One of the most important scenes in Into the Wild is when Alexander (Emile Hirsch) first gets out into the wilderness. It is his fourth day on his own in the "magic bus" that he found in the middle of the mountains. This is the scene that really shows how remote of an area he is in all by himself. He gets out and stands on top of the bus yelling and being free, completely isolated from the society he abruptly left. Also in this scene Alexander is shown running through a valley chasing after some elk and he is so in awe of the creatures beauty that a tear shows up in his eye. Not a tear of sadness or grief but a tear of joy and excitement. This is the scene that shows he really did it, he finally made his dream come true and he couldn't be happier with his decision. Alexander left his family, friends, and everyone he met on his journey to be all alone living in the outdoors. When Alexander begins to carve his thoughts into the plank of wood it shows again how dedicated he was to find his happiness and how excited he is that he completed the journey. Part of the quote he carves is "Two years he walks the earth. No phone, no pool, no pets, no cigarettes. Ultimate freedom. An extremist" He then ends the quote saying "No longer to be poisoned by civilization he flees, and walks alone upon the land to become lost in the wild." This is an important quote because it explains how he lived the best years of his life, he was happy and had little to worry about. He made some great friends along the way who helped him out and this scene sums up the fact that all of those people no matter what they did to help, were a large part of Alexander fulfilling his dream. I think this scene proves to everyone that if you set your mind to something, it can be done, you just need to believe in yourself.

Genre: Looking at Movies

War movies usually have a common theme of "complete the task, win the war"  In these movies there is always a certain goal that the characters must obtain.  It could be to save a prisoner, take out an opposing platoon, or win the war in general.  The most common setting for war movies is in a city of rubble where there has been fighting for weeks or in fields.  In most war movies there are two sides fighting each other and you are taking the viewpoint of one of the two sides.  Some stories have to do with the heroic platoon leader and how he courageously leads his men to victory over the other side.  He makes big decisions and obviously takes it to heart if he ever loses a man.  The usual character type in war movies are hardnosed men in battle and women taking care of them in the care centers or hospitals.  The men usually are very brave and strong people.  There aren't usually stars that repeatedly do war movies, the cast looks like a bunch of real army men since these movies are most likely based on true stories.  War movies are unlike many other genres for that reason. 

Realism and Anti-realism: Looking at Movies

Realism, anti-realism, and verisimilitude appear in nearly every movie ever made.  Realism is what always involves mediation and interpretation.  It can also be apparent as what some may say, somewhat of an illusion.  In "Barsam's: Looking at Movies" realism is depicted through the view of a woman whom looks like a woman that you would see in real life.  Another example of realism is in a special I watched about the deepest parts of the ocean and what can be found down there.  It seems almost unrealistic that some of these creatures exist but in reality they are down there but most of us will never see them up close.  Anti-realism is a sort of treatment or opposing end of realism.  Going back to Barsam's view, anti-realism is depicted through a woman whom looks nothing like a real life woman would.  She has sharp angles and fractured shapes making up her false body.  Another example of anti-realism is Phineus and Ferb a children's show.  The characters heads are shaped like triangles which is unrealistic.  Verisimilitude is the convincing appearance of truth no matter how unrealistic things may appear on the screen, it convinces you that they are really there.  This reminds me of all the Paranormal activity movies when they show ghosts or footprints with no body.  It acts as if that is really there when it might not be.