Forrest Gump- A Fictional Character

In the article, Forrest Gump: A Controversal Approach of American History, is an article dealing with historic events in the movie Forrest Gump. The article is written by Ludovic Courtes, from the George Washington University. He states in his article how various events taken in the film can be a controversal argument. An example Courtes has used from the film is when Forrest reveals the political scandal of the Watergate. Courtes also says that Forrest is a fictional character and the movie shows us how he deals with certain trauma events in history.

From the movie, one can get the impression that the author tried to have him movie embracing a whole part of the American History by just showing it through the eyes of a fictional character.

Effects of the Cold War

This is a link to a brief summary of the Cold War and the effects it had on the people of the world.  This relates to our movie Terminatory 2: Judgment Day because the movie is about the threat of nuclear arms and technology.  In the movie, Judgment Day, or doomsday, occurs when machines take over and launch a series of nuclear attacks to eliminate all humans.  This movie came out in 1991, which is very close to the time of the end of the Cold War.  At this time, people were still paranoid and frightened of the term nuclear bomb.  Although no bullets were fired during the Cold War, it was a very tense and frightful period in U.S. history.

RELIGION & POP CULTURE

Anton Karl Kozlovic explains how "Christ figures" are built-in to Hollywood films.

Karl says, " christ figuress describe any figure in the art who resembles Jesus."

Kozolovic goes into more depth on this Christ representation by saying that christ figures go on to represent HEROES.
Another interesting point is how filmmakers bring in this "Christian imagery" for commercial reasons, knowledge...and so on.
An interesting point about the Hero figure Anton says,

" I must say that BABE is much closer to a christ figure than max. particularly in Babe( Dir. Chris Noonan), he doeschange the established order, In fact, in Babe,Pig in the City he's much more a Christ figure because he turns the other cheek. He goes to save from drowning the one who was about to kill him....."

Anton brings alot of very sophisticated issues about Christ figure influences.

COMEDY FILMS

Roberto Benigni's film, Life is Beautiful, not only serves as a historical-type genre, it is also a comedy. I chose to provide a link to a website that discusses and deconstructs the genre because it provides the reader with excellent information on a critically over-looked genre.

Tim Dirk's website, www.filmsite.org, provides an explanation of a famous genre called "comedy." It defines the genre of film comedy as "make 'em laugh" films designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are light-hearted dramas, crafted to amuse, entertain, and provoke enjoyment." Like many genres, comedy possesses many forms. A few of these forms include: slapstick, dead pan, and verbal comedy. This site provides an extensive list of the different forms of comedy present in the comedy genre. Filmsite.org not only defines the many types of forms, it also provides an example of each. Here is an example from the site:

Black or Dark Comedy:

These are dark, sarcastic, humorous, or sardonic stories that help us examine otherwise ignored darker serious, pessimistic subjects such as war, death, or illness. Dr. Strangelove serves as an example of this type of comedy.

For more information on the comedy genre and its many forms, click on the link. Enjoy the laughs!

Gladiator's Commodus vs. the actual Commodus

The movie Gladiator, for those who have never seen it, is about a very respected general of the Roman Empire who is exiled by the new ruler Commodus. The general is captured and sold as a slave. He finds himself soon fighting in arenas as a gladiator against other men and animals. Eventually he fights Commodus in the arena and kills him.




Commodus was a real emperor of Rome. His full name and title is Caesar Marcus Aurelius Commodus Antoninus Augustus. He was a very brutal ruler who had many senators killed after an attempt on his life and ordered the execution of his chief advisor to please the army, and the successor was killed in a riot. He started to lose his mind and pretended that he was Hercules entering the Colosseum to fight gladiators and animals. On December 31, 192 AD, his advisors had him strangled by a champion wrestler.

