Salaman Rushdie would has very interesting ideas when it comes to The Wizzard Of Oz and the idea of home. Rushdie argues that the the point of the origional Wizzard Of Oz was not that "there is no place like home". Rushdie states that "It's one thing for Dorthy to want to go home, quite another that she can only do so by eulogizing the ideal state which Kansas so Obviously is not".
Rushdie believes that the notion of "there is no place like home" was added to the story by producers and additional writers and was not intended by the origional author. In some senses There's no place like home has very imperialis undertones. When discussing Dorthy's journey to see the Wizzard, Rushdie states, "Dorthy Gale, who is already a national heroine of Munchkinland, who is already (as the Munchkins have assured her) History, who will be a bust in the hall of fame, steps out on the road of destiny, and heads, as Americans must, into the west towards the sunset, The Emerald City, and The Witch". This quote speaks to how Dorthy is a symbol for westernization.
If Rushdie saw this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pf5svfS_bnc he would probably use it to back up his arguement that the "there is no place like home" mentality of The Wizard Of Oz is bogus. This video shows school children singing a song from the Wizard of Oz in India. This shows that the movie is universal and the concept of home can apply to anyone, not just people who live in Kansas.
On the other Hand Rushdie might say it is an example of the films ideology westernization. Rushdie states, "There was never a metropolis like Emerald City, However. It looks from the outside like a fairy tale of New York". Rushdie could argue that the fact that the Wizard of Oz (a very western story) is being taught to school children in India shows how globalization is westernizing the world.

According to Jamesons's essay This image http://www.funnyphotos.net.au/images/mona-lisa-on-the-simpsons1.jpg is essentially the epitome of post-modernism. While discussing post modernism Jameson states "This is, however, precisely why it seems to me essential to grasp postmodernism not as a style but rather as a cultural dominant: a conception which allows for the presence and coexistence of a range of very different, yet subordinate, features." The Image above is just that. The Mona Lisa is pictured not only in Simpsons Animation, but the Landscape is replaced with what appears to be the city of springfield. The Image is not post modern because it is an updated animated version of the Mona Lisa, it is post-modern because it draws from aspects of an iconic image and inserts it into a far different context with far different connotations.
This piece of work to many may be shocking, after all, the Mona Lisa is considered one of the greatest pieces of art in the world. Some may even be offended by the trivial nature of this piece. Jameson believes this is not only very common in post modernism, but often times an integral part of the Post-Modernism. Jameson states "But in that case it is only consequent to reject moralising condemnations of the postmodern and of its essential triviality when juxtaposed against the Utopian “high seriousness” of the great modernisms: judgments one finds both on the Left and on the radical Right" While this may not be the most shocking of Images, Jameson certainly has a valid point especially with post modern Images like this http://www.theage.com.au/ffximage/2006/03/10/1003pistols_wideweb__470x324,0.jpg.
To some extent though, Jameson would almost be opposed to us trying to fit this image into a concrete label such as post-modern. Jameson after all said "Can we in fact identify some “moment of truth” within the more evident “moments of falsehood” of postmodern culture? And, even if we can do so, is there not something ultimately paralysing in the dialectical view of historical development proposed above; does it not tend to demobilise us and to surrender us to passivity and helplessness by systematically obliterating possibilities of action under the impenetrable fog of historical inevitability?" While he lays out a series of guidelines to explain what makes a text post-modern, he understands that at the end of the day, it's not what box the image fits in that matters, but rather the reaction that it evokes.

Freud would have much to say about a Man like Jack Bauer. Jack clearly carries out both his work and his personal life in a highly aggressive manner with very questionable morality. While the average person would just think that Jack acts the way he does because he cares about his country and his personal life, freud would definitely believe that Jacks attitude is due to his childhood upbringing.

In Freud's essay he states "In view of this significance of the infantile relation to the parents for the later selection of the sexual object, it is easy to understand that every disturbance of this infantile relation brings to a head the most serious results for the sexual life after puberty. Jealousy of the lover, too, never lacks the infantile sources or at least the infantile reinforcement. Quarrels between parents and unhappy marital relations between the same determine the severest predispositions for disturbed sexual development or neurotic diseases in the children." The latter part of this quote quote is certainly an accurate representation of Bauer. Bauer is not only divorced, but is extremely protective of his daughter. Jack acts as if it was a privilege to allow her to have her own password to her emails and then uses a government computer to hack her account. In Freud's mind, behaviors like this could be due to repressed sexual desires as a child.

Jacks behavior is not only agressive, but also extremely dominating. Jack feels as if he is always in the right. When Freud is discussing "Reaction Formation and Sublimation" concerning the "Sexual Latency" period of childhood, he talks about how when children are forced to hold back sexual desires, it later leads to personality problems. Freud states "They therefore awaken contrary forces (feelings of reaction), which in order to suppress such displeasure, build up the above mentioned psychic dams: loathing, shame, and morality." Jack almost seems as if he has a sort of shame or hatred toward himself that he puts onto other people. When Jack goes to extreme measures with a "terrorist" Freud would probably say that he would use more conventional means if it weren't for his own personality problems rooted in his childhood sexuality.

Freud would also probably link Jack's sense of all knowing and refusal to change his methods to the fact that he is a male. Freud claims that sexually as children females are open to changing the way they think whereas males are not. When discussin how children discover the differences in the sexes Freud says "The little girl does not react with similar refusals when she sees the differently formed genital of the boy. She is immediately prepared to recognize it". Jack surely isn't the type of person who is able to recognize and readily accept other cultures and beliefs.

