Dear Mythologists,
For Tuesday, September 27, please do the following:
(1) Watch Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (Chris Columbus, 2010), taking notes as you see
fit. In addition to the DVD being reserved at the library, the film is
also streaming on Amazon.
(2) Read Drew McWeeny's 2010 interview with the film's director and screenwriter, Chris Columbus and Craig Titley (originally posted on hitfix.com). In lieu of serious scholarship on the film, this interview might give you insight into the intentions of the film's creative team.
(3) Read Chapter 3, "Medusa and the Gorgons," of Daniel Ogden's book on Perseus (Routledge, 2008). We've had a chance to discuss Perseus in some detail; this chapter will help us discuss his nemesis.
NOTE: For today's class I'll suspend my usual call for clips. Not only will we have our first analysis presentation, but we'll also be wrapping up Unit 1 with our first quiz. In other words, we'll have plenty on our collective plate today.
DC
I'd like to watch the fight scene between Percy and Luke (1:33:43-1:40:10) for a number of reasons. First, Luke's motivation is (rather shoddily) explained in this scene, and it might be interesting to compare to those who spite in the Gods in the modern 'Of The Titans' films and in Greek myth in general. (I remember thinking that Luke was more interesting in the books, but I'm not entirely sure why) Additionally, I think that having two demigods battle each other with weapons from the Gods over the NYC skyline while Poseidon and Zeus prepare to fight is a pretty good summary of both the 'Greek myth in modern times' aspect of this franchise but also the intergenerational aspect of mythology.
ReplyDeleteFinally, the aesthetic of this scene is drenched in blue. It might be an interesting launching point to talk about how the film uses blue as a part of its color palette despite dropping the non-visual blue motif from the books.