Examples of Xenophobia From Profiling to Internment

Mansfield Park, the novel, or Mansfield Park the film Essay

There have been many adaptations of Jane Austens books over the years; all six of her novels have been made into films or television dramas with varying degrees of success, from the classics of Persuasion, Pride amp; Prejudice and Sense amp; Sensibility, to the funny modern version of Emma in the form of Clueless. In this paper I want to show how director Patricia Rozema has made Austens novel Mansfield Park much more modern, accessible, and, as some claim, radical, by skipping parts of the story that would make the film version drag, and importing events and dialogue that have significance into scenes, often created by Rozema, that are more appealing. There is always controversy whether a Jane Austen masterpiece can be adequately†¦show more content†¦I will go into that in more detail later in this paper. There is some debate whether the film should be called ‘Patricia Rozemas Mansfield Park’, as opposed to Jane Austens, as Derek Elley points out in his review of the film. He claims Rozema: ‘reinterprets the central character, Fanny Price, as a cross between Austen herself and a tomboyish proto-feminist, throws in some magical realism and gratuitous lesbian frissons to spice up the pot, and too often steps out of its era to adopt a knowing, politically correct, late-20th-century attitude to the society portrayed....’ Though all of her books deal with social matters, manners, and small family communities, Mansfield Park is arguably one of Jane Austen’s duller novels, lacking a truly lovable heroine and breezing over issues that, had she gone into more detail, would have made the book a lot more controversial and readable for 21st century readers. Rozema has been very liberal with the changes in her film, transforming Fanny from a doormat of a woman who irritates many readers with her timid and pious ways into a spirited young woman whom David Bezanson describes in his review of the film as a ‘sassy, 90s, politically-aware attitude girl who shows up the fatuousness of most of the other characters’. Henry Crawford, and the Bertram sisters also get slightly reinvented, portrayed in the film as more endearing (the scenes in which he visits Fanny in Portsmouth) and dim respectively.Show MoreRelatedManners in Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen3437 Words   |  14 Pagesfocuses on Mrs. Bennet and her five daughters: Jane, Elizabeth, Lydia, Kitty, and Mary. Mrs. Bennet, determined that each of her daughters will marry rich, is delighted to hear that a young man with a large fortune, Mr. Bingley, is to move to Netherfield Park and become the Bennets’ neighbor. Jane, the eldest and most beautiful Bennet daughter, f alls in love with charming Mr. Bingley, while Mr. Darcy, his equally wealthy friend, offended nearly everyone with his condescending nature. In order to live happilyRead MoreJane Austens Influence on Literature2794 Words   |  12 Pages mostly involving herself in societies activities and also from numerous authors she met throughout her writing career. (jasna.org). Her keen sense of observation would help lead her into being the influential writer we know her to be today. Her novels today are timeless classics and are read and studied in schools all over the world. In general, during Jane Austen’s life, everyone wrote for a purpose and not for money, other than journalists possibly (jasna.org). 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The â€Å"Supporting Mobile Health Clinics† case study describes the computer and communication needs and the problems encountered by clinicians providing health care to medically underserved children from recreational-vehicle-sized vans that park in front of homeless shelters and other community centers. In the InsuraCorp case study, managers at a large (disguised) insurance company are wrestling with who in the organization should have ongoing responsibility for data quality and other

