Imagine a Utopian Analysis free essay sample

John Lennon’s Imagine, released in 1971, is one of the most famous utopias ever composed. In his song, Lennon dreams of a world in which there is no religion, no countries, world peace, no possessions and no discrimination; his utopia is a world based on equality. This song was heavily influenced by all the ongoing events that were occurring at the time of its composition. Hundreds of thousands of Americans were calling for world peace and for America to cease its involvement in the Vietnam War, in which it was killing hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians. This song that Lennon wrote is reflective of the need of many people in the ‘70s for there to be world peace and no discrimination. Lennon’s utopia features real people. In his song he speaks of hopefully changing the views and opinions of the world population, and instead of having all people worrying about what may happen tomorrow or sometime in the future, he wants them to start implementing change now. We will write a custom essay sample on Imagine: a Utopian Analysis or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Imagine all the people/living for today†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The repetition of this line in the song reinforces Lennon’s â€Å"dream† for a better world and it drills into the listener that this is what Lennon wants; a world in which people are trying to make a difference now, rather than at some unforeseeable time in the future. A common idea related to the utopian ideal of nature is that the removal of possessions could potentially lead to the end of the greed and ambition. This is what Lennon proposes in his utopia; â€Å"Imagine no possessions,/I wonder if you can,/No need for greed or hunger†. This line in the song is actually quite contentious, too. Many believe that what Lennon proposes – â€Å"Imagine no possessions† – is actually quite an easy thing for him to state because through the exuberant amount of money that he made as being a member of the Beatles, he could easily have any possession that he wanted and he would never have to endure the agony of hunger or the need for fresh water. However, others believe that this statement made by Lennon would be quite difficult for him to make and would involve self-sacrifice as he would lose all the wealth that he had gathered if his utopia was to become real. The third verse of Imagine focuses on the utopian ideal of equality. This is one of the key elements of Lennon’s utopia. He believes that through the abolishment of war, countries and discrimination in his utopia, that equality could be achieved. Through his simple wish of a world in which there could be â€Å"A brotherhood of man,/Imagine all the people/Sharing all the world†, one can’t help but sympathise with his dream. To share the world equally and for no race, creed or religion to affect the opinions of people about others would be a perfect world. Lennon’s world is just filled with â€Å"people†, not blacks, not Christians, not homosexuals, not Jews or whites, not Italians, not Buddhists; just people. And the world will live as one. † In his song Lennon also introduces a different utopian ideal to what is featured in most utopias, and this ideal is that of world peace. Through Lennon’s utopia removing countries and patriotism as well as religion, he believes that in his utopia there would be no wa rs because there would be nothing for the people to fight for. â€Å"Imagine there’s no countries,/It isn’t hard to do,/Nothing to kill or die for,/No religion too,/Imagine all the people/living life in peace†¦Ã¢â‚¬  John Lennon delivers his utopia to the listener through monotonous vocals that at time sound as if they are just droning on. However, this monotonous droning doesn’t bore the listener but instead gives the impression of someone having a dream. This, obviously, supports the purpose of the song which is to illustrate to the listener the utopia that Lennon has dreamt of. The vocals and simplistic language used also makes it easier for the listener to relate and sympathise with what Lennon’s utopia. The melody is quite personable, too. The repetition of different lines and phrases, such as â€Å"Imagine† emphasises the fact that this song is an illustration of what Lennon wishes the world to be like.

