I Did My Book Report On The Book ,The Amityville Horror. Let Me Just S

I did my book report on the Book ,The Amityville Horror. Let me just say that this is one of the scariest books I have ever read. Its about a house in Amityville, New York that has some thing very terribly evil and wrong in it. They moved there to get away from city life, and brought themselves straight ino what I think was the very heart of evil. Things go wrong, people get sick,hurt, and nearly killed. Things seem to appear when they aren't there, or stuff will move. Sometimes a violent force would shove someone or knock things over, and stuff would appear somewhere else. One thing that scared me most was a creature that the youngest daughter called,Judy would run around outside of the house. Sometimes it would be in the basement, or looking into windows. It was a pig looking beast that walked on two hoofed feet and had red eyes, I shudder to think about such a thing. One part that was REALLY bad was when they found a secret room in the basement. It was small, and the walls were bl ood red, maybe even painted with blood. They think that a cult may have lived there first and used that room for something, that I will not go into. There was this one time, a pastor came to exercise the house, but when he tried a deep rough voice screamed GET OUT. Afterwards, he became very sick, he had the flu and a bad rash. He couldn't hold down his food and felt bad for days. But in the end he became well again.This book is scary, I would not recommend it to any one under 13. I personally love books like this and if you do too I suggest to get a copy. Bibliography I don't know

Berjaya Corporation Berhad Essay Essays

Berjaya Corporation Berhad Essay Essays Berjaya Corporation Berhad Essay Essay Berjaya Corporation Berhad Essay Essay 1. 0 Introduction A concern that seeks to run candidly. considers people and the environment when doing concern determinations. and tries to do a positive part to the local community and to wider society Berjaya Corporation Berhad is an investing keeping company and is engaged in the proviso of direction services. Berjaya Corporation group of companies is founded by Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Vincent Tan Chee Yioun when he acquired a major commanding interest Berjaya Industrial Berhad in the twelvemonth of 1984. It is originally known as Berjaya Kawat Berhad and now known as Reka Pacifiic Berhad. In October 1988. Berjaya Group became the keeping company of Reka Pacific Berhad. The chief activities of the subordinates consist of Consumer Marketing. Direct Selling A ; Retail ; Financial Services ; Hotels. Resorts. Vacation Timeshare A ; Recreation Development ; Property Investment and Development ; Gaming A ; Lottery Management ; Development of Sanitary Landfill. Environvental Services and clean Technology Investment ; Food A ; Beverage ; and Investment Holding ( appendix 1 ) . Hence. due to their schemes construction. it has made them successful until today. At Berjaya Corporation group of companies. they believe that being a societal responsible company can convey a balance between profitableness and communities they operate. Due to their concern. Berjaya companies about in touch with society day-to-day demands. Therefore. Berjaya ever encourage their staff to take portion in the Group’s Corporate Social Responsibility ( CSR ) activities. Over the old ages. Berjaya Corporation had planned many charity undertakings. fund-raising events and contributions as a societal committedness towards the society. 2. 0 Current Practices2. 1 Community To control the escalation of strays in Malaysia. Berjaya Corporation Berhad organized a charity concert and conducted by Berjaya Youth to raise financess for the about RM115. 000 for the sterilisation of 1. 000 reclaimed animate beings. Besides that. Berjaya Youth had collaborated with Paws Animal Welfare Society ( PAWS ) to establish its Mobile Animal Clinic at Berjaya Times Square ( appendix 2 ) . Better Malaysia Foundation. Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Vincent Tan ‘s personal foundation. had donated the nomadic animate being clinic that deserving RM220. 000 to make consciousness on the importance of altering and fixing of animate beings to control the escalation of strays in Malaysia. The nomadic animate being clinic features a well-equipped scrutiny room that can administrate inoculation and execute sterilisation on animate beings safely. Besides that. Berjaya Corporation has partnered with PAWS Animal Welfare Society to construct a cattery edifice that can supply infinite for 300 cats. This cattery is to better the life conditions of homeless cat boulder clay they get adopted. With this cattery. Berjaya Corporation want to make consciousness for people to follow a cat alternatively of purchasing. This is a good intelligence for PAWS as PAWS is deficit of infinite and limited financess to take attention those abandoned cats and Canis familiariss ( appendix 3 ) . Disabilities are ever one of the groups that need community to give support. On 14 June 2014. Berjaya Corporation Berhad donated RM200. 000 to the Life Prostheses Centre ( â€Å"LFL† ) located in the Bandar Utama Buddhist Society’s edifice in Petaling Jaya. Selangor. The Centre is the first and lone prosthetic devices workshop in Malaysia that provide free prosthetic limbs to hapless and less fortunate Malaysia ( appendix 4 ) . However. the cost of doing a limbs is non inexpensive. each cost estimated between RM3. 