“Blindness”, the state in which someone is unwilling or unable to perceive or understand. This definition becomes the underlying motif in Steven Spielberg’s, “Minority Report” and Sophocles’, “Oedipus the King” as both protagonists struggle to come to terms with their actions and the reality they have put themselves in. Both the film and play employ the use of blindness through loss of vision and physical sight but also through the understanding of the past and future killings which predominate the storyline. In some aspects central elements of play are not only featured but emphasized in the film. Particularly, the film shares emphasis on symbolic vision of committing a murder, balancing on a pedestal of future, fate, and freewill.
Steven Spielberg's, "Minority Report," tells about a future without murder. Three gifted humans, who are called precogs, predict the murder of an individual and it is viewed by cops who stop the murder from taking place. John Anderton, the main character, is predicted to murder a man by the name of Leo Crow. Throughout the story, Anderton believes that he will not kill this man because he doesn’t even know who Crow is. Unfortunately, Anderton is blind to the fact that Crow had kidnapped his son. Agatha, the female precog, reminds Anderton that he always has a choice to not kill Crow. Anderton learns that Crow was paid to make Anderton believe that he had kidnapped his son many years earlier. Crow tells Anderton about his being set up, but Anderton and Crow struggle over the gun and Crow ends up being shot. Anderton finally proves his innocence and begins a life with his wife.
Sophocles’s, Oedipus the King, tells of a child born of a king and queen, whose future depicted destruction of his family. Th...
... middle of paper ...
...t the ball rolling and unknowingly caused their tragic endings (Oedipus).
Minority report a 2002 science fiction thriller directed by Steven Spielberg is based from Washington DC and Northern Virginia in 2054 where precrime is a specialised police department. They arrest people in foreseeing their crimes provided by the precogs. the main character played by Tom Cruze. “John anderton” the precrime captain. John Anderton gets the visions of the murder through the three precogs but the main precog Agatha translates the information to him. The film is ironic to Blindness because in the movie when John Anderton is in the precog lab Agatha grabs ahold of him and says “can you see” and by the end of the film John has to get his eyes replaced to get around his identity. John is Blind to the fact that he has been set up for murder and has to prove that he is innocent.
Death can occur in four ways. A person can die from a physical illness, viruses and infections. A person can die from an accident. A person can commit suicide. Finally a person can be murdered by another person. What if murders could be prevented? In P.K. Dick’s story The Minority Report, and in Spielberg’s film The Minority Report, the future can be altered by using incredible technology. The success of Spielberg’s adaptation of Dick’s short story to film can be determined by the way each was presented.
Sight. Sometimes even though you can see, it is not good enough. After all, the eyes can be deceiving. Sometimes it seems that life is an illusion. The moment you think you’re seeing the right thing, the image shifts on you. In Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex, when Oedipus tries to see and control to his destiny he is blind but is blinded by his pride, and only when he is really blind does he see.
Racism and preconception towards individuals iRacism and preconception towards individuals in society has continued to be a major social issue. From personal experience, to nationwide heated debates, people have still continued to look down on others. Not only is racism witnessed in society, but it is also illustrated in older movies such as Roots, Rose Wood, The Mississippi Burning and etc. However, now that the world has become so diversified, racism and stereotyping has more so over effected various social class’s, ethnic groups, gender and race. As seen in the 2004 film Crash, produce and directed by Paul R. Ebert, this learning was able to see the modern day struggle of racism, and various culture bias’s.
The artifact I chose for my analyst is the movie Pain & Gain directed by Michael Bay. This film is based on true events that took place in Miami during the mid-1990s. The main character, Danny Lugo, is a personal trainer whose life revolved around physical fitness. During his employment at Sunshine gym he becomes acquainted with Adrian Doorbal, a fellow personal trainer. The two realize that their hard work in the gym has led to big muscles and empty pockets. Lugo soon lusts after the earnings and lifestyle achieved by a new gym member he begins to train: Victor Kershaw, who Lugo believes is a crook. Inspired by motivational speaker Johnny Wu, Lugo decides to be a "doer" and hatches a plan to extort Kershaw’s assets by kidnapping and torturing him. Lugo and Doorbal soon realize they need a third member to pull off a job of this magnitude and recruit Paul Doyle, a recently released cocaine-addicted convict who has turned to religion. The three man crew, dubbed the Sunshine Gang, successfully kidnapped Victor Kershaw and extorted his assets. The crew then tried to murder Kershaw but was unsuccessful. When Kershaw informed law enforcement of what happened they believed the story was too far-fetched to be true. The Sunshine gang seemingly got away with all the crimes committed against Kershaw. It wasn’t long until their money ran out and they had to look for another hit to keep their new lifestyle going. The crew then decides to take down a wealthy business man named Frank Grigas. During this second hit, the three men murder Frank and his wife and dumped the chopped up bodies into the everglades. Law enforcement was soon on to the Sunshine gang and made arrest. Lugo and Doorbal were found guilty and sentenced to death for the murders ...
