SPACES AND EXCHANGES 

In 2004, our communicating world changed entirely. With Facebook, getting in touch with fellow friends and family became easier, quicker and more fun. This new plateform made exchanges between people on other sides of the world more feasable. My document is the trailer of the film The Social Network released in 2010 and directed by David Fincher. It actually is adapted from Ben Mezrich's 2009 book The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook. 

Indeed, the trailer shows that Facebook touches the notion of Spaces and Exhanges in a virtual way. Mark Zuckerberg and his college roomates fixed as a goal to "build a website that offers pictures, profiles" and "taking the entire social experience of college and putting it online". The whole concept of facebook was to create a virtual space ressembling reality where people can chat and create a sort of new life in a different world. 

However, Facebook to this day is being persecuted for being a dangerous world of appearances and for violating private property. During the video, a melodic cover of the song "Creep" by Radiohead is playing. The words of the song actually glue together with Facebook. Its lyrics are "I want a perfect body, I want a perfect soul" "I want you to notice when I'm not around" "I wish I was special". Near the end of the video clip, the founder of Facebook is seen being charged with "intentionaly breaching security, violating copyrights and individual privacy". This is a consequence of wanting to create a new fake space on the internet. 

Click here to watch trailer

OUTSOURCING/OFFSHORING

OUTSOURCING/OFFSHORING

This first cartoon, illustrated by Matson in the St Louis Post Despatch, portrays a satirical situation between three charcters. Primarily, the main protagonist is Mitt Romney, an American presedential candidate for the Republican party in the 2012 elections. He is seen standing on the Cayman Islands with a shovel, next to a hole and a chest full of money with his name writen on it. Romney in the cartoon holds the principal speech bubbles aswell which say " You outsource jobs so you don't have to pay more wages and benefits to your workers. You offshore your profits so you don't have to pay more taxes to your country." Surrounding the main character is two other countries Bermuda and Switzerland. But also, two other characters : two american citizens praising him saying "Gosh Grandpa Mitt, you are so smart ! You should be president !". These two republican fans are sitting on a massive yacht named Believen' in America. Indeed, I interpret this document as being a sort of moquerie towards the Republican party of the 2012 elections. The Republican vision Mitt Romney had seems to be extremely reliant on evading all troubles regarding wages and tax just to make loads of money. The excess of money can be seen in the document through the presence of a bling yacht and the huge chest of money. 

Matson's cartoon touches, of course, the topical issues of oursourcing and offshoring. Both these buisness and economical practices involve an exchange between two spaces. In a real way, companies will physically relocate a part of their production to another country in order to pay less wages and benefits to workers. However, the company will still remain American therefore all the earnt profit will, in a virtual way be sent back to the United States. It has to be said, that the cartoon also touches the hot topic of tax evasion by illustrating countries such as Bermuda, Cayman Islands and Switzerland : tax havens. Tax evasion, is a process that also is a virtual exchange of capital between two a spaces. Finally, this cartoon drawn by Matson in 2012 reflects the elections of the same year through Matt Romney's view of exploiting spaces through exhanges to earn more money. 

Secondly, this bottom cartoon called Simple Explained : Offshoring published in 2008 by Geek and Poke, is also a satirical and ironic illustratrion of offshoring. It is divided in 3 parts and presents a conversation between two sketch characters. The theme of the dialogue is exploitation and the overworking of man labour in developing or under-developed countries. Indeed, firms "move to the next country" in order to pay less wages. The irony is that in those countries, the salaries are equivalent to not getting paid in normal countries. Therefore, the boss is shocked when the workers ask for a pay rise. His reaction is "unbelievable". I interpret, this cartoon being a moquerie of multinational companies who gain masses of money by employing people in unhuman conditions whose wages are close to nothing. In relation to Spaces and Exhanges, this second cartoon raises awarenesss on the bad consequences of globalisation. This phenomenon, on the one side makes people richer (in the Northen Hemisphere), but on the other uses vulnerable people to work for nothing (in the Southern Hemisphere). 

THE POWER OF LIFE THROUGH LIVE MUSIC

THE POWER OF LIVE MUSIC IN OUR LIVES

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/live-reviews/ariana-grandes-one-love-manchester-benefit-our-report-w485769

Power is the capacity or ability to direct or influence the behaviour of others or the course of events. Indeed, the ability of music to improve the wellbeing of people can be outstanding. This article from the Rolling Stone magazine proves rightly that music can be the source of healing and unification. The document published on June the 4th 2017 by Kory Grow explains that at the One Love Manchester Benefit joy conquered fear. One Love Manchester was a benefit concert and British television special held on 4 June 2017, which was organised by American singer and actress Ariana Grande in response to the bombing after her concert at Manchester Arena two weeks earlier. The concert took place at Old Trafford Cricket Ground in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester and aired live on BBC One . The concert was attended by 50,000 people. Guest stars included Justin Bieber, the Black Eyed Peas, Coldplay, Miley Cyrus, Niall Horan, Little Mix,Katy Perry, Take That, Pharrell Williams, Robbie Williams and Liam Gallagher and many more. In addition,  the power of music can also be transformed into financial funds towards a good cause. It can be said that proceeds from the event were donated to the We Love Manchester Emergency Fund, which was established by the Manchester City Council and the British Red Cross following the 22 May bombing, which killed 22 concert goers and injured more than 500. The funds will go to help the victims and their families. 

