Norma Desmond Essays

  • Sunset Boulevard

    1938 Words  | 4 Pages

    and destructive ways. The complex web of half-truths and false impressions that give the diegesis of Sunset Boulevard its convolution manifests in the visual imagery and physical attributes of a house at once lavish and decaying. The home of Norma Desmond embodies the actress’s own mental disassociation and emotional fragility, displaying an outward dilapidation held separate from the intimate glamour within. The two faces of Desmond’s estate exist in a visual disparity that mirrors the former star’s

  • Sunset Boulevard, directed by Billy Wilder

    1018 Words  | 3 Pages

    garbage or a typical film-noire hero. Sunset Boulevard is a satisfyingly humorous film-noire film about the inner workings of the vicious “jungle”, that one would know of as Hollywood. It was perhaps the purposely over acted antics of antagonist Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson), that makes Billy Wilder’s black comedy so memorable. Sunset Boulevard fits the definition of film-noire thanks to Wilder’s use of the typical film-noire style characters, the all too familiar storyline and Wilder’s visual style

  • The Vanity of Celebrity Fame: "Sunset Boulevard" and Celebrity Reality Shows

    2358 Words  | 5 Pages

    actress - Norma Desmond. Through the movie, audiences identifies with an alienated celebrity. The female fatale Norma Desmond, starred by Gloria Swanson, is a distorted version of the actress herself - who had been largely absent for almost 16 years when she performed in Sunset Boulevard. Norma Desmond is the typical example of a celebrity living in the netherworld between the passed stardom and reality - "I am big, it is the pictures that got small." In the entire Sunset Boulevard, Norma is always

  • A Comparison Of Norma Desmond And Mayerling In Sunset Boulevard

    560 Words  | 2 Pages

    revive their careers in the industry, all ending in a disturbing way. The downfall of the main character, Joe Gillis, is not entirely of his own making. Although he somewhat contributes to it, Norma Desmond and Max Von Mayerling both play a devious role in his downfall. The antagonist of the film, Norma Desmond, plays a cunning and violent role in relation to Joe's downfall and is the main cause of his murder. Throughout the film she exploits and controls Joe and treats her like a pet, rather than

  • Sunset Blvd.

    2131 Words  | 5 Pages

    The Thematic Intentions of Sunset Boulevard The film Sunset Boulevard directed by Billy Wilder and staring the main characters of Norma Desmond, Joe Gillis, and Max Von Mayerling is ideal example of how important film making techniques help depict a movie’s core theme intentions with vivid clarity. Classic Hollywood is the first thing that comes to mind when one speaks about this film’s style. This signature category combined with the visual style of realism and it’s continuity editing; detailed

  • Keats and the Senses of Being: Ode on a Grecian Urn (Stanza V)

    3370 Words  | 7 Pages

    and the metaxological—are the heart of a compelling ontology detailed by William Desmond in... ... middle of paper ... ...n the unformed, undifferentiated, prelinguistic word [that] leaves the Du free and stands together with it in reserve where the spirit does not manifest itself but is. (I and Thou 89). Bibliography Buber, Martin. I and Thou. Trans. Walter Kaufmann. New York: Scribners, 1970. Desmond, William. Being and the Between. Albany: SUNY P, 1995. Heidegger, Martin. "The

  • Henrik Isben's A Doll's House

    738 Words  | 2 Pages

    has not been able to express her own feelings. She has bottled everything up inside, and she has a passion to open up and show her true self. Problem: Norma has been a “doll” all her life. She has taken on others problems and kept her thoughts and feelings all to herself. It is now time for Norma to explain herself and deal with the facts. Norma forged her father’s signature on an I.O.U for two hundred and fifty pounds. She tries to do anything she can so her husband will not find out. Her husband

  • Norma Rae

    1737 Words  | 4 Pages

    Norma Rae This film is based on the real life story of Crystal Lee Sutton and her involvement with Ruben Warshovsky and the organization of the textile workers at the J.P. Stevens Company in Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina (Labor Films). Sally Field plays the lead role of Norma Rae (Crystal Lee Sutton) fighting poor working conditions at O. P. Henley Company in 1978. This company is a southern textile mill, working with a union organizer to overcome pressure from management, implied dangers,

  • Marilyn Monroe

    1137 Words  | 3 Pages

    of all actresses, Marilyn Monroe was born Norma Jean Mortenson on June 1, 1926, in Los Angeles General Hospital. Prior to her birth, Marilyn's father bought a motorcycle and headed north to San Francisco, abandoning the family in Los Angeles. Marilyn grew up not knowing for sure who her father really was. Her mother, Gladys, had entered into several relationships, further confusing her daughter as to who it was who fathered her. Afterward, Gladys gave Norma Jean (Marilyn) the name of Baker, a boyfriend

  • Shiloh by Bobbie Ann Mason

    560 Words  | 2 Pages

    apparent in Norma Jean and Leroy’s marriage. As Norma Jean advances herself, their marriage ultimately collapses due to Leroy’s unwillingness to adapt with her and the changing environment. Leroy Moffit is a truck driver, and over the years as his wife Norma Jean is adapting to the changing community his adaptation to things consist of pretty much the way he drives his truck. During this time Norma Jean is left at home to fend for herself and learn the workings of nearly being a single woman. Norma Jean

