Category: Hollywood

Science fiction is a genre that is closely associated with the era of rapid technological development in history. Movies of Lucas and Spielberg have demonstrated throughout the 1950s that this genre could be highly profitable and as a result, the early 1980s saw a rush of science fiction films with the trend extending into the 1990s. During this period, there were science fiction movies discussing the impact of machine intelligence and robotic automation. The robot (or cyborg or replicant or android) played an important role in these films and through them, the movies were able to discuss two significant issues – the ability of technology to allow human beings to create replicas of themselves and the possibility that these beings might overpower the humans and take their place (Telotte, 2001). These concepts are explored in the two Terminator films (1984, 1991) and Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner (1982).In science fiction movies such as The Terminator I and Terminator II and Blade Runner, by creating characters that are half-human and half-machine, the might of technology is explored as something to be both celebrated and feared

Science fiction holds three kinds of fascinations: that dealing with extraterrestrial beings or aliens; the impact of science and technology on society and culture and third, “technological alterations in and substitute versions of the self” (Telotte, 2001, 12). The third category explores the applications of science and technology towards the creation of robots, cyborgs, androids, and other enhanced beings based on the human model as in the movies – The Terminator films (1984, 1991) and Blade Runner (1982). Movies such as these explore the boundaries between human beings and machines and reflect upon the dangers to humanity posed by unchecked technological developments. They also raise questions regarding what it means to be human and show that when humans create cyborgs they are also making and unmaking conceptions of their own selves (Bell and Kennedy, 125). They explore dilemmas related to the possible production of artificial humans through advances in robotics and biological engineering. In a broader sense, by exposing the threat of technologically created beings, these movies stimulate audiences to look inward and examine their own feelings about humanity and about human beings who may be different from themselves racially, culturally, or experientially (Booker, 2006).

In Terminator, a machine from a future war between humans and machines had come back in time to kills Sarah Connor, the would-be mother of John Connor, leader of the human resistance against the mechanical attack. But this cybernetic assassin was part human and part machine, a cyborg. The human qualities of the cyborg are somewhat ambiguous (Manzanas, 2007). When the Terminator enters the disco, he is initially not noticed because of his human exterior. However, when he displays his dual nature of being half-man, half-machine, others in the disco become terrified, showing that crossing the boundary between man and machine can be very scary and dangerous. As the movie progresses, the cyborg gradually loses its human qualities. It would thus appear that the Terminator lost only after he was deprived of his human attributes such as rationalistic oppositional thought (Manzanas, 2007). Schwarzenegger played the main roles in the Terminator movies and he was able to fuse his natural physical prowess with the technological being. While the first Terminator cast Arnold as a ‘transtemporal assassin created by yet another computer out to destroy all human life, he is cast in the second as ‘humanity’s cyborg protector’ (Bukatman, 1993, p. 303).

The technological entities in Blade Runner are the city, the replicants, the laboratory of Chew who makes genetically engineered eyes for replicants, and the Esper machine used to study photographs (Kerman, 1997). While portraying the replicants care is taken to show that they are from both genders and that there are distinct ethnic and class distinctions in its small group of replicants. Roy Batty is shown to be brighter than most humans and built for self-sufficiency and he is the model of the classic Aryan superman, while Leon Kowalski, designed to be a nuclear fission loader and waste disposal engineer is shown to be sweaty and greasy. In general, the replicants are a slave-class of artificially created beings, created by Tyrell Corporation. The replicants are programmed to carry out dangerous tasks such as mining or menial tasks such as prostitution for human beings on off-world colonies. Though they are superior to humans in strength and intellect, they are labelled inferior to humans by class (Leong, 2000). In order to keep them in check, replicants are created with a short life span of four years and implanted with false memories to make them continuously subservient to humans. However, some replicants were advanced technically and hence were able to develop emotions and sentience, leading to violent replicant revolts. Replicants are therefore banned on earth and their infiltration is checked by officers known as blade runners. Rick Deckard is a blade runner who is entrusted with the task of tracking four replicants on the loose in LA – two females and two males. As Deckard progresses, he realizes that the fugitive replicants are motivated by the same desires and emotions as humans and nurture a quest for longer life (Leong, 2000). This is understood by Deckard only at a roof-top battle he has with Batty in the film’s climax and he watches Batty shutdown as a result of having ‘no more time’. Having understood that, Deckard decides to help Rachael, an advanced replicant prototype to escape from possible ‘retirement’. Blade Runner explores the ethics behind the creation of artificial life through the character of Rick Deckard who questions the level of the existing humanity in an increasingly technologized environment.

Will Brooker (2005) in his book “The Blade Runner Experience” points out that the movie has clear elements of technophilia or love for everyday technology. A technological aspect of Blade Runner is the depiction of the futuristic city of Los Angeles. The city has flying cars or spinners moving across its landscape and its traffic regulated by trafficators. As Deckard approaches police headquarters, the viewer is presented with two spaces – a superbly detailed urban space that dominates the film and a second field defined by the controls and data screens of the hovercar (Brooker, 2005). These images give the illusion of travelling in a gliding vehicle through an invisible traffic corridor. Advertising blimps above the city promote a better life “Off-World”. The city has constant acid rain and the sun is blocked out by pollution. People use neon tubes within their umbrellas to light their way and to identify themselves. However, in LA 2019, technology has advanced to such an extent that it has resulted in a future where all-natural elements have been wiped out. Inhabitants of this futuristic city of LA are unable to be natural because they are under constant surveillance and very few private technology-free spaces. Technology even invades their dreams through memory implants. Unmarked cyborgs walk the city streets along with cyber pets and genetically engineered life forms. In this super mechanical Los Angeles 2019, there is no vegetation and no such things as a natural sunrise or a natural landscape.

