cultural literacy 23 Flashcards
premise of Notorious
U.S. government agent T. R. Devlin (Grant) enlists the help of Alicia Huberman (Bergman), the daughter of a German war criminal, to infiltrate a circle of executives of IG Farben hiding out in Rio de Janeiro after WWII; the situation becomes complicated when the two fall in love as Huberman is instructed to seduce a Farben executive (played by Claude Rains)
Rope
1948 psychological crime thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Jimmy Stewart
premise of Rope
two aesthetes strangle their former classmate from prep school, just before a party, as the fulfillment of a “superman” moral doctrine espoused by one of the guests, their former housemaster (Stewart), the two make slips over the course of the evening, leading the housemaster to suspect foul play as the murdered victim never shows up to the party
Strangers on a Train
1951 psychological thriller film noir directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Farley Granger
plot of Strangers on a Train
mentally unstable man, Bruno, meets Tennis star and lover of senator’s daughter, Guy, on a train, Bruno proposes a scheme, “crisscross”, by which each murders the person the other wants to get rid of: Guy would kill Bruno’s father and Bruno would kill Guy’s wife, Bruno goes through with it and expects Guy to do the same, showing up in Washington and making things awkward for Guy, Bruno threatens to expose Guy by leaving Guy’s lighter on the island in the amusement park where he committed the murder, but Guy shows up tailed by the police and Bruno dies, police find the lighter on Bruno thus backing up Guy’s story and exonerating him
Rear Window
1954 mystery thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring James Stewart and Grace Kelly
plot of Rear Window
photographer Jeff is recuperating with a cast on his leg and thus homebound in his apartment that looks out on a rear courtyard of the apartment block, he starts observing the apartment of one tenant (Raymond Burr), Mr. Thorwald, who appears to have murdered his wife and chopped her up, he meanwhile is having strife with his girlfriend, Lisa (Kelly), whom along with his nurse and his old Air Force buddy who is now a detective he tells about what he has seen, they have difficulty convincing the detective so they take matters into their own hands to prove their case, putting themselves in danger with Jeff almost getting killed when Thorwald discovers that Jeff has been observing him, the police arrive in time to thwart Jeff’s murder and arrest Thorwald
synopsis of Dostoevsky’s The Idiot
Prince Myshkin, a gentle and kind-hearted nobleman recently returned to Russia after years in a Swiss clinic for epilepsy, encounters the passionate Parfyon Rogozhin on a train to Saint Petersburg. Rogozhin is obsessed with the beautiful but troubled Nastasya Filippovna, and he pursues her, sparking a love triangle that draws in Myshkin. Myshkin’s attempts to help Nastasya lead him to interact with a wide circle, including the wealthy Epanchin family, whose youngest daughter, Aglaya, he comes to love. Nastasya, however, struggles with her trauma and wavers between Myshkin and Rogozhin, leading to jealousy, public scandals, and intense confrontations. Myshkin, driven by compassion, ultimately proposes to Nastasya, but on their wedding day, she flees with Rogozhin, Myshkin discovers that Rogozhin has murdered Nastasya, leaving Myshkin heartbroken and descending back into a state of mental fragility, trapped in a tragic cycle of love, sacrifice, and unfulfilled hope.
Pawn Stars
reality TV show on the History Channel about a pawn shop
Love It or List It
a reality TV show on HGTV
premise of Love It or List It
a designer plans and carries out a renovation of a couple’s home while a real estate agent meanwhile finds homes on the market that meet the couple’s requirements, couple must choose
HGTV
Home & Garden Television
Duck Dynasty
American reality TV show on A&E about a family in Louisiana running a hunting supply business
Robertson family
name of the family on Duck Dynasty
Duck Commander
name of the hunting supply company on Duck Dynasty
House Hunters
American reality TV show on HGTV
Jersey Shore
American reality TV show on MTV
Snooki, Pauly D, “The Situation”
three cast members of Jersey Shore
Fixer Upper
American reality TV show on HGTV about a married couple who own a home renovation and redecoration business
Mountain Men
American reality TV show on History
Keeping Up with the Kardashians
American reality TV show on E!
