Robbb11's Blog

The Revolutionary path of Cinema

robbb11 — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 20:50:04 +0000

The theme that is of particular interest is that in which people’s new relationship with cinema is “revolutionary” as Benjamin put it. The use of cinema in the modern world has great potential to bring about the revolutionary change that Benjamin speaks of; however, the current use of cinema lacks the substance in its effect to bring about this change. The reason is that film can be used in a more useful fashion than say, paintings, as films are not static; it instead invites the viewer to contemplation. In recognizing the potential of film in particular, Benjamin, was aware that capitalism is what funded the film industry. As such, the funding of film by capital hides and subverts the revolutionary use of film. The industry of cinema instead steers the audience towards an illusion rather than allowing them access to participation in what reflects their true interests. This impact is still evident in film today. However, we do see glimpses of the revolutionary influence that Benjamin spoke of and that is through films that are funded to bring about issues of interest rather than propaganda in support of certain policies. Films such as Fahrenheit 911 and the great global warming swindle are just a couple examples that question the norm. Although the message may not be true, it spurs the viewers into a situation with which they are able to participate and reflects an area that is of interest. The increasing use of such films in the cinema industry does support Benjamin’s claim that the process of revolutionary mass culture is inevitable simply because of the nature of the film audience.

Freedom of the Internet

robbb11 — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 21:50:09 +0000

This article written by the U of T newspaper highlights the need to create a universal access to internet around the world. Countries such as China and Iran have been heavily criticized for their role in restricting their citizens’ ability to freely make use of the internet. Countries have continuously place firewalls and blockers not allowing its citizens to gain access to certain facets of the internet. However, people such as professor Ron Diebert have been working diligently trying to create software programs such as right2know and psiphon in order to allow people to access websites which were previously blocked.

The internet plays such a vital role in the free speech today that a global initiative to protect the free speech over the internet should be considered. The blocking of such a large place of communication by government’s goes against humanities freedom of speech across the globe. Blocking internet access suppresses the voice of people around the world. The internet in its intended role was to give full access to everyone around the world. It has since developed into an arena where people can engage in thoughtful discussion through methods such as forums and blogs.

Significant Term

robbb11 — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 21:31:05 +0000

Packet switching is a method used to improve the efficiency of transferring information over a shared communication line, by dividing messages into fixed-sized, numbered packets. The significance of this is pivotal in regards to the internet today as this method of transferring allows the networking lines to remain unaffected by traffic. This method of transferring also allowed for files to be sent in the most expedient way as each packet is sent through the fastest route possible as routers are used to direct packets between networks.

Hello world!

robbb11 — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 21:21:10 +0000

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