In Blade Runner, technology even affects the social and personal lives of its citizens. Geneticist J. F. Sebastian suffers from a wasting disease that ages him prematurely – as a result of a genetic experiment gone wrong. The Tyrell Corporation building which is a mock Egyptian edifice houses Dr. Tyrell who has forgotten what it means to be human and in his quest for scientific knowledge and economic power he had been transformed into an unfeeling rationalist – an embodied tyrannical machine. However, Will Brooker says that Blade Runner also pays homage to technology in the film. Nature is shown not inside the city but above the city in the deserted spaces of hyper technology where the blimps and the incandescent oil fields have an organic life-like quality. Moreover, nature that was lost to mankind seems to have been found in the replicants who become associated with the natural.

One inherent drawback in the narratives of these technology-oriented movies such as “Blade Runner” and the Terminator Series seem to take for granted the death of humans, revelling in a tone of ‘cynical nihilism’ (Sharrett, 1993, 67). These movies, while taking a critical stand against corporate civilization are more drawn towards their cyborg/replicant protagonists. This is quite expected as sympathy for the “monster” (the grotesque outsider) has always been a part of the humanistic aspects of the horror and science fiction genres. Moreover, these movies unfold bizarre conceptions of the body – the emblematic Terminator image is a “threatening chrome skull staring through the charred flesh of a human face which, after all, is only a mask” (Sharrett, 1993). In the context of the physical representation of cyborgs in these movies, Wong et al (2005) make an interesting observation. They point out that in both these movies, the cyborgs are gendered and have sexualized cyborg bodies; in terminator, the cyborgs are depicted as male and sometimes hyper-masculine, emphasizing a threat of violence of domination. However, in Blade Runner, the replicants are of both genders.

The true impact of the technology-dominated world portrayed in movies such as Blade Runner is expressed clearly in the words of Rosemary Jackson: “What is experienced as uncanny is an objectification of the subject’s anxieties, read into shapes external to himself” (Jackson, 1981, p. 67). The cyborg and replicant are the ‘shapes external’ to the viewer in the context of science fiction movies. They distract the viewer, make them spectators, and give warnings to them. The violence that cyborgs inflict on each other in “Terminator 2” when mixed with actual human crises such as a nuclear catastrophe creates a whole new cybernetic world where the viewers are diverted from thinking about the loss of their subjectivity and the worth of real human issues (Sharrett, 1993). There is also a conflict in such cyborg/replicant movies in that they deal concept-wise with the issue of human obsolescence whereas, in reality, they prepare people for commodification by making them just spectators and not participants in events (Sharrett, 1993). Cyborgs/replicants, in Hollywood movies, provide the warning signals for the human race that it is heading in the wrong direction. In a particular scene in Terminator 2: Judgment Day, a “terminator” cyborg from the future addresses a group of humans on the topic of his creation. He begins the story by cutting open his arm to reveal a bloody mechanism underneath, gestures with his newly revealed metal digits to his horrifying human audience, and then give them a message that he wants them to listen to carefully. He enumerates the difficulties and dangers that humans are likely to face in a world that they have technologized and populated with artificial life. Movies such as Blade Runner and the Terminator Series warn that in creating perfect imitations of the self, and by allowing technology to rule the world, humans are likely to be pushed to being mere spectators of the world, forced to hide behind “the window of technology” and with no real place in this world (Romanyshyn, 1989, p. 114).

The cyborg/replicant movies also emphatically declare the uniqueness of the human ‘self’ and how technology can never exactly mimic it though it may come close. The Terminator is not endowed with the status of humans because it is a purely material and materialistic object with no self-identity. In Terminator 2 there is some attempt to humanize one of the Terminators by concentrating on how it can learn from human companions, but it is not able to achieve the autonomous self-identity that characterizes human beings. It is not able to understand why John Connor prevents it from killing human beings although it is able to obey his commands and refrain from doing so (Featherstone and Burrows, 1995). Similarly in “Blade Runner”, the replicants are not endowed with the status of humans because they are created by humans for being slaves to them and also they are given very little lifespan. They do not have free will to think and have implanted memories. However, when advanced replicants do have human qualities and the desire to have a longer life and fight for survival. Thus the movies indicate that technology becomes dangerous and revolutionary only when it is integrated with artificial intelligence giving the cyborgs/replicants the mental capabilities of human beings. As long as artificial intelligence and imitation of self are not provided to cyborgs or replicants, they will remain in control of the humans and be subservient. This then is the ultimate message behind the technological movies of Hollywood such as Blade Runner and the Terminator Series.

These films are socially relevant as these are times when there is growing cultural concern over issues such as cloning, stem cell research, creating and transplantation of artificial organs, developing mechanical prostheses, the manipulation of human genetics, and the introduction of robots into the workplace (Telotte, 2001). The movies seem to show that though the technology is truly powerful and advantageous, there can be serious repercussions if technology is allowed to dominate the world. These movies generate a fascination as they offer a visualization of how things could turn out in the future if a man chose to play God. Futurist science fiction film-makers offer two options in the face of dominance by technology: either humanity must accept the good and bad aspects of technological progress and find new technologies to cope with the problems created by the previous new technologies or escape from the domination of technology by returning to a lifestyle before the industrial revolution.