Catfish: The TV Show
American reality TV show on MTV based on the 2010 film Catfish
American Pickers
American reality TV show on the History Channel about a host and co-host who travel the U.S. to buy antiques for resale
The Biggest Loser
American reality TV show on NBC
Deadliest Catch
American reality TV show on the Discovery Channel that follows crab fishermen in Alaska
Storage Wars
American reality TV show on A&E that follows abandoned storage locker auctions and the people who bid on them
Bridezillas
American reality TV show on WE tv
WE tv
American pay television channel owned by AMC networks, oriented mainly towards lifestyle and entertainment programming targeting women
The Bachelor
American reality TV show on ABC
The Bachelorette
American reality TV show on ABC, spin-off of The Bachelor
The Real Housewives
American reality TV franchise on Bravo
Property Brothers
a Canadian reality TV show on HGTV on which two brothers help contestants find and transform fixer-uppers while staying in their budget
RuPaul’s Drag Race
American reality TV show in which competitors dress in drag and engage in competitive performance with other contestants
The Voice
American reality TV series on NBC, part of the international The Voice franchise
MasterChef
American competitive cooking reality TV series featuring Gordon Ramsay
Alaskan Bush People
American reality TV show on the Discovery Channel that follows a family living in the wilds of Alaska
The Island
American survival reality TV series on NBC, hosted by adventurer and survivalist Bear Grylls
The Surreal Life
2000s American reality TV show on CW and VH1 featuring celebrities who had fallen on hard times trying to get their lives together again
Emmanuel Lewis, Vince Neil, Corey Feldman
three celebrities who appeared on The Surreal Life
The Simple Life
American reality TV show on Fox that followed socialites Paris Hilton and Nicole Ritchie as they worked low-paying jobs
The Osbournes
American reality TV show on MTV that followed Ozzy Osbourne’s family
Bar Rescue
American reality TV show on Paramount Network
Heinrich Blücher
20th c. German poet and philosopher, second husband of Hannah Arendt, communist and anti-Stalinist, fled with Arendt to U.S. at outbreak of WWII
“the anti-political principle”
Blücher’s term for describing totalitarianism’s destruction of any space for resistance
Dwight Macdonald
20th c. American writer and activist, member of the New York Intellectuals, editor of Partisan Review
Henry Stimson
American statesman in early 20th c., served as Secretary of State and Secretary of War under both Democratic and Republican administrations; Secretary of War during WWII, oversaw American military efforts in WWII
Dean Acheson
Secretary of State under Truman, became target of McCarthy’s targeting of State Dept. for failing to stop spread of communism in China
the China “White Paper”
results of 1949 study authorized by Dean Acheson to investigate recent Sino-American relations
Averell Harriman
American Democratic politician and businessman, Secretary of Commerce under Truman, governor of New York
George Kennan
American diplomat and historian, author of the “Long Telegram” and “The Sources of Soviet Conduct”
U.S. government agent T. R. Devlin (Grant) enlists the help of Alicia Huberman (Bergman), the daughter of a German war criminal, to infiltrate a circle of executives of IG Farben hiding out in Rio de Janeiro after WWII; the situation becomes complicated when the two fall in love as Huberman is instructed to seduce a Farben executive (played by Claude Rains)
premise of Notorious
1948 psychological crime thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Jimmy Stewart
Rope
two aesthetes strangle their former classmate from prep school, just before a party, as the fulfillment of a “superman” moral doctrine espoused by one of the guests, their former housemaster (Stewart), the two make slips over the course of the evening, leading the housemaster to suspect foul play as the murdered victim never shows up to the party
premise of Rope
1951 psychological thriller film noir directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Farley Granger
Strangers on a Train
mentally unstable man, Bruno, meets Tennis star and lover of senator’s daughter, Guy, on a train, Bruno proposes a scheme, “crisscross”, by which each murders the person the other wants to get rid of: Guy would kill Bruno’s father and Bruno would kill Guy’s wife, Bruno goes through with it and expects Guy to do the same, showing up in Washington and making things awkward for Guy, Bruno threatens to expose Guy by leaving Guy’s lighter on the island in the amusement park where he committed the murder, but Guy shows up tailed by the police and Bruno dies, police find the lighter on Bruno thus backing up Guy’s story and exonerating him
plot of Strangers on a Train
1954 mystery thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring James Stewart and Grace Kelly
Rear Window
photographer Jeff is recuperating with a cast on his leg and thus homebound in his apartment that looks out on a rear courtyard of the apartment block, he starts observing the apartment of one tenant (Raymond Burr), Mr. Thorwald, who appears to have murdered his wife and chopped her up, he meanwhile is having strife with his girlfriend, Lisa (Kelly), whom along with his nurse and his old Air Force buddy who is now a detective he tells about what he has seen, they have difficulty convincing the detective so they take matters into their own hands to prove their case, putting themselves in danger with Jeff almost getting killed when Thorwald discovers that Jeff has been observing him, the police arrive in time to thwart Jeff’s murder and arrest Thorwald
plot of Rear Window
Prince Myshkin, a gentle and kind-hearted nobleman recently returned to Russia after years in a Swiss clinic for epilepsy, encounters the passionate Parfyon Rogozhin on a train to Saint Petersburg. Rogozhin is obsessed with the beautiful but troubled Nastasya Filippovna, and he pursues her, sparking a love triangle that draws in Myshkin. Myshkin’s attempts to help Nastasya lead him to interact with a wide circle, including the wealthy Epanchin family, whose youngest daughter, Aglaya, he comes to love. Nastasya, however, struggles with her trauma and wavers between Myshkin and Rogozhin, leading to jealousy, public scandals, and intense confrontations. Myshkin, driven by compassion, ultimately proposes to Nastasya, but on their wedding day, she flees with Rogozhin, Myshkin discovers that Rogozhin has murdered Nastasya, leaving Myshkin heartbroken and descending back into a state of mental fragility, trapped in a tragic cycle of love, sacrifice, and unfulfilled hope.
