Harry Potter Reading

The reading from “Harry Potter, the War Against Evil, and the Melodramatization of Public Culture” states that a melodrama is “a drama of knowledge,” and “the action ends when the mystery is dispelled and/or the misunderstood hero’s always extant goodness is at last recognized” (79). This quote is particularly apt to describe the revelation in the final installment of the series: Snape has been protecting Harry (in melodramatic terms, Snape is good.) Though a melodramatic reading can be applied to several characters, Snape’s situation is particularly obvious. He has been portrayed as evil throughout the entire series. At one point, Harry discovers that he is a Death Eater, and in several instances he assumes that Snape is trying to kill him. However, as the story finally comes to a close, Harry realizes that he was, in fact, one of his biggest protectors. For Snape, this is a huge melodramatic revelation of goodness, and a conclusion to his story.

As the reading describes, much of the series’ melodramatic content is expressed through Harry’s character. There are several instances in which he finally shows himself and others that he has been treated unfairly or is misunderstood. He is good, worthy, and essentially a hero. One of the very first melodramatic revelations to the reader occurs in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone:

“Griphook unlocked the door. A lot of green smoke came billowing out, and as it cleared, Harry gasped. Inside were mounds of gold coins. Columns of silver. Heaps of little bronze Knuts.

‘All yours,’ smiled Hagrid.

All Harry's -- it was incredible. The Dursleys couldn't have known about this or they'd have had it from him faster than blinking. How often had they complained how much Harry cost them to keep? And all the time there had been a small fortune belonging to him, buried deep under London” (58-59).

As the reading explains, many times the revelation is one of status: a “tendency to reveal the identity of the hero as someone who doesn’t belong to the working class at all, typically an aristocrat in disguise or blocked from his inheritance and title by accident or conspiracy” (187). His whole life up until this point, Harry has thought of himself as poor and unlucky. However, he soon finds that he is a wizard and has inherited a fortune from his parents. This begins a sequence of revelations for himself and other characters. Harry continues to develop as a hero, in part due to his natural born status, and in part due to his growth of character and innate goodness. This revelation is essential to the story, and cannot be expressed without the use of melodrama. Harry would be a completely different character without his money, his parents, his status, essentially his identity. The melodrama is what drives his story.

Melodramatic Elements in Other Cultural Artifact

“I didn’t mean to start any uprisings,” I tell him.

“I believe you. It doesn’t matter. Your stylist turned out to be prophetic in his wardrobe choice. Katniss Everdeen, the girl who was on fire, you have provided a spark that, left unattended, may grow to an inferno that destroys Panem,” he says.

“Why don't you just kill me now?” I blurt out. “Publicly?” he asks. “That would only add fuel to the flames.”

“Arrange an accident, then,” I say.

-Chapter 2, ‘Catching Fire’

This passage takes place in the home of Katniss, the heroine, of ‘The Hunger Games’ trilogy, where she is threatened by President Snow to convince the public that her actions in the first Hunger Games –where she and another character, Peeta, almost poisoned themselves on screen-were not actions of resistance but simply actions of love. The passage is melodramatic because a figure of authority, President Snow, misunderstands virtues of the heroine, Katniss Everdeen. Her virtues of sacrifice and endurance that are developed as a victim heroine who lives in impoverished District 12 are misinterpreted as acts of mere survival in the games. Without applying conventions of melodrama, the passage illustrates a totalitarian government that is trying to strengthen its control and eliminate opposing forces. The passage simply highlights oppressions of totalitarianism without melodramatic interpretations; with elements of melodrama, however, the passage becomes part of heroine’s revelation cycle, where the heroine eventually becomes aware of her capabilities as a leader of resisting forces against the government. Thus, melodrama in the novel creates a driving force towards naming the public enemy and justifying demolishing of the so-called enemy through violence. For instance, towards the end of trilogy when the rebel forces defeat the totalitarian government, Katniss votes to have children of the Capitol participate in the Hunger Games- a brutal game where children as young as 12 were chosen to fight until death in an arena during a totalitarian rule-as retribution. This action highlights an ironic attitude that warrants cruelty towards the ‘evil’.

