Surrealism vs Magic Realism
Joseph R Abbott
Whats the difference between Surrealism and Magic Realism?
Can you give me some recent examples of each that I might be able to
rent here in Japan (theres not many specialty video stores here).
Thanks,
Your loyal fan,
Joe
Craig Franck
> Whats the difference between Surrealism and Magic Realism?
Surrealism attempts to render the psychologically subjective
concrete. Magic realism breaks the projection and pretends
ordinary reality is either magical itself, or coexists with a
magical realm.
A major difference is surrealism tends to follow dream logic
or none at all, whereas magic realism tends toward disciplined
fantasy rooted in normal reality. You can get from point a to
point b in a dream without any necessary continuity, but
realism would require you to click your heels three times and
say the magic words. But first you have to find the magic
slippers (this is a major flaw in the WOZ).
> Can you give me some recent examples of each that I might be able to
> rent here in Japan (theres not many specialty video stores here).
Mulholland Drive is about a dreaming corpse. Harry Potter
would be Magic Realism.
--
Craig Franck
craig....@verizon.net
Cortland, NY
Secret Identity
craig....@verizon.net says...
>
> A major difference is surrealism tends to follow dream logic
> or none at all, whereas magic realism tends toward disciplined
> fantasy rooted in normal reality. You can get from point a to
> point b in a dream without any necessary continuity, but
> realism would require you to click your heels three times and
> say the magic words. But first you have to find the magic
> slippers (this is a major flaw in the WOZ).
>
Just curious - why is this a major flaw?
--
SI
Craig Franck
> craig....@verizon.net says...
> >
> > A major difference is surrealism tends to follow dream logic
> > or none at all, whereas magic realism tends toward disciplined
> > fantasy rooted in normal reality. You can get from point a to
> > point b in a dream without any necessary continuity, but
> > realism would require you to click your heels three times and
> > say the magic words. But first you have to find the magic
> > slippers (this is a major flaw in the WOZ).
>
> Just curious - why is this a major flaw?
Because Dorothy is given the slippers at the beginning of
her journey. She has everything she needs to get home
right then and there and is lied to.
It is significant that the Wizard is a fake and her traveling
companions realize they already have what they thought
only he could bestow upon them. But why does Glinda
lie when she first gives Dorothy the slippers and say only
the Wizard might know how to get home? That's clearly
not the case, and learning the secret information is not the
same as realizing you had courage all along, so the
parallelism of Dorothy's journey and the other three breaks
down.
Joseph R Abbott
> It is significant that the Wizard is a fake and her traveling
> companions realize they already have what they thought
> only he could bestow upon them.
Thanks for your good answer to my question.
As for the wizard of oz, has anyone noticed the "lion" is just a guy
in a costume? The Wizard isnt the only faker in that film.
Bluesea
"Craig Franck" <craig....@verizon.net> wrote in message
news:2eOia.6598$fE....@nwrdny02.gnilink.net...
I haven't watched it for many years but the way I remember it, they had to
learn what was w/i themselves and Glinda somehow knew that Dorothy was the
one who would defeat the Wicked Witch of the West. If Glinda had told
Dorothy up front to click her heels three times, well, we wouldn't have had
a story.
--
~~Bluesea~~
Spam is great in musubi but not in email.
Please take out the trash before sending a direct reply.
nmstevens
It's been awhile for me to, but as I recall, at the end somebody asks
Glinda, specifically, why she didn't tell the secret to Dorothy -- and
she replies that Dorothy wouldn't have believed her. Thus, in order
for to get back home, she needs the adventures of the journey itself,
to reach the point where she is able to accept the knowledge necessary
for her to use the ruby slippers.
Also -- if "Harry Potter" is magic realism -- what would you call
"fantasy" -- as I would certainly put HP in that category. I have a
sense that "magic realism" suggests the ongoing presence of magic in
daily life -- not the notion that there is, somehow, a traditional
though "hidden" magical society that we don't know about.
Perhaps something like "Amelie" might qualify (I couldn't swear
because I've only seen a few minutes of it).
NMS
Craig Franck
> "Craig Franck" <craig....@verizon.net> wrote
> > "Secret Identity" <mailga...@yahoo.co.uk> wrote
> > > Just curious - why is this a major flaw?
> >
> > Because Dorothy is given the slippers at the beginning of
> > her journey. She has everything she needs to get home
> > right then and there and is lied to.
> >
> > It is significant that the Wizard is a fake and her traveling
> > companions realize they already have what they thought
> > only he could bestow upon them. But why does Glinda
> > lie when she first gives Dorothy the slippers and say only
> > the Wizard might know how to get home? That's clearly
> > not the case, and learning the secret information is not the
> > same as realizing you had courage all along, so the
> > parallelism of Dorothy's journey and the other three breaks
> > down.
>
> It's been awhile for me to, but as I recall, at the end somebody asks
> Glinda, specifically, why she didn't tell the secret to Dorothy -- and
> she replies that Dorothy wouldn't have believed her. Thus, in order
> for to get back home, she needs the adventures of the journey itself,
> to reach the point where she is able to accept the knowledge necessary
> for her to use the ruby slippers.
You're right. Dorothy's journey had more to do with
character arc than simply acquiring an item of some sort
like many games have you do.
> Also -- if "Harry Potter" is magic realism -- what would you call
> "fantasy" -- as I would certainly put HP in that category. I have a
> sense that "magic realism" suggests the ongoing presence of magic in
> daily life -- not the notion that there is, somehow, a traditional
> though "hidden" magical society that we don't know about.
>
> Perhaps something like "Amelie" might qualify (I couldn't swear
> because I've only seen a few minutes of it).
I've looked in two art encyclopedias and there appears to
be some overlapping. Magic realism has an element of
enchantment with the ordinary that "Amelie" captures nicely.
You ought to see the film -- it's one of my favorites and
IMDb has it at #18 in the top #250. Jean-Pierre Jeunet
also did "The City of Lost Children," which is another
great film and would be in the fantasy/sf/alternate reality
genre.
Steven J. Weller
nmst...@msn.com (nmstevens) wrote:
> Also -- if "Harry Potter" is magic realism -- what would you call
> "fantasy" -- as I would certainly put HP in that category. I have a
> sense that "magic realism" suggests the ongoing presence of magic in
> daily life -- not the notion that there is, somehow, a traditional
> though "hidden" magical society that we don't know about.
Seems like it's a sorta' fuzzy line; I suppose the difference might be
that Magic Realism involves magic involving ordinary people, whereas a
fantasy like HP is more about the magic making the person special and
different from everybody else. Seems like there's a lot of fantasy
that's about ordinary people in magical situations, though...
--
Life Continues, Despite
Evidence to the Contrary
Steven