...structure of modernity to create modernist texts. Their pieces, Metropolis, Preludes and 1984 display some key features that reflect the ideas of modernity and the situation in the modern era. In the film Metropolis by Lang, there are messages coded into the movie that must be picked out to provide the full understanding of the ideas portrayed by this film. Some of the messages hidden within the foils of the film are futility, loss of identity and power. These three conceptual ideas influence our understanding of the film and our interpretations of its purpose. The aim of this film was to critique aspects of modernity such as the ideas previously listed. Firstly, futility and loss of identity play a major role in this film. These themes combine in one section but have completely different effects on the viewers opinion. Futility is shown by the lack of choice the workers have and how they all must obey the upper classes and act like a machine. Where as the case of lost identity is rather presented in different light but on the same stage. It is portrayed by the fact that all these individual humans (laborers) have now just become one large group and function in one way losing their individuality and identity. This refers to the time that this movie was produced in because it symbolizes the machine that society was becoming to be able to introduce industrialization into their culture. Power is the other major concept displayed in this text. The class barriers created...
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...One’s Ignorance is Another’s Power Power is something that everyone seeks. It plays a vital role in our society, as well as Winston’s society in 1984. Whether it is beneficial or malicious, it is something that one must acquire to lead and take control over followers. Some say that it comes in the form of money and riches, and others say that it is intangible. However, there is one form of power that proves to be the most effective and cruel; it is ignorance. George Orwell could not have said it any better in his book 1984. “Ignorance is strength,” Orwell wrote in 1984 (Orwell 4). As stated, ignorance provides power to the foul government in Winston’s society. No one is educated about the truth of the past or the rights they have as a human...
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...Amitabh Harivansh Bachchan (IPA: [əmɪˈtaːbʱ ˈbəttʃən]; born 11 October 1942) is an Indian film actor. He first gained popularity in the early 1970s for movies like Deewar and Zanjeer, and was dubbed India's first "angry young man" for his on-screen roles inBollywood, and has since appeared in over 180 Indian films in a career spanning more than four decades.[2][3] Bachchan is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential actors in the history of Indian cinema.[4][5][6] So total was his dominance of the movie scene in the 1970s and 1980s that the French director François Truffaut called him a "one-man industry".[7][8] Bachchan has won many major awards in his career, including three National Film Awards as Best Actor (a record he shares withKamal Hassan and Mammootty), a number of awards at international film festivals and award ceremonies and fourteen Filmfare Awards. He is the most-nominated performer in any major acting category at Filmfare, with 39 nominations overall. In addition to acting, Bachchan has worked as a playback singer, film producer and television presenter. He also had a stint in politics in the 1980s. The Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri in 1984 and the Padma Bhushan in 2001 for his contributions towards the arts. Bachchan made his Hollywood debut in 2013 with The Great Gatsby, in which he played a non-Indian Jewish character, Meyer Wolfsheim Bachchan was born in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, in north central India.[9] His...
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...The Dream Team Living The American Dream “If there’s somethin’ strange in your neighborhood, who you gonna call (Ghostbusters)?” Anyone who recognizes this catchy tune will know the answer: Ghostbusters! The film Ghostbusters follows Peter Venkman (Bill Murray), Egon Spengler (Harold Ramis) and Raymond Stantz (Dan Aykroyd) as they run a paranormal extermination service in New York City. They go around catching ghosts until they learn about an ancient pair of evil spirits known as “The Keymaster” and “The Gatekeeper” that summon another destructive, shape shifting creature with the power to destroy the world, Gozer. The ghost assumes the form of a giant Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man and begins terrorizing the city. By “crossing the beams” of their special ghost-neutralizing weapons, an action Egon stated would be catastrophic, the Ghostbusters save the day. Directed by Ivan Reitman and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis, Ghostbusters endures because it establishes a strong precedent for future film producers with interests in combining elements of comedy and supernaturalism. While it has minor setbacks such as the existence of unnecessary characters, Ghostbusters’ success is driven by the time dedicated by the writer to the character development of the Ghostbusters, Ramis’ deadpan expressions along with Bill Murray’s clever dialogue, and the appeal that Ghostbusters, Inc. had to the audience as a story about running a successful business. The movie is a clever and well written...
