Category: Critical Reflection

The development of the fashion industry is vigorous, it is one of the industries that many youngsters dream to work at. However, the blooming development of the fashion industry is only focusing on the design which is mostly about children, teenagers, and adults. About elderly fashion, the fashion industry is lack of senior fashion designers. It seems like young designers do not like the market of senior fashion. But contrariwise, the senior design market is what we should be focusing more. If there is no younger generation that willing to do the senior fashion, why don’t we offer a chance to the senior to let them do it themselves? To solve this problem, I would like to introduce Marks and Spencer(M&S) a plan called ‘Senior internship scheme’. As many people know, M&S’s fashion and the brand is famous among the senior, many senior customers like to shop at M&S. If will add the senior fashion into M&S’s market, I believe it will brought the company many benefits. In the following proposal, I will inform you of the benefits that the senior internship bought to the company which is the addition of sales numbers, the society and how it enhances the quality of life of the seniors by finding their value.

· About ‘Senior internship scheme’

To commence with, I would like to give you more information about the ‘Senior internship scheme’ which aims at engaging the elderly to rejoin the workplace after retirement while providing some advantages to the company and society. The biggest reason for implementing the plan is the aging problem in society. It has been discovered that the total populace aged 60 years and older, will grow to 2 billion by 2050, up from 900 million in 2015. (World Health Organization,2018) The data shows that the number of retired seniors in society is increasing. Many elderly would like to work continually even they are under the legal retirement age. But the truth is the society does not offer any opportunities for the elderly or even reject their application. To implement this scheme in M&S, the senior internship may work as the assistant of the fashion designer or they can even do the design themselves. The workload should not be high and contains any fitness work for the elderly, as they should not only do the physically active, working on designing works it a good way for them to show off at their age.

· Benefits brought to the company

To cooperate with the scheme, M&S should consider hiring the senior to do the design which helps the company to expand its business at a new area by making it a unique selling point to the company. To make a simple example, a senior designer ‘Siu Lan’ has released its brand called ‘Taylor Made by Siu Lan’. The brand is welcomed by the youngsters, her collection even exhibited at the exhibition. I think senior designers can design more suitable clothes for the elderly by using their own life experience, and they might develop a new trend by adding their unique design ideas. Both elements may bring more sales and market to the company which is indisputable a benefit to the fashion company to do multifaceted development.

· Benefits brought to society

As known to all, the fashion company including M&S does not have enough senior fashion designers. Allowing the elderly to do the design is a good way to continual participate in socio-economic and give contribution. It is no exaggeration to say that the elderly are the one who knows them the best. In any situation, young people do not understand what the elderly need, as they do not experience their life and cannot catch the points on designing. Most of the designers only consider how the clothes look good on people instead of the functional of the clothing that the elderly need. For example, the fabric, color matching, tailoring, or even the position of the pocket, the size of the button, it is necessary to consider more. If the company allows the elderly to design the clothes, the design would meet the demand of the senior fashion market in a better way and solve the problem of the elderly who found difficult to buy suitable clothes.

· Benefits brought to the senior interns

Besides the advantages to the company and the society, the senior internship scheme also benefits the elderly as it can help to enhance the quality of their life. The quality of life is a broad-ranging concept affected in a complex way by the person’s physical health, psychological state, level of independence, social relationships, personal beliefs and their relationship to salient features of their environment. (WHO, 1997) The scheme will mainly focus on the psychological state and social relationships by providing adequate employment opportunities and continual participation in socio-economic. Many elderly indicate that they want to work, however, due to the legal retirement age and the prejudice of the employers, it is hard for them to find a job after retirement. They think they are old and ignore by society as people never ask for their willingness, whether they want to work or not. Hiring a senior internship in the fashion company and arrange them work helps the elderly to establish their confidence and give them the right to control and make decisions in the workplace. To design good clothes for the senior market, the opinions of the senior designers are essential as only they can give real-life experiences and design the adaptive clothing for the senior. When the elderly feel they are needed, they will feel the satisfied and mental quality will increase also. On another hand, to work in the fashion industry helps the elderly to build a connection with society. They communicate with the general direction through clothes or activities like fashion shows or exhibitions.

In conclusion, the senior internship scheme helps M&S to develop in a multifaceted aspect, to expend its business in the senior fashion market. Second, senior fashion designers satisfied the general elderly to able them buying suitable clothing to live a more convenient life. Lastly, the scheme enhances the quality of life of the seniors by increasing the quality of their psychological state and widening the social relationships between the senior and the society. Senior internship scheme brings us many advantages at multiple levels, the general should give the senior a chance to work and also create a turning point to M&S and the society to a better future.

References

1. World Health Organization (2018). ‘Aging and health'[online]. Available from:https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/ageing-and-health
2. CUP MEGAZINE (2019).‘Interview with Siu Lan, a senior fashion designer.'[online] Available from: https://www.cup.com.hk/2019/01/30/hongkongdigest-siulan/
3. World Health Organization (2002) Active aging: a policy framework [online]. Available from: whqlibdoc.who.int/hq/2002/who_nmh_nph_02.8.pdf
4. World Health Organization (1997) WHOQOL – measuring the quality of life [online]. Available from: www.who.int/mental_health/media/68.pdf

Just like society, music will experience evolution. Said evolution may manifest itself through factors such as the ability for the world to be globally connected. Through this inevitable evolution and connectivity, the loss of cultural meaning may be a consequential factor for some genres of music, however, this may not reign true for all genres. The possibility for redefinition or emphasis of cultural facets within music is still achievable. Pop music is generalized category which includes music that adheres to the parameter of acquiring mass popularity through appreciation of urban culture (Britannica, 2019). The pop genre almost acts as an umbrella term for any songs derived from any genre of music that are generally well-received on all ends, furthermore, becoming a part of mainstream pop culture. Commercially recorded music within the pop genre is normally globally mass marketed as the ‘best-selling’ titles are more or less occupied by means of the pop genre (New World Encyclopedia, 2012). In order to further analyze the global affect upon the pop genre, which is so widespread, the examination upon one facet of pop music is required, this facet being Korean pop or K-pop. The volatile nature of music genres, such as pop, remaining ‘true’ to their originating culture on a global scale can be identified and discussed through means of communications across and within other cultures while also taking into account the effect of concepts in which concern ‘culture’ as a whole.

