Douglas Sirk was a notable figure in Hollywood during 1950’s, most notably known for his melodramatic films such as All that Heaven Allows (1955), Imitation of Life (1959) and Written on the Wind (1956). Sirk would often showcase themes of domestic violence, gender related issues, symbolism and conforming or refusal to conform to enforced social norms as well as adding conflict within his stories which later are resolved by the protagonists. The essay aims to conduct a short analysis on the film
The peeling away of the honey-glazed aesthetic of Sirkian Melodrama to thoroughly examine the true core beneath is the task. Douglas Sirk’s films are expressive and suggestive in their examination of female sexual and emotional relationships. It must be considered what exactly a melodrama is and what type of audience the genre demands. Known worldwide to be part of a female cultural domain, the genre deals with the woman’s film from the early 30’s right up until the Sirkian territory of the 1950’s
Social Criticism in the Hollywood Melodramas of the Fifties In the early 1950s the films of Douglas Sirk led the way in defining the emerging genre of the Hollywood melodrama. "Melodrama" strictly means the combination of music (melos) and drama, but the term is used to refer to the "popular romances that depicted a virtuous individual (usually a woman) or couple (usually lovers) victimized by repressive and inequitable social circumstances" (Schatz 222). Sirk's films were commercially successful
Film Analysis of All That Heaven Allows Chosen sequence: Golden Rain Tree/Cary's bedroom scene. Before the emergence of 'auteur theory' the director Douglas Sirk was a renowned exponent of classical Hollywood narrative, particularly in the genre of romantic melodrama, of which his film All That Heaven Allows is a classic example. However, he is now regarded as a master of mise-en-scene, one of the few tools left to a director working within the constraints of the Hollywood studio/institutional
In the Bedroom, A Modern Bourgeois Melodrama Works Cited Missing Studies in melodrama usually hover around the works of a few significant directors, all of whom were at the top of their craft in Hollywood during the 1950s. Douglas Sirk, Vincente Minnelli, and Nicholas Ray were just a few of the directors who worked at that time, and all helped to shape the conventions of melodrama to which audiences and critics alike have become so accustomed. However, recent melodramas have been unable to
expression of truth. In an environment which otherwise punished truth, slave songs were a subversive way to communicate the truthfulness of both sorrow and refusal to abandon hope. In Douglas’ narrative the slave songs express the hatred of slavery, dehumanization of the victims, and were often misinterpreted by Northerners. Douglas expresses his concern that listeners interpreted the slaves as happy and singing because of delight. If only the Northerners caught a glimpse of the lives the slaves led and melted
Media by Susan Douglas In "Where the girls are: Growing Up Female With the Mass Media," Susan Douglas analyses the effects of mass media on women of the nineteen fifties, and more importantly on the teenage girls of the baby boom era. Douglas explains why women have been torn in conflicting directions and are still struggling today to identify themselves and their roles. Douglas recounts and dissects the ambiguous messages imprinted on the feminine psyche via the media. Douglas maintains that
Dandelion Wine Dandelion wine was a story about a twelve-year old boy named, Douglas Spaulding. Douglas was just a typical twelve year old boy, who lived to play, run around and do what any other twelve year old would do. Not a very physically fit person, but it didn't really seem to matter. He was a person who got what he wanted, not by whining for it, but by keeping his mind on whatever he wanted and setting out a goal for it. He was a happy boy and not many problems, till now, and he had a younger
warmth in regards to the characters Zoe and Douglas. As the story unfolds there is a sense of coldness surrounding the community. The setting stage for the action is in fact a community in a cold winter. Through warmth is how one reaches one’s own comfort level. It is noted to the extent that one must almost search for the warmth inside one’s self to achieve this comfort. In the case of Zoe she achieves warmth though emotional stability. Both Zoe and Douglas do search for this but by intention are both
Affirmative Case Introduction- "We must use every tool of diplomacy and law we have available, while maintaining both the capacity and the resolve to defend freedom. We must have the vision to explore new avenues when familiar ones seem closed. And we must go forward with a will as great as our goal – to build a practical peace that will endure through the remaining years of this century and far into the next.” Because I believe so strongly in the words of U.S. Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright
