Avatar movie essay Essay

I really was excited to write my essay on the movie Avatar which is one of my favorite films, it was released in 2009. This movie correlates about society and different kinds of people in it. It connects very well to all of the four perspectives. The functionalist, Conflict Perspective, and lastly The Symbolic Interaction. One of the main characters is Jake Sully, a former Marine who is in a wheelchair. He is very Bitter and disillusioned, but he’s still a warrior at heart. Jake wanted something worth fighting for, and he finds it in the place he didn’t expect; on a distant world. He has been chosen to join an expedition to the moon Pandora, which corporate interests are strip-mining for a mineral worth $20 billion per kilogram on Earth. To further in their work, the humans use a link system that projects a person’s consciousness into a hybrid of humans and Pandora’s indigenous humanoids, the Na’vi, which is known as the â€Å"AVATAR†. To beg in, my opinion that it relates to the conflict perspective more so than any of the other perspectives. see more:my favorite movie essay In this film, the human race is showing dominance towards the Avatar race by invading their community and destroying their ‘home tree’. The conflict perspective is put in play by that in order to understand society; we must understand the struggle between groups. The human race will always try their hardest to keep their status through manipulation, exploitation and control. In this movie, the human race demanded war because the Avatars wouldn’t move from their home tree where there was a billion dollar rock that the humans were there for. By starting a war and bombing their home tree, the humans maintained their status as a power group and failed to understand a different community in many different ways. Furthermore, this film also correlates to the functional perspective. This perspective states that in order to understand society, we must look at it in terms of parts and whole systems. Once more, the human race failed to see that even though these were by far different people from another planet; they didn’t understand that they were still living creatures with their own lifestyles and families that they have to take care of. They destroyed their life and were only worried about themselves and would take down anything in their way in order to get the gold. Lastly, this amazing movie also relates strongly to the symbolic interaction, just as much as the conflict perspective. But I’m only going to talk about to that  stuck out to me. Personally the symbolic parts about the avatar that I picked up on were first, Avatar: According to Sanskrit, Avatar means one who crosses over. The avatars in the movie were created to be vehicles which would allow human beings to cross over to communicate with the Na’vi people because they looked like them and they wouldn’t be afraid of them. Next, Blue: The Na’vi people are blue and alot of the scenes in the movie on the planet are in many different shades of blue. The color blue is symbolic of new beginnings, strength and freedom. Blue skies are emblematic of better opportunities. Blue is the color of loyalty and faith. Blue is power. Many say Blue is also the color of protection. Blue symbolism is nearly universal in meaning. To conclude, blue is used in national flags and many symbols around the world, including the flag of the United Nations States of America. To end, this is what I got from watching this movie and how I viewed something’s about it. This is a great film to watch and learn about symbolic interactionism, functionalism, or conflict. Each one played different roles on how I came up with my reasons. Work cited http://spokensanskrit.de/2013 http://www.fandango.com/avatar2009_103067/plotsummary http://www.youtube.com/ 2014