synopsis of Dostoevsky’s The Idiot
reality TV show on the History Channel about a pawn shop
Pawn Stars
a reality TV show on HGTV on which contestanats must accept their own renovated house or move in to a different house
Love It or List It
a designer plans and carries out a renovation of a couple’s home while a real estate agent meanwhile finds homes on the market that meet the couple’s requirements, couple must choose
premise of Love It or List It
Home & Garden Television
HGTV
American reality TV show on A&E about a family in Louisiana running a hunting supply business
Duck Dynasty
name of the family on Duck Dynasty
Robertson family
name of the hunting supply company on Duck Dynasty
Duck Commander
American reality TV show on HGTV on which real estate agent helps contestants find their dream house
House Hunters
American reality TV show on MTV following a group of young and wild friends living in New Jersey
Jersey Shore
three cast members of Jersey Shore
Snooki, Pauly D, “The Situation”
American reality TV show on HGTV about a married couple who own a home renovation and redecoration business
Fixer Upper
American reality TV show on History that follows several different people living in various wilderness environments around the U.S.
Mountain Men
American reality TV show on E! following the exploits of a family of influencers and socialites
Keeping Up with the Kardashians
American reality TV show on MTV based on the 2010 film Catfish
Catfish: The TV Show
American reality TV show on the History Channel about a host and co-host who travel the U.S. to buy antiques for resale
American Pickers
American reality TV show on NBC on which contestants compete to lose weight
The Biggest Loser
American reality TV show on the Discovery Channel that follows crab fishermen in Alaska
Deadliest Catch
American reality TV show on A&E that follows abandoned storage locker auctions and the people who bid on them
Storage Wars
American reality TV show on WE tv
Bridezillas
American pay television channel owned by AMC networks, oriented mainly towards lifestyle and entertainment programming targeting women
WE tv
American dating reality TV show on ABC
The Bachelor
American reality TV show on ABC, spin-off of The Bachelor
The Bachelorette
American reality TV franchise on Bravo
The Real Housewives
a Canadian reality TV show on HGTV on which two brothers help contestants find and transform fixer-uppers while staying in their budget
Property Brothers
American reality TV show in which competitors dress in drag and engage in competitive performance with other contestants
RuPaul’s Drag Race
American reality TV series on NBC, part of the international The Voice franchise
The Voice
American competitive cooking reality TV series featuring Gordon Ramsay
MasterChef
American reality TV show on the Discovery Channel that follows a family living in the wilds of Alaska
Alaskan Bush People
American survival reality TV series on NBC, hosted by adventurer and survivalist Bear Grylls
The Island
2000s American reality TV show on CW and VH1 featuring celebrities who had fallen on hard times trying to get their lives together again
The Surreal Life
three celebrities who appeared on The Surreal Life
Emmanuel Lewis, Vince Neil, Corey Feldman
American reality TV show on Fox that followed socialites Paris Hilton and Nicole Ritchie as they worked low-paying jobs
The Simple Life
American reality TV show on MTV that followed Ozzy Osbourne’s family
The Osbournes
American reality TV show on Paramount Network
Bar Rescue
20th c. German poet and philosopher, second husband of Hannah Arendt, communist and anti-Stalinist, fled with Arendt to U.S. at outbreak of WWII
Heinrich Blücher
Blücher’s term for describing totalitarianism’s destruction of any space for resistance
“the anti-political principle”
20th c. American writer and activist, member of the New York Intellectuals, editor of Partisan Review
Dwight Macdonald
American statesman in early 20th c., served as Secretary of State and Secretary of War under both Democratic and Republican administrations; Secretary of War during WWII, oversaw American military efforts in WWII
Henry Stimson
Secretary of State under Truman, became target of McCarthy’s targeting of State Dept. for failing to stop spread of communism in China
Dean Acheson
results of 1949 study authorized by Dean Acheson to investigate recent Sino-American relations
the China “White Paper”
American Democratic politician and businessman, Secretary of Commerce under Truman, governor of New York
Averell Harriman
American diplomat and historian, author of the “Long Telegram” and “The Sources of Soviet Conduct”
George Kennan