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  • Over The Garden Wall IB Analysis

    By John Ferrandino

    Characters: Wirt, Greg, Beatrice, The Woodsman, and The Beast

    Plot: Wirt and Greg are lost in the woods. They encounter a woodsman who warns them of The Beast. The Woodsman collects wood to make oil to keep a lantern lit for The Beast, since it contains the soul of his lost daughter. The two of them then meet Beatrice, a bluebird who was originally a human, who agrees to be their guide. The people they encounter always have a curse or are the curse.

    Inspirations: The show runners based the story off of 18th Century New England. The character designs are based off of early 20th century American cartoons, predating Disney and the Hayes Code. The Grimm Brothers published a collection of folktales from around their country of birth, Germany, which provides the anthology plot style for the show. Their works are celebrations of German folklore and are still recognized today. They were major figures in the Romantic Movement, a celebration of folk culture, the natural world, and the unknown. This show with its vintage New England setting inspires the same philosophy. Many Germans moved to New England and brought their folklore with them. The stories that inspired this show come from these Germanic immigrants. The art style comes from New England artworks from the early 20th century, specifically of the fall season, including halloween. The show utilizes the vintage art of 20th century New England; Beatrix Potter, Gustave Dore, John Potter, and the McLoughin Brothers, just like the Grimm Brothers utilized medieval German folklore.

    The Beast is modeled off of the Celtic forest god, Cernunnos. Most character designs come from pre Hayes Code animations, such as Betty Boop.

    Previous explorations of the New England supernatural come from Washington Irving, Stephen King, Edgar Allen Poe, and other Romantic and Transcendentalist writers whose settings and motifs involved the New England autumn and nature, which the show runners took inspiration from.

    Motifs: Frog playing the piano, Americana, darkness, vintage music, black turtles, the lantern, ghosts, autumn, and animals.

    Opening intro, a tribute to the opening to a vaudeville show, or to modern audiences the, tinker bell animation, a common motif in fable storytelling

    The voice actor of Wirt, Elijah Wood, said that the music of Over The Garden Wall can be played on a phonograph, a vintage sound recorder from the 19th century. The music from the show includes opera, folk melodies, orchestral pieces, blues, and vaudeville, the music a phonograph of that era was used for. These genres are simple in their atmosphere, inspiring warmth and good feelings, but also holds darkness. The Beast sings opera while he turns children into trees, the tavern folk sing melodies warning of The Beast, and Greg sings an uplifting song at the school house to lighten the mood.

    The autumn season is the end of the harvest, the days get shorter, and the border between the living and the dead starts to get weak. That’s what makes the season ideal for the spooky tone of Over The Garden Wall.

    The black turtles are mysterious creatures that transform the animals into savage creatures. Turtles are not a threatening or suspicious animal in the Anglo-Protestant culture of New England, but have a powerful role in Native American mythology, since the North American continent is believed to be the shell of a sea turtle. This inclusion of the turtle is a respectful nod to the original culture of New England, and the American continent as a whole.

    Conflict: Man vs nature, fear over courage, despair, who to trust, and social anxiety

    Wirt is cautious, dweebish, and pessimistic, so he is easy to give up. Greg is chaotic, optimistic, and overly friendly, so he gets the group in trouble. Beatrice is cynical, guarded, sarcastic, and is leading the boys to the witch, Adelaide, who turned her family into bluebirds. Each one handles being lost in the forest differently, whether or not its compatible with the others survival. Wirt is easy to give up, so he is easily caught by The Beast. Greg trades himself for his brother’s freedom. The Woodsman’s daughter’s soul is stuck in the lantern the Woodsman took from The Beast, so he cuts down trees to make oil to keep it lit. He does The Beast’s bidding, or else it will take the lantern for safekeeping. The Woodsman discovers Greg being turned into a tree. The confrontation between The Beast and The Woodsman reveal that the oil is made of lost children turned into trees. Wirt also deduces that the lantern is The Beast’s soul. Wirt’s caution and trusting his own reasoning lets him leave with hos brother. The next thing they know, they are waking up in an ambulance, having dreamed the experience at the bottom of a creek. The epilogue still shows how the brothers positively affected the inhabitants of the woods, such as Beatrice and her family turning back into humans. The Woodsman reunites with his daughter alive after blowing out The Beast’s soul. Wirt and Greg encounter the living and the dead, but it doesn’t feel like purgatory. A source of comedy is that the duo are always fish out of water, not being having the same norms, manners, or bearing as the vintage people they meet. They’re from contemporary American suburbia and they went down a rabbit hole to wonderland, but death is more present because they are near death by drowning. Perhaps they were following the light, but the tunnel is Celtic, Slavic, and Amerindian mythology.