The movies Blade Runner and the Terminator series carry the motif of “kiss and tell” which emphasizes that “even in the most highly technologized environment, feelings or emotions remain the “telling” marks of human nature, a stable foundation on which we can rely”. The Terminator of Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) indicates that he has come to understand humans when he tells his young master, “Now I know why you cry”. In Blade Runner, the rebellion of the replicants can be countered only if they are ‘retired’ on sight but for this, they need to be identified from the humans they resemble. The only difference between humans and replicants is that they lack altruism and empathy – which can be found only through the Voight-Kampff empathy test. This test cannot be conducted without the help of advanced technology. Confirmation that one is not a machine can be provided only by a machine. Thus the movie “Blade Runner” and the Terminator series depict technology as “both the cause of ontological uncertainty and the only means to resolve it” (Hassard and Holliday, 1998, 254).

Scientific fiction movies also have to match up to their visual content with the narrative. “The visual presentation of a liquid metal Terminator in Terminator 2 is “state-of-the-art” technical marvel much like the android itself” (Bukatman, 1993, p. 14). In Terminator 2, the conflict between Arnold’s old-fashioned T-100 cyborg model and the new, “liquid metal” T-1000 is presented using the digital technology of Morphing. Moreover, the cyborg is depicted as dressed in leather and matching the machine – ‘becoming part punk, part cop, part biker, part bike, part tank, part Freikorps-superhero’ (Bukatman, 1993, p. 14). Thus cyborgs in the Terminator series are shown to have externally forceful masculine machinery with internally fluid concealed systems. On the metaphorical plane, by battling the fluid, effeminate, digitized form of the T-1000, the mechanical Terminator reestablishes the masculine and industrial identities (Bukatman, 1993, p. 304). “Blade Runner” also has many technically stunning scenes, as it strives to captures life in Los Angeles in 2019. For example, the spinner’s inaugural flight over the city is magically captured that as it disappears into the distance, glitter sweeps over the spinner and makes it merge with the electronic circuits of the city. Among the smog and burning oil fires, a luminous beauty is shown emanating from the neon signs, advertising blimps, mechanical toys, spinners, etc. It is interesting to note that such technophilia elements of the film are present only when real people are absent in the frame, indicating subtly that technology reveals itself in all its splendor only when all traces of humanity have been effaced. According to the film’s message, people are tainted by their class position and pollute the vision of purity in the film. Whenever Deckard enters the Tyrell ziggurat or Sebastian enters Tyrell’s bedroom, chaos and destruction follow.

In ‘Blade Runner’, there is a lot of focus on the technology related to perception. ‘Looking’, ‘being seen’ or ‘not seeing what is really there’ play an important role in directing the narrative and position of the subject. The film is permeated with several elements of vision such as electronic eyes, scanners, photographic cameras, retina devices, and so on. They produce a layered gaze or a type of miraculous vision. When one looks or is looked at in the film there is a beauty to the gaze employed. But this beauty becomes terrifying when one realizes that there is no one can escape from it. Deckard may try to hide into the shadows or retreat elsewhere, but he is always caught in the city’s surveillance system and his working-class origins will be confirmed again and again by the system.

Hollywood has always been fascinated by the growth of technology not only in the making of movies but also in its treatment of technology through the movies. All the three movies under discussion – Blade Runner, Terminator 1, and Terminator 2 tap into real fears about technoscience, globalization, population flows, media manipulation, and environmental catastrophe. This can be explained by the fact that these movies came at a time when there were media corporate takeovers, holes in the ozone layer, fears about cloning and stem cell research, migration, and immigration were perceived to be threats to national identity. The movies show clearly that Hollywood has both technophobic and technophilic elements. Through the half-man, half-machine characters these science fiction movies show technophobia, presenting technology as a force to be feared if allowed to grow unchecked. Through the breathtaking visual effects, state-of-the-art computer graphics, and creative cinematography, the same movies show technophilia, presenting technology as a force that would break barriers for Hollywood films to explore new territories.

Bibliography

1. Bell, David and Kennedy, M. Barbara (2000). The Cybercultures Reader. Routledge Publishers, 2000
2. Booker, Keith (2006). Alternate Americas: Science Fiction Film and American Culture. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2006
3. Brooker, Will (2005). The Blade Runner Experience: The Legacy of a Science Fiction Classic. Wallflower Press, 2005
4. Bukatman, Scott (1993). Terminal Identity: The Virtual Subject in Postmodern Science Fiction. Duke University Press, Durham, NC. 1993.
5. Featherstone, Mike and Burrows, Roger (1995). Cyberspace/cyberbodies/cyberpunk: Cultures of Technological Embodiment. SAGE Publications, 1995
6. Hassard, John and Holliday, Ruth (1998). Organization-representation: Work and Organization in Popular Culture. SAGE Publications, 1998
7. Jackson, Rosemary (1981). Fantasy: The Literature of Subversion. Methuen Publishers, London, 1981, p. 67
8. Kerman, Judith (1997). Retrofitting Blade Runner: Issues in Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner and Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Popular Press Publishers, 1997
9. Leong, Anthony (2000). Blade Runner: A Retrospective. Frontier Magazine, Issue 19. Web.
10. Manzanas, M. Ana (2007). Border Transits: Literature and Culture Across the Line. Rodopi Publishers, 2007
11. Romanyshyn, D. Robert (1989). Technology as Symptom and Dream. Routledge Publishers, London, 1989, p. 114.
12. Sharrett, Christopher (1993). The Cinema of Human Obsolescence. USA Today, 1993, 121 (2572), p. 67
13. Telotte, J.P. (2001). Science Fiction Film. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, England, 2001.
14. Wong, Kin-yuen; Westfahl, Gary and Chan, Kit-sze Amy (2005). World Weavers: Globalization, Science Fiction, and the Cybernetic Revolution. Hong Kong University Press, 2005

