Explorations in Politics and Character: Moffet/Genet, Stark/Fonda, Goss

Frederic Moffet's piece "Jean Genet in Chiacago" was an inspiring insight into the life of Jean Genet and the unstable socio-political state of Chicago in 1968. Having never heard of Genet I was overwhlemed with how much sense some of what he said and did made. Though his lifestyle(prostitute, vagabond, thief, prisoner) was not completely enticing what he, and the other protestors in Lincoln Park stood for was something sublime to me.
Some Genet Quotes:

• "The main object of a revolution is the liberation of man... not the interpretation and application of some transcendental ideology."

• "To achieve harmony in bad taste is the height of elegance."

• "Worse than not realizing the dreams of your youth, would be to have been young and never dreamed at all."
• "Power may be at the end of a gun, but sometimes it's also at the end of the shadow or the image of a gun."

Moffet's use of several formats such as text, super 8, found footage, viewmaster, etc.. added an enticing element to the video. He was able to keep things fresh and interesting by constantly presenting information in different ways. This video, at least in my opinion, is capable of providing a genuine insight and has the potential to inspire its viewers.
Like Moffet Stark was able to introduce me to the inspiring side of an individual I had previously known almost nothing about. The irony that is Jane Fonda's life presented by Scott Stark in his video "More than Meets the Eye: Remaking Jane Fonda" is something so intersting I was able to watch thirty minutes of a 40-year old man doing aerobics just to read scrolling text of Fonda quotations. Vertically scrolling text were comments Fonda made during the Vietnam War and the horizontally scrolling text was taken from a recent autobiography. The latter of which was probably less inspiring and revolutionist but perhaps more comical and entertaining.
Some Fonda Quotes:

• "I don't know if a country where the people are so ignorant of reality and of history, if you can call that a free world."
• "To be a revolutionary you have to be a human being. You have to care about people who have no power."
• "We cannot always control our thoughts, but we can control our words, and repetition impresses the subconscious, and we are then master of the situation."
• "I don't want my wrinkles taken away - I don't want to look like everyone else."
• "If you're ever in a situation where you're not getting served or you can't get what you need, just cry."

Some of her quotes seem to be genuine and humanistic while others seem to be conceeded, selfish, and materialistic. Her protest of war seems to be full of somewhat controversial but ultiamtely thoughtful and intelligent commentary. As she breaks into the 1980's with her outrageously successful workout videos she transcends into the vacuous consumeristic lifestyle of a locust like Capitalist America; somewhat the opposite of the ideology she seemed to stand for in the 1960's and 70's.
Jaqueline Goss' video selection shown "Stranger Comes to Town" was a clever idea that didn't seem to work to me. Using World of Warcraft and avatars to demonstrate the dangers and indeceny of an all seeing, all controlling view Goss gets a personal point across. Other than her weaving of different mediums and use of commentary I found this video to be boring, repetative, and not all that informative. Avatars seemed like an innovative idea but it became an annoyance after awhile, but after you realize Trey Parker and Matt Stone had already done that months before Goss it loses most of its allure.

To watch the South Park Episode Click here- go to season 10 and click on the episode titled "Make Love, Not Warcraft."
View a portion of Jean Genet's film Un Chant d'amour on youtube.
All quotes taken from Brainyquote.com