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Arguments against the death penalty
Arguments for and against the death penalty
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Film Analysis of Dead Man Walking For many years, the death penalty has been a punishment for severe crimes. However, the law has long moved on since then, and more humane ways of death have been devised for the few states where the death penalty is still legal. Lethal injection is now the main way of carrying out the penalty, and Texas is the state that uses it most. It is a very controversial punishment and the moral issues of it have been debated for a very long time. Many protests have been made to try and change this law, and they have been successful in most countries. The film ‘Dead man walking’ is set in the state of Louisiana, near Texas and re-enacts an ethical case where a decision whether to sentence a murder to death or not has to be made. During the film we can never be certain whether Tim Robbins is in favour, or against the death penalty. He uses very effective methods to represent both sides of this moral argument. For example, his methods include his choice of the character Matthew Poncelet, his choice of Sister Helen Prejean, sound effects and music, flashbacks, characters viewpoints, costumes and many more. One of the most important of these techniques is the way he has decided to present his main character, Sister Helen Prejean. The first time we see Helen Prejean is when she is driving to the ‘Hope House’ in her car. There is happy music in the background, which is another media technique used by director Tim Robbins to suggest to us that she is a likeable person. Also, there is scene skipping, between her driving, and a video of her confirmation. We can tell it is a video because it has a sepia effect, ... ... middle of paper ... ...t in our mind last. Straight away, we hear the voice of the priest speaking, as a voiceover at the very end of the execution scene. It carries through to the scene of Ponclet’s funeral. Because the last things we see are the dead body of Matthew Poncelet, and people grieving at his funeral, the last thing we think of is how much pain the death penalty has caused. This leaves us thinking the death penalty is wrong. Although Tim Robins tries to even out the arguments for and against, the arguments against come over stronger, and overall, this film portrays the death penalty as immoral. The vast amounts of media techniques and character choices allow Tim Robbins to make us see exactly what he wants us to and this film is a very good example of how media is used effectively in films to get the right final impression.
During the Talladega 500, Cal Naughton Jr., Ricky Bobby's former best friend, pulled ahead of Ricky, allowing him to slingshot around his car and pass Jean Girard. Though Cal and Girard were teammates at Dennit Racing, Cal disregarded this and jeopardized his team's success to aid Ricky in the movie Talledega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. This moment was crucial to Ricky, he having fallen from grace, going from NASCAR's top driver to being let go by Dennit Racing. The love Cal exhibited was a selfless form of love that was centered entirely around Ricky's happiness, not his own. Because of this selflessness, Cal compromised his own agenda, winning for Dennit, and disregarded personal consequence in hopes that Ricky would win the race. If you truly love someone as Cal loved Ricky, you must sometimes compromise your own interests for their benefit.
On October 14th, 2016 in class we watched “Two Spirits” by Lydia Nibley. Basically the film explored the cultural context behind a tragic and senseless murder of the main character. Fred was part of an honored “Navajo” youth who was killed at the age of sixteen by a man who bragged to his friends that he was nothing but a “fag”. While walking home from a carnival he was chased by one of his friends. Once his friend caught up to Fred, he pulled him down from a mountain and smashed his head with a heavy rock. Fred laid there for five days straight where two young boys found his body lying there. He was labeled as a “two-spirit” who was possessed of balancing masculine and feminine traits. In the film, there are two parts that are put together effortlessly like the people it discusses. Most of the documentary focuses on Fred’s murder, but the real issues in the film were those of the lesbian, gay, and transgender community and how its members were viewed in a
This paper entitled, Imitation of Life is based on the movie Imitation of Life. This movie is set in the 1940s. In the movie, an African American woman by the name of Annie becomes the care taker of a Caucasian woman's (Lora) daughter, Susie. In the movie, the caretaker Annie has a daughter named Sarah Jane. Sarah Jane is the product of a rape, performed by a Caucasian man, which results in her being fair skinned and able to pass as a Caucasian woman, which she does for a long time. Due to the fact this movie focuses on the themes of identity and class, I will use the following psychological views and tests to discuss how psychology can be demonstrated every day. The Kenneth
“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.
No one likes to be alone and stand out from the rest. Edward the main character in “Edward Scissorhands,” struggles to fit in with everyone in the community. This movie is about Edward, who has scissors as hands. He lives in a big castle on a big mountain looking over the town. The person who created him was just about to give him normal hands, but he died from a heart attack. For a while now, Edward has been living alone. One day, Peg a main character in the movie decides to take him home with her. Throughout the movie he starts to slowly adapt to the new environment and overcomes a few challenges. In the movie Edward Scissorhands,Tim Burton uses camera shots and camera movements to show the variance between the way Edward’s appearance and the way he is like.
This movie was inspiring and encouraging to anyone who is struggling with something. Overcoming his controversies in life became the main point of the movie. Knowing that this movie was based upon a true story inspires the people even more.
Baz Luhrmann has done this film in a unique and brilliant way, with help of the above, and of course a great loved story as a base.
The Bolshevik Revolution was a defining turning point in Russian history. This overall revolution consisted of two individual revolutions in 1917 which resulted in the overthrow of the Tsarist government and the formation of a socialist society led by Vladimir Lenin’s radical Bolsheviks. For a moment with such enormous weight like the Bolshevik Revolution, there will be various interpretations on the true results of that moment and the meaning and value of these results. The film Man with a Movie Camera deals with the results of the Bolshevik Revolution and the early Soviet Society it birthed as it utilizes footage of one day in this early Soviet Union, thus making it worthy of examination. In the film Man With a Movie Camera, Vertov impressively
1980. Warner Bros. Directed by Stanley Kubrick. Music by Wendy Carlos and Rcachel Elkind. Cinematography by John Alcott. Editing by Ray Lovejoy. With Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Danny Lloyd.
From the very beginning of the classic film, Ghostbusters, we can see that ghosts wander the halls of the library as the books are levitating across the aisles and drawers are being opened without the help of anyone or anything, so we think. In the movie, Professor Venkman and two students were conducting the experiments about ESP abilities. He purposely marked the girl as correct when she was guessing the figures even when she was incorrect, while the professor still electrically shocked the boy even when he was correct when he stated what figures they were . He makes believe as if this girl has some sort of psychic ability. However, as defined in class, one of the two kinds of parapsychology is ESP which stands for extrasensory perception. It
In the film Romero the main character Oscar Romero demonstrates various virtues such as charity and love, distributive justice and theological . Romero was a figure who was a hero towards people he made a change in society due to the virtues he carried out. To live a well Christian life we should recognize that virtues are a highly important like Romero said " Aspire not to have more but to be more" , In order to live in a community with respect we see it is hard to do because of the conflict around us. This is why we need justice in our life because a leader can come forth and advocate what are the wrongs in our society. Romero is that preacher who stood up for the El Salvadorian people he is the figure who did more and cared to spread the wrongs happening in the world.
While Imitation of Life 's main story involves the fortunes and loves of a central female character, this story intersects with the racially charged trials and tribulations of an African-American woman and her light-skinned daughter. Both films offer the view that a white woman can improve her circumstances with enough guts, ingenuity, and physical attractiveness, but that African Americans, even those light enough to pass for white, are inherently unable to realize the rags-to-riches dream of the self-made person that infects Americans to this very day.
In my own opinion I think this film is great. I think this because it
...y to become its core substance, and the hurdles he overcomes. I think the movie achieved that goal.