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Recommended: Violence in films
The two movies, Gun Crazy and Bonnie and Clyde, hinge around the notion of violence. The major themes that these movies address are violence, and general crime. Each movie indicates some elements of order and elements of chaos. This explains why the classical narratives and Hollywood genres address the issue of chaos and order as they prevail in society. Comparing the two elements, it is evident that Bonnie and Clyde draw much from Gun Crazy in many aspects. There is mass shooting in both the movies, which is an indication of violence that exists in their respective societies. The characters become entangled in criminal activities with different motivations. There are various factors which trigger the pairs in both the movies to carry out crime in the society. This study seeks to prove that classical narratives and Hollywood genres are structured along the lines of conflict between order and chaos through their inherent themes within their social and ideological contexts.
Gun Crazy portrays the idea of chaos in distinct ways. As a young person, at the age of 14, Bart Tare robs a hardware store and makes away with a gun. The issue of robbing a store represents existence of chaos in the society since stealing is not a virtue but a vice that exist in the world. A later marriage between Bart and Laurie triggers the genesis of the existence for chaos portrayed in the movie (Lewis, 1950). After the marriage, the couple runs out of money and as such, Anne gives Bart a stark choice. It is either he joins her in a career of crime or she abandons him. Both these characters are the epitome of chaos. In Bonnie and Clyde, chaos begins to occur when the two stars meet at an episode when Clyde is attempting to steal Bonnie's mothers car. Bonnie ...
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...ly towards eliminating chaos in the society and establishing order.
Ultimately, it is clear that classical narratives and Hollywood genres are structured along the lines of conflict between order and chaos, the law breakers cause chaos as per the genres, while the police and the FBI in each case take to implement order by arresting the people who bring about chaos. Unruly civilians also carry out crime in order to establish chaos. The authority represented by police and FBI implement order by following lawbreakers in order to ensure that they are sentenced as appropriate.
References
Lewis, J, H, dir, 1950, Gun crazy, Retrieved from, http://viooz.co/movies/19511-gun-crazy-deadly-is-the-female-1950.html /. (Accessed February 26 2014).
Penn, A, dir, 1967. Bonnie and Clyde, Retrieved from, http://www.sockshare.com/file/21CFED1064F7D713# (Accessed 27 February 2014).
"A Loaded Gun," is a piece by Patrick Radden Keefe, which published on February 11 and 18, 2013 on The New Yorker weekly magazine. This piece revolves around Amy Bishop, a neuroscientist working at the University of Alabama, Huntsville city. On the day of February 12, 2012, at the conference room of the Shelby Center for Science and Technology, Bishop used a 9-mm rifle killed three colleagues and wounded three others. The question is how does a person with a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph. D) from prestigious university of Harvard, with a cozy family-a husband and four children, with no criminal record turn into such a cold-blooded killer? Does Bishop's tenure ended is the main reason that leads to the crime, or because of her "gun accidents" that
1. Sobchack’s argument pertaining to on -screen violence that she wrote thirty years ago was that any violent acts portrayed in movies back then was to emphasize the importance of an element in a story, an emphatic way of engaging the viewers and forcing them to feel what the movie was about. It gave them a sense of the substance of the plot which would allow them to feel for the characters and yearn for good to overcome evil. In other words, the effort made to engage audiences through depictions of violence created violence that was artistic and well done, or as Sobchack writes, violence was “aestheticized.” Violence was incorporated into film in a stylistic way, and even though violence in all forms is offending, twenty five years ago when it was seen in film, it had a greater impact on audiences because it had meaning (Sobchack 429).
In “The Thematic Paradigm,” University of Florida professor of film studies, Robert Ray, defines two types of heroes pervading American films, the outlaw hero and the official hero. Often the two types are merged in a reconciliatory pattern, he argues. In fact, this
There Will be Blood (2007) is an entertaining movie that delineates in various forms that will be discussed from other western genres. It is a story that is formed from a novel by Upton Sinclair’s book, Oil! (1927) (Belton, 2009, p.401). Many westerns were based on dime novels that were written in the mid and late 1800s (Belton, 2009, p.246). American society was going through a transitional period from an agrarian society to an industrial society in the 1800s and early 1900s (Wright 2001; Desk Encyclopedia, 1989, pp. 27-28, 630-631). The change in revolutions could explain the difference in most western genres and the movie There Will be Blood. In fact, one important different aspect is the contrasts between There Will be Blood and other westerns is that most westerns are based on novels that were written earlier than Upton Sinclair’s OIL!. The United States had become more industrial and had started to change their morals, interactions, rationality, autonomy, and self-interests. These differences will compared by showing how There Will be Blood uses an anti-hero, industrialism, deceit, greed, and what is to be considered a more eastern way of life.