Crash, written and directed by Paul Haggis, is a 2005 independent film that overturns most people’s vision of race in America, and made me squirm throughout its 120 minute run. This twelve year old film, succinctly packages race relations and prejudice, and the sad reality of American culture after 9/11 with a gaping racial divide.
The novel, Monster, by Walter Dean Myers is about a young black 16 year old boy, who is on trial for felony murder which he was accused for being a part of this
In this movie the main character was a man named Derek. After the death of his father, due to gang violence, he became a racist to all others but white people. He blamed the lack of jobs and poor wages on the blacks and immigrants. In an interview he had after the death of his father he stated that, it's all the blacks fault for all the violence in their neighborhood. He also said that, they brought all the diseases like AIDS and it's their problem and why did they have to bring it to the white people. Before he vandalized a store, owned by a Chinese man, with his other racist friends he told them why they were doing this. He told them that these immigrates come here an instead of looking for the American dream they come and take advantage of it and by firing those who worked there before and hiring Mexicans and blacks, that are willing to work at a low-wage, they make more money. So he and his friends need to show them that they indeed don't belong here and no one wants them here.
For this assignment, I decided to watch “Crash”, a movie set in the streets of Los Angeles California and that shows the lives of various individuals with different cultural backgrounds. The movie starts with the scene of a car crash between an Asian woman and a couple of detectives near the sight of a murder, as the African American detective Graham Waters walks around the scene he stops because he saw something that shocked him, and from there a flashback begins. The first relevant scene shows, Anthony and Peter, two African Americans individuals walking down the street talking about racial discrimination. As they talk a couple passes by them and the two decide to steal their car. This causes a chain of events affecting the lives of many
... that the film opens with. While the story may be slightly dramatic and pieces of the story “coincidentally” seem to fall into exactly the wrong place at the wrong time causing the tragedies in the film to happen, the events in this film are entirely capable of being a reality. Racism and prejudice continue to be prevalent issues in our society, but like Anthony, we can learn to overcome anything that holds us back from putting unity into practice and making our world a better place for everyone.
As a fan of cinema, I was excited to do this project on what I had remembered as a touching portrait on racism in our modern society. Writer/Director Paul Haggis deliberately depicts his characters in Crash within the context of many typical ethnic stereotypes that exist in our world today -- a "gangbanger" Latino with a shaved head and tattoos, an upper-class white woman who is discomforted by the sight of two young Black kids, and so on -- and causes them to rethink their own prejudices during their "crash moment" when they realize the racism that exists within themselves.
The movie Crash is in the streets of Los Angeles. If you notice all of the characters seem to play the victim and accuser in different racial situations. There is a story behind each character over a two day period. There is the detective who is prejudice against his own race whose younger brother is a criminal. There is Jean who is prejudice against black people after getting robbed. John is the cop who is racist against all black people and sexually assaults Christine in front of her husband. This movies show’s so many of the social psychological principles through the story of each individual.
People can be “blinded” to the truth. The answer to their question or solution to their problem may have been obvious. Yet, they could not "see" the answer. They were blinded to the truth. Associations have been made between being blind and enlightened. A blind person is said to have powers to see invisible things. They "see" into the future. The blind may not have physical sight, but they have another kind of vision. In Sophocles' King Oedipus, Teiresias, the blind prophet, presents the truth to King Oedipus and Jocasta. Oedipus has been blinded to the truth his whole life. When he does find the truth, he loses his physical vision. Because of the truth, Oedipus blinds himself. Jocasta was blind to the true identity of Oedipus. Even when she found out the truth, she refused to accept it. In this case, those who are blind ultimately do have a higher vision - the truth.
John Q. Dir. Nick Cassavetes. By James Kearns. Perf. Denzel Washington. New Line Cinema, 2002. DVD.
Minority Report is a 2002 science fiction film directed by renowned director Steven Spielberg and is set in the year 2054 in Washington, D. C. The film revolves around an elite law enforcement squad; Precrime. The Precrime Division uses three genetically altered humans called Pre-Cogs, who possess special powers to see into the future and predict crimes beforehand. After each crime is foreseen and analyzed, Precrime police officers are sent to the crime location to apprehend the future murderers and place them under arrest.
Oedipus Rex (the King), written by Sophocles, is the tragic play depicting the disastrous existence to which Oedipus, an Athenian, is 'fated' to endure. With a little help from the gods and the 'fated' actions and decisions of Oedipus, an almost unthinkable misfortune unfolds. Athenian perfection can consist of intelligence, self-confidence, and a strong will. Oedipus, the embodiment of such perfection, and his tragedy are common place to Athenians. Ironically, the very same exact characteristics that bring about the ominous discovery of Oedipus' fate: to kill his father and marry his mother. Oedipus' 'fated' decisions entangle everyone whom is of any significance to him within a quagmire of spiraling tragedy. Sophocles uses the riddle of the Sphinx as a metaphor for the three phases of Oedipus' entangled life, the three phases of human life, and to describe how every life-changing action or decision can influence other lives.