Jeanne Wilson Essay

Jeanne Wilson was employed as a nurse at the Mary McClellan hospital in the late 1970s. While employed there she heard tale of â€Å"The Pink Lady† who roamed the halls of the maternity ward and seemed drawn to a certain room, with a particular patient. â€Å"Well, when I was working at the Mary McClellan Hospital in Cambridge (that’s just across the river from here) I had the night watch of the maternity ward. The other nurses used to tell me to watch myself up there because of this pink lady. I most certainly believe in ghosts although I have never seen any myself you understand. I was never really afraid, I just figured she’d be peaceful and never bother any of us doing the good work up on the floor. Sometimes at night you would hear the swoosh, swoosh of someone’s bathrobe rubbing on their legs or the scuffle sound of slippers on the floor. There would never be anyone there, but you’d hear it just the same. This one time we had a lady come in who was dying. She was an older woman and the nurses really loved her. Well, she asked to die on the maternity ward so all of the nurses felt this was ok. We brought her up and got her settled. It was a very small hospital you know. Anyway, I was checking in patients late at night and as I was walking past her room, I noticed the door was shut. I looking in through the little window on those doors and there was the pink lady! She had pink curlers in her hair, a pink robe on, and pink slip-on kind of slippers on her feet! Well, I almost died myself right there. I couldn’t believe my eyes. When I caught my breath, I peeked back in the door to see her just standing over the old woman just watching her sleep. I creaked open the door and sure enough she disappeared. They said the pink lady only walked the maternity ward because she had lost all of her children in those rooms. When she died of cancer later on, she had asked to be in the maternity ward to die like her children! Well, I never expected her to visit this woman. Of course, when I think of it now, it makes perfect sense! They don’t deliver babies in the hospital anymore – actually its not even a hospital now. But, that’s the pink lady and I’m telling you – she’s real. † Ms. Wilson states this story as a full-fledged memory from her past. While employed at the hospital she points out others telling her this singular truth, and denied knowledge of any other tales of this nature in the ward. The story comes from a region other than place interviewed, not allowing for cross-reference with other individuals. Hospital stories of this nature are found throughout history, with a higher concentration surrounding Civil War hospitals. The time-frame for the inception of the tale can best be ascertained as the 1950s era due to the physical description of the pink lady. One can assume the story originated at that time. The telling was very excited with strong body language used throughout. Exaggerated facial expressions and multiple hand manipulations of air demonstrated actual behavior during the encounter. The skills of her trade do not enter the story, nor are they necessary other than putting Ms. Wilson in the hospital after hours. Ms. Wilson was interviewed with her elderly mother present. This parent did not obviously believe the tale, nor did she appreciate the telling of it. This did not hinder the younger Wilson woman; in fact, she seemed eager for acceptance of the tale. The recording of her story may well have promoted a more fascinating telling of the story with added bits of detail. The education level of Ms. Wilson was undetermined. Apparently, she is not a qualified nurse, having never gone to school to keep up with the educational demands of the field. She currently works in a rest home. The idea of her having been a nurse at the time appeared to have given the tale more validity in her mind as she felt it was a scientific study of sorts. She was reminded of the nature of the recording. References Wilson, J. (personal communication, October 14, 2006)

Capital Budgeting Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Capital Budgeting - Case Study Example Introduction Investment decisions are synonymous to capital budgeting decisions (Peterson, 2000). Capital budgeting is a complex issue prone to past and future liquidity issues. Many expansion plans by corporations usually necessitate the mobilization of funds either from external sources or within the company. Either of these decisions have profound impact on the operational ability of the firm. External debt in particular may suffer from the influence of outstanding external debt, which may limit the amounts and nature of funding a company can add to its total credit. This latter situations describe the state of affairs at McKenzie Corporation, where the company’s ability to raise outside debt is barred by conditions imposed on the company for a prior $14 million bond issue by the company. Consequently, the company has to rely solely on equity, which will incur the company $1.4 million. This report evaluates the company with regard to different economic climates. Expected Va lue of the Company The table below shows the value of the company without expansion and with expansion given the expected economic situations expected next year. Economic Growth EV (Without Expansion) EV (With Expansion) Low $3,300,000 $3,900,000 Normal $8,750,000 $12,000,000 High $4,500,000 $5,700,000 Total Value $16,550,000 $21,600,000 The expected value of the company without any expansion is $16,550,000, while the value of the company with expansion is $21,600,000. Clearly, the company will report a better valuation with the expansion than without the expansion. Consequently, the company’s investors would fare better with the expansion as the value of their investment in the company would be more than $5,050,000. A positive cash flow is an indication of a viable business venture (Docsity, 2011). Expected Value of the Company’s Debt, with and without Expansion The only thing that would increase a company’s debt obligation would be the acquisition of further d ebt obligations. The value of the debt would remain at the same value of $1.4 million, since the expansion would be funded by using equity and not debt. However, the debt will be reduced by $14 million next year, since the bond gets mature and paid off by the company. Value Creation Expected from the Expansion The expansion of the company will increase the value of the company. However, the move will also incur additional capital expenses that require further adjustment (Drake, 2007) from the total value of the company after expansion in order to obtain the real value created by the expansion. Expected value without the expansion: $16,550,000 Expected value with the expansion: $21,600,000 Value of financing using equity: $4,500,000 Value with the expansion: $21,600,000 – $4,500,000 = $17,100,000 Therefore, the net value created for the shareholders from expanding will be $17,100,000 - $16,550,000 = $550,000. The bond value would remain constant; therefore, the value creation for the bondholders will be $0. Price of the Bonds If the Company Announces That It Will Not Expand If the company does not expand, the price of the bonds will remain as it stands this year. The bondholders will receive the same amount of cash as before. If the company expands, however, the company’

