DECONSTRUCTION: The Lost Word by Michael Crichton

Deconstruction (French: déconstruction) is a form of semiotic analysis, derived mainly from French philosopher Jacques Derrida's 1967 work Of Grammatology. Derrida proposed the deconstruction of all texts where binary oppositions are used in the construction of meaning and values. The first task of deconstruction, starting with philosophy and afterwards in literary and juridical texts, would be to overturn all the binary oppositions of metaphysics (signifier/signified; sensible/intelligible; writing/speech; passivity/activity; etc). According to Derrida, deconstruction should traverse a phase of "overturning" these oppositions.

To do justice to this necessity, deconstruction starts from recognizing that in a classical philosophical opposition readers are not dealing with the peaceful coexistence of a vis-a-vis, but rather with a violent hierarchy. One of the two terms governs the other (axiologically, logically, etc.), or one of the two terms is dominant (signified over signifier; intelligible over sensible; speech over writing; activity over passivity; male over female; man over animal, etc). To deconstruct the opposition, first of all, would be to overturn the hierarchy at a given moment. To overlook this phase of overturning would be to forget the conflictual and subordinating structure of opposition.

The final task of deconstruction is not to surpass all oppositions; because it is assumed that they are structurally necessary to produce sense, they cannot be suspended once and for all. They need to be analyzed and criticized in all their manifestations; the function of both logical and axiological oppositions must be studied in all discourses to provide meaning and values. Deconstruction does not only expose how oppositions work and how meaning and values are produced in a nihilistic or cynic position, "thereby preventing any means of intervening in the field effectively". To be effective, and simply as its mode of practice, deconstruction creates new notions or concepts, not to synthesize the terms in opposition, but to mark their difference, undecidability, and eternal interplay.

The Story:

Six years after the disaster at Jurassic Park, Ian Malcolm - who is revealed to have actually survived the events of the previous novel via a retcon - teams up with paleontologist Richard Levine after learning about Site B, the "production facility" where the park's dinosaurs were hatched and grown, on Isla Sorna near Isla Nubar (the Jurassic Park site). When Levine leaves without Malcolm, he plans a rescue, with a team consisting of Doc Thorne, Eddie Carr, and two stowaway children, "Arby" Benton and Kelly Curtis.

Simultaneously, another group - geneticist Lewis Dodgson, Malcolm's ex-lover Sarah Harding, Howard King and George Baselton - also go to Sorna, with plans to steal dinosaur eggs for Biosyn, the rival company of InGen, the Jurassic Park company. On the way to the island, Dodgson throws Harding off the boat and leaves her for dead, but she is rescued by Malcolm's group. The entire rogue group are killed by dinosaurs on the island.

The group finds Levine alive and well, but bitten, and after dinosaur attacks leave Eddie dead and Malcolm injured by Tyrannosaurs Rexparents looking for a baby and spends much of the novel high on morphine, leaving him prone to talk at length about the evolution on Isla Sorna, whose raptors are antisocial compared to Isla Nubar's raptors, and he finds out that InGen fed its dinosaurs sheep infected with prion disease, which makes the dinosaurs' life spans shorter than normal and will pass to animals bitten by them, leading to an eventual extinction of the Site B dinosaurs. Kelly discovers a boat in an abandoned building and group escapes the island. On the boat, Malcolm tells Levine about the prion disease, which was spread island wide by the scavenger procompsognathus species, but tells Levine his bites are fine and the disease would only infect dinosaurs.

The Criticism:

In the 1st book, the release of the napalm kinda solve their problems regarding the dinosaurs. 

The parks problem was solved, but what they don't know is there is another facility which breeds and hatches dinosaurs. The book perfectly shows how genetic engineering can destroy civilization. In addition, it also shows how a secret can bring back past catastrophes. In the present times, plants are being engineered to withstand survive calamities. Just imagine this, what if the bio-engineers do this to animals? What do you think the results would be? Animal domination.
Also, the "prion disease" represents the side effects caused by bio engineering, and how it could spread.
Once they found out the effects of the "prion" they quickly took advantage of it and let the disease take its toll on the dinosaurs. 

