Cosi Shows Us That ‘Fairytale Endings’ Do Not Reflect Real Life Essay Example for Free

Cosi Shows Us That ‘Fairytale Endings’ Do Not Reflect Real Life Essay Cosi is a play set in the 1970s, when Australia and the world were facing political complexities, such as the conflict against the communist government and the happenning of the Vietnam War. It was a time when people had to choose their loyalties, causing great frustration and tearing the community apart. We are able to see this in Cosi in the lives of two best mates Nick and Lewis, as their priorities and commitments during that period of time, as well as conflicting social views with the rise of different social conventions such as ‘free love’ during the 1970s. It is a play within a play with parallel runnings with Mozart’s opera ‘Cosi Fan Tutte’, both plays explore the meanings of love and fidelity and how Lucy parallels the infidelity of the women in ‘Cosi Fan Tutte’. Nowra also allows us to see how the theatre works its magic, as a therapy not only for the insane but as well as the sane. As we slowly see the cast blossoming towards the end of the play, Lewis ends it by announcing some fateful happenings of the cast such as the deaths of Julie and Henry, giving an unfairytale like ending to the play. However not all had the same fate, we see how Ruth’s obsessive compulsive disorder allowed her to become a â€Å"time and motion expert† and Zac’s eccentricity making him a â€Å"rock and roll† player. ‘Cosi fan Tutte’ main theme is about a woman’s infidelity towards man. Despite the opera being set in the 1700s and facing problems with love and fidelity, it proves that society still hasn’t changed in that perspective with the characters in Cosi mirroring some of it’s values. The ‘free love’ movement during the 1970s also shows how society is becoming much more liberal in character and less conservative. The influence also caused a seperation between the community as some still stick to their conservative views such as Lewis, Nick and Lucy. Lucy redefined the modern meaning of fidelity by claiming she â€Å"only had sex with Nick, but slept with Lewis. † Lewis himself also holds his very bias view on fidelity, despite his obvious attraction towards Julie, he still claims his fidelity by â€Å"not having sex† with Julie even though he kissed her. This shows the society’s gradual evolvement by beginning to define it’s meaning of fidelity with the references to sex only. Nowra allows us to observe the discrimination and social defining ways of the people by beginning the play in a â€Å"burnt out theatre†, displaying the neglect shown towards the mental patients and the seperation it had formed between the sane and insane people. â€Å"They are just people who have done extraordinary things, thought extraordinary thoughts. † Nowra shows the fine line drawn between the sane and insane, and that those in the institution are not always as what the society defines them. The act of isolating mental patients shows the people’s way of dealing with kinks in the society, an easy solution. Julie for instance, is completely sane however has an addiction to drugs, â€Å"They don’t know how to deal with drug users† shows how the people had either the lack of knowledge or wasn’t eager enough to dwell into and solve the problem. Instead, Julie was prescribed more drugs for her habit, which did not break and caused her death in the future with an overdose. Zac also displays the extremities of drug consumption, causing him to have no control over himself and later not being able to appear in the opera. Such as ‘Cosi Fan Tutte’s’ use of Mesmer magnets and Cosi’s use of shock treatment for magnets showed the society’s inefficient way of dealing with problems. Through Cosi, whether insane of sane, the cast blossomed as they progressed on into the play and just like Justin’s main aim â€Å"to bring them out of their shells†, Lewis suceeded. Not only with them but from a shy and confused young man, Lewis came out with a stronger sense of leadership and confidence. He was more certain on what he wanted compared to earlier where he allowed Roy to grab his glory. Lewis broke up with Lucy and learned to console Roy before the opera showing a huge improvement from his character before, he â€Å"proved Roy wrong†. The cast showed lots of gratitude towards him in the end of the play even with Henry stuttering a â€Å"Tttthank you†, who before this could only communicate with the form of â€Å"shaking his head†. Despite his improvement in speech and confidence, Nowra made his fate a sad one showing the unrealistic ‘fairytale endings’, along with Julie’s overdose despite being discharged. Roy had showed no improvement with his continuous enthusiasm over the wards where â€Å"his fellow patients took petitions to get rid of him†. But with Ruth and Zac’s improved careers, Nowra shows that there are still hopes in ‘fairytale endings’.

