Jack and the Ultra-Robots: WATCH
HERE!
Jack, the Woolies and the Chritchellites: WATCH
HERE!
The Tale of X-9: WATCH
HERE!
Please rewatch these episodes and share your responses in the
comments section. Think of how these episodes address real-world and real-life
issues. What symbolism stands out to you? What is your reaction to these
episodes?
How do we, as humans, determine good from evil? This seems to be the common theme connecting these three separate short stories. However, depending on one's own point of view, is how most of us determine whom is evil & whom is good. Typically violence is seen as evil in our society, but the truth is, violence has it's place and purpose. For example; is violence evil when one is defending themselves against an attacker? Is it wrong to take something that belongs to someone else? What if that someone was taking it back, because it was taken from them in the first place? The plain truth is that what is good or evil isn't so black and white. For most people, what is right or wrong is determined by your own perception. This makes for some extremely different views on good and evil, making it difficult for people to agree on right and wrong or good and evil. Like good, and evil, most people have strong opinions of the police. Whether the "hate" the police or whether they "like" the police. Opinions on police are usually influenced by our experiences with the police from our past. It is known that the police will believe the story of the one who called them to the scene. Does that mean that whomever called them to the scene is right? Of course not. What is right and wrong, good and evil is a large gray area; meaning it is very hard to determine. The truth is; one probably believes what is right or wrong and who is good or evil, depending on who's story they heard first. So, what is good and evil is inevitably determined by each individual and extremely subjective.
ReplyDeleteSamurai Jack
ReplyDeleteIn the Episode “ Samurai jack and the ultra robots”, Season 2 episodes 5. Jack is fighting the unsurpassed robots sent by his nemesis. The episode could be based on the invasion of Iraq in 2003. The twenty-two minute clip portrays countless symbols such as the petroleum, moving east, and the number 8.
Petroleum was perhaps the biggest reason behind the invasion of Iraq. The robots that were murdered had black blood. This could mean that human blood was shed in Iraq for petroleum. The Ultra robots were moving east and destroying every village they faced. Iraq is located east of the United States and the US army did move east and destroy every single village. The symbol 8 is probably the most significant because there were 8 robots. The killing had been going on for 8 years and the 8 stages of genocide that took place. The number 8 also stands for infinity and supreme power. The United States is widely known as the leading power of the world.
In the Episode “Jack, the Woolies and the Chritchellites”. I think this episode refers to the European settlers in the Americas. The Chritchellites arrived to the woolies Planet with advanced technology. They took over the land and enslaved the population. Much like the European settlers behaved with their guns and gunpowder. Further more, the woolies were put into a fenced farm. This could be a relation between the several Native American Tribes that were forced to live in reservations. One of the Chritchellites said, “Those animals are like, uhmm.. horses”. This shows the harsh treatment that the Natives received from the settlers. Although, the episode might mimic some of the suffering the Natives had to endure. The episode could be based on modern occurrences of invasions.
The story of X-9 is by the most intriguing one. The story speaks about a robot that was created to kill. Further more in the story, he develops emotions. He then realizes that lifestyle that was chosen for him is not meant to be his. The turning point in the story is a dong named lulu. He retires and spends his days with lulu. Unfortunately, his past begins to haunt him. The robot dies trying to rescue lulu. The robot might be viewed as an innocent person who was forced to inflect destruction. He also fought with Jack knowing that he will die. All those characters show a protagonist character. This was only X-9’s half of the story. Jack’s half could be quite different. The message from the story is “walking in someone else’s shoes is crucial”.
I am always surprised at how much symbolism there is in cartoons that are generally intended for a young audience. There are jokes that we assume the children don't understand and underlying themes that add depth to an otherwise violent animation.
ReplyDeleteJack and the ultra robots and the Tale of X-9 are both stories about what a person will do when they are faced with the loss of those they love. The scientist from 'Ultra Robots' at first appears to be the typical evil genius type, and the viewer is even led to believe that he is cheering his robots on. In truth, he wants Jack to live. The scientist was forced to create the robots. If he refused, Aku was going to destroy his village. Aku used the robots to destroy the village anyway, but the scientist could not do nothing, he had to try to prevent the deaths and destruction.
X-9 faced a similar decision. The certain death of his loved one, or the possibility of saving her, even at the cost of another. The endings of the stories are very different. X-9 ends up dying for his sweet Lulu and the scientist who created the Ultra robots lives.
The Woolies and the Critcholites is a reference to slavery or oppression. Very general ideas are portrayed, but there is a strong emphasis on "Us vs. Them". This philosophy has been used to try and justify almost every war or atrocity that has been commited in our history as a species. 'We' are so much better and more civilized than 'they' are. The Critchellites see a civilization that is weak, without weapon technology and invade and conquer them and justify their enslavement because 'they' are lesser beings because they couldn't fight back, or maybe they are just beasts, which means they are meant to be used for the advancement of the critochellites. The Woolies have their own culture and civilization, but it is unrecognized by the invaders.