    “There is only my way. There is only the forest, and there is only surrender.”

    “We’re still not any closer to getting home. I don’t know if we’ll ever get back home.”

    Themes: Frailty of life, social anxiety, self-acceptance, what is the unknown, what is terror, appreciation of folk culture, the innocence of curiosity, the destruction of innocence due to frightening experiences

    Like the fables cartoons that this show takes inspiration from, it closes as it opened, with a frog playing a piano.

  • Casino Royale (book and film) IB Analysis

    By John Ferrandino

    Characters: James Bond, Vesper Lynd, Le Chiffre, and M

    Plot: Commander James Bond is the new 007 of MI6, a British secret agent with a license to kill. He has been assigned to bankrupt communist/terrorist banker, Le Chiffre, by beating him in a high stakes poker game. Assigned as a partner is Vesper Lynd, who will contribute to his cover by being his social companion and handle finances and technology. Le Chiffre is trying to win funds for his debts due to bad investments before his bosses find out. He is a trapped beast, Vesper is a bystander, and Bond is a blunt instrument. Who is in the crosshairs? What will it cost Bond?

    Daniel Craig as James Bond

    Inspirations: Bond is an avatar of Ian Fleming and his hobbies. Fleming was a naval intelligence officer in Gibraltar during WW2. His “M” was Rear Admiral John Godfrey. Fleming was demobilized in 1945 and he bought a plot of land in Jamaica. He wrote 2,000 words in one morning while waiting to meet his fiancee, which is now Casino Royale. Bond is an amalgamation of spies and commandoes Fleming knew during his war service. He is in Fleming’s words, a blunt instrument that looks like him and Hoagy Carmichael. Fleming also imagined him similar to his step-cousin, Christopher Lee, who had a similar wartime service to him. The name came from a ornithologist who had a normal Anglo masculine name.

    Christopher Lee
    Ian Fleming

    Fleming’s knowledge of the main setting of the novel came from his activities at the Estoril Casino in Portugal. Le Chiffre’s appearance and sadomasochism are based off of occultist Alastair Crowley. Fleming knew a lot of women, his least favorite were the inexperienced, the basis for Vesper Lynd. After WWII, the United Kingdom was in debt, exhausted, and losing its empire. It was losing its super power statues achieved after the Napoleonic Wars to the United States and the USSR. Espionage brought it great embarrassment when the Cambridge Five was discovered. There was great cynicism and insecurity by the government over the nation’s role in the world. In the 2006 film adaptation transferred to post 9/11 and Le chiffre is a terrorist investor instead of a communist paymaster.

    Motifs: Vesper Lynd, baccarat, probability, memos. alcohol, travelogue exposition, stereotypes, sexism, pleasure, and pain

    Bond sees Vesper as someone to sleep with, but not on a job, same way with food and drink, a vital need but not to excess. This connection is shown when he names his iconic drink after her. He doesn’t dull himself on the job. Like alcohol, they are pleasurable at first, but bitter afterwards. Vesper is a darling when introduced and to Bond’s relief, a professional, but after the mission, a previous deal catches up to her, which results in her death and Bond losing his heart.

    Vesper Lynd portrayed by Eva Green

    Fleming worked in intelligence and afterwards the newspapers, so his novel is styled similar to an intelligence dossier and a newspaper travelogue. Bond’s consciousness is the usual hero’s good vs evil, but also a documentary commentator on cooking, culture, businesses, people, history, and espionage. What is missing is a comment on geopolitics, he doesn’t debate or even defend the two ideologies of the Cold War, just follows orders and intuition. His demeanor and cognition reveal him to be a blunt weapon. He’s not a hero with a sword, but an assassin handy with lead balls propelled with gunpowder. He lives on the edge, always in the crosshairs. The font of the dossiers for Bond’s mission are the same as the text. His mind is one with his mission. The game of baccarat is one of luck and bluffing, which Bond enjoys the ritual of.

    Le Chiffre’s appearance and intelligence is based off of Alastair Crowley, unattractive, imposing, and a sadomasochist. He requires an inhaler and in the film bleeds from his eyes when stressed. This is based off of autohemmoragifng of horned lizards, which use it as a defense mechanism, matching with Le Chiffre’s reptilian appearance, such as his chilling stare. Unlike other Bond villains, he his not out for domination or revenge, but saving his own skin. He is also a mathematician, an expert in probability, games, and gambling. This certainty of knowledge doesn’t save him when he is executed by SMERSH in the book and Spectre in the film.

    book
    film, portrayed by Mads Mikkelsen

    Bond’s assignment and other missions are like baccarat or poker, as seen with the cover art of the book and the title sequence of the film; hearts represent blood and emotions as they bleed out of veins, clubs are blunt like bullets, which is why they are the ammo to his Walter PPK, diamonds are statistics and material wealth, as people are when they are killed and their value to the mission, and spades are luck.

