...Widrich 2001) are short films based on the idea of providing an effective medium of how social commentary criticises society whilst providing insight into the composer’s perspective of social concerns. L’Homme Sans Tete and Copy Shop both deal with the social concerns of individual identity and conformity to society’s standards. Many of the issues raised in these short films are positioned in such a way that the audience sub-consciously recognises them and either relates to or confronts Solanas and Widrich’s interpretation of them. Solanas’ dealing with the idea that conformity does not equal happiness through Mr. Phelps and Widrich confronting his audience with how repetitive daily life has become through the Employee....
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...As society grows and evolves, so does entertainment. All forms of entertainment must change to continue to keep the attention of the public, and horror movies are no exception. In today’s world of remakes and sequels, it is hit or miss when it comes to doing the original film justice. Critics as numerous as they are harsh, so taking on a remake is no easy feat. When looking at the 1978 cult classic Dawn of the Dead and its 2004 remake, there are obvious differences and similarities. The original uses dark humor and wit to entertain audiences, while the remake uses more gore and violence, but both share a similar premise. While the original will always be a classic, but the remake puts a fresh spin on it to draw in younger audiences. The original Dawn of the Dead was first released in Italy in 1978 and then in the United States in 1979, grossing approximately $55 million worldwide up against a $1.5 million budget (The Numbers). The film, directed by George A. Romero, was quickly hailed a classic and one of the best zombie films of the century. The film follows group of survivors who are fleeing Philadelphia, which has been overrun by the reanimated much like the rest of the country’s major cities. The group commandeer a helicopter and eventually seek refuge in a large mall, where they reside for several months....
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...Symbolic Interactionist Perspective Media Analysis SOC/100 Introduction to Sociology 06/07/2012 Mrs. Christina Oberste Symbolic Interactionist Perspective Media Analysis In today’s society, all human beings have their very own distinctive, customizable features such as body composition, hair length, attire, and style. At the same token, they all have genetic-based features such as color, height, facial features, and gender. While these features are quite commonly used to identify all human beings, they also give way to categorizing, mislabeling, and stereotyping another individual. Categorizing society by means of race, social class, and gender, is very common in today’s society; almost too common as it may seem. In this paper, the Academy Award-winning picture “Crash,” will be used to display some of the social injustices in today’s society. Crash, Oscar-winner for best picture, best original screenplay, and best editing at the 2005 Academy Awards, was co-written, produced, and directed by Paul Higgins in 2004. Crash was inspired by a real-life event in which Higgins’ Porsche was hi-jacked outside a video store in Los Angeles California. Crash touches up on a lot of different topics such as stereotyping, racism, classism, sexism, and exposure to different forms of racial discrimination such as racial stereotyping and racial profiling all from the non-verbal, symbolic perspective of an outsider. The first scene of the movie takes the viewers on-scene of a motor vehicle...
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...The unforeseen future can hold a drastic change of lifestyle, different from what it is today. The authors of the stories criticize our present social system, by displaying a satirized dystopian future of society, in which the world is led by corporatism and has lost control of themselves as well as the ability to think and instead are governed by a higher form of power, having become controlled sheep. The dystopian possibilities shown in the stories aren’t that far out of reach. Many of the dystopian elements can be scene in today’s society but on a smaller scale. As time progresses our civilization can itself become incorporated in a reality that was once the plot of fictitious stories. The classic cult movie “They Live” by John carpenter exploits corporatism that is seen in a large scale in today’s society. The movie revolves around Nada, a happy go lucky wandering construction worker, who stumbles upon a pair of sunglasses that are capable of showing the world’s true nature. Through his sunglasses he can see hidden subliminal messages throughout the city that are projected by advertisements and mass media. He only sees the core of their message and only the reason why they exist. No matter where Nada looks, or at whichever magazine he flips open he can see the same subliminal messages, which can also be seen on money. The memos contain messages such as: “obey," “consume," “buy," “work, sleep, play” and are meant to restrain and control the population. Nada also discovers...
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...In a time when preference was given on one’s own ethnic group, my parents were innovators and trend-setters. It was the mixing of two very different and unique worlds, brought together by a bond of marriage. I like to think that this affected me and my outlook on life – because even to this day, I feel I have an identity crisis in progress. I remember hearing the word creative for the first time when I was around 8-10 years old. And I didn’t get it. I didn’t get what It wholly means, what it denotes to. Maybe I was at a tender age to fully grasp the concept, but gradually, I began to associate it with a medium. And that was films. Creativity and films are words that I have always connected together; because it was through movies I understood what creativity can aspire to be. The art of making films, and watching them at a film theatre. It’s the film plots that can guide us out of our lives and provide supreme escapism on the theatre screen. “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” was my first taste at experiencing something that was truly out of this world. The concept of artificial intelligence, an assassin robot sent from a future where machines rule the earth and there is a war being waged between the machines and humans. If the last sentence isn’t creative, then I do not know what is. Similarly, the story of...
