Too big to fail Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Too big to fail - Movie Review Example The television movie was based on a book by Andrew Ross Sorkin entitled Too Big to Fail: The Inside Story of how Wall Street and Washington Fought to Save the Financial System – and Themselves. In essence, the book and the movie discussed the issue of how the banks were careless in their lending practices leading to accumulation of worthless and toxic paper assets (Sorkin 2) which threatened their viability but are now in a bind expecting government to help them out somehow through a bailout, arguing they are too big to fail without seriously affecting the entire banking system (HBO, 2014). Their argument is a form of blackmail to government to act decisively soon: help us or clean up the entire mess. The movie revolves around the two old and venerable investment banks of Merrill Lynch and Lehman Brothers; the former found a white knight savior in Bank of America but Lehman Brothers was more problematic to solve. Two issues are paramount in this movie that require some ethical thinking: should banks engage in risky lending practices (moral hazard) that results in a failure of free market capitalism and secondly, if taxpayers money should be used to benefit a few people (are tax dollars used wisely or not? and are bailouts helpful or not?). Easy credit was the cause of the 2008 financial crisis but cutting off credit into a crunch can worsen the recession into possibly a new depression like in 1929 (Kinsley, para. 4). Kinsley, Michael. â€Å"Economic Crisis Unfurls in Hushed Suspense.† The New York Times, 22 May 2011. Web. 14 July 2014.

French Culture vs American Culture Research Paper

French Culture vs American Culture - Research Paper Example As in playing a game of chess, knowing how to plan several moves ahead and anticipate what move your opponent could make accordingly, is essential to winning or the success of a goal. Culture, as defined by Brooks Peterson (2004), is a composition of several aspects of a people. â€Å"Culture is the relatively stable set of inner values and beliefs generally held by groups of people in countries or regions, and the noticeable impact these values and beliefs have on the peoples’ outward behaviors and environment (Peterson 17).† Understanding values of a society does not always mean that a person will act according to those values, given a certain set of circumstances. As Japanese children are trained early on to work together in a group and value this aspect of working, this may not actually occur in a business situation unless the right elements of understanding the goal and who does what, is precisely defined for them. Themes can be viewed as big themes such as famous actors, or little themes, such as the latest trend in android phones. In the United States, technology and new media are considered little themes and Angelina Jolie is a big theme. For the French, foreigners who can speak French while in their country, will fare much better than the Americans, who float from one town to the next, asking who can speak English. It is a certain type of snobbery that the French have about foreigners being in their country (Peterson 25). The ‘Big Five’ personality traits used in determining cultural intelligence, as proposed by both Peterson (2004) and in the work of Engle and Nehrt (2012), are neuroticism versus emotional stability, extraversion, openness to experiences, agreement versus antagonism, and conscientiousness versus undirectedness or lack of focus (Engle and Nehrt 36). In having these attributes, a person is able to adjust and assimilate with another culture without standing out as a sore thumb, thus providing a company the oppo rtunity to work with others on a global basis. Americans, however, in business situations, are more readily adaptable to other cultures than those who have cultures that are not so heavily integrated as is found in the United States (Earley and Mosakowski 139). As many Americans, particularly in large Northeastern cities, come from foreign countries or at least grew up in a family with a non-American background, it is easier to assimilate other cultures than those people who come from a predominantly one-culture world in their country. As global companies move their businesses to Southern states in the U.S., this trend is also growing here as well. Different styles of how to approach a joint project between two global countries, one, French and one, American, may show that Americans are ready to move ahead while the French prefer to have all the details worked out and the numbers in place before even taking the first step (Peterson 54). Some of this could be put down to the fact tha t governments work differently from one country to the next and therefore, have learned to work according to the criteria presented by regulations and government restrictions. Working this side out, takes a bit of doing, depending on which country the project will actually be implemented in (Earley and Mosakowski 140). In choosing those with cultural intelligence for positions of conducting projects with foreign companies, it is

Attitude Formation: Cognitive Consistency and Inconsistency

