Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States Essay

There are two types of people in this story. They are the conquerors and the conquered. The communities that Zinn talks about in the story are the Native Americans and the English settlers that came to America. Out of those communities the conquerors were the English settlers and the conquered were the Native Americans. These two communities had similar and different views on topics. One thing that the two viewed differently was how they viewed the land. The Native Americans believed that the land did not belong to one single person, rather they believed that the land belonged to a whole tribe. The English settlers did not feel the same way. The settlers believed that each individual person had the opportunity to own his own land and that he may do whatever he wants to with it. Another difference the two communities had was their views on religion. The Native Americans did not believe in religion. They believed that there was a type of spiritual force that controlled the land. The English settlers did believe in religion. They worshipped gods and executed religious practices. The two groups did have some similarities though. One similarity was language. The two groups both used language to communicate with one another. Another similarity the two had was a law system. They both had punishments set up for the level of crime that someone within their community committed. Those are some similarities and differences between the two communities. â€Å"Chapters 2 and 3† Racism is not natural. Zinn expresses this in the story. There are two things that factor into racism not being natural. Those two things are historical forces and human decisions. Historical forces are certain ideas or movements become irresistible forces that will have their way. One example of this is plantations not having enough people to work on them. The plantation owners had Caucasian slaves but they were few and far to come by. They considered using Native Americans as slaves but they were hard to capture and the owners knew that they would rebel. They eventually turned their attention to the very populous African American group. They went out and captured many African Americans and brought them into slavery. Human decision is a purposeful selection from a set of alternatives. An example of human decision is how they treated the slaves. The owners treated the African American slaves way worse than they treated the Caucasian slaves. They made the penalty for crimes committed by African American slaves far worse than those for a white man that had committed the same crime. The owners also felt that the slaves may rebel. If the plantation was attack the black slaves were not given weapons to defend themselves. This was to prevent them from every feeling in power and to prevent rebellions. These two things both factor into racism, but the main one that creates racism is human decision. Racism is not something that is guaranteed to happen. It was not set in stone that one race would hate another. It takes people to create this feeling. People themselves create this feeling and that is why it is human decision.

The Mean Girls Effect

The Mean Girls EffectDavid Jin Mean Girls is a 2004 film about the life of a popular high school girl. The teen comedy is considered by many high schoolers to be a legendary movie that depicts a dream high school that is ideal for many of today’s youth. The film centers around 4 junior girls called the plastics. They are pretty and preppy, popular and legendary in the school. They are worshipped like goddess by the students of the school because of their fame, riches, and popularity.However, the group of mean girls live up to their name. They are nasty, trashy and downright evil at times. Revenge is their middle name, and they will not hesitate to throw some of their best friends under the bus at a seconds notice, literally throw them under a bus. They gossip, spread terrible rumors and exclude their friends from cliques on purpose. However, this movie has had a big effect on the public, especially the youth and the younger generation.The ideal life of the plastics in high sch ool has created a lust for popularity among teenagers and also has showed teenage girls that being ‘mean’ will get you friends, popularity and fame in the complicated world that is high school. To begin with, Mean Girls has caused teenagers in high school to embark on a quest for popularity, in some cases, an unhealthy quest. Studies show that the depictions of popularity by movies like Mean Girls, where an epitome of perfection is established, cause teenagers to strive for that image.Mean Girls and other similar movies are causing an unhealthy strive for popularity in teenagers. A study shows that after watching mean girls, females 14-16 are more likely to have thoughts of insecurity about their weight, attractiveness and popularity. High schools have also reported increased numbers of cases of eating disorders since the movie has come out, a direct result of the image and message that the movie conveys to the teenagers and high school students watching.In addition, Me an Girls and other movies have glorified being ‘mean’ and nasty which has created a negative image for the teenagers of our time. A society fed by these kinds of movies is teaching teenagers that being aggressive and nasty can boost their social status and also, as depicted by these movies, is the cool and popular thing to do. The movie also commends popular cliques and ‘fakeness’ and sends a message that popularity is everything, and that girls must strive for it always. In regards to Mean Girls and its effect on the younger generation, it has caused a glorification of being trashy and nasty, as made teenage girls insecure about themselves and has also conveyed the message of ‘popularity at all costs’, even if you have no real friends. Mean Girls and other similar movies have become legendary in high schools and have promoted negative images to teenagers everywhere. â€Å"I knew how this could be solved in the real world, but this was girl wo rld. All the fighting had to be sneaky and nasty. † As shown, the movie (although a really good movie) passes on a bad image to teenagers everywhere and has caused many problems in our society.

Jacqueline Kennedy

All throughout the history of mankind, through the generations, decades, centuries, and millenniums, humans have shared one quality despite the rapid change and obvious differences between us all. We have always been capable of speech. Of course, this expression has evolved over time and originated as simple indications of emotion.However, has evolved into one of the most important functions of the human body, providing not only communication amongst other people, but an essential factor in creating a character, and one of the only factors separating man rom any other living organism. Though voice is so essential to life, women only obtained complete freedom of speech and expression of opinion in the last century. Women had the same capabilities and ideas as men, however were unjust to use their voice and share them. A key part of the evolution of women's expression was one of America's own women, Jacqueline Kennedy.Jackie was the wife of a well- known American president, and played a key role in his presidency by restoring the white house, establishing fame and recognition, and being a legend for American omanhood.. She was one of the only first ladies to leave such a mark on the country, and continues to be one of America's most memorable and important woman fgureheads OFK Museum). Jacqueline, originally born into the Bouvier family on July 28, 1989, was an inspiration from the day she was introduced to the world. She grew up in a wealthy home and was always encouraged to use her talents of art and creativity throughout her childhood.She was raised feeling important, and always knew she was destined to make a change in the world (Taylor 27). However, hen her parents got divorced when she was only ten, she began to keep her thoughts to herself due to her extreme pain (nettrekker. com). She then attended a boarding school throughout her primary school years, and later graduated from Washington University in 1951, dedicated to start a life as a reporter (Cardi). Little did she know that Just two years later, she would be married to a senator and begin a journey to becoming one of America's youngest and most remembered first ladies.Jackie began her Journey to fame once John F. Kennedy was running for president, ut all women's eyes were on his beautiful wife. Housewives and mothers began to see Jackie as their leader, and loved how easily they could relate to her feelings and thoughts, helping their presidential vote in JFK's favor. This helped lead John Kennedy to win the election and become president with Jacqueline on his side. Jackie's young and creative mind quickly went to work once moved into the White House, and she was determined to make her mark in her time as first lady.She began this by starting a benefit to modernize and restore the White House atmosphere as ell as promote the arts (Spoto 124). This created a lot of fans and positive publicity, and added to her popularity with young women striving for hope. She spoke out to Clif ford said, â€Å"Once in a great while, an individual will capture the imagination of people all over the world. You have done this; and more important, through your graciousness and tact, you have transformed this rare accomplishment to an incredibly important asset to this nation. † (nettrekker. com).She became an American icon and was commonly referred to as â€Å"America's Queen†, which was ironic for the ime because women had only recently begun to be fully respected and set equal to men and she was the face of it. Jacqueline can easily be compared to another hero of his time, Odysseus. This is because they were both seen as famous and respected individuals in their community, and used this power to make their voice important to the common civilian. They were both deadest on a goal or result of their Journey, and used their intelligence and bravery to make it possible.It was then that their efforts were recognized and their fame became even greater. Though Odysseu s pursued an ctual quest to reaping his reward, Jackie hypothetically took a large quest as well. She overcame her stereotype of being the unnoticed president's wife, and made a huge impact on the voice of women in the end. The two both used their voice in an similarly impactful way. Jacqueline Kennedy definitely made her mark on the world. With her pride of American Women, passion for creativity, and young flair, she spoke out to women of her time. She has become one of the most remembered women in the white house and respected women of all time.She gave hope and guidance to the average ousewife, and became an icon to the world. Jackie used her voice in a unique way and her voice is important.

Industrial Design History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Industrial Design History - Essay Example The chair was made of walnut and leather. In addition, it was stamped and got gilt decoration. The chair was given to Philadelphia Museum of Art as a gift from the Preservation society stationed in Newport County. The chair was part of dining room furniture that was commissioned by George Peabody Wetmore for his home in New Port Rhode Island. The Armchair was designed in 1898 by Gustav Serrurier-Bovy. Gustav Serrurier-Bovy was a Belgian born in 1858. He died in 1910, but created a lot of works during his short life. In 1898, he managed to make an Armchair that was a depiction of the art Nouveau style that existed at that time. Art Nouveau style thrived between 1895 and 1920. The chair also owes much more to the Vernacular style that existed in England around the late nineteenth century. Art Nouveau style had a number of elements. Art Nouveau was characterized by a lot of graceful, sinuous lines. These lines were flowing and rarely angular. Furthermore, the art Nouveau style was also characterized by a lot of violent curves. The rhythmic patterns of the curvey lines were characteristic of the given art style. The curvey lines connected the images in the art to beautiful items, like hardware and furniture. In addition, some elements, like organic subject matter, were included in the style. One would find plenty of vines, flowers, grass, seaweed, insects, leaves, and images of jewelry, architecture, windows and architecture. One can identify Art Nouveau style art and architecture by looking for some elements.

Maritime Transportation Industry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Maritime Transportation Industry - Essay Example However, the maritime transportation industry could be considered as having reached its peak and is now falling out of popularity due to the many problems and challenges the industry is now facing. These problems are listed and discussed in the following: Unlike trucks and planes, ships operate in a much more extreme environment. The ship, exposed to highly-corrosive and oxidative seawater, develops rust easily and can have its parts heavily damaged in just one delivery especially if it encountered storms during the trip. Compounding the problem is the incrustation of ship hulls, particularly the underside, by bacteria, algae and other sea organisms. Incrustations destroy paint making it easier for the metal of the ship to corrode. A heavy layer of organisms increases drag and leads to higher fuel costs. It can also cause accidents, impaired navigational ability and even the loss of the vessel. These are grave problems unique only to the maritime shipping industry which makes it more dangerous than other transportation method. (GAO, 2002) One big problem with the maritime transportation industry is that it is very sensitive to instabilities in the industry. In the 1980s, the changing pattern of international trade combined with rapid technological developments resulted in many structural and technological changes in the world shipping industry (Sussman, 2002). The fast rise and fall of other industries that were sources of job orders of the maritime industry meant that there could be a rapid decline or surge in seaborne trade. A decline could wreak havoc in the maritime transport industry because the maritime transport fleet is unable to respond quickly as existing tonnage cannot be easily redeployed and contractual obligations for the construction or order of additional ships cannot be easily removed without substantial financial penalties. This characteristic of maritime transport could lead to excess tonnage situations such as what happened in the 1970s when seaborne trade started to diminish, especially in the pe troleum trades. The result was that there was a severe imbalance between supply and demand which peaked in 1983 when surplus tonnage amounted to 28.5% of the world fleet. This means that when there is a decline in maritime trade, the maritime transport would easily suffer from huge losses incurred in contract obligations and fall out of the industry which creates a void in suppliers of the service. (Department of Transportation, 2007; Pedraja, 1994) 2.3 Restrictive Shipping Practices According to Donn (2006), unlike air and land transport of goods,

What is Branding Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

What is Branding - Essay Example An example of a company with a strong brand is Starbucks Cafà ©. Another company that has excelled due to its marketing strategy is McDonalds. McDonalds spends over $2 billion in advertising each year to solidify its brand value (O’brian). One of the greatest benefits of a branding strategy is that it improves customer loyalty. Customer loyalty is a great benefit because it provides companies with a steady inflow of income. Not all products are suited for the application of a branding strategy. Commodities such as gold, silver, copper, petroleum, and rice are not suitable for a branding strategy because its price fluctuates daily in stock exchanges such as NYSE, NASDAQ, and LSE. Companies that operate in industries in which there is intense competition do not benefit from branding strategies as much as firms in other industries, but branding can be use to differentiate the company. Differentiation allows firms to operate in niche markets where branding can be effective. Another advantage of using branding to differentiate is that it reduces competition. In the case of a pricing war the use of branding is not suitable because the cost associated with the implementation of a branding strategy will further deplete the operating margins of the company. O’brian, K. 4 May 2012. â€Å"How McDonalds Came Back Bigger Than Ever.† The New York Times. 8 February 2013.

