Arrested Westeros: Gem of the Internet

*Warning: This Blog Contains Game of Thrones Spoilers for Season One*

The entertainment realm of culture is truly fascinating. There are certainly examples otherwise, but the current generation is living amongst a golden era of television. Currently, there is substantial programming, in both quality and quantity, such as dramas like Breaking Bad and Mad Men and comedies like Parks and Recreation and Modern Family. These shows manage to hook viewers in with their characters and plot, but also with the underlying subtext of each episode. To surmise briefly, Breaking Bad and Mad Men deal with personal struggle, Parks and Recreation give a feminist perspective, and Modern Family tackles moral quandaries within everyday life.

So when the subtexts of one of the greatest comedy series, Arrested Development, and one of the best dramas, Game of Thrones, come together in one extraordinary place, only magic can ensue. And it does, at Arrested Westeros.

 
Arrested Westeros is an incredibly clever Tumblr dedicated to captioning stills from Game of Thrones with quotes from Arrested Development. If you have not seen either show, the jokes may go over your head, but rest assured these vastly different television shows have more in common than you think.

Arrested Development is a sitcom about the Bluth family, a formerly wealthy, eternally dysfunctional family, as they deal with the patriarch, George Bluth, going to jail and its aftermath as their social status changes.

Game of Thrones takes place in Westeros, a fictional land made up of seven kingdoms, as multiple noble families fight for control of the Iron Throne.

Though from different genres, both shows illustrate power struggles and their aftermath. In Arrested Development, the family owns a company where there is constant internal strife between the father, George, the oldest son, Gob, and the middle son, Michael. Though Michael is the most honorable and deserving of all of them, both his father and brother constantly plot against him.

This power struggle is reflected in Game of Thrones as well. The current king is the despicable Joffrey, who is more focused on keeping the throne from his own family than the any of the other families. Much like Gob, who was briefly president of the Bluth Company, Joffrey tries to rule using fear and is constantly suspicious of his family, even his own mother.

The other element linking these two shows so fantastically is family. Both series deal with very incestuous relationships, sure, (Cersei and Jamie will always be worse than George Michael and Maeby), but it goes even deeper than that. The very characters themselves resemble each other: Lucille’s icy parenting style can easily be interchanged with Cersei or Tywin Lannister; Ned Stark and Michael Bluth both claim honor above all else; even Buster and Joffrey share that their father is their uncle (though in different ways).

Arrested Westeros is television match made in heaven. It takes two great things and makes you look that them both in a new light. If that isn’t the aim of the entertainment world, then I don’t know what is.

Culture Shock is Good for the Soul

Growing up in the United States can make it difficult to appreciate the cultures of other nations. Many Americans’ natural inclination is to pity developing countries, sometimes even pity other developed nations. American ethnocentrism is so engrained within our own culture, that it skews the reality of the rest of the world around us. This is why travelling abroad is so important—it provides a better understanding of other people and their cultures.

Recently, a friend of mine named Sarah Pfander (whom I met abroad, actually) had the opportunity to study overseas in Mali for the semester. Unfortunately, due to the military coup that ousted its president, she, among other foreigners, was evacuated. Though her time in Mali was cut short, Sarah still managed to immerse herself within the culture.

One of the more obvious distinctions between Mali and the United States was the cuisine. “I had to put my vegetarianism on hold,” Sarah explained, “because they cook meat with everything there.” Even seemingly American dishes, like hamburgers, had their own Malian flare, as they put cinnamon in the hamburger meat.

Perhaps the most challenging difference that Sarah encountered was the lack of amenities people in the United States take for granted, such as indoor plumbing. The area Sarah stayed in did not even have electricity until 2002.

Despite all of these disparities between cultures, the Malian people are a happy one—and not the naïve, tribal happiness the West conceives of. “They are not just happy because they don’t know any better,” Sarah elucidates. “It’s an informed happiness that comes from the knowledge that life could be better. There could be more development and more jobs, less corruption and less poverty. But with that could come more crime and less love. Life in Mali is so communal; every neighborhood is a huge family. Malians are the most generous, hospitable, kind, caring, and funny people I’ve ever met. And they are happy because even though the country could be doing better, they know they’ve figured out a lot more [than other people] how to live with compassion and community.”

 Sarah’s experience in Mali is one of many examples that travel is good for the soul. Exposing oneself to new things, whether than be a new type of food or an entirely different culture, is the only way to broaden horizons and gain a more worldly perspective. The United States is one of the most highly developed countries in the world, constantly giving aid to developing countries in need. If the U.S. is not familiar with the country’s people and culture, how can they possibly know what they need?

