Britain is a diverse and multicultural society Essay

Britain is a diverse and multicultural society - Essay Example Such people experience multiple problems and disabilities and are often in need of complex packages of treatment and social care. These are very often not forthcoming as and when required. This situation gives rise to many issues for the families of such aged and for the professionals who are supposed to care for them. Hospitals still maintain a discriminatory allocation of resources amongst various ailments affecting the old.For instance high quality care is provided in terms of inpatient hospice and palliative care for people with cancer, whereas dementia diagnoses suffer neglect mostly. Older people suffering from dementia pose complex problems and disabilities, and also need systems of care that require partnership and collaboration between different groups of care providers in differing settings. Health care systems must be reoriented to develop empathy laced health care services to meet the medical and social needs of this group. Effective care must reach into the hospital, int o people's homes and into nursing and residential homes within the community. This paper explores as to how multidisciplinary health care teams can improve care rendering systems, concerning dementia patients amongst old, by taking into account the physical, psychological and social aspects to improve discharge rates. Medical 2. Rationale Medical world has fully realized that dementia is a major problem. Specifically in individual patients of 65 or more years in age, there is substantial morbidity and mortality that is often managed badly; for the hospital there is delayed discharge and problems associated with nursing confused. And the incidence is very large in a globe that is fast ageing. Dementia debilitates 4% of people over the age of 70, which increases to an alarming 13% in case of those over the age of 80 (Hofman, 1991).More telling is the fact that the median length of survival from diagnosis to death is eight years, and during this time there is a progressive deterioration in ability and awareness. Many ethical issues become relevant as present medical systems get about the care of people with dementia who are, often, not even able to communicate their wishes (Albinsson & Strang, 2003). For instance, some current issues include the best use of antibiotics in the treatment of pneumonia and of feeding tubes for hydration and nutrition. However, less than 1% of patients in inpatient hospices have dementia as their primary diagnosis (Christakis, 1996).The enormity of the issue become clear as one considers that it is conservatively estimated that there are about 700,000 dementia patients in UK alone. It has been long established that the incidence of dementia increases with age and is thought to double every five to six years after the age of 65. The health and social care of dementia patients in UK costs a staggering 1bn and more annually. Some estimates project that by 2020 UK would have about one million dementia patients. Given the acuteness of the disease, given that it affects mostly old and that present system addresses the task inadequately it is only pertinent that this paper examines a multidisciplinary system which is

The History of the Internet Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The History of the Internet - Research Paper Example At the height of Cold War, in 1962, the American Government was devising a plan that would enable the military to maintain its command and control system in an event of nuclear attack on the US. The RAND Corporation was given the task to conduct research and studies to find how the US army could maintain its command and control system if any of US cities come under nuclear attack. After due deliberation and diversified studies, Rand Paul Baran from RAND Corporation submitted his final proposal for a Packet Switched Network (Ruthfield 1995). ARPA, a branch of US department of defense ARPANET awarded a contract to BBN to develop a decentralized architecture network. BBN constructed physical network linking four locations University of California at Los Angeles, SRI (in Stanford), University of California at Santa Barbara, and University of Utah. According to the record, the network was connected through a 50 Kbps circuits on wire (Ruthfield 1995). By 1973, it was established that besides ARPANET other networks have come into a successful existence like National Physical Laboratory in England and the scientific network CYCLADES in France. Undoubtedly, these different networks with different approaches are the foundation of our modern internet. CYCLADES, being a commercial network, had many commercial users who began transferring data from one user to the other. Here Packet switching was born (Dave n.d). In 1976, Dr. Robert M. Metcalfe developed Ethernet, which was a crucial invention to moving data faster through a coaxial cable. Following, Package Satellite Project, SATNET came into existence which connected United States with Europe thus bringing about the first intercontinental Internet in the history (Dave n.d). The same year ARPANET started working on a protocol, later to be called, TCP/IP to bring together different networks without interfering their basic structure. With the invention of TCP/IP protocol it became possible to connect

What A Higher Education Means To Me Essay Example for Free

What A Higher Education Means To Me Essay As a military officer working with the United States of America’s Air Force, a higher education means a lot to me. The United States of America’s Air Force mission is to deliver sovereign options in a bid to offer defence to the nation and serve other global interest. It is the youngest of the U. S Armed Force’s branches and it was created in 1947. The United States of America Air Force flies and fights in air, space and in cyberspace. The US Air Force’s vision is global vigilance reach and power (Sandra, 2004) As a military officer, furthering my education is very crucial since it will prepare me effectively to effect the air force’s vision of keeping vigil for the globe, reaching other globes as well as exercising power and force of the United States of America’s Air Force. Going for further studies means advancing my knowledge and skills. In today’s globalized world, the United States of America’s Air Force officers need to be more knowledgeable so as to be in a position to offer effective service in today’s highly demanding, challenging and complex globe. Higher Education implies that I will gain more technical knowledge and skills. Global vigilance is very demanding and there is no way an Air Force officer can keep watch, day and night on a globe which he does not have adequate knowledge and information on its economic, political and social aspects. Thus, pursuing further studies on politics of other nations will prepare me in knowing what to expect. For instance, when the United States of America’s Air force is expected to spy on dealings of say a neighbouring or a terrorist nation, prior knowledge and information on the given nation is very crucial since it helps the officers be in a position to detect strange or unexpected behaviour or operations of the nation. This will make it easy for the military officers to make decisions on whether to attack the nation or not. Thus, decisions to advance education for military officers in the united states of America’s Air Force has been met by a lot of support (Sandra, 2004) Many Air Force officers have developed a desire to advance their education. Furthering one’s education by enrolling for studies in an institution of higher learning implies that the Air Force officers will also advance their careers, which means offering effective service to the community. In most institutions of higher learning for Air Force officers, language studies and cultural studies have been focused at service academics. These studies are very crucial in that there is no way United States of America’s Air Force officers can communicate to other officers across the globe without the use of language. A higher education also means that I will be more effective and will deliver recommendable service to the United States Air Force, the United States nation and the whole globe. Effective service implies that my seniors i. e. the Chief Master sergeant of the Air Force or the Air Force chief of staff will recognize my good work. Continued appraisals, acknowledgements and rewards will mean that my seniors may decide to reward my efforts and determination my giving me a promotion which will mean a lot to me. Various awards by the Air Force secretary will also help boost my self-esteem and motivate me to perform better. In today’s’ globalised world, the United States of America’s Air Force and any other nation need further education so as to be able to move with advancements and progresses in the use of Information Communication Technology (ICT). Further education plays the role of equipping me with upto date discoveries in the field of technology. In addition, further education can assist me in carrying out research and survey on various issues affecting the United States of America’s Air Force and any other Air Force bases across the globe. For instance, carrying out research on the use of alternative sources of fuel in the United States of America’s military force. In conclusion, higher education is very crucial for the United States of America’s Air Force and any other air force or military force across the globe in effecting their goals and missions. People should change their perceptions that going for further studies is a waste of resources and time for the Air Force officers. Higher education is the key to effective service. Reference Donovan (2004) The U. S Air Force, Lerner publications (23-27)

History of Artist Expression in Comic Books