PRAGMATISM: 2012

Pragmatism is a philosophical tradition centered on the linking of practice and theory. It describes a process where theory is extracted from practice, and applied back to practice to form what is called intelligent practice. Important positions characteristic of pragmatism include instrumentalism, radical empiricism, verificationism, conceptual relativity, and fallibilism. There is general consensus among pragmatists that philosophy should take the methods and insights of modern science into account.Charles Sanders Peirce (and his pragmatic maxim) deserves most of the credit for pragmatism, along with later twentieth century contributors, William James and John Dewey.

Pragmatism enjoyed renewed attention after W. V. O. Quine and Wilfrid Sellars used a revised pragmatism to criticize logical positivism in the 1960s. Another brand of pragmatism, known sometimes as neopragmatism, gained influence through Richard Rorty, the most influential of the late twentieth century pragmatists. Contemporary pragmatism may be broadly divided into a strict analytic tradition and a "neo-classical" pragmatism (such as Susan Haack) that adheres to the work of Peirce, James, and Dewey. The wordpragmatism derives from Greek πρᾶγμα (pragma), "deed, act", which comes from πράσσω (prassō), "to pass over, to practise, to achieve".

(from:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pragmatism)

The Story:

(image from:http://decodehindumythology.blogspot.com/2012/05/pralaya-end-of-days.html)

In 2009, Adrian Helmsley, an American geologist, visits astrophysicist Dr. Satnam Tsurutani in India and learns that neutrinos from a massive solar flare are causing the temperature of the Earth's core to increase rapidly. Adrian reports to White House Chief of StaffCarl Anheuser, who takes Adrian to meet the President of the United States.

In 2010, President Thomas Wilson and other international leaders begin a secret project to ensure humanity's survival. More than 400,000 people are chosen to board "arks" that are constructed at Cho Ming, Tibet, in the southwest Chinese Himalayas under the guise of building a dam for the power plant. At the same time as China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) are gathering volunteers, aBuddhist monk named Nima is evacuated while his brother Tenzin joins the workers in the Ark project. Additional funding for the project is raised by selling tickets to the private sector for €1 billion per person. By 2011, humanity's valuable treasures are moved to the Alps under the guise of protecting them from terrorist attacks with the help of art expert and First Daughter Dr. Laura Wilson.

In 2012, Jackson Curtis is a science fiction writer in Los Angeles who works part-time as a limousine driver for the Russian billionaire, Yuri Karpov. Jackson's ex-wife Kate, and their children Noah and Lilly, live with Kate's boyfriend, plastic surgeon Gordon Silberman.

Jackson takes Noah and Lilly camping in Yellowstone National Park. After an encounter with Helmsley, they meet Charlie Frost, who hosts a radio show from the park. Charlie plays a video of Charles Hapgood's theory that polar shifts and the Mesoamerican Long Count Calendar predict that the 2012 phenomenon will occur. He has a map of the ark project in addition to information about officials and scientists from around the world who were murdered because they wanted to reveal the truth to the public. The family returns home as seismic activity increases along the San Andreas Fault. Jackson grows suspicious and rents a Cessna 340 to rescue his family. He collects his family and Gordon as theEarth crust displacement begins with a magnitude 10.9 earthquake, and they narrowly escape Los Angeles as California collapses into the Pacific Ocean.

As several hundred million die in catastrophic earthquakes and tsunamis worldwide, the group flies to Yellowstone to retrieve Charlie's map, escaping as the Yellowstone Calderaerupts. Charlie stays behind to broadcast the eruption and is killed. Learning that the arks are in China, the group lands in a devastated Las Vegas to find a larger plane. They run into Yuri, his twin sons Alec and Oleg, girlfriend Tamara and pilot Sasha. The group secures an Antonov An-500 aircraft and they depart for China just as the Yellowstone ash cloud engulfs the city. Anheuser, Helmsley and Laura Wilson are aboard Air Force One, also heading to the arks. President Wilson remains in Washington D.C. to address the nation one last time. With the Vice President dead and the Speaker of the House missing, Anheuser assumes de facto leadership. Earthquakes strike Washington, Japan and Rome. President Wilson is later killed by a megatsunami that sends the aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy crashing into the White House, while Helmsley's father dies in the tsunami on Japan, and the Pope dies in the Rome earthquake.

