Analysis of flag desecration as symbolic speech including symbolic speech and the first amendment; symbolic speech and fighting words and the landmark decision of Texas V. Johnson.
2,241 words (approx. 9 pages), 8 sources, 2001, $ 69.95
Abstract This paper provides a thorough analysis of the landmark case involving flag desecration, Texas V. Johnson, and the idea of flag desecration as fighting words. In order to argue for the recognition of flag desecration as fighting words, which are federally recognized elements of speech that by their very utterance incite a breech of the peace, the author first makes a clear and concise argument for flag desecration as symbolic speech.
From the Paper "In 1892, New York Baptist minister, Francis Bellamy wrote a few heartfelt words into his prayer book. The short prayer was to express his appreciation of the freedoms provided for in his beloved country ? America. Today we know that short prayer to be the Pledge of Allegiance. For more than one hundred years, American school children, new American citizens and men and women of the military have recited the patriotic prayer to show their loyalty to America. And although the recitors of the "pledge" face an American flag, the pledge is not of allegiance to the flag, but to the United States of America. In fact, Bellamy wrote that while thinking of the pledge his emphasis was on ?the republic for which it stands.? (Baer) We may further understand that the republic by his definition, is synonymous with America."
Abstract The paper reviews the plot details, the intense violence and its psychological significance. The paper discusses that men and women handle their anger differently: Men, in a more physical way and women, by talk about problems with friends. The author concludes that "Fight Club" showed that fighting might be men's only way to release stress if society does not say it is all right to seek other forms of help.
From the Paper "The most talked about feature of Fight Club is its approach towards graphic depiction of violence. Even before the film's official premiere, voices were raised that maintained that the movie worships violence by its depiction as something positive. This was the grievance leveled against A Clockwork Orange, which, less than three decades after its contentious release, is universally regarded as a classic. There is no refuting that Fight Club is a violent movie."
Tags: plot, women, physical, talk, problems, friends, release, fighting, society
Examines how, when interpreted through the lens of Tantric Buddhism, the movie, "Fight Club," can be seen as the depiction of the path to enlightenment sought by Buddhists.
Abstract By applying a framework of Tantric Buddhism, the film, "Fight Club," can be interpreted as a modern-day story of the path to spiritual enlightenment. This interpretation gives the film a deeper underlying meaning that builds on and complements the surface interpretation of social commentary on Western consumerist culture. This paper shows that, with a Tantric Buddhist interpretation, "Fight Club" can be understood as a somewhat realistic portrayal of how a person caught up in samsara via Western consumerist culture can have a spiritual awakening leading to enlightenment, instead of simply being seen as an outlandish piece of fiction.
From the Paper "Tantric Buddhism differs from orthodox or Mahayana Buddhism by its assertion that "enlightenment could be attained by means of the things of this world itself [...] involvement in some of the most impure forms of samsara - meat eating, wine drinking, sex." 2 This is the key to an interpretation of the film within a religious framework, because the two protagonists - Tyler Durden and the unnamed narrator - engage in many activities that would be seen as "impure" by traditional Buddhist standards, yet the narrator achieves a sort of enlightenment from his mindless corporate job and consumerist tendencies when led to these activities by Tyler."
Abstract This paper examines The movie "The Fight Club" in philosophical terms as well as comparing it to Buddhism and its contemporary, "The Matrix." It claims that this movie almost became a sort of cult and that the message portrayed enchanted the masses, especially men.
From the Paper "Not only is the 1999 film Fight Club a story about a man trying to find meaning in his life but one that is becoming so widely known and celebrated (at least by men) that it can be twisted into the shape of a myth. Much the way that Ovid and Homer borrow from archetypes and earlier stories, Fight Club has roots in other contemporary movies, Buddhism and existential writings of Camus and Sartre, but uses those ideals in a new way while commenting on contemporary American society. With these sources, many of which are from decades and even centuries ago, Fight Club weaves their influences into a modern myth and remarkably, one that relates to the majority of Americans."
Abstract This paper explores the models of male emotion and expressions of aggression as seen in Chuck Palahniuk's book "Fight Club." The review focuses on Palahniuk's thesis that male aggression should be channeled into competitiveness in the workplace. The paper further examines the "rules" as expressed in the book and concepts of masculinity. The review uses quotes from the book to support he various examples.