    Fleming and Bond both view the mission and pleasure as part of the job.

    Conflicts: good vs evil, the realization of the lack of one’s importance in the greater world, psychological warfare, gender inequality, terrorism, ignorance of the other side, professionalism vs pleasure, fall of an empire, stoicism vs hedonism

    After WW2, the UK’s losses on the world stage made it feel like the biggest loser of the war. The generation that fought in the war were left cynical, pessimistic, and bitter. Bond is a personification of the post war insecurities. This translates to the 21st century setting of the film, because of 9/11. Although 9/11 didn’t affect Britain directly, Bond’s mission is part of the US War on Terror, with Britain as a junior partner of the US, because of their situation after WW2. This hierarchy is shown when CIA agent Felix Leiter loans Bond money to beat Le Chiffre in exchange for CIA custody of him.

    After Bond and Vesper are rescued from Le Chiffre’s torture, he questions the entire idea of civilization’s good vs evil, because even though Le Chiffre was killed by his superiors, he still wants to kill him, not out of justice or orders, but revenge for bashing in his balls. There is also no definition for evil, like there is for God, no testament for the Devil like there are for God. There is ignorance of the nature of evil. It’s only evil because it doesn’t fit with the definition for good. This philosophical pondering could be Fleming’s confession to why he sucks at writing women. He doesn’t understand them. Like good vs evil, Fleming sees women only on how they are compatible for men based on societal norms. When the novel was published, women were new to voting and men’s jobs. A change in norms is seen as a threat. Bond sees Vesper as a distraction and a liability, proven by when she is captured by Le Chiffre’s henchmen in order to access the winnings, due to her inexperience in the field. The 2006 film adds depth, wit, and confidence to Vesper to reflect the changing views of women in the workforce, also seen with “M” being a woman. But Vesper still has the feminine mystery that Fleming’s generation feared.

    Bond desires her not just for her looks, but because she represents a peaceful life, but that is incapatable with his job, so he resigns after Le Chiffre’s death. They are happy at first, but when a black patch man begins to follow them, she becomes eratic anf depressed. Its revealed that she is a double agent after her suicide. Bond’s burgening heart freezes stone cold and welcomes being a blunt instrument for monarch and country.

    “The bitch is dead now.”

    “Vodka martini, shaken, not stirred.”

    “You don’t trust anyone do you

    No

    Then you’ve learned your lesson” M to Bond after Vesper’s death.

    Themes: Patriotism, stoicism, modernism, globalism, a peaceful life cannot be guaranteed, how being a cog in the system takes away from individuality, ignorance leads to animosity, emotional freedom, sadomasochism, and realism vs fantasy.

    Fleming’s dedication to realism over fantasy distinguishes Casino Royale as a thriller genre bedrock.

  • The Boy and The Heron IB Analysis

    John Ferrandino

    Characters: Mahito. The Heron, Himi, and the Granduncle

    Plot: During WW2, Mahito’s mother is killed in a fire caused by an American bombing raid. He and his father move to the country estate of the mother’s family, where he marries his wife’s sister, Natsuko. Mahito encounters a Grey Heron who claims to know where Mahito’s mother is, alive. When his stepmother disappears into this mysterious world, Mahito must journey into this land of the dead with the assistance of the duplicitous Heron and a strangely familiar girl named Himi. This world’s creator is a wizard who is Mahito’s great grand-uncle.

    Inspirations: This film is based off of Hayao Miyazaki’s childhood, where he like Mahito, grew up during WW2, watched his mother die in a bombing raid, and fathers who were involved in war productions. Miyazaki grew into a pacifist and skeptic of nationalism and industrialization, which are common themes in his filmography. Mahito, the Heron, and the Granduncle are representative of the real life relationship between Miyazaki, Ghibli producer Toshio Suzuki, and Ghibli co-founder Isao Takahata, respectively. The film is semi-autobiographical to Miyazaki and memoriam to the late Isao Takahata. It is also as of now, Miyazaki’s swan song, so he includes artistic references to his previous films, before he retires.

    The story’s themes are derived from the novel How Do You Live, by Genzaburo Yushino, but not stroy. The story shares similarities to the Greek myth of Orpheus and the novel Alice in Wonderland. The world the Granduncle creates blends elements of Hades, the reincarnation of Buddhism, Dante’s Inferno, and Shinto traditions, such as the Heron being a guide for the dead. Dream logic is how the Granduncle’s world is run, surreal, emotional, and nonsensical.

