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This paper seeks to criticize the film Boys Do not Cry comparing the main character with that of the film Trapped
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A Course Description
Critical film analysis is very crucial to ensure that the movie is well understood and the objectives of the movies are met. This paper seeks to criticize the film Boys Don’t Cry comparing the main character with that of the film Trapped. The main character in Boys Don’t Cry seeks to change her gender so as to fit in the society. This is a contrast to the main character in Trapped who is desperate to have the society accept her the way she is.
Boys Don’t Cry is the film of Teena Brandon a young woman who is faced with gender identity crisis. As explored in the article Hell in the Heartland: Boys Don’t Cry she was born a woman, but is desperate to change her gender to become a male though she can not afford the operation. Teena was not comfortable living her life as a woman and she did not want the society to label her as a lesbian because she was sexually attracted to women. Growing up, Teena had a problem with her sexuality and when she got a chance to go to a small town called Falls City in Nebraska, she saw this as an opportunity for her to live her life as a man where nobody knew her.
In contrast, Trapped is a film of Samantha Ross who was born a woman, but her body shape resembles that of a man. When growing up, she had a difficult time because when other girls were acquiring their feminine shapes during adolescence, Samantha’s body was changing to resemble that of a man. Many teased her and said that she was a woman trapped in a man’s body. She lost her confidence and unlike Teena Brandon, she had the chance to escape to another town where nobody knew her, but that would not make the situation any different. She knew that it would be the same cycle all over again. The worst time came when she won in athletics in the school champion games. The officials saw her body shape as a way of disputing her victory claiming that she had to be on medication that made her a fast runner giving her the masculine body shape. It was very embarrassing for her because it was demanded that she had to take a drug test to ascertain that she is not on any drugs. Samantha had been struggling with her identity for a long time; the worst thing is that she had to live with the challenges because there was nothing else she could do.
Both Teena and Samantha are struggling with their sexual identity and tend to associate with people from the gender they want to be identified with. While in Falls City, Teena becomes one of the guys and becomes a ladies man so as to assert his authority as a man. He abandons the name Teena and is referred as Brandon by the locals. According to the article “Boys Don’t Cry” by White his behaviour was normal at this stage because he felt that he was free to express himself here because nobody knew him. Samantha just like Brandon associates with other girls. She loves to shop and do other things that women liked doing. Her best friend Maria understands her and they do a lot of activities together. Although Samantha does not have many friends, she does not associate much with boys because most of them make fun of her. She is also afraid that when she mingles with boys, people might think that she is one of them.
According to the article “Sexuality and Gender in Boys Don’t Cry” Brandon was a man in his way of thinking and even in the way that he presented himself. It was just a matter of finding a facility that could successful transition the sexuality of Brandon to match up to his mental state. On the other hand, Samantha was a woman who wished the society could view her for what she was and not according to her body shape. Boys Don’t Cry and Trapped are films that explore the theme of identity. According to the movie review by Brundage, Brandon struggles with his identity where he wants people to view him as a man. He was born a woman and it was difficult for him to express himself as a man in Lincoln, Nebraska. When he moved to Fall City, he had the opportunity to start over and make everybody believe that he was a man. Samantha struggles with her identity because people refer to her as a man because of her masculine body shape. She thinks of escaping to another town where nobody knew her, but it was no guarantee that this would solve her problems. She struggles to have the society accept her although she seems physically different from other girls.
Conclusively, Boys Don’t Cry and Trapped are emotional heartbreaking films that talks about the sexual identity crisis faced by Brandon and Samantha. Brandon was a man who moved to a new town where he could express himself as a man though he was born a woman. While struggling with his identity, he becomes a ladies man so as to prove to himself that he was a man and not a woman. Samantha on the other hand goes through the struggle of proving her femininity though her body shape depicts otherwise. The theme of identity has been brought out in both films to indicate how people struggle with their sexual identity because of their body shape or because they are transgender.
Works Cited
Brundage, Jeffrey. “Boys Don’t Cry” Reviewed February 17, 2000
Jones, Chris. “Sexuality and Gender in Boys Don’t Cry.” Associated Content. Retrieved January 18, 2011 from HYPERLINK “http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/335064/sexuality_and_gender_in_boys_dont_cry.html?cat=38” http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/335064/sexuality_and_gender_in_boys_dont_cry.html?cat=38
Morris, Gordon. “Hell in the Heartland: Boys Don’t Cry” Bright Light Film Journal, 27, 2000.
