The Prowess Of The Rock Of Hollywood

In Rick Bragg’s article, “Down Here,” he portrays the importance of football in the South through his use of the rhetoric triangle. He establishes ethos through his stories of growing up in the South and giving various examples of Southerners that held football in such a bright light. He gives a logical reason for why the South is so dominant in the sport, establishing logos. Finally, Bragg uses the hardships of the South to create an overwhelming sense of pathos. Bragg is able to combine all three of these elements, ethos, logos, and pathos, to create a story that draws in the readers attention and has them hanging on to every word.

The theme of this book is about the legendary coach Paul Bryant and how he helped Joe Namath overcome the struggle of segregation on and off the football field. Considering the relationship of the athlete and coach during golden era of the game, it addresses the losses, the commitment, and the determination in becoming one of the nation 's elite.

The heat bears down on me, as I feel my skin burning in the hot summer sun. Dust and dirt floats around the air and a thin layer of grime covers my entire body. Sweat drips around my goggles while adrenaline fills my body and my heart races. In the middle of nowhere in Virginia, I feel at home, I feel the turf under my cleats and the cool metal of the stick in my hands. As the timer ticks down, the buzzer rings, and the game begins. I look to my left and see my dad sitting on the sideline, ready to cheer as loud as possible. To my right I find my teammates, the most loyal group of friends I have, ecstatic about the potential of winning.

On February 28, 2005, I experienced one of the most exciting events that anyone could ever experience – winning a State Championship. The day my soccer team made history is a day I’ll never forget. However it is not just that day we won the title, but the whole experience of the preceding season that got us there. From start to finish, my team’s 2004-2005 season taught me that the platitude is true. You can do anything you set your mind to.

Within sports, pressure is always there; you have to learn to deal with it. H. G. Bissinger’s book, Friday Night Lights, hones in on the football team the Permian Panthers of Odessa. Through this focus on the team, one can see how football is an integral part of the town thriving, maintaining its hopes and dreams. Despite the racial and social divide within the community, those Friday night games become a place where dreams may be made possible. In this way, sports, specifically football, not only have an impact on the players but the community as well.

The Golden Age of Hollywood was a time when Hollywood hit its peak successfully and economically, starting with the late 1920s, and met its decline due to corruption in the late 1950s. One would ask the question: “Where did the name Hollywood come from?” The name came from Harvey Henderson Wilcox and his wife, Daeida, who were owners of a small ranch west of Los Angeles. According to u-s-history.com, “Daeida, who, while on a train trip east met a woman that described her country home in Ohio, that had been named for the Dutch settlement of Hollywood. Liking the name, Daeida christened their ranch 'Hollywood,' upon her return.” (History of Hollywood, California) Movies during this time period became a vital form of entertainment for all Americans during this time period. By the 1910s, Hollywood was combined into its neighboring city Los Angeles, and many motion-picture studios began to open. Moviemakers rushed to Hollywood, and competition started to become widespread between directors and producers. By 1910, the first motion picture was made in Hollywood, titled In Old California, and soon enough, Los Angeles became second to New York in producing films also because of it’s quintessential weather for movies to be made in all year long during this time. As Hollywood began to industrialize, filmmakers began to work on the image of a “star”; they would continuously use these highly-paid actors in order to achieve a form of comfort for the general audience of the movies. Seeing

A celebrity is not a person known for his/her talent or achievement, but an individual recognized for his/her reputation created by the media. The phase of stardom is slippery, and media may choose to represent celebrities varying from exaggerated admiration to mockery. The three texts chosen, movie "Sunset Boulevard", feature article "Over the Hilton" and television show "Celebrity Uncensored Six" are texts presenting different perception of celebrities than their usual images - either corrupted by the encircling media, overloads oneself with self-indulgence, or just mocks celebrity in a broad spectrum. Such media items empower and impresses the audience by perceiving celebrities as people who pay the price of privacy to gain well

Like most Orange Bloods, I fondly remember my first encounter with the Texas Cowboys organization. It was an August Sunday at Darrell K Royal and it was time for Longhorn football to get underway. I spent my morning like most at the 40 acres, eating barbeque, hopping from tailgate to tailgate while feeling slightly anxious for what was to come against the tenth ranked Fighting Irish. I found my seat, enjoyed the pregame atmosphere and tried to prepare myself for what was to come. It was now time for kickoff, Mitchell Becker prepared to kick the ball off. He started into his kick and “BOOM!” Just like that, I jumped out of my seat in fear. Little did I know, I was sitting just four rows behind Smokey the Cannon.

After our loss to our school rival, the Panthers (red), with a score of 38-7, we created a synergy when we trained together. Our team, and I especially, moved passed the initial sadness. The Panthers (white) became the most determined, levelheaded and hardworking people on the football field. In fact, I was

Wouldn’t you love to experience how it feels to be a football player, wrestler, actor, and even the sexiest person in the world? Dwayne “The Rock" Johnson knows these feelings. Today, people know his name as a celebrity with all of his fame and fortune, but his life was not always so glamorous. Throughout his life, he went through many challenging situations where he felt that his options were limited and had to make tough decisions. Dwayne Johnson’s choices not only, got him out of tight spots, but also, began to unlock opportunities that brightened his future and has made him a memorable man in American history. .

Over time, there were several changes in Hollywood that led to the end of the studio system, but the star system remained one of the most important aspects of the film industry. The creation of movie magazines made the actors and actresses more assessable to fans. Belton stated that the power of today's stars is driven by the amount of focus that is put on them by entertainment journalist and television shows (90). Entertainment magazines line the shelves of grocery stores and newspaper stands with the names and faces of stars plastered throughout the pages.

This picture is a perfect portrayal of celebrity culture in today’s era. The desire to be virtually ‘connected’ and share everything in one’s life is the new trend. And this has resulted from the constant competition from the new community of ‘microcelebrities’, which is based on achieving fame through broadcasting oneself through media. One of the demeaning aspect of the picture is the lack of genuineness and enforcement of stylish lifestyle on the audience which makes it loose the emotional quotient.

Stardom can be read from another angle in the 1950s. Even while actors received much fame they were still under the control of producer and studio, who assigned actors to pictures “in their range and within the range of the audience expectations (Schickel 91). This system prevailed even after the Supreme Court ruling of 1948. Actors gained so much from Hollywood but became victims of the same-few died young and others had troubled private lives. Studios continued to own their actors despite the shift in film production. For instance Marilyn Monroe signed a seven year contract with Fox in 1950 and those who tried to build a career outside the studio system were vulnerable like the black actress Dorothy Dandridge. She found it difficult to survive in a white dominated industry though she achieved mainstream success through musicals such as Carmen Jones (1954)

Celebrities are everywhere in the news, the latest gossip appears in the weekly magazines without fail. Whether they be an actor, athlete, dancer, designer, model, singer or just rich; there is someone out there who is watching that person like a hawk, not letting a single breath go unnoticed. Such is the life of the rich and famous, under the incessant gaze of journalists and the paparazzi. Lives that many people take a great interest in and admire to the point where others would liken this great interest and admiration to a cult-like worship of celebrities. This is a brief description of what I think to be celebrity culture.

There are celebrities in the world that stand out for many reasons that range from beauty and talent to just memorable actions. Fame comes to those that in many ways, earn it. They work day and night for it, to be known for their personal satisfaction. Some however, don’t work to make only himself or herself happy. Some work not to be known and to have fame, but to make a difference in the world around them. They stand out for ways they have made the world better through their own personal gain. Paul Walker was one of these few that stands out to many in the world.