Harry Potter, the War against Evil, and the Melodramatization of Public Culture: a quote explained in response

Consider this passage from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, second chapter, page 26:

“What have you done to my son?” he said in a menacing growl.
“Nothing,” said Harry, knowing perfectly well that Uncle Vernon
wouldn’t believe him.
“What did he do to you, Diddy?” Aunt Petunia said in a quavering
voice, now sponging sick from the front of Dudley’s leather jacket.
“Was it — was it you-know-what, darling? Did he use — his thing?”
Slowly, tremulously, Dudley nodded.
“I didn’t!” Harry said sharply, as Aunt Petunia let out a wail and
Uncle Vernon raised his fists. “I didn’t do anything to him, it wasn’t
me, it was —”

The Harry Potter series is a mass melodrama, more simple in the first few books but a little more complicated in the last few. Therefore these lines have a little more depth than may appear on the surface, as they relate to melodrama. Having just been assaulted by dementors, an almost unbelievable occurrence, this passage takes place during a frantic time of confusion for Harry. Being at the beginning of the book, Harry is still trying to recuperate from his traumatic experience involving the resurrection of Voldemort, the main antagonist, and watching him kill Cedric at the end of the fourth book. Throughout the book Harry struggles with people not believing that Voldemort is back, even though he saw the whole thing and experienced such deep pain. This is a small scale example of this theme of victimization throughout the book, setting the stage for the feel of the book. The dementors appearing to Harry and Dudley is a very unusual occurrence, just like Voldemort coming back to life. Even though Harry is right about both, no one believes him about either until they receive absolute proof. For the dementors, Dumbledore and a witness stands up for Harry, which is enough to drop his charges but there is still skepticism. With Voldemort, people only believe him at the very end of the book when they literally come face-to-face with him. The sad thing about this novel is that people fight and fight to deny the presence of such an evil, and are even willing to victimize the most good that there is, in this case being Harry. Ironically, it is their confrontation with Voldemort at the end, the unveiling of the true circumstances, that give Harry his validity through their opinion of him, but also it shatters the ignorant world that protected them from the terrifying evil that is Voldemort. The overwhelming fear of this reality shadows the fact that Harry was right all along, making this novel a very bleak outlook on cultural response to real threats and true heroism.

Cartoons and Film clips - Resemblance

The cartoon “Rocky and Bulwinkle” and “Dudley-Do-Right” resembles the film clips “Vintage Women Tied to Railroad Tracks” and “Flicker Flash Backs Silent Film Highlights” intentionally mainly in three ways.

First of all, the cartoons succeeded in mimicking film’s humorous/sarcastic style. In the film, with the allegro background music and special editing effects of the film, characters portray the scenes in a clownish way. However, since the plot is about a dangerous and serious situation of ladies trying to escape from the train track, there is a strong sense of sarcasm in these scenes. In the cartoons, it even goes further to use animals as speaking characters, while sharing the ironic style. There are deeper social and political implications hidden behind the absurd performances.

Secondly, the plots and character settings share obvious similarities.  Both type of productions have some bad guys who try to murder the lady by tying her on the track, and the good guys (typically with a ride/house) who eventually saves the ladies from being killed. This typical melodrama theme of “Good VS. Evil” as a result of exaggeration connects the two types of productions together in a direct way. It seems each character has a clear mission or role in the story. The evil guys in both cartoon and film have a hat and mustache, and they are all dressed in black. On the other hand, the good ones always dress in much brighter colors, and they are always successful in saving the victims. The general plot lines are fast and lots of details are cut.

Finally, the dramatic displaying of emotion in the cartoons closely resembles those in the film clips. In “Vintage Women Tied to Railroad Tracks”, when “the evil” is angry, he jumps up and down like he is on fire. In a cartoon production such as “Dudley-Do-Right”, more flexibility is allowed. Anything can happen in a cartoon. People can be ripped into pieces in a second, and even animals can communicate and have a conscious mind like human beings.

In theater acting, showing of emotion is one of the basic elements. On a stage where no close-up view is possible, the exaggeration of the dynamic of the play is the only way to deliver messages to the audiences. For example, in real life or movies we can take a close look on someone’s facial expression and get a brief message about his/her feelings. However, on the stage it is harder to observe small moves. Therefore, the cartoons and film clips’ dramatic nature resembles stage plays. In order to deliver some certain sarcastic message in a really short production, the performing have to be theatrical.

