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The movie I chose to watch is Mean Girls. I felt this movie accurately reflected American culture, and also was hugely associated with teenage and high school culture. In this essay, we will research 'Mean Girl' movie, analysis of it will examine the film from two different sociological perspectives, namely the functionalist perspective and the conflict theory. The essay also discusses the movie's portrayal of American culture and teenage culture. The Burn Book, a crucial element of the story that contains nasty rumors about students at the school, exemplifies betrayal and lies, which unfortunately is a theme that reflects some of the darker aspects of American culture.
Get original essayThe movie centered around Regina George, the high school queen, and how she and her two friends, Gretchen and Karen dominated their high school. They were called the ‘Plastics’. When Cady moved to the United States from Africa, she was enrolled in the same school as these girls and became intertwined with the friend group. She was initially going to try to join their group as a way to get information about them and then go back to her other friends Janice and Damian to expose them. Eventually, Cady realized she had really became a part of the ‘Plastics’ and was a mean girl herself. The ‘Plastics’ eventually faded away and they all made new friends in new groups, but the movie mainly focused on the groups inevitable implosion and everything they did in between.
The mean girls movie can be analyzed using functionalist and conflict theory. Today, functionalism is defined as the social integration where there is a collective conscience as whole on what society beliefs, the ideas on how a person should act and also the values that has been carried generation after generation. In the movie Mean Girls, we can see how a group of different people make up a society with a shared belief. For example, the setting of the mean girls is a high school where different type of students come together with the same value which is getting their education. Functionalist perspective can also be seen when there are different form of groups. For example, the famous group which is the “Plastics” where Regina is the leader. The unpopular students in the high school conform to this popular group on how they walk or dress just to fit into and be popular just like them. This can be seen when the girls in the school cut their shirt just to follow Regina’s fashion sense. No one thought that her shirt was weird or laughed. The other groups like the Matheletes or the jocks makes the school function normally showing there is always two sides that is norm to the society (N.a, 2016).
In the movie Mean Girls, Conflict theory can also be seen. According to the conflict theory by Karl Marx, the bourgeoise who are the upper class or owners has power and take advantage of the lower class who are the proletariat. In the Mean girl movie, the conflict theory comes into play with The Plastics, who are the bourgeoise and the unpopular kids who are the proletariat. The Burn Book they had where they wrote mean things about people that did not conform to their status quo is one where we can see the conflict theory. This Burn book brought fight between all the kids in the school when Regina exposed about the burn book. Janice and Damian wanted a social change including Cady when they made plans to embarrass and bring Regina, Gretchen and Karen down (N.a.,2016).
There is much American culture represented in this film and that is all portrayed from a high school point of view. This movie is very influential to teenagers and get their attention. Mean Girls is such a popular movie and has continued to stay relevant since 2004 when it was released, which is a major sign as to how relevant it still is.
To start, the movie focuses on the most popular girls at school, and many people in the movie refer to them as the ‘queen bees’. It’s set around how these girls dominate the school and how everybody falls to their feet to be loved by the girls who are so mean to everyone, especially Regina. In American high schools, teenagers thrive off being popular and well liked because that’s the most important thing for them at that time, and Mean Girls was an exaggerated portrayal of how far people will actually go and how much people are willing to change to be considered popular. Watching Cady’s transformation throughout the movie was astounding. She started off the movie being very humbled and well-grounded, not caring about what she looked like or how many friends she had, to then pushing away everyone in her life besides the ‘Plastics’ and starting to worry so much about appearance, boys, how many people liked her, etc. Cady also expresses her shock coming into a culture that she never went before because she has homeschooled all her life. This movie also portrays some popular cultures where drinking, partying and fashion was one of the main idea of what the higher class does.
Another theme of American culture represented was lies and betrayal. It is very sad to say, but the American culture thrives from betraying others, lying about things, getting others in trouble so you can get ahead, and the list goes on. The Burn Book was a very influential part of the story and ultimately was the downfall of the ‘Plastics’. Regina, Gretchen, Karen, and Cady all decided to make a book in which they made nasty rumors about the students at their school and it was intended for no one to see, but inevitably got out. During the crash of their group, Regina took it upon herself to release the book and make it seem like she had no part; Even going as far to put something nasty about herself in the book to seem innocent. She told the school principal she found it in the girl’s bathroom at school, but then took it upon herself to print hundreds or pages out of the book and scatter them around school, which caused an uproar. Cady ultimately decided to be the bigger person and take all the blame for the book. Overall, these girls would do anything to get ahead and come out on top, just like the rest of our society.
I think that the meaning behind the movie is very accurate to American society, but it is obviously just exaggerated to make a more interesting film. All of the themes and message in the movie were very accurate to American high school culture, but it was made into something bigger for the movie. But the movie did display the main points of the high school popularity pyramid, lying/scheming, betrayal of friends, and more.
I think this movie had and continues to have a great impact on the American high school system. The movie did a good job in portraying how to act and how not to. It showed the popular girls starting out with all this high school fame and success, but it showed the downfall of being mean to others. Their meanness caused chaos throughout the entire school system and flipped the school upside down.
But then again, this movie also does a good job of helping high schoolers find more ways to bully one another. Being bullied inside school is enough to make someone feel awful, but now, bullying can be brought home too with the help of social media sites. The movie was filmed back in 2004 so there wasn’t much social media back then, but now with social media growing to what its grown to, high schoolers find other ways to implement the burn book online. One of my good friends is American and has lived here all her life. When I told her about this assignment and that I was going to watch Mean Girls, she told me about her experience in high school and how this movie was brought into her school. She told me that people started a page on the app Twitter called “Burn Book” with the name of her school. People began sending in mean things about people from her school and it became as out of control as the movie. Also, considering other sites that are based off the Burn Book, there’s a website called Ask.Fm that was popular around 2013-2014. This site allowed people to send it anonymous messages and those messages would display on the person’s social media sites, and some of the messages are very hurtful.
I understand the basis of the movie and the dramatization of the movie, but this movie brought to life some new ideas for students and new ways to make high school students life harder than it already is. Like I said earlier, this movie has continued to stay relevant for years and I can’t see it dying down anytime soon. The more generations that this movie passes through, the more ideas that students will get from the movie to make other kids lives harder.
The movie portrays everyone is a different way, but not always necessarily bad. To start, the men in this movie weren’t really a big part of shaping the movie, but when they were seen, they were more of the arm candy for the ‘Plastics’. For example, Aaron, who was Regina’s boyfriend for part of the movie, was also very popular, but he was just seen as Regina’s accessory, and eventually, Cady also tried to be with him. They also portrayed Shane, the boy Regina was cheating with, as just someone who was hot with no brains, kind of just being used for Regina’s gain. The women were seen in many different lights. The ‘Plastics’ were obviously held at a much higher standard than all of the rest of the females in the book, but they portrayed other female students as something that maybe isn’t correct. They showed the female students bowing at the popular girls feet, as fighters, maybe some were seen as “airheads”. There was an array of treatments of the girls.
There wasn’t much said about race, ethnicity, or culture, but there was things to be said about sexual orientation and socioeconomic status. Damian, one of Cady’s good friends when he came to the school, identified as gay and took some heat in the movie because of that. Janice was his number one best friend, but she brought up multiple times throughout the movie that he was gay and would call him different names relating to his sexual orientation. For example, his page in the Burn Book was a picture of him with the caption, “too gay to function”. Dealing with socioeconomic, Regina’s family was rich and they portrayed her as a very spoiled girl. She lived in a huge mansion, drove a brand new convertible, an amazing room, all the best and nicest clothes and accessories, and more. She was portrayed with the all pink everything kind of feel and her family proved the point of her being entitled and spoiled. Whereas Cady’s family lived in an average size house and had very normal things. To start the movie, Cady was very humble and very appreciative of her parents hard work, but Regina and the group corrupted the way she thought about things.
