ECOCRITICISM: Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Ecocriticism is the study of literature and environment from an interdisciplinary point of view where all sciences come together to analyze the environment and brainstorm possible solutions for the correction of the contemporary environmental situation. Ecocriticism was officially heralded by the publication of two seminal works,^{[citation needed]} both published in the mid-1990s: The Ecocriticism Reader, edited by Cheryll Glotfelty and Harold Fromm, and The Environmental Imagination, by Lawrence Buell.

In the United States, ecocriticism is often associated with the Association for the Study of Literature and Environment (ASLE),^{[citation needed]} which hosts biennial meetings for scholars who deal with environmental matters in literature. ASLE publishes a journal—Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment (ISLE)—in which current American scholarship can be found.

Ecocriticism is an intentionally broad approach that is known by a number of other designations, including "green (cultural) studies", "ecopoetics", and "environmental literary criticism".

(from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eco-criticism)

The Story:

Will Rodman (James Franco) is a scientist at biotechnology company Gen-Sys who has been trying to develop a cure for Alzheimer's disease and is testing a new gene therapy drug on chimpanzees. The drug, a modified virus, mutates a chimpanzee, giving her a human level of intelligence. She later goes on a rampage which is seen as a side effect of the drug. When Will's boss Steven Jacobs (David Oyelowo) subsequently orders chimp handler Robert Franklin (Tyler Labine) to euthanize the remaining test chimpanzees Franklin discovers the chimp had given birth and was only protecting her baby. Unable to bring himself to kill the baby chimp, Robert gives him to Will, who takes him home to raise.

Will's father Charles (John Lithgow), who is suffering from Alzheimer's disease, names the baby chimp "Caesar" (a reference to Julius Caesar). Caesar (Andy Serkis) has inherited his mother's high intelligence and develops quickly. One day, after he frightens the children of their neighbor, Douglas Hunsiker (David Hewlett) and receives a cut on his leg, Will takes him to the San Francisco Zoowhere primatologist Caroline Aranha (Freida Pinto) treats his injury. Will begins to take Caesar on excursions to the redwood forest atMuir Woods National Monument, but after seeing a family's German shepherd, Caesar asks if he is a pet. When Caesar questions his identity, Will tells him that his mother was given a drug and that the reason for his intelligence is that the drug affected him while still in the womb. Caesar becomes more aware of his biological identity and begins to view himself as different from his human family.

A desperate Will tests a sample of his cure on his father. At first, his father's condition improves, but eventually his dementia returns. Confused, he attempts to drive Hunsiker's car, and damages it, angering Hunsiker. Caesar witnesses the confrontation and attacks Hunsiker, prompting authorities to place him in a primate shelter run by John Landon (Brian Cox), where he is treated cruelly by the other apes and the chief guard, Landon's son Dodge (Tom Felton). Caesar escapes from his cell and frees a gorilla called Buck kept in solitary confinement. With Buck's assistance, Caesar gains dominance over the other apes by intimidating the sanctuary's alpha chimp.

Will creates a more powerful form of the virus to resume treating his father, and boss Jacobs clears its testing on chimpanzees, which further increases their intelligence. However, unknown to the scientists, it is fatal to humans. Franklin is exposed to the new virus and begins sneezing blood. Attempting to contact Will at his home, he accidentally infects Hunsiker, and he is then later discovered dead in his apartment. Will attempts to warn Jacobs against further testing but when Jacobs refuses to listen, Will quits his job.

After his father's death, Will bribes the elder Landon into releasing Caesar into his custody, but Caesar refuses to leave. He later escapes from the ape facility on his own and returns to Will's house, where he steals canisters of the new virus and releases it throughout the cage area at the facility, enhancing the intelligence of his fellow apes. The apes put an escape plan into motion. Landon's son Dodge attempts to intervene, leading to a fight with Caesar. Caesar shocks Dodge by shouting "No!" at him, and later kills him through electrocution. The liberated apes storm the city and release the remaining apes from Gen-Sys, as well as the entire ape population of a zoo.