000 to RM5. 000. With the part of RM200. 000. it will enable the Centre to acquire 40 to 70 prosthetic limbs depending on the type and degree of amputation. Following. Berjaya Cares Foundation contributed 10 units of dialysis machines deserving RM450. 000 to the National Kidney Foundation of Malaysia ( appendix 5 ) . Since the constitution of this foundation. Berjaya Corporation have neer failed to back up them. Berjaya Corporation Berhad has raised financess for National Kidney Foundation through one-year Kenny Roasters Chicken Run event for 2 old ages and through contribution boxes placed in 7-Eleven mercantile establishments. Last twelvemonth. they get to put up a one-stop information hub for all affairs related to kidney and kidney attention. 2. 2 Employees Employees of Berjaya Corporation had their precedence in the company. Berjaya Corporation ever give their employees good quality in their workplace to do certain their employees can concentrate in their calling development. Besides that. employees are invariably encouraged to take part in preparation and development programmes which relevant to their occupation field. so they can better their productiveness and develop skill sets. Furthermore. Berjaya Cares Foundation on a regular basis organizes talk about wellness. safety consciousness and other subjects such as personal development to their staff ( appendix 6 ) . while the Sports Toto Fitness Centre with full completed secondary school equipment and installations is set up to promote their staff to exert on a regular basis and keep a healthy life style. Besides that. Berjaya Cares Foundation had set up a Staff Welfare Fund to pull off and supplement fiscal assistance to their employees and their household member whenever they need help in unwellness. natural catastrophe and decease. This is a really good benefit to go their staff. 2. 3 Environment A group of 17 Sports Toto voluntaries went to Kuala Selangor Nature Park to works Rhizophora mangle trees. Mangrove trees are really good in C soaking up and act as natural inundation keeping â€Å"sponge† to keep heavy rainfall which can forestall inundation. Next. Mangrove trees help to keep deposits along riversides to safeguard coastline eroding and cut down pollution to coral reefs and marine life and besides supply genteelness and nursery evidences. They had planted 100 mangrove saplings ( appendix 7 ) . Other than Sports Toto. Berjaya Hotel A ; Resorts conducted a undertaking of three twenty-four hours Tioman Island Clean-Up Day with over 100 participants including staff. media and kids from Sekolah Kebangsaan Tekek. Tioman. This activity can educate people about the importance of coral reefs to the ecosystems. There are a sum of 121 reef-destroying Crown of Thorns were removed during the dive clean-up ( appendix 8 ) . They besides clean up the beach with given handheld plastic bags. The consequence of cleaning up the beach is 15 bags of cast-off plastic litters. paper wastes. drink tins and bottles that weighing over 300kg. 2. 4 Sports Toto In Malaysia. gaming is illegal as Malaysia is a Moslem state and bulk of the population is Muslim. However. Berjaya Corporation Berhad insists of get downing up the gaming concern to the state and it is known as Sports Toto. Sports Toto Malaysia was incorporated by Malaysia Government in 1969. Then it is privatized in 1985. Today. Sports Toto is owned subordinate of Berjaya Sports Toto Berhad and listed on the chief market of Bursa Malaysia. Sports Toto is a nothing amount game that accumulates the money and distributes to the victors and at the same clip. derive net income from it. When people are winning the game. there will ever a batch of also-rans. There are also-rans more than victors. 2. 5 Conflict of the Board As we know. the current president and Chief Executive Officer ( â€Å"CEO† ) of Berjaya Corporation is Dato’ Robin Tan Yeong Ching. the eldest boy of Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Vincent Tan Chee Yioun. Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Vincent Tan Chee Yioun was the old president and CEO of Berjaya Corporation and now he is the major stockholder of Berjaya Corporation. Dato’ Robin Tan Yeong Ching was subsequently appointed as the Chief Executive Officer ( â€Å"CEO† ) of the Company on 1 January 2011 and later as the Chairman/CEO of the Company on 23 February 2012. CEO and Chairman shouldn’t be the same individual because this will be struggle. 3. 0 Rank about the company3. 1 Employees Employee is the most concern for Berjaya Corporate Berhad because employees are company’s best plus. As Boudreau and Ramstad ( 2007 ) nowadays: â€Å"Whether it is called â€Å"people. † â€Å"labor. †Ã¢â‚¬Å"intellectual capital. † â€Å"human capital. † â€Å"human resources. † â€Å"talent. † or some other term. there beginning that lies within employees and how they are organized is progressively recognized every bit critical to strategic success and competitory advantage. Without employees. Berjaya Corporate could non be success like today. Berjaya Corporation Berhad is the Top 30 Best Companies to work in Malaysia and today Berjaya Corporation Berhad has a sum of 17. 