However, in the way that it brings Murrow to life and pays tribute to something he did that has likely been forgotten, the film makes a case for redefining what constitutes a good political film. Because the events depicted so clearly mirror events in our own political world and life, yet are done so in a way that grippingly recreates a lost era of the 1950s, a viewer gains the sense of being 'transported' in a way that is the essence of cinema.
The film's theme raises a potentially provoking challenge to our own media obsession -- yes, it is easy to condemn McCarthy now, with the wisdom of hindsight, now that McCarthy has become a synonym for baseless slander and the Soviet Union is defunct. However, after 9/11, another threat to the nation, the Department of Homeland Security engaged in a number of questionable tactics, including surveying the library borrowing records of Americans who were accused of no crime, and many Muslims, Arab-Americans, or simply individuals with dark skin were held in suspicion and 'profiled' by private and public organizations. "Good Night and Good Luck" as a film narrative does run the risk of merely congratulating us as viewers that we are not as we were 'back then,' during the bad, old days of 1950s witch-hunting, but because it is close enough to our own era it still provokes us to engage, as Americans, in more difficult national soul-searching about the need to balance liberty and security in a rational fashion that does not destroy the rights we are trying to protect. It is at once wholly of its era, filled with cigarette smoke and 1950s executives in drab, grey flannel suits and of our own era of corporate news media domination.
The most subtle question about the film raises is the question of media ownership. Despite the spread of sources of media through the Internet and blog-o-sphere, sources of the mass media are increasingly consolidated in only a few hands today. Disney owns ABC, Rupert Murdoch owns countless newspapers and television channels. This makes the pressure upon Murrow to conform by studio executives in the 1950s...
" Meanwhile, "False Balancing" is where "both sides are seldom accorded equal prominence," Parenti asserts. As an example of this tendency, Parenti writes that when it comes to a conservative issue, NPR (National Public Radio), perceived as a liberal institution, interviews a "right wing spokesperson" alone. But when it's a liberal issue being discussed, NPR has a liberal and a conservative on together. Endorsement / Disparagement: Some media use "labels" like "the
The pictorial values, and the acting of both "Erin Brockovich" and "Good Night and Good Luck" are profoundly different than "Mother," although both show political awakenings. The more recent American films focus on extraordinary individuals, persons of physical beauty and glamour, or persons of great fame and influence, and the acting is differential, unique, and what the characters say is equally as important as what they do, unlike "Mother." It
And while it may seem silly upon first reading or seeing the play, it is clear that a Midsummer Night's Dream also has quite serious ideas. Scholars have noted that the play includes a cultural critique of the Elizabethan era in which it is set (Lamb 93-124). Other critics have noted that the play may contain quite subversive ideas regarding the fluid nature of sexual identity (Green 369-370). Whatever
Adolf Hitler Introduction Adolf Hitler was born in Austria on April 20, 1889. From an early age he wanted to be an artist, though he also considered entering the clerical life and becoming a priest (Shirer). His father was a practical man and wanted to see his son enter into government service and eke out a decent living for himself. His father had not had much luck with work, having tried farming
Shattered Glass Stephen Glass, the protagonist of the film, played by Hayden Christensen, works for The New Republic as a reporter. His use of colorful stories to draw attention from readers earns him a solid reputation amongst his peers and his employers. Michael Kelly, an editor that backs Glass' eventually discovered false stories, gets fired for standing up for himself. Glass then writes a hacker story that he himself did
Other determining factors influencing long-term affects of abuse to a child include: Whether the child's mother is supportive and child can confide in her. Whether the child's experiences success at school Whether the child has nurturing relationships with peers. (Ibid.) Childhood intimacy problems and sexual abuse, interacting with family background, contribute the child's developing self-esteem and sense or "world" mastery being disrupted. These deficits, in turn, increase the probability of a child experiencing
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