"These two words, nerd and geek, are frequently used interchangeably. However, this does a great disservice to all nerds and geeks who wear the badge of their respective anti-social lifestyle choice with pride. For this reason I feel that it is of the utmost importance that we correctly define the two terms.
Geek

A geek can best be defined as one who maintains an excessive fascination with a single thing or collection of things. I use the more general term thing only because there is a wide range of fascinations available which may qualified as geeky. Some have asserted that the object of obsession must be one that is not considered to be socially acceptable or commonly observed from the majority of inhabitants of any give society."

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STEPHEN REDHEAD

STEPHEN REDHEAD
ANTI-HERO

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Kanye West - "Runaway" Short Film






Speaking of Kanye West since I made a post about him awhile back, I managed to catch the MTV premier of his short film "Runaway".  It's the story about a phoenix that falls to earth and becomes Kanye's girlfriend until eventually, she has to come back to her planet.  First off, I applaud that a rapper would even get the idea of doing a short film like this, and I feel that this definitely puts Kanye in the light of becoming an icon. This hasn't really been done by a black artist since Michael Jackson, and this is a great way to solidify that notion. 




My analysis of this movie is pretty simple.  Kanye is driving home through the woods and finds The Phoenix crashing down from the sky. He later picks her up and makes her his girlfriend, and teaching her how to live in this world.  The Phoenix, played by the beautiful Selita Ebanks, represents an outcast to a world that she barely understands.  The usage of color and cinematography fully makes it visually beautiful and the symbolism gives it an extra flare. She's trying to figure out how to adapt to society with the guide of someone who sees her for who she is and not her outer appearance and perception (she's half human, half bird). However, the other members do not respect her and despite offering bread to them to show compassion, she is refused based on who she is. A dinner guests insults her in comments to Kanye, so he had to get up to giv e a "toast to the douchbag". The part about the turkey is supposed to show The Phoenix’s upmost disdain for society that they’ll destroy something similar to her for their own personal gain (or health, for that matter). She screams so loud that the rest of the people have to leave because they feel no compassion for what they’ve done (except Kanye who stays). It’s a cutthroat society and its a dog-eat-dog world. 






Kanye later takes her to a parade where "all of the lights" are flashing with a giant sculpture of Michael Jackson's head. It is Kanye's attempt to show The Phoenix his lifestyle and this is what he lives and breathes for. A little kid runs to the parade happy and full of smiles, but leaves in a red hoodie while running slowly.  Despite the allure and the appeal of these lights and the flashy world, it can consume you and make you become a puppet in an elitist cult that neglects anything out of their perception.  By the end of the film, The Phoenix feels that she can't be in a world that doesn't understand or respect her, so she burns and travels home while Kanye is struggling to get her back. 


This part makes me wanna get into bestiality, haha