Questions for movie: Berlin Calling
1. What do drugs mean to Ickarus?
Drugs seem to consume many aspects of Ickarus's life. I would say drugs are a lifestyle for him. He uses drugs to relax, to work, and to party the night away. It does seem common for club style music to be very mixed with drugs naturally but Ickarus takes it to a new level.
2. Why, when, and how are his fans taking drugs, and which drugs do they take?
Most of the scenes of fans taking drugs seems to be in the bathrooms. I noticed in particular: Ketamine, ecstasy, methamphetamine, and cocaine being used throughout the movie. I'm sure there were more that I was not familiar with the used 'street' name or did not notice the reference.
3. While we can see that his drug habits get him ill and into a psychosis, and while we witness his relapse and inability to work successfully, why does the subculture Ickarus is in focus on drugs?
I'm not certain why the correlation with such sub-cultures is so drug related. It reminds me of within the United States the Grateful Dead and the so called 'Deadheads'. The culture usually involves letting lose, dancing and rebellion. While drugs can help in the first two they are not necessary, I think the importance of drugs comes into the rebellion aspect.
4. Compare the standards you know from your home society with the people you see depicted in this movie. Which are the stark differences and contrasts?
Much of the scene seemed similar to the hippy / neo-hippy / deadhead culture within the united states. The primary difference was certainly the widespread openness of public sexual activity as being acceptable behavior. It most similarly reminded me to the more recent 'dubstep' movement within the U.S.
Also it was noticeable that the focus was much less centered on the 'performance' at concerts but as a general party that happened to have a live performance. In this country the stage is a lot more 'focused', crowded commonly called a mosh-pit.
5. Germany is considered a strong industrial nation the world over. Do you think that the youth culture as depicted here could change that? How about work ethics of Ickarus and of Alice, the label director who fires and then resigns him?
Obviously yes, if this were how all German youth behaved I would have concern for the future productivity. However, I am sure this is not the lifestyle of all Germans. Often times large cities seem to develop and come with eccentric individuals and lifestyles.
6. Which similar "cult movies" of US origin have you seen, if any?
Enter the Void, The Wall by pink floyd, and Armies of Darkness. Enter the Void was the most similar to this film, however has a focus on the spiritual side based on the Tibetan Book of the Dead.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Handouts for group presentations
The roles of women and men in society(19th Century)
The onset of the 19th century society did not favor the education and liberation of women. As a result, women all over the world, including Germany, lost many of the advances that they had made during the previous century. Germany like much of the world set men as soldiers, providers and politicians while classifying women as the housewife. This occurred due to the bourgeois belief that a woman's "place" was to take care of the household. Based on arguments of physical strength that females did not require an education outside of the home and that it was not natural for a woman to be involved in politics. Kaiser Wilhelm II defines a role for women(later taken over by the Nazis) as "Kirche, Kueche, Kinder" (church, kitchen, children.)(1)
While there were some 19th century "feminists" such as Dorothea Schloezer, Caroline Boehmer, and Dorothea Veit their voices went unheard for the most part. Women were still not strong or organized enough to fight the long-standing tradition of male dominance. It is not until 1919, twenty years into the 20th century that women in Germany get political rights to vote and modern freedom begins to develop.(3) However after the rise of the Nazi party to power women will find that the mentality of Kaiser Wilhelm II will be passed onto the century. (4)
Dorothea Schloezer: (18 August 1770 - 12 July 1825), was a talented German scholar and the first woman to receive a doctor of philosophy degree in Germany. Schlozer differed from most educated females of the time who were thought of as neurotic and unfashionable. Schlozer was much more presentable. She knew how to sew and knit and understood how to run a household well. (5)
Caroline Boehmer: (September 2, 1763 — September 7, 1809)
Caroline Schelling, née Michaelis, widowed Böhmer, divorced Schlegel
Caroline Schelling played a considerable role in the intellectual movement of her time, especially in her Jena time. Here she debated with poets and philosophers like Novalis, Fichte, Hegel, Schiller and her later husband Schelling, and was considered as the heart of the early German romanticism. She is especially remarkable for the assistance she afforded Schlegel in his translation of Shakespeare's works. In her own name she only published some critical reviews.(6)
(2)http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/suffrage/history.htm (10/17/2011)
(3)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_feminism (10/17/2011)
(4)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women (10/23/2011)
(5)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothea_von_Schlegel(10/23/2011)
(6)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caroline_Schelling(10/23/2011)
Literature of the 19th Century Handout (1800-1900)
Was a loose group of Vormärz writers which was essentially a youth movement. Vormaz (pre-March) is the time period leading up to the failed March 1848 revolution in the German Confederation. It is a period of Liberalism, censorship and political tension. These writers tended to focus on domestic issues. (1)
Naturalism (1880-1900)
Utilizes realism to suggest that social conditions, heredity, and environment shape human character. Also, seeks to replicate a believable everyday reality. Naturalism is the outgrowth of literary realism and were influenced by Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. The defining characteristic of literary naturalism is pessimism.
