High School Musical The transcendentalist ideal of nonconformity is a prevalent theme in the 2006 Disney movie series, High School Musical. The depiction of a modern high school emphasizes nonconformity in contemporary society through its illustration of Troy Bolton, a basketball player, challenging the social norm by auditioning for the school musical. Throughout the progression of the film, Troy refuses to comply with the demands of his father and peers, as they frequently call for him to not partake in the play because he is a basketball player. With Troy’s rejection other students begin to assert their unique talents that defy their stereotypes. Another basketball player, Zeke Baylor, asserts his culinary talents and Martha Cox, despite her intellectual abilities, establishes her dancing skills. Emerson and Thoreau would support Troy’s repudiation of societal pressures and his ability to refuse to conform to the precedents set forth by society. The Lorax …show more content…
Within the film and book, the Lorax, many transcendantlists ideals arise inlcuidng those of noncomformity, the love and preserverence of nature and the codemning of societal institutions.
The Lorax, is a small orange creature who deomstrates a love of the envrionment and a desire to preserve it. However, his wishes are interuppted by the Once-ler as he endeavors to create an aritfical society and succeeds. Transcendentalism manifests through the creation of these two characters as the Lorax can represedent the transdentalists love of nature, while the Once-ler may illustrate societys corruption of its destructive nature. Moreover, the film and piece of literature display the ability of an indiviudal to be corrupted by society and the advantage of living alone in nature, as the Lorax did. To further explain, the transdentalist belief of noncomformity is depicted through the character Ted, as he strives to find a real tree despite societys love of their fake
ones. Barbie With the evolution of contemporary society companies are derving new products that adpat to the changing times. Barbie, for example, is creating a new line of dolls that promote noncomformity in young girls. The newly established dolls adhere to all body types including, tall, petite and curvy, and contain stickers of scars, freckles, and other imperfections a normal girl will have. Therefore, the desire to conform to the image asserted by the Barbies will be removed, thus, allowing young children to remain individualistic and believe thet are beautiful despite imperfections. Emerson and Thoreau, as transcendalista, are noncomformists and would approve of the endeavors to prohibit comformity and create more individualism in society.
In the environment, there are many people who have different views on how we use the ecosystem for our needs. Both the Truax and the Lorax are respectful and conserving of the environment, but in different ways. The Lorax has a more pessimistic view, and the Truax has a more optimistic view on how we are using the environment for our needs. There are different ways they show their different views.
The movie Moana is about a young girl who goes upon a voyage to return the heart of
Transcendentalism plays a key role in all of our lives. Many commonly shared values are rooted from the transcendental keys. Some devote their entire lives to try and live as transcendental as possible. For example, Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson were huge undertakers in these ideas and virtues. Chris McCandless looked up to these great thinkers and many others to find an outline for his life. McCandless dedicated his entire life to following many transcendental keys such as non-conformity, reducing dependence on property, and self-reliance.
In the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson, “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” The father of transcendentalism, Emerson believed that people who resist change to be what is most natural, themselves, are the true heroes of the world. Ken Kesey, another popular writer, wrote One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest in a similar spirit. His novel takes place on the ward of a controlling army nurse at an Oregon mental institution in the late 1950s. The storyline mainly follows the interactions between Nurse Ratched, a manipulating representation of society, and Randle Patrick McMurphy, a patient, gambler, and renegade. Kesey echoes the transcendentalists and romantics in his work by
Transcendentalism is a philosophical movement that came to light in the 1820s. It was a movement that challenged the basic everyday life of society such as intellect and religion. A famous Transcendentalist named David Henry Thoreau wrote many acclaimed works. In Walden, Thoreau talks about how he lived his life to find if it had any meaning. Similarly to Thoreau, in the movie, The Perks to Being a Wallflower, a young man named Charlie, started high school with the same mindset, to find himself and what life meant to him. Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger is a novel that shows the life of a boy named Holden who, like Thoreau and Charlie, is questioning himself and everything around him. Thoreau, Charlie and Holden are searching for what makes
Throughout Dead Poets Society, there is a crucial theme of transcendentalism suspended over the plot; perhaps this theme is the reason why the story is so interesting to its viewers. Without a doubt, these interesting aspects are created by a variety of symbols, carefully molded into each scene of the story. Being that there exists several symbolic scenes, one must take a step back and look at this story as a whole. This perspective will make the main symbol stand out, as it lasts for the duration of the movie. The most powerful symbol is the character of John Keating, portraying God in the eyes of transcendentalism.
Transcendentalism, a philosophy that began in the 19th century, advocates that humans are naturally good and all individuals have potential. In high school, developing into a unique and self-assured person can be a difficult task. Students feel the need to be accepted by their peers and standing out against the crowd can be difficult. Students should be exposed to transcendentalist ideas would be able to fight this battle and leave high school unscathed. Many argue that transcendentalist beliefs cause problems as students cannot think for themselves at a young age. However, students who do not think for themselves while in high school will never develop the ability to think for themselves. The morals and beliefs of a student should not be handed to them on a silver platter the way there are in realist teachings. Instead, they must discover and test their beliefs. Although some argue transcendentalism would cause students to rebel, students in high school should embrace transcendentalist ideas as students would be more likely to believe in their capabilities, rely less on the opinion of others, and find their own way of thinking.
