Tracy PSCI454

Objective Review: Brazil directed by Terry Gilliam portrays a disturbing environment void of beauty, hope, and purpose, but above all free will. Spontaneity appears nonexistent, and uniqueness conspicuously absent. The technology in the film has surpassed ordinary usage and instead nears absurdity. Three important elements that I noted were: The act of gatekeeping of information through convolution and complexity is demonstrated through Jill’s request denied by the Ministry of Information administrator because she doesn’t have the proper stamp from a different department. Throughout the film procedures are followed without common sense and compassion in both government settings and private arenas, such as the need by the server to have Sam state the number of the menu item to place his order in the restaurant.   The bombing scene in the restaurant was particularly dark, cutting a portrayal of human privilege and disfunction of bureaucracy. Sam’s response of “not my department” t...

  Objective Review: There are several pivotal scenes in the 1979 film The China Syndrome . This review will be contained to five key scenes that relate to the analysis below. The first important scene happens when reporter Kimberly Wells is visibly fearful or uncomfortable while holding the simulated Uranium capsule inside the Ventana nuclear power plant. This is a subtle introduction to the ubiquitous fear of nuclear energy; indeed, many of the reasons that cause consternation about the safety of nuclear energy are stated in the remainder of this scene by camera man Richard as he mocks the plant employee for providing only a rosy description of nuclear energy. A second influential scene happens in the plant’s control room following the event; here the viewer sees humans actively interpreting information from technology and making decisions based on that data. Third, happens within the news studio when Mr. Jacovich stops the hot story of the accident at the nuclear power plant fr...

  Objective Review: A key scene of the 2012 film of the Lorax is the reveal of Audrey’s accurately painted trees on the back of her family’s house, and her dream of having her own natural wonder, despite never having seen a tree herself. There’s a story there as well. It is the irony of her dream, which is not altruistic, but rather a selfish desire to own and enjoy. This motivation to bring back trees is seeded from the same selfish behavior that originally wiped the existence of trees from Thneedville. A second key scene is when Ted’s mother says” “You’d rather have some dirty, messy, lump of wood that just sticks out of the ground and does what? What’s its purpose?” Thneedville has become an artificial world that has supplanted natural resources with manufactured products. Ted and his family are not unique in their blinders. This scene draws alarming parallels to our modern consumer culture. A viewer might wonder how someone could ever question the purpose of tree, only to l...