spiderman ideological analysis

The movie "spiderman" was directed by Sam Raimi and was released in 2002. The movie is about a high school student who gains supernatural powers when a spider bites him. He uses his power to fight the evil.

This movie claims that "with great power comes great responsibility" and those powers should be used with care and for the greater good of the world. This theme runs through the whole movie. At first Peter Parker, the main character in the movie, gains supernatural abilities, he uses his abilities for his own selfish purposes. One of the bad consequences was that his uncle gets killed by the same person whom he had helped earlier. This event makes him realizes that he shouldn't use his power for bad things. After this he uses his power to fight the evil and to protect people.

Another theme of the movie is goo vs. evil. Like many other films, this film reinforces the idea that the good always win against evil. In the end, Peter Parker who represents good survives and Norman Osborn dies in the end.

Ideological Analysis on Fracture (2007)

The review that I am using to analyze the film Fracture in an Ideological method is written by Justin Chang and was published on Variety.com on Friday, April 13, 2007. My argument using Ideological Analysis is that Willy Beachum (Ryan Gosling) was heroic to put his moral values before his career when he choose not to use the false evidence of the bullets in court. Instead, with his strong work ethic, found another way to get the crazy killer, Ted Crawford (Anthony Hopkins), behind bars. Justin Chang voices his opinion on Willy's moral dilemias throughout the film:

Willy is saddled with such ethical quandaries throughout -- at one point, a vengeful [Rob] Nunally [Billy Burke] suggests they falsify evidence -- and the story is as much invested in his personal and professional choices as it is in the trial's outcome.

In response to Justin's quote, Willy is determined to win his case due to his hard work ethic and to keep his positive reputation, so he can move on to his job offer at a private, up-scale law firm. Willy is stuck playing head games with Ted Crawford who is malicious and carries out his creative murder plan in a cool, stubborn manner. Willy is tempted to use the false evidence of a bullet that was cotton-swabbed in a lab with Ted's DNA to end the case, so he can move on to his new job offer and work under his love interest, Nikki Gardner (Rosamund Pike).

However, Willy decides against using the false evidence in court and instead uses his creative and intellectual mind to accuse Ted with homicide once Ted pulls the plug on his wife, whom he shot and was stuck in a coma, so she would not wake up and reveal that her husband was the one that shot her.

Critical Article on Three King

This this critical article is written by Julie Lorenzen. In this article Julie analyzes Three Kings in a couple of catagories. First she analyzes, "the socio/political context of The Three Kings" and then "the issues and events of the late 1990s." In other words there are some ideological analysis of the film with some historical in this article.

Donnie Darko - Ideology

Donnie: "I could spend my whole life debating over and over again, weighing the pros and cons, and in the end I still wouldn't have any proof, so I just don't debate it any more. (laughs) It's absurd."

Dr. Thurman: "The search for God is absurd?"

Donnie: "It is if everyone dies alone."

The link I provided is an extensive crtical/ideological analysis of the movie Donnie Darko. Lawrence Person takes his time analyzing the film's many different chracteristics. lawrence touches on ideas of the philosophy of time travel and the tangent universe carelessly labeling it as "wacky shit." Lawrence states that Tangent universes are inherently unstable, lasting only "a matter of weeks," eventually collapsing in upon themselves, each one "forming a black hole within the Primary Universe capable of destroying all existence. it seems that lawrence feels that the values represented in this scifi thriller are ones of uncertainty and life is merly useless and boring.

Lawrence Person's short fiction and poetry has appeared in Asimov's, Analog, Fear!, and the anthologies Alternate Presidents and Horrors! 365 Scary Stories. He edits the Hugo-nominated critical magazine Nova Express.

Crash and the self-indulgence of white America

Robert Jensen, a journalism professor at the University of Texas, and Robert Wosnitzer, an associate producer of the documentary, The Price of Pleasure, wrote an article on the movie, Crash, which ideologically analyzes the film. The article is called, Crash and the self-indulgence of white America, and is found on the NTHPOSITION website, which includes various articles, poetry, etc. regarding politics in the United States. This article focuses on the main messages that are communicated to the audience in Crash. The writers of this article explain that Crash communicates the idea that every ethnic group in America is prejudiced through the various events that take place in the lives of the difference characters in the film; however, the writers argue that this film, "...is, in fact, a setback in the crucial project of forcing white America to come to terms with the reality of race and racism..." They explain that the main message of this film is white supremacist because it takes us away from the reality of white supremacy in America. According to Jensen and Wosnitzer, the director of Crash either intentionally or unintentionally focuses the audiences attention away from the idea of white dominance in America. Rather than blaming the white folk for the racist system that has always existed in this country, this film directs us to the idea that all ethnic backgrounds are responsible for the racial prejudices that take place. The writers mention that the racist system that exists in our country was created by white people to protect their power. By acting in a racist manner towards other groups, they are able to maintain their dominance and their power continues to grow. Jensen and Wosnitzer explain that white people leave this movie feeling better about themselves because the message communicated to the audience is the exact opposite of the truth. While everyone may expect to see a movie confronting the truth about a white-dominant society, they watch a film that shows how everyone is responsible for the racist system in America. Jensen and Woznitzer explain that if the director of this film was not going to communicate the truth that exists in our society, he should not have made the film at all.

300

Lev Grossman wrote an article about the movie 300 directed by Zack Snyder. This article was for Time Magazine's website. The article is about taking a a different approach at fillm and about this young director who really seemed to have impressed Grossman. He has nothing but good things to say about his type of work. Grossman wants to make a point that there are other young directors that do great jobs in film and are starting to rise. A lot of the article is based around the director more than the movie itself.

"Snyder is one of small, hypertechnical fringe of directors who are exploring a new way to make movies by discarding props, sets, extras, and real life laocations"

Nazi Propoganda Films

I have linked to an essay titled Propoganda or Romance? Unfortunately the name of the author who wrote this short ideological criticism of Nazi films was not given. However, the article says brought to you by TermPaperEdge.com. The author tells about the basic goal of many Nazi films such as, La Habanera and Madeleine in Romance in a Minor Key and The Golden City. The goal of the German filmakers was to give the films audience an the illusion of a desirable situation like love or romance being attainable while the films background stays strongly committed to the Nazi ways. Many consider these films to be the best films Germany has ever made.

The Ideology of Harry Potter: Fascism vs. Liberalism

David Baake's article, The Ideology of Harry Potter: Fascism vs. Liberalism, appears on the website http://www.zmag.org/. This article primarily discusses the ideological meanings that lie beneath the magical surface of the famous Harry Potter series. This article covers both the books and the films. The author's main point is that the Harry Potter films ultimately represent certain aspects of World War Two. Baake states that :

"Significant parallels can be draw between the battle between Harry Potter and Voldemort and the battle between the Allies and Nazi Germany in World War Two...Lord Voldemort is unabashedly modeled after Hitler, and his Death Eaters are typical fascist paramilitaries. "

What is interesting with Harry Potter is that one can watch the films a million times and overlook the hidden messages. Baake supports his argument by quoting J.K Rowling, the author of the series, in describing the similarites between Lord Voldemort and Hitler. For more information about this, click on the link. Enjoy!