Though usually viewed as a violent play about turbulent marriages, Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? should be regarded as an early feminist text. Bonnie Finkelstein writes that the 1962 play portrays and analyzes the damaging effects of traditional, stereotypical gender roles, particularly for women; the play serves to point out how unrealistic, useless and extraordinarily damning they ultimately are.

Finkelstein notes that the 1963 publication of Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique unofficially began a re-evaluation of gender roles in the United States (Finkelstein 55). Friedan explores the idea that women need more fulfillment in their lives than can be provided by the drudgery of childrearing and housekeeping. The book also carefully lays out what society has determined to be the ideal gender role requirements for women:

“They could desire no greater destiny than to glory in their own femininity. Experts told them how to catch a man and keep him, how to breastfeed children and handle their toilet training…how to dress, look, and act more feminine and make marriage more exciting…They learned that truly feminine women do not want careers, higher education, political rights…All they had to do was devote their lives from earliest girlhood to finding a husband and bearing children.” (Friedan 15-16)

And, more specifically:

The suburban housewife…she was healthy, beautiful, educated, concerned only about her husband, her children, her home. She had found true feminine fulfillment.” (Friedan 18)

Albee echoes this, noting by contrast what the ideal men and women in 1962 should be. In other words, his characters have failed at living up to gender roles and the play shows us how this quest has destroyed them. The most shocking thing Martha does is pack away the booze: “My God, you can swill it down, can’t you.” (16) She drinks straight, tough-guy booze, like whiskey and bourbon. She no longer favors the tastes of her youth: “brandy Alexanders, crème de cacao frappes…seven-layer liqueur things…real lady-like little drinkies.” Martha once behaved as a woman should, but no longer does and this is off-putting and unsettling to George. The reason women should drink sweet-tasting but really lethal drinks is because they make women more willing to serve men sexually, as pointed out in the Paula Vogel’s feminist (and set-in-the-early 1960s) drama How I Learned to Drive: “In short avoid anything with sugar or anything with an umbrellas…don’t order anything with sexual positions in the name…I think you were conceived after one of those.” (Vogel 44)

Indeed, the 1962 woman was not in tune with or even in charge of her own sexuality; according to Friedan, women would use sexuality as a means to achieve the fulfillment they were so sorely lacking:

“Are they using sex or sexual phantasy to fill needs that are not sexual? Is that why their sex, even when it is real, seems like phantasy? Are they driven to this never-satisfied sexual seeking because, in their marriages, they have not found the sexual fulfillment which the feminine mystique promises?” (Friedan 261)

While at an overprotective, women-only college (78), Martha was sexually active and chose her own husband. It was a real slap-in-the-face to her intelligence and identity when her father had her marriage annulled because it was not proper for a woman to be sexual or to make her own decisions. George himself comments on how Martha’s sexual expression is improper with lines like “your skirt up over your head.” (17)

The twenty-six year old “thin-hipped…simp” Honey is the incredibly stifling, unfulfilled result of what happens if a woman conforms to what 1962 society told her to be. In order to quickly show that Honey, the prefeminist-era ideal woman, is a farce, Albee makes her uninteresting, remarkably unintelligent and absolutely loathsome. She characteristically says boring, solicitous, giggly things like “Oh, isn’t this lovely” (21) and “Well I certainly had fun…it was a wonderful party” (21), even “put some powder on my nose.” (28). She is inoffensive, always agreeable, and, as Friedan points out, devoted to her husband, the ideal of femininity: “Their only dream was to be perfect wives and mothers; their highest ambition to have five children and a beautiful house, their only fight to get and keep their husbands.” (Friedan 18) Still, because she is the perfect woman and Martha is decidedly rebellious of the stereotype, Honey is everything Martha is not.

Similar to the Martha-Honey dynamic, Nick is the ideal man and is thus everything George cannot be. Martha tells George he is “a blank, you’re a cipher…a zero” (17) because of his lack of manly attributes, such as a commanding nature, athletic ability, good looks and ability to control his emotions. She berates him for sulking early on: “are you sulking? Is that what you’re doing?” (12) Men should not sulk; they must be stoic. Years prior, George refused to box his taunting father-in-law and was made to feel like less of a man because of it (56). Enter Nick, the macho-man, everything George is not. Instantly, he is commanding: “I told you we shouldn’t have come.” (21); he is also stoic– he dryly responds “I am aware of that” (22) when Honey tells him he’s being “joshed.” Most of all, Nick is far more attractive and athletic than old, pudgy George, described often as “about thirty, blond, and…good-looking” (9) and once as “quarterback.” (151) He was even a middleweight boxing champion (51). Martha has physical competition issues, too, with the young, skinny Honey: “I’m six years younger than you are,” (15) George says to Martha, implying that she is old and useless because she’s no longer young and pretty. Martha then foreshadows George’s inability to measure up against Nick: “Well…you’re going bald.” (15) Thus, George is ugly, unmanly and no longer virile. He feels threatened: “I said I was impressed, Martha. I’m beside myself with jealousy.” (49)

Albee uses George and Martha to show the effects when a society crams definitive, non-pliable gender roles down the throats of women and men. Nick and Honey’s presence shows that even those that strive to be the ideal cannot sustain the image without serious consequences. All four characters are damaged irrevocably and act out via violence, alcoholism and infidelity as substitutes for happiness and ways to forge identity. Engaging in this behaviors makes them feel something, anything when their gender identity feels nonexistent. Being seductive makes Martha feel like a woman and being violent lets George play out his macho fantasies.

Additionally, each of the four characters has ways in which he or she loses any sense of gender identity (they don’t feel like real women or real men) because of certain events. As Friedan repeatedly notes, the sole purpose for the 1962 woman was to be a good wife and produce babies: “All they had to do was devote their lives from earliest girlhood to finding a husband and bearing children.” (Friedan 16) Martha is unable to have children and is thus incapable of fulfilling her only supposed purpose in life. Finkelstein points out that:

Martha reveals to us the emptiness and loss she feels when, childless, she is an outcast at sex-segregated faculty parties and is tempted to mention their imaginary son…Martha feels that she doesn’t exist: she had no other dreams but to be a mother, and then she couldn’t do that. (Finkelstein 55)

For all intents and purpose, she feels she is not a woman and it eats her up. Conversely, we have Honey, who embodies all the attributes of the perfect early 60′s woman. She rebels against the path by refusing to have babies. Laura Julier points out this juxtaposition, that Martha cannot be a stereotypical woman and Honey to refuses to be the stereotypical woman.

Since he doesn’t fit the manly-man image, George feels almost non-existent: “Don’t I sort of fade into the backgrounds…get lost in the cigarette smoke?” (32) Though he agrees, other comments from Martha emasculate George further: “he’s not completely sure it’s his own kid.” (71) Here, Martha overpowers George to humiliate him and elevate herself, but there are fewer things more threatening to manhood in 1962 than by claiming someone’s (albeit imaginary) child is not their own; a man does not want to be a cuckold. Albee uses George’s emasculation once more to make a clear parallel to the lack of options for women in that period of America: “I did run the History Department, for four years, during the war, but that was because everybody was away. Then …everybody came back.” (38) George’s colleagues essentially see him as the then-current idea of a woman: useless, but able to fill in at a job of prestige in an absolute emergency. This is exactly like the woman-dominated home front workforce of World War II because the regular male workers were in the armed forces. George, like the enraged female workers of 1941-1945, was degraded when he was forced to return to his proper place.