    Motifs: Shintoism, physical copy of How Do You Live, geometric blocks, fire, time, birds, boats, death, stages of grief, asteroids, astronomy, and Buddhism.

    Mahito’s grief manifests as cool aloofness, rashness, and malice. The Heron attacks Mahito, but loses some of his feathers, which Mahito uses to makes arrows. The arrow pierces the Heron’s beak, forcing him to into his human form, it’s pride in it aerial form being used against it.

    The Granduncle’s world is underneath the living world, centered around a mystical asteroid that holds reality altering powers, existing beyond time and space. Birds that he brought with him from the real world become human like and malicious, such as the deceitful herons, the greedy pelicans, and the man-eating parakeets. Also present in this world are the wara wara, the spirits of the dead, who morph into childlike spirits that reenter the world through childbirth. The pelicans prey on the wara wara. The defender of the wara wara is the wizard’s grand-niece, Lady Himi, a child with pyrotechnic powers. She turns out to be Mahito’s mother from the past, who ended up dying in a fire. It’s both her weapon and her death.

    The asteroid’s power is controlled by the careful stacking of blocks just using balance to hold it up. The Wizard maintains the stack, adding to the world, showing age, wisdom, and experience. The purpose of this world is to escape death by controlling the cycle. The Wizard freezes time for the visitoos from the real world, where Mahito can meet his mother from the past. Its an island an island in an ocean made up of the dead, who inhabit boats.

    (Dante and Virgil crossing the River Styx, The Divine Comedy)

    Conflicts: Moving on from grief, self-harm, cycle of life, destiny vs experience, pacifism vs militarism, imperfection in creation, coming of age, deception, refugee of war, and balance.

    Mahito is distant and moody after the death of his mother. Since he is the son of a plane manufactuer, he of higher class than his peers at his new school, so he is ganged up on, then afterwards he bangs a rock on his head in order to skip school. He is apathetic towards his step-mother and seeks out the Heron to find his mother. This is just a lie from the Heron, who chides Mahito on his arrogance and malice. Mahito tames the Heron by shooting an arrow into his beak, which is guided by one of his feathers. The pelicans prey on the wara wara because its the only food source in the world. An oversight in the blocks. Mahito takes pity on them. Lady Himi turns out to be Hisako as a child, Mahito’s mother. In the real world during her childhood, Hisako disappeared for a long period of time, but this time is the present Mahito is in right now in his Granduncle’s world, where Hisako serves as a defender for souls. She is aware of her relation to Mahito and her fate. When he finally finds his ancestor, the Wizard, he finds him trying to fix the world by removing malice filled blocks. He begs Mahito to take his place, since he has his imagination and morals, but Mahito declines, revealing to him that he suffers from malice as well. He implores him to let this world go. As the world falls apart, Himi and Mahito return to there own times and the Heron implores Mahito to forget everything.

    “I gave myself this scar on my head. It’s a sign of my malice.”

    “I’m not afraid of fire.” Himi’s final words to Mahito.

    “Mahito, will you continue my work?”

    Themes: Accepting reality of death, caring about those who love you, evil is a part of life, humility creates peace over selfishness, looking back on achievements

    Mahito’s goals at the beginning are selfish, looking for his mother who might be alive and refusing to to acknowledge his stepmother, but still looks for her out of familial duty. By the end he calls her mother. Unlike most Ghibli films where the outcome os positive, Mahito will still have a dead mother and forget about his memories of her in the wWizard’s world. He still has to go through the messy life that is the Pacific war and post-war Japan, but now he accepts the death of his mother. Miyazaki is private about his past, pessimistic, moody, and cold, which reflects Mahito’s aloofness, but now knows how to find joy in the world and how the darkness fits in. Miyazaki shows this to others with his filmmaking.

    The final scene where Mahito goes back to Tokyo after the war, he finishes reading a book given to him by his mother, How Do You Live, by Genzaburo Yoshino. The book’s message is what Miyazaki adapts into his childhood. Having Mahito read it shows that he his accepting of the psychological change on his journey through the Wizard’s world, and accepts the physics of the real world over the imagination of his ancestor’s world, which has ceased to exist.

  • Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus IB Analysis

    John Ferrandino

    Characters: Victor Frankenstein, The Creature, and Robert Walton

    Plot: In a series of letters, explorer Robert Walton recounts the story of a traveler he rescues on the ice, Victor Frankenstein, and the creature he is chasing in the Arctic. Victor created this creature in his quest to raise his loved ones from the grave. The creature is horrific in appearance and when the reality of this act cause Victor to flee in terror when the Creature awakens. When he returns to Geneva, the Creature follows him back and reveals his intelligence, cruelty, and desire for companionship. He demands Victor to create a bride. When Victor refuses, the creature vows to destroy everyone he loves.