(1)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_literature#19th_century(10/25/2011)
(2)http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/country-6/Germany/19th_century_German_poets.html(10/25/2011)
The rulers and governments(19th Century)
See Power Point, no handout on this one.
The music- theatre-dance scene(19th Century)
See Power Point, no handout on this one.
The inventions and industry (18th Century)
The onset of the 19th century society did not favor the education and liberation of women. As a result, women all over the world, including Germany, lost many of the advances that they had made during the previous century. Germany like much of the world set men as soldiers, providers and politicians while classifying women as the housewife. This occurred due to the bourgeois belief that a woman's "place" was to take care of the household. Based on arguments of physical strength that females did not require an education outside of the home and that it was not natural for a woman to be involved in politics. Kaiser Wilhelm II defines a role for women(later taken over by the Nazis) as "Kirche, Kueche, Kinder" (church, kitchen, children.)(1)
While there were some 19th century "feminists" such as Dorothea Schloezer, Caroline Boehmer, and Dorothea Veit their voices went unheard for the most part. Women were still not strong or organized enough to fight the long-standing tradition of male dominance. It is not until 1919, twenty years into the 20th century that women in Germany get political rights to vote and modern freedom begins to develop.(3) However after the rise of the Nazi party to power women will find that the mentality of Kaiser Wilhelm II will be passed onto the century. (4)
Dorothea Schloezer: (18 August 1770 - 12 July 1825), was a talented German scholar and the first woman to receive a doctor of philosophy degree in Germany. Schlozer differed from most educated females of the time who were thought of as neurotic and unfashionable. Schlozer was much more presentable. She knew how to sew and knit and understood how to run a household well. (5)
Caroline Boehmer: (September 2, 1763 — September 7, 1809)
Caroline Schelling, née Michaelis, widowed Böhmer, divorced Schlegel
Caroline Schelling played a considerable role in the intellectual movement of her time, especially in her Jena time. Here she debated with poets and philosophers like Novalis, Fichte, Hegel, Schiller and her later husband Schelling, and was considered as the heart of the early German romanticism. She is especially remarkable for the assistance she afforded Schlegel in his translation of Shakespeare's works. In her own name she only published some critical reviews.(6)
(2)http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/suffrage/history.htm (10/17/2011)
(3)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_feminism (10/17/2011)
(4)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women (10/23/2011)
(5)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothea_von_Schlegel(10/23/2011)
(6)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caroline_Schelling(10/23/2011)
Literature of the 19th Century Handout (1800-1900)
German Romanticism
Dominant in early 19th century, German Romanticism struggled in its early years with collision with German Classicism (late 18th cent.), which it opposed completely. The German variety is notable for valuing humor and wit as well as beauty, developed later than English style.(5)
Dominant in early 19th century, German Romanticism struggled in its early years with collision with German Classicism (late 18th cent.), which it opposed completely. The German variety is notable for valuing humor and wit as well as beauty, developed later than English style.(5)
Young Germany (1830-1850)
Was a loose group of Vormärz writers which was essentially a youth movement. Vormaz (pre-March) is the time period leading up to the failed March 1848 revolution in the German Confederation. It is a period of Liberalism, censorship and political tension. These writers tended to focus on domestic issues. (1)Karl Gutzkow, notable in Young Germany movement
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Karl_Gutzkow.jpg
Naturalism (1880-1900)Utilizes realism to suggest that social conditions, heredity, and environment shape human character. Also, seeks to replicate a believable everyday reality. Naturalism is the outgrowth of literary realism and were influenced by Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. The defining characteristic of literary naturalism is pessimism.