Satire and a Comment on the Times

Clips from the earliest of short films and cartoons prove to parallel each other in many ways. Some of these similarities are more blatant than others, from the unique physical appearance and dress of the villain to the exclusively white-skinned characters in each story. But the cartoon, “Dudley Do Right,” also mirrors many underlying, not-so-obvious themes and ideas present in the black and white film. The women in both railroad clips prove to be completely helpless in defending themselves. While being tied down, the woman in the black and white film simply cooperates, flailing only slightly in an attempt to escape. This proves to reflect the time period when the film was created, a time in which woman were viewed as physically (and in many ways socially) inferior to men, unable to fend for themselves and completely subject to a fate imposed by a man.

The black-and-white film and the cartoon do use satire to poke fun at the role of men at the time. Both the man from the black-and-white film, who wakes up by falling in the mud, and Dudley from the cartoon prove to be quite futile in completing their mission. Right from the start, we see the man from the black-and-white film fall face first into the mud, while in “Dudley Do Right,” Dudley cannot seem to complete the simplest of tasks in order to get kicked out of town. While the man attempts to release the woman from her bondage, his dog alerts the train to slow down and eventually cut the chains. In a similar manner, throughout the entirety of “Dudley Do Right,” Dudley cannot seem to do anything right and is often dependent on his horse. The horse “takes one for the team” at the end of the episode, sacrificing himself during the explosion in order for Dudley to pursue the villain (who ultimately escapes). While the creators are not attempting to demonstrate the competence of a dog and a horse, per se, the use of animals is effective in portraying the men as incapable. 

the Cartoons and the Film Clips

First, from the cartoons Rocky and Bulwinkle and Dudley-Do-Right, what impressed is the heroes' exaggerated movements and voices. The heroes use unusual, even unpractical movements to express the story. They also speak in a loud manner, which seems odd in real life. However, these exaggeration make the cartoon attractive and easy to understand. In the same way, the silent film Vintage Women Tied to Railroad Tracks also uses exaggerated movements to impress the audience. Since this film does not have sound, the movements are more important. The large movements let the audience know what is going on easily and understand the story better. Also, exaggerated movements make people laugh and remember the cartoon and film for a longer time.

Second, the background music is very attractive and matches the flow of the story. Both for cartoons and for films, background music plays an important role in creating atmosphere and reinforcing the emotional impact. Often, when the heroes are angry or fighting, a piece of exciting music will appear while the heroes are happy, a piece of exciting music will show up. Admittedly, the background music for cartoons is more interesting while that for films is more serious. However, these music both have the same effect, which is attracting attention and creating the atmosphere.

Third, the key features and characters of the heroes are very obvious to know. Since cartoons and films are usually not long. They have to tell the story clearly, intensely and completely. As a result, the heroes are very typical and special. The audience can easily know what kind of person or animal he is. Know the hero's personality can led the auditions understand the story better and make the story make more sense.

Finally, the audience for cartoons and films are usually anyone, which means the story should be easy to understand. Not only children watch cartoons but also adults and not only adults watch movies but also children. There is no background requirement for the audience like if they have to be educated or if they know how to read words. Under this circumstance, the plot have to be obvious and clear so that people who watch the cartoon or the film should know what is going on in the film and the cartoon and why the heroes are doing those things. Clear plot plays the significant role in telling the story either through cartoons or through films.

For the plays, they share the same features with the cartoons and films mentioned above. Also, they have another thing in common: they are all very intense and have both smooth parts and exciting parts. No play is always dull from the beginning to the end. It is the ups and downs make the play attractive.

Blog Post #1 Rocky and Bullwinkle

The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show is a humorous cartoon of the late 1950’s and early 1960’s that pokes fun at the overdone short films of the silent era. By exaggerating the already prominent characteristics of the “good guys” and the “bad guys” in cartoon versions of classic silent film conflicts like “women tied to the railroad tracks,” Rocky and Bullwinkle vignettes satirize the campy films of the early 1900’s.

