The Business of Fashion Blogging

Fashion blogging has become a new way of advertising during the past few years. Top bloggers are more and more influential in terms of what to wear, where to eat out, or what technology to use. The most significant bloggers, who have a massive following on their blog and social media sites, even manage to turn their blog into a brand or company and make a living out of what might have started as a hobby.

Advertisement and a great blog go hand in hand. A blog with a large number of followers attracts potential buyers to the site. Companies see the opportunity and they start working with the blogger in advertisement or collaborations, which keeps the blog going and helps to turn it into a business. According to Stephenson, bloggers “are seen by readers as a more trustworthy source of content than traditional advertising methods.” (Stephenson) Maximillian Arasin, who is the head of Chic Blogger Management (a company that connects bloggers with brands) says that the reason for the popularity of this method is the close relationship between the blogger and the readers. (Stephenson) It is also written in the article that “[t]he brand wants to make a noise and incorporate commercial content into non commercial settings.” (qtd. in Stephenson) So asking bloggers to publish sponsored content on their blog is a great idea.

In the following, this essay will show what three of the most influential bloggers have achieved and how they managed to turn their blogs into a successful career.

Leandra Medine writes a blog called Man Repeller, which is about trends that women love and men hate. The unique concept paired with her quirky writing helped to develop a large readership. Kansara writes that the blogger says she was conscious about her blog as a business, and started to collaborate with designers and companies as soon as she could.  Since of the launch in 2010, Medine has written a book, has been featured in several Style.com videos, collaborated with PJK, Rebecca Minkoff, and recently, NARS. (Man Repeller) In the article written by Kansara, she says that 60% of her income comes from collaborations.

Chiara Ferragni, another top blogger started posting pictures of herself in 2009. In an article written by Wang, she says that her blog became successful because she wears clothes to which others can relate, but are still fashionable. Chiara quickly became the most influential fashion blogger (having more than 2.930.000 Instagram followers), and uses her popularity to make money by advertising on her blog. She has also managed to turn her name into a brand as she has designed many shoe collections. Also, she has worked with the biggest designers such as Louis Vuitton. (Wang)

The story of 16-year-old Tavi Gevinson is also worth mentioning. Tavi started writing her blog at the age of 11. Her idea was to create a site for teenage girls. Her one-of-a-kind approach to fashion and pop culture attracted many, and soon she was supported by established writers. She used her connections with fashion desingers, editors such as Anna Wintour, who is the editor in chief of US Vogue, and others to found her online magazine, Rookie, of which she makes a living by collaborating and featuring sponsored content. (Amed)

All in all, it can be seen that fashion blogs serve as a new way of advertising, and their popularity is due to the fact that readers and bloggers have a close relationship, thus bloggers seem to be more trustworthy when they mention a product in their articles or posts. It can also be concluded that with the help of social media, collaborating, featuring sponsored content, and other side projects such as designing, bloggers are able to make a substantial living out of their websites.

 Works cited 

Amed, Imran. “The Business of Blogging | Tavi Gevinson.” Business of Fashion. Business of Fashion, April 24, 2012. Web. November 22, 2014.

Ferragni, Chiara. The Blonde Salad. TBS Crew. 2009. Blog. Web. October 20, 2014.

Gevinson, Tavi. Rookie Mag. Online magazine. Web. October 20, 2014.

Kansara, Vikram Alexei.  “The Business of Blogging | The Man Repeller.” Business of Fashion.  Business of Fashion, 31 July, 2012. Web. November 22, 2014.

Medine, Leandra. Man Repeller. 2010. Blog. Web. October 20, 2014.

Stephenson, Allison. “How fashion blogging has become big business and how you can do it too.” news.com.au. news.com.au, February 21, 2014. Web. October 19, 2014.

Wang, Lisa. “The Business of Blogging | The Blonde Salad.” Business of Fashion. Business of Fashion, February 27, 2014. Web. November 22, 2014.

The effects of the internet on the youth's sexual behaviour

                                                                                                      

On the effects of the Internet on the Youth’s Sexual Behaviour

The internet has its roots back in the 1960s and has come a long way in the past half century. The fact is that it is still evolving and has influence on more and more fields of life. The young in particular today can access the internet anywhere and anytime they want to through their gadgets. This essay is intended to show the effects of the internet on one of these aspects: young people’s sexual behaviour. The internet plays an important role in shaping the sexuality of the young, both in harmful and good way.