Perhaps one of the most meaningful maxims Emerson wrote would have to be "Insist on yourself, never imitate." This statement captures the total essence of transcendentalism; deny the will and aspirations of others, and follow your own heart.The movie Dead Poets Society begins by introducing the viewers to Todd Anderson, a very subdued and quiet young man. Todd has the average inferiority complex. He is a very bright young man with exceptional abilities. Todd is unwilling to speak his mind for fear of non-acceptance. Charles Dalton is a seemingly average student with a rebellious attitude. He has already realized that the students are being "brainwashed" into living a preordained life.
In these movies the best way for the characters to express these feelings, was through song. Grease used the lyrics ¨My head is saying fool forget him my heart is saying don't let go¨ sung by Sandy during her rough patch with Danny, while danny sang ¨ there's nothing left of me love has flown all alone, I sit and wonder why¨. These characters are going through their first real heartbreak, and neither one of them knows how to explain how they are truly feeling so they put their thoughts into song. The same is true for High School Musical when Troy and Gabriella have deep inner thought about how they are unable to decipher what their hearts wants, as evidence by Troy's words¨My heads in the game but my heart's in the song¨” (Ortega, Kenny n.pag). Troy explains his fear of losing his social status buy being incapable of deciding because of the fear of what others may think. ¨ have you ever thought of trying something new but more worried of what your friends might think?¨ (Ortega, Kenny n.pag). Troy is in the middle of an internal conflict about whether to pick his social status or his dreams, ¨whenever he had to face his peers regarding the truth, he denies it to keep his social status intact¨ ( D.,Sunshine n.pag.). This internal debate is carried through these movies as these teenagers live their high school experiences. Showing just how similar their high school experiences
Transcendentalism is based on the belief that institutions in the society corrupt an individual’s purity. Transcendentalists believe that people are at their best when they are truly independent and self-reliant. They also believe that from independence and self-reliance, a true community is formed. Even though Transcendentalism is not recognized, it still exists in the modern society. Though not clearly outspoken as in Emerson and Thoreau’s times, many people in today’s society still have transcendental beliefs. Transcendental ideals are found in songs, films, books and other works such as media and advertisements. One example is the song “Get up, Stand up,” by Bob Marley, it is found to be influenced and has inspiration of transcendental elements such as Solitude (individuality), self-reliance, non-conformism (anti-institution), anti-materialism, nature and spirituality.
The high schools are made up of cliques and the artificial intensity of a world defined by insiders and outsiders. (Botstein pg.20) The insiders hold control. over the outsiders because of good looks, popularity, and sports power; the teacher. and staff do nothing to stop them, the elite.
Troy Maxson is the leading character here in this play, it is evident that there are many conflicts Troy faces throughout this play, from the time he wanted to become professional baseball player but society prohibited from doing so because of racial barriers,
Many people have theories and philosophies about life in general. There have been hundreds of thousands of books published by many different people on the ideas of people in the past and the present. Transcendentalism falls in amongst all of these ideas. There have been articles, essays, poems, and even books written about this subject. Transcendentalism has effected many people since the philosophy was first introduced. The idea was complex and hard to grasp for many commoners and therefore it was understood by few people, and some would think that the idea was not understood at all and that was part of the idea. Henry David Thoreau once stated about himself, “I should have told them at once that I was a transcendentalist. That would have been the shortest way of telling them that they would not understand my explanations” (Reuben 1).
Initially starting as a religious and philosophical reform movement in the Unitarian church, Transcendentalism is the philosophy emphasizing individualistic spiritual intuition transcending empirical thinking and material based scientific knowledge utilized to comprehend and interpret reality and the connection between the world, the universe, and the individual. Since Transcendentalist acknowledge that humans are inherently born morally and ethically unbiased, they believe that society and its established institutions corrupt the untainted individual. The social and religious conformities of the society imposed on Huck Finn is shown through The Widows and Miss Watson’s adopting of Huck as an attempt to civilize and cleanse him, “The Widow
With continued encouragement and motivation, Dewey starts to gain the trust of his skeptical and untrusting class. Throughout the movie you witness the transformation of each student as they learn to eliminate the “voice of criticism” and start believing in themselves. For example, Tomika, a shy and insecure girl who was afraid to sing in front of her peers because of fear she would be teased about her weight, blossoms into a courageous backup singer who rocks it out on stage at the Battle of the Bands concert. The nerdy keyboard player Lawrence, who Dewy calls “Mr. Cool”, also learns to emerge from his shell and find his inner groove.