One thing that I noticed was the way that the professor in the movie is treated with respect.  This intensifies the magnitude of the professors desicion when he chooses to marry Lola because he loses the respect of his colleagues and his neighborhood. When the professor goes to the show to catch his students he is still given respect because of the title he holds, a professor at the local college. However, after he marries Lola he is made fun of and disrespected. The amount of pressure he receives for his marriage is soo much that he lost his job. If he was a professor in modern day New York he’d still have his job.

blue angel movie

The film Blue Angel and the novel Blue Angel have some similarities. Both main characters are English professors at the college level. In the beginning of the film the professor seems to be annoying to me. I understand he wants the best for is students but he gets too involved in his students personal life. He repeatedly tried catching them doing wrong things like being at a nightclub.  he kept visiting the club until he was able to catch them there. But while he was there one of the dancers named Lola caught his attention. She seduces him and he falls in love with her. It's ironic because he was there to catch his students doing wrong but instead he got caught up doing something deemed as wrong which is being with a woman that people saw Lola as. The feelings that they have for each other seem mutual. To the point where he ask to marry her. His gut kept telling him to visit the night club and it paid off as they got married to each other.

The Blue Angel and Blue Angel

This week, we'll screen The Blue Angel, the classic German film by Josef von Sternberg. I believe that you'll see some thematic and narrative similarities between this film and Francine Prose's novel. As you're aware by now, Prose's novel and Ted Swenson's first novel are both named after von Sternberg's film. The professor is played by a giant of German silent and sound cinema, Emil Jannings. But the truly huge star in the film was Marlene Dietrich who plays Lola Lola, the cabaret performer. Dietrich was an unknown at the time (she has second billing to Sternberg), but this is the film that made her a star. She was an international film actress, singer, and sex symbol.

The Blue Angel takes place in Weimer Republic Germany between WWI and II. Berlin, where the film is set, was a haven of liberalism and sexual freedom in the 1920s-30s, esp. in the cabaret culture dramatized in the film.

Some questions that I have:

• Lola Lola is one of the classic femme fatales of cinema. In what ways does Angela Argo seem similar to her?
• In the film, the professor gets into a scuffle w/ a ship captain over Lola Lola. What is the purpose of this scene? Why does Lola seem to be attracted to the professor, esp. since she's so much younger? At what point does she fall out of love w/ him? How would you connect their relationship to Swenson and Angela's? 
• What do you make of the relationships that Swenson has w/ other women in his life: his wife, his daughter, Magda? In that lunch scene w/ Magda (pp. 76-84) why do neither seem to be hungry? In what ways are those relationships different than the one he is developing w/ Angela?
• What did you think about the fact that Ted reads Angela's "dirty" poems and then immediately goes and has sex w/ his wife? 
• What questions do you have about the film or the novel? 

Good novel

I would like to share a novel that I read over summer. It's called "The Other Einstein" by Marie Benedict. It's a novel about Albert Einstein's first wife Mileva "Mitza" Maric. It is a fiction which is told from Mileva's point of view. The best part I like about this novel is clear and simple writing style, and really, it helps me a lot when I write my assignment. In the book, there are a mixture of facts and fiction, and the author did a great job to convince the readers look like it actually did happen. At the back of the book, the author talked about how she started writing this novel and how she did research on history and background of Mileva's life before and after she became Mrs. Einstein. All in all, I have pretty much enjoyed reading it. I own this book, so if someone's interested in reading it, feel free to leave comments. I am happy to borrow it.

Blue Angel

 Blue Angle is very interesting so far and kind of funny . Professor Swenson teaches at Euston university his wife Sherrie is a nurse . He also has a daughter name Ruby who he isn’t on good terms with. Swenson seems to be having some troubles in his life right now . I think Angela and Swenson might catch feeling for each other . I believe Angela might have already caught feelings because she replayed Swenson message several time .

Blue Angel pg 1-63

Blue angle pages 1-63 establishes the character of prof. Swenson a teacher at Euston university. The story so far revolves on Swenson's handling of his professorship, his writing and personal life. Aside from his wife, Sherrie, we know that Swenson has only one co-worker that he enjoys the rest not so much. We are also introduced to one of Swenson's writing classes that are established to be very close socially except for one girl named Angela Argo. Angela is just one of the characters that Swenson silently judges internally. From his internal monologue we can tell that Swenson has a troubled personal life, difficulty teaching and hard time writing. We know that Swenson recently had a falling out with his daughter Ruby over her dating a student from Euston. Knowing Swenson's character so far he most likely handled the situation poorly and resulted in straining both relationships he has with his wife and daughter. We also know that teaching for Swenson is difficult particular because he can't directly voice negative opinions about the student's works. So far we know that Swenson has a pretty unhappy life but with the introduction of Angela and her proper writing it is likely we see a character change in Swenson. Despite being a student Angela is critical of her classmates works and her criticism are limited to just those her age. Angela's forthright attitude will most likely charm Swenson who has to put with with the facade of being a supportive teacher and husband at all times. Both Angela's character and writing serves as a foil to Swenson. While Swenson's writing has stalled, Angela's writing career is only beginning.

Blue angel

Reading blue angel, Ted Swanson and Angela Argo have a unique relationship. It seems that the professor notices something special about Argo and he is encouraging her to talk more. It reminds me back in highschool where one of my classmates named tenneson was a very shy and nervous kid. He would never raise his hand and my ela teacher, Ms.reyes, would be the only teacher to get him to speak. Whenever he would talk to her, he sounded confident and articulate. He would always say stuff that nobody ever thought of. They were like mother and son and that is what Swanson and argo's relationship reminds me of.