The apartment (1960)

The apartment (1960)

The apartment (1960) is about Baxter, a clerk in an insurance company who gives out his apartment to be used by executives to carry out their extramarital affairs. He does this so that he can get promoted in his workplace and is able to achieve it because of the recommendations he gets from the executives. However, the plot becomes complicated when he falls in love with the elevator operator who is the immediate boss of Baster. In Broadcast News, (1987), is about Holly, an American television news producer who is attracted to William Hurt, a vapid anchorman, although she loathes everything about him. The plot gets twisted in that Holly’s best friend, Albert Brooks is secretly in love with her. He is a talented news presenter but does not possess the poise of William.

There are many similarities between the two drama movies as the dramas evolve around love stories in the office. The similarity is further emphasized with the fact that in both the films two men are in love with one lady.  However, in the apartment, the woman has been objectified and she is a mistress to one of the men while in Broadcast News, the power to choose is in her hands and she shares the feelings of one of the presenters from the beginning. This shows that with time, women have increasingly been give power and even in the work place, they are holding greater positions. While in the apartment, the women are given the roles of an elevator operator and a secretary, in Broadcast News, a woman has the position of a producer which is a relatively big occupational role to occupy.

The ending of the two movies highlights a significant difference between the two as one emphasizes the dependence of women on men while the other highlights that a woman can be independent on her own.  Fran, the elevator operator ends up with Baxter even though it has not been shown that she was attracted to him anywhere else in the movie. She settled with him after she realized that the promises made by Sheldrake were just that promises. He had made similar promises to many other women and hence he was not being serious with her. She even attempted suicide when she realized that he was playing with her. On the other hand, Holly, despite loving Hurt, she does not compromise when she realizes that he does not have good work ethics. This does not compel her to run to Brooks who loves her.

In both the movies, the plot is dramatic characterized by many twists. One is left in suspense trying to figure out what is going to happen next. This is characteristic of all the drama movies and the two movies have been able to execute the concept well. Between the two movies, the conceptualization of drama movies has not changed significantly. The plot of the two moves is almost similar except for the ending and hence no significant advancements had been made between 1960 and 1987.

References

Ebert, R. (2019). Broadcast News movie review & film summary (1987) | Roger Ebert. Retrieved 21 November 2019, from https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/broadcast-news-1987

Ebert, R. (2019). The Apartment movie review & film summary (1960) | Roger Ebert. Retrieved 21 November 2019, from https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-the-apartment-1960

Question 2

Season 3 episode 22

This episode is characterized by a fun family trip to Disneyland. However, there is also a lot of motion sickness, achy feet from the uncomfortable shoes and a wayward toddler. Phil tries to keep up with Luke but soon discovers that he is older now and cannot easily do things which he enjoyed in the past.  Claire’s shocked when they run into Dylan whom she did not know was back in town. Jay and Gloria disagree on the sensible shoes for the day are since Gloria has decided to wear high heels yet there would be a significant amount of walking at Disneyland. Mitch and Cam have to deal with Lily’s new affinity for running and they achieve this by putting her on a dog leash. However, they are looked at funny by other people and they remove the leash and she starts running. Jay offers a solution of getting her high heeled shoes which succeed at slowing her down.

The execution of the episode fully embodies comedy as I was laughing throughout the 20 minutes that it was airing. Every character in the sitcom had their moment including Claire who was trying to hook up Haley with her friend’s son. There is a subtle way of delivering humor which has been achieved in this approach including how Gloria is constantly pretending to be comfortable in high heels whenever Jay is around because she does not want to be wrong about about her choice of shoes (Kreizman, 2019).

In this episode there are several propp’s character functions which have been achieved. There is liquidation where the earlier issue in the story are able to be solved. Gloria gets comfortable shoes from Jay as he was able to see through her suffering. Lilly also got high heeled shoes which succeeded in significantly slowing her down. There is an element of unrecognized arrival which is brought forth by Dylan in several segments of the show. First, the family is surprised to see him at Disney land since they were not aware that he was in town. Second, they see him riding a bicycle something that he is not proud of, this really shocked Haley. Lastly, he shows in a bear costume and startled Haley as he tries to convince her that he still loves her 9Fell, 1977).

The characters in the show are able to bring the aspect of comedy just like in all the other episodes. Alex and Haley have maintained their enmity through the fighting over the boy that their mother brought to accompany them in the Disneyland trip. Cameron and Mitchel are depicted as the gay couple which is struggling to bring up their daughter. Jay and Gloria are always fighting and this does not change in the episode. Manny is the young man who is smarter than her age. Finally, Phil and Luke are trying to have fun together just like they always do in their father-son relationship (Kreizman, 2019).

Reference

Kreizman, M. (2019). Modern Family Recap: Disneyland Adventures. Retrieved 21 November 2019, from https://www.vulture.com/2012/05/modern-family-recap-disneyland.html

Fell, J. L. (1977). Vladimir Propp in Hollywood. Film Quarterly, 30(3), 19-28.

