The movie Bernie is true story of a murder committed in Carthage, Texas in 1996. What set this crime apart from other murders was the reaction of the citizens. Bernie Tiede shot and killed Marjorie Nugent in November 1996. The people of Carthage were more worried about Bernie’s fate than his act of murdering Marjorie.
What circumstances could lead people to abandon their morals and sympathize with a murderer. Taking a look at the personalities of Bernie and Marjorie and the relationship they had might clarify why this murder was acceptable to nearly all the people of Carthage, Texas.
Bernie was a people person. He doled out compliments and wishes of wellbeing all the time. The people of Carthage, Texas all knew and loved Bernie. Jack Payne,
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of Carthage, said “he was about the most popular man in Carthage.” Tim Carike, of Carthage, talked about Bernie’s personality and said “he made you feel real good about yourself.” Fern Luker, of Carthage, exalted Bernie when she said, “If the people of Carthage were to make a list of those people that they thought would get to Heaven, I am sure that Bernie would be right at the top of that list.” Bernie was active in the community of Carthage, he interacted with people daily and he was always kind and happy. One of the many kind things Bernie would do is visit newly widowed women. On his own time, Bernie would check on the widows to make sure they were doing alright and bring them flowers or food. Marjorie Nugent was never kind and did not care about people. She was very wealthy and after the death of her husband she had sole control of her wealth. Marjorie was greedy, she resented and refused anyone’s attempt to get money from her. She owned a bank in Carthage and was equally stingy with the banks money, denying loans more often than approving them. When describing Marjorie Nugent, the people of Carthage were brutally forthcoming in their dislike for her. Kay McConaughey, of Carthage, described Marjorie with four words: “mean, old, hateful bitch.” Another Carthage citizen, Kenny Brevard, had me in stitches when he described how unkind Marjorie was. Kenny said “she’d rip you a brand new three bedroom, two bath, double-wide asshole! No problem.” The relationship between Bernie and Marjorie began when Bernie visited Marjorie after the death of her husband. Initially Bernie was not well received by Marjorie. Bernie kept bringing his ray of sunshine to Marjorie’s doorstep and one day the unexpected happened, Marjorie invited Bernie in. Bernie and Marjorie’s friendship blossomed quickly and soon they were nearly always together.
Marjorie had always wanted to travel and now she could and she took Bernie everywhere with her. Very early in their friendship Marjorie insisted on Bernie being her personal assistant and gave Bernie access to her money. The movie made it apparent that the people thought Bernie and Marjorie had an odd friendship. Regardless, the people of Carthage loved Bernie and had nothing but nice things to say about him.
Two years after their friendship sprouted Marjorie began controlling Bernie and limiting his time away from her. People couldn’t help but notice and they pitied Bernie. People did not consider Bernie a pathetic imp, instead they directed their ill judgment at Marjorie.
In one scene Marjorie was yelling at Bernie. Bernie was visibly shaken and tried to dismiss himself. With an unsteady voice Bernie said “Marjorie you’re making it very hard to be your friend. I’m going to come back some other time.” Bernie tried to leave but Marjorie closed the driveway gate, essentially locking-in Bernie. This scene very clearly portrayed how mean and irrational and controlling Marjorie was.
Bernie seemed too kind or incapable of saving himself by ending relations with Marjorie. Instead, Bernie endured Marjorie’s abuse until he finally snapped. Bernie fired four rounds from a .22 caliber rifle into Marjorie Nugent’s back, killing
her. Months later Marjorie’s body was found. Not one soul in Carthage believed that Bernie killed Marjorie. Bernie Tiede tearfully confessed “she’d become so mean and possessive of me. I shot her four times with the armadillo gun.” Once people accepted as truth that Bernie killed Marjorie they forgave him and insisted that Marjorie had it coming. In the words of Kay Epperson, of Carthage, “There are people in town Honey that would have shot her for five dollars.” The prosecuting attorney, Danny Buck Davidson, soon realized that the people of Carthage loved Bernie and despised Marjorie so much that there was no chance of getting a fair trial or a conviction. Danny Buck had the case moved out of town where Bernie Tiede was tried, convicted and sentenced to Life in prison. The statements people made throughout the movie Bernie clearly indicated their feelings for both Bernie and Marjorie. When we love a person we overlook or forgive the bad things they say or do. The people of Carthage did not abandon their morals by caring for and loving Bernie after he committed murder. The people of Carthage failed their morals by not caring that a human being, Marjorie, was murdered.
