Hell on Earth
“There are times when we're dirt broke, hungry, and freezing, and I ask myself, why the hell am I still living here?” states Mark. “The most integrated place on the planet”, Alphabet city the red light district of Manhattan home to diverse families and struggling artists. Alphabet City is notorious for its lettered avenues, high levels of drug activity, and crime attracted the growing Bohemian population of 1980’s because of low rents, and creative atmosphere. Rent inspires individuals to have originality in spite of other people’s opinions by embracing who you are, whether suffering from an illness, recovering from addiction, or struggling with personal issues. Rent a film by Chris Columbus displays artistic rebel by taking a twist on individuality through the character Angel. Eight Bohemian lifestyle friends Mark, Roger, Benny, Mimi, Angel, Collins, Maureen, and Joanne live in a hell on earth in 1989.
The Rent is due and Benny the landlord does not care if it’s Christmas Eve friends Mark a struggling film maker and Roger a recovering from junkie are awaiting Collins. Collins is found beaten in an alley by Angel a struggling street artist who suffers from AIDS. Mimi another tenant and exotic dancer struggles with HIV and her addiction to heroin. Over the course of a year the friends build new relationships, and bond through facing eviction by holding a protest lead by Maureen a promiscuous lesbian who formally dated Mark. The friends decide to go their separate ways after the death of their friend Angel. In hopes of finding originality and completing their dreams, after realizing that Angel would not want them to split up the friends reunited under harsh conditions facing the death of another friend Mimi. The frien...
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.... Furthermore is a compelling film that shows how a person copes with their struggles.
“I've gotta get outta here! It's like I'm being tied to the hood of a yellow rental truck being packed in with fertilizer, and fuel oil. Pushed over a cliff by a suicidal Mickey Mouse. I've gotta find a way to jump over the moon” stated Maureen. Rent shows that we can’t control our destiny and that we should live each day to the best of our ability. A compelling story based on a year spent with eight friends in Alphabet City. The year that they experience is hell on earth but despite all of the struggles that they overcome. Columbus created Angel to place a twist on society’s view of gays and disease. “Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes. How do you measure the life of a woman or a man?” you can life is a season filled with lesson and willingness to love.
These two literary works, 40 Hours in Hell by Katherine Finkelstein and Third World by Dexter Filkins, both present diverse perspectives on what occurred during the World Trade Center attack. Although both texts approach the coverage of this attack differently, as reporters, they both base their news using normative theory. Normative theory is the consideration of what is morally correct or incorrect. In relation to normative theory is the Social Responsibility Theory. This theory deals with how an individual must complete their civic duty, since they are apart of the press, as well as their actions must benefit society. Nonetheless, of these two texts, 40 Hours in Hell best fulfills the requisites of the Social Responsibility Theory.
Chris wanted to seek refuge from his home because of what he found out about his father. After Chris’s sophomore year of college at Emory University, during the summer he went on his usual cross-country wanderings. He went to California to visit the El Segundo neighborhood where he'd spent the first six years of his life. He called a lot of old family friends who still liv...
Over the years America’s ability to address taboo issues by channeling them through popular culture has become increasingly popular (Pruitt, 2007). Among the many taboo issues as evidenced by the number of mainstream films which minimally address the matter, is the issue of men living on the down low (Hamilton, 2009). An example of such is the 2011 film “For Colored Girls.” The film like many bring up the issue of men being on the down low, but they have neglected to go in-depth as to why men chose this lifestyle – rather than the age old notion that they fear social rejection (Pruitt, 2007). As it relates to the drama “Angels in America,” written by Tony Kushner, the work does a great job highlighting men who have secret lifestyles and two of the characters within the drama that exemplify characteristics of living on the down low – Joe Pitt and Ray Cohn (Kushner, 1993)
There is so much evil in the world such as: murder, child mortality, torture, rape, assault and more. So how can there be an all loving God if these things are constantly happening? In this paper, I will be arguing that there is in fact no such thing as an all loving and all powerful God due to Evil. When I think of an all-loving God, I think of God as someone who would never allow a child to be kidnapped, raped, tortured and killed. I think of God as someone who would not allow anything bad or evil to happen in this world. I am not saying people would not get their fair share of misfortune now and again, but they would never experience evil, pain or suffering. That being said, there would be no evil or vindictive people in this world
In Dante’s Inferno hell is divided into nine “circles” of hell; the higher the number correlates to the grimmer the sin and the pain you will endure. However, I do not completely agree with Dante’s version of hell, perhaps due to the difference in time periods. In this essay I will be pointing out my concerns with Dante’s description of hell and how I would recreate hell if I were Dante.