Question 3

Season 8 episode 3: Through the looking glass

The setting of this episode is in Kansas City and its environs. Seemingly perfect family is abducted and murdered on the side of the highway except for the youngest son of the family. BAU was called in to help solving the case and while the case was being briefed, they got to learn of another family which had been abducted. Problems in the seemingly perfect families are revealed throughout the episode. The Yamada father had a gambling problem while the Acklin’s father was subject to a lawsuit, behind in his mortgage payments and had an affair with his son’s tutor, Vanessa. The teenage daughter had a drug problem while the mother was depressed and owed money to loan sharks.

The UNSUB are making the Acklin family admit their shortcomings which disbands the image of a perfect family and causes a rift amongst themselves. He makes them watch as he kills Vanessa and the boyfriend to the teenage daughter who is responsible for her drug addiction. There is a commonality between the two families and it is that they both attended the wilderness camp to try and bring the families together and thee were social media postings which were visited numerous times each day by the same person. BAU found hidden camera’s throughout the 2 family’s homes. The two homes had been remodeled and the same electrician had worked on both of them. This is how they were able to identify the suspect.

In the criminal minds episodes, the process of criminal profiling is made to look exciting and dramatic. However, in real life, there is much more administration work and protocols involves in the process. This episode helps to show the process taken to find evidence required to solving. However, it oversimplifies it and mostly it leans towards happenstance that the evidence is found. However, in real life, it might take months before actual evidence required to solve a case can be found. That is why in real life there are many cold cases, a fact which is not commonly displayed in the criminal movies aired on our screens including criminal minds.

The end of the show, the team rushes it to rescue the Acklins and to apprehend the UNSUB. This scene was a bit chaotic and the team was trying to wrap up the case as quickly as possible. However, in actual situations, before the rescue of victims and apprehension of a suspect, there are many intricacies which are involved. There is more order to avoid tampering with evidence and the process is given sufficient time to ensure that every single piece of evidence is collected since even the tiniest bit of evidence would significantly impact the ruling in the case. This show offers an entertaining look at the reality of law, justice and criminality. However, it is oversimplified when compared to the real life basis and this may confuse many people. Therefore, when watching the show, it should be viewed at face value and not taken as the sole truth of how criminal defense works.

References

Criminal Minds Review “Through the Looking Glass”. (2019). Retrieved 20 November 2019, from http://criminalmindsroundtable.blogspot.com/2012/10/criminal-minds-review-through-looking.html

Dowler, K. (2016). Police Dramas on Television. In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Criminology and Criminal Justice.

Levin, J. (2013). Representations of Victims, Suspects and Offenders: A Content Analysis of Four Television Crime Shows.

Question 4

Masterchef Australia is a reality show which has successfully captivated the attention of many. The contestants are required to live and cook together for seven months and they face challenges during the contest. The program has always been successful because of the amount of work put into simulating reality. Realism is portrayed in the way amateur cooks struggle in the beginning and their egos are often squashed. However, with time, this is restored and they become superhuman cooks. This is just similar to other aspects in life where when you are starting out, often the task is complicated. However, with time, practice and effort, one is able to perfect their skills. This technique has been able to bore fruit as the show has gathered a large audience to become one of the most watched television shows in Australia.

The show has been able to significantly contribute to the culinary industry in Australia. This further emphasizes the realism of the program as both the winners and many of the contestants are absorbed to the Australian culinary establishment. This is an aspect of reality any endeavor is aimed at making an impact to reality. It is true just like any reality show, there is manipulation and editing and casting decisions are made in the program. It is not all genuine and it involves a vast amount of acting. But even if there is manipulation, it is done to impact the hyperconscious and many viewers do not get to see it while the critics are left with not much to work with.

The judges in the show are experts in the field of culinary arts hence they give their expert opinions on the food made by the contestants. This is not part of the script as they are required to give their sincere opinions on the foods. Gary Mehigan and George Calombaris are both respected chefs while Matt Preston is a top restaurant critic in Australia. The in depth critic offered by the judges contributes significantly to the realism of the program. Due to its popularity, the judges and the contestants have been projected to the status of celebrities in Australia. There are also guest celebrity judges in the various episodes but mostly, they do not pass judgment.

Season 11 episode 39 contains an elimination challenge where the contestants are required to make a sweet dish without using any refined sugar or any product which contains refine sugar. The week towards this challenge was named sweet week which signifies that they were making sweet dishes during that week. In this episode, the religious leader, Dalai Lama, appeared as a guest judge but as the norm, he did not pass any judgment. This attraction of celebrities and prominent people to participate in the reality show makes the program to be mentioned in tabloids in Australia. It also helps the program to gain popularity as the celebrities and prominent people attract the audience of their followers. This way, Masterchef Australia has been able to achieve immense success.

Reference

Price, E. (2011). The illusory everyday: narratives of pleasure in Australian’reality TV’ (No. Ph. D.). Deakin University.