Arriving in China in a crash landing that kills Sasha, the group is spotted by helicopters from the Chinese army, carrying animals for the Arks. Yuri and his sons, possessing tickets, are taken to the arks, leaving Tamara and the others behind. They are picked up by Nima and are taken to the arks with his grandparents. They stow away on Ark 4, where the contingent of the United States is on board, with the help of Tenzin. As a megatsunami approaches the site, an impact driver becomes lodged in the gears of the ark'shydraulics doors, preventing a boarding gate from closing and preventing the ship from starting its engines. In the ensuing chaos, Yuri falls to his death while trying to board, Gordon is crushed in the hydraulics, and Tamara drowns. Tenzin is wounded by the hydraulics, and Ark 4 is set adrift. Jackson and Noah dislodge the impact driver and the crew regains control of the ark before it collides with Mount Everest.

After flood waters from the tsunamis recede, the arks regroup and travel to the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa where the Drakensberg Mountains have risen to become the tallest mountains in the world. Jackson rejoins with his family, and Helmsley starts a relationship with Laura.

The Criticism:

Here is the basis of the movie's theory:

he 2012 phenomenon was a range of eschatological beliefs that cataclysmic or transformative events would occur around 21 December 2012. This date was regarded as the end-date of a 5,125-year-long cycle in the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar, and as such, Mayan festivities to commemorate the date took place on 21 December 2012 in the countries that were part of the Mayan empire(Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador), with main events at Chichén Itzá in Mexico, and Tikal in Guatemala.

Various astronomical alignments and numerological formulae were proposed as pertaining to this date, all unequivocally rejected by mainstream scholarship. A New Age interpretation held that the date marked the start of a period during which Earth and its inhabitants would undergo a positive physical or spiritual transformation, and that 21 December 2012 would mark the beginning of a new era. Others suggested that the date marked the end of the world or a similar catastrophe. Scenarios suggested for the end of the world included the arrival of the next solar maximum, an interaction between Earth and the black hole at the center of the galaxy, or Earth's collision with a planet called Nibiru.

Scholars from various disciplines quickly dismissed predictions of concomitant cataclysmic events as they arose. Professional Mayanistscholars stated that no extant classic Maya accounts forecast impending doom, and that the idea that the Long Count calendar ends in 2012 misrepresented Maya history and culture,while astronomers rejected the various proposed doomsday scenarios aspseudoscience, easily refuted by elementary astronomical observations.

(from:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_phenomenon)

This theory was basically unknown to many and it caught the attentions of people during the 2000's.

Well the theory, states that the world would end in the year 2012 A.D. For others, this is a serious issue, but for skeptics alike it is not. Okay, some of us believe that it's really the end, what we don't know is that, even the Mayans only believe it is just an end of a long count cycle, and people are making big issues out of it which eventually led to the creation of this movie.

The Mayans never really said anything about the end of the world or how would it end. All I know is, now it's 2013 and the theory has been proven a hoax.

POST-COLONIALISM: Cory ng EDSA

Post-colonialism (also Post-colonial theory, Post-colonial studies, and Postcolonialism) is an academic discipline that comprises methods of intellectual discourse that present analyses of, and responses to, the cultural legacies of colonialism and of imperialism (usually European and of the U.S.), which draw from different post-modern schools of thought, such as critical theory. Post-colonial Studies examines the relations of power under colonialism and neocolonialism through analyses of cultural representations. As history, post-colonialism is a form of contemporary history that questions and reinvents the cultural ways of viewing and of being viewed. In the field of anthropology, post-colonial studies record the human relations among the colonial nations and the peoples of the colonies they had ruled and exploited. ^[1] To present the ideology and the praxis of (neo) colonialism, post-colonial critical theory draws from, illustrates, and explains with examples from the humanities — history,architecture, anthropology, the cinema, feminism, human geography, linguistics, Marxist theory, philosophy, political science,sociology, religion and theology, and post-colonial literature.

