The distinctively visual portrays complex individuals AND challenging situations. Ang Lee’s martial arts film,“Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon”exhibit the complexity of individuals as the different the different values and belief they hold and the contrary destiny they attain. The ambivalence between traditional/repressed woman and rebellious/uninhibited woman and personal desire and restraint is prevailed throughout the film to vividly depict the complexity in individuals. The challenging situations presented in the film include defeating a group of kung-fu fighters and overcoming the death of a lover.
Similarly, the related text, “Phenomenal Woman” a poem by Maya Angelou portray the persona as a complex individual. Complex as in her definition of beauty is not widely accepted by the rest of the society. The persona portrays some aspects of a traditional and uninhibited woman.
The persona also faces challenging situations, where the persona confronts the stereotype of beauty in modern society.
In Crouching Tiger, Jen, a rich aristocrat’s daughter lives in a patriarchal society where woman are expected to behave like all traditional woman and accept the arrangements made by her family.
Her character is complex because she is taught to be obedient and act like a gentlewoman, however, she wants to break the secular confinements so she can live her own life. She is rebellious and is assertive to purse her personal desires.
An extreme close up shot of Jen creates a distinctive
“I’m a woman…Phenomenal woman, that’s me.” This quote from Maya Angelou’s poem “Phenomenal Woman” characterizes the common theme between the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston, the speech, “Ain’t I a Woman”, by Sojourner Truth, and “Phenomenal Woman”. The common theme between these three different pieces is the idea of a strong, independent woman, which ties into feminism and the concept of being equal to men. Even though these three pieces are each diverse genres, they are all conveying the same general theme in their own way. Throughout any of these texts, it is evident that the authors are pushing the idea that a female is not inferior to any man just because they have a different body structure or a different gender.
Maya Angelou, poet, and memoirist once said, " I'm a phenomenally. Phenomenal woman. That's me." In today's society, the media is flooded with images of strong and powerful women, such as Beyonce, Zendaya, Kehlani, Rihanna, and Cardi B. Powerful females aren't only prevailing in real life, they fill pages, or screens as popular characters, on movies , television shows, or books , and etc. In Dolores Claiborne, King uses the characters to create a theme of female empowerment.
She is willing to lie not only for herself but also force others to do so as well. She is a bad influence on everyone in her life because of her deceitfulness. This is one drastic difference in personalities that leads to many conflicts in the story.
Perhaps, the powerful storyline of the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was what encouraged one of the greatest cinematic martial arts directors Ang Lee, to make a film out of the Chinese novel. In this film, Lee’s primary function is not only to portray skillfully choreographed fighting scenes, but also to connect powerful sequences of events that touches upon the emotional complex human condition that is associated with both the Taoist and Buddhist belief systems. By not allowing action to be the sole guiding force of the narrative of Crouching
As the magnum opus of the martial arts novel master Wang Dulu, “Crouching Tiger, Lying Dragon” have been drawing readers’ discussion for its intricate plots and the figures with full personalities for years. Ever since the film adaption which directed by Ang Lee was released in 2000, the comparing of two works has never stopped. What kind of adjustment did film experienced? Why did the director, Ang Lee, made such adaptation? What the difference of the themes which these two works expressed? From a tragic love to a grand Jianghu, I’ll analysis the adaptation “Crouching Tiger, Lying Dragon” from four aspects: the choices Yu Jiaolong made in love relationships, the relationships between the roles and the endings of the two works.
She is a person that took every day as it came to her and did what was necessary in order for her to survive. There was no shame in her trying to obtain happiness by keeping her cousin as a lover, nor killing an unborn child to keep herself from being punished. She is attempting to open the eyes of a naive priest who sees nothing but what he has learned from books.
