Am I the only one who finds this Paperman short from Disney really disturbing?
First, paper coming to life and forcing someone to do something against their will is creepy.
Second, and most importantly, the magic paper is evil. It has the power to fly like in a gust of wind and bring two people together. That's good. But if so, why did it intentionally make all the paper airplanes miss the window? If the magic was benign the magic paper would have hit the love interest on the first shot. Then they could have waved, shouted to meet for lunch, and all would have been cool.
But no! Instead the magic paper makes the man so frustrated that he quits his own job, just to get the woman.
What the fuck!??!? Was him quitting his job some kind of test? Why does someone have to quit their job just to show how interested they are in a woman they haven't yet spoken to?
If the paper really wanted the couple to get together, why should he make the man sacrifice his means of income first? If that's his test, to see if he is worthy of the woman, what was the test for the woman to see if she was worthy of the man?
I thought this short was quite touching, up until the paper was shown to be magic, and then I was creeped out and horrified until the end.
It's not that all the paper has magical properties. It's the accidental kiss, visible with the lipstick, that enchanted the piece of paper it is on. However, the man treasured that piece so much and then when he finally resolved to risk it anyway out of desperation he is too clumsy to follow through. That coupled with the frustration of failure and the abandonment of his desire (and subsequent big throw) awakening it.
Yeah Luke, I think you are overanalyzing this very sweet and heartwarming short animated subject. It is a simple story that thrives on both a romantic and optimistic worldview which is most definitely by design. No offense, but I think the problem is mostly with you, because you are viewing it from a very cynical standpoint.
That having been said, I don't think I'm alone when I say I want many more stories told in this groundbreaking, new style of animation; I hope more animators other than those at Disney do so.
That having been said, I don't think I'm alone when I say I want many more stories told in this groundbreaking, new style of animation; I hope more animators other than those at Disney do so.
I definitely want more, but not as a full on replacement to either 2D or 3D animated movie. Have it just be another style that they use.
That having been said, I don't think I'm alone when I say I want many more stories told in this groundbreaking, new style of animation; I hope more animators other than those at Disney do so.
I definitely want more, but not as a full on replacement to either 2D or 3D animated movie. Have it just be another style that they use.
Who says I'm being cynical? I explained my gut reaction to the short, which was that I found it an uncomfortable experience to see someone's free will taken over by a magical entity that has a different value system compared to my own.
I didn't say there was a problem with the animation, nor do I think there is a problem with me. I take one message from it, the makers probably intended something different... but that's how art works. It's all cool.
Who says I'm being cynical? I explained my gut reaction to the short, which was that I found it an uncomfortable experience to see someone's free will taken over by a magical entity that has a different value system compared to my own.
Dafuq? a) The magical entity had the same value system as the person. They both wanted the person to get together with the other person. Or do you mean your, as in Luke Burrage's, own value system? Which would make that statement quite a bit more screwed up. b) The free will was not taken away. There was force involved, but it was pretty evident that the person had a will of his own, in not wanting to go where the paper planes were pushing him. It's not like the planes brainwashed the guy.
No, but the magical entity waited until the guy was out of options and had to quit his job. If the magical entity was interested in the happiness of the man, why not let him catch her attention before him leaving his job? Why can't someone find love without giving up their job? Is love incompatible with a steady income?
Option 1: - Help man meet woman again. - Man still has job.
Option 2: - Torment man. - Make man decide between his job and a woman. - Man quits job. - Man made to feel bad. - Man attacked and scared by paper planes without knowing what is happening to him. - Get man to meet woman again.
The only reason to go take the second option was to make the story more "cute", but in doing so made me feel uncomfortable. When a magical entity has the power for force someone to go somewhere against their will, and the ONLY signs so far haven't been good (always tormenting and standing in the way of what the man is trying to achieve), don't mind me that I feel uncomfortable.
Yeah. If the magical entity made them have the "cute meet" in the first place, the humans are almost entirely devoid of free will, and every time the man tries to exercise his free will he fails (either due to non-magical randomness or the magical entity's power).
In the end the message of the movie is "Magic will bring people together, but only after causing annoyance and disrupting lives".
Yay romance. The anti-christ is the best explanation.
FYI, the technique only works with black and white models currently.
Figured as much. I wouldn't expect a feature length film with this technique to come out in the next few years, but it will probably happen sometime before the end of the decade.
Luke, you are assuming that the magic entity is involved throughout the entirety of the movie, and you ignore the more logical explanation that the magic came about as a result of the frustration and failure of the man to achieve his goal through his own power. In this, the message would be "If everything else fails, magic will help you out".
Even if we were to assume that the magical entity was always present, you are assuming that it intervened and obstructed the man, rather than the man failing through circumstance or bad luck. The magic entity could simply stand by and observe, hoping for the man to achieve the goal through his own strength, rather than forcing the situation.
