f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\12 Angry Men.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The movie Twelve Angry Men begins with an eighteen year old boy from the ghetto who is on trial for the murder of his abusive father. A jury of twelve men are locked in the deliberation room to decide the fate of the young boy. All evidence is against the boy and a guilty verdict would send him to die in the electric chair. The judge informs the jurors that they are faced with a grave decision and that the court would not entertain any acts of mercy for the boy if found guilty. Even before the deliberation talks begin it is apparent most of the men are certain the boy is guilty. However, when the initial poll is taken Juror #8 (Henry Fonda) registers a shocking not guilty vote. Immediately the room is in uproar. The rest of the jury resents the inconvenient of his decision. After questioning his sanity they hastily decide to humor the juror #8 (Henry Fonda) by agreeing to discuss the trial for one hour. Eventually, as the talks proceed juror #8 slowly undermines their confidence by saying that the murder weapon is widely available to anyone, and that the testimony of the key witness is suspect. Gradually they are won over by his arguments and even the most narrow minded of his fellow jurors hesitantly agrees with him. Their verdict is now a solid not guilty. Arriving at a unanimous not guilty verdict does not come easily. The jury encounters many difficulties in learning to communicate and deal with each other. What seems to be a decisive guilty verdict as deliberations begin slowly becomes a questionable not sure. Although the movie deals with issues relating to the process of effective communication this paper will focus of two reasons why they encounter difficulties and how they overcome them. First, we will apply the Johari grid theory and see how it applies to their situation. Then, we will see how each individual's frame of reference and prejudices effect their perception which cause difficulties in the communication process. If we analyze the Johari grid of each juror we see a large hidden area in the case of all of the men. Take into consideration, referred to by juror numbers only they do not even have the benefit of knowing their names. These men have never talked before. Each of them come from different situations with individual and unique experiences. The public area consists solely of the shared information provided during the trial. Their hidden area is immense resulting in an equally large blind area. The public, hidden and blind areas are relatively the same for each juror before beginning the deliberation. It is the size of the unconscious area that will differ more among the men. We will see how the contents of the unconscious area will largely effect the decision making process of some of the jurors. Because the information contained in the unconscious area is unrecognized it is often the most difficult to overcome. Henry Fonda's (Juror #8) interpersonal style would be classified as open-receptive. He levels with the others by openly admitting that he does not know if the boy killed his father and solicits feedback in order to make an accurate decision. He says "I just don't think we should send a boy off to die without at least talking about it first." The example he set encourages the others to level and be open to receive feedback. The movie illustrates the process of leveling and soliciting feedback which can make all the difference. The character with the largest hidden window is the boy on trial. Realizing this, Henry Fonda (Juror #8) tries to put himself in the boys shoes to gain a better understanding of his situation. "The poor boy has been beaten on the head once a day every day since he was five years old!" and "I think if I were the boy I'd get myself a better lawyer... He didn't stand a chance in there." In this case one can only speculate as to the contents of the boys hidden area. The important factor is his desire to comprehend the boys feelings. One man in particular, Juror #3 (Lee J. Cobb) has a sizable unconscious area. He has a troubled relationship with his own son that preoccupies his thoughts. This is eluded to in a conversation between juror #7 (Jack Warden)and himself. Looking at a picture of him and his son he says "haven't' seen him in two years, kids, you work your heart out..." then he abruptly stops. The broken relationship with his son preoccupies his thoughts as several times throughout the movie he is found staring at the picture. His interpersonal style would be classified as a blabbermouth. He is neither open or receptive. He has his opinion and loves to share it. The net result is a large blind area. He is unwilling or unable to level with the others and is also unreceptive to any feedback. Most likely the extent of these feelings and the effect it has on his perceptions is unconscious to him. Eventually, he finds himself the only one maintaining a vote of guilty. He feels his sense of reality is in question and it threatens him. This puts him on the defensive. He bursts accusing the others of being crazy. This emotional eruption changes from bitter anger to sad understanding. His defenses start to crumble as his unconscious emotions become visible to him. By recognizing his unconscious emotions essentially what he has done is level with himself. Once he did this he realized the anger and frustration with regards to his son has been misdirected toward the accused. With a new understanding of himself he is able to change his vote to not guilty. Another issue dealt with in the movie is prejudice. Prejudice is defined as premature judgment or bias. In a trial situation Jurors are asked to only consider the evidence presented to them. Individual biases are not expected to effect the decision making process. Unfortunately, leaving our prejudices outside the court room door is near impossible. As the movie demonstrates prejudice can distort our views and greatly effects our ability to make accurate assessment's. Strong prejudice is displayed by Juror #10 (Ed Begley) as he bursts into a rage while referring to people from the ghetto, "Look you know these people lie, it's born in them...they don't need any real reason to kill someone...they get drunk all the time, all of them, and bang! someone's lying in the gutter...nobody's blaming them, for that's their nature, violent" he even goes on by saying "their no good, not a one of thems anygood." It is doubtful Ed Begley could see past his prejudice in order to hear the evidence in the trial. His guilty vote is cast as soon as he learns about the boys disadvantaged life in the slums. While most of the men are aware of the stigma attached to people from the ghetto they are willing to try to put the stereotype aside. His outburst has caused quite a disturbance in the room. This disturbance serves two purposes. First, it provides the "not guilty" defenders with an understanding that his prejudice is the reason for his opposition. It is always easier to overcome an objection if you know what it is. Having this knowledge allows for a more productive communication there by convincing him that he should change his vote. Secondly, it allows him to vent his frustrations. In doing so, he realizes the power of his emotions which forces him to step back and take a look at what he really feels. The look on his face shows he has a realization. For the first time he understands his prejudices have effected his perceptions. This new understanding of himself enables him to think more clearly and objectively. It is interesting that the most damning evidence is the testimony provided by an eyewitness to the murder who is also a member of the boys slum community. Yet the boy, a product of the same community is an assumed liar. Henry Fonda (Juror #8) points out the double standard to the others when he says "she's on of them too?" Juror #3 (Jack Klugman) responds to the negative comments by informing them that he too is from the ghetto. "Listen" he says "I've lived in a slum all my life, I've played in back yards that were filled with garbage, maybe you can still smell it on me." Another gentlemen tells him "lets not be so sensitive, he didn't mean you." Pointing out these double standards undermine the confidence of the jurors who's votes stemmed from pre judging. Every man has the right to a fair trial, most would love the right to this jury. As the movie closes the not guilty verdict is handed down. It is not known if the boy is guilty or innocent, that will forever remain in his hidden area. Henry Fonda (Juror #8) entered the trial with an open mind, he managed to convince the others to do the same. The movie illustrates that everything is not what it appears to be. Being aware of this is the first step to better understanding. f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\1950s FASHION and CLOTHING.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The post war baby boom was at it's height during this time. The decade's fashion was heavily influenced by the birth of rock and roll and the abundance of teenagers in the later half of the decade. Teens In America grease made a very big impact on the clothing for young adults and teenagers. The 1950's stereotype and style. 1. The cashmere sweater. 2. Poodle skirt. 3. Rolled up t-shirt sleeve (black or white t-shirt good). 4. Pedal pushers (gold is good). 5. Black leather jacket--the collar must be turned up to be "hep." 6. The scarf. 7. 1950's gym wear. Flamboyant and Feminine - Women's Fashions of the 1950s Silhouette Soft but wide shoulders, corseted waist, and full hips were hallmarks of 50s wear, but silhouettes were more varied. On these outlines, women wore a trim bodice and very full knee-length skirt, or a fitted short, boxy jacket or blouse with a pencil-straight skirt. One style that hid all the rest, literally, was the cocoon-like sacque dress and coat, which fitted the shoulders and bloomed at the waist and hips. Common Designs One- and two-piece dresses with small-collared, fitted blouses and full, pleated knee-length skirts More casual dresses with tied shoulder straps or halter straps, boned bodices and the quintessential circle skirt Similarly fitted eveningwear that had a heart-shaped opaque strapless bodice with a sheer silk or nylon over bodice, usually sleeveless or long-sleeved Prom night evening gowns of pastel nylon tulle, usually bedecked with yards of tulle trims, ruffles, and velvet bows Long-sleeved button-up sweaters with a plain, ribbed neck, often beaded or appliquéd Fabrics Available Natural fibres (linen, cotton, wool, silk), rayon, acetate, nylon, modacrylic, acrylic, polyester, and spandex. For daytime, the most common fabrics were in naturals, rayon, nylon, poly-cotton blends, and sometimes acrylic and acetate; sweaters were wool (cashmere for status) or acrylic knit. Brocades, satin, velveteen, taffeta, nylon net, tulle, and chiffon in both natural and synthetic fabrics were reserved for evening. Materials were usually light- to medium weight, and sheer fabrics were common, but not usually as the main material of a garment (except in tulle evening gowns and some day dresses). Popular Colours and Prints Day and casual wear saw neutral solids and floral prints, along with dazzling western and peasant-styled clothing, sometimes hand-painted onto circle skirts or scarves. Futuristic prints of all types appeared in bright, abstract designs apropos of the atomic era. Also, dark tone-on-tone abstracts in brown, grey or navy were popular winter prints. For evening, both solids and classic floral brocades were common; the effect of overlaying contrasting sheer chiffon or net on a flesh-coloured under dress was daringly popular. Colours in the evening were now both subtle and bold, as peacock blues and hot pinks became acceptable. Trims and Detailing The most obvious trim of daywear is the beading of sweaters and occasional extravagance on detailing circle skirts. Circle skirts and novelty garments were sometimes incredibly ornate, with appliqué, rickrack, screen-printing, sequins, or glitter. A very common feature on 50s dolman-sleeved dresses is the small, non-functional, diamond-shaped underarm panel. Flutter hems, which were curved evenly up and down, and scalloped edges appeared occasionally in full-skirted day and evening dress. Most evening detail appeared in sculpted pleats and necklines, or toned-down rhinestones and cord`, which added style without being cumbersome or uncomfortable. Hemlines Day and Night Daywear hems fell to the knee or a little below it. Evening gowns could be floor-length, but the cocktail dress also flourished at knee and upper-calf length. The full skirts needed support to look good and nylon was used extensively to create bouffant net petticoats or paper nylon petticoats. Several petticoats often of varying styles were worn to get just the right look. Each petticoat was stiffened in some way either by conventional starch or a strong sugar solution. Eventually a hoop crinoline petticoat was developed and it had channelled tapes which were threaded with nylon boning in imitation of whale bone petticoats. A single net petticoat worn over it softened the look of the rigid boning f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\1984 2.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ I think that today's society is a "half version" of George Owell's novel, 1984, in some ways it is similar and in others, uniquely different. The closest we come today to a "Big Brother" is the mob. The people are also controlled by watchful security cameras and subliminal messages. However, something in life today is very different from that of 1984, it is the people. In the words of the famous lyricist, "Power to the People." In analyzing "Big Brother," there are similarities between it and the mob. The Mafia is a crime family that can see everything, there is no going against the mob or else someone is going to die. The Mafia is so widespread that it has operatives all over keeping an eye out for cops or law enforcement, this is the Mafia's "telescreens" (Orwell 6). Another startling similarity between the mob and "Big Brother" is the Mafia's strange way of making someone disappear or "vaporize" (Orwell ). Almost unknowingly a person's identity can be changed, altered, or deleted. Authorities use security and surveillance cameras to observe criminal activities or possibly every day activities. Too much surveillance liberties are given to police or FBI. By using hi-tech cameras which can actually document a person's life. Unknowingly, there may be a cute little camera installed in the bedroom. Another way that today's society controls the masses is subliminal messages. Illegal now, subliminal messages were widely used in the entertainment business, especially during the fifties. An example is that movie makers would add a split-second commercial add for popcorn and soda during a movie. Customers would actually be manipulated into buying these products. Even though, this kind of brainwashing is illegal, it is still very hard to detect, who's to say that we are not bombarded by subliminal messages just by watching commercials on television. This is too risky, to think that a person's actions and emotions can be swayed by someone else's perversion's. Again, this is very similar to 1984. Of all the things there are today that would make it impossible for there to be an inner or outer party, as in 1984, is that there is each other. No matter how hard our government tries, they cannot reach everyone. Contrary to 1984, where they do get everyone, I feel that was extreme and unlikely. I find it highly unlikely that a form of government can find a way to get the whole world to follow them. 1984 is not a reality, strength lies in numbers. In conclusion, life in the nineties, is a very resilient time. In this time, there is a substantial amount of restriction of the public, much of which is for law and order. A lot of this day and age may resemble George Orwell's 1984. It is nothing but a facade of government mixing with technology at a dangerous level. There's nothing to fear because 1984 is far-fetched and an anti-socialists nightmare. f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\1984 3.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ George Orwell-1984 Introduction- This story takes place in a state called Oceania. The main characters introduced are Winston Smith who is a worker on one of the four branches of government on Oceania. This four branches are "The Ministry of Truth" where they falsificate or remove all past documents such as books, newspapers, magazines, records, tapes and anything containing information about the past and are rewritten with the "accurate" meaning of whatever the Government (known as "Big Brother") wants it to be. All past records are erased and everyone must believe what the new ones say or else they are caught by the Thought Police. The Thought Police are a group of modern people who are like the police of our time except that this police can see you every single second of your life through special devices that look like T.V.'s called Telescreens. This Telescreens are placed in the houses of people, outside buildings, parks, walls, anywhere they could be put and are always turned on. The Telescreens are constantly giving you information of the wars won and also telling you what to do and always watching every movement you do, no expressions are admitted in Oceania other than hatred or the one "Big Brother" tells you to. The second branch is called "The Ministry of Love" where people were punished, tortured and were taught to hate each other. The third branch is called "The Ministry of Plenty" where economic affairs were handled, they decided who got how much of something almost always being too little of a ration. The last branch is called "The Ministry of Peace" which handled all the war affairs such as where the next bomb they launched would hit and who they needed to destroy next. Big Brother had a slogan that read "WAR IS PEACE", "FREEDOM IS SLAVERY" and "IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH". Winston worked in the Ministry of truth where he's job was to rewrite the news on the newspaper called Times. Another character is O'Brien who helps Winston love Big Brother for Winston hated Big Brother. Julia is the girl that falls in love (which is a very big crime) with Winston. Katharine is Winston's wife though he hasn't seen her for three years. Eastasia and Eurasia are the two other states fighting for power with Oceania. The proles are the only people who are not controlled so much by Big Brother, they act as we do and can have their own believes, thoughts, feelings or anything they feel like. Emmanuel Goldstein is the boss of an underground brotherhood that wants to destroy Big Brother. Conflict- There are uncountable conflicts on this novel but the main one is the struggle of Winston to disobey Big Brother and try to rebel against it and destroy it trying to bring back the original past of mankind. Climax- The climax of this story is when Winston and Julia join this secret brotherhood commanded by Emmanuel Goldstein who's sole purpose is to destroy Big Brother by opening the eyes of people by a secret book that didn't have a name, it was just called "the book" which contained the beliefs of Emmanuel as to what Big Brother was doing. Falling Action- The falling action here is when after Winston and Julia have sex in their own little hiding place which was a room who they rented from Mr. Charrington (who was really O'Brien in disguise) in a place where the proles lived, the Thought Police, commanded by O'Brien catch them and takes them to the Ministry of love where they are punished, humiliated and are made to confess everything and anything that they ever knew while being tortured by O'Brien. Winston betrays everything he loved by punishment and is made to betray everyone and everything he believed in by facing his greatest terror which is rats. Conclusion- The conclusion is that after a few months or years of rehabilitation, Winston is taught to obey Big Brother and love him even though his mind tells him otherwise and he also has to learn how to control his mind to suit whatever Big Brother says is true or not such as 2+2 being 5 and not 4, and he knew it was 5 because Big Brother said so and there was no proof of it being incorrect. After he gets rehabilitated they send him off out of the Ministry of love and is killed by a bullet that enters his head and finally at the end he knows that he now loved Big Brother even though Big Brother had killed him for he never betrayed Big Brother after his rehabilitation. f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\1984 4.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ In George Orwell's 1984, the Party, the government of Oceania, has many slogans. One of the sayings is "Big Brother Is Watching You". Despite the fact that the slogan is only mentioned a few times throughout the novel, it embodies the government that Orwell has created. We first learn of the slogan when the setting is described on the first page of the book. Orwell depicts, in explicit detail, the sights, sounds, and smells of Oceania. When illustrating the hallways of Victory Mansions, Winston Smith's and other members of the Party's apartment complex, Orwell writes: On each landing, opposite the lift shaft, the poster with the enormous face gazed from the wall. It was one of those pictures which are so contrived that the eyes follow you about when you move. Big Brother Is Watching You, the caption beneath it ran (5). This poster shows Big Brother as having a face. Big Brother was not an individual person so he did not have a "face". The face, however, gives Big Brother a human quality. By doing so, the government puts itself on the same level of humanity as the citizens that it governs. The people are supposed to feel more comfortable with a ruling party that is just like them. The billboard is also found on every landing and every streetcorner. The overbearing number of posters is a way for the Party to continuously remind its citizens of its presence and ingrain the message into the people's conscience and subconscience minds. "Big Brother" is another name for the Party. It's an ironic choice of words for the Party's second name. First, the notion of a "big brother" connotes a child's big brother. One thinks of comfort and protection, fun and trouble, and love and other feelings when thinking of a brother. One of the Party's goals is to rid Oceania of these emotions. Second, the brother is part of the family unit. The Party is trying to destroy the family and the feelings associated with it (Kalechofsky 114). The phrase "Big Brother Is Watching You" is the Party's way of showing its control over the citizens of Oceania. The Party displays its power over both the history of the world and over the citizens of Oceania's everyday life in many different ways. "Who controls the past," Orwell writes, "controls the future: who controls the present controls the past'" (23). The Party shows its authority over humanity by changing the past, present, and future. It changes all documents in order to fit their needs. For instance, if the Party says that something never happened, then it never happened. All evidence of the event is destroyed. Oceania is continuously at war with either Eurasia or Eastasia. When the Party decides to start fighting with Eastasia and be allies with Eurasia, after years of fighting with Eurasia, all signs of a war with Eurasia are wiped out within a week. The documents are all falsified in the Records department. This is where Winston works. It's ironic that all of the nation's records are changed in the Records department and that this department is in the Ministry of Truth. In this department, facts are rearranged, erased, added, and rewritten in order to revise and "correct" history. There are, however, reminders of the past. Some of these reminders are the smell of real coffee, the thought of good beer, real sugar, a children's history textbook, and various objects in Mr. Charrington's "ordinary" shop and room. Winston buys a diary with paper that hasn't been manufactured in nearly forty years and an "archaic" pen. In the secret room, there is a painting of a church. Churches and religion are a thing of the past. There is also an old armchair and a big bed in the room. Their softness prompts Winston to think of the past. Winston is the only person who remembers the past and that there was a different kind of life in the antiquity. He tries to save it for himself and for the future by writing a diary. It helps clarify and put his thoughts in order. He knows that he will be caught and that future generations will never see the diary. Nevertheless, he still feels the need to write it for that small possibility that they will read it. The Party uses their power so much that the changes that they're making are getting out of hand. As Orwell writes, "The past was dead, the future unimaginable" (25). Oceania's government controls where everyone lives. The division of the people into three classes, the members of the Inner Party, the members of the Party, and the Proles, is on account of a definite hierarchy in the economic standard of living (Freedman 100). Membership in the Party and in the Inner Party is not hereditary. Members of the Inner Party live in large, luxurious mansions. They have everything that they want and need, including the freedom to turn off their telescreens when and if they want to. Other members of the Party live in the Victory Mansions. They are not taken care of and smell of boiled cabbage and sweat. The Proles live in a run down ghetto type of area. By dictating where everyone lives, the Party also determines what class the person is a member of. The Party governs everyone's daily schedule. Members of the Party are all woken up at the same time by a voice from the telescreen. An exercise instructor on the screen leads the people in stretches and exercises, called the Physical Jerks. After dressing, etc., the adults go to work while the children go to school. Lunch is in the middle of the day. There are periodic two minute hates to arouse the people's anger and excitement. After work, there are social gatherings at the community centers and then everyone returns home and goes to sleep. Any change in a person's regular routine is viewed as suspicious. For this reason, Winston is nervous about skipping going to the center one evening and meeting Julia instead. The Party regulates the languages used in Oceania. There are two common dialects used, Oldspeak and Newspeak. Oldspeak is the vernacular that we know and use in the United States today. Newspeak is the language that the Party creates. It is the only idiom with a vocabulary that decreases in size as time goes on. The Party wants to have a language that is so small that it'll be impossible to think poorly of the Party. (This is known as thoughtcrime in Newspeak.) Furthermore, all poetry and songs originate from the Party. There are two significant songs that are repeated throughout the novel. One of them is: They sye that time 'eals all things, They sye you can always forget: But the smiles an' the tears across the years They twist my 'eartstrings yet! (117, 180) It is sung by a "red-armed woman" while "marching to and for between the washtub and the line". The woman is a Prole. The second song is: Under the spreading chestnut tree I sold you and you sold me: There lie they, and here lie we Under the spreading chestnut tree. (66, 241) This tune is played over the telescreen. First of all, songs are produced, mainly for the Proles, by a versificator. This is an ironic choice of a word to name this machine. A versificator is a machine. It has no feelings. The name, versificator, comes from the word versicle. A versicle is a verse that is chanted by a priest and responded to by his congregation. This is a prayer with a lot of emotion. Second, the songs, despite being mechanically produced, have an emotional feminine undertone (Weatherly 82). This side is related to the mother figure of the family unit that the Party is trying to destroy. The government exerts its sovereignty over marriage. All marriages are arranged by either the state or by the parents of those involved. The purpose for marriage is to legalize the union of a man and a woman in order to produce children to serve the state. From the time that these offspring are very young, they are trained as spies. Many children, such as Parsons' kids, turn their parents in to the Thought Police. Neither the parents nor the children are supposed to have any love for one another. There is no love in the world. "Love" is only used for propaganda. Adultery is forbidden to the people. However, they have never been exposed to its existence. Therefore, they don't even know what it is. As a result, forbidding it is an unnecessary extreme. The Party has ways of controlling the thoughts of the people. Winston believes that the Party can control everything except for your thoughts. He says that "nothing was your own except the few cubic centimeters inside your skull". In the end of the novel, however, Winston learns that he is wrong. He realizes that the government has the ability to even penetrate your mind. One of the ways it they controls your thoughts is with the two minute hate. Even if at first you know what you're doing, you get caught up in all of the commotion and get excited and angered too. The Thought Police enforce the desired train of thought. Nobody knows who or where they are, what they look like, or when they'll arrest someone. Even children, like Parsons' kids, can be part of the Thought Police without their own parents knowing. The Thought Police use methods such as torture and force to comprehend one's thoughts. They use these same methods to compel one to accept the things that the Party says and writes even if you do not believe in them. No matter how little you give credence to what the Party says in the beginning, you eventually come to accept everything. Winston comes to believe that two plus two equals five. He also learns to consider the following statements as true: WAR IS PEACE FREEDOM IS SLAVERY IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH (7,17, 26, 87, 152, 166) Everyone is under constant surveillance. There are telescreens in the houses and other buildings of every Party and Inner Party member. The following exert displays some of the telescreens' power: Any sound that Winston made, above the level of a very low whisper, would be picked up by it; moreover, so long as he remained within the field of vision which the metal plaque commanded, he could be seen as well as heard. There was of course no way of knowing whether you were being watched at any given moment...... You had to live- did live, from habit that became instinct- in the assumption that every sound you made was overheard, and, except in darkness, every movement scrutinized (6-7). The Proles didn't have telescreens in their houses or edifice f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\1984 By George Orwell.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1984 -George Orwell Summary Chapter 1 and 2 We are introduced to Winston Smith the main character of the story. Works at Ministry of truth. Ministry of truth is one of four government buildings in destroyed London, the main city of Airstrip One, a province of Oceania. Year is 1984 and three contries are at war, Oceania, Eurasia and Eastasia. Oceania is run by the party whose leader is Big Brother. Winston is sick of his life in the ruined city and decides to keep a diary. This is against the law in Oceania. He felt his feelings begin to hate Emmanuel Goldstein, leader of the enemy party. He also spots O'Brien, a party leader whose eyes he see's a bit of political sympthy. See's young girl who he dislikes. He feels it is only a matter of time before his though crimes are detected. A knock at the door he thinks is police. Mrs. Parsons, his neighbor is at the door and asked him to unclog a sink. He does it but smells sweat all over the apartment. Mrs. Parsons is a follower of party doctrine and a fellow employee at the ministry. The children are members of Spies, a youth that encourages spying and telling on traitors, including parents. Winston is revolted. He returns home and writes a couple more minutes before going back to work. He remenbers a dream where O'Brien tole him he would meet him in a place wher there is no darkness. He washes his hands and hides the diary Reaction Major ideas, conflicts and themes are introduced. We are shown how the earth has changed, into 3 main contenients. we are also introduced to the main character and how he fits into the new world. Also we are shown how the computer age has taken over peoples minds. The language is easy to understand, it has not really changed much over time. Seems like nothing left after nuclear war, just ruins remaining. We are introduced to Tom Parsons which Winston is contrasted with. The city is very drab. Quotes "Big brother is watching you, the caption beneath it said" "Thoughtcrime was not a thing that could be concealed for ever." 1984 -George Orwell Summary Chapter 3,4 and 5 Waking from dreams, he remembers his mother and sister, and can barely remember their disappearence and feels responsible for there deaths. He has another dream where he is in the perfect countryside with the girl he had noticed eariler. He dreamed she stripped for him. This time he is woken up by the telescreen, telling him to do his exercises. He thinks about how much power the Party has over all information. Begins work at the ministry of truth. His job is to correct printed articles in line with the Party's orders. The Ministry and records department jobs are to rewrite history to make the party look good. They get a break because of the 2 minute hate. When he gets back he replaces a speech by Big Brother with invented history. Makes up story about a man named Ogilvy. The article had become contrary to the present party policy. It is replaced as though is never existed. Winston meets Syme, a philologist, for lunch. Syme explains parts about Newspeak. They are joined by Parsons. Winston thinks of the fate that each co-worker will recieve. Syme will be vapourized because he is to smart, where Parsons is dull enough to escape vapourization. He is the only one who has not been taken over by the propaganda that is always being brodcast. He notices the same girl from the other day starring at him and thinks it is the thought police. Reaction The Golden country that he dreams about is definatly a release or a freedom from the the drabness of London. Also from the party. We are introduced to the fact that he has no mother or father or sisters or brothers anymore because they were taken by the party. He is realizing that he is rebelling against the party and he understands that he is at risk. Winston is in search of the truth and is concerned because of the party's ability to change history. We find that he likes his work even though it is for the party and against morals. He is introduced to the girl that will play a big part in the book most likely. Quotes "People in the Records Department did not talk readily about there jobs." "Winstons greatest pleasure in life was his work" 1984 -George Orwell Summary Chapter 6,7 and 8 He records in his diary and encounter a couple of years ago with a prostiture mad up to look young, but was really and old woman. This menory of the encounter causes him to think of the policy regarding sex and marriage which the party has enforced. Thsi causes him to theink of his miserable life with his wife Katherine, that he has not seen in eleven years. Winston resents the intrusinon of the Party into the sex lives of its members. Also realizes the discouragement of sexual enjoyment, that makes any love affair with a party member impossible. Writing down the incident does not help him. He makes another entry in his diary, this one concerning the proles. He feels they are the only group that might overthrough the party, but they are unaware of it. There is no way of finding the truth about the past but he does think that present life is worse than the past. He remembers a photo that came into his possession trying to change the pastbut he destroyed it. He plans to stay free. After work one evening, he wonders into the prole end of London, and ends up near the store where he bought the diary. Follows man into pub and plans to ask him about revolution but man is incoherent. He leaves the pub and wanders. He ends up outside the little antique shop and decides to buy a glass paperweight. Mr. Charrington shows him a room upstairs and Winston dreams of renting it. He notices a dark haired girl following himand he is sure it is the thought police and he will be arrested. Reaction We discover that people have a bond when it comes to sexuallity that the party connot control. Even thought the party rejects sexual relationships between its members. Sexual experience is no longer allowed in the society and Winston longs for one. He confesses in his Diary about his last expereince but it does not help. We find he has faith in the proles and there ability to revolt. It is hard to set up a revolt with the thought police detecting every thought. Winston reaches a crises with the thought police. Quotes "Winston reached down and cautiously scratched his varicose ulcer" "Not a word could ever be proved or disproved" 1984 -George Orwell Summary Part 2, Chapter 1,2 and 3 At work he runs into the dark haired girl again, in the hallway. She falls and while he is lifting her up she slips him a note. He reads it at his desk and is amazed to find that it simple states, I love you. Eager and excited to meat with her, he has to wait 7 days until they eat together in the cafeteria. They decide to meet in Victory square. When meeting there, they arrange another meeting next sunday afternoon. At the designated meeting place, in the countryside outside London, he finally learns her name. Julia explains that she considers herself rebelious to the party. She has had sex with many other non-members. Suddenly he walks into the scene exactly like his dreem. She removes her clothes and they have sex. He belives that sexual desire may be the force that destroys the party. Following there secret meeting they meet each othe occasionally. Julie arranges the meetings. They go a month without seeing each other but whenever they can before and after. She belives that she must pretend to cooperate with the party and in secret break the rules whenever possible. Winston thinks that rebellion is the best answer. They discuss past girl and boyfriends and how the party controls them. Reaction He is ready for the Julia but is worried about a possible trap. His negative approach to life and his sexual fustration make him ready anyhow. Once he commits to her he connot go back and he is committing though crimes. This may be the beginning of the end. He was happy to find that she was not a virgin and had previous affairs. His idea of revolt is changed and he now is enjoying being corrupted. Julia takes charge of the relationship, showing her aggressivness. She does not believe in Winstons ideas on rebellion and thinks that differently. Quotes "A sense of helplessness took hold of Winston" "Between you and me, the antique trade's just about finished" 1984 -George Orwell Summary Chapter 4,5,6 and 7 Winston does rent the room above the antique show and realizes the foolishness of what he and Julia are doing. She brings him coffee and real sugar and real old-fashioned make-up. Julie tries to remember an old nursry rhyme, while Winston immagines that he and Julia and the room itself were all closed in like the paperweight. Many preperations for the upcoming hate week keep Winston, Julia and the others very busy. Winston discovers that his friend Syme has dissappeared and all records of him have been altered. Meanwhile, Parsons is still busy and happy in the preperations for hate week. He was right about them. Because of the increased work load he and Julia do not meet as much but in the room above the antique shop they look at things from the past and other forbidden things. They discuss the hopelessness of there private rebellion and that it cannot go on forever. He is dissappointed that Julie does not reject propaganda from the partyand her theroy that the party sends bombs on itself. One day at work O'Brien gives Winston his address and asked him to stop by so tha he can lend him an advance copy of the Newspeak dictionary. Winstonthinks this is a conspiracy against the party and is excited but, thinks it will end in touture and death. Winston dreams of his mother again and the hunger and awful conditions there were before the disappearence. He feals bad for asking for rationed food and stealing his sisters choclate. When he came back they were gone. Winston tries to tell her but she is tired. He is glad him and her have there own feeling toward each other. Reaction He rents room above the antique shop showing his independence and his plunge into the end. He wishes the room could be closed in like the paperweight. We find out how different the two main characters are. The state does not care what kind of person you you are. Julia understanding of the party is much better that Winston although she is nieve to many things that the party does. Winston defines his rebellion in three steps, first the thought then the word(Diary) then the act(Julia). O'Brien seems to be a good man, also in rebellion. His mother was like him. Quotes "The timy interior of the shop ws in fact uncomfortably full, but there was almost nothing in it of the slightest value" "A sharp cry of pain was wrung out of her" 1984 -George Orwell Summary chapter 8,9 and 10 Winston takes Julia to the O'Briens apartment. He wonderes is O'Brien is also a rebel because he finds him in front of the telescreen, hard at work. Over toast he explains to Winston what is required of the secret rebel brotherhood. They except the terms of the menbership except that they will never see each other ever again. O'Brien promises to be given a copy of Emmanuel Goldstein's book, secretly in the future. After a long week, of sorting through millions of documents, changing them to prove that the Party's decision that Easstasia, and not Eurasia, was the enemy that they have been fighting all along. He rushes home to read the copy of the book. He reads while lying back and relaxing. Julia falls asleep when he tries to read her sections of it. When they awake from there sleep they start talking, but a voice issues from behind the picture on the wall. It is a hidden telescreen which instructs them not to move. They are rushed by armed guards. The Thought Police had been observing them all along. Winston and Julia are violently seperated. Mr. Charrington enters the room without his disquise, looking much younger. He is a menber of the thought police. Reaction Winston thinks of O'Brein as a strong, unexcitable man. He is dedicated and wholeheartyu to the brotherhood. Winston joins the brotherhood and tells about his dreams. We understand about hate week a little more. Winston reads the book that is given to him by O'Brien. Winston and Julia get arrested. They find out that O'Brien was the enemy. There was a sorta feeling that O'Brien was the bad guy, and they would get cought sonner or later. Quotes "He was a bit early" "The lane widened, and in a minute he came to the footpath she had told him of" 1984 -George Orwell Summary Part 3 Chapter 1 and 2 Winston is being held prisoner in a large, crowded cell at the Ministry of Love. Ampleforth and Parsons are both prisoners also. Parsons was tured in by his own daughter for thoughtcrime. He feels increased discomfort and room 101 is continually mentioned by several prisoners. O'Brien enters the cell with a guard and Winston now realized he has been betrayed by him. O'Brein is a member of the Inner Party. O'Brien orders the guard to strike Winston who feels a great deal of pain on his elbow. Winston is tortured both physically and mentally for an unknown length of time. He keeps getting interrogated with beations and questions until he confesses to many crimes. O'Brien reveals that he has been watching Winston for seven years. O'Brein wants total rehab. from Winston. O'Brien explains why the party can never be defeated. He has been informed that Julia quite easily betrayed him and has now been released totally rehabilitated. Winstons questions about room 101 is not answered. Reaction Finally he is caught by the thought police, which was inevidable since the beginning. He realizes that he has been betrayed by Julia and O'Brien. But he says he would never betray her. All time is lost while he is in jail. We is going to be rehabilitated and is taken to the dreded 101 for more mind games. Winston does not crack, except that O'Brien gets him to believe is a little crasy. Quotes "Listen the more men you have had the more I love you" "We can come here once again" 1984 -George Orwell Summary Chapter 3 and 4 O'Brien tells Winston th esecond stage of his rehab. is about to begin- understanding the why in party. He also tells winston that he wrote sections of Goldstiens book. He says the Party rules for the sake of power, and power alone. The proles will never revolt. O'Brein questions him further and punishes him when he does not answer correctly. Winston says he is morally superior to the Party, but O'Brien has a tape of the conversation about what Winston was willing to do to join the brotherhood. Winston thinks that the party will be defeated by a noble man, but O'Brien shows Winston himself in the mirror. Winston weeps looking at his own aged and ghastly body. He conforts himself by thinking about how he never betrayed Julia. Winstons health is improving, and he is trying to accept the rightness of the party. He examines the past events and realilizes the party was in control the whole time. He realizes also that he party can make anything right if is wants to. He has to practice doublethinking. He wakes up from a troubled sleep, calling Julia's name. O'Brien enters his room and Winston confesses that he still hates Big Brother. He is sent to room 101. Reaction He had also looked to O'Brien for sanity and stength and kindness but now he sees what he really is a power-hungry guy who likes infliction of pain. He finds out he has been watched for 7 years. After being broken or cracked he still has the fact that he has not turned against Julia. They completely destroyed Winston and he has now entered the party. Quotes "Have you heard the rumours of the existance of the brotherhood." "The brotherhood cannot be wiped out because it is not an orgainization in the ordinary sense" "He was tired, but not sleepy any longer" 1984 -George Orwell Summary Chapter 5 and 6 The torture room is brightly lit, room 101. O'Brien says that the room contains the worst thing in the world. It turns out to be rats in a cage which can be strapped over his face. Winston yells and screems and is overcome by the horror and the terror. He screams that this punnishment should be given to Julia and not him. O'Brien spares his life. Winston is then released. He is sitting under a tree at the Chestnut Tree Cafe. He drinks very heavily now. He remembers meeting Julia and how they talked about how they betrayed each other. The party would not allow them to see each other, but neither felt anything anymore. He remembers a game of his childhood but then it is pushed out by the broadcast that comes on the telescreen. Eurasia is once again the enemy. His heart fills with love for Big Brother. Reaction The party knows the worse nightmare of each person and is ble to use that against them. It worked on Winston. Finnally he gives in and the party has won. Quotes "He did not attempt to kiss her, nor did they speek" "He loved Big Brother" f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\1984 BY GOERGE ORWELL.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1984 BY GEORGE ORWELL THE BOOK 1984 BY GEORGE ORWELL IS ABOUT A MAN NAMED WINSTON SMITH. HE LIVES IN THE COUNTRY OF OCEANIA. IN THIS COUNTRY EVERY THING IS CONTROLLED BY A PARTY NAMED THE BIG BROTHER. THIS PARTY CONTROLLS EVERY THING FROM FOOD RATIONS TO WHAT PEOPLE CAN THINK. THEY EVEN HAVE TELLASCREANS EVERY WHERE SO THEY CAN WATCH PEOPLE AT ALL TIMES. WINSTON WORKS IN NEWSPEAK. NEWSPEAK IS WERE THEY EVENT SIMPILAR WORDS SO THEY CAN ELEMINATE OTHER WORDS TO MAKE THE LANGUAGE SIMPILIAR. WINSTON LIVES A PRETTY NORMAL LIVE UNTILL HE JOINS A UNDERGROUND PARTY CALLED THE BROTHERHOOD. HE JOINS THIS BECAUSE HE DOES NOT BELIEVE IN WHAT THE BIG BROTHER IS DOING AND HE THINKS IT IS WRONG. THE BROTHERHOOD IS AGAINST THE BIG BROTHER AND IS TRYING TO END ITS POWER. IN THIS PARTY THEY TELL WINSTON EVERY THING THE BIG BROTHER IS NOT TELLING THEM THINGS LIKE WHO OCEANIA IS REALLY AT WAR WITH AND EVERY THING THAT THE BIG BROTHER HAD BEEN LYING TO THEM ABOUT. IN THIS PARTY WINSTON MEETS A GIRL NAMED JULIA. OVER A PERIOD OF TIME THEY FALL IN LOVE. THEY HAVE SEX FOR A LONG TIME BUT HAVING SEX IS ILLEGAL IN OCEANIA. SO THEY HAVE TO HIDE.THEY FIND A SPOT IN THE FORREST WHERE NO ONE KNOWS ABOUT SO THEY WONT GET CAUGHT. AFTER A FEW MONTHS THEY FIND A BETTER SPOT THAT THEY RENTED FROM A FREIND. THEY USED THIS PLACE FOR A FEW MONTHS. UNTILL ONE NIGHT WHEN THEY FELL A SLEEP AND IN THE MORNING THEY WOKE UP TO THE POLICE TAKING THE TO JAIL. THEY TAKE THEM TO A PLACE WHERE THEY ARE QUESTIONED AND INNTERRIAGATED UNTILL THEY BREAK DOWN AND CONFESS. THEY ARE TAKING THERE AND TORRTURED AND BRAIN WASHED UNTILL THEY BELIVE WHAT THE PARTY TELLS THEM. THEY USED THE THING WINSTON WAS MOST AFRAID OF AND THATS RATS. SEEING THE RATS MADE HIM YELL OUT DONT HURT ME HURT JULIA.THEN THEY LET HIM GO BECAUSE THEY MADE HIM THINK EVERY THING THEY TOLD HIM. THESE ARE THE SAME TECHNIQUES THAT THE GERMANS USED CALL PROPAGANDA. THEY USED THESE TECHNIQUES TO BRAIN WASH THE PEOPLE AND TELL THEM WHAT TO THINK. I THINK THE THEME OF THE BOOK IS TO NEVER TRUST ANYBODY BECAUSE IN THE END OF THE BOOK WINSTON YELLS OUT HURT JULIA NOT ME. JULIA TRUSTED HIM AND HE TOLD ON HER. 1984 BY GEORGE ORWELL THE BOOK 1984 BY GEORGE ORWELL IS ABOUT A MAN NAMED WINSTON SMITH. HE LIVES IN THE COUNTRY OF OCEANIA. IN THIS COUNTRY EVERY THING IS CONTROLLED BY A PARTY NAMED THE BIG BROTHER. THIS PARTY CONTROLLS EVERY THING FROM FOOD RATIONS TO WHAT PEOPLE CAN THINK. THEY EVEN HAVE TELLASCREANS EVERY WHERE SO THEY CAN WATCH PEOPLE AT ALL TIMES. WINSTON WORKS IN NEWSPEAK. NEWSPEAK IS WERE THEY EVENT SIMPILAR WORDS SO THEY CAN ELEMINATE OTHER WORDS TO MAKE THE LANGUAGE SIMPILIAR. WINSTON LIVES A PRETTY NORMAL LIVE UNTILL HE JOINS A UNDERGROUND PARTY CALLED THE BROTHERHOOD. HE JOINS THIS BECAUSE HE DOES NOT BELIEVE IN WHAT THE BIG BROTHER IS DOING AND HE THINKS IT IS WRONG. THE BROTHERHOOD IS AGAINST THE BIG BROTHER AND IS TRYING TO END ITS POWER. IN THIS PARTY THEY TELL WINSTON EVERY THING THE BIG BROTHER IS NOT TELLING THEM THINGS LIKE WHO OCEANIA IS REALLY AT WAR WITH AND EVERY THING THAT THE BIG BROTHER HAD BEEN LYING TO THEM ABOUT. IN THIS PARTY WINSTON MEETS A GIRL NAMED JULIA. OVER A PERIOD OF TIME THEY FALL IN LOVE. THEY HAVE SEX FOR A LONG TIME BUT HAVING SEX IS ILLEGAL IN OCEANIA. SO THEY HAVE TO HIDE.THEY FIND A SPOT IN THE FORREST WHERE NO ONE KNOWS ABOUT SO THEY WONT GET CAUGHT. AFTER A FEW MONTHS THEY FIND A BETTER SPOT THAT THEY RENTED FROM A FREIND. THEY USED THIS PLACE FOR A FEW MONTHS. UNTILL ONE NIGHT WHEN THEY FELL A SLEEP AND IN THE MORNING THEY WOKE UP TO THE POLICE TAKING THE TO JAIL. THEY TAKE THEM TO A PLACE WHERE THEY ARE QUESTIONED AND INNTERRIAGATED UNTILL THEY BREAK DOWN AND CONFESS. THEY ARE TAKING THERE AND TORRTURED AND BRAIN WASHED UNTILL THEY BELIVE WHAT THE PARTY TELLS THEM. THEY USED THE THING WINSTON WAS MOST AFRAID OF AND THATS RATS. SEEING THE RATS MADE HIM YELL OUT DONT HURT ME HURT JULIA.THEN THEY LET HIM GO BECAUSE THEY MADE HIM THINK EVERY THING THEY TOLD HIM. THESE ARE THE SAME TECHNIQUES THAT THE GERMANS USED CALL PROPAGANDA. THEY USED THESE TECHNIQUES TO BRAIN WASH THE PEOPLE AND TELL THEM WHAT TO THINK. I THINK THE THEME OF THE BOOK IS TO NEVER TRUST ANYBODY BECAUSE IN THE END OF THE BOOK WINSTON YELLS OUT HURT JULIA NOT ME. JULIA TRUSTED HIM AND HE TOLD ON HER. 1984 BY GEORGE ORWELL THE BOOK 1984 BY GEORGE ORWELL IS ABOUT A MAN NAMED WINSTON SMITH. HE LIVES IN THE COUNTRY OF OCEANIA. IN THIS COUNTRY EVERY THING IS CONTROLLED BY A PARTY NAMED THE BIG BROTHER. THIS PARTY CONTROLLS EVERY THING FROM FOOD RATIONS TO WHAT PEOPLE CAN THINK. THEY EVEN HAVE TELLASCREANS EVERY WHERE SO THEY CAN WATCH PEOPLE AT ALL TIMES. WINSTON WORKS IN NEWSPEAK. NEWSPEAK IS WERE THEY EVENT SIMPILAR WORDS SO THEY CAN ELEMINATE OTHER WORDS TO MAKE THE LANGUAGE SIMPILIAR. WINSTON LIVES A PRETTY NORMAL LIVE UNTILL HE JOINS A UNDERGROUND PARTY CALLED THE BROTHERHOOD. HE JOINS THIS BECAUSE HE DOES NOT BELIEVE IN WHAT THE BIG BROTHER IS DOING AND HE THINKS IT IS WRONG. THE BROTHERHOOD IS AGAINST THE BIG BROTHER AND IS TRYING TO END ITS POWER. IN THIS PARTY THEY TELL WINSTON EVERY THING THE BIG BROTHER IS NOT TELLING THEM THINGS LIKE WHO OCEANIA IS REALLY AT WAR WITH AND EVERY THING THAT THE BIG BROTHER HAD BEEN LYING TO THEM ABOUT. IN THIS PARTY WINSTON MEETS A GIRL NAMED JULIA. OVER A PERIOD OF TIME THEY FALL IN LOVE. THEY HAVE SEX FOR A LONG TIME BUT HAVING SEX IS ILLEGAL IN OCEANIA. SO THEY HAVE TO HIDE.THEY FIND A SPOT IN THE FORREST WHERE NO ONE KNOWS ABOUT SO THEY WONT GET CAUGHT. AFTER A FEW MONTHS THEY FIND A BETTER SPOT THAT THEY RENTED FROM A FREIND. THEY USED THIS PLACE FOR A FEW MONTHS. UNTILL ONE NIGHT WHEN THEY FELL A SLEEP AND IN THE MORNING THEY WOKE UP TO THE POLICE TAKING THE TO JAIL. THEY TAKE THEM TO A PLACE WHERE THEY ARE QUESTIONED AND INNTERRIAGATED UNTILL THEY BREAK DOWN AND CONFESS. THEY ARE TAKING THERE AND TORRTURED AND BRAIN WASHED UNTILL THEY BELIVE WHAT THE PARTY TELLS THEM. THEY USED THE THING WINSTON WAS MOST AFRAID OF AND THATS RATS. SEEING THE RATS MADE HIM YELL OUT DONT HURT ME HURT JULIA.THEN THEY LET HIM GO BECAUSE THEY MADE HIM THINK EVERY THING THEY TOLD HIM. THESE ARE THE SAME TECHNIQUES THAT THE GERMANS USED CALL PROPAGANDA. THEY USED THESE TECHNIQUES TO BRAIN WASH THE PEOPLE AND TELL THEM WHAT TO THINK. I THINK THE THEME OF THE BOOK IS TO NEVER TRUST ANYBODY BECAUSE IN THE END OF THE BOOK WINSTON YELLS OUT HURT JULIA NOT ME. JULIA TRUSTED HIM AND HE TOLD ON HER. 1984 BY GEORGE ORWELL THE BOOK 1984 BY GEORGE ORWELL IS ABOUT A MAN NAMED WINSTON SMITH. HE LIVES IN THE COUNTRY OF OCEANIA. IN THIS COUNTRY EVERY THING IS CONTROLLED BY A PARTY NAMED THE BIG BROTHER. THIS PARTY CONTROLLS EVERY THING FROM FOOD RATIONS TO WHAT PEOPLE CAN THINK. THEY EVEN HAVE TELLASCREANS EVERY WHERE SO THEY CAN WATCH PEOPLE AT ALL TIMES. WINSTON WORKS IN NEWSPEAK. NEWSPEAK IS WERE THEY EVENT SIMPILAR WORDS SO THEY CAN ELEMINATE OTHER WORDS TO MAKE THE LANGUAGE SIMPILIAR. WINSTON LIVES A PRETTY NORMAL LIVE UNTILL HE JOINS A UNDERGROUND PARTY CALLED THE BROTHERHOOD. HE JOINS THIS BECAUSE HE DOES NOT BELIEVE IN WHAT THE BIG BROTHER IS DOING AND HE THINKS IT IS WRONG. THE BROTHERHOOD IS AGAINST THE BIG BROTHER AND IS TRYING TO END ITS POWER. IN THIS PARTY THEY TELL WINSTON EVERY THING THE BIG BROTHER IS NOT TELLING THEM THINGS LIKE WHO OCEANIA IS REALLY AT WAR WITH AND EVERY THING THAT THE BIG BROTHER HAD BEEN LYING TO THEM ABOUT. IN THIS PARTY WINSTON MEETS A GIRL NAMED JULIA. OVER A PERIOD OF TIME THEY FALL IN LOVE. THEY HAVE SEX FOR A LONG TIME BUT HAVING SEX IS ILLEGAL IN OCEANIA. SO THEY HAVE TO HIDE.THEY FIND A SPOT IN THE FORREST WHERE NO ONE KNOWS ABOUT SO THEY WONT GET CAUGHT. AFTER A FEW MONTHS THEY FIND A BETTER SPOT THAT THEY RENTED FROM A FREIND. THEY USED THIS PLACE FOR A FEW MONTHS. UNTILL ONE NIGHT WHEN THEY FELL A SLEEP AND IN THE MORNING THEY WOKE UP TO THE POLICE TAKING THE TO JAIL. THEY TAKE THEM TO A PLACE WHERE THEY ARE QUESTIONED AND INNTERRIAGATED UNTILL THEY BREAK DOWN AND CONFESS. THEY ARE TAKING THERE AND TORRTURED AND BRAIN WASHED UNTILL THEY BELIVE WHAT THE PARTY TELLS THEM. THEY USED THE THING WINSTON WAS MOST AFRAID OF AND THATS RATS. SEEING THE RATS MADE HIM YELL OUT DONT HURT ME HURT JULIA.THEN THEY LET HIM GO BECAUSE THEY MADE HIM THINK EVERY THING THEY TOLD HIM. THESE ARE THE SAME TECHNIQUES THAT THE GERMANS USED CALL PROPAGANDA. THEY USED THESE TECHNIQUES TO BRAIN WASH THE PEOPLE AND TELL THEM WHAT TO THINK. I THINK THE THEME OF THE BOOK IS TO NEVER TRUST ANYBODY BECAUSE IN THE END OF THE BOOK WINSTON YELLS OUT HURT JULIA NOT ME. JULIA TRUSTED HIM AND HE TOLD ON HER. 1984 BY GEORGE ORWELL THE BOOK 1984 BY GEORGE ORWELL IS ABOUT A MAN NAMED WINSTON SMITH. HE LIVES IN THE COUNTRY OF OCEANIA. IN THIS COUNTRY EVERY THING IS CONTROLLED BY A PARTY NAMED THE BIG BROTHER. THIS PARTY CONTROLLS EVERY THING FROM FOOD RATIONS TO WHAT PEOPLE CAN THINK. THEY EVEN HAVE TELLASCREANS EVERY WHERE SO THEY CAN WATCH PEOPLE AT ALL TIMES. WINSTON WORKS IN NEWSPEAK. NEWSPEAK IS WERE THEY EVENT SIMPILAR WORDS SO THEY CAN ELEMINATE OTHER WORDS TO MAKE THE LANGUAGE SIMPILIAR. WINSTON LIVES A PRETTY NORMAL LIVE UNTILL HE JOINS A UNDERGROUND PARTY CALLED THE BROTHERHOOD. HE JOINS THIS BECAUSE HE DOES NOT BELIEVE IN WHAT THE BIG BROTHER IS DOING AND HE THINKS IT IS WRONG. THE BROTHERHOOD IS AGAINST THE BIG BROTHER AND IS TRYING TO END ITS POWER. IN THIS PARTY THEY TELL WINSTON EVERY THING THE BIG BROTHER IS NOT TELLING THEM THINGS LIKE WHO OCEANIA IS REALLY AT WAR WITH AND EVERY THING THAT THE BIG BROTHER HAD BEEN LYING TO THEM ABOUT. IN THIS PARTY WINSTON MEETS A GIRL NAMED JULIA. OVER A PERIOD OF TIME THEY FALL IN LOVE. THEY HAVE SEX FOR A LONG TIME BUT HAVING SEX IS ILLEGAL IN OCEANIA. SO THEY HAVE TO HIDE.THEY FIND A SPOT IN THE FORREST WHERE NO ONE KNOWS ABOUT f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\1984.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The novel Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell is an American classic which explores the human mind when it comes to power, corruption, control, and the ultimate utopian society. Orwell indirectly proposes that power given to the government will ultimately become corrupt and they will attempt to force all to conform to their one set standard. He also sets forth the idea that the corrupted government will attempt to destroy any and all mental and physical opposition to their beliefs, thus eliminating any opportunity for achieving an utopian society. The novel shows how the government attempts to control the minds and bodies of it citizens, such as Winston Smith who does not subscribe to their beliefs, through a variety of methods. The first obvious example arises with the large posters with the caption of "Big Brother is Watching You" (page 5). These are the first pieces of evidence that the government is watching over its people. Shortly afterwards we learn of the "Thought Police", who "snoop in on conversations, always watching your every move, controlling the minds and thoughts of the people." (page 6). To the corrupted government, physical control is not good enough, however. The only way to completely eliminate physical opposition is to first eliminate any mental opposition. The government is trying to control our minds, as it says "thought crime does not entail death; thought crime is death." (page 27). Later in the novel the government tries even more drastic methods of control. Big Brother's predictions in the Times are changed. The government is lying about production figures (pages 35-37). Even later in the novel, Syme's name was left out on the Chess Committee list. He then essentially vanishes as though he had never truly existed (page 122). Though the methods and activities of the government seem rather extreme in Orwell's novel, they may not be entirely too false. "Nineteen Eighty-Four is to the disorders of the twentieth century what Leviathan was to those of the seventeenth." (Crick, 1980). In the novel, Winston Smith talks about the people not being human. He says that "the only thing that can keep you human is to not allow the government to get inside you." (page 137). The corruption is not the only issue which Orwell presents, both directly and indirectly. He warns that absolute power in the hands of any government can lead to the deprival of basic freedoms and liberties for the people. Though he uses the Soviet Union as the basis of the novel's example, he sets the story in England to show that any absolute power, whether in a Communist state or a Democratic one, can result in an autocratic and overbearing rule. When government lies become truths, and nobody will oppose, anything can simply become a fact. Through the control of the mind and body the government attempts, any hopes of achieving an utopian society are dashed. The peoples' minds are essentially not theirs' anymore. The government tells them how to think. Conformity and this unilateral thinking throughout the entire population can have disastrous results. Orwell also tells us it has become a "world of monstrous machines and terrifying weapons. Warriors fighting, triumphing, persecuting... 3 million people all with the same face." (page 64). George Orwell was born in India and brought up with the British upper class beliefs of superiority over the lower castes and in general class pride. A theme very prevalent in his novels, Nineteen Eighty-Four certainly no exception, is this separation in the classes. The masses are disregarded by the Party. This is a theme which is "fundamental to the novel, but not demonstrated as fully as the devastation of language and the elimination of the past." (Kazin, 1984). Kazin also states in his essay that: "Orwell thought the problem of domination by class or caste or race or political machine more atrocious than ever. It demands solution. Because he was from the upper middle class and knew from his own prejudices just how unreal the lower classes can be to upper-class radicals, a central theme in all his work is the separateness and loneliness of the upper-class observer, like his beloved Swift among the oppressed Irish." (Kazin, 1984). This feeling of superiority somewhat provokes and leads to the aforementioned corruption of absolute power. As the saying goes, "absolute power corrupts absolutely." It is not even so much that the rulers want to become corrupt, but they cannot grasp the idea of an absolute rule. They, as Kazin stated, cannot comprehend the differentiation within the system, and thus become corrupt. This ultimately prevents achieving an utopian society where the upper class people want to oppress and the lower class want to rebel. Orwell had strong anti-totalitarianism points of view and greatly satires Socialism, even though he still insisted he was a Socialist in its pure form, in this novel and in Animal Farm. Many consider that Nineteen Eighty-Four is actually an extension of Animal Farm. In Animal Farm, Orwell "left out one element which occurs in all his other works of fiction, the individual rebel caught up in the machinery of the caste system. Not until Nineteen Eighty-Four did he elaborate on the rebel's role in an Animal Farm carried to its monstrously logical conclusion." (Woodcock, 1966). The two books primary connection is through the use of the totalitarian society and the rebel, and as stated some believe Nineteen Eighty-Four to simply be an extension of Animal Farm. Nineteen Eighty-Four, however, brings everything to an even more extreme but even scarier is the fact that is more realistic, such as in a Nazi Germany environment. Nineteen Eighty-Four is considered to have great pessimistic undertones, Orwell's prophecy if you will. It is also not known whether it was intended as a "last words", though it was his final work, as he collapsed and was bed-ridden for two years before he died. He did marry several months before his death saying it gave him new reason to live. Orwell's creation of Winston Smith shows a character who is: "in struggle against the system, occasionally against himself, but rarely against other people. One thinks of Orwell's having thrown his characters into a circular machine and then noting their struggle against the machine, their attempts to escape it or compromise themselves with it." (Karl, 1972). Orwell writes more about the struggle as a piece of advice than anything else. This novel was widely considered prophetic, a warning of what could be to come if we did not take care. Orwell's method was to introduce the questions, not propose solutions. Most likely he did not have the solution, but it was his "solution" to help bring about the awareness of the existing problem. The corrupt government is trying to control the minds of their subjects, which in turn translates to control of their body. Orwell warns that absolute power in the hands of any government can deprive people of all basic freedoms. There are similar references in another of Orwell's novels, Animal Farm, supporting the ideas of corruption and an unattainable utopian society which were presented here in Nineteen Eighty-Four. With this novel, Orwell also introduced the genre of the dystopic novel into the world of literature. f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\20000 Leagues Under the Sea.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA by Jules Verne The news spread worldwide about a serpent-like creature. Supposedly, part of the whale family has been ramming ships and sinking them with ease. The large ship named the Abraham Lincoln was sent out to find and kill this beast. An attack of the monster left Professor Aronnax and his long time sidekick Conseil thrown overboard. Ned Land, master harpooner was thrown overboard as well. An iron-plated submarine saved their lives. When taken aboard the submarine they were treated with hostility. With an introduction to Captain Nemo they became passengers aboard the Nautilus. They were astonished by the Nautilus on how it could dive down to the ocean depths to see all that the sea had to offer. Professor Aronnax and Conseil found the ocean depths to be a new world! Many life and death experiences made Ned Land feel uneasy about his new life aboard the Nautilus. He was determined to escape. Captain Nemo took them to many exquisite places. They experienced hunting and searching for pearls, VigLo Bay, a hollowed out volcano, and the underwater city of Atlantis. Captain Nemo took them to the South Pole, where no man had been before and Captain Nemo was the first to go there. They almost died leaving the Great Ice Barrier. Then they fought with giant squid. Captain Nemo seemed to be seeking revenge on ships from his own country. He used the powerful Nautilus as a weapon to sink many ships. After 10 months of being aboard they completed their underwater exploration covering 20,000 leagues under the sea. A Maelstrom hit the Nautilus and Professor Aronnax, Conseil and Ned Land, already in the dinghy ready to escape, were thrown from the submarine. They floated to safety and returned to their homeland. The mystery remains. Nobody knows what happened to the Nautilus and its infamous Captain Nemo. f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\2001 A Metaphorical Odyssey.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 2001: A Metaphorical Odyssey Myths are created for the purpose of conveying a message with an interesting medium with which to do so. Many cultures use myths to teach their young about the past. Through time, however, these myths become impractical due to discovery. This is when a new myth must be introduced to take the place of the obsolete one. Stanley Kubrick shaped 2001: A Space Odyssey as a new myth to crack the archaic view of space, by using a hero, a dilemma, and a new revelation to fuel his cause. Every myth has a character that breaks the mold of the ordinary. In Homer's The Odyssey, Odysseus is the character that broke the mold of the other mortals. He displayed character traits that superseded those of his crew mates. Much in the same fashion, Bowman breaks the mold of the astronauts aboard the Discovery. He and Poole are share duties aboard the Discovery, but he demonstrates a higher level of thinking by sensing and interpreting what is happening before him. He is the one that realizes exactly what HAL is doing, and he puts a stop to it. He sees problems, analyzes them, and then proceeds to diffuse the cause in the most efficient manner possible. He uses his character traits of intelligence, persistence, and adroitness to overcome the dilemmas put in front of him. By using his intelligence, he realizes that HAL has figured him out, and he must find a way to get back into the discovery in order to survive. In using persistence, Bowman does not give up when it seems that HAL has won the battle. Instead he takes the rough way in, and he then disables HAL. Bowman shows how adroit he is with dilemmas by handling the entire HAL situation with calm and intelligence. While on the mission, Bowman is faced with many dilemmas. The first dilemma, is that he is in the dark about the purpose of the mission. He has only been supplied with the vital information that he will need to perform routine operations until the site of the mission is reached. HAL is responsible for informing him when the place has been reached and time is right to complete the mission. He decides that he must do what he can without actually knowing the exact purpose of the mission. The next dilemma is that HAL has been reacting to his instincts in a negative manner. He realizes that Bowman and Poole are having doubts about the mission. Bowman decides that he must hide his emotions and plans from HAL in order to proceed successfully. HAL, on the other hand, figures out that Bowman and Poole are planning to unplug him by reading their lips while they are conversing in the pod, and finds a way to get them where he can control them. He fakes a failure in the communications satellite dish, and Poole goes out to repair it, never to return. After Poole is disposed of, Bowman finally realizes that HAL has turned on him. This is the ultimate dilemma that Bowman must face. He is locked out of the Discovery, and he must find a way to get back in and disable HAL before he dies, and the mission is unsalvageable. He finally succeeds in re-entering the Discovery and disabling HAL as the ship nears Jupiter and the pre-recorded message plays on the video screen. His decision to unplug HAL and run the mission solo is the deciding factor in the new revelation that he encounters. With the approaching of the climax of the movie, Bowman realizes that the mission was far beyond the comprehension of any human being. He realizes why the mission had been kept confidential even to him, as a pre-recorded message gives him a debriefing of the purpose of the mission. The ever present question of whether or not there are other intelligent beings in the universe is answered as Bowman enters the stargate. As he descends into the stargate, the many colors and patterns show that he is proceeding into a realm that is a paradox of powers. When Bowman sees that he is being protected from forces that are far beyond the control of any mortal, he knows that these other beings are far superior to humans. With his experiences, the enlightened Bowman returns to earth realizing that society dwindling. Using Bowman as a hero that faces dilemmas to reach the target moment, Stanley Kubrick uses 2001: A Space Odyssey as a new myth to replace the old myths about space. This redefined what people thought about space. This myth has carried over into the 20th century, and still will proceed into the 21st century. It shows how new myths can replace old myths and shatter the very foundation the human mentality. For when an archaic belief is suddenly replaced with a new one, it is often a reaction to wonder why the old one was wrong. This often leads to further exploration and discovery in that area. As discovery progresses, the myths change concurrently. This also exemplifies how important myths are to a culture or race of beings. Without myths, there would be no efficient way of communicating the beliefs and philosophies of the time. f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\28 days later paper.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Brian Bass Essay Writing 4.21.04 Ceci Cravens Countdown for the Apocalypse: Philosophy in 28 Days Later "Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he doesn't become one". - Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) From George Orwell's Animal Farm to Walt Disney's adaptation of Alice in Wonderland (1951), social allegories in literature and film have been used as ways to interpret political, economic and social tribulations in the world. Defined by Webster's New World Dictionary, an allegory is: The representation of abstract ideas or principles by characters, figures, or events in narrative, dramatic, or pictorial form (Agnes 17). Social allegories seem simplistic at a glance. They generally deal with topics and issues that have been discussed repeatedly (such as time, individualism and survival), and then branch off into multi-layered, ambiguous symbolism. They can range in tone from sarcastic and satirical to sinister and sorrowful. Many film genres today can be used as social allegories: the Western allegorically represents Vietnam War; but of all the filmic allegories represented in contemporary cinema, the zombie film as social allegory is perhaps the most pervasive and striking. 28 Days Later, directed by Danny Boyle (Trainspotting), and written by Alex Garland (The Beach), is an interesting cocktail of a social allegory and a rage-driven, zombie infested horror picture. Executive producer Greg Caplan aimed to market this film for the box office for horror-loving film junkies as well as the intellectual film enthusiast. From the combined efforts of Boyle, Garland, and Caplan, comes a film that pleases not only the eye, but the mind as well. The zombie film has been around since the early introduction of the horror genre from the Hollywood studios. Films like White Zombie (1932) and I Walked with a Zombie (1943) paved the way for the zombie genre, but in 1968 George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead really transformed the look and ideology of the zombie film genre. With a low budget and a grainy film stock, Romero's film depicted a zombie filled city that seemed more believable than the works of his predecessors. After Night of the Living Dead, many films emulated that style, but the zombie film slowly became less and less popular after the late 70s. It wasn't until recently that Danny Boyle and Alex Garland decided to reinvent the zombie genre with their haunting, symbolic film. 28 Days Later is a contemporary social allegory (the end of the world) that incorporates the philosophies of Nihilism, Existentialism and Darwinism. One critic writes: A hybrid of a George A. Romero genre thriller via Kubrickian morality tale with a turgid taste of black humor mix into a highly intoxicating cocktail of lurid emotionally fused melodrama. A rare treat: horror movie and social fable intertwined (IMDb). In the film, a group of animal rights activists break into a lab to liberate animals. Unfortunately they also release a blood-born virus that induces a zombie-like rage within 10 to 20 seconds of contact. Within Twenty-eight days, all of Britain has succumbed to the rage-virus. "28 Days Later could best be described as the thinking man's zombie movie" (IMDb). It is a postmodern, semi-nihilistic take on the genre. No longer are the zombies created from toxic waste that we settled for in the past, these zombies are the by-product of scientific experimentation on our society. The establishing shot in the film begins with scenes of police brutality, global warfare, rioting, nuclear explosions, and supreme anarchy. The shot zooms out to show that these images are coming from a television in an animal experimentation lab. These heavy images are symbolic of how humans treat each other. It is, essentially, survival of the fittest. We are weeding each other out until there is no more existence. From there the world is overtaken rapidly by the virus that transforms people into mindless zombies whose only intention is to kill. The depiction of the zombies is completely original. Some of the aesthetics of the zombie must be credited to George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead, but instead of the zombies walking slowly and grunting, these horrific creatures are running and spitting vile blood from their insides. One drop of the "infected" blood into a survivor's bloodstream, and it is all over. When the protagonist Jim (Cillian Murphy), a young courier, wakes up in an empty hospital, he walks around the hauntingly quiet streets of London. Here the director shows images of emptiness, desolation and sorrow that strike hard at the audience. He shockingly comes to the realization that humanity has been lost. Jim decides to visit his parents' house, only to find them lying dead in their bed together. At this point, Jim begins to cry and complain about how his parents died in such an awful way. In response, one of his fellow survivors tells Jim how his family was eaten alive at a subway station. Jim then drops his mouth and apologizes. Money, love, and time especially; as Jim finds out are elements that all modern human beings adopt to use as a way to live our lives. In a post-apocalyptic world, none of these things are important. Dr. Alan Pratt, a professor at Embry-Riddle University, writes in the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy about the concept of time. He states: Time is not present in general relativity, and that a temporal variable is probably not a fundamental part of the universe (Pratt). The theory of time being irrelevant is essentially nihilistic in nature. 28 Days Later deals with nihilist theory in many scenes. In one scene in particular, an army soldier tries to explain to Jim about time and humanity. He says: If you think about it, humans have only been around for a blink of an eye. So when we all die out, that is a turn back to normality (Garland 89). If one were to take a step back and realize the ephemeral existence of humankind in terms of time, one can see how the post-apocalyptic world that is created in 28 Days Later is a filmic interpretation of a social allegory. For centuries, dating back to Socrates, humans have always questioned the significance of time and what the film's writer, Alex Garland, is stating is purely another example of a social allegory. Later in the film, the survivors or the "uninfected" find brief salvation when they encounter a military base. There, they eat dinner with a commanding officer who, in a stern tone, tries to make sense of all the madness that has occurred. He says: You know what I see? I see people killing people; and I saw that the day before yesterday and the day before that and all of my life. It's just people killing people (Garland 95). In this speech, the message of Darwinism appears. What the officer is saying is simply, we are all zombies who kill and destroy. Throughout history there has always been conflict, death and destruction, and even in a post-apocalyptic society, we are still killing. So what makes humans now any different from a zombie who eats flesh? Dr. Walter J. Veith, a Zoologist, writes: Living organisms, such as humans ... survive the process because they are fitter, and they are fitter because they survive... (Veith 249). What Dr. Veith is saying is essentially, the stronger or fitter one is, the more likely one is to survive. In 28 Days Later, the "uninfected" are fighting for survival, and the only way to ensure safety is to kill. One look at our world today and it is evident, we are fundamentally doing the same thing; killing by whatever means necessary. The term "survival of the fittest" was coined by Biologist Charles Darwin, but the concept of humans killing humans for survival has been represented in literature since before. Survival is a frequently discussed concept in social allegories, and in 28 Days Later, survival is one of many underlying themes. 