A question of my GPA

[blinkmeat]

I'm in University taking this film class, we had a manditory group assignment due the following class so we get into our gropus, do the work, and one of the members (4 including me) volunteered to do the write-up for the group which was cool. She took our email addy's and told us that she'd email us the write-up well before the class incase the group wanted to make any changes.

I got the email after the class was suppose to start (Not her fault per se - She emailed it a few hours before it was due) which by my standards is really pushing it. I mean I waited days for something to read, but i got nothing until then.

I go to the class, thankfully it was cancelled because I had just taken a look at what the block-head wrote and it's utterly unacceptable. I'll post it below:

Now: After a couple pints in the campus-pub with friends I - In my haste - emailed the other two members (Not the writer) which went something like this: "So, who's up for editing "L's" work?"

I haven't recieved a reply from either group member so I'm pretty sure they all think I'm a cock for doing this ... But I think I'm in the sun on this one, take a look .... The fucker ever put the wrong course code down ...

FRLST 2365 Professor D. Humbert November 15/06 Feedback on eXistenZ In agreement, the group decided that this is the worse movie we have ever watched so far in FRLST 2365. The general reactions from everyone were definitely negative; “the bio-port grossed us out”, “the pods and guns were fleshy and really weird”, “it grossed me out there were to many scientific boundaries that were crossed with these virtual games” and so on. Overall we all really hated this movie for the moral and scientific boundaries it crosses and especially for the gruesome props in the film used to play the game. First, themes the film indulges in of realism versus virtual reality, mental/moral boundaries, mistreatment of the body …etc are all important themes, but the group agreed that we didn’t like the way the film portrayed these themes. The reason why we all agreed about this is that we found the plot way to confusing. None of us could even begin to imagine when the game even starts, and inevitably if it ever ends. The twisted ending really messed us up on how to walk away from this movie. On a good note, we also agreed that the game characters did a really good job when they were in character. On the contrast though, the people playing the game such as Allegra didn’t think they were so good. For example when Allegra tells Pikul that the man is in his character, she describes him as “boring”, and also the “real” designer of the game says “my accent was so thick I couldn’t stand myself.” So over all , the characters that are part of the game did a good job with their scripts and “freezing” from their conversations. This is interesting because right from the very beginning, Allegra pauses and talks very much like those game character’s scripts. The group agreed that Allegra’s dialogue was “almost machine like.” This was of course not noticeable until the end where it makes you realize the game started earlier then we all thought. Along with the boundaries of real life, morality and science that are crossed, an odd role switch is highlighted in the movies where flesh and metal were mixed up with each other. For example, guns and pods are organic material rather than metal. The pods were also resembling flesh, and the cord looked like an umbilical cord or intestine. Inserting USB ports into your back is definitely testing the limits of medical and technological abilities. Also everyone noticed that when they were fixing the game, it was as if they were performing a surgery. This really highlights the theme of virtual reality taking over reality if there is no stop put to it. It was really disturbing how they said you could just get a bio-port at a mall like a piercing or something. The man that Pikul went to see for the insertion of a port made the virtual reality seem more and more unappealing , and grimy. This added to the grungy/dirty aspects of a virtual reality realm. It also freaked us out how the pod didn’t get infected or rather “never could get infected.” Later on in the movie, members of the group caught on that when the character spoke of the “destruction” of Allegra’s pod, the guy who did it said “I murdered your pod” therefore regarding it as life. This signifies the importance for the realists to defeat the creators of these games. Also highlighting the disadvantages of virtual reality, almost making it seem like an epidemic. The end was also confusing because the game set they were using was blue (wasn’t a pod) it was on their hand and head, so it makes one wonder-Was the whole bio-port concept only in the game? Furthermore Allegra’s weird “protection” of her pod also adds to this question-Was it a part f the game )keeping your pod alive)? Either way the answers to these questions are unexplainable when we are left wondering e what the difference between reality and the game is. The exchange of flesh with metal really helps twist the plot and adds to the confusion the game leaved with us. As for Allegra‘s role within the game, she is the designer which obviously makes her a god-like figure to the characters. Ultimately she is seen as the creator of this virtual world, as god is the creator of the real world. Moving on, then the enemies trying to slay Allegra brings her character to an antithesis. Right off the bat, we see she is worshiped, as Pikul tries to save and protect her after the shooting at the seminar. She seems as their creator and therefore their “savior” because she knows the game the best. Again at the end of the game (we think it’s the end) they are still worshiping her for her talent in designing games and encourage her to get into this field. As they compliment her (the only one they compliment in the group). It was also significant that she was the only female with a role in the movie, with the exception of the creator of the blue game at the end.. The way the virtual world in the game is portrayed as grimy, distorted and absurd is symbolic for the theme of virtual reality being not so idealistic. Virtual reality is a darker world, outside of reality that showed a different social order. For example, the griminess is parallel to an unappealing virtual world. As mentioned before, each game they entered, the characters’ surroundings got more and more grimy, grossly distorted and absurd. It also seemed their characters changed identities in each game, but kept the same names. Other than that the griminess of the atmospheres portrayed in the games are just like the violent, gruesome games available today for video games. In conclusion, these gross qualities highlight the similarity between the atmosphere of the game, and the result of the world’s atmosphere if virtual reality took over social order. Overall, the group agreed that the conclusion of the film was confusing. Some people agreed that the end was predictable that there would be a twist and they were rally in the game the whole time. Others said hat yeah, its predictable, but how the director did it was not predictable because you really cant tell if they are still in the game when the Chinese man says that the last line of the film “Are we still in the game?” Another member commented that it was far-fetched, although appropriate in giving the impression that the virtual world is dangerous…It takes over your mind, like a psychological black hole. Either way, everyone in the group agreed that it “drove home the theme that virtual reality is fatal (murder, griminess) and people can get totally absorbed in it and forget about real life.. Just like we saw when Ted tried to come back to reality and couldn’t decipher the difference from the game. Therefore there are many assumptions the viewer can make on their own, seeing as the conclusion of the film leaves you hanging. Another possible question one can ask is if the last Allegra and Ted are really the realists attempting to stop the riding empire of virtual reality before it starts to reconstruct society to the extremes of the game such as bio-ports and pods? No matter what, inevitably all the members of our group walked away with only one thought in mind…What the hell did we just watch? Work Cited for Pictures: Blackwelder, Rob. “VIRTUAL CRONENBERG“ 'eXistenZ' a dark sci-fi study in the melding of man and technology . 2006 Contactmusic.com Ltd. Nov 9, 2006. www.contactmusic.com “EXistenZ.” 25/07/2000 MTV3.fi. Nov 9, 2006. www.mtv3.fi/.../arvostelut/elokuva.shtml/26462?e “EXistenZ.” The film Festival Server. Nov 9, 2006. http://www.filmfestivals.com/berlin9...us/selof20.htm