Poster for a Theatre in the 1930s
Written By Naturalist Gerhart Hauptmann
Poetry of 19th Century:
Biedermeier and Vormärz (1815-1848)
Contrasts with the Romantic era which preceded it. typical Biedermeier poets are Annette von Droste-Hülshoff, Adelbert von Chamisso, Eduard Mörike, and Wilhelm Müller..
Biedermeier can be associated with two phases in early 19th-century German history. The first is the growing urbanization and industrialization leading to a new urban middle class, and with it a new kind of audience and wider audience. Biedermeier was for the middle-class. Second, is the growing political oppression and tension leading to the failed revolution of 1848. Due to the strict control of writers and artists concerned themselves with non-political subjects, like historical fiction and country life. Political discussion was usually confined to the home, in the presence of close friends.
 The industrialist is having his aeroplane serviced.The priest is wondering what he said in his sermon eight weeks ago about tithes. The generals are putting on civvies and looking like bank clerks. Public officials are getting friendly. The policeman points out the way to the man in the cloth cap. The landlord comes to see whether the water supply is working. The journalists write the word People with capital letters. The singers sing at the opera for nothing. Ships' captains check the food in the crew's galley, Car owners get in beside their chauffeurs. Doctors sue the insurance companies. Scholars show their discoveries and hide their decorations. Farmers deliver potatoes to the barracks. The revolution has won its first battle: That's what has happened. |
Example of Realism in Poetry by Bertolt Brecht
(1)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_literature#19th_century(10/25/2011)
(2)http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/country-6/Germany/19th_century_German_poets.html(10/25/2011)
The rulers and governments(19th Century)
See Power Point, no handout on this one.
The music- theatre-dance scene(19th Century)
See Power Point, no handout on this one.
The inventions and industry (18th Century)
| 1700s | Bartolomeo Cristofori invents the piano. |
| 1701 | Jethro Tull begins the mechanization of agriculture by inventing the horse-drawn seed drill. |
| 1703 | Gottfried Leibniz pioneers the binary number system now used in virtually all computers. |
| 1712 | Thomas Newcomen builds the first practical (but stationary) steam engine. |
| 1700s | Christiaan Huygens conceives the internal combustion engine, but never actually builds one. |
| 1724 | Gabriel Fahrenheit invents the first mercury thermometer. |
| 1737 | William Champion develops a commercially viable process for extracting zinc on a large scale. |
| 1745 | E.G. von Kleist invents the leyden jar, the first electrical capacitor. (Huge for electronics) |
| 1757 | John Campbell invents the sextant, an improved navigational device that enables sailors to measure latitude. |
| 1730s-1770s | John Harrison develops reliable chronometers (seafaring clocks) that allow sailors to measure longitude accurately for the first time. |
| 1751 | Axel Cronstedt isolates nickel and discovers zeolites. |
| 1769 | Wolfgang von Kempelen develops a mechanical speaking machine: the world's first speech synthesizer. |
| 1761 | Austrian physician Leopold Auenbrugger von Auenbrugg describes the technique of percussion for diagnostic assessment of chest disorders. |
| 1770s | Abraham Darby III builds a pioneering iron bridge at a place now called Ironbridge in England |
| 1783 | French Brothers Joseph-Michel Montgolfier and Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier make the first practical hot-air balloon. |
| 1793 | Aloys Senefelder Invents Lithography a method of printing on metal or stone. |
18th Century Inventions (German in Bold)
(1)http://www.germanculture.com.ua/library/weekly/aa080601a.htm (10/17/2011)
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