Also, both George and Nick married their not out of love or because they were sexual conquerors, which would be preferable. Nick married Honey for money: “GEORGE: Sure, I’ll bet she has money, too!…NICK: Yes.” (102) George married Martha in an ultimately futile attempt to rise in the hierarchy of the college. Julier notes that the revelation that both men married their wives for money is ultimately an emasculating and embarrassing revelation because it shows they are reliant on women for their livelihood, a big no-no for a true macho man. (Julier 36)

Nick’s relationship with Honey is tenuous at best. They first knew each other as children, playing doctor (104). “A scientist even then,” (105) as George points out. Nick goes on to speak of their loveless marriage: “I wouldn’t say there was any…particular passion between us, even at the beginning.” Nick reveals that he had to marry Honey mostly because they thought she was pregnant. It’s almost as if Nick, who was forced to marry Honey and doesn’t particularly like her is harboring a latent homosexual nature. This is simply unacceptable in 1962, as Honey quietly notes: “Two grown men dancing…heavens!” (124)

In order to prove, or fake his manly, heterosexual nature, Nick engages in a quick, lurid sexual encounter with Martha (163). In fact, it is their problems with identity and self-expression within a sexist culture that lead the four characters to act out via near infidelity and heavy drinking. Alcohol is a social lubricant and a social liberator; alcohol gives Martha courage to say what she wants, it gives Honey a personality and proactivity, it gives George wit and Nick a dark side. Only through drinking and possibly by blaming it on the booze later, can these characters ever communicate and express themselves openly.

Though what the foursome do (making up a son, drinking, violence, “hysterical pregnancies,” latent homosexuality) isn’t necessarily the real-life result of gender roles, they are examples to get across Albee’s point that gender roles destroy the ideas of “man,” “woman,” and make determining personal identity difficult for those who don’t fit the mold. It’s also highly prescient and protofeminist that Albee structures this analysis of gender roles within a marriage. Finkelstein theorizes that marriages cannot stand under such highly regulated gender role circumstances and that marriage is thus outmoded because women are given so few options in their lives. (Finkelstein 51)

The most telling prophecy lies in Nick’s genetic project that aims for the perfection of the human species, a clear reference to 1962′s quiet, forced demand to conform to the images of the ideal woman and man. George notes: “we will have a civilization of men, smooth, blond and right at the middleweight limit.” (65) There will be no room in society for the unfit (George), the unintelligent (Honey) or female (Martha). Only Nick remains, and even he is flawed, proof that these gender roles are impossible to emulate. As Finkelstein notes, all four characters are afraid of Virginia Wolf, because she is, in 1962, the only icon of female equality society had. (Finkelstein 64)

Works Cited

Albee, Edward. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? New York: Atheneum House, 1962.

Finkelstein, Bonnie Blumenthal. “Albee’s Martha: Someone’s Daughter, Someone’s Wife,

No One’s Mother.” American Drama (5) no. 1, Fall 1995. pg. 51-70.

Friedan, Betty. The Feminine Mystique. New York: WW. Norton & Company, 1963.

Julier, Laura. “Faces to the Dawn: Female Characters in Albee’s Plays.” Edward Albee:

Planned Wilderness. Interviews, Essays and Bibliography. ed. Patricia De La

Fuente. Edinburg, Texas: Pan American University Print Shop, 1980.

Vogel, Paula. How I Learned to Drive. New York: Dramatists Play Service, 1998.

Related:

• Gender Roles and the Media
• The Underlying Genders in ‘Sex and the City’
• A Means to an End
• Mary McCarthy: “The Company She Keeps”

Introduction

Five months after the Gulf war in 1991, on The New York Times Richard Bernstein was writing: “If this war has produced a surge of national pride reminiscent of 1918 and 1945, there is no guarantee that it will, like the Civil war, the two World wars, and the conflicts in Korea and Vietnam, produce a commensurate art”. Nowadays the question raises even stronger in relation to the Iraqi war in 2003. Since the 9/11 attacks to the Twin Towers things have changed forever. However, if Hollywood imagination did not and still does not seem to be captured by the Gulf war, this time the involvement of American stars, filmmakers, producers in the last Iraqi war is huge. It cannot be compared to the Hollywood participation during and after the World War II, the era of the “studio system in uniform” (McAdams, 2002: 34-39). However, something strong has happened before, during and after this recent conflict. The war has divided stars, filmmakers and producers that have participated actively against or in favour. They sent president Bush letters, they petitioned, they delivered speeches at different events. They felt the fear of a blacklist as it happened during the World War II. The Screen Actors Guild warned: “The entertainment industry must not blacklist people who speak out against war in Iraq”, as the Associated press reported on 4 March 2003. The 75th Academy Award on 23 March in Los Angeles was inevitably centred on the war as this broke out just a few days before the ceremony.

Hollywood and the wars

The war film is a genre that has always marked the Hollywood film history since the very beginning. Before the nickelodeon era, around the end of nineteenth century, one of the key factors that saved the American film industry was the Spanish-American war (1898-1902). People wanted to know more and more about the war and the filmmakers started making movies that, at this stage, were concentrated on the reality.

There is no doubt that the majority of war movies made by Hollywood concern World War II and the Vietnam War. During World War II, the Americans that went to the war were 16,112,556; of these 291,557 died in battle. During the Vietnam War, the total service members were 9,200,000; the American deaths were 47,410 in battle and there were 10,788 deaths in theater 1. In these two wars the Americans lost thousands of victims, faced atrocity and brutality, and an unexpectedly long war in Vietnam where the conflict lasted eleven years.

In World War II Hollywood was asked to be more than supportive. The studio system started working for the government. Many stars went to the war. “The U.S. government called directly upon the Hollywood establishment to make films supporting the war effort. Immediately after Pearl Harbour and the German declaration, the Pentagon asked the prominent Columbia director Frank Capra to make a series of propaganda films. These were to explain to American soldiers and sailors why their country was in the war and why they were obliged to help foreign countries”. (Thompson and Bordwell, 2003: 313).

With the Vietnam War Americans faced the “longest and most divisive war” (McAdams, 2002:193). “Television pictures of Vietnam, according to President Nixon, showed the terrible human suffering and sacrifice of war […] the result was a serious demoralization of the home front, raising the question whether America would ever again be able to fight an enemy abroad with unity and strength of purpose at home”. (Hallin, 1986, cited in Thussu and Freedman, 2003)

“The Vietnam war seared the nation’s conscience and psyche so much that it caused one president to decline to run again and began a chain of events that led to his successor’s resignation. No other war in America can make that claim”. (McAdams, 2002: 193-194) The war burst into the houses showing brutality and death. Hollywood felt strongly the emotion of a nation and started making films. They are still making huge films about Vietnam. They made films while the war was still fighting; the major of these was the Batjac Production of the Robin Moore book The Green Berets (1968), with John Wayne starring and directing.

Three Kings

The Gulf war in 1991 did not have the same impact as the World War II and the Vietnam War on the Americans’ conscience in spite of the greater television coverage. “While the Vietnam War was given to American homes every evening, the Gulf War played on CNN day and night”. (McAdams, 2002: 262). “TV news’ obsession with high-tech war reporting has grown since the 1991 US attack against Iraq. CNN’s coverage of the Gulf War, for the first time in history, brought military conflict into living room”. (Thussu and Freedman, 2003:124) However, the huge information about the war did not produce the same effect on the Americans as it was in the Vietnam era.

During the Vietnam War the television coverage made the Americans sad, in 1991 it was different. Desert storm meant a different kind of war, a war that did not show blood and brutality, a war in which U.S. lost 148 service members in battle, a real war showed in TV as a movie. This high-tech and virtual war was “its own triumphant movie – a war fought and celebrated on TV then quickly forgotten” (Hoberman, 2000).

