Review Of Escape From New York Essays - Snake Plissken,

Review Of Escape From New York In the opening sequence of John Carpenter's Escape From New York, an anonymous narrator sets the tone of desperation and hopelessness with the line once you go in, you never come out. The narrator is referring to the only rule in the maximum security prison built on Manhattan Island. The prison, which was built in 1981 as a reaction to the crime rate going up 400 percent, has no guards. It's every man for himself. The once busy streets of New York city are now nearly deserted, decayed, and run by criminals. The hell on Earth is so unbearable that some attempt to break out of the prison, on a raft, in an almost Escape From Alcatraz fashion in the opening scene. The plot thickens as a group of terrorists hijack the President's plane and crash it in New York. The President is now somewhere in the New York prison and holds an important tape containing a speech that could prevent another world war. Snake Plissken, a tough, renowned war hero and recent inmate of the prison, is the government's only hope to save the world. Snake must capture the President within 24 hours so the President can present the tape at a peace summit the next day. In exchange for his good deed, the government promises to pardon him for every crime he has ever committed. The only catch is the two capsules implanted in his head. If he doesn't complete the mission in 24 hours the capsules will explode. Along the journey, Snake meets a rainbow of characters. He runs into Cabbie, who has driven the same taxi for 30 years in New York. He represents the nostalgia of the once great Big Apple. Snake fights the evil Duke of New York to capture the President. The Duke is the typical bad guy clad in lavish gold chains and surrounded by a group of dimwitted followers. Snake befriends Brain, a timid reserved genius and Maggie, his beautiful girlfriend. Their love affair adds a humanistic touch to the cold insensitive surroundings. In the midst of escaping from the prison, Brain dies on a bridge. Maggie refuses to go on with Snake and calmly awaits her own impending death on the bridge. Dismal tragedy doesn't dominate the movie, however. Elements of humor are found in scenes such as the prisoners' song and dance rendition of the Broadway tune Everybody's Coming to New York and the recurring line mentioned to Snake by each person he meets: I thought you were dead. In addition to humor, several strong themes are found in the film. Escape From New York can be easily compared to a mythic epic journey despite Snake's anti-hero I don't give a damn qualities. The gods (the government) sends Snake on a journey to capture the President. Difficult obstacles hinder his quest. At one point, he must fight a giant with clubs (baseball bats with spikes attached) and a shield (a trashcan lid). Escape From New York can also be compared to a Western with a futuristic twist. The good guys (Snake) and the bad guys (the Duke and his gang) are clearly defined. Old fashioned pistols are replaced with explosives and machine guns. The most obvious theme, however, is its attempt to address today's social problems. If the crime rate actually rose dramatically, what would America do about it? Would they take such drastic measures and put all the misfits of society on an island to die to avoid the risk of repeat offenders? The issue of America's diminishing trust in fair honest government and its leaders is also raised. When Snake is told that the President is missing he nonchalantly says, So? Get a new one. This movie attempts to enlighten the viewer about these issues in addition to entertaining them. Many critics have complained that this movie leaves too many questions unanswered, but I find Carpenter's use your imagination approach to the movie refreshing. In the final scene, Snake asks the President how he feels about the lives lost in the attempt to rescue him (the President). The President, who is about to go the air, impatiently responds this country appreciates their sacrifice. Snake walks away dissatisfied with the President's halfhearted answer as the President plays the tape containing the important