To begin with, mostly teen girls can easily fall into a trap. They are bombarded with advertisements and posts on websites which give them tips of “how to be sexy” or “how to look if you want to catch boys’ attention”. They look at topmodels who are slim and have ‘perfect’ skin and of course, want to be like them. Social media platforms provide appropriate space for girls to express their sexualised selves: posting photos in which they are posing their body in order to get appreciation. The idea is that they collect as many likes as possible and this gears up their self-esteem and gives them confidence. As time passes, certain poses will not be enough to gain hundreds of likes, so girls will post more and more extreme photos of themselves, which may make them ridiculous on the one hand, and the target of sexual harassments on the other. Looking at the examples of supermodels, teen girls get a false idea about being sexy, which is why they think that they need to show off their bodies to be liked.

I would like to point out another effect of the internet that is related mostly to boys’ sexual behaviour. Children today who search the net without being under parental control are highly exposed to uncensored sexual contents, including advertisements, music videos, movies and online games, which sexualizes them earlier than ever. Encouraged by movies or music videos containing sexuality, children as young as 8 or 9 get interested in sex and a high percentage of them also intend to do what they see on the screen. According to researcher Dr. Jennings Bryant’s study that was conducted in the United States in 1985, more than 66 percent of boys and 40 percent of girls want to try some of the sexual behaviours they came across in the media. In many cases they actually do it, so a lot of them have sexual experiences before going to high school. In addition, those children who get involved in sexual actions at such an early age are more likely to have multiple sexual partners in the future and struggle with a mental health disorder in the long run.

However, there are more effects of the internet on children’s sexual behaviour than these. Those boys who saw sexually explicit contents on the internet are three times more likely to enter into oral sex and intercourse than non-exposed boys. In the case of girls, the likeliness of engagement in oral sex is two times more and they are one and a half times more likely to have intercourse than those who were not exposed to such contents. Also, children get involved in sexual activities without consideration and responsibility, before they are emotionally and intellectually ready. This suggests that those who are exposed to sexually explicit media at an early age are likely to be engaged in high-risk sex.

On the other hand, the internet can have positive effects on teens’ view of sex. A study carried out by Neelma Kunwar, Chandra Shekhar Azad University, India (2010) showed that a meaningful percentage of teenagers’ attitude to sex was shaped by programmes based on sex education advertised through the media. These programmes point out that irresponsibly getting involved in sexual actions may result in venereal diseases. In addition, boys and girls encouraged by them, became interested in sexual education and searched for such contents on the internet, which could influence their view of sexuality and urge them to have safe and responsible sex.

As I have pointed out, there are a lot of segments of sexuality that the internet influences in the life of young people. The effects are very serious, be it good or harmful, because they can be life-lasting. Obviously, teenage-girls who offer themselves up to sexual ‘games’ by posing on the internet or boys, who encouraged by media, get involved in sexual intercourse at an early age, damage their own esteem, which determines their future actions. Yet, the internet and media can be used in a responsible way so that it may have positive effects on us all – this is what children should be taught to do.

References

Bryant J. (1985, March) . Frequency of exposure, age of initial exposure and reactions to initial exposure to pornography.

C. Ross, Carolyn. (2012, August 13) . Over-exposed and under-prepared: the effects of early exposure to sexual content. Psychology Today.

 Retrieved form http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/real-healing/201208/

T. N. N. (2010, September 20) . Media influences positively on sexual behaviour of teens: study. The Times of India.

 Retrieved from http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kanpur/

Zatopek, A. (2014, September 23) . Pimping for likes: teen girls posing for self esteem. CBN News. Retrieved from http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/us/2014/September/

Reflection on Erich Kuersten’s Self-Sabotage for Success – CASINO (1995)

Erich Kuersten’s article on Martin Scorsese’s 1995 movie, Casino, was posted on Academic in 2013. The critic begins his piece by introducing the genre of the film, then he goes on to analyse the picture itself briefly, after which he says a few words about the performances of the lead actors and concludes the writing by returning to the starting idea. The main point he makes in the article is that Casino, its cast, and its director are overrated. It is a well constructed essay, which states its arguments clearly. However, some of these arguments are quite weakly supported.

Kuersten has given much ground to his criticism of Sharon Stone’s character, acting, and Scorsese’s direction of her part. He sates: “But everyone knows romance and strong female characters (ALICE aside) aren’t Scorsese’s strong point.” Contrary to this statement, it was Sharon Stone who got the most recognition after the film. She was nominated for an Oscar, a Chicago Film Critics Association Award, an MTV Movie Award, and won a Golden Globe Award, and placed third on the Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Awards. Since the article’s writer did not support his argument other than stating his opinion, this counterargument should not be disregarded.