From the Paper "No matter what the rules are throughout the ages, men are always expected to temper their feelings and as what Kimmel said "channel then into workplace competition." But what is a workplace? Is it a blue-collar, white-collar or gray-collar environment? Is it a place where you earn money? "Fight Club" showed a variety of workplace and the "fight club" itself puts you to work despite broken bones and torn flesh. Men are always required to put on the manly face, to "grin and bear it" and stand up straight and be proud. Despite "What you see at fight club is a generation of men raised by women" there are still expectations of hardness and viciousness in men - but afterwards they can go home to the warmth of a women's tender embrace."
Presents arguments in favor of Spanish bull fighting and opposed to bull fighting with type of argument and fallacy indicated in the opposition argument.
Abstract This paper first supports the decision of the state-run Spanish television network in ending the tradition of broadcasting bull fighting and presents reason for this position. The paper then takes the opposite position in favor of bull fighting. In opposition argument, the paper identifies the type of fallacy and argument mistakes.
Table of Contents:
Against Bull Fighting Response Paper Indicating Type of Fallacy and Argument: For Bull Fighting
From the Paper "People who criticize bullfighting disrespect tradition and by discrediting customs, they hope to achieve globalization and the deletion of what is specific to each nation. (guilt by association) Perhaps my arguments are in vain since most protesters are American, and Americans do not know much about traditions. (hasty generalization) Also, I find it a bit ironic that a nation that was born only a few centuries ago can criticize Spain who was an immensely wealthy and advanced state at the time when America was being discovered. Moreover, the fact that America has virtually no authentic universal customs or traditions does not give it the right to criticize others for having a cultural background which they want to preserve. (personal attack)."
Abstract The paper discusses the book "Fight Club" by Chuck Palahniuk that describes a Fight Club that is a means of escape for its members. The paper discusses how the Fight Club members seek to return to the basic instincts that used to make a man a "man." The paper explains the Fight Club's belief that masculinity is about finding purpose, a way to get away from a society that seems to be so purposeless.
From the Paper "What defines a man today? What are the boundaries and limits of society that allows men to recreate their masculine identity? One may say he is a man when he reaches the magic age of eighteen. One may
say he is a man when he has a job, and can support himself. Maybe one becomes a man when he has a wife and children and he is officially "the man of the house." Now stop. Rewind to fifty, one-hundred, even thousands of years ago; back when a man was defined by different standards. A man was defined by how many battles he won, wars he fought, hardships he overcame. One of the basic questions posed in Fight Club, by Chuck Palahniuk, is why men have allowed society to rob them of their free will, their internal experiences, and symbolically castrate them, robbing them of the fullness of their manhood. The men of Fight Club lack a trial by fire, a rite of passage, a test of self which leaves them asking why, and Tyler Durden giving them the answer they are looking for."
Abstract In this article, the writer notes that it has been suggested and argued from a variety of camps that one of the most salient causes of school violence is the primacy of violent media content in the lives of the perpetrators. The writer discusses that a film such as David Fincher's 1999 'Fight Club' offers an interesting point of consideration to this subject, weighing in on the balance between the availability of anecdotal evidence as the relationship between violent content and violent behavior and the absence of empirical evidence connecting them in a patterned sociological way. The writer points out that this discussion on 'Fight Club' is directed by the observation which Sobhack offers concerning the ways that film can be used to reflect violence already inherent in society. The writer maintains that 'Fight Club' argues that the violent society creates violent behavior. The writer concludes that as 'Fight Club' argues, violence is a symptom of a greater social or psychological ailment, but it is always the case that one must be pragmatic in diagnosing that ailment if one is to understand the symptom.
From the Paper "According to a bulk of studies on the topic, such exposure is to media violence is presumed to render an individual predisposed to violent behavior, absent of sensitivity to crime and the anguish of others, accepting of violent solutions to problems and generally comfortable in the presence of violence and advocates of violence. Test cases comparing groups of children, wherein a control group is exposed to 'appropriate' media content such as the above mentioned cartoons and situational comedies and a test group is presented with images of violence and vulgarity, have found that the children in the latter group do develop many of these characteristics. These characteristics are measured in observational settings, providing researchers with a short-term window into the responses children will undergo depending upon incoming media ideas. This may not be a fully satisfactory method for determining causality though."