Literature Review

Globalization is a process in which describes the interconnectedness between nations as a result of increased trade and cultural exchange (BBC, 2019). Acts of global communications, such as the widespread nature of music across global nations, is directly impacted by the concept of globalization. The process of globalization inevitably leads to the exposure to differing cultures. Views on globalization as a positive or negative aspect of global society differ based on personal opinion, due to the homogeny it may cause.

Cultural convergence is a concept that may exist between global cultures as a result of globalization. Popularization of Korean pop amongst mainstream audiences is a preeminent example of cultural convergence as a result of globalization. Despite South Korean origins, which are still prevalent within this musical facet, identification of aspects of Western culture have shown to be an influence for K-pop, specifically through the use of partly sung English language. This could further be examined as the overall Americanization of Korean pop music.

As globalization becomes a process that is actively more accessible and simpler for all global nations to achieve, it is no wonder that global media flows are a consequential result. With global media flows being described as a ‘one-way flow’ the eventual Americanization of Korean pop culture would seem inevitable to an unknowing mind, however this generic one-way flow may not remain consistent with that of Korean pop culture. ‘The one-way flow was seen as a new form of imperialism, going beyond economic and political domination, into the cultural realm, a threat to annihilate indigenous culture and local cultural industries, through a process of ‘Americanization’’ (Lordache, Audenhove, Loisen, 2019). The ‘annihilation of a culture’ because of the assumed homogenization as cultures converge, is not always the accurate occurrence. In some instances, for example Korean culture and American culture, a ‘contra-media flow’ can exist (Caminiti, 2014). These ‘contra-media flows’ are those characterized by the ‘two-way’ nature of a global flow between two nations. For example, Americans have unlimited access to Korean pop music and vice versa. With the absence of Americanization through these two-way global media flows, homogenization of Korean pop music through influence of American culture is virtually impossible. ‘The transnational Korean media and it’s active streams to the USA have seemingly increased its potency as new ethnic media’ (Ju, Lee, 2015). The introduction of new ethnic media refers to forms of media that are not Westernized and do not conform to Western culture, but instead form a hybridization of each culture. Western artists and K-pop artists have collaborated in order to cultural converge their art form of music. BTS, a popular Korean boy band have recently collaborated with ‘Western’ rapper Nicki Minaj to create the song ‘IDOL’. BTS is the only Korean pop band to have found themselves occupying a place on the Billboard top charts, this particular song, however claimed No.1 spot while also remaining present on the top charts list for fifty-two weeks, consecutively (Mcintyre, 2019). The ability to remain on a hit list produced and maintained by that of Western culture is a phenomenal act of cultural convergence as a result of globalization and two-way global media flows.

Cultural hybridization, is the fusion of cultural elements with another culture through the modification, of said element, to suit cultural norms. Cultural hybridization in this sense takes form in the adaption of linguistics in order to suit a particular global culture, i.e., America. In 2017, Korean pop was measured in order to determine if American individuals believed that K-pop was popular. The results ruled that 60.4% of those surveyed believed that K-pop was indeed popular in their nation. BTS, the Korean pop boy band, is particularly popular in America, due to this Western success the introduction of English prose has been combined with their originating language within their songs. English mixing in “Korean popular music (K-pop) is prevalent and heterogeneous in its forms and functions. The size of a mixed English constituent in K-pop lyrics varies from a single word to an entire song” (Lee, 2004). This linguistic adaptation within Korean pop music is also to represent the use of the English language as a ‘discourse of resistance’ for south Korean youth (Lee, 2004). Self-identity is a common reason as to why K-pop is so popular amongst youth universally, the use of English language allows South Korean youth to embrace a separate identity characterized with this resistance and subversive attitude. As well as in Korean pop music, the English language has rooted itself into youth culture throughout South Korea, this notion can be identified as cultural hybridity. In American society, the Korean Convention, also known as KCON, is an annual event that began in South California which brings the biggest bands in the K-pop universe in one place for devoted fans (Rolling Stones, 2018). The establishment of a convention which has remained consistently popular since the inception, is a prime example of how the Korean culture, stemming from Korean pop music, has managed to establish itself within American culture, thus proving cultural hybridization through the art form of music.

Results/Discussion

The discussion of whether globalization and global communication causes the dilution of cultural means and practices and the opinion formed from extensive research may differ depending on one’s overall mindset towards this topic. Korean pop music has emulsified itself as a commercial sub-genre of pop music throughout Western culture. Through research, Korean pop has been culturally hybridized in order to adhere to Western cultural norms. Even though cultural hybridity is a factor, the Korean culture has not been diluted by Americanization or have shown signs of losing overall meaning as a culture. In fact, Korean pop is more or less thriving in modern Western societies, being one of the most popular commercial genres available. Despite popularity, it may be beneficial to further development upon this research to decipher whether the proud and patriotic individuals of certain parts of American culture are for or against cultural hybridity and global communications. With Korean pop music culture being so influential upon American society, development upon a different perspective may be warranted. Research into this particular topic has been notable in proving that despite the ease of globalization, homogenization of cultures isn’t always the main consequence.

