Comedy Tragedy

Here are some more information for Comedy Tragedy:

Humor can come from unexpected sources. I work in the medical field and while you might not think that would be a hotbed of comedic material, it truly can be. Health care workers and patients alike are surrounded by illness and death and need the natural outlet and stress relief provided by laughter.

Gallows humor is defined as humor that makes fun of a life-threatening, disastrous, or terrifying situation. This certainly applies to health care as well as many other occupations and situations. I was exposed to this type of humor early on in life when I became a candystriper at a local hospital. People were ill, yet laughter abounded in the cancer ward.

The first time I witnessed an exhibition of gallows humor, I was horrified. A patient, who had just had a tumor removed, was meeting with her physician. They were discussing reconstructive surgery, which seemed frightening and I could see no humor in the matter. When I passed the room, I was stunned to see her juggling the implant samples, which looks like sacks of clear gel, that the physician brought for their discussion. She threw one implant high up in the air then snatched it out while throwing another. Eventually she had three going of various sizes and weights.

"I don't know, that ones pretty heavy, it's going to sag in a few years. Maybe I should go with the lighter model. Not that my husband will agree... he's looking forward to a larger size," with this announcement she laughed and continued juggling. The physician sat nearby waiting for her act to end so he could continue his discussion. It's safe to say that this sort of reaction didn't happen with every patient!

This was my first exposure to gallows humor, but not my last. This type of display continued when I worked in the physicians office and after a while, I would usually laugh along rather than be shocked by patients' actions. One day in the office I walked back to the treatment room where the patients received their chemotherapy. I stopped in the doorway, stunned at the sight before me.

A group of women in the corner were topless. They were examining each other and comparing the work of various plastic surgeons. In the middle of the group was a new patient who had yet to get reconstructive surgery. The women were supporting her in her search for a surgeon by acting as live models! The woman was blushing and laughing; nervous laughter to be certain as I'm sure she never thought to find herself in this situation when she came in for her first treatment.

I decided then and there that if these women could find humor in times of tragedy, then so could I. Since that moment, I've tried to find something humorous in everything. I can't always manage it in the moment, but there's always something later that strikes my funny bone. Try your hand at turning a dark moment into something funny with gallows humor. It's a great way to deal with a tragic situation as laughter releases endorphins and helps with the healing process

Sonia Fischer is an author on http://www.Writing.Com which is a site for Writers.

Filming In Israel

Filming in Israel

Israel is one of the well known nations in the Middle East. People in the country are known for their love for culture and entertainment and this has led to the growth of filming in Israel. The cities of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem provide a great platform for movies and production services in Israel to flourish in the country. There is a great scope for films in the country.

Filming and cinema in Israel is one of the main forms of entertainment in the country. Since its popularity from the year 1950, this form of expression has really gained popularity among the citizens. Most of the films in the country are based on different types of social, economic, political and other themes. Bulk of the Israel films is made in the Hebrew language. However, there are also films which are made in English and some other international language.

A major part the filming in Israel is done in Jerusalem. The city provides a wonderful platform for budding and experienced film directors as well as uplink services to showcase their cinematic finesse. There are also numerous cinemas and movie halls in the city which stage various types of national, regional and international films and documentaries. In fact, a number of film directors from Israel have been the recipient of prestigious film awards.

Some of the well known themes of filming in Israel are lifestyle, drama, comedy, tragedy, action and so on. Apart from these, documentaries and short films also have a major market in the country. Israel cinema has been critically acclaimed worldwide among great film societies.  Today, Israel films have a good market overseas and more and more films are being nominated in the global film festivals and contests. Due to the advent of the satellite services, the films are also gained a good market in the international arena.

Studios for filming in Israel

Some of the well known studios which have become integral with filming in Israel are Herzliya studios, IDF Spokesperson filming unit, Golan Globes studios, and Carmel film studios and so on. All these film studios are equipped with wonderful production services and uplink services and provide a wonderful platform for cinema and documentaries. Most of these studios are located in the city of Jerusalem and some other major cities in the country.

