Film Review : Blood Diamond

Today’s filmmakers have three areas to focus on: the event or theme of the film, the audience who will be watching the film, and lastly, the individual characters and the roles they play and how they are portrayed and interpreted. Many of these films bottom line objectives are to focus on the “erotic needs of the male ego.” The focus on fetishistic scopophilia tend to slant the view such that we see the world as being dominated by men and that woman are

Feminists that approach analyzing popular culture proceed from a variety of theoretical positions that carry with them a deeper social analysis and political agenda. Popular culture has been a critical part of feminist analysis. “Cultural politics are crucially important to feminism because they involve struggles over meaning” (Storey, Intro 136). Analyzing a piece of pop culture through a feminist viewpoint, whether it be a music video or any sort of media, opens up a broader discussion about the structure of our patriarchal society and the ways in which politics are constantly portrayed and

During a time in which white supremacy was being challenged by an ever-increasing African population, a woman named Margaret Sanger “sought to purify America’s breeding stock and purge America’s bad stains” (Planned Parenthood). She set out to establish the American Birth Control League, which eventually became the Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA). Sanger’s actions provoked much controversy because at the time not only was contraception illegal in the United States, but it was denounced by almost every major religious denomination (Contraception History). Margaret Sanger set out on a mission to overcome first the church and then the state in order to “stop bringing to

As explained in Judith Lorber’s excerpt from “‘Night To His Day’: The Social Construction of Gender”, gender is a socially constructed concept that everyone unconsciously adheres to (Lorber). As a socially constructed concept, representations of gender roles can reinforce or challenge the stereotypical images. In Killing Us Softly 4, Jean Kilbourne analyzed the advertisement industry’s representation of women and argued that the media plays a huge role in shaping gender formations (Kilbourne). Although objectification of women is still a prevalent issue, Kilbourne acknowledged that there are efforts nowadays that challenges the unrealistic representations of women and femininity (Kilbourne). Inspired partly by Killing Us Softly 4, the project is my way to reflect on how the Disney movies I had watched as I grow up represented gender.

Hollywood is a very powerful modern day institution, where a star's image can characterize, shape and circulate societal myths and ideologies. The construction of a star's image as a commodity of their societal myths and ideologies has the extraordinary power to exert messages so that even the smallest details become significant yet not overtly obvious. How a star's image is produced and then consumed can justify a society's relationship with that image and therefore aid in explaining the social construction of what society deems as their 'reality'. A star's image is created through a range of representations churned out by Hollywood. Capitalism from the commercialization of these images has made Hollywood the dominant force it is

The movie "Blood Diamond" was released in 2006 and featured Leonardo Di Caprio as an arms smuggler whose main goal is to obtain a seemingly priceless diamond from a villager during the civil war in Sierra Leone. The film, although it has been called mild in comparison to reality, depicts the brutality that inhabitants of diamond villages were subjected to. The film was nominated for five Academy Awards, and won numerous other awards.

David Archer illustrates the government in its greatest moments and downfalls. His experiences and sufferings corrupted him and turned him into a cynical self-important person he is at the start of the movie. In his journey to find the diamonds, he eventually redeems himself. He views the cycle of the blood diamonds as a never-ending cycle fuelled by the shady characters behind the government, the diamond business, and the very people who unknowingly purchase these diamonds.

Until 1974, Angola had been a colony under Portuguese jurisdiction since 1576. “The combined forces of the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), the National Front for the Liberation of Angola (FNLA), and the National Union for the Total Independence succeeded in their struggle in removing the Portuguese colonial government in April, 1974”[1]. A bloody transitional period ensued throughout the next year, where a struggle for control of Angola’s government erupted between these three groups. The FNLA quickly disappeared from the scene, and the main battle for power evolved between the MPLA under Jose dos Santos and UNITA under Dr. Jonas Savimbi.

