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Joe Blevins 
"Don't I look handsome?"
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 Posted - 12/12/2004 : 19:31:47
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quote:
Originally posted by noncentz
Can't say I agree that Alcatraz or Attica colloquially define all prisons. It's a tenuous stretch at best (just like Tim Robbins' prison stretch!)
But consider this: Alcatraz is now a tourist attraction and no longer a functioning prison, BUT if a person referred to marriage as "an emotional Alcatraz," we'd have no difficulty deciphering the meaning. We'd know that the name "Alcatraz" meant "prison" and not "tourist attraction," wouldn't we?
Similarly, the quote "Attica! Attica!" (originally from Dog Day Afternoon) is now a catchphrase used whenever a character finds himself imprisoned or deprived of freedom. A quick search on the IMDB reveals that the catchphrase "Attica! Attica!" has been used on the TV shows ALF and Hope & Faith in situations which had nothing to do with the actual Attica, but instead were about the characers' perceived loss of freedom.
What separates the names Attica and Alcatraz from other prisons is the frequency with which those prisons have been named in movies and television shows and, thus, have become part of pop culture. TV shows and movies have elevated those literal institutions to the level of pop culture ICONS and have made the names Attica and Alcatraz ICONIC, i.e. symbolic or representative. When we hear those names, we are reminded of those movies and TV shows about prison, not the actual institutions themselves. Shawshank, the prison in The Shawshank Redemption, is similarly mythical. Shawshank, like Attica or Alcatraz, is Everyprison -- no more or less "real" than the Attica or the Alcatraz of the popular imagination. Therefore, referring to Shawshank as Attica or Alcatraz is a valid metaphor as far as I'm concerned.
Just as Bedlam, once a literal institution, has now become synonymous with insanity, so Alcatraz and Attica have become synonymous with imprisonment. The instutitions themselves may shut down or disappear, but the NAMES -- and the many associated images and emotions connected with them -- will endure.
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Edited by - Joe Blevins on 12/12/2004 19:38:21 |
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Stalean
"Back...OMG"
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Posted - 12/12/2004 : 20:22:34
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O.K. My too centz. I agree with Joe on this one. No disrespect to anyone else's opinion. 
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noncentz 
"Myself in four words."
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Posted - 12/12/2004 : 20:26:46
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I like the reviews as they stand. It's just the metaphor thingie that's a bit off to me. And I'm sure it's just my upbringing or something.
I'm borderline on this one and I do see your very valid point. I guess for me, Attica and Alcatraz work better as metaphors when they are indeed metaphorical, as in the examples you gave. By definition, a metaphor is a figure of speech in which an expression is used to refer to something that it does not literally denote in order to suggest a similarity. (okay, I stole that definition from elsewhere. It's a long way from grade school english for me)
It's odd but for me, when the metaphor applies to something that is not truly metaporically represented but is in fact more than similar, such as in this case where it is another prison, the metaphor becomes lessened by definition, as it no longer represents something literally dissimilar. I wouldn't say about The Rock "Connery escapes Attica again."
It would work for me a metaphor with a modifier perhaps, as in your example of "an emotional Alcatraz" and I agree that "Attica! Attica!" is now in common usage, though I would argue (uh, discuss) that th phrase now has less to do with the prison itself than with a statement of revolt. Most who use that phrase probably have no reference to its historical context.
Anyway, I don't dislike the reviews as they stand and think they are valid interpretations and are both funny. I do think they stand as filmic metaphors (Taxman of Alcatraz, referring to Birdman, denotes a similar term-long vocational activity) My only quibble was that for me Attica and Alcatraz didn't seem like precise metaphors in this case.
(That being said, I've stretched metaphors so much, some of them are about to snap)
Just my opinion. Not an argument. I have the highest respect for everyone involved. Joe, ya know I luvs ya.
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Edited by - noncentz on 12/12/2004 20:30:06 |
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benj clews 
"...."
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Posted - 12/12/2004 : 20:34:37
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'Tax man of Alcatraz' is fine.
'Out of Attica' is not.
Why? Not because either of them refer to prisons that are not the prison in question, but because the latter is actually generic.
I can't quickly think of any other films where a guy is in a prison working as a tax man (perhaps there are some, but I think most of us would be hard pressed to think of anything other than Shawshank first were they to see this in the What Film? bubble), but 'Out of Attica' is basically saying 'Out of prison' (minus the pun, of course)- and how many prison escape films can you name?
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noncentz
"Myself in four words."
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Posted - 12/12/2004 : 20:41:09
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Well, yeah, there's that too. 
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GHcool
"Forever a curious character."
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Posted - 12/12/2004 : 21:00:19
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I hate to be the bad cop, but noncentz recently wrote a wrong review. The Emperor's New Clothes is about Napoleon and his fictional affair with a poor woman in France. It is not the same story as the one in which the king isn't wearing any clothes.
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benj clews
"...."
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Posted - 12/12/2004 : 21:04:31
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quote:
Originally posted by GHcool
I hate to be the bad cop, but noncentz recently wrote a wrong review. The Emperor's New Clothes is about Napoleon and his fictional affair with a poor woman in France. It is not the same story as the one in which the king isn't wearing any clothes.
Care to explain yourself, Noncentz?
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thefoxboy 
"Four your eyes only."
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Posted - 12/12/2004 : 21:09:53
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In that case, the other review would be wrong too
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Pope George Ringo
"the Pope on stage"
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benj clews
"...."
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noncentz
"Myself in four words."
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Posted - 12/12/2004 : 22:37:47
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Um...er....well....
Picked the wrong film. The review should have been for this Sid Caesar flick:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0142260/plotsummary
which actually does involve the family jewels.
Slap me silly for my error.
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Edited by - noncentz on 12/12/2004 22:39:11 |
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benj clews
"...."
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Posted - 12/12/2004 : 23:18:11
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quote:
Originally posted by noncentz
Um...er....well....
Picked the wrong film. The review should have been for this Sid Caesar flick:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0142260/plotsummary
which actually does involve the family jewels.
Slap me silly for my error.
Fixed.
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Pope George Ringo
"the Pope on stage"
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Downtown 
"Welcome back, Billy Buck"
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Posted - 12/13/2004 : 02:38:49
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I was just having fun, folks. Truth is I just didn't have an opinion on this one, because it wasn't a question of the reviews being correct so much as being "proper" and that's something that I consider benj's business. Nobody could really get me to hold back my opinion.
But thanks for the kind words Tori.
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benj clews
"...."
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Posted - 12/13/2004 : 02:43:10
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quote:
Originally posted by Pope George Ringo
http://fwfr.com/display.asp?ID=2259
The review "The Buick's a Bitch" for Christine is a bit of a stretch....the car was a 1958 Plymouth Fury.
Fixed.
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Reviews that are wrong
