I snagged an instrumental version of Nelly Furtado's Say It Right tonight.
It was always my favourite track off Loose, but the more I listen to it, the more I acknowledge that it may be my favourite from her overall, replacing Fresh Off the Boat.
The production to the song is incredible.
The raw bass sound of the synths, the haunting "Hey! You don't mean nothing at all to me" that Timbaland chants in the background, the electric guitar that comes out of nowhere at the very end. I thoroughly approve of the song.
On another musical side note, Hips Don't Lie surpassed a playcount of 250 spins today. Ugh.
Also, I wrote a research paper last week on Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. I argued that the social norms and etiquette that were prevalent in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries are reflected in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, yet at the same time the novel allows us to look at our own society and see how far we’ve advanced and progressed since the days of the original Grimm renditions of Cinderella and other tales. Anyway, today I wrote a critical paper psychoanalyzing Tom Riddle (aka Lord Voldemort) from the books. I should also note that the other month I wrote another critical paper examining Hermoine and her role in feminsim. I should just major in Harry Potter, really. Anyway, below you'll find my psychoanalysis of Voldemort. It's been passed in already but any additional feedback would be swell.
J.K. Rowling developed a world where many children and adults alike escape into; forgetting about their own lives, and choosing instead to live in the magical world she invented. One of the primary characters in the best-selling series, and the main instigator of all things evil that occur in Harry's world of magic, is Tom Riddle, otherwise known as Lord Voldemort. Voldemort is an interesting character as he is the axis of evil within Harry's universe and is malicious to a tee. Growing up without any kind of family, Tom Riddle transformed himself into one of the most instantly recognizable and feared wizards in both literature and the magical world J.K. has created. Yet, Voldemort's desires of domination and life-long journey into immortality represent the repressed desires and mental anguish brought on by the onset and absence of said family.
Throughout the course of the book series, details of Voldemort's life are revealed and it is made known to the reader that his only remaining relative, his mother, passed away shortly after giving birth. Growing up without any sort of parental figures in his life, Tom appears to have become "stuck" or fixated in the oral stage of Freud's theories. This oral stage is described as being one where a person is "forever wanting to suck, to consume, to take in, endlessly hungry and needy" (A Glossary of Freudian Terms, Craig Chalquist). Freud described the oral character as being the first of the psychosexual development phases, from birth to roughly 8 months. Freud further states that family conflict can cause a person to become fixated with a certain stage; it is therefore appropriate that Tom Riddle be stuck at this stage since from birth onward he has not known any family. Tom Riddle is clearly seen as a character of greed, and constantly wanting to consume and take-in as evidenced by his desire to draw people to him, constantly seeking power and minions to do his bidding as demonstrated by his use of, and creation of, the Death Eaters. He is shown as being an individual who desires power and control above all else, relentlessly seeking these things and exerting his power and influence over people.
Furthermore, Tom Riddle, having experienced the death of his mother at the earliest stage of life, is shown as having thanatophobia. According to Freud and his students, Thanatos is a state in which one subconsciously wants to return to a lifeless form. Tom Riddle having been exposed to death at a crucial stage in his life has a deep-rooted fear of dieing because of this. He goes so far as to make himself immortal through the use of Horcruxes and other magical elements such as the Elixir of Life and the Philosopher’s Stone in order to prevent facing his own death. Voldemort further fears death above all things, and in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, it is revealed that Voldemort considers death to be the worst form of punishment, further implying his deep fear and hatred for mortality, a possible consequence of having his own mother die.
Tom Riddle is an interesting character as he serves as the central diabolical figure in the series. He is both feared and hated, yet looking below the surface of Tom’s own powers and desires, it becomes evident that he is merely the result of the direct loss of his mother at an early age. His hatred, greed and quest for immortality are a result of him acting out his subconscious desires and fears.
