Mistaken Identities: Problems of Movie Discussion Boards
“There’s always another mind there. Its like having the corner bar, complete with old buddies and delightful newcomers and new tools waiting to take home afresh graffiti and letters, except instead of putting on my coat, shutting the down the computer, and walking down to the corner, I just invoke my telecom program and there they are. It’s a place” is how Howard Rheingold described online communities in his essay The Virtual Community (94).
Is this what the world has come to? The fact that shutting down your computer is such a horrid thought that walking down the corner to a bar or a café becomes unrealistic and almost an absurd thought? That this small task has become too much effort to put forth? I would like to believe that such a mind frame does not exist throughout the population.
These were just a few of the thoughts that raced through my mind after reading this essay. With Rheingold’s continual praise of online communities and in reading articles that confirm that others agree with this new lifestyle, I became extremely interested and wanted to learn more. I decided the only way to know what these communities were about was to join one. I chose Internet Movie Database (ImDb) Message board as my starting point. The topic of general film talk caught my interest. I read the posts left by those who had visited the site and found their knowledge of movies to be overwhelming. Many of the members were even able to name characters of many movies. One post was called, “ Name that tagline”. It proceeded to list ten quotes from random movies. Within minutes responses were given with the answers to each quote; it was amazing that people were this indulged in movies on a daily basis. Another point I found a bit odd was the language in which the posts were written. It was not typical everyday talk, rather highly structured, as if each person was attempting to outdo each previous post.
“I realized this afternoon that the reason I can't stand him is not because he is dividing up the movie audience into marketing niches and then pandering to them. What he is doing is glomming onto daring artistic statements and movie projects that might be unprofitable if done with integrity, and guaranteeing himself a profit by dumbing them down and star sucking them up to make Oscar bait for a mass audience.
In his essay, “It’s Just a Movie: A Teaching Essay for Introductory Media Classes”, Greg M. Smith argues that analyzing a film does not ruin, but enhances a movie-viewing experience; he supports his argument with supporting evidence. He addresses the careful planning required for movies. Messages are not meant to be telegrams. Audiences read into movies to understand basic plotlines. Viewers should examine works rather than society’s explanations. Each piece contributes to Smith’s argument, movies are worth scrutinizing.
Lang, Ariella. "The Politics and Poetics of Vatican Holocaust Discourse." Infohio.org. Judaism 207/208.3/4, 2003. Web. 28 Jan. 2014.
... day, Pope John Paul II apologized for the past sins of the church, but did not address the way that Pope Pious VII threw a deaf ear towards the Holocaust. What is more disturbing than the fact that their was not opposition to the Nazis by other European countries is the fact that something as horrible as this could happen again. In Bosnia and Herzegovina in the early 1990’s, the “ethnic cleansing” of Muslims and Croats by Serbs led to the removal of 2.5 million people from cities and villages, mass murders, and the internment of men and boys in as many as 100 concentration camps. Although the situation did not escalate to the point of the Holocaust, it showed the ignorance of people as to past events.
While Price does make a persuasive argument I cannot agree with the theme of his commentary. I have been a fervent viewer of television and films for years on end. Admittedly, much of what I watch on television qualifies as escapism or mere entertainment. I do not have a high degree of respect for the medium; however my love and admiration of film is intense. One could easily dismiss movies as superficial, unnecessarily violent spectacles, although such a viewpoint is distressingly pessimistic and myopic. In a given year, several films are released which have long-lasting effects on large numbers of individuals. These pictures speak to us as people and convey messages that are timely and timeless. Words are powerful, but visual images are overwhelming.
In the ancient world there was an awareness of the need for sanitation and for water that was safe for consumption. Efforts at keeping water pure, maintaining access to waters of high quality, and providing sewage disposal were widely practiced. With the diminish of the Roman Empire and the beginning of the middle ages, these practices were largely forgotten, and infectious illnesses became common. Only with the ascendancy of the scientific method and discoveries in the last one hundred years has the connection between water quality, sanitation, and health once again been discovered.
"The Heart of the Well" " Composing Cyberspace Edited by Rich Holeton, San Fransisco: McGraw Hill, 1998, 151-163
Sanitation was strengthened by finding local wells and getting clean pure freshwater, incinerating trash or dangerous materials, and by recruiting veterinarians to keep safe-to-eat food handy. Also, blood baths were created in o...
