...that simply cannot be quelled by one’s self. This desire to experience this feeling intensifies and soon enough this love story turns into a heart wrenching breakup, that leaves the mind broken only searching for the feeling it once experienced. Requiem for a Dream is a story that follows four Coney Island individuals risking everything they have to follow their dreams. These dreams are soon shattered and consumed by drug addiction. The portrayal of this film is very realistic because, even though extreme, it shows how the moment someone becomes addicted to drugs, the addiction becomes the focal point of their life. The movie begins with introducing the main character, Harry Goldfarb, who is stealing a television set from his widowed mother to support his and his roommate’s heroin addiction. His mother, Sarah Goldfarb, knows what Harry is using the money for, but does not have the will to turn him in because he is the only one she has left after the death of her husband. Harry’s roommate and best friend, Tyrone, develops a plan to make money by selling heroin on the streets. They describe this as their “chance to make it big.” Harry mentions that with the money they make, he will help his girlfriend, Marion Silver, follow her dream of opening her own clothing store. Unlike these characters, Sarah has a very different story. She is obsessed with a self-help infomercial called JUICE (Join Us in Creating Excitement), and one afternoon she receives a surprise call from someone...
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...Requiem and Deviant Intentions For A Dream” The 2000 film, Requiem for a Dream, by Director Darren Aronofsky is a chilling look into the realities of drug addiction, disappear, and hopelessness. If ever their was an anti-drug film or Public Services Announcement cautioning people about the dangers and ills of drug use, this could most certainly serve as one of the canonical texts. One viewing of this film would cause Nancy Regan’s 1980’s warnings of “Just saying No” to duck and hide their insufficient faces in shame for simply not hitting home hard enough. According to Farber, in The Age of Great Dreams: America in the 1960s, he contends that by the late 1960s, many young antiwar activities and others who were involved in a variety of social and political movements were in open revolt against what they considered “the American way of life,” believing that the “traditional” values of American life were what had produced the war in Vietnam, racism, and a lot of other ugliness. The shock troops in this “cultural war,” at least as most Americans saw it, were the longhaired “freaks” and “hippies” of what was then called the “counterculture.” It was the counterculture, more than the antiwar movement or Black Power groups, that seemed to many older Americans to be the most threatening to their family and loved ones. Far more young people would experiment with illegal drugs and counterculture lifestyles than would ever participate in the civil rights, antiwar,...
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...Both novels offer insight into how the characters describe their experience while on drugs. However, it is also valuable to analyze the character’s commentary about their addictions. In Requiem for a Dream, Sara Goldfarb, a television addict, relays her internal monologue as she sits watching an infomercial. Unlike the rest of the characters, she has a behavioral addiction which is a a form of addiction that involves a compulsion to repeatedly perform a rewarding non-drug-related behavior: “She gradually became aware of how dumb the damn show was she was watching and she stared at it, wondering how in the hell they could put anything so absurdly infantile and intellectually and esthetically insulting on television…and she continued to...
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...complicated. There is no manual given at the time of birth to guide a new parent in the right direction. A parent can only do their best and pull from their own past experiences in life. In Wanda Coleman’s poem “Requiem for a Nest,” the poem, upon first glance, seems to be about a naïve bird building “her dream palace” (line 1) but upon further reading, certain elements in the poem suggest that the speaker is referring to parenthood and the inevitable hardships that come along with it. The title of this poem immediately suggests a negative tone. The word, requiem, means a mass or solemn chant for the dead and “Requiem for a Nest” suggests that there can only be death and misfortune in the nest. A requiem is also something that is kind of beautiful. Coleman chose the word requiem because the poem is set in nature and there is something beautiful about that. The poem’s language supports this interpretation. Coleman begins her poem with the speaker observing “the winged thang” (line 1) trying to build her home “amid the fine green eyes of a sheltering bough/ she did not know it was urban turf” (lines 1-2). The speaker admires the way the bird sets out with a positive attitude about life. The beautiful imagery used in the first two lines “The winged thang built her dream palace/ amid the fine green eyes of a sheltering bough” (lines 1-2) quickly because dark and even morbid by the last line “not knowing all were doomed” (line 14). The tone of the poem can be related directly to...
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...their life, of these only 39% have visited mental health services, the Ministry of Health also found that 4.5% of New Zealanders have attempted suicide with males being 3.6% more likely to commit suicide than females. This is also reflected in OECD (Organisation for economic co-operation and development) statistics, New Zealand currently has the highest rate of youth suicide, ages 15-24, in countries belonging to the OECD and 29th highest overall suicide rate. This is why I have decided to explore ‘the catalysts prevalent in established society which can be detrimental to our populations overall mental health.’ This theme is prevalent within the following combination of texts; Howl by Allen Ginsberg, Mental Cases by Wilfred Owen, Requiem for a Dream by Darren Aronofsky and Shutter Island by Martin Scorsese. These texts explore different aspects of the human psyche and of mental illness by examining these texts I hope to identify and expose which aspects of our society could be injurious to our mental health. Howl written in 1955 is Allen Ginsberg’s most famous piece of poetry to date which proved to be provocative and test the boundaries of the society which Ginsberg lived in. He pushed the boundaries of free speech writing on a range of topical issues concerning himself or that he believed were in need of denouncement....
