Realism and the Lord of the Ring 3 Movie Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Realism and the Lord of the Ring 3 Movie - Essay Example Yet again, the absence of a regulating body makes the agents relate with one another on their own without being directed by a higher authority according to Crawford (45). It is also noted that since the players in the realism pitch do so in an environment that is unstable as they scramble for the same resources. As a result, sometimes the players engage in war in which case they have themselves to depend on. Before nationalism came into being as a political doctrine, realism in the political scene involved such jurisdictions as ruling dynasties and kingdoms (Mearsheimer 87). Generally, the realist ideology demands that the relevant agent ensures its own interests and survival before it can extend a glance to others’ needs. Connection between Realism and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) The epic fantasy film The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King which is based on the preceding volumes of the The Lord of the Rings trilogy. In brief, Sauron has been se eking to launch his conquest of Middle-earth. On the other hand, Theoden King of Rohan and Wizard Gandalf join forces to defend Minas Tirith (the capital of Gondor) from the impending danger. In the end, Aragorn claims Gondor’s throne and seeks the help of an army of ghosts to battle against Sauron. Even with the massive and remarkable force behind them, they realize that their lot is bound to be defeat. Sam, Frodo and the Hobbits have to shoulder the Ring’s burden and deal with Gollum’s treachery. A long journey sees them arrive in Mordor, a land that is quite full of danger. They desire to destroy the One Ring where it was created – using Mount Doom’s volcanic fires. The Lord of the Ring: The Return of the... Realism has continued to gain ground especially following the events of the Second World War. Realism, according to political scientists may be defined as the belief that reality essentially exists without respect to observers. Politically, realism is seen at play in international relations whenever national or territorial interests and security are given higher priority over social reconstructions, ideology and moral concerns. Ideally, the growing interest in realism comes about with the view that competitive self interest is the main driver of world politics. The application of realism or realist notions and perspectives is prevalent across the world. The main characteristics of realism include the desire for agents to secure themselves against threats and to protect their interests first before considering those of other players or agents. In the movie The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, realism is beyond doubt in existence. The various battles that are fought in the movie are aimed at protecting the interests of particular jurisdictions or individuals. Yet again the security of the jurisdictions is considered whenever threats seem to emerge from external forces. The absence of a governing body makes the playing field open to conflict as the fight for resources becomes evident. In spite of the above facts, it cannot be ignored that some players overcome the temptations associated with seeking power in a move that downplays the ideals of realism. The Lord of the Ring: The Return of the King is an epic-fantasy movie that starts off with the evil Sauron launching the final phases of his take-over of Middle-earth while Gandalf and Theoden assist in defending Minas Tirith.

The recent Supreme Court decision allowing large corporations to run Essay

The recent Supreme Court decision allowing large corporations to run their own political ads - Essay Example However, just before the crucial 2010 midterm congressional election period, this law was partly upended by the United States Supreme Court. In the case of Citizens United versus Federal Election Commission, the Supreme Court, by a 5-4 votes, ruled that corporations and unions were constitutionally allowed to spend as much money as they can on campaign ads supporting particular candidates (Francia 16). However, the corporations were still prohibited from donating money directly to campaigns. Ever since its ruling, the court’s decision to allow large corporations run their own ads has received mixed reactions among politicians, scholars, lawyers and the rest of the citizens. Whereas some people have been in favor of the ruling, others have strongly contested the decision, terming it a threat to democracy (Carney 2). Those against the ruling argue that the decision favors republicans, threatens democracy and allows for election interference by the corporations, as they can now r un their own ads in support of a specific candidate (Kosterlitz 5). However, this is just fear of unknown. For as much as the ruling might have negative implications on the federal elections, these arguments are not true and, as far as I am concerned, the decision will not have drastic effects on the politics of the United States of America, especially the elections. Therefore, to arrive at the conclusion that the ruling will not threaten the democracy of this nation but actually help it, this paper will make several observations. First, the argument that the court’s ruling greatly favors republicans is not true because, as opposed to the previous years, nowadays most large corporations hedge their bets and give donations to both parties. In fact, they give donations to whoever is in power, or possibly going to be (Carney 2). This explains why the Obama campaigns were able to do so well. All the funds used in the campaign did not only come from individuals, a huge portion cam e from large corporation, that is, their PACs. Therefore, the ruling will not favor republicans, but it will favor the most promising or prominent party. Secondly, the claim that large corporations will greatly dominate or interfere with the politics of the country is perplexing (Carney 2). For quite a long time even before the ruling, large corporations, such as New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today and The Wall Street Journal, among others, have had the ability to further their political needs. Under the political action committees (PACs), they have been given the permission to support and donate to political parties or candidates. Moreover, most unions or corporate lobbyist PACs have been running ads about various issues or in support of various candidates. Therefore, it a fact that this ruling will not change the politics or the election of the country, but it will just eliminate the middleman, PACs (Carney 2). Finally, the ruling is good for small businesses because it could promote free market competition. Previously, before the court’s ruling, small businesses could not compete effectively with the large corporations because they had no PACs and lacked money to give to powerful lobbyists, who had PACs, to act on their behalf. Large corporations, such as Wal-Mart, had great influence on political issues of the country and, thus, received favors from the political divine, leaving the small firms to deteriorate further and go out of business. However, with the ruling, the small firms