DRAMA AND THEMES
Drama by definition is a play, movie, television show, or radio show that is about a serious subject and is not meant to make the audience laugh (Webster). Race, social class, and gender very often are major story lines for films in the category of drama. A drama can be based on several aspects, including but not limited to reality and novels and cross over into several other genres of movies. Very often, we see drama crossed with comedy, action, romance, etc., in turn making it the most common genre of movies (Dirks, 2015). Drama focuses on realistic characters with a realistic story line, high intensity special effects are not usually prevalent in dramas. The Help, A Christmas Carol, Mr. Mom, are the dramas chosen that I feel depict race, social class, and gender representation each at a very different level, based on the time period implied in the movie.
COMMONALITIES AND CHOSEN ISSUES
If I am going to see a movie based on a novel I have read, for example, The Help, I have a preconceived notion of what this movie is going to be about and expectations based on the previews prior to entering the movie theater. An additional spin on this movie, which often makes the actors and directors work more difficult, the book became popular prior to the movie being created. Very often when books are in place prior to the movie, readers have visualizations of what the characters look like, how they will sound, etc. The Help is categorized as a drama, and
The center I chose to observe was the dramatic play center which is a kitchen. I chose this center because because it's a great way to observe children. The purpose of the dramatic play center is to help develop social, emotional and oral language skills. It gives children a chance to assign roles, self regulate when having to take turns and during all of this children are developing language skills.
“All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players.” William Shakespeare may have written these words in As You Like It in 1600, but Erving Goffman truly defined the phrase with his dramaturgical theory. Dramaturgical analysis is the study of social interaction in terms of theatrical performance. Unlike actors though, who use a script telling them how to behave in every scene, real life human interactions change depending upon the social situation they are in. We may have an idea of how we want to be perceived, and may have the foundation to make that happen. But we cannot be sure of every interaction we will have throughout the day, having to ebb and flow with the conversations and situations as they happen.
Pretend you are playing the role of a character named Jordan, while discussing Erving Goffman’s theory of dramaturgy. Jordan finally made it. Jordan finally graduated university and has been lucky enough to receive an offer for an interview at the institution that he had been working towards his entire university career, an interview at the top law firm in all of Toronto. Now it is time to prepare. It is time for Jordan to show the firm that he is meant to be there. To show the firm that this position was meant for him, he must be the best version of himself. Jordan is competing against hundreds of other university graduates, but he must show them that he is the one. Jordan’s first impression matters, he must show them the qualities that they want to see to ensure that he receives the position at the law firm.
Shifting Out of the Drama Triangle: Victim vs. Creator Mindsets Success is not measured by your past achievement, rather it is your outlook on obstacles, ability to stick through the current situation and proper communication with appropriate staff. It doesn't have to be the prescribed notion that "creators" view an obstacle in a way that they can manipulate what they are given in order to achieve their desired result, it can be seeing past the current hurdle towards the goal. This is also true for "victims". Know that there is no problem with seeing an obstacle as unfavorable, as long as the overarching goal is to complete the task.
I awoke to beams of a dozen spotlights, my vision gradually adjusted to the brilliant white light which illuminated everything around me. The realization that I had fallen asleep during rehearsal caused my eyes to widen in utter shock and confusion.
Statistics also show that drama has been and remains to be a favorite to many. It does not deviate so much from the mean of the total and operating gross. However, it is facing stiff competition from other movies genres especially action movies which have showed dominance in the movie industry. This is perhaps due to the use of technology and encouraging creativity in this type of genre. Statistics also show that drama can be favorable for most viewers since it is short in length. Most of the dramas are suitable for general viewing unlike other type of genres which may contain some content unsuitable for general viewing.
Erving Goffman was a sociologist known for developing the symbolic interaction and dramaturgical theory perspective. The dramaturgical theory is a social psychological perspective that studies human behavior and social interaction in terms of the analogy of the theater. This perspective is also related to symbolic interactionism. Symbolic interactionism is a theory based on interaction and communication, facilitated by many different words, gestures, and other symbols that have acquired various meanings. Dramaturgical theorist focus on how people manipulate various aspects of themselves and their settings to influence how others define and respond to them. In this perspective, “the self” is constructed of the various roles that one acquires, in order to present their various selves in ways that sustain particular impressions to their audiences. “The self” is a private possession established in and reflective of an individual’s personality, which includes ones values, beliefs, motives, traits, and dispositions. In addition, a person’s “self” is acquired through social relationships and is a structurally fundamental process that may change due to various situations. As humans interact with one another they are placed in social categories based on their attributes and actions. These assessments are primarily based on ones knowledge of roles.