Attitude Formation: Cognitive Consistency and Inconsistency Minahil Meher Attitude Formation Many of our views are acquired in situations in which we interact with or observe the behaviour of others, called social learning. Such learning can be acquired through several processes, which in turn help us form attitudes. Classical Conditioning: Learning based on Association The evoking of an attitude by the association of an unconditioned stimulus with a neutral conditioned stimulus is the first process of â€Å"learning†; classical conditioning. When a stimulus that is capable of producing a positive response (U.S) regularly precedes a second stimulus (C.S), the first becomes a signal for the second. Advertisers and other persuasion agents have considerable expertise in using this principle to create positive attitudes towards their products. EXAMPLE: Marketing a new drink. Before Conditioning: Attractive Girls Positive Emotions (Unconditioned Stimulus) (Unconditioned Response) Drink’s Logo No Response (Neutral Stimulus) During Conditioning: Attractive Girls Positive Emotions/Attitudes Drink’s Logo (Conditioned Response) After Conditioning: Drink’s Logo Positive Emotions/ Attitudes (Conditioned Stimulus) As the Drink’s Logo is continuously being paired with images of attractive girls, positive attitudes will be developed within the target population. Classical conditioning takes place best in social settings where an individual’s close ones are concerned, thus helping form attitudes. A young child sees her mother frown and show other signs of displeasure and discomfort in the presence of a particular societal or religious class of people. At first the child is neutral towards the presence of these people as she/he is unaware of their distinct characteristics e.g. skin colour, type of clothes, language etc. The child at this point has not yet learned to categorize these variations in terms of group membership. However, once these cues are paired repeatedly with the mother’s negative emotional reactions, classical conditioning occurs, and the child then gradually begins to react in a similar fashion as her mother in the presence of the particular set of people. This usually takes place on the unconscious level i.e. the child may not have conscious access to the role that mother’s changed emotional reactions pla y on the formation of a negative attitude. As a result, the child acquires a negative attitude that is generalized to members of that group as a whole. Subliminal Conditioning: According to a study by Krosnick et. al. (1992, as cited in Baron et.al. 2010), individuals can often form an attitude without being aware of the stimulus responsible. Students were shown photographs of a stranger engaging in a grocery store or walking into her apartment. While viewing these photos, other pictures; associated with either positive or negative feelings, were exposed for brief periods of time. Participants who were exposed to photographs that induced positive feelings (e.g. laughter, newly wed couple) liked the stranger better than participants who had been exposed to photos that induced negative feelings (e.g. open-heart surgery). This for of attitude formation is known as subliminal conditioning. Mere Exposure: This refers to having seen an object before, but not remembering having seen it. This too results in attitude formation and its effects on attitudes are stronger as the stimuli are perceived consciously rather than subliminally thus, conscious memory of the stimuli is not required (but conscious exposure is). Alzheimer patients, who cannot not memorize the stimuli, are seen to form new attitudes on the basis of mere exposure to certain stimuli. Instrumental Conditioning: Rewards for the â€Å"Right† Views. We can acquire an attitude toward our classes and jobs through instrumental conditioning i.e. learning based on direct experience with the object on the basis of rewards and punishments. If an individual experience rewards related to some object, his/her attitude will be favorable. Thus, if their work provides them with good pay, a sense of accomplishment, and compliments from co-workers, their attitude toward it will be quite positive. Attitudes that are followed by positive outcomes tend to be strengthened and are likely to be repeated, while attitudes that are followed by negative outcomes are weakened so their likelihood of being expressed again is reduced. The rewards given to individuals during such conditioning, in a social context, are usually in the form of psychological acceptance. That is why it is seen that most children express political, religious and social views that are highly similar to those of their parents and other family members, until the teen when the peer influences become especially strong. EXAMPLE: Positive/Favorable Attitude toward alcohol consumption (Teenage). Before Instrumental Conditioning: Alcohol Consumption Negative (Behaviour) (Attitude towards it) Peers provide IF Alcohol Consumed: Social Acceptance/ Status (Reward Given) After Instrumental Conditioning: Alcohol Consumption Positive (Behaviour) (Attitude towards it) This shows that if someone rewards a behavior, even if the behaviour itself is wrong, it is more likely to be repeated as it is strengthened – it is the â€Å"right† view in the opinions of those who are in favor of alcohol consumption. As adults, we may be aware that different groups we belong to will reward or punish us for expressing support for a particular attitude position. We may even find ourselves expressing one view on a topic to one audience and another view to a different audience. A relevant example would be the upcoming Elections ’13 of Pakistan i.e. they depend on a candidate’s success at delivering the â€Å"right view† to the â€Å"right audience†, and so may be perceived as shifting their responses to accommodate the views of different audiences rather than taking a firm stand on anything. This shows that they alter their attitudes just to gain rewards from people (votes). This however, can also be applied to the voters