History of Artist Expression in Comic Books Comic books, like many art forms, have been co-opted by a hungry consumer capitalist economy which makes a Faustian bargain with its artistic meals: give me your subversive art forms and ideas, this economy says, and I will communicate them to a mass audience beyond your wildest dreams; however, in exchange, your art forms and ideas will often simultaneously be stripped of their dignity and uniqueness by becoming products of no less ubiquity and no more value than toothpaste – mere tools to sell, sell, sell, and make more, more, more money for gigantic multinational corporations. This phenomenology is the ultimate in postmodern recontextualization, the stripping of an objects original meaning and significance, and its endowment with a new purpose either heretofore considered or deemed ethically, morally, or artistically acceptable. We shall explore the unique nature and popularity of comic books, and the themes presented in their narratives and characters, as a quasi-underground phenomenon whose ever-increasing popularity from the 1940s to the 1980s left them perfectly positioned to be gobbled and turned into movies and merchandise by giant corporations eager to both exploit the devotees of comic books and expand their numbers. What has been the big deal, historically, about comic books? Though they are primarily a postmodern phenomenon localized in the latter half of the 20th century through to the present, their roots go as far back as the 17th century, when the English mass-produced woodcuts depicting ghastly public executions. Comics first reached mass popularity in the United States in the 1930s in the form of newspaper comics; then, the comic book as a separate, thriving, and sophisticated art form began to evolve from there. â€Å"The comic book has been one of our most familiar, yet least appreciated, popular art forms. As vehemently criticized as it is passionately defended†¦ [it is] a graphically sophisticated and culturally revealing medium.† (Sabin, 1996, p.1). After roughly a decade of occupying a comfortable place in the American pop culture mainstream, comics, and then comic books, began to take to reflect a less sanguine view of American society. Violent crime comics began to appear, and the more squeaky-clean comics of the 1930s and during World War II absorbed some of these same themes. In the so-called Silver Age of Comic Books, the 1950s through the 1970s, most characters and narratives began to take on a darker and more complex tone, mostly in response to plummeting sales after World War II that reflected an unsettled cultural undercurrent brewing in America. In this initial countercultural heyday of the 1950s and 1960s, comic books were sometimes dismissed, much like rock-and-roll music, as the juvenile, unsophisticated, and pulpy fantasies of hormone-addled adolescents. Sometimes, however, comic books were labeled as cultural filth that was an ongoing threat, destructive to teenage minds. In 1954, right-wing American psychiatrist Dr. Frederic Wertham published a book called Seduction of the Innocent, which was an all-out assault on the ostensible delinquency-inducing content of comic books, and which singled out Batman for special criticism, claiming â€Å"a subtle atmosphere of homoeroticism.† (Wertham, 1954, p. 189). Werthams criticism of comic book content led to the establishment of a censor organization known as the Comic Code Authority that same year, whose heavy-handed influence forced comic book writers and artists to go somewhat underground with their subversive themes. However, Batman (and Robin, whatever his relationship with Batman may or may not have been) has far outlived both Dr. Wertham and the chilling effect of his book, and in fact, the longevity and deceptively complex content of comic books have proven them to be much more powerful than anyone ever dreamed. They have for decades embodied striking artistic expressions of artists and authors, who collectively spoke for countless millions of young people who did not quite fit in to the mainstream of society. These millions were given voice by comic books such as The X-Men, The Incredible Hulk, The Amazing Spider-Man, from the Marvel Comics Company, and Batman and Superman from the DC Comics Company. Each of the aforementioned titles tells an extended set of stories about a character or characters who are misfits of some kind, whether it be physical, psychological, or emotional, and who take on a variety of preternatural and/or superhuman characteristics which allow them to not only address their own personal struggles with their differences from others in society, but to aid society itself in coming to better accept those who are different; or, alternately, the characters are either born with or afflicted by a condition which makes them a misfit and therefore different from others in society, and must adapt to life as such. These comic book stories generally involve a variety of morality plays, ranging from simple good vs. evil, to the exploration of antiheros, that enable the characters to attempt to effect positive change in the world, and provide both catharsis and inspiration for the readers. The X-Men, for example, were created by legendary comic book author Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby in 1963. They were /are a group of teenagers born with genetic mutations that have endowed them with a variety of superhuman characteristics, not all of which are necessarily constructive. In the Lee/Kirby universe, the X-Men are widely ostracized and discriminated against not only because they are different, but because non-mutant humans fear the X-Men are the next logical, superior step in human evolution and therefore could render normal humans obsolete. The teenagers stories often involved them attempting to come to terms with their powers and how to fit into the so-called normal human society. The X-Men were comprised of such characters as Iceman, a young man who could freeze objects at will; Wolverine, a foul-tempered young man whose skeleton is laced with a nearly indestructible metal alloy, including metal knives which he could extend and retract from his hands at will, albeit with considerable pain; Storm, a young black female who could control the weather, including the ability to summon storms at will; Nightcrawler, a young male born with blue fur who could become virtually invisible at night and teleport short distances; Cyclops, who could shoot beams of pure solar energy from his eyes, but not always control this power; Rogue, a young female possessing the hyper-empathic ability the feelings, memories, and abilities of other beings she touches —unfortunately, however, prolonged contact with others can weaken or kill them; Magneto, an older male survivor of the Nazi death camps who can manipulate magnetic forces, but whose psyche was so twisted by his experience at the hands of the Nazis that he has become an arch-nemesis of the X-Men; and Professor Xavier, an older male paraplegic with amazing telepathic abilities and a world-class intellect, who has dedicated his life to mentoring other mutants and defending them from themselves, unsympathetic humans, and the perennial machinations of Magneto. The X-Men and their stories were unabashedly allegorical and subversive in nature, content, and theme. Professor Xavier was modeled after civil rights activist Martin Luther King, Jr. and Sir Francis Xavier, Catholic missionary and founder of the Jesuit order. The sense of loneliness and isolation experienced by Rogue was a reflection of the near-universal teenage experience. The bigotry and intolerance of homosexuals is another allegorical component featured with the X-Men narratives, particularly in the film adaptations directed by openly gay Bryan Singer. In X-Men 2, the character of Bobby Drake characters comes out of the closet as a mutant to his parents, prompting them to ask if he has tried not being a mutant, parodying the oft-heard question of parents directed their gay children. Anti-Semitism, personal alienation, anti-Communist paranoia, and racism are also allegorical themes that X-Men comic narratives have explored in detail. And like The X-Men, Batman, Spiderman (also a Stan Lee creation), The Incredible Hulk and Superman all were dependent upon and explored the themes of what it meant for a person to be forced to hide or to be ashamed of a component of his or her true self, or to lead a dual existence – one private and personal, one public. Superman (created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster), known by millions as a mild-mannered reporter, socially maladroit nerd, and bearer of an unrequited love for Lois Lane, who happens to be a near-omnipotent superhero when called upon in extraordinary circumstances, is the perfect embodiment of both teenage reality and teenage wish fulfillment. The Incredible Hulk (another Stan Lee creation) gets angry like all of us, but has real power – scary power, often – to do something about it thanks to hi s green steroidal transformation. Batman (created by Bob Kane and fleshed out by Bill Finger and Jerry Robinson) lives a quiet, dark life of solitude contrasted with public works of enviable nobility and good. These feelings of powerlessness and awkwardness, combined with empowerment fantasies, were and continue to be direct reflections of the collective concerns of millions of young people, and perhaps many adults, as well – how to fit into a society that demanded conformity without losing the uniqueness that embodies ones individuality. Ironically, the collective popularity of all of these comic book titles has historically been so striking in terms of sales that it would not be an unfair question to wonder if it fact the teenage misfits who bought them were in fact the majority, not the minority in society. Comic book sales peaked in 1993 at a staggering $850 million (U.S. dollars) and are still very healthy, though currently, the popularity of comic book characters is as likely to be manifest in movie ticket and DVD sales of film adaptations of comic books as it is in comic book purchases. More on this later. The character archetypes and narrative themes of most of these original and ongoing comic book series were produced in the crucible of the fairly conformist sociocultural pressures of the modernist era in the United States. The teenagers of each successive decade, beginning with the 1950s and continuing to the present, have been characterized by isolation, disaffection, rebellion, disillusionment, all combined with the pressure to adapt without question to the relatively monolithic mores of the generation which preceded them, a generation for whom belonging to a larger social group, for whom the values of unquestioning self-sacrifice and acceptance of authority figures and establishment power structures were the norm. Men were called to duty, whether in World War II or in the burgeoning post-war corporate universe; many made the ultimate sacrifice – their lives, or worse, their souls. Women, too, had their duty – to support their men in discreet, subservient lives of quiet domestic efficiency. But as American young people began to question the assumptions behind the Cold War, and question the rational and wisdom behind the interminably bloody Vietnam War, their uncertainty on these issues led to a greater wholesale questioning of the mechanisms and assumptions of societys very foundations. (Even Batman, whose creation in 1940 arguably predates postmodernism, eventually took on countercultural subject matter and themes, to say nothing of the suggestion of a taboo homoeroticism in the relationship between Batman and Robin.) This rebellion was met with heavy disapproval and disappointment by parents, representing the previous generation. The ongoing schism between these two generations has caused huge cultural, social, and political conflicts that continue to be played out even in 2005. These conflicts have been vividly reflected in the artistic expressions of the times – literature, music, and films. From the standpoint of the older