(from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post_colonialism)


The Story:

(image from: google)

Cory came to Manila from US when she received the news that her husband Ninoy Aquino assassinated in Manila International Airport. During her anguish in the death of her husband, she is been interviewed by areporter named Peter. Peter met Rey during the possession of Ninoys necrological service and he invite Reyfor interview. Rey told his soaring experience for the death of his wife Martha who accused of collaboration tothe enemies of state. Through the help of Peter with his connection to the media, they saw the cadaver of Martha and informed Rey.Pres Marcos declared a snap election. In spite of strong refusal of Cory to become the standard bearer forPresidency of the United Opposition against Marcos, she gave her consent. Jason stood as poll watcher forAquinos presidency and unfortunately he met Rey and Peter and they became friends. The Electoral TribunalCommittee declared Marcos as the winner in a close fight with Cory. The COMELEC Technician walked-out theTribunal because of the election fraud made by Marcoses and one of those technicians is Elsa. This broughther for strong persecution from the government. She met Peter and they fell in love with each other. Peterprovided his house as a hide-out for Elsa.

The Criticism:


The story tells the story of Corazon C. Aquino through the eyes of Peter, who is a reporter who followed her life amidst all the struggles her family and our country was going through. 

In the play, it tells the effects of dictatorship (because the theory also calls for the unjust rule of a leader not only colonialism). It somehow fits the theory in the sense that, the story also focuses on the present time (after the dictatorship). Further more, the play also showed how the effects and the changes it brought to the government system in the Philippines after the Macoy era.

STRUCTURALISM: Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast by Robin McKinley

In literary theory, structuralist criticism relates literary texts to a larger structure, which may be a particular genre, a range of intertextual connections, a model of a universalnarrative structure, or a system of recurrent patterns or motifs. Structuralism argues that there must be a structure in every text, which explains why it is easier for experienced readers than for non-experienced readers to interpret a text. Hence, everything that is written seems to be governed by specific rules, or a "grammar of literature", that one learns in educational institutions and that are to be unmasked.

(from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Structuralism)



The Story:

Beauty is the youngest of three daughters of a wealthy merchant, Roderick Huston. Her given name is Honour, but she said that she'd rather be called "Beauty". The nickname has stuck since then. As she grows older, she feels increasingly ill-named as her sisters, Grace and Hope, become lovelier and more socially adept. Soon Grace becomes engaged to one of her father's ship captains, Robert Tucker, and Hope later beomes engaged to a blacksmith named Gervain Woodhouse. Robert's ship becomes lost at sea only a few months after the engagement along with all of Huston's other ships. Destitute, the family relocates to a town in the north near to Gervain's home town to begin afresh, a journey that takes nearly two months. Their lives begin to take a turn for the better as the city-bred family adapt to their new lives, and Hope and Gervain are later married and have two children.

Almost a year later, they receive news of one of Huston's ships arriving back into port. Huston prepares to make the long journey alone to sell the ship's cargo. Before he leaves he asks his daughters if they want any gifts; Grace and Hope jokingly request expensive gifts, while Beauty asks only for a rose cutting or seeds for the garden. Huston returns home sooner than everyone expects with a beautiful rose, looking much worse for wear. Once he regains his strength, he tells everyone that on his return from town, he was caught in a blizzard a few miles from home and lost his way in the forest, stumbling across a mysterious castle as he and his mount came to the end of their strength.

Huston was given shelter for the night and waited on by invisible servants. As he left the next day he found a beautiful garden and plucked one rose to bring home to Beauty. The owner of the castle, a great beast, appeared before him furious for the theft and ready to kill him for his crime. Huston begged for his life, pleading that he had daughters to return to. The Beast decided to let him go if he returned in one month with one of his daughters, assuring him that she would not be harmed and live safely with him in his castle. Despite her family's pleas, Beauty insists that she be the one to go in her father's place.