who will change their views or attitudes of voting for a particular party on the basis of the rewards in store for them e.g. financial benefits, technological advancements etc. Observational Learning: Learning by Exposure to Others Attitudes can form also in the absence of direct rewards for acquiring or expressing those attitudes through the method of observational learning or vicarious learning; when individuals acquire attitudes or behaviors simply by observing others. According to Myers and Caniglia (2004, as cited in Delamater Myers, 2011) the media provide interpretive packages or frames about an object that may influence the attitudes of viewers and readers. By portraying events and actors in certain ways, TV news, news magazines, and newspapers can produce cognitive images of a racial group as being volatile, dangerous, or unreasonable that in turn produce negative attitudes. A common example is that of how Muslims are shown on international television; as terrorists, instilling within the international audience that all Muslim’s are terrorists even though they may never have actually been in direct contact with them and yet develop a negative attitude towards them. But why do people adopt the a ttitudes that they hear others express or imitate the behaviors they observe in others? Social Comparison: This refers to our tendency to compare ourselves with others to determine whether our view of social reality is correct or not, as we often adopt the attitudes that others hold. An individual is then seen to adopt the attitude position of those they see as similar to themselves and not of those they consider or see as dissimilar. An 18 year-old girl is more likely to look at another 18 year-old girl to adopt a clothing fashion or be up-to-date with the latest trends rather than a 50 year-old woman who isolates herself from societal values. Similarly if a teenaged boy wants to know about the latest games to play on his Xbox/PS3, he will more likely observe ‘gamers’ rather than non-gamers also, if we go deeper, he will observe gamers who play the same kind of games as him; same genre of games. Reference Groups: A reference group consists of the people an individual values and prefers to identify with, who they look up to when adjusting and forming their attitudes. The adoption of an attitude thus depend on extend to which an individual identifies with the group advocates the formation of an attitude or the change. This may apply to making small purchase decisions; which brand of sunscreen to buy, as well as forming attitudes about other groups of people; whether a new social group is positive or negative. According to a research it has been proven that if your reference group holds negative views about a new social group we have never been in contact with, we are more likely to form the similar negative attitude towards them despite not knowing them at all. Not only this but we ourselves expect to be influenced by those who we consider as similar. Example: University students being given a lecture on AIDS and the hazards of unprotected sex are more likely to be influenced by the attitude or views of the speakers if they are also university students, like themselves. Cognitive Consistency/Inconsistency Consistency among a person’s cognitions i.e. beliefs and attitudes is widespread. If you have liberal political values, you probably favor medical assistance programs for people living in poverty. If you value equal rights for all persons, you probably support affirmative action plans. The observation that most people’s cognitions are consistent with one another implies that individuals are motivated to maintain that consistency. Several theories of attitude organization are based on this principle. In general, these cognitive consistency theories hypothesize that if an inconsistency develops between cognitive elements, people are motivated to restore harmony between those elements. Balance Theory: Social balance theory as proposed by Fritz Heider (1946) is the theory that people strive for cognitive balance in their network of likes and dislikes. According to the balance theory, an imbalanced state is one in which two of the relationships between elements are positive and one is negative or in which all three are negative. This theory can thus be used to explain our attitudes and anxiety related to people we know, and consists of three possible states: Balance: When the person/people we know have the same attitude as us. Imbalance: When the person/people we know hold a contradictory attitude to ours. Non-balance: When the person/people we don’t like hold a contradictory attitude to ours. Example: Consider Fatima and Bilal, who are seniors in college. They have been going out together for 3 years and soon want to get married. Bilal is thinking about going to law school. Fatima doesn’t want him to stay in school after he gets his bachelor’s degree. She doesn’t want him to go to school for 3 more years, during their starting years of marriage. Bilal feels strongly about Law School (Positive Attitude). Bilal loves Fatima greatly and so does she (Positive Attitude). Fatima doesn’t want him to go to Law School (Negative Attitude). Thus there is an imbalance that needs to be restored. There are three basic ways to do this: First, Bilal may change his attitudes so that the attitude status (negative or positive) of one of the relations is reversed. For instance, Bilal may decide he does not want to attend law school (Positive to Negative). Alternatively, Bilal may decide he does not love Fatima (Positive to Negative), or he may persuade Fatima it is a good idea for him