Since the Gulf War Hollywood has made only one movie about the war. It is Three Kings, directed by David O.Russell and released in September 1999. It is a story about three soldiers that when the war was over discovered a map with a location of a cache of gold ingots that were stolen by Saddam Hussein during the Kuwait invasion. Major Archie Gates, interpreted by George Clooney, sets the operation that will lead the soldiers through a disputable mission that will end with Gates’ decision to give the gold ingots to a group of 100 Iraqi refugees that the American soldiers helped to reach the Iranian border. So, at the end, the film shows inevitably the good face of America.

Another movie set in the Gulf war is Courage Under Fire (1996) based on a script by a Vietnam veteran Patrick Duncan. However, Desert Storm represents just the backcloth to show that women can handle combat situation.

Even though during the last decade the production of war films about Desert Storm was nearly non-existent, there was a resurgence of past wars movies. Since 1991 Hollywood made many films about past wars: Schindler ‘s List (1993) directed by Steven Spielberg, about the Nazism; Forrest Gump (1994) with Vietnam combat scenes; Saving Private Ryan (1998) directed by Steven Spielberg, a flashback of a World War II veteran; The Thin Red Line (1998) directed by Terrence Malick; U-571 (2000) World war II submarine film; The Patriot (2000) the story of Benjamin Martin in the American revolution (1775-1783); Black Hawk Down (2001) a Ridley Scott film on the Restore Hope operation in Mogadishu.

“War films from past wars continued to make contemporary statements”. (McAdams, 2002: 253). “The Gulf war era, beginning in 1990, in American war films, brought about more story angles to past wars, going back to our first. It also opened the gates for more war films, particularly about World war II”. (McAdams, 2002: 276)

Hollywood reactions

The Gulf War has been underestimated as a potential plot for a good and successful movie in Hollywood. And one of the most important reasons, underlined by the majority of the critics, seems to be the TV effect, the high-tech and virtual representation of the war. In some ways, the Iraqi war in 2003 was even more virtually represented than it has been hitherto and the coverage was larger and from more perspectives than before. According to the latest statistics published on the CNN website, since March to early December 443 U.S. troops have been killed in the Iraq war, 306 from hostile fire, of those 191 have died after president Bush declared an end to major combat on May 1. This time the number of American deaths has more than doubled in comparison to the Gulf War. However, is it the number of casualties that makes a difference in the fictional representation of a war? It is true to say that in the most “cinematized” wars, as World War II and Vietnam, Americans lost thousands of men, but the number of victims is not significant enough to explain why a war is more or less represented on the big screen.

In comparison with the Gulf War, this time there are many more reasons to dissuade the Hollywood filmmakers from making films about this war. However, there are also more reasons to urge them to make films because of the high dissent before, during and after the Iraqi freedom operation.

It seems to be much more difficult to make films about this war due to the very sensitive relationships and the difficulties of communications between U.S. and Muslims. This time the decision to make a film involves political, economic and diplomatic matter more than hitherto. In an interview to the Wall Street journal, on 10 October 2003, when Jonathan Last asked why Hollywood hasn’t made movies about the war on terror Jack Valenti, the head of the Motion Picture association of America, said: “Who would you have as the enemy if you made a picture about terrorism? You’d probably have Muslims, would you not? If you did, I think there would be backlash from the decent, hard-working, law-abiding Muslim community in the country”. Talking about the last Iraqi war, Hollywood could not ignore the 9/11 attacks to the Twin Towers. So it becomes a very difficult issue to be addressed.

However, something could be different now. The protest and the dissent in Hollywood were considerable. Furthermore, the war divided world opinion; it divided Hollywood opinion as well. Before the conflict many stars and filmmakers made statements against the war. In a petition signed by stars such as Tim Robbins, Susan Sarandon, Angelica Huston, Matt Damon, Jessica Lange, Mia Farrow Vincent D’Onofrio and many others, it was declared: “Such a war will increase human suffering, arouse animosity toward our country, increase the likelihood of terrorist attacks, damage the economy, and undermine our moral standing in the world. […] We reject the doctrine that our country, alone, has the right to launch first-strike attacks”.

On the other hand, there were positions in favour of the war. Harrison Ford and Steven Spielberg, for instance, supported president Bush politics about Iraq. The director of war epics Saving Private Ryan and Schindler’s list, in an article written by Julian Coman from Washington and published on the Daily Telegraph months before the war, said: “If Bush, as I believe, has reliable information on the fact that Saddam Hussein is making weapons of mass destruction, I cannot not support the policies of his government”.

Stars as John Travolta and Tom Cruise gave diplomatic answer when journalists asked their opinions. They said that they did not know what think about the Iraqi war or that they did not have enough information to declare anything.

It happened a few months ago. Probably it is yet too early to see whether this war produces movies and how many it will; however it is the right time to understand the signs that are coming.

Documentary season

This time is the time of the documentaries. Hollywood filmmakers seems to be very interested in making documentaries, in making something closer to the news than to the fiction to show their opinions, to further investigate these issues. This time can be defined as the documentary season. It started after the 9/11, but it is developing now more than ever. The documentaries produced are not just about the war or the attacks to the Twin Towers. They are also about social problems even if the film camera is centred on the war in Iraq and the war on terror.

The success of this form of “reality-art” is huge. Over 30 millions of Americans have seen Bowling for Columbine, the documentary made by Michael Moore and released in U.S. on 11 October 2002. Last March the American filmmaker won the Oscar for the best documentary feature. According to Matthew Ross on Variety last November, “Bowling for Columbine continued to score at the box office, collecting $5 million of its more than $21 million income this year”. The latest box office data show: total U.S. gross earnings $21,575,958 on a $3 million production budget and worldwide gross earnings of $40 million 2. Michael Moore is one of the most active in the Hollywood firmament against the war and against president Bush. During the Oscar Night 2003 he took the podium. The Qatar television Al Jazeera referred part of his speech. He said: “We live in a time with fictitious election results that elect fictitious presidents. We live in a time when we have a man sending us to war for fictitious reasons. We are against this war Mr. Bush. Shame on you. Shame on you!”

A few weeks ago, Moore’s new book “Dude, where’s my country?” has been published. In it he strongly criticized (and it should not be different) the White House on various matters: not only on the war on terror or the Iraqi war, but also, for example, about health insurance. Furthermore, Michael Moore is preparing another documentary in which examines what happened to the U.S. after September 11. It is called Fahrenheit 911. Moore’s new work, produced by Mel Gibson’s Icon Productions, should be completed for submission to Cannes 2004. The theatrical release should be before the presidential election next November, as Moore himself has declared in several interviews.

In these days, it is imminent the theatrical release of The Fog of War, an Errol Morris documentary that covers political events in U.S. history as seen through the eyes of former Secretary of Defense, Robert McNamara, that is the star of this documentary.

Robert Greenwald, producer and director, that made Xanadu, starring Olivia Newton-John, has spent several months investigating the Iraqi war. The result is a documentary film released a month ago in U.S. and called Uncovered: the whole truth about the Iraq war. Robert Greenwald interviewed, as Randy Kennedy wrote on The New York Times on 6 November, “former diplomats, weapons inspectors, scientists and career spies to try to show that the Bush administration misled the public and Congress in the lead-up to the invasion of Iraq”.

Another filmmaker that is investigating the war, in particular the relationship with the Muslim world is Charles Stuart. He was in the Middle East to film Hollywood & the Muslim world, an investigation on the impact of American TV and movies from Cairo to Baghdad, as the Los Angeles Times reported on the 14 July newspaper edition when the documentary has been aired on satellite on the AMC cable channel.