Durkheim writes that education of youth cannot be taught by the family nor the state because they are either too distant or too close to understand the child, therefore, there needs to be an institution located in between the two (Durkheim, 1991, 193). This institution is school (Durkheim, 1991, 191). School is one of the only places where social life is prevalent (Durkheim, 1991, 192). Secondary institutions like school aims to aid children in internalizing hegemonic ideals of the group (Durkheim, 1991, 192). The cinematic production “Mickey Mouse Monopoly: Disney, Childhood, and Corporate Power” demonstrates this by showing how mediums like Disney movies teaches dominant ideologies of society. For instance, when looking at gender representations of females in these types of films, the ideologies implemented in this film is that girl’s appearance will get them what they want or that they need to be saved (Mickey Mouse Monopoly, 2001). These ideologies are internalized by youth without them noticing. Girls and boys will play with one another, and the former will play the role of the victim waiting to be saved by the latter (Mickey Mouse Monopoly, 2001). This contemporary examples signifies that secondary institutions has moved far beyond school and that education can be done through mass media. Interestingly, Mary Wollstonecraft (1993) states that women are taught to care for their appearances and

Since its humble beginnings in the later years of the nineteenth century, film has undergone many changes. One thing that has never changed is the filmmaker’s interest in representing society in the present day. For better or worse, film has a habit of showing the world just what it values the most. In recent years, scholars have begun to pay attention to what kinds of ideas films are portraying (Stern, Steven E. and Handel, 284). Alarmingly, viewers, especially young women, are increasingly influenced by the lifestyle choices and attitudes that they learn from watching these films (Steele, 331). An example of this can be seen in a popular trope of the “romantic comedy” genre in this day and age: the powerful man doing something to help, or “save” the less powerful woman, representing a troubling “sexual double standard” (Smith, Stacy L, Pieper, Granados, Choueiti, 783).

Henry Thoreau’s literature resonates with movements of the twentieth century in the United States and abroad. Although he did not advocate for a non-violent form of resistance to civil government, his essay has been interpreted as a form of passive resistance from movements around the world. Similar to Douglas, Thoreau writes against the injustice of slavery and the despotism of government. His criticism of the Dred Scott decision by the Supreme Court, which did not recognize the legal standing of a slave before the Court, exemplifies his questioning of the Constitution as illegitimate authority. For Thoreau, the Constitution should be subjected to a test of morality.

Today, Film and Television are among the most internationally supported commodities. Financially, their contributions are enormous: both industries are responsible for the circulation of billions of dollars each year. Since their respective explosions into the new media markets during the mid-twentieth century, film and television have produced consistently growing numbers of viewers and critics alike. Sparking debate over the nature of their viewing, film and television are now being questioned in social, political, and moral arenas for their potential impact on an audience. Critics claim that watching films or television is a passive activity in which the viewer becomes subconsciously

The BBFC has commissioned me to undertake research as part of a project to ascertain to what degree films can be regarded as powerful within contemporary society. In this assignment, I will comprehensively explain the relationship between audiences and films with well explained examples. I refer to the different sectors relating to the topic that include the following:

Obesity has been a struggle that Americans have been trying to fight over the years but according to study’s many Americans don’t exercise at all. Although exercise is encouraged to Americans the obesity rates continue to increase. College students are vulnerable to weight gain because of the environment and obstacles that surround them. A survey was conducted at the University of Texas at El Paso asking the students questions towards exercising. This literature review will inform the reader how exercise plays an important role in a student’s life benefiting them in a variety of ways.

We see clearly in the movie how the factors of production is used: land, labour, and entrepreneurship. Land is the resource where diamonds are found, and in Blood Diamond we see how the RUF uses a form of alluvial mining and open pit mining on the land. The men would find the diamonds by digging and shoveling in rocks that are eroded by rivers and streams. The result of this is disastrous to the land because of the enormous amount of soil that is removed to obtain the diamond. Also wasted rocks from the mining can leak harmful substances back into the water. Blood Diamond did an admirable job at depicting the realities of how