to go to law school (Negative to Positive). Each of these involves changing one relationship so the system of beliefs contains either zero or two negative relationships. Bilal can restore balance by changing a positive or negative relation to a null relation. Bilal may decide that Fatima doesn’t know anything about law school and her attitude toward it is irrelevant. Third, Bilal can restore balance by differentiating the attributes of the other person or object. For instance, Bilal may distinguish between major law schools, which require all the time and energy of their students, and less prestigious ones, which require less work. Fatima is correct in her belief that they would have to postpone marriage if he went to Yale Law School. However, Bilal believes he can go to a local school part-time and also work and maintain a marriage. Balance is usually restored in whichever way is easiest. If one relationship is weaker than the other two, the easiest mode of restoring balance is to change the weaker relationship. Because Bilal and Fatima have been seeing each other for 3 years, it would be very difficult for Bilal to change his sentiments toward Fatima. It would be easier for him to change his attitude toward law school than to get a new fiancà ©e. However, Bilal would prefer to maintain their relationship and go to law school. Therefore, he may attempt to change Fatima’s attitude, perhaps by differentiating the object (law schools). If this influence attempt fails, Bilal will probably change his own attitude towards law school. Cognitive-Dissonance Theory: Whenever we make a decision, there are some cognitions; attitudes, beliefs, knowledge, that are consonant with that decision, and other cognitions that are dissonant with it. Dissonant cognitions create an unpleasant psychological state that we are motivated to reduce or eliminate. Whereas balance theory deals with the relationships among three cognitions, dissonance theory deals with consistency between two or more elements (behaviors and attitudes). There are two situations in which dissonance commonly occurs: After a decision. When one acts in a way that is inconsistent with one’s beliefs. Post-decision Dissonance: After one has made a decision. Example: Sajid needs a job in the city to earn money for his family. Having made the choice, Sajid is experiencing cognitive dissonance; a state of psychological tension induced by dissonant relationships between cognitive elements. Some decisions produce a large amount of cognitive dissonance, others very little. The magnitude of dissonance experienced depends in part on the proportion of elements that are dissonant with a person’s decision. In Sajid’s case, there are three consonant and only two dissonant cognitions, so he will experience moderate dissonance. The magnitude is also influenced by the importance of the elements. He will experience less dissonance if it is not important that he will seldom get a holiday, but more dissonance if spending time with his family is of great importance to him. A way of reducing the dissonance would be to emphasize more on the consonant cognitions and de-emphasize the dissonant cognitions. Counter-attitudinal Behavior: A second circumstance that produces dissonance occurs when a person behaves in a way that is inconsistent with his or her attitudes. Example: When a person who considers himself high in honesty is asked to lie. Jameel works as a sales man and is asked to lie to the customers about the quality of a certain product; asked to say it’s imported when it’s not. For every customer he convinces to make such a purchase, he receives extra money (apart from his basic salary). If Jameel actually lies to the customer, he will face dissonance as it goes against his attitude of being honest; behaviour is inconsistent with cognitions. The theory of cognitive dissonance, in regard to reducing the amount of dissonance being faces predicts that One will change their attitudes toward the tasks (like them better). The amount of change will depend on the incentive paid to tell the lie. Specifically, the theory predicts that greater attitude change will occur when the incentive to tell the lie is low rather than high, because one will experience greater dissonance under low incentives than under high incentives. References:   Baron, R. A., Bhardwaj. G., Branscombe, N. R. Byrne, D. (2011) Social Psychology  (12th ed). India: Dorling Kindersley. Delamater, J. D. Myers, D. J. (2011) Social Psychology (7th ed). CA, USA:  Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

Beware of Lifes Illusions Essay -- Personal Essays

"I've looked at life from both sides now From up and down and still somehow It's life's illusions I recall I really don't know life at all" -- From the song, Both Sides, Now, by Joni Mitchell "Meaningless! Meaningless! says the Teacher. "Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless1...I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind2." The words struck me like a slap to the face. Their truth, cold as ice, was suddenly clear to me. All the things I had been striving for, success, fame, fortune, even the very human desire to be popular with my peers, they are all but chasing after the wind. They can never be caught. The moment you think you have them they go twirling off in some new direction. We had been invited to a fall get together at a friend's house. As we drove to the party, there was a deer, newly dead lying alongside the road. It's once graceful form, now lay in a crumpled heap, seemingly cast aside, like an unwanted rag doll. The flies were already striving to commit it's body t...

