The Insider (1999) is a compelling film that explores the attempted expulsion of the Tobacco industry. Each year, thousands of people die from the addictive and harmful effects of nicotine, and if that’s the case then why is it still legal in the United States? Based on a true event, Jeffrey Wigand, a former employee for a major Tobacco company, had been fired due to his objection against the company wanting to create chemicals that would enhance the addictiveness in nicotine. Wigand was approached by Lowell Bergman, a producer for the CBS News show 60 Minutes, and encourages him to get interviewed to blow the whistle on the Tobacco industry. However, Wigand had to sign a confidentiality agreement when he got terminated and the situation becomes …show more content…
When his bosses were letting Wigand go, they made him sign a confidentiality agreement so he wasn’t allowed to speak about anything that went on within the company. When Bergman reached out to Wigand about the tobacco industry, Wigand was hesitant to say anything because of the agreement that he signed. However, Wigand felt like he had an obligation, to tell the truth about what the company is trying to do so he agrees to do it. Afterwards, he meets at the Browns and Williamson office and they force him to sign a stricter confidentiality agreement and if he were to break it, then he wouldn’t get paid his severance and he would lose his medical care. This demonstrates an ethical dilemma because it shows how big tobacco companies like Browns and Williamson will do anything in their power to protect themselves from being exposed to the public about what they put in their product. If the public were to find out about this, they can get sued by the millions. Moreover, in the film, it even states how big tobacco companies spend hundreds of millions each year on legal counsel and they never lost a personal injury lawsuit. If they have the money for it, they will cover up anything and if anyone tries to expose them, they will make sure to keep their mouth shut. In the film, there were people, that the tobacco company hired, following Wigand around wherever he went to make sure he wasn’t doing anything to expose the
The movie, The Outsiders, starts with the Curtis parents on their weekly, Saturday evening drive to the baking store to buy some ingredients for their boys’ favorite Sunday morning, breakfast treat: chocolate cake. The Curtis boys love their chocolate cake for Sunday breakfast not only because they love it, but also because they appreciate how hard their parents have to work to save the monies necessary for the morsels that put smiles on their faces!
Inside Out is a film about a young girl named, Riley, whose world gets turned upside down once her family moves from Minnesota to San Francisco. In this film, Riley’s five main emotions are personified. Riley, who is only eleven years old, is known for her joyous attitude but with the drastic change of lifestyle, she begins to show and feel many other emotions. As Riley and her family are adjusting to their new surroundings, she becomes more irritable and rebellious. As depicted in the film, Riley’s emotions, Joy and Sadness, get lost trying to find their way back to Headquarters. While Joy and Sadness are gone; Fear, Disgust, and Anger are left in charge of Riley’s actions. On account of Joy is not being there to help Riley make rational decisions, Fear,
Michael Mann's "The Insider" revolves around one whistle blower's true story. Jeffrey Wigand, a former Brown and Williamsons research scientist's justice. He is fired as a consequence for his poor communication skills, but he was actually dismissed because he disagreed to the method of manipulating the nicotine content in cigarettes to enhance addiction. ‘The Insider’ is predominantly an individual’s struggle for predominance, idealism, and is a reflection of Wigand’s intrinsic moral values. At the beginning of the film, Mann has used Misen-en-scene to establish Wigand's character without vocally articulating it through the frame work of spoken dialogue. Wigand is sitting in his office, completely disorientated from the work, packing boxes, juxtaposed against the busy office environment. This aids in establishing his character as well as reflects his inner feelings in this scene.
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.
"Mrs. Robinson, you are trying to seduce me," says Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman). The Graduate, directed by Mike Nichols in 1967 is an influential satire/comedy film about a recent East Coast college graduated who finds himself alienated and aimless in the changing, social and sexual general public of the 1960s, and questioning the values of society. The theme of the film is of an innocent and confused youth who is exploited, mis-directed, seduced (literally and figuratively) and betrayed by a corrupt, self-indulgent, and discredited older generation (that finds stability in “plastics”) that I found to be quite clear and understanding, while also capturing the real spirit of the times and allows America's youth to perceive onscreen an image of themselves which they can both identify with and emulate. The Graduate is a significant film even today due to its use of abstract camera angles, telephoto lenses, excellent cinematography, and great acting. Few visual effects were used, however, matting and numerous point of view shots were used. These characteristics and the fabulous use of mis-en-scene, great writing and the era of the film all made The Graduate what it is today, magnificent.
The tobacco industry seems like a beneficial addition to our economy. It has basically been a socially acceptable business in the past because it brings jobs to our people and tax money to the government to redistribute; but consider the cost of tobacco related treatment, mortality and disability- it exceeds the benefit to the producer by two hundred billion dollars US. (4) Tobacco is a very profitable industry determined to grow despite government loss or public health. Its history has demonstrated how money can blind morals like an addiction that is never satisfied. Past lawsuits were mostly unsuccessful because the juries blamed the smoker even though the definition of criminal negligence fits the industry’s acts perfectly. Some may argue for the industry in the name of free enterprise but since they have had such a clear understanding of the dangers of their product it changes the understanding of their business tactics and motives. The success of the industry has merely been a reflection of its immoral practices. These practices have been observed through its use of the media in regards to children, the tests that used underage smokers, the use of revenue to avoid the law, the use of nicotine manipulation and the suppression of research.