Political dramas

If it is a documentary season, the months after the Iraqi war will be also remembered as “a powerful time for political drama”, as stated in the headline of a Financial Times article published in the Creative business section on 4 November 2003. The West Wing, starring Hollywood star Martin Sheen (captain Willard in Apocalypse now), has been living a season of resurgence. It leapt from 24th to 11th in the US ratings, as reported Neal Koch on the Financial Times. He also refers the opinion of Robert J. Thompson, a professor of popular culture at the University of Syracuse: “Suddenly, politics is no longer just the stuff of C-Span [the US channel which broadcasts from Capitol Hill]. It’s become the stuff of soap operas”. Robert Caro, the two time Pulitzer Prize winning historian and biographer, in the same article argues: “There is a tremendous change with The West Wing and HBO movies […]. The level at which politics is portrayed is much higher than it’s been before”.

One of the HBO programm is K Street, developed by Steven Soderbergh and George Clooney. K Street is not a situation comedy, it can be defined a political docudrama. “It is a semi-fictional inside-look at Washington lobbyists and consultants, starring, among others, James Carville, one of former president Bill Clinton’s chief political strategists, and his wife, Mary Matalin, until recently a senior aide to vice-president Dick Cheney. The couple play themselves. […] Stuart Stevens, a K Street co-producer and Republican political consultant who made commercials for president Bush’s 2000 campaign, insists that the market for scripts about politicians remains the strongest he’s seen in his nine years of selling”.

Furthermore, a few days ago in Los Angeles there was a world premiere presentation of a drama in one act written and directed by Tim Robbins. It is called Embedded and it is a satire about journalists embedded with American troops at the front.

Coming productions

There is not one single movie on the Hollywood horizon about the Iraqi war for the moment. Probably it is too early to see projects about a war that is still causing death and destruction.

The only film that will be produced in the next few months and that has got a very small reference to Iraq is The Jacket. It will be directed by John Maybury and produced by Steven Soderbergh, George Clooney and Peter Guber. The reference is just because the protagonist Billy Starks, played by the Oscar winner Adrian Brody, is a Gulf war veteran. But that is it. In fact it is a thriller. The veteran has accused of a murder that he does not remember committing.

For what concerns the coming productions, they seem to continue the era of war films from the past. In fact in the latest Variety film production chart, there is some new war films production3.

Kingdom of heaven, produced and directed by Ridley Scott, is the story of a blacksmith who helps Jerusalem to fight against Crusades. It is a historical-epic set in 12th century. It will be shot next year in Morocco.

Closing the ring, starring Shirley McLain, is set in Belfast during the World War II. Richard Attenborough will direct it

The filthy war, directed by Laszlo Hege, is about the war in the former Yugoslavia. A group of young volunteers create an international platoon to defend a village in Croatia at the beginning of the Yugoslav civil war (1991) against the nationalist, ethnic-cleansing Serbs.

Conclusion

This war is a very difficult war to be chosen as a plot for a movie. It is not just for the TV effect as it was in the Gulf era. It is true that the television coverage has been greater than in 1991 and it could not be different. Technological transformations have made easier to do information. This war has been represented as virtual, as a Nintendo more than ever. However, this is not the principal reason why Hollywood filmmakers could keep their distance from this war. It is a difficult war for all the implications that this conflict brought. The relationships with the Muslim world are at a very crucial and sensitive stage. The anti-americanism is stronger than ever. So the responsibility in making a film is enormous.

However, the dissent of several filmmakers and stars was and still is very strong. They were against the Iraqi freedom operation and are still demonstrating their disapproval. Their first projects are taking shape even if there is not one single film on the Hollywood horizon about the Iraqi conflict. It is likely that they will decide to make movies to show what was wrong in this war. They have things to say. They have things that they want to say. Furthermore, they know that this controversial war could be a success at the box office because the anti-war feeling is growing up in Western countries.

Paraphrasing the New York Times headline, there is evidence that more than before it will be difficult to answer the question: “Will the Iraqi war produce enduring art?”

Bibliography

Books

McAdams, F. The American war film – History and Hollywood Westport, Connecticut, and London, Praeger.

Thompson, K and Bordwell D. Film History – An Introduction New York, McGraw-Hill.

Thussu, D K and Freedman D. War and the media London, Sage.

Newspaper articles

Last, Jonathan. Taste: War? What War? Wall Street Journal.

Kennedy, Randy. A screening with stars but a focus on Politics The New York Times.

Rosenberg, Howard. Hollywood’s effect on Muslim world attitudes Los Angeles Times.

Koch, Neal. A powerful time for political drama Financial Times (Creative business).

Websites

“Hollywood doesn’t go to war” Los Angeles, Associated press.

Department of Veterans affairs, Washington.

Hoberman, J “Burn, blast, bomb, cut” London, Sight and Sound.

Hollywood anti-war letter to president Bush.

Coman, J “Hollywood goes to war” Washington, Daily Telegraph.

Ross, M “Real potential” Variety.

Bowling for Columbine.

“Bremer predicts an increase in attacks in Iraq”, CNN.

The Fog of war.

1 The statistics about the World war II and the Vietnam war are from the Department of Veteran affairs, Office of Public Affairs, Washington

2 The numbers are from the website The numbers specialized in box office data

3 The information about the plot of the movies are assumed from different websites:
http://www.variety.com
http://www.imdb.com
http://www.movietome.com

Related:

• How the U.S. Media Promotes War as Entertainment
• What is the role of Public Diplomacy to U.S. Foreign Policy?

The play Everyman is classified as a morality play although it contains Christian views of monotheism, salvation and redemption through confession. One example of the religious framework of the play is when Everyman seeks atonement during his confession: “Redempt with heart and full contrition, /For I am commanded a pilgrimage to take/And great accounts before God to make” (Everyman 2133). Not much is known about the author of the play.

Some speculate that Everyman is similar to the Dutch play Elckerlyc. It is possible that one story is a translation of the other. The title Elckerlyc in fact means “everyman” and the plays were both released around 1495 (Cawley 205). Even naming the author of the Dutch play is an elusive task; both the unknown Petrus Diesthemus and the Carthusian monk Petrus Dorlandus are named as possible authors (National). Other speculated authors of the play Everyman include Ernest Rhys’ theory that the author must have been imaginative and was most likely a churchman (Rhys xviii). Quite simply, very little can be learned about the specific genius behind this masterpiece. However, other information regarding the play is available. From studying beyond the play Everyman, readers can observe the development of drama during that time, the types of plays created in that time and various interpretations of contemporary readers.

In medieval Europe, the growth of drama was characterized by three different factors: religion, recreation and commerce. The earliest Christian dramas began as part of festivals celebrating the events in a Christian year. The religious holidays, such as Christmas and Easter, were acted out and eventually evolved with each year (Wickham, Medieval 11). As the plays began to grow in size and popularity, the play relocated to the churchyard and continued on to the entire town. Plays were performed outdoors and were accessible to anyone who desired to observe. The play Everyman was written in such a way that it could have easily been performed for an outside audience (Lawall 2119). Leisure time has existed since pre-Christian primitive Europe. There existed many festivals to celebrate various seasons and traditions during that time. As towns and time progressed, other forms of leisure activity, or recreation, became necessary. The dramatic plays of the time, much like television today, served as recreational and educational functions. With every new play in production, the characters grew in number and the performances increased in size. As drama became more elaborate, it was apparent that “any serious development of the art is intimately related to questions of money” (Wickham, Medieval 1). Those involved in dramas of that time realized that it takes money to make money.

