"Othering"
http://photos.wingyounghuie.com/p929219206/h6c0be626#h637941a4
Little Picture:
On the surface level, the most eye-catching detail of the photograph is the small black board the young man is holding and the statement, “I feel like a fish swimming around in my thoughts”. Then, of course there is the young white man himself sitting, who seems to look like he is in the lower to middle class; he has rigid hair bangs that cover his eyes , a tightly clenched jaw, he is wearing a casual neutral mediocre tee shirt, There seems to be no emotion on his face, which is an emotion in itself. And, backing away from the foreground, everything else in the photograph is blurry and unfocused. The man is in a room which to me looks like a college dorm or an office space even. To the left of the photograph there is a table in front him with a book on it, a counter with empty containers of food. Moving to the middle of the background, there is what appears to be a small television or computer and a cup on a table. Also, the room has many different papers plastered and hanging loosely on the walls which could be for reminders.
Big Picture:
Diving deeper in the photograph (haha, I’m so punny!), the audience begins to make a connection between the color of the photograph and the emotion of the young man holding the small chalkboard, which are both nonexistent. The photographer, Young Huie may have staged the photo in this manner in order for the audience to pay more attention to the statement on the chalkboard. The statement itself seems to imply that maybe the man may have some kind of mental disorder that has great effects on his cognition such as schizophrenia and in which he cannot control, which is why he feels like a fish when dealing with his thoughts. Furthermore, because of his haircut and body language as well, the man is very much lacking identity. The audience cannot see his eyes, which can often inform a lot about a person. He makes no type of engagement with the camera, the young man is turned away from the camera, as if he wants to hide things about himself from the audience. His hair also implies that he might be of the emo, scene, or Gothic group who are often perceived as antisocial and mentally disturbed.
Connection to the Handmaid’s Tale:
Based on the statement presented on the chalkboard by the man and the many statements of Offred in the Handmaid's Tale, the audience can conclude that the man and Offred are both fish swimming around their thoughts. This may be due to the fact that they are both of groups that experience "othering" because of their societal position. For Offred, she experiences "othering" because she is a handmaid, they are rare, and as individuals, they are treated very poorly (from the perspective of the modern Western reader). And for the man, he may experience "othering" because he is a white male who is not of a high class who probably does live in a neighborhood where POC are the majority, in which he doesn't fit in very well because of it. Also, he might experience "othering" because of his scenic/emo appearance, who are often groups mainstream society tends to heavily isolate and ridicule.
Big Picture:
Diving deeper in the photograph (haha, I’m so punny!), the audience begins to make a connection between the color of the photograph and the emotion of the young man holding the small chalkboard, which are both nonexistent. The photographer, Young Huie may have staged the photo in this manner in order for the audience to pay more attention to the statement on the chalkboard. The statement itself seems to imply that maybe the man may have some kind of mental disorder that has great effects on his cognition such as schizophrenia and in which he cannot control, which is why he feels like a fish when dealing with his thoughts. Furthermore, because of his haircut and body language as well, the man is very much lacking identity. The audience cannot see his eyes, which can often inform a lot about a person. He makes no type of engagement with the camera, the young man is turned away from the camera, as if he wants to hide things about himself from the audience. His hair also implies that he might be of the emo, scene, or Gothic group who are often perceived as antisocial and mentally disturbed.
Connection to the Handmaid’s Tale:
Based on the statement presented on the chalkboard by the man and the many statements of Offred in the Handmaid's Tale, the audience can conclude that the man and Offred are both fish swimming around their thoughts. This may be due to the fact that they are both of groups that experience "othering" because of their societal position. For Offred, she experiences "othering" because she is a handmaid, they are rare, and as individuals, they are treated very poorly (from the perspective of the modern Western reader). And for the man, he may experience "othering" because he is a white male who is not of a high class who probably does live in a neighborhood where POC are the majority, in which he doesn't fit in very well because of it. Also, he might experience "othering" because of his scenic/emo appearance, who are often groups mainstream society tends to heavily isolate and ridicule.
Heyyyy!
ReplyDeleteI really like the connection you made with the monochromatic color scheme of the picture and the emotion of the young man's face. Like you said, the man seems to have no expression (a blank expression, maybe?) and the photo itself has no color. I thought that the comparison between Offred and the statement in the photo was very interesting. In the novel, it is really clear, especially in the Night sections, that Offred is always "floating around" in her thoughts. I think her "floating around" in her thoughts is also seen in her language musings as well.
Great job!
Mimi-
ReplyDeleteWhat a crazy saying on the chalkboard!
Great first post- you included both an examination of composition and an analysis of the how/effect. I do wish you had thought more about othering in THT- be sure to treat all parts of the prompt equally; however, the connections that you made between the image and the novel were neat.
Mimi I loved this blog post! I really enjoyed, as well as found it quite funny, that we both addressed the topic the same way with the implicit and explicit messages. I loved how you deeply analysed every aspect of the picture and then connected it to a deeper meaining. My only critique would be to chose a specific part in THT to analyse for othering. Other than that, I loved ittttttt! Muyyy bien chica!
ReplyDeleteLove your post! I really liked how you viewed the picture using a more psychoanalytical lens and I really liked how you mentioned that the guy in the picture could be dealing with internal conflicts that we are not able to see. I think that something to consider could be to infer the types of thoughts that are affecting the young man and how that also could play a role in the concept of "othering."
ReplyDelete