000 employees strength. Berjaya Corporation has assorted industries such as nutrient and drink. automotive. hotel and resorts and more. Hence. employee takes an of import function in the company as they are anchor of the company and they are the 1 who services the clients. Therefore. company demand to handle their employee nicely as the manner you treat your employees is the manner they will handle your clients ( Branson. 2014 ) . Harmonizing to the Maslow Hierarchy Needs ( Abraham Maslow. 1943 ) . there are five classs of human demands such as basic demands. safety demands. belonging demands. regard and self-actualization demands. These five demands separated to high and low classs. However. company should seek to carry through the low demands for their employee. Although is non a company’s responsible to carry through all the employees demands. employees will go trueness to the company one time the company can carry through their demands. Employees who The hierarchy of demands theory is relevant to this survey as the theory is applicable to organisational orientation and employee motive ( Greenberg A ; Baron. 2003 ) . First of all. employees work to carry through their basic demands in their life. They will merely work for company when there are sensible salary sum for them. Therefore. Berjaya Corporation will give their employee fillip. inducement and even lucky draw during Berjaya Founder’s Day. Following. safety needs is a really of import demand towards the employees particularly for some occupation that will take hazard. Berjaya Corporation had ever conduct healthy talk or organic structure cheque to their employees. so they know how to take care their organic structure. Other than that. belonging demands is really of import to an employee. Employee who feels they belong to the company. they normally will set a great trade of attempt into their day-to-day undertakings. 3. 2 Community Community is the 2nd concern of Berjaya Corporation. they have planned many charity events and contributions towards the community. Every twelvemonth. they will hold an event called as Berjaya Founder’s Day. Berjaya Founder’s Day is an one-year matter dedicated to give back to society. This twenty-four hours. they will lift up a fund from the attempts of staff and patron signifier banker. providers and friends of Berjaya. The first Berjaya Founder’s Day was conducted on 26 February 2011 and acquire RM6. 6 million contributions for 30 donees. Next. the 2nd Berjaya Founder’s Day acquire a entire sum of RM11. 6 million for 61 charitable organisations. The 3rd Berjaya Founder’s Day on 23 February 2013 contributed RM20. 2 million to 74 charitable organisations. while the latest Berjaya Founder’s Day on 22 February 2014 has collected RM25. 6 million to 90 charitable organisations. From supra. we can see that every twelvemonth of the sum and figure of charitable organisation are increasing. This shows that presents society a batch of people need aid from a large company like Berjaya Corporation come out to back up them. These charitable organisations include those that support community. instruction. heath causes. international human-centered assistance. local executing humanistic disciplines every bit good as environmental consciousness and carnal causes. Harmonizing to instrumental theories from Garriga and Mele’s ( 2004 ) . Berjaya Corporation is concentrating on accomplishing economic aims through societal activities. Through societal activities. this can maximise shareholders’ value and is a scheme for competitory advantage. Timess have changed. There are more than 8. 000 companies around the universe usage corporation societal duty in their concern. Because corporate societal responsible is a manner for companies to profit them while besides profiting the society. It is a win-win state of affairs. Harmonizing to a informations released by Net Impact. the not-for-profit that aims to assist concerns advance sustainability. 65 % of MBAs surveyed say they want to do a societal or environmental difference through their occupations ( [ electronic mail protected ]/*. 2014 ) . When a large company can give back to the community. it will be the most inspiring parts of corporate life. It shows that the company takes attention of the society and it is an ethical company. This helps company to acquire good repute from the society. 3. 3 Environment Environment is the 3rd concern of Berjaya Corporation. Berjaya Corporation is a diversified company that will ab initio act upon the environment from their undertakings. When they are get downing up a mill in a rural country. Berjaya Corporation will hold to travel through the procedure of deforestation. Cuting off the trees will decidedly given a negative impact to the environment such as landslide due to the destroyed on the bing mechanical root construction in the country. However. as an ethical concern. Berjaya Corporation will take up the duty to better the environment by forming an awareness event. For case. mangrove trees seting for environmental preservation were held on 19 April 2011 with the group of Toto Sports voluntary in Kuala Selangor. Total of 100 Rhizophora mangle trees are planted. The resource of our planet is limited and unsustainability is stated in the theory of Environmental Ethical motives ( Paul W. Taylor. 