The Scarlet Letter Freely Adapted as a Movie :: Movie Film comparison compare contrast

The Scarlet Letter Freely Adapted as a Movie      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The gods and goddesses of Greek mythology had temples erected in their names. They were worshipped and most times adored. The people brought offerings to these gods in the form of food, drink, and gold. Today’s gods and goddesses don’t sit high on Mount Olympus. They sit high on or behind the movie screen. We visit their temples in record numbers and bring food, drink, and the mighty dollar. But what do they offer us in return? Voyeurism, titillation, narcissismà ·all in a rebirth of classical American literature, which through their filters becomes sappy love stories with politically correct happy endings. In this way, their gifts are made more palatable for an audience they feel is not quite ready for films dealing with bitter social controversy, such as sin, hypocrisy, spiritual crisis, and guilt.    Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter is one of the classics that is experiencing this renaissance. Director Roland Joffe has enlisted the aid of writers Michael Mann and Christopher Crowe to produce a body of work also entitled The Scarlet Letter. The effort to introduce the American audience to this classical piece of literature was undertaken, as the film’s star Demi Moore asserts, because "not many people have read the book" (qtd. in Mr. Showbiz, par. 4). However, in doing so, Joffe has taken away the essence of Hawthorne. "It [is] sorrowful to think how many days and weeks and months and years of toil [have] been wasted on these musty papers [of Hawthorne’s] never more to be glanced at by human eyes. But, then, what reams of other manuscripts - filled [ ·] with the thought of inventive brains and the rich effusion of deep hearts - [have] gone equally to oblivion" (Hawthorne 46; The Custom House).    In film, the viewer sees a story from the director’s perspective. When experiencing a novel, the reader is drawn into the authorà ¢s story and relates to the characters and events created by the author. He is allowed to bring forth his own imagination to recreate the characters and events by visualizing what the writer describes. He chooses the voice of each character, pictures how the character looks, and brings his own personal experiences forth to enhance the written word. He has an opportunity to be one-on-one with the author, hear his words, and experience for myself the charactersà ¢ emotions.

morality of capital punishment Essay

1) How would Kant reason with the morality of capital punishment? Describe how deontological ethics would determine whether it is morally permissible Kant is an advocate of the idea that the morality of an action is to be determined not by the extent of the pleasure or pain an act produces. Consider for example the imposition of capital punishment. According to Kant, if the utility of imposing capital punishment will be our guide then we will be doing a serious crime against humanity. Justice will not be served if we will subject to capital punishment a convict simply because we aim to deter crime, incapacitate the criminal and protect the society. Instead, capital punishment should be imposed because the person is guilty. It must be stressed that Kant upheld the right of the state to impose capital punishment against those proven guilty of committing heinous crimes. He however argued that the sole criterion and standard should be his guilt and that the punishment should be proportionate to the crime committed. That reason for this is that when a person commits a crime against another it is as if he is telling the whole world that he wants to be treated the same way. According to Kant, â€Å"If you slander another, you slander yourself; if you steal from another, you steal from yourself; if you strike another, you strike yourself; if you kill another, you kill yourself. † (Immanuel Kant, the Right of Punishing) This is the principle otherwise known as the right of retaliation or Jus Talionis. This is actually a restatement of Kant’s Deontological Ethics known as the Categorical Imperative. This is the principle that morality is based on pure reason which is in the nature of an absolute command. Kant states that: â€Å"Act only according to that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law. † (Garth Kemerling) If a person decides to do something to another then he does this thinking that the same should be a universal law. In effect murderers are saying that this is how people should be treated, including himself. Thus, if a person commits murder then he must also die. There is no other substitute for such a heinous crime except capital punishment. It is only by taking away the life of the person who committed the crime of murder that justice will be restored. 2. How would Mill determine if capitol punishment is morally justified? Describe how Utilitarian Ethics would determine whether capitol punishment is morally permissible Mill, on the other hand, argued that state-sanctioned punishment is justified because of its utility. There is only one standard in determining the morality for the imposition of capital punishment – that is its consequence. If capital punishment will most likely produce the greatest balance of happiness over unhappiness then the punishment is justified. But if there are other options that would produce a greater balance of happiness over unhappiness, then that option should be chosen and the imposition of capital punishment is unjustified. In simpler terms, the idea is that if we weigh the positive effects of capital punishment as against its negative effects and the positive effects outweighs the negative ones then it has to be imposed. This theory somewhat looks forward and determines the positive impact of the act to the society. According to Mill, capital punishment is the most humane punishment possible for someone who has committed a heinous crime. A quick and painless death is always better than working in hard labor while in prison for the rest of the life of the convict, to wit: â€Å"What comparison can there really be, in point of severity, between consigning a man to the short pang of a rapid death, and immuring him in a living tomb, there to linger out what may be a long life in the hardest and most monotonous toil, without any of its alleviations or rewards–debarred from all pleasant sights and sounds, and cut off from all earthly hope, except a slight mitigation of bodily restraint, or a small improvement of diet. (John Stuart Mill) Capital Punishment is also beneficial for the society because it deters the commission of the crime not only by the convict himself but by other persons as well. It sends a clear message to would-be murderers that the state has a strong policy against crime. Although it may not be able to deter all hardened criminals, but it is capable of preventing persons other than criminals from committing crimes. Capital punishment will also provide a closure to the agony of the relatives of the victims and satisfy their grievance for their relative. Conclusion Both philosophers argue in favor of the morality of capital punishment. Their conclusions are the same only that their premises start from different end. For Kant, capital punishment should be allowed against those who commit heinous crimes simply because they are guilty. For Mill, capital punishment should be imposed because it is better for the convict and the society as well.

The Power Of Mass Media - 2392 Words

Randy Butler Gender and Culture December 16, 2014 Final Project The Power of Mass Media in Todays World: The Perceptions and Realities Behind the Curtains It’s a Thursday night and Jessie is sitting down, munching on some chips and dip, and watching the weekly episode of Scandal with her friend Mary in the dim light of their living room. A scene comes on the television with two gay men intimately approaching each other, about to have sex. For a minute, the girls are tensely sitting in silence, not speaking, but awkwardly staring at the television. As the scene turns to a commercial, the girls begin to loosen up and start giggling. Blushing, Jessie interrupts the awkwardness, â€Å"Well you don’t really see that too much!† Scandal is just one of the recent shows featuring gay characters and themes. Slowly, television and motion picture movie films are striving to be inclusive. Gay characters on prime- time shows and in top rated, popular films are trying to generally become the norm rather than just the exception, whether as regular characters, or occasional ones. As the world is becoming interconnected and as glob alization is at its full peek, people are increasingly being influenced by mass media and popular culture. While society is changing through each decade, so has the media’s portrayal of the LGBT—gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer—community. But, do these depictions truly reflect lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer reality? And are theseShow MoreRelatedThe Power of and the Powers Behind Mass Media901 Words   |  4 PagesThe Power of the Powers Behind Mass Media Mass media is a powerful method of communication, entertainment, education, and socialization. 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