The beauty standard is a culturally constructed notion of physical attractiveness that has become increasingly imperative for women and men. However, this standard has become extremely perilous to men and women’s self-image. Camille Paglia, a highly educated individual who earned her PhD at Yale University and became a highly acclaimed author, explicates this conception in her essay “The Pitfalls of Plastic Surgery”. Paglia suggests that the beauty standard idealizes women to look like “sex symbols with an unattainable grandeur” (776). She continues to claim that it forces her audience of higher class women to pay large sums of money in order to alter their features ultimately conforming to a very “parochial” definition of beauty (776). Although Paglia is a highly credible source, she illogically appeals to the reader’s fears in order to persuade them. Paglia fails to give any credible outside sources which affirms her preposterous beliefs. Contrary to her inconsistencies, Daniel Akst, a social journalist and graduate from New York University provides his audience with reputable sources in order to persuade his audience. Daniel Akst believes that there needs to be a “democratization of physical beauty” in which instead of attempting to alter the beauty standard, we must first change how we view ourselves. Akst provides credible sources to establish his credibility where he observes cases studies and cultural experiments from scientists and organizations including:
Ang Lee’s Crouching tiger Hidden Dragon is probably one of the most successful foreign films to ever be screened in America. Being the number one film of the year in 2000. On the other hand it was reportedly considered a flop in China. While it was influenced by American film styles, it still kept true to many aspects of its Chinese film heritage. With very apparent love story, it lacked the Extreme amount of Kung Fu fight scenes eastern audiences have come to enjoy. This is a stunning love story between a monk and widow. While it does have its share of over the top fight scenes, when you start to dig deeper the films many social implications become apparent. With ties to subjects such as religion, martial arts, philosophy, love, and even gender issues. This film is a representation of the modern era and how long practiced traditions are being challenged. Each character and plot line allows a glimpse into the Social and Traditional understanding of a culture.
The Beauty Myth’s central argument is the growing standards of physical beauty of women as they grow stronger. This standard has affected women in many ways, such as in the workplace, culture, and religion. The standard has taken over the work of social harassment. The beauty myth expands the belief an unbiased measurement of beauty exists and that women want to express it and men would want that women. The author, Naomi Wolf, states that the beauty myth is not about women themselves, it is about the power of men and their society. The myth supplies power to multibillion dollar cosmetics industries and it keeps women from rising too high in the workplace. Within this book, Wolf shows how the beauty myth functions and affects women in the workplace, media, sex, religion, culture, violence against women by men, and by women themselves in the configuration of cosmetic surgery and eating disorders.
Her placid facial expression, pastel costuming and low angle shot illustrates her individual freedom as well as her freedom from worldly desires. She is seen to leap from the mysterious Wudang Mountains and disappear into the clouds, symbolic of her tranquil mindset when taking a ‘leap of faith.’ It is a choice which resonates with the Daoist philosophy of absolute non attachment and a pure moral action.
There is a cliché quote that people say, “Beauty is in the eye of beholder.” But in the essay “The Ugly Truth About Beauty” (1998) Dave Barry argues about how women who spend countless hours on their so called “beauty” whereas men seem not to care. Barry uses juxtaposition and exaggeration to poke fun at men and women behavior and shed light on the harm that the beauty industry is doing. When Barry argues his point of his essay he addresses both genders, but more specifically teenage to middle age men and women, but he writes about it in a humorous and light-hearted manner.
After reading “The Myth of the Latin Woman: I Just Met a Girl Named Maria” by Judith Ortiz Cofer, the reader is able to see that her essay focusses on personal appearance choices which she has compared and contrasted with her own early-life experiences. Based on how an individual appears at first sight, it dictates how others socially judge and stereotype us beyond the “beauty” dimension. For example, an individual may think about what he or she is going to wear when going out to eat at a restaurant. If the individual is going to go Buffalo Wild Wings to dine, obviously he or she is going to wear an outfit that fits them in society’s social norms which is a basic t-shirt, jeans, and shoes. However, if he or she shows up dressed up
The central message of this work is that society is obsessed with appearances. The point the author is trying to make is beauty should not be the most important trait of a person. In today’s society everything is based on looks, people are more concerned about a person’s outward appearance. People strive to
It 's not a mystery that society 's ideals of beauty have a drastic and frightening effect on women. Popular culture frequently tells society, what is supposed to recognize and accept as beauty, and even though beauty is a concept that differs on all cultures and modifies over time, society continues to set great importance on what beautiful means and the significance of achieving it; consequently, most women aspire to achieve beauty, occasionally without measuring the consequences on their emotional or physical being. Unrealistic beauty standards are causing tremendous damage to society, a growing crisis where popular culture conveys the message that external beauty is the most significant characteristic women can have. The approval of prototypes where women are presented as a beautiful object or the winner of a beauty contest by evaluating mostly their physical attractiveness creates a faulty society, causing numerous negative effects; however, some of the most apparent consequences young and adult women encounter by beauty standards, can manifest as body dissatisfaction, eating disorders that put women’s life in danger, professional disadvantage, and economic difficulty.
As a matter of fact this particular poem requires thinking to understand that the writer is trying to say to the reader. This next quote is the last stanza in the poem “Phenomenal Women.” “ The need for my care. Cause I’m a woman Phenomenally. Phenomenal woman, that’s me”(Angelou). Maya Angelou is trying to say in this quote that at some point in life a man will need the care of a woman. Although she might not be what many men would want, but yet again mot many men choose the most beautiful women out there, but they do choose what is inside of a woman such as their