Another point he makes is that all movies about gambling are sure to become successful. This note, however, is only supported by the author’s opinion and logic: “rolling the dice on a film about rolling the dice is so meta it can’t fail.” In spite of this, one paragraph later Kuersten mentions another picture with the same topic as Casino, namely California Split (1974), which he calls “underseen”. Moreover, it is not difficult to come by a number of failed films about gambling one only has to browse the Internet Movie Database. There are many examples of unsuccessful casino movies, for instance The Gambler (1997) with its 6.3/10 score, which was voted by the low number of 285 people.

Finally, the critic discusses how Martin Scorsese directed Casino badly, as the title of the article suggests. He argues that the renown director “is just imitating himself”, but interrupts this line of thought by moving on to the performance of Joe Pesci, thus making the point unclear. Besides, much like Sharon Stone, Martin Scorsese was widely recognized for this movie. He was nominated for a Golden Globe Award, a Chicago Film Critics Association Award, and an Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists’ Silver Ribbon for his work. All these prestigious award considerations and the fact that Casino is still among the best rated movies in film history make Kuersten’s unsupported argument unconvincing.

All in all, this piece of criticism has an organised structure, interesting points and observations. On the other hand, some arguments are poorly supported, there are barely any examples, and no quotations or references. These deficiencies make the essay weak, especially in the points above.

References:

1. Casino (1995). Internet Movie Database. Retrieved from:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112641/?ref_=ttawd_awd_tt

2. Kuersten, Erich, (2013, June 19). Self-Sabotage for Success – CASINO (1995), Academic. Retrieved from:

http://acidemic.blogspot.hu/2013/06/self-sabotage-for-success-casino-1995.html

3. The Gambler (1997). Internet Movie Database. Retrieved from:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0129111/?ref_=tt_rec_tt

Csatár Réka - Evaluation

The Evaluation of ’That Man Behind the Curtain’: Atheism and Belief in The Wizard of Oz

            The article I have chosen to evaluate is called ‘That Man Behind the Curtain’: Atheism and Belief in The Wizard of Oz. It was published in an online journal, Film-Philosophy, which, in their own words is “an open access peer-reviewed academic journal dedicated to the engagement between film studies and philosophy”. It appeared in their 17^th volume in 2013. The author is Justin Remes, a lecturer in Film and Literature at Oakland University. He has published several articles; for example, in the British Journal of Aesthetics.

In his article, Remes states that his purpose is to prove that The Wizard of Oz tries to undermine all kinds of supernatural beliefs. However, even in these modern times, people cannot live without some kind of belief, so they believe in belief itself (Remes 84).

Remes tries to show the reader with examples and quotes that the question of disbelief has been dealt with several times, and gives a general introduction before the two main parts of his article. He analyses this phenomenon in both the original book version of L. Frank Baum, and the famous 1939 film version directed by Victor Fleming. He even makes a comparison, which reveals the different views of the creators; and consequently, the impression the book and the film versions leave in the reader and viewer.

In the first part of the article, Remes argues that the author of the book, Baum, uses the story as a way to criticise organized religion, but one should not call it atheistic, as opposed to the more radical MGM musical version. Remes states that the wizard in the story is a reference to the anthropomorphic Judaeo-Christian deity. He tries to prove this with quotes from the book and the Bible. He points out that often the way people talk about the wizard resembles the way God is talked about in the Bible; for example, “I have never been permitted to see the Great Oz, nor do I know of any living person who has seen him” (Hearn, 165) and what can be read in John 4:12: “No man hath seen God at any time” (King James Version). If one would simply change the name Oz to God, one would not even notice the difference. Even the language Baum uses has Biblical reference; for instance, the description of the Emerald City, home to Oz, is very similar to the description of the Christian conception of heaven.

Another way of Remes to convince the reader is to present Baum’s personal life and faith. The author of The Wizard of Oz was brought up in a deeply religious conservative family; yet, he was always sceptical about religion. However, he was not an atheist. He believed in the divine and the spiritual world, but he was not satisfied with the general image of God. Remes thinks that this belief of Baum played a big part in the ending: Oz turns out to be a regular man, the wizard does not exist. However, he is still a good man, and that means that religious leaders are not bad people, either. The important thing is to believe in something (Remes 85-87).