As the months pass, Beauty comes to enjoy living in the castle. There are only two problems: she misses her family and every night the Beast asks her to marry him. Every night she answers no, but as they become close, Beauty feels bad for hurting the Beast even though she cannot bring herself to do what he asks. One night, the Beast again proposes marriage and Beauty states that she cannot marry him but hates constantly refusing him. Later, Beauty asks when she will be allowed to return home. The Beast reveals to her that he cannot let her go because he can't live without her. Upon hearing this, Beauty goes into shock and faints. She awakens in the arms of the Beast and flees to her room, too terrified to listen when he tries to tell her that she unconsciously refused to let go of him when he caught her.

Beauty's dreams of her family become even more vivid and detailed than before and her senses becomes more acute and attuned to her new world. The Beast reveals that he sends the dreams to her to comfort her and that her way of seeing things has changed because of her sensitivity and because she has adapted to and accepted the magic that surrounds her. He also shows her a magic mirror that allows her to see her family. Through the mirror, Beauty sees Grace make the decision to accept a proposal of marriage from the local minister; however, she still loves Robert. Beauty wonders what has happened to Robert, and immediately the mirror shows her that Robert is alive and has only recently returned despite his ship being almost completely wrecked. Beauty begs to see her family one last time to tell Grace the news, promising to return in a week and stay with the Beast forever afterwards. The Beast reluctantly allows her to go, hinting that he will not be able to live without her if she does not return in time. Beauty's family is overjoyed at her return though disheartened to hear that she will only stay with them for a short time. Beauty tells her family about her time in the castle and convinces them that the Beast is not the monster that they have feared. She also tells Grace that Robert is alive, and arrangements are begun to have Robert brought to the Huston home. During the days without the Beast, Beauty begins to recognize how she truly feels about the Beast, proclaiming him to be even dearer to her than her family.

When Beauty stays a day longer than planned at her family's behest she dreams that the Beast has died in her absence. She tries to return to the Beast but gets lost in the woods. After finding her way back Beauty discovers the Beast nearly dead, but is able to revive him. Realizing how close she came to losing him, Beauty confesses her love for the Beast and tells him that she will marry him. In an instant the enchantment on the Beast and the castle is broken. The Beast is returned to his handsome human form, explaining to the astonished Beauty about how his family had been cursed by the local magician for being arrogant and over-sealously pious, but because their piety was actually so strong, the curse was delayed intil a descendant mis-stepped and that he was the one who fell. He tells her that the spell could be broken only if a woman agreed to marry him despite his appearance. But Beauty then becomes self conscious and begins refusing to marry the Beast until he shows her her reflection in a mirror, revealing how she has blossomed into a true beauty. Beauty is reunited with her family and the novel ends with Beauty and her prince walking out to meet everyone, excited to start their new life together

(from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beauty:_A_Retelling_of_the_Story_of_Beauty_and_the_Beast)

The Criticism:

We all know this story, but let's face it the Disney one was too childish and girly. Anyway... this one was purposely made for kids but the story is told in a more bold and comprehensive way.

It fits the theory for the reasons, that it has the same recurring plot (a girl falls in love to someone who is unaccepted then the problem is resolved by their love), the story speaks about unconditional love and it is written in a formal fairy tale way.

AUTHOBIOGRAPHICAL: Unmasked: The True Life Story of the World's Most Prolific Cinematic Killer - Kane Hodder by Kane Hodder

Unmasked documents the unlikely true story of a boy who was taunted and beaten relentlessly by bullies throughout his childhood. Kane only escaped his tormentors when he moved to a tiny island in the South Pacific where he lived for all of his teen years. After living shirtless in a jungle for a while, he headed back to America where he fell in love with doing stunts-only to have his love burn him, literally. For the first time ever, Kane tells the true story of the horrific burn injury that nearly killed him at the start of his career. The entire heart-wrenching, inspirational story of his recovery, the emotional and physical damage it caused, his fight to break back into the industry that almost killed him, and his triumphant rise to become a film legend are told in Kane's own powerful voice. Take a peek inside the head of the man behind the mask.