Supply Chain Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Supply Chain Management - Essay Example Supply chain management (SCM) system is an integrated system in which different business processes are integrated for different business operations. Different firms like airlines, hospitality, oil and gas, medical, defense and many other logistics firms are deeply interested in the implementation of a robust and automated supply chain management system. SCM involves acquisition of raw materials, the transformation of raw materials into final products. SCM adds value in the business and involves distribution and promotion of final products in the markets. SCM plays a vital role in the exchange of information among business partners like vendors, suppliers, retailers, distributors etc. The main purpose of supply chain management system is to enhance the efficiency and profitability. SCM is also vital in order to gain market leverage or competitive leverage. Supply Chain Management can be defined as â€Å"the integration of key business processes from end-users through original supplie rs that provide products, services, and information and add value for customers and other stakeholders† (Lambert et al., 1998). In supply chain the two important business processes are 1. Inbound logistics 2. Outbound logistics Inbound logistic is also called as material management. The inbound logistics involves the acquisition of raw materials or supplies. ... The different activities of outbound logistics consist of order the product, inventory management and deployment, the storage and handling of the purchased products, transportation, pricing, support in order to promote a product, handling of the returned products and complete life cycle support. The combination of activities of inbound and outbound logistics represents a web or network of the business networks and the relationships among these business networks. During a supply chain management different stakeholders are involved like vendors, distributors, retailers, customers and other third parties associated with SCM. It is very difficult to conceptualize the whole process of Supply Chain Process in a single model because it is very difficult to capture all the real world dimensions or scenarios of SCM in a single model but the process is not so much complicated and surely it has certain solutions. There is not a thorough way to find out the scope of the supply chain problem in a firm except the guidelines which are comprised of competitive strategy, tactical plans and operational routines. There are certain problems issues which are faced during supply chain management process like choosing location, analysis of product demand, distribution process of the finished product, the business partners or strategic alliances, the ways to develop an innovative product, adoption of innovative technologies like IT/IS/E-Commerce, supplier or vendor selection, price planning and restructuring of the business network. The problems or issues encountered in a supply chain management system are generally of two types i.e. strategic and tactical in nature and the problems associated

ENGLISH NEED ASAP Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

ENGLISH NEED ASAP - Essay Example The way Capote places the murder facts in order, and the way he manipulates with the starting and ending of the novel, is what makes this novel unique. Suspense is there, as Capote has made the opening of the novel very interesting by hiding the reasons Perry and Dick were driving to Holcomb, Kansas. Capote shows Floyd Wells, in the Kansas State Penitentiary, listening to the radio news about the Clutter murders. The reader finds it exciting that Floyd was shocked to hear the news because he had been acquainted with the Clutters for many years. The bodies had been discovered by one of Nancy’s friends who went to the Clutters’ house to check why they had not yet got prepared for church. She had found an eerie silence inside the house, and had shockingly discovered the four bodies in different parts of the house. Capote has told the reader about the Clutters’ death before depicting the actual scene, which increases the reader’s interest. This is how Capote h as colored the opening with a sense of impending doom. Prompt 2 Throughout the novel, Truman talks about the backgrounds of different characters, especially the victims, and the murderers, Perry Smith and Dick Hickock. Capote has described the life summaries of the criminals, to let the readers know about the bad times they had been through. Although the reader feels a little sympathetic toward them, but that does not justify their morose deed of taking other people’s lives (Capote 77–91). Perry is shown to have had a miserable life, with his siblings, without parental care. Dick was a mental patient. When they were caught, and were shown the evidence of the case, the reader feels some sympathy for Perry, who wanted to take the responsibility of all four murders when actually Dick had killed two of them, but Perry wanted so because according to him, he was sorry for Dick’s mother. According to him, â€Å"I didn’t realize what I’d done till I heard the sound. Like somebody drowning. Screaming under the water† (Capote 244). Perry changes his confession to take responsibility for Dick’s murders too. This means, by one way or another, that criminals are also human beings, who feel for each other, especially of their own kind. They also possess a feeling of sympathy and sacrifice, though they cannot be supported in any way. Moreover, both Dick and Perry were patients of mental illness. This makes the readers think as to whether the same laws of punishment should have applied to them, or they should have been given some relaxation. Prompt 3 The protagonist is a character that rules the story, and whose character develops throughout the novel without regard to whether his character was based on good or evil. This definition goes against human conception of a protagonist being a good person always. However, the realistic realm of life has it that evil persons dominate the good ones, no matter their ending is doomed. Bas ed on this fact, this novel also highlights the characters of Perry Smith and Dick Hickock, who are actually the murderers of the Clutter family. We read Capote talking about and highlighting their course of actions throughout the novel, right from the beginning till the end. The reader can easily understand that Perry and Dick are the protagonists of Capote’s novel. The reader reads that Dick and Perry had tried to steal a car but had failed. Finally, they succeeded in stealing a car, and went to the Kansas City. They

The Hanging Gardens of Bablyon Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The Hanging Gardens of Bablyon - Research Paper Example This construction, which came to gain fame being regarded as a wonder of the World, was done by this king for the pleasure of his wife, who was dissatisfied with her new home city. Her homesickness for her native land in Medes forced the king to create something that would keep her occupied, hence the Hanging Gardens. These gardens, despite the claims that they were only legendary, are widely reported by various ancient writers in the Greek and Roman age. The description that is given of these gardens provides a hint of the architectural feat that was achieved in an age that is believed not to have had any significant technological advancement. The construction achievement of these gardens has been a matter of speculation from the ancient times. The manner of their construction still puzzles most architects and historians who have dedicated themselves to its study using what was said concerning them by the ancient writers. It is said that they came to be destroyed by a series of eart hquakes, which hit the area after the second century BC. The ancient writers, mentioned above, describe these gardens as having been designed to use something akin to the Archimedes screw for irrigating the gardens, which were planted on terraces (Dalley and Oleson 2). The Archimedes screw is a device, which from ancient times, has been used to transfer water from low-lying water bodies to irrigation trenches. This mechanism has within either it a screw inside a hollow pipe and this screw can be turned manually or using a windmill. As the screw moves, its bottom end collects some water that slides up the pipe until it pours out of its top and it is distributed to the irrigation systems. This mechanism was used for draining water out of mines or other places with low-lying water, and it is logical to assume that it was also used to irrigate the Hanging Gardens. Based on the descriptions of the gardens provided by the ancient writers, it has been estimated that they would have require d at least 37000 liters of water every day. The watering mechanism for the gardens was controlled by a number of people who had been appointed to the task. They manually turned the screw, ensuring that there was a permanent water flow to the irrigation channels. The water needed was acquired, using the mechanism described, from the nearby Euphrates River from where it was carried to the very top of the gardens. From there, a system of irrigation channels had been constructed to allow for the efficient flow of water down the slopes of the garden. These channels were exceptionally well hidden, and only those who knew where they were had any knowledge of it. This made the water flow from the top of the gardens look remarkably natural as was intended by its designer. The flowing water served two main purposes for the garden, the first of which is that it allowed for the efficient irrigation of all the plants in the garden, ensuring that none of the plants lacked water. The second purpos e was to create the impression of a waterfall, and this profoundly enhanced the beauty of the garden, especially when considers that this was a dry region. The sight of flowing water must have made quite an impression on the local people and considerably enhanced the reputation of both the garden as well as its builder. Therefore, in order to

Parthenon Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Parthenon - Essay Example The structure is a work of synchronicity and precision. The earliest Hellenic structures date back to the 6th century BCE. There were two large temples dedicated to Athena. In 480 BC the Persians destroyed them, and in 447 BCE, the Athenian leader Pericles ordered the erection of the Parthenon. The form of the temple represents the matrimony of minimalism and authority. That is why it is so important to modern architects. It demonstrates how a building is not only function but also form. It is both art and science; pretty yet practical. This balance is perhaps the most striking element of the Parthenon. It is rare even in modern architecture to find such poise. The architects of Dubai are approaching a contemporary equivalent with their more innovative ideas. The Greek Parthenon is a building par excellence. Here, I have identified what it is, discuss why it’s important, describe its structure, and explain its historical and contemporary relevance. Even with our modern buildings, it still marks the basis for some of our architectural

What is the essence of philosophy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

What is the essence of philosophy - Essay Example n order to define what the essence of philosophy really is, I decided to examine the range of philosophers and philosophies that we have covered in class. In Chinese history there are tales of philosophers who placed an emphasis on finding a way of living a good life, which suggests that philosophy has to do with morality and self-control and this is very similar to some of the moral philosophy as taught by the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates. It is also similar to some of the teachings in the major world religions which see human life as a journey towards enlightenment or a preparation for an afterlife. This contrasts very strongly with some of the medieval European philosophers who emphasized the use of reason, and the power of thinking through issues using logical trains of thought. In the twentieth century there has been a considerable emphasis on language and on existential problems like the meaning of human life. In the twenty first century there is a growing realisation of the fragile nature of the planet earth and the need for human beings to find ways of living that are in harmony with nature, rather than just pursuing mat erialist aims, and disregarding or even destroying the environment around them. The most noticeable feature of philosophy appears to be its diversity. It changes from place to place and from one time period to the next. All of these different approaches can be called philosophy and one way of defining the essence of philosophy is to establish what it is that they all have in common. I think that asking questions is a fundamental part of philosophy, and then weighing up the answers that are found in such a way that new questions are asked and a continuous process of asking, answering, reflecting and asking again then follows. This is not exactly the same as the kind of questions that are asked by scientists, who are mostly interested in how the elements in the world behave and what rules exist in the universe. Philosophy explores

