Debra Granik presents the unforeseen and diametrically opposed stereotypical, Hollywood representation of America in her film Winter's bone. She provides the audience with multiple visual elements (key scenes). She outlines the idea that, “in the land of opportunity, opportunity is not given”. This means that many in America such as Granik’s character “Ree Dolly” have no ability to pursue their hopes and dreams. They face difficulty standing on their own two feet, without being so reliant on society. Because the opportunities that are supposed to be freely given, are just not given. This gives the audience intuition to think and comprehend what opportunities they have. Additionally, it outlines that American's are free to, but not free from …show more content…
This is where the “leftover bond money” from her daddy’s jail bond gets delivered to her. Granik portrays a resolution and a sense of happiness that would never be attained in real life. A technique which is used to highlight the epitome of this happiness is the lighting. In this particular scene, you’ll notice it is significantly brighter than the rest of the film. This is because it’s the only scene which the sun is shining. This allows the audience to undergo a change of heart. It’s an offered resolution, which allows us (the audience) to distract away from all the misery and heartbreak. To reconsider the harshness of society. And makes us entitled to feel happy for the character. However, like earlier in the film where the dialogue was distracting away from the almost too perfect house, fit for the societal circumstances of the Ozarks. It outlines again that this film is a Hollywood representation of the unprivileged society. A resolution that is offered after the character having to go through traumatic events would be an unforeseen occurrence in real life. The particular resolution distracts away from the real life circumstances of poverty and welfare in America. This allows again for the viewers to reconsider the film and relate to real life thinking that people do get resolutions. Furthermore that people are “free to” but not understanding that they’re not “free
She shows the true culture of her family’s life and how they act. Artistically, this frame includes lots of detail and is realistic. Behind the doors and windows is a blank, only shaded area. The conversation between the two sides shows the ignorance of her parents. While the child looks angry and seems to have looked everywhere (with the draws being opened already). This shows that the family does have transparency and doesn’t constantly cover-up the truth.
...ther by our common human experiences. 12 Years a Slave depicts our country’s history and its roots slavery and how that gave way to the racial disparities that are present today. Although minorities today do not experience the legalized physical abuse slavery once allow, they experience the mental abuse, for they are constantly be stereotyped and profiled where ever they go. This is shown in Frozen River, which depicts the race relations in a poor town and Indian reservation near the US-Canadian border. However, through Frozen River, audiences learn that despite the various cultural backgrounds, members of all race face common experiences that can bond us as a united people. Hollywood’s influence on the American culture is incredibly powerful, and through film, it has the ability to change how generations perceive race and the course of race relations altogether.
As the end of high school draws near for me, I wonder how much have I learned the past few years? How much have I grown and have I evolved into a better person than I was before? Many adolescents and preteens go through a phase where they realize a truth in their life, and that becomes the catalysts of their growth into adulthood. Rule of The Bone by Russell Banks included a main character called Bone, he was a disturbed child named Chappie whose early life consisted with alot of alcoholic and child abuse. While in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, a boy named Arnold Spirit is grown into a neighborhood of heavy alcoholic abuse and hopelessness. Both were heavily influenced by their childhood, but as each boy
The concept of the American dream has been related to everything from religious freedom to a nice home in the suburbs. It has inspired both deep satisfaction and disillusioned fury. The phrase elicits for most Americans a country where good things can happen. However, for many Americans, the dream is simply unattainable. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “Winter Dreams,” Dexter Green, a hardworking young man born into the middle class, becomes wrapped up in his pursuit to obtain wealth and status in his life. These thoughts and ideas represent Dexter’s fixation on his “winter dreams,” or, the idea of what the American Dream means to him: gaining enough wealth to eventually move up in social class and become somebody, someday. As Dexter attempts to work himself up the social ladder, he falls in love with Judy Jones, a shallow and selfish, rich woman. But to Dexter, Judy represents the very idea of the American Dream-- obtaining wealth and status. Dexter’s pursuit of Judy and essentially the American Dream becomes an obsession. In the end, Dexter is forced to accept the realization that his “winter dreams” are actually just empty wishes. By characterizing Judy as a superficial, materialistic woman, Fitzgerald criticizes the destructive nature of the American Dream.
The tone of the short story “America and I” changed dramatically over the course of the narrative. The author, Anzia Yezierska, started the story with a hopeful and anxious tone. She was so enthusiastic about arriving in America and finding her dream. Yezierska felt her “heart and soul pregnant with the unlived lives of generations clamouring for expression.” Her dream was to be free from the monotonous work for living that she experienced back in her homeland. As a first step, she started to work for an “Americanized” family. She was well welcomed by the family she was working for. They provided the shelter Yezierska need. She has her own bed and provided her with three meals a day, but after a month of working, she didn’t receive the wage she was so
The poem “America” by Tony Hoagland reflects on how peoples’ minds are clouded by small-scale items, money, and the unimportance of those items. Metaphors and imagery are utilized to emphasize the unimportance of materialistic items in America. How America is being flooded with unnecessary goods. The poem uses examples of people to create an example and connection to the overall meaning.
In the story, the mother’s belief in this sentiment gave her hope for her daughter to become a prodigy. Therefore, the weight of the dream is left on the first-generation. The belief of endless possibilities is set upon first-generation Americans and Americans alike. From the beginning of the story, the daughter states that “America was where all my mother’s hopes lay” (491). The mother has the be...
