See the prompt Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

See the prompt - Essay Example ..† Machiavelli, p. 55. This quotation is from the book The Prince by Machiavelli 4. â€Å"Our love of what is beautiful does not lead to extravagance; our love of the things of the mind does not make us soft. We regard wealth as something to be properly used, rather than as something to boast about.† Pericles, p. 147 5. â€Å"The bourgeoisie, wherever it has got the upper hand, has put an end to all feudal, patriarchal, idyllic relations. It has pitilessly torn asunder the motley feudal ties that bound man to his natural superiors, and has left no other bond between man and man than naked self-interest, than callous cash payment† Marx, p. 738. This quote is from â€Å"Manifesto of the Communist Party, Chapter I â€Å"Bourgeois and Proletarians.† 1. When one lives the life away from the public eye, it is known as private life. Socrates reasons out his choice for living a private life that enabled him practice philosophy. He says that he has the divine umbr ella that protects and guides him for dos and don’ts in life. As for taking active part in life, he asserts that he has no divine directions. Socrates was too sincere, too honest as such he was unfit to be in public office and he would not be able to survive in the dishonesty prevailing over there. A public life is one that concerns and associates with the state. This area is engulfed with secular interests. According to the convictions of Socrates, if he were to take active interest in politics, in all probability it would not help him nor would it help the society. Personally his actions and responses are identical whether they concern the private or public life. One can control and discipline one’s private life, but as for public lifean individual is controlled by extraneous considerations and will have to make compromise with truth. 2. According to John Stuart Mill, self-will is one of the great misdemeanors of man. The barometer of goodness of humanity consists in obedience. A man has no choice but to act and perform. That which the human being does not consider as duty is a sin. Human nature is fundamentally corrupt as such redemption is only possible by killing human nature from within. With this perspective of life, demolishing any other human faculties, capabilities and vulnerabilities cannot be considered as evil. †¦ Man needs no capacity, but that of surrendering himself to the will of God, meaning the capacity to surrender itself is a great quality and liberty is kindergarten stuff as compared to the capacity to surrender. This is the Calvinistic theory. For man is the controller of all types of liberties. For an individual who knows the infinite power of surrender, individual liberty is of no consequence to him. Individual liberty is the demand by the imperfect individual. Total surrender is the domain of the perfect individual. 3. This book contains the guidelines for the dictators and tyrants to rule their subjects. Most of th e important rulers of Europe have benefited from the advice contained in the book and they helped to shape the governing policies. It has been hailed as the supreme guide of governance. The dictums prescribed by Machiavelli must have appealed to the baser instincts of such undemocratic rulers. He believed that the origin and substance of power was through wicked actions. He carefully distinguishes between getting and retaining power, which is done by wicked actions, but it is not possible to

Rhetorical Analysis ESSAY Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Rhetorical Analysis - Essay Example Generally, he opts for a circular route, and reaches home with his quest fulfilled. During the process of conquest, he faces different types of dangerous characters, precarious circumstances and challenges death often, to finally emerge victorious. Suspense and situations that create anxiety are part of the journey plot. Even with the full knowledge of the culmination of the plot that the protagonist will emerge victorious, the reader enjoys his encounters with different atmospheres and how he challenges the unfamiliar characters who often threaten with dire consequences. Escaping death becomes the kindergarten stuff to the protagonist. The divide in gender in Norse society to which â€Å"The Hobbit† by J. R. R. Tolkien related was not based so much on sex as it was on power. The ability to shift between genders was part of the magic. Seià °r was measured to be ‘women’s magic’, and the exercise was related with taking the role of the penetrated partner in sex – something considered ‘unmanly’ by the Norse. Even with the seemingly authentic historical background created by the authors, the various features of the fantasy plot depend entirely on author’s intentions and final objectives and his attitudes towards gender in the society. As such the authors return to history to choose a specific time period, figures and events and the mainstay of fantasy is in the creation of larger than life heroes capable of extraordinary feats and the roles of the female gender were less important, but crucial to the turning points in the story. In the examination of historical background of a literary creation of fantasy, magic woven with female gender escapades have an important role to play. Magic acts as the springboard for grand ideas to show their intrinsic strength and social implications. To achieve the purpose in view, the authors draw from their fertile world of imagination; make intelligent use of male and female characters, besides taking cues from

