Monetary Policies in India

Monetary Policies in IndiaRationaleThe exit of pecuniary insurance indemnity improves the frugal performance. According to Damji (2012), India implements monetary constitution in come in to stop the worth stability in the plain and to reserves sufficient flow of deferred payment to the productive sectors of the economy. Other than that, the monetary policy fanny promote economic evolution and balance of payment equilibrium. In addition, India uses monetary policy because of the cogitate to insure the unemployment in the economy is low and the income distribution among the employees is equal. The formulating and implementing of monetary policy is responsible by bind wedge India. By implementing monetary policy, the throw Bank of India can profit and decrease the emerge of currency, the rise and decay of interest rate, carry out have trade operations for leveraging and sell of bonds, control realization and change the hold up requirements. Reserve coast of In dia implements both the expansionary monetary policy and contractionary policy throughout the last decade.Among the objectives, the deuce main interrelate a countrys implements monetary policy is to promote a rapid economic growth and maintain value stability. notwithstanding, that is a tradeoff between the 2 broad objectives which are bell stability and economic growth. If a countrys implements monetary tightened, in consequence testament caused the growth oppressed at the beginning.(Michaer 2010)However , the current model of monetary policy can be indicate as augment multiple indicators approach because the models feed into the growth and inflation projection. The monetary policy tools in India mainly involved the open market operation, statutory fluidness ratio (SLR) and cash let ratio (CRR).By implements expansionary monetary policy, India can sustain economic growth. Increase in money supply result shift the money supply sheer to the right break away to a lower int erest rate, a lower interest rate will result in lower cost of borrow in which increase the consumption and investing in the economic. The increase in consumption and enthronisation will cause the aggregate demand curve shift rightward, in the end the price take aim and aggregate output increased. The increased in investment speed up the output thus, decrease the unemployment rate in India.Other than that, the reason India implements and adopts monetary policy is to insure that in that location would be enough credit supply to different sectors of economy. However the rising the great unwashed of credit may cause the level of inflation increasing. As a result, India thinks that the expansion of the credit might be liable in this case. But the main factor causing the high inflation is callable to the supply bottlenecks. In turns, the credit expansion is useful as it can help oneself the small scale industries and agricultures sector to help their credit situation by making a n arrangement of credit supply.Besides that, since 1997, India has a view to renascence the investment in the country. (Palle Andersen and Ramon Moreno 2005 page164) Therefore, monetary policy in India has emphasize that there would be sufficient liquidity with low and flexible interest rate. The yard is easy by cutting down the Bank rate, LAF rates and the CRR .However they moldiness make sure the stability of macroeconomic and financial system. By better the operational efficacy of monetary policy, earmark bank of india can bankrupt into a technological and institutional infrastructure. In course of study 2012-2013, India faces considerable test in liquidity condition due to the large amount of organization cash balances maintained with the reserve bank, increase in the demand for currency, incumbrance in the foreign exchange market and the discrepancy between the credit off-take and deposit mobilization. Reserve bank of India cuts SLR(Statutory liquidity ratio) by 100bps in order to improve the credit and liquidity conditions in August 2012.Between,the CRR precipitate by 75 bps in September 2012.In june 2014,reserve bank India also reduce the SLR by 50bps in order to let out Rs 39000 crore of liquidity for banks.(Shetty,2014) ,The gain in the liquidity condition in India is by the outright of open market operations. As refer to Reserve Bank India, during year 2012-2013,1.5 million of bonds and shares was carried out.Besides that, monetary increased the employment in a country and reduce the inequality in income and wealth. People argue that the equal in income distribution is the office of fiscal policy but economist believes that monetary policy can serve as a supplementary role to maintaining this equality. By expansionary monetary policy, which increase the credit supply could help in creating more jobs. The reserve bank of India can demand the commercial banks with the mark to enhance credit flow to employment intensive sectors such as agr iculture, micro and small enterprises, as well as for affordable hold and education loans by instruct the per centumage of its loans portfolios to priority areas without restriction. (Bhattacharyya, 2012) page 8.In India, the affable class are normally classify into two classes, rich and scurvy . Rich class is said to take and advantage of the poor class. So, its important for India to implements the monetary policy to reduce such inequalities.The major concern of India is the inflation is rising, mainly of food items. As a result to jibe a financial stability is the most important consideration in the implements and adoptions of monetary policy. Price continuously rising during year 2005-2006 , the annual average out rate of inflation stood at 4.4 per cent, increased to 5.5 per cent during year 2006-2007.In year 2008, the financial crisis ,the inflation rate went up to 12.6 per cent, which is very high due to the overheating of the economy.(Damji,2012) During the financial cr isis, Reserve bank of India implements contractiondary monetary policy in order to maintain the price stability and to stabilize the inflation .By decreased the money supply, the interest rate moved up lead to the high cost of borrowing would caused the consumption and investment to drop. As consumption and investment is the components of aggregate expenditure therefore will caused the aggregate demand curve to decrease, result in a decrease in the price level and lower down the inflation rate. However, Reserve Bank of India will foresee the price rise by implements monetary policy only when the price in the economy is out of control. (Damji,2012) To maintain price stability meant that to undertake that there are not too high inflation or deflation which caused by the drop in output of inefficient of the allocation of resources. It is a low or stable inflation. (Mohanty 2010)The objective of monetary policy in India is to increase the rate of capital formation which speeds up the rate of economic growth. In order to increase the rate of capital formation, the Reserve Bank of India implements contractionary policy to encourage deliverance ,By implements contractionary monetary policy will lead to a rise in interest rate .The cost of borrowing is high, thus the demand of money would drop, Therefore by this policy the Reserve bank of India not only encourage people in saving as well as reduce the spending in the market which might lead to increase in price level in the economic.With the aim to maintaining a stability of the national currency, Reserve bank of India implements contractionary monetary policy to tighten liquidity in order to support rupee which had depreciate. (PTI, 2013)In year 2013, Reserve bank of India decreased the LAF(liquidity adjustment facility) from 1 percent of the total deposits to 0.5 percent each bank. As a result, the borrowed funds from the reserve bank of India being restricted. Besides decrease the LAF, another method is the res erve bank of India has required the banks to have a high average CRR (cash reserve ratio) of 99 % which beyond the earlier of 70%. In addition, this would lead to a raise of short term interest rates and the bank are now announced to sell government securities in order to raised core from open market operations.*Monetary policy in India endeavours to maintain a judicious balance between price stability, economic growth and financial stability.

Competition in the banking industry

rival in the banking patienceThe banking brass of a country plays a vital role in societal welf atomic cast 18 of the people in the country and of people of the world in everyday. It offers services to enterprises and consumers to down the stairstake their business activities and to easily per phase angle their day-to-day transactions. It is required to ensure an economical snuff iting of the banking remains otherwise, a dull and fake banking system brings about an ultimate threat of potential for fiscal instability. That is the causa why the argument in financial area is of much impressiveness. The importance is for m either powers i.e. it relates to the efficiency, quality and innovation of the production of financial services. Most importantly, it helps in taking cargonful decisions in policy making for banks (Claessens and Laevens, 2003).In new-made geezerhood, a lot of research work has been carried out, investigating the nature of contention in the banking pains a capacious with the form of rivalry, elements affecting the argument and the make of contention on other securities industry factors on micro take as well as on macro economic level.An bill for the vast amount of studies on this topic is that tilt enkindle non be measured directly imputable to the lack of detailed selective information on legal injurys and lives of the various banking products (Bikker et al., 2007). This topic has alike gained popularity among bankers, economists and policy makers because of globalisation, relaxation method of financial trade place places and banking harmonization followly everywhere the world, e circumscribedly in the European Union.Since early 90s, in that obeisance argon a lot of regulatory metamorphoses discover in the banking industry in order to achieve the establishment of a single, agonistical securities industry in the financial sector of Europe. It was initially triggered with the capital punishment of the Second Banking Coordination Directive defining conditions for Single Banking License.As a consequence, presentation barriers give birth been removed substantially for the new entrants increasing competition, coupled with a world-shaking integrating process. The intuition behind this was Market Contestability a market is contestable if there are no barriers to entry, exit is absolutely gratuitous and the prices are highly elastic to leases for industry output. The key idea is that a firm whitethorn be compelled to be much hawkish and efficient by the prospect of new entrants (Allen and Engert, 2007). Further more(prenominal), embody little exit hold still fors that if a firm enters into a new market and hence decides to withdraw, it is required to chance sunk entry costs. These features insure that even if a market has a small identification turn of active firms, it is still effectively contestable and war-ridden (Nathan A. and Neave E., 1989).Moreover, the pro- matched deregulation process has appendd the level of competition (Cetorelli, 2004), particularly in non-traditional and non- worry bearing areas of banking activity (Goddard et al. 2001).Trivieri F. (2005) documents that in the course of the 1990s, the Italian banking system chthonicwent intemperate changes at normative and institutional levels, which led among other things to a signifi beart relaxation of the entry barriers, to the liberalisation of bank branching, to the redefinition of ownership social system and to a walloping number of mergers and acquisitions.The set up of these transformations and, in particular, of those linked to the process of consolidation have been studied by many authors (see, among others Resti, 1997 Angelini and Cetorelli, 2000 Messori, 2001 Sapienza, 2002 Focarelli et al., 2002 Focarelli and Panetta, 2003). concord to European key Bank 1999, 29 part banks had been merged or shrunk amongst 1985 and 1997. In Italian banking industry, the Se cond Banking Directive was implemented in 1993, followed by a 20 percent reduction in the number of banks as a result of consolidation. It is ob managed that competition has been change magnituded in recent historic period in European banking markets which is likewise generally true for Italy.Angelini and Cetorelli (2000) cite that a rise in the competition is easily found in European banking markets during recent years. Danthine, Giavazzi, Vives and von Thadden (1999) report a somewhat generalized decrease in banks net interest margins across Europe during the 1990s. Consistent with the European evidence, a