ENG 3 Jan 21 Homework + Machinima

Langston Hughes poem "Suicide Note" being Machinimized now gives a universal face to the poem. Now when people read the poem after having previously viewed the video the readers can all relate to the same imagery. In a sense this unifies the readers/viewers of this poem/video because they now can relate together instead of everyone having their own seperate images or outtakes on the poem. However, with this unification of the readers there is no sense of independence to where others can input their own ideas about the poem. The video was made under the vision of one person and now people would conform to that one persons interpretation of the poem. By adding a face to the poem the viewers of the video see and hear what the maker wants them to. Taking out the room for ones own interpretation of the poem is not what poetry is meant to do, it is meant to allow for people to interpret the poem in there own views and affect them in their own personal ways. For example, the tone in the poem is more of a tranquil or peaceful sense where the person in the poem is almost content with committing suicide. Where as the video seems to be sad because of the characters movements and the song added to the poem. The Machinima version of the poem differs from the true version of the poem in that it is just someones opinion of the poem not Hughes himself. This makes the machinima version just an interpretation of the poem instead of the intended meaning of the poem from Hughes.

References to poetry can be found in almost all pop culture. Many music groups have made songs based off of poems or televisions series been made from ideas from poems. The Simpsons, the longest running television show around has made several episodes that have contained references to poems. In one episode where the family gets a tour of a military base, one of the cadets is quoting the poem "Ode on a Grecian Urn" by John Keats. Lisa reconizes the quote and begins to talk of poetry and how her school never talks about it. By referencing a poem the episode has more depth because it can go beyond the television screen and into the poetry world. This also can allow for people who know of the poem to relate more to the episode and trigger ones interest even further. Making references to poetry seems to be a great technique to lure people into a series or a song just as poetry has always lured so many into its own world.