Movie Critique Alexis Zorbas

Antonis Papantoniou 19 November 2009 Anthropology 263g Alexis Zorbas: the man who has enough fight in him to devour the world. Many film attempts have been made aiming to portray the abundance of life within a man on the cinema screen. One of the most successful ones would be â€Å"Zorba the Greek† (1964), directed by Michael Cacoyannis and with Anthony Quinn as the leading role. The plot of the movie originated form the novel â€Å"Zorbas The Greek† by Nikos Kazantzakis, that was first published in 1946. The film portrays the culture of the time in Greece, and more specifically the culture of Crete, the largest Greek island, where the plot unfolds. Zorbas t he Greek† successfully depicts situations of extreme anger, sadness, lust and joy that conquer humans during their course in life. Alexis Zorbas reactions to such feelings define the movie and give the viewers a diachronic sense of admiration and amazement towards the main character. â€Å"Zorbas the Greekâ⠂¬  is a social drama whose plot focuses in the friendship of Alexis Zorbas, a Greek middle aged man of mysterious past, and Basil, a half-English half-Greek writer who has been raised in Great Britain and has all the characteristics of an edgy, middle-class Englishman.The story begins at the port of Piraeus when Basil is trying to get on a ship to Crete, where he owns some land and an old mine, which he wishes to revive. While in the port, Basil meets Zorbas. Zorbas with a peculiar way attaches himself to Basil and asks him for a job, listing all his â€Å"qualifications† from past occupations such as miner, cook and santuri player (Cretan musical instrument). Basil is intrigued by the character of Zorbas and agrees to take him along as his right-hand. Together they arrive at Crete where they stay at an old French widow’s house and later on move in at Basil’s land and start operating the mine.Throughout the story Zorbas is the person in charge of the mine and has several ideas for improving the mining process with the purpose of making more money. Basil seems to trust Zorbas and supports his ideas. But Zorbas ideas and â€Å"practical approach† prove disastrous – at the end this â€Å"collaboration† leads to the demise of the mine and everything they have worked for. The story ends with the separation of Zorbas and Basil with no hard feelings left behind. Zorbas takes his own way and Basil returns back to London having his character greatly influenced through the experiences he shared with Zorbas in Crete. Zorbas the Greek† should be seen in the context of the Greek/Cretan history and culture at the time. Crete had just been gained its independence from the Ottoman rule and joined Greece (1913). The French, Russians, Italians and British were generally helping Greece gain its independence from the Ottomans. However Cretans viewed newcomer foreigners as â€Å"outsiders† and generally alienated them. Furth ermore the citizens of Crete had a notion of self-justice and a sense of self-instituted law.Throughout the film there are several violent events that take place but there is no involvement of police or any form of public officers. Basil, who is considered a â€Å"foreigner† despite being half-Cretan, at some point holds a love affair with a lonely young widow (played by Irene Papas). She is brave, beautiful and, most importantly, independent. The men of the village despise her because according to Zorbas â€Å"they all want her, but no one can have her†. Such a statement was unheard of in a strongly patriarchic society such as Crete.When this relation between the foreigner and the widow was revealed, a young local boy who loved the widow and was trying to marry her was so devastated that committed suicide. The male population of the village was full of anger and jealousy so it took action. The widow was marked as a traitor and was publically lynched despite the attemp ts of Zorba to protect her. This incident to the viewer may be seen as meanness and ignorance on the part of the people of the village, however it was quite common at the time to bestow such judgments to the women who didn’t follow communal rules. M.Cacoyannis, staged this event with realism and intensity that transfers to the viewer the agony of this woman and the gruesomeness of the actions against her. Fast paced music is played during the scene, and the men of the village chase the widow for several minutes in a manner that can be compared to the way many cats chase a mouse. The only voices that are heard are the agonizing small shouts of the widow and the fast paced footsteps of her pursuers. The faces of the villagers are almost without emotion and when they finally trap the woman there is no hesitation in their actions.The only man who tries to oppose the intended murder is Zorbas. Through his determination he manages to stop momentarily the flow of villagers violent a ctions. Nevertheless he ultimately failed as the widow was murdered in a cold-blooded manner right in front of her lover’s eyes. This event depicts an aspect of Zorbas character, the bravery to â€Å"swim against the flow†. Unlike his friend and employer, Basil, he didn’t cower behind the crowd in fear of the potential reactions to his actions. Instead he stepped up against the mob and defended the justice he believed in.Nonetheless he did not mourn the deceased, nor did he mention the event again. In the film M. Cacoyannis touches the subject of death with a rather unconventional manner for the time. The subject of death is brought up in two occasions within the