First I found this little gem of a post from actor John Cleese on the terrorism alert levels in the world. And before you get to reading it, keep in mind McCloud's imparted wisdom that when you read a text you make it alive... can the following descriptions evoke images for you (and it's not the most image invoking piece) but still, are sentences just strung out icons for pictures, moving images rambling almost like a movie through our head as we read? Anyway here it is (more from me after).
The English are feeling the pinch in relation to recent events in Libya and have therefore raised their security level from "Miffed" to "Peeved." Soon, though, security levels may be raised yet again to "Irritated" or even "A Bit Cross." The English have not been "A Bit Cross" since the blitz in 1940 when tea supplies nearly ran out. Terrorists have been re-categorized from "Tiresome" to "A Bloody Nuisance." The last time the British issued a "Bloody Nuisance" warning level was in 1588, when threatened by the Spanish Armada.
The Scots have raised their threat level from "Pissed Off" to "Let's get the Bastards." They don't have any other levels. This is the reason they have been used on the front line of the British army for the last 300 years.
The French government announced yesterday that it has raised its terror alert level from "Run" to "Hide." The only two higher levels in France are "Collaborate" and "Surrender." The rise was precipitated by a recent fire that destroyed France 's white flag factory, effectively paralyzing the country's military capability.
Italy has increased the alert level from "Shout Loudly and Excitedly" to "Elaborate Military Posturing." Two more levels remain: "Ineffective Combat Operations" and "Change Sides."
The Germans have increased their alert state from "Disdainful Arrogance" to "Dress in Uniform and Sing Marching Songs." They also have two higher levels: "Invade a Neighbor" and "Lose."
Belgians, on the other hand, are all on holiday as usual; the only threat they are worried about is NATO pulling out of Brussels .
The Spanish are all excited to see their new submarines ready to deploy. These beautifully designed subs have glass bottoms so the new Spanish navy can get a really good look at the old Spanish navy.
Australia , meanwhile, has raised its security level from "No worries" to "She'll be alright, Mate." Two more escalation levels remain: "Crikey! I think we'll need to cancel the barbie this weekend!" and "The barbie is canceled." So far no situation has ever warranted use of the final escalation level.
-- John Cleese - British writer, actor and tall person
The Scots have raised their threat level from "Pissed Off" to "Let's get the Bastards." They don't have any other levels. This is the reason they have been used on the front line of the British army for the last 300 years.
The French government announced yesterday that it has raised its terror alert level from "Run" to "Hide." The only two higher levels in France are "Collaborate" and "Surrender." The rise was precipitated by a recent fire that destroyed France 's white flag factory, effectively paralyzing the country's military capability.
Italy has increased the alert level from "Shout Loudly and Excitedly" to "Elaborate Military Posturing." Two more levels remain: "Ineffective Combat Operations" and "Change Sides."
The Germans have increased their alert state from "Disdainful Arrogance" to "Dress in Uniform and Sing Marching Songs." They also have two higher levels: "Invade a Neighbor" and "Lose."
Belgians, on the other hand, are all on holiday as usual; the only threat they are worried about is NATO pulling out of Brussels .
The Spanish are all excited to see their new submarines ready to deploy. These beautifully designed subs have glass bottoms so the new Spanish navy can get a really good look at the old Spanish navy.
Australia , meanwhile, has raised its security level from "No worries" to "She'll be alright, Mate." Two more escalation levels remain: "Crikey! I think we'll need to cancel the barbie this weekend!" and "The barbie is canceled." So far no situation has ever warranted use of the final escalation level.
-- John Cleese - British writer, actor and tall person
I mean I chuckle after every time I read this. The ability to put "voice" within a text, not someone just rambling on, but actual voice. Where you can envision someone saying it to you...
McCloud had a wonderful perspective on cartoons, icons, and how the human mind can do truly remarkable things when it comes to assigning subjective animations to seemingly inanimate object
;) <---- a semi-colon and a parenthe...is that the singular half of parentheses? is the universal symbol for a sly, sneaky, suggestive face used daily in millions of texts.
Our ability to assign relatable values and similar experiences to symbols, icons, images, ect... is super cool in and of its self; but how about when two people from different sides of the globe, from different worlds, are able to communicate through drawn symbols representing universal things such as a tree, or a flower, or a jar of peanut butter...? I mean we have to give ourselves a little more credit than that I suppose, the fact that humans can represent through symbolsiconscartoons--images-- that they create (as long as not completely abstract) is a feat all by itself...
Another interesting point McCloud brings up is the separation of great art and great literature and how the two are viewed apart in the serious world of art or literature. This brings me to a tangent, this is much like how our school's grades are split apart in this country. We determine that a child should be in a grade based off how old they are, not based on any other critical factors? I feel the best way to explain my point is to show you where I got my point from and it's use of a variety of different tools that we have discussed in class and it's completely eye-opening arguments that it makes: Enjoy-
I didn't yet watch the video, but the John Cleese shit cracked me up. "The Barbie is cancelled" is fucking priceless.
ReplyDeleteReally interesting! I especially like your discussion of symbols and how they transcend cultural boundaries. Your post really made me think about what symbols are universal and what are culturally positioned. For example, the "jar of peanut butter"....Such an interesting one! I was convinced that the jar of peanut butter was a universal symbol of goodness until I traveled to Central America last summer and found that what I considered the epitome of comfort and deliciousness was in fact the object of scorn and derision in El Salvador. They HATE peanut butter (do not ask me why). So now I wonder...Are symbols universal, but the reactions to them culturally specific? So interesting. You should draw me a cartoon about peanut butter.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the video! I have to say that after watching my parents teach for 15+ years, I completely agree with the point made. And thanks for John Cleese, I haven't seen that in a while but it cracks me up every time!
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting how our use of language is based off experience--we can imagine and 'see' a picture and understand as a tree or flower, because we have seen trees and flowers before. I think the peanut butter gets a little more culture-specific, but follows the same line. The John Cleese bit is funny because we have all heard/seen these stereotypes before--we have the 'picture' already in our mind. I think it makes a good argument for the the definition of humans as visual/pictural thinkers. In a way it makes sense--the first forms of writing were pictographs. And the words are still pictures, even if we are taught that they are not. Perhaps we are still using pictures, just in a more abstract way than now (think alphabet), than in pre-historic days (think cave painting)?
Interesting connection to McCloud's explanation of "levels of abstraction". ;-) I like to add noses to mine, and there is a significant reason pertinent to this comment. Android devices, in SMS messaging (and probably other techs too) recognize patterns like semi-colon::closing-parenthesis (<--catch that answer to your first question) and automatically turn them into images of a smiling little abstracted circle containing two dots and a curved line before sending the text to your intended recipient. The semi-colon::closing-parenthesis is a level of abstraction from text that mimics another level of abstraction from images. My giant question is, are emoticons the /+\===/+\ between the gap of literature and art?
ReplyDeleteOops... it was your second question... ;)
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