28 Days Later at its very core questions human existence, which is primarily an Existentialist thought. The film asks its audience, "What is the point of living if all we do is kill and destroy one another?" Another film relevant to this same philosophy is Larry and Andy Wachowski's The Matrix. In this film, Agent Smith (a machine that hunts humans) explains to the protagonist, Neo, how his robotic world views the human species. He says: ...as a species, human beings define their reality through suffering and misery...The perfect world was a dream that your primitive cerebrum kept trying to wake up from. Which is why the Matrix was redesigned to this: the peak of your civilization (Wachowski 156). Agent Smith is saying that the only way humans know how to live is through "suffering and misery." Even if we knew how to live in a perfect society, it wouldn't happen because human beings are flawed animals that ultimately are alive for their own survival. Right now, we are living at the peak of civilization. Never before in history have we been so pampered and reliant on materials and objects that will "improve," but eventually complicate our life. Just as the stock market crashed in 1929, once we reach our peak in social, economic and political evolution, the only way to go is down. Matt Savinar, a graduate of the University of California at Davis, makes an interesting analogy to human existence. He writes: Bacteria in a Petri dish will grow exponentially until they run out of resources, at which point their population will crash. Only one generation prior to the crash, the bacteria will have used up half the resources available to them. To the bacteria, there will be no hint of a problem until they starve to death. Before that happens, the bacteria will begin cannibalizing each other in last-ditch efforts to survive (Savinar 112). But humans are smarter than bacteria, right? You would think so, but the facts seem to indicate otherwise. The first commercial oil well was drilled in 1859. At that time, the world's population was about 1 billion. Less than 150 years later, our population has exploded to 6.4 billion. In that time, it has been projected that we have used up half the world's recoverable oil. Of the half that's left, most will be very expensive to extract. If the experts are correct, we are less than one generation away from a crash. Yet to most of us, there appears to be no hint of a problem. If we are one generation away from our demise, then we are as clueless as bacteria in a Petri dish. Questioning existence and the importance of humankind in relation to the universe are both topics discussed in social allegories. This idea is a theme in The Matrix , as well as 28 Days Later. On the first day of realizing that the world as he knew it was over, Jim asks a survivor about the status of the British government: JIM Where is the government? STEVE There is no government, everybody's dead! JIM What do you mean there is no government? There is always a government! (Garland 32). Having been so dependent on the structure of Democracy, it is impossible for Jim to fathom a life of disorder. When society fails, the basic human instincts become more relevant. In order to survive, Jim must fight, eat, and find shelter. Essentially, he has become his own government- a rudimentary idea of anarchy. In the social allegory Animal Farm, George Orwell questions the necessity of governmental institutions and corrupt regimes. In 28 Days Later, Garland's pivotal characters question the legitimacy of government and the vague obligations of the military. The query of government and politics is again another form of a social allegory. 28 Days Later is simple and powerful. It was made on eight million dollars (fifteen times less than Pirates of the Caribbean's one hundred twenty five million dollar budget). What 28 Days Later lacks in effects, it makes up for with a mind- altering story and excellent acting. There are a few arm-chair gripping, jumpy moments but it is the intellect and intricacy of this movie that make it so powerful. The set design is unique and creative. In fact, for a whole day, the cast and crew had to block off many popular sections of London to create a desolate, disturbing vision of a post-apocalyptic England. The acting is top notch and the lighting, for their very limited budget, is used to perfectly accent a wonderfully dark story. If you were to rent 28 Days Later at the movie store, you would find it under the horror section; but this movie is way more than a simple horror film. It is a social allegory reflecting aspects of our society combined with a unique zombie plot. From the writing, directing, acting to the cinematography, all the elements that help distinguish this film are made to open the eyes of the masses in order to realize if we, as a society, do not choose to change the way we live our lives, then supreme devastation may arise. 28 Days Later is a clear warning sign for the past, present and future. In Victorian Literature, H.G Wells, "the father of science fiction" (The Time Machine, The Island of Dr. Moreau), warned the world that scientific experimentation would eventually lead to a societal collapse. In that same mentality, director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland are trying to explain to the masses, through a zombie film, that if we do not change the way we all behave towards each other, then who knows? Maybe a zombie will be coming after us. 1 f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\2pac Shakurs life .TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Tupac (Two-pahk) Amur Shakur, commonly known as 2pac, led a violent life. He died on September 13, 1996. He was a gangsta rapper/Aspiring actor. Tupac was a big figure in the rap community, always doing what he wanted and not caring what others thought of him. His life symbolized what a lot of people have gone through, through his music and movies he showed us how hard life can be. Tupac was born in Brooklyn, NY in 1971. His family and he moved to Baltimore, Maryland early in his life. He took Performing Arts classes at his school; his teachers said he looked promising. He never finished school. He dropped out and moved to a small town outside Oakland, CA ("Associated"), however he did go to college and finish his high school credits. All his life he was raised by his mom, with his sister. He always led a violent life; April 5, 1993, he assaulted a fellow rapper with a baseball bat. October 31, 1993, he was charged with shooting two off duty police officers. The charges were later dropped. November 19, 1993, he was convicted of sexual assault ("Death"). In November 1994, Tupac himself was shot during an attempted robbery outside a music studio in New York. Tupac did, however, mention this; "Thug life to me is dead. If it's real, let somebody else represent it because I'm tired of it." Shakur told Vibe Magazine. "I represented it too much. I was Thug Life"("Associated"). Tupac had a very promising career. His first album "2pacallyps Now" was very successful. Not too late after that his movie "Juice" was released in 1992. He released two more albums titled "Strictly for my Niggaz" and "Me against the world" and two more movies "Poetic Justice" (1993) and "Above the Rim"(1994). His last album, "All Eyes on Me" sold over 6 million copies and was the first double CD for rap music. ("Thuglife")("Associated") 4:03 p.m. PDT, Friday, September 13, Tupac died of respiratory failure and cardio-pulmonary arrest at University Medical Center, Las Vegas(Payne). He died of bullet wounds to the abdomen and chest at the young age of 25 ("Unofficial"). "Shakur was shot four times in the chest and abdomen. Police believe he was the target." He lingered in a coma before he died. So far police have no suspects. All they are saying is that the people were in a white cadillac, not from Las Vegas where he was shot ("Associated"). I believe that Tupac although he lived a violent life, mostly tried to keep others away from the life he had lived. He died after going farther than a lot of people would have gotten in their entire life. Some believe that Tupac's death was faked but I do not know which to believe. This man was great at what he did, rap, and movies and that is what I admire him for. "Associated Press Life." http://www.stallion.jsums.edu/~awi10997/Tupac/life.htm (19 September 1996). "The Death of Tupac." http://www.stallion.jsums.edu/~awi10997/Tupac/death.htm (19 September 1996). Payne, Barbara. "Tupac Shakurr Has Died." http://www.cpnet.com/shakur.htm (17 September 1996). "Thuglife Central: Unofficial 2pac Homepage." http://www.miu.com/Rap/Tupac.htm/ (17 September 1996). f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\3 Movies Reviewed.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ English 11 5 December 1996 Trainspotting Trainspotting is a drop-dead look at a dead-end lifestyle. Set among the junkies and thugs of Edinburgh's slums and made by (director Danny Boyle, writer John Hodge, producer Andrew Macdonald) that created "Shallow Grave," "Trainspotting" caused a sensation in Britain, where it took in more money than any U.K. film except "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and ignited strong controversy over its attitude toward heroin. Mark Renton (Ewan McGregor), the film's narrator, unleashes an overpowering verbal torrent that gets things off to an aggressive start. "Choose life," Renton insists in voice-over as store detectives chase after him for shoplifting. "Choose a job. Choose a career. Choose a family. Choose a [beep] big television, choose washing machines, cars, compact disc players and electrical tin openers. Choose good health, low cholesterol and dental insurance. Choose fixed-income mortgage repayments. Choose a starter home. Choose your friends. . . . "But why would I want to do a thing like that? I chose not to choose life: I chose something else. And the reasons? There are no reasons. Who needs reasons when you've got heroin?" It is very difficult to resist the film's great energy. "Trainspotting's" subject matter is raw and raunchy, including AIDS, overdoses and violence as well as obscene situations described in unprintable language. This is a film that makes you laugh of things that can in no way be described as funny. How is this possible? In the film's signature scene, where Renton, in search of some lost opium suppositories, dives head-first into "the filthiest toilet in Scotland" and emerges in a sublime and spacious undersea world. And despite Renton's celebrated saying on the pleasures of heroin, boasting, "Take the best orgasm you ever had, multiply it by a thousand and you're still nowhere near it," "Trainspotting" is only interested in drugs because its characters are. Most feeble of the characters is the glasses-wearing Spud (Ewen Bremner). Most devious is Sick Boy (Jonny Lee Miller), who knows all there is to know about Sean Connery. Most innocent is Tommy (Kevin McKidd), whose insistence on telling the truth no matter what is viewed as a fatal weakness. And most dangerous is the beer-drinking, heroin-hating psychopath Begbie (Robert Carlyle).. Some of the funniest parts include Renton's sudden passion for the mysterious Diane (Kelly Macdonald) and Tommy's attempt to get the boys interested in the outdoors, which leads to Renton's "I hate being Scottish" tirade, which ends: "Some people hate the English, but I don't. They're just wankers. We, on the other hand, are colonized by wankers. We can't even pick a decent culture to be colonized by." Cast: Ewan McGregor, Ewen Bremmer, Robert Carlyle, Jonny Lee Miller Credits: Directed by Danny Boyle, written by John Hodge, from the novel by Irvine Welsh. Ferris Bueller's Day Off One of the all-time greatest comedies, this movie tells the tale of a smart Chicago teenager (Matthew Broderick), who ditches school with his girlfriend (Mia Sara) and his neurotic best friend (Alan Ruck), so they can spend a day in the windy city. It also turns out that Broderick wants to build his buddy Ruck's self-esteem, a task that turns out to be a more difficult than he imagined. As if this wasn't enough, Broderick's sister (Jennifer Grey) and his principal (a hilariously funny Jeffery Jones), truly believe he's playing hookey and they both want to nail him in the act. Talk about a dilemma. This is a fine teenage comedy, with well-rounded, intelligent characters, giving Broderick a great starring role. Some of the best scenes are formed around Bueller's ability to gleefully manipulate everybody and everything around him. Those side-splitting, thigh-slapping scenes have to be seen to be believed. Of course, he gets a little help from his friends (Sara and Ruck).. The cinematography is good, with many pans and close ups in tight situation's making things even more intense and funny. If there was ever a film to put on your "What-to-rent" list, this is it. Jurassic Park An amazing film adaptation of the best-selling novel by Michael Crichton, that revolutionized special effects in movies the way Star Wars and 2001: A Space Odyssey did. The story concerns a tropical island, that is the home to living Dinosaurs, brought back by way of DNA. The billionaire (Richard Attenborugh), who owns the island, invites two paleontologists (Sam Neill and LauraDern), a mathematician (Jeff Goldblum) and his grandkids (Ariana Richards and Joseph Mazzello) to the island, unaware that anything can go wrong. Something does! In a major way! A power failure allows the dinosaurs to escape from their cages and roam the park, causing destruction and chaos. Magnificent direction by the master of film fantasy Steven Spielberg, as well as amazing digital effects, make this a captivating, roller coaster ride, with plenty of suspense and astonishment to go along. True, the story isn't really close to the book version, but why quibble. The actors work well together within some well set up scenes. Still, someone else should have been chosen for the part of the mathematician other than Goldblum. He is completely unconvincing in his role, and doesn't really fit in that well. Other than that, the film is practically flawless with excellent music, cinematography , and some of the greatest special effects I have ever seen. f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\32 second Macbeth.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The 32-second Macbeth", a condensed version of the play Macbeth by the Folger Shakespeare Library, is twenty one quotes of some of the most important quotes in Macbeth. Although many of these quotes are necessary to understand parts within Macbeth and to convey important elements of the play, many of these quotes are unnecessary in my eyes, and some things that I feel are extremely important to the story have been left out altogether! To me, in order to get a better feel for the story of Macbeth, some of the twenty quotes many need to be kept, some need to be removed, and then replaced by another, more important quote. A majority of the quotes stated in the "32-Second Macbeth" are extremely important to play, and should be kept a part of the twenty one quotes. Quote 1, I feel, is important because it is one of the major themes of the play. The witches state this quote in the very beginning of the play, which first of all gives and eerie, menacing tone for the play that is basically kept throughout the play. Also, Quote 1 is important because as I mentioned earlier, it tells a major theme of the play, that not everything is what they seem (exp: Lady Macbeth and Macbeth?s original characters.) The next quote I think is important I Quote 4, spoken by Macbeth, almost saying the same thing the witches said in Quote 1. Although the day weather wise is actually a pleasant day weather wise, it is "foul" because earlier he had fought in a battle and killed a traitor, and although he does not know it, he is about to meet the witches and hear their three prophecies, which lead to almost all of the evil in the play. Quote 5 is another significant quote because it states the most important of the three original prophecies given to Macbeth by the witches. The first prophecy, "Thane of Glamis", is not important because he is already Thane of Glamis, and then the second prophecy, "Thane of Cawdor", is more important but still not needed because one he becomes Thane of Cawdor, that title is not important to Macbeth. But the third of the witches? prophecies, Quote 5, is extremely vital because it can be argued that this is the reason for most of Macbeth?s horrible actions, that this prophecy led him to do things in order to fulfill it. The next important quote is Quote 6, spoken by Macbeth, saying fate will decide whether or not he will become king, which some people may argue (including myself) is the reason behind everything Macbeth does (fate). Quote 7 is another quote I feel should be kept in the "32-Second Macbeth" because it gives you an important first impression of Lady Macbeth. At this point, she has heard of the witches? prophecies, and has come up with the idea of killing Duncan to insure Macbeth?s gaining of the throne. It shows how incredibly evil Lady Macbeth initially was, calling upon spirits to "make her a man" to help her kill the king Duncan. This is important also because it once again refers to Quote 1, that not all things are what they seem. Even though Lady Macbeth is a woman, she is the exact opposite of what a woman in her time would be like and she is extremely masculine. The next quote, Quote 9, is also spoken by Lady Macbeth, and is once again showing her manliness, having to basically push Macbeth into killing Duncan. I feel Quote 12 is the next most significant quote. It is spoken by Banquo, when he is being killed by the three murderers hired by Macbeth to kill him and his son Fleance. I think it is essential that this quote is kept because it is the beginning of Macbeth?s insanity for power. Also, it tells you that Banquo dies, but not his son Fleance, which gives one of the witches? prophecies for Banquo (that his sons will become king) a chance to be fulfilled. Quote 13 is another needed quote because it shows the beginning of change for Macbeth, and a small theme in the play. Lady Macbeth is telling Macbeth to calm down, and to forget about everything and just enjoy the fact that he is king, showing she is becoming more feminine where as Macbeth is the opposite, becoming more masculine and saying he must do all this. And like I said, this is small theme in the play that all these horrible things just lead to more horrible things, that it is just a vicious cycle. Finally, I think the last four quotes in the original "32-Second Macbeth" are also important and should be kept. Quote 18, said by Macbeth, is comparing life to a candle, brief and almost unimportant, after Lady Macbeth has killed herself. Quote 19 is spoken by Macduff to Macbeth in their final fight, urging him to fight him even though Macbeth knows he will lose because of the witches? apparitions, and then Macbeth responds with Quote 20, showing the old Macbeth, someone brave and fighting squarely. And then the final quote, Quote 21, is important because it shows that the king is now Malcolm, and that all the evil Macbeth did is not over. Although a majority of the quotes in the "32-Second Macbeth" are beneficial quotes to understand Macbeth and express elements of the play, many are also not needed. First of all, Quotes 2 and 3 are not needed because I don?t think the reader needs to know of the "bloody man" that Duncan speaks of in Quote 2 and I think that a better quote could be found then Quote 3 that talks about the witches and Macbeth?s first encounter. Quote 8 is also an unnecessary quote to me because I think that first of all, a better quote can be fund to talk about Macbeth?s thoughts before the murder of Duncan and also, I don?t think it conveys Macbeth?s true feelings about him and Lady Macbeth?s plan to kill Duncan. Another unneeded quote is Quote 10, because I think it does not give a clear picture of what is going on in Macbeth?s mind at the time, and I don?t think the reader would understand this quote without physically seeing it done by an actor. Quote 11 can also be removed in my opinion because it only shows Lady Macbeth?s thoughts after the murder of Duncan, even thought it wasn?t even her who killed Duncan! To me, I think the author of this condensed version of the play should put in a quote spoken by Macbeth after the murder, since he is actually the one who goes through with the murder. Quote 14 is the next quote I think can be removed because even though it is an extremely well known quote in Macbeth, sued in many other stories, I don?t think it is an important excerpt from the witches in that scene. The next two quotes, Quote 15 and 16, in my opinion, can be removed because I think if someone was to read this 32-second Macbeth, they would not understand what was going on during those quotes or their importance in the play. And finally, the last quote I feel can be removed is Quote 17, which is spoken by Lady Macbeth. Even though she speaks while she was sleeping and it shows the change she has undergone from being the masculine character to the feminine one, unable to bear all the things her and Macbeth have done, I think another quote could replace it the more adequately shows her insanity and change. Lastly, in order to keep the "32-Second Macbeth" lose to 32 seconds and more importantly, to show key parts in the play or to replace parts I took out, there are many quotes that should be added. After Quote 1, I think the quote spoken by Duncan, "What he hath lost, noble Macbeth hath won" should be put in because it tells the reader that Macbeth has gained the title of Thane of Cawdor, and that at one point Macbeth was a good guy. Next, after Quote 5, I think that this quote, "Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none", should be put in. I feel this quote is important because in the original "32-Second Macbeth", it mentions the prophecies given to Macbeth by the witches, but it does not talk about any of the prophecies that Banquo received. Also, I think this quote is important because it gives insight into the reason as to why Macbeth tries to kill Banquo and his son Fleance later in the play. The, after Quote 7, I think an important quote that should be added is, "This castle hath a pleasant seat", said by Duncan. I feel this is a vital quote to add because it refers back to Quote 1 and irony to the play, because as an audience we know that in going to the castle, Duncan is going to be killed. Even thought it may seem like a pleasant and a safe place, we know as an audience it is actually not. Next, I have picked a quote to replace Quote 8 of the original "32-Second Macbeth", that I think better shows Macbeth?s thoughts before the murder of Duncan, and how he does not want to kill him at all and is having second thoughts: "He?s here in double trust". I think this quote is also good to replace Quote 8 because it fits better with Quote 9, where Lady Macbeth is encouraging Macbeth to murder Duncan, than the original Quote 8 did I think. Another quote I would like to replace would be Quote 10, showing that Duncan has been killed. I chose to substitute that quote with this one, "?Macbeth does murder sleep!?", spoken by Macbeth after hearing it said by someone in the castle in their sleep. I think this quote is a better quote than the initial Quote 10 because is not only tells the reader that Duncan has indeed been murdered, but also the state Macbeth is in after the murder (Macbeth is almost hysterical, and heard "voices" saying that he is a murderer in other?s sleep). I also think Quote 11 should be replaced to better show Lady Macbeth?s reaction after the murder of Duncan. The quote I chose to replace it is spoken by Lady Macbeth after she must put the daggers back in the guard?s possession to frame them because Macbeth forgot to: "I shame to wear a heart so white". Finally, I think Quotes 14-17 should be replaced from the original "32-Second Macbeth" because I do not feel they sufficiently get across what is going on during those parts in the play. Instead of Quote 14, I think the actual three apparitions should be put there, "Beware Macduff!?Laugh to scorn the power of man!?Great Birnam Wood to High Dunsiane Hall shall come against him!", because not only does Macbeth become obsessed with these prophecies throughout the rest of the play, but also because they tell how Macduff was able to murder Macbeth, even thought Macbeth thought was basically invincible (they were equivocal statements). Quote 15 can then be replaced by a quote spoken by a messenger to Macduff?s family, basically telling them that they will be murdered soon if they do not leave (which I think is easier to understand than Quote 15): "Be not found here; hence, with your little ones". The next quote I want to replace, Quote 16, is referring to Macduff and Malcolm?s encounter, and talking about their land of Scotland and what Macbeth has done to it. In my opinion, the author of the "32-Second Macbeth" focused on the wrong part of this scene. To me, it is more important that Macduff and Malcolm have deiced to form an alliance and kill Macbeth, "Malcolm: Let?s make us medicines of our great revenge, to cure this deadly grief", than the fact that they are upset at Macbeth. Lastly, I think that Quote 17 also does not give an excellent picture of Lady Macbeth at the end of the play. To me, it does not show that Lady Macbeth is in fact going insane and that is the reason for killing herself. I chose to replace Quote 17 with a quote spoken by the doctor, describing Lady Macbeth in the end, "Unnatural deeds to breed unnatural troubles", because it states Lady Macbeth is in fact going insane, why she is going insane, and the reason for killing herself. The "32-Second Macbeth" is all in all a superb resource for looking at the most important elements of the play Macbeth in about 32 seconds. Although some quotes do need to be removed, replaced, or added, it is a great piece and I thoroughly enjoyed it! f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\6 months later.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 6 Months Later Now that Lennie is out of the way, I guess that I can actually do something with my life. But, It's been 6 months since leaving the farm and I still don't have a job. Oh, here's a sign. A mentally handicapped hospital needs an attendant. I can do that, and it pays well too. $150 a month. "At that rate, I'll be able to get that land soon enough. Ain't that right," I asked Candy? "We sure are," he replied with enthusiasm. As we stepped into the complex, the first thing I saw was the reception desk with a young, pretty, receptionist sitting behind the desk, polishing her nails. Lennie would have enjoyed watching her I pondered. She asked us what we wanted, and I told her that we were just here to find out 'bout the job. After getting a quick overview and job description, I was ready to work right away. Candy was also lucky enough to get hired as a nurse for $100 a month. I stepped into the bedroom and I saw about 25 kids sitting around a middle-aged man, listening to a story. As I stepped in, the story teller stepped over to me and told me what I had to do. Educate them and talk to them. That was it. I was getting paid $150 just to teach a group of handicapped kids. I sat down next to the story teller, Bob, and I looked around and carefully observed them. As I did this, I could see Lennie's face flashing in my mind. What was happening to me. Why couldn't he just leave me alone. I survived through my first day of work, reluctantly. The hospital also provided housing. That night, I had the most horrible dream of my life. I could see Lennie petting hundreds of rabbits, one at a time. But he was crying and screaming in rage. The rabbits were dying. "George, why do they die? Don't let them die George, please. Can I still tend the rabbits? I know I done a bad thing," exclaimed Lennie. I got up, screaming. "Lennie, please leave me alone, please," I asked. It was silent. Nobody was awake. I looked like a complete nut with all those kids, including Candy, staring at me. Candy just went back to sleep. He was the only one that could understand the pain that I was going through. This happened to me several nights after the first nightmare. Each one would consist of rabbits, lots of them, and Lennie. After a while, they just told me to leave because they thought that the kids were already tortured with their own handicaps. Candy wanted to stay, so I told him that I would come back for him when I gathered enough money. After one day alone, I had done a lot of thinking. Mostly about Lennie and the others, but one thing I thought a lot about was the things Lennie said. "I could go off to the mountains and find a cave, you know. And I wouldn't eat any ketchup," he would say. Now that I think about it and know what it feels like to be alone, I am glad that Lennie stayed with me the whole time, till death had separated the two of us. I also realize that he always obeyed me and tried really hard to help me. He tried so hard to keep those pups alive, and yet they died. He was such a hard worker, worked harder than any of us. I also realize that we couldn't do some of the things that he could do. Such as understanding a person more deeply than any of us. He knew more about myself than I did. And he always kept up to a task, like trying to be able to remember. He could never do that. He would have taken good care of those rabbits. If only he had a chance. He could prove to me, to everybody else, and most importantly himself, that he was capable of doing something right. Sure he killed Curly's wife, but she sure as hell was a bitch. She probably didn't deserve to die, but Lennie didn't know any better? He probably thinks that she's still alive, stupid boy. Wait a minute. I'll ask for one more chance at the hospital, and then Candy and I could get ready to leave after just one month. I guess I'll start to walk back the ten miles it took to get here. I know, I'll get a wife, and invite people to stay at my new ranch. And Candy could invite people too. It would be great. But why am I so happy?? I just killed my best friend; he was so helpless. Maybe he's better off know, but I will never know. All that I can think about now is what Lennie said to me just before he died. "George, can I still tend the..... the rab-bits." f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\7 Stages of Grieving.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Today, most White Australians are sensitive and distinctively aware of the social and cultural issues related to Aborigines. This must be credited to playwrights such as Jack Davis and Wesley Enoch&Deborah Mailman as they reveal the brutal discrimination, abuse to Australia's Indigenous people and their sacred culture through their pieces No Sugar and 7 Stages of Grieving. Both plays utilise the theatrical techniques of Western theatre in conjunction with their tradition way of story telling to convey themes of struggle, prejudice and the destruction of Aboriginal culture. First wave playwright, Jack Davis writes the lives of the Millimurra family in their struggle to survive the Depression early in the 20th century No Sugar, while 7 Stages of Grieving focuses on the lives of the modern generation of Australian Aboriginal. This time gap will reflect the changing cultural, social and political issues in Australia. No Sugar was written in a period when the majority of Australians were completely unaware of their situation and became influential along with other texts such as My Place by Sally Moran, which also discloses the reality of Aboriginal people. No Sugar is the second play in a trilogy called " The First Born", which traces the history of the Aborigines in Western Australia from the first White settlement, or in their perspective, invasion, in 1928 to the lives of urban Aboriginals today. The first play Kulluck (Home) shows the destruction of the Nyoongah people as a community and the social and economic oppression they suffered with the arrival of Europeans. Davis wrote this play in 1979 as an angry response to the celebration of Western Australia's 150th anniversary of White 'settlement'. No Sugar was written just two years before the national celebration of the Bicentenary and depicts the lives of post-tribal or pre-urbanised Aborigines people who were caught between assimilation and segregation. In the last play The Dreamers illustrates Aboriginal people today, their nostalgic longing for what is lost as well as their acceptance that it will not return. Being the middle of a trilogy, the characters in No Sugar are also caught in the middle of the process of transformation. The resultant of this process is assimilating into the white society; however, it is merely a replacement term for a second-class citizenship. In the 1970's and 80's, Jack Davis' plays facilitated the raising Black consciousness among the White Australians. No Sugar is a realist play based on real people. Jack Davis used the technique of the documentary theatre of Agitprop which uses real historic events to recount history. This is done dramatically in speeches and newspaper articles and the narrative of characters who remembers the past. To a White audience this may seem to be too political but for a Black audience, this element is vital in the essence that the truth is finally being told in their point of view. This play is also written in an episodic form, a technique adopted from western Brecht theatre and contains a continuous storyline with coherent connections between each episode. This allows Davis to present his ideas with a series of unresolved conflicts and problems, which when put together, gives us a whole picture of suffering in Aborigines life in this period. The episodic structure is enhanced by the use of juxtaposition and contradiction on stage between scenes and within scenes. For example, the dual action in Perth and Northam in Act I scene ii where Neville the administrator dictates his letter to the minister regarding reducing rations is counterpoised by the effects this has on Gran and Milly when they arrive at the police station to pick up their ration but only to find that soap has been removed. The sergeant's ironic suggestion that "they could buy one [soap]" when he should clearly acknowledge the fact that Aboriginals were not allowed to be payed in money at the time portrays the Aborigine's struggle to survive under the social and economic restriction placed upon them. Further irony is also evident in the extract of a newspaper article from the opening scene. " The pageant presented a picture of Western Australia's present condition of hopeful optimistic prosperity, and gave some ideas if what men mean when they talk about the soul of the nation." This contrasts to the Millimurra's appalling living conditions established also in the first scene. Having not enough clothes for David to wear a clean shirt everyday and the allowed expenditure of two pence to buy an apple for lunch confirms the falseness in the government's pompous reports. In scene ii, the entrance of a white, unemployed Frank Brown shows another victim of the "optimistic prosperity" of the state. The uses of physical forces and abuse against the Aborigines is dramatically symbolised by Neal's beating of Mary. Lights blacks out just as we are told by the stage directions that " Neal raises the cat-o'-nine-tails". " A scream" follows and confirms our predictions of a heavy beating. This use of lighting suggests that physical abuses had been hidden away from most people at the time. The central symbol and also from which the title of this play derives from, is sugar. Sugar is sweet and usually brings joy. Thus the title NO Sugar suggests that Aborigines experiences no joy. Sugar can also be interpreted deathly in its seductiveness. This has Christian connotations where sugar, ironically named 'humbugs' is sent to seduce children into attending Sunday school. Jack Davis tends to use stereotyped characters to represent social or human traits. Each White Australian character represents one aspect of the white society that caused the destruction of Aboriginal tribal life. Augustus Neville symbolises the government "protector of Fisheries, Forestry, Wildlife and Aborigines." From his speech to the Historic Society, it can be seen that he is a man full of grand theories but who stands revealed as the sterile representative of the naked and blind power in the last Act as he threatens (unaware of the hideous irony) " no more privileges." Matron represents a 'softer' face of White power. The scientific superiority is one of the 'supposedly' benefits brought the native Australians. Being a medical professional, Matron does care about those she is in charge with but cannot accept that the uncivility of Aboriginal culture can look after themselves. Billy the black tracker is one of the characters in the novel who have assimilated into the White society. To a traditional Aborigine, he is a betrayer of his own cultural heritage. Joel dismissed his existence by describing him as "nothing". However as he recalls the destruction of his cultural tribe in Act II scene vi, the audience can see that he still understands the unforgivable things the White people has caused to him. " Big mob politjman, and big mob from stations, and shoot 'em everybody, mens, kooris (women), little yumbah (children)." This reinforces the spiritual connection Aboriginal people had with each other during times of adversity. The names of significant black characters holds religious connotation and serves the purpose of catching the audience's attentions. Mary (the blessed virgin) is associated with a convicted black criminal Joseph and is an illegitimately pregnant unmarried mother. When the white audience see this on stage which does not fit in the conventional connotations, they are forced to question the political and social issues associated. The use of songs as an Aboriginal traditional way of communication is incorporated into this play. The first song ' shout of praise' reveals Aborigines' appreciation for the natural beauty and sustenance provided by the land. The second song is a hymn turned into a song of protest. The third is sang by Gran and is a lament and cry for compassion. These songs move its audience from anger to understanding and finally, hope. Setting and properties echoes the difference of power between White Australians and the natives. In Act IV scene v, the opening stage directions report that the dominating Whites are seated on a raised "dais" above the blacks. Furthermore, Billy and Bluey are dress in "absurdly ill-fitted uniforms". At the end of the novel, though the Millimurra family celebrates the birth of Mary and Joseph's baby, it does not bring a resolution to all the conflicts. The unresolved ending invites the audience and readers to thin about the problems raised. Lighting is important in this play in indicating to the audience a shift of shadow. This is particularly being carefully planned in sections such as Act I scene ii where the lighting needs to shift from Frank and the Sergeant to the entrance of Miss Dunn. Suitable lighting is also vital to ensure an appropriate mood. Because the play is episodically structured, flexible and simple staging is recommended to ensure fast transition between scenes. 7 Stages of Grieving is similar to No Sugar in the sense that it shares the purpose and the use of theatrical devices as a medium to propagate their ideas. It is written by second wave Aboriginal playwrights Wesley Enoch and Deborah Mailman who considerably experienced less unfortunate incidence and prejudice than Jack Davis. However, following the death of his grandmother in the early 1990's, Enoch experienced the whole sense of grief and the sense of spiritual connection the gathering of the community. This triggered Enoch's idea of creating a script investigating the theme of grief. In 1995, 7 Stages of Grieving became a national premiere and it wasn't long before embarking on an international journey. This play is written in a non-realist style, exploring the grieving process in Aboriginal history as well as criticisms of recent social, economic and political issues. There are twenty-four short scenes, combined to form a collage. The solo actor who is recognised as " the women" performs a series of monologues disclosing the history of the Australian Indigenous people from " genocide to " reconciliation". The use of projections and alienation hints a strong Brechtian influence. In scene two Sobbing¸ the words associative of grief and loss projected on the walls is reinforced by the crescending cries of the women. The crying reaches its peak when the word "desolate" is projected on, followed by " nothing... I feel Nothing." At this stage, the cry "subsides". This sort of simultaneous use of visual and aural devices appears throughout the play and is one of the key achievers in this masterpiece. The last projection not only demonstrated a change of attitudes since White invasion, dramatises the magnitude of the grieving that it reached to the extend of loss of emotions. The burning of eucalyptus leaves and singing "a song for the spirits" in scene three Purification reminisces Aborigine's cultural heritage and their close connection with land and spirits. In Scene four Story of Father, references to people such as Pauline Hanson provide the evidence for the continuous updating process of this play. Scene eight Family Gallery is inextricably linked to scene 5 Photograph by the running motif, the "suitcase". In the earlier scene, the women struggles to cope with the death of a family member and decides to heal by pushing their memories of them "into the shadow", or symbolically locking the photos away in the suitcase. In scene eight, the audience would recognise that the projection of the photos are those taken out of the suitcase. This suggests that the only way to heal the wound is to face the things that caused the wound and also serves as an advice for many those who "push [their past] into the shadow" and turn to alcohol, etc. In scene 13 Aunt Grace, the "suitcase" reappears again symbolic of the hidden Aboriginal history. Though Aunt Grace married a white European, she returns home carrying the suitcase and "throws the content all over" Nana's grave. This emphasis again the close spiritual bond between all Aboriginal people no matter where they went and settled in. Black Skin Girl of scene 9 reminds the audience Aboriginal children's assimilation was not out of their own will. This is supported by her desperate "attempts to evade the [alphabet] letters" on her dress which represented white civilisation and forces and the Aboriginal song " Bului guli mie [black skin girl] Naia gigi Warunguldud [I will be strong always]." Scene 12 Murri gets a dress is "delivered in the style of stand up comedy", which is another western theatrical technique. This monologue satirises the discrimination of Blacks even when entering a shop. They will receive a "special treatment" in the form of stares and whispers, " keep an eye on the black one." In scene 15, the opening stage directions " the women stands strong" immediately establish her strength. The repetition of "grief" and "grieving" creates a link to the title of this play, suggesting that just because they are "grieving" does not mean "we're not fighting". The following scene Bargaining is a single sentence criticises the White's abuse of their sacred land. " What is it worth?" the women asks after hammering a "for sale" post into the grave. For the native Australians, land was priceless but the white settlers abuse it for money and materialism. The truth about the Stolen Generation is revealed in scene 17 Home Stay using piles of red earth sand as analogies for an Aboriginal tribe. " You always have to marry your own skin." Out of the eight piles of sand formed, they are either "your brother", "your cousin", "your grandparents" and so forth. Thus even when one child was forcibly taken away from this tribe, the social effects is detrimental as shown by the women's destruction of the sand piles. Scene 21 and 22 brings elements of sarcasm and bitterness in though " Wreck-Con-Silly-Nation", which is further reinforced by projection usage. The packing of " the word Reconciliation" and "locks it inside the suitcase is a gesture of the worthlessness of this word to them because "what's the use in having a word if we don't think and talk about it?" This scene ends with "the women places the suitcase down at the feet of the audience", pleading the audience to take serious thought to this word and the actions involved with it. The last scene Walking across Bridge depicts Aborigine's mixed emotions to this real event. The numerous "pauses" suggests their dazed responses to the huge " sorry across the sky." However, a hint of bitterness is detected by the last sentence " I guess we can't go back now," which suggests that the Aborigines would rather prefer to live their tradition way of life. It can be seen this No Sugar and 7 Stages of Grieving explores the lives of Aborigine's during different times. Their portrayal of different themes through different theatrical styles reflects a changed and will be continuously changing artistic, cultural, social and political issues and interests in the 1980's, 90's and 2000. Ultimately, their shared purpose of telling real stories about Aboriginal life have succeeded in giving their group of people a significant voice history that will remain forever clear in the sympathetic hearts of most white Australians f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\a brief history of led zeppeln and its musical impact.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Tell someone to name a band from the 1960s and '70s and you could probably listen to a dozen answers before hearing the same one twice. The overwhelming amount of talent squeezed into these two decades has produced some of the most popular, most powerful, and in some cases, the most bizarre music ever. Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, The Rolling Stones, The Yardbirds, Janis Joplin, Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley, Queen, Aerosmith, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, The Eagles.... All were from this era that seemed to glorify music as no other time period did, or ever will. The amount of evolution of music that occurred in this time period is amazing as well. The mainstream went from listening to songs like Bill Haley and the Comet's "Rock Around The Clock," to The Beatles' frightening "Revolution 9." While these two examples may seem completely different, they are not as distant as one might think. Nearly all music from the '60s and '70s was bred from its earlier ancestors. Music has been constantly evolving, and during the two decades in question, it underwent a radical change like never before. The New Yardbirds In early 1968 the music group The Yardbirds was in shambles. Their last, and half-put --together album "Little Games" was a total flop and the band had to struggle to have the release of the album in the UK stopped. On March 30, the group allowed a taping of their concert in Madison Square Garden to be considered for a live album to be released later. They easily convinced their record contractor, Epic Records, to ditch the project. The lead guitarist of The Yardbirds, Jeff Beck, had suffered from a mental breakdown a few years earlier and could no longer handle the pressure of touring. The band members, Keith Relf, Chris Dreja, Jim McCarty, and Jimmy Page decided to throw in the towel and let the band collapse. Playing wasn't the same rush it used to be, and it just wasn't fun anymore. Each member elected to follow their own projects. Dreja planned a career in photography, McCarty and Relf intended on starting bands of their own. Lead guitarist, Jimmy Page was given legal rights to the band's name, songs, and albums. However, along with the rights that Page was given, were 10 tour dates that still needed to be honored in Scandinavia. Page needed to construct a new band in a matter of two months time. In July '68, Page met ex-session guitarist and phenomenal arranger John Paul Jones (b. John Baldwin, June 3, 1946, Sidcup, Kent). Willingly joined in on bass. 19-year old vocalist, Robert Plant (b. August 20, 1948, West Bromwich, W. Midlands.) is asked to perform with The New Yardbirds. Plant accepts and leaves his homeland in the Midlands with only his subway fair in his pocket. The last link to the chain was John Bonham (b. May 20, 1948, Bromwich) on drums. The band finished their ten date tour of Scandinavia with some unexpected success. Everywhere they went people were asking how a band like this could go unnoticed. The unique blend of blues-influenced rock, and guitar-riff based songs blew their audience away. On October 15, 1968, Led Zeppelin, made up of Page, Plant, Jones and Bonham, made it's official debut at Surrey University. The group began touring the US, backing up such headliners as Vanilla Fudge, and The MC5 shortly thereafter. Instantaneous recognition followed. The groups popularity was soaring. On January 31, '69, Led Zeppelin opened for Iron Butterfly, then one of the world's biggest bands. Led Zeppelin received such a resounding approval from the audience, that Doug Ingle, lead singer for Iron Butterfly decided to scrap the show. Reason being are that Iron Butterfly was afraid that they can't produce such an effect on their crowd... in their own concert...in which they are headlining. Led Zeppelin soon became a headliner in their own right. Within eight months of their official debut, Led Zeppelin were at the top of the bill at the Playhouse Theater in London, and the Pop Proms at the Royal Albert Hall in London. On October 17, '69, a year and two days from the bands conception, Led Zeppelin played in Carnegie Hall, ending a ban on rock groups at the concert hall, originally caused by the Rolling Stones in 1965. While playing in Denmark, Eva von Zeppelin, relative of the designer of the airship, Ferdinand von Zeppelin, threatened to sue the band if they used the name in the country. Led Zeppelin played under the alias The Nobs. The first album Led Zeppelin climbed to #10 in the US and to #6 in the UK. Album two, entitled Led Zeppelin 2, moved up to #1 in both the US and the UK, staying on the charts for 98 in the States and an astounding 138 weeks in Britain. Six straight #1 albums in either the US or the UK. Countless sellout concerts. Records for box office drawings. Records for attendance. 51,000 tickets for 3 shows Earls Court, London sell out in less than two hours. International fame. No other group had ever become so popular in such a small period of time. Led Zeppelin was revolutionizing music as they went. While most bands were shunned from playing a song different from it sounds on the record, Led Zeppelin was free to roam in their music. It wasn't unusual to hear a song that would be half-an-hour long, as opposed to its counterpart on the album, which was only five minutes long. These lengthy jam sessions diguised as concerts gave way to new ground being touched musically. Led Zeppelin introduced the world to the music of black artists such as Muddy Watters, Otis Rush, Otis Redding, and Willie Dixon. Pieces of songs from the 1930s were being worked into their own music, as in their covers of Dixon's You Need Love, and Rush's Can't Quit You, and it was working. The blues riffs incorporated into their own music later influenced bands heavily, and opened doors to new tastes in music for the predominately American audience. The most significant thing about Led Zeppelin's music today, is that it doesn't sound dated. The music seems similar to music today. The lasting impression of their music is obvious, and can be heard in any Rock band of today. Unfortunately, the machine that was Led Zeppelin came to a screeching halt on the morning of September 25, 1980. When band members decided to go into Bonham's bedroom to pull a prank on him in his sleep, Bonham was found dead. After a night of heavy drinking, Bonham had turned the wrong way in his sleep, and asphyxiated himself upon his own vomit. A statement was released on December 4, 1980, stating that the band could not go on in its present state. After 11 incredible years, the band could not function with "the loss of our dear friend." Led Zeppelin had owned the 70s, and they were going to finish their reign quietly, and let the throne open to the next "supergroup." As suddenly as Led Zeppelin began, it had ended even more so. The giant had fallen. "As it was, then again it will be, Though the course may change sometimes, Rivers always reach the sea." -Ten Years Gone Led Zeppelin f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\A Brief History of Ledd Zeppelin and ITs Musical Impact.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ A Brief History of Ledd Zeppelin and ITs Musical Impact Tell someone to name a band from the 1960s and '70s and you could probably listen to a dozen answers before hearing the same one twice. The overwhelming amount of talent squeezed into these two decades has produced some of the most popular, most powerful, and in some cases, the most bizarre music ever. Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, The Rolling Stones, The Yardbirds, Janis Joplin, Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley, Queen, Aerosmith, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, The Eagles.... All were from this era that seemed to glorify music as no other time period did, or ever will. The amount of evolution of music that occurred in this time period is amazing as well. The mainstream went from listening to songs like Bill Haley and the Comet's "Rock Around The Clock," to The Beatles' frightening "Revolution 9." While these two examples may seem completely different, they are not as distant as one might think. Nearly all music from the '60s and '70s was bred from its earlier ancestors. Music has been constantly evolving, and during the two decades in question, it underwent a radical change like never before. The New Yardbirds In early 1968 the music group The Yardbirds was in shambles. Their last, and half-put --together album "Little Games" was a total flop and the band had to struggle to have the release of the album in the UK stopped. On March 30, the group allowed a taping of their concert in Madison Square Garden to be considered for a live album to be released later. They easily convinced their record contractor, Epic Records, to ditch the project. The lead guitarist of The Yardbirds, Jeff Beck, had suffered from a mental breakdown a few years earlier and could no longer handle the pressure of touring. The band members, Keith Relf, Chris Dreja, Jim McCarty, and Jimmy Page decided to throw in the towel and let the band collapse. Playing wasn't the same rush it used to be, and it just wasn't fun anymore. Each member elected to follow their own projects. Dreja planned a career in photography, McCarty and Relf intended on starting bands of their own. Lead guitarist, Jimmy Page was given legal rights to the band's name, songs, and albums. However, along with the rights that Page was given, were 10 tour dates that still needed to be honored in Scandinavia. Page needed to construct a new band in a matter of two months time. In July '68, Page met ex-session guitarist and phenomenal arranger John Paul Jones (b. John Baldwin, June 3, 1946, Sidcup, Kent). Willingly joined in on bass. 19-year old vocalist, Robert Plant (b. August 20, 1948, West Bromwich, W. Midlands.) is asked to perform with The New Yardbirds. Plant accepts and leaves his homeland in the Midlands with only his subway fair in his pocket. The last link to the chain was John Bonham (b. May 20, 1948, Bromwich) on drums. The band finished their ten date tour of Scandinavia with some unexpected success. Everywhere they went people were asking how a band like this could go unnoticed. The unique blend of blues-influenced rock, and guitar- riff based songs blew their audience away. On October 15, 1968, Led Zeppelin, made up of Page, Plant, Jones and Bonham, made it's official debut at Surrey University. The group began touring the US, backing up such headliners as Vanilla Fudge, and The MC5 shortly thereafter. Instantaneous recognition followed. The groups popularity was soaring. On January 31, '69, Led Zeppelin opened for Iron Butterfly, then one of the world's biggest bands. Led Zeppelin received such a resounding approval from the audience, that Doug Ingle, lead singer for Iron Butterfly decided to scrap the show. Reason being are that Iron Butterfly was afraid that they can't produce such an effect on their crowd... in their own concert...in which they are headlining. Led Zeppelin soon became a headliner in their own right. Within eight months of their official debut, Led Zeppelin were at the top of the bill at the Playhouse Theater in London, and the Pop Proms at the Royal Albert Hall in London. On October 17, '69, a year and two days from the bands conception, Led Zeppelin played in Carnegie Hall, ending a ban on rock groups at the concert hall, originally caused by the Rolling Stones in 1965. While playing in Denmark, Eva von Zeppelin, relative of the designer of the airship, Ferdinand von Zeppelin, threatened to sue the band if they used the name in the country. Led Zeppelin played under the alias The Nobs. The first album Led Zeppelin climbed to #10 in the US and to #6 in the UK. Album two, entitled Led Zeppelin 2, moved up to #1 in both the US and the UK, staying on the charts for 98 in the States and an astounding 138 weeks in Britain. Six straight #1 albums in either the US or the UK. Countless sellout concerts. Records for box office drawings. Records for attendance. 51,000 tickets for 3 shows Earls Court, London sell out in less than two hours. International fame. No other group had ever become so popular in such a small period of time. Led Zeppelin was revolutionizing music as they went. While most bands were shunned from playing a song different from it sounds on the record, Led Zeppelin was free to roam in their music. It wasn't unusual to hear a song that would be half-an-hour long, as opposed to its counterpart on the album, which was only five minutes long. These lengthy jam sessions diguised as concerts gave way to new ground being touched musically. Led Zeppelin introduced the world to the music of black artists such as Muddy Watters, Otis Rush, Otis Redding, and Willie Dixon. Pieces of songs from the 1930s were being worked into their own music, as in their covers of Dixon's You Need Love, and Rush's Can't Quit You, and it was working. The blues riffs incorporated into their own music later influenced bands heavily, and opened doors to new tastes in music for the predominately American audience. The most significant thing about Led Zeppelin's music today, is that it doesn't sound dated. The music seems similar to music today. The lasting impression of their music is obvious, and can be heard in any Rock band of today. Unfortunately, the machine that was Led Zeppelin came to a screeching halt on the morning of September 25, 1980. When band members decided to go into Bonham's bedroom to pull a prank on him in his sleep, Bonham was found dead. After a night of heavy drinking, Bonham had turned the wrong way in his sleep, and asphyxiated himself upon his own vomit. A statement was released on December 4, 1980, stating that the band could not go on in its present state. After 11 incredible years, the band could not function with "the loss of our dear friend." Led Zeppelin had owned the 70s, and they were going to finish their reign quietly, and let the throne open to the next "supergroup." As suddenly as Led Zeppelin began, it had ended even more so. The giant had fallen. . "As it was, then again it will be, Though the course may change sometimes, Rivers always reach the sea." -Ten Years Gone Led Zeppelin f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\A Clockwork Orange Essay.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ A Clockwork Orange: Good Riddance to Bad Rubbish A Clockwork Orange received critical acclaim, made more than thirty million dollars at the box office, and was nominated for various awards; however, this esteemed film was outlawed from the nation of Great Britain in order to curb its immoral content from permeating society. Before all the controversy began, A Clockwork Orange was a novel, written mostly in Russian, by Anthony Burgess. Stanley Kubrick is known to critics as a film maker who probes the dark side of human psyche. Kubrick has also directed films such as Dr. Strangelove, The Shining, and Full Metal Jacket. In each of these movies the audience delves into the evil side of the main character. Great Britain had this film removed from theaters across the country because the government justly illustrated there was a connection between the movie's graphic violence and an increased crime rate. In Clockwork . . . , there are unquestionably violent and graphic actions. Multiple beatings, a rape, and a murder are performed by the lead characters. These crimes are drug induced. Before going out, the gang goes to the "milk bar" for some "milk plus" which is riddled with amphetamines. The first violent act came not more than ten minutes into the movie. It was when the boys, led by Alex, beat a helpless wino that asked them for some change. The gang then strode away as if nothing occurred. They struck him repeatedly with canes and they kicked him a few times to the job. Next, the boys went to see a rival gang. This other group was in the middle of raping a woman when Alex and Company came in and intervened. They proceeded to beat the other gang members to a pulp. Then, they went to the house of a writer, to burglarize it. While there, they brutalized the writer and his wife. Alex raped the wife in front of the writer and then started to sing "Sing'n in the Rain" as he pummeled the old man. Alex's final act of violence came at the house of a rich health spa owner. The gang went there with the intent of robbing the place, but the woman who lived there was alert to the scheme and called the police. She attacked Alex and he defended himself with a sculpture of male genitalia. The fight ended when Alex crammed the statue in the mouth of the victim, and killed her. These were some of the more graphic scenes, which aided Britain's decision to ban the film. Incidents from this film triggered an onslaught of violent crimes across the country of Great Britain. Numerous copycat crimes were reported which mimicked to exact detail the grotesque murder and rape scenes found in Clockwork. The most notable copycat crime was in Britain where a woman was raped and beaten by a group of thugs who sang "Sing'n in the Rain" as they carried out their ruthless act of violence. When questioned by police, one of the thugs commented, "I got the idea to beat this b**** from a movie I saw." The movie turned out to be none other than Clockwork.... Stanley Kubrick has also been responsible for additional films that are bleak, pessimistic, and sometimes terrifying. Not only is this his style, but it is also his means of conveying a very sublime personal message. Kubrick believes that contemporary society is a very tragic and violent place. This message comes across very clearly in Clockwork Orange. It is through this film that Kubrick explores the nature of violent crime and in doing so brilliantly satirizes the deterioration of society and its values. Although Kubrick's message may be sincere, his methods exploit the intentions of video imagery and demean his viewing audience. Films of this nature have an incredible power to induce its viewers into committing violent actions. This theory is not ingenuous and has been supported by many prominent members of the psychological community. For this reason, I believe the film needs to be formally banned. Although it played to sellout crowds in London for nearly a year, it introduced weak moral standards and a glorification of violence to the public. This film was best received by the college aged youths of Great Britain. This is a very impressionable time in the life of a person and could influence them into justifying violence and the abuse of women. The British government made the right decision in banning the movie and protecting the ailing moral standards of Great Britain. As stated previously, many scholars believe that A Clockwork Orange was responsible for a wave of copycat crimes and an increase in the crime rate. This theory can be supported by the fact that in the viewing area where Clockwork was shown there was a dramatic increase in crimes directly related to scenes from the movie. Even if the percentage of the increase in crime was minuscule, this does not underscore the value in banning the film. Does not saving just one life justify banning the content of this heinous video? I wholeheartedly believe the answer to this question is yes. Human life is worth much more than one man's sarcastic dissertation on violent crime. What will be next--a young girl brutally raped and killed, an innocent child tortured by ruthless villains, and old man shot down in cold blood? One would think a society as educated as ours would recognize the danger in glorifying these films of violence and gore. Our children have a hard enough time determining right from wrong. Movies such as Clockwork... only add to the moral decay of our society. If society is to work toward the esteemed goal of building a kinder, gentler nation, censorship must play a key role in our dauntless journey. f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\a clockwork orange.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ A Clockwork Orange The freedom of choice and the rehabilitating form of corrections encase the realm of A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess. It produces the question about man's free will and the ability to choose one's destiny, good or evil. "If he can only perform good or only perform evil, then he is a clockwork orange-meaning that he has the appearance of an organism lovely with colour and juice but is in fact only a clockwork toy to be wound up by God or the Devil or State"(Burgess ix). Burgess expresses the idea that man can not be completely good or evil and must have both in order to create a moral choice. The book deals upon reforming a criminal with only good morals and conditioning an automated response to "evil." Burgess enforces the idea of the medical model of corrections, in terms of rehabilitating an offender, which is up to the individual. That one should determine the cause and then find an exclusive treatment to resolve that individual's case, then apply it. This is the case with the character Alex, a juvenile delinquent introduced into prisonization then conditioned by governmental moral standards. This lack of personal moral choice imposed upon Alex creates conflicting situations in which he has no control over. This is apparent when trying to readjust into society. As conflicts arise within the spectrum of criminal justice the main focus is revolved around the corrections aspect of reforming the criminal element. Within the confines of the seventies Londoner. The character, Alex is created as the ultimate juvenile delinquent leading a small gang. Living within his own world the use of old Londoner language and attire reflect the non-conformity with society. Let loose within a large metropolitan, Alex is engulfed in the affairs of several criminal practices, from rape to aggravated assault. As a juvenile delinquent, Alex is finally caught and seen as an adult offender. Like all offenders he promotes his innocence and sets blame upon his companions. "Where are the others? Where are my stinking traitorous droogs? One of my cursed grahzny bratties chained me on the glazzies. Get them before they get away. It was their idea, brothers. They like forced me to do it"(Burgess 74). Betrayed by his cohorts Alex is beaten by local officials and confesses to all the crimes. As a point to retribution a sergeant states, "Violence makes violence"(Burgess 80) and proceeds to through Alex back into the cell. All the while Alex detests the treatment and conditions of the local jail, " So I was kicked and punched and bullied off to the cells and put in with about ten or twelve other plennies, a lot of them drunk"(Burgess 81). Unlike the fair treatment of most juveniles Alex was finally getting the taste of adult corrections, being held in a drunk tank along with other felons. Faced with the reality of prison life, Alex is introduced to prisonization by the same system which incarcerated him. Showing him one must be tough and violent to survive within the penal system. The term prisonization refers to the effect when an offender is subjected to the culture, morals, rules, and values of a penal institution. Then this is inscribed into his or her own behavior and deems them fit as a norm. This is the case involving Alex when he must prove his worth in a correctional institution by beating a fellow inmate. "If we can't have sleep let's have some education, our new friend here had better be taught a lesson ...I fisted him all over, dancing about with my boots on though unlaced, and then I tripped him and he went crash crash on the floor. I gave him a real horror show kick on the gulliver"(Burgess 102). Although being brutal deems fit for Alex, he realizes that only repentance and good behavior in the eyes of the officials can release him from the jaws of justices. So in order to be viewed as a reforming criminal Alex turns to religion. As the prison minister clearly states, "Is it going to be in and out of institutions like this, though more in than out for most of you, or are you going to attend to the Divine Word and realize the punishment that await the unrepentant sinner in the next world, as well as in this?"(Burgess 90) and the main focus for reforming is in the hands of God and individual moral choice. Through religion Alex soon becomes a model prisoner, externally, yet internally still willing to do anything to get out. This also included experimental rehabilitation methods done by the state. Being a juvenile in an adult prison one would have the urgency to be released as quickly as possible. When the word got out of a new experimental reforming process and a chance for early release, it immediately caught Alex's attention. To be chosen, this meant constant pressuring and questioning to the officials, plus showing that he is trying to reform. " You've been very helpful and, I consider, shown a genuine desire to reform. You will, if you continue this manner, earn your remission with no trouble at all"(Burgess 94). However Alex's intent on reforming was not a religious aspect but the quickest. He finally realizes a new way to get out and questions the proceedings. "I don't know what it's called, I said, All I know is that it gets you out quickly and makes sure you don't get in again"(Burgess 95). However the minister has doubts about the medical treatment techniques involved in forcing a person to be morally better. He brings up the question of what makes a real moral person. "I must confess I share those doubts. The question is whether such a technique can really make a man good. Goodness comes from within, 6655321. Goodness is something chosen. When a man cannot choose he ceases to be a man"(Burgess 95). This does not deter Alex from the thought of early release but only intensifies his desires. With his determination and pure will Alex is finally permitted to be experimented on for rehabilitation. With an early release in site Alex's willingness overshadows any curiosities of the treatment. Transferred from a state prison to a private facility insures his release from incarceration. "In a little over a fortnight you will be out again in the big free world, no longer a number"(Burgess 108). With the increase in population comes an increase crime, this has also brought on encouraging new rehabilitating techniques to corrections. Stated by one government official the importance of reforming in corrections rather than retribution. "The government cannot be concerned any longer with out moded penalogical theories. Cram criminals together and see what happens. You get concentrated criminality, crime in the midst of punishment . . . Kill the criminal reflex, that's all"(Burgess 105,106). The rehabilitating technique used upon Alex is that of responsive conditioning with the use of drugs and visual aids. Conditioning is the implementation of either teaching or forcing one to feel or think a certain way when given a decision. Alex is therefore forced to feel and think negative responses when shown evil sites or thoughts. Yet the an error had occurred when the state was conditioning "good" into him. The use of classical music along with the treatment conditioned Alex to respond to that as well. As Alex detested the use of music, he states the cruelty of the technique, "But it's not fair on the music. It's not fair I should feel ill when I'm slooshying lovely Ludwig van and G.F. Handel and others"(Burgess 133). Yet the state feels the use of music is only an enhancement to the treatment, "It's a useful emotional heightener, that's all I know"(Burgess 131). As the treatment ends the sick feeling is only increased when Alex is confronted with any "evil." With this conditioning set in place Alex is finally released into society and deemed healthy, pure of all morals. The readjustment into society's values seems to be the main question. Was the implementation of conditioning a person to strictly good morals proper and humane? As the title suggests one can not be purely good or evil to be a man. One must have both in order to create humanistic choice. If not, the creation would be that of a robot like person incapable of feeling or self awareness. As Alex is released into the world as the states' example of a "healthy" person, he is tested by all extremes. One test was the incapability to defend himself against the smallest attacks on his character. Another error the state had provided is the use of music in the treatment of Alex. Not only does he feel physically sick when he thinks or looks at violence but also when he hears classical music. "It was that these doctors bratchnies had so fixed things that any music that was like for the emotions would make me just sick like viddying or wanting to do violence"(Burgess 161). Within the conditioning techniques of repulsing him to violence, the state had also forced him to hate music. The use of this correctional treatment failed due to the implementations on morality of human choice. Is it better to have a criminal make human choices, good or bad, or a purely good person not capable of making any choices. As most opinions state, criminals should all be locked up or dealt with in some harsh manner. There are also those who believe that offenders are diseased by some element and can and/or should be cured. As far as corrections is concerned, society can not lock up every offender and can not come up with plausible means of curing the criminal element. With the rise in population there will always be a rise in crime. However this does seem to be the present trend, 5.3 million people were on probation, in jail, in prison, or on parole in 1995 (B.J.S. 1). As seen in Alex's case the corrections techniques to cure the element did not work. Perhaps the best means was to incarcerate him for his term and let him pay his debt to society. The only correct method of corrections is that of self correcting ones. f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\A Comparison and Contrast In Both As Worn By Hester and Dimm.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ A Comparison and Contrast In Both A's Worn By Hester and Dimmesdale The two A's worn in the novel by both Hester and Dimmesdale are dramatically different, yet they are born and made by the same identical sins. These letters are also differentiated by the infinitely changing emotional state and physical well being of the character, the towns views of morality and natural order, and the affecting environment. The two sins of most importance in the novel and that serve the greatest beneficiality in the appearance of the A's are--of course-- adultery and hypocrisy. The separation in the appearance of both of the A's begins with each characters own personal interpretation of the extremity of their sins. Where Hester's A is beautiful and artistically done ("fantastically embroidered and illuminated upon her bosom; pg.37) her interpretation of the extremity of her sins is one of self composure and nonchalantness. She views her sins solely as a "violation in the natural order" of the environment and therefore cannot even perceive her sin as being evil except through outside brainwashing. While Dimmesdale's personal interpretation as to the extremity of his own sins is a "violation of God's law," which is the law that he is totally dedicated to and supported by. Dimmesdale's interpretation of his sin is much more severe than Hester's, it is a breach and direct contradiction of his own self consciousness and physical existence. Therefore the appearance of his A, even though it is never directly described in the novel, must be raw, jagged, and brutally crooked (...a ghastly rapture; pg.95). Maybe Dimmesdale's self torture is so horrifying or inconceivable that it is either indescribable, (...too mighty to be expressed only by the eye of his figure; pg.95), or best left up to the reader's imagination. Unlike Hester, Dimmesdale, because of self interpretation, cannot in any way conceive his sins of being anything but evil. Although the appearance of the A's are proportional to the interpretation by each character; also the appearance of the A's is directly correlated between the consequences each character receives because of their sins, both Hester's and Dimmesdale's punishment is introduced through a new character and some sort of isolation. The new character's are a form of abstract contrasting where each new character is an extension of the sinner's "A" itself. Where as Chillingworth is a doubled extension of Dimmesdale's consciousness; Pearl is a contrast to Hester's creativity, patience, and composure. Dimmesdale's punishment through Chillingworth is one of mental bombardment and spiritual torture which supports the theory that Dimmesdale's A must be horrifically putrid and indescribable. Pearl's punishment towards Hester is one of irritation that attempts to counter balance Hester's everlasting patience and composure. Because Hester does not let her irritation get to her and remains constantly tranquil, the A that she wears (ie. the extension of the A she bears) is as beautiful and natural as she is. So the A's worn in the novel, even though from the same origin, are the exact antithesis of each other separated by personal interpretation and individual consequences. Where one character's beauty and open mindedness to her crime and punishment makes her A and her punishment (Pearl) natural and beautiful. While the other character's torture and self hatred of himself and his crime make the burden that he carries much more heavy. Dimmesdale's A and the extension to his A (Chillingworth) are ugly, and brutal. f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\a critical look at Ibsens doll house.