Conclusion/Recommendations

As society progresses, so will everything that comes with society. Evolution is rather inevitable and globalization is a necessary facet of the world that more or less allows the world to economically go round while also forming global media flows and communication. Without exposure to differing cultures how will a nation be able to knowledgeably thrive? Music is a universal language that can be understood despite any barriers created by language differences. Every global culture has their own identity within the music industry and that identity is hard to break down and homogenize. The pop genre acts as an umbrella term for all commercialized music that has grown in popularity, despite cultural differences. For those individuals against the process of globalization, it comes as a recommendation to view the effects of globalization from a differing perspective in order to understand the positive nature of this particular process. The meaning of a culture will never be lost in translation at the hands of global media flows, the outspread of cultural means is a beneficial act amongst society. Without further exposure to cultural aspects, such as Korean pop, cultural hybridity will be merely a myth and knowledge gained from aforementioned exposure will be the only thing lost.

References

1. Caminiti, K. (2014). Media, Culture and Globalization. [online] Mediacultureandglobalization.yolasite.com.Available at: http://mediacultureandglobalization.yolasite.com/menu.php [Accessed 21 Sep. 2019].
2. Globalization of Music. (2019). [online] Available at: https://theglobalizationofmusic.weebly.com/globalization-of-music.html [Accessed 20 Sep. 2019].
3. Iordache, C., Van Audenhove, L. and Loisen, J. (2018). Global Media Flows: A Qualitative Review of Research Methods in Audio-Visual Flow Studies. International Communication Gazette, [online] 81(6-8). doi/10.1177/1748048518808650. [Accessed 19 Sep. 2019].
4. Ju, H. and Lee, S. (2015). The Korean Wave and Asian Americans: The Ethnic Meanings of Transnational Korean Pop Culture in the USA. Continuum, [online] 29(3), pp.323-338. Available at: https://eds-b-ebscohost-com.ezproxy.uow.edu.au/eds/detail/detail?vid=0&sid=6d78f936-185c-4e85-ae62-aba32ad24826%40sessionmgr101&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmU%3d#AN=000355537400003&db=edswah [Accessed 21 Dec. 2019].
5. Lee, J. (2004). Linguistic Hybridization in K-Pop: Discourse of Self-Assertion and Resistance. World Englishes, [online] 23(3), pp.429-450. Available at: https://eds-b-ebscohost-com.ezproxy.uow.edu.au/eds/detail/detail?vid=0&sid=77f42c02-7cf4-4044-b8bc-03a3fa80210f%40sessionmgr103&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmU%3d#AN=14002894&db=hlh [Accessed 21 Sep. 2019].
6. Lotha, G. (2019). Popular Music. [online] Encyclopedia Britannica. Available at: https://www.britannica.com/art/popular-music [Accessed 20 Sep. 2019].
7. McIntyre, H. (2019). BTS and Nicki Minaj’s ‘Idol’ Is the Rare K-Pop Hit to Live On the Charts for a Full Year. [online] Forbes.com. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/hughmcintyre/2019/09/17/bts-and-nicki-minajs-idol-is-the-rare-k-pop-hit-to-live-on-the-charts-for-a-full-year/#4cd796e94d23 [Accessed 22 Sep. 2019].
8. Newworldencyclopedia.org. (n.d.). Pop music – New World Encyclopedia. [online] Available at: https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Pop_music [Accessed 20 Sep. 2019].
9. Statista. (2017). South Korea: K-Pop Popularity in the U.S. 2017 | Statista. [online] Available at: https://www.statista.com/statistics/956042/south-korea-kpop-popularity-in-the-us/ [Accessed 23 Sep. 2019].
10. Wang, A. and Wang, A. (2018). How K-Pop Conquered the West. [online] Rolling Stone. Available at: https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/bts-kpop-albums-bands-global-takeover-707139/ [Accessed 21 Sep. 2019].

From the movie entitled ‘Gattaca’, it shows a world that uses genetic information in order to produce genetically enhanced people, by selecting certain genes. Scientists ensure that individuals were born using reproductive technologies have desirable traits and prevent undesirable traits. This movie spread awareness about ethical issues that people may not be aware. The movie shows an imaginary place within the government, laws, and social conditions are perfect. The movie introduces uniformity and identifies people as valids and in-valids. This can be seen from the personal attires that they wear. In this movie peoples like doctors and employers are judge by a statistical probability, which they will be determined as in-valids if they are not genetically engineered. Instead of racism, they critics people based on their genetic material instead of the type of people they are individually. This gives us message that human spirit is a unique characteristic of a human, not only physical or any intellectual attributes.

