticize these educational experiences gives teens the wrong experience and sets unrealistic expectations of what college and high school will be like.

Romanticism in puppies

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zddNAq8-kPA&NR=1

I chose this clip because it truly pulls at the heartstrings of someone who watches it. I was never really interested in puppies, but after watching this video, I can’t really describe how bad I want a baby Pomeranian. Just by watching how excited the puppy is, it seems like it’s so happy to have an owner and it will always bring happiness to one’s life. Solely based on the fact that the owner took a video of his/her puppy makes it obvious that they are in love with it. Also, the background music adds to the cheerfulness. I want to play with the puppy because it seems so fun. Whenever the puppy starts to gain energy, the music gets faster. In the beginning of the video, the owner puts the puppy next to a remote control so we can imagine what size it actually is. When I watched this, I thought to myself, “wow I could put that thing in my purse and take it everywhere”. I was already making plans of what I would do when I had the puppy. The video ends quite abruptly, which makes the viewer sad (at least it did for me). I wanted to keep watching it play around and have a good time because it put me in a happy mood, but instead the puppy stopped playing and I snapped back into reality knowing that there was no way I would be getting a baby Pomeranian.

Romanticizing strength and hope

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUfqaD6SLHg

In this commercial for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, there are smiles, sadness, and tears. Throughout the commercial there are different clips of children in the hospital; there are children having MRI scans performed, children with breathing masks, and children learning how to use different body motions and functions after various treatments. Along with the clips, there are statistics about the numbers of children diagnosed with cancer each year and how St. Jude needs as much help with funding as possible to help keep the hospital running and providing care to all of the children in need. All together, it is the mental, physical, and emotional affects that have a predominant impact on the children and their families. The children and parents in this video have tremendous strength to hope for positive outcomes. It doesn’t matter their race, class, political opinion, or gender; these children deserve to live a healthy life no matter what. Within this hospital, all children are treated equally no matter his or her status.

Most of the children are bald or have very little hair as a result of many treatments. Within the commercial, there is also a little girl using a walker as she is learning how to perform simple daily activities that now take tremendous strength and effort. You can see how tired the children are from fighting for each moment they have. The sadness and fear that these children experience is devastating. This commercial demonstrates a romantic side. The viewer is “falling in love” with the hopefulness you can see in each child. This commercial makes me feel the need to do whatever it takes to get these children fully recovered and out playing with other kids. I wish I could donate all of the money needed to keep this hospital running at its fullest. In the future, I see myself working in a hospital to help improve the life of all individuals. I have “fallen in love” with providing care and compassion to helping everyone recover so he or she can continue on life’s journey.

The melodrama in this commercial has a large impact on the message of strength, hope, and funding the hospital, as well as the families, need. There is a piano playing in the background as well as a lady humming. It almost sounds like she is crying out in pain a little bit to show the emotions and feeling the children are dealing with on a day-to-day basis

The Romanticized Swim

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFe1kPqGfhQ&feature=related 2:33-2:55

*I would HIGHLY recommend watching the short clip before reading

Writers always say we get inspiration from what we know. When thinking of a romanticized example, I had plenty to choose from. Growing up with Cinderella, Thumbelina, and dancing rats who wore pink tutus, I just had to reflect from my childhood. One movie I consistently watch when I’m sick is Ever After. It was one of the first “real-life” stories of Cinderella made before the 2000s (aka before the crust cooled). As a little girl, one of my favorite parts was when Danielle (the poor country girl who was supposed to inherit but due to her father’s death when she was little is now made to be a servant to her step mother) decides to take a swim in the nearby lake. She is looking for truffles (manual labor) in the rural countryside when she looks down and sees how dirty her hands are. Acting on the impulse we’ve all experienced, she ditches her adult work and goes for a swim. Wearing a simple white dress and doing a graceful backstroke, she is the epitome of innocence, femininity, and that peaceful feeling you get when you’re all alone (individual) in nature. Taking it one step further, the soundtrack of the movie played throughout the film when the lovers find they are perfect for each other is played as she floats gracefully through the water.

As an impressionable little girl I always loved this whole idea of being so gracefully perfect, I’d try it when I went to the lake to swim (monkey see, monkey do). I don’t know about you, but my experience was anything but what the movie portrayed. Water up the nose, running into other kids, and the screams of kids throwing temper tantrums was what I experienced. What makes this the perfect example is that we know how we should feel when we see Danielle swimming and enjoying the moment. Although it is romanticized to the extreme, we as viewers know that although that moment is almost impossible, we know how that moment would feel and long for our personal slice of heaven just like the few seconds on screen.It sends the message that although we work hard, sometimes it's okay to crave those small moments of peace in nature.