Principles and Practice of Psychosocial Rehabilitation (mental Essay

Principles and Practice of Psychosocial Rehabilitation (mental nursing) - Essay Example It is reported that the rehabilitation unit helped Mr. Brayan to develop living skills such as cognition, using laundry, cooking food etc. Psychosocial Rehabilitation is the process in which the psychiatric patients are trained systematically to bring back them to the active participation in the society. â€Å"Psychiatric rehabilitation aims to improve the functioning and quality of life of individuals with psychiatricdisabilities due to serious mental illnesses†. (Rudnick 2003, p.1). â€Å"The strategies adopted for the management of schizophrenia may differ from one country to other country and may influence motivational readiness for change. For this purpose, rehabilitation approaches like vocational training, employment guidance, cognitive behavioural therapy, and psychosocial methods were included. In addition, issues surrounding gender differences, scarcity of resources, conventional medicine, and importance on family role were also need to be considered for the rehabilitation of patients.† (Review of Literature, p. 2.). The recovery is the objective of the psychosocial rehabilitation. In this case study the Psychosocial Rehabilitation of a patient suffering from Schizophrenia in Shellharbour Hospital Mental Health Rehabilitation Unit is done. The aim of the rehabilitation is to enhance the quality of life of the patient named Brayne, who is a 45 years old male with chronic Paranoid Schizophrenia. Brayne lives alone. His functioning at home was very poor. He was not able to manage his finance and his condition make him vulnerable to the extend of exploitation by other. These conditions often leave him without sufficient money towards the end of each fortnight for basic necessities such as food and transport. He came to rehabilitation in need of help in Shellharbour Hospital to learn many skills like how to use kitchen for cooking, how to use the laundry etc. The case study further explains about the rehabilitation program that is carried out in the Mental

Sheltering the Deep Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Sheltering the Deep - Assignment Example Jessen emphasizes the need to protect depleting marine ecosystems from pollution and other human interventions. She underscores the need to find new ways to protect these marine environments, and bats for the concept of marine protected areas, that have been successful in other parts of the world. Although she concedes that marine protected areas are not the solution to all the problems; she encourages the reader to take a fresh look at the various species that exist in an ecosystem, and consider the symbiotic relationship they share. Her efforts are directed towards awakening the reader to the rich cultural heritage of the region that preserves early forms of life on earth as well as some unique plant life, and the need to protect it before it is too late. The author’s diction conveys her love of the treasures in the deep. Her choice of words like â€Å"adorn the underwater cliffs† (185) to describe the underwater plants and animals conveys the fact that she considers these jewels of the sea. Jessen conjures up striking word pictures of the beauty of nature’s bounty. Her use of metaphors like â€Å"perched off the southern tip of Vancouver Island† (185) conjures up a picture of a bird, ready to fly away at the merest hint of danger. Jessen’s extensive use of alliteration to describe nature’s beauty gives an almost poetic quality to the piece. When the author describes â€Å"other marine mammals† that â€Å"frequent the waters foraging† (185); or her portrayal of â€Å"soaring walls and spectacular scenery† (187) of the fiords of Baffin, enhances the aesthetic appeal of the essay. Her use of euphony as in â€Å"speckled trout spawn in the shallow bays†, (186) gives a harmonious mellowness to the piece that is both pleasing to the ear as well as conveying the harmonious nature of an ecosystem. Jessen’s use of denotation when she describes the fate of ancient mariners pitted against the â€Å"treacherous waters and well known fury of Lake

Public Finance Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Public Finance - Assignment Example The point E shows the equilibrium point where P=Q. Subsequently, this is the point where the Marginal Revenue is equal to the Marginal Cost. This means that the value of the wine produced is virtually equal to the wine not produced hence an efficient output, Solow (1998). In the event where the wine industry is consolidated into a large monopoly firm, the unit price of wine will rise to $ 7 per bottle with 75000 bottles produced. Monopolists are price makers since they do not face any competition. Therefore, the monopoly is at will to increase the prices to $7, a $2 increase. With this effect, their demand curve is price inelastic. Therefore, monopolists try to maximize profits by setting output at the point where MR=MC, Telser (1987). Point X shows the price that is adjusted upwards by the monopoly. In this case, it is $ 7. Subsequently, point E represents the equilibrium where MR=MC with 75000 units produced. In this case, therefore, the output is not efficient since the price is greater than the Marginal Cost. This means that the utility obtained from wine consumption is greater than the utility forwent, Nikaidō (1975). Additionally, the shaded area in the graph represents the loss in the net benefits due to a subsequent reduction in production and utility, Triffin