Roland Barthes "Rhetoric Of The Image" introduces the reader to the world of semiotic image analysis. While reading the essay several quotes I felt related very strongly to this Sopranos poster http://www.zoom-in.com/media/graphics/blog/content/soprano_poster_season6B.jpg.

1) "Setting aside the linguistic message, there remains the pure image (even if the labels participate anecdotally). This image immediately yields a series of discontinuous signs."

The Sopranos poster has large text reading "Made In America", this text in many ways is a direct repetition of the signs that the photo portrays. The most obvious symbol is the statue of liberty, this is probably one of the most American symbol in the world. Tony is also portrayed over the choppy, gray water surrounding the statue of liberty, symbolizing conflict and struggle. Overall, functioning as an add for the sopranos, the text could be completely stripped from the image and the user would still understand that Tony is probably in for some hard times as an Itallian in America that will be played out in the show.

2)"We have seen that, in the image proper, the distinction between the literal message and the symbolic image is operational: we never- at least never in advertising- encounter a literal image in it's pure state"

While this sopranos poster even on a symbolic level seems pretter self explanatory, it is certainly has more than a literal meaning. There are many symbols within this immage that introduce further meaning. One such symbol is the light eminating from behind Tonys upset face. Eminating light is a symbol of god. While the ad doesn't try to portray Tony as god, it frames him as the main character who has right on his side and is a leader who the viewer is interested in.

3)"Another difficulty attatched to the analysis of connotation is that no particulary analytic language coorisponds to the particularity of it's signifides"

This quote i feel is extremely relevant when it comes to lookin at all images. While we can pull out symbols one by one and analyze them, there are certain connotative meanings which we can't. The aura an immage gives often can't be described in analytic language. Oftentimes very small symbols makes the viewer draw associations or feel feelings that they can'e explain. For example the birds in the immage may bring up feeling many people had concerning experiences they've had with birds changing the overall aura of the Sopranos as.

In today's age of corporate media, the ever diminishing public sphere is a very important thing not only to preserve, but to create. Although many argue that there is no place for public discussion in the mass media, sites like The Daily Kos areexceptions to this rule. The practice of looking defines Mass media as "media designed to reach large audiences precieved to have shared interests. The Mass media refers to forms and texts that work in unison to generate specific, dominant, or popular representations of events, people, and places". While the Daily Kos certainly reaches a mass audience, with a certain type of left leaning shared beliefs, it is not your typical mass media outlet.
What seperates The Daily Kos from media outlets such as MSNBC or CBS, is that it is not nearly as backed by corporations, and it provides space for readers to provide input that can be seen by all in the comments section on each article. The Daily Kos posts articles that are not only not covered by mainstream corporate media, but also articles that often challenge the dominant ideaology of the mainstream media. Many of the articles on Daily Kos critique and question mainstream medi outlets.
When defining the public sphere Habermas States ""The bourgeois public sphere may be conceived above all as the sphere of private people come together as a public; they soon claimed the public sphere regulated from above against the public authorities themselves, to engage them in a debate over the general rules governing relations in the basically privatized but publicly relevant sphere" While the poweres that be may not be swayed by peoples comments in the blog section of The Daily Kos, these comments are seen by thousands everyday and certainly have the power to sway the opinions of the masses which will indeed lead to the "authorities" being engaged in debate.
While most "comments" sections on websites such as Youtube contain not much more than insults and irrelevant comments, the comments section on The Daily Kos appear to contain many worth while debates. In an article about a poll on healthcare reform, not only were there comments concerning readers feelings on the pole, but comments and debates on the validity and usefulness of political poles themselves. One reader states "Polls are like crack, political activists know they're bad for them but they read them anyways".
The Daily Kos is unique in the fact that there is often (not always) relevant and interesting debate in the comments section of the articles. This allows the reader to not only discuss and debate but keep The Daily Kos in check too. The Daily Kos' comments are not censored (except in extreme cases" so users are allowed to critique the Daily Kos itself. This is something that surely constitutes the public sphere and is certainly a progressive force in the world new internet journalism.

The Blair Witch Project raises some very interesting questions concerning how art captures reality. The two quotes from art in the age of mechanical reproduction address many of these questions. The most interesting question the quotes raised (in my opinion) concerned the camera capturing the aura of both the actor and the settings. I think it is safe to say that the blair witch project is not an attempt to recreate reality strictly based on it's subject matter. I think the film often gets mistaken as an attempt to recreate reality due to the films success in capturing the aura of both the characters and the setting of the film. When watching the blair witch project, one feels as if they are a part of the film, they put themselves in the place of the characters, and think about what they would do in the situation. The Blair Witch Project captured this aura successfully by actually putting the actors in the situation of being lost in the woods with cameras. This made for an incredibly realistic representation of both the characters and the setting. The film would surely would have been far less successful if the movie was made with a large crew in a hollywood studio.

Tokyo Story is a very interesting film that certainly fits into the genre of realism. The Film focuses on a story which is not overly dramatic or exciting, yet at the same time is somewhat captivating due to the long slow paced shots of the japanese country side. Tokyo story is at times almost a little bit to real, I often found my self waiting for something to happen which never really did. This is something that is not common in widely successful american realism.

The Blair Witch Project is a perfect example of the faster paced realism that is more common in American cinema. The Blair with project is by no means a cinematic masterpiece like Tokyo Story. This film captivates the viewer with suspense, horror, and anxiety.

Most American film viewers (including myself) aren't conditioned to watch long slow paced movies no matter how beautiful or realistic they are. In these times it seems that if a movie is longer than two hours, and not the Lord of The Rings Trilogy, audiences become bored and tired.

Assuming Tokyo Story is an accurate representation of most japanese realism, the success of the film surely makes a statement concerning the cultural differences between American and Japanese directors and audiences.