Films Coming to America Produced in 1988 and the Saturday Night Fever Produced in 1977 - Essay Example

Comparative analysis Introduction Literature just as any other art is a cultural tool used to represent the society. Different writers and other artists interpret the society differently in their works thereby giving prominence to the aspects of the society that best represent their interests and the themes in their works. Fortunately, literary works are often open to relative interpretation. This implies that the different literary aspects of the works of art such as music, films, books and poems mean different things to different people and an audience is therefore not bound to the reasons and explanations of either the writer or any other analysis of such works. Different audiences interpret different arts differently provided they can draw a connection between their hypothesis and the actual works of art. Among the most conspicuously addressed themes in any work of art is normally the psycogeography. The theme includes the geographical representation of the setting drawing great prominence on the visible geographical aspects of the setting of the work of art. Events happen in places, to give an effective understanding of the places, writers must always provide an effective description of the places in which they choose to set their works. The geographical factors of a place help the audience conceptualize the possibilities that the writer later claims in his or her works. Additionally, the factors help create a sense of recognition among some audiences with knowledge of the places while it heightens the imagination of those unaware of the places an important feature that helps develop suspense thereby draws either readership or viewership to the different works of literature. The films Coming to America produced in 1988 and the Saturday Night Fever produced in 1977 are two theatrical masterpieces that employ the use of different literary stylistic devices to ensure success; the films use such elements of literature to depict several similar themes. However, owing the different story lines, the films depict their respective themes differently thereby portraying the both the difference in their film genres and their audience specifications. Set in different times, the films address different societal issues but in the same setting. The two films are set in different parts of the New York City. While Coming to America bases its storyline on the life in the expansive Queens region, Saturday Night Fever is set in Brooklyn. His two films address the different themes differently, key among the themes, which are in both films are psychogeography, living cities, and urban landscapes. Owing to the different messages in the films, the writers address the themes differently thereby achieving relative successes in developing their work. Coming to America begins in an imaginary setting, a Kingdom in an underdeveloped African country. The setting in the Kingdom is expansive with flawless natural beauty. The gardens are rife with vegetation creating a clean and ever fresh environment in which wild animals interact freely with humans and other domestic animals. The young prince Akeem has lived in the kingdom all his life and is now of age and ready to marry. His father, the king, presents him with virgins from which he is to pick a bride. He however refuses and decides to find a wife for himself. The writer fuses the desires of the young Akeem with the American society so seamlessly by claiming that the young prince later decides to come to America to find himself a wife. He settles in the sprawling Queens Township from where the contrast in the two settings depicts itself naturally. The African Kingdom is underdeveloped and the population of the people is relative thereby making it conducive for habitation. The obvious lack of infrastructure in the region portray a technological gap that the prince fills up once in America. Life in the African Kingdom is simple and people eat fresh vegetables and fruits readily available in the evergreen gardens. The palace is more opulent and the prince therefore lives a less challenging life in which everything is preplanned through the aid of his father the king. The writer uses this setting to help create the contrast between the clean less populated African kingdoms to the sprawling Queens. Once in Queens, life changes immediately. The clean and vegetated landscapes turn into grey mushy buildings dotted with litters and scantily dressed people most of whom are homeless and therefore spend the night out in the cold. The homeless immediately steals all the prince’s belongings and do not shy from wearing his clothes the same day and in his presence. The author therefore purposely creates the imaginary kingdom to make the difference in the landscape and the planning of the two regions more conspicuous. He achieves this since the deplorable condition in which the poor people of Queens live becomes evident quiet naturally. The Prince settles in a hotel in the Township from where he continues to amaze the residence and uses the small hotel room as his apartment. He thereafter begins his search for a spouse and traverses the different regions in Queens and the larger New York region. Through his endeavors, the author provides a detailed explanation of New York as a living city. The people are industrious and work tirelessly to make a living. However, the class difference is also evident as the poor live in deplorable conditions while the wealthy capitalists live in opulence and satisfaction. The two categories of people live in different neighborhoods, the poor live in downtown Queens where they go without food and spend the night out in the cold. The structures in such places are deplorable and not worth habitation. The government is relaxed and does not even care to provide security to such places. The rich on the other hand live in the central business districts and other affluent neighborhoods within the same city. Their neighborhoods are developed and they have unregulated access to some of the basic amenities such as water and electricity. The Saturday Night Fever is yet another great film acted from a novel with the same name. The film addresses a number of social factors key among which is the class difference and similar economic disparities. The film is set in the early years of the American society when racial segregation is rife (Andrew 22). The lead character, Tony is a nineteen-year-old boy living with his parents who are Spanish immigrants in Brooklyn, New York. They could not secure a job in the segregated society and therefore fail to send the young boy into any formal education system. The boy therefore solicits for a day job as a storekeeper in a large hardware shop. The setting immediately comes out as a developed community in which the living condition of the rich is admirable. The evident class difference in the society further depicts the plight of the poor, the author creates the poor state of the Brooklyn Township. The houses are appalling and the lack in the society denies the region much infrastructural development. The region is therefore dirty with high rates of insecurity owing to the overpopulation. The youth in the region forms smaller rival groups, which terrorize one another thereby disturbing the peace in the region. The conspicuous lack of police or any other law enforcing state apparatus results in very insecure poor parts of the township. Despite the lack, the urban setting is evident in the design of the residential apartments and the lifestyles of the people in the region. The author further uses the lead character and his group of five friends to depict the nightlife of the Brooklyn Township. The five friends have a passion for music and often spend the night out in clubs dancing and taking part in dance related competition. The nightlife of the region comes live as people throng the discos and such social places. The developed social clubs and the different music genres in the film depict the active urban life theme besides the landscape of the setting. Set in different times and in different regions in the same city, the two films address the same themes differently thereby each succeeding in portraying the specific aspects of the social and economic life of the characters. The films represent the actual lives of people in these regions during the early years of the country’s growth to economic prosperity. Work cited Andrew, Mangravite. American Comedy. New York: Xlibris Corporation, 2010. Print. Read More