The music video of Michael Jackson Essay Example for Free

The music video of Michael Jackson Essay The music video of Michael Jackson named Billie Jean maybe considered as one of the best solos written by the great artist. The song was part of the multi platinum selling 1982 album ‘Thriller’. It was produced and written by the artist himself and he believed that the song would be a hit from the beginning. He even quarreled with the producer about including it in the album. He put up a fight with his producer Quincy to keep it in the album. The song was included in the album ‘Thriller’ and became one of the well known ones in the group. The presentation mainly features Jackson being followed by another person who is conceivably a detective of some sort who tries to record some proof about the relationship of MJ with a girl. As usual the whole video is shrouded in an aura of the supernatural and the singer is exalted to another plane beyond that of mortals. This cannot be counted as anything extraordinary, as the technique is employed only to keep the attention of the viewer glued to the screen. The Analysis of Billie Jean The song itself is named after a girl. The girl, according to MJ, is a model of girls called groupies. Groupies, who hung around back stage doors, loved performing artists, and followed them around on their tours. Such girls often suffered setbacks and were prone to drug addiction and mental instability. The song starts with MJ praising the beauty of the girl, but the mood of the singer in the video is rather gloomy. There is a private detective following him, from what follows, maybe he is trying pick up some piece of evidence. The lyrics ooze out the sympathy of the singer to the girl and the video shows him slipping from the person following him. The first feel that you get when you watch the video is the sad mood of the song as well as the lyrics. It goes without mention that the solo is rather in empathy with the girl in the poem. It is seems as if Jackson was sad that he had broken somebody’s heart. But at the same time he is rough with the rough. He traps the person who tries to trap him, maybe a paparazzi of some sort. The video depicts Jackson endowed with the supernatural, as in many of his other videos. It starts in a shady part of the town, being changed by the presence of the singer. The setting suits the mood of the poem and indicates the gutters in which MJ’s imagined lover lives. His steps are marked by light and he exudes kindness in his actions and gestures. He is followed by the detective (or reporter) who tries to be inconspicuous. After this a newspaper that shows ‘Billy Jean Scandal’ written on it is shown falling from the hands of the detective, which puts us directly in the middle of the scandal that Jackson faced a short while before the video was made. The lighting up of the steps, the sudden alteration that happens to the man who is given a penny by Jackson, his disappearing act twice in the video, all give it an appearance of the majestic presence and prowess of the singer. It is a device used by the icon in many of his songs and this cannot be seen as something calculated to make him a mythical icon or something equivalent. MJ was the first among many who successfully utilized short videos to convey a strong background to the song and dance, thus keeping the audience spellbound. The video is made to suit the lyrics and it is the lyrics that clearly get the upper hand during the song. Without such powerful lyrics the song may not have become such a hit. The best reason for this assumption is that the lyrics could stand alone, but the video could not stand alone and a viewer would not be able to make heads or tails out of it. â€Å"But the kid is not my son†¦Ã¢â‚¬ is a very powerful phrase oft quoted within the lines in the poem. Then the newspaper headline ‘Billie Jean Scandal’ clarifies only with the â€Å"She says I am the one†¦.. †. At first it is a sign of negation, but later on the tone changes, that though he sounds to be sympathetic, he is also saying that he has done nothing wrong. It is as if the singer was laying out his innocence as well as his competence to deal with the traps before the audience. I feel that we should consider the fact that MJ was also a partner in the production apart from Quincy who produced the video. Jackson’s experience with the groupie an year back could have controlled the way he produced the video. If this was an outburst, he would have certainly left some clues within the video, even while negating it before the public. The clues would be there, for those who knew where to look for them. We find that the experience was personal and reflected in the video, under close scrutiny. The girl on bed whom Jackson is photographed with, by the detective is anonymous. We should read this together with â€Å"the kid is not my son†¦Ã¢â‚¬ . He never negates what the girl was to him. His approach to the girl is sad and thoughtful and not menacing. The video is also sympathetic with the girl, because he approaches her in the bed. ( It could also be that it was done to trap the detective, so that the he could be trapped by the police). MJ uses several techniques in the video to make it convey the mythical image of the hero. The steps he take is always lighting up. Even the pillar he leans on lights up. Once when the detective tries to catch him he just disappears. The lighting up technique is later used to show the invisible presence of MJ following the arrested detective. Another technique is the presence of the cat, which can be seen to change its size. All these things work together to capture the attention of the viewer. We should say that he succeeded in this technique. Another major success that was achieved by MJ was that he left many things unsaid and left it to the intelligent viewer to decide about it. It is true in the case of short films that often the director feels it painful to leave out scenes that were difficult to shoot. But MJ has been careful to present only the bare minimum that was needed to present the story, and left the rest to the viewer’s imagination. Another great technique is the start/stop dancing technique of MJ which gained popularity with his as well as his teams support. This is what makes the video exceptional. The technique is physically very complicated and gained popularity around the world with its use by MJ. The dance stills used in the video is superb and the all compliments are due to the editor who has done wonderful job of editing the whole video to perfection. This comparatively slow number catches all the attention of the audience. Its title was actually related to another video in the same album, ‘Wanna Be Startin’ Something’, rather than any connection with the star tennis player, Billie Jean King. First of all, the solo was introduced into the album which was named ‘Thriller’. As we hear the song, we find that the other songs are fast whereas this solo could not have withstood the heavy onslaught by other numbers. But, it was Jackson’s creative genius and a deep understanding of his audience that made him confident that audience could accept this slow number. He has said earlier that he knew the song would be a hit, because he felt exhilarated after writing the lyrics. His capability to keep his audience guessing along with his inimitable dancing style has made the video wonderful. I feel that the video was created with the effort enhancing the dream lover image of Michael Jackson. With the mighty stroke of an artist he establishes himself as the lover of dreams and the same time capable of outwitting his numerous enemies. He silently accepts the love of the girl, whom he agrees to be a groupie and proves to be too slippery to fall into a trap. He has appeared in another of his albums as lover cum vampire and I would even dare to say that he was a forerunner of Stephanie Meyer, who wrote the book ‘Twilight†. He has successfully established for himself, an image of the superhuman lover, that every teenager longs for in his/her unconscious. In this video, he has further enhanced it. This should be read side by side with the lyrics â€Å"People always told me be careful of what you do And dont go around breaking young girls hearts And mother always told me be careful of who you love And be careful of what you do cause the lie becomes the truth† Thus he indirectly speaks about his enticing personality and at the same time expiates himself of any connection with the girl in question. But then, he keeps himself open to relations. The versatile genius of MJ is very clearly brought to light and he is able to project himself as the youth icon, around the world. This video is a very good example for that. He also keeps everyone guessing and glued to the screen till the end of the video. Conclusion Michael Jackson was the undisputed king of pop music. The video was a landmark in the life of MJ. His ability to touch the hearts of his viewers was once again brought to light. The video earned him many awards and made him top many charts in America as well as Europe (Michael Jackson – Billie Jean (4:51)). Works cited: Michael Jackson – Billie Jean (4:51). July 29, 2010. 2010. http://www. last. fm/music/Michael+Jackson/_/Billie+Jean