However, this moment only lasts just a few seconds when comedy strikes and Leonardo Da Vinci comes walking on water trying his new wooden lake shoes, interrupts Danielle’s serene moment, and brings her back to reality (adult, civilization, social, reasoning). And so we see that although there are spare moments in which our romanticism can exist, reality does come along to bring us back to earth.

Everyone should have their One and Only, because everyone else does

My example of the "romantic in action" is the song "Last Kiss" by Pearl Jam. Not only is it a great song but it is also an excellent example of what a romantic man would do after losing his romantic partner, write a song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_sEtNrYlC4

This link contains both the song (however in poor quality) and the lyrics. Right away in the song the idea of romance is constructed by the singer looking for his lover, even though he knows that she has died. It is further detailed by the lyric, "She's gone to heaven, so I've got to be good, So I can see my baby when I leave this world". This shows that not only is the singer still looking for his lover, but he also is still planning the rest of his life around finding her again, which is the polar opposite of the unromantic response which would be to forget and move onto another woman. Later in the song the singer says," I lost my love, my life-- that night". Again this is saying that he is so romantic that now that his partner is dead the rest of his life has also died with her. These are just the examples found in the actual words of the song but when actually listening to the song it sounds like one long plea for the singer to find his lost lover. This is accomplished by a combination of the singers tone and also by using minor cords which have been constructed to sound dark and gloomy. One last example from the lyrics to this song is,” We were out on a date in my daddy's car, we hadn't driven very far". This evokes the classic picture of small town America, two young kids foolishly in love on a date in their parents car, the definition of a romantic.

The message that this song sends out is what love should be. According to this love should be something that is so absolutely magical that it dominates you life. In this song the singer is completely lost, and has in fact given up on his life because this is what people want the idea of love to be. People want the idea of love to be something magical so that when they tell someone they love them it means something special.

Romance Accomplished

I took a road trip with my girlfriend to Florida in the summer as something crazy we always wanted to do. So, we visited Walter Disney World, one of the romantic places that I could think of. It is not slightly exaggerating to say once we arrived there, we felt that we were in a whole different world. Those parks make people happy. I did not give a thought about why they could do so. But if I really think about it, I could roughly explain why being at Disney World would make me and my girlfriend feel romantic. 

We like good things that we can't normally experience in daily life. Disney parks have their exotic styles. The picture posted above shows probably the most famous building in Disney World.  Most importantly, the castle is beautiful, which is the most fundamental element of being romantic. Then, the castle is completely something we can not normally see in our daily life. The beauty of this building is that it is beautiful and it is what we can not usually see. By having these features, it made us feel curious and exotic. Once it accomplishes this task, the rest is up to whoever in the park. We tend to interpret exotic stuff in either good or bad way. In this case, Disney World has already built a great reputation of its fairy tale. The exotic feeling of us is then connected with our impression of the fairy tales. Fairy tales are usually romance-linked. The reason is simple, they are meant for children. You show good, kind and warm things to children. So, exotic and curious feelings of ours are linked together with what we heard as children, and then romance is accomplished by Walter Disney World. That is just a fantastic job. 

Game of Inches

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myyWXKeBsNk

The text I chose is a clip from the Oliver Stone film Any Given Sunday. This film is very over the top and uses a lot of overly stylistics film tropes to create feeling. However this scene is the most powerful scene in the whole movie and it is able to connect with the audience. It does this through simply a really powerful monologue.

By focusing on emotion over fact this scene is romantic. In this scene the head coach of a football team, played by Al Pacino, is addressing his team during half time of the big game. His team is the underdogs and in true underdog fashion they a lousing but some how need to rally to overcome seemingly insurmountable odds. In this speech the coach forces the audience to feel for the team and want them to win. The scene uses all of the ideas of being an underdog and the related structure of feeling. Everyone likes an underdog story; it suggested the benefit of innocent over experience, and how hard work and passion will always win out. If this were a real game would the team be able to win? Probably not but we identify with them and allow that feeling to out weight the fact that this is pretty unrealistic.

The message this scene conveys is one of how hard work and dedication are the greatest skills one can have. This scenes pulls from the common “American” ideal of pulling ones self up and never giving in. Everyone has been in this position in some way, thus we can really ideality with the team and can feel their passion. This scene just makes you want to go out and win (in what ever “game” you paly). This scene argues that hard work is what is important we all should not give up and just grinds it out.

