Watch “Stranger Than Fiction” (starring Will Ferrell). Consider the following questions in your 1000 word response. You do not need to answer them all, but you do need to reach the word count. Engage with the questions you find most compelling. The deeper you dive into it, the better. Use specific examples from the film to elaborate on your responses: What do you make of the meta-nature of this film? How does Harold’s awareness of the narrator invite us (the audience) into the story in the way conventional storytelling does not? What purpose do you think it serves and is it effective, why or why not? There’s definitely a self awareness in this movie with the novel being written: how do you think the movie uses this self awareness to handle it’s (intentional) use of cliches (the square, cookie-cutter man falling for the quirky, unconventional women, him wooing her with the guitar playing, the kind of deus ex machina at the end, etc)? Did you notice any other ways in which this self awareness impacted the story? Two of this movie’s major themes is the notion of free will and human nature; how does the movie engage with these themes, how do the characters actions speak to these themes? What other major themes stood out to you? How do your feelings towards Howard (our protagonist) change as the movie progresses? What did you think of him at the movie’s onset vs at the ending? How does he change? Who do you think is the movie’s antagonist and why? In what ways are they an unconventional or complicated antagonist? If you feel there is no antagonist, explain why and also what intended effect you think that’s meant to have on the movie. What do you think of Professor Hilbert? What do you think of Karen Eiffel? What do you think this film says about our place in the world or in society?
The post Watch “Stranger Than Fiction” (starring Will Ferrell). Consider the following questions in your 1000 word response. You do not need to answer them all, but you do need to reach the word count. appeared first on Essaybrook.