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ english interpretation of Ibsen's "A Doll's House" "A Doll's House" is classified under the "second phase" of Henrik Ibsen's career. It was during this period which he made the transition from mythical and historical dramas to plays dealing with social problems. It was the first in a series investigating the tensions of family life. Written during the Victorian era, the controversial play featuring a female protagonist seeking individuality stirred up more controversy than any of his other works. In contrast to many dramas of Scandinavia in that time which depicted the role of women as the comforter, helper, and supporter of man, "A Doll's House" introduced woman as having her own purposes and goals. The heroine, Nora Helmer, progresses during the course of the play eventually to realize that she must discontinue the role of a doll and seek out her individuality. David Thomas describes the initial image of Nora as that of a doll wife who revels in the thought of luxuries that can now be afforded, who is become with flirtation, and engages in childlike acts of disobedience (259). This inferior role from which Nora progressed is extremely important. Ibsen in his "A Doll's House" depicts the role of women as subordinate in order to emphasize the need to reform their role in society. Definite characteristics of the women's subordinate role in a relationship are emphasized through Nora's contradicting actions. Her infatuation with luxuries such as expensive Christmas gifts contradicts her resourcefulness in scrounging and buying cheap clothing; her defiance of Torvald by eating forbidden Macaroons contradicts the submission of her opinions, including the decision of which dance outfit to wear, to her husband; and Nora's flirtatious nature contradicts her devotion to her husband. These occurrences emphasize the facets of a relationship in which women play a dependent role: finance, power, and love. Ibsen attracts our attention to these examples to highlight the overall subordinate role that a woman plays compared to that of her husband. The two sides of Nora contrast each other greatly and accentuate the fact that she is lacking in independence of will. The mere fact that Nora's well-intentioned action is considered illegal reflects woman's subordinate position in society; but it is her actions that provide the insight to this position. It can be suggested that women have the power to choose which rules to follow at home, but not in the business world, thus again indicating her subordinateness. Nora does not at first realize that the rules outside the household apply to her. This is evident in Nora's meeting with Krogstad regarding her borrowed money. In her opinion it was no crime for a woman to do everything possible to save her husband's life. She also believes that her act will be overlooked because of her desperate situation. She fails to see that the law does not take into account the motivation behind her forgery. Marianne Sturman submits that this meeting with Krogstad was her first confrontation with the reality of a "lawful society" and she deals with it by attempting to distract herself with her Christmas decorations (16). Thus her first encounter with rules outside of her "doll's house" results in the realization of her naivety and inexperience with the real world due to her subordinate role in society. The character of Nora is not only important in describing to role of women, but also in emphasizing the impact of this role on a woman. Nora's child-like manner, evident through her minor acts of disobedience and lack of responsibility compiled with her lack of sophistication further emphasize the subordinate role of woman. By the end of the play this is evident as she eventually sees herself as an ignorant person, and unfit mother, and essentially her husband's wife. Edmond Gosse highlights the point that "Her insipidity, her dollishness, come from the incessant repression of her family life (721)." Nora has been spoonfed everything she has needed in life. Never having to think has caused her to become dependent on others. This dependency has given way to subordinateness, one that has grown into a social standing. Not only a position in society, but a state of mind is created. When circumstances suddenly place Nora in a responsible position, and demand from her a moral judgment, she has none to give. She cannot possibly comprehend the severity of her decision to borrow money illegally. Their supposed inferiority has created a class of ignorant women who cannot take action let alone accept the consequences of their actions. "A Doll's House" is also a prediction of change from this subordinate roll. According to Ibsen in his play, women will eventually progress and understand her position. Bernard Shaw notes that when Nora's husband inadvertently deems her unfit in her role as a mother, she begins to realize that her actions consisting of playing with her children happily or dressing them nicely does not necessarily make her a suitable parent (226). She needs to be more to her children than an empty figurehead. From this point, when Torvald is making a speech about the effects of a deceitful mother, until the final scene, Nora progressively confronts the realities of the real world and realizes her subordinate position. Although she is progressively understanding this position, she still clings to the hope that her husband will come to her protection and defend her from the outside world once her crime is out in the open. After she reveals the "dastardly deed" to her husband, he becomes understandably agitated; in his frustration he shares the outside world with her, the ignorance of the serious business world, and destroys her innocence and self-esteem. This disillusion marks the final destructive blow to her doll's house. Their ideal home including their marriage and parenting has been a fabrication for the sake of society. Nora's decision to leave this false life behind and discover for herself what is real is directly symbolic of woman's ultimate realization. Although she becomes aware of her supposed subordinateness, it is not because of this that she has the desire to take action. Nora is utterly confused, as suggested by Harold Clurman, "She is groping sadly in a maze of confused feeling toward a way of life and a destiny of which she is most uncertain (256)." The one thing she is aware of is her ignorance, and her desire to go out into the world is not to "prove herself" but to discover and educate herself. She must strive to find her individuality. That the perception of woman is inaccurate is also supported by the role of Torvald. Woman is believed to be subordinate to the domineering husband. Instead of being the strong supporter and protector of his family, Nora's husband is a mean and cowardly man. Worried about his reputation he cares little about his wife's feelings and fails to notice many of her needs. The popular impression of man is discarded in favor of a more realistic view, thus illustrating society's distorted views. Ibsen, through this controversial play, has an impact upon society's view of the subordinate position of women. By describing this role of woman, discussing its effects, and predicting a change in contemporary views, he stressed the importance of woman's realization of this believed inferiority. Woman should no longer be seen as the shadow of man, but a person in herself, with her own triumphs and tragedies. The exploration of Nora reveals that she is dependant upon her husband and displays no independent standing. Her progression of understanding suggests woman's future ability to comprehend their plight. Her state of shocked awareness at the end of the play is representative of the awakening of society to the changing view of the role of woman. "A Doll's House" magnificently illustrates the need for and a prediction of this change. --rhmmmm, that's a paddlin' f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\A Day in the Life of a Gnome 2.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Moses Alba Mrs. Foreman English IV Thursday, January 30, 1997 A Day in the Life of a Gnome Once upon a time there was a gnome named Knob, who lived the far off land of Gnomania. Gnomania is a huge underground lair with only one entrance. The only entrance to this lair is by swimming down to the bottom of the ocean floor and knocking on a large clam. On the other side of this clam is an old grouchy gnome named Stubby whose only job was to keep the clam clean, and listen for the knock of incoming visitors. To assist Stubby in guarding the clam, he had a pet snark. A snark is an animal or pet that can be used as a watchdog. One day Knob went to visit his grandmother in the land of Gnollie which is about a guzillion centimeters away from Gnomania. On his way to his grandmother's house he ran across a garden. Upon stumbling on the garden, he decided to be thoughtful and pick some tulips for his grandmother. Tulips were her favorite snack. While approaching his grandmother's house, he found something to be very strange. His grandmother was hovering on an hummingbird, while picking apples from her tall twenty-foot appletree. After contemplating on this strange doing, he decided not to let it bother him. After seeing Knob approach her house, Knob's grandmother whistled for the hummingbird to bring her down so she could greet him. She greeted him with a loud burp which was a common courtesy among Gnomanians. After greeting him she also sprinkled him with some of her fairy dust. She handily carried it around in her turban. She naturally invited him in for dinner where they ate lots of mosquitoes. After dinner, they watched a cheap imitation of television. They used a big box to put different animals in and called it the Discovery channel. By the end of the day Knob was getting a little weary, so he decided to return home. When he returned form Gnollie his pet snark was there to welocme him home. He welcomed his snark back by feeding it fisheyes or to us humans dog biscuits. After the short snack, Knob and his snark went back to his teepee where they hibernated until the next morning. The next day Knob met up with his friend Door. Door was a runaway gnome who lived on the streets of Gnomania. They met one day by accident. Since Door lived on the streets, he had to steal food to survive. One day when f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\A Day in the Life of a Gnome.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Moses Alba Mrs. Foreman English IV Thursday, January 30, 1997 A Day in the Life of a Gnome Once upon a time there was a gnome named Knob, who lived the far off land of Gnomania. Gnomania is a huge underground lair with only one entrance. The only entrance to this lair is by swimming down to the bottom of the ocean floor and knocking on a large clam. On the other side of this clam is an old grouchy gnome named Stubby whose only job was to keep the clam clean, and listen for the knock of incoming visitors. To assist Stubby in guarding the clam, he had a pet snark. A snark is an animal or pet that can be used as a watchdog. One day Knob went to visit his grandmother in the land of Gnollie which is about a guzillion centimeters away from Gnomania. On his way to his grandmother's house he ran across a garden. Upon stumbling on the garden, he decided to be thoughtful and pick some tulips for his grandmother. Tulips were her favorite snack. While approaching his grandmother's house, he found something to be very strange. His grandmother was hovering on an hummingbird, while picking apples from her tall twenty-foot appletree. After contemplating on this strange doing, he decided not to let it bother him. After seeing Knob approach her house, Knob's grandmother whistled for the hummingbird to bring her down so she could greet him. She greeted him with a loud burp which was a common courtesy among Gnomanians. After greeting him she also sprinkled him with some of her fairy dust. She handily carried it around in her turban. She naturally invited him in for dinner where they ate lots of mosquitoes. After dinner, they watched a cheap imitation of television. They used a big box to put different animals in and called it the Discovery channel. By the end of the day Knob was getting a little weary, so he decided to return home. When he returned form Gnollie his pet snark was there to welocme him home. He welcomed his snark back by feeding it fisheyes or to us humans dog biscuits. After the short snack, Knob and his snark went back to his teepee where they hibernated until the next morning. The next day Knob met up with his friend Door. Door was a runaway gnome who lived on the streets of Gnomania. They met one day by accident. Since Door lived on the streets, he had to steal food to survive. One day when Door was running away from a gardener he ran full speed into Knob. They both fell straight on their backs. As Knob came to his senses he realized what was going on. Being the compassionate and helpful gnome that he was, he decided to help this stranger who was in great need. He hid Door in an alley to where the gardener could not find him. Door, realizing the great deed that had been done, from then on vowed to help Knob in any predicament that he might be in. Ever since that day Knob and Door have become very close friends. After meeting at his teepee Door and Knob went to the town festival. At the festival they saw many entertaining attractions. One of which was a 9 foot sasquatch. Other attractions were an actual television, a real life dog, and a basketball. The main attraction was a real life human whom they had kept in captivity for three months. After a fun-filled day at the festival Knob and Door decided to go home. Only Door did not have a home. His home was the streets. Realizing this, Knob contemplated on letting Door live with him in his teepee. Finally, after many hours of deep thought and concernment he decided to ask Door to live with him. Door, surprised by the offer, joyfully accepted it. And they lived happily ever after. I hope you have enjoyed reading this imaginative and creative short story because I have really enjoyed writing it. Just another day in the life of a gnome. f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\A Developmental Study of Alex in Kubrick.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ A Developmental Study of Alex in Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange Synopsis of A Clockwork Orange In A Clockwork Orange, the main character is that of a mildly young child of 15 who, along with his fellow friends, or "Droogs", partake in evenings of Ultra-Violence. Ultra Violence consists of random beatings, theft, destruction, and rape. The main character, Alex, is the self-proclaimed leader of the pack, and makes judgment on their actions pending on his mood. His Droogs eventually find themselves under his direct rule, following his every word, and decide to challenge his authority. The three Droogs (Dim, Georgie, and Pete) join Alex on his romp to a local "fat farm" to pillage the goods therein. Inside, Alex stumbles upon the owner of the resort, and after a length scuffle with her, ends up giving her a blow to the head with a rather large, ceramic replica of an erect penis. When he leaves the outer gates of the complex, Dim surprises him by smacking a milk bottle against his face. His counterparts escape while little Alex is left bleeding and blinded to deal with the police. Upon interrogation of Alex, he discovers that the blow he delivered to the young lady was a fatal one. He is charged with first-degree murder and sentenced to 14 years in prison. While there, he befriends the resident minister and becomes a helper to his service. The minister, Alex soon discovers, is a part in a new form of treatment that is trying to be implemented prisons to help "cure" inmates from committing acts of violence. Through luck and discussion with the higher officials in the prison, Alex is chose to be a guinea pig for the experiment, and is sent to become "inoculated from violence". The treatment consisted of Alex being strapped down to a chair in front of a cinema screen, having electrodes attached to his head, and being kept focused by small pairs of clamps used to disable his ability to blink. This, along with the injection of an experimental serum, is monitored whilst he views movies of UltraViolence. The serum leaves him vulnerable to his surroundings, which are destructive films, and induces such feelings of helplessness, fear, and near-death paralysis, similar to that of drowning. Alex soon associates this feeling of distraught with the violence, and with the background music being played throughout the entire ordeal: Beethoven, Alex's main love. The final result is that whenever Alex is confronted with either violent acts of any kind, or the sweet strings of Ludwig Van, he is soon on his knees in pain and agony. When he is released, his parents abandon him. He meets up with a few members of his old gang that have turned into crooked cops, and with their newfound power and long-lasting loathe of Alex, they beat him much and leave him for dead, this of which brought on the sickness that he was conditioned for. Stumbling in the dark for help, he comes across a polite looking residence that looked vaguely familiar. Eventually, Alex realizes that he is in the presence of a former victim of his, but believes that the owner would not recognize him. To his dismay, the author did recognize him after hearing Alex sing a song in a very similar fashion to the way his attackers did 2 years ago. After slipping a sedative into Alex's wine, Alex wakes up to find himself in a locked room on the second floor of an apartment high-rise. Through the floorboards, Alex starts to hear the hateful sounds of Beethoven, and goes into his sickness fits. No exits, No escapes. His only way out is to jump out of the closed window and end his life. He does just that. Alex wakes in a hospital. The author was jailed for attempted murder, and the government officials that started the program were ridiculed and harassed out of their positions. Alex finds himself broken and hurt, but his thoughts are that of the Ultra-Violence. Alex was cured and ready to live again. Aspects of Psychology In A Clockwork Orange, Alex is portrayed as two different people living within the same body. As a mischievous child raping the world, he as seen as filth. His actions and blatant disrespect towards society are categorized under that of the common street bum. However, when he is away from his evening attire, he is that of suave. His clothing, his words, his overall attitude. The distinction between the two is triggered by the gentle sounds of Ludwig Van Beethoven. The psychology of Alex would be that of a serial killer. He is a classic example of Darwin's, Skinner's, Freud's, Erikson's, and Adler's major theories. Alex is not truly close to any other person that he comes in contact with in the film. He is using his parents for a place to live, and they show no emotion towards him, good or bad. His love for his gang is not that of a male/male platonic relationship that is common in brotherhoods. It is that of a marriage of like interests, when the parties involved loathe each other personally. Society is against him for all his mortal sins. The only living creature that he shows love for is his snake. Darwin's theory of man having the same thought process's of animals holds an interesting bearing upon Alex. Alex's love is for his snake. Generally love is defined by an understanding, or a closeness between two items. The snake is represented by many things in the natural world today. Freud's analyzation for the male closeness to the snake is that the person involved is questioning his sexuality, or his love towards the female gender. Alex keeps coming back to his snake after his nights on the town, and his first concern with life after he is paroled is his dear snake. This, combined with the fact that keeps his snake in a chest under his bed ( the most recognized sexual item in an average household), show's his inadequacies with his sexual performance and his penis. He feels that by keeping in contact with his snake, he will be more of a man then he already is, thus making him more noticeable and attractive towards the opposite sex. Therefore, Alex doesn't view his snake as an equal, but as a greater being capable of becoming a close friend and a security blanket. The snake is also used in many different cultures to represent the evil and hate that man kind dwells on. When something evil happens, culture blames all of it's fears upon the snake, the idol of fear. The love that Alex feels for his snake could fall under the love of understanding. With this love, Alex feels that he can relate to his snake, and to what society views the snake as. Alex finds the snake to represent sin and the hate that spawned the world as we know it today. In Genesis, the serpent convinced eve to disobey her god and to eat an apple from the tree of life, thus causing man to not be eternal, and for woman's childbirth to be complex and painful. In Christianity, the snake is the originator of sin. Alex feels that he is the modern bringer of sin. Alex often finds himself in many situations where he is surrounded with scenes of graphic sex or some sort of phallic reference. After a night of Ultra- Violence, Alex and his droogs find themselves relaxing at the Karova Milk Bar drinking Milk Plus, Milk Plus Dreminol, and Milk Plus Synthemesc. The bar is adorned with images and sculptures of naked women in various positions of sexual encounters, all of which with exaggerated colors and lengths of fluffy hair. This corresponds with Harlow's experiments with monkey babies finding comfort in soft items in times of distress. Alex finds comfort in the fluffy hair and softness of the environment of the bar. When he has committed an act of distressing nature, be it violence or everyday normal occurrences, he retreats to Karova to bring him a feeling of warmth, satisfaction, and justification of his previous deeds. This form of relaxation is common from children of broken homes. Freud believes that the self-image within a man is shaped in the first 5 years of life. With the response that Alex's parents give to him in his home-life, it is obvious that they did not offer much love to the growing child. By Freud's belief, if the child does not receive the proper love from a mother that it should, it will find other means to replace the comfort that a mother provides. Alex's comfort was the violence and the pleasure brought from a night completed. There is no reference in the movie about Alex's parents being his natural born parents, or if one of them died and remarried. My beliefs are that Alex's natural born mother was beaten and eventually left his father. Alex was in the middle of this action, and like Bandura's findings, the child imitates the action that he views and takes it as natural, thus using it in everyday life. Alex's aggression upon society are truly the natural urges and feelings that he experiences, thus making him normal, being unaware of the wrongs that his violence induces. In a Freudian aspect, this could explain a vast majority of his aggression that he displays. His actions interpret his hatred towards his father for being the reason he lacks a parental security blanket. As quoted in one of the first few scenes: "...and in the mess of wobbly chaos the drunken old malchek had found himself lying in, he had managed to be able to push out an ugly lyric or two. Now, the one thing that I truly hate in the world is a drunken old malchek singing out the songs of his father with an occasional "blurp,blurp" in between.", this shows his loath for 1) Disrespect for music. 2) Drunks, and 3) Men in his fathers image. The music was his salvation, for it could snap him in and out of his dementia. The music was used in a pseudo-Pavlov experiment to eliminate Alex's love for violence. In the experiment, Alex ingested a serum that would induce a deathlike paralysis. While the serum was taking effect, he was bombarded with sights of violence and the sweet sounds of Ludwig Van Beethoven, both leaving an impression in his psyche, relating the sickness to the sights and sounds that he was subjected to. In Pavlov's experiments, his major goal was to prove that he could train a subject to give a conditioned response with no reinforcement. This was accomplished by training a dog to salivate when he heard a bell ring. The dog was use to the sound of a ringing bell before receiving his food. Eventually, Pavlov removed the food from the experiment, but the dog retained the conditioned response of salivating whenever he heard the bell ring. Thus a conditioned response without positive nor negative reinforcement. Alex's conditioned response was to fall to the "sickness" when subjected to Beethoven. With the sickness being the conditioned response, there is no Reinforcement because the sounds of Beethoven were not intentional, thus not needing reinforcement. However, Alex's trauma could also be referred to as a Skinner approach to treatment. Skinner's theory was that one could achieve a conditioned response by giving the subject positive or negative reinforcement. In his experiments, a mouse was put in a cage with nothing but a pressable button and a light. When the bar was depressed, the light flashed and food was delivered into the cage. If the mouse were dropped into a similar cage, it would be safe to assume that it would retain the reaction to hit a bar and receive food. The conditioned response was to hit the bar when hungry. The reinforcement was the food that was provided by completing the response. In Alex's case, the reinforcement would be the metal satisfaction of not going through with his violent needs when he is subjected to violent surroundings. In conclusion, the theories used as a basis behind Stanley Kubrik's A Clockwork Orange, resemble that of the theories that came from the greater thinkers of modern time. Alex, the guinea pig in this tale, is a classic example of many psychologist's case studies, and could be analyzed differently from each. f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\A developmental study of Alex in the Stanley Kubrick producti.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Synopsis of A Clockwork Orange In A Clockwork Orange, the main character is that of a mildly young child of 15 who, along with his fellow friends, or "Droogs", partake in evenings of Ultra-Violence. Ultra Violence consists of random beatings, theft, destruction, and rape. The main character, Alex, is the self-proclaimed leader of the pack, and makes judgment on their actions pending on his mood. His Droogs eventually find themselves under his direct rule, following his every word, and decide to challenge his authority. The three Droogs (Dim, Georgie, and Pete) join Alex on his romp to a local "fat farm" to pillage the goods therein. Inside, Alex stumbles upon the owner of the resort, and after a length scuffle with her, ends up giving her a blow to the head with a rather large, ceramic replica of an erect penis. When he leaves the outer gates of the complex, Dim surprises him by smacking a milk bottle against his face. His counterparts escape while little Alex is left bleeding and blinded to deal with the police. Upon interrogation of Alex, he discovers that the blow he delivered to the young lady was a fatal one. He is charged with first-degree murder and sentenced to 14 years in prison. While there, he befriends the resident minister and becomes a helper to his service. The minister, Alex soon discovers, is a part in a new form of treatment that is trying to be implemented prisons to help "cure" inmates from committing acts of violence. Through luck and discussion with the higher officials in the prison, Alex is chose to be a guinea pig for the experiment, and is sent to become "inoculated from violence". The treatment consisted of Alex being strapped down to a chair in front of a cinema screen, having electrodes attached to his head, and being kept focused by small pairs of clamps used to disable his ability to blink. This, along with the injection of an experimental serum, is monitored whilst he views movies of UltraViolence. The serum leaves him vulnerable to his surroundings, which are destructive films, and induces such feelings of helplessness, fear, and near-death paralysis, similar to that of drowning. Alex soon associates this feeling of distraught with the violence, and with the background music being played throughout the entire ordeal: Beethoven, Alex's main love. The final result is that whenever Alex is confronted with either violent acts of any kind, or the sweet strings of Ludwig Van, he is soon on his knees in pain and agony. When he is released, his parents abandon him. He meets up with a few members of his old gang that have turned into crooked cops, and with their newfound power and long-lasting loathe of Alex, they beat him much and leave him for dead, this of which brought on the sickness that he was conditioned for. Stumbling in the dark for help, he comes across a polite looking residence that looked vaguely familiar. Eventually, Alex realizes that he is in the presence of a former victim of his, but believes that the owner would not recognize him. To his dismay, the author did recognize him after hearing Alex sing a song in a very similar fashion to the way his attackers did 2 years ago. After slipping a sedative into Alex's wine, Alex wakes up to find himself in a locked room on the second floor of an apartment high-rise. Through the floorboards, Alex starts to hear the hateful sounds of Beethoven, and goes into his sickness fits. No exits, No escapes. His only way out is to jump out of the closed window and end his life. He does just that. Alex wakes in a hospital. The author was jailed for attempted murder, and the government officials that started the program were ridiculed and harassed out of their positions. Alex finds himself broken and hurt, but his thoughts are that of the Ultra-Violence. Alex was cured and ready to live again. Aspects of Psychology In A Clockwork Orange, Alex is portrayed as two different people living within the same body. As a mischievous child raping the world, he as seen as filth. His actions and blatant disrespect towards society are categorized under that of the common street bum. However, when he is away from his evening attire, he is that of suave. His clothing, his words, his overall attitude. The distinction between the two is triggered by the gentle sounds of Ludwig Van Beethoven. The psychology of Alex would be that of a serial killer. He is a classic example of Darwin's, Skinner's, Freud's, Erikson's, and Adler's major theories. Alex is not truly close to any other person that he comes in contact with in the film. He is using his parents for a place to live, and they show no emotion towards him, good or bad. His love for his gang is not that of a male/male platonic relationship that is common in brotherhoods. It is that of a marriage of like interests, when the parties involved loathe each other personally. Society is against him for all his mortal sins. The only living creature that he shows love for is his snake. Darwin's theory of man having the same thought process's of animals holds an interesting bearing upon Alex. Alex's love is for his snake. Generally love is defined by an understanding, or a closeness between two items. The snake is represented by many things in the natural world today. Freud's analyzation for the male closeness to the snake is that the person involved is questioning his sexuality, or his love towards the female gender. Alex keeps coming back to his snake after his nights on the town, and his first concern with life after he is paroled is his dear snake. This, combined with the fact that keeps his snake in a chest under his bed ( the most recognized sexual item in an average household), show's his inadequacies with his sexual performance and his penis. He feels that by keeping in contact with his snake, he will be more of a man then he already is, thus making him more noticeable and attractive towards the opposite sex. Therefore, Alex doesn't view his snake as an equal, but as a greater being capable of becoming a close friend and a security blanket. The snake is also used in many different cultures to represent the evil and hate that man kind dwells on. When something evil happens, culture blames all of it's fears upon the snake, the idol of fear. The love that Alex feels for his snake could fall under the love of understanding. With this love, Alex feels that he can relate to his snake, and to what society views the snake as. Alex finds the snake to represent sin and the hate that spawned the world as we know it today. In Genesis, the serpent convinced eve to disobey her god and to eat an apple from the tree of life, thus causing man to not be eternal, and for woman's childbirth to be complex and painful. In Christianity, the snake is the originator of sin. Alex feels that he is the modern bringer of sin. Alex often finds himself in many situations where he is surrounded with scenes of graphic sex or some sort of phallic reference. After a night of Ultra-Violence, Alex and his droogs find themselves relaxing at the Karova Milk Bar drinking Milk Plus, Milk Plus Dreminol, and Milk Plus Synthemesc. The bar is adorned with images and sculptures of naked women in various positions of sexual encounters, all of which with exaggerated colors and lengths of fluffy hair. This corresponds with Harlow's experiments with monkey babies finding comfort in soft items in times of distress. Alex finds comfort in the fluffy hair and softness of the environment of the bar. When he has committed an act of distressing nature, be it violence or everyday normal occurrences, he retreats to Karova to bring him a feeling of warmth, satisfaction, and justification of his previous deeds. This form of relaxation is common from children of broken homes. Freud believes that the self-image within a man is shaped in the first 5 years of life. With the response that Alex's parents give to him in his home-life, it is obvious that they did not offer much love to the growing child. By Freud's belief, if the child does not receive the proper love from a mother that it should, it will find other means to replace the comfort that a mother provides. Alex's comfort was the violence and the pleasure brought from a night completed. There is no reference in the movie about Alex's parents being his natural born parents, or if one of them died and remarried. My beliefs are that Alex's natural born mother was beaten and eventually left his father. Alex was in the middle of this action, and like Bandura's findings, the child imitates the action that he views and takes it as natural, thus using it in everyday life. Alex's aggression upon society are truly the natural urges and feelings that he experiences, thus making him normal, being unaware of the wrongs that his violence induces. In a Freudian aspect, this could explain a vast majority of his aggression that he displays. His actions interpret his hatred towards his father for being the reason he lacks a parental security blanket. As quoted in one of the first few scenes: "...and in the mess of wobbly chaos the drunken old malchek had found himself lying in, he had managed to be able to push out an ugly lyric or two. Now, the one thing that I truly hate in the world is a drunken old malchek singing out the songs of his father with an occasional "blurp,blurp" in between.", this shows his loath for 1) Disrespect for music. 2) Drunks, and 3) Men in his fathers image. The music was his salvation, for it could snap him in and out of his dementia. The music was used in a pseudo-Pavlov experiment to eliminate Alex's love for violence. In the experiment, Alex ingested a serum that would induce a deathlike paralysis. While the serum was taking effect, he was bombarded with sights of violence and the sweet sounds of Ludwig Van Beethoven, both leaving an impression in his psyche, relating the sickness to the sights and sounds that he was subjected to. In Pavlov's experiments, his major goal was to prove that he could train a subject to give a conditioned response with no reinforcement. This was accomplished by training a dog to salivate when he heard a bell ring. The dog was use to the sound of a ringing bell before receiving his food. Eventually, Pavlov removed the food from the experiment, but the dog retained the conditioned response of salivating whenever he heard the bell ring. Thus a conditioned response without positive nor negative reinforcement. Alex's conditioned response was to fall to the "sickness" when subjected to Beethoven. With the sickness being the conditioned response, there is no Reinforcement because the sounds of Beethoven were not intentional, thus not needing reinforcement. However, Alex's trauma could also be referred to as a Skinner approach to treatment. Skinner's theory was that one could achieve a conditioned response by giving the subject positive or negative reinforcement. In his experiments, a mouse was put in a cage with nothing but a pressable button and a light. When the bar was depressed, the light flashed and food was delivered into the cage. If the mouse were dropped into a similar cage, it would be safe to assume that it would retain the reaction to hit a bar and receive food. The conditioned response was to hit the bar when hungry. The reinforcement was the food that was provided by completing the response. In Alex's case, the reinforcement would be the metal satisfaction of not going through with his violent needs when he is subjected to violent surroundings. In conclusion, the theories used as a basis behind Stanley Kubrik's A Clockwork Orange, resemble that of the theories that came from the greater thinkers of modern time. Alex, the guinea pig in this tale, is a classic example of many psychologist's case studies, and could be analyzed differently from each. f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\A developmental study of Alex in the Stanley Kubrick production of A Clockwork Orange using modern psy.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Synopsis of A Clockwork Orange In A Clockwork Orange, the main character is that of a mildly young child of 15 who, along with his fellow friends, or 'Droogs', partake in evenings of Ultra-Violence. Ultra Violence consists of random beatings, theft, destruction, and rape. The main character, Alex, is the self-proclaimed leader of the pack, and makes judgment on their actions pending on his mood. His Droogs eventually find themselves under his direct rule, following his every word, and decide to challenge his authority. The three Droogs (Dim, Georgie, and Pete) join Alex on his romp to a local 'fat farm' to pillage the goods therein. Inside, Alex stumbles upon the owner of the resort, and after a length scuffle with her, ends up giving her a blow to the head with a rather large, ceramic replica of an erect penis. When he leaves the outer gates of the complex, Dim surprises him by smacking a milk bottle against his face. His counterparts escape while little Alex is left bleeding and blinded to deal with the police. Upon interrogation of Alex, he discovers that the blow he delivered to the young lady was a fatal one. He is charged with first-degree murder and sentenced to 14 years in prison. While there, he befriends the resident minister and becomes a helper to his service. The minister, Alex soon discovers, is a part in a new form of treatment that is trying to be implemented prisons to help 'cure' inmates from committing acts of violence. Through luck and discussion with the higher officials in the prison, Alex is chose to be a guinea pig for the experiment, and is sent to become 'inoculated from violence'. The treatment consisted of Alex being strapped down to a chair in front of a cinema screen, having electrodes attached to his head, and being kept focused by small pairs of clamps used to disable his ability to blink. This, along with the injection of an experimental serum, is monitored whilst he views movies of UltraViolence. The serum leaves him vulnerable to his surroundings, which are destructive films, and induces such feelings of helplessness, fear, and near-death paralysis, similar to that of drowning. Alex soon associates this feeling of distraught with the violence, and with the background music being played throughout the entire ordeal: Beethoven, Alex's main love. The final result is that whenever Alex is confronted with either violent acts of any kind, or the sweet strings of Ludwig Van, he is soon on his knees in pain and agony. When he is released, his parents abandon him. He meets up with a few members of his old gang that have turned into crooked cops, and with their newfound power and long-lasting loathe of Alex, they beat him much and leave him for dead, this of which brought on the sickness that he was conditioned for. Stumbling in the dark for help, he comes across a polite looking residence that looked vaguely familiar. Eventually, Alex realizes that he is in the presence of a former victim of his, but believes that the owner would not recognize him. To his dismay, the author did recognize him after hearing Alex sing a song in a very similar fashion to the way his attackers did 2 years ago. After slipping a sedative into Alex's wine, Alex wakes up to find himself in a locked room on the second floor of an apartment high-rise. Through the floorboards, Alex starts to hear the hateful sounds of Beethoven, and goes into his sickness fits. No exits, No escapes. His only way out is to jump out of the closed window and end his life. He does just that. Alex wakes in a hospital. The author was jailed for attempted murder, and the government officials that started the program were ridiculed and harassed out of their positions. Alex finds himself broken and hurt, but his thoughts are that of the Ultra-Violence. Alex was cured and ready to live again. Aspects of Psychology In A Clockwork Orange, Alex is portrayed as two different people living within the same body. As a mischievous child raping the world, he as seen as filth. His actions and blatant disrespect towards society are categorized under that of the common street bum. However, when he is away from his evening attire, he is that of suave. His clothing, his words, his overall attitude. The distinction between the two is triggered by the gentle sounds of Ludwig Van Beethoven. The psychology of Alex would be that of a serial killer. He is a classic example of Darwin's, Skinner's, Freud's, Erikson's, and Adler's major theories. Alex is not truly close to any other person that he comes in contact with in the film. He is using his parents for a place to live, and they show no emotion towards him, good or bad. His love for his gang is not that of a male/male platonic relationship that is common in brotherhoods. It is that of a marriage of like interests, when the parties involved loathe each other personally. Society is against him for all his mortal sins. The only living creature that he shows love for is his snake. Darwin's theory of man having the same thought process's of animals holds an interesting bearing upon Alex. Alex's love is for his snake. Generally love is defined by an understanding, or a closeness between two items. The snake is represented by many things in the natural world today. Freud's analyzation for the male closeness to the snake is that the person involved is questioning his sexuality, or his love towards the female gender. Alex keeps coming back to his snake after his nights on the town, and his first concern with life after he is paroled is his dear snake. This, combined with the fact that keeps his snake in a chest under his bed ( the most recognized sexual item in an average household), show's his inadequacies with his sexual performance and his penis. He feels that by keeping in contact with his snake, he will be more of a man then he already is, thus making him more noticeable and attractive towards the opposite sex. Therefore, Alex doesn't view his snake as an equal, but as a greater being capable of becoming a close friend and a security blanket. The snake is also used in many different cultures to represent the evil and hate that man kind dwells on. When something evil happens, culture blames all of it's fears upon the snake, the idol of fear. The love that Alex feels for his snake could fall under the love of understanding. With this love, Alex feels that he can relate to his snake, and to what society views the snake as. Alex finds the snake to represent sin and the hate that spawned the world as we know it today. In Genesis, the serpent convinced eve to disobey her god and to eat an apple from the tree of life, thus causing man to not be eternal, and for woman's childbirth to be complex and painful. In Christianity, the snake is the originator of sin. Alex feels that he is the modern bringer of sin. Alex often finds himself in many situations where he is surrounded with scenes of graphic sex or some sort of phallic reference. After a night of Ultra-Violence, Alex and his droogs find themselves relaxing at the Karova Milk Bar drinking Milk Plus, Milk Plus Dreminol, and Milk Plus Synthemesc. The bar is adorned with images and sculptures of naked women in various positions of sexual encounters, all of which with exaggerated colors and lengths of fluffy hair. This corresponds with Harlow's experiments with monkey babies finding comfort in soft items in times of distress. Alex finds comfort in the fluffy hair and softness of the environment of the bar. When he has committed an act of distressing nature, be it violence or everyday normal occurrences, he retreats to Karova to bring him a feeling of warmth, satisfaction, and justification of his previous deeds. This form of relaxation is common from children of broken homes. Freud believes that the self-image within a man is shaped in the first 5 years of life. With the response that Alex's parents give to him in his home-life, it is obvious that they did not offer much love to the growing child. By Freud's belief, if the child does not receive the proper love from a mother that it should, it will find other means to replace the comfort that a mother provides. Alex's comfort was the violence and the pleasure brought from a night completed. There is no reference in the movie about Alex's parents being his natural born parents, or if one of them died and remarried. My beliefs are that Alex's natural born mother was beaten and eventually left his father. Alex was in the middle of this action, and like Bandura's findings, the child imitates the action that he views and takes it as natural, thus using it in everyday life. Alex's aggression upon society are truly the natural urges and feelings that he experiences, thus making him normal, being unaware of the wrongs that his violence induces. In a Freudian aspect, this could explain a vast majority of his aggression that he displays. His actions interpret his hatred towards his father for being the reason he lacks a parental security blanket. As quoted in one of the first few scenes: '...and in the mess of wobbly chaos the drunken old malchek had found himself lying in, he had managed to be able to push out an ugly lyric or two. Now, the one thing that I truly hate in the world is a drunken old malchek singing out the songs of his father with an occasional 'blurp,blurp' in between.', this shows his loath for 1) Disrespect for music. 2) Drunks, and 3) Men in his fathers image. The music was his salvation, for it could snap him in and out of his dementia. The music was used in a pseudo-Pavlov experiment to eliminate Alex's love for violence. In the experiment, Alex ingested a serum that would induce a deathlike paralysis. While the serum was taking effect, he was bombarded with sights of violence and the sweet sounds of Ludwig Van Beethoven, both leaving an impression in his psyche, relating the sickness to the sights and sounds that he was subjected to. In Pavlov's experiments, his major goal was to prove that he could train a subject to give a conditioned response with no reinforcement. This was accomplished by training a dog to salivate when he heard a bell ring. The dog was use to the sound of a ringing bell before receiving his food. Eventually, Pavlov removed the food from the experiment, but the dog retained the conditioned response of salivating whenever he heard the bell ring. Thus a conditioned response without positive nor negative reinforcement. Alex's conditioned response was to fall to the 'sickness' when subjected to Beethoven. With the sickness being the conditioned response, there is no Reinforcement because the sounds of Beethoven were not intentional, thus not needing reinforcement. However, Alex's trauma could also be referred to as a Skinner approach to treatment. Skinner's theory was that one could achieve a conditioned response by giving the subject positive or negative reinforcement. In his experiments, a mouse was put in a cage with nothing but a pressable button and a light. When the bar was depressed, the light flashed and food was delivered into the cage. If the mouse were dropped into a similar cage, it would be safe to assume that it would retain the reaction to hit a bar and receive food. The conditioned response was to hit the bar when hungry. The reinforcement was the food that was provided by completing the response. In Alex's case, the reinforcement would be the metal satisfaction of not going through with his violent needs when he is subjected to violent surroundings. In conclusion, the theories used as a basis behind Stanley Kubrik's A Clockwork Orange, resemble that of the theories that came from the greater thinkers of modern time. Alex, the guinea pig in this tale, is a classic example of many psychologist's case studies, and could be analyzed differently from each. f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\A discription of feng shui and how it can be used.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Feng Shui The number one goal of Feng Shui is to help people live and work in comfortable and supportive environments. In doing so, Feng Shui can assist in improving health, relationships and finances. Feng Shui is a Chinese philosophy about the relationship between humans and their environment. It's the way your environment and you connect. Based on laws of nature, its theories offer us a way to understand. Developed over 8,000 years ago as a system of how to survive and excel in harmony with nature, feng shui theories came from logical assumptions about natural causes and effects that endured through time. Passed down from generation to generation, only a select few understand the phenomenon of feng shui in its entirety. The complexity and correct application of feng shui takes many years to learn from a master. The ideas presented here offer some of the basic concepts that explain the principles of feng shui. Feng shui is based on the Taoist philosophies of nature: these include the Yin-Yang Theory, Five Element Theory and the trigrams of the trigrams of the Yi-Jing. Everything is made of qi (pronounced chee) or energy, which is organized into five elements: metal, fire, water, wood and earth and associated to the trigrams. Do not think of the five elements as static physical elements but energies like frequencies, which have direction and a unique wavelength. The Five Element Theory explains how qi cycles in nature, constantly changing from phase to phase, since energy is neither created nor destroyed. Consequently, everything around us is connected and has the potential to affect our well-being. Today, feng shui is a multi-disciplinary study encompassing architecture, urban planning, geography, astrology, electromagnetism, landscape design, environmental psychology, and many others. (From Liu of feng shui.) The method of feng shui affects your life every moment you live, whether you are aware of it or not. The best way to explain the way it works is with the three realms of feng shui. There is the heaven, earth, and human realm. Heaven: Influences from climate atmosphere, and quality. It comes from the timing of your birth. To have good luck with the heaven realm you need proper timing of your endeavors. Earth: This provides humans with materials needed to sustain life. Food, shelter, clothes, (the necessities) of life. According to feng shui beliefs humans position or how they orient themselves in their surroundings enormously impacts welfare and density of their lives. Human: The human belief is about the people in your surroundings. The people in your surroundings affect your success. There are also the five factors of success. This is another way to consider your equation for success. The concept of Chinese culture is That Contribute to Life Fortune. Fate (or destiny): This is the time of your birth, place, history, family type, body, and socioeconomic status. Fate comprises of about 70% of one's life destiny. Luck: The mysterious pattern of good or bad influences through the path of your life. This is not chance or random coincidence; luck is discernible. Feng Shui: The positioning of you on earth. This is how you situate yourself in life. It impacts your life very strongly. Charitable actions: This is you being positive toward others. This means serving others for good cause and without reward. The hope of not being recognized and doing the actions in well deeds makes you benefit also. Self-improvement: This is tied in to the charitable actions. The self-improvement is simply improving one's self for character and for moral fiber. 10 ways Feng Shui is influencing you right now: Your front door: This is an area receives subtle energy from your home. This influences your opportunities and amount of income you command. People who lived in your house previously: The people who lived in your home before probably left behind some vibes. The subtle traces of their feelings or experiences may hinder you for several years of living in the house. Stove placement: The placement of you stove influences cash flow and your physical health. For example a very dirty stove can affect financial status. Clutter in home or office: Junk in a space blocks vital energy. This leads to dozen of frustrations or subtle obstacles. Bathroom location: This can raise significant health issues or can result in leaking money. Position of bed: This influences your love to amazing degrees. Air and lighting levels: These can affect thinking patterns and endorphin levels. These in turn influence your attitude, performance, and results. Colors you see: Colors in your surroundings powerfully influence moods, energy levels and effectiveness. Desk Position: The position of you desk can either make or break your career. Position of your desk in Feng Shui is number one for success I your job. Seeing your front door from the street: Having and open view of your door makes opportunities open for you. If your door is hidden from plain view then opportunities aren't going to be as prosperous. f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\A DOLLS HOUSE.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Nancy Landis Ms. Holmes, p.1 English 12 12 February 1995 Nora Perceived by Other Characters In the Victorian age many woman were thought of as mere objects. Most woman has no real social status and were not allowed to express themselves freely. A Doll¹s House, a play by Henrik Ibsen, has brought controversy to the conclusion in which Nora leaves her family. Nora perceived in many different ways is the catalyst that forces Nora to leave her family. Many people had found it difficult to understand how Nora could dessert her husband and children. In the Victorian Age it was not only unheard of to walk out on your loved ones but unethical as well. There are many incidents that inch by inch helps Nora come to the conclusion that she must leave her home and family. As Nora states ³ My first duty is to myself² (Ibsen 68 ). Her husband, Torvald, treats Nora more as a possession then an equal partner. He uses, manipulates and molds her to fit perfectly into his facade. Krogstad, a morally diseased man who works for Torvald, also uses Nora to gain a higher position at work. He believes her to be an easy target for blackmail. Nora¹s best childhood friend, Christine Linde, helps her realize that a woman can think, act and live independently for herself. As Nora realizes that she must find her true self, the ways in which Krogstad, Christine and Torvald perceive her dramatically change. Christine Linde, a woman who has had to live independently since her husband died, suddenly comes back to visit Nora and finds Nora has not changed from her childish ways in high school. Nora for an instant does not recognize her old friend because of the time that has passed since the last time she saw her. Christine tells Nora of her husband¹s passing and how he did not leave her any money or ³even any sorrow or grief to live upon² (Ibsen 6). She tells Nora how she had to marry him because of her ailing mother and two younger brothers. She needed someone who could take care of her and her family financially. Now she is on her own and looking for a job to support herself. Nora expresses her sympathies and promptly brags about Torvald¹s promotion at the bank. She is so excited at the importance of his job and more importantly the money that will begin to start pouring in. Nora thinks it will be wonderful not having to worry about money and being able to shop at any time for anything. ³Nora, Nora, haven¹t you learnt any sense yet? In our school days you were a great spendthrift² (Ibsen 8). Christine tries to point out to Nora that there are more important things in life to worry about besides money. ³Christine, a woman who has been forced to live in a hard world starts out patronizing Nora² (Rogers 83). She believes Nora is living in a dream world, one that nothing can go wrong, instead of living in the real world where everything is not always so perfect. Christine understands that Nora has led a sheltered life for she was always taken care of, first by her husband and then by Torvald. Nora has never had her freedom like Christine; she always depended upon someone else. Christine on the other hand never really had life easy. ³She had to marry a man she did not love for the sake of money - in other words she too had her doll house² (Hornby 99). For most of her life, Christine was responsible for someone. She never had the luxury of depending upon anyone and therefore became more cynical of the world. As Christine gets better acquainted with Nora she begins to realize that Nora is not what she seems; Instead her true inner feelings and thoughts are smothered by Torvald¹s domineering views. When Nora tells Christine about the money she borrowed, Christine does not understand because a woman is not allowed by law to borrow money. Nora answers ³humming and smiling with an air of mystery, Couldn't I? Why not?² (Ibsen 12). Christine is shocked at this information and can not believe that Nora would defy her husband. ³Christine too is inclined to treat Nora as a kitten that has never known trouble. Not unnaturally Nora is piqued into revealing that she is not such a child after all. Seven years ago she saved her husbands life by borrowing money² (Ibsen and Strindberg 139). ³You are just like the others. They all think that I am incapable of anything really serious² is Nora¹s response to Christine¹s comment (Ibsen 11). Nora is sick and tired of everyone treating her as though she is incompetent. She wants them all to realize that she is a woman who is more than Torvald¹s ³little squirrel² to manipulate (Ibsen 5). When the doctors tell her that Torvald will die if he does not live in the south; she first tries to work her wiles on him and uses tears and begs but he will not go. She knows she must save him at any cost. Nora did what she thought the only solution was; she borrowed the money and told Torvald that it was a present from her father. Nora¹s borrowing gave her a sense of worth. It made her feel like a man and made her feel more powerful. Christine¹s first thoughts of Nora¹s forgery change as she realizes that Nora did it out of love and not deceit. Christine begins to understand more and more that Nora is forced into a role that Torvald wants filled but not one that Nora wants to play. She on the other hand is waiting for Torvald to love her as she loves him. She wants him to sacrifice his reputation to prove his love for her is as great as hers for him. Christine ends up interfering in their relationship by holding Krogstad from retrieving the letter because she believes the truth must come out in order for them to save their marriage. Krogstad is a man who is treated and treats with contempt. He is Torvald¹s employee at the bank who is about to loose his position for lack of morals. Torvald will fire him not because he forged someone¹s name on a bond but because he did not take his punishment instead he ³got himself out of it by a cunning trick, and that is why he has gone under altogether² (Ibsen 27). Krogstad is angry and vows revenge so he goes to Nora, whom he has been lending money, to reveal that he has discovered Nora¹s own forgery. He hopes to use this against her to retain his position at the bank. He thinks Nora will be an easy target as he says ³Oh you can¹t frighten me. A fine, spoilt lady like you² (Ibsen 43). He does not believe Nora will display the courage to defy him. This information is important to Krogstad because he now wants to rehabilitate himself. He needs Torvald to give him a higher position in the bank so that people will respect him. Respectability is important because he is tired of being depicted as a villain. The irony is that he wants to become a better person but to do this he will blackmail Nora and destroy a marriage without feeling any guilt. Instead of rehabilitating himself he is becoming more and more villainous. Thinking that Nora could use her influence on her husband he tells her to make sure that he is able to keep his job. Nora knows this is impossible because her husband will never listen to her pleas for Krogstad¹s sake. He scares her with threats that he will tell Torvald about the forgery. ³Nora condemns Krogstad¹s behavior as shameful, brutal, and nasty. He retaliates by making her look in the mirror. He manipulates her into thinking that her crime was just as bad as his² (Durbach 79). A disagreeing Nora naively tells him that the law will see that her crime was different because it was out of love whereas his was out of greed. ³Nora would rather die then tarnish Torvald¹s honor. She would rather die then put him to the test² and that is why she tells Krogstad she will do anything for him in exchange that he keep her secret (Hornby 101). Nora pleads with him to take money instead but Krogstad wants more than money instead of his position at the bank. He instead has decided that he will use Nora to influence Torvald to promote him to second-in-command who actually runs the bank. When he does not get his promotion but rather a dismissal, out of anger and revenge sends a letter to Torvald explaining Nora¹s forgery and lies. Krogstad¹s turning point comes when his old flame, Christine, comes to him to reconciliate. She wants someone to love and someone to take care of and Krogstad fits the description. She explains that she had to jilt him not because she did not love him but to marry someone with enough money to support her family. Krogstad confesses that her rejection was the beginning of his downfall. Krogstad is hesitant at first to trust her love but Christine¹s suave words about ³two shipwrecked people joining forces having a better chance than each on their own² and the fact that she could live with him even knowing his past history made up his mind to trust her love (Ibsen 56). When Christine pledges her love to Krogstad, that love gives him the strength to turn over a new leaf over and really want to rehabilitate himself. Christine changes Krogstad because she was the only one who has ever loved and cared for him. Due to this quickly, blossoming love, Krogstad realizes that the most important things in life are not money and respectability but rather love and trust. This realization helps him to understand that blackmailing Nora was wrong. He wants to relieve Nora¹s fear and make everything right in their marriage. Christine who has seen Nora¹s struggle tells Krogstad that the letter must be read. She believes that the truth must come out so they can have a complete understanding between them. Nora and Torvald¹s marriage seems like the perfect marriage to everyone including Nora and Torvald. What no one saw is the facade Torvald is living in including Nora. Torvald had just been made manager of the bank, a position that holds prestige and includes a bigger salary. Now that he is in the spotlight he wanted a perfect home life. He believes that Nora should not work but stay home and raise the children. He also believes that a wife should obey her husband and not argue with his decisions. In effect he transfers Nora into his own poppet to maneuver. ³Once married, the women find they have a clearly defined and essentially subordinate role in relation to their men, whose property they legally and socially become² (Thomas 177). Calling Nora names such as ³little skylark² and ³spendthrift² indicate that Torvald sees Nora on a level below him (Ibsen 6). To him Nora is not equal to him for she is a woman and does not have the intelligence or competence to think as well as a man. ³When Nora wants something from him, she flatters and manipulates instead of asking directly, as an equal. Concealing her competence and strength, Nora makes every effort to appear the twittering lark Torvald believes and wants her to be² (Rogers). Torvald treats Nora like a child because that is how he manipulates her into thinking that she is an inferior creature who needs a strong man to lean on. She tries very hard to please her husband because that is all she knows how to do.. ³She can wheedle and cajole but can never speak to him frankly and has therefore had to take a number of serious decisions on her past life in secret and entirely on her own² (Thomas 2). When Torvald talks to Nora he talks about silly things; he never converses about anything serious because he thinks she lacks the intelligence. Nora amuses Torvald when she brings up scientific investigations with Dr. Rank. He laughs and says ³Just listen- little Nora talking about scientific investigations!² (Ibsen 56) Nora real purpose to Torvald is that of a ³doll-wife². Torvald needs Nora to act every inch the lady. He wants everyone to be jealous of his wife and home life. He wants to control her every action and thought. ³Nora herself is trying to keep from being reduced. She wants to curse like a man, sign loans, have male friends, and enjoy some personal power, not because she wants to be a man but because she wants to express herself more than society allows² (Deer 89). Torvald has Nora perfect the Tarantella before the ball because he wants her to leave a spellbinding effect on everyone at the dance. His wish is for everyone to admire her beauty and perfection and in effect be jealous of him. After the dance he whisks her away suddenly because as he states ³Do you think I was going too let her remain there after that, and spoil the effect?² (Ibsen 53) Torvald did not really know Nora or even really care to know her, all her needed and wanted was someone to be molded into a perfect doll. As Nora secret is revealed, Torvald is angered at her lies and deception to him. He does not give her time to explain but merely converts her from being his little skylark to criminal and hypocrite. When he finally learns of Nora¹s forged note, he acts true to form. This sort of thing Nora expected. She accepts it calmly and is even resigned to committing suicide by jumping into the river. But almost immediately Helmer¹s facade crumbles. It turns out that he is more interested with his own career than with Nora¹s moral character (Hornby 95). As Nora tries to explain that she did it for love, Torvald is quickly thinking up a plan on how to save his reputation. He decides that Nora may stay in the house but may not raise the children. He thinks her lies and deception will poison the children. ³Nora discovers how limited her romantic role-playing has been, how it was not only imposed on her by society, but willingly accepted by her² (Deer 2). She begins to realize that she must find out who she really is before she can be a wife and mother. Just as soon as Torvald begins to calm down, he receives the returned bond from Krogstad. He is ecstatic and yells ³I am saved!² (Ibsen 67). Suddenly everything in Torvald¹s eyes is alright again. To him they can go back to the way their marriage was before. He forgives Nora and tells her that he now understands that she did it out of love for him. Nora on the other hand has finally come to the end of her straw. To her ³Torvald proved to be not a courtly hero, but a frightened and mean-spirited little man who is more worried about his reputation than his wife² (Thomas 2). When Torvald reveals the note, Nora wanted him to take the blame on himself and protect her to prove his love for her. ³Torvald¹s rejection of Nora when he read Krogstad¹s first letter closes off their relationship. In effect he dismissed her from the human race, since he denies her the only roles permitted her those of wife and mother, thus ironically pushing her toward finding new ways to relate to society. When moments he later receives Krogstad¹s second letter and restores her to her status as delicate possession she recognizes the he is once again trying to cut off her change to grow and become involved in the world (Hornby 100). In effect Torvald alienates Nora into leaving her home and her family. The ways in which Torvald, Christine and Krogstad perceive her all had a direct effect on Nora¹s leaving Torvald. Christine at first thought Nora to be childish but then realizes it was just an act she played to fit in Torvald¹s facade. She learns that even though Nora always had someone to take care of her she has had to struggle internally with who she really is and how she acts. Krogstad along with Torvald both use and manipulate Nora for their own advantages. Both cared nothing about her thoughts or feelings. Throughout the play Nora begins to realize that she no longer wants to play Torvald¹s role anymore. Torvald¹s failure to take the blame on himself is when Nora finally realizes she must find herself because she can not continue to live in the facade world that Torvald put her in. f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\A Fictional Story.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ A Fictional Story Once upon a time... Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah... THE END!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\A History of Antiracism Films.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ In studying and understanding the politics and artistic ideologies of film not in the popular "Hollywood" tradition, films of different cultures must be examined to explore the political and social history of the struggles for cultural identity. The film becomes a means of consciousness raising and of creating political awareness. Films of revolution and social change cross all cultural boundaries and bring to the screen revolutionary movements in developing and underdeveloped countries. The power of film is such that it not only reflects society in its own image; they can cause society to create itself in the image of the films. This, unfortunately, has proved to be a battle for black men and women as they have been depicted in a far from flattering view since the beginning of the medium. African Americans have been forced to endure constant racism and discrimination projected at them through movies since the technology was created. Through the determination of many intelligent filmmakers, African Americans have been able to create a depiction of their culture as they see fit; and in the process, creating anti-racial films committed to social change. At times, the screen has predicated against progress by fixing certain concepts and stereotypes in the public mind and artificially reinforcing the notion of their continuing usefulness. The victims of these stereotypes were mainly African-American. Blacks were, for the most part, misrepresented subjects to be exploited by the medium of film since it was created; the most popular example being, D.W. Griffith's Birth of a Nation (1915). Although hailed as the most successful and artistically advanced film of its time, it ignited race riots and it directly influenced the 20th century reemergence of the Klan. Birth of a Nation locked misconceptions about race into a technologically innovative movie that gripped viewers with its new ability to convey the full flavour of events and feelings. The Birth of a Race (1918), two years in the making and perhaps three hours in length, began as a response to Griffith's film. But its succession of producers and backers lost touch with the original concept. Nonetheless, it inspired George P. Johnson and his brother, Noble, to found the Lincoln Motion Picture Company to carry forward the quest for a black cinema, only to fail because of a nationwide influenza epidemic that shuttered theaters. As the American movie industry gradually moved to California after Word War I, little new opportunities arose for the African American. Blacks generally played out conventional roles as chorus girls, convicts, racetrack grooms, boxing trainers, and flippant servants. The sameness of the images led to the first boom of race movies that were made by black, and often white, producers specifically for black audiences. George and Noble Johnson made as many as four such films that were black versions of already defined Hollywood genres - success stories, adventures, and the like - all of them since lost. As World War II progressed, creators of race movies disappeared due to the short rations of film stock. Yet black activists and their government together pressed filmmakers to address wartime racial injustice. In response, federal agencies made several movies of advocacy. First among them in distribution to both army and civilian theaters was the United States War Department's The Negro Soldier (1944), written by Carlton Moss, who also starred in the film. Late in the war, the government commissioned or inspired short civilian films on the theme of equitable race relations, among them Don't Be a Sucker, It Happened in Springfield, and The House I Live In (which won an Oscar in 1947 as the best short film). The Government Manual for the Motion Picture (1942) recommended the use of 'colored' soldiers and servicemen with foreign names as a way of stressing national unity. The general conception was that pictures of racial integration might help to allay racial tensions at home. Documentaries, meanwhile, were beginning to showcase more liberal attitudes. Janice Loeb and Helen Levitt's The Quiet One (1947) caught the dedication that social workers gave to black juveniles. The United Auto Workers sponsored an animated cartoon, The Brotherhood of Man (1947), which took up the fate of racism in postwar America. Of all African American filmmakers of the era, Oscar Micheaux dominated his age. More than any other known figure, Micheaux took up themes that Hollywood left untouched: lynching, black success myths, and color-based caste. Above all, Micheaux saw his films as "propaganda" designed to "uplift the race." In the 1930's, his films represented a radical departure from Hollywood's portrayal of blacks as servants and brought diverse images of ghetto life and related social issues to the screen for the first time. During his career, Micheaux made 35 movies. Most were stories about the lives, loves and perils of middle-class blacks. With his fifth movie, Within Our Gates (1920) Micheaux attacked the racism portrayed in the most highly acclaimed silent movie of all time The Birth of a Nation. In his movie, Griffith depicted blacks as lazy alcoholics who raped white women. Micheaux turned the table on Griffith, filming a scene where a white man tries to rape a black woman, using exactly the same lighting, blocking, and setting as the black on white rape scene in The Birth of a Nation. Unfortunately for Micheaux, Within Our Gates came out right after the race riots, which plagued America throughout the summer of 1919. Black and white officials feared further violence if Within Our Gates was shown and they forced Micheaux to edit out controversial scenes. Micheaux, however, turned around and booked other theatres to show the "uncut version" to even bigger audiences. Around 1950, the Committee for Mass Education in Race Relations was set up with the intent to "produce films that combine entertainment and purposeful mass education in race relations." At this time, films were beginning to provide momentum for the Civil Right Movement that was to take place in the 1960s. Films became more political during these times challenging the views of the ignorant. Costa-Gavras's The Battle of Algiers (1966) was adopted as a favourite film of the Black Panthers, while Anthony Harvey's Dutchman (1967) was considered revolutionary by critics. A new wave of films was to follow the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. The impact of the Civil Rights Movement along with the assassination of the Movement's leader was felt across America. New waves of films were to be embarked upon by Hollywood labeled "blaxploitation." As a movie genre, blaxploitation refers to a series of films in which African-American characters and their lifestyles are presented in a manner that reinforces often negative stereotypes. Many critics of 70s blaxploitation films believed these movies pandered to the lowest of black so called "ghetto" images, while borrowing heavily from mainstream Hollywood genres no longer used. There were black westerns, sci-fi fantasies and even kung-fu films. But despite mediocre performances by the actors and shoestring budgets, the hip talk, sex appeal, and messages of black power made blaxploitation movies instant hits with black audiences. This portrayal becomes the ideal by which young Black men and women live their lives, forcing them to become adolescent adults with guns and out of wedlock babies. Secondly, this portrayal tends to dehumanize Black men in the eyes of the world. As Adolph Hitler demonstrated, it is much easier to annihilate a race after that race has been lowered to a subhuman status in the eyes of society. The financial success of Melvin Van Peebles' Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song (1971) came as a surprise to Hollywood's major studios who instantly attempted to cash in. Melvin Van Peebles projected a new image of a black hero in his film that he wrote, directed and starred in. The message of Sweetback is that, if you can get it together and stand up to the Man, you can win. "Of all the ways we've been exploited by the Man," Van Peebles writes, "the most damaging is the way he destroyed our self image.' Black Panther leader Huey Newton urged the black community to see the film more than once since it attempts 'to communicate some crucial ideas and motivates us to a deeper understanding and then action based on that understanding." The portrayal of Black men as gangsters and thugs is damaging in a number of ways. There have been four episodes of filmmaking about Afro-Americans: Hollywood films portraying blacks before World War II, Hollywood films after that war, films made by black independents such as Oscar Micheaux and Spencer Williams before WWII, and the black exploitation movies of the late 1960s and early 1970s. There has been an addition to the previously mentioned episodes known as the new black cinema. The new black cinema was born out of the black arts movement of the 1960s, out of the same concerns with a self-determining black cultural identity. What separates the new black cinema from these other episodes is its freedom from the mental colonization that Hollywood tries to impose on all its audiences, black and white. Asserting that black expression could be appreciated on its own terms, this new black cinema aimed to preserve black culture both within the Hollywood system and apart from it. A younger generation of filmmakers embraced Van Peebles, Micheaux, and African filmmakers as their cultural models. For the first time women joined black filmmakers' ranks. New distributors, including the Black Filmmakers Foundation, California Newsreel, and Women Make Movies, Inc., aimed at select audiences and academic circles rather than mass markets. The best known of the new black filmmakers during the 1980s and 1990s was probably Spike Lee. Spike Lee's breakthrough independent feature, She's Gotta Have It (1986), was a "welcome change in the representation of blacks in American cinema, depicting men and women of color not as pimps and whores, but as intelligent, upscale urbanites." By the late 1990s, the steadily expanding black presence in American film seemed to assure a solid future for the new black cinema. The medium of film has a surface realism which tends to disguise fantasy and make it seem true. Since the creation of the technology to capture moving images, African Americans have been depicted in an unfair fashion. Popular films would inflict the values of ignorant, racist filmmakers as people went to discover them. It took a lot of struggle and perseverance for filmmakers to enjoy the luxury of freedom available to them today. Hollywood was never considered an ally to African Americans who wanted to depict their reality as it really was. Independents had to struggle to finance films which were not Hollywood-friendly and many seized to continue because of this obstacle. The pioneers of anti-racist films; the men and women who triumphed over hardships to create a piece of art true to their heart and culture are credited for providing the backbone for social change. However, there is no argument that blacks still have distances to go in receiving a fair and honest portrayal in movies and television. Teacher Comments: Do you think Black and anti-racism films are th same? Very good. You should try to use smaller paragraphs (one for each main point). Really well-researched and written. Don't forget to cite all information. f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\A Jest of God.