Final Reflection

Taking “Hollywood and the Occult” this semester was an experience that was not entirely

what I expected. What I at-first I thought of as yet another mandatory writing class turned into an

exciting and profound investigation into the world of film and “the occult.” Not only did I have

an opportunity to work on my writing skills, I was able to dive into something that I had never

given much thought before, that thing being the occult and how it is present in some of our most

popular media outlets. Upon reflecting on my work in the class, I feel I’ve reached greater

knowledge and awareness as a whole.

One thing I think I have gained from this course is a respect for different types and genres

of film. In my everyday life, I usually tend to watch the same genres, and I’m not really a big fan

of scary movies. Throughout the semester, I definitely struggled to watch some of the films in

their entirety, and usually had to break up my viewing into a few separate sessions. However,

after discussing with the class afterwards and reflecting upon them, I ended up appreciating them

in the end, and I found all of their plots to be very intriguing (even if sometimes disturbing). I

realize now that although a film may be hard to watch, I should never outright dismiss it, because

there are good qualities to every film.

A prominent theme I noticed from watching and analyzing the films was the idea of how

great a role power plays in our society. In many and perhaps all of the films, there seems to

always be a group of people acting as subservient to another group: the “employees” in The Box,

the replicants in Blade Runner 2049, the women of the peculiar sex cult in Eyes Wide Shut. Even

the audience members in The Prestige are taken hold of by the powerful magicians. I think that

all of these examples point to something that we should perhaps be more aware of in real life, in
order to maintain a balance of power between people. In the cartoon “Life in School” by Matt

Groening that we analyzed, a young student is depicted sitting in a classroom, and his thoughts

demonstrate a similar idea; he thinks about how we have learned to be “dull little obedient

sheep.” The cartoon highlights how we are often taught to go along with what is already in place,

“avoid[ing] all fundamental criticism of the powers that be.” I hope that through analyzing and

making connections between both the films and this cartoon, I’ll now be able to better identify

this theme in other works of art and in life.

An activity that we did often in our ENWR that I think helped me the most was our

regular practice of peer editing and conducting workshops. In the past I have always felt very

intimidated by peer editing, so I was skeptical at first when I discovered we would be doing it so

often. Eventually, however, I realized this practice of doing it over and over again helped to

alleviate some of my nervousness about it, and I have become more aware of my writing skills in

the process. Not only is the experience of “being workshopped” on my own work very

beneficial, but reading my classmate’s papers so often has taught me to have a sharp eye and has

reminded me of aspects of both writing technique as well as paper organization. Sister Miriam

Joseph discusses the importance behind three fundamental aspects of the mind, or “the trivium,”

that pertain significantly to writing and communication. These three are logic, grammar, and

rhetoric, which are the arts of thinking, inventing and combining symbols, and communication,

respectively (Joseph 3). I think that in order to become a better writer, one must constantly be

fine-tuning these devices, as they all aid in the practice of expressing ideas clearly and

purposefully. I believe I have definitely fine-tuned my skills this year through frequent writing,

revision, and editing, and that taking a writing class is a great way for anyone to do so.
 All in all, I am proud of the improvements I have made and the work that I have

accomplished. This class was not only about the writing, but it was about the exploration of an

enthralling topic, which sparked conversation pertaining to almost every discipline. I really

admire and appreciate the passion that everyone in the class put into it, for there were times when

it was not easy to analyze and debate particularly heavy themes, and then write about them! I

plan to take what I have learned from Hollywood and the Occult with me to my future academic

endeavors, both in and outside of writing.

 References

Groening, Matt. "Life in School." Cartoon. School is Hell. Pantheon. 1987.

Joseph, Miriam, and Marguerite McGlinn. The Trivium: The Liberal Arts of Logic, Grammar,
and Rhetoric. Paul Dry Books, 2002.