Guillermo Del Toro has retained a fascination with the fantasy genre dating back to his early childhood in Mexico City. Del Toro addressed his youth in an interview with USA Today: “I have been collecting fairy tales since I was a kid," he adds, "I have a couple of hundred volumes” (p. 04d). The environment that Del Toro grew up in, coupled with his innate fascination with fantasy and horror films during his teen years made the writing and directing of Pan’s Labyrinth come naturally to him. Del Toro draws upon his childhood experiences with fantasy and mirrors it perfectly with Spain’s real struggle to establish freedom from the fascist regime that dominated the 1944 post-civil war. Growing up in Mexico, Del Toro was a first hand witness to the lightness as well as the darkness of humanity. His knowledge of the factual history of Spain’s civil war, and his experiences growing up in an unstable Mexican capital make his interpretation of the political unrest in Pan’s Labyrinth seem very tangible.

Wloszczyna, Susan. "Suprises Lurk Inside 'Pan's Labyrinth'." USA Today 3 Jan. 2007. Academic Search Elite. EBSCO. Oklahoma State University Library.12 Mar. 2008.

Ofelia, the central protagonist of the film, is a pre-pubescent tween, struggling not only to establish herself as a woman but also to find an escape from her militant stepfather. The film depicts her at an age when not only her body is changing, but her world is changing as well. She loses her childlike innocence as a result of the shocking brutality of the Captain and attempts to take refuge in the Labyrinth. “Choosing to explore a land of fantasy seems the most logical escape for Ofelia. Once she enters the labyrinth, she is faced with the entreaties of the mysterious faun. Everywhere she looks, she is trapped -- by the war, by her sadistic stepfather and by magical creatures who seek to control her” Del Toro comments (p. 04d). Ofelia is trapped by her uncontrollable situation and turns to the one thing that is a constant in her young life, her love of fairy tales. Her age, the changing of her body, and the shifting reality that her monstrous stepfather has placed around her allows the escape she makes to the Labyrinth believable and understandable.

Puig, Claudia. “’Labyrinth’ has magic in every corner.” USA Today 5 Jan. 2007. Academic Search Elite. EBSCO. Oklahoma State University Library. 12 March. 2008.

Del Toro creates a setting in Pan’s Labyrinth that seamlessly blurs the lines of what is real and surreal. He is able to achieve a believable film through his use of shockingly real wartime violence, mixed with the innocence that only a young girl can bring to a story. The undertone of the film and the fairy tale within it is very stern and serious. Del Toro reveals, "It's not exactly sanitized, Disney-esque imagery. It's a very bleak, harsh world. The creatures aren't really nice to her" (p. 04d). The entire film maintains believability because of Del Toro’s use of the harshness of reality. The magical creatures are not atypical of most children’s stories and her three tasks each involve serious risks and challenges. This provides Pan’s Labyrinth with a believable magical story line. Our young heroine must face the veracity of her situation and Del Toro portrays her struggle to escape the dire situation perfectly. The harshness and despair in the story combined with the innocence of Ofelia and her attempted removal from reality allow both fact and fiction to coincide flawlessly.

Wloszczyna, Susan. “In director's fantastical world, violence has reason for being.” USA Today. 3 Jan. 2007. Academic Search Elite. EBSCO. Oklahoma State University Library. 12 Mar. 2008.