Braveheart: Fact or Fiction

In response to the popularity of the blockbuster Braveheart, Scottish historian Ewan J. Innes replied, "One of the most common questions I'm asked is how factual Mel Gibson's portrayal of William Wallace was in the 1995 film Braveheart. The short answer is that is hasn't an iota of fact in it." Continuing Innes explained, "It's a good film, just don't take it as fact... For example, Isabella cannot have been carrying Wallace's child (and presumably Edward III) as she was in France at the time and did not arrive in England until two years after Wallace's death. She could also therefore have not warned him at York (which Wallace didn't attack anyway)."
Another fault in the films historical accuracy is its interpretation of the battle of Falkirk. While the film conveys a much more heroic approach, in actuality "Wallace escaped the field but the majority of the Scottish army did not. Bruce was not at the battle as he was in Carrick in the southwest at the time."
Following the Battle of Falkirk, Wallace "resigned as Guardian and was sent on a diplomatic mission to France and Rome. He did not return until after the Scottish surrender in 1302." Yet, another example of the film's skew on historical events. Although Braveheart cannot serve as sufficient history source, the film's themes of freedom, romance, and integrity uphold its popularity. While, historians due tend to find flaws in th films accuracy, its only fair to note that the movie does open with the line "[history has been] written by those who have hanged heroes," which strikes wonder.

Braveheart- A look at the many sides of the film

Filmsite.org states the following for war genre films:
Themes explored in war films include combat, survivor and escape stories, tales of gallant sacrifice and struggle, studies of the futility and inhumanity of battle, the effects of war on society, and intelligent and profound explorations of the moral and human issues.

Bravheart has many of the necessary elements to be an action-oriented war film. The most recognizeable aspect of the film, in regards to what Filmsite mentions, is Wallace's uncanny ablility to escape or avoid altogether situations that may cause his death. He survives numerous battles and at least two assassination attempts due to the influence he had over people. However, there is a theme of male-bonding in the film, when Wallace and his lieutenants are sitting around the fire eating, and they feel comfortable enough to make racy jokes about one another.

Historical Events

Also, the film makes reference to many historical events in the film, such as the Battle of Stirling Bridge between the armies of England and Scotland. In the film, the battle takes place nowhere near a bridge, being as it would have been to hard to film such a big battle in such a restricting setting. Also, the "battle" was more of an ambush of the english, not an instance where the two armies lined up facing each other and charged, according to wikipedia. There are a number of historical inaccuracies in the film. These inaccuricies resulted from the flim being changed in order to give the movie a better outcome. The details may also have been altered due to the fact that the basis of the film is from a poet named Blind Harry, who wrote the poem some time after Wallace's death. Whatever the reason for these inaccuracies, they remain in the film nevertheless, altering the perception of many who view the film, obscuring their knowledge of histroy.

The article on Bravheart can be viewed at this web address :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braveheart

Science Fiction Film History

The Wikipedia Encyclopedia web page that is linked to above contains information on the science fiction film industry. It has a long list of sci-fi films in order by the year they were released, starting in 1902 up until recent films of today. Each film listed has a link that will give you more detail for that particular film. Although sci-fi films first appeared in the early 1900's, they did not achieve a significant audience with respect to the entire film industry until the 1960's. Groundbreaking sci-fi films such as 2001: A Space Odyssey and Planet of The Apes were two of the vastly popular films that come out in the '60s that would "transform science fiction cinema." Since the sixties sci-fi filmmakers have been at the front line of special effects technology and development. The massive number of sci-fi movie fans are said to be kept interested by the themes of the films. Themes such as space travel, paranoia(man vs. machine, man vs. evolution), disaster(Armageddon), and the new-age cyberpunk(The Matrix) genres have all been big hits at the box office. The science fiction film industry has grown tremendously over the past century.

Crime Genre in The Godfather

The Godfather is a film which is highly focused on the American crime film and gangster genre. The story is based on an Italian gangster from a poor working class background that transforms himself into a social underground king through illegal means. the story focuses on law and order and how the hierarchical social structure is maintained. In order to establish an American crime film, the characters and plot needed to link together. The main character had to show the audience his ruthlessness and greed to secure the American dream of material success.

"The conflicting prosocial and subversive elements within the gangster genre give rise to contradictions that cannot easily be given away."