  • McCarthy

    1808 Words  | 4 Pages

    a journalistic period paralleled to the Christian views of the Spanish Inquisition; a time period of branded embarrassment and horror never to be forgotten. Later McCarthy said the number he gave in his speech was not 205 but 57. The fact is that Desmond had a written copy of the speech before McCarthy gave it, but he could have changed the number to 57 when he actually presented the speech. Regardless, the number 57 would have been just as shocking as 205. The reporter's ethics and/or practices were

  • Alienation in Modern Society

    1279 Words  | 3 Pages

    with, when we examine Dance with a Stranger, we see Ruth, David, Desmond and Andy as film's main characters. Ruth is the most alienated character in this film. Firstly, she was a manager of a night club, she was taking care of the customers, singing, dancing and seemed all right but after having met David, her life was totally changed she lost her job and she began to have obsessive feelings about David. She sheltered near Desmond with her son Andy and day by day she started to get distant from

  • Opposites Attract

    612 Words  | 2 Pages

    met Him, John made me feel welcomed. He opened his heart to me and from that day on, I looked for friends willing to do the same. As I grew older, I met two of the most converse individuals in the world. When I was first introduced to Chris and Desmond, I did not know what to think. Everyone said that they were best friends, but for some strange reason I just could not understand why. As time passed we became closer and we grew fonder of each other. We did just about everything together. Then finally

  • The Character of Norma Jean in Shilo

    553 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Character of Norma Jean in Shilo Norma Jean Moffit is a major character in Bobbie Ann Mason's "Shilo" who undergoes a profound, yet subtle change. She had to marry at the age of eighteen to the man who got her pregnant, and in a cruel twist of fate, the child dies suddenly of crib death. Now at the age of 34, she is ready to have the life she feels she always should have had, however she is stuck in a loveless marriage to a man whose interests are the opposite of hers. Her decision to leave

  • Shiloh by Bobbie Ann Mason

    735 Words  | 2 Pages

    “Shiloh” she presents the character of Norma Jean as having a strong personality but an emptiness deep within. Norma Jean is presented as a strong character on the outside in the opening of the story. “She lifts three-pound dumbbells to warm-up, the progresses to a twenty-pound barbell.”(Mason p. 46). However as the story progresses she exhibits the emptiness which she feels. “One day Leroy arrives home from a drive and finds Norma Jean in tears.” (Mason p. 50). Norma Jean feels an emptiness toward

  • Comparing Gravity's Rainbow and Vineland

    1295 Words  | 3 Pages

    food-preservatives and, above all, the Tube: the Cathode-Ray Tube. The opening line of Gravity's Rainbow, "A screaming comes across the sky," which describes a V-2 rocket on its lethal mission, finds a way into Pynchon's latest work, albeit transformed: "Desmond was out on the porch, hanging around his dish, which was always empty because of the blue jays who came screaming down out of the redwoods and carried off the food in it piece by piece." One passage describes war. Another tells of birds stealing

  • Marilyn Monroe

    664 Words  | 2 Pages

    Marilyn Monroe Norma Jean Baker was born on June 1st 1926. She said that she came from an unhappy and deprived childhood. Galdys was Norma's mother. She had two children with Jack Baker (Norma's father) while still very young. Her father died in a car accident soon after she was born and at the age of 26 Galdys remarried to Edward Mortenson. Edward didn't want children but Galdys did so she divorced him. Soon after that Galdys couldn't take care of Norma anymore so she gave her up for adoption

  • The Line Between Feudalism and Capitalism

    2044 Words  | 5 Pages

    and in court, ward ship, and forfeiture. There are defined social differences and similarities between capitalism and feudalism; these differences can be seen when comparing and contrasting the reality-based movies Norma Rae and Matewan. There are many similarities between Norma Rae and Matewan making it hard at times to see which economic system is feudalism and which is capitalism. These similarities cause confusion, even today, in deciding what can be considered feudalism and what can be

  • Shiloh

    1578 Words  | 4 Pages

    Norma Jean Moffit is a simple, southern woman, but she is also a caterpillar who is discovering that there is more to life than crawling around on the ground. She has with-in her, the power to grow wings and fly away; The opportunity to view the world through the eyes of a butterfly. Since Larry's accident, she has come to realize that she has reached a crossroads in her life. If she goes straight on through, complacency and neglect are the only stops ahead. If she veers to either the left or right

  • Shiloh : Changing Lives In Different Directions

    1369 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the story “Shiloh”, by Bobbie Ann Mason, characters Leroy and Norma Jean go through changes in their life as each begin to discover what their real identity is, and what it is they actually want out of their marriage. For some people this may take years, and for others they may never realize it, while merely trying to grasp on to the past, or the way they think things should have turned out. In this short story, Mason uses a couple in their thirties to portray people who are experiencing these