One of Caesar’s innovations was the use of nonviolence. He believed that no one had the right to take the life away from another human being. During the film, this concept was shown. There were scenes that showed supporters protesting with signs that stated “Huelga”, and during these protests there were no signs of violence acts. Cesar Chavez knew that his supporters were starting to lose patience, and tried to convince them not to use violence. But there was a group of people who didn’t believe in nonviolence. So, they formed their own group and did their own protest.
Hamlet has the disillusion that women are frail after his mother’s rushed remarriage as shown by “Frailty, thy name is woman!” He also believes women do not have the power to reason. (“O God, a beast that wants discourse of reason.”) Ophelia has the power to change his view but her unexplained rejection of him only adds to Hamlet’s disillusion. The ghost’s revelation that Gertrude dishonored Hamlet’s father but also their marriage by the adultery with Claudius is contemplated by Hamlet until he goes into Ophelia’s room to look upon her. As Hamlet searches Ophelia’s face for some sign that might restore his faith in her, he instead believes her face shows guilt and thinks she is another false Gertrude.
The auteur theory is a view on filmmaking that consists of three equally important premises: technical competence, interior meaning, and personal signature of the director. Auteur is a French word for author. The auteur theory was developed by Andrew Sarris, a well-known American film critic. Technical competence of the Auteur deals with how the director films the movie in their own style. Personal signature includes recurring themes that are present within the director’s line of work with characteristics of style, which serve as a signature. The third and ultimate premise of the Auteur theory is the interior meaning which is basically the main theme behind the film.
Ruth Fowler is Matt’s wife of many years and the mother of their three children: Steve, Cathleen and the now murdered Frank. Ruth cannot come to terms with Frank’s death and is haunted at all times of the day, whether at home or out in the town running errands, “She was at Sunnyhurst today getting cigarettes and aspirin, and there he was. She can’t even go out for cigarettes and aspirin. It’s killing her” (108). This quote is a symbolism of her mental state. The anguish of just seeing her son’s killer on the streets with freedom is more than Ruth can mentally comprehend. Ruth continually applies emotional pressure to her husband with comments and allusions to why the killer is still able to roam freely while their son cannot, “And at nights in bed she would hold Matt and cry, or sometimes she was silent and Matt would touch her tightening arm, her clinched fist” (112).
In the movie, E. Kimmel who is a leader who is certain that his base will be attacked. He does everything in his power to prevent this from happening. However, Roosevelt took no action receiving a dispatch saying “this dispatch is to be considered a war warning negotiations with Japan, and have leashed an aggressive move by Japan is expected within the next few days”. “Kimmel received this report about an hour before the Japanese planes arrived but he chose not to go to general quarters due to the fact that there had been a few false sub sightings and , he wanted to confirm the Wards report before acting on it. This is a contradiction to how he acts in the movie. Prior to the attack, the Japanese pilots are shown putting on head bands, and dinking sake. “This was performed by Kamikaze pilots, and there was one incident during the attack, it was not planned until after his plane was damaged.
One of the first murders he performed was on his girlfriend’s family. Whether Caril Ann Fugate was an active participant or not, Starkweather murdered three of her family members in cold blood with disregard to Fugate’s feelings. The murder of her Fugate’s two and a half year old sister shows that Starkweather acted impulsively. Starkweather recalled that she would not stop crying so he “needed to shut he...
Sex, love, depression, guilt, trust, all are topics presented in this remarkably well written and performed drama. The Flick, a 2014 Pulitzer Prize winning drama by Annie Baker, serves to provide a social commentary which will leave the audience deep in thought well after the curtain closes. Emporia State Universities Production of this masterpiece was a masterpiece in itself, from the stunningly genuine portrayal of the characters of Avery and Rose, to the realism found within the set, every aspect of the production was superb.
"Mrs. Robinson, you are trying to seduce me," says Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman). The Graduate, directed by Mike Nichols in 1967 is an influential satire/comedy film about a recent East Coast college graduated who finds himself alienated and aimless in the changing, social and sexual general public of the 1960s, and questioning the values of society. The theme of the film is of an innocent and confused youth who is exploited, mis-directed, seduced (literally and figuratively) and betrayed by a corrupt, self-indulgent, and discredited older generation (that finds stability in “plastics”) that I found to be quite clear and understanding, while also capturing the real spirit of the times and allows America's youth to perceive onscreen an image of themselves which they can both identify with and emulate. The Graduate is a significant film even today due to its use of abstract camera angles, telephoto lenses, excellent cinematography, and great acting. Few visual effects were used, however, matting and numerous point of view shots were used. These characteristics and the fabulous use of mis-en-scene, great writing and the era of the film all made The Graduate what it is today, magnificent.