Finally the movie did portray a lot of stereotypes where the Indian guy was part of the Mathlete who was portrayed as a nerd. Being an Indian, we were always stereotyped to be the smartest when it comes to Math just like the movie portrayed him. Another stereotype that could be seen is how whites are always the superior and higher class people just like how Regina, Gretchen and Sara was portrayed and everyone has to bow to them or be like them. This is definitely problematic because kids of color are going to grow up thinking that they will always be below the superiority.
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Get custom essayIn conclusion, Mean Girls is a movie that accurately reflects American and teenage culture. The Burn Book, a crucial element of the story that contained nasty rumors about students at the school, exemplifies betrayal and lies, which unfortunately is a theme that reflects some of the darker aspects of American culture. The movie can be analyzed from both the functionalist and conflict theory perspectives, showcasing the different social groups that make up a society and the power dynamics at play. The portrayal of American high school culture and the importance of popularity, as well as the influence of fashion, partying, and drinking on popular culture, are also themes that are prominent throughout the movie. Mean Girls has remained a relevant and popular movie since its release in 2004, continuing to resonate with teenagers and portraying American and teenage culture in a thought-provoking and exaggerated way.
Perhaps the unknown purpose behind an induction, which even the most experienced readers have failed to explain, has finally come to light. Christopher Sly, the principal character in the brief Induction of The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare, acts as a drunken tinker tricked by a mischievous nobleman into thinking that in reality he is a lord. These characters and their short introductory story manage to depict all of the major themes of the entire play in just the first few pages. However, spotting these themes has proven difficult for many readers, who remain confused after reading this brief introduction and who overlook the big picture it presents. Indeed, the induction in this play-within-a-play has an oft-neglected yet important purpose in the comedy.
Get original essayThe first important topic covered in the prelude is power, a concept which becomes a preoccupation of the play’s characters. The Nobleman's decision to entertain himself at Sly's expense by using the tinker’s poor condition hints at how power is used during the rest of the narrative. Some characters decide to take their authority to the next level, in such a way that they abuse it. For example, Petruchio, a gentleman from Verona, beats a serving man for accidentally spilling water and throws food at his servants because he finds fault with his dinner. However, others refuse the taming attempts from their superiors. When Petruchio announces his intent to court Katherine Minola, the fiery and spirited daughter of Baptista Minola, a wealthy man from Padua, Katherine protests by acting out with aggression and telling him to “get out of here, fool, and give orders to your servants, not me.” (II. I. 248) Her “shrew”-like behavior illustrates the defiance of power relations presented in the literary work. Within the plot, power comes as a form of control or dominance which becomes either used, abused, or subverted by every character, according to their intentions.
At the time that Sly partakes of the job of being a nobleman just with a change of clothes, the crucial role of both physical and psychological disguise is introduced, only to continue through the play. When Katherine uses the obedient, loving wife facade to mask her true, bad-tempered self, she manages to put on a cognitive guise. Likewise, Tranio, Lucentio’s servant, goes through a change of identity when the young and rich student from Pisa orders him to “be me...—live in my house, instruct the servants and do everything in my place just as I would” (I. i. 172-173) as part of Lucentio’s plan to get Bianca Minola, younger daughter of Baptista. When Tranio follows his master’s orders to impersonate him while pretending to woo Bianca, he, much like Sly, goes through a change of identity by simply altering his physical appearance. The servant finds himself forced to take on the duties and tasks of those from the higher class and to act like one of them. Certainly, Tranio rising to the powerful position of an aristocrat like Lucentio mirrors Sly's own donning of a lord's manner. All characters must act accordingly to a role even when it serves as a disguise.
The type of comedy to which this play pertains to is called slapstick. Such comedy is merely part of the fun in the play and is enjoyed for the sheer silliness of it. The reader might notice the category’s characteristics from the beginning, with Sly’s exaggerated and hostile behavior due to alcohol intoxication. Within the farce, one may find plenty of humorous misunderstandings, such as when Petruchio and Grumio enter the play. When the master asks his servant to "knock" at the door of his friend Hortensio, Grumio twists the meaning of “knock” as to “slap” and asks: “Knock, sir? Whom should I knock? Is there any man has rebused your worship?” (I. ii. 6-7) In true comic fashion, Petruchio fails to notice that Grumio has mistaken what he meant and simply continues to insist. Grumio clearly directs a potential threat of attack at the audience, since there are no other actors onstage. This would be considered slapstick and made even more fun by the proximity of and potential danger to the audience.
The Induction introduces essential aspects of the play, such as the slapstick genre and themes like power and disguise. Here, not only does Shakespeare present context and genre, but he also utilizes the action as a catalyst for foreshadowing events within the main plot. By making the audience familiar with several crucial features since the beginning, the narrative’s Induction unconsciously prepares the reader for the play, making its significance within The Taming of the Shrew fundamental.
Justice as we know was a right fundamental to all, but it's fallacy is evident, as money now results in its fall. Objectively analyzed the criminal jurisprudence adopted by India is a mere reflection of the Victorian legacy left behind by the Britishers. The passage of time has only seen a few amendments once in a while to satisfy pressure groups and vote banks. Probably no thought has been given whether these legislations, which have existed for almost seven decades, have taken into account the plight and the socio-economic conditions of 70% of the population of this country which lives in utter poverty. India being a poverty stricken developing country needed anything but a blind copy of the legislations prevalent indeveloped western countries. The concept of bail, which is an integral part of the criminal jurisprudence, also suffers from the above stated drawbacks. Bail is broadly used to refer to the release of a person charged with an offence, on his providing a security that will ensure his presence before the court or any other authority whenever required.
Get original essayBail, in law, means procurement of release from prison of a person awaiting trial or an appeal, by the deposit of security to ensure his submission at the required time to legal authority. The monetary value of the security, known also as the bail, or, more accurately, the bail bond, is set by the court having jurisdiction over the prisoner. The security may be cash, the papers giving title to property, or the bond of private persons of means or of a professional bondsman or bonding company. Failure of the person released on bail to surrender himself at the appointed time results in forfeiture of the security. The law lexicon. Defines bail as the security for the appearance of the accused person on which he is released pending trial or investigation. Courts have greater discretion to grant or deny bail in the case of persons under criminal arrest, e.g., it is usually refused when the accused is charged with homicide. What is contemplated by bail is to "procure the release of a person from legal custody, by undertaking that he/she shall appear at the time and place designated and submit him/herself to the jurisdiction and judgment of the court."
A reading of the above definition make it evident that money need not be a concomitant of the bail system. As already discussed above, the majority of the population in rural India, lives in the thrall of poverty and destitution, and don't even have the money to earn one square meal a day. Yet, they are still expected to serve a surety even though they have been charged with a bailable offence where the accused is entitled to secure bail as a matter of right. As a result, a poor man languishes behind bars, subject to the atrocities of the jail authorities rubbing shoulders with hardened criminals and effectively being treated as a convict.
There existed a concept of circuit courts during the medieval times in Britain. Judges used to periodically go? on circuit? to various parts of the country to decide cases. The terms Sessions and Quarter Sessions are thus derived from the intervals at which such courts were held. In the meanwhile, the under trials were kept in prison awaiting their trials. These prisoners were kept in very unhygienic and inhumane conditions this was caused the spread of a lot of diseases. This agitated the undertrials, who were hence separated from the accused. This led to their release on their securing a surety, so that it was ensured that the person would appear on the appointed date for hearing. If he did not appear then his surety was held liable and was made to face trial. Slowly the concept of monetary bail came into existence and the said undertrials was asked to give a monetary bond, which was liable to get forfeited on non-appearance.
In The Magna Carta, in 1215, the first step was taken in granting rights to citizens. It said that no man could be taken or imprisoned without being judged by his peers or the law of the land. Then in 1275, the Statute of Westminster was enacted which divided crimes as bailable and non bailable. It also determined which judges and officials could make decisions on bail.
