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Postmodern films an essay
Postmodern films an essay
Hollywood influence on society
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Movies and films have been in the American society for over a century, and in its timeless enjoyment, we still watch a film for its rich entertainment, and storytelling. As time progress, the American audiences demand more films to more interesting, and realistic. Knowing this, directors try to make movies as a mirror to reflect the changing society and transform theme to suit our tastes. Each different theme that is added have a two opposing side to it, their influence on the society is undeniable. This change of favors has drawn many writers to voice their thoughts in this matter. Two authors that shared their input into the topic: Vivian C. Sobchack; whose essay: The Postmorbid Condition addressed the unneeded increase of violence in movies;
There are several different heart problems that show up as an abnormal EKG reading. For example, a heart block can occur when there is a delay in the signals coming from the SA node, AV node, or the Purkinje fibers. However, clinically the term heart block is used to refer to an AV block. This delays or completely stops communication between the atria and the ventricles. AV block is shown on the EKG as a delayed or prolonged PR interval. The P wave represents the activity in the atria, and the QRS complex represents ventricular activity. This is why the PR interval shows the signal delay from the AV node. There are three degrees of severity, and if the delay is greater than .2 seconds it is classified as first degree. Second degree is classified by several regularly spaced P waves before each QRS complex. Third degree can be shown by P waves that have no spacing relationship to the QRS complex. Another type of blockage is bundle branch block. This is caused by a blockage in the bundle of His, creating a delay in the electrical signals traveling down the bundle branches to reach the ventricles. This results in a slowed heart beat, or brachycardia. On an EKG reading this is shown as a prolonged QRS complex. A normal QRS is about .8-.12 seconds, and anything longer is considered bundle branch block. Another type of abnormal EKG reading is atrial fibrillation, when the atria contracts very quickly. On the EKG this is shown by no clear P waves, only many small fibrillating waves, and no PR interval to measure. This results in a rapid and irregular heartbeat. On the other hand, ventricular fibrillation is much more serious and can cause sudden death if not treated by electrical defibrillation.
Over time, the United States has experienced dramatic social and cultural changes. As the culture of the United States has transformed, so have the members of the American society. Film, as with all other forms of cultural expression, oftentimes reflects and provides commentary on the society in which it is produced. David Fincher’s 1999 film Fight Club examines the effects of postmodernity on masculinity. To examine and explicate these effects, the film presents an unnamed narrator, an everyman, whose alter-ego—in the dissociative sense—is Tyler Durden. Durden represents the narrators—thus every man’s—deep-seated desire to break free from the mind-numbing, emasculating world that is postmodern, post-industrial America.
Beginning the mid 1920s, Hollywood’s ostensibly all-powerful film studios controlled the American film industry, creating a period of film history now recognized as “Classical Hollywood”. Distinguished by a practical, workmanlike, “invisible” method of filmmaking- whose purpose was to demand as little attention to the camera as possible, Classical Hollywood cinema supported undeviating storylines (with the occasional flashback being an exception), an observance of a the three act structure, frontality, and visibly identified goals for the “hero” to work toward and well-defined conflict/story resolution, most commonly illustrated with the employment of the “happy ending”. Studios understood precisely what an audience desired, and accommodated their wants and needs, resulting in films that were generally all the same, starring similar (sometimes the same) actors, crafted in a similar manner. It became the principal style throughout the western world against which all other styles were judged. While there have been some deviations and experiments with the format in the past 50 plus ye...
Maasik, Sonia, and J. Fisher Solomon. "The Offensive Movie Cliche That Won't die." Signs of life in the U.S.A.: readings on popular culture for writers. Boston: Bedford Books of St. Martin's Press, 1994. 407-411. Print.