1986 ) . Furthermore. Berjaya Corporation has besides incorporated â€Å"Go Green† plan in their concern to avoid wastage and spread the consciousness towards their client. For illustration. utilize green merchandises for take away nutrient and drink such as Starbucks Reusable Tumbler and Kenny Rogers Roasters I-Care Box. This shows how Berjaya Corporation cares about the environment. In add-on. Berjaya Corporation chooses to collaborate with local providers to utilize less paper work and besides give concern to them. In add-on. Berjaya Corporation ships their merchandises by sea instead than airfeirght. 3. 4 Sports Toto Sports Toto is a subordinates company of Berjaya Corporation. Sports Toto is really popular among Malayan and it is the largest figure of prognosis operator in Malaysia as it has more than 670 mercantile establishments in Malaysia. Over the old ages. Sports Toto has been made many corporate societal responsible such as charity. community athleticss. instruction and cultural publicity. It is a responsible corporate citizen but besides a unhealthy games for Malaysia particularly Malaysia is a Moslem state. It is unjust when merely the Chinese and Indian can purchase Toto tickets while the Malay is non allow to buy. Malaysian called it â€Å"buy a hope† when they place their stakes. Therefore. everyday there are a batch of Malayan spend money on purchasing toto tickets. Some of them even use their money like H2O to buy to seek to win the expansive award. But Sports Toto is the lone 1 that â€Å"winning big† . However. people with small money are ever attracted to purchase because it gives them the feeling of winning and the sum of the awards is excessively great for them. In drumhead. bet oning industry is harmful for persons and society. However. it is the greatest felicity for the greatest figure. stated by the utilitarianism theory of Jeremy Bentham ( 1987 ) . Jeremy Bentham said that it does non count on the action but the consequence. If the consequence happens to be good and non harmful to others. it is consider as ethical. Therefore. the Sports TOTO game do helps on certain people on their fiscal issue. Sports TOTO creates hope for people to go on last without fiscal troubles. 3. 5 Conflict of the Board In Berjaya Corporation. the CEO and Chairman place is taken by the same individual who is Dato’ Robin Tan. It is unethical to make so because it shows no equity towards the employee. This is egoism ethical because they merely manus over the place towards to their household alternatively foreigners. Chairman and CEO have different functions in the company. if this two functions combined together will make an built-in struggle of involvement. The Chairman of the Board of a company is the main representative of the stockholders. The Chief executive officer of the company is the leader of the directors. The occupation of the president is to look after the stockholders. His chief occupation is to fire the incompetent directors that are non qualified or command 1s that overreach. Chairman should besides look for workers that are possible plenty to assist company earn net income. While the CEO’s occupation is to pull off. study to the board that set the policies and precedences based on the shareholders’ wished and demands such as higher income. high wages policy or fillip. Besides that. he should look out for the involvements. wage or excess allowance of directors. If president was the same individual. he will fundamentally describing to himself. This shows that Chairman and CEO had two different and conflicting functions. Where this might convey struggle of involvement arises. 4. 0 Recommendation Berjaya Corporation Berhad should promote more green activities alternatively of replanting the trees or cleaning the beach. They should carry on green activities in all of his company and Subordinates Company together as this will be effectual towards the society. They can besides garner different thoughts and salvage up unneeded costs. It can besides convey a good image to their employees or other company will follow their stairss. Besides that. Sports Toto should halt convince consumers that purchasing toto tickets is a good wont through advertizement. this may take people to pass a batch of money on toto tickets and stop up going hapless. Next. Berjaya Corporation should let every employees to go to the wellness talk. non merely the little sum because this may do employee experience unjust and do non experience they belong to the company. Last. Berjaya Corporation should acquire two people to in charge place of CEO and besides president as this two places will hold struggle if taken by the same individual. 5. 0 Decision Berjaya Corporation Berhad is really good in their CSR which makes them different from other company. CSR can besides convey benefits in footings of hazard direction to company such as cost nest eggs. entree to capital. client relationships. human resource direction. and invention capacity. CSR can besides do company outstanding comparison to company that did non make CSR. Harmonizing to the European Commission. company with more responsible concern can further more growing. Hence. CSR is really of import for a company particularly public listed company like Berjaya Corporation. However. Berjaya Corporation non to merely concentrate on CSR but besides take attention of their primary stakeholders such as stockholder and client by carry through their demands and wants. 6. 0 MentionBentham. J. ( 1987 ) . An debut to the rules of ethical motives and statute law. In J. S. Mill and J. Bentham. Utilitarianism and Other Essays. Harmandsworth: Penguin. Berjaya. com. ( 2014 ) . Berjaya Corporation Berhad. [ on-line ] Available at: hypertext transfer protocol: //www. berjaya. com/corporate-profile. hypertext markup language [ Accessed 29 Nov. 2014 ] . BOUDREAU. J. W. – RAMSTAD. P. M. : Beyond HR. Boston. Harvard Business School Press. 