The Critchellits could be representative of the Europeans at any point during the colonial era. 'We' need the resources of your land and you aren't using them, so you probably don't know how to use them and that means you aren't as civilized as we are.
After watching all three Samurai Jack episodes, and trying my best to compare them to real world events that were happening during that time period, I’ve found myself coming up short. I found it hard. During that time I myself was fresh out of elementary, working my way up to the wonderful world of middle school. Now I’m sure that the history classes would have had the occasional “What’s Happening Today?” worksheets, with the obvious questions of course, while we the students simply asked our mother and or fathers for the answers, or look to the five o’clock news. What I’m simply trying to say is, is that during that time, when those episodes were released, I wasn’t concerned with what was happening in the world. I was concerned with if I were going to get bullied, if I was going to be able to get to class on time and over all if I was going to like it. However watching those episodes did make me think of something, but it wasn’t a relation between that itself and the real world events. One of the first things I thought about while watching Samurai Jack and the Ultra-Robots was that the voice used to play the scientist was from the same person who plays the mayor in the Power Puff Girls. It reminded me of a simpler time in life, where there were no worries. I found it interesting that that episode was based off what was happening in Iraq. The second episode funny as it may seem reminded me a little of the Planet of the Apes, with the way the Woolies were basically overthrown by the Chritchellites. Though I did not see the Planet of the Apes two, so I couldn’t tell you how that ended for them. The last episode, The Tale of X9, it really did not remind me of anything in particular, although it made me more aware to assess situations instead of just acting. So many problems can be resolved when you just assess. So through and through what all I got for the episodes were childhood memories and flashbacks, fictional movie relates, and an addition to life learned lesson.
ReplyDeleteI believe all three cartoons were similar in their depiction of human emotions. In
ReplyDeleteThe first episode, Samurai Jack stumbles upon vilages of robots and aliens that have
been completely destroyed. Jack, being the hero that he is, sets out to find the cause of
this destruction. He soon finds out that robots were destroying these town and
settlements were indeed searching for him. ThIs episode is very reminiscant of what
transpired in the midde east. America, also in search of a man, destroyed countless
homes and murdered many innocent people. Even though the victims in this cartoon
were non-human It was still obvious that those could very easily be humans that were
being killed instead of robots.
The second episode immediately reminded me of early american times when the
first americans took over Native American land and forced them into reserves, sort of
like what happened to the woolies in this cartoon. The Woolies lost their land and then
where imprisoned on this very land they once called home.
In the third and final episode, I was unable to ties this into any real world events i
felt it was a sad unfortunate end for the robot as he only wanted his friend/dog back.
But, I do feel as if Samurai Jack had no choice but to kill him as he was simply
protecting himself, and had no knowledge of this robots intentions other than the fact he
obviously trying to kill him
The first one with the robots reminds me of the war that started in Afghanistan because of how jack was looked at as the outsider coming into their territory and choosing to fight them even though originally the battle between the bad robots and the villagers had nothing to do with him. He decided to play world police as America does so often. The second one reminded me a little bit of the holocaust because the blue guys were not just enslaving the animals, but trying to humiliate them as well as make them their working slaves. The last one...only makes me think of jack being a jerk that kills an ex-con's dog. That's all that comes to mind because if that happened in the real world and someone took my dog, I'd be out for blood too.
ReplyDeleteDiving in, to this ultra modern and fast paced cartoon where everything is solved by the end of the episode. I find it thought provoking and somewhat head pounding to watch at nine in the morning. None the less
ReplyDeleteI can see ties to real world events. Invents including yesteryears entry into IRAQ by the US.
The Statement "They left to the East" is referring to the initial push into Bagdad and the wake of destruction left to the west as our tanks and troops push forward in search of Saddam. If I am not mistaken the Dalai lama also came out and said that "This senseless destruction must be stopped" is in reference to our country the US as we pushed across the Country we tore down structures historical places and places of worship to the muslim peoples. Which is totally irrelevent to the hunt for sdam yet it was performed in the name of our country and has hurt our reputation.
Who is to say that the complete interpretation is correct or not correct. There is a clear and defining line of good v.s. evil in this cartoon. Sometimes even what we perceive to be good can be evil. Such as in the Tail of X9. The entire issue with this episode is clear that neither side is intently trying to do evil but yet trying to gain ones personal goal back or object of affection back.
The first episode of samurai jack could be related to war. Because it showed robots preparing for war just like people would in real life. There were many casuluaties caused by the robots as there would be in a war. And the war ended with the defeat of the enemies. The second episode of samurai jack could be related to slavery beause the critchellites kept the woolies imprisoned. The woolies were made to serve the critchellites as slaves would to the people that owned them. The third episode could be related to a person kidnapping someone you love for ransom . If the ransom isnt paid off then the person kidnapped would die as a consequence.
ReplyDelete