Abstract This paper discusses how the movie, "Fight Club", is bound up in one great paradox and how this sense of paradox is bound up in the very narrative. It looks at how the first two rules of Fight Club are that you must not talk about Fight Club, but the club's very existence and growth depends on the fact that everyone breaks that rule. It examines how nothing is quite as it seems in this movie, and much of the intensity and power of its message is bound up in those uncertainties. It also analyzes how three central paradoxes guide this film: the paradox of production, the paradox of power, and the paradox of patriarchy.
From the Paper "One of the most basic questions posed by Fight Club is as to why men have allowed corporate culture to symbolically castrate them, to rob them of their free will and their internal experiences, and the fullness of their personhood. In essence, why hasn"t there been a revolution" Tyler's answer is fear -- he suggests that only by overcoming fear of the pain and destruction (through facing that fear in the fighting ring), and in fact embracing that aspect of live, one is free to start that revolution. It's an extreme answer, of course, from an extreme individual. However, the question has been asked by many others who are far more academic and calm than Tyler. Early Marxist theory claimed that class oppression should result in widespread class-based revolution."
Abstract This paper explains that the use of carefully chosen photography, editing, elements of drama and the expression of a range of ideologies combine to make "Fight Club" an unforgettable and powerful cinematic experience, which leaves viewers re-evaluating their own lives as well as the state of society itself. The author points out the film's dramatic setting, costumes and color, such as the dark, bare and harsh parking lot scene in which Norton and Pitt first fight, have great influence on the film. The paper relates that the most important method used in "Fight Club" to express the message of the movie is social commentary, and the 'Lament for a Sofa' scene is an explicit example.
From the Paper "The photography used in the barroom meeting between Brad Pitt and Edward Norton, the descriptions of Pitt's "odd jobs," and in the first fight sequence not only foreshadow events to come in the film, but also add to the message of the film. The shots that frame Pitt and Norton throughout these sequences show an intimacy between the characters and their physical similarities. Though very different in personality and dress, the two sit and stand in close proximity in these scenes, suggesting more closeness than expected for those who, supposedly, are only brief acquaintances."
Abstract This paper relates that, in David Fincher's film "Fight Club", the protagonist is the "Narrator", a contemporary "everyman" who exhibits symptoms of urban loneliness and existential angst in a materialistic and meaningless society. The author relates that the film descends into violence and brutality as the character Tyler Durden, head of the "Fight Club", feels more alive fighting other males who also feel emasculated by contemporary culture. The author believes that Durden appears to be the alter-ego of the Narrator, someone who feels genuinely and has abandoned the superficial and materialistic pursuits of contemporary society and culture. The paper expresses that the filmmaker is attempting to provide a warning to viewers in contemporary society that if people do not redefine their identity through something more meaningful than materialism or macho notions of masculinity, society will erupt into chaos and violence.
Table of Contents:
Introduction
Body
Conclusion
From the Paper "The inability to define identity or connect with spirituality leads the members of the "Fight Club" to beat each other, engage in random acts of violence and destruction, and to ultimately plan for major destruction of society. These men have lost hope in contemporary society and its values to provide them with meaning or identity. Instead, they have become unable to feel or express spirituality because of living in a world where who you are is often defined by what you own or how much money you make. As Durden explains at one point, "You're not your job."
Abstract This paper focuses on the novel "Fight Club" by Chuck Palahniuk. The paper explains that it is the story of a lonely man who has no friends and is stuck working at a job he does not like. The paper concentrates on the narrator-character and how his life changes drastically when he meets with Tyler Durden with whom he opens the Fight Club. The paper discusses physical violence in the Fight Club, which is used as a means of liberating the individual from a value system. with which he does not identify. The paper looks at how nihilism and existentialism are used throughout the novel as tools of defining the characters.