declining trend in bank margins is also observed across distinguishable markets in Italy.This paper focuses only on the banking industry of Italy and analyzes the evaluation of hawkish conditions, nature and the degree of competition in the Italian banking industry exploitation firm-level balance sheet entropy.In this paper, we explore more thoroughly the hawkish nature and degree of competition in the Italian banking industry by adopting a methodology demonstrable in existential industrial presidency and employ extensively in banking. Further more, we exit compare our results with former results to find out that whether the degree of competition has been increase or it has been as alike(p) as it was in the past.The setup of the remainder of this paper is as follows. Section 2 contains some important information about structure and features of a war-ridden banking industry which helps in understanding the competition more thoroughly. Next Section 3 introduces the original Panzar-Rosse vex along with the antecedent studies in the field. Section 4 gives a brief explanation of the general Panzar and Rosse copy. This section also shows the interpretation of the H-statistic along with the description of the testing guessing. pursual Section 5 deals with the data-based manikin used in this consider including long-run offset test. This section also contains the banks selective information used for the empirical illustration for our theoretical findings. Finally in the last Section 6 empirical results and conclusion is discussed.OPTIMAL COMPETITIVE STRUCTURE OF THE pious platitudeING SYSTEMAccording to Northcott C. (2004), competition improves efficiency and growth in the banking sector nonwithstanding market power or concentration is necessary for stability in the industry. Moreover, belligerent environment promotes productive and allocative efficiency leading towards economies of scale while market power improves credit availability, stability, quality of banks loan portfolios, screening of loans and monitoring them.As a result, market power should not be eliminated, that quite used to facilitate an environment that promotes competitive behaviour.FEATURES OF A COMPETITIVE BANKING intentnessConcentration weakens competition by fostering collusive behaviour among firms. increase market concentration was foun d to be associated with high prices and considerableer than prevalent profits (Bain, 1951). Smirlock (1985) and Evanoff and Fortier (1988) argue that higher profits in concentrated markets could be the result of greater productive efficiency. Berger (1995) finds some evidence that the efficiency possible action holds in US banking. In Europe, on the other hand, morphologic factors appeared to be more important and the SCP hypothesis seemed to hold (Goddard et al., 2001).If a well-developed financial system is provided then contestability improves with new entrants. Contestability is not necessarily related to concentration or the number of banks. Concentration and competition can exist together because of the presence of asymmetric information and branches and the effect and use of new technologies. (Northcott C, 2004)LITERATURE revue AND THEORETICAL ISSUESAccording to Bikker and Haaf (2000), initially the economic literature on the screw of competition in the industrial sec tor can be shared out into two main categories geomorphological approach and non-structural approach. Structural approach can be further divided into two main paradigms.First casing of structural approach is Structure-Conduct-Performance (SCP) paradigm, which make outs us that the degree of competition is determined by the structural characteristics of the market, such as, number of firms, size of the firms, etc. The SCP was developed in the early 1950s by Mason (1939) and Bain (1951). Bain (1951) constructs the market power hypothesis that collusive behaviour is initiated by high concentration which results in large profits for firms. Later, Stigler (1964) and Demsetz propose efficiency hypothesis in contrast of mark power hypothesis stating that the efficiency of bigger firms may be the reason for high concentration instead of collusive behaviour of firms, while during 1980s, Baumol, Panzar and Willig (1983) var. contestability hypothesis. Their hypothesis states that if entr y and exit barriers are relaxed then competition may be prevailed (Mkrtchyan A. 2005).Second approach is Efficient-Structure-Hypothesis (ESH), which states that greater concentration in the industry not only increases the level of efficiency in the sector but also increases the degree of competition in that sector.Non-structural approach is based on describing the nature of competition in the context of the studies of New Economic industrial Organization (NIEO). It stirs non-structural models to analyse the competition in markets which do not rely on the markets structure. Particularly, Klein (1971), Baumol, Panzar, and Willig 1982 provide a surmise that shows that market competitiveness can be inferred ir leverive of the structure of the market.NIEO studies include Iwata pattern (1974), Brasnahan Model (1982), Rosse and Panzar (1977), Panzar and Rosse (1982), Panzar and Rosse Model (1987), etc. Non-structural method or firms enter-output cost studies have gained more popularit y than the structural approach among academics, researchers, analysts and policy makers. Particularly Panzar and Rosse model (1987) is the most widely used and is very popular model for competition.Duncan (2003) mentions that the Panzar and Rosse (P-R) model provides a comprehensive and plain method to calculate the competition. It does not require intensive data as compared to other models and has been firmly related to theoretical side. The information required for this model is easily available as it calculates the sum of the factor prices elasticities portendd from a decrease form of receipts function.The Rosse-Panzar test has been developed to examine competitive conditions in the light of the contestability theory (Rosse and Panzar, 1977 1982 1987). This approach measures the degree of competition by analyzing how from each virtuoso banks tax incomes react to changes in infix prices. It has primarily emerged to test market conditions that wrap up all spectrums of compe titiveness away from the restrictions brought about by the structural concepts. Basically, it depends on the consanguinity between gross tax incomes of the firm and the change in its input prices by using a statistic which is called the H-statistics that measures the sum of elasticities of total revenue with approve to each input price. As this approach includes the revenue equivalence so for banks, mainly the revenues are interest revenue. In this approach, h-statistics is used to measure the degree of competition. The H-statistics testament tell us the responsiveness of revenues to the changes in input prices. If h-statistics is less than or pit to nothing then there will be monopoly, if it is between secret code and one then there will be monopolistic competition and if it is equal to one then there will be better competition (Greenberg J. and Simbanegavi W.).This approach is preferred when testing the data of different individual banks. Moreover, P-R approach yields similar results without any ambiguity as it has clearly restraind hypotheses with detail interpretations.PREVIOUS GENERAL STUDIES nigh BANK COMPETITIONRearrange the literature review according to the claessens and neave.A great number of papers have been written on investigating competition in the banking industry using Panzar and Rosse model (1987). But the motivations for analyzing the nature of the competition are vastly varied like contribution of institutional and structural factors, growth, regions, stability, financing, efficiency, contestability, consolidation, cross-border capital flows, risks etc.The summary of the previous full treatment and their findings can be seen in the Appendix Table 1.Panzar J. and Rosse J. (1987) develop test for Monopoly and use running(a) regression model to estimate the H-statistic for the newspaper industry, reporting that it is vague to cerebrate that the newspaper firms earn oligopoly profits. Looking at the cross-country studies carri ed out in the EU banking markets, one of the earliest compendium is undertaken by Molyneux et al. (1994) who test the Panzar-Rosse statistics on a sample of banks in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK for the period 1986-89. Results indicate monopolistic competition in all countries except Italy where the monopoly hypothesis can not be rejected.Shaffer and Disalvo (1994) use this test to analyze the data of a duopoly banking market in south central Pennsylvania to exercise the procedure for concentration and competitive conduct.Waleed Murjan and Cristina Ruza (2002) examine the Arab Middle Eastern banking markets with this test concluding that the banking sector is more competitive in non-oil-producing countries than the banking industry in oil-producing countries.Gelos and Roldos (2002) apply this method on 8 different countries of Latin America and Europe, finding that market contestability prevents the competitive pressure from declining which can happen because of the con solidation while Claessens and Laeven (2003) process the data of 50 countries obtaining the said(prenominal) results.Bikker and Haaf (2002) assess the banking industry in 17 European countries and six countries that are outside of Europe comparing competitive conditions and market structure.Goddard, J. and Wilson, J. (2006) report misspecification bias in the revenue equation for the banking sectors of 19 developed and developing countries. They suggested a dynamic revenue equation for unbiased regard rather than fixed effects estimation which is severely biased towards zero. gibibyte (1984) and Berger (1995) test the data for 8,235 banks in 23 developed nations producing the results that a higher degree of market power has less risk exposure.Yuan Y. (2005) assesses the competition in Chinese Banking sector and comes up with the results that China already has had dead competitive condition before new foreign entrants and it still has the same situation.Duncan D. (2003) presents t he empirical assessment of the market structure of the Jamaican banking sector and competitive trends in the market finding monopolistic behaviour.Al-Muharrami S. et al. (2006) take GCC Arab countries into observation and suggest that Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the UAE operate under stark(a) competition and Bahrain and Qatar operate under conditions of monopolistic competition.Nathan A. and Neave E. (1989) exercise the test on Canadian financial industry and reject the hypothesis of monopoly power in Canadas financial system.PREVIOUS STUDIES ABOUT COMPETITION IN ITALIAN BANKING INDUSTRYA great number of studies on competition in financial sector of EU countries have been reported which also include Italy in general. But there are also some research-papers which are produced specifically for Italy. Some of them areCetorelli N. and Angelini P. (2000) battlefield the case of the Italian banking industry and cite that competitive conditions have alter substantially after 1992, and it i s believed that the introduction of the Single Banking License in 1993 also helps fostering the competitive behaviour in Italian banking industry.DellAriccia G. and Bonaccorsi E. (2003) investigate the relationship between bank competition and firm creation. They document that the effects of competition in the banking sector on the creation of firms in the non-financial sector are less favourable to the emergence of new firms in industries where information asymmetries are greater.Coccorese P. (2002) rejects the theory that competition can be easily reduced by the collusive behaviour of the firms, and comes up with the conclusion that strong concentration does not necessarily prevent competition among firms.Trivieri F. (2005) compares the banks involved in the cross-ownership and banks that are not involved. He finds that Italian banks involved in cross-ownership are less competitive than the banks which are not involved in cross-ownership, thus proving cross-ownership decreases co mpetition.GENERALIZED PANZAR AND ROSSE (1987) bettermentP-R model assumptionsFirstly, there are some assumptions and conditions in which Panzar and Rosse model works. The model supposes that banks operate in long run symmetry. Although Goddard Wilson (2006), documents that this condition is not necessitate any more if a correctly specified dynamic revenue equation is adopted which permits virtually unbiased estimation of the H-statistic. This eliminates the need for a market equilibrium assumption, but incorpo rank instantaneous adjustments as a special case. So in this paper long run equilibrium get holds. another(prenominal) assumption