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...Film Analysis Requiem for a Dream Eventually, addiction causes the lives of individuals to spiral downward in a desperate search to regain the sense of balance and pleasure that their addiction initially gave them. This downward spiral either leads to recovery or continued hopelessness and eventual death. Director Darren Aronofsky's 2000 film "Requiem for a Dream" illustrates this idea perfectly as this work chronicles this descending spiral experienced by its characters. For example, as the movie opens, a housewife is in the process of chaining her television to a radiator. This is because she is trying to prevent her son from using it to get the money he needs to support his drug habit. The housewife's efforts fail, as her son frees it and then wheels it down the street to a pawnshop (Ebert, 2000). All of the characters engage in desperate acts to support their addiction. Harry and his best friend Tyrone obtain a large amount of heroin, believing that the profit from selling it will make them rich. However, their behavior is disinhibited because they use so much of it themselves that they wind up using more of it than they sell (Bowers, 2010). Marion, Harry's girlfriend, prostitutes herself to support her heroin addiction and winds up not only losing Harry, but also her sense of self (Bowers, 2010). Marion plays a key role in enabling heroin addiction, not only for her, but also for Tyrone and Harry, as it is her prostitution that supplies the money needed...
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...Point of view shot or POV, where the viewer or audience is looking through the eyes of a certain character. POV shots are common in horror and thriller films, which Aronofsky classifies Requiem for a Dream as a “urban horror film” and Black Swan as a physiological thriller. By changing the traditional camera shot to POV shot, it allows a change in the viewing experience of the film becoming more personal for the viewer. This personal experience is heightened by the view of the scenes through the subject’s eyes. The audience is seeing the events of the story as the main subject is seeing and experiencing the action of the scene. In Black Swan, during a rehearsal scene, we see through Nina’s eyes. She is practicing a spinning ballet move, and...
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...Requiem for an American Dream: Benjamin Loman’s Role in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman (1951) is a subversive parable that subtly makes use of its characters to castigate the collective societal delusion of the American Dream. While protagonist Willy Loman’s character arc is traditionally read as a direct allegory of the decay of the American Dream, the role of Benjamin Loman is tragically undervalued in this respect. In order to illustrate a twisted ambition rooted deeply in materialism and blind aspiration, the vaguely successful Benjamin serves a necessary but controversial beacon. The very status of Uncle Ben as a unique character is wholly complex at its core. He is at once Willy’s brother, a romanticized memory, and an extended facet of Willy’s own personality, all while never truly existing within the scope of the play. Benjamin’s real and imagined affirmations falsely guide Willy on the path to downfall. The increasing ambiguity of...
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...When I first started reading this requiem, it sparkled my eyes how such a tremendous artist would own such an imaginative and creative insight expressing the nature of “transience” The conversation between Rilke and Freud was really beautiful and touching. As Rikle admired the beauty of nature around each other but felt no joy in it because he was disturbed by the thought that all this beauty was fated to extinction. For Rilke, the transience of natural beauty made it worthless but for Freud its transience served to increase its value. That what made my interest dive into this wondrous dream-like quality to the imagined walk between them. Rilke was passionate while Freud was all reason. He felt that he understood the pessimism of his companions...
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...Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman uses a revolutionary technique to portray the protagonist, Willy Loman. He juxtaposes the scenes of present with those of the characters past to provide insight into Willy’s behaviours and beliefs and thus reveal how Willy has been victimized by the American Dream. The concept of developing a protagonist’s character by depicting formative experiences is one that offers an excellent approach to analyzing Arthur Miller’s play Death of a Salesman. By juxtaposing scenes of the protagonist’s present with scenes from Willy’s past, Miller provides insight for Willy’s behaviours and beliefs. Through lighting and sound techniques, Miller recreates significant moments in Willy’s life that shape him. Miller’s staging...
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...Brian Kelnhofer English/125 April 2, 2015 University of Phoenix Online Death of a Salesman Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller is one of my favorite plays growing up and one that defines history. Achieving the American dream is sought by so many people in society with little regard to what makes us truly happy. Willy Loman, the main character, works his whole life to provide financial security for his family and dreams about becoming rich only to be left with nothing at the end. The major driving theme behind the play is the American dream; which Miller points out is an allegory, the fallacy of working hard your whole lives chasing the American dream only to die a lonely and depressed man. Death of a Salesman challenges the effects of the American dream in a negative way. The American Dream All your life you are told that to be successful in life you need two things: a career and money. This I find to be the American dream falsehood that today’s society is based on. The Death of a Salesman points out the flaws in that statement. Most Americans don’t work past 72 so we spend our whole life chasing a false dream only to die an unhappy and lonely person. Allegory Willy creates an illusion of what the American dream should be like when he witnessed the accolades of Dave Singleman prolonged success. Willy pressures his children to seek the same ideals but Willy doesn’t even understand the meaning of success himself. I really connected with this part because...