A full detail of the first and the last chapters of the movie Gladiator Essays

A full detail of the first and the last chapters of the movie Gladiator Essays A full detail of the first and the last chapters of the movie Gladiator Essay A full detail of the first and the last chapters of the movie Gladiator Essay Essay Topic: The Heart Goes Last This essay is a full detail of the first and the last chapters of the movie gladiator; it also covers 3 different topics on the chapters. I am going to explain the expressions given by characters, what director wants from audience, and the role of camera in the movie. This film is presented as an exciting epic. The central focus of the film is intended to be on Maximus (Russell Crowe) by the director (Ridley Scott) and is about one mans heroic stand against the greatness, but at the same time, the corruption of the Roman Empire. Hell is unleashed is the title of the opening scene and begins with credits to the background of flames. It then progresses to a figure walking in a long grassed field to the background of the sky and the camera in a close up, focusing on his hand, the wedding ring clearly visible showing his devotion to his family at an early stage. At this point the music is melancholy with a female soloist which carries on throughout the film. This is a situation of calm; almost like a dream. The shot cuts to a close up on Maximus face as he lifts his head with his eyes closed, as if in deep thought. This is a dramatic change of scenery from the dream like golden fields to the reality of a war stricken battlefield. The music intensity quickens and he opens his eyes, the combined intensity of the music and the clothes he is wearing make him look like a powerful warrior. The camera then cuts to many different angles but after each one cuts back to Maximus, this is showing how busy everyone is when they are preparing for battle. The music is the theme tune. The music stops to show, perhaps, the silence before the battle and the camera cuts to Maximus riding his horse, the camera dollies with the horse and the music starts and intensity slowly rises as the camera cuts to the enemy showing themselves out of the dark. The camera is in amongst the soldiers preparing for battle showing the intensity of war and the discipline of the Romans compared to the barbarians. There is a birds eye view as the battle starts and you are shown all the firepower they had at their disposal. Archers, catapults, cavalry are shown to show the technologically advanced Romans. The camera cuts to the soldiers and the front line battle. The camera cuts to a close up with the camera dollying with cavalry soldiers and Maximus, the music is very fast which reflects the actions happening at the scene. The camera follows them into war where death is shown all the way through and very graphically which shows the horror of war, as the battle comes to an end the music slows and the scene moves into slow motion. The sound effects stop completely but for the music, which is very calm and mournful reflecting the horror of the battle. In this scene the shots go from distant to close up which show the violence, anger and pure adrenaline of war. At the end of the battle ash and snow start to fall, which represents that the Romans won the battle, but with a great cost of human life, the music is very melancholy representing sorrow. The Director wishes to show the audience how organized and invincible the Romans are (on the battle field at least), how they are lacking in motivation, and in contrast how the barbarians are fighting for a lost cause and yet they will not give up. He shows this by always making the Romans look organized and goes in amongst the barracks and with Maximus in the ambush with the camera where as the camera watches the barbarians get attacked and slaughtered. Death smiles at us all is the title of the ending scene and is of possibly the most significance of the whole film. It is the scene where he two main characters die and has religious over tones from the start. It starts with the two main characters, Maximus and Comadus, rising on a platform with roses dropping from above and a gospel choir singing as if they are rising up to heaven; the camera is close up until they go out of view and then pans out to see a wooden structure that resembles a cross. This may symbolize that someone is going to die. As they rise to the top platform the viewer is shown the whole of the floor of the coliseum covered in rose petals; this shows that this is a very emotional occasion. The camera then cuts to a close up of each person of significance to give the effect of a showdown, the petals also mite look like blood on the sand of the arena. During the period of most of the fight there is no music, only other sound effects such as swords clashing; this is because there is no music that could state every emotion that the characters would be feeling and so there is no need because the event almost speaks for its self as it is of such emotional significance because it would affect so many people. Before the battle starts we see a paradox between a bad man wearing white stabbing a good man wearing black in the back whilst showing affection and hugging him, this shows that Comadus wants to become the good man in the publics (us) eyes and Maximus is very upset and his life and does not care, all he wants to do is take revenge and do the last words of Marcus Aeurileus. As the battle starts the camera dollies with them but cuts back and forth from the ground level view and in the stands which puts the audience right in the seats of the arena, this is to give variety to the fight scene and keep it seeming fast paced and keep the audience involved in the fight, it also shows the fighters perspective to the fight. All through this scene some bits are in slow motion, others blurred and some normal speed; this is because whenever any of those happened it was always seen from Maximus view and so Maximus is beginning to die and would be seeing things at different speeds. The fight is fast paced and the camera angles vary lots of times in a very short space of time to make it look more exciting than it actually was. The only sound used throughout the fight scene is that of clashing blades. The camera cuts to Maximus house once more to show that he is dying and is almost dead, the director here wants the audience to sympathise with Maximus. As Comadus dies there is no music and very gory sound effects to show the enormity of the event and the director wants the audience not to have sympathy for him. The camera then cuts to silence with the camera spinning round the coliseum to give the effect of everyone watching and reflecting on the emperors death; the music starts very slowly and builds up. The camera cuts to Maximus house again to show he is really near the end and almost with his family in the afterlife, the solo vocalist returns and then the camera cuts between Maximus and the dead Emperors sister several times before a close up on his face as he dies; the camera then follows him as he glides along the ground, with rose petals clearly visible on the floor behind him symbolizing that he is b ack with his wife and child and happy again. The camera cuts to Maximus walking in the field back to his house as in the beginning but this time in colour and then cuts back to him lying on the floor in the middle of the coliseum. The camera moves to inside the ring of people and has a close up on the emperors daughters big speech about how Rome is not worth one good mans life with a close up view on her but looking up at her to give the effect of her being big and taking over. It then moves to a birds eye view as Maximus is carried off. Next the camera shows a close up of Chimsy burying Maximus figures of his family in sand stained in blood to symbolize him being with his family as he died in the same place in the sand and they are buried in his blood. The camera then rises to see the sun going down on the great city of Rome. In this scene I think that the director (Ridley Scott) is trying to show how weak such a powerful city like Rome can be and that even though it looks so magnificent, it only takes one man to tear it apart. Language At the beginning of the movie the language is shown in text. Within the text it explains the genre and idea of the movie by explaining the situation of the Roman Empire and that the Roman Empire was at its rise (therefore the audience realizes something is going to happen to the Roman Empire). But through out the whole movie the language is shown oral. Main characters such as Russell Crowe use very much of a wise-men language; this means they make influential speeches in the movie, which portrays their character in the movie. The barbarians and the Arabs are shown that they do not speak the same language as the Romans; therefore there are the bad and the roman language is the good. Music The music through out the movie is very downhearted and melancholy. The music expresses sorrow and sadness. At the beginning the movie starts with music and it ends with music, perhaps they are both parts of the same song because the tune seems to be the same. On the other hand there is a music theme for the wars and fights which is a more militia music type to show the expressions and give the feeling of war and death. Symbolism In this movie symbols were very much involved. Symbols such as robins to show winter, bad people wear black dirty and good people wear bright and clean, the bad dead body is on the floor in the arena and the good body is carried of with honor, a ring is shown to show devotion to family, flowers are always shown to show emotions, in the wars the catapults were shown to show the technology of the roman empire and Comadus is shown with a baby face which symbolizes a child, not an emperor. Many different symbols have been used in this movie to give hints or id