    Inspirations: Mary Shelly was a major proponent of Romanticism, the intellectual and artistic reaction to the Enlightenment and scientific rationalism, where logic and reason were valued above all else. The Romantic Movement brought emotions and a love of the natural world back to European and American intellectual groups, such as Lord George Byron, Percy Shelly, John Polidori, Claire Clairmont, and Mary Shelly on a rainy summer in Geneva, where Shelly wrote the manuscript for Frankenstein. Romanticism would would go on to develop into gothic, nationalism, transcendentalism, and conservation. Shelly was also inspired by the scientific developments of the 18th century, in electricity and chemistry. The story has influence from the Greek myth of Prometheus and John Milton’s Paradise Lost. The Creature finds similarities with Lucifer, who is also a fallen hero archetype. An archetype both Victor and the Creature can be classified as Byronic heroes, termed after Shelly’s friend, Lord Byron. The Age of Expedition was still going on in Shelly’s era, and this is shown with Robert Walton’s storyline, which shares a similar sense of curiosity with the Romantic Movement and scientific discovery of the Enlightenment, which are goals of Victor. Although Shelly does have criticisms on the hubris and ambition of scientific development, she respects it enough to not satirize it by attempting to give a detailed method on how the Creature was created, since science is not her field.

    Motifs: Nature, science, duality, melancholy, geography, creative nature, beauty, cruelty, Paradise Lost, Greek mythology, and exchange of letters.

    The entire story is a series of letters from Robert Walton in the Arctic Ocean to his sister in England. This increases the mystery and makes Walton a fellow audience member. Nature and geography is a huge part of the book’s diction. Shelly’s romanticism is shown with Victor and his family’s love of travel, nature, and education. Nature is seen as pure and beautiful. Science is valued because its a study of the natural world. Victor’s research tries to assume control of the natural world, so Shelly critiques it by the chaos caused by the Creature. Victor’s creative nature is a conflict between his emotional curiosity and scientific logic. He’s fascinated, empathetic, terrified, and disgusted by his creation.

    Duality is explored by the juxtaposing of Victor’s nobility but emotional and the Monster’s barbarity but intelligence. They are two sides of the same coin, they are not what they seem. Both of them are driven by melancholy; Victor’s guilt for the murders committed by his creation and the Creature’s self-awareness of his own monstrosity and loneliness.

    Paradise Lost is one of the books the Creature uses to educate himself with and relates to Lucifer and Adam as both are shunned and lash out at their paternal figures.

    Conflicts:

    Science vs nature

    Nature vs nurture

    Risks of exploration and knowledge

    Enlightenment vs Romanticism

    Beaty vs horror

    Reactionary instinct

    The Creature is guilty of arson, murder, and obstruction of justice. He’s only about five years old by the end of the story, but is cunning, calculating, calm, and murderous, which would’ve gotten worse as he got older without guidance. Victor rejected any responsibility for that.

    Shelly’s view of Enlightenment philosophy and science based on the novel is respectful, but cautious. She doesn’t criticize the scientific method or make any statements, as shown by the lack of scientific explanation on how the Creature was created, or apply scientific logic to the characters’ decision making, such as when Victor fears of the affects of a female creature to be the mate of the Creature. He fears what would happen if the Creature and his bride would have progeny, which can be solved by removing the reproductive system from the bride. Instead Victor destroys the bride in front of the Creature. The characters are at their best in nature.

    Robert Walton is trying to reach the North Pole, at the risk of himself and his crew, but after hearing Victor’s story, he decides that his life is worth more than the risks. He turns back as soon as the ship is out of the ice.

    “I will be with you on your wedding day.”

    “I, not in deed, but in effect, was the true murderer.”

    Victor dies from exhaustion on Walton’s ship. The Creature reveals himself, and loses all purpose and hopes of love, and commits himself to the arctic darkness.

    Themes: The dangers of knowledge, responsibility, fall from grace, desire for am identity, abandonment, playing god, and reactionary behavior.

    The animosity between Victor and the Creature is a blow black conflict. Their actions cause the other to darker behaviors, causing more suffering.