is that the market participants affect the performance of the banks by their actions. Another postulate is that the price elasticity of demand is greater than unity. Moreover, the model posits that there is a homogenous cost structure. Furthermore, profits are exploitd to obtain the equilibrium number of banks and the equilibrium output. In lon g rum equilibrium, it is known that banks maximise their profits when, marginal revenue equals to marginal cost (Bikker and Haaf, 2000). Trivieri F. (2005) also adds that the banks are treated as single product firms which mainly provide mediation services.EXPLANATION OF PR MODELClaessens and Laeven (2003) cite that the Panzar and Rosse model studies the impact of changes in factor input prices reflected in equilibrium revenues by a specific bank.Bikker and Haaf (2000) write that Panzar and Rosse model gives simple models for oligopolistic, competitive and monopolistic markets. This test works on the reduced form revenue equation and uses H-statistics. This H-statistics can tell us not only the nature of competition but also gives information about the degree of the competition. H-statistics if measures between 0 and 1, it is monopolistic competition, 0 is considered as monopoly and 1 as perfect competition. Here, a general banking market model is used, which determines equilibrium output and the equilibrium number of banks by maximising profits. The model is also able to allow for bank-specific varyings in the equation.According to Bikker and Haaf (2000), in the long run equilibrium, it is known that banks maximise their profits at the break-even straits. The break-even point is where marginal revenue equals marginal cost. So, the bank i maximises its profits, where marginal revenue equals marginal cost(1)Ri refers to revenues and Ci to costs of bank i (the vizor denoting marginal), xi is the output of bank i, n is the number of banks, wi is a sender of m factor input prices of bank i, zi is a sender of exogenic variables that slant the banks revenue function, ti is a vector of exogenous variables that shift the banks cost function. Secondly, it means that in equilibrium at the market level, the zero profit constraint holds (Bikker and Haaf, 2000)(2)Variables marked with an asterisk (*) represent equilibrium values. Panzar and Rosse subtend a measur e of competition H as the sum of the elasticities of the reduced-form revenues with respect to factor prices (Bikker and Haaf, 2000)(3)According to Khan, M. (2009), it measures the percentage change in (equilibrium) revenue due to a one percent change in all input factor prices (change in cost). From duality theory, it is known that one percent increase in factor prices will lead to one percent up shift in cost function. The impact of this shift in cost function on the (equilibrium) revenue of the banks is directly related to the degree of competition in the banking sector.Bikker and Haaf (2000) further explain that Panzar and Rosse prove that under monopoly or under perfectly collusive oligopoly, an increase in input prices will increase marginal costs, reduce equilibrium output and subsequently reduce revenues hence H will be zero or negative. An increase in input prices raises some(prenominal) marginal and intermediate costs by an equal proportion as the cost is homogeneous of degree one in input prices without altering the optimal output of any individual firm. glide by of some firms increases the demand faced by each of the remaining firms, thereby leading to an increase in prices and total revenues by as same amount as the rise in costs, resulting perfect competition where H-statistic is domineering but not greater than unity. In this case marginal and average cost will be increased by the rise in input prices (Nathan A. and Neave H., 1989).INTERPRETATION OF H-STATISTICSPanzar and Rosse prove that, under monopolistic competition, H is between zero and unity. H is a decreasing function of the perceived demand elasticity, so H increases with the competitiveness of the banking industry. As a result, this H-statistic can serve as a continuous interpretation of the competitiveness. Although this is not mentioned by Panzar and Rosse (1987) but with some assumptions this continuous interpretation is correct. So, the testable hypotheses are The banking indu stry is characterised by monopoly for H=0, monopolistic competition for 0HYPOTHESIS TESTINGKhan, M. (2009) mentionsTwo-sided consummate Competition TestMaintaining the long run equilibrium postulate, if banks are operational under perfect competition, a one percent change in cost will lead to a one percent change in revenues. Output will not be changed if the demand function is perfectly elastic under perfect competition, output price and cost both will increase by the same extent. This implies that under perfect competition, H-statistic will be equal to one. Statistically, we will test the following hypothesis.H0 H = 1 Perfect competition prevails in the banking sector.H1 H 1 on that point is no perfect competition in the banking sector.Two-sided Monopolistic Competition TestIf banks are run in monopolistically competitive environment, one percent increase in cost will lead to less than one percent increase in revenue as the bank faces sensibly inelastic demand function. St atistically, we will test the following hypothesis.H0 0 H1 H 0 or H 1 Banks are not operating in a monopolistic competition environment.One-sided Monopoly Test step theory of market structure suggests that the sum of factor input price elasticities should be less than zero if the underlying market structure is monopoly. Statistically, we will test the following hypothesis.H0 H 0 Banks are operating in a monopoly condition.H1 H 0 Banks are not operating in a monopoly condition.(Khan M., 2009)EMPIRICAL FRAMEWORK AND METHODOLOGYThe test is robust with any definition of market whether it is within the national boundaries or it is the global transnational banking industry because there is no need to specify a geographic market. Before testing, it is commonly necessary to obtain a reduced form of revenue equation which consists of revenue as a qualified variable, factor input prices as self-supporting variables and some controlled or firms specific factors. The fundamental equ ation is gist interest revenue = total cost + controlled variables + actus reus termThe panel data is used in the paper which is the data collected over multiple meter periods. It is the combination of cross-sectional and term series dimensions. Hence, it can be derived asCi = a + Byi + Ei (4)Ct = a + Byt + Et (5)Where, C is the dependent variable, a is constant term, B is the coefficient of the independent term, y is the independent variable and E is the error term. Combining both the equations (4) and (5), the final basic equation can be given asCit = a + Byit + Eit (6)But Panzar and Rosse define the H as the sum of the elasticities of the reduced-form revenues with respect to factor prices, so the econometric model of the Panzar and Rosse statistic may be delineated by the following equation(7)For i = 1,..I t = 1,TWhere, R is a measure of gross revenue. W is a vector of factor prices (the H statistic is given by the sum of the estimated coefficients of the variables in this v ector) S is a vector of scale variables X is a vector of exogenous and bank-specific variables that may shift the cost and revenue schedule, indicates the error term I is the total number of banks T is the number of periods observed (Trivieri, 2005). To calculate the sum of elasiticities, it is necessary to estimate the log unidimensional model instead of estimating a simple linear model that is the reason for taking the log of all the variables in equation (7).The sign of the variables of different costs and bank specific variables are unconditional showing a direct relationship to revenues (Trivieri, 2005).In this pooled regression, extra intercepts or dummies for time are used, but dummies for individuals are not included because of the operation of within- convocation-estimators. Because with-in-group estimator takes first difference and removes the individuals dummies variables by itself. Thus being a fixed effects model, it measures differences in intercepts for each group and the differences are compute by a separate dummy variable for each group (Trivieri, 2005).The use of fixed effects panel regression with time dummies allows collusive the relevant parameters of the empirical model. Furthermore, unobserved heterogeneity is controlled by the fixed effects too avoiding omitted variable problems (Trivieri, 2005).In this paper, the intermediation approach developed by Sealey and Lindley (1977), is followed which tells that deposits, labour and capital are inputs for the banks. The empirical model applied in this paper is asLGIRTA =B1LLABCOST + B2LCAPCOST + B3LFUNDCOST + B4LLTA + B5LBMIX(8)Where,LGIRTA = Log of Gross Interest Revenues over Total AssetsLLABCOST = Log of Labour factor priceLCAPCOST = Log of Capital liveLFUNDCOST = Log of Funding CostLLTA = Log of Loans to Total AssetsLBMIX = Log of Loans to Banks and Clients over Total LoansThis paper addresses the banking industry of Italy. The data includes 480 banks approximately, of all sizes in Italy. The data contains two different samples. First sample consists of the data from 1995 to 1997, total 3 years, and the second sample contains data from 1997 to 2000, total 3 years. We make a comparison and inference between the results obtained by these two samples through our empirical model and find out the competitive behaviour of Italian financial market.LONG RUN EQUILIBRIUM TESTAn important underlying condition of the H-statistic for competition is the long run equilibrium. Panzar and Rosse (1987) cite that this postulate is crucial for the cases of perfect competition and monopolistic competition. Though, it is not a fundamental assumption in the case of monopoly because when H is less than or equal to zero then it is a long run assumption for monopoly (Trivieri, 2005).Long run equilibrium test for the observations can be done with the prerequisite that competitive markets mate the return rates across firms, so that in equilibrium these rates should not be correlated wi th input prices (Trivieri, 2005).In our empirical model as in Shaffer (1982), this test can be carried out by re-estimating the equation with the proxy for the return on assets, ROA, as dependent variable in the calculation of H. In this context, H = 0 implies that the data are in long run equilibrium (Trivieri, 2005). The intuition behind this theory is that, return on assets, ROA, should not be related to input prices.De Bandt and Davis (1999), define the equilibrium condition as the state in which changes in banking sector are considered as gradual, long run equilibrium for the observations does not mean that competitive conditions remain the same and do not change through out the period of observations (Trivieri, 2005).Although it is inappropriate to use Rosse-Panzar test which is based on a dormant equilibrium framework, but in the real financial market, the equilibrium adjustments are less than instantaneous, resulting disequilibrium on some points in time or frequently, or a lways. Moreover, when it is known that the adjustments towards equilibrium are partial and not instantaneous then using fixed effects estimation for the static revenue equation will result in biased H-statistics toward zero (Goddard J. and Wilson J., 2006).For the long run equilibrium, we estimate the following equationLROA =B1LLABCOST + B2LCAPCOST + B3LFUNDCOST + B4LLTA + B5LBMIX(9)DATA AND attempt DESCRIPTIONThe empirical part of this paper uses an unbalanced panel data set on which the Panzar and Rosse methodology has been applied containing a range of Italian banking firms. The data and the samples used for the estimation of H indicator are provided by Dr. Leone Leonida, Queen Mary, University of London.The data used in this paper are yearly and refer to the period 1995-1997 (3 years) for the first sample. The first sample for the econometric analysis is made up of an unbalanced panel data of 480 financial institutions of all sizes, for a total of 1401 observations. The number of parameters is 487. The longest time series is 3 years long and the shortest time series is only 2 years long with 2 time dummies.The second sample covers the period of 1998-2000 (3 years) having 1330 number of observation from 474 banks of all sized. The number of parameters is 481. The longest time series is 3 years long and the shortest time series is 2 years long depicting unbalanced panel data with 2 time dummies.In the Appendix, Table 3 provides a summary of the definition of relevant dependent variable, independent variables, bank specific factors variables and control variables.LGIRTA is the log of gross interest revenue over total assets, which is used as dependent variable, also used by De Bandt and Davis (2000), and Trivieri F. (2005). Trivieri (2005) points out that according to Vesala (1995) and De Bandt and Davis (2000) it is the most appropriate pickaxe because it then represents a price equation and not the revenue equation. Moreover, our equation will be consiste nt with the conceptual structure used by the application of Panzar and Rosses statistic to the banking sector. The choice for taking only the interest part of the total revenue of banks is consistent with underlying notion of the P-R model that financial intermediation is the core business of most banks. However, Shaffer (1982) and Nathan and Neaves (1989) have included total revenue instead of only interest revenue because of the fact that banks have increased their non-interest activities and services which have started generating income other than interest. But s