The concert reviewed in this paper is the one given by The Replacements in the Hollywood Palladium last month. The rehearsal took place a day before the concert and included the band members, the director and all the crew involved in special effects such as lighting, sound and decorations. The performers on the stage were the front man of The Replacements Paul Westerberg and the bass guitarist Tommy Stinson. The drummer position was occupied by John Freese, the legendary drummer. Besides, the guitarist position was filled in by Dave Minehan.

The rehearsal included all of the songs mentioned in the set list and in the end they also practiced some of the additional songs that were not put on the list. From the interactions of the band members and other performers it was obvious that the musicians are very close not only as friends but also as professionals. The interactions between the musicians were minimal and very short. The performers kept it incredibly professional and understood each other without lengthy explanations, sometimes they used only gestures. It was noticeable that the band works as a well-organized mechanism where each participant is very clear about their part.

The director spoke mainly to the crew responsible for the technical aide of the performance, he directed the lighting and the sounds, told people to mark something or change the approach. He watched the rehearsal sitting in one of the first rows and addressing his comments using a microphone. His main objective was to achieve the perfect sounding. It was also obvious that the performers had a great deal of independence concerning to the choice of the songs. They were allowed to improvise. The interaction between the performers and the director was carried out in a light and friendly key but with obvious focus and professionalism, some of the directors comments were done with humor and sarcasm.

The first composition The Replacements presented was I’m in Trouble which I found a perfect concert opener because it is very energetic and vibrant with fast rhythm and overwhelming beat – it responds perfectly to the excitement of the fans anticipating the beginning of the concert. The second piece was Kissin’ in Action, it is slower and calmer, but still very rhythmic. The third piece Little Mascara maintained the speed of the beat.

The fourth composition on the set list was Color Me Impressed, it was in tune with the opening song and was designed to fire up the audience again to keep them on their toes. The next two songs had the same speedy rhythm and vibrant melodies and the fast beat did not slow down until Treatment Bound was played. The whole concert is built in a way to interlace slower and faster compositions in order to create the overall atmospheres of euphoria and excitement.

As to my personal feelings and impressions – I have learnt how important it is for the musical band members to be close and have mutual understanding on the professional and personal levels. A well-organized and professional band functions as a whole and achieves the best results during a performance. One more lesson I obtained from the attended rehearsal was the importance of the organization of the a list, the compositions there are to be placed in a specific order depending on the impact they produce on the listeners in order to create the best impression.

Different religious aspects and contradictory questions have always haunted people in every sphere of their life and activity, in all expressions of their life. These haunts do not depend on whether the man is in a state of grace or set himself up for an atheist. These kinds of expressions do not leave any in different people, as everyone has an opinion about this issue, which he/she wants to reveal or to argue about some statement. Thus religions, a variety of religions, different beliefs, various interpretations of the contradictory facts of various religions are very popular from the point of view of screening. Thereby it is a small wonder that the dream factory is using this scope of contradictory opinions while creating a great number of films on this issue.

Different religious aspects and contradictory questions have always haunted people in every sphere of their life and activity, in all expressions of their life. These haunts do not depend on whether the man is in a state of grace or set himself up for an atheist. These kinds of expressions do not leave any indifferent people, as everyone has an opinion about this issue, which he/she wants to reveal or to argue about some statement. Thus religions, a variety of religions, different beliefs, various interpretations of the contradictory facts of various religions are very popular from the point of view of screening. Thereby it is a small wonder that the dream factory is using this scope of contradictory opinions while creating a great number of films on this issue.

Religion is not just extremely important for the production of films. It also has a great effect on those who make those movies. I mean that most movie stars are members of some persuasions. This fact makes people become members of the same religion as their favorite stars, even if they do not support that very point of view as their favorite movie stars. Thus because of some famous stars to be a religious man means to meet the requirements of the latest fashion. Besides the fashion religions are spread in a great number of movies, but in some, they show the religion is depicted shown and above board, and some movies just show the implicit meaning of religion, its signs, symbols, identify different movie characters with various religion images and heroes. Thereby I am going to some religious motifs and transcendentalism in Hollywood films.

Oliver Stone’s film “Platoon” set during the Vietnam War in 1968 is chocked full of religious symbolism. Although an atheist himself, Stone no doubt reflected on his upbringing by a Jewish father and Catholic mother. His view of the Vietnam War is from the bottom up as he recounts his own experience in Vietnam for which he received the Bronze Star and Purple Heart. He also adds a dramatic and historic component to this gripping, Oscar-winning, film.

Much of the religious allegory in “Platoon” can be found in its characters. Chris Taylor, a young and idealistic ‘Adam’, joins the Bravo team and quickly loses his innocence to the atrocities of war. In a letter to his grandmother, Chris compares himself to his fellow grunts and hopes to become something he is proud of “from way down here in the mud, maybe I can start up again” (Beck 46). This is a clear parallel to God’s formation of man/Adam from the dust of the ground (Genesis 2:6-7).