2007. ISBN 978-1-4221-0415-6 Branson. R. ( 2014 ) . The manner you treat your employees†¦ – Virgin. com. [ on-line ] Virgin. com. Available at: hypertext transfer protocol: //www. virgin. com/richard-branson/the-way-you-treat-your-employees [ Accessed 28 Nov. 2014 ] . Fisher. J. ( 2004 ) Social Responsibility and Ethical motives: Clarifying the Concepts. Journal of Business Ethics 52: 391-400. Greenberg. J. . and Baron. R. A. ( 2003 ) . Behavior in Organizations:Understanding and Pull offing the Human Side of Work. Englewood Cliffs. New jersey: Apprentice [ electronic mail protected ]/*. ( 2014 ) . From Fringe to Mainstream: Companies Integrate CSR Initiatives into Everyday Business – [ electronic mail protected ]/*[ online ] Available at: hypertext transfer protocol: //knowledge. Wharton. upenn. edu/article/from-fringe-to-mainstream-companies-integrate-csr-initiatives-into-everyday-business/ [ Accessed 27 Nov. 2014 ] . Maslow. A. H. ( 1954 ) . Motivation and Personality: New york: Harpist Taylor. Paul W. ( 2010 ) . â€Å"Egalitarian Biocentrism† . In Keller. David R. Environmental Ethical motives: The Big Questions. John Wiley A ; Sons. 7. 0 AppendixAppendix 1: Berjaya Corporate Structure Appendix 2: Animal Mobile Clinic Appendix 3: New place for stateless cat Appendix 4: Free prosthetic limbs to hapless Appendix 5: Donate 10 units of dialysis machines to the National Kidney Foundation of Malaysia Appendix 6: Health talk to employees Appendix 7: Sports Toto voluntaries works Rhizophora mangle trees Appendix 8: Tioman Island Clean-Up Day

Organizational communication analysis paper Essay

Organizational communication analysis paper - Essay Example This is also to achieve uniformity and consistency in production and to make quality and output predictable. Scientific Management is an engineering approach to achieve efficiency in the workplace where the organization can be likened to a machine which is composed of several parts that should work together to achieve optimum efficiency. This principle can be applied the Metropolitan Medical Group case to improve their service rating and arrest their declining revenues. In MMG, the administration and staff already the desired performance which is â€Å"leeway service† where Mike Taslow, the CEO of MMG elaborated to Betty McDaniel the newly hired director patient care â€Å"Patient should expect the same procedures, the same treatment from our staff, and the same efficiency from all the various departments of the MMG (Turner and Krizek 219). This is the same principle of Taylor’s uniform output albeit the setting is on a health care facility and not on a manufacturing plant. The problem in MMG was obvious. From the patient’s point of view evident with Betty’s interview with patients (Miriam), the appointment procedures was far from the ideal and causes the hospital’s service rating to drop. On the part of the employees, they are blaming the patients for not being educated of their system and has to coordinate with their friends in other department to fix things up. This shows the problem that Taylor identified as a cause of inefficiency which in the case of MMG, staffs are coordinating on a â€Å"personal level† rather than a established procedure causing inefficiency and ultimately, poor service rating. This issue could be solved by using Taylor’s scientific management approach to clearly define and establish systems and procedures, break down work to specific tasks and to quantify every work involved with the end of providing the same quality of

Future of Strategic Management Accounting Coursework - 1

Future of Strategic Management Accounting - Coursework Example In order to come to the discussion whether management accounting’s future lies in strategic management, it is necessary to start from the base of it. Management accounting has its features in contrast to financial accounting and it would be wrong to compare the two. Management accounting is designed to be used by managers and not by other stakeholders of an organisation. Unlike financial accounting, management accounting is confidential to an organisation and is not reported as public information. And above all the most important distinction between the two is the technique used. The computing techniques are on the basis of the needs of the organization and it hardly follows the general accounting standards. In recent times there has been a shift in the practice of management accounting as it extends its scope towards certain other areas like the strategic management, performance management and risk management. The discussion in this research paper will be confined to the role of strategic management in management accounting. The purpose of strategic management is to play an advancing role to the concept of traditional management accounting. But there have been some criticisms also regarding changes in the implementation of management accounting. The main aim of the research paper is to critically evaluate the controversies and arrive at a distinct conclusion regarding the best practice. Management accounting systems in the past years, before the innovations in information technology, have seen many problems in its applications in organisations.  

