Dark Shadows Review

             

               In May 2012, Dark Shadows a film by Tim Burton hit theaters  With its star-studded cast of Johnny Depp (Barnabas Collins), Michelle Pfeiffer (Elizabeth Collins), Eva Green (Angelique), and Helena Bonham carter (Dr. Julia Hoffman), the movie takes a comedic turn after a dark depressing opening.

                The film starts in the 1700’s where young Barnabas Collins and his family move to the Americas and build a fishing empire. It focuses on his hidden affairs with his servant Angelique where after breaking her heart she vows revenge killing his family and his true love Josette, then turns him into a vampire. He is inevitably locked in a box by the townspeople and buried for two centuries where he his release to find everything he knew in ruins.

                Through out the movie the focus is on how without family, you have nothing. With the help of Barnabas, he is able to weed out the people who are really ruining the Collins family and no good for the business, as well as bringing the core family closer together. Through all of this, Angelique is still in love with Barnabas and continues to try to win him over.

                The film over all was good with humor, but it had a few loose ends that were not tied up. In addition, the story over all was not overly exciting; at times, it felt a little drug out. Still none the less if you are looking for a laugh this is a perfect simple funny movie to watch.

Childhood toys

Remember as a kid when you were actually excited to wake up early on Saturday mornings just to watch your favourite shows. To me it was a Saturday morning ritual along with my brother to set up camp in front of the TV. With our blankets and action figures in hands as mom cooked our breakfasts we would watch cartoons, and play along with them. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Scooby-doo, Gargoyles, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, just to name a few were our favourites.  Like most kids, we had various movies of the shows, countless action figures, and clothing. Anytime something new came out surrounding any of the shows I can remember us pestering our mom until she gave in and bought us the toy but only on the condition of sharing it.

            You never realise how effective commercials geared towards kids are until you take the time to look back to when you were a kid and how you would die if you did not get it. Alternatively, if you happen to see young kids face light up when they advertise a new toy it shows how effective the advertising is. They think it is the coolest thing and all their other toys are essentially stupid and old.

This raises the question is it ethical for major toy companies to advertise and market towards kids. This will be the focus of my research paper should they be allowed to market to kids (if so should there be restrictions on how), what are the benefits of marketing towards kids, if not to kids how could they create a new strategy to advertise to adults.

I think this is an important topic to discuss because to some parents having their kids badger them constantly for that cool new toy is just not fair. They may not be able to afford the toys for the kids; the kids could cause public scenes making them look bad, and the toys phase out quickly in today’s society. Parents could save a lot of money and annoyance from their kids if companies marketed to them and not the kids. Leaving it to the parent’s discretion of whether the toy is good for their kids and whether they should have it.