Kutay
University
Hey i was wondering how catch me if you can (book or movie) is a related text to the module representation and Text and in the elective Telling the Truth.
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Catch Me If You CAn (1 Viewer)
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Logain
aka Will, Skis, Willskis
Heh. Much as I hate to do other people's work for them... I'll be doing this text and this will give me a good chance to get my facts right and organise my ideas. (this is all me just sitting at a computer thinking up shit, too.)
CATCH ME IF YOU CAN
Frank Abagnale creates a _personal_ truth about himself and broadcasts this truth to everyone else in his realm in the form of his different personas/occupations. Doing this is a result of his father teaching him fraud and evasion at an early age.
Questions raised: Does one's upbringing affect their moral stance towards the truth? How does one's own propagation of the truth (eg Frank pretending to be a teacher) affect others around them? How gullible are people to the untruthfullness of others? Is the truth really so vague so as to be imperceptible?
Techniques:
Personification: Each of Frank's various "lives" is a personification of all the falsehoods about himself. The doctor, the lawyer, the pilot, each of these is a representation of all the things he wishes he could be, and a truth he has created about himself that he has schooled himself (and others) into believing.
Allegory:
Frank Abagnale Sr.: Two little mice fell in a bucket of cream. The first mouse quickly gave up and drowned. The second mouse, wouldn't quit. He struggled so hard that eventually he churned that cream into butter and crawled out. Gentlemen, as of this moment, I am that second mouse.
This cute little story recurs in the text, and has a metaphorical meaning (of course.) The story is a lie. Frank Sr. doesn't struggle hard, he deceives, and cons his way out of that bucket. This skewing of the allegory shows the skewed version of the truth that is Frank Sr's life.
Symbolism: The golden necklace that Frank Sr uses to woo women into doing favours (nothing sexual, gutterminds) for him is symbolic of the deception in society and the more "appealing" alternatives to the truth. (note the shiny golden qualities of the necklace. Really sell the fact that its shiny, you know, to show how people can be distracted from the truth by something aesthetically pleasing, allowing a whole new truth to be created.)
Quote:
Frank Abagnale Sr.: You know why the Yankees always win, Frank?
Frank Abagnale, Jr.: 'Cause they have Mickey Mantle?
Frank Abagnale Sr.: No, it's 'cause the other teams can't stop staring at those damn pinstripes.
Again, referring to presentation and the truth. The Yankees aren't invincible, but they attempt to create that truth by distracting their opponents with something visually striking.
You can link that to frontline, Brian's obsession with visuals and Mike's insistence that he be "out in the field" at Bougainville to propagate that truth that he is a competent journalist. It's all about the truth people infer when they're faced with something in front of their faces that might allude to a certain truth but not actually say it... I don't know if I'm rambling here, but imagine..ummm.. oh. the Frontline episode "The siege". They use a Psychology student, who has a beard, in front of a book case, to talk about what's going on in a killers mind. He probably has no fucking idea what he's on about, but people associate the image of a man with a beard in front of a shelf of books with someone intelligent, therefore creating their own truth. The same with the Yankees and the pinstripes. Got it?
Carl Hanratty: Sometimes it's easier livin' the lie.
This is a black and white exploration of the creation and maintenence of a truth, and shows it easy it is to live deceptively in our society.
Another link opportunity, but its only to a text of mine, The Importance of Being Earnest also has a lot of value in reference to telling the truth, because of its messages about people incorporating fallacies into their every day lives and using these personal truths to live comfortably. (Compare Algy's convenient nephew Bunbury who gets sick whenever he has to attend a boring function to Frank's convenient pilot persona, who helps him travel all around the nation.)
Frank Abagnale Jr.: Ah, people only know what you tell them, Carl.
GREAT quote. Again, relating to the easily manipulated nature of humanity. This can link to A LOT of texts, Frontline included (how easily do people believe whatever is said on the show because of what it propagates?).
This quote also shows the diminishing nature of the truth in our society, where it is beginning to hold less and less importance.