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...with three characters that audiences and fans can’t seem to get enough of like Han Solo, Indiana Jones, and Rick Deckard. Ford has already reprised his role of Han Solo in Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), a new Blade Runner (2018) project is in pre-production, and a new Indiana Jones (2019) film has been announced. From his extensive film archive, catch Ford in The Conversation (1974), Apocalypse Now (1979), The Mosquito Coast (1986), Patriot Games (1992), and Air Force One (1997). Despite being in his 70s, Ford’s star power is intact, he continues to be a top box office draw, and remains noteworthy with a new generation of fans worldwide. Carrie Fisher (1956), an American actress and writer, best known as the brave and feisty Princess Leia in the original Star Wars trilogy (1977 - 1983), and most recently in Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015). “A child of Hollywood, Carrie Fisher grew up in the shadow of scandal as the daughter of Eddie Fisher, who left her mother Debbie Reynolds for best friend Elizabeth Taylor. No stranger to scandal herself later in life, Fisher secretly struggled with drug and alcohol addiction, as well as bipolar disorder, which she first revealed with the semi-autobiographical novel Postcards from the Edge (1987), which was adapted into a 1990 film starring Meryl Streep. At...
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...Discuss how Charles Chauvel’s ‘Jedda’ is a product of, and placed within, the Australian film industry at the time of its production. (What was this period like and what influence did this period have on the selected film?) How might Aborigines find truer representation in Australian film and other popular cultural mediums? By Danielle Gold Charles Chauvel’s ‘Jedda,’ (1955) is a film firmly placed within the dominant ideology of its time, limited by the otherness of its chosen subject matter. As a medium of cultural production, film has a necessary relationship with the hegemony of its own culture; sometimes progressive and other times simply perpetuating. As a representation of the debate over the ethics and feasibility of assimilation, ‘Jedda’ reflects the failed premise of its time, the hierarchical approach to culture and civilization perpetuated by white Europeans. Despite this hamartia it has been applauded with “the only dignified Aboriginal male lead that has been allowed to exist in a film made by white directors in Australia,” (Johnson, 1987:48) what is certainly a progressive allowance (though the word is problematic). It has become evident that true representation of the Aborigine in Australian popular culture is dependent on undoing the dualistic understanding that establishes their otherness. Culture is a discourse of common iconography. Signifiers of language, appearance, values, history, cuisine, beliefs… are inscribed, developed and perpetuated...
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...Laura Mulvey theorises that visual pleasure in the mainstream cinema is largely founded upon a male gaze that fetishises the female body and positions the male spectator voyeuristically in relation to the film. To what extent you agree with this hypothesis? The ‘Male Gaze’ is a term that refers to instances in film, where the audience view a scene through the perspective of a heterosexual man. For example, a scene that focuses on a woman’s curves and these features are accentuated in some way, such as, purposeful camera movements or through the use of slow motion and/or cut-aways. The term was first coined by Laura Mulvey in her article “Visual pleasure and Narrative cinema”. In this article, Mulvey advocates that the use of the Male Gaze in films, causes women to only be admired for their physical appearance and therefore relegates women to the stature of objects, refusing them human identity. She demonstrates this by using film examples that infer a female’s existence in the film world is only in relation to the male, that she has no real importance, besides how she makes the male feel or act. Mulvey states female characters only serve two roles in a narrative: 1) As an erotic object for the characters within the narrative to view, and 2) As an erotic object for the spectators with the cinema to view. They tend to slow the narrative down; they give men inspiration to act, they are considered passive. Where as male characters push the narrative forwards making events happen...
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...In the book 1984 by George Orwell, society doesn't realize the harmful and controlling factors of Big Brother in which they are encompassed. The Big Brother factor has been enforced throughout history by those seeking power and control. After the Holocaust under the rule of the infamous Hitler, George Orwell, in writing 1984, responded to his thoughts toward this tragic event and what Nazi society had been. George Orwell then continues to dig deeper and warns future generations of what could in fact become reality. The novel 1984 reflects through Big Brother the relenting rule of Hitler over much of society during the Holocaust and foresees the many powerful institutions that prove Big Brother is indeed existent today. In the time of Hitler,...