Gattaca Viewing Essay Free Essays

Gattaca Viewing Essay Themes in texts are what make them interesting and engaging. A text which has a number of intriguing themes is the feature film Gattaca, written and directed by Andrew Niccol, and released in 1997. One particular theme which is evident in Gattaca is the idea that the most important key to a person’s success is not their genetic material but their ambitions, drive and determination. We will write a custom essay sample on Gattaca Viewing Essay or any similar topic only for you Order Now This theme is explored in the film through the conventions of performance and characterisation, camera angles, camera shots and by music/sound. Early in the film Gattaca, Vincent undergoes a transformation. Prior to the transformation Vincent is seen as an unconfident person with bad body language, baggy clothing and glasses which all indicates that Vincent is inferior. Vincent wants to be able to work at Gattaca but he knows that he can’t make it in because of his genetic material (heart problem), so he meets German (broker) who helps Vincent undergo the transformation. When German asks Vincent how committed he is to the project; Vincent says â€Å"I’d give 100%,† to which German replies, â€Å"That’ll get you halfway there†. This shows you how much effort Vincent has to put in to get into Gattaca, but with drive and determination on Vincent’s side he not only gets into Gattaca but one of their elites. After Vincent’s transformation from a â€Å"borrowed ladder† to a valid his attitude and looks had changed completely. His posture and body language had become almost perfect and his attitude to life had also transformed completely; making him look like a professional. You can finally see the complete transformation when Vincent has his interview at Gattaca, when he looks into the mirror. You can see that Vincent is impressed with what he has transformed into. During the film Gattaca, the mission director at Gattaca was brutally murdered, in which Investigators took control of Gattaca and checked everything, everywhere and everyone, gene to gene. When Vincent sees all of these people searching for clues and evidence he slightly loses faith and starts to rethink his whole dream. The investigators find a suspect, but no details are given except a picture (of Vincent) and the fact that the suspect is an invalid. There are many different scenes in which Vincent almost gets caught, but one of the tensest scenes was when Vincent went on the treadmill for his training. Prior to this scene we see Jerome clip a heart rate monitor onto himself and we see him ride his wheel chair so they can record his heartbeat, which we figure out that Vincent is going to end up using it. When Vincent goes onto the treadmill we see him quickly switch heart rate monitors and then we see him jogging. Then we see two investigator walk into the gym facility where everyone is getting there heart rate checked, including Vincent. While the investigators are talking to the doctors we, the viewers can hear Vincent’s heart beat (non-diegetic), which slowly builds up the tension. Then when the investigators and the doctor are talking about Vincent, his Heart beat monitors recording finished early so we can hear his real heartbeat which is going really fast so he quickly unclipped his heart rate monitor and walked off. This shows you the risks and challenges that Vincent faces every day and the ways he deals with them. At the beginning of Gattaca Vincent and his brother Anton play a dangerous game called â€Å"Chicken†. Chicken involves Vincent and Anton battling against each other and against the great force of nature as they swim out into the ocean as far as they possibly can until one gives in or turns back. Both Anton and Vincent are presented through high angles to show their inferiority and insignificance compared to rough and wavy ocean. There are also scenes in which they are displayed through eye level shots to show that the conditions are equal to both of them. Later on in the film Vincent and Anton go back out into the ocean and have another game of Chicken in which Vincent, against all odds beats Anton. This is a significant part of the film because Vincent finally realises that he can achieve anything and he can finally travel into space. â€Å"It was the one moment in our lives that my brother was not as strong as he believed, and I was not as weak. It was the moment that made everything possible†. Camera angles help support the theme that the most important key to a person’s success is not their genetic material but their ambitions, drive and determination. At the end of Gattaca, Vincent was only moments away from achieving his goal to go to Gattaca. At the same time Jerome is preparing to end his life. These two scenes are intercut so we can see Vincent finally getting onto the rocket and achieving his goal while Jerome is stepping into the incinerator preparing to kill himself because he lived a miserable life, having perfect genetic material but a lack of determination and drive. This scene is extremely tense because we feel emotionally overwhelmed; happy for Vincent and sympathetic for Jerome. We also feel quite emotional because we know Jerome is going to die happy and we know that he was happy to be part of Vincent’s transformation: â€Å"I got the better end of the deal. I only lent you my body †¦ you lent me your dream†. This is the final scene of the film that completes the theme. Vincent made his dream come true, not because of his genetic material but because of his ambitions, drive and determination. It is evident in the feature film Gattaca, by Andrew Niccol that the key to a person’s success is not their genetic material but their ambitions, drive and determination. Gattaca is full of interesting ideas and themes which are explored throughout Vincent’s journey. The conventions of performance and characterisation, camera angles, camera shots and music/sound all help develop the theme. I believe that this would have to be one of my favourite movies because of all of the representations and because the story behind it inspired me to become a better person. I would also recommend this movie to anyone because it reaches out to a wide target audience and I would definitely rate it a 10 out of 10. By Anthony (hshs) How to cite Gattaca Viewing Essay, Essay examples