Case Involving the Model of Ethical Decision

Case Involving the Model of Ethical Decision An ethical decision making-model In most cases, solving ethical dilemmas are not through the application of the codes of ethics and standards that are put in place. Therefore, it is critical to have a framework through which any emerging ethical dilemma could be analyzed and the final decision reached.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Case Involving the Model of Ethical Decision-Making specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Ethical dilemmas are usual occurrences in many professions and are resolved through the applicable ethical decision-making models (Johnson Koocher, 2011). However, in this case, the Potter Box ethical decision-making model will be applied to come up with the solution to the ensuing problem. Defining the situation In the case, a woman is suffering from the major depression because of divorce filed by the husband and the looming court proceedings that may result in the loss of the sons to the husband. The woman claims that the husband has an extra marital affair, which according to the psychologist, is delusional and should not be included in the final assessment report for diagnosis. However, the psychologist used much of the personal information on the assessment report, which could have negative influence on the client during the court proceedings. The dilemma is whether the psychologist should include the personal information on the report. Identifying the values Ethical principles and codes of conduct form the basis of values that control the conduct of the psychologist. The psychologist beliefs and values should emanate from the general codes ethical codes of conduct that control the behavior, assessment and evaluation of clients as well as decisions that are being made. In this case, the psychologist must apply the principles, standards and codes of ethics while assessing the client’s situation. Identifying the principles Ethical models in decision-making process must back all the actions of the psychologist. In addition, the advice and recommendation of the assessments should also emanate from the theoretical models in ethical decision-making process. In this case, theoretical models such as the utilitarianism and contextualism would be applied to support the recommendations in the assessment report concerning the client’s situation. Choosing the loyalties In this case, it is critical to take into consideration the situation of the client while assessing the life circumstances. However, the consent of the client should be emphasized. The psychologist should seek for the client consent while coming up with the assessment report. Even though the consent may be hard to get in this case, the client should be persuaded to provide his consent on some of the information to be presented.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Applicabl e codes, principles and standards The principles that apply to this case include the beneficence and nonmaleficence, integrity, justice and the respect for the rights of the clients as well as the related people. In applying the principle of beneficence and nonmaleficence, the psychologist must ensure that its assessments and actions does not cause subsequent harm to the client as well as the related people such as the children and the husband. In other words, the psychologist must ensure that the content of the assessments safeguard the interest of the client as well as the husband. The integrity principle requires that the psychologist must observe sincerity, precision and honesty while assessing the client’s situation. Moreover, all the concerned persons must equally benefit from the actions. Finally, the psychologist must respect the rights of the client as well as other individuals in the assessments. The only limiting factor is that while the psychologist would observe and promote the integrity, justice and rights of one individual, other individual right may be compromised. In other words, striking the right principle balance between the people affected may be difficult for the psychologist (Koocher Keith-Spiegel, 2007). During the assessment, the psychologist should put into consideration the ethical standards that include the misuse of their work (Johnson Koocher, 2011). In the case, where the psychologist realized that one party might benefit from the assessments, the necessary steps should be taken to correct the information in assessment report in order to avoid the misuse of such information. The other important ethical standard to be observed is the boundaries of competence. The psychologist should perform the assessment within the boundaries of his psychological knowledge, experience, training and professionalism (Ford, 2006). Most important, the psychologist should produce the final assessment report based on the informed consent (Ford , 2006). The standard of informed consent is critical for the final decisions used for therapies as well as legal proceedings that may ensue. The informed consent standard requires that the client is involved in every step of the assessment and the psychologist seek out the client’s approval (Ford, 2006). In addition, the psychologist should observe the standard of privacy and confidentiality.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Case Involving the Model of Ethical Decision-Making specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The psychologist should establish the limits of private information and the levels of confidentiality without intrusion into the private affairs of the family. Finally, the psychologist should consider the standards of assessment (Ford, 2006). Before putting down the recommendation for further therapies, the psychologist should thoroughly examine the client in order to have adequate information. Applying the utilitarian model to explain the case The theory focuses on the positive outcome of the actions. The psychologist, applying the utilitarian approach to ethical consideration, should consider recommending actions that provides maximum benefits to the client (Johnson Koocher, 2011). In other words, the psychologist should recommend actions in its assessment report that offer maximum quality of happiness to the client. In essence, the decisions made during the assessment should benefit the client. Even though the recommendations should be in favor of the client, the extent to which such recommendations affect the related people should also be taken into consideration. However, the psychologist should be aware of the difficulties in getting the information as well as the extent of the consequences of the recommendations on the concerned individuals. In other words, it would not be possible for the psychologist to measure the extent of the consequences of the assessment recommendati ons. The application of ethical contextualism to think through the case Contextualism model assumes that there exist competing ethical principles and conflicts normally occur between these competing principles. According to this theory, ethical dilemmas should be treated differently depending with the situation and the expected outcome (Ford, 2006). As such, the psychologist should provide assessment recommendations depending with the situation. Further, the theory asserts that there is no ethical principle that can be used to predict the solutions of any other ethical dilemmas (Ford, 2006). Therefore, the solution to the problem will depend on the situation and the outcome of the assessments made. The problem with this school of thought is that the psychologist may find difficulties in the situation where genuine principles conflict (Koocher Keith-Spiegel, 2007). In essence, the psychologist should not utilize the experiences from other cases to apply to this situation.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The case represents a different situation and therefore the principles to be applied in this case should depend on the assessed factors. In other words, the context in this case should inform the moral principles that should be used to find the solution to the problem. References Ford, G. G. (2006). Ethical reasoning for mental health professionals. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications. Johnson, W. B. Koocher, G. P. (2011). Ethical conundrums, quandaries and predicaments in mental health practice: A casebook from the files of experts. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. Koocher, G. P. Keith-Spiegel, P. (2007). Ethics in psychology and the mental health professions: Standards and cases. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.