Dracula Trailer

Collier and Rylant

The Chaser is a short story about a young man named Alan who desires to have the girl he likes to love him back. In order to obtain this, he goes to this old man for a love potion. It is rather selfish of him to do so and the old man tries to warn him of what would happen, however, Alan is so blinded by his lust that he ignores the warnings. Overall I thought that this short story was good since it revealed a truth in life. As humans, we desire things; in this case it was love. However, we can’t take shortcuts to get what we want. There would always be consequences for our actions. For Alan, that consequence could be that he might fall out of love with Diana, yet she won’t let him go. So in order for him to get away, he would have to go back to the old man for a solution. Basically this story is saying that you have to be aware of the future and think before you act.

            Another thing I want to point out is that, although it is a short story, I feel as if there should be more to the story. It feels as if this is just the middle of a story. Details like who exactly Alan and Diana are, how Alan found out about the old man, and what was the outcome of his love potion purchase. It is a good story but I think with just more details it could be even better.

Checkouts is about a girl that was practically forced to move to Cincinnati, fell in love with a boy after a shopping incident, and at the end nothing happens. At first it was a bit confusing, but as the story progressed it was slightly humorous but later on kind of depressing and disappointing. When the story first started I thought that it was just going to be about the girl and the house. However, it suddenly jumps to how she likes to go grocery shopping. It was a bit random and could have had a better transition. But with the focus now on her grocery shopping “hobby”, the story basically starts. Although it is kind of realistic about how the boy drops the mayonnaise jar, the part about her instantly falling in love with him was a bit more fantasy. I really don’t think that a person could fall in love that easily and fast. The ending was also quite sad that they didn’t talk with each other and get to know each other.

            Overall, this story was decent. I really like how the author refers to how people act when they desire things. Stuff like this does happen, a person would want to talk to another person he/she might like but is too afraid of the outcome and in the end they end up how the characters ended up, separate lives and don’t even know who each other really is. You can’t just wish and wait all the time; sometimes you have to take the initiative to do it.

Objectionable Elements and Dracula

Based on my philosophy of objectionable elements, Dracula doesn’t really overstep the boundaries. Although it was graphic at some point, there weren’t really much sexual elements. The closest thing to sexual was the appearance of the three female vampires and Undead Lucy. And even then, there wasn’t any nudity, it was all just appearance. As I said before, the book was very graphic with the killing and the blood. Yet without all that detail, the book wouldn’t have been as interesting. So I really have no problems with reading the horror and graphic story of Dracula.

            To be honest, I never really thought about how I would really react if my standards were violated. I probably wouldn’t really say much to the person that violated my standards. Sure I would disagree with what he/she says but those are their own personal standards and deserve respect. However, it is also alright for me to express my disagreement and state my own standards as long as I do so in a respectable and calm manner. As I mentioned before, we are the world and shouldn’t completely isolate ourselves from it. In order for one to influence another person, they have to take into consideration what the other person thinks and believes. Although my initial response of being silent isn’t that great, now that I have put more thought into it, I feel like this is actually a somewhat appropriate response if my goal is to actually understand the other person’s point-of-view. And after understanding that, I could have a calm and respectable response that would be less offensive to the other person.

            I feel that my philosophy could apply to other forms of communication and media, with it leaning more in dealing with movies. The objectionable elements just show us how the world really is. They really are impossible to be completely separated from. However, just because it is everywhere, doesn’t mean we do it also. We just have to have good judgment and not let those things rule our lives. It is not really a christianly philosophy to follow since I’m saying that it is alright to be exposed to the elements. But just because a person is exposed to it doesn’t mean they are sinning. It’s not like watching a movie that has swearing and killing in it is going to tell you that you can do those things. It is common sense that you really shouldn’t do that (well the killing part, for other people, they might think that swearing is alright, but not for Christians). It is all just entertainment for humans. However, my philosophy could change as I grow in Christ or if someone points out a flaw that I can agree with them that it is a flaw.

Dracula

With modern description of vampires, I wasn’t all that thrilled to read this novel. However, Stoker’s Dracula shows the true horror and suspense that vampires should have and in a way restored my liking of the horrors of vampires. With the terror and suspense Stoker implemented into the storyline, Dracula is an amazing book that would captivate the readers.

One of the unique things I liked about the book is the perspective that the book takes. Throughout the book, the “diary” entries of the characters tell the story as they encounter Dracula and their quest to destroy him. At times it feels as if the reader is the character and is experiencing the event. The only difficultly about using this form of narration is that at some times there are so many character entries switching around that it gets confusing of what is going on. However, as I said before, this form of narration is unique and opens the minds of the reader to visualize the scene and makes them think differently as if they were the character themselves and had to find a solution.

