The Bird Cage movie review: Alex Newkirk The movie The Bird Cage is about a gay couple that owns a gay/drag queen night club in South Beach Florida. The couple is Robin Williams who plays Armand Goldman, whose is the partner, and Nathan Lane plays his partner Albert, who is also known as Starina throughout the movie. From the start you can tell that their night club is a major attraction and big hit for the gay community that resides in South Beach Florida. Armand’s partner Albert is a cross dresser that does a standup routine as well as being part owner with his partner Armand. They also have a cross dressing maid named Agador Spartacus; he is played by Hank Azaria. Armand is the plays the role of husband in the relationship, and Albert plays the role of the wife in their partnership. Armand has a son from a previous relationship …show more content…
with a woman. The father and son have a typical father, son relationship. Their sons name is Val Goldman. He is played by actor Dan Futterman. Armand’s son Val comes to South Beach Florida to see his father. Val is getting married to his fiancée Barbara. Val wants Armand and to meet Barbara’s family before the wedding. Barbara is played by Calista Flockhart. Barbara comes from a very ultra-conservative upbringing. Her father is a republican senator that has very ultra conservative views as well. Barbara’s father Kevin Keeley is played by Gene Hackman. His wife Louise Keeley is played by Dianne Wiest. Much like the Goldman family they also have a maid; she is played by Dorothy Constantine. Kevin is the Vice president of the Coalition for Moral order. Barbara and Val both know the nature of Kevin and Louise’s views on homosexuality. They both know that if Kevin found out he would majorly over react. Around this time Kevin’s co-founder of the Coalition for Moral Order is found dead with a underage prostitute. Kevin thinks this will ruin him in the voting poles. They decide to have the wedding for better publicity. Val approaches his father and asks him to be a business man in front of the Keely’s because they want to avoid any confrontations. Val also asks a very harsh favor of Armand, which was to send Albert away during the meeting, because they didn’t want the Keeley’s to figure things out. Before the wedding they cover up all evidence of their homosexuality in the house and replace it with things that are decorations that are straight people suitable. Albert doesn’t react very well when he finds the house made over for the wedding. He doesn’t take being not invited to the wedding very well either. Armand tries to make Albert into Val’s straight Uncle Al for the meeting. Armand goes to tell Val’s biological mother that he’s getting married and needs him to fill in as his mom at the family meeting. She agrees to come. . I think it’s a shame that Val tries to cover up his family and the upbringing that he comes from. Armand tried to get his mother not to come so Albert could be there, but Val tells her to come anyways. Armand changes the last name from Goldman to Coleman, to cover up the Jewish decent. When the families meet, its quiet and awkward as one might expect. Albert shows up as Val’s mother and starts to make a mess of everything Val and Armand have been working to cover up so much. The wife absolutely loves Albert. Keely tries to convey his ultraconservative views. Him and Albert land on the subject homosexuality. Him and Albert have a constructive exchange of opinions. The family loves Albert. One part I find so funny, is when during the dinner they have the homosexual themed China dishes, and the Keeley’s think it’s just the most interesting thing. Yet the Goldman’s over react and try to cover it up, it’s like covering up who you are. Things start to fall apart when Albert’s wig comes lose, and they suspect the bowls images, the Keeley’s are suspicious of their acting. Kevin critiques Armand’s left wing lifestyle. Things fall apart when Val’s real mother shows up. Val reveals that Albert is a drag queen. I think It’s great the Val decided to face the music. They find out that the Coleman’s are really the Goldman’s, and that they own the night club downstairs. Mr. Keeley reacts the best he can. They then realize the paparazzi have tracked them to The Bird Cage and all the negative publicity that can come from it. The Goldman’s sneak the Keeley’s right past the press by dressing them in drag. The Keeley’s accept the Goldman’s life style and the wedding is great. If only more people could be that way in America. In this movie the gay community represents the folk culture. I say this because their community really exists primarily in South Beach and is more predominant there throughout the movie. At this point in history homosexuality was still not anywhere near being a norm in popular culture let alone popular culture. At this time in history your average American wasn’t even comfortable discussing the concept of homosexuality. I see the Ultra-conservative republican side that the Keely’s hail from as representing popular culture at the time, they’re the iconic representation of the popular cultures family living the American dream. Through The Bird Cage you get to experience some of the customs of the homosexual culture. The Bird Cage is known for being a drag/ homosexual night