Michael Moore: An Influential Filmmaker Essay -- Cinema

Michael Moore, an Academy Award-winning filmmaker is known for his highly controversial documentaries. He appeals to the newer generation, trying to educate people along with addressing our unresolved social issues in the United States. He gives incite to corrupt things that our government is involved in that citizens do not know about if they do not read or watch the news. Michael Moore proved to be a big-time influence through his work in the movie industry. His main message is to get people to stop following their government blindly, but rather speak out, ask questions, get involved, and most of all shows peoples power to be able change what needs to be changed. He proves being patriotic means taking responsibility and being informed about what’s happening in the media and all of Michael Moore’s films give the audience this. Time magazine named Michael Moore one of the World’s 100 most influential people. Through his Oscar and Emmy awards, he proves even a powerless author and producer with nothing more than a pen and a movie camera can make a tremendous difference. His documentary Bowling for Columbine reiterated that by a determination and persistence that not only him, but patriots can create change. He interviewed some of the surviving victims of the Columbine shootings along with Charlton Heston, the NRA president. He shows the gruesome effect of allowing guns and bullets to be so easily accessible. Kmart was his main destination and he took it upon himself by going right to the top of a major corporate food chain. The documentary was about how he was able to get them to stop selling bullets completely. Getting Kmart to stop selling bullets doesn’t mean that you’re going to prevent kids from going somewhere ... ...n in public, which many people are not courageous enough to do, and for that many respect him. Michael Moore proves that one man can make a difference. He is a great example of exercising our right to free speech and questioning the government. If something doesn’t seem right he is a spokesperson for finding out the truth. Michael was a small town boy who grew up to become one of the most influential documentary film makers of our time. Works Cited Bowling For Columbine. Dir. Michael Moore. 2002. Fahrenheit 911. Dir. Michael Moore. 2004. Penn, Sean. Time.com. 18 April 2005. 8 March 2012 . Sicko. Dir. Michael Moore. 2007. The Oprah Winfrey Show. Michael Moore's Sicko. 1 January 2006. 8 March 2012 .

