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Scheduled Weekend Downtime
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Rhetorical Analysis Piece for Extra CreditRhetorical Analysis on the Anime Paranoia Agent Victor Hernandez Paranoia Agent is a anime series written by Satoshi Kon, who was a Japanese film director, animator, screenwriter and manga artist from Sapporo, Hokkaidō. When Kon was in High School, he wanted to be an animator. He entered a Graphic Design course at Musashino Art University, and made his debut as a manga artist after. Paranoia Agent is about a social phenomenon in Musashino, Tokyo, where people are beginning to get attacked by a juvenile serial assailant named Lil’ Slugger, who wears a red cap, golden roller skates, and has a crooked yellow bat. As Lil’ Slugger grows as a problem, a fictional pink dog called Maromi, which is a plushy created by one of the victims of Lil’ Slugger, Tsukiko, grows frighteningly fast in popularity as well. Long story short, the anime explores the lives of people who are affected by Lil’ Slugger, who is not stated as real or a figment of imagination, and as the series goes on, the watcher learns the secrets behind the lives of the people, and the secrets behind Maromi and Lil’ Slugger. The theme of Paranoia Agent is the consequences of repression. Tsukiko, after creating Maromi, was under a lot of pressure to create another mascot that could be another big hit by her job. She gets attacked by Lil Slugger with a crooked yellow bat, and receives some hate mail. Maromi symbolizes the distraction from reality Tsukiko creates as she deals with the stress, which is shown when Maromi starts moving and talking to Tsukiko, and tells her to ignore the hate and stress in her life caused by her job, instead of facing the problems. The escapism portrayed through Maromi spreads as she becomes more popular in Musashino, and more merchandise is created of her, like shirts and hats, and more people use Maromi as a distraction from their problems. Lil’ Slugger grows in popularity as well, and people start realizing that people who got attacked by him don’t have problems anymore that they used to have. Lil Slugger becomes a distraction for the people as well, since apparently their problems are gone if they get hit by Lil’ Slugger. From a corrupt officer who is indebted to the Yakuza (gangsters in Japan) and is forced to commit crimes to pay off his debt and protect the home his family lives in, which he justifies by thinking he is a hero that is just doing what is good for his family, even though his indulgence in girls and alcohol is what made him indebted to the Yakuza in the first place, to a detective that can not pay for a life saving treatment for his dying wife, and ends up in reality created by Maromi in which the problems he has never existed, and they are gone from his memory, such as him not being able to have a child since his wife’s body could not handle it. Whether it’s Maromi, Lil’ Slugger, or delusions people created in their own minds, they found a way to distract themselves from their problems. Short Reflective Paragraph : I can connect to the source because I distracted myself from my problems, and I didn’t realize it for a long time. Whether it’s games for 8 hours straight, or scrolling through social media, or watching shows/movies, I found things that made me temporarily forget about whatever was on my mind. I watched Paranoia Agent, and since it was a very confusing anime, I went looking for answers. I saw a video explaining what happened, and I started realizing that all the bad things that happened in the anime was a result of people running away from the problems they had. I realized that even though the anime aired in 2004, the lessons it portrayed were more than prevalent today. In today’s society, people use the technology they have to distract themselves from their problems. With the click of a finger, people can indulge in other people’s lives, which can temporarily make them forget about their own. This can be frighteningly addicting, and people start digging themselves into bigger holes and bigger problems by, instead of facing their problems, distract themselves from them. Paranoia Agent helped me realize that I was subconsciously distracting myself from my problems, and a lot of people do, […] “Rhetorical Analysis Piece for Extra Credit”
Grace Godette (She/her) wrote a new post on the site Gracie's Portfolio 15 hours, 15 minutes ago
SWR – Week 15What have you learned that has proved most useful to your composition process? What has proved most useful to my composition process is […]
Grace Godette (She/her) wrote a new post on the site Gracie's Portfolio 15 hours, 17 minutes ago
SWR – Week 13What is the relationship between your Research essay and your MMT? In yourresponse, be sure to compare the rhetorical situation of […]
Ivan Shaw is The Corporate Photography Director for the Condé Nast Archive. Mr. Shaw discusses the changes to high fashion publishing and the rise of new cultural currents, aesthetics, and players. [embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pb8nqdc3_c8[/embedyt]...
Jessica Dawson is the founder of Dogumenta [embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K42qFwNegpA[/embedyt]...
In this episode of Twilight Talks, Kevin Moore interviews Roe Ethridge, a postmodernist commercial and art photographer. Roe talks about Goldman Sachs, hurricanes, and the dark and the light in his latest show. [embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqEbCef8Mec[/embedyt]...
In this episode of Twilight Talks, Kevin Moore interviews Darius Himes, International Head of Photographs at Christie's. Darius talks about publishing, auctions, stock market, and growing up with an uncommon name in rural America. [embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwUOPuwMNuE[/embedyt]...
Painter Ellen Berkenblit. She talks about creative sustainability, her father's passion for photography, and learning to pause. [embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vo4Dx0E_UKQ[/embedyt]...
Robert Buck is an artist who lives in New York City and West Texas. In 2007, he changed his last name from Beck to Buck, expressing a departure in his artistic practice. His work is poetic, engaging, visceral, and sometimes violent. Buck's works are included...
In this episode of Twilight Talks, Kevin Moore interviews artist, writer and performer Constance DeJong. She is best known for her experimental novel Modern Love and as librettist for Philip Glass's opera Satyagraha. She is also well known for her numerous collaborations with Tony Oursler,...
Laurie Simmons, is an American artist, photographer, and filmmaker. Since the 1970s, Simmons has staged scenes with dolls, ventriloquist dummies, “walking objects,” and live models, creating photographs that resemble enigmatic domestic scenes. Laurie is part of The Pictures Generation, a name given to a group of...
A writer and Distinguished Professor at CUNY’s Graduate Center. Aciman's books, from "Out of Egypt" to "Enigma Variations", explore subjects ranging from sexuality to exile. His 2007 book, "Call Me By Your Name", has achieved wider popularity thanks to a successful film adaptation that won...