Public Relations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 3

Public Relations - Essay Example Yet another source cites the ‘Institute of Public Relations’ which gives the definition as â€Å"Public Relations practice is the planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain goodwill and mutual understanding between an organization and its publics† (www.buildingbrands.com). The Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines public relations as â€Å"The business of inducing the public to have understanding for and goodwill toward a person, firm, or institution; also: the degree of understanding and goodwill achieved†. (www.merriam-webster.com). The worded definitions of ‘public relations’ may be different but they invariably point in the same direction i.e. the establishment of the identity of an organization, person or society into the psyche of the general masses whereby they come to understand the basic tenets of the philosophy and the setup of that organization which enhances the mutual understanding between the two for any fruitful and meaningful exchanges. The definitions however are oriented towards the positive aspects of public relations as they are invariably considered to be an effort to establish goodwill and harmony between two groups and talk nothing of any negative aspects which the organization may have. Therefore the orientation of public relations of an organization is always aimed at highlighting the positive aspects. More positivity can be induced when both the merits and demerits of the organization are shared with the public to give them a true picture, in order to avoid misunderstandings later. The ‘harmonization of private and public policies’ which is the ultimate aim of public relations according to the PRSA can be achieved only if the facts are presented accurately, precisely and supported by easily comprehensible data. Organizations like government departments, hospitals, educational institutions, private companies, religious societies, etc. have a distinct

Career Of Pedro Almodovar Film Studies Essay

Career Of Pedro Almodovar Film Studies Essay Pedro Almodovar is undeniably one of the great film auteurs of our age, having defined decades worth of Spanish national cinema. As stated by Isabel Cadalso By the time Francos death released Spains seething subculture, Almodovar was at the centre of it. (Cadalso)His combination of witty, flamboyant and daring scripts, brilliant performative actors and the vibrant setting of Spanish culture in Madrid always manage provide an in depth insight into the turbulent lives of his characters. Madrid has figured prominently in Pedro Almodovars cinema, gradually coming into focus as the implicit protagonist of nearly every work. In these films, the city is regularly images as a cultural force, producing forms of expression and action that challenge traditional values by tearing down and rebuilding the moral institutions of Spanish life: the family, the church and the law. (DLugo)There are always many layers to Almodovars films, particularly in the setting and social context, usually being Madr id. Throughout his career we can see how they have developed with the changing political climate of Spain as well as his maturing age, with his films being particularly different from the 80s to the 90s and onwards. Madrid is a metaphorical subtext in his films in many different ways, be it relating to characters, situations they are in or the political climate. As stated in A Punk called Pedro Madrid functions as a character, breaking down boundaries between the public and the private arenas. Madrid provides a framework for the new interactions between social behaviours and becomes the site of a radical series of social desires. (Toribio) Madrid is a place for Almodovars characters where They are able to seek kindred spirits in an atmosphere that is socially liberating and the impetus for new artistic creativity. (Toribio) As the city it changes, adapts and explains much of the action that is not in Almodovars films. Early in Almodovars career, he directed two fantastic, yet very different films; Labyrinth of Passion and Matador. These films were both critically acclaimed and duly noted for their vibrant display of Madrid as setting and as a representation of the new Spanish culture. As written in Pedro Almodovar: A Spanish Perspective during the 1980sSpain was experiencing a fascinating period of giddy and radical changes. It was a country thousands of miles away from the distorted portrait Franco had shown to the rest of the world, a portrait that fit only within the hypocritical moral values of a dictatorship. (Cadalso)It was during this period that Almodovar thrived and these two films were made. Madrid is the realistic, almost unaltered decor in which Pepi, Luci, Bom and Labyrinth of Passion were filmed and in which the characters could move more freely, reflecting the experience of a generation of Spaniards, like Almodovar himself, who could only quench their thirst for creativity in the la rge urban areas: cityscapes in these early films tend to emphasize the concept of physical movement and social mobility underscored the very word, Movida, movement.' (Toribio) We can see in Labyrinth of Passion the colourful new wave of Spanish culture, so vibrant and different to anything previously known to Spain. A prime example of this is in El Rastro a Sunday street market of Madrid, which was an important showcase for all subcultures, but significantly for the movida, because of its unsanctioned and vaguely transgressive status. It was used as a meeting place and some stalls displayed their fanzines, records of emergent punk groups etc. For this reason it is an apt setting for Labyrinth of Passion (1982), especially the opening scene where it becomes Sexilias shopping area for sex partners. (Toribio)We see the completely different society to that of what we would have seen under the Francoist regime, there is liberty and freedom, life and passion, which had not been experience d before, culminating in a paradise of difference. As kinder states The tortuously complex plot follows the tangled passions of an ensemble of young Madrilà ¨nes trying to escape the crippling influences of repressive fathers in order to pursue their own pleasure. (Kinder) The subtext of Madrid is telling us how The Castilian director unfolded his passions amid a society that had just started to enjoy its own freedom. His uncontrolled and colourful films found a receptive audience in a population that was eager for spontaneity and light, for new stimuli that could again bring joy to the living. The