In 1677, the Habeas Corpus Act was added to the Right Of Petition of 1628, which gave the right to the defendant the right to be told of the charges against him, the right to know if the charges against him were bailable or not. The Habeas Corpus Act, 1679 states, "A Magistrate shall discharge prisoners from their Imprisonment taking their Recognizance, with one or more Surety or Sureties, in any Sum according to the Magistrate's discretion, unless it shall appear that the Party is committed for such Matter offenses for which by law the Prisoner is not bailable." In 1689 came The English Bill Of Rights, which provided safeguards against judges setting bail too high. It stated that "excessive bail hath been required of persons committed in criminal cases, to elude the benefit of the laws made for the liberty of the subjects. Excessive bail ought not to be required."
The English courts use tick boxes for recording the grounds and the reasons for not granting bail. There is a use of a standard pattern that which lists out the various reasons for not granting the bail. These forms vary in their precise configuration, but in substance they are all the same as all of them set out the grounds for refusing bail in one column, and a number of possible reasons for the finding
In America, every accused person is entitled to a hearing at which evidence relevant to his individual case is considered to determine the amount of bail necessary. No precise rule can be laid down that will determine the amount of bail required in any particular instance. Bail is to be fixed according to the circumstances of each case. The matter is generally one for the sound discretion of the trial court. Although the determination of the trial court is subject to the review in the appellate courts for abuse of discretion, ordinarily the appellate courts will not interfere if the amount set by the trial court is reasonable and not excessive.
The amount of a bond should, of course, be sufficient to assure the attendance of the defendant upon the court when it is required. The bond should be fixed in such amount that will exact vigilance on the part of the sureties to see that the defendant appears in court when called. Both the Federal Constitution and state constitutions contain provisions against excessive bail. Bail set at an amount higher than reasonably calculated to insure that the accused will appear to stand trial and submit to sentence if convicted is excessive, and falls within the proscription of the Federal Constitution if set by a federal court, or of the particular state's constitution if set by a state court. But no hard-and-fast rules for determining what is reasonable bail and what is excessive bail have been laid down. That the bail is reasonable which, in view of the nature of the offense, the penalty attached to the offense, and the probability of guilt of defendant, seems no more than sufficient to secure attendance of the defendant.
The amount of bail, in and of itself, is not finally determinative of excessiveness. What would be reasonable bail in the case of one defendant may be excessive in the case of another. As indicated below, such matters as the past criminal record of the defendant, and the nature of the crime committed and the punishment therefore, are material factors in determining whether bail is excessive. Where two or more cased are pending against a defendant, the fact that bail in one case, considered by itself, is reasonable, does not prevent the collective amount required in the several cases from being excessive.
The gist of the problem confronting a court in setting the amount of bail is to place the amount high enough to reasonably assure the presence of defendant when it is required, and at the same time to avoid a figure higher than that reasonably calculated to fulfill this purpose, and therefore excessive. The general rule in federal courts is to try to strike a balance between the need for a tie to the jurisdiction and the right to freedom from unnecessary restraint before conviction, under the circumstances surrounding each particular accused. In other words, in determining the amount of bail, the good of the public as well as the rights of the accused should be kept in mind.
The Bail Reform Act of 1966 provides for the release of defendant on his personal recognizance or upon execution of an unsecured appearance bond in an amount specified by the judicial officer before whom he appears, unless the officer determines, in thein the exercise of his discretion, that such release will not reasonably assure the appearance of defendant as required, in which event specified conditions of release which will reasonably assure defendant's appearance for trial may be imposed. The Bail Reforms Act, 1966 was initiated by President Johnson who felt that under the Federal Rules, bail in an amount higher than reasonably calculated to be necessary to assure the presence of the accused is excessive.
It has been stated that the factors to be taken into consideration in determining the amount of bail are:
(1) ability of the accused to give bail,
(2) nature of offense,
(3) penalty for the offense charged,
(4) character and reputation of the accused,
(5) health of the accused,
(6) character and strength of the evidence,
(7) probability of the accused appearing at trial,
(8) forfeiture of other bonds, and
(9) whether the accused was a fugitive from justice when arrested.
A major factor in determining the amount of bail in a current matter is the character and former criminal record of the defendant. It has been held, however, that the criminal activities and tendencies of a person applying for bail on a charge of vagrancy do not justify the fixing of bail at an excessive amount for the purpose of keeping him in jail. In determining the amount of bail, voluntary surrender may be considered as an indication that the defendant has no intention of absconding from justice. On the other hand, it is also proper, in setting a higher bail figure, to take into consideration the fact that at the time of arrest the accused was a fugitive from justice, or the fact that the defendant has previously absconded while under indictment. Even where bail is a matter of right, the fact that a person has previously forfeited bail is a factor to be considered in determining the amount of bail; in such a case bail may be set in such amount as will reasonably assure the presence of the defendant at court, although bail may not be refused altogether. In setting the bail, the court may also consider the behavior or misbehavior of the defendant during parole from prison on a previous criminal conviction.
The probability of the establishment of guilt at the trial, or the existence of doubt as to the guilt of the accused, is a proper consideration in determining the amount of bail. Hence a court, in determining the amount of bail, may consider the character and strength of the evidence by which the crime charged is supported. A court should give some regard to the prisoner's pecuniary circumstances, since what is reasonable bail to a man of wealth may be equivalent to a denial of the right to bail if exacted of a poor man charged with a like offense.[12] An accused cannot be denied release from detention because of indigence, but is constitutionally entitled to be released on his personal recognizance where other relevant factors make it reasonable to believe that he will comply with the orders of the court.
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Get custom essayHowever, bail is not rendered excessive by the mere inability of the accused to procure bail in the amount required. In other words, the extent of the pecuniary ability of the accused to furnish bail in not controlling, if it were, the fixing of any amount, no matter how small, where the accused had no means of his own and no friends who were able or willing to become sureties for him, would constitute a case of excessive bail, and would entitle him to got at large on his own recognizance. It is the incarceration of those individuals who cannot meet established money bail requirements, without meaningful consideration of other possible alternatives, which infringes on both due process and equal protection requirements.
Crime is defined as an act in which a person offenses or breaches the law and is liable to be punished by the law. There are many instruments that are used to measure crime in daily activities. In United States the crime is mainly measured by the police department or FBI. The FBI uses different mechanisms to measure crime such as The National Crime Victimization Survey, The Uniform Crime Reporting and the National Incident Based Reporting System. The National Crime Victimization Survey allows getting information about the crimes that are not reported to the law enforcement. The Uniform Crime Reporting provides information about the annual number of incidents and the reported crime rate in the United States. The National Incident Based Reporting System allows gathering information on every crime that occurs, and it expands the list of crimes that occur.
Get original essayThe major purpose of these mechanisms of crime measurement is to gather information about the crimes that are committed to counter the acts which cause crime. Also it helps in gather information about who is and where is the crime being committed. This is the way of keeping the records of crime statistics, so that the agencies of law enforcement can develop different ways to manage the crime in certain areas. Thus a successful crime reporting program is the one that has accurate information. For this when the crime are reported to the agencies they need to be reported into the program, which would then help in analyzing and giving results of the possible crimes.
However, there are certain issues with measurement of crime. This can deeply affect the governing mechanism of the system. Crime rate is basically the number of crimes committed in an area to the ratio of population per 1,000 a year. Crime rates can be deceiving based on different factors including the type of crime, the type of offender, and the place a crime is committed. Another factor leading to the deception of crime rates is the increase of juvenile crime and property crime. Furthermore, affecting the crime rate are change in policies and mandatory laws that take effect.
These data collection system in the United States does many things and is serving the country in its best ability. But even with these best systems there are methodological issues of surveying in general and particular problems are the deviance, measuring illicit and deleterious activities. These activities include the difficulties associated with asking the relevant questions, false reporting, non-reporting, sampling issue and many other factors involved in the surveying of individuals to implement the official data reporting system.
This mechanism of crime measurement certainly affects the public opinion as the data system of the crime has and continues to play a central role in the ability of the public to understand crime. There are however better ways of measuring crime since there are barriers in drawing information using these data systems. The classic survey sampling method has the issue of reposing and coverage. Also the various natures of the different types of crime suggest that the policy makers present a unique system of measuring crime. There needs to be more budget for data collection crime so that more effective data collection system and measurement of crime occurs.
