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Wings of Desire

The film Wings of Desire gives an interesting outlook on religion, especially when analyzing the characters that portray angels.  The film follows the main character, Damiel throughout his experience as an angel then transfers to his human experience. As he begins to experience feelings of emotion, he craves a more unpredictable life.  Damiel expresses this by simply wanting to drink a cup of coffee or be able to say hello to a bypasser.   As Damiel begins to follow one woman, he wishes to interact with her, eventually fulfilling his wish to become human.  One scene that is very interesting is when Damiel becomes human and he is spotting Marion as she performs a tight rope dance.  As she is dangling from the rope about ten feet from the ground, Damiel stands on the ground preparing to catch her.  When looking further into the symbolism, we can infer that the rope signifies as a connection between heaven and hell.  When Damiel was an angel, he was constantly above everyone, closer to he
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The Jacket

Throughout the Jacket there are multiple themes that reoccur throughout the semester. Two of these themes include redemption and rebirth.  The main character, Starks, uses time travel as a means for personal redemption.  Starks is labeled insane due to his experience with war and his battle with PTSD.  Once Starks is in the mental asylum, he is labeled as crazy and Dr. Becker performs immoral tactics, attempting to heal his "insanity". By putting Starks into a morgue drawer, Becker is attempting to restart Stak's mind, giving him a clean slate to work with. When in reality, Becker sends Starks into the future.  During his time travels, Starks manages to help multiple people, giving the situations a positive outlook.  Starks uses the opportunity to focus on new relationships and unanswered questions. Although he is not able to answer the question he focuses on for the majority of the movie, this question being how he dies, he is able to help Jackie and gain knowledge that
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Captain Marvel

Much like the majority of films we watched this semester, war was a prominent theme in the movie Captain Marvel.  Although the circumstances were very different considering that it was an international war, versus two countries battling, the overall basis was very similar.  The need for power was at a larger scale but can be directly correlated with war on Earth. The basis of the storyline stems from Captain Marvel being brainwashed by a team of extraterrestrial "super heroes" that claim their purpose is to protect the universe from terror.  When Captain Marvel finds herself on earth she realizes that she had been lied to and taken advantage of.  As she continues to find out more from her past, she realizes the team she joined is actually causing the terror.   This is very similar to human warfare.  Both sides have the "good" intentions and people are often times sheltered from the actual purposes of leaders.  Especially in cases of dictatorships, the people are oft
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Thin Red Line

Within the film Thin Red Line there is a constant balance of nature and war.  Throughout the film, we see scenes of battle complemented by scenes of wildlife.  During one of the main combat scenes we see men being killed, then the camera flashes to a bird carrying on with normal life.  The difference between American war tactics and Vietnamese are shown throughout the film as well.  The Americans often find themselves in the open because they do not know the landscape. The Vietnamese, on the other hand, use the land to their advantage, often time camouflaging themselves and using the landscape to mask themselves.  This is shown by the bunkers they chose to build on high grounds and their constant focus on being hidden.  Although they do not have the same technological advantages of the Americans, they use the landscape to even the playing fields.   Although the captain sent his men into a death trap, he felt it was necessary to win the battle.  If the men had not made advances, they wo
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The Interview

During the film Apocalypse Now, the Cambodian people view Captain Kurtz as a godly figure.  This can be related to modern-day dictatorships.  During the film, The Interview, the North Korean dictator, Kim Jong Un, is portrayed as a god to the people.  The two main characters, played by James Franco and Seth Rogen, are attempting to prove that the rumors Un has started are not true.  The CIA seeks the two out to kill the dictator, sending them on a mission much like Captain Willard's journey to kill Kurtz.  Both films end with the men dying, leaving their people with nobody to look up to.  Throughout both films, the leaders use excessive force to gain the respect of the people.  Kurtz uses the ruthlessness he learned during the war as a means to rule.  This is shown when Willard arrives, and past intruders heads are on the ground.  Kurtz used his experiences to make the Cambodian people feel protected, much like how Kim Jung Un shelters his people making them feel secure. 
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Enacting Rituals to improve Self-Control

In the journal Enacting Rituals to improve Self-Control, A.D Tian talks about the repetition aspect and rigidity of ritual conduction. He believes that their actions can induce a discipline approach that is necessary to keep order in communities. He tests this through various experiments and concludes that his theory is accurate. After reading through his ideas, I agree with his journal and can see this be applied to Catholicism. The rituals of Communion and Baptism are examples of this and keep proper order of the church and mass sessions. After completing these rituals, you also feel a great sense of honor and deepened faith which controls your behaviors thereafter. This is where I find Tian's theory shown of improving self-control and their behaviors in the future.
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The Psychology of Rituals

The Psychology of Rituals journal by Nicholas Hobson goes into depth on the study of rituals and their causal mechanisms that driving their certain behaviors. He talks about the mix of framework involved from different fields to understand these phenomenons and why humans create and conduct this practices. He talks specifically about three theories that cause the behavior: emotions, performance goal states, and social connections. After reflecting on this, I agree that there has been little thought including by myself, put into this psychology. I have been very interested in the Vikings and their Pagan religious rituals and putting Hobson's framework and "stepping into their shoes" I can start to understand a little why they were so determined by them. For the Vikings, their rituals caused many emotions throughout the tribe and many times motivated them before battle or brought happiness after a newborn child. This ties to their performance goals of defeating their enemi
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