This is the reading response of Everything is a Remix, with an analysis of Moonrise Kingdom. This series is also homework journal for NYU DM-GY 6053 Section D: Reading Response.
This is a interesting video series from the perspective of music industry. I have to agree that I am kind of ignorant about musical trend, genre and theory. But for me remixing idea is never something new, it is quite old according to scholars in many field. And instead of “Remix”, we call it “prototype” or “archetype”. Even the conscious discussion of creation and copyright is nothing new at all.
At least as early as 1919, T.S. Eliot had published his very important article named “Tradition and the Individual Talent” concerning the issue of how the “tradition” creator should borrow and how their individual talent is added to the old, great idea.
So, I would draw a the milestone of “remix” theory so far as I understood.
1872, The Birth of Tragedy, Friedrich Nietzsche:
In his early, very deliberately organized and nicely illustrated work, Nietzsche, the used-to-be rational scholar, proposes an incredibly important idea, that is the dichotomy between the Dionysian and the Apollonian. Before he got mentally disturbed, he argued that all greek tragedy came from two types of ritual, one is to Dionysius. The ritual of irrational orgy, the other is to Apollo, the ritual with rational applause and order.
In this context, he implies the idea of “prototype” or “archetype” inside, which is, all greek tragedy is composed of, or to say, a remix, from two different kinds of activity: Dionysian and the Apollonian ritual;
While for Nietzsche the idea of “prototype” is a bisect: he just separate the tragedy into two oppositional part and trace each root separately. For Nietzsche, every piece of tragedy is a mix of water and fire, while C.G. Jung offers a more comprehensive idea of “prototype”.
2. 1969, Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious, Carl Jung:
Widely applied in various forms of art critics, Jung’s theory about “prototype” came from Nietzsche. But first, he abandoned the bisect view from Nietzsche and build upon his theory of “collective unconsciousness”, which is an extension of Sigmund Freud discussion of “subconscious”.
Stepping on the opposite of Freud, Jung argued that the behind the “subconscious” of each people there is a deeper, while all-connected “collective unconsciousness”. For Freud, the heart of each person is a glacier, a large amount of “self” is hidden under the sea level. But for Jung, the conscious of each person is an island, the giant portation is not only hidden but also mutually hold by everyone. And inside the hidden area lies the “prototype” of all human being. It is the blueprint of how we perceive the world, and how we categorize, how we behave and also how we create. Here are his prototypes:
archetypal events: birth, death, separation from parents, initiation, marriage, the union of opposites;
archetypal figures: great mother, father, child, devil, god, wise old man, wise old woman, the trickster, the hero;
archetypal motifs: the apocalypse, the deluge, the creation;
Compared with Nietzsche himself, Jung is obviously more arbitrary about the archetype. Most of the figures he proposes comes from the common jargon or image of psychoanalysis. But it is this flexibility and multidimensionality make his theory widely held for critics for a long time;
The judgement of CG Jung is bisect, some one think it is pure “bullshit” of a psycho old doctor, someone think he is a genius and reveals the fundamental truth. which is quite a counterpart compared with the diversified comments on his idols Nietzsche.
3. 1957, Anatomy of Criticism: Four Essays, Northrop Frye
Frey offers a more reliable viewpoint but also more focused. Instead of the bold conclusion of Jung, he proposes the analysis of connection of modern works of art, including stories, film, Shakespeare, should be traced back to the two most influential story book: The Holy Bible, and the classic mythology.
In the four essays, Frye talked about how the general structure, symbol, image ,rhetorical method of modern art works could be traced back to the two significant roots, or could be viewed as a remix of Bible story and greek mythology.
And even inside the Bible itself, Frye argued in the Great Code, the new testament could be viewed as a recomposition of old testament, and Jesus is the “based-on” Adam.
I would take “Moonrise Kingdom” as an example to show how it is a remix rooted in probably somewhere else but finally into Bible:
Noye's Fludde: There is about to be a giant storm when the kids runaway, which is parallel to the story of Noye's Fludde. And a more obvious evident is the rehearsal of Noye’s Fludde as a film inside the film.
Noye’s Family: Noye’s mom is not royal to his dad, which is parallel to Suzy’s family
Last Supper: Starting scene from the The Boy Scouts of America is a obvious sign of Da vici’s Last Supper, which could be, again, traced back to New Testament,
Raven: Suzy dressed as an Raven as she first appears, which is the animal Noye sends out, saying "If this foule come not againe/it is a signe soth to sayne/that dry it is on hill or playne." And the Raven fails to return, which means the storm is ongoing.
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