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ We were strangers from the beginning tormented by our difference which did not exist. (Betsy Warland) An important ingredient inherent in a successful mother-daughter relationship is balance. Like the scales of justice, maintaining equilibrium requires work. The special bond between mother and daughter is delicate and unlike any other relationship due to expectations of performance on behalf of both women. The female psyche is, characteristically, particular: each woman having a certain regiment making themselves unique. Ideals and behavior learned, possibly inherited, from others are two of many things which carve an individual's personality. It is these similarities and differences which often cause conflicts between mother and daughter. In A Jest of God, the relationship between Rachel and her mother is strained due to unspoken expectations that each had of the other. Stemming from poor communication, a host of differences were assumed to exist between the two, when in fact their struggle originated in their sameness. The largest weapon which spear-headed the communication war between Rachel and her mother was the generation gap; coming from different eras, the pair assumed they had nothing in common. In Rachel's eyes her mother was a pristine, saintly woman who maintained high moral values for herself and her family. Therefore, being a good person and making the right decisions was never questionable to Rachel, as this was how her mother expected her to behave. Rachel listened numerous times to her mother comment on how "peculiar" her behavior looked, and spoke of anyone else she observed doing the same. Although this annoyed Rachel about her mother, she adopted similar paranoia tendencies, speculating how her behavior with Nick, a summer beau, looked to anyone who could be watching or noticing. Irritated by her mother's attitude, Rachel excused it on the pretense that her views reflected the past times in which she lived. However, Rachel had neither the patience nor the desire to speak out against her mother for fear of stirring trouble between them. The irony in Rachel's decision is that their relationship needed just what she was so desperately trying to avoid. By turning her back on the communication problem between herself and her mother, Rachel wanted to believe that the problem was inherent in the misunderstanding each had of the other. Underneath her shell, Rachel was coming to terms with what was really true of the gap between herself and her mother: their difference lay in her want to not be similar. Both were single: Rachel unmarried and her mother a widow. Through her fling with Nick, Rachel wanted to express her desires to be independent from her mother, and have an adult relationship with another human being. Another similarity between the two women was in their propensity to be stubborn and secretive, having opinions they did not speak of but eluded to. This stubbornness was evident in terms of religious exploration as both were curious about faith. Rachel was more aggressive in her curiosity as evidenced in her visit the Tabernacle, however kept it a secret knowing her mother speculated about what good people saw in such activity. Yet another similarity both mother and daughter share was in their satisfaction at living in a small town. Following the death of her father, neither Rachel nor her mother were anxious to change their living pattern. Rachel was not blind to the similarities she had with her mother, but attempted to change herself in order to be different. Like a teenager's last rebellious actions before entering adulthood, Rachel's actions during her last months in Manawaka symbolized the final fight to be different from her mother. Struggling to maintain a casual relationship with a man her mother would disapprove of, Rachel was forced to sneak around behind her mother's back. Rachel's mother seemingly had no trouble speaking her mind. Rachel tried to maintain her image as a proper, rule-abiding school teacher, and refused to speak to her principal about a troubling issue for fear he would lose respect for her. When attending the Tabernacle, Rachel spoke in tongues and left not knowing what she revealed of herself, only that her mother would surely disapprove of what she had done. Making a public spectacle of herself was a fear Rachel shared with her mother, however the experience was liberating for her because she knew the news would disturb her mother. These outward actions by Rachel were demonstrative of her want to finish her spiritual growth, which was stunted by an overbearing mother, and her own fear of being the same way. Rachel remained a child well into her adult life. This was evident in the way she spoke to herself, analyzing, and scrutinizing her own actions. The narrative tone was that of a motherly voice, likely evidence of the fear for what her mother would say, and reflective of who she was growing into. Rebelling against such growth is a natural progression for women because a strong sense of rivalry exists between mothers and daughters. The latter, eager to carve their own path, become distressed when they realize they are unable to choose something new for themselves because it has already been branded into them from their mothers. Such behavior is ritualistic and shows friendly competition between the wise and the wiser, as the former strive to prove themselves independent. It is an attempt by daughters to prove their ingenuity, and gain acceptance and approval from their mothers. Rachel realized this was occurring simultaneously with the reconciliation of her inner self, took charge of her independence and moved herself and her mother to the West Coast, at the end of the book. Gaining independence was a great triumph in Rachel's life, and coincided with the first building block in an attempt to bridge the communication gap between herself and her mother. Taking charge of her life was something Rachel never felt compelled to do prior to the growing experience of her inner-self. As important as branching out on her own was, she was never before able to do this because she allowed herself to live under her mother's protective wing. Although seeming to despise her mother for the qualities she unadmittingly possessed herself, Rachel was merely running from the truth, and failing to communicate only helped to reinforce this. f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\A Look At Savage Garden.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ A Look At Savage Garden Savage Garden is an Australian duo formed in 1994 by Daniel Jones and Darren Hayes. Daniel Jones, born on July 22, 1973 in Essex England moved to Brisbane, Australia as a young child, he plays keyboard, guitar, programming and sings back up. Darren came from a long line of musicians, so his love for music started when he was very young. When he was little, his brother had a drum set and when he went out, Daniel would sneak into his room and play then, he took piano lessons when he was seven. By the age of ten, he was playing the keyboard and drums in pubs and hotels. Daniel's musical influences were, Peter Gabriel, XTC, and Tears For Fears. Darren was born May 8, 1972 in Brisbane, he is both the lead and back up singers. At a young age, he began showing alot of intrest of getting into entertainment by singing and acting around the house which led him to act in many school plays when he got into high school. After high school, Darren attended college, to study journalism, Drama and education. His influences include, Prince, The Smiths, Fleetwood Mac, Marvin Gaye, Diana Ross, and Duran Duran. Both the guys are songwriters. Daniel was playing with another band called Red Edge, when he put an ad in a Brisbane music paper for a lead vocalist, Darren was studying to be a teacher when he decided he wanted to get into the music scene, he saw Daniel's ad and responded, "We clicked imeadeatly" (Darren Hayes, Savage Garden biography) Darren joined the band and in 1994, He and Daniel decided they were tired of playing other people's music so they left the band and devoted their time to writing and the band, Crush was formed. Darren and Daniel soon found out another Australian band also had that name so, they bought the name from them but, then they found another English band called Crush so they decided to call the band Savage Garden which was thought of by Darren, it was from an Anne Rice novel where "she describes the world as two levels, one as a very beautiful place but,in the other, underneath, we're all savage beasts" (The conception of savage garden) in the other,Darren and Daniel so fired by self assurance, sent out over 150 demo tapes to record companies and management all over Australia. One by one they got rejected until John Woodruff heard their tape and thought they had a chance, he immediately flew to Brisbane to sign them to JWM, his record company. Their first self titled album was recorded in Sydney, Australia. It was produced by Charles Fisher and mixed by Chris Lord-Alge. Woodruff released the record to an independent label, Road show Music and in 1996 their first single, I Want You, was released in Sydney. The single went platnum and became the highest selling single in Australia for 1996. It was also nominated for a Aria Award for the Best Debut Album in 1996 just two weeks after it's release and it rised to #3 on the national AMR charts. It debuted at number 31 on the Billboard charts which was "the highest chart entry ever for a debut single from an Australian artist."(village.com) It had a slow start until Rosie O'Donnell who loves the part in the song that says "chick-a-cherry cola" began playing it on her show and eventually invited them to appear and perform on the air. Their Second single, To The Moon and Back, "which adresses the insecurities of a teenage girl" (savagegarden.com/bio)quickly became a hit, reached number one and sold 135,000 copies in Australia and was in the top 30 in the US. Their third and most sucessful, Truly Madly Deeply which is a love song "distilled from the purity of heart" (savagegarden.com/bio),sold 160,000 copies and debuted at number 25 on the billboard charts. Their album was released on March 24, 1997 and debuted at number 1 on the national ARIA chart where it spent 19 weeks. The album has sold 9 times platnum, 670,000 albums, in Australia alone. Savage Garden launched their first live tour in Australia, May 1997, preforimg at sold out shows. Then in 1998 they were on the road again with their The Future Of Earthly Delites World Tour. Their CD was number 9 on the top ten best selling albums list from Dec 29, 1998 to Jan 3, 1999. They are currently in the process of making a new album which should be out sometime this year. f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\A Man for All Seasons by Robert Bolt On Mores Moral Dilemma.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ More's Moral Dilemma During the English renaissance in the 1500's, King Henry VIII wants a divorce from his wife for various reasons, but divorce is against the Catholic religion. This is why he wants Sir Thomas More's consent, because More is a highly respected Catholic, but he is such a good Catholic that he goes against divorce. In the play, A Man for All Seasons, by Robert Bolt, King Henry VIII applies pressure on Thomas More to support the divorce in many ways. He exerts it both directly and indirectly in forms of threats and intimidation from various people. Henry forces Meg, More's 'renaissance woman' daughter, to take an oath in order to see him, so she tries to influence his decision about the divorce by using her intellect and by begging. Wolsey, a cardinal, was told by the king to try to persuade him to support the king's divorce by appointing him to a political office, so if More does not support the king, he could be executed for treason. Similarly, the king orders Cromwell, his assistant, to apply pressure by finding a reason to kill More, to force him out of the way. All of these pressures from the king lead to a moral dilemma that More has to face, but he chooses to stick to his morals. King Henry applies pressure on More to support the divorce through Meg. While More is in jail for failing to take an oath supporting the divorce, Meg tries to convince him to take the oath, and she says, 'Say the words of the oath and in your heart think otherwise,' (page 81). More responded to this by saying, 'What is an oath then but words we say to god?' (page 81). Meg is applying direct pressure on More by asking him to say the oath and not believe in it, so he will get the benefits of believing it and stick to his morals at the same time. However, More thinks this is against Catholic religion because he thinks of an oath as 'words we say to God,' so he certainly can not use Meg's strategy. Meg pressures More directly by trying to reach out to his feelings when she says emotionally, 'But in reason! Haven't you done as much as God can reasonably want?' (page 81). More supports his beliefs by saying, 'Well...finally...it isn't a matter of reason; finally it's a matter of love.' Meg wants More to know that his family's food and money depend on him, and further more, whether he says the oath. More still sticks to what he believes in, because he believes that he must always do what God wants him to do, for there is no limit to what god can 'reasonably want.' Meg does as much as she can to persuade More to support the King, but it does not work, and More sticks to his morals. Henry also orders Cromwell to pressure More to support the divorce. At first, Cromwell informs More directly that the king is not pleased with him, and then says, 'Yet you do not know that even now, if you could bring yourself to agree with the Universities, the Bishops and the Parliament of this realm, there is no honor which the King would be likely to deny you?' (page 66). More acknowledges this and says, 'I am well acquainted with His Grace's generosity,' (page 66). Cromwell wants More to know that the king still has great respect for him, and if he supports the divorce there would be 'no honor which the King would be likely to deny' him. More is not greatly affected by this type of pressure however, because he is the type of man that does not let rewards tempt him to go against his morals. Cromwell realizes that More is stubborn on this issue, and wants to execute him, so to More he directly reads the charges against him, 'That you did conspire traitorously and maliciously to deny and deprive our liege lord Henry of his undoubted certain title Supreme Head of the Church of England,' (pages 86- 87). More is shocked, and said, 'But I have never denied this title!' (page 87). Cromwell is so devoted to satisfying the king that he finds a way uses More's silence as evidence of opposing the king, which means he is 'traitorously' denying the king of his title. This is the most influential pressure that More has received, because if he is found guilty of high treason, he will be executed; but he still sticks to his morals. More now has to deal with the harshest kind of pressure to face, because his life is in jeopardy. Wolsey also plays a part for Henry in pressuring More to support the king. At first, Wolsey tries to use his power to pressure More directly into supporting the king, 'The King needs a son; I repeat, what are you going to do about it?' (page 12). More is smart when he says, 'I pray for it daily,' (page 12). Wolsey is trying to pressure More with his power by making him answer the question, by using 'I repeat' as a way of reminding him that he must answer the question. More, however, displays his intelligence by saying that he prays for the king's son, instead of giving in to Wolsey's trap and telling him that he supports the king. Wolsey then gets angry at More and indirectly pressuring him by appointing him as the lord chancellor, which More does not know until Henry informs him, 'Did you know that Wolsey named you for chancellor?' (page 30). More is surprised to hear this, and says, 'He was a statesman of incomparable ability,' (page 30). Now More has to support the king, or he could be executed for high treason, which would prove to be the harshest form of pressure for More. When More realizes why Wolsey appoints him a political position, he realizes what a smart move this is by Wolsey, and calls him 'a statesman of incomparable ability,' but this does not change More's decision about the divorce. If Wolsey did not name More for chancellor, More would not have been able to be tried for high treason, and he would have been able to disagree with the king and not face execution. More receives many pressures from many people through King Henry, both directly and indirectly. In addition to Meg, More's whole family, including Alice, his wife, pressure him to support the king's divorce. Also, politically he was challenged not only by Cromwell and Wolsey, but he is pressured by Norfolk, Rich, and Cranmer to support the divorce as well. Socially, More is alone in his disagreement with the divorce. All this pressure against More, and he still sticks to what he believes in and what his religion says to do, although he dies for it. The moral dilemma More faces is similar to the moral dilemma of someone who has AIDS. If you have AIDS, you have no good way of dealing with it. More displays what a wonderful a person he is by choosing to not go against what he believed in, even though he got executed for it, which was probably a little crazy. f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\a Man With A Dream.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Willy Loman: A Man With A Dream A common idea presented in literature is the issue of the freedom of the individual in opposition to the controlling pressures of society. Willy Loman, the main character in Death of A Salesman by Arthur Miller, epitomizes this type of person; one who looks to his peers and co-salesman as lesser individuals. Not only was he competitive and overbearing, but Willy Loman sought after an ideal that he could never become: the greatest salesman ever. Determined to make money, Willy became uncontrollable and somewhat insane. Through his dialogue and actions, Willy Loman portrays a character of insecurity, persistence, and unknown identity. From the very beginning of his life, Willy Loman experienced problems with his popularity and personality. His last name is a pun on a 'low man.' He is at the bottom of the business world as an unsuccessful salesman. In addition, his theories on life and society prove to be very degrading, not to mention influential to his mind set every day. Willy believes that being well-liked and having a personal attractiveness, together, can bring success, money, and many friends. Ironically, Willy does not have many friends and many people do not like him. With a beauty unlike others, Willy thinks that doors will open and problems will all disappear. As a salesman, Willy developed many hindrances that caused his mind to deteriorate. His life as a salesman was built on a dream that he witnessed as a child. At an early age, Willy heard of a salesman, Dave Singleman, who could make his living out of a hotel room. Singleman was very successful and when he died, people from all over the country came to his funeral. It was this ideal that Willy Loman sought after. All he ever wanted was fame, popularity, and a few friends. Unfortunately, when Willy died, not a single person went to his funeral. His life, one that was spent trying to become another person, namely Dave Singleman, was a waste as no-one even wanted to see him buried. In reflection of his career with the Wagner Company, many other problems arose that forced economic difficulties on him and his family. He was determined to live by ideals that placed him above everyone else. It was with these lies and illusions that Willy's life began to lose its' air of reality. He lost his identity, courage, and dignity throughout New England as a salesman. And as he explained often, 'I have friends...They know me up and down New England.' Realistically, though, Willy was not successful. He did not have friends and people did not like him in New England. 'With his self-identity weakened and undermined, Willy lost his grasp of things in general.' (P.P Sharma, critical analysis) He spent hours on hours dreaming of the past. Thinking of himself and his son Biff who had potential, but did not take advantage of it. Biff was Willy's inspiration as a father. He had the determination to become a great football player, not to mention make something with his life and the Loman name. However, Biff flunked math and threw all of his opportunities away. It was with these circumstances that Biff and his father began to separate. Willy always promised his sons prosperity and good-fortune, but he could not give that to him and when he lost Biff, his life became an even larger failure. In other memories and illusions, Willy often replays the moments with his brother, Ben. Specifically, the time when Willy was offered a job in Alaska; the job which would have made him an enormous amount of money haunts Willy every time he tries to sell his Wagner stockings, only to have his sales come up lame. With low sales and age, Willy decided to ask for a job in New York. And it was at this time that his company decided to stop paying by salary, but solely on commission. And for a man who cannot sell well, the loss of a salary is very detrimental to his well-being. 'Although Willy is aware, maybe dimly and imperfectly, that he is not cut out for success in the world of trade and commerce, he nevertheless nurses the dream of getting the better of everybody else. And this leads him into an alienation from himself, obscuring his real identity.' (P. P. Sharma, critical analysis) Willy's life would have been more satisfying had he engaged himself in more physical work that would occupy his mind. His life was situated on a dream for success and prosperity. When it never arrived, Willy spent a lot of time, just brainstorming how to make his life what he wanted it to be. Putting his family aside, Willy committed a terrible sin. In Boston, during one of his business trips, Willy cheated on his wife. He met a woman who would be very cheap for an evening, and as a boost of confidence, Willy spent the night with this low-class woman. Unfortunately, his son Biff, who was surprising his father in Boston, walked in on the two, thus causing a situation that would forever haunt Biff. His thoughts of his father as an influential salesman in New England were all lost. What appeared, instead, was the belief that his father was a loser with no potential to ever support his family. It was at this time that they their lives spread apart. Using that situation as a downfall and the many others that occurred in Willy Loman's life, it was not surprising when he killed himself. In search of happiness, Willy believed that he could give his family what they wanted if he only left the world. But, his dreams were wrong, as his family did not even care enough to go to his funeral. He died for things that he had lived for- his sons and illusions of prosperity. Ironically, though, his life was not worth the happiness of his son's. And his life was definitely not worth the sacrifice that he made for them his entire life. Willy Loman died still unsure of his status in the business world. He wanted success and money, but at the age of sixty-one, he realized that these goals would never be reached. His identity was lost and his presence on earth unknown. Willy Loman was influenced by society in that he could not overcome the pressures of selling and making money. His life long dream was happiness, but that never came either. The pressures of society killed a man who once had courage and determination. But, as his life moved further, Willy Loman lost his ability to see the world clearly. All his eyes could observe was despair and insecurity. It was through his beliefs that he decided to end his unhappiness, by ending his life. Willy Loman died a lost identity, but one that found himself for a brief period of time; long enough to end his life forever. f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\A Medical Experience.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ It was the end of a normal day at the station. The medics are just getting to bed after running a half a dozen calls for an assorted minor medical and trauma problems. The paperwork was finished. The reports were entered into the computer. The truck was even restocked. They were just about into dreamland but, as with most nights at this particular station, sleep was not to be. Several miles away, in a small, well kept apartment, Angie Briggs, a eighty-year-old woman awoke to the feeling that the life-giving air was being denied to her. She tried to sit up, but the feeling would not subside. Walking made it worse. She also noticed that, even though the temperature in her room was comfortable, she was dripping with sweat. The longer that she waited, the harder it became to breath. So, realizing the fact that her doctor was probably asleep, she did the next logical step, she called her daughter, who lives in another state. The daughter realized that her mother needed more help than she could give over the phone, tried to persuade the mother to call an ambulance, which, of course, the mother refused to do, stating that it wasn't necessary. The daughter then took it upon herself to call EMS from her own house. The medics were notified of the problem through the usual method, a series of tones over a radio that cause a loud horn to blare and all the station lights to come on, much to the annoyance of the fire lieutenant. This alarm was immediately followed by the dispatchers voice giving all the applicable information on this call. "Med unit 2, respiratory call, 103 Royal Terrace Boulevard, apartment 7, in reference to a 80 year old woman with shortness of breath." Not that the EMS crew were listening at this point. They are busy getting into their jumpsuits and putting their boots on. It does not matter if they are eating, sleeping, watching TV, or even taking a shower, they are required to be in the ambulance and en route to the scene within two minutes. "Med Two's en route." Stated EMT Jennifer Meyers in a sleepy voice " Copy med 2 is en route to 103 Royal Terrace Blvd., apartment 7." Now they are listening. "This is in reference to a 80 year-old female who is in severe respiratory distress. Received the call from her daughter that is out of state. Patient sounds very short of breath." "Copy" "I'm pretty sure that it is in the first entrance into the apartment complex. Should be the third or fourth building on the left", stated Doug Murphy the paramedic on duty. It took only a few minutes for the ambulance to arrive at the scene. After dispatch was informed of their arrival, Doug and Jennifer removed the stretcher that was already loaded with the monitor, the airway bag, and the med box. As he approached the front door, Doug took notice of the condition of the walkway, of the location of the bushes, and any outside furniture that might impede exiting the house with a stretcher loaded with a person. He did the same quick evaluation upon entering the residence. After knocking, an elderly, heavy-set woman opened the door. The medic could see immediately that she was is serous trouble. Her clothes were soaked, wet with sweat, every time she took a breath, a faint popping sound could be heard. The medic also could see the front of her neck pull in along with every breath and that her general color had a faint, matted bluish color about her. Doug knew that without immediate treatment, this lady would die. Doug quickly lowered the stretcher and took the equipment off of it. "Why don't you sit right here." Doug told Mrs. Briggs " I'm fine, really. I told my daughter that I would see my doctor in the morning. I don't know why she called you?" Mrs. Briggs stated. The medic was surprised that she could talk at all. "When did you start having trouble breathing?" Doug asked as he was turning on the oxygen bottle "About an hour ago. I woke up and couldn't catch my breath." Pointing to the oxygen mask that the medic was placing on her face. "I really don't need any of that." " I think you do. You need to let me do my job and treat you. This condition will only get worse." "No, I think I'll wait till the morning." "Listen, you don't have until the morning. To be perfectly blunt, I doubt you have a hour. You need to let me treat you now. Your lungs are full of fluid." "How do know that?" asked the patient. "I can hear it, even without my stethoscope." retorted the medic. " I can take care of this problem with medicines, but I need to do it now." Looking at his partner. "How's the blood pressure?" The medic's partner had been busy taking the patients blood pressure and pulse, and was now in the process of applying the electrodes on the patients chest for the monitor. "180/90, pulse 100 very irregular." came the reply. While his partner began to set up the IV bag, the medic finished putting on the monitor leads. After he turned the machine on, he then began listening to the patients chest, carefully listening to each lobe of the lungs, trying to judge just how far the crackles, or rales, go up into the chest. This allows him to determine how full of fluid Annie's lung were. "Your lungs are three-quarters the way full." Doug then took a look at the monitor. "Do you usually have skipped heart beats?" questioned the medic. "Yeah, it's been like that for a while." answered the patient. He then asked the patient. "Have you ever had an IV before?" "Yes. Do I really need one now?" "Yes ma`am, you sure do." answered the medic. A rubber tourniquet was placed around the patients arm tight enough to stop the return blood flow, or venous blood but not too tight enough to cut off the arterial blood flow. He then looked for and found a vein in her wrist, prepped the site with alcohol, and stuck a needle that was covered by a thin catheter into the vein. After he removed the needle, leaving the plastic catheter in the vein, he took a sample of blood from the site and connected the IV line. He then released the tourniquet and opened the IV line to make sure he had a good flow. The drip rate was set so it would only drip once ever few seconds. After he taped the line down to the patient's arm, he finished this particular procedure by making sure that all the dirty needles were safely placed in a sharps container. He didn't want any accidental needle sticks. "Ma'am, are you allergic to any medicines that your aware of?" "No, not that I can think of." "OK, This is what we are going to do. First, I'm going to give you some Nitro with a spray. What I need to you to do is open your mouth and put your tongue at the top of your mouth" Stated the medic. Mrs. Briggs complied, almost. She opened her mouth and kept her tongue at the bottom of her mouth. "Tongue up." The patient complied. "Good, now take a breath in." When she did, the medic sprayed the Nitro into her mouth. Having her inhale when he sprayed the Nitro kept it from going back into his face. Talking to the patient "Ma'am, I'm going to give you some Lasix though the IV line. Hopefully, it will pull some of that fluid out of your lungs and back into your bloodstream. Is that oxygen helping?" "A little." "Good" The medic replied. He then proceeded to slowly give the Lasix. The standing orders that he works under (after all, a non-physician cannot give medicine without a physician willing to assume responsibility for it) allows him a dosage range up to 80 mg. for Lasix. If the patient was not in such distress, he would have opted for double of the home dosage. However, this time he chose for the full eighty. After being secured in the ambulance, Jennifer went back to make sure that the residence was locked up. Doug then retook the patients blood pressure (which had not changed) and listened again to her chest, detecting a slight clearing of the lungs. "Ma'am, I need to ask you again if you are allergic to any drugs." "No, I'm not." "Have you ever taken Morphine before." "No, why?" "Because I'm going to give you some in a minute" "Why? I don't hurt anywhere." "We're going for another effect that it has. It helps pull that fluid out of your lungs." Seeing a look of confusion in the patients eyes, Doug asked "Do you understand what is happening?" "No" "For some reason, your heart cannot keep up with the flow of blood coming into it." The medic explained as he drew up the Morphine from the vial. "When this happens to the left side of the heart, the blood backs up into the lungs, causing the blood plasma to leak into the tiny air sacs in your lungs. This is what is causing you to be short of breath and to have that crackling noise when you breath. All the medicines I am giving you cause your blood vessel to dilate, or get bigger. The Nitro causes this all over the body. The Morphine does it in the arms and legs. And the Lasix pulls it out of the body by making you have to pee a lot. The Morphine will also help you to relax somewhat. Just let me know if you start felling nauseous." Doug took a alcohol wipe and cleaned the injection port of the IV tubing, then inserted the syringe's needle into the port. "I'm giving you the Morphine now." By this time, Jennifer had finished locking the apartment. "You all set?" She asked, sticking her head in the back of the truck. "Yup, let's go." On the way to the hospital, the patient started improving; her blood pressure and pulse were going down, and the patient was breathing a lot easier. The rales were even noticeably diminishing. The medic had called the hospital over the radio notifying them of the patient that he was bringing in and her current condition. The patient, due either to her finding it easier to breath or due to the Morphine, began talking. "How long have you been a fireman?" The patient asked "Never have been, I'm a paramedic." The paramedic retorted. "We have a dual system in this county. We work with and are stationed with the fire department, but we are under a different chain of command." "What does that mean." "I don't put out fires, they don't give people needles." By the time that the ambulance got to the hospital, the patients lungs were almost clear of any rales that the medic could hear. And, as expected, the patient requested a bedpan as quickly as possible. "Which room would you like us in." Doug asked a nurse. "What'ch ya got" came the reply. "Heart failure." "Room 10 will be fine." "Thanks." responded the medic as he wheeled the patient into the treatment room. While the nurse went to get her paperwork, the medic and his partner lifted the patient onto the hospital stretcher, transferring the oxygen tubing f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\A Metaphorical Odyssey.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 2001: A Metaphorical Odyssey Myths are created for the purpose of conveying a message with an interesting medium with which to do so. Many cultures use myths to teach their young about the past. Through time, however, these myths become impractical due to discovery. This is when a new myth must be introduced to take the place of the obsolete one. Stanley Kubrick shaped 2001: A Space Odyssey as a new myth to crack the archaic view of space, by using a hero, a dilemma, and a new revelation to fuel his cause. Every myth has a character that breaks the mold of the ordinary. In Homer's The Odyssey, Odysseus is the character that broke the mold of the other mortals. He displayed character traits that superseded those of his crew mates. Much in the same fashion, Bowman breaks the mold of the astronauts aboard the Discovery. He and Poole are share duties aboard the Discovery, but he demonstrates a higher level of thinking by sensing and interpreting what is happening before him. He is the one that realizes exactly what HAL is doing, and he puts a stop to it. He sees problems, analyzes them, and then proceeds to diffuse the cause in the most efficient manner possible. He uses his character traits of intelligence, persistence, and adroitness to overcome the dilemmas put in front of him. By using his intelligence, he realizes that HAL has figured him out, and he must find a way to get back into the discovery in order to survive. In using persistence, Bowman does not give up when it seems that HAL has won the battle. Instead he takes the rough way in, and he then disables HAL. Bowman shows how adroit he is with dilemmas by handling the entire HAL situation with calm and intelligence. While on the mission, Bowman is faced with many dilemmas. The first dilemma, is that he is in the dark about the purpose of the mission. He has only been supplied with the vital information that he will need to perform routine operations until the site of the mission is reached. HAL is responsible for informing him when the place has been reached and time is right to complete the mission. He decides that he must do what he can without actually knowing the exact purpose of the mission. The next dilemma is that HAL has been reacting to his instincts in a negative manner. He realizes that Bowman and Poole are having doubts about the mission. Bowman decides that he must hide his emotions and plans from HAL in order to proceed successfully. HAL, on the other hand, figures out that Bowman and Poole are planning to unplug him by reading their lips while they are conversing in the pod, and finds a way to get them where he can control them. He fakes a failure in the communications satellite dish, and Poole goes out to repair it, never to return. After Poole is disposed of, Bowman finally realizes that HAL has turned on him. This is the ultimate dilemma that Bowman must face. He is locked out of the Discovery, and he must find a way to get back in and disable HAL before he dies, and the mission is unsalvageable. He finally succeeds in re-entering the Discovery and disabling HAL as the ship nears Jupiter and the pre-recorded message plays on the video screen. His decision to unplug HAL and run the mission solo is the deciding factor in the new revelation that he encounters. With the approaching of the climax of the movie, Bowman realizes that the mission was far beyond the comprehension of any human being. He realizes why the mission had been kept confidential even to him, as a pre-recorded message gives him a debriefing of the purpose of the mission. The ever present question of whether or not there are other intelligent beings in the universe is answered as Bowman enters the stargate. As he descends into the stargate, the many colors and patterns show that he is proceeding into a realm that is a paradox of powers. When Bowman sees that he is being protected from forces that are far beyond the control of any mortal, he knows that these other beings are far superior to humans. With his experiences, the enlightened Bowman returns to earth realizing that society dwindling. Using Bowman as a hero that faces dilemmas to reach the target moment, Stanley Kubrick uses 2001: A Space Odyssey as a new myth to replace the old myths about space. This redefined what people thought about space. This myth has carried over into the 20th century, and still will proceed into the 21st century. It shows how new myths can replace old myths and shatter the very foundation the human mentality. For when an archaic belief is suddenly replaced with a new one, it is often a reaction to wonder why the old one was wrong. This often leads to further exploration and discovery in that area. As discovery progresses, the myths change concurrently. This also exemplifies how important myths are to a culture or race of beings. Without myths, there would be no efficient way of communicating the beliefs and philosophies of the time. f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\A Nightmare On Elm Street.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ A Nightmare On Elm Street At a time when the stalker movie had been exploited to all ends and the image of mute, staggering, vicious killers had been etched into society's consciousness to the point of exhaustion, a new kid entered the block. The year was 1984 and it was time for a new villain to enter into the horror genre. A villain that was agile, intelligent, almost inviolable yet viscous, and by all means deadly. A Nightmare on Elm Street introduced the distinctive presence of Fred Krueger to the horror industry and to the audience. Freddy Krueger took the center stage and with him a new era of horror films began. This horribly scarred man who wore a ragged slouch hat, dirty red-and-green striped sweater, and a glove outfitted with knives at the fingers reinvented the stalker genre like no other film had. Fred Krueger breathed new life into the dying horror genre of the early 1980's. Horror films are designed to frighten the audience and engage them in their worst fears, while captivating and entertaining at the same time. Horror films often center on the darker side of life, on what is forbidden and strange. These films play with society's fears, its nightmare's and vulnerability, the terror of the unknown, the fear of death, the loss of identity, and the fear of sexuality. Horror films are generally set in spooky old mansions, fog-ridden areas, or dark locales with unknown human, supernatural or grotesque creatures lurking about. These creatures can range from vampires, madmen, devils, unfriendly ghosts, monsters, mad scientists, demons, zombies, evil spirits, satanic villains, the possessed, werewolves and freaks to the unseen and even the mere presence of evil. Within the genre of horror films falls the sub-genre of teen slasher/stalker films. These teen slasher/stalker films take the horror genre film characteristics into account, however they add more to the formula. More violence, sadism, brutality, and graphic blood and gore are used to increase the terror factor. Sexuality and gratuitous nudity are also key characteristic of many of these films. Imitations and numerous sequels are also a common characteristic of teen slasher/stalker films as well. A Nightmare on Elm Street and all of the following six sequels fall into its own sub-genre of the teen slasher/stalker sub-genre as well, know as the Nightmare on Elm Street Series. This series of films adds a new dimension to the typical teen slasher/stalker film, depth of character and story. The characters are not there only to be killed, but rather they have distinct personalities, they are independent and intelligent, particularly the female lead characters. The killer, Fred Krueger, as well is not only there to murder his victims. He displays a great amount of wit, sarcasm and intelligence. The audience comes away with a knowledge of each of the characters individual personalities. The storyline takes on a greater depth as well. The story goes beyond the simple gore and focuses more on the psychological terror that lies within and scares society the most. The line between nightmare and reality becomes blurred and the terror is allowed to build up, which results in a tremendous amount of suspense. Horror films developed over a century ago and have come from a number of different sources: folktales, witchcraft, fables, myths, and ghost stories. The first horror movie was made by Georges Melies, titled The Devil's Castle (1896). Another of the early influential films was The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1919). The shadowy, dream-nightmarish quality of this film was brought to Hollywood in the 1920's and continued on into the horror films of the 1930's. Horror entered into the Dracula and Frankenstein era during the early 1930's. The studios took stories of European vampires and mad scientists and created some of the most iconic beings ever known on the screen. Dracula films and sequels were less successful than many of the Frankenstein sequels. Many of the films in the horror genre from the mid 1930's to the 1950's were B-grade films, inferior sequels, or low budget gimmick films. During the 1950's most of the films were cheaply made, drive-in teenage oriented films. To counter the popularity of television, experiments with 3-Dimensional films were made. These low budget films helped to keep the horror genre alive when the larger Hollywood studios turned away. Horror films branched out in all different directions in the 1960's and afterward. Film censorship was on the decline and directors began to frankly portray horror in ordinary circumstances and seemingly innocent settings. Alfred Hitchcock brought out his most horrific film, Psycho, at the start of the decade, which changed the face of horror films. In 1968, the MPAA created a new ratings system with G, M, R, X ratings in part to the violent themes of horror films. In the 1970's the horror genre was subjected to far more violence as well as blood and gore. Slasher films, in which the victims were stalked and killed by mortal or immortal psychopaths, also became popular during this decade, with films like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) and Halloween (1978). This trend carried through to the 1980's as well with films like A Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th , with the sequels to these films carrying them throughout the rest of the decade and into the 1990's. During the 1990's Wes Craven, the writer and director of the original Nightmare on Elm Street, has been credited with bringing the horror genre back to life with films like Scream. The characters in these films are now aware of the history of the slasher horror film and know all the rules. "They survive the movie based on their ability to outguess the twists of the formulas in which they are trapped" (Mast, Kawin, 553). The horror genre, as well as slasher/stalker genre, and The Nightmare on Elm Street genre have been influenced by Expressionism, rendering inner states as aspects of the outer world. "Masks, madness, and shadows come together in the Expressionist horror film, where the threatening figure is often uncontrollably destructive, sexually aggressive, masked or in heavy makeup, and acting out some culturally repressed impulse" (Kawin, 94). A Nightmare on Elm Street was written and directed by Wes Craven. The movie was released in 1984 and challenged the typical slasher genre film of the time in many aspects. The movie begins with the haunting children's song, "One, two Freddy's coming for you /Three, four, better lock your door / Five, six grab your crucifix / Seven,eight gonna stay up late / Nine, ten never sleep again." A teenage girl wanders around a dark boiler room in only her nightgown, as a screeching is heard as knives are scratched against the pipes. A badly burned man wearing a dirty hat and striped sweater with knives for finger grabs her from behind and she then wakes up screaming in her bed, it was only a dream. Not long after this, the same girl is in another dream where she is being chased by the same man, he catches her in the dream and in reality she is thrown around the room in a state of unconsciousness and stabbed repeatedly by an attacker that can only be seen in her dream. The film is already different from the typical slasher/stalker film in that the terror is taking place in both the dream state, as well as in reality. The basic plot resembles other slasher films in that a scary, strange entity is stalking teens in order to kill them. The setting is dark and spooky with a foggy appearance. As in many horror films a character who is thought to be one of the main characters is killed off early on and that is where the similarities end. The plot of this film gives a reason as to why Fred Krueger is after these teenagers. The parents of these teens who live on Elm Street had gotten together, captured him and burned him alive because he had gotten out of jail, charged with murdering children, on a technicality. Now as his revenge he must kill the children of all the parents that were involved in his murder, by stalking them in their dreams. By making Freddy Krueger the result of a dark secret in the neighborhood, the motivation is much deeper than the average slasher film. Although Freddy is a horrible villain, his crimes existed in the past. The teenagers parents are now responsible for the reawakening of the terror because they committed an act just as horrible and as a result, their children must now pay for their sins. The nightmare world is connected to reality, which effects the visual style of the film. This allows for anything to happen, there are no limitations. While other villains are restricted to real world laws of physics, Freddy Krueger can do anything when looking for people in their dreams. There are no physical limitations to what he can do. This also allows the filmmakers to do things in terms of effects that had not been done before, such as when Freddy pushes through the wall and knocks the crucifix over Tina's bed onto the floor. Weaving the reality sequences with the dream sequences so that the audience did not know which was which also had an impact on the visual style of the film. Some of the dreams appeared so realistic that when it was cut to reality or switched back into a nightmare it added even more surprise to the where the story was. The characters in this film are also very different from the typical characters in a slasher horror film. These characters have personalities and are intelligent. Nancy ,the female lead character, is a particularly strong character in the film. She is not about to let herself be killed by Freddy. She fights back by trying to stay awake drinking coffee and taking caffeine pills. She also discovers ways to go into the dream state and learn about it without being killed. She even manages to find a possible way to bring Freddy into reality from a dream and sets him up to be killed. Nancy redefines the role of a victim in this genre of film. She does not just run from the attacker to get away, nor does she try and hide from him. Rather she goes right into the killers world announces that she's there by screaming out "Krueger, I'm here", captures him herself by going after him, fights back and destroys Krueger for the time being by not fearing him and standing up to him. Freddy Krueger also redefines the typical role of a killer in this film. The typical stalker was one that never spoke, was unimaginative, and vicious, that captured their victim by chasing them down to a dead end. While Krueger is scary and dangerous, it is his wit and intelligence that really come through. He has a brain and knows how to use it, he uses all the tricks of the trade to lure his victims to him and is very cunning while he does it. He uses sarcasm and plays with the minds of the victims, for example when Krueger transforms himself into a high school girl hall monitor and asks Nancy where her hall pass is. This is not the typical image one would have of a killer but this lets the audience know that he is lurking about just waiting to make his move. The film also deals with certain thematic concerns, such as the role of parents and the police in society. The parents in this movie are not interested in what their children are telling them. Nancy's mother, who is an alcoholic, won't believe her when Nancy tells her about Freddy. Nancy's father, a police officer, doesn't show up to help Nancy when she brings Freddy out of her dream into reality, even though he said he would be there. Nancy believes that something might happen to Rod while he is in jail and she asks the police to check on him. The police don't check up on Rod and he is murdered in his cell by Krueger. The parents feel that there is no problem because they think that they solved the problem by killing Krueger themselves. The parents won't listen to their kids, which is a common theme in many movies. A Nightmare on Elm Street adds to the horror genre, by bringing into light the psychological aspect of horror, which can be much scarier than blood and gore. It brought a new perspective to the typical horror movie and allowed for serious character development. Therefore, it became possible to battle the killer, it became an issue of the mind, not over who was bigger or stronger. The movie gave motives for the plot and made it interesting and intelligent It also made a connection between what society fears and the reality of those fears. In an time when the horror film had become little more than a mindless game of cat and mouse, with excessive amounts of blood and gore, Wes Craven brought hope to the genre. A Nightmare on Elm Street intelligently probed into the audience's fear of nightmares and combines that with the fear of being trapped within a nightmare in order to create a very intelligent thought-provoking movie that helped to redefine the horror genre. Bibliography Brown, Gene. Movie Time, A Chronology of Hollywood and the Movie Industry from Its Beginnings to the Present. Macmillan Company, 1995. Mast, Gerald and Bruce Kawin. A Short History of the Movies, Seventh Edition, Allyn and Bacon, 2000. Kawin, Bruce. How Movies Work, University of California Press, 1992. f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\A Pageantry of Costumes.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ We think about the twelfth century as being captured by elegance, mystery and creative design. This was definitely shown by their costumes. The twelfth century was a time of intense religious worship, and when they performed on stage, the costumes were a release from their everyday restraints. The costumes of this century brought out the flair and individuality of the people wearing them. This had a great impact on theatre because even today, actors and actresses come alive when they get changed for performance. To show the evolution and slow, steady development of costume, it is necessary to go back to structural beginnings: the trunk-hose, the flat wool caps, and numerous other equally interesting details of dress in the twelfth century. The twelfth century was a magnificent pageantry of exotic and fantastic costumes, and after the disappearance of classical drama came the age of the liturgical or church drama of Western Europe. (Hartnoll 36) Not only was more attention paid to dress, but cosmetics were introduced from the Indies. Cosmetics were a way of hiding or disfiguring one's face to be anyone at all. Those in the twelfth century adored the fact that they could break away from their pale faces and dive into vivid colours and fancy make-up. It is impossible to illustrate more than a small fraction of the designs that may be found during this period, because its complexity adorns practically each item of apparel from hats to shoes. I have aimed to condense and simplify my essay in hopes of describing typical examples of the garments which, in all probability, were the wear of our predecessors from centuries ago. England at this period was the sole manufacturer of woolen stuffs; therefore wool, frieze, rugge, broadcloth, kersey, and similar materials were worn extensively in most productions. Only the wealthy actors/actresses could afford such fabrics as cloth of gold or silver, velvet, satin, tissue, tinsel and fine damask, which were all imported at fabulous prices from France, Spain and Italy. (Brooke 71) Velvet and satin were adored by all because it gave everyone a feeling of relaxation because of its touch and smooth texture. Actors and actresses loved wearing velvet and satin more than any other fabric. Women were the most popular purchasers of them, and most were quite remorseful when they had to remove their garments after their performance. Some of the actors/actresses liked to take home the velvet and satin to wear around their homes...but if anyone caught them, they would have "committed a terrible sin." Since the religious element was so strong back then, most awaited the chance to break free from the grips of everyday life. (Hartnoll 74) It is exceedingly difficult to find contemporary examples of the costumes of serving men and women of this period. The women's dress is particularly interesting because it is so much more diverse from their daily dressing routine. Pleated petticoats were in general use on stage, and the idea of fastening the skirt to the belt was probably to protect the skirt from getting unnecessarily spotted fronts. Peasant women wore simple woolen garments, their shifts were frequently made of linsey-woolsey. Gowns were usually laced up in the front of the dress, and had fairly close-fitting sleeves and waistlines. Women adored and fitted costumes because they could finally wear things that didn't cover the entire body, not to mention with drab colour schemes. Twelfth century religion forbade such exotic clothing such as those fitted ensembles, but every woman felt free and much more feminine in them. (Willett 16) Women's hose were of cloth and reached just above the knee, where they were tied; shoes were of cloth and reached just above the knee, where they were tied; shoes were of loose slippery variety with a flat sole and the toes were open. Open toes were another special plus for those in the twelfth century theatre. Open toed shoes were a sign of creativity, and mystery. Women loved to wear open toed shoes on stage. They had to wear black boot type shoes every other day which covered up most of their leg and their toes. (Willett 24) Near the end of the century, the "split-sleeve" came into vogue for the ladies of fashion. The sides were caught together with gold clasps instead of the more usual clasps. A large apron of hollard or some coarser fabric was always worn on stage, and the belt or girdle served to carry any small articles that women may need from time to time. Girdles and belts are still widely used today in theatre. This shows how twelfth century theatre has carried on through generations and is still used to costume and clothe stage performers today. Precious stones, gold and silver chains and clasps, and numerous rings were worn extensively. Gloves, when worn, were cut at the knuckles to show the rings beneath. Gloves, and expensive fine gems are still popular today and are still a vital touch for that finishing piece of a costume. (Hartnoll 52) The men wore simply a shirt and tights, the latter of cloth reaching from waist to toe, covered by a belted doublet of some rough wooden material that finished an inch or two above the knee and had long sleeves. Their boots or shoes were usually made of leather and covered the ankle. Sometimes a cloak or gown was worn for extra warmth on stage, because some of the plays were held outdoors. The costumes of the men have carried on through the years as well. Men are still quite simple in their dress and they liked to wear comfortable costumes. No itchy wool or cold satin for the men of the stage. Cloaks were most fashionable, short, barely reaching the hips, and sometimes worn swathed round in the venetian style. Shoulder padding was general, and "wings" were added to accentuate the width of the doublet. Venetians were a series of knee-breaches, bombasted, quilted, and padded. These usually reached just to the knee, and were either tied with a wide garter or finished with a small frill or bond. (Brooke 14) Probably the reason for so many changes in fashion and costume about the twelfth century was that they were so elaborate, and had splendid embroidery. The religious content of the theater broke free when the actors/actresses took to the stage. They felt like a new person. It is so significant because performers feel that same way today. So, we draw to a close, the most interesting century in our history, a century shaken by the discovery of a crazed enthusiasm, wild frenzies, and frantic expenditures. No sober-minded stay-at-homes were they. And the spirit of adventure, originality and extravagance must needs be given expression - hence the dazzling array of costumes, the exotic materials, and the priceless decorations set forth in the twelfth century. It was a period in time for people to let themselves loose when religion was so predominant in their lives. The twelfth century will also be significant in theatre history because their era was the building block to the future costumes that dazzle everyone. WORKS CITED / CONSULTED Brooke, Iris. Costumes In The Twelfth Century. London: Adam and Charles Black, 1967. Hartnoll, Phyllis. The Theatre: A Course In History. New York: Thames and Hudson Incorporated, 1985. Willet, C. Handbook of English Medieval Costume. London: Faber and Faber Ltd., 1969. f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\a representation of the true meaning of tragedy.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Arthur Miller's 'The Crucible' is clearly a representation of the true meaning of tragedy. John Proctor was, in fact, the medium, the tool, of which Miller utilized to convey a universal depiction of tragedy. A broad definition of a tragic hero is a protagonist who, through faults and flaws of his own and in the society in which he exists, falters in the grand scheme of things. This mistake leads to suffering, which ultimately leads to a self-realization. Miller, himself, has said, 'Tragedy, then, is the consequence of a man's total compulsion to evaluate himself justly,' leading us to believe that a greater theme encompasses this downfall. Miller, as well as many other literary critics seem to convey that tragedy revolves around two universal aspects: fear and freedom. 'The Crucible' is a direct parallel to the multiple ideals of tragedy and thus centers around John Proctor's fear and freedom while he exists as a tragic hero. The first stage in the process of establishing the tragic hero for Miller was relaying the characteristics of John Proctor. It was essential that Proctor be viewed as the so called 'good guy' in the plot, one who stands out or the audience can relate to. He is described as a 'farmer in his middle thirties' with a ' powerful body' and a 'steady manner', and is already being established as the protagonist in which we sympathize with.(p.19) Miller's choice to describe him in such a fashion is very significant. By describing the tragic hero as a 'strong, steady, farmer' the dramatic effect is even greater. Who else better to fall victim to his own personal freedom and the fear of others but the strong, stern character? John Proctor's description also provides another outlet to convey the dynamic nature of his character. While the physical side of Proctor deteriorated towards the conclusion of the story a contrast is created. John is said to be '...another man, bearded, filthy, his eyes misty as though webs had overgrown them, ' an obvious discrepancy from his initial condtion.(p.123) Thus, John's physical delineation is an apparent parallel to the changes he emotionally undergoes making him a dynamic character. Miller also establishes Proctor as the protagonist by giving him qualities the audience found favor with. John went against the normalities and conceptions of the townsfolk. An aspect we can truly justify, especially in America. Proctor's practical nature is indicated when he often does not attend Church. He does not agree with Parris' talk of hell, exclaiming 'Can you speak one minute without we land in Hell again?' and thus turns away from the Church, clearly emphasizing that rebellious side.(p.28) The second step in creating the tragic hero is emphasizing the mistake or flaw which brings upon the character's descent. It is in this stage that fear and freedom enter as a major part of John Proctor's actions. 'And if society alone is responsible for the cramping of our lives then the protagonist must needs be so pure and faultless as to force us to deny his validity as a character. From neither of these views can tragedy derive, simply because neither represents a balanced concept of life.'(Miller) It is this balance between the internal and external that opens the door for fear and freedom to enter. Fear is society's tool. In Puritan New England paranoia was a common aspect. The people lived in fear of the devil, a physical devil that existed and walked among them. When word spread, speaking of witchcraft in Salem, that fear, that paranoia emerged ever so imminently and thus began the tragedy. With the people's fear came rumors. Mrs. Putnam asked, 'How high did she fly, how high?' of Betty clearly exhibiting that rumors of witchcraft were surfacing and spreading.(p.12) Subsequently, from such rumors came the accusations. It was the accusations that proved most costly. People turned against each other saving themselves by accusing their neighbors. All of these consequences sprouted from fear in the hearts and minds of the people of Salem. Fear, however, only contributed to this tragedy. John Proctor's freedom within was the other half that completes the equation. It was this freedom that resulted in his mistakes, his flaws. Proctor chose to have relations, outside of his marriage to Elizabeth with Abigail. In Act Two, John makes a determined effort to please Elizabeth. He kisses her perfunctoritly; he lies in saying that her cooking is well-seasoned (perhaps a kind of irony on the lack of spice in Elizabeth) showing the strain in their relationship. (Murray, 46) Like all men Proctor had his temptations yet his freedom allowed him to give in to them. Through his own freedom John 'lusted with the girl' and went 'against the law of God and Salem' (Murray, 46) Freedom also existed in John's choice to not attend Church. It was this choice that also contributed to his downfall, for it did not put him in the best standings with the townspeople. The fear in society and the freedom of John Proctor both complement each other in that balance that Miller spoke of . Tragedy comes from what the protagonist can, as well as cannot control. This evidence clearly holds true to Miller's definition of tragedy. Suffering was a major step in coaxing John to his realization. He suffered mentally and emotionally because of his flaw, as the heat of the accusations intensified. He witnessed his wife Elizabeth go through the agony of being accused as a witch. he suffers because he too was accused of betraying God. Their true suffering becomes apparent when Proctor confesses to adultery to pardon Elizabeth. Elizabeth lies in turn to save her husband's name. They endured this torment for each other. They endured it till their day of sentencing. This extreme anguish and emotional stress which Miller creates adds to the sence of tragedy. It is this emphatical grief which makes the conclusion of The Crucible so outstanding. Miller utilizes the sorrow to make Proctor's all-important realization that much more spectacular. However, in the Greek definition of tragedy this suffering would serve as pathos. Pathos is the element of sympathy in the plot to evoke pity. In the Greek tradition this was essential to the plot. However, Miller does not see his tragedy as one that should include pity for the protagonist. 'The possibility of victory must be there in tragedy. Where pathos rules, where pathos is finally derived, a character has fought a battle he could not have possible won.'(Miller) This statement demonstrates the conflict in belief. Miller feels the protagonist must emerge victorious in some way where the Greek tradition relies on an emphasis of pity. In Miller's view, how can we have pity for someone who has won? This is where the conflict lies and as we see in Proctor's realization, ' The Crucible' will hold true to Miller's definition. Proctor learns something about himself and the world around him in his final realization before his execution. This is the concluding step in the tragic plot. 'Tragedy seems to me to be an investigation of the possibilities of human freedom.'(Kerr) Again, it is Proctor's freedom that makes him a tragic hero. 'I cannot mount the gibbet like a saint. It is a fraud, I am not that man. My honesty is broke, Elizabeth; I am no good man. Nothing's spoiled by giving them this lie that were not rotten long before... I want my life... I will have my life... Then who will judge me? God in Heaven, what is John Proctor, what is John Proctor? I think it is honest, I think so; I am no saint.' (pp. 126-127) These passages indicate that Proctor has come to see the truth. He has the freedom now, to not give in to them, to let God judge him. 'I think the tragic feeling is evoked in us when we are in the presence of a character who is ready to lay down his life, if need be- to secure one thing- his sense of personal dignity.'(Miller) Miller's definition of tragedy is a clear cut example of Proctor's actions in 'The Crucible.' Proctor realizes that his confession to these people violated his freedom. He learned that we need to answer to God and God only for forgiveness. The confession revoked Proctor's dignity and his freedom. Miller says, 'Tragedy enlightens... in that it points the heroic finger at the enemy of man's freedom.' Proctor sees this and points a heroic finger at those people who tried to take his freedom. f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\A review of Glory.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Glory captures the heroism of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw and the first black regiment in the Civil War, the Massachusetts "Fighting" Fifty-fourth. An extremely talented cast and crew earned three Academy Awards (cinematography, sound and supporting actor) and five nominations for their work in Glory. The outstanding cinematography, sound, score and acting recreate the events leading up to the Union attack on Fort Wagner on July 18th 1863. Matthew Broderick portrays the young Bostonian abolitionist Col. Robert G. Shaw who takes command of the Fifty-fourth, following the Emancipation Proclamation. Shaw along with Cabot Forbes (Cary Elwes) leads a band of ex slaves, servants and other black volunteers including a rebellious runaway slave Trip (Denzel Washington), Shaw's educated childhood friend Thomas Searles (Andre Braugher), and a former grave digger Rawlins (Morgan Freeman). Together these men face the adversity of a racist Union Army, struggling to prove themselves worthy of their government issued blue uniforms. After months of training and exploitation for physical labor, the Fifty-fourth gains the opportunity to fight in an attack on Fort Wagner on the beaches of South Carolina. Poised to dispel the belief that blacks would not be disciplined under fire, the Fifty-fourth leads the almost suicidal attack on Ft. Wagner. There Col. Shaw valiantly falls and the Fifty-fourth, suffering great losses, displayed the courage that persuaded the Union to enlist many more black soldiers. Matthew Broderick delivers a noteworthy performance in the role of Col. Shaw, which Leonard Maltin calls his most ambitious part. In an interview for the New York Times, Broderick spoke of his method acting, "The first step [in preparing for the role of Robert Gould Shaw in Glory] was to try to learn as much as I could about the real person. That was mostly from letters, photographs, descriptions and a poem by Emerson. The thing I had to do was bring myself into that situation. I didn't want to be an imitation of what I thought Shaw must have been like." Broderick's acting talent has been noted on Broadway as well as in films. Broderick won a Tony Award for his performance in "Brighton Beach Memoirs" in 1983, a year after his film debut in Max Dugan Returns. (Maltin, 102) But it was his role as a computer hacker in War Games and his role as a handsome young teen touring Chicago in Ferris Bueller's Day Off that alerted moviegoers to his talent. Denzel Washington has received critical acclaim for his role as Trip (as well as an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor). Denzel commented on the role of Trip in an interview with the New York Times. "Trip's an instigator - wild, rebellious, angry. He's a product of racism who's become a racist. He hates all white people, Confederates most of all. But in the end, when he sees the white officers make the maximum sacrifice, he's the most patriotic one in the bunch." Director of Glory, Edward Zwick described Washington by stating, "Whatever that mysterious chemical process is that makes the camera love someone, he has more of it than any one person should."(Maltin, 921) It is that presence that earned him an Oscar for Glory and nominations for his roles in Cry Freedom and Malcolm X. Equally as important as acting to the impact of the movie Glory is the Musical score composed by James Horner. In the final battle scene in Glory, Horner chose the Boys Choir of Harlem which creates a moving effect during the death of Col. Robert Shaw.(Magill, 158) Horner won a Grammy Award for the score for Glory. He was nominated the same year for an Academy Award for the score for Field of Dreams. Horner's previous Grammy Awards include song of the year and best song written for a motion picture or television, all for "Somewhere Out There" from An American Tale in 1987. (CTFT, 228) Leonard Maltin calls Horner one of today's most prolific film composer's. Horner composed thirty one motion picture scores from 1979 to 1989. (Maltin, 411) There are many elements that contribute to the success of a film. Glory combines the best cinematography, sound, score, and acting to create a moving representation of this portion of U. S. history. Roger Ebert called it a "strong and valuable film." In his review written for the Chicago Sun-Times, Ebert notes the amount of effort devoted to accurate period detail. One of Ebert's criticisms of Glory is that the perspective of the movie is constantly seen from one view, that of the white officer. Ebert points out that a white man is cast as the lead role when the movie is essentially about a black experience. Glory could have been told from the eyes of a black soldier in the Fifty-fourth. Ebert makes a valid assumption when he suggest that a totally different film could be made from the same material. Indeed Glory is a story of how the freed blacks were able to prove themselves in battle. The Fifty- fourth regiment could also be considered one of the first times we see blacks look for equal opportunity. Ebert notes the scene when the black soldiers of the Fifty-fourth learn they will not be paid the regular (white) wage. "Blacks march as far, bleed as much and die as soon, they argue."(Ebert) It would be 100 years later that they gained equal opportunity when in Vietnam both black and white soldiers were interspersed in the military. While Roger Ebert discusses the idea of a different point of view he notes that Glory is an important film no matter who's eyes it is seen from. Blake Lukas on the other hand is far more critical of the film. In Lukas' review for Magill's Cinema Annual he picks at elements of the film, including weak characterization and directing that leaves something to be desired. Lukas seems at times to be lost in his own rhetoric when he writes about the dismal war genre. He delves into the number of Vietnam films that are "a far more popular subject in this period."(Magill, 155) After a brief synopsis of the film Lukas comments on the dynamics of the protagonist character who we see mature through the film. The remaining characters Lukas believes lack dimension. He calls the role of Cabot Forbes "fleetingly interesting" and the role of Trip, (which Denzel Washington won Best Supporting Actor for) "predictable." He goes on further to say that the role of Rawlins portrayed by Morgan Freeman is only enlightened by this "brilliant actor's own characteristic intelligence." Therefore without the phenomenal acting talent presented in Glory Lukas feels the movie would be flat. In addition to finding flaw in the characterization Lukas compares director Edward Zwick to the director John Ford. Ford directed earlier Civil War films such as The Horse Soldiers(1959) or Sergeant Rutledge (1960)which based on the an all black calvary regiment in the Civil War. Lukas suggest that Ford was able to attain a "thematic richness" that alluded Zwick. Lukas also remarks that Zwick used ineffective "emphasis on close ups and shallow focus which do little to make the film's historical moment seem ...alive in spite of admirable attention to detail in the art direction sets and costumes." Lukas is impressed however by Zwick's direction of the final scene in which he uses "vigorous tracking shots " to create a "stunning effect." Lukas also comments on the James's Horner's inventive use of the Boy's Choir of Harlem. Lukas suggest that Zwick looked to appeal to contemporary audiences. Interestingly enough Lukas is surprised that Glory met with such "critical and commercial success." I was surprised to read the review written by Blake Lukas where he constantly compares Zwick to a former director of Civil War films John Ford, and when he persist in mentioning the dismal nature of most war films. Lukas states that "Glory offers an idealism and sense of heroism that contrast powerfully to the spectacle of bloodshed and war's waste of life that it also visualizes." Lukas seems hung up on the waste of life that is portrayed in war film's. In my opinion Glory was not a movie about whether or not we as a nation should participate in wars. It was about the progress of the black race and the fierce battle they had to fight a long the way to attain each rung on the ladder of freedom. Lukas criticism seems out of place when he writes about Vietnam and the "American soldier's potential for barbarism." Lukas also seems hung up on the past. he makes two comments which seem out of place. First when comparing Zwick to Ford he states that Zwick does not attempt the same "thematic richness" and that "(Zwick's) sensibilities are more attuned with the responses of the 1989 audiences." I don't think Zwick should be faulted for creating a film that is appealing to contemporary audiences." I certainly would not go see a film directed by Lukas. Desson Howe reviewing Glory for the Washington Post like Lukas notes that the scriptwriter Jarre (who's credits include Rambo: First Blood Part II) provides only a superficial characterization "his script is made better by the performers." Howe believes that the is too much "liberal eyed giddiness (thanks chiefly to the gushy, rhapsodizing score by James Horner)." Both Ebert and Lukas acclaim Broderick's performance of Shaw, yet Howe criticizes it writing, "In this movie he is an amiable non-presence, creating unintentionally the notion that he Fifty-fourth earned its stripes despite wimpy leadership." This comment lead me to wonder whether Howe and I saw the same movie. Howe notes that the performance of Denzel Washington, and Morgan Freeman uplift the film. Perhaps the reviewers did not have the luxury of time to research the history of Robert Gould Shaw or the Fifty-fourth. If so they would have found that Shaw was indeed a youthful officer given charge of the Fifty-Fourth as Colonel at the age of 26. Understanding Shaw philosophical views as an abolitionist and the societal views of blacks being subservient to whites, certainly a young man leading the first black regiment would experience a certain degree of self doubt and contradiction. In the end Shaw develops the courage to lead his men into battle to a symbolic triumph displaying the bravery of these black soldiers. Broderick's portrayal of Shaw is credible from my point of view. The credibility of Glory is heighten by the amount of effort devoted to recreating the historical details. From the camps to the costumes Glory captures the aura of battle. Most of the critics agree that the historical detail was a redeeming element of the film. Glory is a film that balances it shortcomings out with exceptional talent. Perhaps a lack of dimension in the characters is balanced with outstanding performances. Any faults in the directing are made up by the detail put in to the film and the superior sound and score. Glory is a carefully constructed film with a didactic theme. It is an accurate representation of the lives of Civil War soldiers. The climax of the movie is fairly accurately represented. The Fifty-fourth regiment had slightly over five hundred members when they marched into battle on July 18th, 1863. Over two hundred and fifty members of the regiment died in that battle and several more were injured. That is what proved to the white regiments looking on that the black soldiers were worthy of battle. Glory captures that triumph. Bibliography Contemporary Theatre, Film and Television. Detroit: Gale Research, Volume 10 Ebert, Roger. The Chicago Sun-Times, January 12, 1990 Howe, Desson. The Washington Post, January 12, 1990 Lukas, Blake. Magill's Cinema Annual 1990, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Salem Press, 1990 Maltin, Leonard. Leonard Maltin's Movie Encyclopedia, The Penguin Publishing Company, New York, NY 1994. All I ever needed to know about Glory, I learned in AMCV 192. Stephanie Beck April 9, 1997 Prof. Deutch f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\A review of the play Violet.