In the “Pstmorbid Condition” by Vivian Sobchack she states that films use to use violence for a purpose to provide meaning and depth but today they grotesquely use violence without meaning. She states that 25 years ago in 1975 that films were using violence, but it was being used artistically to show great meaning in what was truly happening. It was through this kind of intelligent filming that allowed the violence to keep the people interested in trying to interpret what the director was trying to show. It is 25 years later that Sobchack states that films are now over using violence. The films such as Pulp Fiction that have an over use of violence are taking away the meaning that use to be in the violence. They no longer put in the aesthetics
The author of “Hollywood, Stop Exposing Our Kids to Violence” claims that filmmakers need to stop producing violent movies. The article argues that many children pick up bad habits from watching violent
The average viewers of movies movies today may utter that they watch movies merely just for pleasure; however, today’s movies offer more fulfilling values to us than we generally realize. Films today provide us with a substantial amount of insight into some of todays most debatable topics. Look at the Pursuit of Happiness for instance, viewers believed after watching that they could fight for what they truly wanted even though their situations may be difficult. Similarly, like Will Smith who fought for himself and his son so that they too could be better off after struggling through very tough times. The film Crash left viewers with many questions, not about the film itself but rather about themselves. It led to self-examination, where viewers
When asked to name some typical characteristics of Asian people, what comes to mind? Chopsticks or a strong belief in cultural heritage? How about American families? Based on many different facets, you probably feel as though you know what ideologies your culture believes. If we look at the media through time, it has evolved through a dependency on the growth of technology. As technology advances, old forms fade while content shifts with the culture. The most popular form of entertainment, that provides an escape from the real world, film has a tremendous amount of influence on the way in which we perceive our world. As these ideas spread, our beliefs become warped and mold into forms that we have been taught to strive for. With rapid expansion comes a fast paced lifestyle in America. As we rely so heavily on the media to keep us up to date on societal norms, the content for which the media decides to display needs to be calculated and thoughtful. We learn from what we observe. That being said, this project focuses on the evolution of film through time and explores the negative cultural influences that film has had on American culture, more specifically on race, gender, and class.
In recent years, Hollywood has been inundating the American public with movies that question the very essence of reality. While set in highly entertaining, thrilling, and spectacular films, the very foundations of reality have been challenged, and some unsettling questions have been left unanswered in the minds of the American public. When did Hollywood become such a philosophizer? But more importantly, why has Hollywood taken to creating powerful films that manipulate the emotions and beliefs of their viewers as specifically concerns reality and their understanding of it?
Movies have had an influence on the American culture through the content of various issues. In American movies, the characters take on such issues as social reform, political views, and emotional turmoil. Movies have changed people's attitudes about consuming information. Today, movies quickly give us a visual picture of where and what the characters are doing. Most movies neatly package a story into less than two hours of carefully edited material. Movies have made current generations used to this way of consuming information and can often make reading a book seem to slow for them.
Today, many ways of life and beliefs in terms of culture and tradition have become old. They are no longer what people really live by. Further, in media especially in films released in the late 1900’s there are many things that are shown which at the time were considered a phenomenon. Additionally, these films are known as “Postmodernist films”. “Postmodernist film attempt to subvert the mainstream conventions of narrative structure, characterization and destroys (or, at least, toys with) the audience's suspension of disbelief. Typically, such films also break down the cultural divide between high and low art and often upend typical portrayals of gender, race, class, genre, and time with the goal of creating something different from traditional narrative expression.” (Wikipedia) I feel that postmodernism is largely portrayed in Lynch’s films and we see this a lot in “Mulholland Drive” and “Blue Velvet”. Therefore, in this paper I will research how David Lynch uses dominant and recurring themes and techniques such as sex, loss of personal identity and use of profanity in his films showing the postmodern culture in USA.
It’s not a disguised fact that movies and cinema have come to impact nearly every facet of our culture- our colloquialisms, our views and beliefs, our moods. When you decide to watch a movie, you’re often making that decision based on how you think it will make you feel- if you want to be scared, if you want to laugh, if you want to think, or if you want to have a good cry. What the layman may not truly grasp is how a film can have such a huge impact on them- but the movie industry knows the kind of power they have over people, over consumers. It’s become an art form to be able to accurately and powerfully move an audience in any given way. People study and work for years to balance the delicate skill of subtle manipulation through this visual medium.
Roten, R. 2001, 'The effect of violence in film and television on society', April 12, 2001. Retrieved: December 21, 2004, from http://www.lariat.org/AtTheMovies/essays/violenceinfilm.html
Both authors converse about how age is a primary factor in determining how specific movies effect the mind, how they can manipulate health conditions, and how the movies can cause problems for people in day-to-day life. In similar fashion, the essays contain multiple data studies on the effects movies can have on a person. The differences, as mentioned, are minor. While Benjamin focusses on more than one point of view, For example, the good and the bad effects, DeGroat focuses on only one- negative effects. Both author’s essays contain proven studies to back up their statements, and both make strong points when explaining their reasoning.
Blood, guts, and glory puts amusement in the hearts of millions of people everyday in theatres everywhere. Of course this doesn’t mean literal guts are shown on screen. However, seeing violence on screen in films makes people much more enthusiastic to finish the film. In an essay written by Vivian C. Sobchack, she shows readers there has been an outburst in usage of dramatized violence in Hollywood today. A prime example of this are films that center around times of war, particularly the highly notable time of World War II. From movies like Saving Private Ryan or American Sniper, violence has become a very big part of the dramatization of these war films. These films highly rely on violence in order to attract attention from the public, in which they would substantially benefit from the profits gained.