The evolution of medieval plays can be traced from the church to the play Everyman. The plays that originated in the church are referred to as Miracle plays. Sarah Lawall in The Norton Anthology of World Literature describes miracle plays simply as plays that contain scriptural content (2119). Robert Potter, in The English Morality Play, describes miracle plays to be based upon the lives of the saints. Miracles began with the Christian church dramatizing the events inThe Bible. The Feast of Corpus Christi generated a play of the same name. The Corpus Christi cycle plays depicted Christ’s “Passion” which began at Jerusalem and ended with the resurrection. In 1311, the miracle play became associated with Corpus Christi Day, the year in which the festival was acknowledged (Cawley x). From the expansion of miracle plays out the church and into the towns, individual guilds created Mystery plays. Although Potter describes mystery plays as those based on scripture, both Wickham and Lawall recognize these plays as being acted by craftsmen in order for an occupation to be demonstrated.

Continuing along the evolution of medieval plays is the morality play, of which Everyman is considered one of the most significant of this type. A morality play can best be described as ”based on the struggle between vices and virtues” (Potter 7). The morality play contains a message that can be applied to anyone and are appropriate at any time. The morality play was written with more emphasis on discussion than on recounting a story. The plays were written using vernacular learned by popular education in order for commoners to easily comprehend the story. Everyman, like most morality plays, creates situations and characters that are abstract in the play but represent actual conflicts that humanity faces (Lawall 2120). Ironically, two characteristics of morality plays from the fifteenth to the sixteenth centuries were exempt from Everyman. These characteristics are personified vices and vulgar humor. Although lacking these two ingredients, the strength of the play lies in the lesson it teaches “that the recognition of one’s mortality forces reconsideration of personal values and a search for salvation” (Homan).

The play Everyman was written without alluding to specific situations. The play can be just as easily applied to modern readers as it was to the audiences in the townspeople of 1495. In London in 1901, William Poel, founder of the Elizabethan Stage Society, discovered the play Everyman and decided to begin production on it. At that time, it was against the law to present God as a character in a play. The show, however, did go on. According to Robert Potter, “the reviews were enthusiastic, numerous, and unanimously glowing” (2). This example is evidence of the applicability of this play to many different audiences.

In an article in the Journal of Popular Film & Television, Richard Homan wrote about the appearance of Everyman in modern cinema. It was interesting to read how Homan compared the play to various characters in movies such as “Ghost,” “Regarding Henry,” and “Switch.” Homan includes in his article a list of seven scenarios of Everyman that modern films must achieve in order to be compared to the medieval original. The first scenario includes a depiction of the troubled life Everyman leads. The play Everyman reads, “They use the seven deadly sins damnable, /As pride, coveitise, wrath, and lechery/Now in the world be made commendable” (Everyman 2122). In modern cinema, this poor lifestyle has been portrayed with unethical lawyers, sexually exploitative womanizers, or greedy snobs. The second scenario involves Everyman unexpectedly encountering death or a near-death experience. In Everyman, the protagonist is preparing for his death. The third scenario includes disillusionment of what matters in life. Everyman cherished his Goods in life, only for them to betray him in death. In the movies observed, the protagonists have placed too high a value on money and possessions.

Everyman, as portrayed then and now, wounded their Good Deeds with inattention and inaction. The fourth scenario relates to Good Deeds. This scenario features recognizing an unacknowledged partner. Whether Good Deeds or a devoted wife, these partners have been neglected by Everyman. The fifth scenario includes introduction of a guide to aid Everyman in his journey. In Everyman the protagonist turns inward to his knowledge for guidance. In modern depictions, the guide has come in many forms including mentors and strangers. In the sixth scenario, Everyman begins to amend his life. In Everyman, the protagonist goes to confession to heal his soul:

O glorious fountain that all uncleanness doth clarify,
Wash from me the spots of vice unclean,
That on me no sin may be seen.
I come with Knowledge for my redemption (2133, 545-548).

The modern Everyman characters seek to correct the errors of their lives in business dealings and personal relationships. The seventh scenario is a culmination of all the events of the story in a celebration of Everyman’s renewed life along with his partner. In Everyman, the protagonist faces his death with his life in order accompanied by Knowledge and Good Deeds. The modern comparisons of Everyman all have similar joyful endings.

Although centuries have passed and drama has taken on new venues, from the stage, to radio, to the big screen, the creation of Everyman is an everlasting masterpiece. The unknown author created a story that could entertain an audience while teaching a moral lesson. The play was written with a vernacular that could relate to common townspeople of medieval times but could also relate to modern, twenty-first century theatre and movie patrons. In a time when the Christian Church is no longer a stronghold in society and freedom from religious persecution is a right afforded in most countries across the globe, a play of this religious nature can still be enjoyed by many people. The religious tones of the story aid in teaching an important moral lesson without becoming overbearing. Regardless of religious affiliation, all men and women are to be held accountable for their lives. The test will come when worldly goods are worthless and companions are treacherous. When that time is presented only the knowledge possessed and the good deeds accomplished can determine the fate of a human. The play Everyman reads, “And he that hath his account whole and sound, /High in heaven he shall be crowned” (Everyman 2141). The story of Everyman is an all-encompassing play that could very well be an abstract of humanity.

Works Cited

Cawley, A.C. Everyman and Medieval Miracle Plays. New York: J.M. Dent & Sons, 1970.

Everyman. The Norton Anthology of World Literature, Volume B. 2nd ed. Ed. Sarah Lawall. New York. Norton, 1984. 2121-2141.

Homan, Richard L. “The Everyman Movie, Circa 1991.” Journal of Popular Film & Television. March 1, 1997. Communication & Mass Media Complete.

Lawall, Sarah. The Norton Anthology of World Literature. 2nd ed. New York: Norton, 1984. 2119-2120.

National Library of the Netherlands. “Elckerlijc – A Hundred Highlights.” Koninklijke Bibliotheek. 29 Elckerlijc.

Potter, Robert. The English Morality Play: Origins, History and Influence of a Dramatic Tradition. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1975.

Rhys, Ernest. Everyman’s Library. New York: J.M. Dent & Sons, 1909.

Wickham, Glynne. Early English Stages. Volume One 1300 to 1660. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1959.

Wickham, Glynne. The Medieval Theatre. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1974.

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The 1920′s were a time when the level of discrimination against women was at a minimum. Many automobile companies, such as Cadillac and Chevrolet even mentioned women’s autonomy in their advertisements. According to Chevrolet, their product “has that elusive something that women of discrimination have been demanding for years.” In addition, the ad in general is aimed at women, as its main theme is “The most beautiful Chevrolet in history” and depicts a peacock with blue, green, white, and orange feathers. The words “beautiful Chevrolet in history” also happen to be overlapping the colorful feathers. Moreover, there are no men depicted in the ad. Instead, there are two women in the car. The secondary theme in the ad is “Quality at low cost”, as “Chevrolet discloses that individuality and perfection of silhouette that you would expect to find in the costliest of custom-built creations.” The automobile in the ad happens to look like a silhouette when compared to the bright white background, as the car is dark gray in color.

Compositionally, the advertisement is balanced, as most of the words are placed in two columns in the center with one image above and another one below. Though the car, on the bottom, is dark and fairly large, there is a sense of balance between the two images due to the texture in the peacock’s feathers. In addition, the heading of the ad is in large serif letters overlapping the feathers, some of which are italicized. There are four separate fonts of various sizes used in the heading alone, and two others are used throughout the ad.