Snipely Whiplash, the ever-elusive villain of the Dudley Do-Right mini-series in Rocky and Bullwinkle, is always dressed in hat and topcoat while sporting a dastardly moustache that over identifies him as a bad guy. The women in the cartoons are always helpless, and the hero arrives to save her in the nick of time. The audience knows she will be saved, and the cartoon manages to recreate the iconic conflict while shortening the entire “women tied to the railroad” conflict to a few seconds. Because viewers are so familiar with the conflict, the cartoon doesn’t have to show an oncoming train to build suspense, the train is assumed within the conventions of the melodrama.

Silent era films rely on body movement and dramatic physical altercations to keep their audience entertained. They utilize slapstick humor, doing their best to create comedy with sound. Fortunately for Rocky and Bullwinkle, their cartoons could utilize more satirical humor through the use of narration and dialogue, while mimicking the physical humor of silent films with ridiculous set ups, such as when Bullwinkle walks off the cliff. Dudley Do-Right is constructed to resemble the average silent film hero who saves the damsel in distress or defeats the bad guys in a completely unrealistic or nonsensical way.

Both the cartoons and the silent films resemble stage plays in the way the actors portray their characters. Because plays are seen from audience seated far away, actors cater to their audience by using large gestures and body movements to create action and interest. Without sound and with only basic film technology, silent film stars overacted to keep their films engaging. Cartoons also utilized this melodramatic style for comedic effect in shows such as Rocky and Bullwinkle.

Silent Films and Cartoon Clips

The cartoon clips, "Ending to 'The Bullwinkle Show' 1963/1964 Season" and the Dudley Do-Right episode "The Disloyal Canadians" intentionally allude to themes present in the silent films "FLICKER FLASH BACKS SILENT FILM HIGHLIGHTS" and "Vintage Women Tied to Railroad Tracks (stock footage/ archival footage)." Primarily, those themes include heroic and villainy characters, a damsel in distress, and the idea that "good always conquers evil." The cartoons however are a satire to the films, in that although these classic themes are there, the cartoons meddle with these stereotypes to create a humorous reaction.

The main difference between the silent films and the cartoons are the times in culture in which they are made. Although the vintage video does not specify a date, the Flicker Flash Backs are from 1908, and the silent films probably predate these. The archaic nature of these videos represent a culture that concentrated on a dramatic culture that believed in two truths, good and evil, with little to no middle ground. This is the same type of mind-set and propaganda that would lead to support for World War I in 1914, the Allies being good and the Axis Powers being evil. However, life cannot be boiled down so easily, said best by Jake Gyllenhaal as Donnie in “Donnie Darko” to his simplistic teacher Mrs. Farmer: “You can't just lump everything into these two categories and then just deny everything else.” It is also ironic that the silent films are only in two colors and only concentrate on these boundaries, whereas the cartoons are in many colors and touch on how there can be a mix of the two. For example, in Dudley Do-Right, he is taxed with getting himself kicked out of service by performing a horrendous act so that he may go undercover and foil the plans of the antagonist Snidely Whiplash. Also, in the Bullwinkle episode, as Rocky and Bullwinkle are walking away with the money, the evil-doers already down for the count, Bullwinkle says “Sure, in a cartoon we always have a happy ending you know,” right before he accidentally walks off a cliff. This is ironic in that what happens contradicts what Bullwinkle expects. But also take note that the dialogue that follows goes a little deeper:

                Rocky: “Gee, an unhappy ending.”

                Bullwinkle: “Yuh, this must be one of those adult cartoons!”

The irony of the situation in both cartoons is what makes them humorous, but the ideas within them show a dynamic change in the common ways of thinking. Dudley must do wrong in order to do right, and Bullwinkle displays how the victor does not simply “walk off arm-in-arm into a cartoon sunset without a scratch.” The satire of the cartoons is there to display how grievous the mindsets of the silent films were, mindsets that plunged the world into WW I, WW II, and arguably the Cold War. These are more mature ideas, supported by Bullwinkle referencing his own plot as “adult.”

Cartoons vs Films

Primarily, ‘Rocky and Bulwinkle’ reiterate a unique theme: good verses evil. In silent films ‘Vintage Women tied to Railroad Tracks’ and ‘The Admiral’s Message’, antagonists commit evil deeds such as tying up an innocent woman to railroad tracks or attempting to steal an important message. However, protagonists overcome such obstacles with good deeds such as saving the woman’s life or fighting spies to successfully relay a message. Similarly, in ‘Rocky and Bulwinkle’, antagonists of the cartoon commit an evil act by trying to steal treasure of Monte Zoom while protagonists Rocky and Bulwinkle chase after them. Antagonists fall over a cliff and Rocky and Bulwinkle are able to retrieve the real gold of Monte Zoom. Although Bulwinkle cynically comments that happy endings are for children’s cartoons, the cartoon nevertheless highlights the idea that good deeds overtrump evil deeds. 

