The Women

To declare that an old-fashioned Hollywood movie has historical or cultural importance or resonance worthy of serious rhetorical critique seems a hazardous exercise because of the increasingly blurred distinction between high art and pop culture, between bad art and art, between engaging entertainment worthy the name and what has been called "a tyranny of the least common denominator" (Lewis, 2004). On the other hand, in popular imagination Hollywood has always been associated with American popular culture, a programmatic supplier of mass-appeal product to masses around the world, and popular culture itself has long been subject to sociological and rhetorical examination. Further, the axiological components of a well-produced motion picture, whether a product of the Hollywood vulgarity machine or New Wave intellectual poseurism, become subject to scrutiny by th

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im as previously, she determines to Win Him Back and proceeds to dish back what Crystal formerly dished out (complete with a jungle-red manicure). That determination may be a welcome departure from weeping, and it involves Stephen's having learned a life lesson in monogamy. The effect is happy ending perfectly consistent with Hollywood praxis, since after all she never stopped loving him, and true love triumphs after all. Mary has been granted a new lease on what may seem like the same principle, and in the process reconciled home and family. But Mary's principle has been transformed. According to Burke, the act can be seen as an actuality, but it can also be seen as knowledge or understanding. Citing the action of a tragic hero, he says that it "attains its rest and summation in his understanding . . . inasmuch as the knowledge derived from the act is a knowledge of the act's context, or motivational ground" (1945, p. 41). Mary's transformed understanding, then, constitutes completion of her act within the meaning of Burke's formulation. But what is the content of that rest? From one point of view, Mary has compromised her righteousness in order to reclaim status, but that is easily enough answered by the admonition to grow up
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 6691
Approximate Pages = 27 (250 words per page)

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