In the second part of his article, Remes argues that there is a drastic change in the film version of Victor Fleming. The main difference is the ending of the story: not only the magical abilities of Oz, but the entire land turns out to be only Dorothy’s dream. The director makes sure that the viewers know that the events exist only in Dorothy’s mind, just as heaven and the metaphysical realm is just a projection of our mind, of our world. In songs like Somewhere Over the Rainbow one can see the characters’ spiritual longing for a magical, peaceful land, but this longing can never be fulfilled because such places do not exist (Remes 87-89).

In the concluding part of his article, Remes deals with belief. He writes that The Wizard of Oz does not only criticize faith, it also shows the psychology and power of faith. He gives examples of the certain belief in belief or “decaffeinated belief”: belief is what makes Dorothy and her companions go to Oz, and even when he turns out to be a fraud, they cannot believe it. Justin Remes’ conclusion is that the brilliance of The Wizard of Oz is that it captures the loss and the maintenance of faith at the same time (Remes 89-93).

            Justin Remes’ article seems very professional and organized, even if the reader does not know anything about him being a lecturer. His work had clear structure: a good introduction to the topic with mentions of earlier works in the field, a clear analysis and comparison of two versions of the same story, and effective concluding paragraphs, which mention the most important parts of the article again.

He states his arguments clearly, and they are very well supported throughout the essay. The reader becomes informed in the topic and can form their own opinion about it. The only weakness I have found is one even Remes himself pointed out: he describes Baum’s faith, but he could not really find anything on Fleming’s. The personal views of the creators contributed a great deal to the outcome of the film. As Remes mentions, in the film version there were many contributors, not only one, so it cannot really be decided who influenced it the most.

All in all, Remes’ article was organized, enlightening and interesting, probably even for those who are otherwise not interested in religion.

Works Cited

The Bible. King James Version.

Hearn, Michael Patrick. The Annotated Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum. New York: W.W. Norton, 2000. Print.

Remes, Justin. “’That Man Behind the Curtain’: Atheism and Belief in The Wizard of Oz.” Film-Philosphy. Vol. 17. (2013): 84-95. Web. 2013.

The article can be read here: http://www.film-philosophy.com/index.php/f-p/article/view/289/860

The use of memes in advertising

Using memes on the internet has become a very widespread practice in the last few years. It is no wonder then that they are used in other fields, such as advertising and marketing. In this essay first I would like to clarify what a meme is and then explain why and how it can be used for marketing purposes, giving a few examples at the end.

According to the Online Oxford Dictionary, the word meme today means “an image, video, piece of text, etc., typically humorous in nature that is copied and spread rapidly by Internet users, often with slight variations” (Oxford Online Dictionaries). The term was coined by Richard Dawkins, evolutionary biologist, in 1976, meaning the “cultural equivalent of a gene, anything that is copied, imitated and spreads around like a virus” (Guardian). Of course, back then its meaning was truly biological but now, in the age of the internet, this expression has been applied to a new aspect of human culture – electronic media.

With internet memes, users can express and share a feeling or an experience that is common and familiar for other users. This familiarity, commonness and sharing is what is good about memes: taking only a short glimpse at them is enough for a user to understand what the other user would like to express, and they can immediately connect to that common experience. For the sake of simplicity, in this essay I will only examine image memes.

The marketing departments of some companies are shrewd and could detect the use of memes on the internet as something worth their attention. This is how they ended up using some of the most popular ones for advertising their own products and services. This is called memejacking, i.e. “hijacking popular memes for your own benefit -- in this case, for marketing purposes”, according to Pamela Vaughan, marketing expert (Vaughan).

There are several reasons why memejacking is useful for advertising and why the advertisements made with this technique function better than the average ones. Firstly, when potential customers spot them, they immediately recognise the meme and, besides smiling at it, will remember the advertisement later as something peculiar and creative. This is the same kind of connection they feel when they see the meme on the internet posted by other users. The British media company, Virgin Media, for example, used Success Kid very well in a campaign. The caption says, “Tim just realised his parents get HD channels at no extra cost” (Vaughan). The message is clear, convincing the audience with one simple sentence that they must get this service. Secondly, it is beneficial for the company, too, because creating them is quite easy and cheap, so there is no need to spend millions on expensive advertising campaigns when there is a simpler and more creative way. This is why HipChat using Y U No Guy, with the simple caption, “Y U No Use HipChat?” was successful (Vaughan). The advertisement is brief, to the point, creative and captures the people’s attention immediately. Thirdly, one crucial characteristic of a meme is that it can go viral very soon and then the whole internet is full of it and everyone knows it. This rapid spread is what a company needs for their advertised products to reach millions of people in a short time, and with the help of memes this can be obtained easily.