A terrible battle follows as the apes force their way past a police blockade on the Golden Gate Bridge to escape into the Redwood forest. Buck sacrifices his life to save Caesar, jumping into a police helicopter (with Will's boss Jacobs aboard) as they try to shoot Caesar. Buck damages the helicopter severely forcing it to crash on the bridge. A still alive Jacobs trapped in the helicopter is finally killed when Koba, an ape who had spent a lifetime being tested on, kicks the helicopter off the bridge. As the apes find their way into the Redwood forest, Will arrives and warns Caesar that the humans will hunt them down, and begs him to return home. To Will's surprise Caesar speaks like a human, telling him that "Caesar is home" among his fellow apes. The final image shows the apes climbing to the tops of the Redwood trees, looking out over the Golden Gate Bridge and the San Francisco Bay.

In a post-credits scene, Hunsiker arrives at his job as an airline pilot. He sneezes out blood as he is infected by the virus he got from Franklin. The camera pans to a filled flight-status display board, zooming in on New York implying the spread of a global pandemic.

The Criticism:

It falls in the theory because, it shows the typical man versus nature thing. Another species are trying to dominate the present inhabitants, and the main character is suppose to stop it from happening.

The main character didn't exactly stop it, the apes are the one's who made everything normal again by moving away from the humans to live a peaceful life.

DARWINISM: The Return of the Jedi by George Lucas

Darwinism originally included the broad concepts of transmutation of species or of evolution which gained general scientific acceptance when Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species, including concepts which predated Darwin's theories, but subsequently referred to specific concepts of natural selection, the Weismann barrier or in genetics the central dogma of molecular biology.^[1] Though it usually refers strictly to biological evolution, the term has been misused by creationists to refer to the origin of life and has even been applied to concepts of cosmic evolution which have no connection to Darwin's work.^[2][3]

The meaning of "Darwinism" has changed over time, and varies depending on its context.^[4] In the United States, the term "Darwinism" is often used by creationists as a pejorative term in reference to beliefs such as atheistic naturalism, but in the United Kingdom the term has no negative connotations, being freely used as a shorthand for the body of theory dealing with evolution, and in particular, evolution by natural selection.^[5]

The term was coined by Thomas Henry Huxley in April 1860,^[6] and was used to describe evolutionary concepts in general, including earlier concepts such as Spencerism. Many of the proponents of Darwinism at that time, including Huxley, had reservations about the significance of natural selection, and Darwin himself gave credence to what was later called Lamarckism. The strict neo-Darwinism ofAugust Weismann gained few supporters in the late 19th century. During this period, which has been called "the eclipse of Darwinism", scientists proposed various alternative evolutionary mechanisms which eventually proved untenable. The development of the modern evolutionary synthesis from the 1930s to the 1950s, incorporating natural selection with population genetics and Mendelian genetics, revived Darwinism in an updated form.^[7]

While the term has remained in use amongst scientific authors when referring to modern evolutionary theory, it has increasingly been argued that it is an inappropriate term for modern evolutionary theory.^[5][8] For example, Darwin was unfamiliar with the work of Gregor Mendel,^[9] and as a result had only a vague and inaccurate understanding of heredity. He naturally had no inkling of yet more recent developments and, like Mendel himself, knew nothing of genetic drift for example.^[10]

(from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwinism)

The Story:

Luke Skywalker initiates a plan to rescue Han Solo from the crime lord Jabba the Hutt with the help of Princess Leia, Lando Calrissian, Chewbacca, C-3PO and R2-D2. Leia infiltrates Jabba's palace on Tatooine disguised as a bounty hunter and releases Han from a block of carbonite, but she is captured and enslaved. Luke arrives soon afterward and allows himself to be captured. After Luke survives a battle with the Rancor, Jabba sentences Luke and Han to be executed by the Sarlacc. Luke breaks free and a large battle erupts, during which Leia strangles Jabba to death, Han knocks Boba Fett into the gaping maw of the Sarlacc and Luke destroys Jabba's sail barge. While Han and Leia meet with the other Rebels, Luke returns to Dagobah, only to find that Yoda is dying. With his last breaths, Yoda confirms that Darth Vader is Luke's father; he also mentions "another Skywalker". The spirit of Obi-Wan Kenobireveals that the "other Skywalker" Yoda spoke of is Luke's twin sister, who Luke discovers is Leia. Obi-Wan then tells Luke that he must confront Vader again to defeat the Empire.

The Rebel Alliance learns that the Empire has been constructing a new Death Star, and hatches a plan to destroy it. Han leads a strike team to destroy the battle station's shield generator on the forest moon of Endor, allowing a squadron of starfighters to enter the incomplete superstructure and destroy the station from within. The strike team, with Luke in tow, travels to Endor in an Imperial shuttle; Vader senses Luke's presence on the shuttle, but lets them through so that they will be ambushed by the Imperial forces lying in wait on Endor. Sensing Vader's presence, Luke fears he is endangering the mission.

On Endor, Luke and his companions encounter a tribe of Ewoks and form a partnership with them. Later, Luke confesses to Leia that she is his sister, that Vader is their father and that he is leaving to confront him. Luke surrenders to Imperial troops, so that they will bring him to Vader. He unsuccessfully tries to convince Vader to turn from the dark side of the Force, but Vader takes Luke to the Death Star to meet Emperor Palpatine, his Sith master and leader of the Empire.

Luke learns that the Death Star is fully operational and set to destroy the Rebellion. On Endor, the Rebels are captured by Imperial forces, but a surprise counterattack by the Ewoks allows the Rebels to launch an attack. Meanwhile, Lando leads the Rebel fleet in the Millennium Falcon to the Death Star, only to find the station's shield is still up and the Imperial fleet waiting for them. Palpatine tempts Luke to give in to his anger and join the dark side, and Luke and Vader engage in a lightsaber duel. Vader discovers that Luke has a sister, and threatens to turn her to the dark side. Luke snaps and attacks Vader, severing his father's right hand. Palpatine entreats Luke to kill Vader and take his place; Luke steps back from the brink and refuses, declaring himself a Jedi. Palpatine attacks him with Force lightning. Unable to watch his son suffer, Vader turns on Palpatine and throws him down a reactor shaft to his death, dooming himself to die in the process. With his dying breaths, the redeemed Anakin Skywalker asks Luke to remove his mask so he can look on his son, just for once, with his own eyes instead of through the mask, and tell Leia that there was good in him after all.

On Endor, the strike team, with the help of the Ewoks, defeats the Imperial forces and destroys the shield generator, allowing the Rebel fleet to launch a final assault on the Death Star. Lando leads the remaining ships into the station's core and destroys the main reactor. Luke escapes on Palpatine's Imperial shuttle with his father's body before the Death Star explodes, while Lando escapes in the Falcon. On Endor, Han tells Leia that he knows she loves Luke and offers to step aside; she tells him that Luke is her brother and kisses him. That evening, Luke returns to Endor and cremates his father's armor on a funeral pyre. As the Rebels celebrate the end of the Empire, Luke sees the spirits of Obi-Wan, Yoda and Anakin Skywalker watching over them.

The Criticism:

 The theory tackles about the development of a character in the story. In the story, Luke is training to be a Jedi. this perfectly represents it. Luke is training to be a better warrior to defeat the evils surrounding the universe.

Furthermore, not only his development as a jedi is in the story but also, his development as a man who is able to defend and accept the lies that are covering his life. 