The Bad and The Beautiful (1952) and State and Main (2000) are films within films that unmask Hollywood Cinema as a dream factory and expose the grotesque, veneer hidden by the luxury of stars. The Bad and the Beautiful, directed by Vincent Minnelli, is a black and white film narrated in flashback form. The films theatrical nature requires more close-ups than wide-screen shots to capture the character’s psychological turmoil. For example, Fred and Jonathan’s car ride is captured in a close-up to signify their friendship; however their relationship deteriorates after Jonathan’s deceit. While the camera zooms out, Fred stands alone motionless. Here, Fred is captured from a distance at eye-level and he becomes ostracized by the film industry and
The first illustration that suggests Victor Mancini is “choked” by society is through his conversations with his ill mother, Ida Mancini, who is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease at St. Anthony’s hospital. Victor is occasionally viewed as being Fred Hastings, a completely different person to whom his mother sees him as because of her loss of memory. Thus, she expresses most of her personal thoughts to him. Throughout his visits, Victor is not too delighted to hear the things his mother says about him. For example, Ida says, “He’s dropped out of medical school and is making a big mess ou...
was very involved in the public and even helped some campaigns in his time . Over all
‘Our interest in the parallels between the adaptation inter-texts is further enhanced by consideration of their marked differences in textual form,’
The movie I decided to analyze for this course was American History X (1998), which stars Edward Norton. Though this movie isn’t widely known, it is one of the more interesting movies I have seen. It’s probably one of the best films that depict the Neo Nazi plague on American culture. The film takes place from the mid to late 1990’s during the Internet boom, and touches on subjects from affirmative action to Rodney King. One of the highlights of this movie that really relates to one of the key aspects of this course is the deterrence of capital punishment. Edward Norton’s portrayal as the grief stricken older brother who turns to racist ideologies and violence to cope with his fathers death, completely disregards the consequences of his actions as he brutally murders someone in front of his family for trying to steal his car. The unstable mentality that he developed after his father’s death really goes hand-to-hand specifically with Isaac Ehrlich’s study of capital punishment and deterrence. Although this movie is entirely fictional, a lot of the central themes (racism, crime punishment, gang pervasiveness, and one’s own vulnerability) are accurate representations of the very problems that essentially afflict us as a society.
Wall Street is a movie that exposes corruption and disguises all values, beliefs, and other ethical philosophy. Throughout the movie, Wall Street shows how ethics adapts to a person’s personality by power and wealth alongside honesty and truth. Bud Fox, a young stockbroker is looking for a way to make a name for himself. He is determined to get as many clients as he can to become successful. He later meets a ruthless man named Mr. Gekko where learns how to reach to the top by illegal actions such as insider trading. Bud Fox was an honest living man who had good ethics but was later showed what true power is became money hungry. The power of greed is fascinating the code that everyone lives by is inevitable once money comes into play. There are five types of interpersonal power; reward power, coercive power, legitimate power, referent power, and expert power. These types of power will be used to correspond relationships throughout the movie. In Wall Street we realize how Gordon Gekko uses Bud Fox for his benefit. In this paper I will show the types of powers that are used by Gordon Gekko and how they are used. One clear type of power that Gordon Gekko uses in his relationship with Bud Fox is the Referent power base. This power stands out because it is clear that Bud wants to become a top notch in the industry. Bud is striving to be successful when he exposes what he’s able to do at the meeting with Gordon Gekko he instantly become closer to his goals. There were scenes where Gordon had legitimate power. His knowledge and information was what made him rich. Bud Fox had to listen to what Gordon was telling him in order to become successful. This was an example of Gekko having legitimate power over Bud Fox. Expert power which is an ...
Mavis’s school was just like her house, old, rusted, and filled with people that don’t care about her. She started her day with the same routine. Put her books in her locker, and get pushed against her locker by Lilith. As usual, Lilith called her a fat--- and went on her way. With every syllable, everyday, Mavis’s heart broke a little. She figured that over time she would get used to the name calling and her heart would become callused. While she waited, the distraction of her hours of homework distracted her.