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...major factor. Racism is discrimination against a race that a person believes is below them or there’s just a hatred for that particular race. I watched three different movies portraying racial stereotypes in various ways but the message was the same. The message was, we tend to judge people without knowing them. We look at their appearance and automatically assume the worst in them instead of giving them a chance. There are times that we can’t see the best in strangers but as soon as any race is stereotypes and we don’t like a certain person, we use racial slurs to put them down and try to make ourselves feel better when in reality we’re insecure. I believe that educators should be allowed to show films...
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...Justin Lowery 10-11-2013 Week 9 Thesis paper: In Today’s culture, the original horror movie genre, takes the horror movie form seriously, and provides an often-scary portrait of evil. While it’s remakes, or rebuts, know in today’s society, are more vulgar, and tell more of a back story, in the inner mind, of the antagonist, however this being in a comical, yet more violent and macabre demeanor. The two prime examples of this are, John Carpenters Halloween (1978), and Rob Zombie’s Halloween (2007). The Original Halloween was a low budget film, with a budget of one hundred thousand dollars. With a cast P.J Soles as Linda, Nancy Loomis as Annie, Charles Crypers as Sheriff Meeker, Donald Pleasance as Dr. Sam Loomis, and introducing Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie Strode. The quick back-story of the movie, takes place on Halloween night 1963, the night he killed his sister. Then flashes back to the present, where he escapes from the sanitarium on a dark, and rainy night, and leads to the stalking of his sister Laurie Strode, and the taught and torment he puts her, and her friends through. The script was written in a form of pubertal darkness. The antagonist is known as the shape. The key visual points of the movie, are from the (POV) of the antagonist. This was one of the first movies, ever to put you, in the eyes, of the antagonist. This set a trend for other feature films, that occurred on later dates. For example, the title's The Hills Have Eyes, and Black Christmas. This...
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...“African – Americans, Asian – Americans, and Latino’s have been depicted in television, sports, and films in ways that have been changed in our society” (Omi 655). Stereotypes play an important role in today's society and particularly in Propaganda. According to the Webster's Dictionary stereotyping is defined as “a fixed conventional notion or conception of an individual or group of people, held by a number of people.” (Webster’s dictionary) Stereotypes can be basic or complex generalizations which people apply to individuals or groups based on their appearance, behavior and beliefs. Stereotypes are found everywhere. Though our world seems to be improving in many ways it seems almost impossible to liberate it from stereotypes. For example, African- Americans are associated with basketball, and acting. Asian – American men are made out to be the bad guys in film, women are seen as prostitutes and are sexual abused. Last but not least Latino’s are popping up everywhere, in hit TV shows like Ugly Betty, in major league baseball and in the music business. Stereotypes have existed since the beginning of time in our everyday life through religion, politics and the media. Humans have the tendency to use stereotypes in their humour, their descriptions of others, and even in their beliefs. One may believe it is possible to rid oneself of such habits; however if one looked at the regular promotions of propaganda, it would make this objective impossible. Stereotypes, however, aren't...
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...our larger culture from this artifact? What do we learn about life in modern society? What do we learn about race in our culture? What do we learn about sex and gender in our culture? Analyze the most important signifiers. Larger Culture The Big Lebowski follows the misadventures of an aging 60s hippie and a military veteran. A closer look into the film reveals something more, a commentary on the current state of Western culture or our larger culture. The film explores friendships, masculinity, and responsibility. The movie centers on the life of Jeffery Lebowski, known as “the Dude.” Today, “dude” is used to indicate someone as a “guy,” or “man,” as in “generic male person.” The larger culture we thrive in questions what it means to be considered a “man” and what makes a “man.” As a larger culture, we are interested in drugs or the “stoner” stereotype, which sparks our curiosity of the unknown. Friendship and the value of friendship is an important aspect for the larger culture we live in. In The Big Lebowski, the value of friendship between the Dude and Walter is prominent throughout the film which proclaims the Modern Society The Dude is the original hipster. Not because of the way he dressed, with the beanie or non-prescription glasses, but because he did not fit into the modern day schema for males. He is stereotyped by slacker values and not being wealthy. In today’s modern society we are often caught up on one’s self-image, yet the Dude shows us to be comfortable...
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...about Shakespeare by being portrayed in all types of media. Shakespeare is not longer exclusive to the stage; we see his works in modern day media such as film and TV now more than ever. The way we learn about Shakespeare today had to be conformed to the way our modern society has advanced. I will discuss the history of Shakespearean theatre and its rapid diffusion into modern day films as well as the specific elements originated by Shakespeare that are seen in those films. Beginning somewhere around...
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...principles are vital to any organization and how they can shape and ensure the future of that organization. Why are the issues of the film important? Good Vibrations is a film that addresses the community’s responsibility and the cost to be complacent. This film mainly focuses on group responsibilities of the society (Good vibrations, 2009). Even though the film has more of a community’s responsibility, the issues addressed within the short film are the same within an organization. The film was about an entire building full of employees who watched people walk by as they were being injured by a loose brick on the outside walkway. It wasn’t until the group of employees saw an elderly man walk by that they decided to prevent others from getting hurt. An individual with moral and ethics would consider this film to be unrealistic group of individuals who can just sit and watch individuals walk by and do nothing to prevent the inevitable. Many organizations in today’s society are found to be in the same situation as personality types aren’t different than those in the film. Those individuals who know its wrong choose not to say anything to avoid further conflict. What role do external social pressures have in influencing organizational ethics? External social pressures have an important role on how they influence organizational ethics in today’s societies. The emergences of the internet and social media have helped spark social pressure on organizations to...
