David Mamet's The House of Games and David Lynch's Blue Velvet
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to control another person's mind? The mere capabilities of someone possessing this powerful of an influence on others has a twisted and very horrifying , yet interesting sense of bewildering control and has boggled the minds of many for centuries. There have been several instances of historical examples in which a person in power somehow persuades the people under them to surrender their personal beliefs and submit to authority. Although, there are many more instances of this nature that occur in everyday life also. It must be incredibly exhilarating to get into someone's most private thoughts or easily attain their unquestioning trust with the things you say and what you do. I think the power to persuade someone else fits in exclusively with certain characters within the films we viewed in class. Although complete control over another person is difficult and rare, this main theme of dominant human interaction occurs several times throughout each movie.
Mike, the con man in The House of Games, was extremely talented at this concept and continued to perfect it. He once told the woman who was intrigued by his line of "work" that in order to get someone else's confidence, you had to give them yours. He tried twice to fool her out of her money, the first unsuccessful and the second hitting home. She had given him her complete and utmost trust and adoration which made her an easy target to be taken advantage of. Mike's experience of human nature helped him know exactly what to do to get what he wanted from other people. The way he conquered the minds of his unsuspecting victims was through the simple and popular tactic of deception.
Many people today use others to achieve their selfish desires, lacking the ambition to reach the top through honest, trustworthy, and admirable means. Instead, they find what they think to be the most direct route to success and usually end up using the ones who they think can get them there. Using someone often means making them think the way you want them to. This is what the movie was trying to portray to the viewer. When Mike was sitting around the table discussing with his accomplices how easily he had outwitted the woman, it conveyed to me that he thought that the world is merely a game to be won by the strongest and most competitive soul who risks the most to become the person they think is the best.
Good evening and welcome to tonight’s episode of Learning Literature. Tonight we will be celebrating the 20th anniversary of Gattaca by analysing the techniques text producers employ to construct representations of social issues relating to marginalised groups. We will focus on two classic pieces of literature, Ken Kessey’s, One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest, as well as Andrew Niccol’s Gattaca. Through a range of techniques, the text producers have included representations of freedom and independence, power, as well as discrimination in each of their respective texts.
Every person has their own individual beliefs and values that they live by. There is a line that one believes they will never cross. However, people can also be easily persuaded to abandon these values if the reasoning is fair enough. This is human nature. To manipulate someone is to use or change them for a specific purpose. In Shakespeare's play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, he illustrates how easily people can change their minds through manipulation. He conveys how people can be manipulated, how they manipulate themselves, and how they manipulate others.
All of our interactions within this world hold a certain degree of influence that we do not often think twice about. In certain occupations this influence and power can be seen and understood. A college professor, for example, may or may not be aware of his or her influence on a student’s opinion. Professors are in a position in which they can persuade or influence a person’s opinion. Because students often find trust in what their professor is saying, it is easy to succumb to their views, beliefs, or opinions. Not all students can be persuaded so easily, however over a decade of a teaching a professor has likely influenced thousands of studen...
...es such as, persuasion, influence, propaganda that affects a certain individual or group is only defined by psychologist as free will. The following essay nevertheless concludes that real victims of mind-control are those that have been exposed to unethical experiments during the authoritarian regimes and the period of cold war.
The emotional state of any given person’s mind can determine the way in which they think, act, behave, or respond to any certain event. When used correctly, persuasion is a deadly weapon at the tip of your tongue, and it certainly can, and will, help you obtain your desired outcome. So, if anyone may not know, what do you truthfully use to manipulate the thoughts of others? Well, whether you are aware or not, your strategies more than likely fall under ethos, pathos, or logos, that of which, I would like to uncover in the speech of Margaret Sanger.
Persuasion is a very powerful weapon even against the most stoic of people. In the Tragedy, Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare Cassius, a high class politician with bad intentions persuades Brutus, an honorable, stoic high class politician and Casca to kill Caesar for the good of Rome, however, Cassius’ real goal is to get rid of Caesar because Caesar doesn’t like him. After killing Caesar, Brutus and Antony, Caesar closest friend, make speeches at his funeral in order to persuade the public. Cassius, Brutus and Antony’s use of Ethos, Logos, and Pathos in order to persuade the public, Casca, and Brutus shows that anyone can be persuaded by appealing to their emotions, motivations, and personalities.
