Saturday, February 29, 2020

Analyse the star persona

Analyse the star persona FILM AND TV STUDIES WORK PROGRAMME ESSAY QUESTIONS 1. Analyse the star persona of any actor of your choosing. What traits connotations and values does that star persona embody and to what extent does he or she bring the same traits, connotations and values to each role? You should answer with close reference to at least THREE films. In this essay I am going to analyse the star persona of one of Bollywood most successful actor, Shahrukh Khan, also known as SRK. Shahrukh Khan has made over fifty movies over the years; starting from 1992 he made his debut film Deewana (1992) which gave him box office hit. This gave him the most successful launch of his career in the Bollywood film industry. His role in the film gave achieved him Filmfare for the best Debut Award. There are three films of Shahrukh Khan that I am going to use close reference to, they are, KKHH (Kuch Kuch Hota Hai Something Happens 1998), K3G (Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham Sometimes Happiness, Sometimes Sadness 2001) and (Chak De! India Come On India 2007). The reason I chose these movies as these movies are very well known for big the success of his acting part in these movies. KKHH is a story of a simple stylish, sensuous and ambrosial love triangle story. Rahul (Shahrukh Khan) the tomboy Anjali (Kajol). They are both students at St Xavier’s College. They are the best of friends. One day Tina, (Rani Mukerji), the principals daughter enrols the college. She is from London and is very beautiful, feminine and sophisticated and the opposite of Anjali. Rahul falls for her as they meet for the first time. Anjali then realises that she has feeling for Rahul and did not realise the careless comment on his part that she had heard, which equated love with friendship. This causes the love triangle to unfold. When one day Rahul confesses his love for Tina to Anjali, Anjali leaves the college, to forge the heartbreak that has caused her. Tina and Rahul marry and have a daughter whom they name Anjali. Tina di es after childbirth but has written a series of eight letters. On Anjali birthday she asks about where her name has come from. Rahul daughter Anjali believes that the older Anjali can make her father happy again and decided to help him reclaim his lost love. Rahul then meets Anjali again at a camp where Rahul daughter has enrolled, where her namesake is the counsellor. The namesake discoverers without the knowledge of the girl, the truth of her new charges of parentage. Rahul finds the old feelings reviving. But Anjali has bowed to her family’s wishes and is engaged to another man. Complications ensue, but all ends well as Anjali fiancà © steps aside to let the fated couple marry at last. Richard Dyer in his book says â€Å"A star image is made out of media texts that can be grouped together as promotion, publicity, films and commentaries/criticism†. SRK falls directed into all these mentioned. Promotion is one big main thing is what makes SRK. Although he is worldwid e famous primarily to the South Asian ethnicity around the world, most of the promotion is spread over India itself.

Wednesday, February 12, 2020

European Union (different policies) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

European Union (different policies) - Essay Example The European Council have agreed to extend the EU scope to countries in the South and East Europe including Croatia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Kosovo and Turkey (European Commission). These candidates are then given financial assistance "so they can introduce the necessary political, economic and institutional reforms in line with the EU standard" (European Commission). It provides for economic reform leading to economic growth and better employment prospects (European Commission). One of the necessary tracks for the regional enlargement is the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). This is particularly done by having one currency which is the Euro. The adoption of the Euro is the culmination of the three stages of economic policy (Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.). But prior to adopting the Euro, "a member state has to have its currency in the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM II) for two years" (Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.). So far, sixteen of the members have adopted the Euro. Only the United Kingdom, Denmark and Sweden have not accepted the third stage and they still use their own currency. To pursue a sustainable growth in agriculture, the EU adopted a fundamental reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). "The new CAP will be geared towards consumers and taxpayers, while giving EU farmers the freedom to produce what the market wants" (European Commission). This will create a 'single farm payments' "which will be linked to the respect of environmental, food safety and animal welfare standards" (European Commission). To give much authority to the Member state to oversee production, they "may choose to maintain a limited link between subsidy and production under well defined conditions and within clear limits" (European Commission). The Europan union has high dreams of economic prosperity among its members, being the largest regional economy in the world. The question however is what would happen to the diaparity betweena nd among the Member States. There are two opposing theories to look at: the convergence theory which predicts that countries will even out in the future and the cumulative causation which will exacerbate divergence and economic differences. With the way the EU supports its members, we see that convergence is more likely to happen, especially that the poorer countries are given the chance to strengthen their economy before finally doing direct trade and contact with other Member States. This necessary preparation for all EU members is what differentiates the European Union from other regional economic group. Envioronmental Policy The European Union believes that "the environment is essential for the quality of life of current and future generations" (SCADPlus). "The EU's priorities are combating climate change, protecting biodiversity, reducing the impact of pollution on health and better use of natural resources" (SCADPlus). Since climate change poses great danger to the entire region, the EU has formulated policies in combating them. Starting from the European Climate Change Program, "the European Union has come up with realistic climate change strategies advocating practical action to prevent temperatures from increasing to

Saturday, February 1, 2020

How can violence be used as a media spectacle and why Essay

How can violence be used as a media spectacle and why - Essay Example Media spectacle is itself becoming the key organising principle in modern economy, politics, and in other critical asocial activities (Sturken & Cartwright, 2007, p. 76). The internet-based economy has also modified and developed hit-tech spectacle useful as a mean of reproduction, promotion, in selling and in circulation of commodities. Although modern technology is with time becoming a complicated technology among a good number of modern consumers, contemporary business entrepreneurs are relying on their services to improve their productivity and effectiveness. The media has also be of essence in influencing social and political life in modern integrate society. Political and social conflicts are with time being played out on the screens of media culture that display spectacles such as political sex scandal, the explosive violence of every days activities, terrorist bombing, celebrity sex scandal and the sensational murder case that are apparent in modern modernised society (Polloc k, 2006, p.51). Apart from offering expanding moments in modern experiences, media culture also presents additional materials for modelling thoughts, dreaming fantasy, and for constructing identity. Studies have further affirmed that, popular traditional entertainment has its roots in media spectacles (Beardsell, 2000, p. 97). Theorist Jacques Lacan Jacques Lacan, in his theory â€Å"gaze theory,† states that media has played a detrimental role in shaping violence in modern society. The gaze theory is useful in describing the way violence can be used as a media spectacle. The concept gaze is a technical term that was used in film theory in the late 1970s (Pollock, 2009, p. 27). So far, the concept has become a popular concept used by media theorist. The theory is used to define the influence of gazing on individual perceptions and the way people look at subjects alongside media presentations. The theory is applicable in defining how audience views people that are presented in media. The concept gaze is extended to the theory of feminist to address how men look at women, the way women look at themselves, and other women and the effects that surrounds these observations. In the theory, male gaze is used in defining how male view their fellow women (Zehner, 2012, P. 67). On the other hand, female gaze describes the way in which females view their fellow men in the society. Other social activities such as dominant public life, religion war, and sports were fertile and useful field for propagation of spectacles for many centuries. With the emergence of new information and multimedia technologies, techno spectacle has been shaping the trajectories and contours of modern society and culture. In developed and advanced capitalist nations such as United Kingdom and United States f America, media spectacles has turned out to be a defining feature not only for globalization but also for defining modern social conflict and violence (Fourie, 2008, p. 51). As observed in â€Å"The cinema of David Cronenberg† culture has played critical role in increasing criminal activities and violence in modern society. In reporting domestic violence, journalists refer to some of the cultural concepts in justifying domestic violence. As observed in â€Å"The cinema of David Cronenberg† it is impossible and challenging to discuss any film without mentioning cultural beliefs and practices. All films revolve around a