The film American Winter is a documentary based in Portland, Oregon. It followed several families on their struggle through hard times that lead to each family facing a different problematic outcome. Some families lost their jobs, others lost their homes, and all fought to feed their families. The film went against the grain of the image that many people associate lower class and poor families with. Each family was making ends meet, living fairly comfortably until a rough patch hit, and were then struggling to keep the electricity on in their homes, if they still had them. American Winter generally focused on the failures of the families, and left some questions unanswered; however, the film still portrayed an accurate depiction of poverty in today’s world by showing the lack of the “American dream”, the dwindling aspect of meritocracy, and the challenges of poverty on both parents and children.
The 2010 film Winter’s Bone adapted from the story written by Daniel Woodrell and directed by Debra Granik was critically acclaimed for the thrilling story and the actors’ stellar performances. The progression of the film followed the narrative structure common to most movies, beginning with an exposition, where critical information is relayed to the viewer, rising action where the conflicts and goals of the protagonist are introduced, a climax, where the protagonist directly faces the conflict, and falling action, where the protagonist deals with the consequences of their conflict and their world thereafter.
The “American Dream” was originally centered around the pursuit of happiness, but during this time was contaminated by greed and corruption. Americans were blinded by materialistic wealth, prosperity and fame. America, once the land of equal opportunity, now became engrossed in becoming successful by any means necessary. In turn, moral values and family ties took a backseat and were no longer the center of society. The poor were exploited by the rich for their own personal gain. The author describes this era and characters objectively, while allowing us to interpret the characters’ motivation on our own. By doing so, we get a better sense of the difference between their social classes and their way of
One girl who chases the American Dream is Lena Lingard, a small farm girl from a poverty-stricken family. "Lena gave her heart away when she felt like it, but she kept her head for her business and had got on in the world." (192). Lena had one thing on her mind: money. To her the American Dream was wealth. She wants freedom from worry about where her next meal would come from. Lena begins her journey to wealth by becoming one of the many hired girls in the town of Black Hawk. There she was apprentice to a dressmaker and before long began to show great potential. Soon she began making money with her hard work, dedication and talent, but she uses this money not to indulge in her own desires, but to benefit her family. She spent her excess funds buying clothes for them, and paying their bills. But this wasn't enough to gain society's approval. She is a hired girl. Because she went to many dances over the summer months, many young men began noticing her, as they never had before. Because of this Lena earns a reputation like those of the hired girls; that ...
Americans strive to obtain the American dream, but they fail to realize that it is our own dissatisfaction and anger that get in our way of keeping the American dream alive. John Steinbeck’s, “Paradox and Dream”, describes these paradoxes that linger in almost all Americans lives. Steinbeck shows how Americans believe in these things, but they contradict them by the actions they take or the words we say. He describes how Americans are dissatisfied, angry and intemperate. John Steinbeck portrayed a negative attitude towards Americans and their ideals by displaying how most are dissatisfied and angry, intemperate and opinionated, and believe in these certain things about ourselves that are not always true.
When the film begins on the farm in Kansas, the scene is shot in black and white, creating a sepia tone of colour to represent the country dust in the air adding to the effect of the ordinary unsaturated colour of the Kansas landscape. In contrast to the Kansas setting, lighting is profoundly used by the director to enhance the overall emotions of the film. Fleming uses a combination of the set, lighting techniques, and colour to create a magical place with very bright colours and deep focus lens to bring the land of Oz to life. In the scene where Dorothy enters Oz, the lighting is positioned between Dorothy and the foreground plants. The director uses the three point lighting technique so both Dorothy and the colour plants are highlighted but no shadows visible. This shot was done with a background of the black and white house behind Dorothy. The Land of Oz is filled with beautiful colours to create the illusion of a happy world that enhances the feel of fantasy. The allusion of contrasts between the real world and the land of Oz support the central theme there’s no place like home. In this way, the director enhances the picture of the film by the use of colour to reflect a mood experienced by the character in the different places. This colour transition used by the director, incorporates two completely different Mise en scene
The “American Dream” idea, born from war and depression, was the opening window to hope for Americans. This new beginning inspired change in people, and in some, inspired greed. The overconfidence and blind optimism grew in many, often in people who had already come from a place of privilege and wealth—people who expected their dreams to appear in front of them with little effort on their behalf. Williams believed these behaviors and values were destined for failure, and he successfully portrayed said beliefs through Blanche. Blanche represents the unravelling of the dream because despite her strong desire and determination, her unrealistic expectations and delusions caused her to spiral downwards into a pit of despair.
To have a strong American Dream, there must be a fear of failure. In both works, failure is defined as losing manhood, and success is equated with being the “ideal male”. The American Dream becomes an extension of masculinity attained through material possessions, work ethic, and status. Manhood is represented by the determination, achievement, and accomplishment, which makes failure more threatening as it equates to the destruction of the individual rather than his goals. Fear is another motivation which turns the struggles for greatness very personal for the cast. The theme of the film is based on antiquated concept that males are supposed to protect and provide for women; therefore, failing to succeed becomes a threat to the male’s domestic