A discourse community is a community that shares common goals, language, and genres. Law enforcement officers belong to their own discourse community in which they are united in their overall purpose: to protect and serve. An oath they take when sworn in as officers. Law enforcement officers seem to speak a common language that, to a civilian, is foreign. We’ve all heard the famous “10-4” comment for “understood” or “got it” on police shows and in action movies. Pretty much everything that comes
Douglas Monroy's "Thrown Among Strangers: The Making of Mexican Culture in Frontier California" When Spaniards colonized California, they invaded the native Indians with foreign worldviews, weapons, and diseases. The distinct regional culture that resulted from this union in turn found itself invaded by Anglo-Americans with their peculiar social, legal, and economic ideals. Claiming that differences among these cultures could not be reconciled, Douglas Monroy traces the historical interaction
Douglas N. Husak's A Moral Right to Use Drugs In Douglas N. Husak’s A Moral Right to Use Drugs he attempts to look at drug use from an impartial standpoint in order to determine what is the best legal status for currently illegal drugs. Husak first describes the current legal situation concerning drugs in America, citing figures that show how drug crimes now make up a large percentage of crimes in our country. Husak explains the disruption which this causes within the judicial system and it
Before engaging in the debates with Senator Stephen A. Douglas, Lincoln was relatively unknown in the political world and was just beginning his career in politics. Abraham Lincoln’s reputation was just starting to grow, and his life was about to make a drastic change. The Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858 were a turning point in Abraham Lincoln’s political career. After being nominated to the Illinois legislature, Lincoln gave his famous “House Divided” speech which caused much grief between the North
Review of Douglas E. Winter’s Thrilling Novel, Run If you’re in the market for a good thriller, the kind that you don’t put down, the kind that releases its grip on you once it’s through, look no further. Run grabbed my attention with its opening sentence and I found myself slipping into that helpless, blissful state of complete submission to the book, confident I was in the hands of a master storyteller. I chose to review this book primarily because none of my friends had heard of it, despite
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas Frederick Douglas, a slave born in Tuckahoe Maryland, was half white and half black. His mother was a black woman and his father a white man. Though he never knew his father, there was word that it was his master. Douglas wrote this narrative and I felt that it was very compelling. It really showed me the trials and tribulations that a black man went through during times of slavery. In his early years, Douglas lived on a farm where he watched many
The Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass In reading The Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass, I, like others, found myself to be deeply moved. The way in which Mr. Douglass walked me through each stage of his “career” as a slave gave me a better understanding of the African American slaves’ struggle. I realized in reading this mans story that he was a gifted individual and I pondered over where his strength came from? It is true and obvious that Mr. Frederick Douglass was an extremely
The Use of Chiasmus to Highlight the Irony of Slavery in Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass According to Barton and Hudson's Contemporary Guide to Literary Terms, a chiasmus is a rhetorical scheme that is "particularly effective in creating irony through the reversal of accepted truths or familiar ideas" (189). Frederick Douglass uses the chiasmus throughout his Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave to highlight the irony of slavery's existence in a country
In Douglas Monroy’s essay “The Creation and Re-creation of California Society,” the thesis is that studying history of California is not just about changes in state’s political concerns but is more about relation with human existence. First, he talks about land and liberty and how Californians settled at the landscape. Second, Douglas explains about the life in present day California. Last, he talks about Californios and Indios. Douglas Monroy’s purpose in writing this essay is to inform readers
Compose Yourself:Writing & Identity in Douglas, Williams & Walker For the last several years, whenever I teach an introductory composition course I use an anthology of essays called Fields of Writing.One of the strengths of this collection is the exemplary diversity of its selections, and among the best of these are many essays by African Americans.I assign a number of these in the course, but four in particular I have found to be consistently useful in teaching basic ideas about composition.