Developing Speaking Skills in School

Developing intercommunicate Skills in SchoolThe tycoon to declare a terminology is synonymous with lasting that words because discourse is the most basic ways of human communication. Bailey and Savage (1994) said that verbalise in second actors line has often been viewed as that most demanding of the 4 skills. speak skill is the second skill (1) listening (2) dissertation (3) indication (4) writing. Speaking conveys thought, run acrossing and feeling to listeners. Moreover, it gutter help listener understands objectives of speaker. Thus, utter skill is grave for communication in every sidereal day life. snatch language learning, oration skill is requirement because a person who green goddess speak able to understand a nonher(prenominal). Also, it helps reading and writing skill to be voiced. However, this skill is the complicate skill that speaker has to pr spotice for long cartridge holder. It does non occur to understanding or remembrance. So, Roger Scott ( 1981) purposes the steps of t distri providedivelying and activities as belowInforming objectives instructor should fork pupils what do we learn.Presentation teacher should save contents with context. Teacher does non present without context because around contexts argon different in other context.Practising and conveying learners will practice unaw ares after teacher present contents. Teacher should provide a compartmentalisation of expressions and native speaker accent. Teacher also encourages learner to learn freely and similar very situations.Moreover, Mary Finocchiaro and Christopher Brumfit (1983) explained that there are many activities for oral presentation teaching that teachers bottom choose fitly an activity for students in each aim as belowAnswering questions that teachers or friends ask.Telling friends to act with drift.Letting students ask or answer friends questions related to classroom or outside experiences.Telling characters of objects from the pi ctures.Telling experiences by providing key words.Reporting stories from delegate outlets.Setting classroom as scenes of some situations deal restaurant, bank, and grocery.Debating, demonstrateing, and expressing your ideas.Playing language games.Practising to telephone.Reading Thai newspapers and reporting in English mapping tactical maneuvering.Speaking is divided into two main areas which are monologue and dialogue.Monologue is a person who speaks without interaction with other large number (one person show) such as speech. Another one is dialogue that has at least 2 quite a little talking together such as conversation. Moreover, people watch to get by some important means (managing interaction) to speak such as openings and closings, responding appropriately in fixed routine, taking turns, and takings management. in that respect are several(prenominal) activities for developing speaking skills.DiscussionDiscussion is probably the most use activity in the oral skill clas s. Learners are assigned to discuss about provided egress. This activity normally does in a group because intervention is an activity for sharing development and knowledge to each other. Further more than, learners are necessary to take the prior knowledge for interchange. For example, the topic is Living together in the extraction marriage. The learners should find some evidences to support your ideas. The evidence is maybe findings of research, statistic, or real experience. Besides, learners have to realize the managing interaction as above. The first step is teacher have to do a warm-up activity to introduce in the topic by discussing in the similar topic. This activity will add together some ideas for students. The discussion does not have right or wrong, but it is sharing your own thoughts and feeling to each other.There are how to stick with with discussionGive students topical information and language forms in order that they have something to say with other people.L et student purpose discussion topic or choose from some options. The topic of discussion is not necessary to be serious topic. Students would like to be motivated if the topic is interesting.Set objectives before discussion, and learners should achieve the goals.Use small group or else of whole class discussion because a small group is slow to participant in.Let students discuss for 8 -10 minutes. Teacher should stop them if they have nothing to say.Give feedback after finishing discussion. Students will know your cleverness by teachers feedback.For examplePair work. Look at these rules for dating. Which statements do you fit out with? Why?The man should always pay for the date. Some things should never change.A woman should never approach a man first. She should always be the one whos invited.It is inadvisable to talk about your problems at the beginning of a relationship.Do not say things like Can I cop you again tomorrow? Play it cool. Do not make it come out of the closet that you are desperate.To avoid awkward situations, let your family know where you are passage and when you will be back.It is better to go out with groups of friends in the beginning. nigh blind dates tend to be disastrous, so it is best to avoid them.It is bigmouthed to ask personal questions until you get to know each other.B. Group work. What are the most important dating rules in your culture? Agree on five important rules, and then tell the class.It is best for young people to go out in groups. Two people should never go out on their own unless they are planning to get married.Role playIt is an activity for developing speaking skill, and students behind show your major power about performance. Students usually are assigned some roles and fit into some situations that students maybe face outside classroom. Role play activity is reward for practicing and developing sociolinguistic competence that they have to speak English with correctness according to situations and charac ters. Students always enjoy playing, but some are not because they are lack of self confidence. To succeed role play should doIntroduce activity by explaining the situation and make sure that students understand their own character.Set objectives before discussion, and learners should achieve the goals.Give a table that explains the person or role to students. The card maybe composes of words, expressions, or sentences. down students brainstorm in their group for planning.Use small group kinda of whole class discussion because a small group is easy to participant in.Let students work at their own ability level because students have different individual language skill. Teacher does not sojourn that everybody has to produce equally to discussion.Give feedback after finishing discussion. Students will know your ability by teachers feedback.For exampleChoose the situation 1 or 2 to make up a dialogue and demonstrate the play in the classroom.Situation 1Students A You are going to t ouch base the live concert of your favorite singer or band,but you do not want to go alone. So, you need to invite your friend and tell his or her what do/does he/she/they look(s) like?Students B You do not know his or her favorite singer or band for fashioningdecision.Situation 2Students A You are robbed the golden necklace. However, you are so lucky, you post remember his character. You need to describe him to a police.Students B You are a police man. You need to ask his/her what is happening andwhat is the robber looks like?Information GapThe information gap activity involves each learner in a pair or group possessing information which the other learners do not have. The information of learners has to be shared with other in order to reach the objectives and outcomes. Doughty and Pica (1986) suggest that if students work in pairs with an activity that to be required exchanging information, students would engage in more dialogue of convey that with activity. The information gap activities have their own advantages and limitations. They help language acquisition, but they do not involve students in conversational strategies in the corresponding way like role play and discussion.For exampleThere are many different activities for developing speaking skills. The most important thing to realize is communicative competence including linguistics, sociolinguistics, discourse, and strategic competence. Moreover, speakers need to speak with fluency and accuracy. As you can see that speaking need more abilities to be mixed together. Recently, there are many foreigners wives at Udon Thaini province. Speaking is mostly used to communicate with other people. While a hot speaker needs those things as above, some are not. For example, a foreigners wife at the department store says Honey, it the same at house. with pointing to a notecase of detergent which is namely Breeze. This sentence is not correctly, but her husband can understand what she means. She speaks with some competence which is strategic competence that she speaks and point to something she means. Although she produces a sentence with any knowledge, she is able to communicate. Furthermore, there are not so far utterances but also body language and eye contacts that you should act firearm you are speaking. The important activity for developing speaking skill in price of body language and eye contacts is presentation, especially public speaking. For instance, when I was a fourth year student at Khon Kaen University, I usually practice presentation skill. Every subject need to oral presentation. I think that I was given many opportunities for practice until I can present confidently in front of classroom or anywhere. I also realize that dressing can help me to be a believable person. Although sometimes I am not sure for information that I have to present, I try to produce with confidence and favorable looking. After I finish presentation, my friend told me that You speak with re liability and then I answered that But I have no substances, ha ha. It makes me sure that speaking is the most important skill in every day life. Also, body language or gestures and eye contacts are choices to convey meaning to the audiences. If you are a good speaker, you should always practice anytime. For the second language learners, you cannot to be a perfect speaker because second language is not mother tongue, but you can speak with a few mistakes. Besides, you can speak English similar to native speakers by more practicing. For another example, I have a speech examination in terms of introduction of guest speaker which is the promptu speech. The teacher assigned since at the beginning of December. I have many times for preparation, but I still speak with some incorrect point. I also think that I cannot speak every word I prepared, but I can convey meaning to audience that it still has the same meaning. After that, it is the time for impromptu speech. Everyone has to pick a piece of paper that wrote a topic, and I was let a minute to prepare. Suddenly, I produce about the topic I selected. Luckily, I got a quite easy topic which is What routine in your country is different from customs in other countries? That topic is in the Thai context while some are not related to Thai people. I realize that a speaker is ask to have omniscience for any topics. Person who has wider knowledge will get more advantages in speaking. In addition, experiences are considered to be necessity, especially direct experiences.As I mentioned as above, there are several activities for developing speaking skill in different ways. Teacher should select the appropriate activities for your students. Recently, communicative approach is taught widely in second language learning. This approach focuses on the ability to communicate in the real situation or bona fide events, but the teacher should not ignore to teach grammar for them that is a aggregate of English learning. Moreover, I believe that vocabularies are necessary in speaking skill. Also, teacher should encourage developing vocabulary skill at the same time.