The Mongolia Life Cycle Sociology Essay

The Mongolia Life Cycle Sociology Essay Mongolias population of 2.8 million is growing annually by 1.5 percent. One-third of Mongolians live in the capital, Ulaanbaatar. Approximately one-fourth live in smaller cities, especially Darhan, Erdenet, and Choybalsan. The rest of the population is spread throughout rural Mongolia. Most of these inhabitants are nomadic herders. With rural conditions increasingly harsh, more people are moving to cities-a trend that threatens the survival of traditional nomadic society. Reform has allowed freedom of religion, and more than one hundred monasteries have reopened. Many young Mongolians are receiving an education through these traditional centers of learning, and people are once again able to practice cherished traditions. Boys are increasingly applying to become monks, and Buddhism is rapidly regaining its popularity. Kazakh Muslims (about 4 percent) are free to practice Islam. Christianity is gaining influence. Urban wedding ceremonies take place in wedding palaces. Afterward, many couples now go to a Buddhist monk to receive a blessing or have their future predicted. A large feast treats as many relatives and friends as the new couples families can afford to feed. In rural areas, common-law marriages are typical. Rural couples receive a ger from the husbands family. Mongolian families traditionally exchange gifts in conjunction with a wedding. The grooms family usually gives livestock, while the brides family offers jewelry and clothing. (Culture Grams) National culture-including societal organization, governance, land management, cultural customs, and material culture-was largely shaped by the nomadic pastoral lifestyle. The legacy of Genghis Khans empire is a rallying point for Mongol nationalist pride today. http://www.everyculture.com/Ma-Ni/Mongolia.html Lamaism, the Tibetan form of Buddhism, entered the Mongolian society in the sixteenth century. It had a strong impact on the Mongolian culture for centuries. Mongols sought the counsel and help of the lama (priest or monk) for every aspect of their life: migration, marriage, childbirth, disease, and death. Since 1949, Lamaist beliefs and practices have decreased drastically. http://www.everyculture.com/wc/Mauritania-to-Nigeria/Mongols.html After the fall of communism, Mongolia witnessed a religious revival and more and more people sought comfort from spiritual activities. Despite being unfamiliar with religious ceremonies and prayers, people flocked to temples for religious services and many families began to send one of their children to join the monkhood. The devout also contribute money to the temples and invite the Lamas to their homes for lavish feasts. (REL) Due to Mongolias small population, women are a vitally important part of the workforce. Men and women have an equal place in the Mongolian economy and this equality carries over into the home. Women still tend to do more than half the housework and play the primary role in supporting the family, but the role of the Mongolian woman is undergoing rapid change. (WIC) People   Ã‚  Ã‚  Mongolia Top of Page Population: 2,832,224 (July 2006 est.) Age structure: 0-14 years: 27.9% (male 402,448/female 387,059) 15-64 years: 68.4% (male 967,546/female 969,389) 65 years and over: 3.7% (male 45,859/female 59,923) (2006 est.) Median age: total: 24.6 years male: 24.3 years female: 25 years (2006 est.) Population growth rate: 1.46% (2006 est.) Birth rate: 21.59 births/1,000 population (2006 est.) Death rate: 6.95 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.) Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.) Sex ratio: at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.77 male(s)/female total population: 1 male(s)/female (2006 est.) Infant mortality rate: total: 52.12 deaths/1,000 live births male: 55.51 deaths/1,000 live births female: 48.57 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.) Life expectancy at birth: total population: 64.89 years male: 62.64 years female: 67.25 years (2006 est.) Total fertility rate: 2.25 children born/woman (2006 est.) HIV/AIDS adult prevalence rate: less than 0.1% (2003 est.) HIV/AIDS people living with HIV/AIDS: less than 500 (2003 est) HIV/AIDS deaths: less than 200 (2003 est.) Nationality: noun: Mongolian(s) adjective: Mongolian Ethnic groups: Mongol (mostly Khalkha) 94.9%, Turkic (mostly Kazakh) 5%, other (including Chinese and Russian) 0.1% (2000) Religions: Buddhist Lamaist 50%, none 40%, Shamanist and Christian 6%, Muslim 4% (2004) Languages: Khalkha Mongol 90%, Turkic, Russian (1999) Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 97.8% male: 98% female: 97.5% (2002) https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/mg.html#People Birth http://www.everyculture.com/Ma-Ni/Mongolia.html http://www.everyculture.com/wc/Mauritania-to-Nigeria/Mongols.html http://www.birthdaycelebrations.net/traditions.htm (Birthday Celebration) http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/ (Birth % of Skilled attendant at Delivery) http://www.who.int/reproductive-health/global_monitoring/data.html (Birth % of Skilled attendant at Delivery) http://map.sscs.org.au/Documents/cultural_dictionary.pdf (Similar to Cultural Grams) Culture Grams which is in our WTP Folder Birth, Dating, Marriage, Family, Recreation, Death/After Life http://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/abortion/profiles.htm (Abortion) How is birth viewed in the culture? Fertility is important in Mongolian society, so childless women usually experience social stigma. (WIC) Are there any customs regarding the way newborns should be swaddled, whether they stay in the house, carried around in public, etc.? Are babies normally birthed in hospitals or at home? Is there a preference for doctors or midwives? Skilled attendant at delivery (%), 1997-2005* 97 http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/mongolia_statistics.html More than 95 percent of all pregnant Mongolian women receive ante-natal care. As of 2004, the maternal mortality rate was 98 deaths per 100,000 live births. Estimated infant mortality rates for 2006 are 52 per 1,000. (WIC) Are there any formalities/celebrations in the culture regarding newborns? Among Buddhists there are many naming ceremonies.   In some traditions, children are named between the ages of three and eight.   After children are born, their parents have their Kikas drawn up.   The Kika is a very specific horoscope which many Buddhists believe determines all aspects of a persons life including marriage and death.   At the naming ceremony, a rimpoche, or Buddhist holy person, looks carefully at the childs Kika and selects a name which reflects the traits and predictions described in the Kika.   After cutting a strand of the childs hair, the rimpoche announces the childs name. http://72.14.205.104/search?q=cache:ybpfeaiYiCUJ:rainbowwarrior.coa.edu/laura/ceremony/religiuosceremony.htm+Buddhist+naming+ceremonieshl=engl=inct=clnkcd=1 How are birthdays celebrated in the culture? Are they important events? How does the culture view abortion? Abortions are legal in Mongolia and available on request. (WIC) ABORTION POLICY Grounds on which abortion is permitted: To save the life of the woman Yes To preserve physical health Yes To preserve mental health Yes Rape or incest Yes Foetal impairment Yes Economic or social reasons Yes Available on request Yes Additional requirements: An abortion can be performed during the first three months of pregnancy and later if the pregnant woman suffers from an illness seriously threatening her health. Approval of the family or of the spouse is required. REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH CONTEXT Government view on fertility level: No official position Government intervention concerning fertility level: No intervention Government policy on contraceptive use: Direct support provided Percentage of currently married women using modern contraception (15-49*,1994): 25 Total fertility rate (1995-2000): 2.6 Age-specific fertility rate (per 1,000 women aged 15-19, 1995-2000): 47 Government has expressed particular concern about: Morbidity and mortality resulting from induced abortion No Complications of childbearing and childbirth Yes Maternal mortality ratio (per 100,000 live births, 1990): National 65 Eastern Asia 95 Female life expectancy at birth (1995-2000): 67.3 For all women of ages specified. BACKGROUND Under the Mongolian Criminal Code of 6 July 1960, abortion was generally illegal. If it was performed by a physician, it was punishable by up to two years imprisonment. If it was performed by a person lacking the highest medical qualifications, or if performed under unsanitary conditions, the punishment was increased to up to five years imprisonment. Nonetheless, under general criminal law principles of necessity, an abortion could be performed to save the life of the pregnant woman. In 1986, the abortion provisions of the Code were amended. Although abortion is in general still considered a serious offence, the Code authorized medical authorities to establish the conditions for the performance of legal abortions. Three years later in 1989, the health law was amended to reflect this change. Paragraph 56 of the Code was modified to provide that becoming a mother was a matter of a womans own decision. During the first three months of pregnancy she could obtain an abortion on request and, later in pregnancy, when necessary due to illness. Abortions were to be performed by physicians under hospital conditions, and the Ministry of Health was to approve a list of illnesses justifying the performance of an abortion on medical grounds. The health law was revised in 1998 but its provisions on abortion remained the same. The 1996 National Population Policy of Mongolia adopted by Parliament stated that abortion should not be promoted as a means of family planning. The Government considers the abortion rate to be too high. The Government also reiterated in 1999 that abortion is generally permitted if a pregnant woman requests it and that abortion is publicly subsidized. Prior to these amendments to the law enacted in the late 1980s, legal provisions governing abortion in Mongolia echoed the pronatalist population policy of the Government. In responding to the Eighth United Nations Inquiry among Governments on Population and Development, the Government indicated no position on the fertility level and no policy to modify it. The Government remains seriously concerned over the high levels of infant, child and maternal mortality. The Government has attributed the relatively high abortion rate, 25.9 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15-44, to shortages of modern contraceptives, as well as to a lack of knowledge concerning contraceptive use. Many women choose to have abortions carried out illegally by private physicians because of cheaper costs. Induced abortion accounts for a large percentage of maternal mortality in Mongolia, causing at least 850 maternal deaths each year. The Government seeks to increase the contraceptive prevalence rate to more than 50 per cent by 2001. The National Reproductive Health Programme was adopted in 1997. The Government reports that, since the International Conference on Population and Development, held in Cairo in 1984, successful steps have been undertaken to ensure access of women to reproductive health-care services. Each provincial centre and some district cities have established reproductive health cabinets attached to the local public health centres. These cabinets provide services such as counselling, and pregnancy monitoring and evaluation. A National Adolescent Health Programme was adopted in 1997. http://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/abortion/profiles.htm Childhood http://www.everyculture.com/Ma-Ni/Mongolia.html http://www.everyculture.com/wc/Mauritania-to-Nigeria/Mongols.html http://www.right-to-education.org/content/age/armenia.html http://www.cohre.org/get_attachment.php?attachment_id=3069 (Sub-Saharan Africa Rights of Women http://map.sscs.org.au/Documents/cultural_dictionary.pdf (Similar to Cultural Grams) Culture Grams which is in our WTP Folder Birth, Dating, Marriage, Family, Recreation, Death/After Life What is a normal childhood in the culture? Are children raised by their parents or grandparents? What role do grandparents and extended family members play in the raising of a child? Attitudes about child rearing are generally quite relaxed and all family members participate in the supervision and moral education of children. http://www.everyculture.com/Ma-Ni/Mongolia.html What are normal childhood activities in the culture? Are children revered or just another piece of the population? Are male children valued more? At what age do children begin school? Offices are generally open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2 to 6 p.m. Shops are open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Grocery stores have the same hours as shops but often are open on Sunday. A large open market featuring consumer goods, rural crafts, and assorted items operates several days a week on the outskirts of Ulaanbaatar. (Culture Grams) Are children expected to contribute to household income? How is child labor viewed in the society? Coming of Age http://www.everyculture.com/Ma-Ni/Mongolia.html http://www.everyculture.com/wc/Mauritania-to-Nigeria/Mongols.html http://map.sscs.org.au/Documents/cultural_dictionary.pdf (Similar to Cultural Grams) Culture Grams which is in our WTP Folder Birth, Dating, Marriage, Family, Recreation, Death/After Life What marks a childs coming of age in this culture? At what age do children normally come of age? Are there certain rites or celebrations that mark coming of age? What is expected of youth in this phase of life? Are there certain difficulties experienced by this age group? At what age are children expected to work contribute to the maintenance of the family? Dating Courtship http://www.everyculture.com/Ma-Ni/Mongolia.html http://www.everyculture.com/wc/Mauritania-to-Nigeria/Mongols.html http://kinseyinstitute.org/ccies/ (Sexuality ) http://www2.hu-berlin.de/sexology/IES/ (Sexuality) http://map.sscs.org.au/Documents/cultural_dictionary.pdf (Similar to Cultural Grams) Culture Grams which is in our WTP Folder Birth, Dating, Marriage, Family, Recreation, Death/After Life What are the general attitudes about dating in the culture? Dating is fairly common. (WIC) Dating between schoolmates and