:roll: What do you think?

[nthfinity]

it is written as a 14 year old might write it. It could've been conveyed much more intellegently.

sentence structure is all goofed up in many places, vocabulary is very limited... words like "griminess" were used all too often.

the review is contorted with scattered ideas throughout; and ultimately isn't an easy read because it ithere is no flow to it.

I would definately re-work the review

[blinkmeat]

So voicing my concern isn't that "asshole" in your eyes?

[nthfinity]

Originally Posted by blinkmeat So voicing my concern isn't that "asshole" in your eyes?

not if you want a grade above 60% I honestly dont know what your professor is looking for; but honestly, there is no way it can be what your cohort wrote.

at least it is better then turning in nothing

[blinkmeat]

Safe!

8)

[sentra_dude]

Something comes to mind after reading only 3 sentences of that crap,

"If you want something done right, do it yourself..."

, I'd throw what she wrote out the window and start over.

[ViperASR]

Wow, that is total crap. Seems like she threw it together at the last minute and didnt pay attention to it while she was doing it. Id be pretty pissed.

[Mattk]

Yeah, it's not very good, bad, even. It's poorly referenced, with no in-text referencing. In my uni, that's a fail.

[ZfrkS62]

i think my mentally challenged sister could have done better than that Rewrite it yourself and never work with her again

[Mattk]

What was the point of this piece of writing?

[blinkmeat]

Originally Posted by Mattk What was the point of this piece of writing?

We were given a set of questions to collaborate on and answer as a group - these aren't my answers - Not one - It's as if she didn't even write down what we said.

If I get a bad mark I'm going to ask the prof if I can turn it in myself.

I have to see my group tomorrow so this should be interesting

[Mattk]

We were given a set of questions to collaborate on and answer as a group

That's what I would have thought, but reading that piece of garbage, I can't conclusively anchor down any of the questions that would have been asked.

I feel pretty bad for you. Now you know never to work with this stupid girl.

[blinkmeat]

Well the groups were decided on by the professor, so I just got screwed by random chance. Thank god this is the only group assignment though - I'll just be honest, I don't know how she's getting through University with this skill set :shock:

[nthfinity]

how did this fan out?