Some of the well known pioneers of filming in Israel include:

• Avraham Hefner
• Ze'ev Revach
• Joseph Cedar
• Ari Folman
• Boaz Davidson
• Eytan Fox
• Amos Gitai
• Ephraim Kishon
• Avi Mograbi
• Eran Korilin
• Eran Riklis
• Amos Kollek
• Renen Schorr

Film festivals in Israel

To encourage cinema and filming in Israel to make it a stage for arts and entertainment a number of film festivals and award ceremonies are organized in the country. All these festivals showcase a wide range of local, national as well as international cinema. Hundreds of film enthusiast and art lovers take part in these festivals. Some of the well known festivals are Jerusalem Film Festival and Haifa International Film Festival.

About the Author

for an english essay: is the Merchant of Venice a comedy or tragedy or both? & why?

I have an essay to do for tomorrow for my exam and the question is if the Merchant of Venice is a comedy or tragedy, and i think we can choose both, and 3 examples

HERE IS THE ANSWER FOR YOU

Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice is neither comedy, romance, nor tragedy, and consequently defies easy classification. Although it dates to between 1595 and 1600 and thus belongs to that period of enormous productivity during which time Shakespeare composed, in addition, to this play, six romantic comedies, three histories, and two tragedies, The Merchant of Venice is more properly a “problem play,” one that raises far more questions than it answers. With its intricate triple plot—the Shylock-Antonio bond, the Portia-Bassanio romance, and the ring trick—this play is an already complicated story which turns on our understanding of the relationships of mercy to justice and love to honesty.

Thus, at the outset of this play, we are introduced to the melancholic Antonio, who “hold[s] the world but as the world, . . . / A stage where every man must play a part, / And [his] a sad one,” to Gratiano, who “speaks an infinite deal of nothing,” and to Bassanio, who has “much disabled [his] estate” by running up extraordinary debt. Into this world steps Shylock who hates Antonio “for he is Christian” and resents that he “lends out money gratis and brings down / the rate of usance here with us in Venice.” Here then we have the material for one plot: Bassanio needs money; Antonio has tied all his money up in his ventures at sea, and Shylock has money to lend.

Up to this point, the plot seems straightforward enough. But it is not, and what complicates the plot is simply the moral bankruptcy of the citizenry of Venice. Bassanio thinks little of the consequences of his indebtedness; in fact, he intends to borrow more money in order to pay back what he owes. Antonio thinks little of doing business—borrowing money—from his avowed enemy and even less of the moral consequences of his providing Shylock with business. After all, Shylock is in clear violation of the letter of the law by loaning money with advantage, and Antonio is in clear violation of the spirit of the law by providing this “sinner” with the opportunity to “sin” by borrowing money from him. Thus the play raises the old questions of the nature of sin and the relationship of the tempted to the tempter.

MORALLY SMUG. Furthermore, the apparently “holy” Antonio is so morally smug that he cannot fathom the possibility of nature conspiring against him by preventing the return of his three ships. So, while Antonio fancies himself the universal exception to the ordinary rules which govern man in the world, Shylock sees an opportunity to revenge himself on those complacent Christians in Venice who have, by their own definition, made all Jews unworthy “sinners.” Bassanio, in the meantime, is so self-absorbed that he allows his friend Antonio to enter into a potentially deadly bond with Shylock in order that Bassanio might woo the wealthy Portia and end both his unrequited romantic longings and his long-standing indebtedness.

In apparent direct contrast to the corrupt world of Venice is the world of Belmont, which on the surface seems pure and elegant. But even here, lurking beneath the hope of moral consistency, is a world of potential chaos. We are told, when we first meet Portia, that she “can easier teach twenty what were good to be done, than be one of the twenty to follow [her] own teaching.” Further, it is she who gives shelter to Jessica, Shylock’s thieving and dishonest daughter, and her lover Lorenzo. If we do not see the world of Belmont as a world of potential tragedy, at least one person does—Portia’s father, who, though dead at the outset of the play, has conspired to control his daughter’s choice in marriage even from the grave. Clearly, Portia’s father understands the lack of congruence in this world between appearance and reality, between words and deeds, between thought and performance. And thus we have the material for a second plot.