generations, comic books were perhaps never adequately understood, respected, or even recognized for the potent and unusual artistic and cultural forces that they have always represented certainly as potent as more conventional and commonplace means of artistic expression, high art and classical music, just to name two ossified examples. (And, incidentally, these generational clashes were not limited to the United States in terms of understanding the rise of the superhero comic books. The country of Japan, tiny as it is, has become its own powerhouse in terms of churning out groundbreaking styles of comics, such as Katsuhiro Otomo of Akira fame, reflecting generational struggles unique to the Japanese youth culture.) The artistic expressions that arose out of the clash between generations also represented an evolution in classifications and mechanisms of art itself – the evolution from modern art forms to postmodern art forms. Modern art, reflective of the cultures from which it sprung, was generally conformist, and adhered to classic rules of form, function, and design, and either explicitly or implicitly supported the symbols of establishment paradigms by exploiting binary oppositions of us vs. them (i.e., Americans vs. Communists). Postmodern art rejected the methodology of modern art on every level, deconstructing it to such an extent as to even question the basic psychological definitions of symbolism in human art forms. The discarding and combination of genres and forms, the pastiche of styles, the toying with unorthodox symbolism, and an active interest in subversion and smashing of establishment systems – rebellion itself are all manifestations of art evolving to postmodern form. And instead of existing to analyze, but ultimately reinforce the paradigms of patriarchal establishments, postmodern art analyzed and often sought to undermine these establishments and their conventions, if not destroy them altogether. As noted by postmodernism scholar Andreas Huyssen, â€Å"†¦contemporary postmodernism operates in a field of tension between tradition and innovation, conservation and renewal, mass culture and high art, in which the second terms are no longer automatically privileged over the first.† (Huyssen, 1986, p. 267). As such, any art form that has enjoyed longevity has internalized and incorporated this revolutionary and evolutionary process, or been discarded or fossilized. Comic books are no exception to this rule, and their staying power has manifested itself in the last 20 or so years by their translation to and eventual dominance of the genre of film. In fact, comic books in their Silver Age forms were arguably inherently post-modern in nature, as they combined complex and detailed visual artistry with complex and serialized narratives, an intermixing pastiche of separate genres which had never before been combined in such a unique form. Books had, of course, often featured illustrations in the past, but they were only to provide occasional support and dimensionalization of the narrative, as opposed to being as important a component of the medium as the narrative itself. The fantastical and stylized nature of many of the illustrations featured in comic books were often postmodern artistic explorations in their own right, seeking to push the boundaries of conventional illustrations. Their explorations of anti-heroes helped deconstruct the notion of simple constructs of good and evil. American consumer capitalism, which is inherently (though not necessarily benignly) postmodern in its relentless desire to commodify anything and everything, particularly that which can be packaged as new, hip, and edgy – and thus desirable – has hungrily devoured comic books and the films which come from them. In doing so, the artistic and societal merit of comic books, in particular their subversive characteristics, have become themselves subverted by the deity of consumer capitalist commodification. The ultimate dream, for example, of fans of the X-Men comic books, that their beloved misfit characters would reach movie theatres and therefore a larger audience for their collective angst, has come true but that dream has also become a nightmare for some fans, as these same subversive misfit X-Men have also become action figures, clothing lines, cartoons on the side of fast food lunch bags and boxes all mass marketed to mass audiences in order to maximize profits for corporations that are more interested in shareholder earnings than they are the artistic merit of airing the collective voices of disaffected teen angst. If the phenomenology of disaffected teen angst can be appropriated to make a profit from teenagers, then corporations will be chasing the teens and their money incessantly. However, corporate interest in teenagers as a demographic generally has little to do with sociocultural altruism. In fact, cultural observers should take heed – â€Å"ventilation of genuinely alternative social visions collide directly with the underpinnings of power in the economy at large. (Schiller, 1986, p. 152) The trade-off is as follows: as long as such ventilation of alternative social visions makes a profit, it will be tolerated. But in the consumer capitalist corporate universe of today, art for arts sake, particularly if the art does not reinforce the machinery of consumer capitalism, will never generate much more than limited enthusiasm, and is more likely to meet with insidious hostility. The primary perpetrators in this arena are the behemoth corporate conglomerates that own the media, and the acquisitive way in which they manage their film and television divisions. In the 1960s and 1970s, film studios and television networks existed as independent business entities whose sole focus was the creation of films and television shows – nothing more, nothing less. While these companies were undisputedly interested in profits, the process was far more artist-centered and quality-driven than they are today. The presumption was that quality films would result in box-office successes, though the expectations of profit were relatively modest compared to todays standards. Then, in 1977, a watershed moment in film history arrived in the form of the blockbuster Star Wars, a comic-bookish story in its own right despite being an original creation of writer/director George Lucas. The film was not only the most financially successful phenomenon in movie history, but it alerted movie studios to a whole new economic model, centered around the notion of ancillary profits. Most notably in the case of Star Wars, the ancillary profits came in the form of merchandising. Inexplicably, before the films release, executives at 20th Century Fox, the films distributor, were convinced the film would be a flop, and in contract negotiations with Lucas, acceded to his unusual request to receive 100% of profits derived from sales of merchandise inspired and/or derived from the film, for example action figures and lunchboxes. The Fox executives surely rued the day they signed over these rights to Mr. Lucas, as Star Wars merchandise generated $1 billion in profits for the shrewd filmmaker. Another lesson learned by Fox, and other studios hungry to recreate the fiscal orgy of Star Wars, was that films targeted directly at children could be extremely lucrative at the box office, beyond profit margins to which they had become accustomed. Movies were no longer mostly the artistic or escapist purview of an audience comprised largely of adults. Their children came to be seen as a previously under-exploited source of bonanza profits. Lastly, movie studios began to rethink their conventional economic model, which was to produce modestly-budgeted films and reliably make modest profits. What Star Wars ignited was a phenomenon known as the blockbuster mentality, a hunger for epic profits from so-called event films, on which the studios became willing to gamble heretofore-unprecedented sums of money in hopes of hitting the proverbial jackpot. George Lucas, who began his career as a subversive filmmaker of eccentric tastes with critically acclaimed films such as THX-1138 and American Graffiti, unwittingly created a perfect storm that turned the film industry on its head. Star Wars was no fluke, as it turned out, and it was not long before the greedy capitalistic corporate culture of the 1980s began entertaining, no pun intended, the notion that film studio and television networks could be glamorous cash cows. In short order, huge companies whose core business usually had nothing to do with the entertainment industry were battling it out to see who could get into show business the fastest. Coca-Cola acquired movie studio Columbia/Tri-Star, which was later sold to Japanese electronics giant Sony; General Electric acquired the NBC television network; Capital Cities acquired the ABC Television network, and News Corporation acquired 20th Century Fox and the Fox Broadcasting Company; Gulf + Western acquired Paramount Pictures, etc. The unfortunate side effect of these mergers was the infusion of bottom-line, short-term profit-hungry thinking, as well as corporate models of branding and marketing products. These large corporations viewed films and television shows, and the intellectual properties that underlied them, as products, pure and simple, no different from mouthwash, shoes, soda drinks, or cosmetics. They expected their new acquisitions to transition from being art-focused and letting profits flow from quality, to simply making whatever sold the most tickets and had the most lucrative ancillary market potential. There was no single identifiable point, such a historical date or a press conference, when the critical link between art and commerce was separated, or the historical deference of profit to art was inverted (themselves postmodern phenomena, incidentally), but the entrà ©e of comic books into the world of film and television, which has become a powerful, dominating presence of comic books in film and television, followed and was directly related to this paradigm shift in the economics of the entertainment industry. The adaptation of comic books into film and television properties has been an exercise in creative cannibalism in some sense. Increasingly, film and television studios have taken on the risk-averse mentality of their corporate masters, and one of the effects of this has been to seek out intellectual property that might guarantee the fiscal success of a film or television show adaptation of said property. To the extent that a wildly successful book was often adapted for films geared towards adults, wildly successful comic book series were seen as a surefire way to guarantee a teen audience and the disposable income purchasing power of them and their parents. Movie executives sought to acquire the rights to comic book characters and stories which they could exploit – actual film industry terminology – and build into franchises – also actual film industry terminology, particularly creepy given the obvious