LilTreva’s Neighborhood

Israel's recent wave of repression led to arrest of Jamal Juma', coordinator of Stop the Wall Campaign.

We had the Love Doctor (Sean from Love Reception) on our show again...this time to tell us how he picks up TWO girls.

Check out more Love Reception here: http://www.youtube.com/lovereception

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Thanks guys!

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My wife and I were listening to old Disney music this evening, when I was reminded of my favorite childhood Disney scene.

All things considered, I suppose this an appropriate choice for me, but probably not for the reasons you may first suspect.  This number is remarkably unlike most anything I have ever seen from Disney.  Immediately following Quasimodo's optimistic number wherein he allows himself to fantasize about a happy life, the mood shifts to the antagonist Frollo who begins praying with his characteristic narcissism but quickly transitions into a desperate plea for his soul.
 
What makes this scene so unusual, aside from its dark and dramatic tone, is its blatant sexual theme.  Disney has been known to throw sexual undertones into their movies (Ariel's first ascension from the water as a human comes to mind), but in The Hunchback of Notre Dame, the writers decided to retain from the original work Frollo's carnal obsession with Esmeralda, and it is never more obvious than in this scene.
 
This is only the second time in the movie Frollo is shown doubting himself.  The first instance occurs at the very beginning (another great scene, see right) where his doubt compels him to spare the babe Quasimodo.  Here, his moment of weakness reminds the audience of his humanity, but while the first scene showed his propensity, however small, for mercy, this scene represents a "point of no return" for him where it is made clear his infatuation is now driving him inexorably toward a grim conclusion.  While we as the audience realize Frollo could use this experience to accept his status a mere man, fallible and equal to the ones he has so ruthlessly judged, he instead maintains his claim to righteousness, refuses to accept his humanity, and seems to plunge into insanity.  After this scene, his mannerisms begin a rapid shift away from his powerful, stern demeanor and take on a more sinister and devilish tone.
 
 
Symbolism is used heavily in this number to reflect Frollo's inner turmoil.  Beyond the obvious use of demons, more powerfully the fire is used prominently until it effectively becomes a second character.  At first, the fire represents Frollo's insuperable passion, teasing him with the spritely image of the object of his lust.  While he looks longingly at the flame, the realization of his own convictions descend upon him, and his attraction to the flame quickly turns to terror of imminent hellfire.  The symbol of his desire is then replaced by the handkerchief while the threat of God's judgment is replaced by faceless demons with the fire becoming a purging force, passing over him and reinvigorating his resolve to conquer his lust, causing him to cower before Maria in a tearful appeal, and symbolically destroying the sprite Esmeralda.  Note the artistic use of the chorus at this moment which resembles the cry of an angelic army, emphasizing that Frollo considers his mission a holy and righteous one.  In the final seconds of the number, the fire simultaneously embodies all these motifs: passion, judgment, and cleansing.  These three elements completely displace Frollo's divine motivations and drive him for the remainder of the narrative.

I have an opinion about the whole Brittany Murphy thing:something about it just doesn't seem right. The stories out there about her health before she died are many-supposedly she was diabetic, she had had flu like symptoms for a couple of days before she died(I have heard of several people dying from "flu like symptoms-some of them *did* have flu-I think they're afraid that they will be diagnosed with swine flu,and swine flu=death sentence(if caught in time, it's not). Oy, there is so much misinformation about swine flu(even now).