After the depression of the 1930′s, the main focus of the 1940′s became appearance and also asked the question, “What car company has the best quality and gives it to you for the smallest price?” This is also when competition among carmakers began heating up and manufacturers began targeting different audiences. For example, Chevrolet would publish an ad that read, “You’ll look a long, long time without finding any real equal to this car at any price”, while De Soto would counter by saying, “Success proves De Soto the smartest buy” and “…De Soto’s the car for anybody’s money.” Most automobile manufacturers aimed their advertisements toward the average American family, who had managed to survive through the depression during the previous years. De Soto depicted a family of three sitting in a car as they drove to a fair. Moreover, the family is buying cotton candy, while an onlooker tells the driver, “You must be mighty proud of that De Soto.” These are strong visuals, as it shows that the average family can have an attractive car and still have enough money to go out together and have fun. The font is fairly plain, as the header is sans serif, and the rest of the ad is serif. The only script in the ad is the slogan, “America’s smartest low-priced car.”

On the other hand, Chevrolet depicts its cars as classy and elegant, yet extremely affordable. Their black and white ad shows that colors are not what make a car elegant; rather, it is the overall design. Moreover, an elegant young lady stands in the foreground, which tells the viewer that if the average female were to buy the car depicted, they too would feel elegant and a part of upper-class society. After all, the ad’s header reads, “Meet the beauty leader – Bar none” in script. All of the other “advantages” and features are written in two columns below the picture using serif font.

With the 1960′s came giant Cadillacs and Buicks. Cars seemed to be getting bigger with each one built. This presented a problem, however. Their large size contributed to low fuel mileage, and thus, people had to pay more for gas and general maintenance than they should have. This sparked an interest in small, affordable economy cars. Volkswagen led the way with its Beetle. Many thought it was strange and a “novelty” when it first came out, but in 1962, the company published a simple advertisement encouraging people to “think small.” The ad incorporates the corner view of a small, black off-centered VW Beetle with a white background. There is nothing more, except for three columns of small text using sans serif font at the bottom. This basic ad is aimed at those of any age who have previously poked fun at the car and for those who are used to driving large cars and paying more for gas and service. The car is depicted as being virtually worry-free, as those who buy it don’t have to think about it’s excellent gas mileage or using “5 pints of oil instead of 5 quarts.” The only time its owner has to think about the car is when they “want to trade in their old VW for a new one.” Another company that has followed suit is Ford and its 1969 Cortina. The ad sparks similar emotions to the Volkswagen ad in that it reminds the viewer to “think over” buying an economy car over a larger car. In addition, it is another fairly simple ad that shows a window sticker with a list of options, including a parcel shelf and front disc brakes, all of which have “no charge” written next to them. Unlike the Volkswagen ad, which was aimed at a wide audience, this ad is aimed at females who know enough not to pay for extra features that are included at no charge by the Ford Motor Company, as the woman slightly smiling on the right seems to allude. The main visual is not that bold, as it is just sans serif font on a window sticker.

The use of modern technology in building cars had become popular by the 1980′s. Carmakers such as General Motors and Nissan promoted their products by attempting to offer more “electronics packages” than other companies. Since manufacturers saw the success of economy cars during the 1960s and 1970s, they implemented the technology in most makes and models, not just expensive luxury cars.

In 1981, General Motors proclaimed that technology had arrived and that they were the future of the automobile industry by depicting their product going through a wind tunnel not once, but twice in order to achieve perfection. Moreover, the car appears to be a computer-generated image that is fresh off of the drawing board. The black and white visual, itself, is fairly weak, but for its time period, it delivers a strong message, in that aerodynamics and technology within the automobile industry were rather new. The message is also repeated in the description of the ad below the image. The left and right margins of the text are also on an angle, adding some interest to the ad. Because the technology was new, General Motors marketed this ad toward younger people who had a better understanding of aerodynamics and power features than those who were older did.

A 1984 advertisement for Nissan depicted their car as “a world class sedan that doesn’t cost the world,” meaning that people didn’t have to pay extra for the power options and the implementation of modern technology, such as a keyless entry system. Like General Motors, Nissan is aiming its ad toward a younger audience and states that the Maxima’s engine “generates more horsepower than BMW, Audi, or a Porche 944.” In addition, the “standard power windows, cruise control, and stereo with cassette” appeal to younger audiences. But most importantly though, they “add up to one of the world’s most sophisticated sedans at any price.”

The pictured sedan toward the top of the page is on a gridded plane, making the car appear to be fresh off the drawing board. The italicized sans serif text is the only element that depicts motion, and the image between the two columns of text on the bottom of the ad shows the inside of the car and how plush and roomy it is. Overall, the advertisement works in that the viewers get an idea of what they are missing if they don’t already own “the most sophisticated sedan” with the best “technology”, “quality”, and “service plan”.

In conclusion, since the automobile has increasingly become such a part of our everyday lives over the years, the depictions in the industry’s advertisements show more than a campaign or a message, they depict the society and the style of art of their respective time periods. The 1920s were a time when advertisements were starting to target women, since only men had previously owned vehicles. Advertisers also stressed the car’s beauty, which was also apparent in the 1940s, after the depression. Those who couldn’t afford to own vehicles in the 1930s now could, and many families began buying them for road trips or drives down to the local fairgrounds. However, in the 1960s, quality and cost became a bigger factor than the car’s appearance, and economy cars became popular. The advertisements became more simplistic, as did the cars they were depicting. Viewers were also encouraged to “think small,” and this appealed to younger audiences, since drivers became younger. But as the 1980s rolled around, technology began being implemented in the construction and mechanisms of the automobiles. Like the 1960s, manufacturers depicted their cars as having better quality and reliability, but at a lower cost than most luxury cars. Some were even depicted as having smarter technology than luxury cars.

Today, people know about the quality and reliability, as well as the technology of automobiles. Most ads depict people having fun with their vehicles, such as a SUV driving over the Rocky Mountains or a person getting everything they want, including a fun Toyota sports car. The campaigns, audiences, and messages behind the advertisements may have changed over time, but the ultimate message has not. And that is generally great value and reliability for a low cost.  However, it is apparent now more than ever, with corporations marketing to younger audiences who generally wouldn’t have as much money as a middle-aged family man in the 1940s or 1960s.

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The Arts bring wonders to the community and the city of Philadelphia. Firstly it provides a tourist attraction which gives the city impressive revenue. For example, “The Salvador Dali exhibit generated a total economic impact of $54.9 million within the Philadelphia region, with a total direct economic impact of $30.7 million and a total indirect economic impact of $24.2 million” (GPTMC, pg 5, 2005). The Arts provide a service to those who reside in the region, with education and multi-cultural organizations that topic all interests and branch out to all demographics from the Asian- American Alliance to the India Music and Dance Society. The city is still growing but the fact remains that though the Arts are such a large part of Philadelphia society, it is still fragile and could be eliminated at any given time if organizations do not remain competitive, active in the community, and contributive to the city’s revenue. The purpose of researching this topic is to define and assess cultural organizations’ contributions to the city’s economy, example; jobs, spending and tax revenues. For Non-profit arts to remain competitive, researchers must look beyond obvious inputting and outputting costs. “Understanding how this region’s nonprofit cultural community contributes to our economy and its economic is a vital tool in building our economic future.” (PEL, pg. 3, 1998). In order to understand the purpose of this research, one must recognize the challenge.

The challenge is to capitalize on emerging opportunity, remaining competitive and increase revenue base. Nonprofit arts societies have a disadvantage of fragility as was mentioned earlier, in comparison to say, a local brewery or a bookstore that works independently, generating revenue for their own use. Nonprofit arts must focus on, tourism, restaurant sales, economic spending, jobs, creativity, political leanings, attracting talented people, to name just a few bullets on the agenda. All of those factors make it difficult for a mere handful of people to coordinate and facilitate these efforts. Many local nonprofit organizations must be involved.

