Non-Fictional Prose Course

The graphic adaptation, I think, does a good job of conveying it's purpose (or at least what the authors said it was meant to be). I for one would have never read the commission report if it had not been for this novel. I think what's compelling about it, is that it relates words (which themselves are limiting) to the images we all know. I like that it gives the reader an image of what occurred on that hollowed day, before it explains the history behind the day itself.

In class on Thursday we discussed how people have different realities based on their personal interpretations of what is "real". I discussed how I was completely convinced that Randall was the murderer in the Thin Blue Line, and not David. We discussed how this interpretation could have been because David was more personable and charismatic than Randall, and while yes this might be true I feel like I constructed that truth in my mind based on what I interpreted. To me Randall was completely flat in all affect that he showed. He didn't become upset or emotional at all in any interview that was shown and maybe it was just frustration with him retelling his story, but I took it as he was emotionally flat all around.

  Scene I: Computer Troubles. 

We couldn't get the computer to work. It was straight-up G (that's a pun, because the "g" key was stuck down and we couldn't get a letter in edgewise). In light of this, J asked for reactions to Tarnation. 

J: It's scary and shocking. 

 I had a very uncertain reaction toward the documentary Tarnation by Johnathan Caouette when I started watching it. I was not sure what to look for and what to focus on in the light of our class discussion about truth and reality. However, as I continued watching the film, it became clear to me what was happening in his life and the struggle he was going through dealing with his mother's illness. The artistic techniques used in the movie were interesting at some points, but also very creepy at other points. I have also watched some parts of the documentary again but with Johnathan explaining certain aspects of the documentary.

"The failure of language (as 'we know it') to accurately create an understandable roadmap to 'realization' or 'enlightenment' has been taken by some, as evidence that there is no 'realization' or 'enlightenment'; "what cannot be described, cannot be real" is an actual axiom of certain philosophies.

Indeed, there seems to be a very generous allowance given to the assumption that a description, if accurate, somehow conveys the thing itself; if I accurately describe 'water', the reader would then be wet. Similarly, it is assumed that a person who has had an experience, should be able to describe the experience, in such a way as to convey the actual experience itself, to the reader.

Watching Tarnation, I felt that a lot of what made the movie was the clever ways in which the director filmed, edited, and spliced the segments of video. For instance, the quick clips of flashing video were used when Jonathan was talking about his drug-induced confusion and disorientation.

I also thought that the choice of music was good in that it contrasted with the images and with the mood of the documentary as a whole. While the music was breathy and cheerful, the videos were anything but cheerful.

I again noticed the discrepancies between different characters descriptions of the same event. As the Netflix summary says , “There's more than one truth on view here.”

I really enjoyed watching Thin Blue Line and found myself rewinding to re-watch portions of it. As I mentioned in class, I've been fascinated by the ways in which something is proven or authenticated as true. In terms of documentary film, there are all sorts of techniques and methods that can be employed. The Thin Blue Line features several, from invoking the psychological past and family damage done to David Harris, to the repetition of the murder scene. Interestingly enough, as we discussed, this film was intentionally crafted by the filmmaker to suggest the innocence of Randall Adams. While a murder is fairly black and white, with someone who is guilty of the killing and someone who is not, the stories or versions of the truth told by those involved varied greatly!

 I thoroughly enjoyed watching Thin Blue Line. I enjoyed the repetitious illustration of the events of the night of the murder. Like we discussed in class today, the story left me wary of the judicial system and wondering how many people have gone through that same experience, yet they were never proven innocent. Subsequently, I looked up a list of exonerated death row inmates and it saddens me that years of these people's lives were stolen and they will more than likely never be the same.