club. You men dance on stage in drag. They also have Starina who is Armand’s partner Albert dressed in drag. He does standup comedy on stage at the bird house. You experience Albert carrying out the customs of being the woman in the relationship. Albert does the shopping while Armand, who is the man in the relationship, relaxes and stays at home. You also experience the customs of the republican culture in the form of seeing Senator Keeley debate his stance on his “Coalition for Moral Order.” Mrs. Keeley is a very traditional mother. She tries to stick to the customs of her upbringing. She and Barbra have a very typical mother daughter relationship that can be observed throughout the movie. Mr. Keely embodies the late 1990’s republican in respect to how he dresses, how he promotes his political, and moral views so repetitively throughout the movie. When Armand and Agador are planning the wedding you see Armand point out to not dress as Agador is accustomed to. He has to dress as a butler. Which would be more what the Keely family is accustomed to in the own home settings. Location has everything to do with this movie. It could not have happened anywhere else. It happens in South Beach. South Beach is a neighborhood in Miami Beach, Florida. The homosexual community and beach life style are unique to the region. As well as the gay culture and night life being unique to the area, the Bird Cage is unique to the area as well as one of its leading attractions for the homosexual community. In earlier parts of the movie you see bits and pieces of where the Keeley’s come from in Ohio. It’s not enough time to really gain any insight about the importance of the location besides the fact that three of the main characters come from there early on in the movie. The aspect of space in this movie is important as well. Throughout the whole movie it really takes place in only four areas spatially. In the movie you encounter Ohio briefly where the Keeley’s come from. You also encounter the highway when they travel to Val’s family’s home. Val’s home is in South Beach which is part of Miami Beach Florida. You also encounter another part of Florida when Armand goes to talk Val’s biological mom into coming to the Goldman and Keeley meeting before the marriage. Throughout this movie you see that for where Armand and Albert are not typically denied access to much of anything. Due to laws and the times, being the later 1990’s they are denied the right of access to be married since they are homosexual. However, because of the nature of the extremely right wing Keeley family, you see Val deny certain rights of access to Armand and Albert in their own home. Albert initially is outright denied access to the home while the Keeley family is there for the meeting because they don’t want the family to over react to their sexual preference. You also see both Albert and Armand get their right of access denied by having their decorations taken down for the dinner. Armand is denied right of access in respects that he had to cover up who he is, and his business that he lives directly above. All of these instances appear to me to be a denial of rights to access. Armand and Albert are in the last stages of the demographic transition.
Armand has already formed a family and had a kid. Albert playing role of Vals mother is also in the last stages of the demographic transition. The same can be said about Mr. and Mrs. Keeley. They’ve already had a family. Val and Barbra are still in early stages of the demographic transition. Val and Barbra just get married in the end of The Bird Cage. They have yet to produce offspring or grow old towards the end of the demographic transition. The movie doesn’t really show you any topics about environmental justice. The closest the movie comes to showing you carrying capacity, is how overly crowded the South Beach neighborhood is populated. I would have to say that in respects to migration, it is definitely a pull migration. South Beach Florida attracts, or pulls in the homosexual community to the South Beach area. In the movie the type of diffusion that you observe occurring is relocation diffusion. I say this because the Keeley’s come to South Beach and start to unknowingly diffuse the homosexual culture that South Beach Florida is known
for. The media plays a huge role in the movie. The media is the whole reason why the Keeley family decide to meet the Goldman’s in South Beach Florida, because his co-founder for the “Coalition for Moral Order” is found dead with a underage African American prostitute. So to disassociate from the negative media coverage they decide to leave for South Beach to have a wedding and shrug off the bad media press. Also while in South Beach Florida the press tries to demonize and smear Senator Keeley and his family’s name when they track him down to The Bird Cage. Values and ethics are very religiously based from the Keeley family. Since they are Ultra-conservative and Christian, they value god, good ethics and moral order. Values and ethics seem looser in the Goldman home. They don’t seem to celebrate a religion since no gods at the time condoned homosexuality. Religion aside, ethically the most unethical things I observed through the movie were trying to hide who they really were to please other people. Connectivity