GENRE CRITICISM: The Lion Makers from the Panchatantra

Genre criticism is a method within rhetorical criticism for analysing speeches and writing according to the symbolic artifacts they contain. In rhetoric, the theory of genre provides a means to classify and compare artifacts of communication and to assess their effectiveness and/or contribution to a community. By grouping artifacts with others of similar formal features or rhetorical exigencies, rhetorical critics can shed light on how authors use or flout conventions in order to meet their needs. Genre criticism has thus become one of the main methodologies within rhetorical criticism.

(from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genre_criticism)


The Story:

Four Brahmans lived near one another and were friends in a small town.  Three of them had been scholars their whole lives and had learned much, but they had no common sense.  The fourth couldn’t be bothered to study from dusty dry books, but he had a great deal of common sense.

One day they got together to talk and decided that all their accomplishments and learning were pointless if they didn’t go out in the world to meet people, see places, gain a little political power, and make a little money.  So they decided to travel together.

They hadn’t gone far when the eldest said, “One of us is not smart enough or educated enough, having nothing but common sense.  He won’t make it very far in the world without scholarship, so let’s not share our money with him.  He should go back home.”

The second said, “That’s true, friend, you should go home.”  But the third said, “No, this is no way to treat our friend who we have known since we were small children playing together.  He will stay with us and have a share of the money we earn.”

So they agreed and all four continued on together.  Soon they came upon the bones of a dead lion in the forest.  One of them said, “Here is a chance to show off how intelligent and learned we are.  Let’s bring him back to life through our superior knowledge.”

The first said, “I can assemble the skeleton for I know how it should go.”  The second said, “I can add on the muscles, organs, and skin.”  The third said, “I can give it life.”

But the fourth, who was the man of no scholarship said, “This is a lion.  If you give it life it will kill every one of us.”

“The scholars replied, “We will not make all our learning pointless.  We must use it at every opportunity.”  So the fourth replied again, “Then wait a moment while I climb this tree.”

So the man of sense climbed a tree while the other three brought the lion to life.  The lion rose up and killed the three scholars.  But the man of sense climbed down after the lion had left and went home.

Scholarship is less than sense;

Therefore seek intelligence:

Senseless scholars in their pride

Made a lion, then they died.

(from: http://www.layers-of-learning.com/the-lion-makers-a-story-from-the-panchatantra/)

The Criticism:

The theory criticizes the genre of the story. The Lion Makers is classified as a fable. A fable is a short narrative which conveys a moral lesson and the characters are animals. the story does not fit it at all. The characters are Brahmans not animals, but it conveys a moral lesson, so it is more like a parable than a fable.

CULTURAL STUDIES: Cannibal Holocaust by Gianfranco Clerici

Cultural studies is an academic field of critical theory and literary criticism initially introduced by British academics in 1964 and subsequently adopted by allied academics throughout the world. Characteristically interdisciplinary, cultural studies is an academic discipline aiding cultural researchers who theorize about the forces from which the whole of humankind construct their daily lives. Cultural Studies is not a unified theory, but a diverse field of study encompassing many different approaches, methods and academic perspectives. Distinct from the breadth, objective and methodology of cultural anthropology and ethnic studies, cultural studies is focussed upon the political dynamics of contemporary culture and its historical foundations, conflicts and defining traits. Researchers concentrate on how a particular medium or message relates to ideology, social class,nationality, ethnicity, sexuality and/or gender, rather than providing an encyclopedic identification, categorization or definition of a particular culture or area of the world.

(from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_studies)


The Story:

The film opens with a television documentary about a missing film crew from the United States that disappeared on an expedition to the Amazon Basin to make a documentary about indigenous cannibal tribes. The team was Alan Yates, the director; Faye Daniels, his girlfriend, along with a script girl; and two cameramen, Jack Anders and Mark Tomaso. Harold Monroe, a New York Universityanthropologist, has agreed to lead a rescue team and flies to the Amazon to meet his guides, Chaco and his assistant, Miguel. The group has a hostage captured by the military from a local tribe called the Yacumo, and they use him to help negotiate with the natives. The team arranges his release in exchange for being taken to the Yacumo village. There, the team initially meets hostility and learns that the film group had caused great unrest among the people.