From the Paper "There is a strong existentialist influence in Fight Club, expressed mainly through a recurrent exploration of suffering, death, nothingness and absurdity. According to Bennett, there has not been a sufficient amount of discussion regarding the complexity of the Fight Club text in the sense that critics and supporters alike have limited a full exploration of such a profound text. Although he does not reject the idea - expressed by many critics, that Fight Club tackles issues as gender and class identity, Bennett argues that existentialism, understood both as a philosophical and as an aesthetic practice, provides a superior critical framework for interpreting Fight Club (Bennett: 67). His stance is that Palahniuk's Fight Club is a brilliant sample of the "existential literary tradition with certain postmodern differences" (Bennett: 68) in the sense that the existentialism of the book is very much adapted to its historical context, i.e. the age of "postmodern capitalism" (Ibid: 68). In fact, his argument goes a bit further; he draws a parallel between Fight Club and Dostoyevsky's novella, Notes from the Underground in the sense that they both center on the "alienated individual going underground to rage against a dehumanizing society" (Ibid: 69). Palahniuk's unnamed narrator, who is conventionally referred to as Jack suffers from a wide but vaguely defined range of psychological disorders, including insomnia and narcolepsy - the so-called disorders of the modern man, and has the need to confront himself with the most acute human suffering in order to regain his humanity: "Every evening, I died, and every evening, I was born. Resurrected."
Abstract In this article, the writer notes that mankind has always turned to violent and bloody sports as a form of entertainment. The writer discusses that these sports themselves have ethical questions, but when the sports are forced upon another species which has no other choice but to fight or die, the questions have even more strength to them. The writer maintains that fighting two dogs as a source of entertainment proves to be extremely unethical for a variety of reasons. The writer discusses that it violates the rule of utilitarianism in that the dogs are being violently pitted against one another against their will, showing the owner's extreme disregard for their pets. THe writer maintains that the practice of dog fighting has proven to be unethical no matter what theory is chosen to formulate an idea of ethics. The writer concludes that no matter what moral model is followed, the slaughter of other creatures for entertainment and monetary gain proves to be the epitome of unethical behavior.
From the Paper "In the case of dog fighting, the rules have already been formed. In order to protect the well-being of the dogs, the United States has outlawed any form of dog fighting because the dogs have no other choice. Technically, since they too are part of the situation, the dog's owners should respect their well-being and follow the law which determines the best state of being for everyone involved. However, those who choose to fight their dogs are choosing a very unethical path in terms of the ideology of the theory of rule-utilitarianism. The owners are the sole providers for the dogs, yet they are throwing the dog's well-being out of the window by putting them in danger in the ring. They are also choosing to completely ignore any and all legislation which has banned such actions. Therefore, any theorist who believes in the rule-utilitarianism would see the owner's actions as unethical and just plain wrong."
Abstract This paper discusses how, as a nation founded on freedom, most Americans understand the concept of fighting a war in the name of peace and how another reason for war is that of national defense. It looks at how two very good examples of why we fight can be seen in Desert Storm and the Vietnam War. It shows how the war in Vietnam resulted in low morale among soldiers and American citizens alike, placing fear and doubt on reasons to engage in another country's war. Desert Storm, on the other hand, was a success with very few casualties and, therefore, raised confidence in the American military.
From the Paper "On the other hand, by observing the outcome of Desert Storm, we can clearly see that the war is a good example in an attempt to explain why men fight for their country. In mid-January, 1991, Desert Storm was launched to defend Kuwait against the aggression of Iraq, who was under the authority of Saddam Hussein at that time. Saddam Hussein had simply moved into Kuwait and declared Kuwait a "new Iraqi province" (Gale Group). President Bush was completely aware that resentment of the Vietnam War that still exists in America and even told the public in his address to the nation on the night that bombing began that "this will not be another Vietnam . . . Our troops will have the best possible support in the entire world, and they will not be asked to fight with one hand tied behind their back" (Gale Group). For all intents and purposes, that statement was a strategic move for Bush, for he was trying to quell fears as well as build confidence in the military."
Abstract This paper presents a history of fire fighting in the United States beginning with colonial times and ending in the present age. The paper explains how news of a devastating fire in London in the year 1666 reached the New World and prompted leaders there to better prepare their towns for the possibility of similar disasters. The paper also explains that the New World's approach to the safety of its citizens was more advanced than that of Britain's and describes some of the fire laws that were put in place in the U.S. as a result. The paper also explains that by the 19th century, fire regulations and fire departments were firmly established. The paper concludes by taking a look at the most pressing fire fighting issues of today.
Moving Southward
Modern Times
From the Paper "Even in colonial times, it was recognized that if the nascent cities and towns were to survive, the life and limb of the citizens had to be protected. While there was little that could be done about the New World's harsh weather, especially the winters along the New England coast where the first colonies clung to the edge of the continent, those winters brought with them opportunities for secondary disasters in the form of fires."
