Hollywood cinema Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Hollywood cinema - Essay Example Yet all these are shallow representations of what genre really is. Studying about film genre is not about labeling the films as such. Genre, to the film maker, means the elements on which a film is based, which includes thoughts, ideas and realizations. This paper aims to tackle a thorough understanding on what film genre really is and how it has affected Hollywood Cinema for the past years. The word â€Å"genre† originated from France and originally meant â€Å"class or kind†. Initially, in the older days, it was used to differentiate various works of literature such as prose, drama or poetry. Later on, Shakespeare began to add subcategories such as tragedy and comedy. In the early 1950s, the word genre began to be associated with various classifications of film. The usage of this word continued on to the 1970s wherein there were more films being produced in Hollywood. As of now, there are numerous film genres that we see at movie houses and stores, indicating that indeed cinema have broadened over the past years. At present, genre is not just a word used to classify films. Filmmakers and artists now look at genre as a type of style or subject matter. These people delve deep into the events, ideas and thoughts that lead to the conceptualization of the film. Was there a difference in the creation of film as to style and theme over the years? It is not easy to brand a film by its genre. Genre, in itself, is a vague term. Most of us nowadays classify films as to its subject matter and suitability. Yet, there is a question as to whether the idea of film genre will always remain as such. It is not indeed easy to brand a film as to whether it is just a comedy, a drama or action film. Most films are mixed, i.e. they may be romantic comedies or action-drama. Yet, as vague as it is, it is essential for us that we know the basic elements of film genre. A filmmaker needs to know the elements of a particular genre because it is with these elements

Don't Ask Don't Tell Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Don't Ask Don't Tell - Research Paper Example This helps in tackling with its limitations and at the same time enhancing its advantages. Therefore, in the below sections, the various phases through which a public policy passes are looked at, thereby analyzing the involvement of various stakeholders and the effects of the policy on each. This will help establish the effectiveness of this approach in relation to this case. The â€Å"Don’t ask, Don’t tell† (DADT) policy of the US military is studied (Harrop 1). The policy The 'Don't ask, don't tell' policy came into effect in 1993 when President Clinton signed it into legislation. The main clause of the law states that "the presence in the armed forces of persons who demonstrate a propensity or intent to engage in homosexual acts would create an unacceptable risk to the high standards of morale, good order and discipline, and unit cohesion which are the essence of military capability." While this constitutes the ‘don't tell’ clause of the act, the ‘don't ask’ clause is not really a clause, rather an indication to commanders in the military that they must not initiate investigation into the sexual orientation of other personnel. However, there is an exception clause to this which states that if the Secretary of Defense deems that such inquiries are required for the implementation of the policy or if the person being investigated is done so as a result of his behavior, then such investigations can continue. Therefore, the policy heavily weighs in favor of cornering people from the LGBT community by restricting their powers of freedom and enquiry. However, the policy as it was introduced was a compromise between the President Clinton's election promise to lift the ban on homosexuals and the position of the military which maintained that homosexuality is incompatible with military service and that personnel who declare themselves to be homosexual must be discharged from military duty (Feder 1). Agenda Building The su bject of homosexuality has long been a subject of contention in the US military. However, there has not been much debate until the latter half of the 20th century. A majority of the cases were dealt using the legislations Articles of War (AW) and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Both the laws did not tolerate homosexuality. In fact, sodomy was criminalized using through the AW. Homosexuality was seen as a psychological problem and hence people with the 'condition' were seen as sick. Expert psychologists and psychiatrists were used to build public opinion. The policy continued through the Second World War until the years of Ronald Regan during whose tenure the defense directive was issued stating that "homosexuality is incompatible with military service" ("History of 'don't ask, don't tell'" 2). However, this signified a change in the rationality of the policy. This was facilitated by a number of cases in federal courts which ruled against the policy implementation. For example, the Watkins v. United States Army case in which Sergeant Perry J. Watkins sued the Army after he had been discharged. Watkins case revealed that he had declared his orientation early on in his career and that he had made no attempt to hide it. Subsequently, after a number of years of court proceedings, the court found that the reasoning behind the provisions of the law was unsatisfactory. These developments forced the Army to