Cultural in the United States Term Paper

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Cultural in the United States

Compare and contrast what Morris Berman, Frank Capra, and David Fincher present as the flaws in our culture's pursuit of material self-interest.

Morris Berman, Frank Capra, and David Fincher present the society in postmodern consumer where the masculine identity is lost: the gray-collar male personnel and the satisfaction socially created by the society focused in materialism. Technology is the baseline for Berman's argument. The argument goes well-known to Neil Postman, and McLuhan Marshal it is not normal, not only does it change the way we connect with the rest of the world, but it also gets our brains wired (Berman 21). A normal brain of a person who has been print raised differs with a big margin from that of a person who, most of his time is corrupted by the internet.

However, the significance of the internet is making a reduction to our understanding ability to problems that are complex and interchange with connections of space to people who are connected to the net. By this act, the society is left less happy if not more. Berman argues that human interactions have been replaced by television, which has reduced the activities of the brain in a problematic manner. Sleep is the only active activity remaining for our brain: this increases our levels of loneliness. To the society where we have countable friends, we do not have those who we are so much into and can confide. In such a society, there is no time for people to interact with their neighbors because of the rewired brains making them less connected with others around them (Berman 73).

Berman, Capra, and Fincher's arguments share many interests and minimal differences; even though it is all about one factor, I still get curious that the circumstances of material receive a very short exposure in all the books. All the three have provided a brief discussion about the state economics of slaves and discussion of the moment of intellectual that dated from 60s to 90s. This was exactly where environmentalism had its origin and its limited growth was put in to consideration. This issue is briefly looked into and given the treatment of an ideas history than its main objective of exposing material realities. The American power peak can be noted as a coincidence with the high point of oil production done in the United States. It is also safe to say that the sudden and rapid growth of the American pathologies is a coincidence with the crisis of oil that had its debut in the 70s up to the early 80s (Frank, 22).

External growth would have been smooth when there was the availability of cheap energy. However, it turns sour when the growth downfalls on the hustlers instead of engaging in constructive things, they turn against each other. In some segments of Berman's argument, he has discussed the issue about capitalism of environmental critique. This to my perspective is secondary. Later on, he proceeds with a section that will only anger the sanest readers: hustling ethos' critique discussion that never had a chance: the life system of the Southern. The Southern culture had its dark side like slavery. Unlike Capra and Fincher, Berman admits to this and gets more interest to buy the idea of a life that intentionally lived to offer grace to others, pleasing them, and having time for recreation. This agrarian tradition where persons were strongly connected with the community and family and being each other's keeper before being responsible for themselves is the only one of its kind that enabled traditional hustling critique, but to some extent it availed an alternative (Berman, 48).

In Berman, Capra and Fincher's endings, they have not offered any hope for the United States. The titles directly states that America has failed or is a failure. Time for running is still the final act, but the past cannot be brought to future to be amended; America had her chance to straighten up things in the Southern and Northern culture.

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America citizens can decide to immigrate to another country where there is less of the physical affluence where the life system is humane and civilized. If they decide not to leave, then they should be ready and able to found their lives in opposition of the mainstream mores, but as for America as we have just understood, on both sides of the world, the colossus has been built by the same ethos that formed it. It is safe to say that, America has seen failure at its best. Berman, Capra and Fincher's books are also inconsistent. I like the way they ended the book. I will recommend it to readers as long as they understand that the books are about the problems facing America all wrapped up in one perspective. Berman unlike Capra and Fincher, America cannot fix its problem because it is deeply rooted with culture (Frank, 48).

Just like Berman's "Why America Failed," Capras' "It's a Wonderful Life" is one film circled in a world full of gratification deferrals, frustrations and self-imaginations of the world. The title of this film is ironic. Unlike Berman, Capra has used irony in his title. He meant that the life of George Bailey is not wonderful because of the neighbors who sing along a charity while bailing him out. Further, not with his life's damnation by the phrase of Clarence, 'he who has friends is not a failure'; but he has witnessed and had more suffering to any other character that is in the film. This film is not like the usual Cinderella fairy tale as the title suggests. On this tale, the Cinderella is made to return to the hearth and is made back into her usual being, the girl who has no future of escaping and is only conscious of her soul, which is her main source of consolation. Capra argues that this is enough. The consciousness adventure that George undergoes in his life of dreamland is very much more beyond any adventures of romance that he talks about making his way there; the only difference is the consciousness of adventure: it is all happening at the same time (Berman, 74)

The society has gotten to the point of stilling itself with regard to the same manner, so as to give allowances to the people for agitation by the manner of enrichment of the people's consciousness and very complicated in other ways than a mere tour around the globe. Without necessarily leaving home, one can make a daring flight using their own imagination. Whatever may have been Capra's motive and doings, George who is in his imaginary world is not even in a single dot connected with the society that he lives in when the film ends. He is exiled from the society in a very much painful sense. He cannot translate his experience and communicate it with the members of his society. He resides on the margin of creativity and defines critical position of the modernist in within the text and outside it during the same period.

Simultaneous susceptibility margin inhabited detachment by American culture and arts modern heroes as differing from each other as Prynne Hester, Finn Huck, Farange Maisie, Strether Lambert, Verver Maggie, the tramp Chaplin, Moskowitz Seymour, and Longhetti Mabel: who lived home and never got able to feel at home. Being exiled with the long distance separates them from society, which they are part of: they are unwilling and unable to detach themselves from the society because of its powerful influence (Finchers, 36).

Fight Club is a film with scenes of submerged violence takes caution. Just as the violence witnessed in Berman's 'Why America Failed and Frank Capras' 'It's A Wonderful Life, Fight Club starts with the mouth of a gun being pointed into….....

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