Several organizations are involved to conduct research on economy – nonprofit arts and culture in Philadelphia. Three prominent organizations that stand out in this research are Pennsylvania council on the arts (PCA), Pennsylvania Economy League (PEL) and the National Endowment for the Arts. Pennsylvania Council on the arts or the PCA is “governed by a Council of 19 members – 15 private citizens and four members of the General Assembly. Citizen members are appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate. The Council sets the mission and goals for the agency, evaluates the PCA’s progress toward these goals, formulates policy, and makes final decisions on the use of funds” (PACouncilontheArts.org). The PCA has funded hundreds of art and community projects which makes them a key role in this research project and their role in this project is to provide data that includes – income trends, spending comparisons and non-profit cultural revenues. The Pennsylvania Economy League’s role in this research project is similar to that of the PCA in that their research reflects financial aspects of nonprofit arts. PEL is a research organization who’s mission is to provide information for all nonprofits in Southeastern Pennsylvania. PEL works directly with government officials to execute programs. PEL’s role in this research project is generally to collect massive amounts of information, conduct surveys to inevitably find solutions. In order to expand research to areas throughout the country, the National Endowment for the Arts or the NEA is crucial to this project in relationship to national art and culture. The NEA, based in Washington DC is by far the most important contribution to this research. Two advantages, being a national organization and sharing close ties with the US government and also has accessibility to global artistic relations. With these prominent organizations backing research on Philadelphia non-profit arts and the economy, several methods were used to calculate economic impact.

Three methods that stand out are: the IMPLAN model, surveying, and data mining. Pennsylvania Economic League chose to use IMPLAN to conduct research. IMPLAN stands for Impact analysis for Planning. With the use of this model, PEL was able to “build a customized model of the arts and culture sector within the Philadelphia region”. (PEL, pg 49, 1998) Using results from surveys conducted, the IMPLAN team collaborates to create charts and bar graphs that indicate everything from – Sources of contributed nonprofit cultural income to total spending impact, which includes tourist spending, audience spending and organization spending. PEL mails out detailed surveys to cultural centers, museums, galleries and theaters that ask questions relating to facilities, souvenir sales, and money spent on marketing and promotion, maintenance etc. PEL’s surveys ask about number of attendees for performances, lectures, and workshops. Once this information is sent back PEL, PCA collaborates to come up with defined theories. Pennsylvania Council on the Arts collects the data – figures, expense reports, government documents and works with PEL for the IMPLAN model to go into effect.

In summary these methods produced powerful results. It has shown that, “Greater Philadelphia’s nonprofit cultural industry is a $300 million industry with more than 5,500 direct full and part time employees” (PEL, pg 39, 1998) This study has also proven that the so called “new- dollars” or external funds are continuing to increase the city’s revenue. Tourism is definitely at large today, and will continue to thrive as well as branch off into different dimensions. This research was conducted by the Regional Arts and the Cultural Economy task force. The author defined the business research and the purpose, she then explained the business problem under investigation, identified all parties involved in conducting this research and described the methods used to conduct this project.

Cited

GPTMC Dali Hotel Package – Report on Survey Findings pg 5

Pennsylvania Economy League – Regional Arts and Culture Economic Initiative Greater Philadelphia’s Competitive Edge pg 3, 39, 49

About PCA Council Members

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However, as times changed, so did styles in photography. For example, although the focus of Darius Kinsey’s “Cedar, Washington” is a large cedar tree, horse and buggies can be seen in the photograph. Moreover, the landscape of America was changing, and the peak of the industrial revolution in the country was taking place during the late 1800′s and early 1900′s. Charles Sheeler, for example, is known for his photographs of the industrial Mid-West and proved to rural America that the landscape of the United States was changing.

Many photographers, including Alfred Stieglitz, continued with this movement, of showing modern technology and machinery. He forged ahead in the field of photography, though, despite public outcry and criticism. Many people felt that photography could not let one express him- or herself in the same way that painting would. A large percentage of the population also believed that what the camera caught was a false image and that it was too easy to touch up. Time and time again, Stieglitz, along with other photographers, proved them wrong with their moving photographs of modern society and nature (Szarkowski 5).

But above all, it was Stieglitz, who never lost sight of what photography was about, and he never lost sight of the importance of landscapes and the spirituality within them. “Rainbow,” at Lake George in New York, exemplifies this quality, as all of the characteristics of a traditional landscape photograph are incorporated into this picture. What makes this picture unique, though, is the rainbow that rises out of the mid-ground and above the low horizon line and mountains. The clouds in the photograph also add a luministic quality to the image, in that there is a break in them, just over the mountains, where the sun’s light is shining through. This, however, is just one of the examples of how Stieglitz uses the feeling of spirituality in his photographs.

This is also perhaps the focus of a series of photographs that were taken over a four- year period, toward the end of his career, which he called “Equivalent.” These photographs mainly focused on the sky and the cloud formations therein. Even though these pictures are dark, for the most part, one can “hear great music in the environment of nature with almost religious devotion” (Adams 15). This can further be supported by the fact that Stieglitz was also a musician and was therefore able to find music in photography and music in a photograph (Lyons, ed. 111).

The patterns of the clouds provide a feeling of passive relaxation and serenity, even though there is a great amount of contrast in shades from light to dark. In his “Equivalent” from 1930, the clouds give the viewer the impression of relaxing flames that are rising from the bottom left corner and are reaching toward the right. They tend to balance the photograph, in that since the cloud formations are angled, there isn’t a portion of the picture that seems too heavy. The photograph, in fact, seems balanced because this creates movement within it. This also frames the photograph on the right, although there are no actual objects there. The movement is what gives the illusion of a frame on the right. The clouds in the photograph are also in sharp focus, as the viewer can see every detail in the sky.

Stieglitz did two other photographs in 1930 that were part of the Equivalent series that are similar to the first, although they are not quite as dark. The contrast, however, is comparable, as there are silhouettes of the tops of trees toward the bottom of both photographs. In the second photograph that he took, the branches appear to be rising from the bottom of the picture plain, adding to the movement of the clouds. There are no actual framing techniques used in this photograph, although it appears as if the patterns of the clouds end behind the silhouette of the trees, toward the bottom of the image.

In the third image that he did in 1930, there is a greater contrast than in the second, in that the sky appears to be almost black in some areas, while the clouds are a bright white in other areas. This picture is framed by the negative space that the clouds provide, on the right-hand side, since Stieglitz did not cut the clouds off in this section of the photograph. It is because of this, along with the idea of incorporating part of a silhouetted tree toward the bottom right of the photograph, that it appears to be framed on the right. Like the other two photographs, there is nothing that is out of focus. This doesn’t take any life away from the image, though, as one would tend to think. Instead, it only adds interest, due to the designs and patterns of the clouds, and it helps to give an overall feeling of peace and serenity to the photograph. Another interesting point in this image is that even though it gives the feeling of serenity, there is a definite counter-clockwise movement throughout the picture plain. This contrast in styles and ideas only pulls the viewer in even more to the beauty of the sky.

I find these photographs to be extremely interesting for a number of reasons. First, there is a contrast in styles that make up the photograph, in that there is a great amount of contrast from light to dark in them, and there is definitely movement with them, yet they still give the overall feeling of tranquility and relaxation. It is also interesting how the trees are left underexposed, giving the impression of silhouettes, due to the back light of the clouds and sky. But most importantly, since I am a musician, I can hear the music that Alfred Stieglitz is trying to represent through his images. They are extremely soothing to look at, yet they are so moving and motivating. It is for these reasons that I was attracted to Stieglitz’s “Equivalent” series while searching through countless photographs. Just like Stieglitz and his photographs of clouds, I too, am moved when it comes to my art and music. In the words of Stieglitz, “When I am moved by something, I feel a passionate desire to make a lasting equivalent of it. But what I put down must be as perfect in itself as the experience that has generated my original feeling of having been moved” (Norman 39).