film. The first is with the death of Basil’s lover, the widow, and the second is with the death of Zorbas lover. When Zorbas and Basil first arrived at Crete they stayed at Madame Hortense’s hotel. Madame Hortense was a French woman who arrived at Crete with the French military after the e nd of the Othman rule.Within the film she claimed to be the lover not only of the French Admiral but also of the Russian, Italian and English Admirals. The fact that she was French and had multiple lovers was unheard of at Crete, and as a result she was the mocked and alienated by the village. After the departure of the European forces Madame Hortense was left alone back in Crete. In order to survive she created her own version of the famous French hotel, â€Å"Hotel Rich†, which was nothing more than a run-down house. At that hotel Zorbas decided to stay after arriving to Crete and soon he established intimate relationships with his hostess.Madame Hortense as presented from M. Cacoyannis arouses negative feelings to the viewers sometimes almost reaching disgust. She is viewed as a relic of the past always reminiscing about her Admirals and considering herself charming and irresistible. Zorbas quickly recognizes that aspect of her character; yet he maintains their relationshi p claiming â€Å"It is a shame to every man if a woman sleeps alone at night†. Through a misunderstanding Madame Hortense misinterprets that Zorbas wants to marry her while he had no intention to.Zorbas was not very affectionate about Madame Hortense, since he was badmouthing her when she wasn’t around, and cheating on her with other women. However when he learned about the misunderstanding he decided to marry her for the sole purpose of making her happy. Shortly after the marriage Madame Hortense became ill and died. The village people â€Å"celebrated† this event by stripping her house from all her possessions. The older women of the village are presented almost as vultures waiting for the pending death of the victim.Just about she was to die they rushed in and started stealing all the valuable objects from the hotel. Zorbas disgusted by this behavior he tried to stop it as long Hortnese was still alive, and until the end he stayed by her side acting as a lovi ng husband and keeping her company at the last moments of her life. Through this event the viewer understands an unknown until then aspect of Zorbas character, his immense kindness. With no apparent self-profit he selflessly tried to preserve Madame Hortense happiness by agreeing to marry her and staying with her until the end.However after the death of Madame Hortense he refuses neither to mourn her nor to take any actions to protect her possessions or her reputation. He steps out of the room letting the villagers take her possessions and he does not bother with funeral arrangements or other religious rituals. His views on death were openly opposing the ones of Orthodox religion and church that believed in Hell, Paradise and Judgment day, he simply stated â€Å"All people have one thing in common, in the end they all become food for worms. Along with the views on death, in the film M. Cacoyannis somehow mocks the Greek Religion and church. Before discussing the matter of Religion within the film, one must understand the importance of the Church for Greece at the time. As mentioned before Greece was released by the Othman rule and greatly influence by the major European forces. Within this chaos of different cultures interfering with the Greek culture, the Greeks struggled to maintain their identity and preserve their culture on which they take great pride in.Many actions were made such as an attempt of purification of the Greek language through the extraction of all the foreign words and creating a new dialect named â€Å"Katharevousa† which is rarely used in the film. Along with other actions a great power and land was given to the Greek Orthodox church, supporting the Christian religion which was much different than the Muslim religion, the one that Othmans believed in and thus enhancing the ethnic identity of the Greek population. In the film the Church appears as the owner of a big mountain that Zorbas wanted to exploit in order to support the lum ber needs of the mine.When he suggests his idea to Basil he is shocked and refuses by saying that he will be subjected to the accusation of theft, when trying to convince him Zorbas states that â€Å"This land belongs to the church, the church belongs to God and God belongs to everyone thus everybody can take their share of the land†. While arguing with Basil, Zorbas maintains a mocking tone when referring to the church and God, however in the end he agrees to â€Å"cut a deal with them†. The first meeting of the Church’s monks and Zorbas happened by chance in the mountain forest.Knowing their gullibility Zorbas deceives them into initially believing that he is a devil, and then in secrecy he replaced some water with wine. The priests believed the apparent miracle, that was incredibly similar to the one Jesus performed, and so viewed Zorbas as a blessed person. They drank the wine with him until they were completely drunk and so Zorbas gained their friendship an d his desired access to the mountain trees. Further appearance of the priests in the movie was almost in a comical manner; either being a target of Zorbas mockery, or cowards running away from some falling trees while praying to God.This presentation of the Church by M. Cacoyannis is quite contrevential to society’s image of the church at the time. The priests