There are some issues which must be considered before creating a memevertisment, that is, an advertisement that uses a meme. It is extremely important for the company to know how to use the memes exactly. Not all memes are alike, every one of them expresses something different, and this is why it is important to do some research in order to know what they really mean and how they are used on the internet. The creators should identify the memes that have just gone viral and are very popular at the moment and then choose that one which is the most appropriate for their advertising purposes. Another aspect which needs to be considered is the target audience. Although not everyone knows what memes are or even how to use the internet, the number of these people is decreasing, so using memes in advertising is a useful technique that can reach out to a lot of people. For this, the perfect example is Grumpy Cat as it was used in an anti-drinking advertisement, saying “Should you drink at prom? No!” (NewAdverteering). It is again a direct and short message that later is remembered by students at the prom.

All in all, what we can see from the three examples mentioned above is that the general rules of advertising are relevant when using memes, too, meaning the use of a picture and a sentence that is short, simple and to the point. The use of memes in advertising, a field that has long been considered by people as lying or boring, is a new and creative way of convincing people of the merits of a particular product or service.

References

Guardian, The. “Richard Dawkins on Memes – Cannes Lions 2013.” Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 28. June. 2013. Web. 27. Oct 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCzb6SuyriU

Markowski, Jordan. “The Best Examples of Meme Marketing.” Sparksheet. 4. Oct. 2013. Web. 27. Oct 2014. http://sparksheet.com/the-best-examples-of-meme-marketing/

“Meme.” Online Oxford Dictionaries. Web. 27. Oct. 2014. http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/meme?searchDictCode=all 

“Memevertisment.” NewAdverteering. 14. Oct. 2013. Web. 27. Oct. 2014. http://newadverteering.wordpress.com/2013/10/14/memevertisment/

Scherer, John. “Popular Memes and How to Use Them in Facebook Ads.” Leaders west Digital Marketing Journal. Web. 27. Oct. 2014. http://leaderswest.com/2014/02/13/the-psychology-of-memes-and-how-to-use-them-in-facebook-ads/

Spencer, Stephan. “Leveraging Memes for Your Own Viral Marketing.” Marketing Land. 26. Nov. 2013. Web. 27. Oct 2014. http://marketingland.com/leveraging-memes-for-your-own-viral-marketing-63919

Vaughan, Pamela. “10 Popular Memes Masquerading as Marketing Campaigns.” Inbound Marketing. HubSpot. 7. June. 2012. Web. 27. Oct 2014. http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/33197/10-Popular-Memes-Masquerading-as-Marketing-Campaigns.aspx

Camera phones and privacy: Introducing ’Creepshots’

The new technologies of the 21st century have not only made our lives easier and more entertaining, but have also raised new issues to tackle and posed new questions to answer. One of these serious problems still waiting to be solved is the issue of privacy. With the camera phones and tablets of today, taking photographs has become extremely quick and easy. Taking a shot of something or someone is literally just a touch away. Due to the compactness and ubiquitousness of smart phones, it has become much easier to take the photograph, even secretly if the subject does not want it to be taken. But we should also stop and think about the ethics of taking a photograph of an unsuspecting subject. With camera phones now so widespread, the difficult question of whether the law itself should tackle this issue somehow arises.

There are many websites and blogs in cyberspace dedicated to photos taken of unsuspecting people. These are being run for different reasons and cater to different tastes, but they are all the product of, and celebrate, the kind of voyeurism we all have in ourselves in certain measures. Some of these websites may seem more harmless than others. A blog called Everybody Reading Books (previously named Hot Guys Reading Books) features candid pictures of mostly attractive people reading. Another example, TubeCrush is a British website for women and gay men to upload candid pictures of men they find attractive on the London Underground.

These examples, even though they do violate the privacy and individual rights of the subjects, may still seem fairly tame ones. But there is one trend in the candid photo sharing community of the Internet, which takes it many steps too far. Misogyny, sexual harassment, and sexual objectification of women go a long way back in history, but combined with these new technologies, the camera phone and the Internet, they have taken a new and particularly nasty form. It is a very specific form of harassment directed against women online, called a creepshot.