...people to educate themselves about tobacco disease and prevent current and non-current smokers from smoking. This is minorities people are not aware of tobacco’s health risk because of low level of education or low income are put under high stress. Also, low income that is usually a factor of lack of education, puts people in a lot of stress making them to reach for cigarettes more often. Therefore, all these reasons contribute to the fact that tobacco pictorial labels are not misleading and advances the interest of the government. Many research provides evidence of tobacco being harmful, showing government that smoking is a main factor of causing thousands of deaths in the United States and around the world. With all that said, one of the American Actors, Jeremy London said “A lot of people in my life are getting sick or potentially going to get sick from tobacco.”
Gran Torino is an interesting portrayal of communication dilemmas, spread out across several characters and in particular that of main character Walt Kowalski. After the death of his wife, Walt is bombarded with unwanted attention from several angles and attempts to “deal” with the attention to the best of his ability. There are many examples of communication struggles in the film, but they all seem to follow a similar pattern, and that is distance in time and culture. I’d like to focus on some of these communication barriers between his family, neighbors and priest and see how some of these walls got broken down, or could have been removed more easily.
The film that is being used for the movie analysis is “Enough”, this movie was chosen due to the fact that it is based on domestic violence towards women. The movie begins with in Los Angeles diner were a waitress named slim works with her best friend Ginny (Kazan, 2002). While working her shift slim has a customer that starts harassing her over the name she has, but the companion of the annoying customer defends slim, which in turn starts a romance, later to become a marriage between the two (Kazan, 2002). The couple is later blessed with a daughter they name Gracie, and at the beginning the marriage seems to be a fairy tale out of a story book (Kazan, 2002). The fairy tale becomes a nightmare as time moves forwards for the couple,
When American Sniper opened in theaters January 2015, the world was shocked and excited that a film about a war has finally shown the emotional and psychological pain a soldier goes through. To many this was a new concept but, what the public did not realize, was in 2014, a World War II film, Fury was released. Fury is an insightful film about a tank crew surviving through World War II through the emotional and psychological hardships. The film takes place in April 1945, five months before WWII ends (Fury, IMDb). There are many key points to which makes Fury a modern war film from the extent of backstory each character has, to the prescreening prep and training, to the research of the props. Though American Sniper and Fury differ in wars and
The Wolf of Wall Street produced and directed by Martin Scorsese tells a story of Jordan Belfort, a stockbroker living a luxurious life on Wall Street. Due to greed and corruption, Jordan falls into a life of crime and abusive activities. Belfort made millions of dollars by selling customers “penny stocks” and manipulating the market through his company, Stratton Oakmont, before being convicted of any criminal activity (Solomon, 2013). Jordan reveals behaviours and impulses all humans have, however, on an extreme level. This movie illustrates “why ethics is another tool whose importance cannot be overstated” (Delaney, 2014). Without ethics and morality, individuals can never truly live an honest and happy life.
...his funding from the government and was sentenced 270 years in federal prison for “falsely curing” his patients. All of this is centered on money. The government receives luxury tax on cigarettes and hospitals receive billions of dollars because of the copious patients that are not forced into the hospital to receive radiation treatments and chemotherapy. Each person who is diagnosed with cancer is suddenly worth a minimum of $300,000 to the cancer industry. If the government eliminates tobacco, they are also eliminating one of the main causes of cancer, which would mean a loss of funds. The government’s focus should not be within monetary bounds. They should be more concerned with the estimated 159,260 Americans are expected to die from lung cancer in 2014.
Thank you for smoking is a satirical comedy about a lobbyist whose job is to promote tobacco use at a time when the disease burden secondary to smoking threatens to cripple the nation. The film presents how industries, media and the government interact to influence the consumers’ decision. While the use of rhetoric, such as fallacies and twisted truths, is evident throughout the film, it is most evident midway when the chief spokesman, Nick Naylor, assists his son with his assignment. The son, Joey Naylor, enquires why the American government is the best and in response, the father argues it is because of America’s ‘endless appeals system’ (Thank you for smoking). His response seamlessly captures the tone of the movie as much as it represents the extensive use of a combination of fallacious arguments and twisted truths.
Cardador, M.T., Hazon,A. PHD, Stanton. G. PHD., (September 1995).Tobacco Industry Smokers’ Rights Publications: A Content Analysis. American Journal of Public Health
that never aired. The plot puts Dr. Jeffrey Wigand (Russell Crowe) at odds with Brown & Williamson, the third largest tobacco companies in the country. Wigand was fired from his position as Vice President of Research and Development, at which he was instructed to hide information related to the addictive nature of nicotine. The plot takes off when Lowell Bergman (Al Pacino), producer for 60 Minutes, discovers that Wigand has a story to tell. The best way for Wigand to tell that story is with the help of Bergman, via an interview aired on 60 Minutes. However, tobacco companies have a history of viciously defending their profits, by whatever means necessary, and Brown & Williamson does just that. The story hits a climax as the interests and incentives of the television station CBS, 60 Minutes, Dr. Wigand and Brown & Williamson are played out.