ENCW 205: Art & Identity in New Orleans

In Section Two, Chapter Six, of The Moviegoer, Binx explains how he believes he relates to Jewish people because he feels like an outcast. He claims that he can sense “Jewish vibrations” and that he was “a Jew in a previous incarnation,” (88-89). He goes so far as to say “it is true that I am Jewish by instinct. We share the same exile,” (89). Additionally, he finds a connection in the fact that many solitary moviegoers like himself are Jewish.

I think it is important to note that none of the connection he feels to them is religious. Binx does have a sort of religious journey throughout the book, but this is not part of that. This feels like a victim complex. It is true that Binx struggles to relate to other people, but one could argue that it is his own doing. He looks down on others for a long time, judging them for their “everydayness”. He believes that they are dead, and their conversations bore him.

In this case, Jewish people are outcasts because of antisemitism. The Moviegoer was written less than two decades after World War II, and although the U.S. didn’t set up its own concentration camps for Jewish people, it was still full of hostility towards them. Binx could (and arguably does by the end of the book) change his outlook on life and other people in order to fit in. However, no one should be asked to change their religion or ethnicity, which is impossible in any case, in order to be treated with respect.

Binx’s belief that they are sharing the same exile betrays his arrogance. He might believe he is being treated unfairly because he does not fit in, but is he not the one treating others unfairly because of their mediocrity? Is he not the one passing judgment on them for finding meaning in lives that he believes are meaningless? You cannot expect to be given respect from people you don’t respect in turn, and he doesn’t seem to understand that he is being disrespectful in the first place. People can pick up on other’s demeanors and outlooks. If Binx outwardly finds them boring, he is not acting like someone who anyone wants to be around.

To relate oneself to an entire population of people who have been discriminated against in the worst ways imaginable because you’re both “outcasts” is entirely too assumptive for my taste. However, this chapter is still relatively early on in the story, and Binx left plenty of time to redeem himself.

I really wanted to do something food related, but everywhere I looked I found the star of the city, beignets. With that said, I am making beignets! I will also research beignets and their significance to New Orleans culture. I chose beignets because it is the most famous dish in New Orleans, even being mentioned in movies such as Disney’s Princess and the Frog and CW’s show the Originals. I will research the origin of this dish and how it came to be so popular in the city. I will document my baking progress and if all goes well I plan to bring enough for everyone to enjoy (If I appear empty handed, something went wrong).

For my research product, I will be researching modern Voodoo in New Orleans and how it differs from its origins. I also would want to know how the actual rituals have changed as well. For the creative aspect of my project, I will be making a Voodoo doll.

“I too once met a girl in Central Park, but it is not much to remember. What I remember is the time John Wayne killed three men with a carbine as he was falling to the dusty street in Stagecoach, and the time the kitten found Orson Welles in the doorway in The Third Man.”

In this passage, and as we encounter Binx’s reminiscence of meeting a girl in Central Park, he notes that it’s a memory with fleeting significance. What truly captures his imagination and lingers in his recollections, however, are moments from the movies. This contrast between real-life encounters and cinematic experiences, as well as the notable differences in Binx’s recollection of them, highlights a central theme of the novel, being the allure of the cinematic world as a means of escape and a source of emotional resonance/recharge for Binx. In Binx’s recollection of John Wayne’s heroic act in “Stagecoach,” we witness his deep emotional attachment to the movies. The imagery of Wayne’s character dispatching three men while falling to the dusty street captures the essence of Binx’s connection to the cinematic world. It’s not just a passive pastime for him; it’s a realm where he finds meaning, excitement, and a sense of heroism that might elude him in his everyday life.

This passage underscores his yearning for something more in life, as well as his emotions regarding routine and its existence in life in general.  Binx’s fixation on cinematic moments suggests a desire for excitement, heroism, and a sense of purpose that seems to torment his being. The fact that he remembers these cinematic scenes more vividly than his own personal experiences in Central Park highlights his preference for the fantastical and the extraordinary over the mundane. The sense of attachment that is also displayed here and throughout the literary work to the world of movie and theatrics presents a realm where Binx has the ability to  temporarily detach himself from his own problems and immerse himself in the captivating narratives of others. This escapism reflects his tendency to seek meaning in the artifice of fiction rather than confronting the complexities of his own existence.

In the first 40 pages of “The Moviegoer” by Walker Percy, the main character, John Bickerson Bolling or Binx, is shown as a man of little emotion, who cares very little for those around him in a emotional way. When he loses his brother, he is told by his (great) aunt to be like a soldier, and he agrees it is quite easy for him to act like a soldier. In his relationships with his secretaries, which he describes as “love affairs, I suppose”, he has little regard for the emotional aspect of the relationships, as short as they may be, with the women he has these relations with. He relates most things back to movies in almost a detached way. He also talks of his search for god and himself and relationship to seeking in the terms of answering a survey, but not that he leads into searching for god but also himself, but that he wants to know how to answer these surveys he enjoys filling out, and how few options for seeking there in within these surveys.

I hope to dive more into my Creole background, specifically where my family originated from and how we made our way to New Orleans. It’s important to discover how and when we became “Creole” because of the rarity of being a white Creole. The creative aspects I hope to include hand-drawn maps with pinpoints on the hot spots for my family and what happened in those areas that led to traveling. I will be speaking to my family members using other books for reference and incorporating those into the maps. Then I hope to speak to each member of my family still in New Orleans and ask them what being white Creole means to them and why they decided to stay in New Orleans after all this time.

I noticed quite a few differences between the written version and the movie version of A Streetcar Named Desire. I mostly noticed it in the portrayal of the characters. Stanley seems far more violent in the movie, breaking things more often and seeming to have outbursts every time he drinks rather than the few times he got physical in the book. Stella also seems to be stronger in the movie rather than the book. She stood up to Stanley many times throughout the movie, defending her sister. Next, Blanche seems more mentally unwell in the movie. She has very obvious delusions in the movie and she has them more frequently. In the book she seemed to be over dramatized but in the movie she seems like she is actually delusional and unwell. Lastly, Eunice was more involved in the movie than in the book, especially in the end.