Furthermore, the article states that "optimism abounded Manchester " that day which is heartwarming after 

the terrible attacks. It is incredible how the strength and power of music can create resilience in times 

of hardship. Everyone comes together to unify against an evil, all that thanks to live music. 

The One Love Manchester event made clear that life carries on, people came back to attend another 

Ariana Grande concert despite of what happened in her last one because they believe in the power of life.

Kory grow says in her article " the scene leading in to the venue was filled with resilience".  The power of music 

and unification is so strong it can push people to show their faces and fight back. All gathering around for 

hours of live music, many people chatted and shared feelings making the power of live music very 

efficient. The city of Manchester felt incredibly safe and secure she states, all thanks to the positive and 

warm vibes the music spread.  The show demonstrated the power of pop music to bring people together. 

As an example, several viewers took to social media to highlight the moment a policeman was seen dancing with young 

children as a symbol of the city's unity. The performances throughout the night carried dignified 

emotion and showed willpower by staging the show less than two weeks after those tragic events. 

Finally, music has a way of influencing people just like Snoop Lion's song called No Guns Allowed against 

gun crime in the US. The power of music is very strong but also worldwide which is why it is so important. 

Artists from all over the world can bring people together and create bonds for good causes through the power 

of their auditive art. 

THE US GUN CULTURE

          The issue of gun policies in the United States have always been a highly debated topic because of the devastating consequences firearms can bring to a population. Therefore, many organisations and lobbies push for change, banning civil use of guns. As an example, the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and the Brady Centre to Prevent Gun Violence are affiliated American nonprofit organisations that advocate for gun control and against gun violence. Together, they are commonly referred to as the Brady Campaign. They are named after James Brady (White House Press Secretary), who was permanently disabled as a result of the Ronald Reagan assassination attempt of 1981, and Sarah Brady, who was a leader within the organisation from 1989 until 2012. 
Indeed, this organisation released in 2010 an eye-catching poster aimed to raise awareness of the mass violence in the country. The image presents a comparison between the number of people guns murdered in one year. Ranging from the lowest amount "17 people in Finland" to "9 484" in the United States. It is clear that the US has a problem concerning guns. Therefore, the author of the poster decided to add an ironic and critical slogan : "God Bless America". This slogan written in big and bold is used to expose a contrast between reality of things and America's ideologies, beliefs. Many US citizens, 70.6 % to be exact self identify themselves as Christians. However, the document shows that the United States clearly has a gun violence issue which is the paradox the document clearly wants to show by saying "God Bless". As well, the image of the gun covered in the Stars and Stripes flag reduces the country to a negative image of crime and hatred. 


   
           However these charts, provide a more global contrasting scale and point of view of gun murder issues in countries. The document, from the United Nations Office of drug and crime, indicates that on the one side the United States fall quite behind on may other countries in the world. It has the 26th position after places like Honduras, El Salvador, Colombia and Brazil, keeping in mind that the latest data from each country ranges from 2004 to 2010 . But, on the other hand, the following diagram shows the United States have the worst situation of gun murder cases in the most developed countries. Indeed, the US (3,2) have a large difference of gun violence compared to other countries such as England (0.1) and Japan (0). This document, opposing developing and developed countries measured by The Human Development Index (HDI) which is a composite statistic of life expectancy, education, and per capita income indicators, which are used to rank countries into four tiers of human development. It has to be said that this document suggests that the United States can be considered as a third-world country when it comes to gun murder because it ranks next to countries like Jamaica, Colombia and Guatemala on the topic of gun murder. 

Steve SACK, on www.startribune.com,

Gun Lobby and Congress (2010) (Bottom)

Dave GRANDLUND, on www.davegranlund.com, 

Second Amendment and NRA (2013) (Top)