The Auto-Industry and Terminator 2

In this post you will be made knowledgeable about the brief history of the auto industry. This post gives a timeline of the auto industry from the years of 1960-1998. Under the year 1980 its states "Japan emerged as the world's leading producer of automobiles with just over 11 million units produced in a world-wide total of over 38.6 million." This is interesting to me because it relates to a statement in the article, Termination or Transformation (my summarization article) . In this article it states that "U.S. auto manufacturers adopted methods, which they assumed accounted for the success of Japanese industry." This brief history relates to the Terminator 2 because it ties into the movie and how auto manufacturerers tried to replace humans with robots. These manufacturers thought that robots would be more beneficial, since they couldn't get hurt on the assembly -line. Also the robots they thought could perform more challenging tasks, without any complaints. Without being said the manufacturers believed the robots would bring more income to the auto industry.

Sci-Fi Films

Science fiction (Sci-fi) films are those in which are, of course, scientific and portray advanced technology/gadgets (robots i.e.), great imagination, etc. In these films we may see things like flying cars, cloning, futuristic events, just the impossible (or at least for now). The Terminator 2 ties into this genre, because of the visuals of robots and cloning. In T2 we see the Terminator become the clone of anyone he comes into contact with. Other great examples, of this genre includes Blade Runner, Frankenstein, and Star Wars.

Prison in Film History

(Top picture is from The Big House (1930). The bottom picture is from Shawshank Redemption (1999).)

This article briefly describes David Gothier Jr.'s book, "American Prison Film Since 1930: From The Big House to The Shawshank Redemption". The book gives a historical analysis on well known prison films. Gothier believes that prison films have their own separate genre, which has been falsely compared to western, horror, and gangster films.
The article goes on to say that

"the prison movie is perhaps the only pure-bred genre that yields so many other genres within its original framework: gangster prison films (The Big House), film noir prison films (Brute Force), western prison films (There Was a Crooked Man), sports prison films (The Longest Yard), science fiction prison films (Escape from New York), the POW film (Stalag 17), even musicals (Chicago)."

The base of the book deconstructs in great detail twelve films, including Shawshank Redemption, based on the rules of the prison genre.

Historical Events in Donnie Darko

The unique film Donnie Darko takes place in the year 1988. This particular year had a lot of relevance on our country's political history. The year of 1988 was when the Bush vs. Dukakis election campaign took place.
Nicholas Katers, the author of the article "Election of 1988:Bush, Dukakis, and the Liberal Democratic Failure," is a history graduate and has published work in published in SEAC's Threshold magazine, Generationvote.com, Internationalist Magazine, and ten academic works. This particular article was published on www.associatedcontent.com, which is a site for various types of media.
The election campaign of Bush vs. Dukakis not only took place in the time period that Donnie Darko is set in, but there is a scene in the movie where Mr. Darko, Donnie's father, is watching the election campaign debate on television. Even though this is the only scene that visually displays the Bush vs. Dukakis election campaign, the film sends a message about the politics of 1988.
The article, "Election of 1988:Bush, Dukakis, and the Liberal Democratic Failure," discusses the conflict and hostility that was present throughout the fight for presidency. Nicholas Katers states that

"Bush, no stranger to negative campaigning, took every opportunity to discredit Dukakis as a dangerous and radical liberal."

Bush played a very competitive role in order to win the position of presidency. According to the opinion of Nicholas Katers

"Dukakis attempted to play the role of patriot by riding in a tank but he looked more like a little boy playing general than a potential commander in chief. Dukakis’ attempt to walk the line between liberals... and moderates...failed to get the party out from under the popularity of the Reagan-Bush administration."

This article displays how rough the competition was for the presidency.
The fact that the movie included the campaign shows how relevant this election was for the time period of the film. Donnie Darko uses symbolism to express views of our country's political state and redefines what it means to be Left. The film expresses a low opinion for the democrats and does not approve of the Dukakis candidate.

Historical Analysis-Popular Culture

This article has a lot of links that can be used to analyze our contemporary american culture. The copyright was T.V. Reed also connected to an American Studies website/group. The body of the website includes links to film culture as well as issues in our everydays lives (ex. race, class gender, imperialism, sexuality.) Here is a quote describing the main points of the site:
"We cannot understand our present without understanding our past. And we cannot fully imagine change without a sense of how our culture has changed over time. Our ability to understand the improvements in and the limits of current media representations of African Americans, for example, is greatly enhanced by viewing two documentaries that detail the history of African American representations in the mass media, Ethnic Notions and Color Adjustment. "
With most examples of a historical analysis we see how the film or other form of entertainment was perceived through the general public. This site allows you to see the dates and opinions of people living in America during the time each film was shot.