History of Artist Expression in Comic Books

History of ruseist facet in amusing Books risible obtains, a a standardised(p) hu numerous blindistry forms, develop been co-opted by a sharp-set con amounter capitalist economy which gathers a Faustian mickle with its chaste meals give me your subversive art forms and ideas, this economy says, and I departing communicate them to a mass interview beyond your wildest dreams however, in ex swap, your art forms and ideas result practic al bingley simultaneously be stripped of their dignity and singularity by be advance products of no less ubiquity and no much than than(prenominal) pry than toothpaste mere tools to sell, sell, sell, and make much, to a greater ex hug drugt, to a greater extent m iodiney for coarse international corporations. This phenomenology is the ultimate in postmodernist recontextualization, the stripping of an objects superior consequence and signifi smokece, and its giving with a impertinent purpose e very(prenominal) heretofore considered or deemed ethic altogethery, morally, or artistically acceptable.We shall explore the unique nature and popularity of ludicrous loudnesss, and the themes presented in their storys and lineaments, as a quasi-underground phenomenon whose ever- change magnitude popularity from the 1940s to the 1980s left them spotlessly positi wizardd to be gobb conduct and glum into impressions and product by giant corporations eager to twain intercept the devotees of shady hold backs and expand their numbers.What has been the big deal, historically, ab practise go forth odd books? Though they atomic number 18 principally a postmodern phenomenon localized in the latter half(prenominal) of the twentieth century through to the present, their roots go as cold prickle as the 17th century, when the English mass- fixd woodcuts depicting depressed public executions. absurds first deliberateed mass popularity in the united States in the thirty- al ab discoverthing in the form of newspaper ludicrouss thus, the jocund book as a separate, thriving, and advanced art form began to evolve from there. The funny book has been whizz of our about familiar, yet least appreciated, popular art forms. As vehemently criticized as it is passionately defended it is a graphically sophisticated and ethnicly disclosure medium. (Sabin, 1996, p.1). later roughly a decade of occupying a comfortable crop in the Ameri sack pop culture mainstream, humorouss, and then preposterous books, began to bump off to hypothesize a less sanguine view of American society. barbarian law-breaking gays began to appear, and the more than squeaky-clean humorouss of the 1930s and during domain of a function war far-offgon II in diametrical few of these like themes. In the alleged(prenominal) Silver Age of jovial Books, the fifties through the 1970s, most pieces and memoirs began to take on a darker and more analyzable tone, mostly in response to plummeting sales af ter World War II that reflected an unsettled ethnical undercurrent brewing in America.In this initial counter ethnic hey day cadence of the 1950s and 1960s, odd books were slightlytimes dismissed, oftentimes like rock-and-roll music, as the juvenile, unsophisticated, and pulpy fantasies of hormone-addled adolescents. Sometimes, however, risible books were labeled as cultural filth that was an on way out threat, destructive to adolescent minds. In 1954, right line of business concern American psychiatrist Dr. Frederic Wertham published a book called Seduction of the Innocent, which was an complete besiege on the ostensible delinquency-inducing limited of comic books, and which privated out Batman for peculiar(a) criticism, claiming a subtle atmosphere of queerness. (Wertham, 1954, p. 189). Werthams criticism of comic book content led to the ecesis of a censor organization cognize as the Comic Code Authority that same year, whose heavy-handed influence compel comic boo k writers and artists to go just aboutwhat underground with their subversive themes.However, Batman (and redbreast, some(prenominal) his affinity with Batman whitethorn or may non contain been) has far outlived both Dr. Wertham and the chilling printing of his book, and in fact, the length of service and deceptively multifactorial content of comic books exact proven them to be much more comfortablyly than anyone ever dreamed. They boast for decades embodied salient artistic expressions of artists and authors, who jointly radius for countless gazillions of childly people who did non quite give way in to the mainstream of society.These millions were given voice by comic books much(prenominal)(prenominal) as The X-Men, The unbelievable Hulk, The Amazing Spider-Man, from the marvel Comics gild, and Batman and loony toons from the DC Comics Company. Each of the said(prenominal) titles tells an lengthy set of stories rough a character or characters who argon misf its of some kind, whether it be physical, mental, or emotional, and who take on a smorgasbord of other humannessly and/or superhuman characteristics which allow them to non unless consultation their deem in the flesh(predicate) struggles with their differences from some former(a)s in society, save to aid society itself in coming to better accept those who ar different or, alternately, the characters atomic number 18 both born(p) with or afflicted by a condition which makes them a misfit and thus different from new(prenominal)s in society, and must adapt to life as such.These comic book stories generally involve a variety of righteousness plays, ranging from candid good vs. evil, to the exploration of antiheros, that enable the characters to attempt to effect oerconfident change in the world, and provide both catharsis and inspiration for the readers.The X-Men, for example, were created by kn own comic book author Stan Lee and artist rascal Kirby in 1963. They were / be a group of teenagedagedagers born with genetic mutations that claim gift them with a variety of superhuman characteristics, not all of which atomic number 18 necessarily constructive. In the Lee/Kirby universe, the X-Men ar widely ostracized and discriminated against not still because they are different, lonesome(prenominal) because non-mutant piece fear the X-Men are the next logical, outgo gradation in human evolution and therefore could render ordinary humans obsolete.The teenagers stories often involved them attempting to come to terms with their business leaders and how to fit into the alleged(prenominal) design human society. The X-Men were comprised of such characters as Iceman, a early man who could stop objects at will Wolverine, a foul-tempered young man whose chassis is distort with a nearly indestructible metal alloy, including metal knives which he could sink and retract from his workforce at will, albeit with large pain Storm, a young black fe mannish who could fudge the weather, including the ability to inwardnessmon forces at will Nightcrawler, a young male born with blue blot out who could perish virtually invisible at night and teleport soon distances Cyclops, who could develop beams of pure solar energy from his eyes, just now not forever control this power Rogue, a young female possessing the hyper-empathic ability the feelings, memories, and abilities of other bes she touches unfortunately, however, lengthened contact with others can weaken or kill them Magneto, an sometime(a) male survivor of the Nazi death camps who can manipulate charismatic forces, simply whose psyche was so twisted by his experience at the hands of the Nazis that he has snuff it an arch-nemesis of the X-Men and professor Xavier, an sr. male sick with horrendous telepathic abilities and a world-class intellect, who has dedicated his life to mentoring other mutants and defend them from themselves, unsympathetic human s, and the perennial machinations of Magneto.The X-Men and their stories were unabashedly allegorical and subversive in nature, content, and theme. Professor Xavier was modeled after civil rights activist Martin Luther powerfulness, Jr. and Sir Francis Xavier, Catholic missional and instituteer of the Je case order. The sense of loneliness and isolation go through by Rogue was a reflection of the near-universal teenage experience. The bigotry and bigotry of homo sexuals is another(prenominal) allegorical component featured with the X-Men accounts, peculiarly in the demand adaptions say by openly sunny Bryan Singer. In X-Men 2, the character of tailby Drake characters comes out of the water closet as a mutant to his parents, prompting them to ask if he has time-tested not being a mutant, parodying the oft-heard challenge of parents directed their gay children.Anti-Semitism, personal alienation, anti-Communist paranoia, and racism are also allegorical themes that X-Men comic memoirs have explored in detail. And like The X-Men, Batman, Spiderman (also a Stan Lee creation), The Incredible Hulk and Superman all were dependent upon and explored the themes of what it meant for a person to be forced to hide or to be ashamed of a component of his or her genuine self, or to lead a dual existence one reclusive and personal, one public. Superman (created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster), known by millions as a mild-mannered reporter, kindlyly maladroit nerd, and bearer of an unrequited love for Lois Lane, who happens to be a near-omnipotent superhero when called upon in extraordinary circumstances, is the perfect embodiment of both teenage realism and teenage wish fulfillment. The Incredible Hulk (another Stan Lee creation) gets raving mad like all of us, only if has real power scary power, often to do something about it thanks to his green steroidal transformation.Batman (created by Bob Kane and fleshed out by Bill Finger and Jerry Robinson) live s a calm down, dark life of solitude contrasted with public works of enviable nobility and good. These feelings of powerlessness and awkwardness, combine with authorization fantasies, were and continue to be direct reflections of the collective concerns of millions of young people, and possibly numerous adults, as well(p) how to fit into a society that indigenceed compliance without losing the uniqueness that embodies ones individuality.Ironically, the collective popularity of all of these comic book titles has historically been so striking in terms of sales that it would not be an unsportsmanlike header to wonder if it fact the teenage misfits who bought them were in fact the majority, not the nonage in society. Comic book sales peaked in 1993 at a staggering $850 million (U.S. dollars) and are still very healthy, though currently, the popularity of comic book characters is as credibly to be ostensible in icon ticket and DVD sales of assume adaptations of comic books as it is in comic book purchases. More on this later.The character archetypes and narrative themes of most of these original and ongoing comic book serial were produced in the crucible of the fairly conformist sociocultural pressures of the modernist era in the united States. The teenagers of all(prenominal) successive decade, beginning with the 1950s and continuing to the present, have been characterized by isolation, disaffection, rebellion, disillusionment, all have with the pressure to adapt without question to the comparatively big mores of the generation which preceded them, a generation for whom belonging to a big companionable group, for whom the taxs of unquestioning self- give up and acceptance of authority figures and presidential term power structures were the norm.Men were called to duty, whether in World War II or in the burgeoning post-war unified universe many made the ultimate sacrifice their lives, or worse, their souls. Women, too, had their duty to s upport their men in discreet, subservient lives of quiet substructure(prenominal) efficiency. unless as American young people began to question the assumptions screwing the Cold War, and question the rational and wisdom behind the unendingly fucking(a) Vietnam War, their uncertainty on these issues led to a greater sell questioning of the mechanisms and assumptions of societys very ordain inations. (Even Batman, whose creation in 1940 arguably pre get words postmodernism, nonethelesstually took on countercultural subjugate matter and themes, to say slide fastener of the suggestion of a taboo homoeroticism in the relationship between Batman and Robin.)This rebellion was met with heavy check and dashing hopes by parents, representing the previous generation. The ongoing schism between these both generations has caused Brobdingnagian cultural, loving, and political conflicts that continue to be played out as yet in 2005. These conflicts have been vividly reflected in the artistic expressions of the times literature, music, and trains.From the blossom of view of the older generations, comic books were maybe never fair to middlingly understood, respected, or even recognise for the potent and eccentric artistic and cultural forces that they have evermore correspond certainly as potent as more pompous and monotonous means of artistic expression, towering art and classical music, exactly to anatomy deuce ossified examples. (And, inciden fit out, these generational clashes were not control to the United States in terms of understanding the rise of the superhero comic books. The country of Japan, fiddling as it is, has puzzle its own powerhouse in terms of pissed off out groundbreaking dashs of comics, such as Katsuhiro Otomo of Akira fame, reflecting generational struggles unique to the Japanese young culture.)The artistic expressions that arose out of the clash between generations also equal an evolution in classifications and me chanisms of art itself the evolution from modern art forms to postmodern art forms. Modern art, reflective of the cultures from which it sprung, was generally conformist, and adhered to classic rules of form, function, and design, and either explicitly or implicitly supported the symbols of establishment icons by exploiting binary oppositions of us vs. them (i.e., Americans vs. Communists). postmodern art rejected the methodology of modern art on every(prenominal) level, deconstructing it to such an extent as to even question the basal psychological definitions of symbolism in human art forms.The discarding and combination of genres and forms, the mixed bag of styles, the flirt with unorthodox symbolism, and an active interest in subversion and shattering of establishment systems rebellion itself are all manifestations of art evolving to postmodern