Importance of Brackets in Virginia Woolfs To The Lighthouse Essay

Importance of Brackets in To The Lighthouse [Here Mr. Carmichael, who was reading Virgil, blew out his candle. It was midnight.] [Mr. Ramsay, stumbling along a passage one dark morning, stretched his arms out, but Mrs. Ramsay having died rather suddenly the night before, his arms, though stretched out, remained empty.] [Prue Ramsay died that summer in some illness connected with childbirth, which was indeed a tragedy, people said, everything, they said, had promised so well.] [A shell exploded. Twenty or thirty young men were blown up in France, among them Andrew Ramsay, whose death, mercifully, was instantaneous.] [Mr. Carmichael brought out a volume of poems that spring, which had an unexpected success. The war, people said, had revived their interest in poetry.] Â   The text from To The Lighthouse, quoted above, is the sum total of all bracketed asides that appear in the novel's second section, "Time Passes." The compelling question is, why were brackets chosen to emphasize this particular information, and how do the bracketed sections fit in with the rest of the section? Â   Obviously, one purpose of the brackets is to convey personal information about the family in the midst of a narrative dedicated to the empty summer house. Death of a family member occurs in three out of the five sets. This is an effective plot device to fast-forward time and to age the surviving characters. But Woolf's text is not heavily burdened with plot devices, generally. Her prose is whittled to its bare essence. So the brackets must mean more than self-conscious literary trickery. Â   The first and fifth bracket sets are like bookends, both about Mr. Carmichael. In the first, the information about him blo... ...e powerful when read in the midst of the rest of the text, the story of a dying family, a deteriorating house, a falling away of the light from the lighthouse. They also remind the reader that life and death exist beyond places of sentimental houses. The brackets themselves add an emphasis beyond what is possible with a parentheses. Are they as strong as a voice-over would be in a movie? I don't think so. Rather, I imagine them as dialogue, spoken in the voices of children, neighbors, and documents, background noise that add to the overall effect but are only a tiny portion of the text that surrounds them. Â   Works Cited and Consulted Latham, Jacqueline, ed. Critics on Virginia Woolf. Florida: University of Miami Press, 1970. Woolf, Virginia. To the Lighthouse. Introduction by D.M. Hoare, Ph.D. London: J.M. Dent and Sons Ltd., 1960 Â   Â  

Human Generosity Essay

The Ghost of Christmas Past goes on to show Scrooge an incident that is obviously very painful for Scrooge to watch, for by the end he is crying, â€Å"Spirit! Show me no more! Conduct me home. Why do you delight to torture me? † The vision is of a time when Scrooge is beginning to shut other people out of his life, and start a new life in the lonely world of earning money obsessively with no one to share it with. He is shown his â€Å"release† from his fianci for the reason that she has seen his, â€Å"nobler aspirations fall off one by one, until one master passion, Gain, engrosses you. † On the arrival of the second Spirit, the Ghost of Christmas Present, Scrooge is prepared. Dickens presents the spirit as a large, jolly fellow who shares most people’s merry feelings about Christmas. When Scrooge encounters him initially, piles of food surround the Spirit, â€Å"Heaped up on the floor, to form a kind of throne, were turkeys, geese, game, poultry, brawn, great joints of meat, sucking pigs, long wreaths of sausage, mince pies†¦ † These lists are typical of Dickens’ style, emphasising the richness of it all. The Spirit shows Scrooge more images of how much others, rich and poor, enjoy Christmas. He sprinkles his own â€Å"flavour†, his own form of generosity, upon the shoppers’ food, especially that of the poor, before taking Scrooge to the Cratchits’ home. The Cratchits have little in the way of a Christmas dinner, but appreciate every last mouthful. Each and every one of them is in high spirits, Tiny Tim included. Tiny Tim is a young, crippled boy, with an iron frame supporting his limbs and a tiny crutch. Yet he too joins in the festivities with joy and love in his heart. â€Å"‘Spirit’ said Scrooge with an interest he had never felt before, ‘tell me if Tiny Tim will live. ‘† We can see him beginning to redevelop the caring attitude that he had buried so long ago. The