  • Scott Pilgrim Vs The World (Comic, movie, and anime) IB Analysis

    By John Ferrandino

    Characters: Scott Pilgrim, Ramona Flowers, Wallace Wells, Knives Chau, Kim Pine, Young Neil, Stephen Stills, Julie Powers, Envy Adams, Gideon Graves, Lucas Lee, Todd Ingram, Mathew Patel, and Moxxie Richter

    Plot: (Vs The World) Scott Pilgrim is a normal 22 year old living in Toronto, Canada. He lives with his cool gay roommate, Wallace Wells, is the lead guitarist in the indie band, Sex Bob-Omb, and dates a 17 year old named Knives Chau. Otherwise he is an unemployed slacker. He meets Ramona Flowers, a delivery girl who can roller skate in his dreams by a neural highway. He finds her interesting so he takes her out on a date, but to get to the next base, he must defeat her seven evil exes

    (Takes Off): A sequel to Vs The World, Scott and Ramona have a bad breakup after their honeymoon. Scott becomes Old Scott and uses a robot using a vegan portal to stop his younger self from getting together with Ramona. During Scott’s fight with Mathew Patel, the robot takes him through a vegan time portal, with everyone assuming that he is dead.

    Inspirations: Bryan Lee O’Malley’s love of indie rock and shonen style manga, Plumtree’s song, “Scott Pilgrim, various characters named after musicians, Nintendo games based styles for the setting, 2000’s indie culture: garage bands, geek culture, and 80’s nostalgia; and love models: Gottman’s Four Horsemen, Knapp’s relationship development model, attachment theory, and Sternberg’s Triangle; and Peter Pan Syndrome.

    Motifs: Health bars, game points, relationships, exes, changing hair colors of Ramona, and veganism

    The world of Scott Pilgrim is unserious. The main character is a slacker and a pedophile, the physics is a mix of Shonen and retro gaming, and Scott doesn’t have a complex view of relationships, treating everyone like acquaintances, even ex girlfriends, like Kim, Knives, and Envy. His current residence with Wallace is only because he dropped by and never left. He’s carefree, but aloof and insensitive.

    The physics of this world are a mix of of Shonen fights and retro gaming logic.

    (Scott Pilgrim vs Mathew Patel)
    (Naruto vs Sasuke, Naruto)
    (Street Fighter)

    Characters have insane powers, like Ramona’s subspace travel, Todd’s vaganism based powers, Mathew Patel’s Indian mystical powers, and Scott’s super-strength. The rest of the characters treat this like its normal, and the only time law enforcement shows up is when Todd Ingram breaks the vegan code. The fights in the graphic novel are Shonen style, like Bleach and Naruto, and the defeated side turns into Canadian coins, like in MarioBros., and K.O. appears overhead. The movie and anime expand on this by adding health bars and a street fighter style narrator and font.

    Ramona has an issue with commitment, and this is illustrated by the existence of the Evil Exes Organization and her constantly changing her hair dyes.

    “I run away from the thing that I love.” “I never want to feel stuck.”

    She doesn’t want too commit herself, because she fears she will be stuck in monotony, so she breaks off her previous relationships. These are the Seven Evil Exes. In the anime, each episode begins with her changing hair dyes in the morning.

    Conflicts: Scott vs himself (Nega-Scott)

    Scott vs his future (Older Scott)

    Ramona’s fear of commitment

    Scott breaking up with Knives

    Scott vs the Evil Exes

    Ramona’s past haunting her

    Running from the past or being obsessed with it, which is the goal of the Evil Exes, to get back with Ramona.

    The world of Scott Pilgrim is the real world, but with the physics of beloved pop culture mixed in, like a distraction. Scott and other characters try to live like its their favorite video game or comic, but no matter how much they try, real world issues like unemployment, toxic relationships, taking advantage of minors, obsession, relationship experimentation, and break ups, are still relevant, and are more highlighted in a fantastical world like Scott Pilgrim. People don’t get killed, they just turn into currency. All of the characters are attempting to live a life of escapism, similar to the readers and watchers of this IP.

    Themes: Escapism, forming of relationships. fear of commitment, adulthood’s consequences, self-respect, self-esteem, Peter Pan syndrome, obsession, aloofness, and hero worship.

  • There Will Be Blood IB Analysis

    August 31, 2025

    By John Ferrandino

    Characters: Daniel Plainview, Eli Sunday, H.W. Plainview

    Plot: Daniel Plainview is an oil prospector in the early 20th century. He adopts the son of a dead miner, H.W. Plainview. He creates the image of a loving father in order to to get favorable land deals. A man from California named Paul Sunday approaches him and tells him of an oil deposit under his home ranch. Over the next 10 years, Daniel becomes an oil tycoon, shedding the factors of his humanity; his son becomes deaf due to a gas vent rush at the oil rig, Henry, a man who claims to be Daniel’s brother, and the local preacher and Paul’s brother, Eli Sunday, whom Daniel develops a rivalry with.