A creepshot is a candid picture taken of a woman, usually of her rear end or cleavage in tight or revealing clothing, entirely without her knowledge or consent. One subgenre of creepshots is the upskirt, when the photo is specifically taken of the underwear of the subject wearing a skirt. They are then uploaded on a blog or forum with some misogynystic caption, such as ”Begging to be raped.”

The main platform for sharing creepshots was for a long time a subReddit called CreepShots, which was shut down by Reddit in 2012 because of the many complaints they received. Since then, it has returned. Operating under the name CandidFashionPolice, it disguises itself as a fake "fashion police" forum, badly trying to hide what it is by posting criticism with the pictures, criticising outfits. However, they only post pictures of women in revealing outfits, usually from the back.

The creators, contributors and visitors of these forum sites are obviously some kind of fetishists, stating categorically that the only photos they are interested in are the ones where the subject is entirely unaware of what is happening. "A creepshot captures the natural, raw sexiness of the subject without their vain attempts at putting on a show for the camera." stated the original CreepShots subReddit as its main rule.

There have been several unsuccessful attempts at outlawing creepshots. A most recent example occurred in Texas, where the highest court refused a new anti-creepshot law, deeming it unconstitutional and a violation of free-speech. Another case happened in Massachusetts, when a man was caught habitually taking upskirt photos on a subway train, but in the end, the First Amendment protected him, as well.

Of course, several questions arise, such as whether banning this outrageous activity would really solve the problem. If so, should creepshots be banned or all candid photography on the streets. The problematic nature of enforcing such a restrictive law is also something to think about. Furthermore, it comes into question whether it would be even morally right to pass a law like that or would we be tampering with basic human rights, such as freedom of speech. This is an extremely complicated issue, one that is seemingly impossible to solve.

However, it is one that, as technology evolves with high speed, we soon need to address somehow. As people unaffected by this disgusting and humiliating new trend, it is easy to argue for freedom of speech, even if it includes creepshots. But it is worth trying to put ourselves in the shoes of the women in Massachusetts, trying to make a man "pay" for taking an upskirt photo of her, and seeing him walk away without even a warning.

Non-traditional narrative over linear storytelling

Non-traditional narrative over linear storytelling

            Linearity has been the most significant form of narrative in movies ever since the genre was born. Films employ linearity for a number of reasons: most sources are also written using this form and it is easier to comprehend for audiences. However, unconventional storytelling also has a place in the art of filmmaking. Despite linear storytelling being much more typical, non-traditional storytelling provides a more compelling viewing experience due to a number of factors.

            First of all, non-traditional narratives require more active audience participation and this interactivity makes the experience of watching the film a fuller one. Many of these movies, such as David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive or Bryan Singer’s The Usual Suspects, tell a complete story but they can only be interpreted after reflecting on the film after it has finished. Many others employ flashbacks, such as Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane, and by showing the events of the past these films build up to an epic conclusion. Because of the constant jumps in time or shifts in points of view, audiences have to be more attentive than normal, as missing one detail could lead to not being able to comprehend the events. Due to these films requiring more thoughtfulness from the viewers, the consequence of the climax leaves a more significant impact, thus making the watching experience a more compelling one.

            Secondly, non-traditional narratives enhance the stories themselves. Rearranging the plot of a movie that is told unconventionally can easily lead to the story weakening. Christopher Nolan’s Memento, for instance, utilises reverse chronology to tell the events that occurred;  taking every event and ordering them as they actually happened, the whole movie would be leading up to a rather disappointing finish. That movie is the perfect example of how unconventional narrative is used as a tool to strengthen the value of a film. The storytelling is the exact reason why it so compelling for viewers.

            Lastly, despite linear storytelling being much more prominent, a lot of movies using non-traditional narrative have been met with critical acclaim. It is enough to think of the masterpieces I have already mentioned, such as Mulholland Drive or Citizen Kane, but there are many others I have not acknowledged such as The Sixth Sense or Chicago. The reason these movies all stand out is because of the unusual way their stories are told. Although it is argued that the narrative form has no impact on whether a film is critically acclaimed or not, out of the last fifteen winners of Best Picture at The Academy Awards, eight employ some form of unconventional narrative. Thus it can be concluded that even professionals prefer non-traditional narrative form over linear.

            In conclusion, non-traditional narratives provide a more compelling viewing experience due to the interactivity they require and the enhancements they provide to the plot; even statistics prove that non-casual audiences are more likely to enjoy an unconventional narrative over linearity.