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Impact of blockbusters on societal changes
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Cinema as a form of art is just like painting, music; its purpose is to deliver the message, information to its audiences. The information is interrupted differently by different audiences; popular cinema plays to our unconscious desire, it reflects the unconscious desire in a certain level. Therefore it is popular. The movie I chose in this essay is ‘Avatar,' it is one of the most famous ‘blockbuster’ movies in history, it released on 2009, the budget of this film is ‘237 million USD.' The box office is 2.788 billion USD and was once the highest-grossing film of all time. James Cameron created this dream-like world called Pandora, which everyone fell in love with. The film came in 3D and in some selected cinemas in 4D to allow the audience …show more content…
The history of white people and the American indigene, the Indians. One of Avatar’s themes is colonization, in fact, Navi’s appearance, their lifestyle, and even the bond that Navi people have with the land all remind the audiences of the Indians. A movie is a form of art that ‘underscore the subterranean, hidden aspects of society … They mark historical evolution are an essential document for understanding how each culture represents itself’ (Francesco Castti, 1999, theories of Cinema, 1945-1995, Austin: University of Texas Press). Therefore, Avatar can be considered as an introspection of the dark history, James posed questions in the movie, every audience has their different answers to the questions. The audiences, however, answering those question unconsciously; the characters themselves represent different standpoints, while audience bonding and identifying as one character, the audience already choose a standpoint and therefore answered the questions already. The theme of colonialism in Avatar can be interrupted in both ways, the desire for land, the resources, and the desire for a ‘new home’ which leads to the desire to invade and to destroy. The essential curiousness, exploring the world we live in, and the excitement of finding the ‘new world.' Colonialism can’t be justified, however, the desire always lays there, the war and the conflict, and the hunger for power, for greater things. The storyline set up of Avatar can also be interrupted as an introspection and judgment to the American history, as a white male, James expresses his thoughts on this certain issue, as some audiences might experience the sense of ‘guilt’ unconsciously. The audiences got to view the message that the creators are sending in the movie, can analysis, therefore participate in the
There are countless similarities as well as differences between chapter 12 of “Creating America: A History of the United States” by McDougal Littell and the movie “Avatar”. Among the topics of “Avatar” and chapter 12 that share similarities and differences is why the whites wanted the Native American’s land, and why the humans wanted the land of the Na’vi people. Also, how the Natives tried to adjust. Furthermore, how the natives resisted. These are just a few examples of many that show both how different and at the same time how similar “Avatar” is to chapter 12.
Throughout time, many people feel as if they have lost their connection to their cultural from outside influences and numerous disruptions. Disruptions to one’s cultural can be seen in the Picture book The Rabbits by john Marsden and Shaun tan which is an an allegory of the invasion of Australia. Another example is the film avatar by James Cameron. The creators of these works are expressing the effect of man on nature and disruption it brings upon the cultural of the indigenous people who are the traditional owners of the land.
Over past decades, Hollywood movies have brought out the representations of racial inequality through out various themes of racism and stereotypical ways. One frequent type of racial inequality is that there is a culture or race that is belittled, under-privilege and inferior while the other is superior and high in order. In “The Offensive Movie Cliché That Won’t Die” by Matt Zoller Seitz, He identifies the term “magical negro” as: “a saintly African American character who acts as a mentor to a questing white hero, who seems to be disconnected from the community that he adores so much, and who often seems to have an uncanny ability to say and do exactly what needs to be said or done in order to keep the story chugging along in the hero’s favor” (408) and in Mitu Sengupta “ Race Relations Light Years from the Earth” the author examines the movie Avatar as a racist film, and focuses on how it resembles the “white messiah” stereotype. The term “white messiah” is known as a white individual who hold superior power, according to David Brooks of the New York Times, “a stereotype that white people are rationalistic and technocratic while colonial victims are spiritual and athletic, and that nonwhites need the White Messiah to lead their crusades” (Sengupta 213). Both articles dwell and explain the two terms and how it portrays the themes of racism and stereotypes through two elements, known as author’s purpose and main idea. These elements effectively convey the theme because it prevents our thoughts from being scattered by a broad spectrum of ideas and instead, it tells you exactly what is going to be discussed throughout the article.
In the book Bad Indians, Miranda talks about the many issues Indigenous People go through. Miranda talks about the struggles Indigenous people go through; however, she talks about them in the perspective of Native Americans. Many people learn about Indigenous People through classrooms and textbooks, in the perspective of White people. In Bad Indians, Miranda uses different literary devices to show her perspective of the way Indigenous People were treated, the issues that arose from missionization, as well as the violence that followed through such issues. Bad Indians is an excellent example that shows how different history is told in different perspectives.
She examines some similarities in today’s “white culture” and the historical attitude of the exploring Europeans. The Europeans, when inhabiting North America, “just moved in and said they had God on their side and the Indians weren’t much anyway but a few of them could work for them sometimes if they behaved themselves, and the rest were lined up for disposal” (377). The Europeans believed themselves superior to the Indians; any and all action – fair and unfair alike – taken against the Indians was justifiable because it helped the Europeans. Grover argues that this irresponsible approach is the basis of the white culture. White culture is simply American culture taken and modified as seen fit by white people.