Behind every great movie, comes a storyline that is derived from a book however, most of the books to the movies have a great number of deviations. The screenwriters and other staff members to include the director come up with these deviations to enhance the plot in the attempt to make it a more interesting film to which in turn can make a better profit. The majority of differences that is found in films main objective is to enhance the mind. For example, when a scene has the ability to get a particular feeling out of a viewer, it is imperative to be able to understand the reasons for those feelings. The dialog and the visual effects of a scene sets a tone that differs from that of the book that it was taken from. Also, screen writers and
When it comes to books and movies they both tell a story in their own way whether it’s being written or shown. But when a book turns into a movie now the story takes a new form. The audience now knows the book and what’s going to happen and what they want to see. When the book is made into a movie it doesn’t always meet the audiences’ expectations because of all the differences. For example, a well-known novel to teens “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” was created into a movie. Throughout the movie I was able to pin point the changes that were made such as the emotions from the characters, the amount of time the family was involved and how it affected the main character and also the religious involvement throughout the friends and family. Although
Tragedy as a form works differently than modern drama when compared to the ancient Greeks. When it comes to modern drama, the main character is usually an ordinary person, someone who is middle class. Where as with Greek tragedy, the main character is someone important and noble, such as a king or queen. Modern drama revolves around everyday problems such as social, economical, or personal conflicts. Greek Tragedies seem to be very linear. It’s mostly about the hero making a bad decision from the beginning of the play, which leads to his or her downfall in the end. Although, they were of higher ranking, ancient Greek’s beliefs made the main character powerless to avoid their fate, which was controlled by the gods. As far as conventions go, Greek Tragedies are very unified. The tragedy of the royal protagonist will go through only one time span, a day or less, one setting, and one story. In a modern tragedy, however, the ordinary protagonist’s story goes through multiple realistic settings and a realistic time line. Also, the story would contain multiple plots, which may contain flashbacks.
The substance of Shakespeare's tragedy solely points out to the power of death. In this five act play, the death of important characters suffices for the cruel reality of life. However, a completely realm is required in order to observe Shakespeare's version of tragedy. Shakespeare has used tragedy to explain on the major paradoxes of life. It can be called a Paradox of disappointment. Defeat, unfulfilled desired, failed hopes and then finally death are some of the faces of tragedies faced by Human. These are realities of life and cannot be avoided. Although they form the foundation of our lives but are still considered as intruders to our ideal version of life. This is the reason why when we are confronted by tragic literature in this particular paradox, we become fascinated.
Aristotle thoroughly describes his understanding of the tragedy in the Poetics and bases this conception on certain requirements. According to Aristotle the three most important variables that define a tragedy are plot, characters, and theme. Using Oedipus Rex as a sort of ideal, this philosopher demonstrates how a tragedy functions in order to evoke catharsis while exploring themes and human flaws, or mistakes. In Oedipus Rex, the main figure, Oedipus the King is a subject of fate, unable to escape himself and his desire to uncover the truth. In essence, this drama demonstrates the fall of a prominent figure brought down by his inescapable fortune and self-destruction. I definitely believe it is difficult to find a modern day tragedy that
Despite the claim that Drama in Education ( DIE) as a pedagogy dimmed its popularity in the Western world since 1990 until 2016 (Gallagher, et al. , 2017), in the year of 2011, Morrow, et al. included it as one of the best practices in literacy instruction. Some of the teachers who had the experience of trying process drama in their classrooms found that the pedagogy improved students’ participations, pushed students to use their imaginations, performed deeper understanding of the topics being learned and made the students learn to have empathy ( Long, 1998). Do the voices from the classroom resemble to what researchers and theories have to say on process drama?
Ever since I took drama classes in high school I felt that we always put on an act. A show almost, that we put out for the people we interact with daily. Erving Goffman, “Canadian-American Sociologist” (Encyclopedia In., 2017) also believed this, he compared social interactions to the theater, where individuals take a particular role. According to Goffman this “theatrical metaphor consists of a stage, actors, and an audience” (Crossman, 2014). It also consists of the onstage, backstage and offstage. These three stages show different behavior on a person.
Rituals and theater, which are both cultural performances, have similarities such as serving the purpose of entertaining teaching the audience, belief from audiencce, use of props, use of space, and repesentaion. Since during this time period many commoners did not know how to read, the church had to present these rituals in order to teach them about events in the bible like the Crucification of Jesus Christ. Similaritly, a play will serve the purpose to teach the audience a certain idea that the playwright believes is necessary for the audience members, the audience vary depending on the time this play was written, to learn or understand. Unlike a play, which has no certain time frame to be perform, a ritual is perform during certain time of the liturgical year; for example, the passion of the cross