From the start of the movie, there’re married people who have a baby born without genetic engineering. When Vincent Anton was born, his physical illnesses or any other problems and his lifespan are estimated in blood test. The result of this test affects his life. So, he is called as an in-valid. When Vincent’s parent wants to have a child, they used genetic engineering so that their child will have no undesirable traits compared to him. In this way, they can choose their baby’s physical appearance and remove the bad features of their child. When Vincent search for a job, to achieve his dream to travel space, but when they test him using blood and urine the result is in-valid and because of this he only gets a janitor job. He finds another way to get inside the Gattaca, a man helps him with genetically engineered gene which is Jerome Morrow and because he has a valid gene, he can get the job because in applying a job, they only take results from blood and urine test if they are valid or not. They don’t ask his own interests and other things. Jerome had perfect genes, he could achieve anything until his accident, paralyzing his legs and because of this he is discriminated. So, he used Vincent to pretend to be him. Even that he has a perfect gene, Jerome wants to end his life, because of a failure. However, he had an unsuccessful suicide attempt, so he lives his life in a wheelchair. The movie also shows a pianist who is successful because he has six fingers in each hand. If he is manmade, he would have natural hands and he could not be successful because the melody he played can be played only with twelve fingers. This means, genes don’t reflect our future and our lives cannot be chosen.

Therefore, sometimes peoples lacks of something and failures are the reasons for our success in life. The society in this movie has begun to value individuals only on their genetic makeup, instead of personal worth.

I think the society in ‘Gattaca’ is obsessed in removing human flaws and aims for perfection, changing human genes to promote perfection. However, despite of the attempt to remove imperfection, even the in-valids have flawed characteristics. We can see this through Jerome’s alcoholism and his attempt to commit suicide. Because of this genetic engineering or manmade human, we don’t give the baby the chance to become what he/she really is because they control and make it the way that they want it. This genetic research can be helpful if were not abused. If society and the government abused genetic profiling, genetic criticism would arise and also this would lead to a eugenic process, refusing certain people the right to breed and pass on their genes. Other important thing is that our mindset is very important for us. When we look at Vincent and Anton, we see that Anton is much qualified than Vincent. However, in the movie, Anton as genetically engineered and has his own limits and he cannot go beyond his limit but Vincent does not undergo a genetic engineering and there is no encrypted limitation in his genes so he can take risk. He just believed that he can do it, and he did it. This tells us that we humans have the power to surpass our limits if we will only have the courage and perseverance.

Genetic engineering can give us problems and this can affect our life. Importantly we humans have unique characteristics and we are different individually, so we need to accept the things that we have and be satisfied of who we are and to learn to fight for the things that you love if this is the right thing to do.

1920s. A smoke-filled bar rings sounds of complexity and enthusiasm. Jazz is at its peak and quite rightly so. There is an overwhelming sense of popularity amongst people of African American descent. The audience. The band. Still nothing gets around the fact that the point of this bar is to entertain, to satisfy the musical urges. Nowadays when we think of a bar we think of alcoholic beverages, socializing, perhaps even some romance. Why is this? One reason could be that society has evolved. Another could be that it’s more practical. If we wanted to listen to music, we could just go to a concert, right? Wrong. Music started as a staple in bars, and so it should continue that way. Jazz music is one of the most fascinating and intricate musical concepts ever to have been made.

Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, Ella Fitzgerald. What many consider to be some of the greats in jazz. What do they all have in common? Their ethnic backgrounds. Race played a vast role in the history of jazz, and the development of jazz alone was hindered and funneled by the systemic racism that was so very present at that time in America. In the very beginning, the music that preceded jazz was for entertaining small groups of black slaves, primarily for allowing them to ease their oppression. The very fundamentals of jazz developed out of a musical revolution against the tyranny of the white male. But as jazz became more and more prominent as music and a money maker, the race personas were so profoundly lodged in society that it stuck out like a sore thumb. Since the beginning of jazz, it has been emblematically linked to the civil rights movement due to the fact that the music was enjoyed by blacks and whites alike. None other than Martin Luther King Jr. thought very highly of jazz: “Jazz speaks for life. This is triumphant music”.

Jazz is a musically diverse form of music. The abstract ways of creation consisting of swung notes, ragtime rhythms, call and response vocals are theoretical, but what makes jazz truly special is not on the theoretical side but rather the provocative side. The form of improvisation is a particularly intriguing attempt to stay in the present. Improvisation is a musical creation of new musical ideas, spontaneously created based on previous knowledge. It is widely looked on as a skill which is not only hard to play, but harder to teach as it requires an individual’s response to the audience and musicianship. One of the most well-known jazz pianists, Duke Ellington, created a music that is interactive yet varying, creating an immersive performance, which completely matched the audience’s fervor. Duke maintained an elegant and nonchalant style very consistently and was not against change, but rather the contrary as he always searched for new influences (Latin and Asian in the 30s, and further expressive and unfamiliar sounds in the 40s) to ensure that he was always an efficient and absorbing musician.

Jazz is also important in combining musical ideas from many different nations, allowing for connections between different styles of music and different ethnic origins. Originally, jazz formed as late as the start of the 20th century from heavily African based music, including characteristics such as polyrhythms (different metrical starting points), use of percussion, call and response (responsorial form) and heavy lingual influence (often combinations of pitch used to depict spoken words). Then European influence was introduced through the introduction of pivotal instruments, such as the piano, saxophone, reeds and some horns were previously unused, and have now become a very prominent part of the jazz society. Soon jazz came to be further enriched by Creole, Arabic, Cuban and more local influences. For instance, New Orleans jazz had its own distinctive feel and imprint, to give the newfound music its unique feel. As it continued North, along with the musicians, towards Chicago and New York, the ever-changing style of music deviated from its African roots, engrossing white middle class customs and affecting jazz and its surroundings. By the time jazz had made an appearance in New York, it was a different music, being performed, recorded, and heard by blacks, whites and other races alike. Furthermore, jazz was motivating fashion, dance, youth customs and race affinity, additionally ingraining itself into the society it was engulfing.