White, Robert. “Boys Don’t Cry.” Rebirth of Reason. August 2000. Retrieved from HYPERLINK “http://rebirthofreason.com/Articles/White/Boys_Dont_Cry.shtml” http://rebirthofreason.com/Articles/White/Boys_Dont_Cry.shtml
This paper reviews the inherent fallacies in Bachmans position with respect to carbon dioxide and climate change as reported
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Fallacies
Introduction
In most instances, decisions made by humans over different issues influence their way of life in different ways. Likewise, these have diverse implications on the relationships and determine their ability to coexist in a harmonic manner. Usually, these decisions are influenced by a host of factors that also affect their thought process. In some instances, the positions that persons assume tend to conflict with the reality. Such positions are misleading and contravene the factual information about the respective concepts. This paper reviews the inherent fallacies in Bachman’s position with respect to carbon dioxide and climate change as reported by the Star Tribune.
While addressing the issue of an increase in carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere and the implications of this on climate change, Bachman claimed that climate change is not a real phenomenon. From her point of view, carbon dioxide is a natural gas that can be considered to be nature’s by product. She thus believes that nature has the capacity to control the levels and therefore this gas cannot be implicated for causing climate change. Moreover, she cites that the gas has existed since ice age period. Bachman also contends that numerous credible studies have demonstrated that his gas is not harmful and therefore its emission in the atmosphere should not cause any major stirs. With respect to causes of climate change, she posits that the solar flares are responsible for the increasing atmospheric temperatures and relative climate change (McAuliffe 13).
Notably, this thought process is fallacious and can have detrimental effects on the welfare of humanity. Scientific facts ascertain that climate change is an actual phenomenon that is contributed to by increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. This fact has been endorsed by credible bodies such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. They have also been accredited by the 2500 scientists that hail from a significant 166 countries. In this respect, scientific evidence implicates human activities for the increase of carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere and the relative climate change. This conclusion has been tested over time and findings accredited.
In addition, the findings have been employed by different bodies to develop countermeasures that can be used to reverse this trend. The adopted measures have been effective although it is posited that more efforts need to be directed towards this cause. One of the most vital interventions pertains to the reduction of the carbon dioxide emissions in the atmosphere. In this regard, humans are increasingly obligated to control their activities that particularly release significant volumes of this gas in the atmosphere. At this juncture, it can be ascertained that Bachman’s prepositions are likely to discourage efforts geared towards reversing this defective trend. The resultant increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will threaten the very survival of humanity.
Conclusion
The human thought process is in some instances compounded by various complexities that undermine the ability of rational decision making. These stem from different external and internal forces that influence the behavior and decision making of an individual. This is exemplified in the preceding analysis when Bachman maintains that carbon dioxide does not influence climate change irrespective of having factual information at her disposal. Notably, the resultant public response to this information can undermine the current efforts of fighting climate change.
Work Cited
McAuliffe, Bill. Bachman’s Forum on Energy Emissions. Star Tribune, April, 8th 2009.
Trouble with blame
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Trouble with blame
Should victims and perpetrators be excused by circumstance, natural constraints, and circumstances alike in acquiring responsibility?
The scale on whether victims should be held responsible for retaliating and inflicting injuries on perpetrators or causing death has always shifted more so in favor of the latter considering the various campaigns supporting this notion. The chapter “who is to blame?” at one point argues that both the victim and the perpetrator should be given an equal chance in determining responsibility because there is no excuse for reacting in an inappropriate way (10). To put this into perspective, there are cases of women who have retaliated against their abusive husbands, causing them extreme injuries or death. In one argument, this lot reacted in such a manner because the perpetrators pushed them to an apparent limit. And being victims, this was the appropriate cause of action. However, because they have committed an action that violates the definition of virtue-ethics, they are not devoid of responsibility.
The reading uses Aristotle’s definition of virtue, which does not offer space for any excuse. A victim in reacting the way they did choose the destructive way rather than the virtuous way and so hold responsibility. So if the victim can be excused because of certain factors such as previous history, circumstance, coercion, and natural constraints, perpetrators should also be considered for factors that altered their normal character. Society has always been straight to condemn the victim without considering the underlying issues that might have resulted in whatever kind of action. However, in the same way, victims are judged for acting in a violent manner in response to abuse, perpetrators should not be offered the chance to present an excuse because they had a choice to pick the better path. However, when a perpetrator has abused the victim, there should be no inquiries into their contributions to the actions of the later. The perpetrator should not act in an abusive manner regardless of any actions of the victim that would supposedly trigger them to act in such a manner. Siding with Aristotle, any action that is outside the accepted character should not be excused because there was more than one choice on how to act.