Later tell u Lab Report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Later tell u - Lab Report Example l perspective, television programme makers desire to cater to more audiences of different age groups to increase their popularity that in turn increases competitive challenges within the sector (Higher Education Statistics Agency Limited, 2014). To comprehend this phenomenon from a critical perspective, the entire study has been based on the television programme rating and its popularity among different age groups. Contextually, to identify the popularity of television channels among different age groups of the UK, BBC1 channel has been selected as the media outlet. Both industrial as well as general perspectives have been considered when evaluating BBC’s performance within the UK market in the recent phenomenon. From the varied channels of the UK, BBC 1 is one of the renowned television channels. In the first phase of its development, BBC was known for its news broadcast. Presently, BBC is an established network, which has multiple channels for different age groups. Moreover, BBC always provides quality news to its viewers. Since, 1997 BBC has appeared in news broadcast field and until now, has created milestones for its rival channels. BBC is the first news broadcaster, which presents news about the overall the world. The digitalized platform has enriched BBC’s journey, enhancing and diversifying its contents to a substantial extent. In the 2013, BBC also announced its High Definition (HD) simulcast, which has helped to enhanced its viewer ship more than previous times (Media Tel, 2014). In the present scenario, the popularity of television channels is judged under different scales. Under Television Rating Points (TRP), television association has measured satellite channel reach. In this regard, to identify the actual rate of popularity of BBC 1 among different age groups, a survey report has been used to avail proper results. Media Tel is the source from where all data regarding BBC has been gathered. Based on the September 2014 data of MediaTel, BBC

The Romantic Comedy Genre

The Romantic Comedy Genre If even half of the projects picked up this year actually get the green light, the first decade of the next millennium may be known as the Romantic Comedy Decade. Sales totals for the genre surged ahead of former rivals Action-Adventure and Science Fiction, landing squarely in the coveted fourth spot [below Comedy, Drama and Thriller]. There was a 50 per cent increase in the number of romantic comedy scripts bought by studios in 1998 compared to the previous year. Examples of films in this period are Four weddings and a Funeral (UK; 1994), My Best Friends Wedding (1997), Shakespeare in Love (UK/US, 1998) and There is Something about Mary (1998). Each year from 1981, the trend is towards a much higher volume of production with especially sustained activity from 1997-9 (Krutnik 2002, p10). Romantic Comedy imports from US also increased from mid-1990s. Films such as the international success Notting Hill (1999) and the Australian-French co-production Green Card (1990) encouraged Hollywood involvement in co-productions. Examples are Sliding Doors (UK/US, 1998) and Bridget Jones Diary (France/UK/US, 2001). Most of the US-British partnership ventures, however, are adaptations of prestige literary or dramatic properties targeted at international audiences (Krunik 2002, p132), including Sense and Sensibility (UK/US; 1995) and Emma (UK/US; 1996). What exactly is Romantic Comedy? How is it defined in order to help people to understand what it actually is? Romantic Comedy: a genre, a family of genres (marriages, manners, screwball), a category of production and marketing, a category of analysis. Definition, even delimitation, is difficult or impossible because all Hollywood films (except some war films) have romance and all have comedy. A workable subset romantic comedy might refer to those films in which romance and comedy are the primary components as crime, war, etc (Krunik 2002, p132) As Handerson said, the word romantic comedy not only is a particular type of a story on two lovers but it also circulates as something of a free-floating signifier that can designate a bewildering array of possible combinations of sex and comedy (Krunik 2002, p 133). Billy Mernit, who is a famous author of romantic comedy, assigns the success of romantic comedy which has continued since the 1980s to its ability to mix with other film genres. Hybridity is by no means a new development within Hollywood genre films, and it is certainly no stranger to romantic comedy (Krunik 2002, p133). Examples are Ball of Fire (1941), in which romantic comedy and elements of the gangster films are combined, I Married a Witch (1942) joins romantic comedy and supernatural fantasy and Too Hot to Handle (1938) combines romantic comedy with aviation adventure. Though there