Although jazz is all of the above, some individuals believe that jazz is pretentious and dissonant. This, while being understandable, is false. If one were to say that jazz is pretentious and dissonant, those definitions could be applied to any musical genre (e.g., classical, rap, country, rock) therefore either you are assuming that everyone who listens to any kind of music is completely stupid and indolent, or more importantly, there is something more to all kinds of music than what meets the ear. The latter is correct. Jazz may sound pretentious and dissonant, perhaps to certain ears, but if jazz musicians are pretentious, it is because their musicianship is hard to master. It is a complex form of music that needs careful analysis and understanding. Improvisation sounds messy, even overwhelming to the untrained listener. Perhaps the issue does not lie within the music, but rather the listener. Improvisation is a delicate form of music and more careful listening and breakdown is essential to understand and enjoy it.

In conclusion, jazz is a vital part of history, and furthermore crucial to this current age. Jazz provides a cornerstone as a racial boundary-breaker, further including cultures in its music and provides a sense of artistry in music, and should continue to broaden listeners’ horizons in their understanding of music. The connection of jazz to issues of race is not to be overlooked as the jazz community pioneered racial justice in America by expressing their thoughts and emotions in a publicly accepted way. It is of utmost importance that it not only continues to be played, but respected, listened to and understood.

In the movie ‘The Shawshank Redemption’, the main character Andy Dufresne is accused of the murder of his wife and her lover. Andy’s wife was having an affair with another man. Andy is sentenced 19 years in prison for a crime he did not commit. Andy is put into one of the worst prisons at the time, Shawshank. The life Andy lives at Shawshank is a life no person could imagine.

The first day, Andy was sent to Shawshank on a bus with other inmates. When arriving at the prison, Andy immediately felt a feeling of discomfort. This was the type of prison where people died, got beaten, or tried to escape every day. The first experience Andy had was walking into Shawshank, surrounded by other inmates yelling cruel names, saying things like ‘fresh meat’. Andy, knowing he did not commit a crime and still being punished took a big toll on him. The first night Andy saw things no person could imagine seeing. After seeing these things, Andy thought there was no way he could live with this life. The next few days Andy made a few friends. These were not the type of friends you’d think you’d find in a prison. These were real friends, people Andy went to when he was down. Having these friends still made Shawshank terrible, but just a little bit less knowing he had ‘good’ people to go to.

Andy still has days where he is feeling like life is taking a huge turn for the worse. A couple weeks in Andy still has his friends, but he meets a new friend, Red. Red has been at Shawshank for a while now, Red is the person inmates go to when they need something. Andy realizing this, went to Red and would ask for soda, money, posters, etc. All requests for things turned into a real friendship, a special kind of friendship that lasts forever. Now that Andy has a best friend, he is able to come to ease of the fact that he is still in prison. Andy still goes through rough times; people simply do not like him because they know he is a different kind to enter Shawshank. Andy simply does not try to get into anything bad, he just wakes up every day and does his own thing. Andy was a banker before being put into prison. The guards notice this and hired Andy as their personal Banker. This job allowed Andy to live a little bit better than the other inmates, but he was still not a favorite.

Time had gone by and Andy and Red are still in Shawshank. Red kept getting called into seeing if his speech would allow him to be released. This kind of thing happened to Andy one time, but it never happened for him. Red has walked in and out of that office about six times now. This time, Red walks into the office to a slightly pleasant surprise. Red is being released from Shawshank to live in the real world. As soon as Andy hears this news he is devastated. Andy feels like there is no reason he should keep living this cruel life. The movie portrays that Andy might kill himself simply because he feels like he has nothing anymore. Little did the audience know, Andy had been planning an escape route every day since he got to Shawshank. The night goes by and Andy is gone. The next morning guards find his cell empty and Shawshank is now on lockdown. A huge search is sent out for Andy. Little do they know that Andy’s plan was very successful he is now on the way to a free life. The movie ends with Red and Andy meeting at their secret place.

After watching ‘The Shawshank Redemption’, I realized how much of a hero Andy was throughout the movie. Andy stepped up and did the things no one ever thought could be done. He took the beatings, all of the smack talk and he still proved to everyone who the guilty one was in the situation. Andy made everyone realize that it was definitely not him. I could also consider Red a big hero in the movie also. Red was the person to give everyone anything and not want anything in return. He took his time at Shawshank and lived every day trying to be a better person then he was the day before. Together, Andy and Red made a great team and changed how Shawshank ran things from then on.

‘The Truman Show’, which is regarded as the turning point of Jim Carrey’s career, is a movie that has been examined in many respects and opportunities. ‘The Truman Show’, which is often handled by Plato’s cave allegory and our constant observance in today’s society in other words, securitization, makes the audience laugh with his witty approach to the contemporary world and is equipped with many elements beyond its time. It’s the story of a life surrounded by a director’s approach to his first love experiences, adventures, studies and actors who give him answers without knowing. So, his life is a complete illusion. The movie asks people questions, serious questions. How right is it to manipulate a man’s whole life in such a way as to draw the world’s attention? Moral? Protecting her from the real world, depriving his experience of discovering his life, protecting him from the problems and impudence of the outside world? How right is it to prevent the attempt to move from an artificial light into to darkness? Carrey may not know the correct answers to these questions in an artificial world, but he does his best to make the questions easier and more understandable for us by playing Truman, part of a big show.