who were considered wise and virtuous figures within the society were portrayed as gullible drunks who were easily manipulated, and thus within the film the powerful image of the church was completely crumbled. One of the most dominant themes in the film is the contrast between the Apollonian and Dionysian way of life. Basil representing the Apollonian way of life is the personification of order and rationality.On the other hand Zorbas represents the Dionysian way of life with an ecstatic spirit and spontaneity in his actions, which provide him an undying will to live. Zorbas philosophy of life is constantly depicted in the movie. When he first meets with Basil and convinces him to work together he sets only one condition; that while he dances and plays the santury(a traditional Greek music instrument) he is on his own, he is free. M. Cacoyannis portrays Zorbas character through the frantic traditional Greek dance that Zorbas starts when his emotions are overflowing.The fist dance happens when Basil approves the plan of Zorbas in order to improve the mine. Zorbas filled with happiness unties his tie, unbuttons his shirt gets on an empty table and starts dancing. When his feet start to move traditional Greek music starts playing, in the beginning slow passed and as times goes by it becomes incredibly fast as Zorbas reaches his dance climax. The camera shifts very vigorously from his face to his feet and again to his face and transfers the feeling of frenzy to the viewer. The dance goes on until Basil confused stops him and Zorbas collapses from exhaustion.Basil’s character as acted by Alan B ates is presented as a weak bookworm who has no great aspirations for his future. He rarely laughs and shows no desire to grab the opportunities life offers him. Throughout the film the contrast of their characters is constantly being depicted. When Zorbas describes to Basil his plans for life and his dreams of becoming rich along with him, Basil is greatly intimidated and cuts of Zorbas by saying, â€Å"aren’t you going a bit to fast? † Zorbas answer to this question is well in line with his Dionysian way of life.He states with great vigor that â€Å"I’m to old to be going slow, people say that as a person ages his will to live goes away, that he opens the door and welcomes death. That’s a big pack of lies, I have enough fight in me to devour the whole world†. As expected, Zorbas influence on Basil’s character is becoming rather obvious throughout the film. From a passive manner of life Basil starts desiring things from life and after sever al prompts from Zorbas he decides to take the first step in creating a relationship between him and the village widow.As the story unfolds Basil starts laughing more and more and attempts to dance in the same manner as Zorbas does. His timid way of dancing in the beginning is accompanied by slow Greek music that is constantly interrupted by the missteps in Basils dance. The complete transformation of Basil’s way of life is viewed at the final scene of the movie, where after the disaster of Zorbas plans, instead of being angry he decides the next course of his life, laughs, and dances magnificently along with Zorbas by the Aegean Sea. The final theme of the movie is about the ability of humans to cope with failure.The film is full of failures; failure of Basil to protect his lover, failure of Zorbas to revive the mine, and finally the greater failure, the disaster of the project to bring down lumber from the mountain. This project was financed by the last money of Basil and de signed by Zorbas. The trees were supposed to be transferred from the top of the mountain to the bottom with the help of a large construction. At the first demonstration of the project, the construction is destroyed to the point that nothing was standing anymore.The crowd that was observing quickly dispersed and all that was left in the scenery was Zorbas and Basil watching their failed investment. Nevertheless they both sit down by the already prepared celebration fire, eat their lunch without frustration or negative emotions. They both discuss their future plans as nothing has happened. They decide to separate and they have one of the most affectionate conversations that are present within the film. Finally they both get up and dance by the ruins of their failure hopping for the best and aiming for a better future.The film’s setting, Crete, is realistically depicted throughout the film and the Cretan culture is represented very accurately. The plot unfolds in a remote villag e of Crete close to the major city of Chania. M. Cacoyannis tries to express the Greek culture not through Zorbas but through the people in the village that have secondary role to the plot. The clothing of the male citizens was usually black representing their masculinity, and their forehead was covered with a traditional black cloth, which made them look even more aggressive.The majority of the male citizens carried daggers, a weapon that until today is considered, by the Cretans, to represent honor and bravery. The murder of the young widow is done with the use of a dagger, since it was considered an act that would reinstate the village’s honor. In the progress of the film no young woman except Irini Papas is presented, this may be the way of M. Cacoyannis to emphasize the power of the male population in the village of Crete. Nevertheless many elder women are seen through the course of the movie, all of them presented with ugly and selfish personalities.All the Greek women on the film wear black clothes