Another thing I liked about Stoker’s work is how he was very descriptive. Although it was very gruesome at some points, it added more visual aid that made the book much more exciting. I like how he wasn’t afraid to describe the death of undead Lucy or Dracula’s attack on Mina. Although he used quite a lot of objectionable elements throughout the book, they actually worked well with the story in showing how terrible Dracula was and develop the true feeling of hate toward him that I believe that Stoker wanted the readers to have. I think that without the objectionable elements, the book would be less enjoyable and horrific than it is right now.

Although Dracula is an excellent book to read, I didn’t really like how it ended. The ending was good and memorable, but I feel like it was kind of rushed. First off, I felt like there should have been more action involved before the end. Dracula barely put up a fight when the group found him. Although he was weakened, I’m sure that Dracula could have fended off his attackers and caused more death than just one person. This leads me to my second disappointment. As great as Van Helsing is, I kind of wish that he would have died in the end. Usually characters like him are the ones that die, but I guess Stoker wanted to be different and instead had a character of less importance die.

Although I feel like the ending of the story was rushed, I have to admit that Dracula is an excellent book. The books suspense and horror would entertain the reader. Although it is a horror story with some graphic scenes, I would say that reading it at night is probably the best time to read it. The darkness of the night adds to the terror that the reader reads and keeps the reader more alert. However, for those that can’t stand being scared or fear of getting nightmares, I guess it would probably be best to read it while there is still light. It takes away some of the thrill, but would still captivate the reader.

Objectionable Elements II

            Until these past couple assignments, I never really have put much thought into objectionable elements. I mean, I know there are plenty of them out there in the world that is shown in literature, movies, internet, etc., and that they affect the way I make decisions in life. And of course, there has been school and parents that have been around telling me how those things are wrong and that I should avoid them in my life. I understand that the Bible does give us guidelines on how we should live and to follow Christ with our life. However, as I put more thought into it, I honestly believe that being exposure to these elements should be avoided.

            I’m not saying that the objectionable elements are okay for a person to read, watch, or do. Rather, it is kind of impossible to avoid. Plus, although we aren’t suppose to live with that, we can’t just separate ourselves from the world, because we are the world. Instead we should actually be living in the world, exposed to all this. However, although we are exposed, we shouldn’t be embracing the evil, but rather instead, we should actually try to push out the evil of the world and replace it with Christ.

            So we are exposed to the objectionable elements of the world like sexual desire, swearing, and violence and killing. All this is sin and shouldn’t be part of our lives. However, just because we are living our lives exposed to all this, doesn’t mean that we are living sinful lives. It is the way you think and let those things affect you. As Christians, you should know that killing and swearing and all of the elements are wrong. With this understanding, being exposed to it doesn’t mean that you should be condemned for being involved with it all. It is kind of like Paul and the meat offerings to false gods. He ate of the meat that was sacrificed to the false gods. However, technically the meat was provided by God. So as long as Paul only purpose in eating the meat is to nourish his body to serve God even more, then I think it’s not bad. Same goes to us being exposed to the objectionable elements. As long as we have an understanding that they are wrong and not apply them to our lives, it is not bad that we are exposed. The major one that I feel strongly about however, is anything sexual. Although it is almost impossible to avoid, you just have to keep it in your mind that sex is something that should only be for marriage. When it comes to sexual contents, especially in movies, I would say to avoid seeing it as much as possible. The world portrays it in a way that says that would bring you happiness. Yet, really as I see people, it really doesn’t always bring happiness. It’s temporary but the craving just gets worse.

            I think it’s also okay to be exposed to the elements because it is really just entertainment. For example, I’ve watched Hannibal. The whole story is about killing for revenge and there is quite a lot of swearing in it. However, the killing really just adds to the excitement and opens up a person to how life is affected by not only physical damage but also psychological. It can be taken in an educational way. It gets a person thinking. However, the thoughts shouldn’t be like how to kill a person but rather reflecting on how the mind and body is affect by one’s actions.

            So in general, I think that it is alright that we are exposed to most of the objectionable elements. You just have to have good judgment on how you let it affect your life. The Bible provides a good basic of how your life should be in Christ. To be exposed to the elements is really just like a test and challenge of your faith. It could show how strong your faith is and also strengthen it. However, with poor judgment it could be reversed. As Christians we have to encourage each other along with the unsaved to have better judgment in how the elements affect us.