coworkers commonly leads to marriage. (Culture Grams) Is there are distinction between courtship and dating in the culture? At what age do people generally start dating? How do men and women meet each other? Mongolian women usually meet men at schools, in the workplace, and at social gatherings. (WIC) If dating is not customary, describe how people get together for marriage? Is it arranged? If marriages are arranged, talk about how. What are the rituals around it (classified ads, matchmakers, astrology, etc.). If marriages are arranged, what are the factors in finding a suitable mate? Are chaperones customary? If so, who serves as the chaperone? Are there popular venues for dating? Does a man or woman pay for dating expenses? Describe a typical dating experience. How long do people generally date before they get married? Generally speaking in the culture, what are considered desirable attributes in a man? Generally speaking in the culture, what are considered desirable attributes in a woman? Does religion play a role in dating? What are taboos of dating in the culture? Is sex in dating common or taboo? What is the view of pre-marital sex? If premarital sex is common, is birth control promoted, practiced, or taboo? Is cross-cultural dating or cross-religious dating allowed or encouraged? Do people date outside their social, economic, education, religious, and ethnic categories? How important are parents/family approval for dating? How does a proposal for marriage occur? Arranged marriages are traditional in Mongolia, but for the last century, young Mongolians have become increasingly free to choose their own partners with minimal parental involvement. They normally marry within their own tribes. (WIC) Marriage http://www.everyculture.com/Ma-Ni/Mongolia.html http://www.everyculture.com/wc/Mauritania-to-Nigeria/Mongols.html http://www.worldweddingtraditions.com/locations/asian_traditions.html (Wedding Celebration) http://www.myhappylove.com/lyrics/wedding-traditions.html (Wedding Celebration) http://www.right-to-education.org/content/age/armenia.html (Minimum Schooling / Marriage / Employment Age ) http://www.coe.int/t/e/social_cohesion/population/demographic_year_book/2003_edition/04%20country%20data/ ( Population/Marriage/ Divorce/ Fertility) http://www.cohre.org/get_attachment.php?attachment_id=3069 (Sub-Saharan Africa Rights of Women http://kinseyinstitute.org/ccies/ (Sexuality) http://www2.hu-berlin.de/sexology/IES/ (Sexuality) http://map.sscs.org.au/Documents/cultural_dictionary.pdf (Similar to Cultural Grams) Culture Grams which is in our WTP Folder Birth, Dating, Marriage, Family, Recreation, Death/After Life http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/reports.htm (For the status of women rights) http://www.international-divorce.com/ (Divorce Custody) http://www.aupairinamerica.com/hostfamilies/culturequest_index.htm Is marriage considered a sacred/spiritual act or simply a legal act in the culture? At what age do people normally get married? The legal marriage age for Mongolian women is 18, but most women marry in their early to mid twenties. (WIC) Mongolians usually marry between the ages of 18 and 25. (Culture Grams) Does hierarchy in the family play a role in who is able to get married or who gets married first? How are marriages celebrated? What are the rituals associated with the marriage ceremony? A custom of denying entrance on marrying has been common among the nomadic and seminomadic Mongols. The bridegroom, accompanied by relatives, rides to the brides yurt (house). He finds the door slammed in his face. After repeated requests, the door is finally opened. He presents a hada (ceremonial silk scarf) to his parents-in-law on entering and is given a banquet with a whole lamb. After the meal, the bride sits with her back to the others. The bridegroom kneels behind her and asks what her nickname was in childhood. He drinks at her house all night long. The following day, the bride leaves the yurt first. She circles the yurt on horseback three times, then speeds along to the bride-grooms house. The bridegroom and his relatives ride after her. The door is also slammed in her face and is only opened after repeated requests. http://www.everyculture.com/wc/Mauritania-to-Nigeria/Mongols.html Urban wedding ceremonies take place in wedding palaces. Afterward, many couples now go to a Buddhist monk to receive a blessing or have their future predicted. A large feast treats as many relatives and friends as the new couples families can afford to feed. In rural areas, common-law marriages are typical. Rural couples receive a ger from the husbands family. Mongolian families traditionally exchange gifts in conjunction with a wedding. The grooms family usually gives livestock, while the brides family offers jewelry and clothing. (Culture Grams) The wedding day is begun at a local temple where the couple separately asks for the blessings of Buddha. Both bride and groom are then dressed in outfits traditional to their region. At the mutually auspicious astrologically designated wedding time, the bride and groom are individually taken to the shrine room of their local temple or a hall hired for the occasion. Here, the couple sees each other for the first time on that day. Spiritual Buddhist wedding traditions dont necessarily require the presence of monks or the use of a temples shrine room. For these traditions, the wedding location would be equipped with a shrine to Buddha featuring candles, flowers, incense and a statue or image of Buddha. The ceremony begins as the entire assembly recites the Vandana, Tisarana and Pancasila readings. The couple then lights the candles and incense sticks surrounding Buddhas image and offers him the flowers within the shrine. Because of the secularity of Buddhist weddings, there is no assigned set of marriage vows. However, the bride and groom will recite their expected undertakings using the Sigilovdda Sutta as a guide. The Sigiloydda Sutta says: In five ways should a wife, as Western quarter, be ministered to by her husband: by respect, by courtesy, by faithfulness, by handing over authority to her, by providing her with ornaments. In these five ways does the wife minister to by her husband as the Western quarter, love him: her duties are well-performed by hospitality to kin of both, by faithfulness, by watching over the goods he brings and by skill and industry in discharging all business. After these vows are spoken, the bride and groom can exchange rings. If monks are present, the marriage vows will be both preceded and proceeded by their chanting. After the Wedding Once officially married, the couple receives their guests with the huge feast and decorations prepared in the previous days to the wedding. http://www.urbandharma.org/udnl2/nl021004.html Finally, the assembly or perhaps the parents only, should recite the Mangala Sutta and Jayamangala Gatha as a blessing. http://www.buddhanet.net/funeral.htm What are the cultural expectations of marriage? Do men and women have equal say in their marriages? What are the typical roles of the man and woman in marriage? How much do parents or in-laws have to say about their offsprings marriage? What degree of involvement do they generally have? Where do couples normally residein their own place, with parents, etc.? The sons, after marrying, move out of their parents home. However, they live nearby and may travel with their parents in search of new pastures. In seminomadic districts, families often include parents, sons, and daughters-in-law. http://www.everyculture.com/wc/Mauritania-to-Nigeria/Mongols.html Are affairs common? Are they culturally accepted? Are men or women allowed to have multiple spouses? Mongolian traditional society allowed polygamy as long as the husband could provide for each wife. However, polygamy was legally banned some time ago and is no longer practiced. (WIC) Do laws equally protect the rights of individuals in a marriage? How are anniversaries celebrated in the culture? Is divorce legal or acceptable in the culture? Under what circumstances is it acceptable to divorce? What is the process in the event of a divorce? Mongolian women could initiate divorce and remarry afterwards. In such cases the new husbands usually accepted a divorced woman along with her children, as acquiring a ready-made family was believed to indicate an existing spiritual connection. (WIC) Do women retain any rights? What happens to children of a divorce? A Mongolian woman can initiate divorce. In most divorce cases, the mothers get custody of minor children. (WIC) Is remarriage for widows condoned in the society? Family Parenting http://www.everyculture.com/Ma-Ni/Mongolia.html http://www.everyculture.com/wc/Mauritania-to-Nigeria/Mongols.html http://www.cohre.org/get_attachment.php?attachment_id=3069 (Sub-Saharan Africa Rights of Women http://map.sscs.org.au/Documents/cultural_dictionary.pdf (Similar to Cultural Grams) Culture Grams which is in our WTP Folder Birth, Dating, Marriage, Family, Recreation, Death/After Life http://www.unece.org/stats/trend/ (Population/ Families households/ Employment/ Housing) http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/country-profiles.html (Family) http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/reports.htm (For the status of women rights) http://www.international-divorce.com/ (Divorce Custody) What does the family unit in a home look like? (i.e. 2 parents, children? Parents, children, all relatives?, etc.) Is there an imposed or cultural idea about how many children are the right amount for a family? What is the typical family size? Nomadic extended families often live in a camp of several gers. Husbands take care of herding and slaughtering, while wives handle milking and food preparation. Older children care for younger siblings. Urban families live either in high-rise apartments or in a ger, with its surrounding fence and storage shed. A ger in or near a city will have electricity but not heat or water. Due to a housing shortage, three generations must often share a small apartment; parents sleep in the living room and children and grandparents in the bedrooms. Urban families have one or two children. Both parents generally work outside the home. Networks of family reciprocity are an important means of support. For example, rural relatives may supply their city relatives with meat and dairy products, and the urban dwellers may reciprocate by taking one or more of the rural familys children to live with them in the city so they may receive a better education. (Culture Grams) Traditionally, families were the main unit of production in this herding society. The kinship system was patrilineal and sons generally established households in a common camp with their fathers. Several generations of families customarily live together in a nomadic camp known as a khot ail (group of tents) and share herding tasks. This camp, generally consisting of two to seven households, serves as a way of pooling labor for herding and has numerous social and ritual functions. http://www.everyculture.com/Ma-Ni/Mongolia.html A Mongolian family generally consists of a husband, a wife, and their young children. http://www.everyculture.com/wc/Mauritania-to-Nigeria/Mongols.html How central are children to the family? What are the general reasons for having children? Children have always been treasured in Mongolian culture, and large families were historically the norm. Large families were considered desirable because many children ensured extra help and security in old age. Although family size is changing today, the country is still so sparsely populated that some people still believe it is advantageous to have as many Mongolians as possible. http://www.everyculture.com/Ma-Ni/Mongolia.html How important is birth or gender order? Is there a family hierarchy or cultural custom in terms of childbearing (i.e. the youngest child of a family may not have children until the eldest has had them, etc.) What is the expectation or role of each parent after the birth of the child? Who is the head of the household? Mongolian women traditionally held a higher social status than women in many Asian cultures. Still, a womans primary role was as a homemaker. (WIC) The father is head of the family, but the mother is responsible for household affairs. (Culture Grams) Who makes the chief decisions for the family? The Mongols are monogamous. The family is dominated by the man, but herders usually consult their wives about major decisions. http://www.everyculture.com/wc/Mauritania-to-Nigeria/Mongols.html Traditionally, Mongolia has always been a patriarchal society. Mongolian proverbs such as If a husband does not beat his wife once a month, he is not a man Today, Mongolian men often maintain the appearance that they are the family decision-makers, even if their wives actually make the decisions. However, the number of single-parent families headed by women is growing in Mongolia. (WIC) Who earns the income? Who customarily manages the household? (Mother, Father, Grandparent?) Describe typical family life? (daily routines) What are the roles of the children (up to 10 yrs.)? What are the roles of adolescents (11 and up)? What are typical/favorite family activities? Urban wedding ceremonies take place in wedding palaces. Afterward, many couples now go to a Buddhist monk to receive a blessing or have their future predicted. A large feast treats as many relatives and friends as the new couples families can afford to feed. In rural areas, common-law marriages are typical. Rural couples receive a ger from the husbands family. Mongolian families traditionally exchange gifts in conjunction with a wedding. The grooms family usually gives livestock, while the brides family offers jewelry and clothing. (Culture Grams) Is meal sharing with the family typical/mandatory? Dinner is considered the main meal of the day. The whole family generally eats dinner together. (Culture Grams) Is divorce common? Today, divorce is relatively rare in Mongolia. In most divorces, mothers receive the custody of children and are entitled to child support and alimony. (WIC) With whom to the children go if there is a divorce? What cultural expectations are there in terms of duty to parents?. What or how much do children owe their parents in adulthood? Does hierarchy/economics/education/or other play a role in terms of which child has more responsibilities or duty requirements? (i.e. in Japan/Korea, etc.) Most Mongolians live in nuclear families, tho