parallels to McDonalds or Gap store franchise business models. For the most part, these franchises have been wildly successful from a financial point of view, though perhaps not from an artistic standpoint. There have been six Batman films made by Warner Brothers movie studio (owned by corporate behemoth AOL Time Warner, who not coincidentally own DC Comics, the original home of the Batman characters and comic books): 1989s Batman, 1992s Batman Returns, 1995s Batman Forever, 1997s Batman and Robin, 2004s Catwoman, and 2005s Batman Begins. Each film sported star casting of the highest caliber; however, perhaps with the exception of the first film, were special effects showcases first and artistically ambitious second, if at all. Nor were they particularly true to the time-honored complexities and lingering darkness of the comic books. Iconic film critic Roger Ebert (a devoted fan of the Batman comic books), in his review of Batman and Robin, took a forlorn swipe at each of the films to date: †¦ my delight began to fade at about the 30-minute mark when it became clear that this new movie, like its predecessors, was not *really* going to explore the bizarre world of its heroes, but would settle down safely into a special effects extravaganza. Batman Robin, like the first three films in the series, is wonderful to look at, and has nothing authentic at its core†¦ Watching it, I realized why it makes absolutely no difference who plays Batman: Theres nobody at home†¦ Give the foreground to the characters, not the special effects. And ask the hard questions about Bruce Wayne. (Ebert, 1997) Eberts last line refers to the perennial rumors that perennial bachelor Bruce Wayne might actually be a homosexual, or failing that, possess some unusual sexual fetishes that might not comprise the sort of fare that young children should be seeing at the movie theatre or on DVD. But this topic, as well as any serious exploration of Bruce Waynes psyche, was not been considered particularly lucrative by the marketing machines at Warner Brothers until the franchise was on the verge of death after the box office mediocrity of Batman and Robin and the outright box office disaster of Catwoman, which cost $85 million (U.S.) to produce and only made $40 million (U.S.) at the box office. 2005s Batman Begins was an unapologetically dark and complex film. Roger Eberts review may well have spoken for many Batman fans who ached for more substance and less pure style: The character resonates more deeply with me than the other comic superheroes, perhaps because when I discovered him as a child, he seemed darker and more grown-up than the cheerful Superman. He has secrets. As Alfred muses: Strange injuries and a nonexistent social life. These things beg the question, what does Bruce Wayne do with his time? (Ebert, 2005) Apparently, the moviegoing audiences agreed with Mr. Ebert, rewarding Warner Brothers with $205 million (U.S.) in box office receipts in the United States alone, and a similar – and still increasing – tally worldwide. The lesson here is that while an artistically unambitious and shallow film like Batman and Robin, which is more childish cartoon and marketing machine than serious filmmaking, can certainly turn a modest profit, it is entirely possible to be artistically ambitious and make plenty of money at the same time. One wonders why the latter is more often the exception rather than the rule, to the detriment of the integrity of comic books and their rich characters. In theory, the adaptation of comic books to the film and television arenas could have been a boon to not only the comic book industry, but a force for cultural good in the sense of spreading the subversive word to a larger audience. While there is no question that American and Western teenagers are far more aware of Batman and The X-Men than they were 30 years ago, the expansion of the audience has come at a price. First of all, the structures of film and television do not generally lend themselves well to the sort of narrative complexity that is a hallmark of comic books ongoing multi-character storylines. While the two X-Men films to date were generally well-received by fans of the comic books, many fans vociferously complained that many characters were either simply not included in the storylines, or they were altered to suit Hollywood norms in order to maximize audience appeal. While a third X-Men film is in the works, the simple truth is that 20th Century Fox, the movie studio that produced the films, simply cannot make any more than one X-Men film every two to three years and the complicated narrative history of over a dozen characters unspoiled over the course of 40 years of storytelling simply cannot be done adequate justice by a two-hour movies – as good as they may be – which get released only periodically. Secondly, for many young people, seeing an X-Men or Batman film may be their very first exposure to these universes, and depending on their reaction to the quality of the films and their natural consumer predilections, it is not certain that these teenagers are going to seek out the more dimensionalized, rich, and complex narrative universes to be found within the comic book series. In fact, given the immense popularity of video games among teenagers, who as a general rule spend as much, if not more time transfixed by their Playstations and Xboxes than they do reading, it is more likely that teenagers who see X-Men films will buy the video game adaptations of the X-Men comic books instead of investing in the comic books themselves. The statistics bear this out: in 2004, sales of comic books in the U.S. totaled $300 million – a considerable sum of money, but a far cry from the $850 million sum reached ten years earlier. Comic book money had, for better or for worse, flowed away from the comic books themselves and into the reinventions of the comic books – the movies, the video games. It is unfair, perhaps, to dismiss video games as worthless, but also difficult to avoid the conclusion that the X-Men video game, which is simply a violent combat simulation featuring the various mutant characters, carries more artistic and social worth than the comic books to which the video game owes its digital existence. Lastly, the value of ancillary X-Men merchandise, such as T-shirts, lunchboxes, and plastic soda cups from Burger King adorned with X-Men characters, is fleeting and thus fairly dubious in comparison to the lasting collectors item value of the comic books themselves, to say nothing of the inherent worth of the content of the books, and the visual and narrative artistry contained within them. Ultimately, and sadly, the postmodern machinery of consumer capitalism has appropriated comic book visuals and narratives and separated them from their inherent artistic value in order to make them both more appealing to a mainstream audience, usually children and younger teens, and more exploitable in terms of ancillary markets such as merchandising. The positive side of this equation is that the subversive art and storytelling found in comic books was brought to a larger audience, but may well have been eviscerated of its soul in the process. Films like Batman Begins, with its dark exploration of the recesses of Bruce Waynes psychology, and X-Men 2, with its unapologetic homosexual allegories, do their source material adequate justice and make their corporate masters a lot of money in the process. What can be hoped for the future is that movie studios see fit to release more films such as these and less of the vapid, lowest-common denominator special effects orgies that tend to predominate the box office landscape. Hellraiser and Constantine were met with outright hostility by fans of their comic book source material and performed poorly at the box office. It is no longer enough to simply adapt a comic book to guarantee success. Many audience members have grown more shrewd and sophisticated, and demand quality in storytelling. In the words of Nightcrawler in the film X-Men 2, â€Å"Most people will never know anything beyond what they see with their own two eyes.† If this is true in a world where what is put before the eyes of teenagers is predominated by movies and video games, it is imperative that the content not merely reflect the status quo desired by consumer capitalism, but the thought-provoking stories and characters, daring and subversive thoughts, first brought to us decades ago in the best comic books. BIBLIOGRAPHY Sabin, Roger. Comics, Comix Graphic Novels A History of Comic Art. Phaidon Press, 1996. Robinson, Jerry. The Comics: An Illustrated History of Comic Strip Art. Putnam Publishers, 1974. Wertham, Fredric. Seduction of the Innocent. Amerion Publishers, 1954 (Reprint 1996). Tuzi, Marino. â€Å"Individualism and Marginality: From Comic Book to Film: Marvel Comics Superheroes† College Quarterly, Spring 2005 Volume 8 Number 2. Taken from: htt History of Artist Expression in Comic Books History of Artist Expression in Comic Books Comic books, like many art forms, have been co-opted by a hungry consumer capitalist economy which makes a Faustian bargain with its artistic meals: give me your subversive art forms and ideas, this economy says, and I will communicate them to a mass audience beyond your wildest dreams; however, in exchange, your art forms and ideas will often simultaneously be stripped of their dignity and uniqueness by becoming products of no less ubiquity and no more value than toothpaste – mere tools to sell, sell, sell, and make more, more, more money for gigantic multinational corporations. This phenomenology is the ultimate in postmodern recontextualization, the stripping of an objects original meaning and significance, and its endowment with a new purpose either heretofore considered or deemed ethically, morally, or artistically acceptable. We shall explore the unique nature and popularity of comic books, and the themes presented in their narratives and characters, as a quasi-underground phenomenon whose ever-increasing popularity from the 1940s to the 1980s left them perfectly positioned to be gobbled and turned into movies and merchandise by giant corporations eager to both exploit the devotees of comic books and expand their numbers. What has been the big deal, historically, about comic books? Though they are primarily a postmodern phenomenon localized in the latter half of the 20th century through to the present, their roots go as far back as the 17th century, when the English mass-produced woodcuts depicting ghastly public executions. Comics first reached mass popularity in the United States in the 1930s in the form of newspaper comics; then, the comic book as a separate, thriving, and sophisticated art form began to evolve from there. â€Å"The comic book has been one of our most familiar, yet least appreciated, popular art forms. As vehemently criticized as it is passionately defended†¦ [it is] a graphically sophisticated and culturally revealing medium.