Are perpetrators responsible for their acts simply because they possess the required free will to be blamed?
The chapter begins with a narrative that ends with a statement that perpetrators should be blamed and carry responsibility for their wicked acts because they are go-betweens of their own actions. However, the debate on whether a perpetrator should not be blamed because their actions may not be theirs is presented soon after. In the horror story, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the alter ego of the cruel Dr. Jekyll may not be his own. Some arguments suggest that his acts were predetermined by male sexuality, a culture of male violence, drug and alcohol addiction, the cycle of abuse, and biological history. These are the kinds of arguments that base the actions of an individual on impulses rather than deliberations. According to philosophy, the perpetrator always had the opportunity to turn the other way. However, perpetrators always have excuses as to why they acted in a certain way, and no one initially takes responsibility for committing an atrocity.
The argument against blaming perpetrators include them being victims of abuse in their history. With such a history, there is a possibility that the perpetrator can be eligible for lesser blame (60). Just as victims tend to deal with their situation through self-blame, perpetrators engage in violent and abusing behavior to mask their own trauma (64). By picturing the perpetrator as a victim when they were at their most vulnerable, defeating, and injured, we seek to offer sympathy and not condemnation. ‘
Also, an act that originates from passion and impulse does not carry as much weight as one that is seen to be premeditative. Acting in an abrupt manner without contemplation resonates with how many of us have done something without much thought and lived to regret it. This lessens the perception of the perpetrator as harboring an evil soul. It is apparent from this discussion that perpetrators cannot be blamed simply because they had a choice.
Is self-blame a fight against oppression?
Some psychoanalytic views consider self-blame problematic, a symptom, and a negative response to anxiety, some psychologists consider using self-blame to master the traumatic experience it enacts (26). Anna Freud advances a theory that suggests identifying with the aggressor as a means of maturity, and the initial step towards a journey of achieving conscience. By identifying with the aggressor, one develops the ability to master instinct. Some authors view self-blame and self-hatred among women as a tool in the fight against oppression (34).
It is hard, however, to comprehend how feeling bad inside is beneficial in the wake of abuse. Some claim that self-blame is a tool against a female’s rage (28). The death instinct might explain why the woman represses their rage as a natural reaction to being attacked and instead encourage their own guilt. Also, because of the vulnerability of the victim and their dependence on the perpetrator, they choose to is more preferred than self-development. The victim would rather be demeaned and abused but still, maintain a certain relationship. The pain of the abuse and the badness of an element that preserves the relationship. And because the relationship is not trusting, there is no room for self-development.
What is the role of onlookers in distorting the truth about perpetrators and victims?
Cases of abuse have been sources of excitement for onlookers who want to create a narrative that fits their own amusement, especially with media coverage of these cases. If the victim is presented in a manner that befits their perception, there is no room left for presenting a case to the contrary. In other sense, victims become idols adored in their misery. On the other hand, perpetrators are not given a chance to prove themselves any different. Although the enthusiasm of onlookers does not necessarily distort the truth about victims, they limit the possibility of a counter-argument that would prove true in the long run.
Without regard to the victims and other people suffering a similar ordeal, disown a victim if they fail to meet a curtained predefined threshold. The victim is supposed to have an appearance that suggests vulnerability, and when a case has one that cannot fit these criteria, the onlookers become indifferent (89). To fulfill their urge to present an idol in the story, they usually elevate the status of the perpetrator from that of an evil person to a victim. It does not matter whether the victim is in their right minds, better educated, or favored by undeniable evidence. Flipping the script makes the plot even more interesting. The reaction of onlookers in this manner discourages victims from coming out because they feel they do not fit the profile and sometimes doubt themselves whether they are victims or not. Media outlets show pictures of vulnerable people that are sometimes staged to capture them at their weakest swaying the opinion of onlookers a decision that goes decision makes such as the jury who are programmed from the beginning to condemn the perpetrator.
Works Cited
Lamb, Sharon. The trouble with blame: Victims, perpetrators, and responsibility. Harvard University Press, 1999.