History of Artist Expression in Comic Books

History of Artist Expression in Comic Books Comic books, like many art forms, have been co-opted by a hungry consumer capitalist economy which makes a Faustian bargain with its artistic meals: give me your subversive art forms and ideas, this economy says, and I will communicate them to a mass audience beyond your wildest dreams; however, in exchange, your art forms and ideas will often simultaneously be stripped of their dignity and uniqueness by becoming products of no less ubiquity and no more value than toothpaste – mere tools to sell, sell, sell, and make more, more, more money for gigantic multinational corporations. This phenomenology is the ultimate in postmodern recontextualization, the stripping of an objects original meaning and significance, and its endowment with a new purpose either heretofore considered or deemed ethically, morally, or artistically acceptable. We shall explore the unique nature and popularity of comic books, and the themes presented in their narratives and characters, as a quasi-underground phenomenon whose ever-increasing popularity from the 1940s to the 1980s left them perfectly positioned to be gobbled and turned into movies and merchandise by giant corporations eager to both exploit the devotees of comic books and expand their numbers. What has been the big deal, historically, about comic books? Though they are primarily a postmodern phenomenon localized in the latter half of the 20th century through to the present, their roots go as far back as the 17th century, when the English mass-produced woodcuts depicting ghastly public executions. Comics first reached mass popularity in the United States in the 1930s in the form of newspaper comics; then, the comic book as a separate, thriving, and sophisticated art form began to evolve from there. â€Å"The comic book has been one of our most familiar, yet least appreciated, popular art forms. As vehemently criticized as it is passionately defended†¦ [it is] a graphically sophisticated and culturally revealing medium.† (Sabin, 1996, p.1). After roughly a decade of occupying a comfortable place in the American pop culture mainstream, comics, and then comic books, began to take to reflect a less sanguine view of American society. Violent crime comics began to appear, and the more squeaky-clean comics of the 1930s and during World War II absorbed some of these same themes. In the so-called Silver Age of Comic Books, the 1950s through the 1970s, most characters and narratives began to take on a darker and more complex tone, mostly in response to plummeting sales after World War II that reflected an unsettled cultural undercurrent brewing in America. In this initial countercultural heyday of the 1950s and 1960s, comic books were sometimes dismissed, much like rock-and-roll music, as the juvenile, unsophisticated, and pulpy fantasies of hormone-addled adolescents. Sometimes, however, comic books were labeled as cultural filth that was an ongoing threat, destructive to teenage minds. In 1954, right-wing American psychiatrist Dr. Frederic Wertham published a book called Seduction of the Innocent, which was an all-out assault on the ostensible delinquency-inducing content of comic books, and which singled out Batman for special criticism, claiming â€Å"a subtle atmosphere of homoeroticism.† (Wertham, 1954, p. 189). Werthams criticism of comic book content led to the establishment of a censor organization known as the Comic Code Authority that same year, whose heavy-handed influence forced comic book writers and artists to go somewhat underground with their subversive themes. However, Batman (and Robin, whatever his relationship with Batman may or may not have been) has far outlived both Dr. Wertham and the chilling effect of his book, and in fact, the longevity and deceptively complex content of comic books have proven them to be much more powerful than anyone ever dreamed. They have for decades embodied striking artistic expressions of artists and authors, who collectively spoke for countless millions of young people who did not quite fit in to the mainstream of society. These millions were given voice by comic books such as The X-Men, The Incredible Hulk, The Amazing Spider-Man, from the Marvel Comics Company, and Batman and Superman from the DC Comics Company. Each of the aforementioned titles tells an extended set of stories about a character or characters who are misfits of some kind, whether it be physical, psychological, or emotional, and who take on a variety of preternatural and/or superhuman characteristics which allow them to not only address their own personal struggles with their differences from others in society, but to aid society itself in coming to better accept those who are different; or, alternately, the characters are either born with or afflicted by a condition which makes them a misfit and therefore different from others in society, and must adapt to life as such. These comic book stories generally involve a variety of morality plays, ranging from simple good vs. evil, to the exploration of antiheros, that enable the characters to attempt to effect positive change in the world, and provide both catharsis and inspiration for the readers. The X-Men, for example, were created by legendary comic book author Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby in 1963. They were /are a group of teenagers born with genetic mutations that have endowed them with a variety of superhuman characteristics, not all of which are necessarily constructive. In the Lee/Kirby universe, the X-Men are widely ostracized and discriminated against not only because they are different, but because non-mutant humans fear the X-Men are the next logical, superior step in human evolution and therefore could render normal humans obsolete. The teenagers stories often involved them attempting to come to terms with their powers and how to fit into the so-called normal human society. The X-Men were comprised of such characters as Iceman, a young man who could freeze objects at will; Wolverine, a foul-tempered young man whose skeleton is laced with a nearly indestructible metal alloy, including metal knives which he could extend and retract from his hands at will, albeit with considerable pain; Storm, a young black female who could control the weather, including the ability to summon storms at will; Nightcrawler, a young male born with blue fur who could become virtually invisible at night and teleport short distances; Cyclops, who could shoot beams of pure solar energy from his eyes, but not always control this power; Rogue, a young female possessing the hyper-empathic ability the feelings, memories, and abilities of other beings she touches —unfortunately, however, prolonged contact with others can weaken or kill them; Magneto, an older male survivor of the Nazi death camps who can manipulate magnetic forces, but whose psyche was so twisted by his experience at the hands of the Nazis that he has become an arch-nemesis of the X-Men; and Professor Xavier, an older male paraplegic with amazing telepathic abilities and a world-class intellect, who has dedicated his life to mentoring other mutants and defending them from themselves, unsympathetic humans, and the perennial machinations of Magneto. The X-Men and their stories were unabashedly allegorical and subversive in nature, content, and theme. Professor Xavier was modeled after civil rights activist Martin Luther King, Jr. and Sir Francis Xavier, Catholic missionary and founder of the Jesuit order. The sense of loneliness and isolation experienced by Rogue was a reflection of the near-universal teenage experience. The bigotry and intolerance of homosexuals is another allegorical component featured with the X-Men narratives, particularly in the film adaptations directed by openly gay Bryan Singer. In X-Men 2, the character of Bobby Drake characters comes out of the closet as a mutant to his parents, prompting them to ask if he has tried not being a mutant, parodying the oft-heard question of parents directed their gay children. Anti-Semitism, personal alienation, anti-Communist paranoia, and racism are also allegorical themes that X-Men comic narratives have explored in detail. And like The X-Men, Batman, Spiderman (also a Stan Lee creation), The Incredible Hulk and Superman all were dependent upon and explored the themes of what it meant for a person to be forced to hide or to be ashamed of a component of his or her true self, or to lead a dual existence – one private and personal, one public. Superman (created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster), known by millions as a mild-mannered reporter, socially maladroit nerd, and bearer of an unrequited love for Lois Lane, who happens to be a near-omnipotent superhero when called upon in extraordinary circumstances, is the perfect embodiment of both teenage reality and teenage wish fulfillment. The Incredible Hulk (another Stan Lee creation) gets angry like all of us, but has real power – scary power, often – to do something about it thanks to hi s green steroidal transformation. Batman (created by Bob Kane and fleshed out by Bill Finger and Jerry Robinson) lives a quiet, dark life of solitude contrasted with public works of enviable nobility and good. These feelings of powerlessness and awkwardness, combined with empowerment fantasies, were and continue to be direct reflections of the collective concerns of millions of young people, and perhaps many adults, as well – how to fit into a society that demanded conformity without losing the uniqueness that embodies ones individuality. Ironically, the collective popularity of all of these comic book titles has historically been so striking in terms of sales that it would not be an unfair question to wonder if it fact the teenage misfits who bought them were in fact the majority, not the minority in society. Comic book sales peaked in 1993 at a staggering $850 million (U.S. dollars) and are still very healthy, though currently, the popularity of comic book characters is as likely to be manifest in movie ticket and DVD sales of film adaptations of comic books as it is in comic book purchases. More on this later. The character archetypes and narrative themes of most of these original and ongoing comic book series were produced in the crucible of the fairly conformist sociocultural pressures of the modernist era in the United States. The teenagers of each successive decade, beginning with the 1950s and continuing to the present, have been characterized by isolation, disaffection, rebellion, disillusionment, all combined with the pressure to adapt without question to the relatively monolithic mores of the generation which preceded them, a generation for whom belonging to a larger social group, for whom the values of unquestioning self-sacrifice and acceptance of authority figures and establishment power structures were the norm. Men were called to duty, whether in World War II or in the burgeoning post-war corporate universe; many made the ultimate sacrifice – their lives, or worse, their souls. Women, too, had their duty – to support their men in discreet, subservient lives of quiet domestic efficiency. But as American young people began to question the assumptions behind the Cold War, and question the rational and wisdom behind the interminably bloody Vietnam War, their uncertainty on these issues led to a greater wholesale questioning of the mechanisms and assumptions of societys very foundations. (Even Batman, whose creation in 1940 arguably predates postmodernism, eventually took on countercultural subject matter and themes, to say nothing of the suggestion of a taboo homoeroticism in the relationship between Batman and Robin.) This rebellion was met with heavy disapproval and disappointment by parents, representing the previous generation. The ongoing schism between these two generations has caused huge cultural, social, and political conflicts that continue to be played out even in 2005. These conflicts have been vividly reflected in the artistic expressions of the times – literature, music, and films. From the standpoint of the older generations, comic books were perhaps never adequately understood, respected, or even recognized for the potent and unusual artistic and cultural forces that they have always represented certainly as potent as more conventional and commonplace means of artistic expression, high art and classical music, just to name two ossified examples. (And, incidentally, these generational clashes were not limited to the United States in terms of understanding the rise of the superhero comic books. The country of Japan, tiny as it is, has become its own powerhouse in terms of churning out groundbreaking styles of comics, such as Katsuhiro Otomo of Akira fame, reflecting generational struggles unique to the Japanese youth culture.) The artistic expressions that arose out of the clash between generations also represented an evolution in classifications and mechanisms of art itself – the evolution from modern art forms to postmodern art forms. Modern art, reflective of the cultures from which it sprung, was generally conformist, and adhered to classic rules of form, function, and design, and either explicitly or implicitly supported the symbols of establishment paradigms by exploiting binary oppositions of us vs. them (i.e., Americans vs. Communists). Postmodern art rejected the methodology of modern art on every level, deconstructing it to such an extent as to even question the basic psychological definitions of symbolism in human art forms. The discarding and combination of genres and forms, the pastiche of styles, the toying with unorthodox symbolism, and an active interest in subversion and smashing of establishment systems – rebellion itself are all manifestations of art evolving to postmodern form. And instead of existing to analyze, but ultimately reinforce the paradigms of patriarchal establishments, postmodern art analyzed and often sought to undermine these establishments and their conventions, if not destroy them altogether. As noted by postmodernism scholar Andreas Huyssen, â€Å"†¦contemporary postmodernism operates in a field of tension between tradition and innovation, conservation and renewal, mass culture and high art, in which the second terms are no longer automatically privileged over the first.