Humans Love Stuff

Now for most of you the alarms are probably going off: "Stuff?Stuff! Miss Macdonald is using one of her banned words!" Right you are, but to prove a point. Usually, I banish such a vague word from writing but this time - it is worthy. Go with me...

In Lord of the Flies one of the major topics we look at is how the boys interact with the island. We see them crash land creating a deep scar, set the mountain on fire, manipulate and kill creatures as well as break rocks. There are no "tree huggers" here. As the boys claim the island as their own "This belongs to us," it becomes apparent that the boys lack a certain awareness of how their behavior affects their surroundings. They burn down their own natural resources 'for goodness sake!' (Shakespeare phrase).

I was recently sent this link by a friend and mentioned it in class. To my surprise, I had actually seen a youtube video that you all had not! It starts a little slow but it is a video showing us the "Story of Stuff." All the stuff we buy comes from somewhere and has a deep impact on our planet, similar to how the boys have a lasting impact on the island. Note the comparisons that neither the boys nor modern American culture seems to fully grasp what they are doing to the only environment they have to survive on.

Movie Magic by Krissy McCusker

As I have previously posted I have a deep affinity for the Frou Frou song "Let Go" and believe it would work perfectly for the final scene of Catcher in the Rye when Holden has his epiphany at the carousel scene, that being: all children need to "fall" in order to learn from their mistakes. I have thought about this so much that I can see the scene playing through my head when I listen to the song - even when I'm not teaching Catcher.

This was getting to a point where I needed to do something about it and lacking any knowledge of filmmaking I went to the only film source I had: Krissy McCusker. A former MVP of Miss Macdonald's G Block class, Krissy was most well known for her film "Lady of the Flies" which will be shown in June. "Flies" demonstrates McCusker's own ideas of what would have happened if girls, not boys, had been stranded on the island. It also has phenomenal bloopers and end credits.

The question was: would Krissy dismiss my idea as that of an overly ardent English teacher or would she accept the proposal to craft my daydreaming into a reality? With a big sigh of relief, I hereby announce the film version of "Let Go" - the Catcher in the Rye version by Krissy McCusker. One million thanks to Krissy for taking me seriously and truly bringing to life what has been in my head for the past several years. I LOVE IT!