Labeled as a crusader and “the resurrected”, he becomes a Christ-like figure throughout the movie. Chris/ Christ/ Christian, as the name implies is tempted by good and triumphs over evil. Like the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness, Chris is a lookout deep in the Vietnamese jungle and becomes fearful when a snake slides between his legs. Just as Satan tries to lure Jesus to sin, Chris enters a village and is tempted through the revenge of a fallen comrade to murder a mother and son who were hiding. Jesus, in the wilderness, was tempted but triumphed over evil and then entered the world to begin his mission. Chris after the triumph over his temptation then is integral in stopping the rape of a young girl by his fellow soldiers (Beck 48).

The film culminates in a mock battle at Armageddon where Chris is knocked unconscious by a bomb/ a “flame of fire” in Revelation 19. Upon awaking in blood-stained clothes, a vengeful Chris (crucified Christ) kills Barnes (the beast from Revelation) in the ultimate triumph of good over evil (Beck 53).

Sergeant Elias, whose compassion quickly identifies him as a persona of good can be paralleled with Elijah/ Isaiah as well as a Christ figure and even some resemblances of John the Baptist. According to Beck’s interpretation, Elias in John the Baptist fashion “baptizes” Chris through narcotics ingestion. Elias sermonizes Chris over the moralities of war and ultimately a true prediction of the US losing the war. They share a sacramental joint, which Beck finds reminiscent of the Last Supper. Elias and Chris discuss death and reincarnation; similarly, in the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus tells Peter the agonies of his fate. In the Old Testament, Elijah flees into the wilderness and God’s word comes to him. Elias tells Chris he’s going to come back as wind, or fire, or a deer. Fulfilling this prophecy, Elias’ death, wind, fire and grazing deer all appear near the end of the movie (Beck 50, 51). Probably the most recognized religious symbol in the movie is Elias’ death/ his martyrdom as his fellow soldiers watch from a helicopter above, his arms are outstretched like Christ on the cross.

The role of Barnes in “Platoon” is in stark contrast to that of Chris and Elias. As evil incarnate or the beast of Revelation, Barnes shoots the wife of a village leader in the head and threatens to murder his little girl. Only an interruption by Elias prevents this. Good sergeant Elias report Barnes’ villainous actions, and at this point we hear of Barnes’ plans of foraging Elias (whom he calls a water walker) to prevent an investigation. Barnes is remarked to have been wounded 7 times, a number with religious significance. At the end of the film when Chris finds Barnes wounded and crawling like a snake, Chris shoots him in the ultimate triumph of good over evil.

The setting of “Platoon”, the Vietnamese jungle can be compared to the Garden of Eden. The first thing Chris encounters upon arriving in Vietnam is a cart of body bags. His loss of innocence continues through exposure to drugs, killing, and brutality. As Adam is tempted and sins in the Garden of Eden, so do Chris’ encounters mirror the fall of man.

Early in the film, Chris is wounded in the neck and thinks he is dying. In his article, Beck compares this to Christian baptism, where through the death of the flesh, the Christian is then reborn in the Spirit (Beck 47) In an interview conducted at Berkeley, which can be watched on YouTube, Oliver Stone was asked if he in any way felt that “Platoon” was a catharsis for movie watchers. In my own words, to feel moved by the story of Jesus Christ, like the pain felt of the American soldiers in “Platoon”, is as a cleansing/ a spiritual rebirth. As Oliver Stone stated, if you have been moved and terrorized, then you are cleansed.

The next film I am going to analyze is the famous “Matrix” directed by the Wachowski brothers. This work of cinematography is the embodiment of symbolism and religion. From the first look, one cannot even realize the number of implicit meanings in this very movie. But after more careful examination a great number of implicit meanings, symbolic characters, and actions can be found. The “Matrix” itself brought a kind of revolution into the movie industry and the understanding of the movie.

This fact can be regarded as the first transcendental motif of this film, as it used the experience of other preceding films, filmmakers, and the whole film industry to create something new, fresh, bright, and interesting for the cinematically sophisticated audience. As one of the principles of transcendentalism is reincarnation, accumulation of experience. The problem of explanation and comprehension is a result of the problem of impossibility to bring a correlation between faith and knowledge, where faith loses its positions for benefit of intuition. The comprehension means intuitive cognition of the uniqueness and originality of the event (n.a. 76-78).

Neo learns from rebels about the true essence of his reality and his role in the resistance against the machines. The matrix is considered an alternative world with a simulated reality, where all people are slaves, the source of energy for machines, but are happy in their ignorance. “This fact simply implies that the object produced by labour, its product, now stands opposed to it as an alien being, as a power independent of the producer. The product of labour is labour which has been embodied in an object and turned into a physical thing; This product is an objectification of labour” (Baird, 1997).

The whole world of matrix is on the warpath with the machines, as every religion fights for some persuasions. The main character seems to be not only the embodiment of strength, wisdom, and courage, but a result of reincarnation, as if all people who were fighting severely for freedom gave him their knowledge, their experience, and revealed to him the truth about the essence of matrix. Thus Neo uses the comprehension of the matrix’s nature to resist it, and to lead people to rebellion against machines. In every religious teaching there is a charismatic leader who directs the people. According to transcendental point of view, “Matrix” arises issues of reality (what is truly real? why do people consider it real? is the reality simulated? is it result of belief or people just know it intuitively?) and understanding, as it presupposes the intuitive cognition.