While alleged sex addictions have existed for many years, they have only recently been accepted as valid excuses for sexual deviancy. Attitudes toward sex addiction in the past offer a stark contrast to how it is viewed today, as the constantly medicalizing society insists on putting everything under the technical microscope. Sex addiction is commonly associated with a person’s inability to control his sexual behavior, implying an abnormally high sex drive and obsession with sex which have negative effects on his personal life (MedicineNet 2007, 1). Rather than breaking down the science behind the disorder, a customary practice in today’s medicalized society, older attitudes towards sex addiction placed it under the same light as alcoholism, where a lack of control and unwillin...
5. Irons, R.R., Schneider, J.P., Addictive Sexual Disorders, Miller NS, ed. Principles and Practices of Addictions in Psychiatry, Philadelphia, Saunders, 1997: 441-457.
"Finding One's Own in Cyberspace." Composing Cyberspace. Richard Holeton. United States: McGraw-Hill, 1998. 171-178. SafeSurf. Press Release.
...d sex in general (McCabe, 2005). Since correlation does not necessarily imply causation, there is speculation about whether or not performance anxiety is the root cause for sexual dysfunction. However, given the results of the surveys, it could be said that regardless of the etiology of sexual dysfunction, performance anxiety is further exacerbating the problem in both sexes. As a dysfunction becomes apparent, the sufferer more closely monitors his or her performance, which causes more anxiety when negative effects are experienced. This focus and anxiety, paired with the dysfunction in general, all feed off of one another and hinder sexual intercourse (McCabe, 2005).
Inside the majority of American households rest the unlimited territory of the internet. The unlimited and always advancing possibilities have unlocked powerful new tools in communication and socialization. Tools such as: long distance visual communication, international circulation of personal thoughts, and massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPG) have all led to a closer but more distant community of people. The positive side can attribute to the fact that the younger generation seems more in tune with their international counterparts. Youth have the ability to anonymously communicate with others through various message boards, mostly governed by one policy, freedom of speech. The anonymity of the internet has created a community where social outcasts mingle freely with others; a society where jocks can converse with geeks without fear of reprisal. This community releases people from the bounds of their own flesh. Yet, technological advances have pushed society into the next dimension of communication and socialization that seemingly override traditional and more personal vessels of communication.
The American Psychiatric Association does not define atypical sexual interests as a disorder unless it causes personal distress, causes another person psychological or physical injury, or involves a person unwilling or unable to give legal consent. These distinctions were made to show that individuals who engage in atypical sexual behavior must not be inappropriately labeled as having a mental disorder. When we think of sexual orientation, we usually think of the continuum of gay, straight, and bisexual, but sexual orientation is a deep-seated attraction toward a certain kind of person. Erotic desire includes attention, attraction, fantasy, thoughts, urges, genital arousal, and behavior. It is further complicated by variations of dominance or submission, sadism and masochism, fetishes, and consent or no consent. These interests may be single or multiple, exclusive or nonexclusive, idiosyncratic or opportunistic, stable or fluid. Possible legal consequences, lack of opportunity, and unwillingness or inability to act all work to constrain our behavior. The sooner we learn this concerning human sexual behavior, the sooner we shall reach a sound understanding of the realities of sex. The reasons for our sexual choices are analyzed obsessively, imposing an undue emphasis on categorization rather than accepting the great diversity of same-sex attractions. But the act of categorizing all of these atypical sexual attractions does not mean that acting on them is either legal or morally acceptable nor unacceptable. Explanations for all of the elements of our sexual attractions are complex and probably unknowable. All research runs the risk of reductionism, but when research on sexuality focuses exclusively on genital sexual activity --to the exclusion of considerations of attraction, affection and affiliation--it falls short in understanding our
Sexual normality implies the innate amalgamation of one’s sexual drive, or libido, with a predetermined sexual goal, i.e., copulation. This ossified concept of normality produces a fragmentary view of sexual theory. Therefore, normality is not necessary or sufficient for sexuality; human sexuality is individual, not universal. An innate association of sexual drive with a specific sexual goal is incompatible with a comprehensive examination of human sexuality.