Ghost tells him that if the future remains unchanged then no; Tiny Tim will not survive. The change in Scrooge is again apparent when he cries, â€Å"Oh no, kind Spirit! say he will be spared. † The Spirit quotes Scrooges words, â€Å"If he be like to die, he had better do it, and decrease the surplus population. † Scrooge is deeply ashamed by the words of his former self and hangs his head, quite overcome by â€Å"penitence and grief†. As he visits more and more homes, full of people enjoying Christmas, he hears their unkind words about him. They laugh at his ways and, for the first time, he realises what he has been missing out on for all these years and discovers deep feelings of remorse that he never dreamt he would possess. It is the final Spirit, the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come that has the most profound effect on Scrooge. The Phantom’s silent, deadly way terrifies him, as do the scenes of death he is about to see. He is shown views of various people discussing a death, but with no compassion in their voices. It is clear to him that the person they talk of was not liked and will not be missed. â€Å"It’s likely to be a cheap funeral, for, upon my life, I don’t know of anybody who will go to it. † The people ask only of what he did with his money, illustrating how money was the only thing of importance in this man’s life. Scrooge is agonized that no one appears to have any emotion for someone whose life had seemed so similar to his, â€Å"The case of this unhappy man might be my own. My life tends that way now. † By now Scrooge is fully aware of how his lack of generosity will lead; he will die alone and unloved. He is deeply traumatized, â€Å"Let me see some tenderness connected with a death, or that dark chamber, Spirit, which we left just now, will be for ever present to me. † The Spirit obeys but Scrooge is surprised to find himself back at the Cratchits’ home. On further investigation, Scrooge discovers that it is not the same death for which he is being shown the grieving. He realises the sad, but true fact that Tiny Tim has died. The comparisons between the unbearable sadness felt for a small boy who, despite being poor and crippled, had love and joy in his heart, and the complete lack of emotion felt for a money obsessed old man could not be further apart. Before the final Ghost departs Scrooge begs him to reveal who they saw lying dead, although it is quite possible that he already knows but refuses to believe it. He hesitates before going to look at the gravestone to which he has been conveyed, for he has something he needs to know, â€Å"Are these the shadows of the things that Will be, or are they the shadows of the things that May be only? † Scrooge is desperate for a chance to change and live a life that could not only prevent Tiny Tim form dying, but also prevent his own life from ending in the way he had seen the other man’s to have done. Although the Ghost does not reply, Scrooge does not pursue the matter, for he knows already that he can change the future by letting others into his life and bringing more joy to theirs with just a little human generosity. He advances towards the grave and uncovers the tangled weeds of neglect to reveal the name: â€Å"EBENEZER SCROOGE† Falling to his knees he cries promises of change, claiming he will â€Å"honour Christmas† and live in the â€Å"Past, the Present and the Future†. And so he does. The story ends with Dickens describing Scrooges joy that he has not missed Christmas, â€Å"A happy merry Christmas to everybody! A happy New Year to all the world! Hallo here! Whoop! Hallo! † He pays a poor carol singer to order the largest turkey in the shop to be delivered to the Cratchits. He offers Bob a pay rise. He goes to his nephew’s home and joins in the celebrations that he has missed out on for so many years. And what is more, he continues to live like this, resulting in him indirectly saving Tiny Tim’s life. There are many themes running through the story of A Christmas Carol, but in the end they all come back to the same simple idea of Human Generosity. Scrooge’s story demonstrates that having money is not at all important if there is no one with which to share it. In his final gestures, he brings great happiness not only into the lives of others, but also his own. And then we come to the Cratchits who, despite having very little of material value to share, are some of the most generous people that can be found. For it is love that they share among them and, without that, there is nothing to life.