Rather than treating developing countries like projects or stereotypes, the developed world must see the real people of these countries and view the magnificence of cultural traditions that are not their own. 

Game of Thrones

Destination Runway Video

A video from Hofstra's charity fashion event, Destination Runway.

Tony Bennett Got It Right

Like millions of people before me, I am leaving my heart in San Francisco. It didn't come as any surprise—I have lived in both the North and the South, and extensively explored the Midwest. I've grown tired of the stressful North, resentful of the slow-moving South, and more or less indifferent towards the Midwest, so it makes perfect sense that the best fit for me in the United States falls along the West Coast.

My week in the Bay Area was both relaxing and invigorating. Exploring the city of San Francisco was exciting, with such discoveries as Ike’sPlace, Baker Beach, and Dr. Teeth & the Electric Mayhem. Romping around Big Basin was equally incredible; the redwoods are truly impressive. The greatest draw, however, is just the overall relaxed, content atmosphere felt everywhere. Not enough people in the world understand how to relax well, and California makes it easy. Between the sites (still so many more I want to see: here, for instance), the weather, and the culture, it will be a shock if I actually make it onto my plane to New York City tonight.

Spotlight: Linda Longmire

How do you begin to describe a woman who has changed the lives of hundreds? Linda Longmire is a professor in the Global Studies department at Hofstra University. She is largely involved in peace research, active in such organizations as Long Island Alliance for Peace Alternatives and International Peace Research Association at the UN. And, of course, she is the pioneer of the European Odyssey program, a 10 week road trip around Europe that happens every spring semester.

But Linda Longmire is much more than what she does. Linda is an independent free-spirit; she is one of the strongest, most courageous people I know. These are qualities she inspires in others.

I had the privilege to participate in the European Odyssey both in 2010 and 2011. The first year I went as a freshman. I had spent a semester at Hofstra and hated it—so of course I jumped at the chance to spend a semester on the road in Europe. It took two weeks on the road with Linda, her husband Tim Smith, and the other eleven students for me to decide to stay at Hofstra.

The second year I went as the peer teacher. My experience on that Odyssey was very different from the year before. I was put in a position of responsibility in addition to completing five independent studies, so Linda and I worked quite closely together that semester. The conversations had were among the most enlightening and learned of my life thus far.

Linda’s teaching skills extend far beyond the classroom. The strength and positivity she displays daily transfers to whomever she is around, and it sticks. On the Odyssey, people transform before your very eyes; a large part of that is thanks to Linda.

My time spent with the Odyssey is something I will never forget, a sentiment shared by well over 200 other past Odyssey-participants. While each trip is different, the one thing everyone shares in common is Linda and how she changed each person’s life.

The Case of the Missing Film

It was a quiet afternoon. The air was crisp and my car cold; a faint gleam of excitement was visible upon my face as I made my way to retrieve the treasure. Bracing the wind, I entered the bright oasis merrily, knowing what would soon be in my possession: my first roll of developed film shot on an SLR camera. Having always been interested in photography, this was clearly an exciting moment.
I waited until I got home. That was my mistake. Why, oh why did I wait?
The film given back to me wasn't mine.
So instead of photos summing up a day in my life, here are some photos of a few of my favorite things in my room.

1. Statue of Aphrodite

Aphrodite has been my favorite Greek Goddess since I encountered Boticelli's Birth of Venus. I came across this statue in Olympia, Greece, the very place to find such a Greek treasure.

2. Christian Lacroix Journal

The design aspect of fashion has always enthralled me. Christian Lacroix always creates pieces that are daring and extraordinary. I happened across this beautiful journal at Les Arts Decoratifs in Paris, France.

3. Candle Holder

This candle holder is especially significant to me. After peer teaching on the European Odyssey last Spring, the directors of the program gave each student a ceramic candle holder. The design atop mine was different than the rest, symbolizing my different perspective of that trip from the last trip and the others. 

4. The Fashion File

Mad Men is a fantastically compelling series complete with the best costumes I have ever seen on television. This book takes the reader behind-the-scenes and details the major components of different characters' looks. A great find on ModCloth.

5. My Mother's Ring

I borrowed this ring from my mom "for a day" in 2007 and have worn it every day since.

Hopefully I will rescue my film from Walgreens' darkroom lair tomorrow and find some gems. Until then, I hope the camera phone has sufficed!