Angels in America is one of the most powerful plays written in the twentieth century. The play explores themes such as AIDs, homosexuality, drug addiction, spirituality, politics and identity specifically during the 1980’s. This ground breaking piece of work is not only entertaining, but also thought provoking. Angels creates dreamlike envisions of scenes and yet maintains a form of realism in the plots and characters. Tony Kushner is both the author of the play and the screen writer for the brilliant rendition of the HBO mini series with the same name. Angels in America Part 1: The Millennium Approaches is a phenomenal piece of work to read as well as to watch! The story follows a variety of characters in New York City between 1985-1986 dealing with issues of homosexuality, sexual disease, addiction, and denial.
Dante’s Inferno is the narration told of the life of Dante Alighieri. The narration is done by Dante himself where he explains his life and various encounters. Dante is known for writing various stories and poems which he did after he was exiled from Florence where he was an ambassador. He had lived a life among the middle class, loved and lost his love to death, and gotten into leadership in Florence. His various experiences in life had caused him to have a distorted view of the purity of the Catholic Church in its indulgence in politics. The terms of the exile demanded that his return would be punishable by death.
John Singleton’s view of social problems in South Central Los Angeles happens in a tale of three friends growing up together. Doughboy and Ricky Baker are half-brothers and have opposite personalities. Ricky is a football player who hopes to win a scholarship and spends most of his time playing football. On the other hand, Doughboy is a young man who looks upon his environment for guidance. He is involved in violence, abusing drugs, and participates in violence. In between is their friend Tre, who actually has a father to teach him what is right from wrong. Furious Styles, who is Tre’s father in the film does everything in his strength to keep his son from becoming another startling statistic. As you can see, it is always important for parents to be a part of their child’s life because it can make a big difference not only in their life but also their child’s future.
Hell has been described in many different texts, all explaining how Hell may be organized. There have been many examples in the Bible, myths, folktales, and music through out time. One example in particular is in Dante's, The Inferno, where hell is described as having many layers, which are categorized by individual sins, such as thievery, and are punished for an eternity. In Dante's model, more sin centered, a soul would be sent to a certain layer of hell for one sin that he had committed. However, perhaps a more personalized Hell, sinner-centered, that deals with each sinner individually for each sin committed and its severity, would allow for people to be punished more effectively.
When I hear the word Rent, I immediately see an eclectic Broadway production, overflowing with talent, adventure, and magic. I picture scantly clad actresses, strutting across the stage. I envision stunning duets and thought-provoking lyrics. That single word transports me to a different time and place.
This movie was inspiring and encouraging to anyone who is struggling with something. Overcoming his controversies in life became the main point of the movie. Knowing that this movie was based upon a true story inspires the people even more.
There are many more examples throughout this movie that can be connected or assessed to the many different concepts that was learned. There are many real-life events and these concepts are important because they allow people to see how different types of people and families deal with stress and problems and it is important not to judge or jump to conclusions and maybe take a step back and take time to consider what others may be going
“Abandon All Hope Ye Who Enter Here.”(Alighieri 18) this statement is viewed while entering through The Gates of Hell. The Inferno by Dante Alighieri is one perspective of Hell that has been written. According to the Cambridge University Library, Hell is set up like a funnel that extends from the surface of the Earth located near Jerusalem; it expands down to the center of the Earth (Cambridge 2006). In this cone-like structure, there are circles that divide sins by the severity of the sin committed. Each circle is on a different ledge or level that separates them from each other (Alighieri 25). Dante and his guide Virgil travel through all the circles of Hell during the Lent season. Through their travels they inspect and comment on the variations
The film exhibits and analyzes the story of NFL player Michael Oher’s life through high school as he endures various adversities and difficulties in his life. It tells Oher’s story of being the son of a cocaine addictive mother and absentee father, who is homeless due the circumstances of his family. Despite not having either of his parents in his life he did have Big Tony, who was his friend’s dad. Big Tony would allow Michael to sleep on his sofa some days when he did not have anywhere else to live and he also was the main cause to Michael being admitted to the Wingate Academy Christian School. At this school Michael meets S.J., who is the son on the Tuohy’s. S.J. begins a friendship with Michael at a time when no one else would and on a rainy day after S.J.’s thanksgiving play, the Tuohys see Michael walking. They ask him ...
The Inferno was written by Dante Alighieri around 1314 and depicts the poet’s imaginary journey through Hell. Dante spent his life traveling from court to court both lecturing and writing down his experiences. His Divine Comedy – the three-part epic poem consisting of Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso (Hell, Purgatory and Heaven)– is generally regarded as one of the greatest poetic feats ever accomplished. All three parts are incredible literary feats with symbolism so complex and beautiful that scholars are still unraveling all the details today. However, this essay will focus on the first part of Dante’s work, Inferno, which consists of 34 cantos. Dante’s Inferno is a masterpiece of allegorical imagery where Virgil represents human reason, Beatrice love and hope, and Dante mankind on the journey of the human soul through life to reach salvation.