Choi Mars Attacks

Tim Burton humorously satirizes the government and capitalism through Mars Attacks. Jack Nicholson’s dual role as the president and Art Land creates a strong sense of irony, and allows Burton to wittily criticize the role of government and capitalism in our society.

The scene where the president dies satirizes the role of government particularly well. This scene is even more shocking and ironic yet comical as the president’s death occurred right after he gave a very emotional and motivating speech. The alien king not only cheerfully killed the president of United States, but also went a step further by erecting a flag or victory over his dead body, as if everything was a joke to him. Through this scene, Burton tried to undermine the authority and capability of a government, suggesting that we should not look up to a government to take care of us, but instead, that we should look after ourselves as a government can be useless and be of no help in many situations. Burton’s cynical view on central leadership directly contradicts the notion of a powerful government shown in the movie Independence Day. Independence Day depicts the president of United States as a brave, heroic leader figure who unrelentingly sacrifices himself for the better of humanity, creating strong respect and awe towards the government. Burton’s idea of the government is quite different, as the leaders in Mars Attacks are neither powerful nor respectable.

Besides questioning the role of a government, Burton also criticizes capitalism through the character Art Land. In Mars Attacks, Art Land is depicted as a greedy businessman who cares about absolutely nothing except money. The extent of his extreme materialism is clearly revealed in the conference scene, where he gathers other businessmen to propose his new idea of creating hotel service for aliens. While the fate of humanity and his own life is clearly at stake, Art Land is blinded by his desire to make money, and is completely oblivious to the fact that humanity is going to be destroyed any moment. Although Art Land’s extreme materialism is clearly exaggerated, this scene is a perfect criticism of American materialism and capitalism, as a lot of people are blinded to things that are truly important because of their desire for money.

Choi Ed Wood Response

Tim Burton’s film, Ed Wood is a tribute to “the worst film director in the world”, Edward D. Wood Jr. It makes the audience wonder why Tim Burton paid respect to a “bad director” despite Burton himself being one of the most successful film directors of all time. However, upon a closer look, we can totally understand why Tim Burton had such a deep connection and respect for Ed Wood as a film director, as Mr. Wood’s life was strikingly similar to that of Burton’s in many different ways.

The first element of the movie that highlights Burton’s appreciation for Ed Wood lies in Burton’s depiction of the relationship between Ed Wood and Bela Lugosi. In the film, Bela Lugosi is depicted as an old, retired morphine addict who lives in the shadow of his past glory days. However, such miserable traits of Lugosi do not affect Ed Wood’s appreciation and respect for him, as Lugosi clearly is Ed Wood’s hero. Ed Wood takes their relationship a step further by casting Lugosi in his own film, which is the ultimate homage a film director can pay to any an actor. Such experience creates a strong parallel with Tim Burton’s own life as a film director, as Tim Burton had an idol of his own, Vincent Price. Vincent price, too, was a horror actor like Bela Lugosi, and was a significant figure in Tim Burton’s heart as Lugosi was to Ed Wood, and also worked with Tim Burton for his films. These similarities could created Burton’s strong emotional relation to Ed Wood.

Secondly, Burton pays homage to Ed through depiction of Ed Wood’s struggles of working without a major studio. In early part of his career, Burton also had to constantly deal with lack of proper funding and sponsoring, the same exact problem that haunted Edward Wood throughout his career. Despite bad conditions, Edward Wood never gave up on his artistic endeavors, and scraped together whatever resource he could to perpetuate his movie production forward. I believe Ed Wood’s persistence greatly appealed to Tim Burton, and he would have greatly appreciated Wood’s unceasing attempts to achieve his goal, as such struggle is not foreign to Burton himself.

The third element of the film Ed Wood that shows Burton’s appreciation towards Edward Wood is Wood’s production crew. We can easily realize that the members of Wood’s filming crew are very odd, and are outcasts in one way or the other, including Edward Wood himself. Edward Wood is an unsuccessful film director struggling to get a job, Bela Lugosi is an old, retired and forgotten actor who wastes his life away on drugs, and all the other members of his crew have nothing better to do with their lives other than to make movie of Edward Wood. This odd assembly makes us wonder what is going on in Wood’s head, but it is Wood’s non-judgmental attitude towards outcasts that made such a bizarre assembly work. Being an outsider himself, Burton clearly would have felt a strong emotional connection between him and Wood, and anybody would be able to tell that he has a strong appreciation for Wood’s unassuming attitude towards people who are not welcomed anywhere else.

The worst director ever?

Although it is quite clear that Edward Wood isn’t the best film director in the world, his spirit and attitude towards his own art is definitely something that anyone can appreciate and admire. I believe such was the case for Tim Burton, as he would have felt a strong connection and respect towards Wood’s unpretentious and genuine attitude to his own works, hence using some of Wood’s footage in his own film.

