Spike Lee :: essays papers

Spike Lee In 1995 I considered Spike Lee's gritty CLOCKERS one of the year's best films; recently I spotted its video in a clearance bin and picked it up. Upon re-viewing, I am struck again by its complexity. It is the first urban drama to depict inner-city race relations with the intricacy such a pervasive cultural issue demands. On the surface it resembles a whodunit, but its main concern is how drugs and violence contaminate entire communities, dramatized in the collapse of one African-American youth's life. (He chokes up blood the way some of us sweat.) This process is observed by a predominantly white police force that makes hollow attempts to keep order, and refuses to intervene with the community's gradual decline. Instead of characters with overt prejudices and plain racial allegiances-characters that are sterile symbols of bigotry rather than credible humans guilty of it-Lee gives us characters of casual racism. Most representative of this is Harvey Keitel's Rocco Klein, a white detective who cannot understand the culture surrounding him, which is a culture of narcotics, violence, and black-on-black crime. On his beat, drugs are less a problem than a lifestyle, murder resolves the tiniest of disagreements, and young mothers valiantly but vainly battle the influence young dealers have on their sons. Klein views the inner-city with contempt, but deep down he knows all the whores and dealers are human beings, too. Klein is introduced at the scene of a homicide, where the police handle the gruesome death with a clinical sense of detachment, cracking bad jokes and asking the bloodied corpse questions. Is it just a job, or is it racism?

Essay on Domestic Violence

Domestic violence — also called domestic abuse, battering or intimate partner violence — occurs between people in an intimate relationship. Domestic violence can take many forms, including emotional, sexual and physical abuse and threats of abuse. Men are sometimes abused by partners, but domestic violence is most often directed toward women. Domestic violence can happen in heterosexual or same sex relationships. It might not be easy to identify domestic violence at first. While some relationships are clearly abusive from the outset, abuse often starts subtly and gets worse over time.You might be experiencing domestic violence if you're in a relationship with someone who: †¢Calls you names, insults you or puts you down †¢Prevents you from going to work or school †¢Stops you from seeing family members or friends †¢Tries to control how you spend money, where you go, what medicines you take or what you wear †¢Acts jealous or possessive or constantl y accuses you of being unfaithful †¢Gets angry when drinking alcohol or using drugs †¢Threatens you with violence or a weapon Hits, kicks, shoves, slaps, chokes or otherwise hurts you, your children or your pets †¢Forces you to have sex or engage in sexual acts against your will †¢Blames you for his or her violent behavior or tells you that you deserve it †¢Portrays the violence as mutual and consensual The longer you stay in an abusive relationship, the greater the toll on your self-esteem. You might become depressed and anxious. You might begin to doubt your ability to take care of yourself or wonder if the abuse is your fault. You might feel helpless or paralyzed. If you're an older woman who has health problems, you might feel dependent upon an abusive partner.If you're in a same sex relationship, you might be less likely to seek help after an assault if you don't want to disclose your sexual orientation. If you've been sexually assaulted by another woma n, you might also fear that you won't be believed. Still, the only way to break the cycle of domestic violence is to take action — and the sooner the better. Domestic violence, also known as domestic abuse, spousal abuse, battering, family violence, and intimate partner violence (IPV), is defined as a pattern of abusive behaviors by one partner against another in an intimate relationship such as marriage, dating, family, or cohabitation. 1] Domestic violence, so defined, has many forms, including physical aggression or assault (hitting, kicking, biting, shoving, restraining, slapping, throwing objects), or threats thereof; sexual abuse; emotional abuse; controlling or domineering;intimidation; stalking; passive/covert abuse (e. g. , neglect); and economic deprivation. [1][2] Alcohol consumption[3] and mental illness[4] can be co-morbid with abuse, and present additional challenges in eliminating domestic violence. Awareness, perception, definition and documentation of domesti c violence differs widely from country to country, and from era to era.Did you know over two women per week are killed by current or ex-partners, and that one in four women in the UK will experience domestic violence in their lifetime? In Women's Aid's view domestic violence is physical, sexual, psychological or financial violence that takes place within an intimate or family-type relationship and that forms a pattern of coercive and controlling behaviour. At least 1 in 4 women experience domestic violence in their lifetime and between 1 in 8 and 1 in 10 women experience it annually

A Narrative About Dinah, The Daughter Of Jacob And Leah

Genesis 34 tells a narrative about Dinah, the daughter of Jacob and Leah. Dinah went to visit the women of the area. As she was out visiting, the prince of the region, Shechem, saw her from afar. Shechem went to Dinah and raped her because of his infatuation with her. Shechem loved Dinah and spoke sweetly to her so that she would be charmed by him. Shechem went to his father, Hamor King of the Hivites. Shechem expressed to his father that he needed Dinah to become his wife. By this time, Jacob had heard that Shechem had caused his daughter to become impure. Jacob waited until his sons were home from working in the fields to tell them of the news about Dinah and Shechem. Just as Jacob’s sons arrived Hamor was asking Jacob for marriage arrangements for Shechem. When Jacob’s sons heard was Shechem had done to Dinah they were enraged. According to the law in Israel, what Shechem had done was intolerable. Despite this, Hamor pleaded for his son to have Dinah as his wife. Hamor said that if Jacob gives him his daughters, then Hamor would give Jacob’s sons his daughters. Hamor went on to say that the land will become partially theirs. Hamor promised to give Jacob and his sons whatever they could possibly ask for if Shechem could marry Dinah. The sons of Jacob said they could not possibly allow Dinah to be wedded to Shechem because he was not circumcised. The matrimony would cause much disgrace to Jacob and his family as a result of Shechem ’s uncirumcision. In order to permit theShow MoreRelatedBiblical Genealogy Is Important For Establishing Identity1360 Words   |  6 Pagespassage, Jacob moved his family to this region in Canaan and bought land from Hamor, instead of remaining with Esau and kinfolk (Gen 33:18). Now in a land known to worship false gods, Jacob and his family are vulnerable and separated from a community of likeminded practitioners. When Genesis 34 begins, we learn the lineage of Dinah as Leah’s daughter with Jacob (Gen 34:1). Biblical genealogy is important to establishing identity as it â€Å"expresses idealized understandings of families.† Leah is theRead MoreThe Red Tent (All You Need to5163 Words   |  21 Pagesliving in Newtonville, Massachusetts with her husband and daughter, Emilia. She has written five books about contemporary Jewish life, The Red Tent being her first novel. Diamant may have been influenced by the recent resurgence of creating Midrashim, or stories that attempt to explain the Torah by examining its subtexts. Modern women have taken a keen interest in this practice, hoping to expand on the minute biblical mentions of women like Dinah. Form, structure and plot The Red Tent is organizedRead MoreEssay The Red Tent by Diamant1739 Words   |  7 PagesThe Red Tent by Diamant In Diamant’s powerful novel The Red Tent the ever-silent Dinah from the 34th chapter of Gensis is finally given her own voice, and the story she tells is a much different one than expected. With the guiding hands of her four â€Å"mothers†, Leah, Rachel, Zilpah, and Bilhah, all the wives of Jacob, we grow with Dinah from her childhood in Mesoptamia through puberty, where she is then entered into the â€Å"red tent†, and well off into her adulthood from Cannan to Egypt. Throughout