that cover most of their body. This clothing in the Greek culture represents the grief of a widowed woman, and in the past widows in Greece where forced to dress like this for the rest of their life. On the other hand men did not have to change their lifestyle in any way after the death of their wife, this again signifies the difference of power between men and women in the Cretan society. The events that are described in the film as mentioned before are a few decades after the liberty of Crete from the Othman domination. Since then many events have transformed Crete’s culture.With Greece’s entry to the European Union at 1981, western influences started stirring Crete’s culture. The clothes, which are commonly worn in the film, have now become almost extinct and are only used occasionally in traditional events such as marriages. Tourism, which was considered a rare occasion among the villagers, has flourished in Greece since the 19 70’s. Ironically â€Å"Zorbas the Greek† and its success in the movie theaters was a great contributor to this radical increase in tourism. Today tourism is one of the most profiting industries in Greece, and no part of the country has remained unaffected, and Crete is no exception.The standing’s in society between women and men have become today almost equal, and the action of alienating foreigners has completely disappeared. However some things have not yet changed through the years. Cretan’s have still the same sense of honor and pride, and especially in the villages native Cretan’s continue to institute their self-instituted justice. Daggers continue to be a method of solving disputes, and feuds between families can continue for many generations, and occasionally have a morbid conclusion. The influence of the Orthodox Church on the community has also been decreased in the past decades.The Church is still extremely wealthy, however parts of the land have been returned to the Greek State, and Greek communities have become much less religious over the years. It can be said that the community and culture that Zorbas lived in has been almost completely transformed and become unrecognizable at the 21st century. It is crucial to mention however that throughout the film Zorbas shows no attachments to that specific culture or any culture. He is presented as a man with his own culture that has lots of experience from traveling the world and can adapt himself in any situation that occurs.That is one of the factors that make him a diachronic character. â€Å"Zorbas the Greek† is a film that depicts the Greek culture in its transition from being influence by the East to being influenced by the West. The film itself was a turning point for Greece since it was one of the big factors that attracted tourism to the country. Nevertheless the differences in cultures and the audience of the movie have not changed its diachronic message s that are represented through the friendship and characters of Zorbas and Basil.The need to combine the Apollonian and Dionysian state of mind, to laugh at the misfortunes and failures that emerge in life and fight through them with vigor and the ability to dream. These are just some of the philosophies that are promoted through the film, and perhaps the 21st century is when they are needed the most. Maybe along with some madness because as Zorbas mentioned at the final scene of the movie: â€Å" A man needs some madness, or else he dare not to cut the rope and be free†. ——————————————- [ 1 ]. â€Å"Crete History: A description of history of Crete, Greece . † 1. Web. 19 Nov 2009. . [ 2 ]. â€Å"The Greek Language Controversy . † Focus on Language (2000): 1. Web. 19 Nov 2009. [ 3 ]. Kreis, Steven. â€Å"Nietzsche, Dionysos and Apollo. † (2000): 1. Web. 19 Nov 2009. . [ 4 ]. Lanz, Barbara. â€Å"Mourning Dress . † Social Expression of Grief by Barbara Lanz. (1983): 1. Web. 19 Nov 2009. . [ 5 ]. † One dead, many hurt in Cretan family feud Dress . † Ekathimerini (2009): 1. Web. 19 Nov 2009. .

Defining and Experiencing the Humanities Essay

I am currently having trouble defining humanities in my own words after reading week one’s overview. Unfortunately after reading this week’s readings and watching the assigned videos, I am still unclear as to what humanities really is. The week one overview while well written was merely a string of questions and what ifs, that honestly left me with even more questions than I started with. Is this an art appreciation class, a literature class, maybe history? Could it possibly be all these things and more? I am still not sure but I am very certain I look forward to finding out. My selection of a cultural event that I have attended (and participated in) is the War for Empire event at Ft. Dobbs in Statesville, NC. This event is the largest event at Ft. Dobbs each year. During this event there are several encampments that showcase different aspects of life on the North Carolina frontier during the mid-18th century. There are Cherokee and Catawba encampments that demonstrate music, dance, and other forms of art such as finger weaving. The native interpreters also discuss clothing, food, and social norms associated with their people. There are also many Anglo (European) encampments which demonstrate things such as period cooking, beer crafting, tailoring, and furniture and once there was even a cobbler (awesome). Other sights to be seen are weapons and tactics demonstrations, the clothing and equipment used by the common soldiers, laborers and farmers of the North Carolina frontier during the Seven Years War.