In Melville’s short story, “The Tartarus of Maids,” Melville creates a foil to the preceding short story, “The Paradise of Bachelors.” Melville juxtaposes these two stories as if in imitation of Blake’s contrasting poems with a theme of balance. One of those themes in the narratives is modernization and mechanization in the two places. The first has little mechanical or technological presence. It has too much of the carnal and the earthly body. However, “The Tartarus of Maids,” the representative hellish life of a maid, is ruled by machinery. Melville creates a hell in which machinery runs the lives of the women instead of the other way around in order to warn of this dangerous slavery to machines and to condemn the loss of humanity. Melville uses the cold and whiteness of the setting along with paper to symbolize this loss of humanity and path towards blankness.
Get original essayMelville sets the story in the high mountains filled with cold and snow. It is no coincidence that in the location of the paper-mill “you would hardly believe it now, but it is colder than at the top of Woedolor Mountain’” according to Mr. Bach (286). The names of places in the setting also reflect this coldness and despair. The mountain’s name contains “woe” as part of the title, the river is “Blood River,” and the valley of the paper-mill is “Devil’s Dungeon” (272). These names immediately create a sense of foreboding, evil, and despair. Melville once again foreshadows the overall horror of the story. He also does this through the weather on the way to the paper-mill. The narrator describes the trees and plants as “feeling the same all-stiffening influence, their inmost fibres penetrated with the cold” (273). This coldness for now seems as nothing more than cold weather, but the image created by frozen trees and some “all-stiffening influence” leaves the reader with some disquiet. The cold seems unnatural in some way, a little too cold for the forecast. Then the narrator describes the wind shrieking “as if laden with lost spirits bound to the unhappy world” (273). Shrieking winds and lost spirits are red flags to the reader. We know that there is something amiss when the wind sounds supernatural and sad. The first sight of the paper-mill itself comes through “a pass of Alpine corpses” when “suddenly a whirring, humming sound” alerts the narrator to the site of the paper-mill (274). The area is dead, “a pass of corpses” except for the whirring of the paper-mill.
The sound is no of humans, but of machinery. It is not much more alive than the cold scenery and dead mountains. The narrator declares that the paper-mill is “‘the very counterpart of the Paradise of Bachelors, but snowed upon, and frost-painted to a sepulchre’” (275). The snow upon the paper-mill symbolizes the coldness and death associated with the machinery. It is no accident that he describes the place as a tomb covered with ice and snow. Immediately thoughts of death, isolation, and coldness associate themselves with the very building of the paper-mill.
The people at the paper-mill, all maids but two men, show the same coldness and deadness as the setting, they reflect the white paper they are making surrounded by white snow. The first girl he meets is “blue with cold” and has “an eye supernatural with unrelated misery” (276). Once again, the cold is set with unhappiness and the girl is as cold and miserable as the mountain wind. Melville implies that the paper-mill and its machinery steals life from the girls working in the factory. The link between the blank paper and blank girls is emphasized ruthlessly in the passage, “At rows of blank-looking counters sat rows of blank-looking girls, with blank, white folders in their blank hands, all blankly folding blank paper” (277). The narrator notices that the machine makes red paper, but the cheeks of the girls are white. The paper seems to drain the life from the girl into itself as he looks from “rosy paper to pallid cheeks” (277). We see this theme again in reference to the Blood River.
Blood symbolizes the red life of humanity and gives color to our skin and usually symbolizes passion or anger, the height of human emotion. However, these girls are pale while the redness of the river flows into the paper. Ironically it is Blood River that turns the wheel that “‘sets out whole machinery a-going’” (280). The life force of the river runs the machine, not the humans. The narrator stumbles saying it unusual that “‘red waters should turn out pale chee- paper, I mean’” (279). Obviously he was thinking of the pale cheeks and not pale paper, but it is symbolic of the reverse nature of the paper-mill. The humans give life to the machines and the machines kill the humans. Melville explains the relationship between the two in the passage, “the human voice was banished from the spot. Machinery- the vaunted slave of humanity- here stood menially served by human beings, who served mutely and cringingly as the slave serves the Sultan. The girls…mere cogs to the wheels” (277-8). The humans serve the machine instead of the other way around. Humans designed machines to improve their life and make it easier, but instead we have sold our souls to run the machines. The girls are “feeding the iron animal” but with more than just paper. The machine’s comparison with an animal gives it life. It is not “a mere machine” (283).
The nature of the relationship is terrible enough, but Melville seems most appalled by the submission of humanity to that relationship. The narrator says, “Always, more or less, machinery…strikes, in some moods, strange dread into the human heart…But what made the thing I saw so specially terrible to me was the metallic necessity, the unbudging fatality which governed it” (284). He cannot abide the attitude of the humans towards this monstrosity as inevitable or necessary.
The narrator calls the girls, “Their own executioners; themselves whetting the very swords that slay them” (281). They are their own executioners because they willingly work for the machine, which drains their life from them. We see the symbolic nature of this when he sees “Glued to the pallid incipience of the pulp, the yet more pallid faces of all the pallid girls…slowly, mournfully…yet unresistingly, they gleamed along” (285). Their very faces are now imprinted on the white paper. They cannot even have their own face. They give everything to the machine and become nothing more than the paper the machine produces. We are slightly disturbed by the narrator’s line, “my travels were at an end, for here was the end of the machine” (283). If as John Locke suggests, “the human mind” is “at birth…a sheet of blank paper,” then the final product as blank paper suggests death (284). The girls leave as they entered life: blank sheets of paper.
The narrator’s cheeks serve as a symbolic cycle and indicator through the story. It seems fitting to end with them since they are symbolic at the beginning, middle, and end. In them we find the conclusion of the story. His cheeks are frozen upon arrival and must be revived. When he leaves, he feels certain that his cheeks will be fine once he leaves Devil’s Dungeon. His cheeks represent the drainage of life by proximity to the machine. The only way to save his rosy cheeks is to leave the place and the machine. Our narrator escapes, but what of the girls trapped inside this factory of robotic life?
Despite her violent transgressions, Euripedes paints Medea as a victim from the start to the end of the play. Even Medea’s most violent act, the murder of her own children, is made complicated by Euripides’ appeal to the reader’s sympathy for her situation. Medea’s goal for revenge is permanently intertwined with the sympathetic presentation that Euripides shows at the start of the play. By introducing readers to Medea first as a victim, Euripides paves the way for a complex but indeterminate line of thought regarding the morality of her actions. Euripides ensures that the reader will question not only Medea’s gruesome revenge, but his or her induced sympathy for Medea as well. Euripides employs this manipulation by presenting Medea as victim to Jason’s cruelty and indifference. The reader’s response is complicated by the fact that, with respect to Euripides’ initial portrayal of Medea, her actions may sway towards justified.
Get original essayBy presenting readers first with the image of Medea suffering a great loss, her later plot for revenge is made less black and white. Euripides opens the play with a nurse lamenting Medea’s current morose state. Through this nurse’s monologue Medea is described as the once compassionate wife of Jason, who now suffers severely from his betrayal. Euripides immediately calls upon our sympathy when the nurse details both Medea’s love for Jason and her pain because of it: “Then my mistress/ Medea, never would have sailed away/ to the towers in the land of Iolcus/ her heart passionately in love with Jason” (9-12). Interestingly, Euripides doesn’t dispel the possible issues taken with Medea’s violence even in this introductory scene. In fact, he manages to present Medea’s past misconduct in the midst of his appeal to the reader’s sympathy. The nurse continues, “She’d never have convinced those women/ Pelias’ daughters, to kill their father/ and she’d not have come to live in Corinth/ with her husband and her children- well loved/ in exile by those whose land she’d moved to./ She gave all sorts of help to Jason” (13-18). In these lines Euripides provides an account of Medea’s cruelty juxtaposed with her compassion, devotion, and aid to Jason. Euripides paints an honest picture of Medea’s violence, but skillfully paints it aside the picture of her as a loving wife and mother. In this way, Euripides leaves the reader responsible for weighing Medea’s crimes against her suffering even at the play’s introduction.