† (Sabin, 1996, p.1). After roughly a decade of occupying a comfortable place in the American pop culture mainstream, comics, and then comic books, began to take to reflect a less sanguine view of American society. Violent crime comics began to appear, and the more squeaky-clean comics of the 1930s and during World War II absorbed some of these same themes. In the so-called Silver Age of Comic Books, the 1950s through the 1970s, most characters and narratives began to take on a darker and more complex tone, mostly in response to plummeting sales after World War II that reflected an unsettled cultural undercurrent brewing in America. In this initial countercultural heyday of the 1950s and 1960s, comic books were sometimes dismissed, much like rock-and-roll music, as the juvenile, unsophisticated, and pulpy fantasies of hormone-addled adolescents. Sometimes, however, comic books were labeled as cultural filth that was an ongoing threat, destructive to teenage minds. In 1954, right-wing American psychiatrist Dr. Frederic Wertham published a book called Seduction of the Innocent, which was an all-out assault on the ostensible delinquency-inducing content of comic books, and which singled out Batman for special criticism, claiming â€Å"a subtle atmosphere of homoeroticism.† (Wertham, 1954, p. 189). Werthams criticism of comic book content led to the establishment of a censor organization known as the Comic Code Authority that same year, whose heavy-handed influence forced comic book writers and artists to go somewhat underground with their subversive themes. However, Batman (and Robin, whatever his relationship with Batman may or may not have been) has far outlived both Dr. Wertham and the chilling effect of his book, and in fact, the longevity and deceptively complex content of comic books have proven them to be much more powerful than anyone ever dreamed. They have for decades embodied striking artistic expressions of artists and authors, who collectively spoke for countless millions of young people who did not quite fit in to the mainstream of society. These millions were given voice by comic books such as The X-Men, The Incredible Hulk, The Amazing Spider-Man, from the Marvel Comics Company, and Batman and Superman from the DC Comics Company. Each of the aforementioned titles tells an extended set of stories about a character or characters who are misfits of some kind, whether it be physical, psychological, or emotional, and who take on a variety of preternatural and/or superhuman characteristics which allow them to not only address their own personal struggles with their differences from others in society, but to aid society itself in coming to better accept those who are different; or, alternately, the characters are either born with or afflicted by a condition which makes them a misfit and therefore different from others in society, and must adapt to life as such. These comic book stories generally involve a variety of morality plays, ranging from simple good vs. evil, to the exploration of antiheros, that enable the characters to attempt to effect positive change in the world, and provide both catharsis and inspiration for the readers. The X-Men, for example, were created by legendary comic book author Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby in 1963. They were /are a group of teenagers born with genetic mutations that have endowed them with a variety of superhuman characteristics, not all of which are necessarily constructive. In the Lee/Kirby universe, the X-Men are widely ostracized and discriminated against not only because they are different, but because non-mutant humans fear the X-Men are the next logical, superior step in human evolution and therefore could render normal humans obsolete. The teenagers stories often involved them attempting to come to terms with their powers and how to fit into the so-called normal human society. The X-Men were comprised of such characters as Iceman, a young man who could freeze objects at will; Wolverine, a foul-tempered young man whose skeleton is laced with a nearly indestructible metal alloy, including metal knives which he could extend and retract from his hands at will, albeit with considerable pain; Storm, a young black female who could control the weather, including the ability to summon storms at will; Nightcrawler, a young male born with blue fur who could become virtually invisible at night and teleport short distances; Cyclops, who could shoot beams of pure solar energy from his eyes, but not always control this power; Rogue, a young female possessing the hyper-empathic ability the feelings, memories, and abilities of other beings she touches —unfortunately, however, prolonged contact with others can weaken or kill them; Magneto, an older male survivor of the Nazi death camps who can manipulate magnetic forces, but whose psyche was so twisted by his experience at the hands of the Nazis that he has become an arch-nemesis of the X-Men; and Professor Xavier, an older male paraplegic with amazing telepathic abilities and a world-class intellect, who has dedicated his life to mentoring other mutants and defending them from themselves, unsympathetic humans, and the perennial machinations of Magneto. The X-Men and their stories were unabashedly allegorical and subversive in nature, content, and theme. Professor Xavier was modeled after civil rights activist Martin Luther King, Jr. and Sir Francis Xavier, Catholic missionary and founder of the Jesuit order. The sense of loneliness and isolation experienced by Rogue was a reflection of the near-universal teenage experience. The bigotry and intolerance of homosexuals is another allegorical component featured with the X-Men narratives, particularly in the film adaptations directed by openly gay Bryan Singer. In X-Men 2, the character of Bobby Drake characters comes out of the closet as a mutant to his parents, prompting them to ask if he has tried not being a mutant, parodying the oft-heard question of parents directed their gay children. Anti-Semitism, personal alienation, anti-Communist paranoia, and racism are also allegorical themes that X-Men comic narratives have explored in detail. And like The X-Men, Batman, Spiderman (also a Stan Lee creation), The Incredible Hulk and Superman all were dependent upon and explored the themes of what it meant for a person to be forced to hide or to be ashamed of a component of his or her true self, or to lead a dual existence – one private and personal, one public. Superman (created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster), known by millions as a mild-mannered reporter, socially maladroit nerd, and bearer of an unrequited love for Lois Lane, who happens to be a near-omnipotent superhero when called upon in extraordinary circumstances, is the perfect embodiment of both teenage reality and teenage wish fulfillment. The Incredible Hulk (another Stan Lee creation) gets angry like all of us, but has real power – scary power, often – to do something about it thanks to hi s green steroidal transformation. Batman (created by Bob Kane and fleshed out by Bill Finger and Jerry Robinson) lives a quiet, dark life of solitude contrasted with public works of enviable nobility and good. These feelings of powerlessness and awkwardness, combined with empowerment fantasies, were and continue to be direct reflections of the collective concerns of millions of young people, and perhaps many adults, as well – how to fit into a society that demanded conformity without losing the uniqueness that embodies ones individuality. Ironically, the collective popularity of all of these comic book titles has historically been so striking in terms of sales that it would not be an unfair question to wonder if it fact the teenage misfits who bought them were in fact the majority, not the minority in society. Comic book sales peaked in 1993 at a staggering $850 million (U.S. dollars) and are still very healthy, though currently, the popularity of comic book characters is as likely to be manifest in movie ticket and DVD sales of film adaptations of comic books as it is in comic book purchases. More on this later. The character archetypes and narrative themes of most of these original and ongoing comic book series were produced in the crucible of the fairly conformist sociocultural pressures of the modernist era in the United States. The teenagers of each successive decade, beginning with the 1950s and continuing to the present, have been characterized by isolation, disaffection, rebellion, disillusionment, all combined with the pressure to adapt without question to the relatively monolithic mores of the generation which preceded them, a generation for whom belonging to a larger social group, for whom the values of unquestioning self-sacrifice and acceptance of authority figures and establishment power structures were the norm. Men were called to duty, whether in World War II or in the burgeoning post-war corporate universe; many made the ultimate sacrifice – their lives, or worse, their souls. Women, too, had their duty – to support their men in discreet, subservient lives of quiet domestic efficiency. But as American young people began to question the assumptions behind the Cold War, and question the rational and wisdom behind the interminably bloody Vietnam War, their uncertainty on these issues led to a greater wholesale questioning of the mechanisms and assumptions of societys very foundations. (Even Batman, whose creation in 1940 arguably predates postmodernism, eventually took on countercultural subject matter and themes, to say nothing of the suggestion of a taboo homoeroticism in the relationship between Batman and Robin.) This rebellion was met with heavy disapproval and disappointment by parents, representing the previous generation. The ongoing schism between these two generations has caused huge cultural, social, and political conflicts that continue to be played out even in 2005. These conflicts have been vividly reflected in the artistic expressions of the times – literature, music, and films. From the standpoint of the older generations, comic books were perhaps never adequately understood, respected, or even recognized for the potent and unusual artistic and cultural forces that they have always represented certainly as potent as more conventional and commonplace means of artistic expression, high art and classical music, just to name two ossified examples. (And, incidentally, these generational clashes were not limited to the United States in terms of understanding the rise of the superhero comic books. The country of Japan, tiny as it is, has become its own powerhouse in terms of churning out groundbreaking styles of comics, such as Katsuhiro Otomo of Akira fame, reflecting generational struggles unique to the Japanese youth culture.) The artistic expressions that arose out of the clash between generations also represented an evolution in classifications and mechanisms of art itself – the evolution from modern art forms to postmodern art forms. Modern art, reflective of the cultures from which it sprung, was generally conformist, and adhered to classic rules of form, function, and design, and either explicitly or implicitly supported the symbols of establishment paradigms by exploiting binary oppositions of us vs. them (i.e., Americans vs. Communists). Postmodern art rejected the methodology of modern art on every level, deconstructing it to such an extent as to even question the basic psychological definitions of symbolism in human art forms. The discarding and combination of genres and forms, the pastiche of styles, the toying with unorthodox symbolism, and an active interest in subversion and smashing of establishment systems – rebellion itself are all manifestations of art evolving to postmodern form. And instead of existing to analyze, but ultimately reinforce the paradigms of patriarchal establishments, postmodern art analyzed and often sought to undermine these establishments and their conventions, if not destroy them altogether. As noted by postmodernism scholar Andreas Huyssen, â€Å"†¦contemporary postmodernism operates in a field of tension between tradition and innovation, conservation and renewal, mass culture and high art, in which the second terms are no longer automatically privileged over the first.