Another implicit symbol that can be viewed in “Matrix” is the Christianity. The main source of knowledge, the Bible, can be interpreted in many ways. Bible gives the idea of the system of the world and of everything in the world. People in ”Matrix” strive for change of the world order. So I shall try to apply practically the Biblical symbols to the “Matrix”. Thus in the film Neo is called ‘the One’ by analogy with the Messiah; he has a group of people who believe in his high destination and follow him as the Biblical apostles; Cypher is a man who betrayed the group of rebels as he preferred to live ignorance by analogy with Biblical Judas, the traitor.

The last film I am going to analyze is “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Scull”. It reveals the idea of the ancient people about the highest creatures, about the way they imagined God. In this film one can clearly observe how, from the point of view of moviemakers, the tribes of ancient people represented the godlike creatures; and what was the relation of the latter to the idea of religion of the ancient people. The plot of the movie depicts the origin of crystal sculls, it emphasizes that these sculls belonged to aliens.

Thus appears a question: why the aliens visited the Maya Indians, and why the Maya Indians considered the aliens to be gods. From history of different religions one can obviously make a conclusion that those Indian tribes, which believed that the godlike creatures lived in forests, rivers, fields; were living by means of hunting and useful arts; they did not develop much. The other way of Indian tribes was to believe in other gods, which were highly developed creatures, from the other worlds, and which excelled the Maya Indians in progress, opportunities and facilities.

In “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Scull” it is obvious not the association with religious beliefs or transcendental motifs, but the conception of godlike creatures, the ceremony of burial, the eternal peace of the dead, the importance of following the laws of ancestors, the impossibility of disturbance of the dead.

Any religious direction is a way to govern the consciousness of the society in order to reach the absolute power over this society. Thus in “Matrix’ the highest intellect is the range of machines, that live by means of producing energy of human bodies; these machines control the consciousness of people to maintain the vital functions. “In Freud’s view, religion is the neurosis which develops when people refuse to give up the need for a father figure who watches over and protects them” (Lyden, 1994). Thus the films with implicit religious motifs or features of transcendentalism are called upon to describe the inability of people to act by themselves, without being regarded by God or some other creature, that is believed to be a god, a highest intellect. People always need something or somebody to believe in, to idolize. “Religious films are diverse for they operate in a performative context that is open to both religious and quasi-religious content. The essence of the mode is the incarnational gesture at the films centre, in which a primary narrative is disrupted and made ‘holy’” (Fraser 1998). Though this statement can be rather implied to really religious films, which describe life of the saints, history of some religion, sacrifices made to godlike creatures. The implicit meaning of religion can be found in all spheres of our life, as religion did not develop some new rules or prescriptions, it only systematized the scope of experiences and traditions in order to limit the life of people with strict rules.

Works Cited

Baird, Forrest E., and Walter Kaufmann. (1997). Nineteenth Century Philosophy: Karl Marx, The Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844. Upper Saddle Falls, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Beck, A. The Christian Allegorical Structure of Platoon. In J. Martin, & C. Ostwalt, Screening the Sacred: Religion, Myth, And Ideology In Popular American Film

Fraser, Peter. (1998). Images of the Passion: The Sacramental Mode in Film. USA: Praeger Publishers.

Lyden, John. (1994). Enduring Issues in Religion. San Diego: Greenhaven Press.

The Biblical Repository and Classical Review, s.n., 1845.

Martial arts, exciting scenes, and exciting movies – these words associate with the famous actor Bruce Lee, who was admired by millions of people. The hard work of Bruce Lee improved the way Asians were accepted in Hollywood. Bruce Lee was a Chinese and American actor who contributed significantly to the cinema industry and the development of martial arts. Bruce Lee is famous for his actor talent and also as a martial art master, and the last characteristic helped him to become popular in the cinema industry. Bruce Lee popularized martial arts movies and changed the way Asians were accepted in Hollywood by showing tremendous talent and hard work, which made him a significant person and an idol among Asian Americans.

Bruce Lee’s childhood and family played a crucial role in developing his acting career. First, eighteen years of Lees life were spent in Hong Kong, and his first attempts in the cinema industry and martial arts started. When Bruce Lee was a child, he had already filmed in more than 20 movies; however, this experience did not start his acting career (Wong, 2021). When Bruce Lee was thirteen, he started to take Kung fu classes and became proficient in them. This experience helped him to adapt to Americas lifestyle after moving, where he opened a Kung Fu school and even invented his martial art Jeet Kune Do. William Dozier noticed the start of his acting career a few years after marriage due to his proficiency in martial arts (Wong, 2021). Therefore, during childhood, Bruce Lee started to gain acting experience; however, this activity was replaced by martial arts, which helped the actor to be noticed by famous producers.

Bruce Lee is significant for his passion for martial arts and acting career, which made people admire him and bring recognition to Asian actors. According to Moh, a martial arts expert, who faced Bruce Lee (Bruce Lee, n. d.), the actor was confident and had charisma, and that is why people admired him. Furthermore, Bruce Lee was passionate about his job and worked hard on each role to provide the most qualified performance. Lee was unique during that time; no one was similar to him, making people admire this Asian-American actor. Before Bruce Lee, each American film had a racial hierarchy, but Lee changed it. The actor showed the value of Asian actors and changed their acceptance of them by the audience. For instance, Asian characters were accepted as “yellow peril,” who just killed white people, but Lee had a leading role in proving the feature and value of Asians (Bruce Lee, n. d.). Hence, Bruce Lee changed the way Asian was accepted in Hollywood and proved that Asian are not “yellow peril”, but strong and significant people with many talents.