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Violet The play "Violet" takes place in the mid-1960's and focuses on a young woman in search for a miracle, and who bears a horrendous scar on her face from an accident when she was a child. The musical opens with Violet boarding a Greyhound bus that is traveling to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where she hopes to be physically healed by a famous TV preacher. On her journey of self-discovery, she meets several people, including two soldiers, who soon become her friends. As the young adults traveling advances, so does their understanding of many important lessons and choices about life and growing up. Throughout the play, Violet flashes back to her childhood memories, especially those moments with her father, whom she condemns total responsibility for the accident. Ultimately, Violet experiences a form of healing that is truly more important than the physical miracle she was searching for. The books and lyrics of "Violet" were composed by Brian Crawley and music by Jeanine Tesori. The musical was based on "The Ugliest Pilgrim" written by Doris Betts. The story has its strong and weak aspects. Although an understanding of relationships in a story, much less a musical, can be difficult to portray, were for the most part depicted very well. However, the play failed to represent a fully developed relationship between Violet and Flick, an African-American soldier. The comical moments and witty sarcasm also benefit the story and kept the audience's interest when a song was not being belted out by one of the talented characters. Furthermore, the flashbacks used throughout the play, although they are important for giving background information, were at times quite confusing and hard to follow. Scenic designer, F. Nels Anderson, designed the set that included many props located on two sliding platforms from each side of the stage. These platforms, along with other props around the stage, created various locales such as the bus, a nightclub, and a hotel room. A fairly attractive backdrop showing a sky with clouds was also used. Louis Gagliano provided the strong lighting design that included different colors that highlighted the sky backdrop. During cheerful moments the backdrop was lit with warm and bright colors, while dark and gloomy lights projected the background during more somber scenes. The costumes by Greg Horton were, for the most part, appropriate for the time period, although some were quite revealing. Director Jennifer Jones Cavanaugh portrayed the culture of the 60's very well. She also handled the scene changes in an effective and smooth manner as best she possibly could, and adequately distinguished between the flashbacks and daydreams in an orderly fashion. However, the most effective staging technique used to portray the plays meaning was the use of projections. Since Violet's scar was not visually noticeable, Cavanaugh effectively used a projected image of the scar, which hangs above the stage and slides forward as Violet looks at her disfigured face. The audience finally gets a glimpse at the scar and sees it as Violet sees it. Although "Violet" is a difficult musical to stage, the talented cast proved their vocal abilities very well. On the contrary, several songs seemed hurried and hard to understand the meaning behind them, which can be problematic since a musical's songs are meant to be the plots "action." In other words, the music should tell the story and or the message, and this was the point where the production seemed to fail at the most. Sarah Jane Johnson and Maggie Joyner each take on the roles of Violet and Young Violet, respectively. There was a remarkable resemblance between these two actresses, which also benefited the production. Johnson displayed a beautiful singing voice that fits the material, but did not convey the complexities of the character very well. The audience should have felt sorry for Violet, but they never really seemed convinced of the characters emotional pain. Flick, the African-American soldier played by Andrew P. Jackson II, not only brought a soulful voice to the production, but also formed a parallel emphasis to the plays meaning. Although he does not have a physical scar, the fact that he was a black man in the south during this time period indicates that he knew what it was like to be judged by one's skin. Overall, the production as a whole conveyed the meaning of the play as best as it could. The story itself is complicated with so many things going on, which can make staging very difficult. Cavanaugh's staging choices were satisfactory in presenting the meaning of the play. The projections were extremely helpful in that area. Although some characters personalities were portrayed better than others, the actors and actresses, overall, did a pleasing job, with the exception of a few songs being rushed. However, underdeveloped relationships and the flashbacks throughout the play seemed to be unclear and left the audience somewhat confused. f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\A Risen Hell Capturing memorable moments.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ A Risen Hell Pictures can capture memories in many different ways. Looking at a picture close enough can do more than catch your eye, it can tell a story. Sometimes, words aren't even needed to convey the message behind the photo. Some of the most compelling stories are captured in graphic images. These are photographs that produce a negative effect and feeling to the viewer. To truly capture a memorable moment, you really have to see more than the obvious; you have to read the image like a story. The controversy behind the publication of graphic images has led me to take two different opinions. There are many pictures that bring up controversy in society. Many are of recent, and many were taken in the past. The picture that I have chosen to discuss is on the mass extermination of Jews in World War Two. "War photographs" implies more than just pictures of combat: it can refer to military photographs in general, or photographs of civilians caught in the middle of conflicts. For many people, the photographs of the concentration camps, which came out only after World War II, were too much. The suffering and death at these and other concentration camps were greater than any before endured. These photographs may be the most shocking ever published. After them there could be equally graphic horrors (such as the Columbine tragedy for example) but not the initial shock at what human beings had done, or the shock of seeing and reading how bad the Jews were treated As war photography and photographs of other extreme situations have become increasingly graphic, it has been argued that seeing such images have made us routinely used to the horrors of such images. In his essay on the Holocaust, Stephen Feinstein tells us, "Some say that even the special realism the camera brings to the depiction of war can no longer shock, for we have seen too much, and true shock is no longer possible." The photo I chose to discuss was taken in Auschwitz during World War Two. Auschwitz, Birkenau, Buna, and Buchenwald were all concentration camps that were responsible for the murder of nearly six million Jews during World War Two. Just about every photo that was taken at one of these camps is graphic in some way or another. Whenever looking at this picture, it is not amusing in any way. Here in this picture we have a Jew, just seconds before the prison guard is about to pull the trigger and sending his murdered corpse into the cremation pit that is already full of dead bodies. How scared he has to be. This Jew is perceived as nothing other than a nuisance to this guard and the Nazi republic. This picture says a lot about how bad these camps were. As society views graphic photos such as these, many questions should be asked in deciding whether certain questionable photos should be published, or used. Clearly, these questions should be taken into account whenever the photo is "negative" in nature or presents the ugly side of life. Pictures of the "good, happy and beautiful," as long as they are not manufactured or posed, will always pass well in society. I have an uncertain attitude toward this photo. The right side of my brain tells me that the picture deserves publication so that the public will know the problem of how horrible the tragedies of the Holocaust were. This side of my brain also tells me that only certain audiences should be able to view these horrific photos, and in part only audiences old enough to understand the Holocaust should be concerned with such photography. The media on the other hand shouldn't have to censor the photos of extreme graphics in photography. It is television that would maybe need censored, but not photography. Those that think they are too graphic need to decide for themselves on whether to view them. Even in some cases they can't help whether they see them or not, but it goes against what my views in censoring them in photography anyway. The left side of my brain, however, is sending me the message that it is not fair to the Jews to be photographed and shown to the public in such a depressing condition. They are as much entitled to respect as their more well-off counterparts in our society. It's bad enough that they have been neglected throughout the most part of the twentieth century. Giving publicity to their sad plight only adds to their already miserable condition. I also think that in our economy, the media has a strong influence on how people related to many different topics. The audience in my opinion doesn't have that much say in what gets printed. The media does influence public opinion, but they are rarely guilty of creating or manipulating it. People are going to think what they want to think, and media is going to print what they want to print. In relate to commercial purposes, I don't think that coverage on television would be good because photos are enough. There are also many different kinds of audiences that watch television. On the other hand younger audiences don't tend to look at magazines like "Life" or "Newsweek," that are more likely to have such photos in them, as much as they would look at "Ranger Rick." On television, there can be anything that pops up on commercials that young kids see. These are my views on everything. In conclusion, the times of the Holocaust offered society with photography that shocked the world. As we look at pictures, we can find stories of the unimaginary that linger in our minds. The country's dilemma will probably always be at stake with the publication of certain photography. f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\A Rock Concert Essay.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ A Rock Concert Have you ever experienced an overload of every sense at once? Well, rock concerts can almost take you there. I went to see AC/DC in the spring of 1991, and it was truly a festival of sensory overloads. My body felt as if they stimulated it in every area to its complete capacity. The level of sound was so astronomical. The decibel level was on the threshold of pain. The music roared through the streets for miles, outside the coliseum. Every time the bass drum was struck, I could feel the repercussion in the organs within my chest. It even made my teeth chatter. The concrete floor beneath me seemed to move with the beat of each song. The number of people was enormous. I had to actually become one with the people next to me. The crowd provided or allowed no personal space. We were all packed in there liked caged wildcats. I had to move as the crowd allowed or insisted. Everything was done as a group. There were no individuals here. It was only one group of crazed fans fighting for that one glimpse of their favorite band. The crowd would shift as people passed out. This only allowed me to move closer to the front. As you can tell, I was packed in until the end. Your sight was not left out either. Plenty of pyrotechnics kept your eyes filled with colorful wonder as the music played on. Souvenir "AC/DC money" fell from the top of the building. The bills fluttered down to the hungry hands of the crowd. The stage was a constant flurry of excitement. This was generally caused by the hyperactive guitarist, Angus Young. Angus was never at a stand still. He wore a path in the floor running back and forth. Brian Johnson, the singer, also aided in the constant "food for your eyes." These guys made the show spectacular. At no point was there a lull in the show. The light and fireworks kept me craving more. A fireball would fly to the left, then to the right. The crowd was kept in a constant trance. If you love to have every sense tantalized, then try going to a concert by your favorite band. I love it every time. f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\A Rock Concert.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ A Rock Concert Have you ever experienced an overload of every sense at once? Well, rock concerts can almost take you there. I went to see AC/DC in the spring of 1991, and it was truly a festival of sensory overloads. My body felt as if they stimulated it in every area to its complete capacity. The level of sound was so astronomical. The decibel level was on the threshold of pain. The music roared through the streets for miles, outside the coliseum. Every time the bass drum was struck, I could feel the repercussion in the organs within my chest. It even made my teeth chatter. The concrete floor beneath me seemed to move with the beat of each song. The number of people was enormous. I had to actually become one with the people next to me. The crowd provided or allowed no personal space. We were all packed in there liked caged wildcats. I had to move as the crowd allowed or insisted. Everything was done as a group. There were no individuals here. It was only one group of crazed fans fighting for that one glimpse of their favorite band. The crowd would shift as people passed out. This only allowed me to move closer to the front. As you can tell, I was packed in until the end. Your sight was not left out either. Plenty of pyrotechnics kept your eyes filled with colorful wonder as the music played on. Souvenir "AC/DC money" fell from the top of the building. The bills fluttered down to the hungry hands of the crowd. The stage was a constant flurry of excitement. This was generally caused by the hyperactive guitarist, Angus Young. Angus was never at a stand still. He wore a path in the floor running back and forth. Brian Johnson, the singer, also aided in the constant "food for your eyes." These guys made the show spectacular. At no point was there a lull in the show. The light and fireworks kept me craving more. A fireball would fly to the left, then to the right. The crowd was kept in a constant trance. If you love to have every sense tantalized, then try going to a concert by your favorite band. I love it every time. f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\A Seperate Peace.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ A Separate Peace is a novel about two boy's lives and how they evolve during the course of WWII. The story was written by John Knowles, who also left home to attend a school at the age of 15. The story involves many instances in which the barriers between friendship and rivalry are cited. One of the main characters of the story, Phineas, often demonstrates that it is important to be yourself and try to make the best out of a situation whenever confronted by one. Phineas is athletic, friendly, and competitive. Phineas is a very athletic person. He seems to be good at any sport he tries and all of it comes without practice or post-effort. During the course of his stay at Devon, Phineas wins several awards in all the sports he plays in. One day while the others are away, Phineas and Gene go to the gym and Phineas breaks the school time trial record for swimming. If Gene was not injured by his fall out of the tree then he would be able to compete in the Olympics. Phineas is a friendly and outgoing kind of person. Finny was always friendly and respectful towards other people and whenever one of his classmates such as Leper was being isolated from the rest of group, Finny would take up for him. Even though Gene made Finny break his leg, Finny still didn't hold anything against him and refused to believe what happened. Finny has always been friendly to others due to his outgoing personality. Finny is a competitive sportsman like person. Whenever Finny sees a challenge that has never been achieved he will try to do what the others could not. During the summer when there was nothing else to do, Finny decides to make a club. When the club meets, all the members have to jump out of the tree to be initiated. Finny will always stand up to challenges set by others and succeed in breaking them. Although Finny is not very smart, his athletic talents make up for it. With Finny's outgoing attitude and friendliness, he can usually talk his way out of most situations that arise while at Devon. When Finny died after breaking his leg, the world lost a great person. f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\A Slice of life.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Thump!Thump! There was a loud noise at the door, "Alright hold on, I'm coming." Tim yelled. Tim was in his early twenties, he had a blue mowhawk, always dressed shabby, and addicted to heroin. Tim walked to the door and opened it, "Yes." he said sarcastically. The man at the door asked if Gwen was home, "Are you Gwen's new boyfriend" Tim asked him. "Yes I am, my name is Tony" he replied. "Nice to meet you" Tim said. "No, Gwen is not here right now. I think she is still trying to get the job at that bar on 6th street" Tim replied. "Oh, well tell her that I came by and just to give me a call, OK?" Tony said. "One problem" Tim said. "Oh, and what's that?" Tony replied. "Didn't Gwen tell you?" Tim said "we don't have a phone, or a T.V or any other appliances, we are gutterpunks. Why do you think we live in this shed?" "Well I guess I will just come back later" Tony said with a strange look on his face. "Tim! Wakeup! " Gwen yelled. "Huh?" Tim replied. "Wakeup!," she yelled back. "Oh, OK" Tim yelled back. "That boy, Tony came by, looking for you, he thought we had a phone." Tim said chuckling. "You didn't tell him that we don't have a phone or the other stuff did you?!" Gwen yelled. "Um, well kinda yeah, why?" Tim questioned. " Why?" she yelled and stormed off. Gwen was the type of girl who didn't care what people thought of her, but she didn't like it when people would find out that she was poor. She had blonde hair, and was very thin. She wore sequined pants, and these funny looking shirts most of the time, unless she went out. "Gwen?, Mike, and Shirley are home. Look I'm sorry I told Tony." Tim said. "Send Shirley in." Gwen yelled back. "Shirley, Gwen wants you." Tim said. " I'll be right in" she yelled back. Shirley was an Irish girl whose parents had both died, and she was sent to America to live with her aunt, she ran away and met Mike. Shirley had red hair, and was also a weird dresser, she had a job at a library filing books. The pay was bad but she would accept anything, that would keep them alive. "I'm outside Gwen, come on out and we will talk." Shirley yelled into the shed. "What's wrong with her?" Mike asked. "Tim told her new boyfreind we were poor," Shirley replied. "So, what's wrong with being poor?" Mike asked, " We have a place to sleep and we're happy." "Yeah, but you know how Gwen is about these things." Shirley said. "Yeah, I guess," Mike replied. Mike had brown hair, worked in a music store that paid him almost nothing. He plays the guitar really well, and has tried out to be in local bands so he could earn money but hadn't been lucky. He is the only one of the group that knew about Tim's heroin problem. Gwen walked out of the shack and apologized to Tim for storming off, and told Shirley that she was OK, and didn't need to talk anymore. "So, Tim, when are you gonna go look for a job?" Mike asked. "Ugh.....me work!?" Tim replied sarcastically. "Yes you." Mike said. "I will start first thing tomorrow, looking for one, I promise." Tim said. "Well I don't know about you guys but I'm going for a walk."Tim said. "Bye" they all said. "Maybe I should go with him," Mike thought to himself. "I'll be back in a minute," Mike told the girls. He ran to catch up with Tim, "Tim!" he yelled "Wait up!" "What do you want?" Tim asked. "Do you have any heroin with you?" Mike asked " Oh, so you know I'm hooked?" Tim questioned. "No! I am just making sure you don't, so you won't mess yourself up." Mike said "Mike, just leave me alone, I don't need you telling me what to do!" Tim yelled at Mike. "Fine but don't think about coming back to the house unless you quit right now!" Mike yelled back. "Fine then, tell gwen and shirley that it was nice knowing them." Tim said. "I wonder where they are?" Gwen said. "I am sure they will be home soon." Shirley said. Clang! The door of the shed opened, Mike walked in but no Tim, he explained the whole thing to them about Tim being addicted to heroin. Both of the girls were shocked, and insisted that they go and find Tim. Mike said " I'm sure he'll be back, lets just wait." "I sure hope so," Shirley said. The next day Mike, and Shirley went to work and Gwen stayed home. Gwen was cleaning the house, when a policeman came by. He said that Tim had been found dead in an alley. She asked how he had found out where Tim lived, he said that he had seen, him walking over here many times. Gwen informed everyone of the news, they all cried and were sad. Mike thought that they should all forget about it and go on with their lives, they all agreed. Gwen got a job working in a bar, Mike still worked at the record store which was becoming more and more popular, and Shirley still worked at the library. So all together they made a pretty good amount of money. "Maybe we could get an apartment?" Gwen asked the other two. "Yeah!" Shirley said "What do you think, Mike?" "I think that would be pretty good, we would have our own showers and stuff, I think that's a great idea." Mike agreed. So the next day they went looking for an apartment, they went to three housing developments and finally found one with three bedrooms, a phone and one shower for one-hundred-fifty dollars a month. They decided to take it. They moved in the next day, and were settled. They all liked the apartment, and everyone was happy. Everyone continued their jobs and they gradually raised enough money to buy a car. One night they were walking down the street, and Mike saw an ad for tryouts for a band, "Should I try out for that?" he asked the girls, "Sure go for it, Mike." Gwen said. The next day Mike went to the tryout and was picked over many guitarists. The band told him that he would start playing the next day, and that they were going to tour in a few weeks. Mike thought this was the greatest thing ever. "Can you believe this!?" Mike screamed with joy, "I have never been so happy." "Well what are you going to do about your job?" Shirley asked. "I don't know, do you think I should quit? Because the band said we were going to tour," Mike replied. "Yea well what happens if you guys break up then what are you going to do?" Shirley said. "Well hopefully I will have enough money from touring that I won't need to worry for awhile." Mike replied. "Oh well do whatever you want," Shirley said. After a few days, Mike came home and told the girls that that he was going to leave for awhile to go and do some shows. They asked when he would be back and he said he didn't know. Mike went on touring and Gwen and Shirley kept doing what they were doing. Gwen continued seeing Tony, and they finally decided to get married, it was ironic that Tony's family was a very wealthy family. When Gwen broke the news to Shirley, Shirley was happy and sad. She was happy that Gwen was getting married, but she was sad because she would have no one to live with. "Oh, Shirley, I am so sorry but I really want to get married and get away from this type of living and this apartment." Gwen sobbed " I know, I would too if I could but you go ahead, and get married, live a happy life." Shirley replied. "Thank you" Gwen said hugging Shirley. A month later Gwen and Tony were married and moved to Orange County, California. Shirley still resided in Berkeley, and seemed happy living alone, she had gotten a smaller apartment that wasn't so expensive. A slice of life. f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\A Stay at the Holiday Inn.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ "Holiday Inn" was a very popular film when released in 1942. The musical was written by Irving Berlin who featured in his film many stars of the decade. Actor-singer Bing Crosby stars as Jim Hardy and features his hit song "White Christmas." Actor-dancer Fred Astaire stars as Ted Hanover who thrills the crowd with his astonishingly superior tap dancing. Jim is an easy-going man who wants to relax, away from the big-city life. Ted is all about show business, making himself popular, and at any expense. Virginia Dale plays Lila Dixon, Jim and Ted's former dance partner as well as fiancée. Marjorie Reynolds takes the role of Linda Mason, a former clerk in a flower shop turned song and dance performer. The plot of the film is not hard to follow; it simply contains many twists and turns throughout. Jim, Ted, and Lila are famous song and dance performers in New York City in the 1930's and 1940's who perform together. In the beginning, Jim and Lila are engaged and ready to retire from the stage to relax on Jim's newly bought farm in Midville, Connecticut. On the night of their last performance, Jim finds out that Lila is leaving him to marry Ted so as to continue dancing and singing. With all settled, Jim moves to his farm alone and comes up with a plan to make the place into an inn where performers would perform for an audience, but only on holidays. All that he needs to do is find a partner. Danny Reid, Ted's agent and friend, meets a young woman, Linda Mason, in a flower shop. He is bothered by her and, suspecting she has no talent, sends her to Holiday Inn to audition. When she gets to Jim's farm she automatically gets the part and her first performance is on Christmas. At the New Year's performance, Linda runs into and dances with the incredibly drunk Ted Hanover, whom Lila has just dumped for a Texas millionaire. Ted wants Linda for his new dance partner, but does not know what she looks like, so he and Danny spend several weeks trying to find her. All the while, Jim and Linda are engaged and Jim is trying to hide her from Ted. Finally, on Valentine's Day, Danny and Ted succeed in finding Linda and offer her the job of being Ted's dance partner. Basically, what happens after that goes by very quickly. Linda gets mad at Jim because he does not trust her and ends up going with Ted to make a movie about Holiday Inn in Hollywood. Jim closes down the inn, then stays at home, depressed, until his maid, Mamie, tells him that he needs to go after Linda. So Jim travels to the studio in Hollywood to get Linda back and he succeeds, to Ted and Danny's dismay. Everything ends up fine, however. Jim gets Linda back, Lila leaves her millions-owed millionaire and returns to Ted, and Holiday Inn is reopened. The women and men in this movie are very fickle because of their excessive changing of partners. Clubs were open late into the night where song and dance entertained large crowds along with food and alcohol. The dancing was taken place to the beat of swing music and jazz and was very up-tempo. Women wore fur hats and fur coats. They wore dresses that revealed more skin than in the past. Men wore suits, ties, high pants, and loose-fitting shirts. Obviously, the film focuses on the rich, not the poor. Overall, I loved "Holiday Inn." Ted was selfish and was taught a lesson for using people, but still got Lila back. Jim learned that sometimes he had to fight for what he wanted and have a little ambition. I love how, in the end, everyone who has been taken advantage of has still remained advantageous. f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\A STRANGER IS WATCHING.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ A STRANGER IS WATCHING A Stranger is Watching is a terrific book. I enjoyed reading this book very much. The non-stop action kept me reading for hours. One of the best features of the book is how it was written.The point of view changes every chapter.For example Chapter 1 is written in the point of view of the infamous Foxy character.Chapter 2 is written in the point if view of our protagonist, Steve; and so on.I also liked how the author built the relationship of the characters up,so you care about what happens to them and feel like you're going through what they are going through.For instance,the author tells us of Steve's wife's death.We find out that Steve's son, Neil was never the same after this tragedy.When a new women,Sharon comes into Steve's life,Neil rejects her.Neil thinks that if Sharon and his father get married ,his father will send him away.When Neil and Sharon are held hostage together, Neil's feelings for Sharon change;he begins to see her as a nice person and a motherlike figure.I felt the author built this relationship up well so that the story would have a happy ending. I also like how the author made the character traits of the protagonist completely conflict with the antagonist.The protagonist,Steve is a successful man with a family and no problems;at least in the mind of the antagonist.The antagonist has problems with females,a career he feels is going nowhere,and a lack of good friends.throughout the story we find out that the antagonist is very jealous of the protagonist's lifeand that's why he indirectly targets him.This contrast was an addition to the already excitng plot of the story.. In my opinion the best part of "A Stranger is Watching"is the end,chapter 52.this chapter contains one of the greatest climaxes I ever read.The chapter begins at a frantic moment.All of the characters lives are at risk because Foxy's bomb is about to go off.After a fight with Foxy,Steve manages to release Sharon and Neil.At the same time Ronald Thompson(a juvenile convicted if murder)is about to be executed for the murder of Steve's wife,Nina.A few chapters earlier we find out that Nina is Foxy's victim but he got off clean with it. Steve races out of Grand Central Station (where the bomb is going to go off)with Sharon and Neil.At this point the author stops her narrative and begins with the time eleven forty-two,twelve minutes after the bomb goes off,at this point we don't know what happened to our characters.In this next paragraph we are informed that Steve,Neil ,and Sharon get away while Foxy dies from his own bomb.We also find out that Ronald Thompson is saved from his execution and released from prison. I enjoyed this part of the story so much because it was the point of the highest excitement. Every event that took place in the story built up to this major event.All excitement in the story was covered at this point.I feel the climax is the best part of every story,and should be.This was definitely one of the best books I have ever read. f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\A streetcar named desire.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Tennessee Williams's play A Streetcar Named Desire contains more within it's characters, situations, and story than appears on its surface. As in many of Williams's plays, there is much use of symbolism and interesting characters in order to draw in and involve the audience. The plot of A Streetcar Named Desire alone does not captivate the audience. It is Williams's brilliant and intriguing characters that make the reader truly understand the play's meaning. He also presents a continuous flow of raw, realistic moods and events in the play which keeps the reader fascinated in the realistic fantasy Williams has created in A Streetcar Named Desire. The symbolism, characters, mood, and events of this play collectively form a captivating, thought-provoking piece of literature. A Streetcar Named Desire produces a very strong reaction. Even at the beginning of the play, the reader is confronted with extremely obvious symbolism in order to express the idea of the play. Blanche states that she was told 'to take a streetcar named Desire, and then to transfer to one called Cemeteries'. One can not simply read over this statement without assuming Williams is trying to say more than is written. Later in the play, the reader realizes that statement most likely refers to Blanche's arriving at the place and situation she is now in because of her servitude to her own desires and urges. What really makes A Streetcar Named Desire such an exceptional literary work is the development of interesting, involving characters. As the play develops, the audience sees that Blanche is less proper and refined than she might appear or claim to be. Her sexual desire and tendency to drink away her problems make Blanche ashamed of her life and identity. Desire was the 'rattle-trap streetcar' that brought her to her pitiful state in life. Blanche is the most fascinating character in A Streetcar Named Desire. One reason for this is that she has an absolutely brilliant way of making reality seem like fantasy, and making fantasy seem like reality. This element of Blanche's personality is what makes her character interest the audience and contribute to the excellence of the work. Returning to the beginning of the play, Blanche, shocked with the dirtiness and gloominess of Stella and Stanley's home in New Orleans, looks out the window and says 'Out there I suppose is the ghoul-haunted woodland of Weir!', to which Stella replies 'No honey, those are the L and N tracks.' Blanche would assume that something so common and simple as noisy, dark railroad tracks might as well be 'ghoul-haunted woodlands.' Further evidence of Blanche's warped view of reality and fantasy is shown throughout the entire play. She seems to hint to Stella and Stanley, and therefore the audience, that she is actually much more than she seems. In scene seven, Blanche soaks in a tub, singing: 'Say, it's only a paper moon, sailing over a cardboard sea -But it wouldn't be make-believe If you believed in me! It's a Barnum and Bailey world, Just as phony as it can be -But it wouldn't be make-believe If you believed in me!' As she sings this song, telling the story of her tendency to believe a more pleasant, warped view of reality over the actual reality, Stanley is telling Stella the horrifying truth about Blanche's scandalous past. The reader is as drawn into Blanche's illusion as much as Stella is, and just as Stella refuses to believe Stanley's harsh words, the audience also does not want to accept that the view they have had of Blanche for a good deal of the play is nothing more than a story made up to hide her unpleasant history. The clearest example of this is also one of the most intense and involving scenes of the entire play. In scene nine, Blanche is confronted by Mitch, who has learned the truth about her past. Mitch tells Blanche that he has never seen her in the light. He tears Blanche's paper lantern off of the plain, bright light bulb, and tries to see her as she really is, and not in a view warped by Blanche's efforts to make herself seem more innocent, young, and beautiful than she is. Blanche responds to this by saying 'I don't want realism. I want magic!...I try to give that to people. I misinterpret things to them. I don't tell truth, I tell what ought to be truth...Don't turn the light on!' This intense, frightening scene reveals to the audience the way Blanche views the world. Tennessee Williams's use of this kind of dual view of the world to develop Blanche's character is a perfect example of the way A Streetcar Named Desire makes the audience react to the characters in the play. It is this reaction between the audience and the brilliant characters in the play that makes the play such a valuable literary work. The literary value of A Streetcar Named Desire is in Williams's ability to create a fantasy world which draws the reader into it as if it was their own reality. In some ways, the setting and conflict of the play is familiar to the reader, but in many ways the conflicting worlds of Stanley Kowalski and Blanche DuBois are too different to share the same reality. Tennessee Williams's world in A Streetcar Named Desire, and the characters within it, become so familiar and fascinating to the reader that every event that occurs in the play affects the reader's reaction to the overall outcome of the play and his opinions of the characters. The theme of the play does not occur to the reader until after the play's overall experience is concluded, and he is left to reflect on just what Tennessee Williams was trying to say in the play. While the play is being read, the audience is not interested in the overall meaning of the work, but simply in the intriguing action occurring at that moment in the play. However, A Streetcar Named Desire certainly contains many potential themes. One theme of the play could be that time is precious, and to waste it is to lose it. This theme of carpe diem, or 'seize the day' is strong in the play. As time goes on in Blanche's life and her social behavior changes, she wastes away her youth. The loss of her young husband Allan has caused her loneliness, sexual desire, and even certain signs of psychological instability. All of these problems were increased by her attempt to lose them through drinking. What Blanche does not realize is that she can not change the past through the present. Blanche's youth is gone, and she tries to give the appearance of being as youthful and innocent as she once was, but her illusion can not last. As an epigraph to the play, Williams quotes from the poem 'The Broken Tower', by Hart Crane: 'And so it was that I entered the broken world To trace the visionary company of love, its voice An instant in the wind (I know not whither hurled) But not for long to hold each desperate choice.' The use of this poem helps to express Williams's choice of theme in A Streetcar Named Desire. Blanche has entered a 'Broken world' of fear, longing, and sorrow because of her simple desire to hear 'the visionary company of love, it's voice', or tender, gentle words of love and appreciation from Stella and Mitch. However, these words are only 'visionary'. Blanche hopes that these words will bring to her what she needs to rebuild her life, but they do not last. Stanley feels he needs to prove that Blanche is not what she seems. To this end, he destroys her dreams of becoming what she wants to be, and not what she was. By telling Stella and Mitch about her activities in the past, Stanley ruins Blanche's illusion. Blanche won their love by covering the past, and she could no longer build a new person from herself. The breakdown of Blanche's character climaxes when Stanley rapes her, trying to prove to her that he always knew she was less than she appeared. After this event, Blanche is forced to deal with the reality that she can never change who she is, and she is doomed to live with her reputation. This final outcome for Blanche is a brutally realistic way of proving the idea that youth is precious and should not be wasted on trivial desires. Thomas Lanier Williams, known as Tennessee Williams, was born on March 26, 1911 to Cornelius Coffin and Edwina Dakin Williams in Columbus, Mississippi. During extended periods of Tennessee Williams's early life, his father was on the road as a shoe company salesman. Williams and his family lived with his maternal grandparents in the parsonage of St. Paul's Episcopal Church. Between the ages of two to seven years old, Williams lived in various locations in Tennessee and Mississippi. After a long bout with diphtheria and a kidney infection, Williams became withdrawn. In July of 1918, Williams's father became a branch manager of the shoe company, and the family moved to St. Louis, Missouri. His father taunted him for his reclusion and effeminacy, nicknaming him 'Miss Nancy.' As Williams grew up, he took refuge from his intense shyness in his creativity. He wrote for his school newspaper, and became a published writer in 1927 at age sixteen with the essay 'Can a Good Wife Be a Good Sport?' in Smart Set, for which he received third prize. In September of 1928, Williams entered the University of Missouri. In 1931, his father withdrew him from the university for failing ROTC. He began work as a clerk in the warehouse for the International Shoe Company, and pursued writing at home during the night. In 1935, Williams suffered a breakdown and went to recuperate for a year at his grandparent's home in Memphis. In July of that year was the first production of his play Cairo! Shanghai! Bombay! by the Memphis Garden Players. In 1936 and 1937, Williams Enrolled in Washington University, where he wrote poetry and produced several plays, then transferred to the University of Iowa. In 1938, he received a degree in English from Iowa. From 1939 to 1943 Williams lived briefly in a number of locations in the Midwest, South, and West, including New Orleans, which became his favorite city and where he had his first homosexual experience. During this time, he first used the name 'Tennessee' as the author of 'The Field of Blue Children.' In 1944 and 1945, The Glass Menagerie premiered in Chicago on December 26Th., and opened on Broadway on March 31St. In 1947, A Streetcar Named Desire opened on Broadway, won the Pulitzer Prize for drama and made the longest Broadway run of any of Williams's plays, 885 performances. The next year his parents separated. In the next 13 years, over twenty of Williams's works were published, opened on stage, or made into films, including The Night of the Iguana, his last Broadway success. In 1963, after the death of his intimate friend by cancer, Williams entered what he refers to as his 'Stoned Age.' In 1969, he was baptized as a Roman Catholic, was awarded an honorary doctor of human letters from the University of Missouri, and entered Barnes Hospital for psychiatric care from September to December of that year. During the next ten years, Williams received more awards, and dealt openly with his homosexuality in Memoirs and Moise and the World of Reason. In the last three years before his death, his mother died, he received the Medal of Freedom from President Carter, and received an honorary doctorate from Harvard University. On February 24Th. or 25Th. of 1983, Williams died at the Hotel Élysée in New York, apparently from choking on a cap from a medicine bottle, and was buried in St. Louis, against his expressed wish to be buried at sea, like one of his favorite poets, Hart Crane. (Adler, xi-xvii) Due to Tennessee Williams's unique style of writing and use of symbolism, there is much room for individual interpretation in it's theme and meaning. Because of this, many writers have presented their views of the work in critical essays and books. One of these such authors is Leonard Quirino in his essay, 'The Cards Indicate a Voyage on A Streetcar Named Desire.' Quirino remarks that the recurring theme of the poker game is a strong symbol in the play. Quirino states: '...Much of the verbal and theatrical imagery that constitutes the drama is drawn from games, chance and luck. ...Two of the most crucial scenes are presented within the framework of poker games played onstage. Indeed, the tactics and ceremonial of games in general, and poker in particular, may be seen as constituting the informing structural principle of the play as a whole. Pitting Stanley Kowalski...against Blanche DuBois..., Williams makes the former the inevitable winner of the game whose stakes are survival in the kind of world the play posits. For the first of four of the eleven scenes of Streetcar, Blanche, by reason of her affectation of gentility and respectability, manages to bluff a good hand in her game with Stanley; thus, in the third scene Stanley is continually losing, principally to Mitch the potential ally of Blanche, in the poker game played onstage. However, generally suspicious of Blanche's behavior and her past, and made aware at the end of the fourth scene that she considers him an ape and a brute, Stanley pursues an investigation of the real identity of her cards. ...He continually discredits her gambits until, in the penultimate scene, he caps his winnings by raping her. In the last scene of the play, Stanley is not only winning every card game being played onstage, but he has also won the game he played with Blanche. Depending as it does on the skillful manipulation of the hands that chance deals out, the card game is used by Williams throughout Streetcar as a symbol of fate and of the skillful player's ability to make its decrees perform in his own favor at the expense of his opponent's misfortune, incompetence, and horror of the game itself.' (Quirino, 62) Quirino's view of the symbolism in A Streetcar Named Desire is insightful and interesting. The idea of the poker game being a microcosm of the conflict of the entire play is not one that all critics and readers would agree with. One other critical view on A Streetcar Named Desire, that of Alvin B. Kernan, deals with Williams's interpretation of reality within the play. The theme of reality vs. fantasy is one that the play centers around. In 'Truth and Dramatic Mode in A Streetcar Named Desire,' Kernan says: 'In each of his plays, Williams poises the human need for belief in human value and dignity against a brutal, naturalistic reality; similarly, symbolism is poised against realism. But where the earlier playwrights were able to concentrate on human values, Williams has been unable to do so because of his conviction that there is a 'real' world outside and inside each of us which is actively hostile to any belief in the goodness of man and the validity of moral values. His realism gives expression to this aspect of the world, and A Streetcar Named Desire is his clearest treatment of the human dilemma which entails the dramatic dilemma. We are presented in Streetcar with two polar ways of looking at experience: the realistic view of Stanley Kowalski and the 'non-realistic' view of his sister-in-law, Blanche DuBois. Williams brings the two views into conflict immediately.' (Kernan, 9) Kernan's idea of the conflict between Stanley and Blanche acting as a messenger of the conflict between reality and fantasy is one that the reader sees quite clearly in the play. Critical interpretations of books like A Streetcar Named Desire not only help the reader to better understand what the author is trying to say in the work, but also provide the reader with many other stimulating points of view on the work. In conclusion, the reader of A Streetcar Named Desire is not only entertained by an interesting story when he reads the play. He is also thrust into a reality which is not his own, yet somehow seems familiar. This realistic fantasy Williams creates with his brilliant use of symbolism, intriguing characters, and involving action in the play causes the reader to connect fully with the setting, characters, conflicts, and emotions within it. BIBLIOGRAPHY Adler, Thomas P. A Streetcar Named Desire: The Moth and the Lantern. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1990 Kernan, Alvin B. 'Truth and Dramatic Mode in A Streetcar Named Desire, In Modern Critical Views: Tennessee Williams.' Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chealsea House Publishers, 1987 Quirino, Leonard. 'The Cards Indicate a Voyage on A Streetcar Named Desire, In Modern Critical Interpretations: Tennessee Williams's A Streetcar Named Desire.' Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1988 WORKS CITED Adler, Thomas P. A Streetcar Named Desire: The Moth and the Lantern. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1990 Kernan, Alvin B. 'Truth and Dramatic Mode in A Streetcar Named Desire, In Modern Critical Views: Tennessee Williams.' Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chealsea House Publishers, 1987 Quirino, Leonard. 'The Cards Indicate a Voyage on A Streetcar Named Desire, In Modern Critical Interpretations: Tennessee Williams's A Streetcar Named Desire.' Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1988 f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\A Thematic Analysis of Psycho.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho has been commended for forming the archetypical basis of all horror films that followed its 1960 release. The mass appeal that Psycho has maintained for over three decades can undoubtedly be attributed to its universality. In Psycho, Hitchcock allows the audience to become a subjective character within the plot to enhance the film's psychological effects for an audience that is forced to recognise its own neurosis and psychological inadequacies as it is compelled to identify, for varying lengths of time, with the contrasting personalities of the film's main characters. Hitchcock conveys an intensifying theme in Psycho, that bases itself on the unending subconscious battle between good and evil that exists in everyone through the audience's subjective participation and implicit character parallels. Psycho begins with a view of a city that is arbitrarily identified along with an exact date and time. The camera, seemingly at random, chooses first one of the many buildings and then one of the many windows to explore before the audience is introduced to Marion and Sam. Hitchcock's use of random selection creates a sense of normalcy for the audience. The fact that the city and room were arbitrarily identified impresses upon the audience that their own lives could randomly be applied to the events that are about to follow. In the opening sequence of Psycho, Hitchcock succeeds in capturing the audience's initial senses of awareness and suspicion while allowing it to identify with Marion's helpless situation. The audience's sympathy toward Marion is heightened with the introduction of Cassidy whose crude boasting encourages the audience's dislike of his character. Cassidy's blatant statement that all unhappiness can be bought away with money, provokes the audience to form a justification for Marion's theft of his forty thousand dollars. As Marion begins her journey, the audience is drawn farther into the depths of what is disturbingly abnormal behaviour although it is compelled to identify and sympathize with her actions. It is with Marion's character that Hitchcock first introduces the notion of a split personality to the audience. Throughout the first part of the film, Marion's reflection is often noted in several mirrors and windows. Hitchcock is therefore able to create a voyeuristic sensation within the audience as it can visualise the effects of any situation through Marion's conscious mind. In the car dealership, for example, Marion enters the secluded bathroom in order to have privacy while counting her money. Hitchcock, however, with upper camera angles and the convenient placing of a mirror is able to convey the sense of an ever lingering conscious mind that makes privacy impossible. Hitchcock brings the audience into the bathroom with Marion and allows it to struggle with its own values and beliefs while Marion makes her own decision and continues with her journey. The split personality motif reaches the height of its foreshadowing power as Marion battles both sides of her conscience while driving on an ominous and seemingly endless road toward the Bates Motel. Marion wrestles with the voices of those that her crime and disappearance has affected while the audience is compelled to recognise as to why it can so easily identify with Marion despite her wrongful actions. As Marion's journey comes to an end at the Bates Motel, Hitchcock has successfully made the audience a direct participant within the plot. The suspicion and animosity that Marion feels while at the motel is felt by the audience. As Marion shudders while hearing Norman's mother yell at him, the audience's suspicions are heightened as Hitchcock has, at this point, made Marion the vital link between the audience and the plot. The initial confrontation between Marion and Norman Bates is used by Hitchcock to subtly and slowly sway the audience's sympathy from Marion to Norman. Hitchcock compels the audience to identify with the quiet and shy character whose devotion to his invalid mother has cost him his own identity. After Marion and Norman finish dining, Hitchcock has secured the audience's empathy for Norman and the audience is made to question its previous relationship with Marion whose criminal behaviour does not compare to Norman's seemingly honest and respectable lifestyle. The audience is reassured, however, when Marion, upon returning to her room, decides to return the money and face the consequences of her actions. Upon the introduction of Norman, Hitchcock introduces the first of several character parallels within Psycho. The clash between Marion and Norman, although not apparent to the audience until the end of the film, is one of neurosis versus psychosis. The compulsive and obsessive actions that drove Marion to steal the money is recognisable, albeit unusual behaviour, that the audience embraces as its sympathy is primarily directed towards her character. The terror that Hitchcock conveys to the audience manifests itself once the audience learns that it empathised with a psychotic person to a greater extent than with rational one when its sympathy is shifted to Norman. The shift from the normal to the abnormal is not apparent to the audience in the parlour scene but the audience is later forced to disturbingly reexamine its own conscience and character judgment abilities to discover why Norman's predicament seemed more worthy of its sympathy than Marion's. During the infamous shower scene, Hitchcock conveys a sense of cleansing for the audience. Hitchcock has reassured the audience of Marion's credibility and introduced Norman as a wholesome character. The audience's newly discovered security is destroyed when Marion is murdered. Even more disturbing for the audience, however, is that the scene is shot not through Marion's eyes, but those of the killer. The audience, now in a vulnerable state looks to Norman to replace Marion as its main focus in its subjective role. After Marion's murder, the audience's role in the film takes a different approach. Hitchcock provokes the audience to utilise the film's other characters in order to solve the mystery of Marion's death yet he still successfully maintains the sympathetic bond between Norman and the audience. Interestingly, Hitchcock plays on the audience's obsession with the stolen money as the audience knows that it had been sunk yet clings to the fact that Marion's death may have been a result of her crime with the introduction of Sam, Lila, and Arbogast. Hitchcock uses Arbogast's character to arouse suspicion within the audience. Arbogast's murder is not as intense as Marion's because the audience had not developed any type of subjective bond with his character. Arbogast's primary motivation, however, was to recover the stolen money which similarly compels the audience to take an interest in his quest. Despite the fact that Arbogast interrupts Norman's seemingly innocent existence the audience does not perceive him as an annoyance as they had the interrogative policeman who had hindered Marion's journey. When Sam and Lila venture to the Bates Motel to investigate both Marion's and Arbogast's disappearances, Hitchcock presents the audience with more character parallels. As Lila begins to explore Norman's home, Hitchcock conveniently places Sam and Norman in the parlour where Marion had dined with Norman before she had been murdered. As the two men face each other, the audience is able to see their contrasting personalities in relation to Marion. Sam, who had legitimately gained Marion's affection is poised and respectable in comparison to Norman, whose timid nature and sexual repression is reflected in the scenes of Lila's exploration of his bedroom. The conflict that arises between Sam and Norman reflects the fact that Sam had what Norman wanted but was unable to attain due to his psychotic nature. Psycho concludes by providing a blatant explanation for Norman's psychotic tendencies. The audience, although it had received a valid explanation for Norman's actions, is left terrified and confused by the last scene of Norman and the manifestation of his split personality. Faced with this spectacle, Hitchcock forces the audience to examine its conscious self in relation to the events that it had just subjectively played a role in. The fear that Psycho creates for the audience does not arise from the brutality of the murders but from the subconscious identification with the film's characters who all reflect one side of a collective character. Hitchcock enforces the idea that all the basic emotions and sentiments derived from the film can be felt by anyone as the unending battle between good and evil exists in all aspects of life. The effective use of character parallels and the creation of the audience's subjective role in the plot allows Hitchcock to entice terror and a convey a lingering sense of anxiety within the audience through a progressively intensifying theme. Hitchcock's brilliance as a director has consolidated Psycho's place among the most reputable and profound horror films ever made. f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\A World Without Engineers.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ A World Without Engineers Once upon a time, in a galaxy far, far away, on the planet Zovirax, there was an evil king, King Syphilis, who was mighty pleased with himself, for he had just banished all the engineers on the planet to work in the Pixie Stick Powder mines on the moons of Gluteus. "You see," he told his sycophantic servants and lackeys, "I have solved two problems with one simple executive order. I have rid the planet of those annoying, nerdy, know-it-all, engineers." (King Syphilis was actually quite envious of them, because he went to a Junior University in Palo Alto, and didn't know very much at all.) "And secondly," he explained, "I have provided cheap slave labor for the Pixie Stick Powder mines, thus ensuring a limitless supply of this heavenly confection for all to enjoy." All of King Syphilis' staff applauded loudly, because he tended to behead those who didn't. "Bring us intoxicating chemicals, so that we may celebrate," ordered the king. "I'm sorry, Mr. King Syphilis," replied the servant. "You banished all the chemical engineers to the powder mines, so we cannot make the intoxicating chemicals anymore." King Syphilis was quite mad. Nobody talked back to him and go away with it. "Bring me my plutonium phasor gun, so that I may vaporize this impudent guy," ordered the king. "I'm sorry, my good King Syphilis," replied another servant. "Since you deported all the nuclear engineers to the powder mines, we have been unable to operate the plutonium powered phasor gun." Now the king was really mad. "I'm really mad!" said the king. "Bring me my limousine, so that I may repeatedly run over these contumelious servants of mine." "No can do, Mr. King," said the third servant, whose part will be played in the movie version by Keanu Reeves. "All the mechanical engineers are in the mine place, and everyone knows, you can't drive cars without mechanics." "Go jump off a bridge!" said King Syphilis. Another of his servants interrupted, "We have no more bridges, since all the civil engineers have been exiled to the powder mines. Perhaps we should bring them all back." But the king was not the brightest of kings, so he didn't agree to that just yet. "Bring me my vibrating pleasure device, so that I may relax and think about this dilemma of ours," ordered the king. "We are unable to do that, my king, because all the electrical engineers who design the vibrating pleasure devices are in the powder mines." "Hmmm," thought the king. "Perhaps I was wrong in banishing the engineers from my planet. Without them, we have no intoxicating chemicals, no plutonium powered phasor guns, no automobiles, no bridges, and no vibrating pleasure devices. I will bring them back from the powder mines of Gluteus." But it was too late, because the engineers so enjoyed having free time that every last one refused to return, and they were all killed in a freak mining accident. So the moral of the story, boys and girls, is that engineers are a very important part of out everyday lives, and, engineers although smelly and dirty like pigs in a pig pen, you should not banish them to slave labor camps. f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\A Zipper for Pee.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ A Zipper for Pee-Wee Herman Ethel O' Grady History of Television December 3, 1996 Leaders in childrens television are and always have been concerned about what programs actually make it on the air. Most early programming for children of school age in the 1950's was the western program. Another type was the science-fiction thriller which tended to be based on hero's from the radio, comics, and films. However, a favorite of the youngest audience was the children's equivalent of the variety show. This usually contained circus, puppet, and/or animal segments. "Super Circus", which aired in 1949, consisted of music, circus acts, animals, and of course, clowns. In 1952, yet another type of program came about which reached a very similiar audience as the circus variety shows. It was called "The Ding Dong School". The Ding Dong School offered the conversation, low-key instruction, commercials, and entertainment of Miss. Frances, a professional teacher. With the help of these types of shows, a new genre was born. Children's television which was a mixture of songs, education, fun, and a whole lot more. In 1969, the first airing of "Sesame Street" took place. Sesame Street had programs which were sponsored by different letters of the alphabet or numbers each day, and relied on very short, animated cartoons with live and puppet segments which kept the interest of preschool children. The show was an instant outstanding success, and still broadcasts today. In 1970, "Mr. Roger's Neighborhood" was born. Mr. Fred Roger's used puppets and music to teach patience and cooperation, while providing guidance to help children cope with feelings and frustrations. Mr. Roger's land of makebelieve's handpuppet characters interacted with humans in the mythical kingdom of King Friday XIII. There, the puppets and humans would deal with their feelings and emotions as they solve typical, everyday problems. This new genre of programming was a sensation. The children loved it, and the parents approved of it. During the following years, many new shows came about which still fit this genre. In the year 1986, yet another show was born into childrens television. "Pee-Wee's Playhouse". This series, starring host Pee-Wee Herman (Paul Reubens) used animation, puppets, and vintage cartoons to entertain and educate its audience. Between Pee-Wee Herman and his extraordinary playhouse, children were given the opportunity to let their imaginations go crazy. The "playhouse" had no permanent residents, that is, besides the furnishings. Not ordinary furnishings, you see, Pee-Wee's furnishings could move, talk, dance, and sing. These "characters" could be seen at the playhouse on a regular basis. Some of the favorites were: Globey, a talking globe who would show Pee-Wee the countries that his pen-pal's letters came from; Magic Screen, a toy of Pee-Wee's that enabled him to actually get "inside the screen" and play a life-size game of connect the dots; Konkie, a talking robot which revealed the secret word of the day; and of course Genie, who granted Pee- Wee one wish a day. The playhouse also welcomed a series of visitors during each episode, which could also be seen on a regular basis. Some of these favorites included: Rina the mail-lady, who came to deliver Pee-Wee's pen-pal letters everyday; Miss Yvonne, who Pee-Wee referred to the most beautiful woman in Puppetland; and of course the King of Cartoons who brought the "vintage cartoon of the day" to Pee-Wee. Besides the spectacular furnishings and outrageous visitors, the television show also had an unusual daily theme. This theme could have been anything from "a fire in the playhouse", "a trip to another planet", or even "Pee-Wee getting sick". In all of these situations, Pee-Wee stressed the importance of friendship, sharing, and just being nice. One particular show, "Monster in the Playhouse", was about being in the dark. Pee-Wee explains that when your with your friends, the dark is less spooky. Suddenly Mrs. Steve, a neighbor of Pee-Wee's, begins panicking because she thinks there's a monster on the loose. Just then, a great monster with one eye and one leg enters the playhouse. His name is Roger, and he stays and plays with Pee-Wee. All of a sudden Roger's mother is on the picture-phone saying that Roger is late for dinner. This show ends with Pee-Wee's elaborate closing: Pee-Wee mounting his scooter with Roger and giving him a ride home. Unfortunately, Pee-Wee's Playhouse came to an startling end only five years later. Why? Well, on July 26, 1991, Paul Reubens (Pee-Wee Herman) was arrested for indecent exposure in a porno-theater. This incident both shocked and worried the leaders of children's television programming due to the morals, ethics, and values of the society during that time. Questions flooded the minds of parents, teachers, and officials. People began to fear that Pee-Wee was perhaps a poor role-model for their youngsters. The real question is this: Should Pee-Wee's behavior have been such a shock to society? Lets look a little deeper into Pee-Wee's Playhouse. This children's television show was actually a refined version of Paul Reuben's nightclub act: "The Pee-Wee Herman Show". It is difficult to imagine that anyone who had seen his nightclub act, actually agreed to run Pee-Wee's Playhouse during Saturday morning, children's programming. The Pee-Wee Herman Show can best be described as an adult version of Pee-Wee's Playhouse. Paul Reubens played the part of Pee-Wee Herman, a boy who acts out his infantile sexuality by "playing doctor" with the ladies and looking up women's skirts. Numerous accounts of sexual innuendo's are made by Pee-Wee during the entire show. I don't think Pee-Wee Herman ever gave the impression that he was a "Mr. Rogers-Captain Kangeroo" kind of role model for children. Pee-Wee was who he was: a creative comedian who had a clever way of looking at life through the eyes of a child. Whether he was a disgusting pervert or just plain human, his television show and movies were a huge success. Though no longer in syndication, Pee-Wee's Playhouse's fire still continues to burn. There is now a collection of video tapes available which allow Pee-Wee to be where he belongs: in the center of family room's across the country. Long live Pee-Wee Herman! Works Cited: Textbook: Christopher Sterling & John Kittros. Stay Tuned: A Concise History of American Broadcasting (Revised Edition). (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 1990) The Museum of Television and Radio (NYC): 1. Pee-Wee's Playhouse: A Fire in the Playhouse 2. Mr. Rogers Neighborhood: Superhero's 3. Before They Were Stars III (TV) 4. Comic Relief, pt. 2 of 5 (1986) 5. Television, pt 8: The Promise of Television 6. Andrew Dice Clay: For Ladies Only 7. The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\A Zipper for PeeWee.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Ethel O' Grady History of Television December 3, 1996 A Zipper for Pee-Wee Herman: Leaders in childrens television are and always have been concerned about what programs actually make it on the air. Most early programming for children of school age in the 1950's was the western program. Another type was the science-fiction thriller which tended to be based on hero's from the radio, comics, and films. However, a favorite of the youngest audience was the children's equivalent of the variety show. This usually contained circus, puppet, and/or animal segments. "Super Circus", which aired in 1949, consisted of music, circus acts, animals, and of course, clowns. In 1952, yet another type of program came about which reached a very similiar audience as the circus variety shows. It was called "The Ding Dong School". The Ding Dong School offered the conversation, low-key instruction, commercials, and entertainment of Miss. Frances, a professional teacher. With the help of these types of shows, a new genre was born. Children's television which was a mixture of songs, education, fun, and a whole lot more. In 1969, the first airing of "Sesame Street" took place. Sesame Street had programs which were sponsored by different letters of the alphabet or numbers each day, and relied on very short, animated cartoons with live and puppet segments which kept the interest of preschool children. The show was an instant outstanding success, and still broadcasts today. 2 In 1970, "Mr. Roger's Neighborhood" was born. Mr. Fred Roger's used puppets and music to teach patience and cooperation, while providing guidance to help children cope with feelings and frustrations. Mr. Roger's land of makebelieve's handpuppet characters interacted with humans in the mythical kingdom of King Friday XIII. There, the puppets and humans would deal with their feelings and emotions as they solve typical, everyday problems. This new genre of programming was a sensation. The children loved it, and the parents approved of it. During the following years, many new shows came about which still fit this genre. In the year 1986, yet another show was born into childrens television. "Pee-Wee's Playhouse". This series, starring host Pee-Wee Herman (Paul Reubens) used animation, puppets, and vintage cartoons to entertain and educate its audience. Between Pee-Wee Herman and his extraordinary playhouse, children were given the opportunity to let their imaginations go crazy. The "playhouse" had no permanent residents, that is, besides the furnishings. Not ordinary furnishings, you see, Pee-Wee's furnishings could move, talk, dance, and sing. These "characters" could be seen at the playhouse on a regular basis. Some of the favorites were: Globey, a talking globe who would show Pee-Wee the countries that his pen-pal's letters came from; Magic Screen, a toy of Pee-Wee's that enabled him to actually get "inside the screen" and play a life-size game of connect the dots; Konkie, a talking robot which revealed the secret word of the day; and of course Genie, who granted Pee- 3 Wee one wish a day. The playhouse also welcomed a series of visitors during each episode, which could also be seen on a regular basis. Some of these favorites included: Rina the mail-lady, who came to deliver Pee-Wee's pen-pal letters everyday; Miss Yvonne, who Pee-Wee referred to the most beautiful woman in Puppetland; and of course the King of Cartoons who brought the "vintage cartoon of the day" to Pee-Wee. Besides the spectacular furnishings and outrageous visitors, the television show also had an unusual daily theme. This theme could have been anything from "a fire in the playhouse", "a trip to another planet", or even "Pee-Wee getting sick". In all of these situations, Pee-Wee stressed the importance of friendship, sharing, and just being nice. One particular show, "Monster in the Playhouse", was about being in the dark. Pee-Wee explains that when your with your friends, the dark is less spooky. Suddenly Mrs. Steve, a neighbor of Pee-Wee's, begins panicking because she thinks there's a monster on the loose. Just then, a great monster with one eye and one leg enters the playhouse. His name is Roger, and he stays and plays with Pee-Wee. All of a sudden Roger's mother is on the picture-phone saying that Roger is late for dinner. This show ends with Pee- Wee's elaborate closing: Pee-Wee mounting his scooter with Roger and giving him a ride home. Unfortunately, Pee-Wee's Playhouse came to an startling end only five years later. Why? Well, on July 26, 1991, Paul Reubens (Pee-Wee Herman) was arrested for indecent 4 exposure in a porno-theater. This incident both shocked and worried the leaders of children's television programming due to the morals, ethics, and values of the society during that time. Questions flooded the minds of parents, teachers, and officials. People began to fear that Pee-Wee was perhaps a poor role-model for their youngsters. The real question is this: Should Pee-Wee's behavior have been such a shock to society? Lets look a little deeper into Pee-Wee's Playhouse. This children's television show was actually a refined version of Paul Reuben's nightclub act: "The Pee-Wee Herman Show". It is difficult to imagine that anyone who had seen his nightclub act, actually agreed to run Pee-Wee's Playhouse during Saturday morning, children's programming. The Pee-Wee Herman Show can best be described as an adult version of Pee- Wee's Playhouse. Paul Reubens played the part of Pee-Wee Herman, a boy who acts out his infantile sexuality by "playing doctor" with the ladies and looking up women's skirts. Numerous accounts of sexual innuendo's are made by Pee-Wee during the entire show. I don't think Pee-Wee Herman ever gave the impression that he was a "Mr. Rogers- Captain Kangeroo" kind of role model for children. Pee-Wee was who he was: a creative comedian who had a clever way of looking at life through the eyes of a child. Whether he was a disgusting pervert or just plain human, his television show and movies were a huge success. Though no longer in syndication, Pee-Wee's Playhouse's fire still continues to burn. 5 There is now a collection of video tapes available which allow Pee-Wee to be where he belongs: in the center of family room's across the country. Long live Pee-Wee Herman! ---------------------------------------------------- Works Cited: Textbook: Christopher Sterling & John Kittros. Stay Tuned: A Concise History of American Broadcasting (Revised Edition). (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 1990) The Museum of Television and Radio (NYC): 1. Pee-Wee's Playhouse: A Fire in the Playhouse 2. Mr. Rogers Neighborhood: Superhero's 3. Before They Were Stars III (TV) 4. Comic Relief, pt. 2 of 5 (1986) 5. Television, pt 8: The Promise of Television 6. Andrew Dice Clay: For Ladies Only 7. The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\Aaron Copland.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Aaron Copland Aaron Warner Aaron Copland was the embodiment of what a composer can hope to become. Copland was very much in touch not only with himself and his feelings, but with the audience he intended to reach. Very few composers have a concrete idea of what "types" of people they wish their music to reach. Copland was one of these few. The "Common Man" was the central part of much of his volumes of music strived to reach. Copland felt that, ". .everyone should have a chance to see things through this music. Limiting who can understand it only limits your usefulness" Throughout his 75+ years as a composer and conductor, he touched the lives and hearts of as many people as he could. Copland was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1900 to fairly affluent parents. Because of his family's financial status, he started formally training as a teen, and moved to Paris where he became the first American student of Nadia Boulanger. It was here that Copland developed much of his neo-classical style. Although he enjoyed the precise structure that Boulanger had taught him, Copland's heart was truly in creating music that people other than musicians could appreciate. It was upon his return to America in 1924 that he decided that he would write ". . .truly American music." He traveled throughout America, getting a taste of what the "common man" was listening to. During these travels he strayed into Mexico, and wrote the highly successful El Salon Mexico. A quote from the fall of 1932 sums up his intentions in writing this piece: "Any composer who goes outside his native land wants to return bearing musical souvenirs." This is exactly what he did. The piece is a lively adaptation of Frances Toor's Cancionero Mexicano, with a very loose tempo, and heavy use of the horn section. It was after the success of El Salon Mexico that Copland proceeded to produce what is now considered the epitome of "American" music. He combined his neo-classical schooling with jazz-like syncopation and a new, more "open" use of old chordal progressions. He created Billy The Kid in 1938, producing the first "Western" musical. The score achieved a remarkable balance between outright humor and pathos, and oftentimes bordered on tragic. It was this base understanding of humanity that made Copland's music what it is. Many texts also refer to a certain built in sympathy that Copland may have had for the main character, citing his homosexuality as a cause for his deep understanding of what it is to be looked down upon by society. Another rowdy musical followed, entitled Rodeo. This piece was comprised of a similar hybrid of popular western themes, and used as a story line the universally known as "The Ugly Duckling". Rodeo had it's premiere in 1942 at the Metropolitan Opera House, and was judged as an unqualified success. Copland was clearly breaking down barriers with his "common" music. The Metropolitan Opera was known at this time for it's stuffy renditions of Verdi and Puccini's operas, and not for the joyful playfulness of such a work. The warm exuberance of Copland's music attracted Martha Graham in 1943. She commissioned him to write a score for her ballet entitled Appalachian Spring, which is impossible not to mention. (despite the fact that we heard it in class) Appalachian spring brought nothing but good fortune to Copland, assuring him an eternal place in classical music. It was after the widespread success of Spring that he produced his most prolific piece, and perhaps the best summation of his attitude towards classical music, "Fanfare for the Common Man" Finished in 1942, this was one of 18 pieces commissioned by Eugene Goossens for the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. The horns and the timpani play a major role, producing a strong and bold urgency. This provides an interesting paradox: "Common Man" seems to be as "American" as a piece could get. It is strong, bold, to the point and unquestioning. Interestingly enough, Copland was spending much of his time with an extreme leftist group of friends who made plays about the injustice and hypocrisy that existed in society during the 1940's. Copland was not only known for his prolific style and unquestionable compositional language. He was also a great supporter of other musicians, sponsoring event after event, and starting the career of the now world renowned Leonard Bernstein . He spoke and taught at countless Universities across the country, and gave to the American people a style of music that they could claim as their own. All of this is an example of the caring and humanity that was both the cornerstone and the trademark of his music. Although he died in 1990, his music will live on in the hearts and minds of the American people as long as there is a place called "America." f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\ABC Book.