    Inspirations: This film is based on “Oil”, by Upton Sinclair, an activist and writer during the Gilded Age who wrote about unsafe working conditions in “The Jungle”, in order to raise awareness. He was a muckraker, a writer who worked to expose corruption in US industries. Other works include “The Brass Check”. criticizing yellow journalism. “King Coal” and “The Flivver King” exposed the coal and automotive industries’ unsafe working conditions. “Oil” deals with the oil industry and focuses on the conflict between a son and his oil tycoon father. The film’s director, Paul Thomas Anderson, adapts the first 150 pages and puts it in the father’s perspective. He changed the title because his screenplay was so different from the novel.

    “I drink your milkshake.”, the most famous quote of the film, is based on Albert Fall’s Teapot Dome Scandal speech and by Sen. Pete Domenici’s speech on drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

    Motifs: Family man, oil, Third Revelation, drinking, and the American Dream

    Anderson’s protagionist is the deplorable Daniel Plainview, but the audience can follow him because he tries to be the American Dream ideal entrepreneur and a father. He is ambitious, manipulative, cynical, and amoral. He adopts H.W. in order to come off as a trustworthy man and claims to know his men personally. His greed and self centeredness reveals itself when the oil rig first reaches oil, H.W. becomes deaf. The rig catches fire and he just watches as it burns through the night into the next noon.

    The sight of the burning oil rig is a tunnel vision, blurred around the edges, clear in the center. This is Plainview’s perspective, the profit that is his. The music is just a beating, screeching, mechanical sound, a blend of the oil rig’s machinery and Daniel’s heartbeat the only thing that he senses. He doesn’t care about the men who died to build it and he doesn’t check to see if his son is okay, who is showing signs of deafness.

    “There is a whole ocean under our feet and it’s all mine.”

    Plainview’s relationship with Eli Sunday is of one conman to another. Anderson has the same actor portray Paul and Eli, hinting at similar motives of the brothers. Paul tells Daniel about the oil, and Eli negotiates a church to be built on the land around the rig with him as the preacher of the Third Revelation Church. Named after the time God will message his prophets in the Book of Revelation. This is ironic because Eli does not use a Bible for his sermons. He makes a show out of it and puts social pressure on Daniel to confess his sins and admit he abandoned his son. Eli’s influence and power grows with Daniel’s wealth. He becomes a radio televangelist in the 20s.

    A man named Henry arrives and claims to be Daniel’s brother, but is revealed to be a fraud who assumes the name and diary of the real Henry after he dies, in order to get to Daniel’s wealth. Daniel kills him and buries him. This is discovered and is the catalyst for his public repentance in the Third Revelation.

    Oil represents wealth and human greed. Daniel is covered in it, H.W. is deaf because of it, and Henry is buried as his grave pools with oil in the ground.

    Conflicts:

    Daniel’s pursuit of wealth

    Daniel’s loss of humanity

    H.W.’s abandonment

    Eli’s religious ferver

    Rivalry between Daniel and Eli

    Henry’s deception

    Meaning of title ‘There Will Be Blood’, the willingness of ambitious men, like Daniel and Eli, to use and discard anyone in order to achieve wealth. Reflects real historical figures in the early 20th century and late 19th century; industrialists, politicians, and preachers that are akin to Daniel and Eli.

    “I hate most people. There are times when I look at people and I see nothing worth liking. I want to earn enough money so I can get away from everyone.”

    “Ive abandoned my child! I’ve abandoned my boy!”

    “You’re lower than a bastard. You have none of me in you. You’re just a bastard from a basket.”

    “I DRINK YOUR MILKSHAKE. SCCHCHHSHSCHSHCHSLLLSSHHHH. I DRINK IT UP!”

    In the final confrontation between Daniel and Eli, H.W. is grown up, married, and starting his own business. When Daniel reveals H.W.’s true status, its to his immense relief that he has none of Daniel in him. It’s the eve of Black Tuesday and Eli is offering to sell the last land on his ranch not owned by Daniel. Daniel makes Eli renounce his god, then reveals that he siphoned out the oil years before, so that land is useless. He berates Eli, calls him the “afterbirth” after his twin brother. He compares his theft of his oil like a long straw reaching across the room drinking his milkshake. He mocks his religion by calling his sermons tribal dances, dancing while doing so, and he declares himself to be the true third revelation, he will eat Eli, he ends his life by bludgeoning him with a bowling pin.

    “I’m finished”, are Daniel’s final words, as he is done pretending to be humane.

