Americans function in a normative society, where outliers are either considered dangerous or laughable. The patriarchal ideals upon which the United States was founded placed white heterosexual males at the top of the social ladder, but in so doing, all those who fall short of this specific condition are left struggling to climb toward normalcy. This ideal, however, is challenged by the blithely offensive, obsessive-compulsive main character of the film, As Good as it Gets. It is difficult to imagine an actor besides Jack Nicholson playing the part of Melvin Udall, whose neurotic behavior is a part of his particular brand of charm. Noted film critic, Roger Ebert, gave the film a three-star rating, stating that, “It is some kind of twisted tribute to Nicholson that he’s able to use this dialogue in what is, after all, a comedy.” Melvin casually insults everyone with whom he comes into contact, his interactions with people limited to remarks that are purposely hurtful and derogatory. But he gets away with it because that is the nature of American film comedy. Comedies allow audiences to laugh at what makes them uncomfortable, offering them a way to deal with recognizable social anxieties (Belton 164). Melvin exposes these anxieties with every jab and jibe he makes, each a commentary on the theme of race, class, sexuality, and gender.
The film begins with Melvin shoving his gay neighbor’s dog into the trash chute, setting the stage for how the audience perceives his character. What kind of person is capable of doing such a thing? There must be something wrong with him, which is proven in the way that Melvin flips the light switch on and off, compulsively counting the number of times he locks and unlocks the front door. His behavior...
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...at the beginning of the film. What they probably did not expect was how funny mental disorder, gay bashing, and female exploitation could be. Melvin’s unmitigated behavior is the perfect catalyst for humor and in saying exactly what he means to say with complete disregard for the feelings of others, he gives voice to what audiences want to deny they are thinking. The characters of As Good as it Gets, with Melvin at the helm, rebel against an all-encompassing happy ending every step of the way, showing that people are set in their ways and, at times, have to laugh to keep from crying, because maybe this really is “as good as it gets.”
Works Cited
As Good as it Gets. Dir. James L. Brooks. Perf. Jack Nicholson, Helen Hunt, Greg Kinnear, Cuba Gooding, Jr. TriStar, 1997. DVD.
Ebert, Roger. Rev. of As Good as it Gets. Rogerebert.com. 22 Dec. 1997. Web. 01 May 2014.
The Language You Cry In” directed by Angel Serrano and Alvaro Toepko, produced a documentary that finds the meaningful links between African Americans and their ancestral past. It goes back to the hundreds of years and thousands of miles from the Gullah people to the present day in Georgia back to 18th century Sierra Leone. The film demonstrates how the African Americans continued to have memory links of their ancestors when they were enslaved and segregated. It begins with a story of memory, and how the family was reunited with one of their own through a song that was able to remember those who sang it in the past.
Pulp Fiction. Dir. Tarantino Quentin. Perf. John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Uma Thurman, Tim Roth
The Importance of Being Earnest film produced in 2002 compares to the original version reveal different changes. The change modify the motion which the author would like to transmit in the original document. The important changes are the modification of some stage of direction. The actors changed some stages of direction and created their own. The second change is skipping of some sequences. The actor of the film choose to ignore some sequences which were in the original version. Moreover, the actors added some stages which were not in the preview version. The other point is the incapacity of transmitting all the motion which we can perceive in the reading. Finally, the actors did not show enthusiasm in their performance as we can feel it in
Overall the film was a very informative film for a more homophobic audience. The content was relatable and connected well with the information and discussions that have been within our society for a long time. It was a well-done film that really questions the homophobic opinions and while this is still a very real debate in today’s society the film does a great job at arguing the homophobic opinions.
Rebel Without a Cause. Dir. Nicholas Ray. Perf. James Dean, Natalie Wood, Sal Mineo, and Jim
A Few Good Men. Dir. Rob Reiner. Perf. Jack Nicholson, Tom Cruise, and Demi Moore. Columbia Pictures, 1992. Film.
Ebert, Roger. Rev. of Almost Famous, dir. Cameron Crowe. Rogerebert.com. Chicago Sun-Times, 15 Sept. 2000. Web. 29 March 2011.
Happy is a documentary that brings to light the different types of livings of people around the world and contrasts how they define happiness. The movie starts out in Kolkata Slum, India, with a man Manoj Singh. Manoj is living a relatively impoverished life. His house isn’t the best, in fact the roof is just a tarp however he says “my home is good.” Manoj is quite happy with his life and it’s not because of his minimal possessions but the community around him. His happiness lies in the fact that he can see his son smiling every day and he is so grateful for his neighbors and friends. He even states himself that he doesn’t consider himself as “poor but the richest person.” Manoj’s happiness is described as the same as the average American.
Audience's Emotional Response in The Triumph Of The Will, Cabaret, Schindler’s List and The Lion King
New worldly conflicts arise everyday and many of these conflicts make us question our morals as individuals and as a nation. In both “Flight Patterns” and “The Help: A Feel-Good Movie That Feels Kind of Icky” we are introduced into the conflicts that race bring about in everyday life. It is indisputable that race is hard to talk about and everyone seems to have a different stance on what is racism and what is not. In both stories, race is brought up and talked about in a way that is solely bringing truth to the issue. In Sherman Alexie’s story we see the thought process about race from someone who is not white, and in Dana Stevens’ story we see how a white woman sees controversy in a film that is supposed to be about black women. Both stories
In the Oscar award winning movie Crash, directed by Paul Haggis, a network of characters portray the lifestyles of different races in Los Angeles. In the movie, characters “crash” into one another, similar to pinballs, to spur new emotions and explain their actions. A main character Anthony, an African American male, steadily tries to prove why he does not and will not fall into the black male thug stereotype. He was slightly close minded and repeatedly had a negative outlook towards his environment. Anthony created contradictions between what he said and what his actual intentions were. His actions were guided by his environment and further analysis of them will prove his motivation.
As a society there are a lot of qualities that men have been socialized to uphold when it comes to how they act or react, what they support, and what they suppress. This movie produces a harsh critique of male socialization early on and continues
John Q. Dir. Nick Cassavetes. By James Kearns. Perf. Denzel Washington. New Line Cinema, 2002. DVD.
For example, Marcus’ wife is suspicous of his actions lately and she is under the impression that Marcus is cheating on her. In order for her to find the truth she takes a trip to the Hamptons to not only find the props used to transfrom Kevin and Marcus but finds Kevin in the prostechics used to make him into a white chick. This becomes a problem for Kevin becuase he is torn between saving his marriage or getting his job back. Although the movie somehow is able to transform sitautions like this into humor for the audience. Mike Clark, a write from USA Today, states “It's hard to imagine anyone but a real stick being offended, because the entire movie is so sassy and over the top that just about anything goes.” Clark mentions that regarding the many stereotypes and misjudgment of white women, it is nearly impossible to be offended because of the comedic form it presents itself. Clark believes that the film is undeniably funny that no one should be offended by any of the
The film that is being used for the movie analysis is “Enough”, this movie was chosen due to the fact that it is based on domestic violence towards women. The movie begins with in Los Angeles diner were a waitress named slim works with her best friend Ginny (Kazan, 2002). While working her shift slim has a customer that starts harassing her over the name she has, but the companion of the annoying customer defends slim, which in turn starts a romance, later to become a marriage between the two (Kazan, 2002). The couple is later blessed with a daughter they name Gracie, and at the beginning the marriage seems to be a fairy tale out of a story book (Kazan, 2002). The fairy tale becomes a nightmare as time moves forwards for the couple,