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ A gatha Christie, the author of "And then there were None" is called the Queen of Mystery by those who have read her books. In addition to, "And then there were None", Agatha Christie has written many books, which include "ABC Murders", "Body in the Library", Easy to Kill" and "Towards Zero". B rent, the family name of Emily, the 65 year old daughter of a Colonel, and definitely not happy with the way the world is going now. She liked every thing as it was 45 years ago, when children did what their parents told them to and when everyone respected their elders, but now ..... C oroner's inquest having turned her life upside down, Vera Claythorne has had tough luck so far in her life. She does not have a lot of money, and has had trouble finding a job after the inquest. Even though she had been acquitted, people still look at her funny when she walks down the street. D octor Armstrong, a former doctor who likes time to think. Whenever he thinks about the past one of the first things to pop into his mind is the fact alcohol ruined his life. If only he hadn't had a couple of drinks before operating on his patient, he might not have accidentally killed him. E veryone was dead when the police got to the Island. Nobody could figure out what happened. The police did not find any suicide notes and searched the island a couple of times. The police found no-one in hiding and were left open-mouthed and clueless. F red Narracott was the boatman who took everyone to the island on his boat. As he told the police, as far as he knew he was the only one who had taken anyone over to the Island. G eneral Macarthur, loved war and was disappointed when he had to stop fighting on the battle grounds. War was his life. He loved the smell, the sounds and the feel of battle. In fact he craved to kill again. H elpless, the guests on the island were prey to the killer, they couldn't get off the island because there was no boat. Hiding was out of the question due to the bad storm, and they did not know who the killer was, so everyone was under suspicion. I ndian Island was purchased under the name U.N. Owen and nobody knew who it was. All the tabloids were saying royalty had bought the island or some eccentric millionaire, but nobody really knew who it was. J ustice Wargrave, was a judge. You could say he was a murderer, even though he never killed anybody himself. He just sentenced people to death. He was a mean and intimidating judge which he used as an advantage over the others. K illed, everyone on the island was terrified of being killed. They trusted nobody and suspected everybody. With the killer's identity being unknown, only one person went to the bathroom or to walk around while the rest waited together so there was no chance of being a victim. L ombard was an ex-soldier who liked firearms. He had brought one to the island for his own protection he told everyone, but I doubt anyone believed him. So they locked away the gun and any other weapons and no single person was able to open the lock. M arston was the youngest guest who liked to do things fast without thinking first. He liked speed and alcohol. He was very good at prejudging people and liked to be at the centre of attention. He was favoured by women and he knew it. N obody, not even the butler Mr. Rogers and his wife, who had been hired to take care of things on the island, knew who U.N. Owen was. Although he or she was expected to show up soon after all the guests arrived on the island. O pen-mouthed the detectives from Scotland Yard were, when they had no evidence only ten corpses and their personal diaries. The detectives were unable to explain that there was no murderer, but all the people definitely had been murdered. P erson or persons unknown on the island was using a false pretense so nobody would suspect that person as the murderer which was why it was difficult for the murderer to be discovered. Q ueasiness was felt by some of the passengers on the boat ride to Indian Island, as the water was getting rough due to a squall coming up. The boat bounced around from wave to wave. Fred Narracott mentioned just before they got to the island that if it gets any rougher nobody would be able to reach the island by boat. R ich was the person who had bought the island. He would have to be, to be able to afford something which was worth a lot. Tony Marston thought at least with all that money they should be served good food and thirst quenching drinks. S tranded on the island due to a terrible squall which came up as soon as Fred Narracott got back to the mainland, everyone would have to wait until the sea was calmer and the waves were smaller. Not worried about food or water, as there was enough on the island, they were worried about being murdered. T en little Indian glass figurines were in the centre of the table in the dining room. As each person was murdered one mysteriously disappeared from the table, even though the room was locked each night before everyone locked themselves in their rooms. U nderstanding the various reasons why they were asked to come to Indian Island, each guest had received a letter, but each letter only had a scribbled signature and no return address. V iolent were all the deaths, especially Tony Marston's because he had a big chunk of concrete dropped on his head. Mr. Rogers' death was violent too, as he was hit in the back of the head with an axe. W hy was this happening to them, everyone on the island was wondering. Who could hold such a big grudge against each one of these people to go to all this trouble to kill them. X -rays had to be used on three bodies by the coroner to determine the exact cause of death. Also poison tests were done on two bodies and gunshot tests on two more bodies. Y ounger than any of the other guests on the island, was Tony Marston. Emily Brent was the oldest, with everyone else being around the same age. Z oo, according to the poem "Ten Little Indians", was were three little Indians went, a bear hugged one, and then there were two. f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\About the movie entitled The Hurricane.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ "The Story of the Hurricane" "Here comes the story of the Hurricane, The man authorities came to blame, For something that he never done. Put in a prison cell, but one time he could-a been the champion of the world." Those are lyrics from a song by Bob Dylan. Bob Dylan made this song to give justice to the man known as Rubin "The Hurricane" Carter. This song explains the trials and tribulations of Rubin's life. In this paper I this paper I hope to explain the story of Rubin Carter and his ups and downs in life. Rubin Carter was born in Clifton, New Jersey (apbspeakers.com p1). When Rubin was a young man he was teased. He was teased due to a speech impediment that he had. The only way Rubin knew how to deal with this was to fight. Carter had to get out of that kind of atmosphere, so he enlisted in the United States army. It was there where he learned how to box. Carter became The European Welterweight Champion two years in a row. This was the first thing he really excelled in. Rubin began his professional boxing career in 1961 (apbspeaker p1). Carter was know for knocking out his opponents in the first round with his vicious left hook. Carter soon became known as "the Hurricane." All of his glory came to a screeching hault in 1966. Rubin Carter and a teenager named John Artis were arrested for the murders of three people in a New Jersey bar. They were convicted and sentenced to three life terms in prison. The electric chair was sought to be the way for Rubin and Artis to go. They both kept their innocence and weren't sent to the electric chair. While Carter was in jail he published a book about himself. This book was called the sixteenth round. "Carter went from the number one contender to number 45472 (apbspeakers.com p2)." While Carter and Artis were in jail they were known all over the world for civil rights. Rubin Carter received most of the fame with the song "Hurricane" by Bob Dylan. Bob Dylan believed that the men were innocent. Rubin even had support from the most famous boxer in the world, Muhammad Ali! After evidence showed that perjury and vital evidence has been withheld from the defense, all of the convictions were thrown out by the New Jersey supreme court. When Carter and Artis thought they were free they were wrong. The men were retried and convicted for the murders. Rubin didn't give up hope. But Artis did give up hope. He just couldn't take it and died while in prison. Rubin finally was able to tell his side of the story to the Federal Court. He did this with the assistance of Myron Beldock and Professor Leon Friedman in 1985. "The United States District Court ruled that Carter's conviction had been based on racism rather than reason and concealment rather than disclosure and that his imprisonment had been a travesty (apbspeakers.com p2)." This man was held in jail for more than nineteen years for a crime he did not commit. Also a innocent adolescent died while incarcerated for a crime he never committed. Finally in 1988 this indictment against Carter was dismissed and all over. Many attempts were made after this to put Carter back in jail, but none were successful. The story of this man and his 19 year long fight was made into a movie. Norman Jewison was the director of this movie called "The Hurricane". Denzel Washington played the part of Rubin Carter. This movie is a great representation of what happened, but there's a few differences. Carter's white supporters do some good deeds, from the adoption of a black teen to relocate to the U.S. in order to free Rubin. The director wanted to show that there are good and bad in this world. The trio that helps Rubin is considered "good people" and the racist cop is "the bad guy". These character's are fiction, but make this movie more dramatic. Denzel Washington performance was unbelievable. He had me believing that he was actually a man that was framed for murder. The way Denzel showed his feelings while in jail and when being freed from jail. The cop was fictitious, but showed the ignorance that put Rubin in jail. The cop just tried to make Rubin's life miserable. That cop did in fact make his life miserable for more than 19 years. In prison, Carter makes up his mind that his mission must now be to live in prison forever with dignity and internal justification. He never leaves his cell because he's training himself. In the end this movie makes a very convincing case to oppose capital punishment. Today Carter is a speaker all over discussing issues such as wrongful convictions and the death penalty. He lives in Toronto, Ontario. He was also was honored by the World Boxing Council with the WBC Championship Belt. To end this paper I'm going to leave you with a quote from Rubin Carter. Now with this movie completed, Carter said he has a sense of release. He also said, "I don't care what it does at the box office, to me, the blockbuster already happened!"(jsonline p1-2) f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\Acting Taken To Another Level.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Acting Taken To Another Level Actor, comedian, producer Robin Williams was born on July 21, 1952 in Chicago Illinois. He started with a great deal of success with stand-up comedy during the 1970s, including time at Los Angeles Comedy Store in his own showcase. After performing on the revival of the Laugh-In series in 1977-78, he went on to landing a guest role on the popular sitcom Happy Days as Mork, a lovably odd space alien from the planet Ork. Regardless of Williams' undeniable success with audiences by way of his television work and stand-up comedy, his film career got off to a fairly slower start. He made his film debut in the role of a disappointing live action version of Popeye (1980), which didn't make it very big and gave him little fame. 1987 however, became the year when he was noticed as one of the best actors because of the Oscar nominated performance in Good Morning Vietnam. This comedy/drama was about a deejay assigned to a radio station for the U.S. Armed Services in Vietnam. Even on the set of the movie, Williams' improvisational skills became famous, and he became known for ad-libbing many scenes. His ability to entertain people became his trademarks, which then lead him to a number of entertaining roles such as Dead Poets Society (1989), Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), Jumanji (1995), The Birdcage (1996), Flubber (1997), and Patch Adams (1998). All of these films and many others had his familiar funny antics that us (the viewers) have grown to love. However, there comes an instance where an actor is put to the test. When they're asked to perform in a contradictory film from what they're not accustomed too. From the customary humor in Patch Adams, to one of his recent films One Hour Photo, Williams displays his remarkable skills of an actor, by showing us no matter the plot, he'll provide an outstanding performance. In Patch Adams he entertains by showing conflicts with the serious conventions in the establishment of medical school, while attempting to inject humor and humanity into his treatment of the patients. The scene when the gynecologists visit the medical school for a tour, and are welcomed by a mold of a woman's legs spread apart as the entrance into the school displays this common humor associated with Robin Williams. Although everyone loves his type-casted films filled with laughter, the greater acting challenge comes when he pursues a film he's unaccustomed to. Robin Williams, transcending from his usual comic territory, was definitely the right choice for Sy Parrish in One Hour Photo, for the unusual is sometimes a challenge, and with that challenge he makes it one of his finest performances. Scene after scene had an eerie sense with unspoken meanings (something he's not grown to do). Of course his other movies were outstanding, but for him to leave his comfort zone and pursue a film that is abnormal to the usual, shows true superiority compared to recent films. The movie One Hour Photo, in the simplest terms presents that life is nothing more than a string of moments that fill our time from birth to death. People reflect on their lives through memories and images the mind perceives from past experiences. Sometimes snapshots preserve the good memories, but no one takes a picture of something they want to forget. That's why Sy (Robin Williams) takes his job so seriously. Sy doesn't view himself as evil, just fulfilling his duties; Williams uses this subtle mentality to challenge the audience. We feel sympathy for him and understand his loneliness, but also want to keep our distance as we sense unsteadiness and possible danger. Williams' work is easily compared to that of an artist, in that an artist grows and learns, then displays a certain style and continues to convey that style with their works. Like the famous artist Georgia O'Keefe who painted flowers and other works of art, but was undoubtedly known for her flower paintings. It's difficult when an artist is known for a particular piece or works of art to then try something entirely different. Yet Williams does exactly that, and for most moviegoers he still remains an unusual commodity in Hollywood: a talented comedic actor, who can also deliver sincere, affecting dramatic performances. Through Williams' career we see that it's common for him to be able to relate to the comical movies due to his success in the past. It's difficult for us to picture him in anything else, but those types of movies. However, to push the very limits of acting, and to be considered one of the best, one must drive towards different than the accustomed too. This same suggestion is expected in our every day lives. Our jobs themselves require us to be different so that we stand out from the regular, yet we are familiarized to staying with what we know instead of pushing our limits. If we were to stand away from the regular we are then put into a higher position in our workplace or are fired. Robin Williams chose to stand away from his norm and now can honestly be recognized, as far more than just the comedic actor we know today. f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\Adam De La Halle and Ars Antiqua Time Period.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Adam De La Halle and Ars Antiqua Time Period Life Summary Adam de la Halle is often referred to as the greatest of the long succession of post Medieval musicians. He was a poet, musician and innovator of the earliest French theater. He became famous for his use of polyphony and his theatrical productions. Adam originally trained for the clergy (the people of the church). Marriage interfered with his musical career; but with the help of some noble benefactors he was able to pursue musical studies at the University of Paris. The remainder of his life was spent in service of noble patrons. His Music Adam de la Halle was of French origins. All of his lyrics were written in French. Much of his early music was monophonic which shortly after became homophonic and then transformed into polyphonic. Much of his polyphonic work was set for 3 voices or instruments. If a piece of music is monophonic, then it has only a melody line and no harmony. Much of the medieval music was monophonic. If the music is homophonic then there is only one melody line, but it may be played by two or more instruments. Many of the songs that were originally monophonic were easily transformed into homophonic by add extra voices or instruments. Polyphonic is the type of music we hear today. Polyphonic is when there is a melody line accompanied by harmony. A considerable amount of Adam de la Halle's polyphonic work was designed for plays. One of Adam's manuscripts contains the oldest known existence of the sharp sign. In 1872 his music was officially published. Ars Antiqua Time Period Ars Antiqua is Medieval Latin for "ancient art". Ars Antiqua was the period of musical activity in 13th century France. The music was characterized by the increasing sophistication of counterpoint (the art of combining simultaneous voice parts). Modern music historians classify the whole 13th century as Ars Antiqua where as older historians classified only the later half of the 13th century as Ars Antiqua. This was the time period when music started to become more formal. In this time period, musical plays were just becoming popular and in 1283 one of the first operas was performed. Most of the music of the Ars Antiqua time period is anonymous. Two important figures stand out among the anonymity. Pérotin, who became famous in the late 12th century, composed the earliest known music for four voices. Franco of Cologne, who flourished in the middle of the 13th century, was a theorist who organized a new, more precise system of rhythmic notation, the direct ancestor of modern notation. The most important style of music to originate in the Ars Antiqua is the motet, which retained its popularity for centuries. The essence of this style of music is the simultaneous presentation of more than one text. It originated with the addition of a new text to the upper voices of a sacred polyphonic composition. The lower, slower moving voices retained the original text. Ars Antiqua was the time period when music as we know it was just beginning. Composers were considered innovators because they invented a great deal of what is used in modern music (for example harmony and modern notation). The music we listen to today is comprised of everything these composers created. Without this great musical minds, music today would be significantly different. f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\Adam De La Halle and the Ars Antiqua Time Period.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Adam De La Halle Ars Antiqua Time Period Life Summary Adam de la Halle is often referred to as the greatest of the long succession of post Medieval musicians. He was a poet, musician and innovator of the earliest French theater. He became famous for his use of polyphony and his theatrical productions. Adam originally trained for the clergy (the people of the church). Marriage interfered with his musical career; but with the help of some noble benefactors he was able to pursue musical studies at the University of Paris. The remainder of his life was spent in service of noble patrons. His Music Adam de la Halle was of French origins. All of his lyrics were written in French. Much of his early music was monophonic which shortly after became homophonic and then transformed into polyphonic. Much of his polyphonic work was set for 3 voices or instruments. If a piece of music is monophonic, then it has only a melody line and no harmony. Much of the medieval music was monophonic. If the music is homophonic then there is only one melody line, but it may be played by two or more instruments. Many of the songs that were originally monophonic were easily transformed into homophonic by add extra voices or instruments. Polyphonic is the type of music we hear today. Polyphonic is when there is a melody line accompanied by harmony. A considerable amount of Adam de la Halle's polyphonic work was designed for plays. One of Adam's manuscripts contains the oldest known existence of the sharp sign. In 1872 his music was officially published. Ars Antiqua Time Period Ars Antiqua is Medieval Latin for "ancient art". Ars Antiqua was the period of musical activity in 13th century France. The music was characterized by the increasing sophistication of counterpoint (the art of combining simultaneous voice parts). Modern music historians classify the whole 13th century as Ars Antiqua where as older historians classified only the later half of the 13th century as Ars Antiqua. This was the time period when music started to become more formal. In this time period, musical plays were just becoming popular and in 1283 one of the first operas was performed. Most of the music of the Ars Antiqua time period is anonymous. Two important figures stand out among the anonymity. Pérotin, who became famous in the late 12th century, composed the earliest known music for four voices. Franco of Cologne, who flourished in the middle of the 13th century, was a theorist who organized a new, more precise system of rhythmic notation, the direct ancestor of modern notation. The most important style of music to originate in the Ars Antiqua is the motet, which retained its popularity for centuries. The essence of this style of music is the simultaneous presentation of more than one text. It originated with the addition of a new text to the upper voices of a sacred polyphonic composition. The lower, slower moving voices retained the original text. Ars Antiqua was the time period when music as we know it was just beginning. Composers were considered innovators because they invented a great deal of what is used in modern music (for example harmony and modern notation). The music we listen to today is comprised of everything these composers created. Without this great musical minds, music today would be significantly different. f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\Adam Sandler.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Adam Sandler's "What the Hell Happened to Me?": How Music Affects Culture This song means that culture affects how we grow up greater then most people think. I shows that when Adam Sandler was young, he was a well-rounded boy that liked to have fun. The song is also saying that our culture is affecting innocent youth that are forced to deal with the problems that the previous generations made for them. This song shows how all people are affected when they are really just innocent bystanders that have to witness the world at its roughest. They are forced to deal with it although they are truly unprepared for such a harsh treatment. Traits. The song presents cultural traits in that it shows how we grow up and are affected by culture. Cultural traits presented in this song are how we teach children and what we subject them to. Our methods of education and entertainment both affect how we turn out in the long run. The song shows how these traits affect how people grow up, and what they value in life. For example, the song talks about selling lemonade, eating popcorn, and watching parades. Then it goes on to say he's "only happy when [he's] drinking JD" The point is that people are changing because of society and our culture's lack of certain elements, such as respect and discipline. Values. The values presented by this song include the value of respect and discipline, and the need for more strict ways to keep a young mind safe of destruction. These values are presented in the line "I only did the things that Mama said I should, but now I do whatever I want." That line shows that values change as we age and the reason is because of society; obviously if Adam only did what was allowed, culture's values of discipline and respect must have turned him the wrong way, because his mother did not. Other values presented in the song are education and entertainment. This is shown by the lines stating that as a boy, Adam was well-behaved and had fun in parks and carnivals. He played in the snow and he loved sports, but as an adult he only finds pleasure in things he would never had imagined he could have only 20 years ago. Also, it is shown that culture has made such a mess of his mind that he can't understand why he would be in this shape. he presents this information to us in the lines "It makes no sense, I can't believe I'm me.' He says this meaning "Why did I end up like this and how? I never saw it coming." Language. This song really does not demonstrate the language of the culture besides his use of shortened words and contractions. This shows that in our culture, we are lazy and don't really care enough to finish complete words or to make full sentences. Lyrics: I used to ride the big wheel And sell lemonade Eat popcorn with Grandpa while we watched the parade But now I'm only happy when I'm drinkin' JD What the hell happened to me? I used to have fun throwing snowballs With my best friend Billy Then Mom would make us cocoa if we got real chilly But now I only get excited when I see a girl pee What the hell happened to me? I used to be the nicest kid in the neighborhood I only did the things Mama said I should But now I just do whatever I want I even whipped it out at a restaurant I used to help clean the park in the middle of town Then play kickball 'till the sun went down but now all I do is get VD What the hell happened to me? It makes no sense I can't believe I ended up me I'm outta my gourd Won't somebody please help me I'm kinda a weirdo f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\Adios Cordera primo distante de 1984.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Chris Stone el 2 de diciembre, 1996 Ramón Díaz-Solís el 9o trabajo Adiós, Cordera: primo distante de 1984 Adiós, Cordera, un buen ejemplo del movimiento naturalista, nos cuenta una historia triste pero muy sencilla y pura. Su lenguaje descriptivo nos da una imagen perfecta de la escena presentada. También, la inocencia del cuento, en sí mismo, resulta un elemento integral de la trama. Estamos a discutir la verdadera significación del cuento y a ver cuando vuelve a aparecer este estilo literario. En la historia, Cordera, una vieja vaca que reemplaza el hueco de una madre muerta. Cuida a los niños y ahí, con Cordera, se diviertan los niños de ella. Tienen todavía a su padre, pero esa vaca acaba haciendo el papel maternal. Con el desarrollo tecnológico de la región, el granjero pierde su dinero; un fenómeno que siempre pasa porque el venir de algo nuevo requiere que algo se vaya. A un cierto momento, se da cuenta que va a tener que vender esa vaca sólo para vivir. Los niños lloran mientras un tren llevando ganadería pasa por su campo donde solían jugar con Cordera. Terminan gritando "¡Adiós, Cordera, Adiós Cordera de mi alma!" Luego, el hermano también se va y de la misma wagón le grita la misma frase a su hermana que miraba desde el campo precioso. Bueno, aquí vemos una vida tranquila rasgada por la llegada de algo nuevo. No es un nuevo fenómeno de nuestra existencia, sino un fenómeno familiar. Cada siglo ha producido sus revolucionarios y los que convierten lo actual en lo histórico. Un ferrocarril y el telégrafo cambian la economía y pues a los niños les parece que esa nueva "cosa" "aruinó el orgullo de nuestro padre y nos robó la única mamá que tenemos." Pero lo que me interesa más a mí es las semejantes entre este cuento y la famosa novela, 1984. ¡Ojo! Tal vez me cree loco: no se ve claramente a primera vista esa relación entre las dos entidades; hay que analizar los símbolos de cada uno. George Orwell nos cuenta una visión profética. Escrita sobre los eventos del año 1984 d.C., la novela es una pesadilla de lo que puede pasar con los adventos de nuevas tecnologías. El tren, el ferrocarril y el telégrafo que cambian la vida de los niños (y de Cordera) representa lo mismo que la televisión omniciente en 1984. No digo que las historias son idénticas, sino que el mensaje es el mismo. Una diferencia entre los dos es el sujeto del cuento (o novela según el caso). Clarín, o sea Leopoldo Alas, se dirige a la destrucción de la naturaleza. Orwell, en 1984, nos describe la destrución del espíritu humano. Pero en realidad, el resultado de los dos escenarios es la destrución de una manera de vivir. f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\Advantages of Commericals.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The Advantage of Commercials It began in the early 1940's and to this day still is in many of our lives, even more so then before. It's the TV that I'm referring to. The TV started only as only musicals on it,. But eventually proceeded up to today's oriented world, with movies, sports, and violence. Today more than 98% of all households have a TV. Over 75,000,000 of TV sets are color. To how haw our lives depend on TV; according to A.C. Nielsen, America watches more than 7 hours per day. Many people say TV has many disadvantaged, like expensive commercials. For example, on 30 second commercials in the 1984 Super Bowl cost approximately 450,000 dollars. If you just look at the price it sounds costly, but in reality TV is one of the most cost-efficient media there is. Not only is cost an advantage of TV commercials, so are TV's impact credibility, selectivity, and flexibility. Television is powerful in may ways, mostly by having the ability to combine all major medial into one media called commercials. TV commercials are like direct mail because it comes directly to the consumer in his or her house. It is like the radio because TV has to have sound to make it powerful impact. It is also similar to print or newspapers because TV is able to show the product alone, in a setting, or in use. Finally, unlike any other advertising vehicle, TV can portray the object in motion while the other forms of media cannot. TV is believable mostly because of the old of "seeing is believing" an that is what TV does. Commercials have an unbelievable capacity to induce belief because of this old saying. The other major print that make TV commercial believable is that the actors make the commercials and A or the A+. What is meant by this is that when and actor uses a product on TV and has a satisfying look on his or her face, that's implying that the product is doing it's job effectively. Also the actors can demonstrate the product tooo The most common way to prove a product worthyness, is to test it against a well known competitor. All of these ways make TV commercials not only very believing, but also very persuading. The next quality that TV commercials have is that the commercials are selective. Commercials can reach any target audience. For example, if a commercial is toward children, the commercial will be played in between after school programs that the children like. If commercial is directed toward housewives, they will be played mostly during the midmorning and afternoon. Another way TV commercials are selective national chain stores can advertise in markets in which a store or product needs extra support, or have sales are the greatest to keep them the greatest. Finally, TV commercials are flexible they are flexible in the way they can purchase time on TV locally, regionally. TV is also flexible in how both local and national companies can use this type of media if it suits their needs and budget. As one can plainly see, if you own a nationally known business, you can broadcast their selling messages either from coast to coast or in selected local markets. As stated before, the reason small companies can advertise with TV commercials is because of it's comparatively low cost to all other forms of media. With such a vast number of people being affected by a TV commercial, there is no doubt that it is, by far the best form of media TV commercials have the ability to reach people, it's powerful, believable, selective, and flexible. The availability of getting a commercial is high, with a price on it to hopefully fit your budget. While the other forms of media a good job at communicating with the buyers, TV commercials top off all other ways of media by the advantages stated before. f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\African American Influence on Music.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 3. A. Spirituals, shouts, hollers, and work songs are forms of black group singing that are the basis for African American music of the past two centuries. The nature of these types of singing originated in the early nineteenth century in the fields of the where the slaves toiled. The slaves used this spirituals to express their sorrows of slavery, hopes for freedom and used the shouts, hollers, and work songs to communicate. Reminants if the African culture were evident in the music formed by these slaves. The performance practices of black group singing were 3. A. Spirituals, shouts, hollers, and work songs are forms of black group singing that are the basis for African American music of the past two centuries. The nature of these types of singing originated in the early nineteenth century in the fields of the where the slaves toiled. The slaves used this spirituals to express their sorrows of slavery, hopes for freedom and used the shouts, hollers, and work songs to communicate. Reminants if the African culture were evident in the music formed by these slaves. The performance practices of black group singing were 3. A. Spirituals, shouts, hollers, and work songs are forms of black group singing that are the basis for African American music of the past two centuries. The nature of these types of singing originated in the early nineteenth century in the fields of the where the slaves toiled. The slaves used this spirituals to express their sorrows of slavery, hopes for freedom and used the shouts, hollers, and work songs to communicate. Reminants if the African culture were evident in the music formed by these slaves. The performance practices of black group singing were f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\African Literature.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Trent Hughes Eng 109 Paper #2 African Literature The two short stories "In the Cutting of a Drink" and "The Return" bring different responses from me. "In the Cutting of a Drink" makes me think about what it would be like to go into a new culture. It also makes me think about the decline in moral values now days. "The Return" reminds me to be more thankful for the many things I take for granted. It also makes me think about how hard it can be to cope with change. In the poem "Those Rainy Mornings" I am reminded of my grandma and what a kind, loving, wonderful person she is. In Frank Chipasula's poem "Those Rainy Mornings" the speaker is talking about his aunt Gwalanthi. The speaker tells us what a wonderful loving person his aunt is. In the first section the speaker tells us how his aunt would wake up at the crack of dawn and build a fire. Then she would begin cooking porridge. In the second section of the poem the speaker talks about waking up "out of the nagging nightmare." Then the speaker describes his aunt a little bit more, "her soft but husky call." In the last section the speaker talks about how kind his aunt is to take care of his brothers and sisters while his parents "strayed to the copper mines." This poem makes me think about my grandma and all the wonderful things she has done for me. The speakers aunt is an old fragile woman, "hoe-broken palms" and "scrawny ribs." But she is also a very hard worker and loving person. Both these things remind me of my grandma. My grandma may be old and fragile but she is still a very hard working and loving person. My grandma is always up at first light doing household chores or working in her garden. Many times we have to force her to go inside, so she won't be exposed to the hot sun for to long. I can't count the number of times my grandma has made my bed, folded our clothes, washed our dishes, or done various other household chores for me and my family. I could never fully repay my grandma for all the wonderful things she has done. My grandma, like aunt Gwalanthi, is a very kind, hard working person. Ama Ata Aidoo's "In the Cutting of a Drink" is about a person relating his story of looking for his lost sister in a big city called Mamprobi. The narrator, Mansa's brother, is talking to his uncles in the story. He is telling them about the things he experienced in the city while looking for Mansa. The narrator is from the country, so a lot of the city life is new or shocking to him. The narrator and Duayaw, the person helping him find his sister, go to a nightclub while looking for Mansa. This is a very new experience for the narrator. Some new things he experiences are dancing and watching women buy beer. But the most shocking thing is when he finds out his sister Mansa works there. "Young woman, is this the work you do?" he asked her. In the end Mansa's reply was, "any kind of work is work." This story made me think of a couple of things, differences in cultures or places and a decline in moral values. When the narrator goes to the city he is in a totally new culture. Many of the things he sees done are shocking to him. "I sat with my mouth open and watched the daughter of a woman cut beer like a man." "I cannot describe how they danced." Going into a new culture would have to be a shocking experience for anyone. The comment "any for of work is work" made by Mansa makes me think about the decline in moral values. Now days many people seem to go by this saying. People seem to not care about what form of work they are doing as long as they make money. Some factors to consider when doing a job are, is what you are doing morally right or ethical, and is what you are doing legal or illegal. Would you want your husband or wife to go to work as a prostitute? Or would you want them to go to work as a female or male stripper? I would hope not in both cases, the first simply because it is illegal. The second because it is pornography and I think you should have enough respect for your spouse to not want them to do that kind of work. So the comment "any form of work is work" is not a way to go about finding a job. "The Return" by Ngugi wa Thiong'o is about a man named Kamau who returns home after being in a detention camp for five years. He hopes to see his old village exactly the same. Instead he finds it now ruled by the British. The British have changed the village and its culture. Worst of all, Kamau's wife Muthoni left with another man named Karanja. Muthoni did this because Karanja lied and told the village that Kamau had died. At the end of the story Kamau lets a small bundle, filled with things that reminded him of Muthoni, roll down a bank and float down the river. Then he talks about the relief he felt after this happened. "Why should she have waited for me? Why should all the changes have waited for my return?" These comments make me think about change and how hard it can be to cope with change. It also made me be more thankful for some of the things I take for granted. When Kamau returned home he basically returned home to a completely new village. His family had aged, many people didn't recognize him, and his wife was gone. This was very hard for Kamau to cope with, "the old village had not even waited for him." Kamau felt resentful and angry. I know I would have the same resentful feelings as Kamau if I were put in the same situation. I would feel cheated if I came home one day only to find it completely changed. Many time I find myself taking my friends, family, home, or security for granted. Sometimes I don't realize how important these things are in my life. I know if they were taken away or completely changed, I would be devastated. I would not be able to get over it as fast as Kamau. After reading this story I am more thankful for the many things I take for granted. All three of these readings bring out different responses from me. My grandma is the person I think about in the poem "Those Rainy Mornings." I am reminded of all the wonderful things she does for me and my family. In the story "In the Cutting of a Drink" I think about the decline in moral values these days. I also think about the what it would be like to go into a whole new culture. After reading the story "The Return" I am more thankful for the things that I take for granted. The story also makes me think about change and how hard it can be to cope with change. f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\Ah Woe Is Me.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Ah, Woe Is Me A) Summary of The Story: In the beginning of this short story we are introduced to Sarah, an aging black servant living in South Africa. She works hard for an upper-class white family and spends all of her money on education for her three children who are sent to a boarding school. They come home once a year at Christmas, and the first time the narrator meets the children, she is surprised at their well-mannered behaviour. She finds, however, that Sarah is a bit harsh towards them, and she comments on this. Sarah tells her that it is better to learn the lesson now and grow to accept one's fate later. In the course of the following year, Sarah must give up her job because of her legs, and one day her daughter comes to the house. Slowly she tells her story to the narrator. How the younger brother is working now, and how she is taking care of Sarah. The narrator offers her some clothes and some money and invites her inside for a cup of tea. When she is about to leave, she starts crying and can only mutter that her mother is very ill. Unsure of what to do, the narrator hands her a handkerchief. B) An Essay About the Text: The setting in this story is South Africa in the 1950's. Apartheid and segregation are words that describe the conditions under which the blacks (the native Africans) live perfectly. The blacks nearly have no rights and must accept being oppressed by the whites. Sarah is only one of many poor blacks who only just manages to earn a living by working as a servant for a rich white family (the narrator). Slavery does not exist anymore, but it can be difficult to distuingish the life of a slave from that of a native African in the 50's except from the fact that they do after all get paid for their work. Sarah is very concerned about her children getting a good education. She probably wants them to have a better life than she has had so far, and while that is a very noble thought, the facts speak against it. Her children do not at this time have a very good (if any) chance of getting a good solid education because it is very expensive, and their mother does not make that much money. Even if she did make enough money, her legs are bad, and at the end of the story, she has to give up her job (and thus take her children out of the boarding school) because she cannot afford to pay for the school. This is what could look like the final blow to her children's future success in life. No education means no chances of getting a better life in South Africa (and just about everywhere else, too). But what if she did have enough money to give her children a proper education - would that guarantee the children a good future life? I gravely doubt it. As I said before, the blacks live almost like slaves, and as such, they do not have the opportunity to climb the social ladder. All in all, Sarah's hopes and dreams for her children are all very noble, but, unfortunately, at that time and place, very unrealistic. The narrator does not treat Sarah any better than most other white people in South Africa at this time. While she allows Sarah's children to stay in her house during Christmas, I think the only reason she does it is because she tries to escape her own bad conscience. It is Christmas after all. Throughout the rest of the year, she does not even think about helping Sarah's children financially so they can stay in school. Even though she presumably has more money than Sarah will ever see, the thought of helping her servant out does not strike her at any point in the story. Her servant is her servant, and servants' children are not someone she thinks about. This point is also very clear to see when one reads the description of the narrator's thoughts about Sarah's children. She is surprised at how well they behave, how good their manners are; as if she was expecting a horde of wild animals instead of normal human beings. She is undoubtedly not the only one to think this way about the blacks, they were considered animals by many white people at that time. However, the narrator seems to excuse her treatment and behaviour towards Sarah and her family with ignorance (see lines 99-103). I find it hard to believe that this ignorance really existed, but it is possible that it did, because the whites and the blacks were so distinctly segregated by the apartheid system. Yet I find it hard to believe that the narrator was completely unaware of Sarah's almost inhuman standard of living. Surely, even though apartheid almost divided the whites and the blacks into two separate worlds, she must have known something about the conditions under which Sarah and her children lived, and that it was getting worse as the days went by (because of the mother's bad legs). When Janet, one of Sarah's two daughters, comes to visit the narrator in the end of the story, the narrator once again displays her ignorance about the blacks, but this time she openly admits it. Janet is, of course, in an unpleasant situation when she stands in the back yard of her mother's former employer. Everyone has some pride in themselves, and standing in the back yard, asking for alms is, of course, very degrading to a proud person, no matter who that person is. Janet has probably tried being in a similar situation before, but now that her mother is unable to provide for the disintegrating family (her father has lost his job and her sister has married and moved away), the life and death of her family depends solely on her and her brother who are the only ones working. Janet is of course very depressed and sad, but she cannot give up now. Her last hope is that the narrator will help her out, and, fortunately, she does. The handkerchief is actually the first thing the narrator has ever done to help Sarah's children. It is not until that point in the story Janet realizes just how bad things are with Sarah and her family. Of course, one could again be tempted to think that it was only her bad conscience that made her give Janet the clothes, but there is no way to be sure. I am, however, inclined to believe that the narrator has finally realized how immense the difference between the "black world" and the "white world" really is. However, the things she gives Janet (some money and the handkerchief) will not last long, and what will Janet do then? Come back for more, of course. I am not saying that the narrator is doing something bad, but I do not think she realizes that Janet will probably come back again. It is like giving a stray cat some food; it will always come back for more. The question is if the narrator would give Janet more money if she came back, and if it would be any help at all. The first question is easy: Yes, she would give her more money if she came back - her conscience forbids her to do otherwise. The second question is a bit more difficult to answer. Of course the money is an instant help to Janet and her family, but only a very insufficient one. The few dollars (or whatever currency they use in South Africa) she gives Janet will only provide the family with a meal or two, and after that they will be back to where they started, and would have to beg for more money. Now, I am not saying charity does not help, but I do not think it helps as much as many people would like to think it does. In many cases, it only puts off the sufferings. The apartheid system has officially been abolished in South Africa today, but I think old habits die hard, so to speak. I am sure there are still blacks like Sarah and her family who have to subordinate to the richer white population even though - officially - apartheid does not exist there anymore. Societies do not change overnight, especially not when one group has to give up its right and privileges and share them with others (whom they dislike). Sarah's story is undoubtedly not the worst example one could find, but no one knows what happened after the scene in the narrator's back yard. Translation: In the beginning of his well-known novel about a missing principal, Hans Scherfig gives the following description of how it all started: On the tenth of October, a horrible discovery was made on Amager Fælled. A soldier found the horribly mutilated remains of a person who had literally been blown to bits. The police immediately started an extensive investigation, which was somewhat complicated by the fact that it was impossible to identify the body. Some small pieces of clothing were sent for chemical analysis, but since the results would not be available until a week later, the police were unable to proceed directly with solving the mystery. f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\Albrecht Durer Leonardo of the North 1410.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Excellent paper, one of my best, I spent several hours researching Albrecht Durer This is the best paper in the class. Albrecht Dürer Leonardo of the North Michael Wise Art 5 Frank Turduci Impressive though others may be, the great German artist of the Northern Renaissance is Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528). We know his life better than the lives of other artists of his time. Dürer traveled, and found, he says, more appreciation abroad than at home. The Italian influence on his art was of a particularly Venetian strain, through the great Bellini, who, by the time Dürer met him, was an old man. Dürer was an extraordinarily learned person, and the only Northern artist who fully infused the sophisticated Italian dialogue between scientific theory and art, creating his exposition on proportion in 1528. Even though we know so much about his doings, it is not easy to fathom his thinking. Albrecht Dürer was born in the imperial free city of Nuremberg on May 27,1471, at a time when the city was shifting from its Gothic past to a more progressive form of Renaissance Humanism. Dürer's father, a goldsmith, departed Hungary to come to Nuremberg, where he met and married Albrecht's mother -- Barbara Hopkins. At age 13, Dürer accomplished an artistically precise and meticulous silverpoint, entitled "Self Portrait at age 13." This work of art not only reveals his premature aptitude as a youth, but the unique details of northern art. Albrecht Dürer was first apprenticed to his father at age 14, during which time he learned techniques in metal working. It would be these techniques and his own intrinsic talents that provide a stable base for his future engraving masterpieces. Dürer, who did not care for goldsmithing, was apprenticed to one of his fathers' close friends, painter and book illustrator Michael Wohlgmuth, in 1486. While an apprentice under Wohlgemuth, Albrecht acquired the essential skills needed in painting, drawing, and the craft of woodcut. Michael Wohlgemuth's workshop was extremely busy and was aggressively designing and fabricating woodcuts used in the making of books with detailed illustrations. It is believed that Albrecht may have assisted in the preparation of illustrations in the Nuremberg Chronicles (1493, Hartmann Schedel). This project would have allowed Dürer to view works by the leading printmasters of the period, including Martin Schogauer, the Housebook Master, and other Italian artists. Albecht Dürer left Michael Wohlgemuth's studio in 1490 after finishing his apprenticeship to go on Wanderjahre (wandering journey). The main purpose of Dürer's journey was to visit Martin Schongauer in Colmar. It is believed, however, that he first went to visit the Housebook Master working in the middle Rhine area, after which he continued on to the Netherlands. In 1492 Albrecht sadly discovered that Schongauer had recently died; nonetheless, the master's brothers welcomed Dürer. Shortly after, Albrecht went onto Basel to work with another of the Schongauer brothers. During this time he also made many contacts. In Basel and later in Strasbourg, Dürer created illustrations for various publications, in addition to Sebastian Brant's Das Narrenschiff (Ship of Fools, translated 1507) in 1494. At the this early period of his life, amid his apprenticeship and his return to Nuremberg in 1494, Dürer's art exhibits his extravagant expertise with line and his astute attention to detail. Due to a prearranged marriage, Dürer had to return to Nuremberg. On July 7, 1494, he married Agnes Frey, the daughter of a wealthy local burgher. Agnes and Albrecht appeared completely unsuited for each other; consequently, only months after their wedding, Dürer left for his first trip to Italy, accompanied by friends. While in Italy, he visited his good friend Willibald Pirckheimer; in fact, it was Willibald who introduced Albrecht to classical writings and humanist beliefs. It is believed, perhaps, that Dürer met Jacopo dé Barbari, whose geometrically constructed figures motivated Dürer to contemplate the dimensions of the human body. Also, during his year long stay in Venice he completed illustrations of mysterious animals and figures, as well as contemplating nature. During his stay in Italy Albrecht produced some magnificently detailed watercolor landscape studies, presumably during his return journey -- for example, a view of the Castle at Trent (1495, National Gallery, London). During the ensuing ten years in Nuremberg, from the summer 1495 to fall of 1505, Dürer generated a great abundance of works that strongly secured his notoriety. (The Apocalypse (1498), a series 15 large, full-page woodcut drawings and the engravings Fall of Man (1504)and Large Fortune (1501-1502)). On the whole, these works and others of the period demonstrate his advancing technical expertise of the woodcut and engraving media. They also demonstrate his awareness of human proportions based on passages by the ancient Roman writer Vitruvius, and reflect his dazzling ingenuity to combine the details of nature into believable illustrations of reality. His Self-Portrait of 1500 (Alte Pinakothek, Munich), in which he illustrated himself as a Christ-like figure, reiterates in visual form his lifelong preoccupation with the elevation of the artist's status surpassing that of a mere artisan. Albrecht left for Italy in fall 1505 after completing Crowned Death on a Thin Horse (British Museum, London). The plague epidemic in Nuremberg is quite possibly the reason Dürer left for Venice. From 1505 to 1507 he remained in Venice where he met the great master Giovanni Bellini and other artists. During his stay he secured a significant commission for a painting, the Feast of the Rose Garlands (1506, National Museum, Prague), for the German Merchants' Foundation. Albrecht Dürer also composed the following three paintings in which there is a new gentleness of color and tonal harmony: Christ Among the Doctors (1506, Thyssen Collection, Lugano), Portrait of a Young Woman (1506-1507, Deutsches Museum, Berlin), and lastly Virgin with the Siskin (1506, Deutsches Museum, Berlin). Upon returning to Nuremberg in February 1507, Dürer began a second period of great productivity. During this time he completed such works as: an Adoration of the Trinity panel, an altarpiece for the Dominican church in Frankfurt (1508-1509, destroyed by fire in 1729), portraits; many prints, two editions of the Passion, woodcuts for the Triumphal Arch for Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I, and a series of engravings that included The Knight, Death, and the Devil (1513), Saint Jerome in His Study (1514), and Melancholia I (1514). Through the linear process of engraving, Dürer was able to produce tones of varying darkness and he used them to illustrate a three-dimensional appearance. In 1520 Dürer learned that Charles V, Maximilian's successor, was scheduled to be making a voyage to Aachen from Spain. Upon arrival in Aachen, Charles V was crowned Holy Roman emperor of the Habsburg dynasty. Albrecht Dürer had received a yearly stipend from Maximilian for such works as Triumphal Arch (1515-1517), an enormous woodcut measuring 111/2 feet by 93/4 feet and other works of art. Albrecht was eager to meet with Charles to have his salary continued. Armed with prints and other artworks, which he sold along the way to finance his trip, Dürer journeyed to Aachen and on to the Lowlands between 1520 and 1521. His audience with Charles proved successful. Albrecht kept a silverpoint diary that consisted of sketches of the many people and places he visited on his pilgrimage to the Netherlands, the first of its kind in the history of art. He returned to Nuremberg in July 1521, at which time he started to compose portrait engravings. The first, Cardinal Albrecht of Brandenbergwhich, was completed in 1523. The second, was a portrait engraving of an old friend, Willibald Pirckheimer (1524), and the last of his portrait engravings' was Erasmus of Rotterdam (1526) are all remindful of the Flemish portrayals of St. Jerome. His last monumental works are two large panels depicting the Four Apostles (1526?, Alte Pinakothek), were presented originally as his gift to the city of Nuremberg. Albrecht Dürer also wrote disquisition's on perspective (1525, Underweysung der Messung...), on fortification of towns (1527, Etliche Underricht zu Befestigung der Stett...) and lastly on human proportion (1528, incomplete, Vier Bücher von menschlicher Proprtion). On April 6, 1528 Albrecht Dürer died, but shall never be forgotten. The quality of Dürer's work, his astonishing output, and his influence on his contemporaries all underscore the significance of his place in the history of art. In a broader context, his curiosity in geometry and mathematical proportions, his keen sense of history, his observances of nature, and his awareness of his own individual potential demonstrate the intellectually inquiring spirit of the Renaissance. f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\Albrecht Durer vs Brett Whiteley 1238.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ In this paper I will compare and contrast the work of two well-known and quite contrasting artists that stand out in their approach towards the handling of the figure in their art. While searching for two artists that would be not only interesting to compare and contrast, but in doing so, further my understanding of the relationship between the artist and their attitude towards their artwork, I came across Brett Whiteley and Albrecht Dürer. I was drawn to these artists because of their capacity to capture so clearly what they saw. Their talents in approach and craftsmanship while so vastly different in some areas were closely related in others. Both of these artists were exceptionally talented draftsmen and shared a keen sense of observation for realistic detail. Dürer believed that, by using geometry and measurement, he could create a rational system of perspective and bodily proportions, whereas, Whiteley, although having the ability to draw realistically, was more concerned with abstraction, distortion and exaggeration to create emotion, especially when portraying the human figure. Both Dürer and Whiteley's art demonstrates their extreme proficiency with line and their ability to depict the human form in ways that many artists could only dream of. Whiteley's use of line was equal to none, in that with just a few lines he could encapsulate the sensual, feminine curves of a voluptuous female nude. He had a highly evolved instinct for making marks on surfaces, he had the ability to change a dull, blank sheet of paper into an emotionally charged artwork with a fluid like swipe of a paintbrush. Dürer's use of line on the other hand was quite different. The use of millions of fine lines to render an image is typical of German renaissance engravers but Durers astonishing and unequalled achievements in woodcut and engraving permanently changed the graphic arts and heightened its possibilities. Through his two visits to Italy, and his contact with such brilliant renaissance artists like his contemporaries Mantegna, Leonardo and Giovanni Bellini (1430-1516), Durer was stimulated and influenced to develop his unique style. While looking for two specific artworks to compare and contrast, I first found Durer's widely familiar work 'Hands of an Apostle' or 'The Praying Hands', which was finished down to the last detail. Above a network of veins the somewhat thin but gnarled fingers point skywards and come to a 'point like a Gothic arch'. I then came across Brett Whiteley's 'My God, My God…Why…' which depicts Christ on the crucifix with his arms and his largely out of proportion hands held sky ward. The hands are cartoon-like and are grotesquely distorted becoming a strong image of intense of pain, so much so that the rest of the painting becomes seemingly insignificant. Whiteley used his ability to distort an image to intensify the feeling of the picture to its full extent but he also knew he could rely on his tremendous skill as a draughtsman to rescue him if he took it too far. Durer however, made constant attempts to find a general proportional law that held constant with all varieties of human physique. He diagrammed the proportions of different parts of the body according to a fixed scale. It is understood that the hands were a section of a larger work and that Durers capacity for scale meant that each part could be placed like a jigsaw and be accurately in proportion. He collected his thoughts on human proportion into four volumes of books called Treatise on Human Proportions. He only completed two before his death in1528. Whiteley's paintings most of the time, were quite highly sexualised, in fact, Whiteley was the first Australian artist to directly portray sex in art. I think Durer would be quite disgusted with Whiteley's blunt theme, but Whiteley was more intrigued with the manner not the subject matter of the artwork. Whiteley seemed to have a cool sentimental detachment with the themes in his paintings. For instance, in his work Head of Christie which is a portrait of an English murderer, instead of concentrating on directly painting a picture of death and despair to repulse the viewer, he simply uses a subtle form of composition and distortion of the face to entice the viewer to look at the face of a murderer. He aims not to shock or repulse but to intrigue. It's interesting in that Whiteley's pictures of nudes, giraffes and monkeys seem to have the same emotional level as The Head of Christie. Durer on the other hand chose his theme quite carefully. His main themes were usually spiritual or religious, although he like Whiteley, also had a keen eye for landscapes and some sort of connection with animals. Almost all of Durer's paintings or etchings of animals or landscapes were so detailed that they could perhaps be accurate enough for a botanist or biologist to use today. I think, Durer's connection with animals sometimes led him to mix his themes, as in his Virgin with a Multitude of Animals, 1503, where he surrounds the Virgin with a gathering of gentle animals including a parrot, a fox, a poodle, some owls and a crab. One of Durer's favourite themes however, was himself. His self-portraits were all precisely finished and all portrayed him as a handsome young man. He completed four self-portraits during his life the first of which when he was only thirteen. It is an amazingly accomplished self-portrait and was not only his earliest known work but is also the first recognised self-portrait in German art. The last self-portrait he painted was at the age of 29 in 1500, where he deliberately portrayed himself in the style of a painting of Christ. He idealised his own features to resemble that of Christ, not to show himself as the reincarnation of Jesus, which to a good Christian would be blasphemous, but he believed that his gift of art was god given. Although Durer often painted self-portraits he hardly ever painted his wife, and when he did they weren't that flattering. Whiteley nevertheless, used his girlfriend as a constant theme in his art. He painted her not to show her in a sense but to show the female form. Two widely different personalities in two vastly different eras, the fifteenth Century and the twentieth Century have shown me how the quality of draughtsmanship and line can have such a strong impact on the viewer of the figure. Whilst Durer struggled in the changing time of the German Gothic era to the beginning of the wonderfully flamboyant Italian Renaissance, Whitely was also an artist of a changing era. His paintings especially the abstracted figure encapsulated the sexual revolution of the sixties and enriched the Australian art tradition. They both were drawn to the human and animal form and while Durer embraced realism in the time where developing science was the changing the way the world saw itself, Whiteley was seeking the abstract when science was being questioned, and the search for more inner truths was a sign of the times. Their construction of the figure displays all these concepts. Bibliography: GAUNT, William, "Everyman's Dictionary of Pictorial Art",Vol 1. 1962. K.M Dent and Sons. London GLEESON James (ed) 'Masterpieces of Australian Painting',1969. Landsdowne Press Melbourne HORTON, M. "Australian Painters of the '70's", 1975 Ure Smith Press, Sydney HUGHES, Robert, "The Art of Australia" 1966 Penguin Aus. RUSSELL Francis, "The World Of Durer c. 1471-1528" 1967 Time Life Inc. NY. f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\Alexander Calder 347.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Alexander Calder was born on July 22, 1898 in Lawnton, Pennsylvania. He had an artistic upbringing, as his father and grandfather were sculptures as well. Both of his parents went to Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine arts. Despite Calder's artistic upbringing, he didn't go immediately to art. He first studied mechanical engineering at Seven's Institute of Technology in Hoboken, where he got a bachelors degree in 1919. However, his engineering life wasn't going very well, so in 1923 he enrolled at the Art Students League in New York City. It was there where he found his greatest inspiration, John Sloan. Calder constructed paintings based on Sloan's. In 1924 he became a freelance artist for the National Police Gazette. Then, in 1926 he published his first illustrated book, Animal Sketching. In 1930 he went to Paris, where he attended Académie de la Grande Chaumière. There he discovered the art of Mondrian and Miró. He started experimenting with abstract form. In 1931 he exhibited his first brightly colored constellations, called mobiles, consisting of painted cutout shapes connected by wires and set in motion by wind currents. One of these mobiles was called "Universes." Because of all his works with wire, he started making wire sculptors. He also married Louisa James in this year, who was the grandniece of author Henry James. Together, they (Louisa and Alexander) had two children. With his new family, he moved to Roxbury, Connecticut. After that, he spent more time in America then in Europe. He started designing costumes and sets for ballets. In 1937 he constructed "Whale" which was his first stabile. He also constructed a mercury fountain for the Spanish Pavilion of the Paris Exposition. He called this piece an aquatic ballet. He continued making water stabiles throughout the rest of his life. Many of his later works are huge, heavy, and delicately balanced mobiles produced for public buildings throughout the world. Calder is also noted for his book illustrations and stage sets. He had studios in Roxbury, Connecticut, and Paris. He died the 11th of November, 1976 at the age of 79. f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\Alfred Hitchcock Analysis.