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...numerous awards, has proven that Hollywood is not just a money making workshop, but it offers well profound characters that deserve the attention of connoisseurs. More importantly, his efforts have done much too dramatically expand the range of dramatic roles given to African-American actors and actresses. In most every aspect of his appearance and activities, Mr. Washington is perfectly decent and very sophisticated; thus, it came as no surprise when he was named Best Actor. Denzel Hayes Washington Jr., Nicknamed “D”, was born around midnight on December 28th 1954 (Capricorn). He was born in Mount Vernon, at the north end of the Bronx in New York City. He was the son of Denzel Washington Sr. (named after the doctor Denzel who delivered him), a Pentecostal minister with the Church of God in Christ who is from Buckingham County VA, and Lennis “Lynne” Washington, a beautician and former gospel singer from Georgia. Other children born to the Washingtons were David Washington and Lorice Washington. He was the brother-in-law of actress Rita Pearson and the cousin of CBS anchorman Ukee Washington. Denzel married actress Pauletta Pearson Washington (61 years old) on June 25th 1983; He met her when he was filming his first onscreen role on the TV movie set named “Wilma”. One year after their wedding, they had...
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...Studio, and established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into live-action film production, television, and theme parks. The company also operated under the names The Walt Disney Studio, then Walt Disney Productions. Taking on its current name in 1986, it expanded its existing operations and also started divisions focused upon theater, radio, music, publishing, and online media. In addition, Disney has created new corporate divisions in order to market more mature content than is typically associated with its flagship family-oriented brands. The company is best known for the products of its film studio, the Walt Disney Studios, which is today one of the largest and best-known studios in Hollywood. Disney also owns and operates the ABC broadcast television network; cable television networks such as Disney Channel, ESPN, A+E Networks, and ABC Family; publishing, merchandising, and theatre divisions; and owns and licenses 14 theme parks around the world. It also has a successful music division. The company has been a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average since May 6, 1991. An early and well-known cartoon creation of the company, Mickey Mouse, is a primary symbol of The Walt Disney Company. Corporate history 1923–1928: The silent era In early 1923, Kansas City, Missouri animator Walt Disney created a short film entitled Alice's Wonderland,...
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...time and is determined by the social-political changes. (Jonathan) Mass media (films) can somehow construct some kinds of ideologies or identities and indicate the attitude and value behind identity in a society. (Ping-Kwan) In this paper, we will investigate how 1970s’ films, New Wave Movie in 1980s and 1990s’ films reflect the social changes and construct HK identity. After the 1967’s Riots, Hong Kong people had to face keen competition and social conflict and instability. Most of them had to face great pressure and discontent was widespread in the society. (李以莊) Watching movies such as “One-Armed Swordsman” (獨臂刀) [1967] and “The Big Boss” (唐山大兄) [1971] become one of the tools or ways for them to vent their pressure and emotions. Moreover, in the early 70s, the society was rife with corruption. The corruption of the Hong Kong police and the government officers became a climate of Hong Kong. This phenomenon was corrosive to both the foundations of society and relationship between the police/government officers and the public. (Pak Tong) The Hong Kong government was therefore urged to found ICAC to deal with problem of corruption in 1974. At that time, “The House of 72 Tenants” (七十二家房客) [1973] revolved around 72 people who live in an old department, rebelling against both the landlady and the police. This film gave voice to the people’s dissatisfaction with oppression and the abuse of power in 1970s. (Pak Tong) In addition, due to the fast growing of Hong Kong’s economy...
