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I'm Not There

I'm Not There

Date: Feb 06 2008

Themes: Pop Culture

Intro

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2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

We’ve all wondered, “If they made a movie about my life, who would play me?” But do you think Bob Dylan ever guessed that six different people would play him in the same movie, including Cate Blanchett?

Probably not. But it makes sense when you think about it. As one of the most influential musicians and poets of all time, Bob Dylan has had a crazy life. It would be quite the challenge for one actor to play him and do him justice. Listen to Jason tell Katie about the Bob Dylans of the new movie, I’m Not There.

Dialog

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2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Jason

Jason

Katie

Jason:  Have you seen the new…I’m Not There, the Bob Dylan movie?

Katie:  No, I haven’t. Is it supposed to be good?

Jason:  Yeah, it’s really good. It’s really weird. It’s kind of confusing. At first there’s this black teenager who’s the star, and you’re kind of like, “Isn’t this a movie about Bob Dylan?” But it turns out he’s supposed to be Bob Dylan and Bob Dylan at one point is a woman…

Katie:  Wow.

Jason:  ...and he’s represented by six different actors who represent six different Bob Dylans, or aspects of Bob Dylan.

Katie:  That’s pretty cool. Do you think Bob Dylan thinks of himself like that, as being several different people?

Jason:  Oh, that’s a good question. Maybe, I don’t know. I guess he’s pretty reluctant to comment about movies and things that are made about him.

Katie:  Mm, OK.

Jason:  But I think he would be justified in thinking that because he has all these different periods where he was, like, into drugs and where he was a protest singer and now he’s this weird old guy who’s in commercials...

Katie:  Very true.

Jason:  ...it’s pretty different phases of your life.

Katie:  Yeah.

 

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Discussion

Katie hasn’t seen I’m Not There, so Jason warns her that it can be a little confusing at first. That African-American kid at the beginning? Yeah, that’s Bob Dylan.

Each of the six actors who play Bob Dylan at different times of his life are abstract representations of a period of his life. Katie wonders if Dylan himself views his life as having such distinct eras.

Jason doesn’t know what Dylan thinks, but he thinks the movie makes sense. Since Dylan has been everything from a protest singer to an actor in lingerie commercials, why not have someone else play him at each step along the way?

Have you ever experienced a dramatic change in your life? Would it take more than one actor to play you?

 

Comments

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kaushalyats

Sri Lanka

i had experiences of dramatic changes in my life but i don't think there should be six people to represents me unless other than two or three people to represents crtain stages of my age.

07:40 AM Feb 06 2008 |

kaushalyats

Sri Lanka

i had experiences of dramatic changes in my life but i don’t think there should be six people to represents me unless other than two or three people to represents crtain stages of my age.

07:39 AM Feb 06 2008 |

GavinZheng

GavinZheng

China

It's necessary that six people, six absolutely different people play Bob. But they got things in common: they are able to think freely; they are trying to uncover the society. In a word, they are all Bob Dylan, like a rolling stone.

Now , even myself can not do myself justice. We all show our mask of unreality to others ,but we dare not act as what we are exactly.

03:14 AM Feb 06 2008 |

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