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...Critique on Surrogates Robert Piccioli English 225 Brian Davis September 12, 2011 Critique on Surrogates The film Surrogates (2009), directed by Jonathon Mostow, was an excellent film with a powerful message for society. The message was delivered well through each aspect of the film and its elements. The film's main concept centers around the mysterious murder of a college student linked to the man who helped create a high-tech surrogate phenomenon that allows people to purchase remote controlled humanoid robots through which they interact with society. These fit, good-looking, remotely controlled robots ultimately assume their life roles, enabling people to experience life vicariously from the comfort and safety of their own homes. Online, you can hide behind an avatar and a lie of a profile and have complete anonymity. Expand that to real life, with a realistic looking robotic body, made in your own image, or not, and you have the world of "Surrogates." Most crime being a thing of the past, no more spreading diseases, racism and sexism gone and few, if any , consequences for your actions, (destroying a surrogate seems to be considered vandalism) all seem to take our own self centered, hedonistic, world of instant gratification to a whole new level. Throw in those who don't choose to keep them selves 'safe' by using robotic bodies living on reservations, seemingly shunning technology and being the subject of new racism, and you might think that you have a...
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...The Book of Eli Film Review In the film The Book of Eli, we are introduced to a character that is never exactly named who is walking west on a journey that God has led him to take. Throughout his journey, there are many scenes that relate to the Print Era and there are also very many scenes that are extremely significant in the film. In my paper, I will be discussing these scenes and I will also be discussing my interpretation on the film’s meaning, and my final reaction to the film. In the film, we are introduced to a post-apocalyptic society where things we find to be extremely common, and maybe even useless, are very rare and prized possessions. Books are one of these rare items and something that only the wealthy have, the wealthy being Carnegie. This relates to the beginning of the Print Era because in the beginning of the era, only the wealthy had books due to the fact that they took so long to produce. Books took so long to produce in the beginning of the Print Era because they had to be written by a scribe instead of just being printed which takes about an eighth of the time it takes to write out an entire book. Books in the town that Carnegie runs are very rare due to the fact that there was an apocalypse and majority of the books were destroyed. Carnegie is the only wealthy one and the only one in power, therefore he has majority of all of the books that he steals from others, even though he is only looking for a certain one. Throughout the film, there are very...
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...HUM/150 January 18, 2016 Victor Armenta Crash Movie Analysis Discrimination, racism, classism, prejudice and more plague today’s society. These horrible issues do not affect one race, sexes, class, ethnicity, or age group; these issues affect all races, both genders, all ethnicities, and all age groups. For this film analysis, I have chosen to discuss the racism portrayed throughout a three-time Oscar award winning movie called Crash. Summary Paul Haggis wrote, directed and produced the film Crash in 2004. The movie Crash interweaves several individuals in Los Angeles over a two-day period. The film shows how a variety of different ethnic characters crosses paths during this period, and it displays their personal experiences involving racism. The movie shows how some are victims of racism as well as how some are guilty of racism against others as well as themselves. ‘Some movies, though, are told very much from the protagonist’s point of view, and the audience needs to go inside of the character’s head, to see the world of the story as the character sees it and feel what they feel’ (Diamond, 2012). Crash will take you there. Characters The movie Crash does not have simply one or two main characters but several. The casting directors, Sarah Finn, and Randi Hiller, carefully selected a magnificent cast to portray the characters in this film. The main characters in this movie include; an African American detective named Graham Waters, his Hispanic partner (both professionally...
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...West is a short film where Mr. West, both director and lead character, encounters a woman humanoid that crash landed on earth while on a drive in his Lamborghini. Both Mr.West and the women humanoid feed off each other in this film with scenes that held symbolic meaning to both life today and past life. A very important thing that Kanye fail to realize is that regardless of race people act similar when it comes to having power and being different. What Kanye have basically done with his short film symbolically is a switch within the role of dominance from white to black. When symbolically speaking should have shown a world with equal dominance from all people of different race and color. In Runaway there is a scene where Kanye and his humanoid girlfriend are at a dinner table with other guest as they prepare to eat. Everybody at the long white dinner table was of color, black or African descent, and most of the servants were white women. Kanye along with his guest wore white, which signified purity, as opposed to the white women who wore black to signify the switch within the dominate role of society. There was a sense of unwantedness at the dinner table towards the humanoid from Mr. West’s guests. Mr. West tries to kill the awkwardness with entertainment. This scene is very ironic due to Mr. West being an entertainer himself but trying to send a subliminal message by having white women entertain black people. This sense holds many deep meaning towards society and race and awkwardness...
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