Ok Kutay (and others searching for related texts), hope that helps you guys, I know that writing it and thinking up ideas just helped me go do a bit more of my Viewing and Representation task!
Toodles!
CATCH ME IF YOU CAN
Frank Abagnale creates a _personal_ truth about himself and broadcasts this truth to everyone else in his realm in the form of his different personas/occupations. Doing this is a result of his father teaching him fraud and evasion at an early age.
Questions raised: Does one's upbringing affect their moral stance towards the truth? How does one's own propagation of the truth (eg Frank pretending to be a teacher) affect others around them? How gullible are people to the untruthfullness of others? Is the truth really so vague so as to be imperceptible?
Techniques:
Personification: Each of Frank's various "lives" is a personification of all the falsehoods about himself. The doctor, the lawyer, the pilot, each of these is a representation of all the things he wishes he could be, and a truth he has created about himself that he has schooled himself (and others) into believing.
Allegory:
Frank Abagnale Sr.: Two little mice fell in a bucket of cream. The first mouse quickly gave up and drowned. The second mouse, wouldn't quit. He struggled so hard that eventually he churned that cream into butter and crawled out. Gentlemen, as of this moment, I am that second mouse.
This cute little story recurs in the text, and has a metaphorical meaning (of course.) The story is a lie. Frank Sr. doesn't struggle hard, he deceives, and cons his way out of that bucket. This skewing of the allegory shows the skewed version of the truth that is Frank Sr's life.
Symbolism: The golden necklace that Frank Sr uses to woo women into doing favours (nothing sexual, gutterminds) for him is symbolic of the deception in society and the more "appealing" alternatives to the truth. (note the shiny golden qualities of the necklace. Really sell the fact that its shiny, you know, to show how people can be distracted from the truth by something aesthetically pleasing, allowing a whole new truth to be created.)
Quote:
Frank Abagnale Sr.: You know why the Yankees always win, Frank?
Frank Abagnale, Jr.: 'Cause they have Mickey Mantle?
Frank Abagnale Sr.: No, it's 'cause the other teams can't stop staring at those damn pinstripes.
Again, referring to presentation and the truth. The Yankees aren't invincible, but they attempt to create that truth by distracting their opponents with something visually striking.
You can link that to frontline, Brian's obsession with visuals and Mike's insistence that he be "out in the field" at Bougainville to propagate that truth that he is a competent journalist. It's all about the truth people infer when they're faced with something in front of their faces that might allude to a certain truth but not actually say it... I don't know if I'm rambling here, but imagine..ummm.. oh. the Frontline episode "The siege". They use a Psychology student, who has a beard, in front of a book case, to talk about what's going on in a killers mind. He probably has no fucking idea what he's on about, but people associate the image of a man with a beard in front of a shelf of books with someone intelligent, therefore creating their own truth. The same with the Yankees and the pinstripes. Got it?
Carl Hanratty: Sometimes it's easier livin' the lie.
This is a black and white exploration of the creation and maintenence of a truth, and shows it easy it is to live deceptively in our society.
Another link opportunity, but its only to a text of mine, The Importance of Being Earnest also has a lot of value in reference to telling the truth, because of its messages about people incorporating fallacies into their every day lives and using these personal truths to live comfortably. (Compare Algy's convenient nephew Bunbury who gets sick whenever he has to attend a boring function to Frank's convenient pilot persona, who helps him travel all around the nation.)
Frank Abagnale Jr.: Ah, people only know what you tell them, Carl.
GREAT quote. Again, relating to the easily manipulated nature of humanity. This can link to A LOT of texts, Frontline included (how easily do people believe whatever is said on the show because of what it propagates?).
This quote also shows the diminishing nature of the truth in our society, where it is beginning to hold less and less importance.
Ok Kutay (and others searching for related texts), hope that helps you guys, I know that writing it and thinking up ideas just helped me go do a bit more of my Viewing and Representation task!
Toodles!