Bond Who?

Dr. No and many other James Bond films share similar concepts. The first being the exotic atmosphere, riveting stories and plots. Then there’s also Bonds exotic women and even more exotic are their names. However, disagreeing with the idea of Ian Flemings novels creating racial sovereignty in eastern cultures. The books and films can only be held accountable presenting an idea of Oriental/Eastern cultures. The novels are fictional along with the Hollywood films that were made to follow them. The interest of learning about a new culture shouldn’t be grasped by an action film. Sensitive idealist need to keep in mind that the true conventional ways of eastern cultures along with western cultures wouldn't be as interesting if they weren't dramatized. Possibly the only thing to judge from the novels/films are the female character and their roles. It seems as if every film and novel there’s a significant amount of sexism and anti-feminism. The names given to the female characters are offensive enough - correction they cant even be considered names but actually more of an object than anything else e.g. Pussy Galore, Honey Rider, Octopussy. Ian Fleming pushes the boundaries of sexist material in his novels. If this material now considered offensive, you could only wonder what were the effects of the books when the first of the series was released in 1954!!!. How could society accept these ideas in a time when its current culture was so conservative? The novels are provocative and filled with sex, alcohol and gambling. Ian has gone against the social norms by exploring into a secret agents life of danger and exotic fantasies. His success may have been developed by this same reason, as he has created a remarkable franchise of entertainment.

--Producer Defends Bond Girls--

Barbara Broccoli, the joint owner and producer of the James Bond franchise, has publicly defended the depiction of women in the secret agent's early adventures.

 She told The Sunday Telegraph: "The women were unique for their time. Pussy Galore, for instance, was a female pilot. A lot of them were sexual predators who gave as good as they got. They had professional careers and did extraordinary things. I think the early women were very progressive."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/3024355/James-Bond-girls-are-feminist-icons-says-Cubby-Broccolis-daughter.html

Cat On a Hot Tin Roof

This week in class “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” group summary & analysis was very interesting. They chose to involve the classroom with questions and for every correct answer you’d win candy or a prize. I did however enjoy their PowerPoint and short screen plays, it was very creative of them. 

The groups interpretation of the characters and motifs where similar to my ideas. The major characters in the story were of development from each other. Maggie’s actions are caused by Bricks refusal towards her; this makes her who she is anxious, annoying and childish. Maggie throws herself onto Brick - posing and undressing, hoping for desire but Brick wishing nothing from her and the role she plays is like a cat on a hot roof.  Then there’s Big Mama she is also developed by another character, her husband Big Daddy. Big Mama could be considered as the other cat on the hot tin roof, except she has come to except her role as the quiet housewife. Big mama is unconsciously feeble of her own marriage, big daddy also does not desire her and this makes her who she is. The easiest character to identify is Big daddy, where the majority of his energy and interest is concentrated in his business and materialistic items, as he leaves LOVE for his family in second place. Then there’s Gooper a carbon copy of his father as they share many similar traits. The most interesting character in this story is Brick, we know that he has much more! Well at least to the eye… he is handsome, charming to those that know him, has a beautiful wife, he is well known and popular. However, these same qualities only show signs for the wanting of acceptance, that of his fathers. Brick is however introduced to us as a drunk with a broken leg. The crutches may be a symbol of his masculinity, we see that he is week with crutches like his masculinity and therefore hides himself in alcohol; for this same reason he has no desire for Maggie. As he breaks his crutches, his masculinity is also broken and his love for Skipper is revealed. The relationship that he shared with Skipper was the one that he never had with his father. As he has searched for his fathers acceptance Brick distanced himself from the same thing he was looking for, all he found were substitutes.

The Music Man “You Got Trouble”

“You Got Trouble”

While a quiet subtle town goes about it’s rather normal evening the center is suddenly disrupted by what appears to be a sales man… and what is he selling? He is selling fear and soon enough the town turns into a musical number. In this musical, the man expresses how the new billiards will turn this town upside down; their young boys will turn immoral towards corruption. The chorus goes like this, you’ve got trouble… Right Here in River City… Yes trouble… with a capital T. The man is inventing fear in this small town to create a need for his band.

The ideology of this clip may represent how media affects society. This musical clip gives us an idea of how well media affects everyday society, but in a small scale in a small town. Now lets imagine if this fear was created in a national scale to develop or police a way of life, culture and media. In our class reading Literacy Theory: An Anthology, chapter 1 describes the various culture theory’s of society. The most relevant theory to The Music Man “You Got Trouble”, may be the Marxist and structuralist semiotics theory. It describes how the media “Policed” economic crises by portraying the world in a way favorable to those in power or how working class youth resisted their assigned social roles through rituals of dress, dance and music that offered a counterpoint to the work routines of modern economic life.

The Clip of the music man can be analyzed extensively in its meaning. However, he does create a fear of a possible change in the towns economic life, a possible change of their culture. He then says the billiards in hand will turn their sons into immoral cigarette smoking gamblers; the town indulges in his fabricated freight. By successfully creating a favorable system for him-self he is in control of power, the next step is to simply introduce his product music. --The Music Man himself is our everyday MEDIA.

The 1920’s

This movie was created in the 1960’s; The Sixties conveyed a beginning of complex cultural and political trend’s that where seen across the globe.  The Music Man by Meredith Willson may have been seen as a comedy against/towards the 1920’s.  I believe that Willson mocks the 20’s for its delicate nature of being so reserved and subtle where in the 60’s things were fiery and the media was out there with music, news, love, war, drugs and the Beatles. Her message may be to show a comical and liberal sense of the medias control over society of how it all began or of how it is now.

Would the Beatles made it Across the Universe J if corporate media wasn’t involved ???