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Women in Chinese culture
Women in Chinese culture
Asian art and visual culture
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A Chinese nightclub in San Francisco, Forbidden City was a starting point for Asian Americans’ expression of their Artistic Freedom. In the film, a Chinese woman stated that the old time Chinese people were close-minded, and the gender roles and duties are very limited. Men were considered to follow what their father was doing for living and women take care of their husband and children. Although they wanted to do something different and express their artistic talents though music, acting and performance, people thought that it is insane and immoral to work in entertainment industry. Asian people kept their desire to sing, dance and act in secret and never showed them in public. Therefore, Western people thought that Asians were not artistic
The film Sunset Boulevard, presented in 1950 is a black and white film. The film is about Norma Desmond an old actress, who has issues accepting that she is becoming old. The main actor in the film is Gloria Swanson, who plays Norma Desmond, an older woman who believes she is still young. Desmond is not content with the fact that Hollywood has replaced her with younger actresses. The next actor Nancy Olson, plays Betty Schaffer who falls in love with Gillis despite being engaged to his friend. The third actor is William Holden who plays as Joe Gillis, who has financial problems and decides to turn himself into a gigolo to earn money. The dilemma with Joe is he does not want Betty to know about his job because he knows he might lose Betty as
Elements of film noir and german expressionism are very prominent in the 1974 film Chinatown and the 1950 film Sunset Boulevard. However, each film executes each film style in a different way. Some of the film noir elements used in Sunset Boulevard include dark shadows, lowkey lighting, and non traditional camera angles as well as it is filmed in black and white. These elements helped create a dark and mysterious ambience. On the other hand, the film Chinatown breaks the stereotype of filming in black and white but still keeps the tradition of having dark shadows, low key lighting, as well as a mysterious feel. The elements of german expressionism
The film West Side takes place in New York City where a Polish- American gang, referred to as the Jets, competes against a Puerto Rican gang, the Sharks, to own the neighborhood streets. The central theme of this film is passionate love that defies friendships, family and other factors. To add to that, the dominating genre of the film is a musical involving drama and romance.
“There once was a time in this business when I had the eyes of the whole world! But that wasn't good enough for them, oh no! They had to have the ears of the whole world too. So they opened their big mouths and out came talk. Talk! TALK!” (Sunset Boulevard). The film Sunset Boulevard directed by Billy Wilder focuses on a struggling screen writer who is hired to rewrite a silent film star’s script leading to a dysfunctional and fatal relationship. Sunset Boulevard is heavily influenced by the history of cinema starting from the 1930s to 1950 when the film was released.
The film, Fruitvale Station, is based upon a true story of a young, unarmed African American male, Oscar, who was shot by a Caucasian BART police officer. The film displays the final twenty-fours of Oscar Grant’s lives going through his struggles, triumphs, and eager search to change his life around. There will be an analysis of the sociological aspects displayed throughout the movie that show racism, prejudice, and discrimination.
White women were considered more outgoing than Chinese women. Thus, when Gallimard finds Liling, he thinks he has found a woman of his fantasies, a woman he can have as a mistress but who will not tell his wife, only be submissive to him. Rene Gallimard fantasized about being a true man because they did not consider Chinese men real men or masculine. During the scene when Song and the judge are talking, Song says, "Her eyes say yes, but her mouth says no. The West thinks of itself as masculine, big guns, big industry, while the East is feminine, weak, and delicate."
From the opening scene of Chinatown, we are immediately drawn into the movie. Confused, intrigued and maybe even aroused by the photos being looked at of two people having sex. Turns out J.J. Gittes, a private investigator, just brought back evidence to a client that his wife is having an affair. Gittes is slouched back in his chair with a cigarette throwing sarcastic comments left and right, and we soon realize he isn't your typical film noir detective. The aura that the set design gives off is like getting off a time machine we didn't know we were stepping foot on. From the pictures on the walls to the stores throughout the town, we are back in the 1930's without any hint of doubt. Not only is the characterization and set design a few of the aspects that makes this movie a classic, it is the directing that allows us to see this movie through the eyes of the main character Gittes. We see what he sees, we only know what he knows, and at some points we can even feel what he feels. These top tactics are a few of the film's strongest points that make it so entertaining and allow for its success in the genre of film noir.