are many exceptions that prove the rule (e.g., the thoroughly old-fashioned Pretty Women), contemporary mainstream audiences seem amenable to movies that mix it up. And this is true of your buyers (the studios); a romantic comedy that promises crossover potential is more likely to pique their interest than a straight-up traditional one (Mernit, B) Pretty Women is a film which is female-centred, pure straight romantic comedy appeals to women whereas the cross-genre film has broader audience. What is more, some of new romances have the elements of sporting backgrounds. For instance, Bull Durham (1998), The Cutting Edge (1992), The American President (1995) and Bulworth (1998). In addition, another trend since 1990s has been the extension of the romantic comedy process to gay relationships (Krunik 2002, p 136). Gay scenarios have been combined within comedies aiming at broader audiences, such as The Next Best Thing (2000), The Object of My Affection (1998) and As Good as It Gets and Chasing Amy (1997). Therefore, it can be said that contemporary romantic has been reconstructed for audiences based on age, ethnicity and sexual preference. In romantic comedies, the real subject is the power of love. Love is not merely the catalyst for action in a romantic comedy, it is the shaper of the story arc. Although many romantic comedies seem to initially set up their protagonists eventual mate as their antagonist, in most cases love itself is the antagonist. Wrestling with love can force a character to grow or to resist growth, but either way, loves effect on the central character is what drives the story. Billy Mernit Heterogeneity and hybridity (Spicer 2001, p184) are the prominent features of masculinity in contemporary British cinema. It means that the range of male forms is much broader than ever before. One of the major ways by which identity is able to be reconstructed is through the mass media as this provides an outlet whereby the expression of alternative identities can be communicated. The media therefore becomes a focus whereby different expressions of gender identity can be expressed and debated. In recent years, there have been rapid changes in many ways within the politics, society and culture. There are many significant reasons for these changes. As the result of these changes there were crucial impacts on social movements. Feminism is often said to be one of the most well known social movement. The key elements and developments of both feminism and cultural discourses are closely related to each other. Question arises at this point, such as what it means to be a woman and man, how are feminine and masculine identities constructed and what is the nature of femininity, masculinity? Not only to feminists but people such as intellectuals, politicians, artists and of course ordinary women and men is interested in such struggles within the culture and society. Since, those struggle occurs when people characterises their existence by repeating the same routine within peoples daily lives. This section will examine the key elements on sex and gender to elucidate the cultural meaning within the media. Gender is a way in which social practice is ordered. In gender processes, the everyday conduct of life is organized in relation to a reproductive arena, defined by the bodily structures and processes of human reproduction. This arena includes sexual arousal and intercourse, childbirth and infant care, bodily sex difference and similarity (Connell 1995, p71). For Judith Butler, who is an American philosopher and has contributed to the fields of feminism, queer theory, political philosophy and ethics, the various manifestation of gender in culture are driven by the self-same expressions deemed to be its consequences (Butler, 1990, p25) is accepted as gender is driven by performance, or the very activity of presentation, it is therefore dependent on what and how this is currently expressed by the individual that, ultimately, constitutes the crucial determining factor, and not an all-embracing universal disposition. In this sense, Butler sees gender as a regulatory fiction that is sustained by performative acts. Due to the fact that the choices an individual can potentially make in relation to gender are restricted thanks to ongoing cultural norms and assumptions, a person is therefore presented with a limited choice of possible identities. Individuals are thereby obliged to follow a course that fits the male/female dichotomy through perform ing and conforming to prevailing gender stereotypes. Furthermore, if the gender is socially constructed the relations between sex and gender become more unstable which makes gender independent from sex. As butler puts it in her writing that, gender is free-floating artifice which culturally constructed, indeed perhaps sex was already gender, so that the sex/gender distinction is actually not a distinction at all (Butler, 1990 p7). Butler suggests that it is possible to have a designated female body and not to show traits generally considered feminine, in other words, one may be a masculine female or a feminine male. One way of challenging such assumptions, Butler suggests, is to encourage awareness of these limitations by the creation of alternative gender scenarios that can lead to a more genuine realisation of ones identity. In effect, this provides for greater