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Major Project - Alfred Hitchcock Critical Analysis Alfred Hitchcock was and still is considered one of the best horror directors of all time. He is considered the "Master of Suspense" for his very well written and directed horror films, which have left his mark clearly and firmly on the movie-making industry. With works such as Vertigo, Psycho, The Birds and Rear Window, Hitchcock told his stories through intelligent plots, witty dialogue and just the right amount of mystery and murder. All these factors coincide to revolutionise the filming industry, particularly the Horror/Thriller genre, spawning a whole new line of filmmakers mimicking his recipe for a great horror, making him a legend all over the world. The fact that Alfred Hitchcock is the "Master of Suspense" is what makes his horror movies so great. It is the suspense that keeps the audience on the edge of their seats in anticipation, fear and excitement. This sheer exposure and incorporation of suspense into all of his films makes them so deep and uncontrollably addictive. Not a single person who has ever experienced, the full entirety of his films, as it is not something one merely watches, one experiences it, can deny the great presence of suspense and the immense effect it has on the film, itself. Hitchcock manages to turn a simple horror/thriller into a film that is over whelmingly full of suspense and creates an aura and sense of complete suspension throughout the movie, of pleasurable excitement and anticipation that can not be simply let go and must be experienced in it's entirety. It is this amazing creation of suspense that creates the link between suspense and horror, which is why Hitchcock is not only the master of suspense but also the master of all thrillers. Which is why, suspense is the glue that holds the pieces of horror together. The best way to describe this was indeed, presented by Hitchcock, when he said. "There is no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation of it", this quote truly embodies the whole factor of suspense, in that the 'bang' is quick and instantly over, whereas the eventual and agonising climax to it is much more horrific. Hitchcock once stated "Always make the audience suffer as much as possible" This quote would possibly be one of the greatest pieces of advice Hitchcock could give. Not only that, it also analyses his horror and suspense methods at the same time. Keeping the audience in agony longer keeps them more and more involved in the film, intensifying the suspense to an unbearable degree, where they won't be able to watch any more but have to, this is what Hitchcock wanted to achieve; putting his audience in a position of unbearable excitement. This quote is also linked to the previous quote, whereby a long and agonising feature of suspense adds far more to the film than a quick 'bang'. There are numerous ways in which a writer/director can create suspense. This can include; building expectation, increasing tension, using surprise, creating immediacy, establishing consequences, limiting time, maintaining doubt, camera angles and the use of music and sound effects. Incorporated together these nine ways of suspense are all identifiable in many of Hitchcock's works and all greatly add to the horror of the movie with it's own method of suspense. The first method that Alfred Hitchcock uses in creating suspense is to build expectation. This may be expectation of danger, for instance where the audience knows of an imminent danger that is going to occur and are 'suspended' into the fate of that person. This is an excellent way to captivate the viewer as, once a character has been identified to the audience, the viewer holds a greater expectation that events will more-likely revolve around that character and therefore have a greater suspension in the acts and submissions of that character. This is a great way to grip the audience into a theatre of imminent danger to that character, creating suspense. Hitchcock uses this method to his advantage in his film, Psycho. After establishing the Private Investigator in the movie, he decides to investigate the motel, at which she was supposedly staying. The audience at this point is thinking that the deranged mother of the owner has killed the person and a great expectation of danger occurs when he goes into the house where the mother is, the audience is on the edge of their seats waiting to see what will happen to the investigator. Everything was set up for a major event and the expectation for this was openly apparent. That being said, Hitchcock can't and doesn't rely so heavily on music and sound effects. As he once said, "If it's a good movie, the sound could go off and the audience would still have a perfectly clear idea of what was going on" This shows that even though sound is a great asset, nothing can go past a good visual, that can incorporate several methods of suspense, not merely one. This is another measure of Hitchcock's great talents, in that he believes so heavily in his work and knows what makes it so great. Another method used copiously in the horror genre is that of creating tension. Similar to building expectation, increasing tension uses information to manipulate the audience. In this technique, the audience is given information and is informed of the impending fate of the character, while the character is left in the dark. The whole fate is not yet known, however they are aware of imminent danger and what could possibly happen to that character. This creates a lot of tension in the audience, as they are aware of what is going to happen, while they watch the identified character walk straight into a trap. For instance, it makes the viewer just want to scream out 'Don't do it!' It also suspends the audience into whether the character will survive or not. Hitchcock uses this technique in rear Window. While looking through Jeff's camera we can see a whole set of events pan out. We see Jeff's girlfriend, Lisa enter Thuwald's, the killer's apartment through the window. The tension continues to build as we see Thornwald enter his apartment while Lisa is still inside. Since Lisa is an identified character that the audience cares about, nobody really wants to see the next bit where it is imminent that the killer will find her. However at the point where she does not know that the killer is returning, the viewers tension increases, aware of the jeopardy she is in, especially since she does not know and we, the audience can't do any thing about it. Another technique used by Hitchcock to manipulate his audience is the use of surprise. When there is a sudden surprise or twist in the story or plot the audience begins expecting more violence and mystery etc. An excellent example of this technique is in the movie Psycho. Hitchcock kills off the star early in the movie in the classic shower scene. This surprise twist creates an expectation for more of it and therefore more suspense. Hitchcock's remarks to this were "At this point I transferred the horror from the screens into the minds of the audience. And although there is only one more violent act in the whole movie, the audience is held in suspense throughout" This is a perfect example of Hitchcock using different ways to create suspense which make his horrors so unpredictable, the ending of this movie only has to be seen to explain why. This technique, just like all the others is almost unique or always modified by Hitchcock so that the audience never knows what to expect in any aspect of horror, increasing the suspense and therefore, horror. When something vital is at stake immediate suspense is created to house the fears for that something. This is called creating immediacy and is very effective in all movies to manipulate the audience into caring for something that is vital to one of the characters, which otherwise may have been less involving. This technique is also used to create suspense in Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window. In this movie, someone very vital to the lead character, his girlfriend has her life put in jeopardy in a very intense scene in the movie. The audience feels for the main character and the emotions he must be going through, watching his girlfriend, seemingly moments away from imminent death, especially when there is nothing he could do. This technique is very useful as the suspense created, not only captivates the audience into the events but also influences their feelings for the boyfriend and how he is powerless over something that is so vital to him and thus, the audience feels in the same manner. In most of his movies Hitchcock establishes consequences for the main character to achieve and if he didn't he would have to suffer the ramifications. This creates a great sense of suspense, as the entire audience watches in anticipation, will he or wont's he? It keeps the audience on the edge of their seats, as Hitchcock does, it brings alive the plot of the movie, and thoroughly engages the audience. This is shown in Vertigo, where a Private Investigator is hired to follow the wife of a rich businessman. After following her around for a few days he believes she became somewhat possessed by a ghost of her grandmother and became suicidal to fulfil her husbands wishes to kill her. The consequences of failure to help her, leads to her death and the ramifications and implications that occur in court. However throughout his time on this case the audience feels suspense because they sit in indecisiveness over what will happen. On one hand they would like to see him save her but on the other they don't want a boring or uneventful movie. This is what possible consequences do; however it also increases urgency to get it done. Yet, another method that Alfred Hitchcock has mastered is that of maintaining doubt. If there is doubt in the minds of the audience as to the outcome of certain events, the suspense is intensified. When something is know there is no interest, no captivity, no suspense. For instance if somebody told you the ending to a classic whodunit such as Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express then you would most likely not even watch it and even if you did there would be far less thrill and suspense when you did. This is why keeping the audience in the dark about certain events or people works so well for Hitchcock, captivating the audience into curiosity and intensifying the suspense further. In Psycho, Hitchcock puts huge doubt in the minds of the audience when he kills off the star half way through the movie. If anyone knew what was going to happen, they can think again and this method suspended the audience in a far greater way than if it were what they had predicted. Nevertheless, this difference makes the audience guessing until the very end, not knowing if or when he will do something this different again. Limiting time is another method used that captivates the audience in another will he or won't he escapade. This technique adds urgency to the scene, captivating the audience and intensifying their viewing. This urgency adds suspense by adding a further enemy, time. This begins a race against the clock and incorporated with this technique can be many others, such as building expectation, increasing tension or creating immediacy. One example of all of these techniques coming into effect in the same scene could be if the hero, for instance Superman had to defeat his arch nemesis and stop the bomb from going off (limiting time) save his girlfriend (immediacy) and to save the world from an asteroid (establishing consequences) all after the disappearance of his side-kick (maintaining doubt). It is Hitchcock's measure as a director to choose different variables and combinations that create the best suspense and therefore the greatest thrillers. Time is of the essence in Hitchcock's Vertigo. A time limit is created as Johnny rushes to save Madeline from committing suicide. Unfortunately he is too late, however the suspense as he staggers up the stairs to try and reach her in time is unbearable. Another method of establishing suspense and creating horror is that of incorporating different camera angles, from different perspectives, angles and types of shots. Manipulating the camera angle can do so much for the movie, as it affects the audience so greatly, it is almost like helping them see from Hitchcock's mind of what the movie should express. This may be elevating the camera to show who is in charge and establishing power or from a characters perspective to add perspective and greater insight into that character, i.e. their feelings, emotion and most importantly what they perceive through their eyes. This is shown very well in two movies, Psycho and Vertigo. Firstly, in Psycho, Hitchcock uses camera angles alternatively to give the viewer and idea of what the would-be victim is experience. It adds, a more eerie feeling, creating greater suspense, as there is no better way to tell a story than through the eyes of those who experienced it. Again, in Psycho, camera angles are adapted to bring fear into the minds of the audience. When the victim is about to be attacked, the camera angle depicts the murderer, launching himself directly at the victim. The camera is placed just under the killer to create the feeling that we, the audience are under attack. Thirdly, in Vertigo the main character is afraid of heights due to a terrifying incident where he was hanging off a ledge 15 stories above the ground. This would not look nearly as frightening from an upward looking view as it would from the perspective of the man hanging at a perilous height. These examples are just a few that allow Hitchcock to create suspense just with the camera. The final, but possibly the greatest creator/amplifier of suspense is music and sound effects. Sound is 50% of the whole impression of the movie so it isn't hard to see why Hitchcock puts it to such great effect. Firstly, the sound and music coincide with the scene that is taking place; the music always fits the mood. For example during parts of intrigue and mystery taking place the music fits appropriately, such as a quick 3 beats with a trumpet and drums, Da Da Da and zooming into the characters face to see their expression, to signify the previous statement. This also shows the intertwining of music and different filming techniques used by directors, especially Hitchcock to better their films. However, more importantly in a horror scene, the music is always very quiet or not present just before imminent danger. This quietness is used to put the audience into a false sense of security, before a sudden incident, which is made much more unexpected and therefore more horrifying, catching the audience off guard. This then escalates to coincide with the positioning of the killer/victim, as when one approaches the music intensifies into a loud playing of violins to catch your attention. For example in the classic shower scene in Psycho, as the killer slowly approaches, suspense is created through the uprising of the music, just like Jaws, with the approaching shark. The classic violins play their high-strung and high-pitched tune, at the climax of the music is always the murder, or in this case stabbing of the victim, which coincides with the blood curling scream. Without a doubt, music is half the movie and Hitchcock uses it to great effect in elaborating even more suspense into the minds of the audience. Another technique that Hitchcock manipulates to his advantage is that of using symbolism. Symbolism creates subliminal backdrops or themes that add to the overall mis-en-scene. Paini described Hitchcock as "one of the greatest inventors of images in the 20th century, and the only filmmaker whose work reflects the impact of each of its major art trends: classicism, symbolism, mannerism and modernism". Symbolism is shown in all of Hitchcock's movies, but especially in Psycho. Symbolism in this movie involve the stuffed birds in Norman's office and the 'peeking' conversation that highlight the impending chaos of the film and the double image of Norman Bates reflected in the hotel window. Norman's dead mother in the basement is also a symbol of the mental psychosis of Norman that sends him into thinking she never really left and that she is always with him, inside of him. However, if criticism could be laid from a personal viewpoint, it would be the lack of excitement felt by today's audiences. However, this factor may not contribute to criticism but rather acts as an appraisal of Hitchcock's abilities as a director. This is due to the sheer amount of violence, action, blood, deaths, and gruesome and vulgar acts of insane and neurotic characters in horror movies today. This is basically the method used these days for great horror. Sure it appeals to the current generation but it also shows that the directors of these films simply don't measure up to Hitchcock's standards, they go for a simple intense moment every now and again, not incorporating as much variation of suspense as Hitchcock did so many years before. This enhanced Hitchcock's abilities as a director, relying on his own skill, rather than that of the special effects-guy. Of course, it would not be fair to praise Hitchcock for the entire success of his movies. It was also the actors, producers, writers, cinematographer and sound technicians, all of whom won or were nominated for academy awards in Rear Window. This either means one of two things that the association and work with Hitchcock aided them or that Hitchcock relied on others. Either way led to an end product of brilliance, placed together and put into place by Hitchcock. Alfred Hitchcock is so much more adaptable and accommodating to the changing faces of cinemas. With a career that spanned 57 movies over 50 years, Hitchcock produced movies throughout the history of the popular medium, from the silent era to stereo sound, black-and white to Technicolor, wide screen to television, and from Europe to Hollywood. This shows how adaptable he was to changing circumstances, audience and cinema paraphernalia. While he progressed with each movie he got better and better until the continual success of several movies were hailed as 'masterpieces'. No director is ever without fault, and Hitchcock was no exception, from million-dollar blunders to little-known movies produced in Japan. Although these were minor 'character building' mistakes, just like a craftsmen making a wooden sculpture, he kept chiselling away until a final, desired or 'perfect' result has been made. Beyond doubt, Hitchcock was the master of suspense and by combining these techniques in any desired order he has established himself and his movies as classics. Along with his ability to adapt, his versatility and love of directing, Hitchcock and his movies are to be remembered and benchmarked for a long time to come. f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\Alfred Hitchcock and his contribution to Hollywood.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Throughout history there have been many directors who have made their impact on the world of movies but few of them have had the same impact that Alfred Hitchcock has had. Hitchcock has been seen as a very complex yet important figure in the history of film making. He has directed some of the best suspense films known to man. He also had his own television show in the 50's known as Alfred Hitchcock Presents. Alfred Joseph Hitchcock was born in England in a little town outside of London on the thirteenth of August in eighteen ninety-nine, to William and Emma Hitchcock. He had two older siblings, William and Nellie. The family was a lower middle class family living in Leytonstone, England. William Hitchcock was a dealer of fruit and poultry, and his business did quite well. According to John Russell Taylor, in his tell-all biography, Hitch (1978); Hitchcock was a child who kept to himself because of the fact that his older siblings were so much older than him (Taylor, 1978). Hitchcock was educated at many different schools. His first school was a school which was located directly behind his house, operated by the Faithful Companions of Jesus. Hitchcock did not stay there long because, according to Taylor (1978), "Father Flanagan came and gave his parents hell for sending him to a secular school" (29). Following the secular school was the Selesian College in Battersea in which Hitchcock was sent to board at the tender age of nine. Finally Hitchcock ended up at St. Ignatius College where he stayed until he was fourteen years old. Hitchcock only left school after his father died in 1914. After he left school he decided to enroll in the School of Engineering and Navigation because he was interested in becoming an engineer. While at school he became interested in the arts and so he then decided to go to school for the arts and he ended up at London University where he studied fine arts (Perry, 1965). In George Perry's book, The Films of Alfred Hitchcock, from the years of 1921 to 1929, Hitchcock worked on silent films, first as the title card designer and then as the director. But he did not start out at the production studio he actually started out in this business at a small advertising firm getting about fifteen shillings a week (Perry, 1965). According to George Perry (1965), "From there he went to W.T. Henley, the cable company, as a layout man" (7). This firm was very embracing of Hitchcock's artistic demeanor. Henley had a newspaper which their social club published and Hitchcock regularly had drawings and stories in them (Taylor, 1975). During this time Hitchcock was introduced to the idea of drawing title cards, which he took in stride. Very soon after starting his title card drawing he was hired by the Famous Players-Lasky production company. While working at this company he had his first directing experience which he was talked into by Anita Ross, the publicity woman (Perry, 1965 and Taylor, 1978). The movie was called Mrs. Peabody, but Hitchcock referred to it as Number Thirteen, probably because no one had ever really decided on a name (Taylor, 1978). This film was never completed because of money problems. The next chance Hitchcock was given was as a co-director of the film, Always Tell Your Wife (Perry, 1965). Always Tell Your Wife was followed by Woman to Woman which he was the assistant director. Alfred Hitchcock's first talkie was not done until 1929 and it was called Blackmail. This movie was also Britain's first talkie movie. Blackmail featured Anny Ondra, a German actress who can be called the first of Hitchcock's blonde prototypes. Following Blackmail was Juno and the Paycock which was a musical screenplay. This was not a thriller in any sense and Hitchcock's next film went back to the thriller genre called, Enter Sir John (Perry, 1965). The movie Hitchcock considers his first movie is The Lodger because it had such a big response when it came out. "Still whether or not critics and audiences picked up on everything in the film, they pick up on enough to make it and Hitch an overnight sensation" (Taylor, 1965). All during this time Hitchcock had been working on his own family. He had married a woman named Alma Reville, whom he met when filming Woman to Woman in 1922. Alma was the editor on this film and she had a higher job than Hitchcock did and in those days a man could not acknowledge the fact that a woman had a higher job than him so Alfred waited until he had a higher position than her to speak to her. When they did speak they took a liking to each other and then after a long engagement they were married. Their wedding was small and took place on December 2, 1926. Alma and Alfred had a small wedding with immediate family and a couple close friends. After the wedding they cut the cake in their new apartment and left for their honeymoon in France. Their married life was just fine and then Alma became pregnant and on July 7th, 1928 she gave birth to Patricia Hitchcock (Taylor, 1978). In 1940, Alfred Hitchcock and his family came to Hollywood. When he arrived in Los Angeles, he and his family moved into an apartment on Wilshire Boulevard. Almost immediately after arriving in America Hitchcock threw himself into working on a new project, a movie titled Rebecca. Rebecca turned out to be a very expensive and successful movie. Even though the movie was a success Hitchcock still wondered whether it would have been even better had it been filmed in England. In the years following Hitchcock directed many movies for instance Foreign Correspondence, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Strangers on a Train, Spellbound, Rope and many others. In the 1950's Hitchcock was told he should be on air, meaning he should be on television. Television was a new medium in that time and many of the Hollywood people looked down on it. Hitchcock was thrilled by the idea of being on television and he jumped at the chance. With great haste he set up a company called Shamley Productions. He then called up an old business partner and asked her to produce the show, Joan Harrison agreed and they had a show. The show has the same cynical dark humor that is often found with Alfred Hitchcock. The television show was a success, "but the television shows were just the beginning of what was to turn into a whole industry. They spawned a lengthy series of short story anthologies with titles like "Stories They Wouldn't Let me Do on TV" and "Tales My Mother Never Told Me", collections of the kind of funny/macabre story made familiar and permanently associated with Hitch's name as a result of the television show" (231). This venture eventually made him independently wealthy. In 1957, Hitchcock began making the movie Vertigo starring James Stewart, Kim Novak and Barbara Bel Geddes. This movie showed many shots which were very innovative for the time. For example in the beginning of the film when James Stewart's character John "Scottie" Ferguson, is in the studio of his friend, Midge Wood, he is talking about his illness which is vertigo. He is telling Midge how he thinks he is getting better and to prove it he steps up on a step stool and climbs to the top of it. Then he looks out the window and sees how far above the ground he is and he gets dizzy and begins to fall. When the camera shows the shot of what he sees out the window it looks as if he is about 30 stories up, when in fact the was not close to being that high up, it was all the camera angle. The scenes in this movie are also very well shot throughout the movie. It is a well known fact that most of the backdrops in Hitchcock's movies where painted and most people cannot even tell this because of the expert shots taken by the camera man. After the television show Hitchcock returned to making movies. The one movie he is most known for is Psycho staring Janet Leigh. Psycho had the biggest opening Hitchcock had ever seen in his time as a director. Then after a brief two year hiatus out came The Birds, which turned out to be another Hitchcock masterpiece. Hitchcock's last movie came out in 1976. The movie was called Family Plot. Most of Hitchcock's work was done in black and white which gave the work a certain feeling of suspense. Also the fact that he did not show most of the violence in the movies also helped to add the need for the audience to use their imaginations. When a movie is in black and white it is up to the viewer to use their imagination about the colors. The shades of black, white and grey make the whole aura of the film seem a lot more sinister and slightly leering. Even when films where being made in color Hitchcock stayed with the black and white; if his movies had been done in color the audience would not have had the same feeling of unease. A lot of people found Alfred Hitchcock to be a very complex as well as eccentric man. One of the things that stood out about him was the fact that he started the tradition of appearing in all of his movies. He never had a very large role, but he would have one none the less. For instance he would be a random person sitting on a train or he would just causally walk by on the street. Finding him in his movies became a hobby held by many of his fans. Some other eccentric features of him were the fact that he would fall asleep at random times like, at dinner parties or when he was out with friends. It became an expected habit from him. Another strange fact about him was found in the book, The Men Who Made the Movies, in which the author Robert Schickel (1975) says that Hitchcock never drove a car because he did not have his license. Meanwhile in the book Hitch, by John Russell Taylor (1978) it says that he was just pretending not to ever drive. Taylor also says that Hitchcock used to drive Pat, his daughter to church every Sunday. The last really strange fact about Hitchcock was his love for blondes. He had a certain type of blond in mind at all times, for a while it was Tippi Hedren and then it became Janet Leigh. Hitchcock became synonymous for his blondes. I believe that Hitchcock had a very positive influence on society because without him I really do not think we would have such a good sense of real suspense. Psycho had such a profound touch on our lives. Many people who saw the film left the theater and were petrified of taking a shower. There is no way a person can say that Alfred Hitchcock had a negative influence on the film industry, all he did was help it. He helped to make television an okay medium even after Hollywood shunned it. His use of black and white and his lack of gore made suspense movies what they are today. Today many directors feel that they have to show the brutal murder of their characters in order to scare their viewers, when in all actuality the brutal murder just shocks the viewers. Hitchcock knew the secret was to let the audience imagine how horrific the murder would have been, that what would really scare someone. If one were to try and imagine suspense movies without Hitchcock, one would be horribly disappointed. Alfred Hitchcock is in my opinion the master of all suspense and thriller movies. Perry, G. (1965). The Films of Alfred Hitchcock. London: Studio Vista Limited. Schickel, R. (1975). The Men who made the movies. New York: Atheneum. Taylor, J.R. (1978). Hitch: The life and times of Alfred Hitchcock. New York: Pantheon Books. Vertigo. Dir. Alfred Hitchcock. Per. James Stewart, Kim Novak, and Barbara Bel Geddes. Universal, 1999. f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\Alfred Hitchcock at 100.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Queen Victoria was still on the throne when Sir Alfred Hitchcock was born in London a hundred years ago this month. A massively fat man of relentlessly old-fashioned demeanor, schooled by Jesuits and formal to the point of paralysis, he spent his entire adult life working in a medium that barely existed in 1899, but has since come to be regarded as the very essence of modernity. From 1939 until his death in 1980, he lived in Hollywood, a city that inverts every value of the lost world into which he was born. He made movies about secret agents and serial killers, and peopled them with debonair gentlemen who slept with cool blondes, thereby amusing millions of unsuspecting filmgoers with his own hopeless fantasies; he longed to be the witty, unflappable Cary Grant of North by Northwest, but knew he was really the Jimmy Stewart of Vertigo, haunted and desperate. Today, when the tempo of cultural change has accelerated beyond the wildest dreams of the maddest prophets, Hitchcock remains a fixed star of American popular culture, the only director of his generation whose name is still as familiar to ordinary moviegoers as it is to the film- studies cranks who churn out ponderous tomes with titles like Hitchcock as Activist: Politics and the War Films and Hitchcock's Bi-Textuality: Lacan, Feminisms, and Queer Theory. But it was not always so. Witness, for instance, this testy review of Secret Agent, his 1936 adaptation of Somerset Maugham's Ashenden: His films consist of a series of small "amusing" melodramatic situations: the murderer's buttons dropped on the baccarat board; the strangled organist's hands prolonging the notes in the empty church; the fugitives hiding in the bell tower when the bell begins to swing. Very perfunctorily he builds up to these tricky situations (paying no attention on the way to inconsistencies, loose ends, psychological absurdities) and then drops them; they mean nothing: they lead to nothing. This review, as it happens, was written by a novelist, Graham Greene, and it is interesting that he should point with distaste to the aspect of Hitchcock's work that is now most admired by critics: the fact that his movies deal primarily in images, not words. It isn't that his characters never say anything memorable. (Cary Grant, in North by Northwest: "Apparently the only performance that's going to satisfy you is when I play dead." James Mason: "Your very next role. You'll be quite convincing, I assure you.") But it is not what they say that we remember after the lights come up. An elegantly dressed man running through a deserted cornfield, chased by a renegade cropduster; a broken wine bottle that inexplicably proves to be filled with sand; the blankly staring eye of a woman lying dead in a running shower-such is the stuff of which a Hitchcock film is made, and next to it, everything else is window dressing. Though only nine of his feature films were silent, Hitchcock was profoundly affected by the silent-film aesthetic, and spent the rest of his career trying to import it into the age of sound. It took him long enough-many of his pre-1950 films are quite talky-but by the time of Strangers on a Train, he had figured out how to structure his scripts so as to diminish sharply the importance of dialogue. Characteristic of Hitchcock is that so many of his strongest films pivot around a tiny plot twist, uninteresting in itself, that serves as a pretext to set the characters in motion, and even more so that those characters should not infrequently go through entire scenes without speaking a single word out loud. Typical, too, is the remark he made to Ernest Lehman, who wrote North by Northwest, midway through the shooting of that film:The audience is like a great organ that you and I are playing. At one moment we play this note on them and get this reaction, and then we play that chord and they react that way. And someday we won't even have to make a movie-there'll be electrodes implanted in their brains, and we'll just press different buttons and they'll go "ooooh" and "aaaah" and we'll frighten them, and make them laugh. Won't that be wonderful? Hitchcock's image-oriented style cut against the grain of filmmaking in the '30s and '40s, which had been transformed almost beyond recognition by the coming of sound. It is no coincidence that radio, which flourished at the same time, made effective use of nearly every Hollywood star of the day; even Citizen Kane, a movie bristling with indelible images, was no less strongly influenced by Orson Welles's experience as a radio director. Small wonder that at a time when scripts were still known as "photoplays," Hitchcock's emphasis on the visual should have caused his work to be widely dismissed as mere light entertainment. Not until the '60s, after European directors had taken the lead in pulling away from the traditional style of cinema that dominated Hollywood in its golden age, did Hitchcock begin to be acknowledged as a major figure. Yet the irony is that his sensibility is decidedly pre- modern, not merely in its silent-film roots, but also in its emotional tone. A movie like Vertigo, which at first glance appears to be a kind of film noir, actually differs greatly from such earlier examples of the genre as Jacques Tourneur's Out of the Past or Nicholas Ray's In a Lonely Place in that its mode of expression is essentially Gothic-even operatic. Herein lies a crucial difference between the films of Hitchcock's major phase and the less mature ones that preceded them: Starting in 1954, he began to work with a composer capable of filling the empty spaces of his near-silent scenes with music fully in keeping with his own distinctive sensibility. To watch Ray's On Dangerous Ground, the lone film noir scored by Bernard Herrmann, is to realize what a difference his nervously yearning music made to Vertigo, North by Northwest, and Psycho, which are for all intents and purposes collaborations between Hitchcock and Herr-mann. Remarkable as these films are, their impact would have been considerably diminished had the director instead been working with such talented but essentially conventional film composers as Roy Webb (who scored Notorious) or Dmitri Tiomkin (who scored Shadow of a Doubt and Strangers on a Train). Significantly, only four of Hitchcock's earlier films-Shadow of a Doubt, Notorious, Strangers on a Train, and Rear Window-are comparable in force and concentration to the three key collaborations with Herrmann. That is not a very long list for a man who directed 55 movies in 51 years, and it leads one to view with suspicion the now-general consensus that his films are "great" works of art. To be sure, there are films as great as the greatest plays or operas or ballets, but fewer than is commonly thought; most people who write about movies, as John Simon has pointed out, are "enthusiasts or fantasts who either worship all films or conceive of film criticism as a means of justifying irrelevant cravings," and are thus inclined to ascribe greatness with ill-informed abandon. If Strangers on a Train is a "great" movie, then what adjective can rightly be used to describe, say, Jean Renoir's The Rules of the Game? Mega-great? Measured against the golden yardstick of true greatness, Hitchcock comes up short. For all his undeniable gifts, he is too emotionally constricted, too obsessional, to be seriously compared to Shakespeare or Verdi or Balanchine (or Renoir, for that matter). His films, even the best of them, are melodramas played out on the narrowest of stages, returning again and again to the same short list of feelings. Guilt, fear, longing: We expect more of a genius than that. Yet his iconic images lodge permanently in the minds of all who see them, and surely that is a kind of greatness that cannot be denied. Call him, then, a major minor master, one who succeeded in spinning out of his tormented inner life a body of work incapable of expanding our own imaginative worlds, but that nonetheless retains its dreamlike power to frighten and enthrall. f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\Alfred Hitchcock Biography Essay.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Alfred Hitchcock Obituary Alfred Hitchcock, admired genius and master of film suspense, died of liver failure and heart problems on April 28, 1980 in Los Angeles, California. He was the single most influential director in the film genre of suspense, having partly created it, and is one of the most well known and esteemed directors in the medium of film. Hitchcock was born on August 13, 1899 in Leytonstone, England, the son of a grocer, William Hitchcock, and his wife Emma. An interesting event occurred early in his life. When Hitchcock was five, his father got mad at him for being mischievous, and sent young Hitchcock to the police station with a note for the officer. Alfred was then locked up behind bars for awhile to think about what he had done, and during this time he felt immense terror. It is thought that this had a profound effect on the movies Hitchcock would go on to make; themes of innocent victims feeling terror and confusion, as he did during this punishment, surfaced in many of his works. Hitchcock received his education from St. Ignatius College (London), the School of Engineering and Navigation, and the University of London, where he studied art. Hitchcock's earliest film experience came in 1919, when he illustrated title cards for silent films being produced at London's Players-Lasky studio. It was spending time at this studio that he learned about many different aspects of film that would later be important in his film career, including direction, stage art, and screen writing. In 1922 Hitchcock met Alma Reville who he married in 1926. They went on to have a daughter, Patricia. Hitchcock's first mark as a film director came in 1925 with The Pleasure Garden. It was a largely unimportant film, and was not recognized as being anything more than an average melodrama. Writer Eliot Stannard, who worked with Hitchcock on the film, commented, "Hitchcock, right from the beginning, always had a vision. How he worked at his first movie is something I will never forget. He was born for movie making." Hitchcock had far more success in 1926 with The Lodger, which introduced audiences to the Hitchcock style that would be evident in many of his future films. It was a murder mystery with a fair share of intrigue, and, though it was a silent film, still managed to produce what would become the classic Hitchcock feeling of suspense. It was also with The Lodger that Hitchcock started his trademark of making cameo appearances in his films, something he has done in most of his films since. Other directors have followed in this habit, including Cameron Crowe and Quentin Tarantino. "I guess you could say I felt a bit like Hitchcock doing it", said Cameron Crowe, regarding his brief appearance in his film Minority Report. By 1929, Hitchcock had moved into sound films. 1934's The Man Who Knew Too Much was Hitchcock's first big hit, and further developed Hitchcock's budding mastery of suspenseful film. He continued to make movies in Britain until he moved to Hollywood in the early 1940. After a few movies of what had now become tried and true Hitchcock, came 1946's Notorious which was a hit and featured an FBI agent forced to turn over his love to Nazis in order to find out valuable information. Hitchcock's "golden age" of movies came from 1950 to 1960. Among the most memorable were Dial "M" For Murder (1954), Vertigo (1958), North By Northwest (1959), and what is considered Hitchcock's greatest achievement, Psycho (1960). 1955 was truly the year that saw Hitchcock become an icon, however. The TV show Alfred Hitchcock Presents went on the air, and it was a huge success. This was also the year that Hitchcock became a U.S. citizen. "It was exciting to work with Hitchcock. I had admired him for so long, and was very happy to be cast in North by Northwest. Although at times very difficult to work with, Hitchcock has a spectacular mind and vision," said Cary Grant, shortly after playing Roger Thornhill. Hitchcock continued to make films as an older man but they were far less frequent. His final film came in 1976 with Family Plot, a good, solid film that was hailed by critics as a "fitting end" to Hitchcock's masterful body of work. "Hitchcock came across as very smart, very striking and at the top of his game when I worked with him," said title designer Saul Bass, who worked with Hitchcock on Vertigo, North by Northwest, and Psycho. There are many people in all aspects of film that have at some point been influenced by the Master of Suspense. Hitchcock worked with some of the finest names in film: Cary Grant, James Stewart, Ingrid Bergman, and Grace Kelly to name a few. Some of those peoples' careers were even made by Hitchcock. Hitchcock received many honors, including being knighted in England shortly before his death in 1980. He stayed married all his life to Alma Reville, who died in 1982. Hitchcock is survived by his daughter, Patricia Hitchcock O'Connell, and will be remembered by many generations to come as the Master Of Suspense. f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\Alfred Hitchcock Comparison of 4 movies.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Alfred Hitchcock is the undoubted master of suspense, and virtually invented the thriller genre. He began his film career in 1919, illustrating title cards for silent films at Paramount's Famous Players-Lasky studio in London. His first directed film was The Pleasure Garden in 1925. From there Hitchcock went on to make such films as The 39 Steps in 1935, an espionage thriller involving spies and murder set in London, Vertigo in 1958, a mystery about a man with a near insane obsession, North By Northwest in 1959, a cross-country manhunt for a mistaken government agent by a group of spies, and Psycho in 1960, a thriller based around murders inside of an isolated motel. In these four movies, Hitchcock used similarities such as McGuffins, suspense techniques, similar characters and situations, a similar basis, and movies that featured ordinary people in extraordinary situations. Each movie takes someone that could be found in everyday life, and put into a situation that most people would never dream of being in. Alfred Hitchcock's movies have a very similar basis they feature ordinary people in extraordinary situations. For example, in The 39 Steps, Richard Hannay visits a typical music hall for an evening, and ends up with a murdered spy in his London apartment. Hannay started his night listening to music, and later came across a woman after shots had been fired inside of the music hall. Taking her into his apartment and away from danger turns quickly into an extraordinary situation as she reveals herself as a spy. Soon he has the government after him for murder, and a group of spies after him because of a secret that he doesn't hold. In Vertigo, a policeman named Scottie Ferguson follows a friend's wife, and eventually finds a extraordinary connection between her and someone who died many years ago. This situation can also be seen in North by Northwest, when Roger Thornhill, an ad executive is involved in a case of mistaken identity. What would normally be an ordinary situation quickly escalates when his accusers take him off to be killed instead of listening to reasoning. Psycho, the 1960 suspense movie, Marion steals $40,000 on an impulse, and runs away to start a new life. In each of these movies, the main character starts off just as an ordinary person would. The events that take place, put the person into an extraordinary position, which is frequent in Hitchcock's films. Hitchcock has become famous for his many suspense techniques, seen in many of his films. Showing the viewer of the film the danger involved, but not the characters. For example, in North by Northwest, Vandamm and his associate are speaking while Eve is upstairs. Vandamm's associate fires the blanks at Vandamm showing that Eve did not commit a murder, but instead faked it. They talked about throwing her out of the plane over the water later in the film. The viewer becomes aware of this, but Eve is up in her room preparing, unaware. This method of suspense is also in Psycho after Marion is killed, and the viewer knows that there is a killer in the house. Sam doesn't know anything, but the viewer feels the suspense due to the last murder. The McGuffin has been attached to the Hitchcock name due to its use in many of his films. A McGuffin is something that the characters in the movie focus their attention around, but the viewers don't. A McGuffin can be used to draw a story line to a certain point, where it is then dropped. It can also be used to tie different parties together in the end of a film. In The 39 Steps, the spies after Hannay don't want the secret of the 39 steps getting out. This is their motive for killing the woman in his apartment, and attempting to kill him. The viewer is not intended to care about the 39 steps, but instead about Hannay's chase, and his attempts to prove his innocence. North by Northwest's McGuffin is the microfilm which contains the government secrets, which is trying to be smuggled out of the country by Vandamm. This is what includes the authorities into the chase, but the viewer is initially told to think that they are chasing Hannay. In Psycho Marion takes $40,000 to start a new life. For the entire first half of the film viewers are lead to believe that the movie is essentially a story of stolen money, but that McGuffin only lasts until the Bates Motel comes into the story. Hitchcock was not compared with directors during his lifetime. Besides Rebecca, none of his films won an Academy Award for Best Picture. As a producer, Alfred received one Best Picture nomination for Suspicion. He was nominated Best Director for five of his films: Rebecca, Lifeboat, Spellbound, Rear Window, and Psycho. The only Academy Award that he ever received was the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award in 1968. Hitchcock would be knighted in January 1980 by Queen Elizabeth II just four months before his death in Los Angeles. f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\Alfred Hitchcock life.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Alfred Hitchcock, Director Alfred was the third and youngest child in the family. He might have gone on to follow in his father's footsteps as a grocer or develop a career of less notoriety except, perhaps, for a chilling incident in his early youth. Alfred was just five years old the day he committed some misdeed that convinced his father he needed a lesson in discipline. His father sent him down to see the chief of police, with a note about what should be done to teach Alfred the error of this ways. The police chief promptly put him into a cell and slammed the door shut. Later, Alfred recalled that "the sound and solidity of that closing cell door and the bolt" never left his memory. He was really only abandoned behind bars for five minutes. Upon his release, the officer made sure to impress him with the chilling words "that's what we do to naughty boys". (Shepler, August 15, 1999) Alfred's fear of authority and punishment was reinforced during his years at the Jesuit school, St. Ignatius College. At that time, corporal punishment was meted out by ritual beatings on the hands with a hard rubber strap. Alfred Hitchcock would later recall that those incidents felt to him much like "going to the gallows." Punishment, and terror of it being unfairly administered by the police to someone undeserving would later emerge in Hitchcock's movies, particularly "The Thirty-Nine Steps", "I confess", "The Wrong Man" and "North by Northwest". Every director makes the choices of what to emphasize and what to play down in a given screenplay. Hitchcock, throughout his career, always chose to highlight irony, surprises, moral ambiguity, and the uncertainties of life. I will attempt to illustrate what I think are Hitchcock's best attributes and supreme techniques as a director; specifically his use of camera angles, sound and ability to use the audience's imagination. Hitchcock possessed a deliberate directorial style and vast technical knowledge. The director was known for his meticulous planning of every shot - before filming, he would sketch each scene with a list of every possible camera angle. Hitchcock used a full array of cinematic techniques in addition to montage to manipulate his audience, including unusual camera angles and carefully placed sound effects. He meticulously planned each shot in his films and treated the actor as just another object on the set, leaving the impression that nothing on the screen had arrived there by chance. Indeed, what makes many of Alfred Hitchcock's movies so compelling is his focus on ordinary people being drawn into extraordinary and frightening events. There are no great beasts or extraterrestrial beings. The monsters may well be the neighbors across the way, as in "Rear Window," or inside the psychotic mind of an otherwise likeable young man, namely Norman Bates in "Psycho". Espionage, terrorism and military sabotage, genuine fears during the years leading up to World War II and throughout the Cold War, formed the basis for "North by Northwest," "Secret Agent" and "Saboteur". A technique that Hitchcock used to build suspense was to get the audience in on the real danger early in the movies, but leave the characters in the dark. In "Sabotage," he has a delivery boy carrying a package that contains a bomb set to go off at 1:45pm. The audience knows this but the delivery boy only knows he's been told to deliver the package to an address in London by 1:30. As he dawdles down the street, distracted by this and that, tension builds as the clocks keep ticking off the minutes. Finally, he boards a bus to make up time. When moviegoers refer to Alfred Hitchcock's style, they are usually thinking of his camera work and editing. Hitchcock's use of language, sound effects, and music is just as essential, distinctive, and masterly. Hitchcock was an important pioneer of sound techniques: he experimented with expressionistic sound in "Blackmail" with the interior monologue in "Murder", with subliminal sound in "The Secret Agent" and with computer-generated effects in "The Birds". Hitchcock has had an abiding interest in finding ways to incorporate music into the heart of his plot. Indeed, music is an essential component of the story in over half of his sound films, and eight of his protagonists are musicians. He thus can manipulate the audience's familiarity with and expectations about popular music as a way of defining character and controlling our responses without having to introduce any extraneous element. During a Hitchcock film we are typically looking at one thing or person while listening to another. By separating sound and image Hitchcock can thus achieve, denseness, tension and on occasion, irony. In three films where Hitchcock eliminates scoring, for example, he uses sound effects to much the same atmospheric effect: wind in the "Jamaica Inn", waves in "Lifeboat", bird caws in "The Birds". Indeed, in "The Birds" avian noises imitate the functions of music (instead of musical cues, bird cries maintain the tension), in Psycho music (screeching violins) imitates birds at various points. Hitchcock's incorporation of musical ideas into the thematic conception of his films is yet another example of how he uses the traditional elements of the soundtrack in unorthodox ways. (Weis, Elizabeth, 1982) When it comes to on-screen murder Hitchcock deliberately plays on the creativity of the audience's imagination and this can be seen in his attempts to partially conceal murders. In "Blackmail" the murder takes place behind the curtains that surround Crewe's bed. A more interesting case of concealment comes in the murder of Miriam in "Strangers on a Train". When Miriam ditches her escorts in hope of talking to Bruno, he surprises her. His hands swiftly find her throat. Miriam's glasses fall off. Hitchcock cuts to a close-up of the glasses. Reflected in one of the lenses, we can make out two struggling figures. Hitchcock denies us a clear view of what is happening as Bruno strangles Miriam. The view in the glasses is distorted and provides a carnivalesque, fun-house perspective, yet we can tell that Bruno is completely overpowering her. The murder is also hidden from us aurally by the jangle of the carnival organ. The camera angle, the reflected, distorted image, the absence of editing, the absence of the sounds of the struggle, and the lighting all function to conceal the violence of the attack while simultaneously implying Bruno's strength and the inevitability of her death. Cinematic concealment is used to multiply the power of the killer. Hitchcock takes up the task of concealment again in Psycho. Forty minutes into Psycho, Marion is murdered. When Marion gets into the shower at the Bates Motel and the water starts to flow, we see she is cleansing herself. She ahs decided to give back the money that she embezzled. Everything has returned to normal until the bathroom door opens and a shadowy figure approaches the curtain. When the figure throws open the curtain, we see a knife raised at shoulder height. The first strike comes at forty seconds after the shower has been turned on. Over the course of the next twenty seconds there are twenty-eight cuts. There are no shots of the knife penetrating skin, there are no shots of open knife wounds, and finally, there are no shots of blood spurting. Hitchcock manages to make twenty-eight cuts without once showing either a fatal blow or a fatal wound. Hitchcock hides the actual violence by employing severe editing techniques. The violence that takes place is put together by our imaginations, since it remains mostly hidden from our direct view. Astoundingly, the man considered by many the finest director who ever lived never won an Oscar for Best Director. Works Cited "Hitchcock, Sir Alfred Joseph," Microsoft(r) Encarta(r) Online Encyclopedia 2002 http://encarta.msn.com (c) 1997-2002 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved. (c) 1999 - 2002 by John E. Shepler. Linking to this article is welcome, but no online republication is permitted. http://www.execpc.com/~shepler/ Weis, Elisabeth. The Silent Scream: Alfred Hitchcock's Sound Track. London: Associated University Press, 1982. f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\Alfred Hitchcock Master Of Suspense.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Alfred Hitchcock, also known as "Master of Suspense," was a director who loves to manipulate the audience through his films. As a director, he always stayed in touch with his childish fears. Ever since his father taught him a lesson about what happens to "naughty boys," he always feared police. Hitchcock recalled that "the sound of that closing cell door and the bolt" never left his memory. Director of such works as Psycho and Dial "M" for Murder, Hitchcock told his stories through suspense. In the documentary, "Film on Film," Hitchcock lets us know his secrets in successfully making a great film. In all of his films, the Hitchcock villain is a person you'd never suspect. The most everyday character is really the murderer. In Hitchcock's eyes, no one is ever truly innocent. Everyone in his films is guilty of something. For example, in Dial M for Murder, Margot is not really the innocent victim because she was cheating on her husband. The second technique Hitchcock uses is to have places familiar to the audience as settings for danger. He sometimes uses landmarks to show complete order and have disorder happen there. Other times he uses places that everyday people go to. For example, in Psycho, danger happened in a hotel that the audience is familiar with as a place where you can safely rest. This is to allow the audience to think that danger can happen anywhere and that it can happen to anyone. Another technique that Hitchcock used to build suspense was to let the audience know more about the plot than characters. This is to leave the audience helpless when they know that something is going to happen. This is known as the bomb theory. But must not happen with the bomb theory is that the bomb must not go off. This is so that it won't ruin the suspense from the audience. Psycho is one of the most famous and well-known films in the history of American cinema. It was shot in black in white even though the technology of color movies was around. For many reasons it was a great achievement. The film tricked the audience into believing it was telling one story, then shifted to tell another by killing off its leading lady halfway through the film. He did it perfectly without disappointing or losing its audience. A strange figure enters and repeatedly stabs Marion with a knife to shrieking music. The music adds a lot of tension and suspense to the audience. This adds tension and also keeps the audience in suspense because the audience knows that something will happen in that part. The audience is then terrified and wants to know more. Another scene that was brilliant was when the detective is stabbed at the top of the stairs and he falls down. That placement of the camera makes u feel like you are falling with him. Suspense in Psycho arises from wondering who is going to be killed next. Alfred Hitchcock gives an image that Norman Bates' mother is alive. He does this by describing Norman Bates as being controlled by his mother. He does not tell the truth about the mother being dead, but does not lie either. Norman's mother is dead, but is alive in the mind of Norman. The audience thinks that the mother is alive and they think she can be the killer in the film. This makes the audience want to see what really happens in the film. Hitchcock's Dial M for Murder is another example of pure and classic Hitchcock film. Hitchcock proves in this version that you don't need fancy clothes and pretty sets to make a film that keeps you in suspense the whole time. What you do need is good actors, a well-planned plot, and a little case of attempted murder. One difference between it and most typical mysteries is that we explore a perfect crime knowing ahead of time what the plan is. We watch in suspense to see if it is actually going to work and then in dread that it actually might. Hitchcock seems to be the only director who can make you feel more sorry for the conniving killer than the intended victim. He's so clever and charming, you almost wish he's get away with it. Hitchcock makes you root for the creep, which isn't easy to pull off. During the scene where Tony propositions the would-be murderer in their apartment, the entire scene is shot from the ceiling. The whole time it looked like you were watching the scene through a security surveillance camera. The next remarkable point in this movie is the way Hitchcock achieved the creation of a sort of involvement between murderer, victim and viewer. The viewer is turned into the murderer as he expects almost frantically Wendice's telephone call. When Tony was late in phoning his wife and the murderer looked as if he might walk out of the apartment without killing Margot. The audience as well as Tony was hoping he'd hang on for another few minutes. Another point is when the murderer is waiting for the right moment to strangle his "victim." It makes the audiences "feel" Margot's surprise and desperation as well as the murderer's brutal attack on her as it happens. In conclusion, Hitchcock was a director who planned each of his shots with great care and detail. His artistry in lighting, camera angle, etc. makes filming a form of art. f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\Alfred Hitchcock What made him so great.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Alfred Hitchcock is one of the most well known directors of all time, as he helped perfect the murder and mystery genre. His started his directing career in1925 with "The Pleasure Garden" and ended in 1976 with the film "Family Plot", and set a standard for all other directors in the film industry. Many techniques used by Hitchcock, along with some of the storylines have become common standards for the films of today. Most Americans know Hitchcock from several of his famous movies such as "Psycho" and "Vertigo", but it was in England years before that he developed into an amazing director and created films which set the tone for his later works. It is very interesting to analyze some of his earlier works to see how he became such a prominent figure in modern History. Hitchcock was raised in England where he lived with his parents. He had a strong interest in filmmaking since he was young, and when a new Paramount studio opened where he lived, he rushed to get a job there. They hired Hitchcock as a "Title designer" for silent films. Basically, he would write out the words which are displayed after each shot in a particular film which helped move the story along during the silent film era. From there, he worked his way up to become an assistant director, and directed a small film which he was never finished, and was never released (Philips 22). Hitchcock's first real debut as a director took place in 1925 when he released the film "The Pleasure Garden" (Giannetti 182). Just a year later he released a film that really helped his career take off titled "The Lodger". "The Lodger" is a model example of a typical Hitchcock plot. The basic idea behind the plot is that an innocent man has been accused of a crime that he didn't commit, and through mystery, danger, and love he must find the real criminal (Philips 23). It wasn't long before Hitchcock became known as the "Master of Suspense", which is a title he actually gave to himself. The first talkie created by Hitchcock was the movie "Blackmail". The film, which was released in 1929, had originally supposed to be a silent film, and there are some people who think it should have stayed that way. nevertheless, it was a incredible breakthrough for both Hitchcock and the British film industry as it was their first film with sound (Giannetti 182). However, there were a few problems that arose with the transition to sound. A girl named Anna Ondra played the female character Alice, and had a thick Eastern accent which came to be impossible to interpret in the film. This was obviously never a problem for her prior to "Blackmail" since she had only starred in silent films. Hitchcock helped to fix this problem by getting someone to dub over her voice which turned out to be the perfect solution (Philips 23). This film features a classic Hitchcock story where the character wants the police to understand what happened, but decide it isn't a good idea. They figure that the police would never believe them anyway, so they're on their own (Philips 23). Hitchcock loves to return to the same themes time and time again, but he somehow manages to never make the same movie twice. Each movie has a certain characteristic that sets it apart from all the rest. In "Blackmail" for example, the visuals and sounds set themselves apart, but do not detract from one another. Hitchcock managed to keep a strong emphasis on the visuals when incorporating sound into his films. The sound does not overwhelm in "Blackmail", so the viewer is still able to pay attention to the fine details. For example, the image of hands continually reaching for Alice is as evident as it should be. This also applies to the glove which is forgotten in the studio, the setting of the murder (Thomson 28). The sound only works to improve on what is already there. The film that really set off Hitchcock's career is the 1935 film "The 39 Steps", which was based off a book written by John Buchan. "The 39 Steps" is a murder mystery with a little bit of espionage. The story is about a man named Richard who is new to London. After a fight breaks out at a nearby theater, Richard is approached by a girl in distress who pleads to go home with him. He agrees, and soon finds out that she is hiding from several men that are chasing her. From then on he is involved in chases, confrontations, and romance (Philips 24). There were several changes in the story line that Hitchcock knew would work better on screen. The Professor in the novel is unique because of his hooded eyes, not a missing finger as shown in the film. Hitchcock thought a missing finger would be more dramatic to the film than someone with half shut eyes because it is much more noticeable, and has a stronger effect (Rose 10). This film is one of the most popular early works of Hitchcock, because it derives Hitchcock's distinct and unique style of directing. A lot of the ideas from this film are reworked in later films such as "Saboteur", and "North by Northwest" (Giannetti 183). This film also displayed his talent as being able to make a novel's story line work in a movie with just a few adjustments. The length of Hitchcock's movies are important to him, he was once quoted as saying: "The length of the film should be directly related to the endurance of the human bladder", a standard all directors should work by in my opinion" (Anderson 56). He was able to compress the novel to a length that would not only interest the audience but improve upon it as well. Hitchcock also uses the technique of irony quite often which many viewers may not realize, but it is part of what makes him so great. As mentioned in "The 39 Steps", Richard allows the women to go home with him, at which point she tries to explain to him what happened at the theatre. Richard tells her that she shouldn't bother telling him because he's a nobody. The real irony in this statement is that throughout the movie Richard goes on to pose as a milkman, a mechanic, a parade marcher, and a political speaker. This strongly contradicts his statement because he is virtually everyone (Thomson 29). "The 39 Steps" definitely had a large historical impact on movies. After this movie came out almost every chase and spy thriller have copied its approach. Directors discovered that movie-goers really enjoyed this type of film. The movie gets the viewer so involved in the suspense, action, and romance they almost forget about the actual 39 Steps. Even more amazing, the film contains minimal special effects, but it doesn't need them since the suspensful plot and the staging of the shots make the audience stay in their seats to find out what happens (Rose 101). Hitchcock came to America in 1939 as an already very established filmmaker. "Rebecca", released in 1940, was Hitchcock's first American film and was a huge success, winning best picture. During this decade Hitchcock also created two other Masterpieces: "Shadow of a Doubt in 1943, and "Notorious" in 1946. It wasn't until the 1950s however, that Hitchcock really took off in the US and became a household name. This era produced some of his best work such "Strangers on a Train" in 1951, "To Catch a Thief" in 1955, and "Vertigo" in 1958. 1960 is arguably the pinnacle of Hitchcock's career when he released the hit "Psycho", which generated over 18 times more money than was put into it. His final work came in 1976 when he released "Family Plot", putting an end to one of the most amazing directing careers in the history of film (Giannetti 279-81). There is no denying that Hitchcock enjoyed the majority of his success here in America, but he wouldn't have become the great director he was without his experience over in England. It was there that he developed into an amazing director, and began to show the world some of the things he was capable of. The consistency of quality plot lines and technical creativity earned him the recognition of being one of the greatest filmmakers of all-time. Works Cited: Anderson, Michael. "Alfred Hitchcock". New York Times. 2001, Vol. 153 Issue 52669, p56, 2p. 16 Nov 2003. Academic Search Premier. Giannetti, and Scott Eyman. Flash-Back. 4th Ed. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall Inc., 2001. Phillips, Louis. "The Hitchcock Universe: Thirty Nine Steps and then some". Films in Review. Mar/Apr95, Vol. 46 Issue 3/4, p22, 6p. 18 Nov 2003 Academic Search Premier. Rose, Lloyd. "Alfred Again". Atlantic Monthly. Oct 83, Vol. 252 Issue 4, p100, 2p. 19 Nov 2003. Academic Search Premier. Thomson, David. "Hitchcock". Sight & Sound. Jan 97, Vol. 7 Issue 1, p26, 4p, 6c. 16 Nov 2003. Academic Search Premier f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\Alfred Hitchcock.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Alfred Hitchcock is among the few directors to combine a strong reputation for high-art film-making with great audience popularity. Throughout his career he gave his audiences more pleasure than could be asked for. The consistency of quality plot-lines and technical ingenuity earned him the recognition of being one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. His films earned him the reputation of being the 'master of suspense', and after viewing two of his more popular films, Psycho and The Birds, it is evident why. There is a distinction between surprise, which lasts only a few seconds, and suspense which captivates one's attention the entire length of a film. This is something that Hitchcock realized early on, and applied into his movies. He is one of the few directors whose name on a marquee is as important, if not more so, than any actor who appears in the film itself. Both his style of directing, and that of the movies that he has directed are very unique, making him stand out in the film industry. He pioneered the art of cinematography and special effects, which along with his cameos, are what he is most often associated with. Hitchcock led a long and prosperous life in the movie industry, starting as a teenager and making movies up until his death in 1980, while working on the 54th of his career (Sterrit 3). Alfred Joseph Hitchcock was born on August 13, 1889 in London, England. As a child his parents were very strict with him and they imposed severe and unusual punishments upon him, as what they considered to be discipline. One of these incidents scarred him for life. As punishment for arriving home late one night, young Alfred's father had a policeman friend lock the boy up in a cell for five minutes, 'in order to teach him where naughty little boys who come home after 9 o'clock would eventually end up.' (Phillips 27). Throughout his career he used the innocent man being arrested and imprisoned in his films, and claimed that forever after he had a fear of the police (Spoto 16). Fear was also a big part of his childhood, which later was evident in many of his movies. 'Fear? It has influenced my life and my career.' (18) explains Hitchcock, he also had a fear of being alone and of darkness which once again appeared in many of his movies. '...fear you see is an emotion that people like to feel when they know they are safe.' (39). Hitchcock led a life of fantasy, and spent much of his time alone, entertaining himself because he did not have many friends growing up. He lived life as if he was on the outside looking in. Much like a person watching television or a director directing a picture. Reading was also a part of Hitchcock's life from a young age. The novels Bleak House and Robinson Crusoe were two that stuck with him over the years. He also really enjoyed Edgar Allan Poe, stating that 'Very likely it's because I was so taken by the Poe stories that I later made suspense films.' (39). In 1915 he started work for the Henley Telegraphy Company. He soon began to study art at the University of London, which led to being promoted to Henley's advertising department to design cable ads. But Hitchcock's true love was the movies. He hunted all over the famous Wardour Street trying to obtain a position in film-making. In 1920 a co-worker at Henley's helped him put together a portfolio and he was hired instantly by The Famous Players-Lasky as a title designer for silent films. For two years Hitchcock wrote and designed for popular British movie directors. The hard working Hitchcock was recognized by his employers as well as leading actors of the day. In 1922 the director of Always Tell Your Wife, a film in progress, got very sick and had to leave the movie. The lead actor Seymore Hicks had to take over the duties of direction, but was stumped on ideas. The young Hitchcock assisted him with the rest of production, and a legacy had been born (Rohmer 4). Hitchcock's solo directorial debut, The Pleasure Garden was released in January of 1927, but it was not until three weeks later that the illustrious career of Alfred J. Hitchcock really took off. In February of 1927 The Lodger was released and it attracted mass audiences because of the rave reviews it received early on. It marked the first time in British film history that a director got more praise than did any of his stars (Kapsis 20). Besides being Hitchcock's first acclaimed motion picture, The Lodger is also note worthy because it was the movie in which one of the greatest movie traditions of all time would begin; the famous Hitchcock cameo appearance, a unique trademark of his films for the next fifty years. In April of 1926, Michael Balcon told Hitchcock he wanted to make a movie of the 1913 mystery novel The Lodger, and felt that Hitchcock's sense of character and narrative would be perfect (Spoto 84). So early in his career, Hitchcock already had a reputation for the true art of film-making. Hitchcock always prided himself as being the total film-maker, planning and having total control over every aspect of his films, from casting to publicity. Hitchcock loved to be publicized, and some critics feel that the original intent of his unusual camera shots were no more than a publicity stunt at first. Regardless, Hitchcock brought cinematography to new levels, pioneering the point-of-view shot, which among other things was recognized for its ability to bring about viewer-character identification (Sterrit 11). Hitchcock's cameos, which he admitted to have borrowed from Charles Chaplin in A Woman of Paris (Kapsis 21), was just another example of Hitchcock's personalization and perhaps little 'gimmicks' of his films. He did not just become characters like did colleagues Orson Welles or Woody Allen, but his presence and style was always recognized. During the first decade of his career Hitchcock toyed with a variety of formats including theatrical adaptation, romance, musical, and of course, thrillers. It was not until 1934 when Hitchcock filmed The Man Who Knew Too Much that Hitchcock started making thrillers on a regular basis. That film marked the first is a secession of six thrillers which would become known as the classic 'thriller sextet'. Following the 1938 release of The Lady Vanishes, Hitchcock was voted to be the best director of that year by New York film critics (23). Throughout the 1940's his reputation continued to flounder with the hit movies Spellbound (1944 [in which artist Salvador Dali painted some scenery]), and Notorious (1946). The 1950's was the beginning of Hitchcock's most productive and popular era. Movies like Dial 'M' for Murder (1954), Rear Window (1954), The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956), and North By Northwest (1959) were on the big screen and the Hitchcock name was everywhere. In 1955 the television program 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' was also released. The style and reputation that came with the Hitchcock name was visible in every movie, in every scene. North By Northwest to this point had gone where no other film had gone before. The airplane chase in the cornfield became one of the most famous sequences in movie history, and really identified Hitchcock as a cinematographer and a director. Well, it is only fitting that the most famous murder-thriller movie of all time be the next released. Psycho (1960) became Hitchcock's biggest commercial hit ever. Produced at just over $800,000, it grossed over $20 million (Bowers 1391). Psycho is the story of murder and deception, but at the same time (although slightly ambiguous) it is the story of split personality and not letting go. Suspense (and in some cases fear) is built up throughout the entire movie, making the viewer forget that there are only two actual scenes of violence. Psycho is a film that takes place more in the mind of the viewer than on the screen. The movie is based on a novel with the same name by Robert Bloch, which was a fictionalization of a real event in Wisconsin (Bowers 1393). Marion Crane is the first character that is really introduced. She is upset because her and her boyfriend Sam can not get married due to financial difficulties. Marion's boss entrusts her to deposit $40,000 of a client's money. The next time we see Marion she is packing a bag and has the money with her, obviously planning to leave with it. Even though she is a thief, the audience is still sympathetic towards her because of her situation. Marion trades in her car for a new one and leaves Phoenix heading towards California, where her and Sam plan to get married. When Marion pulls over for the night, the first view of the now famous Bates motel and mansion. A figure of an old woman is visible in the window. As Marion wanders around the motel she meets Norman, the proprietor, and also sees his hobby of stuffing birds. After she is taken to her room, she is sitting on her bed (with the bathroom and shower clearly visible in the background) and she hears an argument between Norman and his mother. Marion then decides to take a bath before bed, and the most famous murder scene in movie history takes place. The infamous shower sequence, totally takes the viewer by surprise. Marion who appears to be the main character is killed off in the first third of the movie. This scene required over 60 still shots, 70 setups, and over a week of attempts; all for a less than a minute on screen. True Hitchcock genius, you never actually see the knife strike Marion, but the loud, high pitched screeching music, and the close-ups of her face and the knife sends chills through the body. An investigator comes out to the motel, and becomes the next victim. Soon the audience learns that there is no Mother Bates, when one of the other investigators discovers her body in the basement, where she is attracted by Norman, the split personality, dressed in his mother's clothing. The movie has foreshadowing and imagery through out, such as the credits splitting apart, and all the use of mirrors, implying that perhaps other characters are split also (Spoto 357), and the presence of the shower and all the stuffed birds in the background. As William Blowitz said 'The star of this picture is Alfred Hitchcock.' (Kapasis 83). 'A blot on an honorable career' is how New York Times (NYT) critic Bosley Crowther announced the release of Psycho in 1960, and by the end of the year he had it on his list of 10 best for the year (Sterrit 100). In his original review Crowther says that Psycho is '...obviously a low budget job.' and 'It does seem slowly paced for Mr. Hitchcock and given over to a lot of small detail.' (NYT film review). He also said that the stunts were exaggerated. 'The consequence in his denouement falls quite flat for us. But the acting is quite fair.' is how he describes the other aspects of this film; the film which best describes the mastery of Alfred Hitchcock. Philip T. Hartung who reviewed Psycho for Commonweal magazine in September of 1960, had a different opinion of it; 'Hitchcock pushes everything as far as he can go: the violence, the sex, the thrills and the gore.' All of the literature used in this report all agree on one fact: Psycho is a movie beyond its years and is one of the best in movie history. Although none of his movies did or would ever compare to the success of Psycho, his next release The Birds (1963), is another classic example of Hitchcock's true genius. Inspired by a unusual occurrence of 'crying' birds, who bit some residents along the San Francisco coast, The Birds is another scary, and truly remarkable movie (Discover 37). Again the use of special effects and unique camera angles are found in this Hitchcock classic. This movie also comes from a novel by Daphne du Maurier, who's storytelling abilities make a reader believe, much like Hitchcock himself (DeWitt 249). The Birds begins in San Francisco where Mitch Brenner meets Melanie Daniels. She has a crush on him and decides to visit him weekend house. Melanie arrives in town, where all the birds have already begun to gather. The birds behave strangely, and cause the people to be threatened. The birds attack all over Bodega Bay, seemingly unprovoked. In one scene a flock of birds plunged down upon a gas station where a worker is frightened and drops the gas pump. The gas continues to flow from it, and is set on fire, when a passer-by drops a match on the ground causing a immense damage. In a later scene the children are trapped in the school, and as the teacher attempts to lead them to their homes, believing the birds have flow away, they turn a corner and are suddenly surrounded. The birds come together and strike, while the children run and scream for their lives. Some of them trip and are either pecked to death or trampled. Throughout the movie the birds wreak havoc all along the coast of San Francisco. All the remaining people escape the town, and the birds move in and seem to claim as their own, as though they were a conquering army. The movie just ends without any real idea of what happens next, something that Hitchcock had never done before. According to Bosley Crowther who reviewed the movie in April, 1963 for NYT 'The cast is appropriate and sufficient to this melodramatic intent. Tippi Hedren is pretty, bland and wholesome as the disruptive girl. Rod Taylor is stolid and sturdy as the mother-smothered son.' He goes on to say that the narrative elements of this film are clear and naturalistic, and he thinks the scenery is very well suited to the movie. 'Mr. Hitchcock and his associates have constructed a horror film that should raise the hackles on the most carageous and put goose-pimps on the toughest hide.' ( Crowther qtd NYT). It is rather obvious that Mr. Crowther enjoyed this picture at first viewing more than he did Psycho. Hitchcock always believed that developing an artistic reputation was far more important than fame, and that as much as you put in, that is how much you get out. The remarkable life and career of Alfred Hitchcock demonstrate truth in his words. He put everything he had into all his movies, making sure that every detail, no matter how minute, was perfect. Alfred Joseph Hitchcock died in 1980 while working on what would have been his 54th motion picture. His unique style and breakthrough ideas will stand for all time, and he will always be remembered as one of the greatest directors of all time. f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\Alien 3.