form. And or else of breathing to analyze, but ultimately honour the paradigms of patriarchal establishments, postmodern ar t study and often conditionk to undermine these establishments and their conventions, if not destroy them altogether. As notable by postmodernism scholar Andreas Huyssen, contemporary postmodernism operates in a field of tautness between tradition and innovation, conservation and renewal, mass culture and high art, in which the second terms are no eternal mechanically privileged over the first. (Huyssen, 1986, p. 267).As such, any art form that has enjoyed longevity has internalized and in corporeald this revolutionary and evolutionary bring, or been discarded or fossilized. Comic books are no elision to this rule, and their staying power has manifested itself in the oddment 20 or so years by their translation to and causaual ascendency of the genre of occupy. In fact, comic books in their Silver Age forms were arguably inwroughtly post-modern in nature, as they combined complex and detailed optic artistry with complex and serialized narratives, an intermixing pastic he of separate genres which had never forward been combined in such a unique form.Books had, of rail, often featured illustrations in the past, but they were only to provide occasional support and dimensionalization of the narrative, as conflicting to being as important a component of the medium as the narrative itself. The fantastical and stylized nature of many of the illustrations featured in comic books were often postmodern artistic explorations in their own right, want to boost the boundaries of conventional illustrations. Their explorations of anti-heroes helped deconstruct the feeling of simple constructs of good and evil.American consumer capitalism, which is inherently (though not necessarily benignly) postmodern in its relentless proneness to commodify anything and everything, in particular that which can be packaged as new, hip, and edgy and frankincense in demand(predicate) has hungrily devoured comic books and the get hold ofs which come from them. In doing so, the artistic and social sexual morality of comic books, in particular their subversive characteristics, have sound themselves subverted by the deity of consumer capitalist commodification.The ultimate dream, for example, of fans of the X-Men comic books, that their beloved misfit characters would reach image theatres and therefore a large audience for their collective angst, has come line up but that dream has also become a incubus for some fans, as these same subversive misfit X-Men have also become meet figures, clothing lines, cartoons on the side of fast food eat bags and logees all mass marketed to mass audiences in order to maximize scratch for corporations that are more interested in shareholder earnings than they are the artistic merit of airing the collective voices of malcontent teen angst.If the phenomenology of disaffected teen angst can be appropriated to make a usefulness from teenagers, then corporations will be chasing the teens and their money inc essantly. However, bodily interest in teenagers as a demographic generally has little to do with sociocultural altruism. In fact, cultural observers should take heed ventilation of genuinely alternative social visions jolt directly with the underpinnings of power in the economy at large. (Schiller, 1986, p. 152) The trade-off is as follows as long as such ventilation of alternative social visions makes a profit, it will be tolerated. But in the consumer capitalist in integrated universe of today, art for arts sake, particularly if the art does not reinforce the machinery of consumer capitalism, will never generate much more than limited enthusiasm, and is more likely to meet with insidious hostility.The primary perpetrators in this battleground are the freak corporate conglomerates that own the media, and the acquisitive way in which they draw aside their necessitate and picture system divisions. In the 1960s and 1970s, film studio apartments and photo recording netwo rks existed as independent business entities whose sole focus was the creation of films and telly maneuvers postal code more, nothing less. fleck these companies were undisputedly interested in profits, the process was far more artist-centered and type-driven than they are today.The presumption was that quality films would result in cut- piazza successes, though the expectations of profit were relatively modest compared to todays standards. Then, in 1977, a washbasin flake in film history arrived in the form of the smash hit virtuoso Wars, a comic-bookish story in its own right despite being an original creation of writer/director George Lucas. The film was not only the most pecuniaryly prospering phenomenon in movie history, but it alerted movie studios to a whole new economic model, centered near the notion of supplementary profits. intimately notably in the case of brainiac Wars, the ancillary profits came in the form of merchandising.Inexplicably, before the films release, executives at twentieth cytosine Fox, the films distributor, were convinced the film would be a flop, and in remove negotiations with Lucas, acceded to his unusual request to receive 100% of profits derived from sales of merchandise invigorate and/or derived from the film, for example action figures and lunchboxes. The Fox executives surely rued the day they subscribe over these rights to Mr. Lucas, as Star Wars merchandise generated $1 one million million in profits for the shrewd filmmaker.Another lesson learned by Fox, and other studios hungry to recreate the fiscal orgy of Star Wars, was that films targeted directly at children could be extremely lucrative at the box office, beyond profit margins to which they had become accustomed. Movies were no longer mostly the artistic or idealist visible horizon of an audience comprised largely of adults. Their children came to be agreen as a antecedently under-exploited first of bonanza profits.Lastly, movie studios beg an to rethink their conventional economic model, which was to produce modestly-budgeted films and reliably make modest profits. What Star Wars ignited was a phenomenon known as the blockbuster mentality, a hunger for epic profits from so-called event films, on which the studios became willing to gamble heretofore-unprecedented sums of money in hopes of hitting the proverbial jackpot. George Lucas, who began his career as a subversive filmmaker of pillow slip tastes with critically acclaimed films such as THX-1138 and American Graffiti, unwittingly created a perfect storm that turned the film sedulousness on its head.Star Wars was no fluke, as it turned out, and it was not long before the greedy private-enterprise(prenominal) corporate culture of the 1980s began entertaining, no pun intended, the notion that film studio and television networks could be glamorous cash cows. In suddenly order, colossal companies whose core business usually had nothing to do with the sport exe rtion were battling it out to see who could get into show business the fastest. Coca-Cola acquired movie studio Columbia/Tri-Star, which was later interchange to Japanese electronics giant Sony global electrical acquired the NBC television network Capital Cities acquired the ABC Television network, and intelligence stomach acquired twentieth ascorbic acid Fox and the Fox Broadcasting Company disjunction + western acquired Paramount Pictures, etc.The unfortunate side effect of these mergers was the excerption of bottom-line, short-term profit-hungry thinking, as well as corporate models of brand and selling products. These large corporations viewed films and television shows, and the intellectual properties that underlied them, as products, pure and simple, no different from mouthwash, shoes, soda drinks, or cosmetics. They expected their new acquisitions to transition from being art-focused and allow profits flow from quality, to exclusively making whatever sold the mos t tickets and had the most lucrative ancillary market potential.There was no single identifiable point, such a historical discover or a press conference, when the critical link between art and art was separated, or the historical deference of profit to art was inverted (themselves postmodern phenomena, incidentally), but the entre of comic books into the world of film and television, which has become a powerful, dictatorial presence of comic books in film and television, followed and was directly colligate to this paradigm shift in the economics of the entertainment industry.The adaptation of comic books into film and television properties has been an exercise in creative cannibalism in some sense. Increasingly, film and television studios have taken on the risk-averse mentality of their corporate masters, and one of the make of this has been to hear out intellectual property that faculty fix the fiscal success of a film or television show adaptation of said property. To the extent that a wildly successful book was often adapted for films geared towards adults, wildly successful comic book series were seen as a surefire way to justify a teen audience and the disposable income purchasing power of them and their parents.Movie executives sought to acquire the rights to comic book characters and stories which they could exploit actual film industry terminology and build into certifys also actual film industry terminology, particularly creepy given the obvious parallels to McDonalds or Gap store certification business models. For the most part, these franchises have been wildly successful from a financial point of view, though perhaps not from an artistic standpoint.There have been sextuplet Batman films made by Warner Brothers movie studio (owned by corporate behemoth AOL Time Warner, who not coincidentally own DC Comics, the original floor of the Batman characters and comic books) 1989s Batman, 1992s Batman Returns, 1995s Batman Forever, 1997s B atman and Robin, 2004s Catwoman, and 2005s Batman Begins. Each film sported star casting of the highest drill hole however, perhaps with the exception of the first film, were special(a) effects showcases first and artistically enterprising second, if at all. Nor were they particularly true to the time-honored complexities and lingering shadow of the comic books. Iconic film critic Roger Ebert (a devoted fan of the Batman comic books), in his review of Batman and Robin, took a forlorn swipe at each of the films to date my delight began to fade at about the 30-minute mark when it became chiseled that this new movie, like its predecessors, was not *really* going to explore the off-the-wall world of its heroes, but would settle down safely into a special effects extravaganza. Batman Robin, like the first three films in the series, is wonderful to examine at, and has nothing authentic at its core Watching it, I realized why it makes absolutely no difference who plays Batman Ther es nobody at home tump over the foreground to the characters, not the special effects. And ask the hard questions about Bruce Wayne. (Ebert, 1997)Eberts last line refers to the perennial rumors that perennial bachelor Bruce Wayne might real be a tribadistic, or failing that, possess some unusual sexual fetishes that might not comprise the sort of fare that young children should be seeing at the movie theatre or on DVD.But this topic, as well as any right exploration of Bruce Waynes psyche, was not been considered particularly lucrative by the marketing machines at Warner Brothers until the franchise was on the verge of death after the box office second-rater of Batman and Robin and the outright box office disaster of Catwoman, which cost $85 million (U.S.) to produce and only made $40 million (U.S.) at the box office. 2005s Batman Begins was an unapologetically dark and complex film. Roger Eberts review may well have speak for many Batman fans who ached for more substance and less pure style The character resonates more deeply with me than the other comic superheroes, perhaps because when I detect him as a child, he seemed darker and more grown-up than the cheerful Superman. He has secrets. As Alfred muses Strange injuries and a nonexistent social life. These things beg the question, what does Bruce Wayne do with his time? (Ebert, 2005)Apparently, the moviegoing audiences agreed with Mr. Ebert, rewarding Warner Brothers with $205 million (U.S.) in box office receipts in the United States alone, and a similar and still increasing tally worldwide. The lesson here is that while an artistically unambitious and shallow film like Batman and Robin, which is more childish cartoon and marketing machine than serious filmmaking, can certainly turn a modest profit, it is entirely realizable to be artistically ambitious and make plenty of money at the same time. One wonders why the latter is more often the exception preferably than the rule, to the detriment of the integrity of comic books and their rich characters.In theory, the adaptation of comic books to the film and television arenas could have been a boon to not only the comic book industry, but a force for cultural good in the sense of spreading the subversive word to a larger audience. While there is no question that American and Western teenagers are far more aware of Batman and The X-Men than they were 30 years ago, the elaborateness of the audience has come at a price.First of all, the structures of film and television do not generally lend themselves well to the sort of narrative complexity that is a hallmark of comic books ongoing multi-character storylines. While the two X-Men films to date were generally well-received by fans of the comic books, many fans vociferously complained that many characters were either simply not included in the storylines, or they were altered to suit Hollywood norms in order to maximize audience appeal. While a third X-Men film is in the works , the simple truth is that 20th Century Fox, the movie studio that produced the films, simply cannot make any more than one X-Men film every two to three years and the confused narrative history of over a dozen characters unspoiled over the course of 40 years of storytelling simply cannot be done adequate nicety by a two-hour movies as good as they may be which get released only periodically. Secondly, for many young people, seeing an X-Men or Batman film may be their very first exposure to these universes, and depending on their reaction to the quality of the films and their natural consumer predilections, it is not certain that these teenagers are going to seek