The nurse compels the reader to weigh Medea’s suffering as more potent as she continues: “Their fine love’s grown sick, diseased, for Jason/ leaving his own children and my mistress/ is lying on a royal wedding bed” (22-24). These lines further the reader’s sympathy for Medea but also introduce Jason as the unjust cause of her suffering. Euripides employs Jason’s character as a stark contrast to the wounded Medea. The nurse describes Medea’s current state: “As for Medea/ that poor lady, in her disgrace, cries out/ repeating his oaths, recalling the great trust/ in that right hand with which he pledged his love/ She keeps calling to the gods to witness/ how Jason is repaying her favours” (26-31). As this lamentation continues, so does the description of the severity of Medea’s state. By describing Medea as disgraced and dishonored, Euripides also establishes a sense of injustice. Emphasis is placed on Medea’s anguish but more importantly on her betrayal. In addition, the lines read that Medea calls upon the gods for an explanation of the injustice of the situation. The described betrayal and Medea’s invocation to the gods make the need for retribution all the more pressing. Once Medea’s place as victim has been solidified, Euripides complicates the reader’s response further by developing Jason as the cruel source of her misery. Jason meets Medea with callous indifference: Now is not the first time I’ve observed/ how a harsh temper can make all things worse-/ impossibly so. It’s happened often” (524-526). Here Jason antagonizes Medea by disregarding her anger, an anger that was presented as justified at the start of the play. He continues, “Now you’re exiled for your stupid chatter./ Not that I care” (530-531). Jason continues to invalidate the hurt and betrayal that has left Medea so distraught. Since Euripides followed Medea’s hurt and betrayal with a compromising image of Jason, Medea’s thirst for vengeance simply becomes more and more justified.
The reader’s sympathy for Medea is brought into critical question when, at the play’s close, she kills her children and escapes with the help of the gods. Her final and most severe act of cruelty immediately creates a tension in readers. Euripides establishes Medea as deserving of our sympathy but grants her revenge in a most gruesome way. More importantly, her call to the gods for justice is seemingly answered when they help her flee at the play’s close. Euripides’ employment of sympathy, his characterization of Jason as uncaring, and Medea’s assistance from the gods would typically demonstrate that justice has been served. However, the sacrifice of Medea’s children undoubtedly strikes the reader as unforgivable. Euripides ultimately leaves the morality of Medea’s actions, as well as the intended moral compass for the play as a whole, up for debate.
Greek theatre, portrayed in Medea, emphasizes the characters and the plot through the structure of Greek theatre as well as bringing about a new moral and social portrayal of Greece. Originated in Athens around the 5th century BC, Greek theater, was performed in open air to honour the God Dionysus, God of ecstasy and wine. In a festival called “City Dionysia” tragedies and comedies were performed in the form of competition. Tragedies were those by which the themes of love, pride, loss, abuse of power and the relationships between men and gods were established. Whereas, Greek comedies were mainly satires that derided men in power for their pride and imprudence. Euripides, writer of Greek tragedies, was in competition with two other greek tragedians Sophocles and Aeschylus; Where Sophocles and Aeschylus followed the traditional form of Greek theatre, making the chorus the centre and showing great importance of the Gods and heroes, Euripides focused on the characters and satirizes Greek heroes.
Get original essay“Medea” a play in which the protagonist is Medea, is a Greek tragedy written by Euripides. Themes of Love showcased by Medea’s love for Jason, pride by Medea’s reputation and urge for vengeance, abuse of power is shown by the murders done by Medea. However, “Medea” can also be considered a Greek comedy due to its portrayal of Jason, where he loses, due to his desire for power, not only his newly wedded wife, but also his offsprings. Euripides in contrast to Sophocles and Aeschylus, had blasphemous plays and was therefore not seen with much importance during his time. Moreover, he mocked the Athenian society of 431 BC by portraying a different role of women, one which is not encaged by marriage. For example, when Medea speaks “we women are the most wretched […] possessor of our body.” reflecting upon the dowry system of ancient Greece, and in contrast to the usual perspective of obedient women and men being the possessors, the verb “bought” represents that the one who purchases shall be the owner, i.e, the women who pay exorbitant amounts should be in power, and not vice versa. The dialogue uses possessive pronoun “our” to show the collective society and that women suffer the same miseries.
Greek theatre famous for its precise structure is made of prologue which serves as an introduction to the play, done by the ‘nurse’ and ‘tutor’ in “Medea” when they create an image of Medea, a scorned lover, for the viewers. Followed by the parados, which consists of the chorus that manifests the main idea of the play. In Medea the chorus opposes the idea of women’s inferiority, “For Phoebus[...]infamous than women.” highlighting the fact that the women in ancient greece whose emotions were ignored, now had a voice and men were “no less famous or infamous than women”. Furthermore, Euripides uses the phrase “time is old” in reference to his main idea of a modern Greek society. Then happens the first episode where the hero is first shown, this in “Medea” is when the transformation of her character takes place. Medea comes out cool and self possessed, whilst addressing the chorus “We women are the most wretched” she portrays herself not as a victim to her husband’s infidelity but showing that all women are victims. Furthermore she shows herself as a strong woman who seeks “revenge on Jason”, unlike the earlier helpless “poor Medea”. Thereafter, is the stamison, the crime committed by the protagonist is told here. This yet again shows Medea’s characterization who gets “double pleasure” from hearing of the death of Glauce and Creon from the Messenger. From a scorned wife Medea is transformed into a dominant woman through the use of her “skills”. The play ends with the exodus, the last thing said by the chorus, which concludes the play. In Medea the chorus sings “Many are the[...]of this story”, this shows that though Jason was the one who was going to become powerful, with a newly wedded and his pride at peak, is finished by Medea- left in misery without a wife, and childless. Additionally, Euripides is known for using “deus ex machina”, a plot device that introduces a character, mostly a God or Goddess, and abruptly that character provides a solution to the problem faced by the protagonist. For instance, in Medea Aegeus promises shelter to Medea because of which she successfully carries out her plan for revenge.
Euripides transforms Greek theatre and shows a totally different view of women in the Greek society. Alongside the Greek theatre’s structuralism, Euripides adds a new level intrigue and comedy in his plays while using also the deus ex machina. With the use of chorus and other characters present in the play, Greek theatre provides many different perspectives to view the protagonist. Thereafter, indulging the audience in the lives of the characters, making emphasis on the struggles of the protagonist and how they survive. Transforming the Greek theatre Euripides is successful in portraying lucidly different characters of Medea, making sure the spotlight is on the protagonist, who “wins” the fight through revenge, leaving Jason in desolation.
China is home to one of the world’s most restrictive media environments and its most sophisticated system of censorship. Although, Article 35 of the constitution guarantees freedoms of speech, assembly, association, and publication, but such rights are subordinated to the discretion of the CCP and its status as the ruling power.
Get original essayThe ruling CCP maintains control over news reporting via direct ownership, accreditation of journalists, harsh penalties for online criticism, and daily directives to media outlets and websites that guide coverage of breaking news stories. State management of the telecommunications infrastructure enables the blocking of websites, removal of mobile-phone applications from the domestic market, and mass deletion of microblog posts, instant messages, and user accounts that touch on banned political, social, economic, and religious topics.
There is no press law that governs the protection of journalists or the punishment of their attackers. Instead, vaguely worded provisions in the penal code and state secrets legislation are routinely used to imprison Chinese citizens for the peaceful expression of views that the CCP considers objectionable. Criminal defamation provisions and more informal judicial interpretations – including 2013 guidelines related to “online rumors” – are occasionally used to similar effect. Since 2015, several new laws or amendments have been passed that codify media controls, enable more surveillance, and increase penalties for political or religious expression.