The next day, Monroe and his guides head deeper into the rainforest to locate two warring tribes, the Ya̧nomamö and the Shamatari. Following a group of Shamatari warriors to a riverbank, they intervene and save a smaller group of Ya̧nomamö from death in a conflict between the groups. The Ya̧nomamö invite Monroe and his team back to their village, where they are treated with suspicion. To gain the villagers' trust, Monroe bathes naked in a river. A group of Ya̧nomamö women emerge to take him to a shrine, which he learns holds the bones of the missing American filmmakers. Angry, Monroe confronts the Ya̧nomamö, during which time he plays a tape recorder for them. Intrigued, the natives agree to trade it for the first team's surviving reels of film during a cannibalistic ceremony, in which Monroe has to take part.

Back in New York, executives of the Pan American Broadcast Company invite Monroe to host a broadcast of a documentary to be made from the recovered film. Monroe wants to see the raw footage first. The executives introduce him to Yates's work by showing an excerpt from his previous documentary, The Last Road to Hell. One of the executives tells Monroe that Yates staged the scene to get more exciting footage. Monroe reviews the footage, which first follows the group's trek through the jungle. They promptly spot a large turtle, which they butcher and eat. Their guide, Felipe, is then bitten by a venomous snake. The group amputates Felipe's leg with a machete in an attempt to save his life, but he quickly dies and is left behind. The remaining four succeed in locating the Yacumo. Jack shoots one in the leg so they can easily follow him to the village. The second reel starts with the group's arrival at the Yacumo village. They force the entire tribe into a hut and burn it down in order to stage a scene for the film. Monroe expresses concerns over the staged scenes and poor treatment of the natives, but his worries are ignored.

Monroe expresses his disgust to station executives about their decision to air the documentary. To convince them of his view, he shows the remaining, unedited footage, which only he has seen. The final two reels begin with the team locating a young Ya̧nomamö girl, whom the men gang-rape as Faye tries to stop them. Later, the team films the girl impaled on a wooden pole, where they claim the natives killed her. After they move on, the Ya̧nomamö attack the team in revenge for the girl's rape and death. Jack is hit by a spear, and Alan shoots him so the team can film how the natives mutilate his corpse. As the three surviving team members try to escape the scene, Faye is captured. Alan insists they try to rescue her. Mark continues to film as she is raped and beheaded. The Ya̧nomamö immediately locate the last two team members as the footage ends with Alan's bloody face. Disturbed by what they have just seen, the executives order the footage destroyed, and Monroe leaves the station and declares: "I wonder who the real cannibals are?"

(from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannibal_Holocaust)

The Criticism:

The story was based on the stories of the cannibals (people who eats the flesh of other human beings). The eating of human flesh is a culture of the Carib people.

In the story, the cannibals are ruthless killers that would not stop until they get a handful of human flesh to dine on. The movie never really tells why they eat flesh, the movie calls for close watching and a deep understanding of the movie.

As the movie flows, we would find that these flesh eating people do this because they are used in doing this because this is their culture. Modern people consider this as a taboo, but we must remember that it is their culture, a culture which is keeping them who they are.

NEOCLASSICISM: A Christmas Carol an adaptation of the Charles Dickens

Neoclassicism (from Greek νέος neos, Latin classicus and Greek -ισμός ismos)^[1] is the name given to Westernmovements in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that draw inspiration from the "classical" art and culture of Ancient Greece or Ancient Rome. The main Neoclassical movement coincided with the 18th century Age of Enlightenment, and continued into the early 19th century, latterly competing with Romanticism. In architecture the style continued throughout the 19th and 20th centuries and into the 21st.