Bibliography

Adams, Ansel. These We Inherit. San Francisco: The Sierra Club, 1962: 14-15.

Herko, Robert. The Kodak Book of Practical 35mm Photography. New York: Gallery Books, 1988: 33 and 35.

Lyons, Nathan, ed. Photographers on Photography. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1966: 111.

Norman, Dorothy. Alfred Stieglitz – Introduction to an American Seer. New York: Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1960: 27, 38, 39, 41, 42, 44, 49, 63.

Szarkowski, John, ed. The Photographer and the American Landscape. New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 3-5, 21, 22, 45.

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The Story of Joseph was painted around 1485. It is a tempera and gold leaf on panel painting and was designed as a decorative wall panel. This painting is a series of narratives beginning on the left side and moving towards the bottom left corner, top left corner, back into the center, up to the top right corner, and ending at the bottom right. The painting does not have any atmospheric perspective and the space is very compressed. There are many small details and the painting caters to the viewer’s eye. The figures are very still and monument-like, and while movement is implied, the figures seem as though they are posing. Nothing is idealized in this painting and there is very little concern for realism. The primary concern of this painting is to tell the story of Joseph with as much detail as possible in the space provided. The coloring is limited to mainly different shades of green, red, and yellow. From the shadows we can see that there is a light coming in from the left side of the painting. The artist also made inscriptions on the painting, identifying the main characters in the story.

The iconography of this painting is very important in order to fully understand the meaning of the painting itself. The story of Joseph, Jacob’s favorite son, is drawn from the Old Testament. The key points of the story are depicted in this painting. The story begins in the middle of the painting on the left side of the middle column of the building. Here, Jacob is seated with his youngest son by his side and he is telling Joseph to be a shepherd. To the left of this scene Joseph is walking away and directly above Jacob (in the arch of the building) there is the scene of Joseph herding sheep with his brothers. This scene is painted right above the figure of Jacob on his throne and it looks almost as though these are Jacob’s thoughts as he is seated. To the left of the shepherding scene, Joseph’s jealous brothers have thrown him into a well, wanting to kill him. His brothers then decided it would be better to make money off Joseph rather than just kill him, so they decide to sell him off to merchants as a slave and send him to Egypt, which is the scene on the top right of the painting. Inside the building again, in the center of the painting, Joseph’s brothers have brought a blood-smeared coat to their father as evidence that Joseph is dead. What is not presented in this picture is the fact that Joseph becomes an important figure in Egypt over time and he brings other people to Egypt as well. The bottom right corner of the painting shows Joseph on a horse taking people with him to Egypt. The painting is divided into two parts by the middle column of the building in the center. To the left of this middle pillar are the scenes of Joseph when he is alive, and to the right of the post are scenes of Joseph’s life after Jacob thinks he is dead. There is clearly more light on the left side of the painting, even the sky is clearer on the left side. The shadows reveal that the light source is on the left side which is symbolic of a divine light shining on Joseph’s life.

The pictorial devices Biagio d’Antonio uses in this painting are characteristic of Renaissance paintings. This painting was made in 1485, at a time when artists began to paint not only for churches but also for the art market, and also at a time when classical writings became the inspiration for some paintings. Obviously this painting was inspired by the story of Joseph from the Old Testament. This painting almost has a Northern Renaissance style to it more than Italian Renaissance. Northern Renaissance paintings are not very atmospheric; they privilege the eye over the body and these artists usually embedded the surface of the painting with details. These devices can be seen in Robert Campin’s Merode Altarpiece, which was painted around 1425. The Merode Altarpiece is a panel painting meant to stimulate private prayer. The center of this panel painting shows the main scene of the conception of Christ in a contemporary Flemish house. Like The Story of Joseph, Robert Campin’s piece is strongly symbolic and theological. There is a lot of visual information, many details, and each object is carefully crafted so the viewer can notice it. Campin and d’Antonio use many similar pictorial strategies. The coloring is limited to just different shades of two or three colors and the figures appear as though they are completely still, no movement is stressed. Campin’s painting is not in one-point perspective and the whole painting is in a box-like space. The composition of The Story of Joseph is much like that of Campin’s Merode Altarpiece.

Renaissance art is generally concentrated on religion. Artwork of this time was usually made for churches and depicted some religious figure or story. These works of art were sometimes made to stimulate prayer, and sometimes to provide a visualization of the Catholic mass or to explain certain Biblical stories for the illiterate. Biagio d’Antonio’s painting, The Story of Joseph, is a typical Renaissance painting not only because of its content, but also because of the different techniques the artist used to make the painting.

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Early photography, although intriguing, lacked advanced technologies that were greatly needed. Through experimentation, many improvements were made to the photographic process. For example, exposure time was shortened, posing became less rigid, and there was not such an overdependence on light anymore. Photographs could now come in a range of sizes and transferred onto various materials making this art form exceptionally appealing to the public.

As stated in our lecture discussion, “the sea of images in which we dwell began with the success of the commercial portrait.” In other words, this new form of portraiture ultimately changed society.

This new form of portraiture strengthened society’s culture. Photographs were now able to be placed into albums and books, enabling individuals to gain access to new knowledge. Also, since photographs could be sent through the mail, many people could send pictures to families and friends, thus strengthening communication between societies.

Photography also solidified the economy. Inexpensive production and reduced exposure time allowed output to increase, ultimately creating a range of choices for the buyer. Not only did it expand choices for the buyer, it also enlarged the target market. In other words, early portraits could only be afforded by the rich, but due to less expensive production means and materials being used, a person from any class in society could afford a portrait now. The commercialization of this new form of portraiture ultimately led to a boom in economy through artistry.

Not only did portraiture affect culture and economy, it also affected the individuals in society from a personal standpoint. It allowed people to view themselves more realistically. The new form displayed more expressive talents from photographers, thus increasing human interpretation of photographs that were taken. Such intense expressive photography can be found in the idealistic portraits created by Juliet Margaret Cameron.

Juliet Margaret Cameron is regarded as one of the most notable females associated with photography, especially during a time where the field predominantly consisted of men. She worked with the colloidal process and focused on creating Victorian style portraiture. Her unique romantic and religious styles made Cameron become very well known.

Cameron came from a deeply religious background which, in turn, served as a basis for her portraits. She was primarily interested in trying to show the ideal being or inner spirit of her subjects. There is an evident passion and intimacy that is conveyed through her photographs. She used dramatic lighting and avoided sharp focus of the lens. The avoidance of sharp focus created a slight blurring of fine details in the picture to display a “softer” look to her portraits. Up until this point in time, the Daguerreotype method was extremely popular due to its ability to capture minute details. Cameron was one of the first people to stray from this traditional style of photography. Cameron’s photographs all seem to enhance the inner character of an individual instead of their outside appearance, ultimately idealizing them. The end result of her photographs created a romantic and almost heavenly feeling in anyone who looked at them. An example of her idealistic photographic style can be found on page 75 of the textbook, entitled Sir John Herschel. Even though Herschel was not typically “good looking,” Cameron was able to capture his intense inner beauty and character through her ingenious use of the camera. I believe that one of her best photographs was the one displayed on page 76 of the textbook, entitled My Niece Julia Jackson. Julia was one of Cameron’s favorite subjects. This picture shows that Cameron used both excellent manipulation of lighting and a dramatic pose to capture the “ideal” form of her niece.

I believe Cameron was a visionary in the field of photography. Her distinctive artistic expressions are found in every portrait that she has done. Her work displays several differences from traditional styles of photography, making her truly ahead of her time.

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• The Story of Joseph