The hidden tendency of peeking at someone’s lives in all of us was revealed in the early 2000s, and somehow it continued to grow stronger. With Facebook becoming a public platform in 2006, social media became a part of our lives and things changed dimension: all the children born were Trumans. The moment they were born, the places they grew up, their first lover, their closest friends, whatever they had built their identities, they became accessible to anyone who knew how to use the Internet. You can see this story the first time from a postmodernist point of view: Big Brother. In this case, it can be said that poor Truman is 1 running his life like a job. The freedom he enjoys is completely artificial, and the main person who uses it is a major filmmaker. We see a healthy rebellion against corporate image as the producers of the illusions in the media. But at the same time, everyone enjoys the idea of being the star of such a production, critics quickly lose their importance, and the argument becomes smaller. Can you imagine! You are becoming one of the famous all over the world! That you apologize for freedom and try to escape from the world by claiming that the life and institution before your eyes are false. An important part of our behavior on the Internet today coincides with the behavior of the audience at The Truman Show, especially with a political goal. While we were able to monitor, follow, and present what we watched as an important part of our identity while escaping from all responsibility, our fears really prevented us from putting our hands under the stone. The fact that our political activity on the internet is not reflected in other areas, but our tremendous mobility in online platforms, and our complete belief that this is the transformative force, is a kind of masturbation of conscience. Of course, digital activism is better than doing nothing, but when all we do is digital activism, we become individuals who are prone to believe the lies told to us, far from the resistance in the street, unless they are part of the real movements supported by the use of online platforms.

However, when the media is considered as a capitalist device that is thirsty for the production of content, exploiting the lives of normal people, the relationship of the media with entertainment is politically correct; because the existence of the media is seen as a rotating part of the system that allows it to make a profit. For this, creating a celebrity or removing a celebrity from a normal person is the success of the media (successful exploitation). In this case, Truman is an excellent experimental animal. The prominent American family manifests on the screen as a reflection of the happy life. It provides an example of the presentation of the life of an American family on the screen or in the lantern to the consumer society in content. This situation of Truman can be compared to the life of Michael Jackson or Princess Diana. These two famous characters have one thing in common: it is that hiding both of their lives under the guise of love, love and happiness rather than exploitation. This mask is made available to the viewers in the most natural form with the cover of smile, laugh, happiness, and love.

‘The Truman Show’ seems to shed light on the issues that have started to take place at the center of our lives today but we have just begun to name them. As individuals who are increasingly difficult to distinguish between real and virtual, there are still lessons we can learn from the movie.

After imposing ‘Stargate’, ‘Independence Day’, and ‘Godzilla’ on us, the dynamic duo of Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin has made and lost a fair bit of cash, but they have seemingly come to the realization that the only thing in Hollywood that lasts is Oscar gold. However, just following the recipe does not guarantee that the result will be good, let alone palatable. Thus, witness their ‘Hail Mary’, ‘The Patriot’.

The movie stars Mel Gibson as a reluctant farmer, whose son is killed, forcing him into the American Revolutionary War – further details of which are somewhat interchangeable.

Many of the pieces for a successful historical drama are actually there. However, putting the puzzle together does not require the use of a hammer. The plot is a collection of tried and true devices, inelegantly jammed together, propelling the characters along pre-determined paths. This is precisely the pattern in their three previous films. However, since those movies were so deliberately campy, one could laugh along with, and predict with clairvoyant accuracy, their stories. In fact, the only truly intolerable parts of those films were when they tried to be serious.

In this case, Emmerich and Devlin are trying to pull off the whole thing as a serious piece of movie, but they are using the same kind of Frankensteinian writing and direction methodology they used before. Although Mel Gibson is a fair actor, there is only so much he can do in front of the camera. Having brilliantly filmed Randall Wallace’s script of ‘Braveheart’ actually works against his current appearance, since ‘The Patriot’ blanches in comparison. Given the unfortunate timing of its release, ‘The Patriot’ also suffers from ‘Gladiator’ envy. Gibson’s paint-by-numbers Benjamin Martin does not compare favorably to Russell Crowe’s seething Maximus Decimus Meridius, commander of the Roman Army, husband to a murdered wife, father to a murdered son – who will have his vengeance.

What else do these movies do better than ‘The Patriot’? Both are immediately engaging. The oppressive elements are presented much more formidably and terrifyingly. The England of ‘Braveheart’ is savage and brilliant in its plotting, whereas the England of ‘The Patriot’ seems tame and even reasonable (excluding the artificially sociopathic villain). Another element that makes those stories compelling is that they exist outside of our experience, attaching instead to more general human beliefs. In ‘The Patriot’, the mantras of “no taxation without representation” and “fighting for your country” seem relatively shallow as motivations for great social change.

Perhaps the greatest flaw of ‘The Patriot’ is its inability to be objective. A revolt by the landed aristocracy because they didn’t like being taxed is as laughable as Newt Gingrich preaching ethics, if one can put the flag down for just a moment. The taxes they paid King George were probably less than the current federal income tax. As for the ‘without representation’ part, Americans today hardly receive accurate representation. In elections, there is a ‘choice’ of two candidates for virtually any given elected position, and their positions are dedicated more by overlapping interest groups, rather than the needs and desires of their constituency. However, the average clear-thinking American does not join a militia against the government, or blow-up ships — or buildings as the case might be.

The greatness of the ‘American way of life’ is written in the softest of soft focus in order to blur the wrinkles in its rosy façade. For example, Gibson’s militia accepts a black soldier reluctantly at first, but he predictably saves the life of the most prejudiced member. Discussion of building a new world for black people follows, although the US government would not change that situation for another century, with American society twiddling its thumbs a century more. The added irony of this is that England had already beaten the ‘land of the free’ to abolishing slavery, prior to the events in the movie.