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...Death of a Salesman Analysis In the play Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller crucifies the old-fashioned American Dream. Miller, while striking down the old idea that being well liked equates to being successful, shows that the American Dream of yesteryear can no longer be achieved. This idea is shown in both the last section of Act 2 and in the Requiem. Arthur Miller illustrates the condemnation of the old American Dream through Biff’s epiphany, Happy’s delusional success, and Willy’s funeral. While Biff flees Oliver’s office, he comes to a sudden realization that he’s been lying to himself his entire life and that Willy’s outdated version of the American Dream is unachievable for Biff and has caused him to fail. To reiterate this, Miller uses the “sky” (Miller, 1520) as a symbol for Biff’s possibilities. This is ironic, because Biff is running through “the middle of the [office building] and [he saw] the sky” without there being any windows mentioned. The “sky” (1520) that Biff sees isn’t the real sky, but the open-ness and the freedom that it grants. The sky also represents Biff’s chance to escape the web of lies that he has entangled himself in since high school, as its vastness is open and clear. The next way that Biff’s realization shows that the old American Dream has been demolished is that he denounces himself and his father of faking their way through life. As Biff and Willy argue, Biff admits that “[he is] not a leader of men” (1520) and that Willy is not either...
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...Psychological Disorders Writing Assignment The purpose of this project is to give you experience in making clinical diagnoses and to attempt to make sense of the many psychological disorders that are out there. You have been assigned to watch a popular movie. I decided to give this to you before Christmas Break because you will have at least 2 weeks to think of the movies form the list and watch one or two or whatever number you want. Pretend that you are a clinical psychologist, and the character in the movie has come in to your office. There is one central character in the movie that has symptoms of a psychological disorder (sometimes there may be more than one character; I have given you the character with the most obvious symptoms). In your paper, you should give a brief description of the character. Then, you should answer the following: o Identify the diagnosis that you would make of the character. • You should back up your diagnosis with the relevant symptoms displayed by the character (in other words, explain why did you make the diagnosis that you did). Refer to the movie to illustrate the symptoms that the character demonstrates. • Discuss all the possible symptoms of the disorder; does the client show all the possible symptoms, or only some of the possible symptoms of the disorder? • In some cases, the character may be lying, and does not really have a disorder. For example, the person may be faking the disorder to avoid prosecution...
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...Auteur Theory: Translated from the French, auteur simply means "author". There have been varied perceptions regarding this theory, its importance and effectiveness. Auteur theory is essentially “a method of evaluating films based on the director’s involvement and input”. The concept of ‘Auteur’ was first introduced by François Truffaut in 1954 in A Certain Tendency in French Cinema.(1) In this work he claimed that film is a great medium for expressing the personal ideas of the director. He suggested that this meant that the director should therefore be regarded as an auteur. According to him, there are three forms in which a director may be regarded as an Auteur. He agreed with André Basin’s idea that the film must be the direct expression of the director’s vision. The second aspect was that the director must be skilled with the camera. He believed the director is to camera as the writer is to pen. Lastly he believed for a director to be considered as an Auteur, he must leave behind a distinctive signature (based on Alexander Astruc’s idea), visually or as an idea in the film. (2) Years later, this concept was reintroduced by Andrew Sarris in 1962, in a publication titled “Notes on Auteur theory” (3). Accordingly, for a director to be considered as an auteur, the director must be well versed with the technical aspects of the film. The director must have a distinct style or a signature that distinguishes his films from the others. The movies must have a theme, an inner meaning...
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...What are You Looking At? Oh, those were the days. Remember high school? Oh, high school. A world without subject-by-numbers, p-sets, all-nighters, or worries. There wasn't much of anything to do, period. The most exciting thing that could happen to you in high school was probably go to a keg party-er, did I say keg? You know I meant cake, and going to the big premiere of "Spider-man." Friday night at the movies with your buds was a sure-fire way to pass two or three hours of your endless free time. What else did you have to do? Fill out the MIT application? Most teenagers, myself included, probably look at movies as entertainment, rather than as art, and most directors will confirm this. The movie industry has capitalized on this "entertainment" view of movies. More than ever, the movies industry is dominated by blockbusters and, to many's dismay, sequels to previous blockbusters. According to the website of the Motion Pictures Association of America (MPAA), from 1999 to 2002, the average theatrical cost of an MPAA film rose over 80%. Over this 3-year period, a whopping 25 out of the top 50 highest grossing movies in the American film history were produced, all of which made over 200 million dollars. Among these blockbusters were "Spider-man," "Finding Nemo," and "Star Wars: The Phantom Menace." We all know why "Star Wars: The Phantom Menace" exploded at the box office. But why did the other two gross over $340 million each? Because they were thought-provoking...
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