Mainstream print journalists are periodically arrested or imprisoned, either explicitly for their work or on trumped-up charges such as corruption or illegal business activity. It is more common for freelance journalists, writers, online activists, and a range of other Chinese citizens to be sentenced to prison or administrative detention, particularly for disseminating information online or sending it to contacts outside China. While many mainstream print journalists were detained or sentenced to prison in 2014 and 2015, internet-based writers and freelancers bore the brunt of prosecutions in 2016, marking a return to the previous pattern.
For example, in July 2016, Wang Jianmin, the publisher, and Guo Zhongxiao, a reporter at two Hong Kong magazines, New-Way Monthly and Multiple Face, were charged in China with illegal business operations and sentenced to five years and three months and to two years and three months in prison, respectively. Guo, having served his sentence, was released in September.
Chinese law does not ensure free public access to official information. Under open-government regulations that took effect in 2008, many agencies have become more forthcoming in publishing official documents. During 2016, party and state entities reaffirmed a commitment to increasing government transparency and public comment on draft regulations, while the judiciary continued a trend since 2014 of making more of its decisions available online. However, the courts have largely hesitated to enforce information requests, and government bodies routinely withhold information from journalists and the public, even regarding matters of vital public concern. Critical aspects of policymaking and party personnel decisions remain shrouded in secrecy.
The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), established in late 2013, is a state agency overseeing online media. It reports to a CCP body created in 2014, known as the Central Internet Security and Informatization Leading Group, which coordinates work on cybersecurity and internet management. The group is headed by President Xi, Premier Li Keqiang, and propaganda chief Liu Yunshan.
In July 2016, the CAC issued new rules barring commercial web portals- such as Tencent News, Sina, and Netease- from producing their own news content about controversial subjects. In November, the National People’s Congress adopted a new cybersecurity law, which was set to take effect in June 2017. The law entrenches existing censorship and surveillance practices while codifying requirements for technology firms to store user information in-country, enforce real-name registration, and provide “technical support” for official investigations. Also in November, the CAC finalized requirements that live-stream services keep user data for 60 days and cooperate in national security investigations.
Journalists and other media workers are legally required to hold government-issued press cards, though some report without one. Those who violate content restrictions risk having their press-card renewals delayed or rejected, being blacklisted outright, getting fired, or facing criminal charges.
In 2015, regulators for the first time issued press cards to online news reporters, allowing them to conduct interviews and report news directly, rather than simply republishing reports by traditional media. However, the permits issued were distributed in a discriminatory manner, with only reporters from party or government-run websites receiving accreditation, while staff from major commercial portals like Sina and Sohu were excluded.
Xi Jinping, the state president and leader of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), made high-profile visits in February to key state media outlets and called for all media to demonstrate strict adherence to the party line.
The already limited space for investigative journalism and liberal commentary shrank during 2016, continuing a trend of ideological tightening since Xi assumed the leadership of the CCP in 2012. A series of new laws and regulations increased internet censorship, including on the popular WeChat instant messaging tool and online video-streaming platforms. The year’s top priorities for censorship officials included protecting the reputations of Xi and other leading figures and influencing coverage of health and safety issues, foreign affairs, and government wrongdoing.
The government adopted a new cybersecurity law in November, and a series of other regulations that increased restrictions on internet communications, online publication, and video streaming were issued over the course of the year.
Authorities tightened control over news dissemination channels, including social media and mobile-phone applications, and suspended permission for websites to repost content from the prominent news site Caixin.
Although the total of 38 journalists behind bars at year’s end represented a slight decrease compared with 2015, at least 111 journalists, bloggers, online writers, activists, and members of religious or ethnic minorities were sentenced during 2016 to prison terms of up to 19 years for alleged offenses related to freedom of expression or access to information.
Despite the mounting risks and obstacles, several prominent journalists, news outlets, and social commentators publicly criticized official efforts to increase media controls in 2016, while many citizens continued to seek out alternative means of obtaining and sharing uncensored content.
"You're television incarnate, Diana: indifferent to suffering; insensitive to joy. All of life is reduced to the common rubble of banality. War, murder, death are all the same to you as bottles of beer. And the daily business of life is a corrupt comedy. You even shatter the sensations of time and space into split seconds and instant replays. You're madness, Diana. Virulent madness. And everything you touch dies with you. But not me. Not as long as I can feel pleasure, and pain, and love."
Get original essayFrom the very first shot to the very last, the world of news media in Baz Luhrmann's 1996 film William Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet encapsulates and informs this modern adaptation, which transposes Shakespeare's original dialogue into the radically altered setting of present day "Verona Beach." Even though television news reports and print media appear only sporadically in the film, the manner in which they appear as well as their specific roles within the context of the story make them a constant, looming presence. Specifically, the depiction of television in Romeo, which enjoys a close precedent in the 1976 film Network, not only updates Shakespeare's text, but also uses the cultural touchstone of the original play as a starting point from which it invites the audience to question the very medium in which the film is presented. This influence, coupled with Romeo's distinct visual style, serves to sensationalize Shakespeare's story and, in doing so, present an acute commentary on the influence and practices of mass media at the end of the twentieth century.
The structure of the Sidney Lumet film Network provides a valuable context for looking at Luhrmann's Romeo. In Network, the audience is treated to the tragic end of fallen network news anchor Howard Beale's life. The first shot of the film is composed of four television screens arranged against pitch black background playing simultaneous nightly news broadcasts. Protagonist Howard Beale appears reading the news in the bottom right screen, and the camera slowly zooms in on his face as a voiceover introduces him and recounts the steady deterioration of both his ratings and his personal life. In the rest of the film, Beale morphs into a bitter, vulgar populist and is rewarded with his own nightly TV show, which consists entirely of a gaudy and grand attack on the political establishment. At the end, the network arranges to have Beale assassinated on his own program. Backed by a stained glass window, Beale, before a live studio audience, is shot before saying a single word at the opening of his show. He falls to the ground, and a camera operator immediately lunges forward for a close-up. The final shot of the film is the same as the first, except now all four news anchors are talking over one another, reporting on Beale's gruesome death, replete with repeating slow-motion close-ups of the gunmen, of the moment in which Beale is shot, and of his corpse. Three of the screens fade, and all that is left is a single one depicting Beale's lifeless, bloody face, over which the credits roll.
Like Network, Romeo is also bookended by television screens. The first shot of Romeo is a single floating television set in the center of the screen before a black background. An anchorwoman appears on the set flanked by a spot graphic of a broken wedding ring titled "STAR-CROSS'D LOVERS" and dutifully recites the play's introductory sonnet -- which in the original text is delivered by a chorus -- as the television slowly moves towards the audience. The final shot the film returns to the ethereal television, which is now playing footage from the aftermath of Romeo and Juliet's own violent deaths as the same anchorwoman recites the closing lines of the play -- which in the original text is delivered by the Prince. As she speaks, the television appears to fade away from the audience; when her broadcast concludes, it cuts to static, and a few seconds later, the entire screen goes dark.
Network tells the story of a news reporter's fate, and the fact that Beale is both introduced and last pictured on a television screen affects the viewer's conceptualization of the story. Beale, a fictional character on a fictional news network, appears to exist only within the boundaries of a television screen; his entire story -- which is to say the entirety of the film, much of which is set within a network building -- seems almost like a part of one continuous broadcast. Luhrmann, in deploying much the same motif, imparts Romeo with a similar quality. In contrast to news reports that appear within the action of the film, no character is watching this broadcast, and it has no effect on the plot; as the chorus in the original play, it serves entirely to speak directly to the audience. Viewed in this context, the decision to bound the action of Romeo by news broadcasts is thus not merely a cosmetic alteration of the original play. Instead, it serves to constrain the presentation of the film within the context of an actual news story, as if the "two hours' traffic" were a 60 Minutes special report.
Moreover, the visual style of the film serves to reinforce this perception. A fast-paced montage immediately follows the prologue, replete with scenes of a militarized police forces, urban decay, and gang violence. Sensational newspaper headlines and magazine covers spin across the screen, helping to color the bleak setting of the film in terms of print media reportage. Rapid cuts and shaky footage refuse to allow the viewer's attention to linger on any single image. Aerial shots and grainy, low resolution footage lend the montage the feel of a dramatic news report, perhaps one of domestic riots or international turmoil.