(from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoclassicism)


The Story:

In 1843, Ebenezer Scrooge, a bitter and miserly old moneylender at a London counting house holds everything that embodies the joys and spirit of Christmas in contempt. He refuses to visit his cheerful nephew, Fred, at his Christmas dinner party with his family, and forces his underpaid employee Bob Cratchit to beg to take the day off for his own family. On Christmas Eve, Scrooge is visited by the ghost of his former business partner Jacob Marley, who had died seven years prior and is now forced to spend his afterlife carrying heavy chains forged from his own greedy ways. Marley warns Scrooge that he will suffer an even worse fate if he does not repent, and foretells that he will be haunted by three spirits that will help guide him.

The first spirit is the Ghost of Christmas Past, which shows Scrooge visions of his own past that take place around the Christmas season, reminding Scrooge of how he ended up the avaricious man he is now. In the visions, Scrooge spends much of his childhood neglected by his father over the holidays at boarding school until he is finally brought home by his loving sister Fan, who dies prematurely after giving birth to his nephew, Fred. Scrooge later begins a successful career in business and money lending, and becomes engaged to a woman named Belle, though she later calls off the engagement when his obsession with wealth drives her away. The elderly Scrooge is unable to bear witnessing these events again and extinguishes the spirit with its candle snuffer cap.

The second spirit is the Ghost of Christmas Present, which shows Scrooge the happiness of his fellow men on Christmas Day. Among them are Fred, who playfully makes jokes with his family at Scrooge's expense, and the Cratchit family, who are barely able to make do with what little pay Scrooge gives them. Scrooge is touched by the Cratchits' sickly young son Tiny Tim and his commitment to the spirit of Christmas, and is dismayed to learn from the spirit that Tim may not have much longer to live. Before dying, the spirit warns Scrooge about the evils of "Ignorance" and "Want", which manifest themselves before Scrooge as two wretched children who grow into violent, insane individuals.

The third and final spirit is the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, which toys with Scrooge by chasing him through the streets of London on a carriage before showing him the final consequences of his greed. Scrooge sees in this future that he has died, though none mourn for him: Fred and his wife are elated to inherit his wealth; Scrooge's charwoman Mrs. Dilber is shown to have robbed him and given his belongings to a fence named Old Joe; and the men who attended his funeral had only gone for a free lunch. Tiny Tim is also shown to have died, leaving the Cratchit family to mourn him on Christmas. Scrooge is horrified and asks the spirit whether the images he has seen are sure to happen or can be changed. To little response, the spirit reveals Scrooge's own grave, showing his own date of death as December 25 of a forthcoming year, and forces Scrooge to fall into his empty coffin sitting in an deep grave atop the fires of Hell.

Scrooge suddenly awakens to find it is Christmas Day, and that all three spirits have visited him over the course of one night. He joyously gives a child on the street some money to buy a prize turkey and have it delivered to the Cratchits. He then attends his nephew's dinner, giving money to the poor and celebrating with his fellow men along the way. When Bob Cratchit comes to work, Scrooge grants him the day off and raises his salary after he has him deliver the money to the bank. As he steps out, Bob Cratchit affirms with the audience that Scrooge has become a kinder man and a second father to Tiny Tim, who survives thanks to Scrooge's charity. As the film ends showing Scrooge carrying Tiny Tim on his shoulders down the streets, Tiny Tim quotes, "God bless us, everyone."

(from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Christmas_Carol_(2009_film))

The Criticism:

The story was a recreation of the 1843 novella by Charles Dickens with the same name.

It fits the theory because, the flow of the story and the plot is all the same. You might think that this fits the modernist theory, well it kinda does. It fits in the sense that, it was made in a modern time. It doesn't fit the theory in a sense that, the story is not made to the point-of-view of the writer.

The story was basically made the same way as the original. It was made new with the touch of the classic approach, which is basically the neoclassicist theory is all about.