† (Huyssen, 1986, p. 267). As such, any art form that has enjoyed longevity has internalized and incorporated this revolutionary and evolutionary process, or been discarded or fossilized. Comic books are no exception to this rule, and their staying power has manifested itself in the last 20 or so years by their translation to and eventual dominance of the genre of film. In fact, comic books in their Silver Age forms were arguably inherently post-modern in nature, as they combined complex and detailed visual artistry with complex and serialized narratives, an intermixing pastiche of separate genres which had never before been combined in such a unique form. Books had, of course, often featured illustrations in the past, but they were only to provide occasional support and dimensionalization of the narrative, as opposed to being as important a component of the medium as the narrative itself. The fantastical and stylized nature of many of the illustrations featured in comic books were often postmodern artistic explorations in their own right, seeking to push the boundaries of conventional illustrations. Their explorations of anti-heroes helped deconstruct the notion of simple constructs of good and evil. American consumer capitalism, which is inherently (though not necessarily benignly) postmodern in its relentless desire to commodify anything and everything, particularly that which can be packaged as new, hip, and edgy – and thus desirable – has hungrily devoured comic books and the films which come from them. In doing so, the artistic and societal merit of comic books, in particular their subversive characteristics, have become themselves subverted by the deity of consumer capitalist commodification. The ultimate dream, for example, of fans of the X-Men comic books, that their beloved misfit characters would reach movie theatres and therefore a larger audience for their collective angst, has come true but that dream has also become a nightmare for some fans, as these same subversive misfit X-Men have also become action figures, clothing lines, cartoons on the side of fast food lunch bags and boxes all mass marketed to mass audiences in order to maximize profits for corporations that are more interested in shareholder earnings than they are the artistic merit of airing the collective voices of disaffected teen angst. If the phenomenology of disaffected teen angst can be appropriated to make a profit from teenagers, then corporations will be chasing the teens and their money incessantly. However, corporate interest in teenagers as a demographic generally has little to do with sociocultural altruism. In fact, cultural observers should take heed – â€Å"ventilation of genuinely alternative social visions collide directly with the underpinnings of power in the economy at large. (Schiller, 1986, p. 152) The trade-off is as follows: as long as such ventilation of alternative social visions makes a profit, it will be tolerated. But in the consumer capitalist corporate universe of today, art for arts sake, particularly if the art does not reinforce the machinery of consumer capitalism, will never generate much more than limited enthusiasm, and is more likely to meet with insidious hostility. The primary perpetrators in this arena are the behemoth corporate conglomerates that own the media, and the acquisitive way in which they manage their film and television divisions. In the 1960s and 1970s, film studios and television networks existed as independent business entities whose sole focus was the creation of films and television shows – nothing more, nothing less. While these companies were undisputedly interested in profits, the process was far more artist-centered and quality-driven than they are today. The presumption was that quality films would result in box-office successes, though the expectations of profit were relatively modest compared to todays standards. Then, in 1977, a watershed moment in film history arrived in the form of the blockbuster Star Wars, a comic-bookish story in its own right despite being an original creation of writer/director George Lucas. The film was not only the most financially successful phenomenon in movie history, but it alerted movie studios to a whole new economic model, centered around the notion of ancillary profits. Most notably in the case of Star Wars, the ancillary profits came in the form of merchandising. Inexplicably, before the films release, executives at 20th Century Fox, the films distributor, were convinced the film would be a flop, and in contract negotiations with Lucas, acceded to his unusual request to receive 100% of profits derived from sales of merchandise inspired and/or derived from the film, for example action figures and lunchboxes. The Fox executives surely rued the day they signed over these rights to Mr. Lucas, as Star Wars merchandise generated $1 billion in profits for the shrewd filmmaker. Another lesson learned by Fox, and other studios hungry to recreate the fiscal orgy of Star Wars, was that films targeted directly at children could be extremely lucrative at the box office, beyond profit margins to which they had become accustomed. Movies were no longer mostly the artistic or escapist purview of an audience comprised largely of adults. Their children came to be seen as a previously under-exploited source of bonanza profits. Lastly, movie studios began to rethink their conventional economic model, which was to produce modestly-budgeted films and reliably make modest profits. What Star Wars ignited was a phenomenon known as the blockbuster mentality, a hunger for epic profits from so-called event films, on which the studios became willing to gamble heretofore-unprecedented sums of money in hopes of hitting the proverbial jackpot. George Lucas, who began his career as a subversive filmmaker of eccentric tastes with critically acclaimed films such as THX-1138 and American Graffiti, unwittingly created a perfect storm that turned the film industry on its head. Star Wars was no fluke, as it turned out, and it was not long before the greedy capitalistic corporate culture of the 1980s began entertaining, no pun intended, the notion that film studio and television networks could be glamorous cash cows. In short order, huge companies whose core business usually had nothing to do with the entertainment industry were battling it out to see who could get into show business the fastest. Coca-Cola acquired movie studio Columbia/Tri-Star, which was later sold to Japanese electronics giant Sony; General Electric acquired the NBC television network; Capital Cities acquired the ABC Television network, and News Corporation acquired 20th Century Fox and the Fox Broadcasting Company; Gulf + Western acquired Paramount Pictures, etc. The unfortunate side effect of these mergers was the infusion of bottom-line, short-term profit-hungry thinking, as well as corporate models of branding and marketing products. These large corporations viewed films and television shows, and the intellectual properties that underlied them, as products, pure and simple, no different from mouthwash, shoes, soda drinks, or cosmetics. They expected their new acquisitions to transition from being art-focused and letting profits flow from quality, to simply making whatever sold the most tickets and had the most lucrative ancillary market potential. There was no single identifiable point, such a historical date or a press conference, when the critical link between art and commerce was separated, or the historical deference of profit to art was inverted (themselves postmodern phenomena, incidentally), but the entrà ©e of comic books into the world of film and television, which has become a powerful, dominating presence of comic books in film and television, followed and was directly related to this paradigm shift in the economics of the entertainment industry. The adaptation of comic books into film and television properties has been an exercise in creative cannibalism in some sense. Increasingly, film and television studios have taken on the risk-averse mentality of their corporate masters, and one of the effects of this has been to seek out intellectual property that might guarantee the fiscal success of a film or television show adaptation of said property. To the extent that a wildly successful book was often adapted for films geared towards adults, wildly successful comic book series were seen as a surefire way to guarantee a teen audience and the disposable income purchasing power of them and their parents. Movie executives sought to acquire the rights to comic book characters and stories which they could exploit – actual film industry terminology – and build into franchises – also actual film industry terminology, particularly creepy given the obvious parallels to McDonalds or Gap store franchise business models. For the most part, these franchises have been wildly successful from a financial point of view, though perhaps not from an artistic standpoint. There have been six Batman films made by Warner Brothers movie studio (owned by corporate behemoth AOL Time Warner, who not coincidentally own DC Comics, the original home of the Batman characters and comic books): 1989s Batman, 1992s Batman Returns, 1995s Batman Forever, 1997s Batman and Robin, 2004s Catwoman, and 2005s Batman Begins. Each film sported star casting of the highest caliber; however, perhaps with the exception of the first film, were special effects showcases first and artistically ambitious second, if at all. Nor were they particularly true to the time-honored complexities and lingering darkness of the comic books. Iconic film critic Roger Ebert (a devoted fan of the Batman comic books), in his review of Batman and Robin, took a forlorn swipe at each of the films to date: †¦ my delight began to fade at about the 30-minute mark when it became clear that this new movie, like its predecessors, was not *really* going to explore the bizarre world of its heroes, but would settle down safely into a special effects extravaganza. Batman Robin, like the first three films in the series, is wonderful to look at, and has nothing authentic at its core†¦ Watching it, I realized why it makes absolutely no difference who plays Batman: Theres nobody at home†¦ Give the foreground to the characters, not the special effects. And ask the hard questions about Bruce Wayne. (Ebert, 1997) Eberts last line refers to the perennial rumors that perennial bachelor Bruce Wayne might actually be a homosexual, or failing that, possess some unusual sexual fetishes that might not comprise the sort of fare that young children should be seeing at the movie theatre or on DVD. But this topic, as well as any serious exploration of Bruce Waynes psyche, was not been considered particularly lucrative by the marketing machines at Warner Brothers until the franchise was on the verge of death after the box office mediocrity of Batman and Robin and the outright box office disaster of Catwoman, which cost $85 million (U.S.) to produce and only made $40 million (U.S.) at the box office. 