Essay II

Growing up in a conservative household has taught me many things. Like most other people in this world, I am a product of my environment, and I am proud of the way my parents raised me. During my teenage years, I had the privilege of speaking with my grandfather about many controversial issues regarding politics, religion, and our society. Although I always took my grandfather’s wisdom to heart, I am not so naïve to believe that he is completely right about everything. On one issue in particular it is obvious to me how both our generations' views differ from each other.
Let me first lay out a typical Sunday afternoon at my grandfather’s house. My grandfather, a muscular, ex-marine sergeant, can be found at any time during the afternoon with a Budweiser firmly grasped in his right hand, relaxing in his leather lazy boy reminiscing about old war stories or complaining about the recent propaganda being shown on “liberal” news stations such as CNN or MSNBC (my grandfather is a FOX News man through and through). I sit down next to him and he starts talking to me about whatever is on his mind, I listen. I respect my grandfather more than almost every other person in my life (excluding my mother and father of course), so I take what he says to heart.
My grandfather is a very proud man, and rightly so, because he has lived a full and excellent life. He grew up in an all-Irish neighborhood in New Jersey, joined the Marines at 18, met my grandmother after serving in the Korean War, and fathered four children, all of whom turned out to be girls. A heavy drinker since around age 15, my grandfather, or Papa John as we call him, is the epitome of the “Alpha Male”. His stories range from neighborhood street fights between the ethnic groups in Jersey, to his Golden Gloves boxing status at age 16, or even to one of his fifteen near death experiences.
This day is different however, after offering me a beer (which I decline), he starts talking to me about the role women in our society. I listen up because he seemingly always has the right answers when it comes to societal issues such as this. Not at all to my surprise, he takes an extremely conservative view towards the subject.
He quotes Martin Luther by saying that “Women should remain at home, sit still, keep house and bear children.” It is a fact of life, he says, that men are physically superior to women. He uses sports as an example; nine times out of ten the best professional male athlete will beat the best female athlete hands down. Men also have the edge when it comes to mental prowess as well, according to my grandfather. He names off great thinkers such as Albert Einstein, Sir Issac Newton, or even Ben Franklin and uses this as proof of the male dominance of the intellectual field. My Papa John believes that men have been “endowed” as the sex that must provide, and therefore lead, the human race as a whole.
Before writing my grandfather off as just another sexist male, let’s take a second to look at the definition of sexism. A sexist person believes that one sex is inferior or less than the other, and I know that he finds women equally valuable in the marriage relationship. He loves his wife, and treats her with the utmost respect. My grandfather comes from the “old school” and this is evident in the way that he treats his wife. Chivalry and gentlemanly conduct are always present when he deals with my grandmother. I can vividly remember him opening doors for women, standing up when a lady leaves the table, and walking curbside to my grandmother. These things come naturally to him and he has done his best to instill his beliefs on how a woman should be treated to me.
I totally agree with his demeanor around women, and strive to emulate his gentlemanly conduct whether I am on a date, or just hanging out with a girl in a casual setting. However, after coming here to OSU, I have met many women that are offended by chivalrous action. While this seems crazy to me, I must still respect their views, as I expect them to respect mine. On the subject of women and marriage, my views are different from my grandfathers in some regard and similar in others.
I see females as equally valuable, if not more valuable than men in the grand scheme of things. After all, men biologically cannot rear a child, or nurse a newborn baby. Similarly, women often have a much more levelheaded approach to situations and don’t often let their “ego” get in the way of an important decision. Women possess freedom of emotion and are naturally more understanding and more caring than their male counterparts. "A woman is the full circle. Within her is the power to create, nurture and transform" according to Dianne Mariechild.
This isn’t because of some extra body part or different brain structure, but rather the result of the roles that society places on men and women. For example, a man most often wont show emotion simply because he doesn’t want to be viewed by his other male buddies as “soft” or as a “pussy”, because this would interfere with his ability to assert his dominance of other males and would directly effect his ability to provide. It is a dog eat dog world out there in the male, testosterone dominated world. The “big swinging dicks” that run this world are usually the most cocky, chauvinistic pricks around and they run things because of the dominance they assert over the other men they surround.
These days, however, women are more empowered than ever. They are striving for equal pay, equal opportunity, and through all this they are breaking down gender barriers across the board. Women are able to do things now that they couldn’t even dream of doing fifty years ago. And while my grandfather may be against the erasing of gender roles in our society, I feel that women should be allowed to pursue any life that they choose. After all, this is America, and why shouldn’t women be afforded every freedom that this great country has to offer.
I do however reserve my preference in my future marriage similarly to my grandfather. I want my wife to stay home and raise our children, while I provide for my family. I make no judgments on how others choose to live their lives and I expect the same from everyone else. I hope to find a girl one day that will appreciate the chivalry that I have been brought up around and strive to emulate.

Essay 2 Rough Draft

After Reading my first draft, I realized that it is a little bit too much on the sexist side, while there are some valid points, Much of it was for shock value, like how Raya said she was "a little pissed at first" ... that was intended ... but the point i was trying to make obviously wasnt conveyed like I wanted it to be, so I will give it another shot

Essay 2 Prompt

State University's Decline: Equal Opportunity? You be the judge
-funded by the govt
-we say "anyone can go to college", but should anyone be able to
-Intellectuals think that we should learn for learning's sake