Romanticizing Dobby's Death

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_OdM7SWMLo

In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows part 1 the scene in which Dobby dies; his death is romanticized. The clip or scene from above, we see Dobby rescuing Harry Potter and his friends he apparates them to Shell Cottage and everyone lands and is extremely disoriented. Harry checks on all his friends and then sees Dobby pulling a knife from his chest. Harry rushes over and you see him sad and wishing he could do something anything to save Dobby. And we hear Dobby say these words and they just crush you, or at least they crushed me; “Such a beautiful place…. To be with friends…… Dobby is happy to be with his friend Harry Potter”. And then Dobby dies. Harry is crushed and Luna come over and says to Harry; “We should close his eyes don’t you think…. There he could be sleeping.” The way in which to the scene occurs it kind of reminds me of a love story. We have Dobby saving Harry’s life, dying for Harry. He dies in Harry’s arms saying how beautiful of a place this is to be, with his friends and Harry. Flash to Harry being distraught and Luna closing his eyes saying it looks as if he could be sleeping. The way in which the scene is portrayed with the music being very depressing, sad and quiet as Dobby is dying and then ends when he dies and you only hear seagulls. We also see Hermione and Ron holding each other both looking and seeming just so sad, with Harry just grasping for some way to save Dobby. The way in which Dobby dies is so sad but in a way it’s was the best way for him to die among friends he loves after risking his life for them and saving theirs, his death was romanticized.

Romanticism in popular music.

There is something about soft rock that makes the genre very relatable and enjoyable to listen to by a very wide range of people. The genre includes many artists recognized around the world including Journey, Elton John, and Coldplay. What I noticed about soft rock is a theme that is more prevalent in soft rock as a genre than many other modern day “pop songs.” Love and infatuation are both reoccurring themes in many soft rock songs. Such a theme is essentially relatable to everyone, whether it is love of a sexual or marital partner or love of a close friend or family member, it is universally relatable. The politics behind writing such a song are blaringly obvious, to both sell records and to gain popularity, not to mention what Freud would say about the motives behind writing a song strictly about love to evoke emotions. While love songs are often considered romantic, they have been romanticized to the point where even the most casual of listeners knows that the songs are a load of crap. For instance, when one hears the song “Faithfully” by Journey http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVs4jDL-JBo the listener is so moved by the song and the notion of maintaining a relationship with a lover through difficult experiences. When one looks past the first impression of the song however, and knows it was written by Jonathan Cain, the keyboardist, there is a strong sense of irony to the song. The reason for this irony is because Cain wrote the song about his relationship with his wife, who divorced him. The message behind emotion evoking songs such as “Faithfully” seems to be significantly more superficial than the songs’ messages. Whenever I personally hear a soft rock song about love, I immediately think back to when I was fourteen and almost every male I knew began to teach themselves guitar because “chicks dig guitar.” While the underlying message is seemingly contradictory to the lyrics of many love songs, the songs are very relatable and still evoke strong emotions in many listeners.

Vacationing is romanticized

Here is just one of the many photos I found when I searched for vacation destinations. Nearly all ads for vacations are romantic in action. Each of them are set in expensive settings generally in exotic areas that not many people live in. It is portrayed as a getaway to something fantasy-like with the water and sunset setting in the background. The nature scene in most of the photos provide a serene, calming feeling. The sun setting in the top picture creates a romantic feel because generally romance happens in the night or in dimmed lighting. Just being away from home in a new place and different country provides a sense freedom that people look for when on vacation. When one feels relaxed he knows he is on vacation because our culture says that we must constantly be working therefore any form of relaxation is a vacation. There are never any people in the photos because they want you to picture yourself there. Whether it be sitting in a gondola in Venice or lying on a beach in the Bahamas you will see yourself there. Because they are scenes of something different from everyday life, without technology or any real civilization people want to go to these places for their vacations.

The photos make people believe that the places they are advertising are the best places for your getaway. In these destinations there is warm weather and sandy beaches. The water is clear and the atmosphere in the sunset is inviting and indicative of romance that is sure to ensue. This is true because people tend to be happier in warm weather and since in America the beach is not always easy to come by and in many places such as the Caribbean and in Europe the beach is all around then that must be where to go to find the finest beaches. As something more difficult to come by, beaches are more appealing vacation spots. Also, the expensive locations such as Venice, are appealing because not all people can afford them, those that can make sure that they do. The sun setting photos are popular because sunsets are when the romance begins the beauty of the outdoors combined with nightfall puts people in the romantic spirit, so if vacation spots can sell it, they do. In short, by playing on the wants of the American people through what they can’t have at home, vacation spots play on those wants through their sandy beach, sun-setting, exotic photos.