Nora Ephron

She takes the very bold step of standing up against three powerful forces when she renounces her obligations to her husband, and society. She declares that these authorities will no longer dictate her responsibilities as a woman. Nora: I don't believe in than anymore. I believe that before all else, I am a human being, no less that you or anyway, I ought to try to become one. I know the majority thinks you are right, Torvald, and plenty of books agree with you, too. But I can't…

A romantic comedy by definition “deals with love in a light, humorous way,” and Nora Ephron’s film, You’ve Got Mail does just that (www.dictionary.com). Rather than explore the dark side of internet chat rooms, Ephron presents a romanticized view of an online relationship by capitalizing on fascination with new technology, the anonymity of the Internet, and the proven chemistry of the movie’s stars, Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. The movie’s take on romance and social media reflects 1998, the year it…

The Box Man In “The Box Man”, Barbara Lazear Ascher describes the lives of the Box Man and two other women in order to compare them. By analyzing these comparisons, readers can come to the conclusion that the Box Man leads a more meaningful life than the other two women. While this statement may initially appear to be absurd, it is most definitely true. Without understanding their lives, it would seem that the Box Man is living a purposeless life and his hobby of collecting boxes indicates how…

Just as Christopher Hitchens proclaims, women are seen as not funny. He does go on thought to mention that there are some funny women out there, such as Dorothy Parker, Nora Ephron, Fran Lebowitz, and Ellen DeGeneres, so with this statement at least he gives examples of the opposite instance. Quite truthfully thought, this is a common stereotype, yet it is not completely justified. Depending on the person, everyone has a different…

What we think of as the romantic comedy genre was birthed in conjunction with the advent of sound on film. A subset of comedy, the romantic comedy has been through quite the evolution from its beginnings in the 1930s to the present day shaping our culture, I would argue, more than any other genre. While these two films, It Happened One Night and Harold and Maude, are staggeringly different in their formulas, one being classical and one being of the modernist period, they are thematically linked,…

The 1990s were arguably the best time for Romantic Comedies and also the birth era of the popular “chick-flick.” The ‘90s brought us directors like Gary Marshall and Nora Ephron whose feel good films left our hearts warm and stars like Julia Roberts with her clumsy relatability and Richard Grere with his suave demeanor. The ‘90s also brought Kathy Maio, feminist film critic. Maio’s 1991 book Popcorn and Sexual Politics is a collection of analysis of popular ‘90s films—especially Romantic…

Alice Munro is a phenomenal author who won the 2013 Nobel Prize and is the “master of the contemporary short story” ("The Nobel Prize in Literature 2013”). Munro has an uncanny ability produce normal every day characters with a unique and driven story that highlight many themes. In her short story, “Carried Away” Munro attempts to unveil the mysteries of fate, love, sex and death in a unique and original perspective from a young library set in the early 1900’s. All of these themes, which may…