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Alien 3 It was in 1979 that the nightmare began, when the spaceship the Nostromo landed on an unknown planet to answer a rescue message and later explore an abandoned vessel. That's where the crew met for the first time a creature as deadly as beautiful, the Alien. This creature and it's environment, created by the talented Swiss artist H.R. Giger, were the main antagonists from the movie " Alien ", directed by Ridley Scott and featuring Sigourney Weaver as the only survivor of the Nostromo crew when the Alien penetrated it. This movie was the first chapter of a cult saga still active these days. From the four movies featuring the Aliens, the third one is considered as the worst one. Even though it's visual quality was exceptional, it's poor scenario deceived most Alien fans throughout the world, leaving not much place for improvement for a forth movie. But most people don't know that the critically acclaimed cyberpunk author William Gibson wrote an alternative scenario to Alien³, much more researched, focusing on future technology and human contacts rather than on explosions and gratuitous violence. Both Alien³ and Gibson's script have a similar opening, where the audience learns that a Face-Hugger (a crab/spider-like creature whose function is to implement an embryo inside a chest cavity from a living organism) has been able to hide in the Sulaco, the ship with which Ripley (Sigourney Weaver), Hicks (an injured marine soldier), Newt (a 12 years old girl) and Bishop (an android seriously damaged) escaped from the Alien colony in the previous movie, Aliens. But this similarity between the to scripts is maybe the only one. From now on, the two stories will take completely different courses. In Alien³, an electric malfunction (usually attributed to the Face-Hugger) causes the ship to crash on a planet called Fiorina 161 containing a disaffected mining colony now used as a high-security prison. This leads to predictable, violent, confrontations between Ripley (the only survivor from the crash) and the prisoners. From now on, the viewers knows that the movie will be based on sexist debates and on useless violence. However, in Gibson's version, the Sulaco does not crash on a planet but rather continues on it's original path but with a small deviation. This deviation makes the ship enter an area claimed by the Union of Progressive Peoples, or UPP, a somewhat clear analogy to the late USSR. It is rumored that this similarity contributed to the demise of Gibson's script. The presence of a political force in the story would have been the first apparition of any kind of political debates in all the Aliens movies. And at the same time, the audience learns that there's not only one powerful government controlling the world, but at least two of them, and maybe more. This shows that Gibson wanted to have new possibilities for the story. From now on, the rest of the story will not be based only on the survival skills of the protagonists in hostile environments as in the other movies, but more on human debates and political arguments. In fact, most part of the story is unfolding on an immense ship called the Anchorpoint. The Anchorpoint is a big permanent station, where there are people living, there are malls. It's like a small city in space. Then a Commando composed of three soldiers infiltrated the Sulaco and discovered an egg, rooted in Bishop's torso. A Face-Hugger attacked The Commando, killing the leader and the remaining soldiers left with Bishop's truncated body. As the story unfolds, the spectators discovers that the Queen (the Alien in charge of laying eggs which contains Face-Huggers) which boarded the Sulaco in Aliens somehow deposited genetic material in the ship, causing two more Aliens to attack the second Commando which boarded the Sulaco. This scene is one of the most important because of it's consequences on the story. In this part, as the battle rages on in the Sulaco, Ripley gets terribly burned by a soldier who was trying to cremate an Alien with a flame-thrower. So Ripley will not be active throughout the rest of the story because she lies in a coma, making this movie the first one where Ripley is not the leading character. Another very important difference between the two stories is the supporting characters. In Alien³, most of the prisoners are against Ripley, she is really the most important character from all the movie. But in Gibson's version, there are a lot of new characters very important to the story. Each new character plays a different, small role in the action. Most of them are useful against the Aliens and they have their own personality. The story is more based on the characters personalities than on their physical capabilities. But, strangely enough, one of the most important character of Aliens, Newt, is sent back to earth to see her grand parents. She does not play any important role in the story. As soon as Hicks and Newt are in good shape the movie ambiance takes a different turn. Advanced technology is used more often and not only as gadgets as in most science fiction movies. Technology takes a more and more important part of the plot as the story unfolds. This is a major difference with Alien³, which was more primitive, there were no weapons and nothing was automated, almost everything was mechanical. First of all, the UPP recovers all the data about the new species stored in Bishop's brain, erase any kind of genetic material left on his body and recreates his legs using some cheap materials. After that, Bishop's memory is altered so that he does not remember his visit to the UPP ships and he is sent back to the Sulaco. Then they plan to use their newfound friends (the Aliens) to create a new kind of weaponry, or the " perfect soldiers ". The same thing is happening at the Anchorpoint, there are a lot of scientists working on the Aliens and trying to find something useful to do with them. In fact, they are working directly on their DNA, at some point in the story they are trying to find a way to combine an human DNA with an Alien DNA to fight cancer. That's where the " action " begins, where the Aliens become dangerous. The scientists then discover that the Alien DNA automatically combines with human DNA to create a hybrid of the two species. But what is fascinating about this discovery is that this transformation occurs very quickly, in matter of seconds. But an accident happens and two scientists are splashed with organic fluids. For the moment everything is correct, they get decontaminated and they go back to work. But later, as they are talking in a meeting with their superiors, one of the two scientists (which are important characters to the story) begins to mutate. In a very short period of time the scientist's skin disappears, biomechanoid tendons growing from beneath the skin, leaving place to an exoskeleton just like the Alien's shells. The physical and mental properties of the victim is disappears completely and a new species is born in less than a minute. This scene is a very important chapter of the story since it creates a completely new creature, and this creature will change the way the audience see the Aliens for all the movies to come. It adds a new twist to the action since the new " monster " is not fastest, more powerful and reproduces very quickly. In fact, the new Queen's reproduction method is by launching spores in the atmosphere. So now anybody that breathes these spores will be contaminated. And if it was not enough, more than one Chest-Buster (the second phase of the Alien's life, it's at this stage that the embryo living in the chest cavity of the victim is " bursting " the chest of the unlucky carrier) is created at a time. This part of the story is very, very different from the Alien³'s plot, there are so much new possibilities to come with the Aliens. But such possibilities are impossible according to the original story. The rest of the story is more or less an action packed sequence, where there are dozens of Aliens and Soldiers dying. The important facts to know are that only Bishop, Hicks and some soldiers survive the inevitable nuclear explosion of the Anchorpoint (as in most movies, the infested environment is destroyed), and that Hicks have sent Ripley's hospital bed in a rescue ship to the earth with a map to Newt's house. William Gibson's script is very different from the actual Alien³ script. Technology plays a crucial role in the story, as well as human foolishness. But a thing that will probably never change in all the Aliens movies, including Alien³, is the fascination the Army has for the xenomorphs (scientific name for the Aliens). In all the movies, there are always been someone, human or android, trying to discover how the creature functions. This is the only similarity beside the characters in all the movies. But this similarity is present in many science fiction movies, by example E.T. Maybe it is in human's nature to always want to have more and more knowledge... Movies cited Alien. Dir. Ridley Scott. 20th Century Fox. With Sigourney Weaver, Ian Holm and John Hurt. 1979 Aliens. Dir. James Cameron. 20th Century Fox. With Sigourney Weaver, Carrie Henn, Lance Henriksen and Michael Biehn. 1986 Alien³. Dir. David Fincher. 20th Century Fox. With Sigourney Weaver, Charles S. Dutton, Charles Dance, and Brian Glover. 1992 E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial. Dir. Steven Spielberg. Universal. With Henry Thomas, Drew Barrymore and Robert MacNaughton. 1982 Movie Script Gibson, William. Alien III, Revised first draft screenplay from a story by David Giler and Walter Hill. Unknown date, Not published. f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\All My Sons.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Arthur Miller creates several conflicts in All my Sons in order to keep the play captivating for the audience. For example he portrays Chris to be a man that feels guilty about the money he owns because he gets it out of a business that does not value the labour it relies on, but on the other hand Joe, his father, is portrayed to be a man that will sacrifice almost anything, including his dignity, for the success of his business. The play revolves around conflicts such as this, about the question of morality, individualism and society as a whole. One might think that the exceptional circumstances of the family in which one son is dead while the other not only lives, but also plans to marry the former fiancée of his brother, that the play takes place after World War Two and that the setting is a backyard of a middle to upper middle class home in a small town in America might be the only reason for such dilemmas. However it is important to note that the roots of these conflicts are both timeless and placeless; they happen to everybody, every day, making this play a universal drama. The central conflict of the play revolves around the question of morality, a universal dilemma. Joe has the morality of a man who places his responsibility to his immediate family above everything else, including his responsibility to all the men who rely on the integrity of his work for survival. For Joe "It was only for Chris, the whole shootin'-match was for (Chris)" (59). In short, "He just wants everybody happy" (28). Chris' morals are guided by the belief that a man's duty and contribution to his fellow country men is paramount. He believes that "there's a universe of people outside and you're responsible to it" (69). One might argue that it is the experience of war that has changed him to believe this way, but the fact is that there is always a question being asked about whom one is working for-the greater good for oneself, or for the greater good for humanity? This might be exaggerated in this play because Chris has just been through a war where the men "[...] didn't die; they killed themselves for each other" (31). He is angry at the fact the world has not changed and that the selflessness of his soldiers counts for nothing. This is the central conflict of the play- a belief of working only for the good of the immediate family versus a belief that one should work towards the greater good of humanity. This is dilemma that it universal, however much it might be exaggerated by the circumstances of the play. The pressure to succeed, uncertainty of the future, and the question of individualism as faced in the play are universal dilemmas. Joe feels a pressure to succeed. He thinks that it's "only for Chris (15)" that he worked so hard so that his sons wouldn't have to start from scratch like he did. He believes that the means by which he made money are legitimate and justifiable. He also puts forward the point of no one "worked for nothing" and the world is all about "dollars and cents, nickels and dimes" (67) and that war is just a shadow passing over it. He also believes his sons are more important than society as a whole which motivates him to compromise his honour and integrity by shipping out defective parts. Unlike Chris, he does not see a universal human family which has a higher claim on his duty. Chris sees this as ridiculous, making a point of how he's "no better than most men" (67). To Chris this whole idea of individualism and working solely toward the prosperity of your immediate family is only a form of egoism. He feels "wrong to open the bank-book, to drive the new car, see the new refrigerator (31)." He believes "that it came out of the love a man can have for another man" (31) and so there's blood on it, making him feel guilty about all of his possessions. There is also a certain air of uncertainty in the play. Chris cannot decide upon what to do with his life and he cannot find a purpose or goal to work towards. He wants to change the world but realises that even to change his family is a massive task. These dilemmas, again, might be exaggerated by circumstances of the play but the dilemmas are most universal. The continuous denial by the characters about the actual events and the catch-22 situation it creates is universal. Joe continuously denies the truth about the engine parts to his own son. This creates a fragile situation that is worsening by time and when it finally cracks Joe still denies it, covering it up by saying "it was for you, Chris, a business for you! (59)." Joe expects forgiveness saying "There's nothin' he could do that I wouldn't forgive. Because he's my son ...I'm his father and he's my son, and if there's something bigger than that I'll put a bullet in my head! (63)" Ann denies Larry's death because to believe it, for her), would be to believe his death was a result of Joe's crime-an intolerable thought, so she must persuade herself that Larry still lives. Joe sees this idea to be ridiculous, but must tolerate it to secure Kate's support for his own deception. This situation creates a time bomb waiting to explode. However, as Chris says "We used to shoot a man who acted like a dog, but honour was real there [...] But here? This is the land of the great big dogs, you don't love a man here, you eat him. That's the principle; the only one we live by - it just happened to kill a few people this time, that's all. The world's that way. (66)" The continuous denial leaves no honour to be salvaged. This situation might have been lead up to by the course of the play, but the root of it is universal. Overall this play should most certainly be classified as universal, only exaggerated by the special circumstances of the family and the timing of it. Conflicts such as this have taken place, and will always take place, all the more so in capitalist society. The conflicts may come in different forms and shapes and the results are entirely dependent on the situation, but the root always remains the same. f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\All Quiet on the Western Front.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ All Quiet on the Western Front, Reviewed Erich Maria Remarque had his novel, Im Westen nichts Neues(In the West Nothing New) serialized in the magazine Vossiche Zeitung in 1928. The pacifist work alienated Remarque from Germany. Ultra-nationalists and Hitler's propagandists incited the hate of the German people against him. He was burned in effigy in 1933 in the Obernplatz, and his work was reduced to ashes in front of the Berlin Opera House. Remarque was stripped of his citizenship in 1939, and his sister was beheaded in a Nazi prison. Even with all the trouble it caused him, Remarque could not possibly wish he had not written it. A year after it appeared in Vossiche Zeitung, Im Westen nights Neues appeared in English as All Quiet on the Western Front. It sold a million and a half copies its first year in print, and was translated into 29 languages. All Quiet on the Western Front is known as one of the literary masterpieces of the twentieth century. Remarque showed such mastery in writing this pacifist work that Josef Goebbles, Hitler's main propagandist, spread lies about him and forced him out of the country. Goebbles in effect believed that Remarque's compelling anti-war writing could have stinted German approval of World War II. Goebbles did not fear for no reason, All Quiet on the Western Front is one of the most powerful books I have ever read. It is obvious that Remarque had been in the front lines himself from his vivid, gut-wrenching description of trench warfare. The story is told in the first person by Paul Baumer, a young man who, encouraged by his teacher, enlisted in the German army as one of a group of seven boyhood friends. Between the beginning of the war and rumors of the armistice, every young man in the group is killed, except for Paul. The boys are ravaged by mustard gas, bombs, grenades, rifle shots, and shrapnel in the horrible attacks suffered by the front line. When the characters are in combat they are animals, but when they are behind the lines, they develop into titillating three dimensional entities. Paul and his friends discuss the real cause of the seemingly pointless massacre, and show the extent of their damaged psyches in their ponderings of what the world will be like and what they will do when the war is over. Rarely, Remarque slightly overemphasizes his pacifist agenda through Paul, but it hardly takes away from the rest of this great war book. Besides an incredible description of World War I battle, All Quiet on the Western Front has a page-turning story line and colorful exchanges. The reader never knows when the Second Company(Paul Baumer's company) is going to be called to or back from the front line, or how long Paul will be taking shelter in a shell-crater before he can run back to safety, or which character will die next from some stray artillery fire. To top it off, away from the fighting, Remarque gives the boys sharp wits and makes the story interesting by mixing the boys with Himelstoss, their former drill instructor who is now in the second company and ranks lower than the boys, and Kantorek, the boys' former schoolmaster who encouraged them to fight. Kantorek becomes a soldier himself, and is a pathetic specimen. I can hardly catch my breath to continue praising this book, so I will let someone else do it for me. "It is a great document A powerful work of art. All other books about the war become small and insignificant by comparison."-Albert Engstrom f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\All Quite on the Western Front.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ In the movie "All Quiet on the Western Front" we see the boys almost innocent as they sit in class. The teacher in this scene is pressuring the boys to go to war. He preaches that it is their "duty" to fight. The teacher seems very pushy and strict. He is especially strict with Paul, the main character in the movie. In this particular scene, Paul is drawing a picture of a bird. In Paul's family they are glad that he is going to war. His family prays for him and they pray for the Kaiser, the ruler of Germany. We see here that this is ironic because Paul's family is praying for someone they have never met. When Paul goes to see his friend in the hospital, another friend asks for the boots he has. This shows that the boys are already changing. When the boys go to the training camp they are still innocent. They meet Corporal Himmelstoss. Corporal Himmelstoss is very mean to the boys and is very strict. After completing the Training camp the boys go to war. When the boys get to the battlefield they are told by Kat their leader, that what they learned in training camp they do not need to know because, you don't need to know how to march in war. The first day they are there, Paul sees a horse getting killed. He is very mad about this because the horses are innocent and they are not involved with the war. Paul is changed emotionally by this and he is sad about it. After the boys see the Kaiser they talk and don't even know what they are fighting for. One night in battle Paul killed a French soldier. Once he killed the solider he begins to regret that he killed him. He looks at the pictures of the soldier's family. Paul says that "they could of been brothers". Paul trys to save the soldier's life but, cannot. Paul realizes that he has killed another human. Paul feels remorse In battle Albert, Paul, and Franz get wounded. Franz dies and Albert gets his leg amputated. Albert becomes depressed and becomes suicidal. Franz becomes jealous that Paul is getting better. Albert doesn't want to return home with one leg so he try's to kill himself. After a months of killing people Paul returns home and writes a letter to his mom. In the letter he writes that he has changed. Paul writes "I am no longer what I once was" he has changed. He no longer feels remorse for killing. He tells his mother that his home and his family is on the battle field. Paul feels that he is disconnected from his family and he is now a killing machine. Paul now feels like a robot. When Paul returns and visits his teacher, the teacher is not upset at all that most of the boys are dead. Paul tells him that they wanted to stay boys and not die rather then fight in the war. Near the end of the movie Paul starts to smoke. Paul has changed in many ways. War has effected him not only physically but, mentally. Paul is crazed with killing and violence. At the end of the movie, when Paul dies he sees a bird and wants to draw it. The bird could resemble because in the classroom when he first drew a picture of the bird he was innocent but now when he is drawing a picture of the bird, Paul is cynical and enraged with killing. This could tell us that the boys were too young to fight in the war and they were forced to fight because of pressure of the others. f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\American Beauty.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ American Beauty The Color Red "The beauty that addresses itself to the eyes is only the spell of the moment; the eye of the body is not always that of the soul." George Sand hit the nail right on the head when he said this in 1872. Appearance versus reality has been a central theme in many American creative works including the film American Beauty. American Beauty is a film that delves into your typical, middle-class suburban American home and slowly uncovers all of the abnormalities that lie within. The family is portrayed as normal but as the films tag line suggests "look closer" then it is possible to fully understand the implications that takes place in this seemingly happy home. The film is masterfully directed by the famous theater director Sam Mendes and encompasses a great number of cinematic techniques that appear fresh and exciting. Critics have mentioned many of these techniques. However, they failed to notice the clever use of color used throughout the film--especially the color red. Sam Mendes effectively uses the color red; as a central motif to accentuate mood and theme, to contrast families, and to reveal characters personalities and feelings. In American culture red is a color of various meanings and images. The color red is the essence of life; it is the color of blood. It can insinuate energy, vitality, passion, anger, power, excitement, and sacrifice. It is a grounding color. Red can stand for warmth, danger, love, sex, death, rage, lust, and beauty. Red is the color used for the women's clothing, the cars, the doors and also it is the color of Lester's blood splattered Gavrelis 2 across the white table at the end of the movie. Red is the central motif of the film. Sam Mendes incorporated many of these meaning of red within the film American Beauty, Not only did Sam Mendes implant a motif of red, he also incorporated a motif of the red rose. Roses in American culture are the ultimate symbol of love, life and death. Flowers are a large part of the American culture. They have come to symbolize compassion, caring and love. The beauty of roses are superceded with danger, for they have thorns that can prick. Roses epitomize beauty; perhaps that is why they chose the title American Beauty. The title American Beauty is a hodgepodge of symbolism; it encompasses a variety of meanings. For the viewer it can stand for the American beauty rose a rare and antique climbing rose much like the roses in the Burnham garden. It can also represent the American ideal of a woman such as Angela, the ideal American beauty with her long flowing blonde hair, her porcelain complexion and her ruby red lips and bright blue eyes. Another adaptation of the title is the beauty of a perfect American home much like the Burnham's home appears to be. But all have flaws, the rose has thorns to prick, Angela has her fear of being ordinary and the Burnham's home, well it too is cursed with the reality that they are a dysfunctional family. Red roses become not only a motif in the film; they come to represent symbols. They are prevalent in almost every scene. They are in the garden; almost every room in the house has a bouquet of brightly colored roses in a vase. They are the centerpieces to the dining room table. This table becomes a motif in the film as well, the family has its nightly dinner ritual and over the course of the movie we see a delineation of the family at this table. Rose petals are the symbol of sex as well, they are seen surrounding Angela Gavrelis 3 for Lester, they burst out of her blouse, they pop out of his mouth after he fantasizes of kissing her and they fall from the ceiling onto his face when he pictures her above his bed. The front door to the house becomes a motif as well, with constant references from neighbors about the house with the red door. As if the door is a gateway to the oddities lurking inside the house. Within the house Mendes restricted the colors to a monochromatic blue-gray scheme to emphasize the isolation between the Burnham's. Lester escapes from this cold and lonely house by creating a domain for himself, it is framed in golden browns, and this separates him even further from the blue-gray existence he had been living. To carry further the theme that the Burnham's happy home is just a front for what lies deep inside. Sam Mendes juxtaposes the Burnham's house with the neighbor's homes. The bright, almost artificial colors of Burnham's house are quite a contrast against the Fitt's which is very bland and regimented; inside it is almost Amish looking. It is completely void of plant life and aethstetics typically associated with homes. They have limited furniture and décor, and the furniture that is present is plain, straight lined dark and wooden. The lighting is dim and the prevalent color throughout the home is white or cream. The Fritt's family is one of distances. Mendes makes a point by surrounding them in bland, melancholy colors and spacing them at length from one another. The family is clad in black and white throughout most of the film to externalize the loneliness and isolation between themselves and society. The other neighbors present appear at first to be the most abnormal of the bunch. They are Jim and Jim, two very successful men living together as "partners." They are always bright and cheery dressed Gavrelis 4 in primary colors and portrayed as happy and full of life. The irony is that they are most normal characters in the entire film. Color is used not only to show juxtapositions in neighborhoods, but to bring out the characters as well. Sam Mendes captures the essence of each character with color. At first we see Lester in cool desaturated colors to suggest a lack of energy and a drained life. As the film continues and Lester goes through a rebirth we see him develop a brighter outlook on life and the color of his garments go through a rebirth as well, at first he turns to yellow, then green and eventually he adopts red. He wears a red tank top, acquires a red car and pursues a job wearing a red and white uniform. Mendes uses this color transformation to show that Lester has remembered the things he wanted. He suddenly realizes what is lacking in his life and red clothing gives him a sense of power and control over his life. What started this change was when he first saw Angela. She represents the ultimate sign of American beauty; she is adorned with red throughout the movie. She emanates sex and passion. Throughout the film she wears fire engine red lipstick, she wears brightly colored clothing and she is seen to Lester as surrounded by red rose petals, he has visions of her soaking in a bath tub of rose petals. Red is the dominant color of nail polish and lipstick for all the central females in the film including Caroline. Caroline Burnham goes through a transformation as well she outwardly appears isolated and controlling but underneath she yearns for passion and power. Mendes ingeniously shows this in the beginning of the film when Caroline undresses to clean a house and underneath her drab yellow suit is a crimson red camisole. While she cleans the dark and shadowy house she is backlit with brightly colored walls. She has a Gavrelis 5 private "breakdown" and covers her sobbing face with those powerful, sexy red nails to mask her uncharacteristic behavior. Carolyn attempts to fill her loneliness up with having the right things. The right car, the right house and even the right garden, but she doesn't see the big picture. She does transform, much like Lester into a more secure and grounded person. This is most apparent in the last sequence of the film when she is wearing a very sexy red velvet dress. She has become assertive and is ready to finally connect with Lester, even though she is too late. Early on it becomes obvious that she is obsessed with her image of success, and this is why she envies Buddy Kane so fervently. Buddy Kane the "king of real estate" is her competitor and the ideal figure of success, he has a bright red sign mounted in the yards of his homes to advertise himself. The sign represents his power and hints at his sexual appeal to Caroline. Jane and Ricky are important too, they are the more grounded of the characters, they are both presented in neutral colors throughout most of the film. They represent balance and neutrality in the movie. Ricky's parents are not so neutral; they are dressed in pale, washed out colors to show their lack of vitality. Especially Mrs. Fritt's, she plays a minor role in the movie and that is precisely the point Sam Mendes makes. She is seen as a minor role in the family. She is usually wearing a long white nightgown and appears almost as a ghost in the picture, t her family, she barely exists. American Beauty is a fantastic film that encourages viewers to "look closer." Sam Mendes directed a film about American Beauty and foolish things that Americans do to keep up with appearances. He is urging us to find beauty in our lives, and to forget about having the perfect garden and home. He effectively uses the color red; as a central Gavrelis 6 motif to accentuate mood and theme, to contrast families, and to reveal characters personalities and feelings. "Mere colour, unspoiled by meaning, and unallied with definite form, can speak to the soul in a thousand different ways."--Oscar Wilde f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\American Comedy and The Great Depression.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The Great Depression had an impact on many aspects of American culture. American Film, especially in the Comedy genre was a good example of this. By the 1930s, the country had undergone huge social changes. Women had recently gotten the vote and were beginning to gain a previously unheard of social independence. The Stock Market crash of 1929 began an economic depression that soon affected most of America. By the peak of the Depression in 1933 almost twenty-five percent of the country was unemployed, while even more people just made ends meet. Motion pictures and radio however just grew in popularity and gave Americans a common culture and a greater sense of connectedness. American film soon reflected these realities. Film was rapidly becoming the entertainment of choice for the vast majority of Americans. Even with huge unemployment and widespread poverty, 60 to 70 million people a week were escaping from their problems for a few hours at a time by spending fifteen cents to go to the movies. As American social structures were rocked by the depression, comedies released in these years began to express a disdain for traditional institutions and values. The Marx Brothers spoofed everything from class structures, to universities, to patriotism in such films as "Animal Crackers" (1930), and "Duck Soup" (1933). Mae West used sexual innuendo to poke fun at the middle class code of morality and was the first woman to make racy and suggestive comments on film. Her early films, "She Done Him Wrong" (1933), and "I'm No Angel" (1933) resulted in the Motion Picture Production Code. Bowing to pressure from various groups, the Industry instituted the Production Code of 1934 that prevented films from depicting sexually suggestive actions or dialogue. At the same time Hollywood had to contend with these restraints, the studios had an increasing need for good writers to craft needed dialogue for the talkies. Hollywood was one of the few places with full employment and rising salaries. Soon, some of America's best writers were flocking to the West Coast. The writers brought a new sophistication and much creativity to the problems prompted by the necessity of adhering to the Production Code. All of these factors lead to the development of the screwball comedy. It featured sharp dialogue, women who were smart and strong, fanciful plot twists and turns, and a storyline that often included the interplay between the wealthy and poorer classes. The films generally sided with their lower class protagonists and often showed the wealthy classes to be inept and in need of the good common sense of the masses. "It Happened One Night" (1934) is perhaps the best known of the screwball comedies. Claudette Colbert is Ellie Andrews, a wealthy rebellious socialite who married a society wastrel. Her father has the marriage annulled, and she runs away to go to her husband. Incognito, she meets a savvy street-smart reporter Peter Warne played by Clark Gable. She needs his help and they end up traveling together as Warne hopes to get the big scoop. Gable's character is the strong, competent, wise cracking everyman not dazzled by Colbert's wealth. He has a strong moral center and would not take advantage of the intimate situations they experience. This character appealed to the largely middle and working class audience. Colbert's character is strong and smart and after a few "fish out of water" jokes, soon fits comfortably into the situations garnering the admiration of Gable's character, and more importantly, that of the audience. This showed that the wealthy upper classes were the same as everyone else and reinforced the American ideal of a classless society-a popular notion with the audiences of the 30s. My Man Godfrey (1936) is another good example of the genre. Carol Lombard plays Irene Bullock, a young, wealthy eccentric who goes to the city dump where she meets a derelict named Godfrey, and hires him as family butler. Godfrey brings a much-needed sense of reality to the crazy, spoiled and rich family. This again reinforced the competency and the ascendancy of the working and middle class-the audience. While relating to the harsh times, these settings not only capture the emotions of its audience but also manipulate them with a positive turn of events at the end. Film Historian Ed Sikov says that they serve the cultural function of humanizing the wealthy, especially in a time of widespread poverty and social unrest The Great Depression was the biggest socio-economic event of the 1930s, it is fitting that it had an important impact on a major aspect of American culture - our films. The films also had a huge impact on the Society. President Franklin Roosevelt said: "During the Depression, when the spirit of the people is lower than at any other time, it is a splendid thing that for just 15 cents an American can go to a movie and look at the smiling face of a baby and forget his troubles." f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\American Dream.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Every morning Joel Hardy was awoken by his alarm at precisely seven thirty-five. He would have a shower in the master bathroom on the third floor of his home. He would then eat a hearty breakfast, (prepared by his beautiful wife Joanne), with his daughter, Jennifer. Then he hopped cheerily into his new Mercedes, and started to work. Joel worked at Virtual Tech. Computers, a new computer company that specialized in virtual reality. Joel was the chief design editor and brought home a handsome one hundred and twenty thousand dollars per year. Joel had many friends, both at work and in the community. Joel sounded his horn as he came to a stop in front of Kyle McNeil's apartment. Joel did this every morning as Kyle was a very close friend of his, and worked in the same company. Kyle however, was not a lucky as Joel, Kyle did not have the three story home that Joel did, nor the outrageous salary, nor the beautiful wife and daughter. He did not have the luck of being at the lab when the reality-cam was finished, the idea that gave Joel his claim to fame. If it would have been Kyle working that shift maybe things would be different. Kyle was a loner, and a struggling loner at that. "Good morning Kyle," said Joel. "G' mornin'," mumbled Kyle in a saddened voice. Joel instantly sensed that something was wrong and upon further questioning found that Kyle had lost yet another one of his "bimbo" type girlfriends. Joel pretended to be sorry for him for a while, then they spoke of work. Kyle never really envied Joel's success or his life until that day. Kyle was trying one the new reality simulators called "American Dream", which was a program which enabled the user to have an ideal American life. Kyle experienced things that he had never before experienced; the love of a child, the security of your own home, and the devotion of a loving wife. Kyle eventually became obsessed with the simulator, using it for four and seven hours per day. He began watching happy situation comedies on television instead of violence filled action movies. He was captivated by the idea of having a family, love, and without knowing it, Joel's life. Kyle never told Joel about his new fixation, and continued to travel to and from work with him as if nothing had changed. Sometimes Kyle would stay all night in the simulator, and all of the next day, it was an obsession in the true sense of the word. Kyle didn't want to live his family life in a fantasy world anymore, he wanted to try and invent or create something that would give him a raise and the money to start building his dream. Joel was working on a new program that would revolutionize the computing industry. He kept it secret, only working on it at home. He didn't even tell Kyle about it. But one night, while watching a football game at Joel's house, he discovered that Joel had left his computer on and unprotected. Kyle sat down just to browse around, but upon finding the new program he saw that this could be the key to his new house. Kyle quickly copied the program onto a disk and took the disk with him. The next day at work Kyle took this disk to one of his superiors and by the end of the day Kyle had a new job, car, and house. All Joel had to say was that he was proud of Kyle, and that it was ironic that they were both working secretly on the same idea. They just chuckled and smiled together for a while, then Joel stopped, but Kyle kept on smiling. Kyle's girlfriends were now substantially more classy, but still none that stayed with him. He wanted a wife. He wanted a partner. He wanted Joanne. That night Kyle invited Joanne somewhere secret and special. A place that would intrigue any bored housewife, a romantic park, in a dark wood. Kyle had a blanket, and on it burning candles, and incense. Joanne, for one short passionate moment fell in love with Kyle. But that was all it took. "Do you know what's odd Kyle?," asked Joel "No," replied Kyle. "Joanne went to her mother's last night," said Joel, "and didn't come home." "I'm sure she's fine," said Kyle as he looked down at his computer screen and smiled. Kyle arranged other meetings with Joanne, and they all went the same as the first. Kyle soon tired of the affair and wanted Joanne to leave Joel so that they could be married. Joanned refused, saying that Joel was too nice, and kind of a man to just leave like that. So, rather than accept the rejection, Kyle decided to make Joel look cruel, heartless, and criminal. That night, Kyle entered the company building, using Joel's security code. He transferred money from other's pay-checks to his own. He deleted important system files, and downloaded the company's customer database. He created the illusion that Joel was planning a hostile take-over. What Kyle did not know was that Joel was working late in his new office and watched Kyle do all of these things. Joel confronted Kyle and asked, "What the hell do you think you are doing?" "What does it look like Joel? You always were a moron. I'm finishing you. I have had enough of your perfect house, perfect job, and...well...not-so perfect wife," said Kyle. "Not-so perfect wife?," asked Joel. "Yeah, those nights that she was supposedly at her mother's, she was with me at my house," bragged Kyle. "Doing what?," questioned Joel. "You figure it out," said Kyle, "and...ahh...by the way, I took your program from your computer. He, he, he. Good idea. Thanks." "YOU BASTARD," screamed Joel. At this Joel reached into his desk, pulled out his shiny new corporate handgun, and shot Kyle three times in the head. Then in an attempt to hide the bullet holes and the murder, he through him through the window of his twenty-fifth floor office to crash upon the pavement below. Kyle lay dead and bleeding, and Joel stands three hundred feet above him with a gun in his hand. "Kyyyyle, Kyle. KYLE," said Joel. "Wha...what the?," said a puzzled Kyle. "Don't you think you should give the simulator a break for a while? You're going to burn yourself out," said Joel as he resets the "American Dream" simulator, "besides, I haven't weeded out all of the bugs yet." f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\AMISTAD.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ AMISTAD Amistad is a recreation of the true story about a 1839 slave revolt on a small Spanish schooner, La Amistad, ironically the Spanish word for "friendship." Spielberg does a great job in recreating the Amistad revolt that spurred a series of trials beginning in the lower courts of Connecticut and ultimately ending in the Supreme Court. Events following the revolt raise controversial questions about slavery and freedom. This case not only marks a milestone for Abolitionists in their fight against slavery but it also questioned the natural laws of our Constitution. Leading up to the trial of the Africans, Spielberg illustrates the horrors the slaves endured as they were captured and taken from their homes. It is very distressing to see the cruelty that was imposed on the slaves as they were captured. The slaves were shackled and chained, then packed in an unsanitary, overcrowded slave ship, and exposed to inhuman treatment, on the Portuguese slaver Tecora as it makes its way through the Middle Passage towards Cuba. Although a third of the slaves died aboard the Tecora before it reached it's destination, those that survived the trip were eventually auctioned into slavery in Havanna, Cuba.. The revolt on the slave ship Amistad resulted in the deaths of the captain and cook of the ship. The Africans did spared the lives of two Spaniards who were needed to help navigate the ship back to Africa. The Africans had control of the Amistad for only a short time before it was seized by the U.S. Army, capturing the Africans and forcing them to face a trial, on charges of murder and mutiny. This trial marked the beginning of a court case that dramatically challenged our judicial system. The Abolitionists play a big part in the outcome of this trial. Abolitionists to enhance strong public emotion against slavery, begin publicizing the horror stories and brutalities of slavery. They felt sorry for the slaves and with the help of Edward Tappin, an abolitionist leader, they secured the services of an attorney Roger S. Baldwin of Connecticut to defend the Africans. What amazed me, is that even with odds against the Africans, as the judge in the trial, Andrew T. Judson was an opponent of slavery and he was also under pressure by President Van Buren to send the Africans back to Cuba, justice prevailed for the Africans. At least for a short time when Judson ruled that the Africans had been kidnapped and ordered their return to Africa. The Abolitionists and Africans felt that justice had been served, until President Van Buren requested an appeal to the Supreme Court, in which five of the justices had been slave owners. The Abolitionists and Roger S. Baldwin the African's attorney felt the only way they could win this trial is by seeking help from an influential person of status. They appealed to former President, John Quincy Adams for help. Adams accepted the case and in the Supreme Court trial, Adams delivered an emotional argument challenging the Court to grant the Africans liberty on the basis of the natural rights as outlined in the Declaration of Independence. Anthony Hopkins shines in his role as John Quincy Adams, with his argument to the Supreme Court. He expresses so much emotion, while pointing to a copy of the Declaration of Independence on the wall in the courtroom he states "I know of no other law that reaches the case of my clients, but the law of Nature and Nature's God on which our fathers placed our own national existence. The Africans, he proclaimed were victims of a conspiracy that denied their rights as human beings. The Supreme Court rules the slaves free, stating that the slaves had been "kidnapped" and they had an inherent right of self-defense. This verdict marked a major milestone for the white abolitionists. They had brought national attention to a great social injustice. For the first time in history, Africans seized by slave dealers had won their freedom in American courts. The importance of the Amistad case lies in the fact that Cinque and his fellow captives, with the help of the white abolitionists, had won their freedom. It pointed out the need to change American laws which contradicted the natural laws expressed in our Constitution. The Amistad incident exposed the need to bring the Constitution and American laws in compliance with the moral principles underlying the Declaration of Independence. This incident also helped abolitionists in their fight against slavery, with which they finally won with the addition of the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution in 1865. Djimon Hounsou, a 33-year old native of Benin played the role of Cinque a native Mendi African from Sierra Leone. He does an outstanding job in the portrayal Cinque. The most impressive scene being when Cinque, stands up in the courtroom scene where he stands up and says, "Make Us Free", "Make Us Free". I felt this was the most emotional part of the entire movie. While Stephen Spielberg did use humor to help subdue the emotional content of the movie the historical content remained relatively true to fact with a few exceptions. There were a few historical facts that were omitted from the move. In the movie, John Quincy Adams was moved to represent the Africans by a talk he had with Cinque in John Quincy Adam's greenhouse. The true facts are that John Quincy Adams was moved to support the Africans in the Supreme Court by a letter that was written by Kali, one of the African children. In this emotional letter she makes the statement, "All We Want Is Make Us Free". Speilberg keeps the movie from becoming too depressing by adding a lot of light hearted humor. The outcome helps to leave you feeling that against all odds, justice prevailed. I give Amistad **** and would recommend it to anyone who wants to enjoy a heart felt story out of American History. f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\An Alaysis of the Final Scenes of Alfred Hictcocks NOTORIOUS.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ After viewing Alfred Hitchcock's Notorious for the first time, the film did not strike me as particularly complex. Nothing specific about the film lodged itself in my brain screaming for an answer-or, at least, an attempted answer. Yet, upon subsequent viewings, subtle things became more noticeable. (Perhaps Hitchcock's subtlety is what makes him so enormously popular!) Hitchcock uses motifs and objects, shot styles and shifting points of view, and light and dark to help explain the relationships between Alicia, Devlin, Sebastian and Mrs. Sebastian, and an overall theme of being trapped. An analysis of the film from the first poisoning scene to the final scene in the film shows how the above tools lead to a better understanding of the character's motivations. The most obvious recurring object in the final scenes is the poisoned coffee cup. In the first scene of the portion being analyzed, Sebastian suggests to Alicia that she drink her coffee, and Hitchcock zooms onto the object as she slowly takes a sip. In a later scene, Mrs. Sebastian pours the coffee into the cup for Alicia, and sets it on a small table in front of her. Here, Hitchcock not only zooms in on the small teacup, but heightens the sound it makes connecting to the table, includes it in every shot possible, and shows us not only the full coffee cup, but the empty cup as well after Alicia has drank it. Again, the cup is zoomed in on after Alicia realizes she's being poisoned. Because the coffee is poisoned, the coffee itself becomes a metaphor for life and death, supported by the fact that the poisoner herself ours it, and the shots of the full and empty teacup. In this way, it also suggests Alicia's inability to escape her situation-whenever she drinks the coffee, she becomes trapped due to the poison in her cup-and the poison in her sham of a marriage.. A repeated object not so noticeable is Mrs. Sebastian's needlework. Mrs. Sebastian is constantly working on her needlepoint while Alicia is being poisoned. Hitchcock, in fact, goes out of his way to make sure that a shot of her 'toiling at her work' is included several times. One cannot help but be reminded of Dickens classic A Tale of Two Cities-with Madame Defarge knitting everyone's fate into her work. At the beginning of the film, Devlin hands Alicia a handkerchief, and a scarf, which she keeps, but returns to him in this segment. These pieces of cloth throughout the film help tie Alicia to the different characters, and in essence, help control her fate in different situations. Hitchcock's use of shot type is another hint into his character's personalities. Hitchcock is very fond of medium and close-up shots, and rarely uses a longer shot in the film. This may suggest to the audience to keep a closer eye on the character's facial expressions, as Hitchcock lets the actors express their thoughts and feelings in this manner. An excellent example of this would be when Alicia realizes that she is being poisoned-Hitchcock zooms in on her wide-eyed expression as she first looks at the teacup, then at Mrs. Sebastian and her husband. Mrs. Sebastian's cold hearted stare back at Alicia tells us exactly just how much hatred she has for her. Hitchcock also uses devices in his scenes such as fades from shot to shot. By doing this, Hitchcock illustrates his character's different viewpoints. The fades themselves are used to connect Alicia's two different worlds-her 'fake' world (her marriage to Sebastian), and her 'real' world (her relationship with Devlin). For example, when Alicia is unable to make contact with Devlin due to her illness, there are several shots of her in her sick bed, then fading to Devlin waiting impatiently at a bench. The fading between shots usually comes at a point when Alicia is feeling trapped, and this suggests that the fades represent her desire to escape back to her 'real' world. Since, obviously, it is difficult to use colour as a nuance in a black and white film, Hitchcock makes use of light and dark images. When Alicia and Sebastian are alone together, it is usually in darkness.- implying safety in hiding, and also implying a different world. Alicia is safe and free to do what she wants in the darkness, as she is with Devlin, and can easily hide within it. For Sebastian, it is the opposite, for to him, Alicia's darkness is a world that he cannot enter, although he tries. An example of this is seen when Alicia meets her commander, and asks him to shut the blinds in the room because the light bothers her. Also, when Devlin rescues Alicia, he walks into her dark bedroom and makes her walk out into the lighted hallway. Sebastian walks up the staircase to meet them, and goes out into the night, where he is rejected from the dark car as Alicia and Devlin pull away. Ironically, this is reminiscent of Romeo and Juliet, where Romeo rescues Juliet from an unwanted marriage to Paris, and where things seem to go wrong for the two star crossed lovers only in the daylight. The final scene, when Sebastian slowly walks up the stairs to his death, he walks into the light of the house (like walking into the light of heaven), then all becomes dark as the door (St. Peter's gates?) closes behind him. Again, ironically, it is only then that Sebastian can reach Alicia's 'dark world'-through death. The costumes that the characters wear is also a clue. Both Mrs. Sebastian and Alicia are trapped in their worlds, and when they are both feeling trapped, they wear dark colours. For instance, when Alicia realizes she is being poisoned, she attempts an escape, and fails-while wearing a black dress. When Mrs. Sebastian walks down the staircase behind Alicia and Devlin in the final few scenes, she knows she is trapped, and is wearing a dark dress. However, whenever the two characters feel free or released from their trappings, they wear light colours-as when Alicia is poisoned, Mrs. Sebastian is wearing white, and when Alicia makes her escape, she is wearing a white nightslip. Since the two characters are enemies, and in opposite worlds, usually when one is wearing light colours, the other is in dark colours. Hitchcock's use of shadows also help us understand character motivations. The most obvious example is when Alicia realizes she's been poisoned, and begins blacking out. She looks at Sebastian and his mother, and the lighting in the room becomes opposite to what it previously was, lighting up the window behind them, and throwing Sebastian and his mother into shadow. The two characters become shadows themselves. Again, when Alicia staggers to the door of the room, the two shadows of Sebastian and his mother on the door merge to her blurry vision. In this shot, the audience gets a sense that Sebastian and Mrs. Sebastian have become the same person-essentially, they are, as they are united in their common goal of keeping her political preference a secret. Through nuances such as repeated objects, shot types and light and dark, Hitchcock is able to help the audience better understand Alicia, Sebastian, Mrs. Sebastian and Devlin's personalities and motivations towards one another. What I found extremely compelling is the fact that, unlike Scorsese's After Hours, the motifs throughout this film weren't immediately apparent, at least to me, unless Hitchcock wanted them to be. Although Hitchcock is probably known better for weird and wonderful films like Vertigo and Psycho, his subtlty is what makes him a master. f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\An analysis of the MAyor of Casterbridge.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The plot of The Mayor of Casterbridge, by Thomas Hardy, can often be confusing and difficult to follow. The pages of this novel are filled with sex, scandal, and alcohol, but it provides for a very interesting and unique story. It all begins one day in the large Wessex village of Weydon-Priors. Michael Henchard, a young hay-trusser looking for work, enters the village with his wife and infant daughter. What follows next, is certainly a little out of the ordinary, and this book provides and interesting plot, that is sure to brighten up any boring day. Michael Henchard, looking for something to drink, enters into a tent where an old woman is selling furmity, a liquid pudding made of boiled wheat, eggs, sugar, and spices. Henchard consumes too many bowls of furmity spiked with rum. Feeling trapped by his marriage and under the influence, Henchard threatens to auction his family. The auction begins as a kind of cruel joke, but Susan Henchard in anger retaliates by leaving with a sailor who makes the highest bid. Henchard regrets his decision the next day, but he is unable to find his family. Exactly eighteen years pass. Susan and her daughter Elizabeth-Jane come back to the fair, seeking news about Henchard. The sailor has been lost at sea, and Susan is returning to her "rightful" husband. At the infamous furmity tent, they learn Henchard has moved to Casterbridge, where he has become a prosperous grain merchant and even mayor. When Henchard learns that his family has returned, he is determined to right his old wrong. He devises a plan for courting and marrying Susan again, and for adopting her daughter. A young Scotsman named Donald Farfrae enters Casterbridge on the same day as Susan and Elizabeth-Jane. Henchard takes an instant liking to the total stranger and convinces Farfrae to stay on in Casterbridge as his right-hand man. Henchard even tells Farfrae the two greatest secrets of his life: the sale of his wife and the affair he has had with a Jersey woman, Lucetta. Henchard is confused as to how to make good on his bad acts. Henchard remarries Susan, who dies soon afterward, leaving behind a letter to be opened on Elizabeth-Jane's wedding day. Henchard reads the letter and learns that his real daughter died in infancy and that the present Elizabeth-Jane is actually Susan and the sailor's daughter. Henchard also grows jealous of Farfrae's rising influence in both Henchard's business and in Casterbridge. The two men quarrel and Henchard fires Farfrae, who then sets up a successful competing grain business. Henchard is rapidly going bankrupt, after several bad business deals. Soon after Susan's death, Lucetta Templeman, Henchard's former lover, comes to Casterbridge to marry Henchard. In order to provide Henchard with a respectable reason for visiting her, Lucetta suggests that Elizabeth-Jane move in with her. Henchard tries to force Lucetta to marry him, but she is unwilling. She has fallen in love with Farfrae and soon marries him. Henchard's business and love life are failing; his social position in Casterbridge is also eroding. The final blow comes when the woman who ran the furmity tent in Weydon-Priors is arrested in Casterbridge. When she spitefully reveals Henchard's infamous auctioning of his wife and child, Henchard surprisingly admits his guilt. The news, which is harmful to Henchard's reputation, rapidly travels through the town. Henchard is soon bankrupt and forced by his poverty to become Farfrae's employee. He moves to the poorest section of town. Farfrae and Lucetta buy Henchard's old house and furniture. The Scotsman then completes his embarrassment of Henchard by becoming mayor of Casterbridge. Later, Henchard challenges Farfrae to a fight to the death. Henchard is on the verge of winning when he comes to his senses and gives up. As the mayor's wife, Lucetta becomes the stylish and important woman she has longed to be. But she fears her secret affair with Henchard, if revealed, might destroy her marriage to Farfrae. She begs Henchard to return the damning letters she had written him years before. Henchard finds the letters in his old house and reads some of them to Farfrae. He intends to reveal their author as well but relents at the last minute. Later, he asks Jopp, a former employee, to deliver the letters to Lucetta. Henchard doesn't realize Jopp hates both him and Lucetta. Jopp shares the letters with some of the lowlife of the town. Lucetta sees herself paraded in mimicry, and the shock kills her. Henchard reconciles with Elizabeth-Jane, who continues to believe Henchard is her father. He sees his final chance for happiness crumbling, however, when Elizabeth-Jane's real father, the sailor Newson, comes to Casterbridge to find his daughter. Henchard lies to the sailor, telling him Elizabeth-Jane died soon after her mother's death. Newson leaves, but Henchard worries that the sailor might return to reclaim Elizabeth-Jane. During the following year, Henchard's life becomes fairly settled. He lives with Elizabeth-Jane and runs a small seed store. Farfrae begins flirting with Elizabeth-Jane, and the two plan to marry. Then the sailor returns, and Henchard flees Casterbridge. Henchard appears at Elizabeth-Jane and Farfrae's wedding to deliver a present. Elizabeth-Jane spurns him, and Henchard sees that Newson has taken over as father of the bride--a role Henchard can never play. He leaves Casterbridge broken-hearted. A few days later, Elizabeth-Jane discovers Henchard's present, a bird in a cage. The unattended bird has died of starvation. Touched, she and Farfrae go in search of Henchard. Too late, they learn he has just died in the hovel where he had been living with the humblest of his former employees. The young couple read Henchard's pitiful will, in which Henchard asks that no one remember him. As one can see, to often scandal can end in tragedy, as in the case of poor Michael Henchard. He lived a risky life, and paid for his mistakes in the end. The Mayor of Casterbridge proves to be an interesting novel, that provides everything modern day critics hope to keep out of the hands of children. The book proved to be at times, quite exegesis, but the plot is presented well, and the settings described beautifully. Thomas Hardy creates a masterpiece in describing the rise and fall of one Michael Henchard. f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\An Analysis Of The Video.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ An Analysis Of The Video "Like A Prayer" By Madonna An Analysis of the Video "Like A Prayer" by Madonna Madonna first arrived in the national popular culture in 1984 with her song "Borderline". She moved very quickly in the ensuing years to make several records (many of which have gone multi-platinum) and to take several world tours with sold-out concerts, and has caused quite a bit of controversy in what she has done in the public eye. Examples include posing nude for Penthouse magazine (and announcing afterwards that she was not ashamed for doing it), marrying (and subsequently divorcing) actor and media-avoider Sean Penn, creating a fashion trend (which was primarily popular with teenage girls), and making truly atrocious movies which the critics hated and the people refused to see (the only two exceptions are Dick Tracy and Truth or Dare, her controversial yet fascinating self-documentary about her tour of the same name). It seems that Madonna seems to enjoy attention, good or bad, and it seems like she feeds on her own controversy. Her songs, and the music videos which accompany them, are no exception to this. However, the things she does and the images she projects requests contemporary society to reflect on itself, and to possibly re-create itself in innovative and inventive styles. Perhaps she always breaks with convention because she sees things in a different light than the rest of society. This essay shall focus on the video which accompanies the title track from her 1989 album, "Like A Prayer," which certainly had its share of controversy. Probably the most startling image in the music video was that of several burning crosses on a lawn or a hill. These crosses were in the background, while Madonna was facing the camera and singing. When I saw the music video for the first time, this particular section of the video made me sit up and intently watch my television screen. The first things I thought about were, "She's a very outspoken woman for doing this! Boy, she's got a lot of nerve! I believe she was raised Catholic, and she's making a mockery of the Catholic Church by doing so! The Pope would be offended, to say the least!" The radical approach to dispose of any religion (or a person's religious or pious fervor) is at least shocking. The cross is the symbol of Christianity and all it stands for. Seeing the cross engulfed in fire -- which symbolizes (and is) a destructive force -- would be very disturbing for anyone to see, Christian or not. I sat up and took notice, and I'm not even Christian -- I am Jewish. Furthermore, the fact that Madonna is singing in front of the crosses (and consequently, not doing anything to stop the crosses burning) implies that she condones cross-burning. This thought asks three questions. Does she also condone the Ku Klux Klan, which also burns crosses? Does she like the idea of religion and/or atheism in any way at all? Does Madonna believe in God? These are all very deep and probing questions, which can only be answered truthfully by Madonna herself. Another small piece of the music video showed Madonna kissing a black man. While I personally feel that love is blind and has no boundaries, a vast majority of America cocked an eyebrow to this scene. In recent years, a television situation comedy and a major motion picture have both built on interracial relationships as the core of the storyline. "True Colors" was on the Fox Network, built around a black man married to a white woman. Spike Lee's movie "Jungle Fever" also had a black man and a white woman. Lee's reason why he did a story of a black man and a white woman (and not a white man and a black woman) was that the white woman has been stereotyped to be the essence of all beauty, and that the black man has been stereotyped to be a stud. (It is true that films and television shows have been made which focused on relationships between white men and black women; an example is the film "Soul Man.") Does Madonna have any feelings for men of other races? Should America care? Knowing Madonna's sexual liberalism (she "confessed" to having partial feelings for women in an interview), has she and/or will she seek out alternative methods to satisfy her sexuality and her sexual curiosity? Both Madonna and the controversy she causes are interesting to watch. The public keeps a sharp eye on what she does because she is an outspoken individual who knows how to market herself to the worldwide media. She always strays from the norm, and she always gives her brash opinions on particular establishments, and acts on those opinions afterwards. Many people have many opinions about her, and many people speak their mind about her. This is what she likes -- to listen to people talking about her. She loves the attention and uses it to her advantage. My opinion of Madonna is that what she doesn't have in pure talent (and I think that she's a little lacking in the talent department), she makes up for with creativity, controversy, intelligence (she attended the University of Michigan -- called by some to be the best public school in the nation) and sexuality (she is an extremely beautiful woman -- I saw her Penthouse layout) to literally guarantee an audience. It is for this ingenuity that I respect her. f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\An anylsis of Grapes of Wrath.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 'A great man and a great American, Frank Capra is an inspiration to those who believe in the American dream' John Ford 'The megaphone has been to John Ford what the chisel was to Michelangelo.....Ford Cannot be pinned down or analyzed. He is pure Ford--Which means pure great' Frank Capra Frank Capra and John Ford have directed many classic movies and it is unfair to only view two of their works and summarize all there is too say about their styles, so I won't. Instead, I will be discussing different styles and conventions that Frank Capra and John Ford used in the four movies I viewed. These movies are Mr. Smith goes to Washington, Mr Deeds goes to Town both Capra, films and The Informer and Grapes of Wrath by Ford. America in the 30's was a time of hardship economically, politically and socially. If you have taken an American history course you know all about the depression and the crisis that it bestowed upon the land. Hollywood, the movie making capital of the world tried its best not to reflect the problems of the country in its products. Instead of the grim realities of world, Hollywood lured in the audience with escapist movies. The classic thirties genres like screwball comedies, glamourous musicals and fantasy movies, were mere ploys to divert the sad reality of the time and in doing so Hollywood firmly defined its role as entertainer not critic. Capra and Ford can also be accused of following this pattern too, with other movies they made. The 30's were also a time of the great studio system and one had to work under the control of these institutions, although both directors managed to achieve enough fame and power that they could create their own visions. With this power and fame, Capra and Ford were able to turn out movies that went against the usual Hollywood style; critical of society, authority, government, newspapers, the police and political rebels. These men where able to make movies about the injustice in the world and they created simple folk yet(much like Forrest Gump in Capra's case) complex enough to deal and in some cases win against the evils of the world. Although they deal with similar topics and understands about society and man, they have different ways of delivering their message. Capra used humor, fantasy, splendor, and a quick moving camera. Ford on the other hand used gritty realism, harsh environments, and a static camera, with slower cuts and movements. They both can be considered anti-establishment directors, but I would say that their movies go beyond simple anti-establishment attitudes and actually try to and establish a new more righteous establishment. Ford and Capra believed so much in America that during her time of great crisis in WWII, they left Hollywood and all the money to work for the U.S. Forces. Ford became an Admiral in the U.S. Navy and Capra a Colonel for the Army. Of the four movies by Capra and Ford, The Informer is the only one that was not a box-office smash at its time of release, however all four movies carry the prestigious titles of being called some of the greatest films of all time. All these films can be enjoyed on a simplistic entertainment level, but there is so much hidden between the texts that makes them great, therefore they were obviously made for more than just enjoyment. There are strong issues being dealt with about man and his relationship within the society he lives in. From the most basic problems about individuals suffering from lack of shelter and starvation to mass starvation and political corruption. There also seem to be the tone in Capra's and Ford's movies that man was doing fine until society interfered with him, not just society in general but more city society. There is a feeling that city people are corrupt and infect all that they touch, while the simple country folk are pure and good. This point is proven over and over again, it is not the individual that is corrupt it is the society that corrupts the individual. Deeds and Smith both from there respective self titled movies are happy and fine living quiet sheltered lives in their small town. As soon as city society comes knocking on their door trouble begins. Whereas when we meet Fonda in Grapes of Wrath, society has already beaten him down and now he must rise again or perish. Gypo too in The Informer has been defeated by society and he too must rise or perish. So as Capra's hero's are virginal, Ford's have already been around the block a few times but insist that they are still virgins. The character's in Ford and Capra's movies are microcosms for all that is happening and these movies are mainly character centered and driven so it is a fair way in dealing with their idea's. Capra's characters are modeled on the belief that one man can make a difference and help society, while Ford's characters are almost incapable of helping themselves. (although Fonda in Grapes of Wrath speaks of wandering the earth to bring truth and justice to the world,) Fonda will only effect small minorities of people, while Capra's characters change the world. Yet both styles of character are modeled on the simple and common folk. They are naive to the world and as the movie progresses, they and we, the audience learns how corrupt the world is, but whereas Capra gives you the golden ending, (believable and happy) Ford takes a much more cynical look. Gypo the main character is killed while the Joad family future in Grapes of Wrath is not that much better than when they statred out. Capra's heroes come from small town, happy middle America and are the epitome of the common man. They are well liked and respected in the community that they live in. Capra's men have greatness thrust on them by luck, while Ford 's characters have trouble thrust upon them. Both Smith and Deeds achieve their honored positions by the misfortune of someone else. In both cases it is the death of a famous individual who perishes and Deed's and Smith are called up from the ranks of the common people to eventually achieve greatness. However, their call is based on pure luck. Deeds luck was due because he was an heir of a wealthy relative, and Smith because a coin toss ends with the coin standing erect. Ford's men come from the outside of society, Fonda from prison and Gypo had been kicked out of the IRA. They have been disgraced and are at low points in their lives, while Fonda tries to redeem himself in a society that keeps dropping him down. He is released from prison, finds out the authorities have taken his home and starts out with nothing. Fonda tries his hardest not to become a 'Mean Man'.(Ma Joad's name for what happens when you go to prison and become evil) Gypo also wants redemption but is so lost in a society that rejects him. The society in this case is the IRA and once Gypo is kicked out he has no money and becomes lost. He wants to do good but is helpless until the end when he begs and is granted forgiveness and dies redeemed, religiously speaking. Ford used religion in both movies as turning points and a way to reflect the inner struggle of characters, the death of the preacher changes Fonda forever and Gypo's redemption in the church where he has at last found peace. Capra on the other hand uses real American monuments in the same way. Grant's Tomb and the Capitol building are seen by Deeds and Smith as great American institutions that symbolize the truth and greatness of their nation. During the monument scenes we learn a lot about the inner emotions of the characters. No one else see's the beauty and ideological importance of these monuments as we are told by supporting characters but this reflects that twentieth century man has lost his faith in the institution. Although Capra's movies can be considered to show American society and authority in poor light, he on the surface can be considered anti-establishment or anti-American, but on a deeper level he is more pro-establishment and American because he wants the institutes to work and mean something, not just to be hollow houses to be used by the wealthy and cunning to swindle the land. Smith actually argues these point when he is holding the filibuster and is trying to explain why kids must learn to understand an appreciate the Constituent. So when they grow up they hold them of value and the principals of the founding father actually meaning something. Ford too shows the same if not even stronger anti-establishment views. At the same time as tearing down the institution they support but not in its present corrupt form making these directors super-patriots, they are willing to go against something they believe to be wrong in the hope it will get better. In this way both Ford and Capra can be seen as Caprasque heroes both men somehow achieved enough luck that they where in a position to change the world and they did. Ford and Capra also make comments on the society of the educated man and the written word. In fact the written word is used by both directors in various forms, it motivates, destroys and can redeem. The written word is always paralleled with money or prosperity but, once unmasked is usually wrong or bad. Gypo sees a poster of his friend that reads reward 20 pounds, Gypo out of confusion turned to this poster and betrays his friend and his society for the money. The Joad family is of on a quest to California on account that they read a pamphlet, this could be compared to the newspaper clip Ma Joad has of her son's imprisonment. In both these Ford movies the news or the written word is somehow a motivation for people to do something. But the written word always leads to misfortune. Comparing the pamphlet with the article on Fonda's imprisonment could symbolize and verify that nothing good ever comes from the written word. Ford way of secretly criticizing the learned man. Perhaps he is commenting on the fact that we pay to much attention to what is written, which could lead to our downfall. Don't just believe what you read investigate to find out the truth. Later on in Grapes of Wrath we find out that the pamphlet is actually a tool of the rich man to lure lots of workers out to California so they can offer really low wages. The wealthy man controls the news and will always use it to his advantage, even though most common folks believe what they read they must learn not to be so blind. The use of newspapers and written words are more obvious in the two Capra films. They not only affect the characters but they also help explain the story to the audience. In the Capra films we learn that news is subjective to mistruths and when silly stories appear of Deeds in the paper we know they were not meant in the context that they were printed. Yet it seems that in Capra's films the society believes without question everything they read in the paper, yet as spectators we learn the truth about the media. Babe the reporter who loves Deeds says in the court room she colored the articles to sell more papers. Finally when we are introduced to Taylor in Smith we realizes how corrupt the news actually really is. Taylor's name can be used as a metaphor for tailor as someone who alters something. Although control of the paper is done in typical Capra fashion, by the power of one man. The newspaper is another institution that must be unveiled because it has the power to confuse and corrupt people. Taylor is the ultimate in corruption and when Babe was working for the paper she too cheats. Anyone associated with the written word is portrayed in a cynical or devious ways. Finally the most destructive theme in Ford's and Capra's movies is money. Money is used in many ways in these four films sometimes their is plenty and some times their is not any. Money ends up playing a big role in each of these films, money is also used as a device to show how characters behave when serious matters occur. Deeds and The Informer are very similar in their dealing with money. Both movies begin with a large written banner about money. Gypo is faced with a poster claiming reward money, while Deeds begins with the newspaper proclaiming millionaire heir not found yet. In both cases death is the cause that there is the transfer of money to the main characters. Gypo becomes paranoid and drunk indirectly due to the money. Deeds also misuses his fortune at first, getting drunk and running around New York naked. With money comes responsiablity and both Gypo and Deeds in the beginning are not capable of handling responsesablity. It takes them many lesson to learn the real value of money and when they firgure it out they end up givening their money away to help someone less fortunate. Deeds gives his millions to the out of work people, while Gypo gives his money to a lady in need of transportation home. Both cases the money is used for the purpose of good. In Deeds the twenty million dollars brings many leeches, the same happens to Gypo with his 20 pounds. Gypo starts to spend money more and more frequently as the night wares on. He attracts leeches who care little about Gypo but a lot about his money. These leeches end up guiding the character into deeper and deeper trouble. Wheras Deeds has professional leeches like lawyers, because Deed lives in the world of high fainace the thief where suits and have offices. Both films end up using money as a test of a persons strength in the case of Gypo he fails at first but eventually learns right even though it is too late. Deeds on the other hand passes the test at first easily, but there are moments when he is close to failing. Smith and Grapes of Wrath are also very similar with the use of money potrayed in these pictures. Both are centered on the fact that society through money is being abused and the little guy can not fight these odds. The big buisness men who smoke fat cigars and buy up land and kick off the farmers in Grapes of Wrath are the same men that work in the Senate in Smith. These men the wealthy are extremly greedy whereas the Joads just want enough money to feed the family and live. These rich land owners are willing to starve children just to make more of a profit. coincidently while the rich steal and make illegal deals to become richer the Joads do not even try to steal a loaf of bread. Which is the point of these moves that there is more important thing than money, even thought are society is based on it. Capra and Ford worked very hard to achieve the positions in society they did, both grew up in poor large families and hence started at the bottom and worked their way to the top. They lived the American dream yet they were not so blinded by their success that they did not see the misfortune of others. They knew the American system was corrupt and unfair and set out to criticizes and even help change it. Either men cannot be labeled as liberal or socialist because there political allegance was not towards a party or a theory, it was rooted in simple and obvious universal truths. And because their movies deal with universal themes and truths I believe there movie do not or will not ever appear old or dated. American Film I FA/FILM 3210 'FORD & CAPRA' DEC 3 1996 f:\12000 essays\arts drama & film (1396)\An argumentative essay on Roger Moore.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++