 However, ‘Dudley-Do-Right’ takes a different approach towards the theme of good verses evil by utilizing another theme: love. In the silent film ‘The Sheik’s Wife’, Cadwallader falls in love with Fatima, and love motivates Cadwallader to fight for Fatima’s freedom from the antagonist, Sheik. Similarly, in order to capture the antagonist Whiplash and to impress his lover Nell, the protagonist Do-Right commits various evil deeds that will tarnish his reputation as ‘a man who can do no wrong’. While both the film and cartoon underline human goodness – Cadwallader fights Sheik’s men in order to save Fatima from Sheik’s tyrannical rules and Do-Right commits immoral acts against his will to gain Whiplash’s trust-such acts of goodness are motivated by love.

 Lastly, both cartoons and silent films are similar to stage plays because they use various characters such as protagonists and antagonists to relay a specific theme to the audience. While stage plays directly communicate with the audience, cartoons and silent films use different forms of medium to reach the audience. For instance, the audience can read subtitles or listen to narrations in silent films in order to understand certain traits of characters or situations. Similarly, the audience can listen to the dialogue between characters and watch their actions in order to comprehend traits and situations.

Melodrama in Cartoons and Silent Film

         “Rocky and Bullwinkle” and “Dudley-Do-Right” have no reservations about imitating the conventions of melodramatic silent films. Each cartoon features a sinister, sneaking villain with a black mustache and a black hat-- a figure that appears in most of the silent film clips. Also, each cartoon's villain is attempting to transgress the law, stealing gold in one cartoon and smuggling furs in the other, while each cartoon's hero, particularly Dudley-Do-Right, works for the side of the right and the law. The same can be seen in the silent film clips, where villains attempt to have damsels run over by trains or to steal an official letter, and honorable young men work to thwart their nefarious deeds.
         “Dudley-Do-Right,” though, goes especially far out of its way to imitate silent film, actually introducing Dudley by showing him rescuing a young lady tied to railroad tracks. It even interrupts the video from time to time with frames of only text. Such interruptions make sense in a silent film, since they are the only way to communicate words to the audience, but in a cartoon that has both talking characters and a voice-over to help the audience follow the plot, their main purpose is to imitate silent films for the sake of humor.
          Similarities between the film clips and stage plays are harder to find, and the cartoons involve many rapid scene changes that would be impossible on stage, but I was able to find one device in Dudley-Do-Right that may be intended to imitate stage plays. The characters seem to over-enunciate their words, speaking slowly and exaggerating their consonants. Nell may do it the most, drawing out every consonant and maybe even adding a couple in sentences like “But Dudley, why must your horse go with you?” On stage, extremely clear speech can be essential to make sure people in the back of the theater can understand, but in a cartoon, such speech is again intended to have a comic effect.

Cartoons and Film Clips

One of the first common aspect between all the videos is that they're all overly dramatic. The cartoons contain disproportionate characters performing unrealistic actions, while the film clips contain real people getting into unlikely situations. One cartoon shows a car taking a U-turn on its own and driving off a cliff; two characters have a full on conversation as they plunge to their death. The other cartoon shows Dudley Do-Right walking through a wall to report to his father in a timely manner, and the girl he likes kissing his horse romantically. A film clip shows a woman being chained to railroad tracks and a train stopping just in time to break the chains, but not kill her. The other film clip contains men killing each other with guns, and throwing their hands in the air before they dramatically fall to the ground and die.

All the videos also seem to have a similarity in plot and characters. They all have powerful women, whether they are stuck on train tracks or not, who are unharmed and many times making demands. Dudley's crush repeatedly rejects him; Sheik's wife kills him; the woman in The Bullwinkle Show yells at her husband or boyfriend before they plunge to their death. They also have a very simple plot line where there's an obvious exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and (maybe) resolution. Most of the time, the resolution is a happy ending where the bad guys lose or the good guys at least remain unharmed.