† (Huyssen, 1986, p. 267). As such, any art form that has enjoyed longevity has internalized and incorporated this revolutionary and evolutionary process, or been discarded or fossilized. Comic books are no exception to this rule, and their staying power has manifested itself in the last 20 or so years by their translation to and eventual dominance of the genre of film. In fact, comic books in their Silver Age forms were arguably inherently post-modern in nature, as they combined complex and detailed visual artistry with complex and serialized narratives, an intermixing pastiche of separate genres which had never before been combined in such a unique form. Books had, of course, often featured illustrations in the past, but they were only to provide occasional support and dimensionalization of the narrative, as opposed to being as important a component of the medium as the narrative itself. The fantastical and stylized nature of many of the illustrations featured in comic books were often postmodern artistic explorations in their own right, seeking to push the boundaries of conventional illustrations. Their explorations of anti-heroes helped deconstruct the notion of simple constructs of good and evil. American consumer capitalism, which is inherently (though not necessarily benignly) postmodern in its relentless desire to commodify anything and everything, particularly that which can be packaged as new, hip, and edgy – and thus desirable – has hungrily devoured comic books and the films which come from them. In doing so, the artistic and societal merit of comic books, in particular their subversive characteristics, have become themselves subverted by the deity of consumer capitalist commodification. The ultimate dream, for example, of fans of the X-Men comic books, that their beloved misfit characters would reach movie theatres and therefore a larger audience for their collective angst, has come true but that dream has also become a nightmare for some fans, as these same subversive misfit X-Men have also become action figures, clothing lines, cartoons on the side of fast food lunch bags and boxes all mass marketed to mass audiences in order to maximize profits for corporations that are more interested in shareholder earnings than they are the artistic merit of airing the collective voices of disaffected teen angst. If the phenomenology of disaffected teen angst can be appropriated to make a profit from teenagers, then corporations will be chasing the teens and their money incessantly. However, corporate interest in teenagers as a demographic generally has little to do with sociocultural altruism. In fact, cultural observers should take heed – â€Å"ventilation of genuinely alternative social visions collide directly with the underpinnings of power in the economy at large. (Schiller, 1986, p. 152) The trade-off is as follows: as long as such ventilation of alternative social visions makes a profit, it will be tolerated. But in the consumer capitalist corporate universe of today, art for arts sake, particularly if the art does not reinforce the machinery of consumer capitalism, will never generate much more than limited enthusiasm, and is more likely to meet with insidious hostility. The primary perpetrators in this arena are the behemoth corporate conglomerates that own the media, and the acquisitive way in which they manage their film and television divisions. In the 1960s and 1970s, film studios and television networks existed as independent business entities whose sole focus was the creation of films and television shows – nothing more, nothing less. While these companies were undisputedly interested in profits, the process was far more artist-centered and quality-driven than they are today. The presumption was that quality films would result in box-office successes, though the expectations of profit were relatively modest compared to todays standards. Then, in 1977, a watershed moment in film history arrived in the form of the blockbuster Star Wars, a comic-bookish story in its own right despite being an original creation of writer/director George Lucas. The film was not only the most financially successful phenomenon in movie history, but it alerted movie studios to a whole new economic model, centered around the notion of ancillary profits. Most notably in the case of Star Wars, the ancillary profits came in the form of merchandising. Inexplicably, before the films release, executives at 20th Century Fox, the films distributor, were convinced the film would be a flop, and in contract negotiations with Lucas, acceded to his unusual request to receive 100% of profits derived from sales of merchandise inspired and/or derived from the film, for example action figures and lunchboxes. The Fox executives surely rued the day they signed over these rights to Mr. Lucas, as Star Wars merchandise generated $1 billion in profits for the shrewd filmmaker. Another lesson learned by Fox, and other studios hungry to recreate the fiscal orgy of Star Wars, was that films targeted directly at children could be extremely lucrative at the box office, beyond profit margins to which they had become accustomed. Movies were no longer mostly the artistic or escapist purview of an audience comprised largely of adults. Their children came to be seen as a previously under-exploited source of bonanza profits. Lastly, movie studios began to rethink their conventional economic model, which was to produce modestly-budgeted films and reliably make modest profits. What Star Wars ignited was a phenomenon known as the blockbuster mentality, a hunger for epic profits from so-called event films, on which the studios became willing to gamble heretofore-unprecedented sums of money in hopes of hitting the proverbial jackpot. George Lucas, who began his career as a subversive filmmaker of eccentric tastes with critically acclaimed films such as THX-1138 and American Graffiti, unwittingly created a perfect storm that turned the film industry on its head. Star Wars was no fluke, as it turned out, and it was not long before the greedy capitalistic corporate culture of the 1980s began entertaining, no pun intended, the notion that film studio and television networks could be glamorous cash cows. In short order, huge companies whose core business usually had nothing to do with the entertainment industry were battling it out to see who could get into show business the fastest. Coca-Cola acquired movie studio Columbia/Tri-Star, which was later sold to Japanese electronics giant Sony; General Electric acquired the NBC television network; Capital Cities acquired the ABC Television network, and News Corporation acquired 20th Century Fox and the Fox Broadcasting Company; Gulf + Western acquired Paramount Pictures, etc. The unfortunate side effect of these mergers was the infusion of bottom-line, short-term profit-hungry thinking, as well as corporate models of branding and marketing products. These large corporations viewed films and television shows, and the intellectual properties that underlied them, as products, pure and simple, no different from mouthwash, shoes, soda drinks, or cosmetics. They expected their new acquisitions to transition from being art-focused and letting profits flow from quality, to simply making whatever sold the most tickets and had the most lucrative ancillary market potential. There was no single identifiable point, such a historical date or a press conference, when the critical link between art and commerce was separated, or the historical deference of profit to art was inverted (themselves postmodern phenomena, incidentally), but the entrà ©e of comic books into the world of film and television, which has become a powerful, dominating presence of comic books in film and television, followed and was directly related to this paradigm shift in the economics of the entertainment industry. The adaptation of comic books into film and television properties has been an exercise in creative cannibalism in some sense. Increasingly, film and television studios have taken on the risk-averse mentality of their corporate masters, and one of the effects of this has been to seek out intellectual property that might guarantee the fiscal success of a film or television show adaptation of said property. To the extent that a wildly successful book was often adapted for films geared towards adults, wildly successful comic book series were seen as a surefire way to guarantee a teen audience and the disposable income purchasing power of them and their parents. Movie executives sought to acquire the rights to comic book characters and stories which they could exploit – actual film industry terminology – and build into franchises – also actual film industry terminology, particularly creepy given the obvious parallels to McDonalds or Gap store franchise business models. For the most part, these franchises have been wildly successful from a financial point of view, though perhaps not from an artistic standpoint. There have been six Batman films made by Warner Brothers movie studio (owned by corporate behemoth AOL Time Warner, who not coincidentally own DC Comics, the original home of the Batman characters and comic books): 1989s Batman, 1992s Batman Returns, 1995s Batman Forever, 1997s Batman and Robin, 2004s Catwoman, and 2005s Batman Begins. Each film sported star casting of the highest caliber; however, perhaps with the exception of the first film, were special effects showcases first and artistically ambitious second, if at all. Nor were they particularly true to the time-honored complexities and lingering darkness of the comic books. Iconic film critic Roger Ebert (a devoted fan of the Batman comic books), in his review of Batman and Robin, took a forlorn swipe at each of the films to date: †¦ my delight began to fade at about the 30-minute mark when it became clear that this new movie, like its predecessors, was not *really* going to explore the bizarre world of its heroes, but would settle down safely into a special effects extravaganza. Batman Robin, like the first three films in the series, is wonderful to look at, and has nothing authentic at its core†¦ Watching it, I realized why it makes absolutely no difference who plays Batman: Theres nobody at home†¦ Give the foreground to the characters, not the special effects. And ask the hard questions about Bruce Wayne. (Ebert, 1997) Eberts last line refers to the perennial rumors that perennial bachelor Bruce Wayne might actually be a homosexual, or failing that, possess some unusual sexual fetishes that might not comprise the sort of fare that young children should be seeing at the movie theatre or on DVD. But this topic, as well as any serious exploration of Bruce Waynes psyche, was not been considered particularly lucrative by the marketing machines at Warner Brothers until the franchise was on the verge of death after the box office mediocrity of Batman and Robin and the outright box office disaster of Catwoman, which cost $85 million (U.S.) to produce and only made $40 million (U.S.) at the box office. 2005s Batman Begins was an unapologetically dark and complex film. Roger Eberts review may well have spoken for many Batman fans who ached for more substance and less pure style: The character resonates more deeply with me than the other comic superheroes, perhaps because when I discovered him as a child, he seemed darker and more grown-up than the cheerful Superman. He has secrets. As Alfred muses: Strange injuries and a nonexistent social life. These things beg the question, what does Bruce Wayne do with his time? (Ebert, 2005) Apparently, the moviegoing audiences agreed with Mr. Ebert, rewarding Warner Brothers with $205 million (U.S.) in box office receipts in the United States alone, and a similar – and still increasing – tally worldwide. The lesson here is that while an artistically unambitious and shallow film like Batman and Robin, which is more childish cartoon and marketing machine than serious filmmaking, can certainly turn a modest profit, it is entirely possible to be artistically ambitious and make plenty of money at the same time. One wonders why the latter is more often the exception rather than the rule, to the detriment of the integrity of comic books and their rich characters. In theory, the adaptation of comic books to the film and television arenas could have been a boon to not only the comic book industry, but a force for cultural good in the sense of spreading the subversive word to a larger audience. While there is no question that American and Western teenagers are far more aware of Batman and The X-Men than they were 30 years ago, the expansion of the audience has come at a price. First of all, the structures of film and television do not generally lend themselves well to the sort of narrative complexity that is a hallmark of comic books ongoing multi-character storylines. While the two X-Men films to date were generally well-received by fans of the comic books, many fans vociferously complained that many characters were either simply not included in the storylines, or they were altered to suit Hollywood norms in order to maximize audience appeal. While a third X-Men film is in the works, the simple truth is that 20th Century Fox, the movie studio that produced the films, simply cannot make any more than one X-Men film every two to three years and the complicated narrative history of over a dozen characters unspoiled over the course of 40 years of storytelling simply cannot be done adequate justice by a two-hour movies – as good as they may be – which get released only periodically. Secondly, for many young people, seeing an X-Men or Batman film may be their very first exposure to these universes, and depending on their reaction to the quality of the films and their natural consumer predilections, it is not certain that these teenagers are going to seek out the more dimensionalized, rich, and complex narrative universes to be found within the comic book series. In fact, given the immense popularity of video games among teenagers, who as a general rule spend as much, if not more time transfixed by their Playstations and Xboxes than they do reading, it is more likely that teenagers who see X-Men films will buy the video game adaptations of the X-Men comic books instead of investing in the comic books themselves. The statistics bear this out: in 2004, sales of comic books in the U.S. totaled $300 million – a considerable sum of money, but a far cry from the $850 million sum reached ten years earlier. Comic book money had, for better or for worse, flowed away from the comic books themselves and into the reinventions of the comic books – the movies, the video games. It is unfair, perhaps, to dismiss video games as worthless, but also difficult to avoid the conclusion that the X-Men video game, which is simply a violent combat simulation featuring the various mutant characters, carries more artistic and social worth than the comic books to which the video game owes its digital existence. Lastly, the value of ancillary X-Men merchandise, such as T-shirts, lunchboxes, and plastic soda cups from Burger King adorned with X-Men characters, is fleeting and thus fairly dubious in comparison to the lasting collectors item value of the comic books themselves, to say nothing of the inherent worth of the content of the books, and the visual and narrative artistry contained within them. Ultimately, and sadly, the postmodern machinery of consumer capitalism has appropriated comic book visuals and narratives and separated them from their inherent artistic value in order to make them both more appealing to a mainstream audience, usually children and younger teens, and more exploitable in terms of ancillary markets such as merchandising. The positive side of this equation is that the subversive art and storytelling found in comic books was brought to a larger audience, but may well have been eviscerated of its soul in the process. Films like Batman Begins, with its dark exploration of the recesses of Bruce Waynes psychology, and X-Men 2, with its unapologetic homosexual allegories, do their source material adequate justice and make their corporate masters a lot of money in the process. What can be hoped for the future is that movie studios see fit to release more films such as these and less of the vapid, lowest-common denominator special effects orgies that tend to predominate the box office landscape. Hellraiser and Constantine were met with outright hostility by fans of their comic book source material and performed poorly at the box office. It is no longer enough to simply adapt a comic book to guarantee success. Many audience members have grown more shrewd and sophisticated, and demand quality in storytelling. In the words of Nightcrawler in the film X-Men 2, â€Å"Most people will never know anything beyond what they see with their own two eyes.