The Apology By Plato s Speech - 1416 Words

The Apology by Plato is an account of the speech Socrates makes at his trial. He was charged with not acknowledging the gods that the government recognized, inventing new deities and corrupting the youth of Athens. The speech is not an apology, however, it is more of a defense. In the beginning of his speech Socrates explains that he has no experience in courts and he will speak informally. He then explains that his behavior is heavily influenced by a prophecy told by an oracle which stated that he was the wisest man. Socrates knew this couldn’t possibly be true in the traditional sense, however he concludes that the way he must be wiser than other men is that he knows that he knows nothing. Socrates thinks that his duty is to expose ‘wise’ men’s wisdom as ignorance. As a result, his actions earned him a lot of admiration among the youth of Athens, as well as a lot of contempt from the people he exposed as stupid. He explains that their anger is the reason he is on trial in the first place. Socrates then interrogates Meletus, the man primarily responsible for Socrates being on trial. This interrogation, however, is more directed at embarrassing Meletus than actually finding the truth. Socrates argues that his influence is necessary, however annoying it may be, for the state to be productive. Socrates is found guilty by a small margin and is asked to suggest a penalty for himself. Socrates jokingly suggests that he be served a great meal for being such a service to the state,Show MoreRelatedPlatos Apology, Summary, Main Characters750 Words   |  3 PagesSocrates - The protagonist of The Apology, as well as all of Plato s other dialogues. Socrates seems to be a very simple man, not having many material possessions and speaking in a plain, conversational manner. However, this seeming plainness is all a part of the ironic characteristic of Socrates method. 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