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...direct reference to at least one film, how did Hollywood address the paranoid, hysterical political climate of the 50s? The Cold War began in 1947 between the USSR and the USA. After World War II, both countries began to distrust each other, as they knew the amount of power each country had in terms of nuclear weapons. Not only did they distrust each other, but they lacked a mutual understanding of each other’s culture. The USA believed in capitalism and the USSR believed in communism. This lack of mutual understanding caused mass paranoia within America as they feared that communists would infiltrate their society. This hysteria was known as the Red Scare which lead to “a range of actions that had a profound and enduring effect on U.S. government and society.” (Red Scare, 2013). During World War II “moviegoers learned to appreciate cinema for what it was: a powerful delivery system of ideology” (Doherty, 2003, p. 19) and after World War II “Soviet Communism and American Democracy, found its domestic expression in fierce debates over the subversive influence of the popular media.” (Doherty, 2003, p. 21). Hollywood was scrutinized first for allegedly using the film industry to influence the public about communism. The House of Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) was formed in 1938, and it’s investigations were “frequently focused on exposing communists working inside the federal government or subversive elements working in the Hollywood film industry” (Red Scare, 2013)...
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...years ago, I truly began to admire his Avant-garde ways of approaching the science. I am an avid student of social issues and studying this “rock star” of social psychology has heightened my senses and allowed me to look beyond what the masses consider socially unacceptable in the name of discovery. The following is a reply to a video entitled “Into the Mind: Mind Control” which focuses on famous experiments conducted to discover the “whys” behind certain behaviors. While the video highlights a number of psychological experiments, this short work will focus on Stanley Milgram and answer the following: what are the ethical inferences and did his results justify the manner in which the experiment was conducted? According to Milgram (1984), “The case touched on a fundamental issue of the human condition, our primordial nightmare. If we need help, will those around us stand around and let us be destroyed or will they come to our aid? Are those other creatures there to help us sustain our life and values or are we individual flecks of dust just floating around in a vacuum” (Memorable quotes). The Experiment: Why this Approach? At a rudimentary level, human behavior and all of the questions that revolve around it is why psychology exists. Man studies the differences between the minds of individuals to discover what makes person “A” perform and or think differently than person “B”. Psychological variances in the minds of men are why society is plagued with a number of...
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...gendered media norms from the perspective of the 1960s and 2000s Analysis of 1960s gendered media norms from the perspective of the 1960s and 2000s Univers Communications 30 Gendered film norms from the 1960s and 2000s: An Introduction From its most primitive years, popular films have discussed the part of gendered norms both on screen and as viewers. Actually, emphasizing its significance to different account and standard patterns, violence against women has been conceptualized as immanent in typical Hollywood and all over more recent popular cinema. Various feminist film theorists have judged conventional filmmaking as comprised of creation and display practices imbricate in a certain set of social and political power relationships. In the procedure, these writers have proposed complicated expression of the relationships between filmic representations and cinema's place in society. The mainstream feminist film theory that grew in the 1970s depended on the idea of cinematic equipment by the help of which film technologies interrelated with the ideological determinants of the cinematic associations. In her work, most remarkably the essay, "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema," (1975) Laura Mulvey stressed the problem of the female aspects in classical Hollywood and, particularly, in films of Josef von Sternberg and Alfred Hitchcock. Female spectators are presented with a choice to make out with either a male character or secondary female characters that, in Freudian terms...
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...The World of Big Brother By: Nasreen Khaliq Nineteen Eighty-Four is a film directed by Michael Radford. It was released in 1984 and is a movie adaptation of the dystopian novel of the same name by George Orwell. It stars John Hurt as Winston Smith, Suzanna Hamilton as Julia, Richard Burton as O’Brien, Cyril Cusack as Charrington, Gregor Fisher as Parsons, and James Walker as Syme. It is a film about the super power Oceania, which is one of the three states in the world, and how everything in the citizens’ lives, from work to thought and emotion, is either supressed or controlled by the totalitarian government. History is constantly edited and rewritten, and eradication of the English language is seen as a wonderful thing and is encouraged to make way for a new language called “Newspeak”, which consists of worlds like “thoughtcrime” and “crimestop”. The film deals with the main character Winston Smith, and his life living under the watchful eyes of “Big Brother”. Directors face quite a daunting task when creating a film based on a novel. It is always hard to find the perfect actors who not only fit the part of the characters, but can also portray them in a realistic way. In between reading the characters in the novel, and watching them later on in the film, it is evident that the characters have suffered many alterations. In Nineteen Eighty-Four, one character that has managed to evade change is O’Brien. In the novel he is described as a very intelligent and powerful man who...
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