BEHREND BEACON
.
January 15, 2010 lture
www.thebehrendbeacon.com
FILM
Director James Cameron taki
Anyone who has paid attention to
James Cameron shouldn't be sur
prised that his latest film Avatar has
become a world-wide phenomenon.
Approaching its fourth week in the
aters, Avatar has already surpassed
other movies at the box office and is
coming close to breaking the record
set by Titanic, Cameron's previous
Cultural
SHANNON EHRIN
The 1950 s and 1960 s brought
a cultural shift. While African
Americans were continually
faced with social barriers in the
United States, African Ameri
can artists were breaking
boundaries in the cultural
world: Sidney Poitier was the
first African American actor to
win an Academy Award for his
role in Lilies of the Field; Mar
ian Anderson was the first
African American opera singer
to become a member of the
Metropolitan Opera; The Stu-
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feature film
DAN KINEM
senior reporter
The plot is simple. It follows a para
plegic ex-marine who is given a
chance to walk again through the use
of a unique alien body called an
avatar. It is his job to gain the trust of
the natives of the planet Pandora so
that a greedy corporation can steal
their precious metal. It feels very
much like a Dances With Wolves
style story that takes place in a futur
istic world.
1989: When The Abyss
came out in 'B9, critical re
ception was mediocre at
best. Many claimed the film
to be lackluster," if anything
at all. However, the world
Cameron attempts to create
may have served as a pre
cursor to his later films.
1986: Aliens was
Cameron's film that fol
lowed the success of Termi
nator. Both films helped to
give Cameron the heavily
needed accreditation that
eventually thrusted his ca
reer as a big name director in
Hollywood.
equality during King
dio Museum in Harlem was the
first art museum specifically
showcasing African American
art.
In a time of so much strife,
African American artists perse
vered and prospered, but the
effects of the Civil Rights Move
ment still impacted their work,
and especially that of writers
and poets.
Writers during the Civil
Rights Movement wanted to
give a voice to the African
American communities by fo
cusing their writing on the is
sues of racism and segregation
that were plaguing the United
proaches imaking. It is air&
pushed so many visual boundaries. It
definitely set the criterion for effects
reliant films and is pretty pointless to
examine in any way other than enter
tainment. That's what Cameron is
going for with this film and with all
his previous films: he sets out to push
the boundaries of films in a visual
sense but also to entertain the.masses
and he is one of the best at doing so.
States. One of the most effec
tive writers was Ralph Ellison.
His novel Invisible Man gar
nered much acclaim and won
the National Book Award for its
views on racism in America.
Chester Himes and Lorraine
Hansberry also gained success
for their novels and plays de
tailing racism and racial segre
gation in the United States.
One man who had a multi
tude of success is Gordon
Parks. As the first African
American to work at Life mag
azine, Parks brought to light
controversial goings-on in the
United States and the world
with his photographs. Not only
was he a photographer, but he
was an accomplished musician,
director, composer, and writer.
His achievements include the
ballet Martin, choreographed in
honor of Martin Luther King,
Jr., the movie Shaft, and his
novel The Learning Tree, which
Parks later adapted into a film.
No doubt that this was a
changing time for all artistic
fields, but music experienced
the most drastic change and
was a steady companion during
hard times.
Stylistically, popular music
transitioned from jazz and
rhythm and blues to rock 'n roll
and soul.
Record producers started
successfully mainstreaming
African American musicians,
the film industry to new worlds
building their own identity in
the music world.
Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley
laid the foundation for the
sounds of Jimi Hendrix and his
electric guitar, but soon enough
America was invaded by a new
genre and with it came groups
like The Temptations.
Jazz music was evolving at a
rapid pace, and the style in
which jazz music was played
fluctuated. The growing popu
larity in the genre was thanks
in large part to Louis Arm
strong's influence beginning in
the 19205, saxophonist Charlie
Parker, and jazz singer Ella
Fitzgerald.
Less restraint was placed on
the music, giving musicians lee
way in how or what they
played. Different Latin Ameri
can cultures proved to be
highly influential in the devel
opment of jazz music and mu
sicians started using cultural
instruments and not just the
stereotypical trumpet or sax.
Art was changing paths along
with music. Norman Lewis,
Sam Gilliam, Horace Pippin,
and Aaron Douglas all con
tributed works during the
1950 s and 19605. Abstract and
expression became very popu
lar among these and other
artists, but painters still used
their experiences in the African
American community as inspi
ration for their creations.
1994: During its day, True
Lies, was the most expensive
movie ever to be produced.
The action-comedy starred
Arnold Schwarzenegger and
Jamie Lee Curtis. The movie
was also the first major pro
duction for Cameron's then
new visual effects company,
Digital Domain.
1984: The Terminator cost
Cameron less than $7 million
dollars to produce and has
grossed more than $7B million
world-wide. It was one of the
first movies to popularize the
idea that computer-generated
imagery may be the "thing of
the future" for Hollywood films.
1981: Piranha II was
Cameron's directorial debut
and the sequel to a low-budget
horror. The film pioneered the
animatronics that he would
later utilize for the facehuggers
in his movie, Aliens.
CONTRIBUTED PHO',
1953: Ralph Ellison's novel
Invisible Man wins the Na
tional Book Award. Ellison'
writing focused on issues
such as racism and his bolt
1997: Titanic, Cameron's last and
greatest blockbuster to ever grace
theaters, has reigned supreme for
over a decade. 13 years ago, it was
hailed by many to tout the greatest
special effects to-date. Of course, with
Avatar, Cameron has some new com
petition for the #1 top-grossing film of
all-time: himself.
1991: Terminator 2: Judgement
Day is commonly known as T 2.
The movie was a box-office
smash, and one of the most criti
cally acclaimed sequels to-date.
For its time, the movie featured
breakthroughs in computer
graphic imagery and was the first
movie to utilize a semi-computer
generated main character.
of jazz music.
ALL PHOTOS CONTRIBUTED
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
1967: Are You Experi-
enced, Hendrix's
debut album launches
his career in the music
world, making his
name and his music
infamous.
INTRIBUTED PHOTO
Chicago, 1967: The
Wall of Respect is cre
led in Chicago, high
lighting African
lmericans in the cul
tural community. The
mural empowered
frican Americans dur
ing the Civil Rights
Movement.