Story of a Man free essay sample

I think he was for the most part a trifle the worse for liquor. I was standing at the bar one evening, my foot on the rail, with an acquaintance – they make a very good dry martini at the Palace Hotel in Guatemala City when the man with the scar came up. I shook my head as for the twentieth time since my arrival he held out for inspection his lottery tickets. But my companion nodded affably. ‘Que tal, general? How is life? ’ ‘Not so bad. Business is none too good, but it might be worse. ‘What will you have, general? ’ ‘A brandy. ’ He tossed it down and put the glass back on the bar. He nodded to my acquaintance. ‘Gracias. Hasta Luego. ’ Then he turned away and offered tickets to the men who were standing next to us. ‘Who is your friend? ’ I asked. ‘That’s a terrific scar on his face. ’ ‘It doesn’t add to his beauty, does it? He’s an exile from Nicaragua. He’s a ruffian of course and a bandit, but not a bad fellow. I give him a few pesos now and then. He was a evolutionary general and if his ammunition hadn’t given out he’d have upset the government and be minister of war now instead of selling lottery tickets in Guatemala. They captured him, along with his staff, such as it was, and tried him by court-martial. Such things are rather summary in those countries, you know, and he was sentenced to be shot at dawn. I guess he knew what was coming to him when he was caught. He spent the night in gaol and he and the others, there were five of them altogether, passed the time playing poker. They used matches for chips. He told me he’d never had such a run of bad luck in his life. When day broke and the soldiers came into the cell to fetch them for execution he had lost more matches than a reasonable man could use in a life time. They were led into the patio of the gaol and placed against a wall, the five of them side by side, with the firing party facing them. There was a pause and our friend asked the officer in charge of them what the devil they were keeping him waiting for. The officer said that the general commanding the government troops wished to attend the execution and they awaited his arrival. Then I have time to smoke another cigarette,† said our friend. â€Å"He was always unpunctual. † But he had barely lit it when the general – it was San Ignacio, by the way: I don’t know whether you ever met him – followed by his A. D. C. came into the patio. The usual formalities were performed and San Ignacio asked the condemned men whether there was anything they wished before the execution took place. Four of the five shook their heads, but our friend spoke. â€Å"Yes, I should like to say goodbye to my wife. † â€Å"Bueno,† said the general, â€Å"I have no objection to that. Where is she? † â€Å"She is waiting at the prison door. † â€Å"Then it will not cause a delay of more than five minutes. † â€Å"Hardly that, Senor General. † â€Å"Have him placed on one side. † Two soldiers advanced and between them the condemned rebel walked to the spot indicated. The officer in command of the firing squad on a nod from the general gave an order, there was a ragged report, and the four men fell. They fell strangely, not together, but one after the other, with movements that were almost grotesque, as though they were puppets in a toy theatre. The officer went up to them and into one who was still alive emptied two chambers of his revolver. Our friend finished his cigarette and threw away the stub. There was a little stir at the gateway. A woman came into the patio, with quick steps, and then, her hand on her heart, stopped suddenly. She gave a cry and with outstretched arms ran forward. â€Å"Caramba,† said the general. She was in black, with a veil over her hair, and her face was dead white. She was hardly more than a girl, a slim creature, with little regular features and enormous eyes. But they were distraught with anguish. Her loveliness was such that as she ran, her mouth slightly open and the agony of her face beautiful, a gasp of surprise was wrung from those indifferent soldiers who looked at her. The rebel advanced a step or two to meet her. She flung herself into his arms and with a hoarse cry of passion: alma de mi corazon, soul of my heart, he pressed his lips to hers. And at the same moment he drew a knife from his ragged shirt – I haven’t a notion how he had managed to retain possession of it – and stabbed her in the neck. The blood spurted from the cut vein and dyed his shirt. Then he flung his arms round her and once more pressed his lips to hers. It happened so quickly that many didn’t know what had occurred, but from the others burst a cry of horror; they sprang forward and seized him. They loosened his grasp and the girl would have fallen if the A. D. C. hadn’t caught her. She was unconscious. They laid her on the ground and with dismay on their faces stood round watching her. The rebel knew where he was striking and it was impossible to staunch the blood. In a moment the A. D. C. who had been kneeling by her side rose. She’s dead,† he whispered. The rebel crossed himself. â€Å"Why did you do it? † asked the general. â€Å"I loved her. † A sort of sigh passed through those men crowded together and they looked with strange faces at the murderer. The general stared at him for a while in silence. â€Å"It was a noble gesture,† he said at last. â€Å"I cannot execute this man. Take my car and have him led t o the frontier. Senor, I offer you the homage which is due from one brave man to another. † A murmur of approbation broke from those who listened. The A. D. C. tapped the rebel on the shoulder, nd between the two soldiers without a word he marched to the waiting car. ’ My friend stopped and for a time I was silent. I must explain that he was a Guatemaltecan and spoke to me in Spanish. I have translated what he told me as well as I could, but I have made no attempts to tone down his rather high-flown language. To tell the truth I think it suits the story. ‘But how did he get the scar? ’ I asked at length. ‘Oh, that was due to a bottle that burst when he was opening it. A bottle of ginger ale. ’ ‘I never liked it,’ said I.