flexibility and range of options by which a person is able to construct a unique individuality. The fashion world definitely had the great impact on gender identification. It has been the case that distinctions of the gender are made when looking at fashion magazines such as masculine male and feminine female. The stereotypes of the gender role are repeatedly shown in the advertisements, fashion runways. As if it is saying that this how men and women should look like thus it limits our choice. These examples that I am going to give show how some of Butlers ideas have been taken up in a practical manner. Tailored jacket, bow tie and so forth have been socially accepted for mens clothing. However wearing mens clothing item such as oversized tailored jacket or a bow tie become as a fashion trend for womens clothing in recent years. This indicates from my point of view, that there are no such assumptions or rule for the style of gender identity. There are no set of rules for wearing clothes in order to represent certain genders identity. However there are social taboos which limit people to choose their own identity. But by looking images or photographs in magazines gender is not something fixed it is actually transformable as it shifts in style time to time. Thus, it can be explained that it is challenging the male dominance by reducing the assumption of the cultural meaning of the gender and sex to the level of fashion and style. Another example is how the boundary of men and women has been blurred. First example is a skinny male fashion model, what I found interesting in this example is that how assumption of the male body has been changed. Within the fashion industry, where their fashion products should be sold in order to make a profit. Traditional male fashion models in the past showed strong masculine male body to represent their products. Furthermore, second example is a photo shot of male fashion model by PRADAs spring/fall collection. As I explained of skinny male models above, PRADA also chooses skinny male model. But this time the model is wearing a trousers and a skirt at the same time. This also can be explained as it is breaking the traditional gender stereotype. The formula which says that I dont wear a skirt therefore I am male I am male therefore I dont wear a skirt fails in this image. Again it is just the style and fashion which blurs the boundary of fixed gender and sex .These examples above show how some of Butlers ideas have been taken up in a practical rather than passive way to meaningfully challenge how the public view gender to the extent that the younger generation are now coming to accept a more ambivalent attitude towards sex and gender. Moreover, androgynous models seem to becoming more common in the media a further sign that boundaries are becoming permeable. All societies have cultural accounts of gender, but not all have the concept of masculinity. In its modern usage the term assumes that ones behaviour results from the type of person one is. That is to say, an unmasculine person would behave differently: being peaceable rather than violent, conciliatory rather than dominating, hardly able to kick a football, uninterested in sexual conquest, and so forth (Connell 1995, p67). Perhaps we are aware of masculinity than ever before as it has become one of the interests that have been analysed since mid 1980s. Definitions of masculinity have mostly have taken our cultural standpoint for granted, but have followed different strategies to characterise the type of person who is masculine (Connell 1996, p68). Essentialist focuses on the core of masculine and their lives whereas positivist finds out what men actually are. Normative definition is a standard and explains that masculinity is that men should be. Semiotic definition, however, is that masculinity is non-femininity so that the level of personality is limited. Rather than attempting to define masculinity as an object (a natural character type, a behavioural average, a norm), we need to focus on the processes and relationships through which men and women conduct gendered lives. Masculinity, to the extent the term can be briefly defined at all, is simultaneously a place in gender relations, the practices through which men and women engage that place in gender, and the effects of these practices in bodily experience, personality and culture'(Connell 1996, p71). A concern of much early masculinity scholarship was to highlight the range and diversity of male identities that exist both within society as a whole and in specific settings (Crew 2003, p27). It means that there is class difference between men and the power that they have masculinities in working-class and middle-class to different experiences of capitalist working practice (Tolson 1977; Willis 1977). Tolson described masculinity in working-class as characterised by collective recognition and solidarity, physical toughness and presence, bravado, confrontation, anti-authority sentiment, and the avoidance of feelings (Crew 2003, p27). By contrary, masculinity of middle-class was described as moral dignity, emotional restraint, respectability and individualised notions of self-discipline, ambition and competitiveness (Crew 2003, p27). The interweaving of masculinity and class was most clearly illustrated in Paul Willis (1977) ethnography of a group of working-class