Marx, Weber and Durkheim Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Marx, Weber and Durkheim - Essay Example From this research it is clear that  a profound reflection of some of the analytic conceptions and broad historical perspectives of Max Weber, it becomes lucid that he assimilated the conservative, liberal, and socialist elements to transform and integrate them into the complex pattern of his works. In fact, his cautionary critique against the apocalyptic social revolutionary predictions in Marx suggests that Weber opened himself to some of the influences from his opponents. Weber’s essential critique of Marx’s philosophy was the result of a thorough understanding of the various principles of Marxism. â€Å"Much of Weber's own work is of course informed by a skilful application of Marx's historical method. Weber, however, used this method as a ‘heuristic principle.’ As a view of world history, Marxism seemed to him an untenable monocausal theory and thus prejudicial to an adequate reconstruction of social and historical connections.†This paper outl ines that  Weber criticized the apocalyptic social revolutionary predictions in Marx which emphasize a segmental perspective with great significance while reducing the multiplicity of casual elements to a single-factor theorem. However, Weber did not directly attack historical materialism as completely wrong, but opposed its claim if establishing a single casual sequence.  Durkheim is another social critic who made pertinent contribution to the sociological perspectives of the period.

Films and the rating system Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Films and the rating system - Essay Example But have you ever wondered what differentiates or rather categorize these movies apart from the storyline, filmmakers, studios and cast? Have you ever thought as a common man, whether a particular movie is suitable for their kids? Or how do you decide, whether the content of a particular movie is viewable for all? Here comes the importance of ratings. Now, when I say ratings, it does not have anything to do with the critics’ ratings or the reviews. By issuing a rating, the body which issues these ratings seeks to inform parents of the level of certain aspects and contents found in a particular movie. It may include certain level of violence, sex, drugs, language, thematic material, adult activities, etc. that are not suitable for all kinds of viewers. Despite all the strict norms for rating a movie based on these conditions, most big budget films get away with the adult contents and get rated as either PG or PG 13 even when they exhibit contents that can actually rate them as R. It is also a sad fact that the low profile and low budget movies get hard rated even when they don’t deserve such ratings. This paper makes an analysis of why big budget movies get away with the adult content compared to the strict rating exercised on low profile movies. In addition to this, a brief explanation of the rating system and its evolution is also covered through. Rating System and Transition Evolution and Transition: It was in 1922 that the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) started issuing ratings for motion pictures. MPAA is a voluntary system. As such not all movies are rated by them. Movies that are submitted to MPAA for ratings get through the process. Since it is a voluntary system it is not enforced by law, however, almost all the movie theatres will not screen an unrated domestic films and most of the big gun studios have come to a consensus that it would submit all its titles for ratings before the theatrical release. A lack of a uniform body to rate movies affected the filmmakers prior to establishment of MPAA; this led to the formation of MPAA in 1922. MPAA rated the movies based on a general production code administration which was popularly known as, ‘The Hays Code.’ It was a strict and stringent rating system, due to which it lost its prominence in 1966. It was the time when America was open to ‘Frankness and Openness.’ In 1968, came the new rating system which we follow till today. The new system was developed not to approve or reject a motion picture. Instead of this, an independent ratings body would advise or warn the parents to let them know if they are suitable for their children. â€Å"It’s the parents’ discretion whether to allow them to watch the movie or not.† (Soriano, 2011) Even this system was 100% voluntary. The ratings are done by an independent board comprising of parents who have no past affiliation to the movie business whatsoever. The board will compr ise of 8 to 13 parents whose kids fall into the age group of 5-17. â€Å"Their job was to simply rate the motion pictures as they believe a majority of American parents would rate it.† (MPAA, 2011) Ratings: A movie is rated by MPAA based on factors such as language, sex, violence, drug usage and certain other themes and situations which they believe would be of significant concern to most parents. The different types of ratings are G, PG, PG-13, R, and NC-17. ‘G’ stands for ‘