In his 1937 film Street Angel, Yuan explores the inequities facing Shanghai’s urban proletariat, an often-overlooked dimension of Chinese society. The popular imagination more readily envisions the agrarian systems that governed China before 1919 and after 1949, but capitalism thrived in Shanghai during that thirty-year buffer between feudalism and Communism. This flirtation with the free market engendered an urban working class, which faced tribulations and injustices that supplied Shanghai’s leftist filmmakers with ample subject matter. Restrained by Kuomintang censorship from directly attacking Chinese capitalism, Yuan employs melodrama to expose Street Angel’s bourgeois audience to the plight of the urban poor. Yuan presents capitalist Shanghai as a binary and deeply unequal society, at odds with the “more pluralistic sense of cosmopolitanism” desired by leftist filmmakers of the 1930s (Pang 62).
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.
In the documentary “Fed Up,” sugar is responsible for Americas rising obesity rate, which is happening even with the great stress that is set on exercise and portion control for those who are overweight. Fed Up is a film directed by Stephanie Soechtig, with Executive Producers Katie Couric and Laurie David. The filmmaker’s intent is mainly to inform people of the dangers of too much sugar, but it also talks about the fat’s in our diets and the food corporation shadiness. The filmmaker wants to educate the country on the effects of a poor diet and to open eyes to the obesity catastrophe in the United States. The main debate used is that sugar is the direct matter of obesity. Overall, I don’t believe the filmmaker’s debate was successful.
I chose to view the movie Lion, a movie based on the book A Long Way Home by Saroo Brierley. This movie is about a five-year-old boy, Saroo, living in a poor, rural area in India. Saroo convinces his older brother Guddu, to let him tag along and find work in a nearby city. Saroo ends up trapped and alone in a decommissioned passenger train that takes him to Calcutta, over 1,000 miles away from his home.
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
There are obvious differences within our two cultures and the way we depict gender roles. These differences show themselves in the work force, the distinct tasks performed in the home, and the privileges one receives in society. In the work force, the women of America hold many positions of importance, relatively speaking (I know that's a whole other essay). They are usually treated as equals with men and there are few jobs from which they are excluded, again for the sake of argument. In China, women are expected to stay at home and are not permitted to be in a work force that is held exclusively for men. They are assigned the role of housewives and must stay at home to clean the house and raise the children. Women in America receive education that will prepare them for the high paying jobs of a professional, all while the women in China are obeying the orders from their husbands and culture. The films portrayal of these particular gender roles are very evident. We can't forget however, that this was a western made film and in my opinion I feel that it tends to exaggerate the gender roles. I'm not saying that they are not present, because there is a definite inequality. I just keep in mind that it is a film and has to have an audience appealing theme.
The Monuments Men was released in 2014, is rated PG-13, and was directed by George Clooney. The movie begins with Frank Stokes convincing President Roosevelt that even when they win the war, if the artwork from throughout history is lost, the victory would not mean much. Roosevelt gives his approval, and Stokes begins to gather a team. He puts together a ragtag team of middle-aged art enthusiasts and curators to help save artwork from the Nazis. The film focuses on 7 Monuments Men and their journey throughout Europe to recover the essence of Western civilization.
In the modern day era, we find in society a ubiquitous usage of technology that seems to be never ending and forever growing. Included with this notion, the broad subject of surveillance is of course included. Contemporary surveillance, or more specifically technological surveillance, has been described as ambiguous; meaning that it is often misunderstood or open to different interpretations. The representation of surveillance within popular culture has played an impacting role on how we as a society perceive it and this raises certain questions that may reflect back on to society. The 1998 film Enemy Of The State directed by Tony Scott, Starring Will Smith, Gene Hackman and Jon Voight is considered to be a ‘spy-thriller’ blockbuster. Its central themes explore a range of surveillance techniques and equipment and also provides some insights, no matter how realistic or unrealistic they may be, into the real life security organisation; The National Security Agency (NSA). Using this film as an example and analysing how these themes are represented will hopefully allow us to key these ideas back to modern surveillance theories and practices.