Beowulf Group 4: Adrian Carlesimo, Spiro Xiradakis, Alexander Ness and Ronald Baxter

[Andrew Burton]

*** Your Initial Commentary ***

In roughly 100 words, each student must observe how the ad “Smokers”
for The Printing House (www.tph.ca) incongruously invokes one or two
elements of pagan Germanic culture and/or Beowulf. Feel free to
consider elements of the scene other than the dialogue. Ensure that
your analysis is original, nuanced and makes specific references to
the ad. Please be respectful of your classmates – do not post
anything that is offensive or insensitive.

The Printz Episode 1 “Smokers”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OU9WtPuc1DI

All initial commentary must be posted by midnight Sunday February 5th.

*** Your Responses to other Students ***

In roughly 50-60 words, each student must respond to the posting of
another student. Point out what you agree/disagree with and why,
justifying your opinion with careful reasoning and references to the
ad when appropriate. Be sure your response is significantly original
relative to what has already been posted. Be courteous and keep your
comments focused on students’ writing/ideas. Only respond to a
student who has not yet received feedback.

All responses must be posted by midnight Friday February 10th.

[Adrian Carlesimo]

Wherein the Printz mentions twice the notion of the journey. On the
first occasion, he says "In Vatnajökull , there is a place where the
journey of a thousand years comes to an end, and a new journey
begins". He then refers to his trip to the bathroom as "a journey of
my own". In Beowulf, the hero embarks not once, no twice, but three
times on a perilous journey to defeat some demon or dragon. The notion
of the journey, and the honor and glory that come with a successful
journey, are important to the code of values of pagan Germanic
culture. A warrior seeking to prove his might and gain prestige will
thus embark on a journey, like Beowulf did.

[Ronald Baxter]

In the "Smokers" ad, we are presented with a Beowulf-like character
garbed in what appears to be the standard clothing for a Germanic
warrior of that era. Also, when informed about the worker going out
for a smoke, the warrior says, “he possesses fire” and then refers to
it as a “power”. Clearly, he believes this to be a mystical ability,
not realizing that the man is simply using a lighter. This isn’t very
surprising considering that in pagan Germanic culture they didn’t have
technology like lighters and if you were able to create fire
spontaneously you would most likely be considered a semi-god.

[Alexander Ness]

In the advertisement of the Printing House, there are several
references to the Germanic Pagan culture. One item of the
advertisement that demonstrates this is the Printz’ understanding of
complicated matters as magic. An example of this is when the office
worker tells him of how his colleague smokes; the Printz believes that
what is meant by this is that the colleague actually has the ability
to make fire, making him believe the colleague is some sort of wizard,
just like how many Germanics thought of Druids at the time, using
magic when really using complicated techniques. Another Germanic
action is shown when the Printz goes to the bathroom. When he arrives,
he pushes the door open as though he were trying to bash through it,
showing us that he uses brute force for simple tasks, just like
Germanic warriors such as Beowulf used brute force.

[Spiro Xiradakis]

I would have to agree with what you said "warriors seeking to prove
his might [..] will embark on a journey" and I would like to back it
up by stating that he ends up proving his worth even on his journey to
the bathroom. You can hear a battle going on inside the bathroom with
Printz against an unknown being. A great warrior fighting a savage
beast in the bathroom possibly naked because of the unzipping of his
pants sounds like a pretty amazing hero.

[Adrian Carlesimo]

Although I agree with your comment in part, I find it hard to believe
that the mastery of fire would sincerely puzzle the Germanic warrior
more than the fact that he is surrounded by modern technology and
furnishing, inside a sky scraper. Given, he is slightly amazed but
this is more for comic relief than a realistic simulation of how a
Germanic warrior like Printz would react were he transposed into such
an environment. Moreover, he seems to know how to uses a printer since
he hands over to the office worker a collection of documents or his
presentation.

[Ronald Baxter]

Alex, I have to commend you for your observation and commentary the
Printz's use of brutish force, it was such a subtle comparison to
Beowulf, so kudos for picking up on it. However, I believe that in the
time of Beowulf, there were no actual "wizards". Those who possessed
mystical powers or had wizard-like abilities were considered to be
gods, semi-gods, or some other mythical creature such as an elf.

[Alexander Ness]

I agree with you finding that his lighter bewildered him into thinking
that the
smoked actually had the ability to make fire. However back then semi
gods
didn't actually exist in their tradition. They had many people who
learned crafts
and would do these tricks called druids. They did have some mythical
element,
since they were ideally priests, but it would not have been considered
like that of a
God. Still though a very good commentary on the commercial.