Financial Markets - Raising Capital Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Financial Markets - Raising Capital - Essay Example In fact the financing decisions form an integral part of a firm’s policy decisions. Usually, the financial managers prefer debt over equity on account of interest tax deductibility and low cost associated with debt. Mr Exposito plans to raise funds for the purpose of expanding his winery business. A careful analysis of the various sources of funding has been done to suggest the best available alternative based on the size of the winery business and the prevailing conditions in the market. Analysis of capital instruments There are two forms of financing - long term and short term. The long term financing instruments include debentures, bonds, term loans & shares and the short term debt instruments include bank overdraft & trade credit. Bonds- A bond is a long-dated financial instrument used by the companies to raise funds from the public. The bondholders are entitled to regular interest in the form of coupon payments. Normally, the bond is listed in the stock exchange. It has a fixed date of maturity which is the date at which the company agrees to pay back the principal amount to the holder of the instrument. The issue of a bond creates a legal binding on the company. Even in the event of a loss the company cannot dishonour the interest payments as this can have legal repercussions. The companies mostly issue fixed coupons bonds offering semi-annual payments until the date of maturity. There may be other types of bonds like fluctuating coupon bonds or bonds with an annual or quarterly payment feature. Besides there are zero coupon bonds that do not require any interest payments. The bonds can further be classified on the basis of the collateral as mortgage bonds, collateral trust bonds and equipment trust certificates. The real property is used as collateral in the case of mortgage bonds. The securities owned by the corporate act as a security for the collateral trust bonds whereas the inventories and company equipments act as security for equipment trus t certificates. The price of the bond is inversely proportional to the interest rate. A rise in the interest rate can lower the price of the bonds and vice versa. Considering the interest rate sensitivity the bonds can be of two types- callable and non callable bonds. If after a bond issue the interest rates fall in the market then the corporate can call back the bonds issued at a higher interest rate and issue new bonds at a lower rate of interest (Rini, 2002, p.57). Debentures- The features of debentures are more or less similar to that of bonds except that unlike bonds the debentures carry a pre-determined rate of interest. Depending on ‘security’ the debentures can be classified as secured and unsecured. Secured debentures carry a charge on the company assets. The company cannot dispose-off these assets without the approval of the debenture holders. The unsecured debentures do not carry any such charge on the asset which makes it risky from the point of view of the investors. Again the debentures can be classified as per ‘convertibility’ into convertible and non-convertible debentures. The former gets converted into equity after a specified time period. Therefore in the future the debenture holders get an option to acquire a stake in the company. The non-convertible debentures are repaid at the end of the maturity and cannot be converted into equity. Depending on the ‘payment pattern’ the debentures c

Apfgan women's lives have not improved Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Apfgan women's lives have not improved - Essay Example first lady Laura Bush’s preposterous statement that â€Å"The fight against terrorism is also a fight for the rights and dignity of women† is juxtaposed with the revelation by Amnesty International that â€Å"forced marriage, particularly of girl children, and violence against women in the family are widespread in many areas of the country† (Rawi) even after two years have passed since the end of the Taliban regime. The introductory paragraph makes a very strong statement with the help of these two quotes that are contradictory in nature. The attempt by Rawi in the ensuing paragraphs to validate the latter quote is well substantiated with authentic factual and opinion based information gathered from various reliable sources. The diction is functional and appropriate for the clinical analysis of the issue. There is no recourse to careless use of words that betray baseless subjective opinions anywhere in the essay. Most of the essay reads like a fact-based journalistic report. However, the polemic aspects of the essay emerge through the objective observations and analyses. The writes states clearly that the American intervention in Afghan had been based merely on selfish motives, and has only promoted the mistreatment of women in various spheres of life. The arguments are systematically and chronologically categorized under apt subtitles. The economy of words and argumentative strategies make the essay a reader-friendly one, presenting facts and opinions in a swift and curt manner. The use of excerpts from an interview with an international NGO worker with regard to the deteriorating status of women in Afghanistan brings in an element of authenticity with the strength of first hand knowledge. Both the off icial records and day to day life experiences of women in Afghan are presented in a logical order that proves Rawi’s point. The effective use of unaffected language and crucial information regarding the general life standards in Afghan makes the essay an