lads. Most striking was how the lads associated different types of work with different genders such that they valorised their own identities and the futures that awaited them explicitly masculine terms (Crew 2003, p27). For example, it is both shop floor workers and managers in middle-class who construct a masculine hierarchy in which physical labour is at the summit (Roper 1994: 106). Managers find it hard to show their masculine position and masculinity in their work. It was suggested by Collison and Hearn (1996) that similarly, whilst shop floor workers reject the idea of promotion because it would compromise their masculine self-images (Crew 2003, p27), men working in office also are endangered by what they think of their work as unmasculine. What is more, it is important to see the difference here between what men want to be and what they really are. masculine identities are lived out in the flesh but fashioned in the imagination, with cultural representations providing the repertoire of cultural forms upon which fantasies are cast (Dawson 1991: 118). Masculine heterosexuality somewhat in line with the laddish personalities they were ascribed in the press (Crewe 2003, p 128). They are certainly not macho, overbearing or aggressive: nor did they exhibit the emotionally inhibited toughness of Ropers (1994) organisational men (Crew 2003, p 128). There are two social practices that reinforce oppressive, discriminatory forms of heterosexuality are homophobia and the sexual objectification of women (Pease 2000, p76). The term homophobia is created by The Gay Liberation Movement to identify the fear of homosexuality. According to Kirk and Madsen (1989:26-7), hetero sexual men dislike gays because they believe that homosexuality is caused by sinfulness, mental illness or recruitment (Pease 2000, p 76). It means that homosexuality is a distortion: gay men are evil and corrupted. Most heterosexuals have this misidentification and misconception as they have a negative image of the gay world. Sedgwick (1985:1) used the term homosocial to describe the non-sexual social bonds between men and to analyse how these social bonds keep men in power (Pease 2000, p77). The inability to recognise any homosexual impulses in oneself causes men to project all homosexuality desires outward on to gay men (Kupers, 1993:49) (Pease 2000, p77). Therefore, homophobia is seen as caused by hidden homosexuality. Many men are not aware of flaws or suspects of their heterosexuality. So if heterosexual men regard themselves as normal, homosexual men become abnormal. Heterosexual men try to avoid doing anything that other men might interpret as effeminate or unmanly. Men fear that any intimacy between men may sully their sexual identity (Pease 2000, p 78). Most heterosexual men are attracted by womens bodies and this objectification is the process by which men sees the woman as a thing or an object and fixation to the process of focusing on parts of the female body (Buchbinder, 1987:65-6) (Pease 2000, p84). Heterosexual men are aware of sexism and they often feel torn between their sexual desire and their awareness that their expressed fantasies about women can be experienced as oppressive by women (Horowitz and Kaufman, 1987:81) (Pease 2000, p84). Objectification is one of the key processes in mens sexual relationships with women, in which often a part of the women is seen to represent the whole (Kaufman, 1993: 124) (Pease 2000, p84). Heterosexual men have not done any reflective writings about their sexual desires: Rich (1983:66) has also challenged men to say why they like pornography, whilst gay men have challenged heterosexual men to be up front about their sexuality (Stoltenberg, 1991: 8) (Pease 2000, p85). In part these changes reflect the present state of British film-making which has become decentred and eclectic, lacking studio infrastructure or dominant producers of the earlier period (Spicer 2001, p184). Since 1970s, British film production has recovered and a new generation of film producers has become known that grips a more commercial cinema. The arrival of the multiplexes encouraged revival in cinema-going (Spicer 2001, p184) in all UK. Most of cinema-goers are young people, but ABC1 is the major audience who frequently do cinema-going. The balance between men and women is equal. However, cinema-going will never return to its former importance as a leisure pursuit, but film viewing continues to be a significant part of popular culture with the majority of films watched on television or on video (Spicer 2001, p185). The use of DVD and internet help to increase consumption of film viewing and it eventually makes cinema remain a popular and influential medium, among all classes and age groups and representation of masculinity (Spicer 2001, p185). It has developed from successful British films put in to a national image culture. This section will look at various complex types of masculinity in contemporary British Cinema and give examples for each type. James Bond has been the most enduring post-war British film hero in twenty films spanning thirty-eight years (Spicer 2001, p185). Films that represent Bonds heroic masculinity are A View to a Kill (1987) where Roger Moore re-created Bond as an old-style debonair hero, more polished and sophisticated (Spicer 2001, p185) and The World is Not Enough (1999). He