Bruce Lee significantly contributed to popularizing movies with martial arts and putting them on the highest level. Bruce Lee’s Hong Kong films: Fist of Fury, The Big Boss, and Return of the Dragon, were record-breaking hits in Asia. The 1973 Hollywood-produced Enter the Dragon propelled Bruce Lee to iconic status in America and improved his place in American popular culture (Asian Journal, 2022). These movies popularized martial arts due to the excellent performance of Bruce Lee. Moreover, the film Enter the Dragon brought more than 200 million dollars and promoted the desire to learn martial art (Asian Journal, 2022). Lastly, some films remain popular, and Bruce Lee’s work is regarded as a masterpiece. Thus, Bruce Lee promoted martial art films at the highest level, making them famous then and even now.

To conclude, Bruce Lee made martial arts films popular and showed the difference between real Asian and “yellow peril”. Lee was a Chinese actor who developed the American cinema industry. Bruce Lee showed that hard work and passion for what you are doing is a great way to success. In addition, Bruce Lee made an outstanding contribution to the development of martial arts and even created his fighting style. That is why Bruce Lee is a significant person in the cinema industry.

References

Asian Journal. (2022). Why Bruce Lee is considered a hero. AsianJournalUSA.

Bruce Lee. (n. d.). Web.

Wong B. (2021). The radical way Bruce Lee redefined Asian American masculinity. Huffpost. Web.

The production team of the series or films, aiming at the entertaining nature of their creations, often turns a blind eye to scientific inaccuracies. This happens especially often with pictures of the detective genre, where it is difficult to consider all the features of criminologists’ work process. While viewers enthusiastically follow the plot twists of the “NCIS” series, forensic experts find many inconsistencies. Mistakes may be invisible to the general public, but with slightly deeper insight, gaps begin to catch the eye even of an inexperienced viewer. In the paper, an analysis of the American TV series “NCIS” was conducted, and scientific inaccuracies made in the work of criminologists were revealed.

Scenes of forensic medical examinations at crime scenes were selected for a more detailed study. This process has strict regulations and takes place in a complex ecosystem that must consider the context of each specific case, the types of trace materials, and the interconnected nature of the process (Morgan et al., 2020). Having this knowledge, the production team may make scientific inaccuracies and sometimes do it intentionally to improve the public image and simplify the plot. These tendencies may be traced in the mentioned series, which is especially clearly manifested in the moments at the crime scenes. The team of so-called professionals does not follow the clear rules and violates the basics of criminology, which causes several scientific inaccuracies.

The most obvious mistake in the scene of the forensic medical examination of one of the episodes is the non-compliance with employees’ uniforms. Crime scene analyst and investigator Matthew Steiner notes how professionals presented on a screen do not wear personal protective equipment (WIRED, 2018). Ignoring the wearing of uniforms, they substitute the progress of the investigation and risk leaving their DNA on the evidence. The evaluative interpretation of the material implies that not only the material itself is important, but also how it was transmitted (Morgan et al., 2020). This means that non-compliance with the rules leads to gross scientific inaccuracy and breaks the picture’s integrity. Nevertheless, when the characters themselves mention their incompetence, the error softens and becomes less noticeable against the general background.

The photographer’s behavior also attracted the expert’s attention. While capturing evidence, he wipes sweat from his forehead and breathes on material, leaving his DNA at the crime scene (WIRED, 2018). Such behavior is unacceptable since identifying biological remains can be extremely valuable in reconstructing a crime (Morgan et al., 2020). In real life, this would seriously complicate the work of criminologists and the course of the investigation. The production team decided to omit the accuracy and focus on other, more important aspects of the plot in the series.

The expert is also confused by the way workers of the investigative team make gross mistakes in collecting materials. This problem becomes an addition to non-compliance with general personal protective equipment wearing. While working with evidence that can store the DNA of a criminal, an employee must wear a mask, a special protective suit, gloves, and in some cases, even glasses (WIRED, 2018). However, even when collecting materials, the characters do not change their everyday jackets. The production team did not consider this factor, making a serious mistake following forensic accuracy.

Thus, scientific inaccuracies in criminology and the process of forensic medical examination were allowed in the series chosen for analysis. The creators neglected the accuracy of workers’ behavior at the crime scene, which interferes with the viewing process even after a small independent investigation. A large number of detective series are likely to follow the same patterns, which will be much easier to identify after the analysis provided.

References

Morgan, R. M., Meakin, G. E., French, J. C., & Nakhaeizadeh, S. (2020). Crime reconstruction and the role of trace materials from crime scene to court. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Forensic Science, 2(1), p. 1364.

WIRED. (2018). Forensics Expert Examines 20 Crime Scene Investigations from Film & TV | Technique Critique | WIRED [Video]. YouTube.

The Golden Age of Hollywood is characterized by the immense number of films produced annually, many of which employed famous stars. To get a deeper insight into this era, it is essential to examine “the star system, the workings of censorship, and the centrality of the genre in particular” (Jones 94). The adventure was among the most popular genres of that time, the film King Kong produced in 1933 can characterize it best. This film also has the elements of fantasy and horror genres. Nevertheless, the distinctive feature of the movie is the revolutionary approach towards music. It was composed by Max Steiner to continuously accompany and emotionally supplement the actions on the screen. For instance, the King Kong theme is expressed in three descending notes with thematic transformation, terrorizing at the beginning, and sympathetic at the end. The two main leitmotifs are those of Beauty and Beast, where the first theme is initially perceived as a love song but then reflects a terror.