† If this is true in a world where what is put before the eyes of teenagers is predominated by movies and video games, it is imperative that the content not merely reflect the status quo desired by consumer capitalism, but the thought-provoking stories and characters, daring and subversive thoughts, first brought to us decades ago in the best comic books. BIBLIOGRAPHY Sabin, Roger. Comics, Comix Graphic Novels A History of Comic Art. Phaidon Press, 1996. Robinson, Jerry. The Comics: An Illustrated History of Comic Strip Art. Putnam Publishers, 1974. Wertham, Fredric. Seduction of the Innocent. Amerion Publishers, 1954 (Reprint 1996). Tuzi, Marino. â€Å"Individualism and Marginality: From Comic Book to Film: Marvel Comics Superheroes† College Quarterly, Spring 2005 Volume 8 Number 2. Taken from: htt History of Artist Expression in Comic Books History of Artist Expression in Comic Books Comic books, like many art forms, have been co-opted by a hungry consumer capitalist economy which makes a Faustian bargain with its artistic meals: give me your subversive art forms and ideas, this economy says, and I will communicate them to a mass audience beyond your wildest dreams; however, in exchange, your art forms and ideas will often simultaneously be stripped of their dignity and uniqueness by becoming products of no less ubiquity and no more value than toothpaste – mere tools to sell, sell, sell, and make more, more, more money for gigantic multinational corporations. This phenomenology is the ultimate in postmodern recontextualization, the stripping of an objects original meaning and significance, and its endowment with a new purpose either heretofore considered or deemed ethically, morally, or artistically acceptable. We shall explore the unique nature and popularity of comic books, and the themes presented in their narratives and characters, as a quasi-underground phenomenon whose ever-increasing popularity from the 1940s to the 1980s left them perfectly positioned to be gobbled and turned into movies and merchandise by giant corporations eager to both exploit the devotees of comic books and expand their numbers. What has been the big deal, historically, about comic books? Though they are primarily a postmodern phenomenon localized in the latter half of the 20th century through to the present, their roots go as far back as the 17th century, when the English mass-produced woodcuts depicting ghastly public executions. Comics first reached mass popularity in the United States in the 1930s in the form of newspaper comics; then, the comic book as a separate, thriving, and sophisticated art form began to evolve from there. â€Å"The comic book has been one of our most familiar, yet least appreciated, popular art forms. As vehemently criticized as it is passionately defended†¦ [it is] a graphically sophisticated and culturally revealing medium.† (Sabin, 1996, p.1). After roughly a decade of occupying a comfortable place in the American pop culture mainstream, comics, and then comic books, began to take to reflect a less sanguine view of American society. Violent crime comics began to appear, and the more squeaky-clean comics of the 1930s and during World War II absorbed some of these same themes. In the so-called Silver Age of Comic Books, the 1950s through the 1970s, most characters and narratives began to take on a darker and more complex tone, mostly in response to plummeting sales after World War II that reflected an unsettled cultural undercurrent brewing in America. In this initial countercultural heyday of the 1950s and 1960s, comic books were sometimes dismissed, much like rock-and-roll music, as the juvenile, unsophisticated, and pulpy fantasies of hormone-addled adolescents. Sometimes, however, comic books were labeled as cultural filth that was an ongoing threat, destructive to teenage minds. In 1954, right-wing American psychiatrist Dr. Frederic Wertham published a book called Seduction of the Innocent, which was an all-out assault on the ostensible delinquency-inducing content of comic books, and which singled out Batman for special criticism, claiming â€Å"a subtle atmosphere of homoeroticism.† (Wertham, 1954, p. 189). Werthams criticism of comic book content led to the establishment of a censor organization known as the Comic Code Authority that same year, whose heavy-handed influence forced comic book writers and artists to go somewhat underground with their subversive themes. However, Batman (and Robin, whatever his relationship with Batman may or may not have been) has far outlived both Dr. Wertham and the chilling effect of his book, and in fact, the longevity and deceptively complex content of comic books have proven them to be much more powerful than anyone ever dreamed. They have for decades embodied striking artistic expressions of artists and authors, who collectively spoke for countless millions of young people who did not quite fit in to the mainstream of society. These millions were given voice by comic books such as The X-Men, The Incredible Hulk, The Amazing Spider-Man, from the Marvel Comics Company, and Batman and Superman from the DC Comics Company. Each of the aforementioned titles tells an extended set of stories about a character or characters who are misfits of some kind, whether it be physical, psychological, or emotional, and who take on a variety of preternatural and/or superhuman characteristics which allow them to not only address their own personal struggles with their differences from others in society, but to aid society itself in coming to better accept those who are different; or, alternately, the characters are either born with or afflicted by a condition which makes them a misfit and therefore different from others in society, and must adapt to life as such. These comic book stories generally involve a variety of morality plays, ranging from simple good vs. evil, to the exploration of antiheros, that enable the characters to attempt to effect positive change in the world, and provide both catharsis and inspiration for the readers. The X-Men, for example, were created by legendary comic book author Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby in 1963. They were /are a group of teenagers born with genetic mutations that have endowed them with a variety of superhuman characteristics, not all of which are necessarily constructive. In the Lee/Kirby universe, the X-Men are widely ostracized and discriminated against not only because they are different, but because non-mutant humans fear the X-Men are the next logical, superior step in human evolution and therefore could render normal humans obsolete. The teenagers stories often involved them attempting to come to terms with their powers and how to fit into the so-called normal human society. The X-Men were comprised of such characters as Iceman, a young man who could freeze objects at will; Wolverine, a foul-tempered young man whose skeleton is laced with a nearly indestructible metal alloy, including metal knives which he could extend and retract from his hands at will, albeit with considerable pain; Storm, a young black female who could control the weather, including the ability to summon storms at will; Nightcrawler, a young male born with blue fur who could become virtually invisible at night and teleport short distances; Cyclops, who could shoot beams of pure solar energy from his eyes, but not always control this power; Rogue, a young female possessing the hyper-empathic ability the feelings, memories, and abilities of other beings she touches —unfortunately, however, prolonged contact with others can weaken or kill them; Magneto, an older male survivor of the Nazi death camps who can manipulate magnetic forces, but whose psyche was so twisted by his experience at the hands of the Nazis that he has become an arch-nemesis of the X-Men; and Professor Xavier, an older male paraplegic with amazing telepathic abilities and a world-class intellect, who has dedicated his life to mentoring other mutants and defending them from themselves, unsympathetic humans, and the perennial machinations of Magneto. The X-Men and their stories were unabashedly allegorical and subversive in nature, content, and theme. Professor Xavier was modeled after civil rights activist Martin Luther King, Jr. and Sir Francis Xavier, Catholic missionary and founder of the Jesuit order. The sense of loneliness and isolation experienced by Rogue was a reflection of the near-universal teenage experience. The bigotry and intolerance of homosexuals is another allegorical component featured with the X-Men narratives, particularly in the film adaptations directed by openly gay Bryan Singer. In X-Men 2, the character of Bobby Drake characters comes out of the closet as a mutant to his parents, prompting them to ask if he has tried not being a mutant, parodying the oft-heard question of parents directed their gay children. Anti-Semitism, personal alienation, anti-Communist paranoia, and racism are also allegorical themes that X-Men comic narratives have explored in detail. And like The X-Men, Batman, Spiderman (also a Stan Lee creation), The Incredible Hulk and Superman all were dependent upon and explored the themes of what it meant for a person to be forced to hide or to be ashamed of a component of his or her true self, or to lead a dual existence – one private and personal, one public. Superman (created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster), known by millions as a mild-mannered reporter, socially maladroit nerd, and bearer of an unrequited love for Lois Lane, who happens to be a near-omnipotent superhero when called upon in extraordinary circumstances, is the perfect embodiment of both teenage reality and teenage wish fulfillment. The Incredible Hulk (another Stan Lee creation) gets angry like all of us, but has real power – scary power, often – to do something about it thanks to hi s green steroidal transformation. Batman (created by Bob Kane and fleshed out by Bill Finger and Jerry Robinson) lives a quiet, dark life of solitude contrasted with public works of enviable nobility and good. These feelings of powerlessness and awkwardness, combined with empowerment fantasies, were and continue to be direct reflections of the collective concerns of millions of young people, and perhaps many adults, as well – how to fit into a society that demanded conformity without losing the uniqueness that embodies ones individuality. Ironically, the collective popularity of all of these comic book titles has historically been so striking in terms of sales that it would not be an unfair question to wonder if it fact the teenage misfits who bought them were in fact the majority, not the minority in society. Comic book sales peaked in 1993 at a staggering $850 million (U.S. dollars) and are still very healthy, though currently, the popularity of comic book characters is as likely to be manifest in movie ticket and DVD sales of film adaptations of comic books as it is in comic book purchases. More on this later. The character archetypes and narrative themes of most of these original and ongoing comic book series were produced in the crucible of the fairly conformist sociocultural pressures of the modernist era in the United States. The teenagers of each successive decade, beginning with the 1950s and continuing to the present, have been characterized by isolation, disaffection, rebellion, disillusionment, all combined with the pressure to adapt without question to the relatively monolithic mores of the generation which preceded them, a generation for whom belonging to a larger social group, for whom the values of unquestioning self-sacrifice and acceptance of authority figures and establishment power structures were the norm. Men were called to duty, whether in World War II or in the burgeoning post-war corporate universe; many made the ultimate sacrifice – their lives, or worse, their souls. Women, too, had their duty – to support their men in discreet, subservient lives of quiet domestic efficiency. But as American young people began to question the assumptions behind the Cold War, and question the rational and wisdom behind the interminably bloody Vietnam War, their uncertainty on these issues led to a greater wholesale questioning of the mechanisms and assumptions of societys very foundations. (Even Batman, whose creation in 1940 arguably predates postmodernism, eventually took on countercultural subject matter and themes, to say nothing of the suggestion of a taboo homoeroticism in the relationship between Batman and Robin.) This rebellion was met with heavy disapproval and disappointment by parents, representing the previous generation. The ongoing schism between these two generations has caused huge cultural, social, and political conflicts that continue to be played out even in 2005. These conflicts have been vividly reflected in the artistic expressions of the times – literature, music, and films. From the standpoint of the older generations, comic books were perhaps never adequately understood, respected, or even recognized for the potent and unusual artistic and cultural forces that they have always represented certainly as potent as more conventional and commonplace means of artistic expression, high art and classical music, just to name two ossified examples. (And, incidentally, these generational clashes were not limited to the United States in terms of understanding the rise of the superhero comic books. The country of Japan, tiny as it is, has become its own powerhouse in terms of churning out groundbreaking styles of comics, such as Katsuhiro Otomo of Akira fame, reflecting generational struggles unique to the Japanese youth culture.) The artistic expressions that arose out of the clash between generations also represented an evolution in classifications and mechanisms of art itself – the evolution from modern art forms to postmodern art forms. Modern art, reflective of the cultures from which it sprung, was generally conformist, and adhered to classic rules of form, function, and design, and either explicitly or implicitly supported the symbols of establishment paradigms by exploiting binary oppositions of us vs. them (i.e., Americans vs. Communists). Postmodern art rejected the methodology of modern art on every level, deconstructing it to such an extent as to even question the basic psychological definitions of symbolism in human art forms. The discarding and combination of genres and forms, the pastiche of styles, the toying with unorthodox symbolism, and an active interest in subversion and smashing of establishment systems – rebellion itself are all manifestations of art evolving to postmodern form. And instead of existing to analyze, but ultimately reinforce the paradigms of patriarchal establishments, postmodern art analyzed and often sought to undermine these establishments and their conventions, if not destroy them altogether. As noted by postmodernism scholar Andreas Huyssen, â€Å"†¦contemporary postmodernism operates in a field of tension between tradition and innovation, conservation and renewal, mass culture and high art, in which the second terms are no longer automatically privileged over the first.