In one sense, this montage serves to acclimate the audience to the presentation which follows. Stylistically, the film features quick pacing, unpredictable camera motions, and rapid-fire cuts -- a review of the film in Rolling Stone said that "the film reworks Shakespeare in a frenzy of jump cuts that makes most rock videos look like MTV on Midol." The body of the film is replete with action characteristic of Hollywood blockbusters, much of which has no direct precedent in Shakespeare's original play: Romeo and Paris race down the streets of Verona Beach in a violent car chase; the Prince, whose character is reimagined as the chief of police, uses a helicopter as his primary mode of transportation; and towards the end, Romeo briefly takes a man hostage while holding off a cadre of police officers armed with automatic weapons.
These visual effects imbue Romeo with an extraordinary and deliberate gratuity, an aspect which is inextricable from the media reportage that occurs both within the plot and on the sidelines of the story. The sensationalist news headlines of the opening montage both establish the plot and comment on it: "Montague vs. Capulet," avers the Verona Beach Herald, while Verona Today leads with "Ancient Grudge." Another paper screams "NEW MUTINY" in massive block letters. These newspapers don't inform the audience of any more than what's been said by the narrator; instead, they function to color the setting as one where media reportage is a prevalent feature. They also enhance the drama by indicating the seriousness of the feud between the Montagues and the Capulets. A viewer is led to think that if all these newspapers and networks are reporting on this feud, surely it must be very a severe thing.
Within the film, the news media actually influences the plot at certain critical points. Capulet, in his office, learns of the brawl at the start of the film through a report by the anchorwoman, who is flanked by the graphic of a gun-wielding Benvolio and the title, "3RD CIVIL BRAWL" (perhaps, "part three in a five-part series on civil brawls"). The illiterate servant in the first act of the play is replaced by two bubbly and vacuous daytime TV hosts, who glowingly read off a partial list of guests to Capulet's party in a broadcast seen by Romeo and Benvolio. This arguably biased reporting is capped off with the line, "If you be not of the House of Montague, come, and crush a cup of wine," followed by a cutesy wink. Additionally, on the cover of the newsmagazine Timely is none other than Dave Paris, who is the subject of a puff piece proclaiming him "Bachelor of the Year"; later, one of Capulet's security guards is seen reading a copy.
On a metafictional level, these headlines, magazine covers, and TV reports can be viewed as a commentary on both the status of the news media in our society and on the manner in which this media functions. The prevalence and vitality of news media in modern society is mirrored by the effect the media has on both the events of the film and the audience's perception of these events. Luhrmann's depiction of a news media which cries in unison about this "NEW MUTINY" neatly mirrors the mid-90s hysteria over gang violence in the United States. The audience of 1996 could thus view this familiar moral panic over the Montagues and the Capulets as helping to color the world of Romeo, one in which the story of Romeo and Juliet would be broadcast in full by the media.
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Get custom essayWhat if the entire film were looked at as one big news story, full of sex and attention-grabbing violence? What would that say about the aims of the media in our society? Perhaps Luhrmann is suggesting that the pinnacle of a ratings-driven media, the special report to end all special reports, would be what is arguably the most well-known story in the English language. The gratuity, the violence, and the pacing of the film (and, by extension, this news report) is practically exploitative of Shakespeare's work. Another parallel here can be drawn to Network, where a rising programming executive organizes extreme spectacles in order to increase ratings. Memorably, she commissions a terrorist group to commit weekly acts of violence to be showcased on their own primetime series. The motif of media exploitation in Network, as emphasized by the haunting last shot of Beale's corpse on the nightly news, similarly exists in Romeo, which perhaps is an attempt to commodify Shakespeare's text, to package it into clips and soundbites for nightly news consumption.
It was February 14th, 2018 valentine’s day, a day of a huge massacre that took place in Parkland, Florida. Students between the ages of 15-18 waking up and getting ready to go to school not knowing what they are about to face that day. Some call him mentally deranged others find it as an act of pure lunatic, but Nikolas Cruz as become one of the most talked about and atrocious 19 year old across the world. This is seemingly the result of a variety of factors coming into play, but the most evident one of them all is the power of media. . It is the most distinguished factor that has brought this interesting controversial character into the spotlight. The discourse being the “paradigms or was of understanding that are communicated through texts and language use, that organize knowledge and social power.” that surrounds this controversial figure is simple but at the same time complex. The discourse that goes around concerning his ideologies is simply related to his stance in relevance to parts of his actions and how or why he decide to do what he did. When you think about a 19-year-old kid, there would never be a thought of someone that would be willing to shoot up a high school to gain amusement out of that. The question arise to how does one deal with a gun violence and how has media helped in scenarios like this. What has been the after math of this shooting, will it ever end are all questions that need to answered can be expressed through the of media.
Get original essayNickolas Cruz’s discourse has a story behind it and this story can otherwise be referred to as a narrative. According to the textbook, a narrative is a “sequence of events taking place over a given period of time that are linked, mainly through cause and effect”. Cruz’s narrative is a complex one, there is a lot of perception that goes behind his shooting, Why did he do it?, What was his motive behind it?. Who were his targets? etc. To gain the answers to this one would have to look at the publicized parts of his life and actually get a grasp of his upbringing. Cruz was orphan whose parents had passed away but he was adopted by Roger and Lynda Cruz. His adoptive mom had passed away 3 months before the shooting and his dad in 2004 and Cruz has been living with family friends. He was an individual that faced behavioral changes and by Washington Post “entrenched in the process for getting students help rather than referring them to law enforcement”. This young man was moved school six times in three years to deal with his problems. This narrative in Nikolas Cruz case, he and his use of guns has irrupted the new media and the media are responsible for giving rise to the discourse he adopts in his narrative. The narrative is made and brought up around Cruz because he is the reason the media has circle the news globally. As the society wants to figure out why this had happened it is evident in this scenario to get a glimpse of two different perspectives. One side is shown from the shooter himself Nikolas Cruz and his methods behind the shooting. Everything up to the shooting is shown from his perspective. The aftermath is shown form the victim’s side. For example news interviews were done with the victims and families side. In the Douglas High narrative, it is safe to say that there are different groups of people that affect the narrative in a variety of ways. We have the shooter himself that creates the narrative. The victims that were faced by this horrifying tragedy, police officers reporting to the scene, families of the students and the news reporters that were at the scene to cover the media.
We live in a world were social media evolves one way or another. Talking about new media plenty options come to mind. Snapchat is one the new medias that has taken flight. One of the best ways to let friends and families know what events are taking place in your life quickly and efficiently. Through the effect of digitization being the “universal language that unite different communities around the globe”, student from the shooting has been able to share Cruz’s discourse with a wide variety of people and this is easily seen in the creation of media. Relating it back to the Douglas high shooting these high school students tend to rely on snapchat to let everyone know there is an active shooter in school. One horrifying video recovered by the news station showing kids screaming and loud guns fires in the distance. When they upload it on their stories, more people around the world or in their friend circles were aware there is a shooting happening so people who watched their stories could have called the police right away. Social media is changing and so are the young generation’s minds. Everybody wants to be famous nowadays, and there is no limit to what some people will do to receive that fame.
This new age of media has given people the platform to post whatever they feel like posting without any censers. Being famous matters more than their morals. For example Cruz had his own YouTube channel, this itself was a red flag as the contents he would post would be related to his guns. He had nickname called the “school shooter” surprisingly this wasn’t a problem for his viewers. Not only was he active on YouTube but also Instagram. Cruz’s friends say that he tends to post pictures with guns and knives, with captions such as “fuck you all” or post a picture with a knife and caption it “Its blue”. While scrolling through the comments you start to realize how much, an individual like Cruz was hated on and why he didn’t fit well with his fellow students. Nowadays kids are being brought up in a world where they are exposed to violence one way or another. For example video games such as first person shooters or Grand Theft Auto are all rated PG13 games, yet parents allow their kids to play those games because it’s hard for them to say no when they keep asking for it. TV shows influences majority of the young kids, such as 13 reasons why where the plot line is about a girl who commits suicide. In a way Cruz may have decide to kill people for the fame because the cameras would have been on him and he would be talked about nationally because of his norms and doings.