MORAL CRITICISM: The Boy Who Cried, Wolf by Aesop

The Theory:

Moral Criticism Works that are moral (or literature that attempts to teach and instruct as well as entertain) are often seen in contemporary criticism as didactic. 



The Story:

There once lived a shepherd boy who looked after sheep. He decided to play
a trick on the people of the town. " Wolf ! Wolf ! A wolf is chasing my sheep !"
shouted the little shepherd. All the people that lived in the town came running to help 
the shepherd boy chasing the wolf away. He thought the trick was very funny and 
laughed at the people of the town. They were very angry with the shepherd boy. 
"Don''t cry wolf" when there is no wolf. It is not funny". The people of the
town told the boy. The boy didnot listen to the people of the town. He decided to
play the trick again.

"Wolf ! Wolf ! A wolf is chasing my sheep" shouted the little shepherd.
All the people that lived in the town came runnung to help the shepherd boy
chasing the wolf away. They were very angry with the shepherd boy when they
saw no wolf. " Do not cry wolf when there is not wolf" they told him.

The shepherd boy once again laughed at the people of the town.
Later that day he saw a real wolf chasing his sheep. He was very scared.

"Wolf Wolf ! A wolf is chasing my sheep !" shouted the little shepherd.
All the people of the town thought the boy was playing tricks again so they
didn''t go to help him.
When it became dark, the people of the town wondered where the 
shepherd boy was. They found him crying.

"There was a wolf here. I cried wolf and nobody came. Now 
my sheep have run away," said the shepherd boy sadly.
"We''ll help you look for your sheep in the morning. Remember, nobody 
believes a liar , even when he is telling the truth," said the people of the town. 


(from: http://www.shvoong.com/books/1674356-boy-cried-wolf/#ixzz2NmqMMaje)



The Criticism:


The moral of the story is to never lie or it is wrong to lie.

In the theory, we criticize a literary piece by its worth. The story is really value-able as tool in teaching kids about the consequence of telling lies.

Here the kid Shepherd suffered from his actions, nobody believed him when he is really in need. The story is really good in teaching values.

MODERNISM: The Princess and The Frog by Ron Clements and John Musker

Literary Modernism has its origins in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, mainly in Europe and North America. Modernism is characterized by a self-conscious break with traditional styles of poetry and verse. Modernists experimented with literary form and expression, adhering to the modernist maxim to "Make it new." The modernist literary movement was driven by a desire to overturn traditional modes of representation and express the new sensibilities of their time.

(from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modernist_literature)

The Story:

Tiana is a young waitress from New Orleans, Louisiana who has held a passion for the culinary arts ever since she was a child. Inspired by her late father, Tiana steadily works day and night shifts at two different diners in order to raise money to buy an old sugar mill, which she plans to turn into the restaurant ("Down in New Orleans"). Charlotte La Bouff, a débutante and childhood friend of Tiana, hires her to provide beignets for the Mardi Gras masquerade ball being thrown by her rich father, Eli "Big Daddy" La Bouff. Eli, the perennial King of the Mardi Gras, seeks to welcome the recently-arrived Prince Naveen of Maldonia as an eligible suitor to his pampered daughter. Tiana is thrilled to finally have enough to purchase and renovate the old sugar mill into her restaurant ("Almost There").

The disinherited Prince Naveen, penniless and unskilled, is nevertheless intent on marrying a wealthy woman rather than learning a trade. He and his valet Lawrence encounter Dr. Facilier, a voodoo witch doctor who convinces the pair that he can improve both their lives. Instead, after reading their fortunes, Facilier transforms Naveen into a frog and gives Lawrence a voodoo charm, filled with Naveen's blood, which when worn transforms his appearance to that of Naveen's. Facilier intends for Lawrence, under the guise of Naveen, to marry Charlotte in order to gain access to her father’s fortune ("Friends on the Other Side").