Right of the First Night

In the movie Braveheart there are many references to actual historical events. Although some of William Wallace's triumphs are historically debatable, the legislative his motivation is stirred from is recorded as customary throughout Medieval Europe . In Braveheart William Wallace refuses the imposed law of jus primae noctis, or "law (or right) of the first night", which would give an English lord jurisdiction to deflower his bride on their wedding night. While marrying in secrecy to bypass the law seems like a good idea to Wallace at the time, it still doesn't keep his bride away from the sexually aggressive attitudes of the English. This act reflects the ideology of the strictly enforced social hierarchy of the time, which reigned god, king, lord, knight, etc. throughout Europe. Jus primae noctis is viewed as a continuation of this distinction by its reflection as as another "power display with a basis in the psychology of coercive social dominance, male competition, and male desire for sexual variety." In reference to Braveheart, this masculine power display becomes what incites Wallace's fight for love and freedom.

Life is Beautiful portrays history?

The article, "Not Up To The Task", written by David Walsh, criticizes Life is Beautiful for not accurately portraying the Holocaust. The article begins by summing up the entire movie and giving background information on each character. As the article continues, Walsh starts to get more into his argument and explains why this movie is not a true depiction of the Holocaust. He believes that "while [the movie] may not be offensive, it does tend to trivialize the experience. The gap between the reality of concentration camp life and its portrayal in the film is alarmingly large." Walsh believes that Roberto Benigni, the director of Life is Beautiful, does not show how the Holocaust really was. He makes convincing arguments about how there are certain characters who "despite conditions of near starvation, [remain] happy and healthy." This article is a good read because it compares how the Holocaust really was to how Roberto Benigni misinterprets the historical event in his movie. Clicking on the link above should take you to the article.

The Passion of the Christ

The movie "Passion of the Christ" directed by Mel Gibson was a movie that raised a lot of questions. The author of the article was Ched Myers. He is a activist theologian and he feels that is is come of his responsibility to defend the gospel against contemporary representations and reproductions that he judged to be particularly wrongheaded or dangerous. In the article he offers another way or reading the story of Christ arrest, trial, and death. He breaks it down into 5 parts: The Arrest, The double-trial, The first trial scene, The Second Trial scene, and The powers killed Jesus. In the end he says that the focus of Gibson's film is how Jesus died but that the real question is why Jesus was put to death, and he says that "that story would be a movie worth making."

American History X: An Ideological Analysis

"American History X: A Critical View of the Movie" is a critical article written by Eric Loveday that focuses on the ideology of the film American History X. The piece was written exclusively for the Associated Press website. As many of us know, American History X is a very controversial film that focuses on several immense issues that currently exist in America. Eric Loveday points out two of these ideological issues by stating what the themes of the film are. The first thing he points out is that this film is built around the ideas of racism and white supremacy. He says that this theme helps the audience to realize that white supremacy groups are still very active and have a certain amount of strength even to this day. The other major theme that he points out is that politics is the fuel to the racism inferno. In short, Eric states that the government withholds jobs from white people. Therefore, they retaliate for this "unfair" treatment. I feel the following quote conveys the idea of Eric Loveday's entire article.

"The government is to blame for much of what is wrong with society today. Derrick blames the government for letting illegal immigrants come to our country and for letting them steal jobs from the whites within this country."

Music in The Royal Tenenbaums

In this critical essay found on www.senesesofcinema.com, Carole Piechota argues that the music in mise en scène naturally takes over the other elements. In The Royal Tenenbaums, she says, the feelings for the siblings Margot and Richie are best described and transferred to each other and the audience via popular music. "The most sophisticated articulation of Richie’s and Margot’s grief and longing are expressed through the lyrical content, instrumentation and associated imagery of three specific songs," says Piechota. Ultimately, music not only transfers their emotions, but "absolves" them.

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.