Adventures of Robin Hood is another prominent film of the Golden Age in Hollywood. Similar to King Kong, it has the elements of adventure but also focuses on the action because of swashbuckler, and drama. The movie is based on the legend reviving it on the screen and presenting it to the spectators. The film is marked by triumph success and the Oscar prizes for the best work of art director and best music composed by Erich Korngold. As for the musical accompaniment, it is rich in leitmotifs and orchestral colors.

Apart from regular films, Hollywood produced animated movies with the elements of musical, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is among those. Similar to Adventures of Robin Hood film, this movie is based on the story – a fairytale written by the Grimm brothers. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was produced by Disney studio in 1937 with the implementation of technical innovations. In this animated musical film, human characters sing complete songs, while cartoon figures sing short and catchy songs.

The Roles of Source Music in Casablanca

When the war started, Hollywood decided to incorporate the appropriate themes in the films. Casablanca managed to impress the audience by telling the story of Casablanca city, a place saturated with refugees waiting their turn to travel to Portugal and then escape to the US. The major role of the source music in the film is to trigger the appropriate emotion, supplementing the events on the screen and creating a characteristic mood.

When recalling the Casablanca film, the first song that comes into mind is “As Time Goes By”. Even though all music elements were composed by Max Steiner, this particular song was written by Herman Hupfeld in 1931 but became famous in 1942 when the character Sam performed it. Much of Casablanca is set in Rick’s Cafe where popular American music was playing constantly, which characterizes the cafe as American. Steiner had to deal with an incredible amount of diegetic music “as conspirators, refugees, Fascists, patriots, and desperate gamblers take the foreground, those songs, subliminally, make the café an outpost of America, an oasis in a foreign land” (Davelaar 69). These songs often underscore the dramatic content on the screen. For instance, “Tango Delle Rose” explains the multicultural contingent at Rick’s cafe. Each scene is adequately supplemented and supported by the appropriate musical background. In many cases, the association between the action on the screen and the source music is rather ironic. That way, cheerful American music in Rick’s cafe describes the mood of desperate refugees, while Arabian music is heard in the Blue Parrot cafe, bringing the spectators back to Morocco, where the actions actually take place. Max Steiner managed to create the kind of music that can suspend reality for the audience.

Popular Music in Films

In the post-war period, Hollywood evidenced the transition by incorporating popular music and new styles in the films. Hollywood discovered significant financial rewards resulting from using more popular music in the films of the late 1940s throughout the 1950s. Jazz, country-western, and rock’n’roll were among the most popular new styles, which were disturbing and exciting at the same time.

The epoch of rock’n’roll started with the “Rock Around the Clock” song that became a sensation after being used in The Blackboard Jungle film produced in 1955. This tune aimed to depict juvenile delinquents, but at the same time, it created a dancing mood. Moreover, rock’n’roll was central in the youth stylistic revolution during the post-war period. This is “the first genre of popular music that youth could claim as its own” (Bennett 22). Numerous films with rock’n’roll music starred Elvis Presley, who performed the songs “Love Me Tender” (1956) and “Jailhouse Rock” (1957).

Another music style that was very popular in the 1950s is jazz. The film A Streetcar Named Desire directed by Elia Kazan in 1951, depicts a story set in New Orleans, the birthplace of jazz. In this film, jazz is a frequent source of music, but it is also used as underscoring to create the appropriate mood. In particular, the most famous scene with jazz music is when Stella plays the saxophone, an instrument that best characterizes this music style. The popularity of jazz increased because the filmmakers depicted the life and performance of musicians more realistically, which triggered the feeling of modernism and excitement.

Country Western music style was also very popular in the middle of the twentieth century. High Noon is one of the films that best describes the incorporation of country-style music in Western movies. Tomkin, the composer of music for High Noon managed to create ballads that became hits. Moreover, the movie received an award for Best Music and Best Picture. Country songs and ballads precisely support the emphasis in each scene. For instance, when the first fight scene emerges and lasts for more than a minute, this strained moment is intensified by the sharp orchestral rhythms in the background.

While rock’n’roll, jazz, and country-western types of popular music were the most common in Hollywood films of the late 1940s and 1950s, music in other popular films of that epoch must be also reviewed and analyzed. The Third Man film, released in 1949, is the highest-rated British picture. Moreover, its main musical theme was at the top of the charts for about two months. Music was written and performed exclusively on a zither by Anton Karas. Another famous film is The Best Years of Our Lives, which supports the spirit of American Nationalism, won the 1946 Best Picture award. The movie incorporates music played on the strings and woodwinds, which helps to depict and emotionally support the scenes of love, memories, and national spirit.

Works Cited

Bennett, Andy. Cultures of Popular Music. Open University Press, 2001.

Davelaar, Coralin. “Max Steiner and the Music of Casablanca.” The Hilltop Review, vol. 6, no. 1, 2012, pp. 69-75.

Jones, Eileen. “A Review of “The Golden Age of Cinema: Hollywood 1929–1945.” Quarterly Review of Film and Video, vol. 28, no. 1, 2010, 94-96.