† (Huyssen, 1986, p. 267). As such, any art form that has enjoyed longevity has internalized and incorporated this revolutionary and evolutionary process, or been discarded or fossilized. Comic books are no exception to this rule, and their staying power has manifested itself in the last 20 or so years by their translation to and eventual dominance of the genre of film. In fact, comic books in their Silver Age forms were arguably inherently post-modern in nature, as they combined complex and detailed visual artistry with complex and serialized narratives, an intermixing pastiche of separate genres which had never before been combined in such a unique form. Books had, of course, often featured illustrations in the past, but they were only to provide occasional support and dimensionalization of the narrative, as opposed to being as important a component of the medium as the narrative itself. The fantastical and stylized nature of many of the illustrations featured in comic books were often postmodern artistic explorations in their own right, seeking to push the boundaries of conventional illustrations. Their explorations of anti-heroes helped deconstruct the notion of simple constructs of good and evil. American consumer capitalism, which is inherently (though not necessarily benignly) postmodern in its relentless desire to commodify anything and everything, particularly that which can be packaged as new, hip, and edgy – and thus desirable – has hungrily devoured comic books and the films which come from them. In doing so, the artistic and societal merit of comic books, in particular their subversive characteristics, have become themselves subverted by the deity of consumer capitalist commodification. The ultimate dream, for example, of fans of the X-Men comic books, that their beloved misfit characters would reach movie theatres and therefore a larger audience for their collective angst, has come true but that dream has also become a nightmare for some fans, as these same subversive misfit X-Men have also become action figures, clothing lines, cartoons on the side of fast food lunch bags and boxes all mass marketed to mass audiences in order to maximize profits for corporations that are more interested in shareholder earnings than they are the artistic merit of airing the collective voices of disaffected teen angst. If the phenomenology of disaffected teen angst can be appropriated to make a profit from teenagers, then corporations will be chasing the teens and their money incessantly. However, corporate interest in teenagers as a demographic generally has little to do with sociocultural altruism. In fact, cultural observers should take heed – â€Å"ventilation of genuinely alternative social visions collide directly with the underpinnings of power in the economy at large. (Schiller, 1986, p. 152) The trade-off is as follows: as long as such ventilation of alternative social visions makes a profit, it will be tolerated. But in the consumer capitalist corporate universe of today, art for arts sake, particularly if the art does not reinforce the machinery of consumer capitalism, will never generate much more than limited enthusiasm, and is more likely to meet with insidious hostility. The primary perpetrators in this arena are the behemoth corporate conglomerates that own the media, and the acquisitive way in which they manage their film and television divisions. In the 1960s and 1970s, film studios and television networks existed as independent business entities whose sole focus was the creation of films and television shows – nothing more, nothing less. While these companies were undisputedly interested in profits, the process was far more artist-centered and quality-driven than they are today. The presumption was that quality films would result in box-office successes, though the expectations of profit were relatively modest compared to todays standards. Then, in 1977, a watershed moment in film history arrived in the form of the blockbuster Star Wars, a comic-bookish story in its own right despite being an original creation of writer/director George Lucas. The film was not only the most financially successful phenomenon in movie history, but it alerted movie studios to a whole new economic model, centered around the notion of ancillary profits. Most notably in the case of Star Wars, the ancillary profits came in the form of merchandising. Inexplicably, before the films release, executives at 20th Century Fox, the films distributor, were convinced the film would be a flop, and in contract negotiations with Lucas, acceded to his unusual request to receive 100% of profits derived from sales of merchandise inspired and/or derived from the film, for example action figures and lunchboxes. The Fox executives surely rued the day they signed over these rights to Mr. Lucas, as Star Wars merchandise generated $1 billion in profits for the shrewd filmmaker. Another lesson learned by Fox, and other studios hungry to recreate the fiscal orgy of Star Wars, was that films targeted directly at children could be extremely lucrative at the box office, beyond profit margins to which they had become accustomed. Movies were no longer mostly the artistic or escapist purview of an audience comprised largely of adults. Their children came to be seen as a previously under-exploited source of bonanza profits. Lastly, movie studios began to rethink their conventional economic model, which was to produce modestly-budgeted films and reliably make modest profits. What Star Wars ignited was a phenomenon known as the blockbuster mentality, a hunger for epic profits from so-called event films, on which the studios became willing to gamble heretofore-unprecedented sums of money in hopes of hitting the proverbial jackpot. George Lucas, who began his career as a subversive filmmaker of eccentric tastes with critically acclaimed films such as THX-1138 and American Graffiti, unwittingly created a perfect storm that turned the film industry on its head. Star Wars was no fluke, as it turned out, and it was not long before the greedy capitalistic corporate culture of the 1980s began entertaining, no pun intended, the notion that film studio and television networks could be glamorous cash cows. In short order, huge companies whose core business usually had nothing to do with the entertainment industry were battling it out to see who could get into show business the fastest. Coca-Cola acquired movie studio Columbia/Tri-Star, which was later sold to Japanese electronics giant Sony; General Electric acquired the NBC television network; Capital Cities acquired the ABC Television network, and News Corporation acquired 20th Century Fox and the Fox Broadcasting Company; Gulf + Western acquired Paramount Pictures, etc. The unfortunate side effect of these mergers was the infusion of bottom-line, short-term profit-hungry thinking, as well as corporate models of branding and marketing products. These large corporations viewed films and television shows, and the intellectual properties that underlied them, as products, pure and simple, no different from mouthwash, shoes, soda drinks, or cosmetics. They expected their new acquisitions to transition from being art-focused and letting profits flow from quality, to simply making whatever sold the most tickets and had the most lucrative ancillary market potential. There was no single identifiable point, such a historical date or a press conference, when the critical link between art and commerce was separated, or the historical deference of profit to art was inverted (themselves postmodern phenomena, incidentally), but the entrà ©e of comic books into the world of film and television, which has become a powerful, dominating presence of comic books in film and television, followed and was directly related to this paradigm shift in the economics of the entertainment industry. The adaptation of comic books into film and television properties has been an exercise in creative cannibalism in some sense. Increasingly, film and television studios have taken on the risk-averse mentality of their corporate masters, and one of the effects of this has been to seek out intellectual property that might guarantee the fiscal success of a film or television show adaptation of said property. To the extent that a wildly successful book was often adapted for films geared towards adults, wildly successful comic book series were seen as a surefire way to guarantee a teen audience and the disposable income purchasing power of them and their parents. Movie executives sought to acquire the rights to comic book characters and stories which they could exploit – actual film industry terminology – and build into franchises – also actual film industry terminology, particularly creepy given the obvious parallels to McDonalds or Gap store franchise business models. For the most part, these franchises have been wildly successful from a financial point of view, though perhaps not from an artistic standpoint. There have been six Batman films made by Warner Brothers movie studio (owned by corporate behemoth AOL Time Warner, who not coincidentally own DC Comics, the original home of the Batman characters and comic books): 1989s Batman, 1992s Batman Returns, 1995s Batman Forever, 1997s Batman and Robin, 2004s Catwoman, and 2005s Batman Begins. Each film sported star casting of the highest caliber; however, perhaps with the exception of the first film, were special effects showcases first and artistically ambitious second, if at all. Nor were they particularly true to the time-honored complexities and lingering darkness of the comic books. Iconic film critic Roger Ebert (a devoted fan of the Batman comic books), in his review of Batman and Robin, took a forlorn swipe at each of the films to date: †¦ my delight began to fade at about the 30-minute mark when it became clear that this new movie, like its predecessors, was not *really* going to explore the bizarre world of its heroes, but would settle down safely into a special effects extravaganza. Batman Robin, like the first three films in the series, is wonderful to look at, and has nothing authentic at its core†¦ Watching it, I realized why it makes absolutely no difference who plays Batman: Theres nobody at home†¦ Give the foreground to the characters, not the special effects. And ask the hard questions about Bruce Wayne. (Ebert, 1997) Eberts last line refers to the perennial rumors that perennial bachelor Bruce Wayne might actually be a homosexual, or failing that, possess some unusual sexual fetishes that might not comprise the sort of fare that young children should be seeing at the movie theatre or on DVD. But this topic, as well as any serious exploration of Bruce Waynes psyche, was not been considered particularly lucrative by the marketing machines at Warner Brothers until the franchise was on the verge of death after the box office mediocrity of Batman and Robin and the outright box office disaster of Catwoman, which cost $85 million (U.S.) to produce and only made $40 million (U.S.) at the box office. 2005s Batman Begins was an unapologetically dark and complex film. Roger Eberts review may well have spoken for many Batman fans who ached for more substance and less pure style: The character resonates more deeply with me than the other comic superheroes, perhaps because when I discovered him as a child, he seemed darker and more grown-up than the cheerful Superman. He has secrets. As Alfred muses: Strange injuries and a nonexistent social life. These things beg the question, what does Bruce Wayne do with his time? (Ebert, 2005) Apparently, the moviegoing audiences agreed with Mr. Ebert, rewarding Warner Brothers with $205 million (U.S.) in box office receipts in the United States alone, and a similar – and still increasing – tally worldwide. The lesson here is that while an artistically unambitious and shallow film like Batman and Robin, which is more childish cartoon and marketing machine than serious filmmaking, can certainly turn a modest profit, it is entirely possible to be artistically ambitious and make plenty of money at the same time. One wonders why the latter is more often the exception rather than the rule, to the detriment of the integrity of comic books and their rich characters. In theory, the adaptation of comic books to the film and television arenas could have been a boon to not only the comic book industry, but a force for cultural good in the sense of spreading the subversive word to a larger audience. While there is no question that American and Western teenagers are far more aware of Batman and The X-Men than they were 30 years ago, the expansion of the audience has come at a price. First of all, the structures of film and television do not generally lend themselves well to the sort of narrative complexity that is a hallmark of comic books ongoing multi-character storylines. While the two X-Men films to date were generally well-received by fans of the comic books, many fans vociferously complained that many characters were either simply not included in the storylines, or they were altered to suit Hollywood norms in order to maximize audience appeal. While a third X-Men film is in the works, the simple truth is that 20th Century Fox, the movie studio that produced the films, simply cannot make any more than one X-Men film every two to three years and the complicated narrative history of over a dozen characters unspoiled over the course of 40 years of storytelling simply cannot be done adequate justice by a two-hour movies – as good as they may be – which get released only periodically. Secondly, for many young people, seeing an X-Men or Batman film may be their very first exposure to these universes, and depending on their reaction to the quality of the films and their natural consumer predilections, it is not certain that these teenagers are going to seek out the more dimensionalized, rich, and complex narrative universes to be found within the comic book series. In fact, given the immense popularity of video games among teenagers, who as a general rule spend as much, if not more time transfixed by their Playstations and Xboxes than they do reading, it is more likely that teenagers who see X-Men films will buy the video game adaptations of the X-Men comic books instead of investing in the comic books themselves. The statistics bear this out: in 2004, sales of comic books in the U.S. totaled $300 million – a considerable sum of money, but a far cry from the $850 million sum reached ten years earlier. Comic book money had, for better or for worse, flowed away from the comic books themselves and into the reinventions of the comic books – the movies, the video games. It is unfair, perhaps, to dismiss video games as worthless, but also difficult to avoid the conclusion that the X-Men video game, which is simply a violent combat simulation featuring the various mutant characters, carries more artistic and social worth than the comic books to which the video game owes its digital existence. Lastly, the value of ancillary X-Men merchandise, such as T-shirts, lunchboxes, and plastic soda cups from Burger King adorned with X-Men characters, is fleeting and thus fairly dubious in comparison to the lasting collectors item value of the comic books themselves, to say nothing of the inherent worth of the content of the books, and the visual and narrative artistry contained within them. Ultimately, and sadly, the postmodern machinery of consumer capitalism has appropriated comic book visuals and narratives and separated them from their inherent artistic value in order to make them both more appealing to a mainstream audience, usually children and younger teens, and more exploitable in terms of ancillary markets such as merchandising. The positive side of this equation is that the subversive art and storytelling found in comic books was brought to a larger audience, but may well have been eviscerated of its soul in the process. Films like Batman Begins, with its dark exploration of the recesses of Bruce Waynes psychology, and X-Men 2, with its unapologetic homosexual allegories, do their source material adequate justice and make their corporate masters a lot of money in the process. What can be hoped for the future is that movie studios see fit to release more films such as these and less of the vapid, lowest-common denominator special effects orgies that tend to predominate the box office landscape. Hellraiser and Constantine were met with outright hostility by fans of their comic book source material and performed poorly at the box office. It is no longer enough to simply adapt a comic book to guarantee success. Many audience members have grown more shrewd and sophisticated, and demand quality in storytelling. In the words of Nightcrawler in the film X-Men 2, â€Å"Most people will never know anything beyond what they see with their own two eyes.† If this is true in a world where what is put before the eyes of teenagers is predominated by movies and video games, it is imperative that the content not merely reflect the status quo desired by consumer capitalism, but the thought-provoking stories and characters, daring and subversive thoughts, first brought to us decades ago in the best comic books. BIBLIOGRAPHY Sabin, Roger. Comics, Comix Graphic Novels A History of Comic Art. Phaidon Press, 1996. Robinson, Jerry. The Comics: An Illustrated History of Comic Strip Art. Putnam Publishers, 1974. Wertham, Fredric. Seduction of the Innocent. Amerion Publishers, 1954 (Reprint 1996). Tuzi, Marino. â€Å"Individualism and Marginality: From Comic Book to Film: Marvel Comics Superheroes† College Quarterly, Spring 2005 Volume 8 Number 2. Taken from: htt