wise, the town is isolated. South Beach Florida is a known homosexual district in Florida. Linguistically English presents its self and the dominant spoken language. The most distinct spoken dialect comes from the Goldman family with their southern Floridian accent and mannerisms. In both families Armand and Kevin represent the masculine sides of the family. Also much like modern families the Louise and Albert display the feminine gender roles that our culture expects of women. The movie does not play much in respects to ethnic identity. However the Caucasian and Hispanic ethnicities seem to be the most represented. In the movie it’s not so much about racial politics or racial assumptions. Its more about culture clash, when the Ultra-Conservative Christian culture collides unexpectedly with the homosexual culture of South Beach Florida. The roll of ascription and inclusion being expressed is that Albert and the Goldman’s family homosexuality are the main causes for covering up who they are and their beliefs. The Goldman family is white, and they don’t seem to celebrate any religions, you do see some Christian symbols when they Agador put up a big crucifix to cover up their homoerotic house décor. In conclusion the movie The Bird Cage is a great movie. It takes place in South Beach Florida which is a neighborhood of Miami Beach Florida, it is the homosexual district. It shows us how two opposite cultures can collide. It also shows us how two cultures can come together despite different beliefs and get over their differences. The movie shows us to not be afraid of who you are culturally and not to hide it and cover it up. It was great to see two totally different families from different cultures come together and accept each other to celebrate the marriage of Val and Barbara.
In “A Caged Bird”, it is made clear that this bird has never experienced the freedom of flying with the other species or perching atop the highest building. All it has ever known is the cage in which is has been kept and fed plentifully, yet not punctually, and nurtured with the love of an owner and proper care.
One of the sociological theories is conflict theory. The conflict theory deals with people's level on wealth, or class. The conflict theory says that social change is beneficial, contrary to focuses on social order. In the story of the woman and her children, the conflict theory plays a big role on the situation. Police of higher class are threatening the homeless woman. The conflict theory is a constant struggle of people of higher class over powering people of lower class, or the weaker. The police are trying to over power the woman by telling her to leave. Even though the woman and her children were doing nothing wrong, the police used their power to tell her to leave. Also the people of the area showed their conflict theory by telling the police officers to come. They must have felt embarrassed to have a woman of such lower class to be around them. They used their power of class to have the woman removed from their community. The woman wants to be there because she has no home and it is a good community to be in, but the people look at it as an embarrassment to them because it makes their area look bad for someone of such lower class to be around them. The conflict theory is unique to all other theories because it separates people into categories determined by their wealth and standards. Their status is the element that categorizes them, weather it is class, race, or gender. The conflict theory do not always use class, race, and gender all at once. In this situation race and gender is not a main issue, although gender could be a reason, but it would fall under the feminist theory. This story is mainly dealing with class. Through all this conflict the woman feels over powered and domina...
In the story, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Ken Kesey places racial groups into a social hierarchy in the Combine in order to empathize with these minority groups and reveal the stereotyping that society perpetrates. Throughout the story, these minority groups such as the black orderlies, Turkle, and Chief Bromden are placed on a lower social level than the other characters in the story so that Kesey can justify his use of racism.
I noticed along with the caged birds in the opening of the story the number of bird images throughout. It is Mademoiselle Reisz that tells Edna, “The bird that would soar above the level plain of tradition and prejudice must have strong wings. It is a sad spectacle to see the weaklings bruised, exhausted, fluttering back to earth.’”Edna refers to her new home as “the pigeon-house”. It pleased her. “It at once assumed the intimate character of a home, while she herself invested it with charm which it reflected like a warm glow.
The Birds is a thriller/horror movie that took place in 1963. Melanie Daniels is a semi rich and always gets what she wants. Mitch and to not get attacked by the birds. These birds become so vicious and wild that they begin to take over people’s everyday life. One day when Melanie and Mitch are in a restaurant the birds begin to attack people outside the restaurant. Melanie steps out to the phone booth to take an important call and causes unhappy birds to surround her waiting for her to exit.