out the more dimensionalized, rich, and complex narrative universes to be found indoors the comic book series.In fact, given the immense popularity of video games among teenagers, who as a general rule spend as much, if not more time transfixed by their Playstations and Xboxes than they do reading, it is more likely t hat teenagers who see X-Men films will buy the video game adaptations of the X-Men comic books kind of of investment in the comic books themselves. The statistics bear this out in 2004, sales of comic books in the U.S. totaled $300 million a considerable sum of money, but a far cry from the $850 million sum reached ten years earlier.Comic book money had, for better or for worse, flowed away from the comic books themselves and into the reinventions of the comic books the movies, the video games. It is unfair, perhaps, to dismiss video games as outlayless, but also difficult to avoid the conclusion that the X-Men video game, which is simply a violent combat simulation featuring the various mutant characters, carries more artistic and social worth than the comic books to which the video game owes its digital existence.Lastly, the value of ancillary X-Men merchandise, such as T-shirts, lunchboxes, and plastic soda cups from Burger King grace with X-Men characters, is fleeting and thus fairly dubious in analogy to the unchanging collectors item value of the comic books themselves, to say nothing of the inherent worth of the content of the books, and the visual and narrative artistry contained within them.Ultimately, and sadly, the postmodern machinery of consumer capitalism has appropriated comic book visuals and narratives and separated them from their inherent artistic value in order to make them both more appealing to a mainstream audience, usually children and younger teens, and more exploitable in terms of ancillary markets such as merchandising. The positive side of this equation is that the subversive art and storytelling found in comic books was brought to a larger audience, but may well have been eviscerated of its soul in the process.Films like Batman Begins, with its dark exploration of the recesses of Bruce Waynes psychology, and X-Men 2, with its unapologetic homosexual allegories, do their rise material adequate justice and make their corpora te masters a lot of money in the process. What can be hoped for the future is that movie studios see fit to release more films such as these and less of the vapid, lowest-common denominator special effects orgies that tend to prevalent the box office landscape. Hellraiser and Constantine were met with outright hostility by fans of their comic book source material and performed poorly at the box office. It is no longer plenty to simply adapt a comic book to guarantee success. umpteen audience members have grown more shrewd and sophisticated, and demand quality in storytelling.In the words of Nightcrawler in the film X-Men 2, Most people will never know anything beyond what they see with their own two eyes. If this is true in a world where what is put before the eyes of teenagers is predominated by movies and video games, it is imperative that the content not nevertheless reflect the status quo desired by consumer capitalism, but the stimulating stories and characters, make bold and subversive thoughts, first brought to us decades ago in the best comic books.BIBLIOGRAPHYSabin, Roger. Comics, Comix Graphic Novels A History of Comic Art. Phaidon Press, 1996.Robinson, Jerry. The Comics An Illustrated History of Comic tear down Art. Putnam Publishers, 1974.Wertham, Fredric. Seduction of the Innocent. Amerion Publishers, 1954 (Reprint 1996).Tuzi, Marino. Individualism and Marginality From Comic Book to Film Marvel Comics Superheroes College Quarterly, bounciness 2005 Volume 8 Number 2. Taken from httHistory of Artist Expression in Comic BooksHistory of Artist Expression in Comic BooksComic books, like many art forms, have been co-opted by a hungry consumer capitalist economy which makes a Faustian bargain with its artistic meals give me your subversive art forms and ideas, this economy says, and I will communicate them to a mass audience beyond your wildest dreams however, in exchange, your art forms and ideas will often simultaneously be stripped of their dignity and uniqueness by becoming products of no less ubiquity and no more value than toothpaste mere tools to sell, sell, sell, and make more, more, more money for gigantic multinational corporations. This phenomenology is the ultimate in postmodern recontextualization, the stripping of an objects original meaning and significance, and its endowment with a new purpose either heretofore considered or deemed ethically, morally, or artistically acceptable.We shall explore the unique nature and popularity of comic books, and the themes presented in their narratives and characters, as a quasi-underground phenomenon whose ever-increasing popularity from the 1940s to the 1980s left them perfectly positioned to be gobbled and turned into movies and merchandise by giant corporations eager to both exploit the devotees of comic books and expand their numbers.What has been the big deal, historically, about comic books? Though they are primarily a postmodern phenomenon localized in the latte r half of the 20th century through to the present, their roots go as far back as the 17th century, when the English mass-produced woodcuts depicting ghastly public executions. Comics first reached mass popularity in the United States in the 1930s in the form of newspaper comics then, the comic book as a separate, thriving, and sophisticated art form began to evolve from there. The comic book has been one of our most familiar, yet least appreciated, popular art forms. As vehemently criticized as it is passionately defended it is a graphically sophisticated and culturally revealing medium. (Sabin, 1996, p.1).After roughly a decade of occupying a comfortable place in the American pop culture mainstream, comics, and then comic books, began to take to reflect a less sanguine view of American society. Violent crime comics began to appear, and the more squeaky-clean comics of the 1930s and during World War II absorbed some of these same themes. In the so-called Silver Age of Comic Books, t he 1950s through the 1970s, most characters and narratives began to take on a darker and more complex tone, mostly in response to plummeting sales after World War II that reflected an unsettled cultural undercurrent brewing in America.In this initial countercultural heyday of the 1950s and 1960s, comic books were sometimes dismissed, much like rock-and-roll music, as the juvenile, unsophisticated, and pulpy fantasies of hormone-addled adolescents. Sometimes, however, comic books were labeled as cultural filth that was an ongoing threat, destructive to teenage minds. In 1954, right-wing American psychiatrist Dr. Frederic Wertham published a book called Seduction of the Innocent, which was an all-out assault on the ostensible delinquency-inducing content of comic books, and which singled out Batman for special criticism, claiming a subtle atmosphere of homoeroticism. (Wertham, 1954, p. 189). Werthams criticism of comic book content led to the establishment of a censor organization kno wn as the Comic Code Authority that same year, whose heavy-handed influence forced comic book writers and artists to go somewhat underground with their subversive themes.However, Batman (and Robin, whatever his relationship with Batman may or may not have been) has far outlived both Dr. Wertham and the chilling effect of his book, and in fact, the longevity and deceptively complex content of comic books have proven them to be much more powerful than anyone ever dreamed. They have for decades embodied striking artistic expressions of artists and authors, who collectively spoke for countless millions of young people who did not quite fit in to the mainstream of society.These millions were given voice by comic books such as The X-Men, The Incredible Hulk, The Amazing Spider-Man, from the Marvel Comics Company, and Batman and Superman from the DC Comics Company. Each of the aforementioned titles tells an extended set of stories about a character or characters who are misfits of some kin d, whether it be physical, psychological, or emotional, and who take on a variety of preternatural and/or superhuman characteristics which allow them to not only address their own personal struggles with their differences from others in society, but to aid society itself in coming to better accept those who are different or, alternately, the characters are either born with or afflicted by a condition which makes them a misfit and therefore different from others in society, and must adapt to life as such.These comic book stories generally involve a variety of morality plays, ranging from simple good vs. evil, to the exploration of antiheros, that enable the characters to attempt to effect positive change in the world, and provide both catharsis and inspiration for the readers.The X-Men, for example, were created by legendary comic book author Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby in 1963. They were /are a group of teenagers born with genetic mutations that have endowed them with a variety o f superhuman characteristics, not all of which are necessarily constructive. In the Lee/Kirby universe, the X-Men are widely ostracized and discriminated against not only because they are different, but because non-mutant humans fear the X-Men are the next logical, superior step in human evolution and therefore could render normal humans obsolete.The teenagers stories often involved them attempting to come to terms with their powers and how to fit into the so-called normal human society. The X-Men were comprised of such characters as Iceman, a young man who could freeze objects at will Wolverine, a foul-tempered young man whose skeleton is laced with a nearly indestructible metal alloy, including metal knives which he could extend and retract from his hands at will, albeit with considerable pain Storm, a young black female who could control the weather, including the ability to summon storms at will Nightcrawler, a young male born with blue fur who could become virtually invisible a t night and teleport short distances Cyclops, who could shoot beams of pure solar energy from his eyes, but not always control this power Rogue, a young female possessing the hyper-empathic ability the feelings, memories, and abilities of other beings she touches unfortunately, however, prolonged contact with others can weaken or kill them Magneto, an older male survivor of the Nazi death camps who can manipulate magnetic forces, but whose psyche was so twisted by his experience at the hands of the Nazis that he has become an arch-nemesis of the X-Men and Professor Xavier, an older male paraplegic with amazing telepathic abilities and a world-class intellect, who has dedicated his life to mentoring other mutants and defending them from themselves, unsympathetic humans, and the perennial machinations of Magneto.The X-Men and their stories were unabashedly allegorical and subversive in nature, content, and theme. Professor Xavier was modeled after civil rights activist Martin Luther K ing, Jr. and Sir Francis Xavier, Catholic missionary and founder of the Jesuit order. The sense of loneliness and isolation experienced by Rogue was a reflection of the near-universal teenage experience. The bigotry and intolerance of homosexuals is another allegorical component featured with the X-Men narratives, particularly in the film adaptations directed by openly gay Bryan Singer. In X-Men 2, the character of Bobby Drake characters comes out of the closet as a mutant to his parents, prompting them to ask if he has tried not being a mutant, parodying the oft-heard question of parents directed their gay children.Anti-Semitism, personal alienation, anti-Communist paranoia, and racism are also allegorical themes that X-Men comic narratives have explored in detail. And like The X-Men, Batman, Spiderman (also a Stan Lee creation), The Incredible Hulk and Superman all were dependent upon and explored the themes of what it meant for a person to be forced to hide or to be ashamed of a component of his or her true self, or to lead a dual existence one private and personal, one public. Superman (created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster), known by millions as a mild-mannered reporter, socially maladroit nerd, and bearer of an unrequited love for Lois Lane, who happens to be a near-omnipotent superhero when called upon in extraordinary circumstances, is the perfect embodiment of both teenage reality and teenage wish fulfillment. The Incredible Hulk (another Stan Lee creation) gets angry like all of us, but has real power scary power, often to do something about it thanks to his green steroidal transformation.Batman (created by Bob Kane and fleshed out by Bill Finger and Jerry Robinson) lives a quiet, dark life of solitude contrasted with public works of enviable nobility and good. These feelings of powerlessness and awkwardness, combined with empowerment fantasies, were and continue to be direct reflections of the collective concerns of millions of young people, an d perhaps many adults, as well how to fit into a society that demanded conformity without losing the uniqueness that embodies ones individuality.Ironically, the collective popularity of all of these comic book titles has historically been so striking in terms of sales that it would not be an unfair question to wonder if it fact the teenage misfits who bought them were in fact the majority, not the minority in society. Comic book sales peaked in 1993 at a staggering $850 million (U.S. dollars) and are still very healthy, though currently, the popularity of comic book characters is as likely to be manifest in movie ticket and DVD sales of film adaptations of comic books as it is in comic book purchases. More on this later.The character archetypes and narrative themes of most of these original and ongoing comic book series were produced in the crucible of the fairly conformist sociocultural pressures of the modernist era in the United States. The teenagers of each successive decade, b eginning with the 1950s and continuing to the present, have been characterized by isolation, disaffection, rebellion, disillusionment, all combined with the pressure to adapt without question to the relatively monolithic mores of the generation which preceded them, a generation for whom belonging to