Ellen Simmons "Cold Fever"

I did not read the directions too well for topics for these blogs. I already wrote two responses to the Noland Trail and those were my two entries after my experience of a natural setting ("Noland Trail and Inspired to Hike" were the titles to those entries). Now I still have to write two on the topic of my choice..sorry about the mix up.

Ok I wanted to talk about the film, Cold Fever. This film has to be the weirdest movie I have ever watched! My jaw dropped at almost every scene. It was funny as well as extremely interesting. At first I did not understand why Dr. Redick was showing it to the class and how it had anything to do with the course. But after I wrote my paper, I had a better understanding of his reasons behind showing us the film.

The main concept behind showing us the film was to show us a real example of Lane's four axioms. The Japanese man did not want to go to Iceland to preform the rituals for his dead parents but once he finished his journey he had a different feeling about the country. The man faced many hard times and strange peoples and cultures in Iceland but in the end he appreciated their rituals and accepted his own rituals. The ordinary Icelandic scenery was ritually made extraordinary for the Japanese man. He, also, on an ordinary day would probably just walk across the cold landscape and not appreciate it but since he saw the rituals and spirituality behind the landscape he saw it as sacred space.

I actually really enjoyed watching the movie and it was a great way to get a feel for Lane's four axioms and his three approaches for understanding the character of sacred place. The film also showed that there is a interrelationship between human beings and the environment.