Case one was in August of 1906 when John asked Polly Hutchison’s parents for permission to ask for Polly’s hand in marriage. They were all very excited about this “and a bit relieved after Jack’s dramatic announcement, that if he wasn’t allowed to marry Polly, he would blow his brains out” (8). People who have a stable mental state do not threaten to commit suicide, especially when it is hardly necessary. In another instance, Simmie mentions Jessie having to hide John’s guns; “she had hidden his service revolver more than once when he threatened to kill himself,” (110). A new wife having to hide her husband’s service revolver to prevent him from committing suicide is not normal and is just another reason Sergeant John Wilson is insane. As well, while John is fantasizing about a life with Jessie he considers how great his life could be if Polly “conveniently died”(56). Luckily for Polly, John decides not to proceed in that direction right away because many people in Regina know Polly, but he never once states murder would be wrong. John having thoughts of harming him or others for personal benefits is not a healthy mentality to
A question that arises in almost any medium of art, be it music, film or literature, is whether or not the depiction of violence is merely gratuitous or whether it is a legitimate artistic expression. There can be no doubt that Michael Ondaatje's long poem The Collected Works of Billy the Kid is a violent work, but certain factors should be kept in mind before passing it off as an attempt to shock and titillate; certainly, the poem does both of these, but they are not the primary purpose of the work. For one thing, social context needs to be considered; Billy lived in the "Wild West", a time associated with range wars, shoot-outs and great train robberies. The entire legend of Billy the Kid has been built around his criminal activities and notorious reputation; indeed, the more popular this myth becomes, the more people he is accused of having murdered. If anything, it was a cultural fascination with violence that "created" the legend, perhaps even more so than anything the "real" Billy ever did. Michael Ondaatje comments on this phenomenon and actually offers an alternative vision of who Billy the Kid was; perhaps he was not just a blood-thirsty killer but a man who, due to circumstance and human nature, was continually being pushed over the edge. Ondaatje is more concerned with the motivations behind the acts of violence than the acts of violence themselves: "A motive? some reasoning we can give to explain all this violence. Was there a source for all this? yup -" (54). If they shock, it is to shock the readers out of complicity and encourage them to think about the nature of violence and their own capacity for it.
The focus of this essay is to study the genre codes and conventions in psychological thrillers which are a very popular ‘sub-genre’ of thriller movies which focuses heavily on its characters and integrates a variety of components from the mystery and drama genre as well as the thriller genre. The target audience for this particular genre would be those who live on adrenaline and love plot twists.
Some of these ways that crime films can be depicted are even found in the films A Simple Plan and Erin Brochovich. According to the readings of Rafter there are four primary explanations used in crime films to explain to audiences “why criminals go bad?”
In America, violence has always been an integral part of national culture. Crime and bloodshed are glorified both on and off screen. The more disturbing the act of violence, the more enthralled the public seems. The most prolific of crimes, those committed by infamous serial killers, inspire the most attention. As said by Jeff Lindsay, creator of the book series that inspired the wildly-popular television program, Dexter, “We’re sickened and disgusted, but we need to know. And the more we know about the scene, the more we really are horrified” (“Sympathy for the Devils”). Violence, especially committed by this special class of felons, is enthralling. News reports play a role in this strange attraction, as it is through the news that people even have knowledge of such killers, but the evolution in the “serial killer genre” (Lindsay, “Sympathy for the Devils”) of film and television helps to desensitize people to the gruesome murders that are committed. This begs the question of whether this disturbing trend should be stopped, lest the American “culture of violence” (this has a source) continues to grow stronger. Through news reports, film, and television, criminals are constantly romanticized through use of sympathetic characterization and gratuitous depictions of their crimes, which lends to peoples’ increasingly positive attitudes toward violence and, in turn, feeds the growing culture of violence in America.
The purpose of the proposed study is to apply one of the many theories learned over the semester and apply it to a movie character to explain their criminality. In order to understand criminality we first must understand the definition of crime. “Crime is human conduct that violates the criminal laws of state, the federal government, or a local jurisdiction that has the power to make and enforce the laws” (Schmalleger 2). In the American crime drama film directed by Taylor Hackford Blood In Blood Out Bound by Honor follows the lives of three Hispanic relatives. They start out as members of a street gang called the Vatos Locos in East Los Angeles. After dramatic incidents occur in the young men lives honor and family ties are forever changed. In this study, the main focus point is going to be on one of the relatives Miklo “Milkweed” Velka who throughout his life was looking for acceptance from family and friends.
In the article “The Thematic Paradigm” exerted from his book, A Certain Tendency of the Hollywood Cinema, Robert Ray provides a description of the two types of heroes depicted in American film: the outlaw hero and the official hero. Although the outlaw hero is more risky and lonely, he cherishes liberty and sovereignty. The official hero on the other hand, generally poses the role of an average ordinary person, claiming an image of a “civilized person.” While the outlaw hero creates an image of a rough-cut person likely to commit a crime, the official hero has a legend perception. In this essay, I will reflect on Ray’s work, along with demonstrating where I observe ideologies and themes.
Manson criticizes the media’s actions and comments about how bullied children could turn these two criminals into their new idols. He wants the reader to see that publicizing violence has only made matters worse and not to “expect the end of the world to come out of the blue- it’s been happening every day for a long time” (Manson 421). For Manson, he see understands that incidence of violence has not increased, it’s the spread of the knowledge that has
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When discussing violence in television and how it relates to society, there may be no better show than Breaking Bad. Breaking Bad is notorious for its violence, whether mental or physical, and several other instances of illegal crime. Our group decided it would be necessary to analyze the show and find out how it could affecting society with its mischief and violence. We chose the first four episodes of the entire show to showcase how quickly viewers of all ages are thrown into the violence of Breaking Bad. With this approach, the viewer is able to get a grasp on just how violent this show may become, and one may also get a glimpse on the nature of the show itself. The first four episodes are important to a show because it sets the tone for the rest of the series. Breaking Bad is one of the most popular shows in American
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