Category Archives: Whitney Porter

The Mark

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Our original project, though ultimately overambitious, was to create a short film portraying the conversion process that can be expedited by the promise (or perhaps threat) of impending apocalypse. Despite high hopes, we decided that a short film, given our limited resources and desire to maintain most of our sanity by the end of the semester, would not only be difficult to complete in the given time frame, but also would run the risk of compromising our intended impact/message. After much discussion and creative re-workings, we clipped bits and pieces of our original story from the script, and set out to put together an extended movie trailer. It’s fortunate that we made the changes we did, because after 15-20 hours of editing a 4 minute trailer, we both realized a film twice as long would have been too large of a task to undertake. We assure you that all of the juiciest and most exciting scenes are captured in this trailer, and, thanks to much creative brainstorming (and sometimes arguing) we managed to maintain our original story arc as well. Beneath our trailer you can find a synopsis and the original full length script. Enjoy!

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Value, loss, and identity apocalypse

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I realize I’m terribly late on posting…I apologize, but I briefly lost my ability to manage my time, and didn’t finish reading the Albertine Notes until today…I hope some of you still have a chance to read this before class tomorrow!

When I started reading this story I was anticipating a run of the mill attempt to make an idea overly complex, and therefore presumably interesting. It was funny that Kaitlyn mentioned Inception in her post because I found that movie an prime example of just that. As I continued reading, though, I came to really enjoy the way the story was written and the way Moody is able to balance really complex and far-fetched concepts with relatable emotional reactions to the state of an all but obliterated world. Continue reading →

No One’s Gonna Get Out of Here Alive

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The passage that really stood out to me in the second half of The Road was the statement made by the man who briefly travels with the boy and his father: “If something had happened and we were survivors and we met on the road then we’d have something to talk about. But we’re not. So we dont”(172). Continue reading →

The Sacrifice of Dissociative Identity and a Sympathetic Response

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Last week, I posted about the ways I noticed Earl Turner falling into the identity of a dissociated, paranoid fundamentalist. I can’t say I was shocked by the fact that throughout the last half of The Turner Diaries  Earl only became more dissociated, remorseless, and absolute in his dualistic mindset, but it is so hard for me to imagine thinking or feeling the ways he expresses feeling that I had a difficult time processing everything I was reading. Furthermore, I was constantly reminded that this book is the creative work from the imagination of Andrew Macdonald. I still cannot believe that this imagining represents what he believed would be the means by which an ideal world would come into being. Continue reading →

Paranoid Progression

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The Turner Diaries offers truly fascinating, though incredibly difficult to imagine, insight into the dissociated and dualistic mind of a paranoid, fundamentalist. From the beginning of the novel it is evident that religious thought is working underneath what looks like an entirely politically themed plot. As I neared the end of the first section of the novel, I was actually very surprised at how completely religious the book began to sound. As Earl becomes more immersed in his role for the Organization we see the story shift from that of an impassioned bigot into the story of a fundamentalist soldier for the “army of God,” in his case the “army” for the Organization/Order. Continue reading →

It’s Just the Apocalypse, Why Are You Being So Dramatic?

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Watching Apocalypto, Children of Men and 28 Days Later back to back all in the same night, had me feeling pretty fed up with over-exaggerations, fight scenes, and ominous music. Now that I’ve had a few days to digest all the doom, gloom, blood, and violence I’ve come to realize that we are relatively limited in terms of creative renderings of the end. Continue reading →

A “Rehumanized” God for a Disillusioned World

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First, I must say that I was absolutely stunned by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons Watchmen. I approached the book with a certain bias against “comic books.” How could this offer any sort of intellectual stimulation, I thought. When I started reading, and proceeded to read nearly 2/3 of the book in one sitting, though, I changed my mind. The novel is stunning visually, and I was amazed by how deep and exciting the content is. After completing the book and reading about Swamp Thing in Elizabeth Rosen’s Apocalyptic Transformatio: Sentient Vegetable Claims the End is Near! I am beyond compelled to read more of Moore! Continue reading →

Disconnecting with One’s Self for “God”

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After viewing Jesus Camp in class last week, I was really struggling with separating my personal beliefs from my observation and judgements of the Fundamentalist lifestyle/belief system. It’s incredibly frustrating to see something that I so strongly disagree with at work in real life. Hearing about this type of organized religion and indoctrination is difficult to grasp, but seeing it in action on screen was a huge shock for me. After thinking a lot about what was presented in the documentary, I was able to step back a little bit and take into consideration the psychology behind groups like these. This week’s Strozier readings helped me to gain a more level-headed perspective on the inner workings of those so heavily influenced by the Fundamentalist mindset. Continue reading →

Unwavering Faith Stemming from Unclear Motivation

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I find myself struggling with the idea that apocalyptic thinkers are able to abandon their fears and sense of responsibility because their time construct, according to The Fundamentalist Mindset, has been dissolved by the notion of the end of days (30). While I understand why this seems to make sense, it’s difficult to believe that this shifted perspective of time manages to remove a sense of accountability to a degree that justifies or even motivates publically or individually harmful actions.

The reading mentions that these apocalyptic believers have “no fear of future consequences (except from a judging deity)…”(30). This particular passage calls attention to why the general theory seems to be flawed. The “exception” to this seemingly boundless loss of fear is the wrath and judgment of God- a pretty significant force to be reckoned with. True believers trust completely in God’s plan for them, so why, then wouldn’t the wrath and judgment of their one true object of faith be enough to dissuade them from acting recklessly against others? Continue reading →