          These two cartoons, by different illustrators have a critical vision of gun lobbying and it's relation to law. Firstly, the top cartoon by Dave Grundland in 2013, shows a symmetrical image of two men standing like statues. To the left, the man dates back from the 18th century during the time of the creation of the Unites States and it's constitution. He has a rifle and a war outfit of the era whilst standing on a pillar. Next to him, there is writing saying : " Second Amendment as defined by the Founding Fathers". To the right, there is another man, but this time he come from our time. His look is therefore different. Th man is standing on five boxes of ammo covered in 3 rifles, guns and has the typical American red-neck look. Next to him, there is writing saying " Second Amendment as defined by the NRA". The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution protects the right of the people to keep and bear arms and was adopted on December 15, 1791, as part of the first ten amendments contained in the Bill of Rights. The Supreme Court of the United States has ruled that the right belongs to individuals, while also ruling that the right is not unlimited and does not prohibit all regulation of either firearms or similar devices. Indeed, Dave Grundland believes that the Founding Father's view of Gun rights were different from nowadays, the National Rifle Association's (NRA) point of view. The Founding Fathers of the United States were those of the Thirteen Colonies in North America who led the American Revolution against the Kingdom of Great Britain and contributed to the establishment of the United States of America. Historian Richard B. Morris in 1973 identified the following seven figures as the key Founding Fathers: John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and George Washington (1st President of the USA). At their time, the right to owning a personal firearm was justified in the context of war and revolution as observed in the image of the soldier dresses for battle. However, on the other hand, the cartoon suggests that the NRA, an American nonprofit organisation that advocates for gun rights, defines the second amendment in an entire different way. The image of the American citizen covered in rifles shows that this organisation  advocates for a world of violence and crime. 

          Secondly, the other cartoon by Steve Sack, released in 2010, criticises the corruption between gun lobbies and the American Congress and the fact that gun lobbies are too powerful and rich. In the background, the picture shows the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C smeared in blood dripping from the stairs suggesting the massive amount of blood shed due to gun crime and violence in the US. On the bottom left of the cartoon, two men (a gun lobbyist and a congressman) are conversing and handling money but seem to be interrupted by something as the writing indicates : "Now, where were we, before we were so rudely interrupted". Indeed, the National Rifle Association donates millions of dollars every year to Republican lawmakers in Congress. And those same Republicans line up uniformly to block proposed gun control legislation. The implication of these two facts appears obvious: Politicians are refusing to stem the bloodshed of gun violence because they’re getting what amounts to a legal bribe from lobbyists. But, gun control and organisations advocating against firearms being used on a personal basis are trying making a stand more and more to stop all these mass shootings and gun violence in the United States. These movements against gun rights are what are "rudely interrupting" corruption and bribery between the NRA and Congress.  

TIM BurtOn  

Fill in the gaps in this biography of Tim Burton

Tim Burton was ___born_____in 1958, in the city of Burbank, _California, US___________.

He remains without question one of the __greatest______ original film _____directors____ working in _____Hollywood_______ today.

Indeed, his talent and originality have kept him at the ______top__ of the profession where he occupies a very special place, somewhere ____in_______ the mainstream and the avant-garde, in that region of cinema occupied by artists ___where___ worldview is ____an___ unconventional that it attains popular appeal.

In 1989, Tim Burton directed the hugely _acclaimed_________ Batman which, although his _first______ personal film, was one of the most __seen__________ movies of all time and gave him unprecedented _______fame____ in Hollywood, considering the originality and adventurousness of his ____next______ films (for _____example____ Beetlejuice in 1988).

Edward Scissorhands (1990), another hit, saw him at the peak of his _directoral__and artistic_____ powers and established a fruitful working _period___________ with ____actor_______ Johnny Depp who played in his 2005 film _____Charlie and the Chocolate factory________of Roald Dahl’s book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and who became one of his most esteemed ___partner______since their first film together.

In 1992, Batman Returns was a much_______ darker film than the original, a reflection of how much ___________ freedom Tim Burton had won (____as___ Warner Bros were reputedly unhappy with the final result).

And even _for________ Ed Wood (1994), his loving _____film______ to the life and work of the legendary ‘Worst Director of All Time’ Edward D. Wood, Jr., was a box-office disaster, it got some of the best ________reviews____ of Burton’s career.

In fact, Tim Burton is ____known____  both for his dark, quirky-themed _movies__________like Sleepy Hollow, Corpse Bride, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, or Dark Shadows (2012) and for __Blockbusters__________  such as Pee-Wee's Big Adventure, Batman, Planet of the Apes, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Alice in Wonderland (2010), one of his most  _____renowned___ films, which became the fifth highest-grossing film of all _time_____.

Burton has ____created_______ 18 feature films as of 2014, and has _produced________ 12 as of 2012  (among which the very nice __stop____-motion______ tale called The  Nightmare Before _Christmas______________ in 1993).

All in all, Tim Burton’s films consistently challenge the spectator’s ___expectations________, push forward the ____world________ of filmmaking and bring to life previously unthinkable _characters___________ (like Edward Scissorhands).

Taken as a whole, his work __is____based______ on the confrontation _____between_______ the fantastic and the _____realistique_______, and the consequences of these two worlds intermingling.

Big Fish, Burton’s 2003 effort, is no different. And _even though_____, somehow, it is not really the ______best___.

On the surface, it would appear to have all the __attributs_________ of a classic Burton film: a magic screenplay, fairy-tale characters, flights of imagination, forces of nature ( _as____ well ___as____ the supernatural), far-fetched situations and vastly imaginative visual style and imagery. The movie is, in fact, ____is____ packed with fanciful episodes that it begins to feel ____as_______ a loose adaptation of The Odyssey, told from the mouth of an aging character named Ed Bloom, a story-___writer_______ and dreamer who sees the world with beautiful eyes.