Mediterranean spirit of freedom had been squeezed for four decades, and suddenly there was Almodovar, who dared to show on screen all the passion that previously had been politically impossible for Spanish society or its arts to express. (Cadalso)We see as Sexilia moves through the city how there are many kindred spirits reciprocating the feeling and the buzz, yet there are also occasion ally non-movida city people, dressed in drab colours and expressionless, provide a background against which Sexilia, in her colourful attire, is distanced from the Spain they conjure up. (Toribio)This heightens her difference from traditional Spain and the old regime. In hiding the citys shortcomings Almodovar was able to reveal the mood of the country once more as it progressed through the initial euphoria of democracy into disenchantment. (Toribio) This shows how Maria fits into the Madrid setting and population easily with the new mentality and expressionism present in the place and her peers. In Matador we also see the new Spanish mentality evidenced through Madrid and its citizens. As stated in Pleasure and the New Spanish Mentality, it is a fast paced revolt that relentlessly pursues pleasure rather than power and a post modern erasure of all repressive boundaries and taboos associated with Spains medieval, fascist and modernist heritage. (Kinder) We see Diego furiously masturbating to dead bodies and mutilation, Maria stalking her prey in the dusty court yards of Madrid and Angel training to be a Matador in the bull fighting school. The setting of Madrid allows these events to be believable as it is part of Spanish culture to fight bulls as well as being renowned rampant lovers. Almodovar says I believe that our culture is more visceral. Intuition and imagination influence us more than reason. There is more adventure and spontaneity. We dont fear disorder or chaos. (Kinder)Appreciating this we see characters not traditional of Madrid or even Spain. To many, out of thi s context the events and people would seem perverted or unbelievable, yet Almodovars style and use of Madrid and its social context allow us the insight to look past the moral conflict we may experience. As Almodovar himself stated I always try to choose prototypes and characters on modern day Madrid, who are somehow representative of a certain mentality existing today, I think that since Franco died new generations have been coming to the fore, generations that are unrelated to former ones, that are unrelated to the progressive generations that appeared during the last years of dictatorship. How do people 20 years old live in Madrid? Its quite complex The characters in my films utterly break with the past, which is to say that most of them, for example, are apolitical. (Kinder)We can see how Spain has changed more in Almodovars films simply by viewing them, as this kind of film would never had been made under Franco. This is evidenced by another quote from Almodovar where he explai ns his films; They represent more than others, I suppose, the new Spain, this kind of new mentality that appears in Spain after Franco dies. Above all, after 1977 till now. Stories about the New Spain have appeared in the mass media of every country. Everybody has heard that now everything is different in Spain, that it has changed a lot, but it is not so easy to find this change in the Spanish cinema. I think in my films they see how Spain has changed, above all, because now it is possible to do this kind of film here. (Kinder)This is clearly shown and epitomised through his use of Madrid as the setting. The subtext of the city allows us an insight into the change of Spain as a whole. If we analyse Matador in a much more literal sense we can gather an even greater insight into the new Spanish mentality. It shows many famous and recognisable locations such as the scene where Maria is on the bridge and Diego is looking up at her after following her through Madrid. The bridges location is the Segovia Viaduct in southern Madrid, a notorious suicide spot since the nineteenth century. (Smith, Desire Unlimited: The Cinema of Pedro Almodovar)This provides an understanding of the character of Maria and her internal conflicts for natives of Spain who know the significance of this bridge, yet for the international audience it is still enough of a clue to foreshadow the film. Almodovar also makes a cameo appearance as the designer in the fashion show, that Eva is part of, where he tells scatty reporter Veronica Forque that the show is called Spain Divided, because Spaniards are either envious or intolerant. Almodovar thus invokes, parodically, the topos of the two Spains, of the painful divisions notorious in Spanish history, but in a playful register which deprives such clichà ©s of their continuing resonance. (Smith, Desire Unlimited: The Cinema of Pedro Almodovar)His use of Madrid as a forum for these insights allows the viewer an in depth comprehension of the social subtext prevalent in post modern Spanish culture. Almodovar states We have consciously left behind many prejudices, and we have humanised our problems. We have lost the fear of earthly power (the police) and of celestial power (the church), and we have also lost our provincial certainty that we are superior to the rest of the world that typical Latin prepotency. And we have become more sceptical, without losing the joy of living. We dont have confidence in the future, but we are constructing a past ourselves because we dont like the one we had. (Kinder) It is this kind of New Spanish Mentality that he shows in Madrid, representing Spain as a whole. Moving into the 1990s we see a slightly different take In Almodovars films, particularly in Live Flesh, where he directly confronts Franco and his regime at the beginning and culmination of his film. It was highly popular as it showed a maturing of Almodovar and its appeal to social and historical issues was untouched by the directors previous films. (Smith, Live Flesh) He states Yes, my relationship with Madrid is less intense now. Being known makes it harder for me to have a relationship with the reality of the city. And if I dont know it, I dont deal with it; I move to the reality of interiors. Its something like a married couple who are together out of habit, but Im longing to leave for other places. (Delgado)This could be why he shows Madrid in a past time of turmoil where its citizens were scared and helpless, rather than the times he thrived in and is most known for portraying in his films. Madrid, however, is not a static setting. Almodovar increasingly manipulates our view o f the city scape and adapts the