Press, H. Y. (2016, May 02). 5 things to know about a gap year, when students take time off. Retrieved November 15, 2017, from
While many may believe humans are inbreeded with certain believes and morals, they automatically diminish the probability of being brainwashed. Literary works as Brave New World, and the government of North Korea, prove controlling the mind to be possible.
“Blue Velvet” is a 1986 mystery film directed by David Lynch. The main character of this movie is Jeffrey Beaumont, who has returned home from college after his father has a stroke. On his way home from visiting his father in the hospital, Jeffrey finds a severed human ear in a vacant field. Upon this discovery, he decides to take it to a detective in hopes to find out what had happened. The detective told Jeffrey that he can no longer disclose information about the ear, and after Jeffrey talks to the detective’s daughter (and Jeffrey’s love interest), Sandy, who knows about the investigation, he decides to investigate himself. This leads Jeffrey and Sandy to Dorothy’s apartment, an assumed murderer, where Jeffrey discovers Dorothy’s son and husband were kidnapped by an evil man named Frank and his gang. Frank soon discovers that Jeffrey had been at Dorothy’s apartment, and eventually injures Jeffrey. Jeffrey stops investigating but takes his evidence to Detective Williams, thus leading them both back to Dorothy’s apartment where they find Detective Johnson and Dorothy’s husband dead. Frank comes to the apartment at the same time Jeffrey is there, and Jeffrey shot him with the dead Detective’s pistol. Sandy and her father walk in,
...st impact, since the ultimate way to persuade is to allow them to persuade themselves. In fact, the very core of this story is that: think for yourself.
You’re coming back from a well needed break from school and you feel invigorated and ready to start. The first few weeks are the hardest to adjust to because your brain hasn’t been used throughout the break. The dilemma with breaks, such as summer break, is that one loses valuable information from past academic courses that are essential to ones progress towards higher education. Imagine a whole year without learning and then coming back to intense rigorous classes at a University. Seniors at high schools over the nation have the opportunity of taking a year off before committing to a college. This is known as a Gap Year; instead of directly enrolling into a University many students feel the need to take a break before starting their education towards their future career. Yes, a Gap Year does sound pleasing and beneficial, but in the long run it can be damaging towards ones future. Students should be aware of the ramification a Gap Year brings, such as, the possibility for enrolling in a graduate school is lower, academic growth is reduced, and social obstacles become present.
Most high school graduates have only one thing on their mind: college. Those graduates spend so much time applying to colleges and wondering what they actually want to do with their life. Most of the United States graduates feel like they should wait a year before attending college. This is considered a “gap year.” “Increasingly, school leavers are taking time out from study or formal work after completing high school-- often referred to as a ‘gap year’ (involving structured activities such as "volunteer tourism" and unstructured activities such as leisure)”(Martin). “Many students pursue volunteering during their gap time, and hundreds of organizations offer the chance to be of service domestically and abroad” (Sarouhan). A gap year can be
A gap year is a period, typically one academic year, taken by a student as a break between secondary school and higher education. Many students consider taking a gap year because they are longing to get work experience and be sure of a career path before they make the decision to head off to college. During those one or two years off before heading to college, students have the opportunity to travel the world, work, experience different jobs, or simply take a break from school. Some parents do not agree with their young adults taking a break from school because they worry that their child will not do something productive with their free time. Although students taking a gap year run the risk of becoming inattentive or accustomed to making some quick cash, and not returning to school, there are numerous benefits for a young adults. young adults to take a gap year off before heading to college; for instance, many colleges want students that are mature and have some work experience.
And they develop a fuller sense of themselves, undefined by their friends, family, or culture.Gap year is, basically, a half-step out into the world and offers students an opportunity to understand that they can handle it just fine. It makes the later post college change from one thing to another less scarring. The gap year gives a student the opportunity to find out what they want to do do in life and gives them time to think about the major of their choices some students leave high school with one major and then take a gap year and come back with a different major. Gap Year graduates report that through the summary of their new experiences they were better able to identify universities that fit their personalities and career desires to do great things. Finally, while we don 't suggest this as a first or more important, many students do report that taking a Gap Year enabled them to get into better
Bullying has several different ugly faces and styles, which is on the rise in the United States. One normally thinks of bullying as a school-age incident and something that happens when kids are just being kids. However, this is far from always true. Bullying is defined when a person or a group of people repeatedly tries to harm someone who is weaker or who they appear to be weaker. Sometimes direct attacks are involved by name calling, hitting, teasing or taunting. While sometimes it is indirect, such as spreading rumors or trying to make others reject someone. (www.stopbullying.gov, 2014)