Choi Ed Wood Response

Tim Burton’s film, Ed Wood is a tribute to “the worst film director in the world”, Edward D. Wood Jr. It makes the audience wonder why Tim Burton paid respect to a “bad director” despite Burton himself being one of the most successful film directors of all time. However, upon a closer look, we can totally understand why Tim Burton had such a deep connection and respect for Ed Wood as a film director, as Mr. Wood’s life was strikingly similar to that of Burton’s in many different ways.

The first element of the movie that highlights Burton’s appreciation for Ed Wood lies in Burton’s depiction of the relationship between Ed Wood and Bela Lugosi. In the film, Bela Lugosi is depicted as an old, retired morphine addict who lives in the shadow of his past glory days. However, such miserable traits of Lugosi do not affect Ed Wood’s appreciation and respect for him, as Lugosi clearly is Ed Wood’s hero. Ed Wood takes their relationship a step further by casting Lugosi in his own film, which is the ultimate homage a film director can pay to any an actor. Such experience creates a strong parallel with Tim Burton’s own life as a film director, as Tim Burton had an idol of his own, Vincent Price. Vincent price, too, was a horror actor like Bela Lugosi, and was a significant figure in Tim Burton’s heart as Lugosi was to Ed Wood, and also worked with Tim Burton for his films. These similarities could created Burton’s strong emotional relation to Ed Wood.

Secondly, Burton pays homage to Ed through depiction of Ed Wood’s struggles of working without a major studio. In early part of his career, Burton also had to constantly deal with lack of proper funding and sponsoring, the same exact problem that haunted Edward Wood throughout his career. Despite bad conditions, Edward Wood never gave up on his artistic endeavors, and scraped together whatever resource he could to perpetuate his movie production forward. I believe Ed Wood’s persistence greatly appealed to Tim Burton, and he would have greatly appreciated Wood’s unceasing attempts to achieve his goal, as such struggle is not foreign to Burton himself.

The third element of the film Ed Wood that shows Burton’s appreciation towards Edward Wood is Wood’s production crew. We can easily realize that the members of Wood’s filming crew are very odd, and are outcasts in one way or the other, including Edward Wood himself. Edward Wood is an unsuccessful film director struggling to get a job, Bela Lugosi is an old, retired and forgotten actor who wastes his life away on drugs, and all the other members of his crew have nothing better to do with their lives other than to make movie of Edward Wood. This odd assembly makes us wonder what is going on in Wood’s head, but it is Wood’s non-judgmental attitude towards outcasts that made such a bizarre assembly work. Being an outsider himself, Burton clearly would have felt a strong emotional connection between him and Wood, and anybody would be able to tell that he has a strong appreciation for Wood’s unassuming attitude towards people who are not welcomed anywhere else.

The worst director ever?

Although it is quite clear that Edward Wood isn’t the best film director in the world, his spirit and attitude towards his own art is definitely something that anyone can appreciate and admire. I believe such was the case for Tim Burton, as he would have felt a strong connection and respect towards Wood’s unpretentious and genuine attitude to his own works, hence using some of Wood’s footage in his own film.

Choi Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy - Anchor Baby

Anchor Baby

Anchor Baby is a story that contains several aspects of Tim Burton’s emotional isolation and loneliness. The female character of this story is an outsider in many senses. Firstly, she is physically isolated from rest of the characters of the story (the band), as she comes from the sea while the band plays ashore. She also can never really get close to the band, but instead just wanders around them. Secondly, she is not only physically but also emotionally detached from rest of the characters in the story. In the book, it clearly says “But throughout their lives they never connected. She wandered the earth alone and rejected.” Tim Burton states her emotional detachment from other characters in plain language. Her loneliness probably is a reflection of Tim Burton’s alienated and lonely childhood, as Burton has also never felt connected with his parents or the suburbia that he grew up in. The female character desperately tries to fit in and tries to find a place to belong in the little “society” in the story, but none of them worked, and at last, she chose to have a baby just to be connected to her lover, Walker. Such extremeness of her actions only enhances the idea of abandonment and desperate attempt to fit in, as they clearly shows the audience that she is willing to do anything to find a sense of belonging. However, she later realizes that she is truly abandoned when Walker literally walks away from her, and her love remains unrequited. This story is almost shockingly dark, and bends the traditional Jungian archetypes. There are no heroes, kings, devils or barbarians, but only shadows of the characters. The shadows in this story are portrayed both directly and indirectly. The female character’s loneliness and abandonment is her shadow, and the man’s irresponsible act of leaving his child and the child’s mom behind is his shadow. The baby is also representative of the shadow of both the male and female characters, as neither the mom nor the dad loves and cares for him.