continues to be a hero who keeps the masculinity of traditional male adventurer. There is a new man concept which emerged within commercial culture, in particular, within retailing, advertising, and the early formation of the UK mens magazine market (Crew 2003, p27) and it was in many ways driven by the discovery of a new market (Seidler 1997, p8). The formation of new man imagery has developments in and associated with menswear play an important role. Together with the reshaping of the mens toiletries and grooming products markets, development in menswear markets set some of the big terms for the emergence of the new man imagery (Nixon 1996, p31). The new man concept is the creation of imagery that represented men in ways that were more narcissistic, self-conscious, emotionally expressive, domesticated and feminine than conventional iconography of patriarchal authority, action and machismo (Brannon 1976; Goffman 1979; Wenick 1987) (Crew 2003, p 31). Nixon said the new man imagery was most important in that it represented a loosening of the binary opposition between gay and straight-identified men and extended the space available within the representational regimes of popular consumption for an ambivalent masculine identity (Nixon 1996: 202) (Crew 2003, p 31). The New Man was an alternative image to the macho tough guy, embracing female roles and qualities, a vulnerable nurturer in touch with his emotions, but also rather narcissistic (Spicer 2001, p 187). Hugh Grant in two romantic comedy films embodied the New Man: Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994) and Notting Hill (1999). Both films show the gentle, low-rent Man About Town, lovably awkward, tongue-tied, endlessly self-deprecating and sexually naà ¯ve (Spicer 2001, p 187). The independence and the power of women in films like Four Weddings and Notting Hill made Grant show more feminine sides. This is manifested in his insecurity and compliance, his lack of ambition and his desire for stability and heterosexual union, thereby fulfilling his supportive New Man credentials (Spicer 2001, p187). The type of the damaged man appears so frequently in recent British cinema and it has become the most representative image (Spicer 2001, p195). Shallow Grave (1994), Jude (1996) and Heart( 1998) are the performances of Christopher Eccleston who showed the figure of the damaged man with his gaunt features and suffering eyes (Spicer 2001, p 195). Mike Leighs Naked (1993) shows that the underclass male is often irreparably damaged by social disintegration and the film deepened this paradigm into an existentialist nightmare (Spicer 2001, p196). Mark Renton in Trainspotting is perhaps the most representative contemporary male: young, alienated, but also a chameleon, neither hero, villain, conformist or rebel. He is the product of a culture that is decentred and heterogeneous, no longer recognising clear national, ethical or sexual boundaries, where forms of masculinity are becoming increasingly hybrid and audiences delight in the knowingness and self-referentiality of popular culture (Spicer 2001, p 204). Contemporary British cinema has capability to produce positive forms. In Affairs to Remember, Bruce Babington and Peter Evans define romantic comedy as a genre that centres on the couple, celebrating the passionate but hopefully companionate love that brings them together, and typically ending at the moment of passage into the responsibilities of marriage (Babington and Evans 1989:234). (Spicer 2004, p78). In Britain, successful romantic comedy films since the revival are If Only (Maris Ripoll, 1998), Fanny Elvis (Kay Mellor, 1998), Sliding Doors (Peter Howitt, 1997) and Hugh Grant films. Hugh Grant is arguably the most successful current British star, famous throughout the world, able to sell a film on the strength of his name alone (Spicer 2004, p77). The revival of British romantic comedy is linked with popularity that Grant has. Grants films such as Notting Hill (Roger Michell, 1999), Four Weddings and a Funeral (Mike Newell, 1994), Bridget Jones Diary (Sharon McGuire, 2001) and About a Boy (Chris and Paul Weitz, 2002) share a central characteristic: the reluctance to commit, and yet the need to find love meaningful and central to well-being and happiness (Spicer 2004, p77). In Bridget Jones Diary, Grant was No More Mr Nice Guy (Spicer 2004, p83), and his bare-chested in tight leather trousers was photographed in womens magazines to show his new and more muscular body. Hugh Grant plays Renee Zellweggers boss at the publishing company, Daniel Cleaver, sophisticated, sexy professional with long, flowing dark locks and rakish hair (Spicer 2004, p 83). Cleaver is another familiar archetype, the Byronic anti-hero. The essence of the type is its fascinating eroticism (Spicer 2004, p83). The scene where he is undressing Bridget and he says, Silly little boots, silly little dress and these fuck me absolutely enormous pants. Dont apologise, I like them. Hello Mummy! Thats all him. Id have written What the fuck are those knickers? or something similar. He fooled around a lot on Bridget because it was in line with his own style of naughtiness. (Curtis in Raphael 2002s:13) (Spicer 2004, p 83). Some judged that he, like many Byronic males, was more attractive than tedious virtue (Spicer, p84), Daniel is has more charisma than dull Darcy.