Wednesday, October 28, 2015

The Rise: The Iconoclast

[The Rise]

In "The Iconoclast" chapter of The Rise, Lewis discusses Franklin Leonard's "The Black List"  a yearly survey of notable films screenplays that have not yet been produced. She discusses how the list works to raise the visibility and funding potential of screenplays that may not have otherwise gained attention.

How did you respond to the chapter? Why or how so?

20 comments:

Unknown said...

I personally liked this chapter because it brings to your attention the concept of just how much information is being overlooked or that hasn't been considered, which is so mind-blowing to me because as much as we as humans try to explore all aspects of our everyday endeavors, there is still so much more! That's a beautiful, yet scary and overwhelming thing to think about. I liked that Lewis shed some light on the concept.

Shervonti N. said...

I liked this chapter because from the way the The Black List is described, I imagined the screenplays that were placed on this list as the underdogs that have the potential to come out on top. The original idea of The Black List was a good idea to shine light on potential screenplays that would not have originally gotten any attention but now some people think that there are people that know how to "work the system" and gain more popularity from the list. I enjoyed the snippet on page 131 that read "If it suffers from anything, it is the hipster complaint of 'now everyone loves them, they can't be cool,'" which could potentially be a good counterargument.

Ajeenah Johnson-Brown said...

The discussion of The Black List was very interesting to me. I personally had never heard of this list of films.I think it is great because it gives lesser known filmmakers a chance to be recognized. Our society prides itself on being different and not conforming to mainstream, however, these films go unheard of. Out of my own curiosity I looked up the definition of iconoclast and found that it is a person that attacks cherished and common beliefs.

Unknown said...

I liked this chapter because it sheds some light on the fact that some important things are always overlooked in the news and in society because it is not deemed important enough. There are some things in the world that happen every single day and they are always overlooked by some ignorant and less-deserving story because it is deemed "more popular and more ratable" than others and it makes me happy that Lewis shed some light on it

Mikaela S said...

I liked this chapter because it helped me understand The Black List, something I've never heard of. Not only did this list help the under appreciated screen plays and movies, but it also identified a weakness in the film industry. It basically helped put quality over quantity.

Anitra B. said...

I found this chapter, particularly the discussion of the Black List, to be interesting. It was interesting because the films that are placed on the list were over-looked and not pursued by film companies because they were "risky", yet those films that are on the list and produced end up winning majority of the awards. I believe that this goes to show that in order to to succeed, you have to take risks. This reminded me of quote by Mark Zuckerberg the I read. He once said that "the biggest risk is not taking any risk... in a world that is changing really quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks". This proved true for the film company that went out on a limb and to produce this films that others passed over.

Brianna R. said...

I really like this chapter because it gave me the opportunity to learn about something I had never heard of before. Reading through the chapter seeing some of the screenplays that actually became movies that I personally have watched and enjoyed made me happy that such a thing even exists. The Black List represents opportunity. In life with everything, i think we like to imagine that everything and everyone has an equal opportunity to have its chance to shine when really that is sadly not the case. I like the idea that this list in a sense represents a second chance for the things most people overlook or don't consider "good enough" to make the cut. It supports the ideas of "the underdog" or "the diamond in the rough" It is very refreshing to me to know that something like this was created.

Unknown said...

I really enjoyed the chapter, although I had previously heard of "The Black List" I had never taken the time to look into what it was. I think the list itself redefines being successful. Making it on "The Black List" is an accomplishment in itself even if it wasn't the original aim. Exploring the list is a great form of exposure to other ideas, ideas that are outside the norm. It demonstrates that there is way more out there than what's sitting right in front of you. It's an eye opener. A person can do nothing but appreciate being introduced to something so broad.

- Tiera W.

Unknown said...

I really enjoyed the chapter, although I had previously heard of "The Black List" I had never taken the time to look into what it was. I think the list itself redefines being successful. Making it on "The Black List" is an accomplishment in itself even if it wasn't the original aim. Exploring the list is a great form of exposure to other ideas, ideas that are outside the norm. It demonstrates that there is way more out there than what's sitting right in front of you. It's an eye opener. A person can do nothing but appreciate being introduced to something so broad.

