Billy Beane

Comedy clubs have proven that people prefer in your face profanity versus nineteenth century sheltering by their sheer popularity. Since recorded time, people have had differing ideas on how to raise their children. Some of these ideals include what to teach them and when it is appropriate to do so. It was shocking when television shifted from Dennis the Menace to The Simpsons. Unfortunately, society was not as wholesome as many perceived and related more to The Simpsons than Dennis the Menace.…

Billy the Kid is an historical figure from the Old West whose story has eluded historians and has created controversy among biographers. One thing is sure; he has truly lived. However, most of his story told is part of a myth. The author Michael Ondaatje, in his novel The Collected Works of Billy the Kid, has improvised a story about this historical figure, with as the only starting point, his imagination. In The Collected Works of Billy the Kid, the author Michael Ondaatje uses the medium of…

screen, and a character that is still studied to this day. While Gloria Swanson’s historic performance of Norma Desmond garners more attention and praise, I would make the argument that William Holden’s portrayal of Joe Gillis is just as intriguing. Billy Wilder created a character that I have never been so unsure of, he is one of the great examples of the anti-hero. He’s not a great guy, but I wouldn’t go so far to say he’s bad either, he’s right in the middle. The characteristics he has as the…

Kel had a while before he was scheduled to work and knew that since Dixie was around, that if he was running late, she'd ensure he was covered. Thinking quickly about how to approach what happened today and the fact he wanted to make sure Johnny was doing as fine as possible after such a difficult morning, Kel figured it would be best to just be straight with him. "Before I drop you back at the Stanleys, would it be okay if we went to your apartment and talked? I won't have time otherwise…

After the masterpiece documentary “The Salt of the Earth” about the Brazilian photographer Sebastião Salgado, the extraordinary German director, Wim Wenders, stumbles in his most recent fictional drama, “Every Thing Will Be Fine”. Here, the iconic filmmaker works over a script by the Norwegian Bjorn Olaf Johannessen and entrusts to James Franco, Charlotte Gainsbourg, and Rachel McAdams, the main roles. The story is based on Tomas Elden (Franco), a writer who’s making an effort to maintain in…

Billy Budd by Herman Melville is a nautical gospel written in a voice of omniscience and skepticism. The book takes place on the high seas following the Nore mutiny and chronicles the rise and eventual fall of Billy Budd. Billy is always noted by the narrator as someone far more attractive than his peers but never pretentious or condescending, he is a Christ figure in the novel. In the beginning of the story Billy transfers to a military ship where he is quickly loved by everyone, except (with…

Billy Budd written by Herman Melville is a great illustration of how many ecosystems can mimic a much larger one. In the novel, Melville writes about a group of sailors on a ship and their encounters. The protagonist, Billy Budd works duteously as a foretopman on the H.M.S. Indomitable. Most of the other sailors found Billy amiable and hardworking. Another main character, the antagonist, John Claggart is a dark, moonstricken master-at-arms on the ship. Claggart develops a strong abhorrence…

Mahoney AP English Literature and Composition October 9, 2015 A Non Linear Journey Through Space and Time: Slaughterhouse-Five Kurt Vonnegut’s semi autobiographical satirical war novel Slaughterhouse-Five journies through the life of the protagonist Billy Pilgrim. Following his abduction by alien, he becomes unstuck in time; his life is no longer linear, but sees the past, present and future all happening at once. Discovering this. Pilgrim realizes he can never die, because even if he is dead…

in time. Billy Pilgrim is dislodged in time, experiencing events of his life like a playlist of memories set on shuffle. Most of the book is centered on Billy’s time in the war, his time on the alien world of Tralfamadore, and his life in between. While reading Slaughterhouse Five, the reader meets a version of Billy who has experienced different moments of his life many times over. While the story is pure science fiction, transfer the theme to the real world, and it appears that Billy Pilgrim…

However, if we were to trust these autopsy reports and Marilyn Monroe died from drug overdose of sleeping pills, did she commit suicide? Here’s some perspective: being a Hollywood star is not always the glamorous life that we, the general public, believe it to be. At the end of the day, Marilyn Monroe was human with her own tragic, internal struggles. She would wake up and lay in bed for a few minutes, maybe hours, just contemplating whether if it was even worth the effort of getting out of bed.…