In addition, the cartoons have animated characters that have very expressive facial expressions to convey the emotions they are feeling, like a human's face would. However, they are much more dramatic. Teardrops are larger, a smile fills up a character's face, eyebrows move all over the forehead to point out a few examples. While they're faces are more expressive, their body language is less expressive. They have very rigid body movements, and much less often than a human in a film clip would. The overly expressive facial expressions make up for the lack of body movements in a cartoon.

Comparing Common Cartoons and Film Clips

When comparing clips from Rocky and Bullwinkle, Dudley-Do-Right, and other silent film clips, there are certain commonalities that can be seen in the way that these clips provide entertainment. Not only are their similarities in the plotlines--a girl being tied up on train tracks in both the silent film clip and in Dudley-Do-Right--but I have devised 4 pivotal similarities that exist in each story.

1. There is a hero, a villain, and an objective/goal in each story. A damsel in distress or a female love interest are also common characters.
2. Exaggerated behavior on both the "good" and "bad" sides provides comic relief.
3. The hero always manages to get out of the scrape they’re in. The hero also usually takes a long time to complete a relatively simple task.
4. Each story has a happy ending… Or does it?

Rocky and Bullwinkle are clearly the heroes in their story, while Boris is the villain. Likewise in the case of Dudley-Do-Right and Snidley Whiplash, as well as the Sheik vs. Captain Jack. Exaggerated behavior as well as physical characteristics of each character are clear; for example, the “hero” in the silent film shares Dudley-Do-Right’s handlebar mustache. The hero in each story also manages to escape from a pretty sticky situation relatively unscathed. However, I also find it interesting that in each of these stories, the idea of a happy vs. unhappy ending is examined. This is addressed explicitly in the case of Rocky and Bullwinkle. In the other stories, it is more implicit. Dudley doesn’t end up catching Snidley in the end of his story, and in “The Sheik’s Wife”, the narrator points out the moral of the story at the end as being to never flirt with a sheik’s wife, or you’ll have to be stuck with her, alluding to the captain’s inevitable sticky end. These stories all resemble stage plays as well in that behavior is often exaggerated for the purpose of humor. Also, in Shakespeare’s plays, often the happy ending is not quite as happy as it seems, like in “A Comedy of Errors” or “Midsummer Night’s Dream”, in which the characters are often falsely lured into believing that their situation has been resolved, negating all of the other drama that occurred to resolve it. All in all, looking at melodrama in each of these stories pointed out various characteristics that exist in commonly told stories for the purpose of entertainment.

-Meg Airey

Cartoons and Silent Films

The characters in the clip from Rocky and Bullwinkle resembled the characters from the silent films in several ways. Most notable to me was their ability to survive every near death experience. For example, Bullwinkle falls off the edge of a cliff and manages to survive when his antlers hook onto a branch and leave him hanging. This compares to the woman who survives countless times being tied to train tracks. She narrowly escapes every time. The characters in the cartoon and in the silent films also seem unintelligent at times, seemingly for a comedic effect. The man in Rocky and Bullwinkle takes his hands off the steering wheel to cover his eyes, while one of the villains in the silent film keeps dropping a hammer on his own foot. The villains are portrayed to be clueless at times.

Dudley Do Right obviously mimics the woman tied to the train tracks, where the man emerges as her hero. In the cartoon and in the silent film, the woman is helpless until her hero comes to save her. Also similar in both stories, the man always has the help of an animal: in the silent film, the woman sends her dog to find help, while in the cartoon, Dudley Do Right has the help of his horse. These animals seem indestructible. The dog jumps off a cliff, running to stop the train, and the horse survives an explosion and a broken leg. The woman in the cartoon is actually infatuated with the horse, not her hero. In a sense, one can view the horse as the hero of the story.

Finally, in both cartoons and silent films, the heroes always prevail, no matter how impossible their situations seem. Though Bullwinkle ends up in a sticky situation, he and his friend Rocky still manage to take possession of handfuls of gold coins. Dudley Do Right manages to stop the smuggler (though he does find himself chasing him once again), the woman is saved from the train tracks, and the Sheik’s wife saves her hero from her awful husband.