The Blind Side is a heartwarming and compelling story of the NFL player Michael Oher, who is adopted into a family that is a significantly higher social class than he. The story is a true account of a boy that went from rags to riches and depicts eloquently the social stratification in the United States.
"In a little four-room house around the corner. It looks so cozy, so inviting and restful."(79) With this description Chopin introduces the reader to Edna’s new residence, which is affectionately known as the pigeon house. The pigeon house provides Edna with the comfort and security that her old house lacked. The tranquility that the pigeon house grants to Edna allows her to experience a freedom that she has never felt before.
The movie Blind Side begins with the author, Michel Lewis explaining the incident of Joe Thiemann in which he broke his leg into two parts. He then explains the importance of a left tackle in the game of football. After a brief description author introduce Michael Oher; tall, beefy, quiet and athletic guy who is being interviewed by what it seems like a government officer. Michel who was abandoned at very young age and didn’t knew much about his father nor his mother, although he wanted to stay with his mother who was an alcoholic and struggles to find an orphan house or a good family that can take care of Michel. Despite not having much a family nor someone who takes care of him, Michel never gave up on the situation and lived most of his
Sebastian, the twin brother of Viola who was lost at sea after a shipwreck, and Lady Olivia are the first to marry, but things are not as they seem. During the weeks leading up to matrimony, Olivia fell madly in love with Cesario, who though looks and sounds just as Sebastian, is truly Viola dressed as a man. Sebastian does not realize this as he meets Olivia for the first time. He is amazed that a woman of her statue and beaut...
Sociology relates to this novel in so many different ways. The family in the story, Flowers in the Attic, written by V.C. Andrews, starts off as a family of procreation, a family established through marriage, which includes the mother (Mrs. Dollanger), the father (Mr. Dollanger), and the four children: Cathy (the oldest daughter), Chris (the second oldest son), Carrie and Corey (the young twins). A conflict begins when the father dies in a car wreck, so the mother and her four children must move in her rich parents estate because they have no money and nowhere to stay. After the father's death, the norms of the children changed. The norms of the children were to stay hidden in the basement by them selves because Mrs. Dollanger may only earn back the right to inherit her father's estate by falsifying that she has no children by her husband who was also her half-uncle. The original agreement was that they can leave the basement when their grandfather dies. The rules of the house were given by the dying grandfather that stated if Mrs. Dollanger was found to have children that she would be disinherited again.
This essay will be explaining the definition of sociology, the sociological factors of obesity using Symbolic Interactionism Theory and the Functionalism Theory and a description of the medical condition obesity and how it may affect individuals suffering from it.
The movie “A Bug’s Life” shares the story of a colony of ants that are trapped in a vicious cycle of gathering food for the powerful grasshoppers year after year. The ants become wary of collecting food and soon realize a revolution is needed to free themselves from the grip of the grasshoppers. Throughout “A Bug’s Life”, a critical analysis of character interaction contributes to a greater understanding of the functionalist theory, conflict theory, and Marxism and how these sociological principles create a competitive society and inevitably lead to societal change.
Environmental racism is starting to get attention in the Florida legislature. Low-income; minority ; Blacks ; Hispanics / Latinos ; Asians ; Philippines ; Latin American ; factory owners ; people with money. Environmental racism is something that affects black minority and low-income people around the world. “The state of Florida needs to take at the factors that have caused this”. What this is is that the toxic waste the polluted Florida needs to be checked out.
These environmental concerns tie in greatly with the cultural and racial clash of the twenty first century. As people continue to migrate from areas that can no longer support the growing population you have ...
To most, it’s very easy to imagine how it would feel to grow up without much of anything in life. Hell...I can tell you first hand what it feels like to not have a decent pair of shoes or pants without holes in them, or old “hand-me-down” toys while most of the kids you know have “state-of-the-art” toys. To many children in this kind of situation, it seems like a very bleak world to live in. No child should ever have to experience this kind of life. However, due to ignorant parents and an even more jacked-up government, there are many children that will always be in this predicament.