Furthermore, Lord Cornwallis’ final lament about England’s empire coming to an end could have equally been directed at the empire of the United States. The opportunity to draw a comparison between what England was then to what America is now was missed entirely by Emmerich and Devlin, although subtlety and clarity cannot honestly be expected from these two. They would rather have Mel Gibson trot the star spangled banner around, ‘Dances With Wolves’ style, and then have him lower it to skewer hapless redcoats.

When someone does you a favor, what do you do? When you do a favor for someone, how do you feel? Well, Trevor McKinney will touch your heart and inspire you to pay it forward instead of giving back the favor.

Mimi Leder directed the drama film ‘Pay It Forward’ in 2000. It tells the story of Trevor McKinney, an 11-year-old who started the ‘pay it forward’ movement. Trevor is played by Haley Joel Osment, while Arlene McKinney, Trevor’s alcoholic single mother, is played by Helen Hunt, and Eugene Simonet, Trevor’s physically and emotionally damaged social studies instructor, is played by Kevin Spacey.

“Think of an idea to change the world and put it into action”. I believe here is where the movie begins. At their first meeting, Mr. Simonet assigns his class an unusual assignment. Simonet wants his students to be aware of current events while also considering how they might make a difference in society. Trevor has a brilliant idea. He will perform an act of kindness for three people, and instead of receiving gratitude, each recipient will be asked to pay it forward to three other people. In the eyes of a child, all they want to do is be a kid and do nothing, but the reality is that they play an important role in our society and in the world. It was a good movie, but I didn’t like the ending. But what I liked about it was how the characters struggled with what they had. What I appreciated even more was how the characters began to move on, to make a small difference in their life, and to pay it forward with what they had.

If we define social responsibility, we can say that individuals and businesses have a responsibility to act in the best interests of their environment and society as a whole. And the movie ‘Pay It Forward’ is an excellent platform for demonstrating the concept of social responsibility. It represents the principle of reciprocity, in which one person gives another person things or labor without expecting anything in return. ‘Pay It Forward’ is a movie about helping others, and each character portrays their role in helping one another in the hopes of making a difference and creating a better society. ‘Pay it Forward’ is a theme that encourages people to give and love one another and respect and forgive. The movie follows two story lines at the same time: one follows the boy as he creates the Idea, while the other follows a reporter attempting to locate the Idea’s creator. ‘Pay it Forward’ is a film about society and what each of us can do to make it a better place. Each character is a representation for a variety of life lessons.

I am confident that such a project will succeed in the actual world. ‘Pay it Forward’ is a chance for us to make our lives meaningful while also changing the world. What is the meaning of the world to us? What are our responsibilities? Unknowingly, we have done amazing things every day; they may be small and insignificant to us, but they are significant to others.

Paying it forward may make you more aware of unexpected acts of kindness from strangers, and you may find yourself becoming more grateful for everyday kindness and thoughtfulness from people you don’t know. In fact, some group of people or several organizations allow people to anonymously pay it forward by donating money or conducting good activities without expecting to be recognized. The recipient of the money, gift, or good deed is just told to pay it forward. I believe that the key idea of the movie ‘Pay It Forward’ also occurs in our world, and that, especially in light of the pandemic, we must do good for our people, our community, and our global world. It will work in real life, because paying it forward does not have to include providing a large sum of money or expending a significant amount of effort. It could be as easy as holding the door for someone or assisting an elderly lady across the street, or assisting your parents at home with the house chores or help your siblings with their assignments. Paying it forward is actually quite easy; it encourages individuals to be good. Just like in any organizations, it needs its people to achieve success. Our world needs us or its people in order to sustain lives here on earth and we survive the difficulties in life such as the pandemic.

‘The Day After Tomorrow’ is an American science-fiction catastrophe film. The movie broadly speaking tells a story of the greenhouse effect caused by the aid of the Earth’s climate change; the world is about to fall into the 2nd ice age. In the northern hemisphere, due to the melting of icebergs brought about by way of the greenhouse effect, the Earth has entered the 2nd ice age. Tornadoes, tsunamis, and earthquakes are wreaking havoc around the world, and the entire New York is trapped in the ice age. A super effect on human society brought about by using the adjustments in the surroundings and local weather confirmed in an exaggerated way attracted me a lot. The global warming problem has by no means been more urgent as now. The penalties of it are actual and observable nowadays. We renowned it and must act to stop it if we choose to tightly close a protected and good lifestyle to ourselves and future generations.

The movie was rich in content. In accordance with the introduction, I had a simple understanding of the content of the story. It started with the government’s indifference to the environmental protection and the greenhouse effect which creates a terrible catastrophe for the Earth. At last, a new era dawned on the Earth. The movie is so realistic and crazy that I still can’t even forget it. There was blowing of wind occasionally through the window at night, just like something terrible was going to come out outside. A thought was forming in my mind: the Earth is our home, to protect it is to protect ourselves. The story of the whole movie has an influence not only on my thoughts, but also on my life.