The Criticism:

This book is about the life a struggles of Kane Hodder. Kane Hodder is an american actor/stuntman, who played roles such as LeatherFace, Jason Voorhees and many more.

The book completely falls with the theory because it is about someone and his life. 
The book is really good, it tells about his passion for playing roles of killers and antagonists, the book also reveals the reason for his choice of roles.

TERRRITORIALISM: Manila Kingpin: The Asiong Salonga Story

Territorialism, also known as Statism (though not to be confused with the political philosophy of the same name), was a Jewish political movement calling for creation of a sufficiently large and compact Jewish territory (or territories), not necessarily in the Land of Israel and not necessarily fully autonomous.

(from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Territorialism)




The Story:

Tondo. The Ancient Gangland. Year 1950. Gang wars were in. Violence was the name of the game.

Gangsters carried Thompsons and grease guns in a bayong. Police Characters were just too tough resulting in bloody encounters.

All notorious hoodlums dreamt to be the King. But one smart and slippery hoodlum rose to power and reigned as King.

He was the youngest and toughest Public Enemy No. 1 (Criminal) the Tondo Underworld ever bred. He was feared, respected and loved.

A legendary Robin Hood in his time Tondo will never forget.

His gang called him Hitler. Tondo remembers him by another name: ASIONG SALONGA.

He robbed the rich to give to the poor. He lived and died by the gun. He lived fast and died young.

(from:http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2101393/synopsis)


The Criticism:


The movie is about the life of Asiong Salonga, but it also tells the battles that he did to protect his land and glory.

In the theory, it tackles about sealing your territory, which in the movie's case were his pride, honor and land. 
 It's such a great movie about the life of a gangster fighting for his life, territory and the title of MANILA KINGPIN. 

NEW HISTORICISM: What Happened to Sophie Wilder by Chris Beha

New Historicism is a school of literary theory, grounded in critical theory, that developed in the 1980s, primarily through the work of the critic Stephen Greenblatt, and gained widespread influence in the 1990s.^[1]

New Historicists aim simultaneously to understand the work through its historical context and to understand cultural and intellectual history through literature, which documents the new discipline of the history of ideas. Michel Foucault based his approach both on his theory of the limits of collective cultural knowledge and on his technique of examining a broad array of documents in order to understand the episteme of a particular time. New Historicism is claimed to be a more neutral approach to historical events, and to be sensitive towards different cultures.

(from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_historicism)

The Story:

Through a filter of wisdom mixed with sadness and a sort of spiritual confusion, Charlie recounts the story of his relationship with the Sophie Wilder of the title, which began in an undergraduate creative writing class at a small New Jersey liberal arts college. Sophie impresses Charlie with her superior literary knowledge and taste. Her parents are dead; so is his father; they are the two best writers in class; they fall in love. But the terms of their relationship are always dictated by Sophie. She sleeps with other men, including Charlie's cousin.

Charlie accepts such humiliations as the price to pay for access to such a singular woman. It takes a certain courage or foolishness to write about undergraduate love between aspiring writers, and there are scenes here that are precious or uncomplicatedly nostalgic - "This was on one of those long nights we spent in Sophie's room, chain-smoking Camels and drinking Jameson" - but in general Beha takes his young characters seriously while remaining at a respectfully critical distance.

After college, Charlie and Sophie lose touch. She gets married and publishes a well-received book of short stories. Then she gives up writing and becomes a practicing Catholic, and it is this atypical turn that thrusts the novel beyond self-referential sentimentalism. When her husband, Tom, refuses to take care of his estranged father, who is dying of cancer, Sophie determines to do it herself. She feeds him, gives him medicine, cleans him, reads to him, prays for him. In his apartment she discovers a collection of newspaper articles, from which she pieces together the story of the fire that killed Tom's mother when he was a boy.


The Criticism:

The book is about the growth and progression of Charlie. Charlie (the male lead), is Christoper Beha's (author) alter ego.

The theme of the book aims to highlight what life is like in college. Also, the book is written in a modern way. It has a fairly simple concept, but has an interesting story. Further more, it makes the reader understand the life faced by writers in modern times.