Celebrities aren’t just humans nowadays they are known as role models to majority ratio of people. They are capable to influences people in many ways including the negatives. Some celebrities even influence kids’ minds to follow them or to be like them, which in other words means be famous. “A well-known, highly visible public figure whose private life and public appearances frequently attract the media spotlight, often for reason other than their professional standing or abilities”, if we are talking about the shooting only one person’s life has been in the media spotlight. The victims were remembered but will be soon forgotten apart from their families and loved once. The name Douglas high will be remembered has the school in Florida that was shot up by 19 year old teenager named Nikolas Cruz. The spotlight is basically is handed to the shooter, has he is the main topic of discussion. Newspapers, News channels, articles interviews all involve one name and if not his name, people will remember the name Cruz when its related back to the topic of “school shooting.” Even after the massacre, the main focus has been on Cruz and news station wanted what is new on Nikolas Cruz. Questions such as why he did what he did, or how long is he serving in jail, what is his verdict for this. There was a follow up according to CNN were they showed Cruz in custody telling the police officer “he wanted to me to do it” while making a gun out of his finger and pointing it to his chest and head. In that same video we also see Nikolas’s brother talking to him and Cruz breaking down crying while repeating the same thing “he wanted me to do it” probably referring to the devil.
When thinking of hegemony it would all fall in with the aftermath of the Douglas High shooting. Students going on protest holding up their posters that have hegemonic meanings behind them. As the MELBETA article states “It feels as if it’s been much longer, as we’ve grown used to news cycles measured in minutes, and hard conversations about American gun culture tend to collapse after the latest victims are buried.” While posters are being help with words that say “Prayers and thoughts don’t save life, gun reframe will”. Showing the power of a hegemonic poster. “A world view that supports the ruling class as dominant, the status quo, yet shared by the majority of people”. In this case majority of the society started to protest for gun control, students grieving for their friends life all stepped up to make a change in this modern world. Another perfect example that fits this scenario would be the movement of Emma Gonzales as she has brought up multiple matters and business into the media’s eyes so that the government is aware of the main problem. It’s not the shooter it’s the right of a shooter owning a gun.
When we think of active shooters anywhere in the world the first instinct would be to think of a male rather than a female. Media has convinced us to believe that was as well, due to the fact that majority of the school shooters in the 21st century have been males. In regards to that the school shooting, males tend to be more attracted to guns and violence in general such as fighting rather than majority of the females. This can go way back to the everyone’s child hoods, as kids boys tend to like toy guns, action figures and they use their imagination to let them roam free. Whereas girls are more into barbie dolls, mini kitchen sets where their imagination doesn’t allow them to cross over with violence. “The physical body-the hormones, inherent instincts, and genetic predispositions etc.-defines the essence of identity and determines personality characteristics behavior and abilities”. In relevance to the school shooting police officers right away doubted it was a male shooter in a red hoodie and blue jeans. As one police officers speaks over the radio “I think it’s a male in red top and blue jeans”. In relations to that, it is evident throughout witness’s videos of panic, it is seen from their yelling and screaming “there is a guy shooting our school”, when in reality these students are hiding due to protocol not knowing who the shooter is. “Sees identity as constructed by external social forces such as the media family education, religion and expectations of community members”. Emma Gonzalez a Parkland survivor activist stand up for her and friends by outbreaking the media. A female with such power and compassion to make a change for gun violence. Has been on propagandas such as Obama’s HOPE poster, this young lady has been the aftermath face of the Parkland shooting. In relations to Nikolas Cruz himself, the shooting was not targeted at a specific gender because he didn’t have a particular motive behind it. It was just who ever came in his way would have been shoot and in the list of the people killed there were both and female.
In terms of ethnicity and media it goes in relation to all the other world problems that has occurred. “A policy or a critical concept that celebrates unity in diversity by bringing together a range of cultural groups within a larger identity or community without privileging one culture over another”. Nicolas Cruz is a Caucasian male who decided to shoot up a high school and media and other sources believed it to be as an act of an individual who is mentally challenged and is physically unstable to take care of himself. Media would not have portrayed this story the same way if it was a brown individual who might have been Muslim. Instead this would have been considered an act of terrorism, or one religion resenting another. Media would have blown up thinking this is another terrorist attack. The Oxford Living dictionary definition of terrorism is “The unlawful use of violence and intimidation, especially against civilians.” In regards to this high school shooting what differentiates Nickolas Cruz from a terrorist? What differentiate this Caucasian male from a brown or black? The answer is regardless everyone in that school was facing terror that day, media will never post it as an act of terrorism due to the ethnicity of the induvial constructing the criminal activity. As police officers said to CNN “It was an act of troubled young man fighting with his conscience.” Where as if it was a different ethnicity like a brown male, it would have probably been he was related to Al keddah in a case of a black individual it would have been, he was part of a gang. According to the NPO article “Black students at Marjory Stoneham Douglas High School held a press conference last week to tell the world that the response to the February shooting — increased school policing — does not make them safer and, in fact, harms them”, different ethnic student have come together to bring awareness.
As a result of the general discourse surrounding Stoneman Douglas high, one would classify Cruz as a postmodernist type of individual. Postmodernism is an argument that states that “a shift that was driven by economic changes is changing the world and its culture”. As mentioned already the definition stated earlier was used in the past tense, so it normal to assume that with the passage of time, the change of a societies culture is not tied down to economic factors alone, because individuals usually retain with different styles of cultural production that is constantly being evolved. For example, Americans have the title to own a licensed guy. The gun control act of 1968 allows anybody over the age of 18 years old to purchase a firearm. An 18 year can be greatly influenced in purchasing a firearm. Not knowing the consequences of what a fire arm can do, will end up in massive destruction. Gun control is something that needs to be taken very seriously in America. The crisis Americans faces according to Support the Guardian article states “To address the crisis of gun homicide, suicide and injury that leaves about 38,000 Americans dead and 116,000 wounded each year”. School shooting occurs often in America, parents and families are scared to send their children to school not knowing if they will come back. Media as also convinced that due to an events geographical status the seriousness of gun violence matters. For example if this school shooting or someone was to get shoot, it would matter a lot more if it was in neighbourhood that’s not use to violence yet. Where as if it was in cities where violence is common the media does not pay much attention to it. This is where the stories go blinded by society due to media not covering the seriousness of every gun violence.
In the Stoneman Douglas high shooting the active followers have made use of certain concepts such as Culture Jamming being “a form of media activism that subverts and reworks the intended meaning of existing media text, or parodies major corporation, public figures, and their media images”. Fake news immerged that Emma Gonzales who ripped up the shooting target to make a statement towards the school shootings in regards to asking America when will the shooting stop. This photo was photo shopped into making it look like she was ripping up the US constitution. This goes to show how there is never an end to violence. Photoshopping that creates more conflicts, and the media made it big regardless the fact that is a fake photoshopped image. Gonzales is a very strong independent women who is an activist for her school shooting she went publicly and spoke out the truth about the poster.
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Get custom essayTo summarize Stoneman Douglas High shooting and its relation to media, it somewhat puts into play the full power of different aspects of media, this can be seen in terms of broadcast being “a means of media transmission that makes information available to a broad spectrum of the population”. In terms of school shootings it has hit the media and has brought awareness to America in general and the people won’t stop until something has been done to in order to stop gun violence. This school shooting like any other is just a warning for what future holds if serious actions has not be put in place soon. Finally media, “the technological developed communication industries normally making money, that can transmit information and entertainment across time and space to individuals and large groups of people they are literally in the middle of this process, the means for communication” has heavily shined light on the Stoneman Douglas High shooting and Nikolas Cruz in the sense that this stories discourse would not have been recognized if not for media coming into play.