Universal Themes

At first glance the movie Jumanji might seem far off and like surreal scenario. But getting to its core you will most likely see that it’s based upon everyday subjects and people. Only suddenly put in extreme situations. Jumanji is a tale of friendship, treachery and finding peace. Much like other popular culture pieces and neither less to say life itself.

Hillenbrand, L. (2010). Unbroken: A World War II story of survival, resilience, and redemption. New York: Random House.

Out of the Past is definitely an interesting movie with a lot of things to talk about. I will touch briefly upon two main things I have noticed during the screen: the film noire genre and the image of the femme fatale.

In the novel Everything I Never Told You, Celeste Ng uses character, setting, and resolution to create the theme that selfishness, whether purposeful or subconscious, leads to ruin.

The Sacred Realm is a theme of art that involves the concept of aspects that cannot be seen but can only be brought to existence through faith by viewing a piece of art work. This faith is usually in form of a sacred realm. It’s vital to understand that this theme cannot be viewed by the naked eye. For instance, the religious images in the visual art are employed to bring about the opinions and beliefs of the individuals who are in faith of the specific religion and this is reached by provision of abstract ideas with images thru the work of art. Therefore, the Sacred Realm theme of art explains in a virtual way the reason and purpose behind the existence of certain aspects of nature such as religion

The Selection series has been a rollercoaster of plot twists, cliffhangers and many different emotions. The third book in the series, The One, has to be the most shocking one of them all (so far). It has a lot of surprises and a very unexpected ending. In this book, they announce the winner of the whole Selection. You have a hunch of who will win from the beginning because she narrates the whole book but it’s such an amazing story, sometimes you question if she’s actually going to win.

In “The grandfather and his little grandson”, a russian folktale,the old weak grandfather tried to eat, but hi food falls from his face. One day the grandfather dropped and broke one of his sons bowls. The old man’s son and his

Nicola Yoon's book Everything, Everything tells a story about Madeline (Maddie) Whittier who wants to just live a normal life when a boy moves in next door. However she can’t because she has SCID which means she is basically allergic to everything. She wants to leave but she can´t. So as she falls in love with Olly the boy next door, she does things that are not imaginable. She runs off to Hawaii with Olly. Then she comes back home only to find out she never had SCID. There are several important themes that the readers can find in this story. First, love is worth fighting for. Second, anyone can betray you. And last, temptation can sometimes lead to good things or bad things.

I chose to look at the Red Hot Chili Peppers music video “Otherside” to compare its motifs and themes with those in the movie The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. I believe the theme of the song is similar to that of the movie in the sense that characters in both are struggling with mental health problems and them dealing with a break from reality. I also feel that this heavily impacts the presentation of the music video in the same way the theme influenced the presentation of the movie in many ways. The architecture of both sets uses a kind of asymmetric, cubist design style that makes the audience uncomfortable and also suggests a wrapped or alternate reality. The band members in the music video are dressed in all black like the character Cesare

A classic disney tale always includes a hero saving the day/world. “Big Hero Six” is no different. As a more recent disney movie it appeals to a much bigger audience, from classic disney themes, to modern music and stunning new animations. “Big Hero Six” follows the story of its hero, clichely named Hiro, as he deals with the sudden death of older brother and idol. “BIg Hero Six” tells of Hiro’s hero’s journey where he not only saves the world but finds himself along the way.

There are multiple reasons that Ashima pities her child. Firstly, she realizes how lonely her child must be. She thinks to herself that there is “no grandparent or parent or uncle or aunt at her side” (24 Lahiri). She believes that he has entered the earth as a lonely person, unlike he would have been greeted in India. Most births are much more lively and exciting as there are multiple family members to celebrate the birth of a first child.

Well this is likely the case, as many of the movie's themes serve as a warning of the things we prioritize too heavily in our culture, such as the societal reliance on drugs being a panacea, the use of short term solutions without thinking of the long-term reprocussions, and our infatuation with maximizing the use of time in our busy

The theme of Theseus is betrayal. Our fellow hero, Theseus abandoned Ariadne, even when she helped him complete his expedition. She even brought in an architect that built the labyrinth to help. Theseus finally defeats the beast. He fulfills his promise and takes Princess Ariadne with him. They stop by an island called Naxos. Princess Ariadne falls asleep and Theseus ditches her and leave. This is a sign of betrayal. Princess Ariadne went through a lot for Theseus and he leaves her on an island? That’s just harsh. In my opinion, he basically used her to get to the beast. He used her to complete his mission. Another sign of betrayal is when Theseus banishes his son, Hippolytus from Athens. Theseus’ wife Phaedra, (Ariadne’s sister) had madly

Traditionally, animated films have been made for and consumed by children, with the plotlines and themes being relatively basic and forthright. However, recent years have seen the release of animated films that’s explore significantly more adult themes and thought provoking ideas. Perhaps the most confronting example of adult themes in an animated film is in 2016’s ‘Zootopia’. The film forces viewers to think about concepts such as racial segregation, nature vs. nurture and the debilitating effect of stereotyping. Although Zootopia features anthropomorphic animals, it is easy to draw a connection between the films prey vs. predator narrative and racial divide in our own society.

In the 21st century, movies present a platform for ideas and themes to be conveyed through a screen. Themes of change, environmental crisis, love, and death are all only a few of the most common themes that circulate through the Hollywood film industry. According to Annalee Newitz in her essay “When Will White People Stop Making Movies Like Avatar?”, a recurring theme she’s noticed is the theme of white guilt. In her essay, Newitz depicts the movie Avatar as nothing more than a colorful rehash of this (apparently) common white guilt scenario. This is where the main white protagonist leaves the oppressive (white) side to join the oppressed native side upon seeing the error of his ways. Some Americans, including Newitz, believe that movies