Cartoons and film clips

Both the cartoon “Dudley Do-Right” and the film clip “The Sheik’s Wife” depict women as strong and independent figures. In “Dudley Do-Right”, Nell refuses the proposal of Dudley and insists on loving his horse. Even after Dudley comes back from his mission and his horse is injured, Nell still does not change her mind. In “The Sheik’s Wife”, when the sheik makes an effort to kill the man who has seen the unveiled face of his wife, he was killed by his wife unexpectedly. Both these women do not depend on men. They both have courage and unique thoughts.
In contrast to the positive portrayals of women in these two videos, the men are depicted to be irresponsible and inconsiderate. In the cartoon, Dudley tries to avoid his responsibility to hunt down the smuggler by asking if Nell and Inspector Fenwick can go instead of him. When he fails the mission and needs to start from the beginning, he asks these questions again. In the film clip, as the sheik tries to kill the man who has seen his wife’s face, he cruelly kills many of the man’s fellow soldiers who are innocent. These men figures clearly do not have that much rationality and intelligence.
The “Rocky and Bullwinkle” cartoon resembles the film clip “The Admiral’s Message” in the way that the bad guys come to no good end. In the cartoon, the villains fall off the cliff eventually. In the film clip, captain Jack avoids the spies’ traps and successfully delivers the message to the admiral while the spies are finally caught. Both of these have “happy endings”.

A Comparison Between the Cartoons and the Film Clips

            One of the most outstanding characteristics of the cartoons was the exaggerated facial and body expressions signifying the importance of emotions in this art. The facial expressions that the cartoon characters would make, at times conveyed a more important message than the spoken words. For example, it would not take the viewer a long time to see that sense of shrewdness of the evil character or the simplemindedness of the good character merely based on their looks. Likewise, in the film clips, facial expressions as well as hand gestures of the evil character show his sense of evilness while the way the person tied to the rail road moves her body desperately for help show her state helplessness.

            Another way that the cartoons resembled the film clips was the idea of “good vs. evil” which was the most noticeable underlying theme among all video clips. It was not clear if the good was always the ultimate winner but all can be said is that the good was never actually harmed by the evil. Moreover, in both the cartoons and the film clips there were only very few characters which helped them just be on-point without much descriptive details.

            The film clips and cartoons were in many ways similar to a stage play. In most stage plays, the characters in the play have a much higher importance in the storyline than the scene wanting the audience to pay more attention to the emotions rather than the looks. Just like in stage plays, the cartoons and the film clips focused mainly on the expressing of emotions which helps their viewers understand the storyline even when no word is spoken. 

Cartoons, Silent Films, Plot Tropes, Oh My!

The similarities of "Dudley Do Right" and the collection of silent films depicting the typical damsel in distress are fairly obvious, but cartoon chooses to highlight similarities to the film clips in a way that brings out somewhat unexpected qualities of an overused plot device. In the introduction of the cast of "Dudley Do Right" the narrator specifies that male protagonist's love interest is not interested in him but his horse. Prior to this scene-setting Dudley is pictured riding backwards on his horse, making him seem silly and somewhat useless as a hero. You cannot skillfully steer a horse facing backwards, and in this case, the horse is doing more work out of the pair. Similarly, the driving force to capturing the villain at the end of the cartoon is also Dudley's horse, who sustained more injuries than the hero himself. These characteristics or the horse and Dudley parallel with those of the dog and the "hero" in the silent film. The dog finds the damsel first, the dog delivers the message, the dog warns the train conductors of the damsel tied to the railway. The hero, consequently, does almost nothing at all. The dog is even more capable than the man as he pulls both their weights while the man is on the bike and is the first to jump into the water when the "hero" is unable to. Both the silent film and the cartoon accentuate the idea of an underdog (ha ha) overshadowed by a flashier, more acceptable hero.

A similar cultural commentary is presented between "Rocky and Bullwinkle" and the second silent film. The cartoon takes some key ideas revolving around the seemingly mandatory "happy ending." Again, an overused plot device is re-depicted in the cartoon. This time it is a form of deus ex machina in which the criminals conveniently falling off a cliff, making the hero's life that much easier. At the end of the cartoon, Rocky and Bullwinkle even bring up the idea of a happy ending vs an unhappy ending, the former being one in which the hero succeeds against the odds while the latter is one in which the hero fails.