2005s Batman Begins was an unapologetically dark and complex film. Roger Eberts review may well have spoken for many Batman fans who ached for more substance and less pure style: The character resonates more deeply with me than the other comic superheroes, perhaps because when I discovered him as a child, he seemed darker and more grown-up than the cheerful Superman. He has secrets. As Alfred muses: Strange injuries and a nonexistent social life. These things beg the question, what does Bruce Wayne do with his time? (Ebert, 2005) Apparently, the moviegoing audiences agreed with Mr. Ebert, rewarding Warner Brothers with $205 million (U.S.) in box office receipts in the United States alone, and a similar – and still increasing – tally worldwide. The lesson here is that while an artistically unambitious and shallow film like Batman and Robin, which is more childish cartoon and marketing machine than serious filmmaking, can certainly turn a modest profit, it is entirely possible to be artistically ambitious and make plenty of money at the same time. One wonders why the latter is more often the exception rather than the rule, to the detriment of the integrity of comic books and their rich characters. In theory, the adaptation of comic books to the film and television arenas could have been a boon to not only the comic book industry, but a force for cultural good in the sense of spreading the subversive word to a larger audience. While there is no question that American and Western teenagers are far more aware of Batman and The X-Men than they were 30 years ago, the expansion of the audience has come at a price. First of all, the structures of film and television do not generally lend themselves well to the sort of narrative complexity that is a hallmark of comic books ongoing multi-character storylines. While the two X-Men films to date were generally well-received by fans of the comic books, many fans vociferously complained that many characters were either simply not included in the storylines, or they were altered to suit Hollywood norms in order to maximize audience appeal. While a third X-Men film is in the works, the simple truth is that 20th Century Fox, the movie studio that produced the films, simply cannot make any more than one X-Men film every two to three years and the complicated narrative history of over a dozen characters unspoiled over the course of 40 years of storytelling simply cannot be done adequate justice by a two-hour movies – as good as they may be – which get released only periodically. Secondly, for many young people, seeing an X-Men or Batman film may be their very first exposure to these universes, and depending on their reaction to the quality of the films and their natural consumer predilections, it is not certain that these teenagers are going to seek out the more dimensionalized, rich, and complex narrative universes to be found within the comic book series. In fact, given the immense popularity of video games among teenagers, who as a general rule spend as much, if not more time transfixed by their Playstations and Xboxes than they do reading, it is more likely that teenagers who see X-Men films will buy the video game adaptations of the X-Men comic books instead of investing in the comic books themselves. The statistics bear this out: in 2004, sales of comic books in the U.S. totaled $300 million – a considerable sum of money, but a far cry from the $850 million sum reached ten years earlier. Comic book money had, for better or for worse, flowed away from the comic books themselves and into the reinventions of the comic books – the movies, the video games. It is unfair, perhaps, to dismiss video games as worthless, but also difficult to avoid the conclusion that the X-Men video game, which is simply a violent combat simulation featuring the various mutant characters, carries more artistic and social worth than the comic books to which the video game owes its digital existence. Lastly, the value of ancillary X-Men merchandise, such as T-shirts, lunchboxes, and plastic soda cups from Burger King adorned with X-Men characters, is fleeting and thus fairly dubious in comparison to the lasting collectors item value of the comic books themselves, to say nothing of the inherent worth of the content of the books, and the visual and narrative artistry contained within them. Ultimately, and sadly, the postmodern machinery of consumer capitalism has appropriated comic book visuals and narratives and separated them from their inherent artistic value in order to make them both more appealing to a mainstream audience, usually children and younger teens, and more exploitable in terms of ancillary markets such as merchandising. The positive side of this equation is that the subversive art and storytelling found in comic books was brought to a larger audience, but may well have been eviscerated of its soul in the process. Films like Batman Begins, with its dark exploration of the recesses of Bruce Waynes psychology, and X-Men 2, with its unapologetic homosexual allegories, do their source material adequate justice and make their corporate masters a lot of money in the process. What can be hoped for the future is that movie studios see fit to release more films such as these and less of the vapid, lowest-common denominator special effects orgies that tend to predominate the box office landscape. Hellraiser and Constantine were met with outright hostility by fans of their comic book source material and performed poorly at the box office. It is no longer enough to simply adapt a comic book to guarantee success. Many audience members have grown more shrewd and sophisticated, and demand quality in storytelling. In the words of Nightcrawler in the film X-Men 2, â€Å"Most people will never know anything beyond what they see with their own two eyes.† If this is true in a world where what is put before the eyes of teenagers is predominated by movies and video games, it is imperative that the content not merely reflect the status quo desired by consumer capitalism, but the thought-provoking stories and characters, daring and subversive thoughts, first brought to us decades ago in the best comic books. BIBLIOGRAPHY Sabin, Roger. Comics, Comix Graphic Novels A History of Comic Art. Phaidon Press, 1996. Robinson, Jerry. The Comics: An Illustrated History of Comic Strip Art. Putnam Publishers, 1974. Wertham, Fredric. Seduction of the Innocent. Amerion Publishers, 1954 (Reprint 1996). Tuzi, Marino. â€Å"Individualism and Marginality: From Comic Book to Film: Marvel Comics Superheroes† College Quarterly, Spring 2005 Volume 8 Number 2. Taken from: htt

Illegal Drugs :: essays research papers

Illegal Drugs   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The product is illegal drugs. The people who deal these drugs are criminals. That's what makes the drug business different then any other.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  *Alcohol is a drug, yet adults are allowed to use alcohol products.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  *Nicotine is a drug, yet adults are allowed to use many different forms of tobacco products, all   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  which have tobacco in them.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  *The drug Caffeine can be found in many everyday items, like soda candy bars. Think of how   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  many cops we would need if caffeine products were illegal. Why are drugs like cocaine,marijuana and heroin illegal? Cocaine, marijuana and heroin are illegal because most people think that these controlled substances are simply to dangerous for anyone to use. They the effects of thes substances ruin the body and mind so badly and quickly that no one should try them.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  We have law aginst drug is so that the people who use dangerous drugs are putting themselves at a very high risk. They risk their health and their lives. Since they are breaking laws they also but themselves at the risk of getting arrested. They risk their freedom and their future all for drugs.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Each year drug use is the cause of a large number of accidents at home in the office and on the road. Everybody pays the price of drug abuse: more cops and prisons more hospitols and treatment centers and many lives lost.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  But drug users hurt themselves more than anybody because they are supporting violent crimes in the drug world.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Just by using drugs they become part of that drug world. They are already commiting acrime. But the relationship between drug use and crime often means that drug users go on to commit crimes like robbery,burglary,assult, and murder.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Drug addiction means that the brain is saying I need drugs now it must have drugs. This offten means that addicts commit crimes to get money for drugs.Studies show that drug use increases criminal behavior:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  *64% of violent crimes involve someone on drugs.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  *75% Of prison inmates have a drug use history. *24% of addicts start dealing drugs to support their habit. Studies also show that drugs play a big part in youth and crime:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  *more than 83% of youth in prison have used drugs.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  *40% of youth in prison for serious crimes were on drugs at the time of the crime.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  *More than 40% of youth in prison used drugs befor the age of 12.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Armed patrols Search and destroy missions and helicopter surveillance. Sounds like americans at war, well this goes on every day on our own home soil and the battle fields are our national parks and forests and the enemy is