But Portia and Bassanio do genuinely love one another, and so she manages to guide her suitors in their choices of the caskets. Bassanio, while clearly a flawed individual who is willing to risk the life of a friend for the love of Portia, seems to understand the nature of real romantic love. He chooses the casket bearing the inscription to “give and hazard all” because he seems to understand that the only love that can be guaranteed is that in which the lovers are prepared to do just that—to give and hazard all. Of course, it may be argued that Bassanio isn’t “hazarding” much, at least financially, as his presence in Belmont is the direct result of Antonio’s generosity. But he is, nevertheless, willing to “give and hazard all” in more than merely monetary ways. So while Bassanio may succeed in alienating us in the first act, he redeems himself, at least in part, with us and with Portia when he demonstrates that he understands the nature of lasting love. (This season’s Utah Shakespearean Festival production of The Merchant of Venice, directed by Eli Simon, offers a different, and interesting, interpretation of Bassanio. —Editor)

LACKS MORAL SOPHISTICATION. Still, the worlds of Venice and Belmont are doomed to collide, and they do this through both Shylock and Portia. When Antonio’s ships do not return and he is incapable of paying the debt he owes to Shylock, the Jew demands justice—a pound of Antonio’s flesh. As in nearly all of Shakespeare’s romantic comedies and romances, it is the heroine—here Portia—who is intellectually sophisticated enough to solve the problem, a problem which is typically a male invention and which the heroine must be in male guise to solve. But, unlike Shakespeare’s other romantic heroines, Portia lacks moral sophistication. When, in the guise of a man, she cautions Shylock to show mercy, she reminds both him and us that “earthly power doth then show likest God’s / When mercy seasons justice.” And yet, having caught Shylock in a bind—he is due his pound of flesh, but not one drop of blood—she proceeds in her humiliation and destruction of Shylock, seasoning none of hers or Christian Venice’s justice with mercy. Apparently, for the citizens of Venice and Belmont, that mercy which “is an / attribute to God himself” is the just due only of those who are like them in appearance, behavior, beliefs, and values.

But, of course, Shylock is like them, and like us. He asks: “Hath not a Jew eyes? hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions? fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer, as a Christian is? If you prick us, do we not bleed?” (3.1.62+)

And our answer must be “yes.” For we see Shylock suffer—at the hands of his daughter who betrays him by stealing the only thing of sentimental value to Shylock and by eloping with a Christian and turning her back on all that her father has valued; at the hands of Antonio, who is so completely able to separate his public and private selves that he will do business with Shylock but will not respect him; at the hands of Portia and the court of Venice, which will commend mercy to Shylock as a way of handling Antonio but which will show him none themselves; and at the hands of a system of Christian justice which teaches us on the one hand to love our enemy and on the other to strip him of his faith.

Furthermore, for all her intellectual sophistication, Portia lacks a certain softness of nature where love is concerned. While it may be amusing to her to trick Bassanio and Gratiano into parting with their wedding rings, it is certainly not amusing to the gentlemen. Here we have the material for the third plot. For even if only for a brief time, Portia and Nerissa have mercilessly trapped their husbands in a lie and made the men think that they might have been cuckolded. Thus, The Merchant of Venice ends in a final collision of the worlds of Venice and Belmont. For all that we may have hoped otherwise, we must conclude that Venice and Belmont have at least one thing in common: things are not as they seem. Once again, Shakespeare has reminded us of the perpetual incongruence, where people are concerned, between appearance and reality and of our capacity to be better at knowing what is good to do than we are at doing it

Ex-Patersonian scripts the Oscar show
With any luck, somebody who wins an Oscar tonight will do or say something remarkably silly or stupid, maybe even shocking, to enliven the festivities. And Bruce Vilanch will jump right on it.

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