    Themes: Greed, American Dream’s dark side, ambitions affects on oneself and others, disabilities, abandonment, cruelty, and hatred

  • Devilman Crybaby IB analysis

    By John Ferrandino

    Characters: Akira Fudo, Ryo Asuka (Satan), Miki Makimura, and Miko Kuroda

    Plot: Akira Fudo is a normal, small high schooler who is on the track team along with his friend, Miki Makimura. His childhood friend, Ryo, comes back from a research expedition from the Amazon Rainforest, discovering demons. For research purposes, Ryo takes Akira to a black sabbath party. Demons posses sinful humans, so Ryo creates a panic, which results in partygoers transforming into demons, including Akira. But instead of killing humans, Akira fights the demons. His body os Amon, a mighty demon, but his heart is human. A devil human hybrid known as Devilman. Akira and Ryo team up to fight the demons, while Akira deals with his humanity and Ryo has ulterior motives.

    Influences:

    Go Nagai; the author, writes science fiction, horror, and erotica manga. Wrote this story for the purpose of an anti-war message.

    Berserk; Guts and Griffith reflect Akira and Ryo in design and role in the story.

    Apocalypse Now; Apocalyptic art design.

    Motifs: Running, demons, two moons, light, darkness, sex, rapping, and Devilman tv show from the 80s

    The animation uses natural lighting, dark shadows, and bright light to create a visceral, hardcore experience. This is similar to Francis Ford Coppola’s war film, Apocalypse Now. Both of them use visceral cinematography and violence to create a feeling of apocalyptic despair.

    (Apocalypse Now, 1979)

    (Devilman Crybaby, 2018)

    The animation of the running of the track team is distinct by making the runners look like wild animals, highlighting demonic nature and physiology. The fastest runners on the track team, Akira and Miko, run leaning forward and arms swinging below them, giving the appearance of wild animals. Before Akira merges with Amon, he is a scrawny and meek teenager who is the slowest of the track team. After the merger, his speed and physiology increase. The members of the track team are ambitious, selfish, and estatic while running, eventually becoming devilmen like Akira to enhance their speed and endurance. The origins of demons is revealed to be thet they are the spirits of prehistoric beasts before the mass extinction event, with the same instincts and will to survive. They just see humans as a lesser lifeform to take advantage of. In return, possessed humans have increased physical capabilities. Miki, who sees the good in other people, doesn’t become a demon, and its reflected by her normal running stance.

    (Before and after Akira’s merger with Amon)

    Some characters in Devilman Crybaby rap to express their pent up emotions. The director, Masaaki Yuasa, states that “rappers the people who speak their minds today”. When the rap gang in the show raps, its often confessions to other characters, such as their ambitions and sexual desires.

    The ending sees the moon split in half and formed into two new perfect spherical satellites. This confirms that this timeline is a time loop. Further hints at a time loop is present with the Devilman tv show from the 80s making an appearance as merch and a tv show in Akira’s home.

    Conflicts:

    The moral grey between demons and humans

    Akira’s heightened senses and libedo

    Demons possessing humans and humans persecuting devilmen

    Ryo’s apathy and mysterious past

    “I’m not a devil, I’m Devilman.”-Akira begging to a mob

    “Don’t cry for it, it was going to die anyway.”-Ryo criticising Akira for trying to save a starving cat

    Themes: Sexuality, loss of innocence, puberty, cycle of punishment, destiny, morality in the face of fear, such as the victem reciprocates the offender, such as the humans mercilessly killing devilmen after the existence of demons is revealed.

    Ryo is revealed to be Satan who lost his memories after being exiled to Earth after rebelling against God and becoming leader of the demons. Although he doesn’t have a clear goal in mind, his apathy and coldness make his orchestrating humanity’s downfall inevitable. His punishment by God is to constantly kill the one he cares for the most, Akira. Although he is the villain, by the end, he is revealed to be the biggest victim.

    “Why am I the only one talking? Akira! Don’t leave me.”-Final line from Ryo to Akira.

    It can be interpreted that God punishes Satan by having him experience friendship, but without love, so he can destroy it himself and humanity, in an endless cycle. The presence of the 80s continuity in this timeline supports this by showing that Satan lives multiple times as Ryo, and makes the same tragic mistake.

  • Hello World!

    This is meant to be a forum of literary discussion for post IB high school graduates. I would like to thank Mrs. Karen S. McCurdy for being my IB language and literature teacher. She prepared me for the IB test for Language and Literature, introduced me to many excellent pieces of literature, and increased my love of films and books by sparking an analytical view of them. I hope the IB class of 2025 finds this blog and has fun revisiting old IB skills. These blogs are not full on essays, just notes.