Death of a Salesman Idealism and Truth Essay

?Idealism describes the belief or pursuit of a perfect vision often based upon unrealistic principles. This pursuit is often contrasted and opposed by truth. The truth and reality in an individual’s life is what enables this person to remain grounded and down to earth. An individual must set themselves high expectations in order to be their best, but they must also acknowledge the fact that everything they desire is not achievable. The imbalance of idealism and truth in an individual’s life can have calamitous effects. It is significant in an individual’s life because it can lead to the deterioration of an individual’s sanity, destruction of family relationships and ultimately death. This is exemplified in Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller, by Willy Loman. Willy spends his whole life pursuing the American Dream. This pursuit leaves him in debt and lacking less than a sliver of sanity. This man lacks the capacity to face the truth; the reality of his situation. The negative effect that his dream has on his family and life is simply overlooked and ignored. As Willy’s life swerves out of control, he tumbles deeper into the abyss of his idealism, to a point of no return. The inability for an individual to achieve a single-minded dream can lead to the deterioration of their sanity. In Willy’s case, he has spent his whole life pursuing the American Dream; a dream that is impossible to achieve. His inability to cope with the failure of his life at first simply causes him to feel lost, but eventually causes him to go insane. Ironically enough this man, so set on having the perfect life, has an affair with a secretary of one of the buyer. This is simply a financial transaction of gifts for sex and access to the buyers. Willy does this to escape the truth of his life, and in the process completely contradicts his goals. In an attempt to protect himself from the reality of his life, he goes into self-protection mode. His own mind morphs his memories to achieve and establish his desires. Willy’s constant flashbacks lay the groundwork to support that he is becoming senile and that his idealistic tendencies caused him to lose the ability to recognize reality from illusion. Willy is a very insecure individual, and he tries to make himself look better by lying to himself and his family. In his world of delusion, Willy is a hugely successful man. He disguises his profound anxiety and self-doubt with extreme arrogance. Biff nails it on the head when he points out the fact that Willy â€Å"had all the wrong dreams. All, all, wrong. † The overpowering pursuit of idealism over truth can lead an individual to lack the ability to cope with reality. Willy has a lot of potential, but he also has a whopping case of self-deception paired with misguided life goals. He has based his whole life on supporting others and does not know how to live any other way. The effect of lacking a manly figure during his youthful development is substantial effect in how Willy raises his own sons. In Willy’s pursuit of the American Dream, he clearly instills in his sons that being well-liked is more important than character. By emphasizing likability as being the most desirable quality for success he places a higher premium on outward projection over inner strength of character. He simply passes on these unrealistic qualities to his sons. â€Å"I never in my life told him anything but decent things. † Willy’s memories reveal that the values with which he raised his sons has made Biff comes to consider himself exceptional and entitled to whatever he wants regardless of how hard he works or whether it harms others. Biff’s perfect illusion is shattered when he discovers that his father is having an affair and he feels hateful and confused about his father’s actions. His excessive pursuit of idealism shatters Willy’s relationship with his son; this is something that he does not have the ability to repair. Willy’s pursuit of idealism in his life was extremely unrealistic and eventually prevented him from having the ability to see the truth in life. He spent his whole life trying to provide for his family. He wanted the life of a salesman. To be well-liked and have a massive funeral when he dies. The reality is that he spent his whole life pursuing unrealistic dreams based on negative personal values. Willy himself points out that he’s â€Å"worth more dead than alive. † It’s quite tragic that Willy believes he has to kill himself to feel that he is worth something to his family. The reality of the situation is that his death is in vain. The Loman’s only had one more payment left on the house, and don’t actually need the money anymore. But in his blinded illusion, Willy cannot see through or cope with his failure. This causes him to believe that he is worth nothing more alive and kills himself to enable his family to collect his life insurance money. The unevenness of idealism and truth in an individual’s life can lead to the loss of sanity, deterioration of relationships and even death. By having a good balanced of idealism and truth, there is a greater potential that an individual will discover contentment in life. While pursuing an ideal, an individual may be confronted with truth that must be recognized, and if ignored will have cataclysmic effect. Idealism provides a good source of motivation to strive for excellence and truth reminds us that we are all flawed. Together, with an appropriate balance of both, you have the tools to live a life happy.

Reflection Writing of The Drover’s Wife by Henry Lawson Essay

I’ve never been reading a tremendous story such â€Å"The Drover’s Wife† before. â€Å"The Drover’s wife† was written by Henry Lawson is a short story about a woman who live in a bush with her four children and a dog, Aligance, while her husband didn’t at home because of driving. The story wants to mention on the woman who was a good mother and also a strong lady. In a dangerous event, there was a snake in her house. In order to protect her children she kept reminding herself all night to guard her children who were sleeping on the table in the kitchen; finally, the drover’s wife and her dog killed the snake and burnt it. Actually, I do love two characters among all characters represented in the story. The first is drover’s wife; throughout the short story I get a very good characterization of the woman. As a girl-wife she had hated the lonely life in the outback, but as time pass by, she used to it. Her struggle has been many. When the drought forced her husband to go droving, she had been left alone with her children and the problems in a pity bush. However, she was a strong and brave lady; in fact, she had solved the entire difficult situation without her husband’s assistance. She plays an important role in the family which she had to stay and take care of the children alone. Another she was defended mother and a good wife. In a long night, she kept her eye opening to ensure that the snake wouldn’t bit any of her children. Staying and taking care of the children alone; she neither complained about her living condition nor her husband absence. She didn’t care about herself when she fought the flood that devastated the dam; she still thought of her husband’s feeling after realizing this disaster. Specially, this character has given me an idea that women should not always rely on men; women are not as weak as what other people said. Women have strength to protect themselves as well as their beloved persons. Not only drover’s wife but also her biggest son Tommy was bravery. He helped his mom a lot; even he was a small one, his behavior is such an adult. Maybe he think that beside his father , he was the only one man to protect the member from any danger. This smart boy also remind his mother to wake him up if the snake came back again. Moreover, â€Å"The Drover’s Wife† has remarkably little action such as â€Å"Near midnight, the children are all asleep and the drover’s wife sit there still, sewing and reading by turns. From time to time she glances round the floor and well-plate, and, whenever she hears a noise, she reached for the stick. The thunderstorm comes on, and the wind, rushing through the cracks in the slab wall, threatens to blow out her candle. She places it on a sheltered part of the dresser and fixes up a newspaper to protect it. At every flash of lightning, the cracks between the slabs gleam like polished silver. The thunder rolls, and the rain comes down in torrents.† in this plot the author want to express the activities of being a mother who always care and worried about her children. Not all people do such that thing beside mother. In case she ensures that her children are safely, she can do anything without caring much own self. Another action â€Å"She lays her ha nd on the dog’s head, and all the fierce, angry light dies out of his yellow eyes. The younger children are quieted, and presently go to sleep. The dirty-legged boy stands for a moment in his shirt, watching the fire. Presently he looks up at her, sees the tears in her eyes, and, throwing his arms around her neck exclaims: â€Å"Mother, I won’t never go drovin’ blarst me if I do!† And she hugs him to her worn-out breast and kisses him; and they sit thus together while the sickly daylight breaks over the bush.†. This plot shows that if Tommy were a husband ,or when he grow up, he would not be away from home do such his father . He’s recognized what was the difficulty which a wife and children forced to bed situation. About drover’s wife, she loves her children above all, but she has no time to show it. The children have a very harsh impression of her. Still, in the last sentence we see proof of her love for them. What I have learnt from this story has been many. First, I understudied that on be haft of a good mother it is not easy. Sometime they act as ignorant but their mind obsessed all the time on children; however, they did not complained any words. Beside this, I caught a lot on the behaviour of the drover’s wife; we will not always get what we want, but we should learn to satisfy what we have. There are many problems and obstacles that we have to face, and all those make us become stronger and stronger, and give as such an important experience for our future steps. After reading this story, I strongly recommend it to other people who want to learn and experience more about life. Also lecturer should have risen this story to discuss much more and deeply on it, because student may benefit a lot from this story.