Political Advertising: Candidates for Sale Essay

The Internet has not diminished the importance of television advertisements in presidential elections. The latter remains to be one of the most effective means of obtaining votes. In as short as 30 seconds, a television advertisement can convince voters about the competence and integrity of a particular candidate. The advertisement â€Å"sells† the candidate with as much enthusiasm and gusto as when it is selling products and services (Elliot, n. pag. ). However, political advertisements are not without contention. Akin to all other forms of advertising, they are subjective. As they are geared towards â€Å"selling† specific candidates, it is inevitable for political advertisements to present a biased point of view. Their subjectivity is sometimes obscured by noble trappings that are bombarded with images of American flags, the White House and Mount Rushmore (Elliot, n. pag. ). Despite questions about their reliability, political advertisements will continue to be an indispensable part of presidential campaigns. Candidates in recent presidential elections have focused their television commercials on â€Å"battleground† states such as Ohio and Florida. This trend is expected to increase – there are already about 20 â€Å"battleground† states as of this year. In addition, presidential candidates Barack Obama (Democrat) and John McCain (Republican) are both running nationwide advertisements (Elliot, n. pag. ). Political advertising was first developed and used in the mid-19th century. In order to generate turnout, political parties during this period distributed buttons, banners and posters to voters at local candidate rallies and at polling places on Election Day. But it was not until the advent of mass media in the 20th century that political advertising was elevated to its current status. The first national campaign commercials were broadcasted through radio in 1928 for presidential contenders Herbert Hoover (Republican) and Al Smith (Democrat) (Elliot, n. pag. ). The arrival of television in 1952 increased the cardinality of political advertisements in presidential campaigns. In the same year, Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower (nicknamed Ike) was promoted in animated commercials that bannered the catchy slogan â€Å"I like Ike,† tuning him into the first presidential candidate to appear in television advertisements. These were followed with short commercials entitled Eisenhower Answers America, wherein Eisenhower was featured replying to questions from average voters about issues such as the rising cost of living and the Korean War. Eisenhower Answers America was frequently played during the commercial breaks of hit sitcoms like I Love Lucy, resulting in its instant popularity among voters. Succeeding presidential candidates followed suit, paying advertising firms millions of dollars to create catchier campaign advertisements for them (Elliot, n. pag. ). What makes political advertising effective is its ability to provide information to a wide audience within a short period of time. Furthermore, the manner in which they transmit information often appeals to the emotions rather than the intellect. Candidates are packaged as capable and trustworthy leaders who entered public office to serve the ordinary citizen. Candidates are also sometimes portrayed as the long-awaited â€Å"alternative† to a â€Å"useless† incumbent regime. As a result, the latter often makes political advertisements appear as smear campaigns against political opponents. These negative political advertisements, however, are the types of advertisements that have the greatest impact on people. They impart an overly-simplistic, â€Å"us-versus-them† philosophy, which, in the process, does the thinking for the voters. Consequently, negative political advertisements are very potent campaign materials. They reach everyone, including those who do not pay much attention to the campaign (Elliot, n. pag. ). This need for mobility is the reason for political advertising’s gradual shift from the television to the Internet. Websites such as YouTube. com (http://www. youtube. com) contain countless clips of political advertisements which people can access from virtually anywhere at any time. In addition, YouTube. om allows its members to post comments on the video clips that they viewed. In the context of political advertising, this can result in discussions that can help sharpen public opinion regarding politics and the electoral process. While negative political advertisements are effective in gaining votes, they are detrimental to American society and politics in the long run. According to Mike Hughes, president of an advertising agency in Richmond, Virginia, negative political advertisements are also untruthful. They often deceive voters by using stage effects and half-truths that make a candidate appear deserving of the position that he or she is aspiring for. Hughes was quick to add that this was not the fault of advertising agencies – most political advertisements nowadays are created by political consultants who specialize in campaign commercials. Unlike advertising agencies, which face criminal prosecution in the event that they produce inaccurate pitches, these consultants are allowed by the First Amendment to create political spots as part of their right to free speech (Elliot, n. pag. ). The deceitful usage of political advertisements is very dangerous, as it sends the people, particularly the youth, the message that the only way to get ahead in life is through lying. In addition, voters are tricked into voting leaders who will not think twice about resorting to dishonesty just to get what they want. A leader who got into power through dishonest means will most likely remain in power through dishonest means as well. Thus, there is a big possibility that lying in political advertisements will progress to violation of civil rights and liberties disguised as protection of national security.

A Philosophical Analysis Of Assisted Suicide Essay

A Philosophical Analysis of Assisted-Suicide The story of Brittany Maynard is a very tragic one. Brittany was diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer at the tender age of 29. No treatment could save her life and the treatments that were available would have greatly affected her physically, emotionally, and mentally. This diagnoses stripped her of starting a future with her newly-married husband and simply experiencing life to the best of her ability. Knowing this, and knowing that her cancer would only get more aggressive with time—taking her sense of self, bit by bit everyday—what was she to do? Through research, she discovered death by dignity, which is an â€Å"end of life option for mentally competent, terminally ill patients with a prognosis of six months or less to live† (Maynard). After relocating to Oregon (one of the few states that death by dignity is authorized) she received medication to take, in the event that she wanted to die on her own t erms. Brittany Maynard died just over a month to the date that her article was published by CNN. Unfortunately, this tragic and unfortunate story is more common than many people would think. Death by dignity and the choice of voluntarily ending one s life has always been a topic of much debate. This essay will be split into two joint parts. Firstly, I will identify and analyze two major ethical issues of the death with dignity debate, while looking at the contrasting viewpoints of Aristotle and Immanuel Kant.Show MoreRelatedThe Legalization Of Physician Assisted Death1173 Words   |  5 Pages The idea of committing euthanasia and physician- assisted suicide (PAS) had a historical root in the nineteenth century and referred as skillful alleviation of suffering1 in Latin transcripts. Recently the theme of the legalization of physician-assisted death (PAD) in Canada boosted in 2012. The decision of the British Columbia Supreme Court in the case of Carter v. 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