- Tiera W.

Olivia Slater said...

This was one of my favorite chapters. The idea that we do not consider or pay attention to many things really struck a chord. It reminded me of my Reasoning and Argumentation class that I took last year. It explores how to examine all sides of an argument or topic before commenting or making an educated decision.

Ashley Bass said...

I really enjoyed reading this chapter, because it shows that you have to take steps and build up to get to where you want to be. Like many different trades, once you get your foot in the door tons of opportunities open up. I liked learning about "The Black List" because I was not aware it existed. I love that the Blacklist exists, because it gives screenplay writers who lack the funding the ability to get their project funded. Many people have great ideas, but lack the funding to pursue them. It just goes to show that money should not stop anyone from pursuing what they love, because their are plenty of raise to get funding you just have to find it.

Aliyah B. said...

I think that it is a little silly that some legendary movies could have never made it to theatres because they were too "risky". Then when they get on the black list, people start to show interest. What is it about the black list that turns a movie from being too risky to worth a shot? However, I am glad that the black list exists because it has given us great movies. I just wish people would be more open-minded about movies that might not make it to the black list.

Kelsey W said...

I personally was not too interested in this chapter. Nothing special really stood out to me. I guess it is cool for the writers of these movies that made the cut. I had not heard of the Blacklist before reading this before so it did shed a little light on things that happen within the movie industry.

Tashawna N. said...

Unlike my fellow Haley Scholars I did not really care for this chapter as much mainly because I like that other chapters even though they have one main topic they are just more interesting. Although this chapter was very informative about the black list I just did not care as much to read information twenty pages worth of information on it.
~Tashawna Nash

Unknown said...

It is important to the human race to know all that there is to know. To live a life with no knowledge and a lot of uncertainty is to live a life of unhappiness. However, there is so much of this world that is unknown, no one person will know everything. The strive to perfection and knowledge of everything is a factor we all have in common. I liked this chapter because it talked about how there is so much that we as humans do know, or do not even realize we do not know. There is a whole world out there, and the things we know only account for a small fraction of a larger piece of the puzzle.

Ta'Mara Woodson said...

it's not that I don't like this chapter, but it wasn't interesting to me. It told about a lot behind the scenes in the industry, but it's a cool chapter because those screenplays gained some recognition. Just didn't really catch my attention.

Unknown said...

The most compelling aspect of the black list is the parallels between a black list and the racial implication it oppose. We live in a world where everything that represents power is attached to the color white (Lewis 122). But the "Black" list has transformed black into something positive. Everything on the black list eventually comes to be part of popular culture. So though black is usually considered less than white it will eventually make it way to the forefront of culture.

Alicia Sears said...

This chapter evoked a lot of deep thoughts for me because I had recently watched a documentary on Chinese labor & the factories that make mardi gras beads that many Americans carelessly throw away after they're done celebrating having no clue where the beads came from. The Black list evokes the same idea as the documentary which is that if we don't bring awareness to things that often times fall in the shadows we will never be able to learn from, grow from, or experience the greatness that comes from them. If we keep supporting these companies by buying their products knowing that laborers are paid unfairly we will allow the potential of these workers to be wasted.

Quincy Sanderlin said...

I liked this chapter because it showed that change can come when people are informed. She describes this in a scenario in which a "blacklist" of quality screenplays are neglected until attention is brought to them. This minor example contained a bigger underlying issue that can be related to the problems of African-American- which can often go neglected unless attention is raised.

Unknown said...



I enjoyed this chapter, because I have a family member that is a Play Wright and I often go to view her and her friends screen plays. I have noticed that there work is better than a lot of mainstream plays. Therefore, I enjoyed the fact that Lewis included the information regarding Leonards "The Black List" which exposed the fact that there were notable films screenplays that have yet to have been produced. Which I thought was very clever, especially because it did raise visibility and funding potential. It makes me wonder if that was still done today does it make a viable difference.