Robert Flaherty & American Documentary (1920's) Essay

Robert Flaherty & American Documentary (1920's) - Essay Example The book written in 1922 has been produced as a video but its production faces various controversies that are worth noting (Barnouw). According to the Inuit, spears were used in hunting during those times before the influence of the European that led to hunting using guns (Stern). The controversy is that the use of the gun is a European influence. Another controversy is the staging of the players in the film especially the two females which include Nyla and Cunayou his wife and daughter respectively. The actors are not his real wife and child respectively. Flaherty as a filmmaker enjoyed both good and rough moments in his life. he was forced to travel all over the US and Europe and other countries while trying to make his films. He also suffered in terms of proper skill in film production that has led to great critics on his Nanook film. He was ones fired for production of long films. However, his struggle has met several success and to date he is regarded as one of the best filmmakers in the history of US. Amongst some of his works that caught the attention of the Us government is his documentary on US agriculture. Flaherty highlighted the rural life of American, the process of soil erosion, competition between natives and immigrants such as Philippines in terms of agriculture, and rural urban migration not forgetting unemployment and great competition in the agricultural sector in the US. The film industry respects the works of Flaherty and regards him as the pioneer of documentary filming. Flaherty engaged mostly in fiction and non-fiction filming basing most of his stories from books. Some of his works contained poetry and they include Flaherty Island, Belcher Island, and Hudson Bay. After his death, Flaherty is remembered in an international annual event usually held in New York. However, this legacy is argued to be having no effect on recent generations due to the

Watershed moments of American history Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Watershed moments of American history - Essay Example Watershed moments are those moments which heralded a strong influence on the history and social attitudes of the people and changed the perception of people.The American history is fraught with such watershed moments,but in the 20th century so many events happened and it is difficult to decide which moments could be called as watershed.The following paragraphs would describe three events and justify them as watershed moments.The most important of these moments is the perhaps the attack on the World trade centre on 9/11. Following the horrific events of that day, the local, national, and international relations changed forever to a very great extent. The attack of 9/11 had a wide ranging effect on the US foreign policy and weakened the relationship between the US and the Islamic states. The attack reframed existing policy in such a way that it was now considered quite just and fair to take violent and aggressive action against rogue nations. The US considered this attack as a threat t o its sovereignty so the period that followed after the attack witness a revival in the cold war and snide policies which were last seen in the World War II. The world saw a new era of 'War against terrorism' which was lead by the US and which resulted in two major wars. Thus it is very clear that the aftermath of the 9/11 made a drastic impact on the whole world and it would not be wrong to call this attack a watershed moment of the 20th century. (Dudziak). The second such event which created such an upheaval, the likes of which cannot be found in any other event is the nuclear bombing on the Nagasaki and Hiroshima. It was the August of the year 1945 in which the world saw the first use of the nuclear weapons ever. The result was only destruction and devastation of the bombed cities however its consequences were more than that. The prowess of the US was witnessed which elevated it to the title of the greatest super-power of the world. The United Nations was also formed soon after the bombing to maintain global peace. The bombings became the watershed moments in the US history as it changed the way the country was seen by other nations. Another example of the watershed moments, though somewhat different is seen is the 1965 Act of Immigration and Nationality. This act is also known as a 'Demographic Revolution'. The act put an end to the quota system, and even the xenophobia which was being promoted in the Americans. The Act was actually a declaration of equality and an end of prevailing prejudice. This erased the sense of exclusion which was felt by the Asians from the side of Americans and resulted in a huge number of Asians ushering into the US territory. The act changed the social attitude of the Americans towards the Asians and proved to be a watershed movement in the US history. Section Two, Answer to Question 3: The Civil rights movement was campaign intended to free the Americans from the grip of ethnic discrimination. This was a movement which demanded the recognition of the black Afro-Americans and an end to the racist policies. The Civil Rights movement began when a black woman 'Rosa Parks' who is often called as the mother of the 'Civil rights movement' refused to give her seat to a white American. But it was not only the Afro-Americans who were involved in the movement, thousands of people of all ethnic groups living in America participated in this Civil rights movements and the liberation movement till the 1970s in the long run. These included students, political leaders, people from religious organizations and even some white liberals; in short the 'liberation' movement was not just the efforts of blacks but the combined struggle against the bigotry and racial discrimination of all the ethnic groups living in America. Previously a very strong and intimidating attitude was adopted by the Americans towards the blacks. They were looked down upon, often became a subject of taunting and were commonly referred