Yard Work is Hard Work: Jodie Mack

“Yard Work is Hard Work”

Jodie Mack, Assistant Professor of Animation, Dartmouth College

I am a huge fan of Jodie Mack’s art – specifically the style in which she constructs it. The longer animation really brought out the realistic parts of a romantic relationship. We so badly want to disassociate from reality when we’re in love. It is easy to be consumed by a relationship to the point of complete tunnel vision.  This cocoon would be heavenly if sustainable, but reality will undoubtedly butt its way in. Invariably, the actuality of debt and monetary stresses will surface eventually. Although two people might be extremely compatible, or even just terribly in love, an array of circumstantial factors can drive them apart.

It seemed like color played a significant role throughout the duration of the animation. Toward the beginning, the scenes were bright and vibrant; red was the most prominent color, varying with other vivid hues. It seems like an intuitive selection of color – new love is exciting and passionate. However, by the end, nearly every scene was washed out and tainted blue. I appreciated the use of the color blue on the house. Blue is practically synonymous with sadness and of course, we’re all familiar with ‘the blues’. I thought it was especially fitting in this animation because the blue house is ultimately what tore the couple apart.

Over the course of this lecture series, it’s become apparent how differently individuals can interpret love and desire. During some lectures, I found myself thinking, “Ah, she get’s it,” or, “he gets it.” Whereas in other lectures, I’d have a lot of difficulty not only identifying, but also relating to and interpreting the message of the lecture. I don’t believe this disparity is a matter of right or wrong, but simply different methods of interpretation. The predominantly left-brained speakers highlighted the logic and reason behind the pursuit of a beloved. The right-brained lecturers, on the other hand, seemed to focus more on the artistic products of love and desire. I fancy myself to fall in the latter category of thinkers.

Love and Desire: Brain Systems for Survival and More

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“Love and Desire: Brain Systems for Survival and More”

Lucy Brown, Clinical Professor of Neurology, Einstein College of Medicine

I have to admit – I walked away from Dr. Brown’s lecture thinking, “Well, now I know for sure that I am not in control of anything when it comes to desire.”  I found it interesting that intense love activated the most primal regions of the brain. Dr. Brown equated the fundamental urge to drink water when thirsty to the drive to pursue preferred mates. Furthermore, the drive to find and consume food and water does not fade if it goes unsatisfied, much like the drive for love or desire. The urge to find a significant other is both undeniable and inerasable. There is a certain comfort in that knowledge, but on the other hand, it’s also quite unsettling. It is no longer a matter of the heart, but rather of the reward system that has been built into the human brain by evolution. 

The more we talk about desire, the more I am convinced that love is merely the misjudgment of how unique the beloved is from any other human being. We are willing to overlook faults and tolerate behavior that we otherwise would not because we are entrenched in the thought that our beloved is different from everyone else. It seems like we are willing to do just about anything to maintain this idea that they are different – even if it means convincing ourselves of something we know intrinsically is false. Is this inclination towards delusion and denial indicative of the evolutionary motivation to seek preferred mates?

I would be curious to know what biological and psychological factors determine how we define our ‘preferred mate’. Many people pursue a specific type when it comes to romantic or sexual partners. While there are common universal traits that are considered attractive (facial symmetry, for example), each individual has a number of quirky physical preferences that they seek in a partner. I would love to see research about why an individual might prefer curly hair and thin lips over straight hair and full lips, etc.

Dr. Brown investigated love on a very clinical and scientific basis, which makes for a stronger argument of its importance for the left brained demographic. I think many people discredit emotions and behaviors associated with love as weaknesses. However, when it is looked at in a laboratory, the findings are inarguable. The creative, intuitive, or feeling individuals can readily see what hasn’t been decoded by science – that human motivation is severely influenced by desire. When an esteemed researcher puts love on equal footing with life and death, it’s difficult, even for a strictly logical thinker, to deny the significance of love to human nature.

Slavery’s Interior: Cinema and the Performative Traumas of History

Slavery’s Interior: Cinema and the Performative Traumas of History

Anthony Reed

I would not have readily associated cinema focused on slavery with love and desire, but looking at desire from a completely unromantic standpoint was refreshing. It called to mind an article I came across a few months ago about prisoners finding themselves ill adjusted upon reintroduction to the outside world. (link: http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/article/Convictcouldn-thandlebeing-free-2187648.php) The focus was on a prisoner who found himself unhappy and uncomfortable in typical society and opted to perform an act of arson in order to return to the life he knew in jail. This seems to be a common occurrence among newly freed prisoners. When inmates come to face their day of release, they realize that the reality of their freedom does not fit the idealized image they had created. Of course, their desire to return to prison is affected by a number of other factors, including feelings of alienation or an inability to function without the daily structure imposed by life in prison.  

Although I’m not familiar with film in the slavery genre, I took an interest in Reed’s discussion of Django, which used modern societal ideals to build character empathy and convey the tragedy of slavery. The protagonist, Django, is driven by a desire for vengeance and a romantic desire to save his wife. Dr. Reed specifically noted that he seems relatively uninterested in the fate of other slaves or the ‘big picture’ of freedom. I would imagine that in reality, an enslaved person would be driven by the natural desire for freedom, not romance or revenge, but romantic desire is more relatable in current times. Most audience members, myself included, may not be able to identify with the burning desire imposed by such oppression, simply for a lack of similar experiences. Romantic and vengeful desire, however, are incredibly common human experiences and are therefore easily relatable.

A theme that seems common to desire – not only in romantic desire but in other arenas as well – is the act of denying the desires of others as a source of personal empowerment. Depriving Africans of their freedom afforded slave owners the physical and political power they desired. At the time, it was accepted that this deprivation was the only means available to find any sense of fulfillment of this desire. Through a vastly different lens, characters like the Bad Girl and Conchita were similarly fueled by their ability to monopolize what others so desired. We see this theme appear across history and politics, but also in personal and professional relationships. An individual’s desire for power often leads to the withholding of the desires of others.