I'm trying not to assume too much. I'm trying to analyze why I felt uncomfortable when magic turned up. Even if the magic only turned up after he proved how much the man was willing to sacrifice to meet the woman, it doesn't make me feel any better about the magical entity's intentions and methods. I found it creepy.
This is some serious Gandalf girthing all up in here. Love it.
I could get behind the latent psychic powers, since the short is called "Paperman". He could just literally be an unawakened mutant with paper-based powers. :P
It's more plausible that the paper allows emotions to be used as fuel for enchantments. Building all the planes drained him of his yearning to be with the girl, yet the emotions still existed and manifested in the planes externally applying the attraction, through physical force, he felt prior to using the emotional energy to get her attention.
Likewise, the kiss paper became enchanted with the attraction of the woman, albeit much less forceful since she only spent a little energy to enchant the single plane. Thus it merely led her attraction instead.
The entity is merely a physical manifestation of their own core attraction, with the paper being the medium in which it interacts with the world. The man feels hesitation because his emotional core has been essentially offloaded.
I was totally suckered in by the tone of Paperman, before my boyfriend convinced me that dude is a victim. He is trying to communicate with her, but the paper messes with him for five minutes.
This was animated by just one student. One. Ho-lee shit.
While it does look visually impressive, I can see that he took a lot of shortcuts like not animating mouths and keeping backgrounds still. He also uses a lot of gray (perhaps even TOO much), which saves him the time from having to color.
For a student film, though, he has shown that he certainly has a creative spark.
Comments
First, paper coming to life and forcing someone to do something against their will is creepy.
Second, and most importantly, the magic paper is evil. It has the power to fly like in a gust of wind and bring two people together. That's good. But if so, why did it intentionally make all the paper airplanes miss the window? If the magic was benign the magic paper would have hit the love interest on the first shot. Then they could have waved, shouted to meet for lunch, and all would have been cool.
But no! Instead the magic paper makes the man so frustrated that he quits his own job, just to get the woman.
What the fuck!??!? Was him quitting his job some kind of test? Why does someone have to quit their job just to show how interested they are in a woman they haven't yet spoken to?
If the paper really wanted the couple to get together, why should he make the man sacrifice his means of income first? If that's his test, to see if he is worthy of the woman, what was the test for the woman to see if she was worthy of the man?
I thought this short was quite touching, up until the paper was shown to be magic, and then I was creeped out and horrified until the end.
It looked very pretty though.
At least that's the way I interpret it.
That having been said, I don't think I'm alone when I say I want many more stories told in this groundbreaking, new style of animation; I hope more animators other than those at Disney do so.
I didn't say there was a problem with the animation, nor do I think there is a problem with me. I take one message from it, the makers probably intended something different... but that's how art works. It's all cool.
a) The magical entity had the same value system as the person. They both wanted the person to get together with the other person. Or do you mean your, as in Luke Burrage's, own value system? Which would make that statement quite a bit more screwed up.
b) The free will was not taken away. There was force involved, but it was pretty evident that the person had a will of his own, in not wanting to go where the paper planes were pushing him. It's not like the planes brainwashed the guy.
Option 1:
- Help man meet woman again.
- Man still has job.
Option 2:
- Torment man.
- Make man decide between his job and a woman.
- Man quits job.
- Man made to feel bad.
- Man attacked and scared by paper planes without knowing what is happening to him.
- Get man to meet woman again.
The only reason to go take the second option was to make the story more "cute", but in doing so made me feel uncomfortable. When a magical entity has the power for force someone to go somewhere against their will, and the ONLY signs so far haven't been good (always tormenting and standing in the way of what the man is trying to achieve), don't mind me that I feel uncomfortable.
In the end the message of the movie is "Magic will bring people together, but only after causing annoyance and disrupting lives".
Yay romance. The anti-christ is the best explanation.
Even if we were to assume that the magical entity was always present, you are assuming that it intervened and obstructed the man, rather than the man failing through circumstance or bad luck. The magic entity could simply stand by and observe, hoping for the man to achieve the goal through his own strength, rather than forcing the situation.
I could get behind the latent psychic powers, since the short is called "Paperman". He could just literally be an unawakened mutant with paper-based powers. :P
Likewise, the kiss paper became enchanted with the attraction of the woman, albeit much less forceful since she only spent a little energy to enchant the single plane. Thus it merely led her attraction instead.
The entity is merely a physical manifestation of their own core attraction, with the paper being the medium in which it interacts with the world. The man feels hesitation because his emotional core has been essentially offloaded.
More info here.
For a student film, though, he has shown that he certainly has a creative spark.
Take the worst of the new stuff, because you've not put in the time to discover the good stuff.
Compare.
Old wins!