Although I have considered the movie for a long time it still shocked me a lot. In order to make the total system of observing films greater interesting, I have organized many snacks before the movie starts. At the beginning of the movie, the massive expanse of ice laid earlier than my eyes and countless researchers walked on glacial water. Anything that should happen is too quiet to be unpredictable. Suddenly, a massive crevasse regarded in the glacier. No words ought to even specific my nervous. Even although I knew it was a disaster movie, I nevertheless couldn’t imagine what used to be going to take place next. After hearing the crack in the ice, I saw a researcher falling into a crack in the ice under his feet. I held my breath, staring at the screen. Luckily, the researcher grabbed the ice wall with a pickaxe. I used to be relieved just for a while due to the fact I knew increased catastrophe was once anticipating me in the following sections. I couldn’t take my eyes off my display in case I missed something. Just as I expected, irresistible tornadoes hit Los Angeles and New York from the warmness of the day to the bloodless of the night. A Japanese husband hit by way of a large hailstone by chance when he used to have spoken on the phone with his wife on his way home from work. His wife even didn’t comprehend what came about her husband however shouting on the phone. The lights have been gone; the movie used to be coming to an end. staring at the names scrolling past the screen, I may want to no longer assist coming up with a new concern. My physique went from at ease to taut, feeling how fragile one’s lifestyles is in front of nature. However, the thing appeared not possible to happen only due to the fact of the human greenhouse effect. It was so horrible that I stopped eating my snacks. I wondered whether technological know – how is vain in the face of nature. And I was sure that if we destroy the Earth’s environment, we will suffer from ourselves.

After finishing the movie, environmental protection was once becoming more important in my mind. Thus, I opened my PC and searched for some data about the environment. I scanned some web sites and determined that the backyard environment was worse than I thought. Polar bears, who are dropping their residences as the melting of glaciers, due to the greenhouse effect. Polar bears are losing their residences as the melting of glaciers due to the greenhouse effect. And some intense climate is a lot extra than usual, which is nature’s warning. I requested my father, “Why are the environmental issues now so serious?”. He answered me seriously, “The relationship between financial improvement and surroundings safety nowadays is extra and more crucial. We ought to provide extra attention to this trouble due to the fact the environment may be destroyed whilst the financial system is developed excessively”. Nevertheless, I nodded my hand confusingly.

It’s a disaster movie, however, it looks greater like a schooling movie to me. Although many sections of the film are fancied, nobody is aware of if it will take place in the future. The film well describes the consequences of people forget to defend the environment. I recognize that protecting the Earth means protecting we and even a tiny action may want to have a huge have an impact on the world.

I believe ‘SpongeBob SquarePants’ is one of the best cartoons ever, especially for the first 3 or 4 seasons. I don’t think I really need to explain why it got worse after a while as there are several videos about why it went downhill on YouTube. The gist of those videos is that the late Stephen Hillenburg and some from the first three seasons left the show, and then new writers came in and that’s where the show lost its charm and wit. While the show didn’t immediately go down in quality, as there were some pretty good episodes of Season 4, there were also some really bad ones. Some of the episodes of Season 4 feel like the Season 3 episodes, and I even thought they were a part of Season 3 when I was younger. In my opinion, good episodes from Season 4 are: ‘Fear of a Krabby Patty’, ‘Shell of a Man’, ‘The Lost Mattress’, ‘Krabs vs. Plankton’, ‘Skill Crane’, ‘Have You Seen This Snail?’, ‘Krusty Towers’, ‘New Leaf’, ‘Selling Out’, ‘Mermaid Man and ‘Barnacle Boy VI: The Motion Picture’, ‘Mrs. Puff, You’re Fired’, ‘Best Frenemies’, and ‘Dunces and Dragons’. All are good episodes of ‘SpongeBob SquarePants’. If the post-movie ‘SpongeBob’ was more like these episodes there would be not as many problems with post-movie ‘SpongeBob’.

Now I would have ended the show after the 1st movie because it was the perfect ending and was supposed to actually be the ending. But due to the high ratings and success of the show, it would be dumb for Nickelodeon to end a popular show. Also, the characters became trait shells of their older selves. For example, Mr. Krabs was cheap in the old episodes but in the post-movie episodes, they took in up to 11 for no reason. Also, they made SpongeBob who used to be an adult who acted childishly. Into an annoying mess. Patrick used to be dumb but a kind friend into a mean jerk. The only characters that didn’t change much were Squidward and Plankton. In fact, Mr. Krabs is more of a villain than Plankton was in these awful seasons. So, it went on season after season bad episode after bad episode. The reasons why there bad are they use gross humor, made the characters mean and not likable, and lost what made the old episodes so good. Also, some of these episodes are so bad I question why this was this created for kids. Like the episode ‘The Splinter’, for example. I mean this doesn’t even remotely resemble classic ‘SpongeBob’. The old episodes were creative and funny and were shown kids and adults can enjoy it. The post-movie episodes were for the most part just for little kids and not for everyone. They feel more like parody fan fiction.

Also, since ‘The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water’ came out, Stephen came back as a writer for the show. While I’m not the biggest fan of the newer ‘SpongeBob’ and haven’t seen much of it, many say it’s a huge improvement over post-movie ‘SpongeBob’. Also, there is going to be a new spinoff of the show called ‘Kamp Koral’, and actually I don’t know why they made this. One thing Stephen Hillenburg wanted was no spinoffs of his show. And if he was still alive, he wouldn’t greenlight this show. Second, it feels late to have a spin-off of ‘SpongeBob’. If this was made in 2005 or 2006, it would have made more sense, it was when ‘SpongeBob’ was at its peak of popularity. Which, in my opinion, was from 2002-2012 AND, it destroys the continuity of the show I thought SpongeBob first met Sandy in the episode ‘Tea at the Tree Dome’ in Season 1, and the same goes for Plankton they first met in the episode ‘Plankton!’ of Season 1. It feels like a cash grab. But who knows? Maybe the show will be amazing.

In general, I’m glad this show was created as it was funny and clever at its peak. RIP Stephen Hillenburg for his amazing show and created millions of people’s childhoods.