Word: americanizing
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Perhaps it should be of no surprise that in recent years the most successful cinematic portrayals of American life have come not from native directors but foreigners. Unlike often-jaded American filmmakers, foreign directors have a unique perspective and can be more attuned to more subtle aspects of American culture. Ang Lee has proved himself to be quite an insightful observer of American life, directing both Pushing Hands, a well-told story about a mixed Asian marriage and the cultural struggles it creates, and The Ice Storm, a subtle and powerful film about WASP culture in the '70s. Both films...
...Then where, among the frustrations and disappointments of American life, can one find some kind of happiness? Mendes offers an answer in the character of Ricky (excellently played by Wes Bentley), Burnham's teenage neighbor. A strange outcast, Ricky videotapes everything "because it is beautiful." Beauty, for him, lies in stripping away any layer from a thing until it is totally naked. He uses his video camera to get to the essence of a subject. That is, he struggles to see things as they are, while his parents and neighbors distract themselves with various illusions. Right before his death, Burnham...
...most distinguished faculty members in the astronomy department, having won a MacArthur "Genius grant" in 1990. She holds two honorary degrees and the Newcomb Cleveland Prize from the American Astronomical Society. She was elected to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) in 1992--one of only two females at Harvard...
...ever-earlier creeping of the political season can give candidates the opportunity to present full-fledged conceptions of American problems such as violence and work on selling the public on solutions that won't fit into a soundbite. Having the courage to step forward and truly say something means facing the fallout of critics, but only an immature or rapidly diminishing political system can be content with slogans in the place of ideas. Debates can only bring us closer to a campaign that tackles tough concerns, and candidates offered a debate should prove their seriousness by accepting as soon...
...American politics is impoverished without...