Movies that go beyond.

Your essay should provide an introduction to your topic, including a brief summary of what you will say about it, and a conclusion.

Your essay should be divided into paragraphs and display a clear organizational structure.

Use technical terms whenever appropriate, explain them, and illustrate them with examples from the texts (movies, TV episodes, articles, etc.).

Make sure to address formal features (shot selection, editing, mise-en-scène, etc.) as well as content in your discussion of films and TV episodes.

It is important that you explain and discuss the issues you are writing about.

Keep a critical stance. Explain and critically evaluate the reasons authors give in support of their views and the reasons that lead you to your own position.

Make sure to support your claims by textual and/or audio-visual evidence. Consider whether there is any counter-evidence in the texts (books, articles, films, TV-episodes, etc.) that you are discussing that may contradict the claims that you are making. If there is such counter-evidence, either show why it ultimately does not contradict your analysis and evaluation or make sure to rephrase your analysis and evaluation so that it accommodates all the evidence.

In your essay, you must make use of at least one of the scholarly texts from class (I put the link to the source at the bottom). You must show within your essay how this text relates to your topic. It is not enough to merely list a source as reference at the end of your paper. Movies or television episodes do not qualify as scholarly texts.

For this assignment, it is mandatory that you include a list of references with all the sources (articles, books, movies, etc.) that you are using in your essay.

Your paper should have a cover page that includes your name, course number and section, and the number of the topic you are writing about.

Prompt- Philosophy distinguishes between empirical, moral, and aesthetic judgments as different forms of evaluation. Explain the three different kinds of judgments. Pick ONE of the following films:

– The Matrix, Australia/USA, 1999, Directors: Lana and Lilly Wachowski
– Minority Report, USA, 2002, Director: Steven Spielberg
– Paris Is Burning, USA, 1990, Director: Jennie Livingston
– 2001: A Space Odyssey, USA 1968, Director: Stanley Kubrick

Discuss the film of your choice in its factual, moral, and aesthetic dimensions. In your discussion, make sure to distinguish between aspects that pertain to the film world (diegesis) and aspects that pertain to the relation between film and society/reality at large. For example, in the film world some things may be facts but the film world itself may be entirely fictional; the film world may be entirely fictional but may relate to the world in many ways; the film world may be a recording of actual events but of selective events or events that would not have occurred in the same way had they not been filmed; in the film world, someone may act in a morally objectionable way but the overall message of the film may be commendable from a moral point of view; etc. Based on your discussion, develop a reasoned overall evaluation of the film of your choice.