At the ball, Charlotte unknowingly flirts with Lawrence as Tiana discovers she may lose the mill to a higher bidder. Tiana then meets Naveen, who, believing her to be a princess because of her costume, asks her to kiss him and break Facilier's curse. Tiana reluctantly agrees, in exchange for the money needed to outbid the other buyer. However, instead of Naveen turning back into a human, Tiana is turned into a frog herself. A chase ensues, and Naveen and Tiana escape to a bayou.

Lawrence (still disguised as Naveen) later proposes to Charlotte, who happily agrees, but soon the magic in Facilier's charm wears off and Lawrence reverts to his original form. Facilier tells Lawrence they need another sample of the prince's blood in order to prolong the spell, but discovers that Lawrence had foolishly released him. Facilier turns to the voodoo spirits for help, with the promise that once Lawrence marries Charlotte, he will have total control over New Orleans and will be able to offer the citizens' souls as payment. The voodoo spirits give Facilier shadow demons, who are then dispatched to locate Naveen.

At the bayou, Tiana and Naveen meet Louis, a trumpet-playing alligator, who offers to lead them to Mama Odie, an ancient and good-hearted voodoo priestess who they believe can undo the curse ("When We're Human"). Later, they meet Ray, a Cajun firefly, who joins them on their journey ("Gonna Take You There"). Ray tells Tiana about his love, Evangeline, who is later revealed to be the Evening Star ("Ma Belle Evangeline").

When the four at last meet Mama Odie, she tells the frogs that Naveen must kiss a true princess for them to become human, and that since Eli La Bouff is King of Mardi Gras, Charlotte is a princess, but only until the stroke of midnight, when Mardi Gras is over ("Dig a Little Deeper"). Naveen soon realizes that he loves Tiana, but before he can admit his feelings, he is captured by the shadow demons and brought to Facilier.

Before Lawrence (disguised as Naveen) and Charlotte can marry, Ray helps Naveen escape and steals the charm. Ray gives the charm to Tiana in order to hold back Facilier's minions, but is killed by Facilier. Facilier then confronts Tiana and transforms her back to her human form. He then offers to make her restaurant dream come true in exchange for the charm, but she refuses upon realizing that true love is more important and attempts to destroy the talisman. However, Facilier's shadow grabs hold of its shadow and hands it back to Facilier himself. Tiana is changed back to a frog and Facilier mockingly declares that she is fated to remain that way forever. Tiana quickly uses her frog tongue to grab hold of the talisman and smashes it upon the ground. The angered voodoo spirits come forth and claim Facilier himself as payment for his debts and drag him into the underworld forever.

Tiana and Naveen reveal their love to each other and explain the situation to Charlotte, who agrees to kiss Naveen so he and Tiana can be together. The clock strikes midnight before she can kiss him, but the two decide they are content to live together as frogs. At the end of a funeral for Ray, he appears as a new bright star next to Evangeline.

Later, Tiana and Naveen are married by Mama Odie. Because of Tiana's new status as princess, they are restored back to human form after their kiss. They then have a real wedding within the St. Louis Cathedral. The couple return to New Orleans to celebrate and, with Louis' help, convince the Fenner brothers to accept the payment money and hand over the key rights. Together, Tiana and Naveen work on transforming the sugar mill into the long awaited restaurant. In the final scene, the restaurant - which is called Tiana's Palace - is thriving, with Louis and his band playing to a joyfully full house, while in the sky smaller stars encircle the larger stars of Ray and Evangeline ("Down in New Orleans (Finale)").

(from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Princess_and_the_Frog)

The Criticism:

here we go....

Just like James Joyce's "Ulysses", the Princess and the Frog was based on an other story. the story was based on the novel "The Frog Princess".

The story was just loosely based. There are some differences with the two. It fits the modernist theory in a way that the writer of the story made it in his own point-of-view. He adhered to the basics of the story and put some twists in it to make it his own.

Though structurally, both are the same, the content and the progression of the stories differ in a way that is really noticeable, even in the first time viewing them.