One could easily dismiss movies as superficial, unnecessarily violent spectacles, although such a viewpoint is distressingly pessimistic and myopic. In a given year, several films are released which have long-lasting effects on large numbers of individuals. These pictures speak
The American science fiction film ‘Avatar’, directed by James Cameron is about Jake Sully, a paralysed former marine who becomes an avatar to take his place on a mission on the distant world of Pandora. There, he meets the Na’vi people and gets attached to living in harmony with nature, where he must save their land when being attacked by humans. The story line of Avatar follows closely with ‘The Hero’s Journey’ which focuses on how the main character is experiencing a change from his ordinary world, turning into an avatar to explore a new world. Primarily, Avatar captures a call to adventure to begin the hero’s journey. The film also explores a new approach with crossing the first threshold of the hero’s joinery which is conveyed through a range of cinematic techniques. Furthermore, Sully experiences a major ordeal followed by a reward shown in a variety of dramatic shots.
Stanley, Robert H. The Movie Idiom: Film as a Popular Art Form. Illinois: Waveland Press, Inc. 2011. Print
As a result, both films represent Natives Americans under the point of view of non-Native directors. Despite the fact that they made use of the fabricated stereotypes in their illustrations of the indigenous people, their portrayal was revolutionary in its own times. Each of the films add in their own way a new approach to the representation of indigenous people, their stories unfold partly unlike. These differences make one look at the indigenous not only as one dimensional beings but as multifaceted beings, as Dunbar say, “they are just like us.” This is finally a sense of fairness and respect by the non-native populations to the Native Indians.
Movies distort reality by creating an ideal conflictual ambience, from which all the subtle human emotions and the characters arise. Humans might appear as consensus beings, seeking conformation and avoiding alienation by “society”. However, referring back to Aristotle’s saying, “human beings are by nature political animals” (1999), humans continually strive for power and control inasmuch as they strive for pure oxygen to breathe. Movies unleash these “socially unacceptable” political animals, exposing the hidden moral corruption embedded within most humans. Movies accomplish such a task by distorting reality, by reshaping the truth into a collection of video shots, taken from different angles, creating different meanings to content; the true meaning. The three genres of literature – narratives, poetry and drama – establish the key to revealing the distortion, thus providing humans with the ultimate method of deciphering our reality through the eyes of a glass lens. In the movie Do the Right Thing, these genres come together to paint a “picture” of us.
Film and literature are two media forms that are so closely related, that we often forget there is a distinction between them. We often just view the movie as an extension of the book because most movies are based on novels or short stories. Because we are accustomed to this sequence of production, first the novel, then the motion picture, we often find ourselves making value judgments about a movie, based upon our feelings on the novel. It is this overlapping of the creative processes that prevents us from seeing movies as distinct and separate art forms from the novels they are based on.
...he environment in which they are set, while still representing the on-going struggle for physical and idealogical control. Both deal with the opposing parties presented in the films, the Na’vi and indians, as they pose as threats to the desired balance in social order. Eventually, these threats are resolved and dealt with in different ways, but nevertheless achieve the goal of restoring balance and tranquility once again to the society. Films like The Searchers and Avatar, continue to address cultural issues and the results of disparity between groups. However, by continually demonstrating that through embracing certain perspectives and principles these differences can be resolved into positive outcomes, these films project the audience’s and filmmakers’ actual desire to conform any outside threats that could endanger the established conventions of everyday life.
Since the creation of films, their main goal was to appeal to mass audiences. However, once, the viewer looks past the appearance of films, the viewer realizes that the all-important purpose of films is to serve as a bridge connecting countries, cultures, and languages. This is because if you compare any two films that are from a foreign country or spoken in another language, there is the possibility of a connection between the two because of the fact that they have a universally understanding or interpretation. This is true for the French New Wave films; Contempt and Breathless directed by Jean-Luc Godard, and contemporary Indian films; Earth and Water directed by Deepa Mehta. All four films portray an individual’s role in society using sound and editing.
The postmodern cinema emerged in the 80s and 90s as a powerfully creative force in Hollywood film-making, helping to form the historic convergence of technology, media culture and consumerism. Departing from the modernist cultural tradition grounded in the faith in historical progress, the norms of industrial society and the Enlightenment, the postmodern film is defined by its disjointed narratives, images of chaos, random violence, a dark view of the human state, death of the hero and the emphasis on technique over content. The postmodernist film accomplishes that by acquiring forms and styles from the traditional methods and mixing them together or decorating them. Thus, the postmodern film challenges the “modern” and the modernist cinema along with its inclinations. It also attempts to transform the mainstream conventions of characterization, narrative and suppresses the audience suspension of disbelief. The postmodern cinema often rejects modernist conventions by manipulating and maneuvering with conventions such as space, time and story-telling. Furthermore, it rejects the traditional “grand-narratives” and totalizing forms such as war, history, love and utopian visions of reality. Instead, it is heavily aimed to create constructed fictions and subjective idealisms.
“Entertainment has to come hand in hand with a little bit of medicine, some people go to the movies to be reminded that everything’s okay. I don’t make those kinds of movies. That, to me, is a lie. Everything’s not okay.” - David Fincher. David Fincher is the director that I am choosing to homage for a number of reasons. I personally find his movies to be some of the deepest, most well made, and beautiful films in recent memory. However it is Fincher’s take on story telling and filmmaking in general that causes me to admire his films so much. This quote exemplifies that, and is something that I whole-heartedly agree with. I am and have always been extremely opinionated and open about my views on the world and I believe that artists have a responsibility to do what they can with their art to help improve the culture that they are helping to create. In this paper I will try to outline exactly how Fincher creates the masterpieces that he does and what I can take from that and apply to my films.