mis en scene to the social advancement of his characters. (Toribio)Madrid changes as a setting as Victor matures throughout the film, it is a symbiotic relationship where both Spain and Victor are decidedly different and better at the end of the film. (Smith, Live Flesh) Through the subtext in Live Flesh we see what it was like in the past to be Spanish and how society rapidly changed when freedom was given. If we analyse the opening and closing in particular of Live Flesh it begins in Madrid with the ominous tones of the Francoist minister Manuel Fraga (still today a leading politician)announcing the suspension of what few civil liberties Spaniards enjoyed under Franco; it closes, boldly, at Christmas a quarter of a century later with a voice over from Victor stating that, A long time ago we stopped being afraid of Spain. The political framing of the personal melodrama makes Almodovars collective protagonist (the five central figures) the embodiment of a national narrative whose grand theme is the shift from dictatorship to democracy. (Smith, Live Flesh) From the beginning of the film we are thrust into a lonely and isolated Madrid, where no one is free and they are only out to survive, evidenced by the bus driver who is unwilling to help a pregnant woman in need. Citizens liberties are nearly non-existent, shown by the empty plazas. Madrid is used in particular for this scene as it is Removed from the provinces and the rural setting that were so familiar in Francoist cinema, the city is the only milieu in which Almodovars characters function. As DLugo points out, this may be partly because the rural and provincial settings were used to epitomize the purity of moral values which his characters reject. (Toribio)This again is evidenced by Paul Julian Smith claiming Victors birth is a new Nativity (with a bus taking the place of Christs stable) played out at a portentous time and place: a state of exception in the dying days of the Francoist regime and a spectral, deserted Madrid, lit only by tawdry neon decorations. (Smith, Live Flesh)The Madrid setting and subtext signifies the political situation the country has been immersed in. As we progress through the film and the characters develop more and more, we see how important Madrid is as a setting: by placing the characters in perfect settings where all their social and professional needs have been met, Almodovar ha s fulfilled his theory of contentment within the diegesis: the characters have no external worries and can concentrate on affairs of the heart. (Toribio)This is possibly why Almodovars films storylines and content are more accepted and believable. Madrid is the perfect setting because it encapsulates the buzz and hype of the social context but changes and adapts with the characters, allowing a deeper perception of the film. Madrid is an effective subtext in most of Almodovars films. As Toribio claims We may conclude that what comes out in the treatment of Madrid as part of the mis-en-scene is the directors own anxieties and fears inspired by a country in which the 1980s cosmetic changes have not been reflected in factual change. (Toribio)We are able to see how Madrid is very personal to Almodovar himself and his characters. The subtext of the city allows us to see the change the country has undergone to get to where it is today, mirroring the characters at the conclusion of the film. Madrid is embraced and an essential axis of meaning in much of his filmic work, while the icons of Francoist cinema those related to religion, the family, and sexual repression are set up as foils to stimulate the audience to embrace a new post-Francoist cultural aesthetic that ever present in Madrid. (DLugo) To summarise, as DLugo states, Madrid and This foregrounding of the city as an assertion of a vibrant Spanish cult ural identity is built around a rejection of the traditions that ordered Spanish social life for four decades. (DLugo)

Social Structure and Its Effect On Our Lives Essay -- Sociology Cause

Social Structure and Its Effect On Our Lives Social structures are constraints that affect the lives of both the affluent and the indigent members of society.   Each society has its own set of social arrangements for example; class, gender and ethnicity are all constraints that each society has to deal with in one way or another.   One of the most fundamental of the social structures would be class.   Class structure is found in all societies and is the key source of economical inequality.   Members of different class groups start their lives with unequal opportunities.   This means that when someone is born into a poor household    they will undoubtedly remain in the same economical situation they began in.   Gender is another important issue when regarding structures.   For years women have struggled to be accepted into the workforce and although there have been many improvements on the treatment of female employees there is still a long way to go to reach equal opportunities.   Ethnicity has a strong bearin g on what we can achieve in life by greatly affecting our place in the labour market.   Although Australia is a multicultural society life chances for Australia's own migrants are still less than adequate when it comes to being treated fairly in the workforce. Social structure is created by the distribution of wealth, power and prestige.   The social structure consists of taken for granted beliefs about the world and both constrain and regulate human actions.   The social structure consists of substructures such as class, gender and ethnicity.   These groups are formed within society; each group shares common attitudes, values, social norms, lifestyle and material goods.   People within society stay within the guidelines of the soc... ...s and Gender in Australia, George Allen & Unwin, Noth Sydney. Broom, D., 1988, `Gender and Health', in Second Opinion: An Introduction to Health Sociology, ed.J. Germov, Oxford University Press, Melbourne. Cohen, Y. A., 1961, Social Structure and Personality. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York. Graetz, B. & McAllister, I. 1994, Dimensions of Australian Society, 2nd edn, Macmillan Education, South Melbourne. Jones, F.L., 1993, `Unlucky Australians: Labour market outcomes among Aboriginal Australians', Ethnic and Racial Studies, vol. 16, no. 3. McGregor, C., 1989, `Class', in Four Dimensional Social Space, eds T. Jatenburg & P.D'Alton, Harper & Row, Sydney Wesolowski, W., 1979, Classes, Strata and Power. Routledge and Kegan Paul, London Van Krieken, R., et al. 2000, Sociology: Themes and Perspectives, 2nd edn, Pearson Education, Frenchs Forest.