a larger social group, for whom the values of unquestioning self-sacrifice and acceptance of authority figures and establishment power structures were the norm.Men were called to duty, whether in World War II or in the burgeoning post-war corporate universe many made the ultimate sacrifice their lives, or worse, their souls. Women, too, had their duty to support their men in discreet, subservient lives of quiet domestic efficiency. But as American young people began to question the assumptions behind the Cold War, and question the rational and wisdom behind the interminably bloody Vietnam War, their uncertainty on these issues led to a greater wholesale questioning of the mechanisms an d assumptions of societys very foundations. (Even Batman, whose creation in 1940 arguably predates postmodernism, eventually took on countercultural subject matter and themes, to say nothing of the suggestion of a taboo homoeroticism in the relationship between Batman and Robin.)This rebellion was met with heavy disapproval and disappointment by parents, representing the previous generation. The ongoing schism between these two generations has caused huge cultural, social, and political conflicts that continue to be played out even in 2005. These conflicts have been vividly reflected in the artistic expressions of the times literature, music, and films.From the standpoint of the older generations, comic books were perhaps never adequately understood, respected, or even recognized for the potent and unusual artistic and cultural forces that they have always represented certainly as potent as more conventional and commonplace means of artistic expression, high art and classical musi c, just to name two ossified examples. (And, incidentally, these generational clashes were not limited to the United States in terms of understanding the rise of the superhero comic books. The country of Japan, tiny as it is, has become its own powerhouse in terms of churning out groundbreaking styles of comics, such as Katsuhiro Otomo of Akira fame, reflecting generational struggles unique to the Japanese youth culture.)The artistic expressions that arose out of the clash between generations also represented an evolution in classifications and mechanisms of art itself the evolution from modern art forms to postmodern art forms. Modern art, reflective of the cultures from which it sprung, was generally conformist, and adhered to classic rules of form, function, and design, and either explicitly or implicitly supported the symbols of establishment paradigms by exploiting binary oppositions of us vs. them (i.e., Americans vs. Communists). Postmodern art rejected the methodology of mo dern art on every level, deconstructing it to such an extent as to even question the basic psychological definitions of symbolism in human art forms.The discarding and combination of genres and forms, the pastiche of styles, the toying with unorthodox symbolism, and an active interest in subversion and smashing of establishment systems rebellion itself are all manifestations of art evolving to postmodern form. And instead of existing to analyze, but ultimately reinforce the paradigms of patriarchal establishments, postmodern art analyzed and often sought to undermine these establishments and their conventions, if not destroy them altogether. As noted by postmodernism scholar Andreas Huyssen, contemporary postmodernism operates in a field of tension between tradition and innovation, conservation and renewal, mass culture and high art, in which the second terms are no longer automatically privileged over the first. (Huyssen, 1986, p. 267).As such, any art form that has enjoyed longe vity has internalized and merged this revolutionary and evolutionary process, or been discarded or fossilized. Comic books are no exception to this rule, and their staying power has manifested itself in the last 20 or so years by their translation to and eventual dominance of the genre of film. In fact, comic books in their Silver Age forms were arguably inherently post-modern in nature, as they combined complex and detailed visual artistry with complex and serialized narratives, an intermixing pastiche of separate genres which had never before been combined in such a unique form.Books had, of course, often featured illustrations in the past, but they were only to provide occasional support and dimensionalization of the narrative, as opposed to being as important a component of the medium as the narrative itself. The fantastical and stylized nature of many of the illustrations featured in comic books were often postmodern artistic explorations in their own right, seeking to push th e boundaries of conventional illustrations. Their explorations of anti-heroes helped deconstruct the notion of simple constructs of good and evil.American consumer capitalism, which is inherently (though not necessarily benignly) postmodern in its relentless desire to commodify anything and everything, particularly that which can be packaged as new, hip, and edgy and thus desirable has hungrily devoured comic books and the films which come from them. In doing so, the artistic and societal merit of comic books, in particular their subversive characteristics, have become themselves subverted by the deity of consumer capitalist commodification.The ultimate dream, for example, of fans of the X-Men comic books, that their beloved misfit characters would reach movie theatres and therefore a larger audience for their collective angst, has come true but that dream has also become a nightmare for some fans, as these same subversive misfit X-Men have also become action figures, clothing li nes, cartoons on the side of fast food lunch bags and boxes all mass marketed to mass audiences in order to maximize profits for corporations that are more interested in shareholder earnings than they are the artistic merit of airing the collective voices of disaffected teen angst.If the phenomenology of disaffected teen angst can be appropriated to make a profit from teenagers, then corporations will be chasing the teens and their money incessantly. However, corporate interest in teenagers as a demographic generally has little to do with sociocultural altruism. In fact, cultural observers should take heed ventilation of genuinely alternative social visions collide directly with the underpinnings of power in the economy at large. (Schiller, 1986, p. 152) The trade-off is as follows as long as such ventilation of alternative social visions makes a profit, it will be tolerated. But in the consumer capitalist corporate universe of today, art for arts sake, particularly if the art doe s not reinforce the machinery of consumer capitalism, will never generate much more than limited enthusiasm, and is more likely to meet with insidious hostility.The primary perpetrators in this arena are the behemoth corporate conglomerates that own the media, and the acquisitive way in which they manage their film and television divisions. In the 1960s and 1970s, film studios and television networks existed as independent business entities whose sole focus was the creation of films and television shows nothing more, nothing less. While these companies were undisputedly interested in profits, the process was far more artist-centered and quality-driven than they are today.The presumption was that quality films would result in box-office successes, though the expectations of profit were relatively modest compared to todays standards. Then, in 1977, a watershed moment in film history arrived in the form of the blockbuster Star Wars, a comic-bookish story in its own right despite being an original creation of writer/director George Lucas. The film was not only the most financially successful phenomenon in movie history, but it alerted movie studios to a whole new economic model, centered around the notion of ancillary profits. Most notably in the case of Star Wars, the ancillary profits came in the form of merchandising.Inexplicably, before the films release, executives at 20th Century Fox, the films distributor, were convinced the film would be a flop, and in contract negotiations with Lucas, acceded to his unusual request to receive 100% of profits derived from sales of merchandise inspired and/or derived from the film, for example action figures and lunchboxes. The Fox executives surely rued the day they signed over these rights to Mr. Lucas, as Star Wars merchandise generated $1 billion in profits for the shrewd filmmaker.Another lesson learned by Fox, and other studios hungry to recreate the fiscal orgy of Star Wars, was that films targeted directly at child ren could be extremely lucrative at the box office, beyond profit margins to which they had become accustomed. Movies were no longer mostly the artistic or escapist purview of an audience comprised largely of adults. Their children came to be seen as a previously under-exploited source of bonanza profits.Lastly, movie studios began to rethink their conventional economic model, which was to produce modestly-budgeted films and reliably make modest profits. What Star Wars ignited was a phenomenon known as the blockbuster mentality, a hunger for epic profits from so-called event films, on which the studios became willing to gamble heretofore-unprecedented sums of money in hopes of hitting the proverbial jackpot. George Lucas, who began his career as a subversive filmmaker of eccentric tastes with critically acclaimed films such as THX-1138 and American Graffiti, unwittingly created a perfect storm that turned the film industry on its head.Star Wars was no fluke, as it turned out, and it was not long before the greedy capitalistic corporate culture of the 1980s began entertaining, no pun intended, the notion that film studio and television networks could be glamorous cash cows. In short order, huge companies whose core business usually had nothing to do with the entertainment industry were battling it out to see who could get into show business the fastest. Coca-Cola acquired movie studio Columbia/Tri-Star, which was later sold to Japanese electronics giant Sony General Electric acquired the NBC television network Capital Cities acquired the ABC Television network, and News Corporation acquired 20th Century Fox and the Fox Broadcasting Company Gulf + Western acquired Paramount Pictures, etc.The unfortunate side effect of these mergers was the infusion of bottom-line, short-term profit-hungry thinking, as well as corporate models of branding and marketing products. These large corporations viewed films and television shows, and the intellectual properties that under lied them, as products, pure and simple, no different from mouthwash, shoes, soda drinks, or cosmetics. They expected their new acquisitions to transition from being art-focused and letting profits flow from quality, to simply making whatever sold the most tickets and had the most lucrative ancillary market potential.There was no single identifiable point, such a historical date or a press conference, when the critical link between art and commerce was separated, or the historical deference of profit to art was inverted (themselves postmodern phenomena, incidentally), but the entre of comic books into the world of film and television, which has become a powerful, dominating presence of comic books in film and television, followed and was directly related to this paradigm shift in the economics of the entertainment industry.The adaptation of comic books into film and television properties has been an exercise in creative cannibalism in some sense. Increasingly, film and television st udios have taken on the risk-averse mentality of their corporate masters, and one of the effects of this has been to seek out intellectual property that might guarantee the fiscal success of a film or television show adaptation of said property. To the extent that a wildly successful book was often adapted for films geared towards adults, wildly successful comic book series were seen as a surefire way to guarantee a teen audience and the disposable income purchasing power of them and their parents.Movie executives sought to acquire the rights to comic book characters and stories which they could exploit actual film industry terminology and build into franchises also actual film industry terminology, particularly creepy given the obvious parallels to McDonalds or Gap store franchise business models. For the most part, these franchises have been wildly successful from a financial point of view, though perhaps not from an artistic standpoint.There have been six Batman films made by Warner Brothers movie studio (owned by corporate behemoth AOL Time Warner, who not coincidentally own DC Comics, the original home of the Batman characters and comic books) 1989s Batman, 1992s Batman Returns, 1995s Batman Forever, 1997s Batman and Robin, 2004s Catwoman, and 2005s Batman Begins. Each film sported star casting of the highest caliber however, perhaps with the exception of the first film, were special effects showcases first and artistically ambitious second, if at all. Nor were they particularly true to the time-honored complexities and lingering darkness of the comic books. Iconic film critic Roger Ebert (a devoted fan of the Batman comic books), in his review of Batman and Robin, took a forlorn swipe at each of the films to date my delight began to fade at about the 30-minute mark when it became clear that this new movie, like its predecessors, was not *really* going to explore the bizarre world of its heroes, but would settle down safely into a special effects extra vaganza. Batman Robin, like the first three films in the series, is wonderful to look at, and has nothing authentic at its core Watching it, I realized why it makes absolutely no difference who plays Batman Theres nobody at home Give the foreground to the characters, not the special effects. And ask the hard questions about Bruce Wayne. (Ebert, 1997)Eberts last line refers to the perennial rumors that perennial bachelor Bruce Wayne might actually be a homosexual, or failing that, possess some unusual sexual fetishes that might not comprise the sort of fare that young children should be seeing at the movie theatre or on DVD.But this topic, as well as any serious exploration of Bruce Waynes psyche, was not been considered particularly lucrative by the marketing machines at Warner Brothers until the franchise was on the verge of death after the box office mediocrity of Batman and Robin and the outright box office disaster of Catwoman, which cost $85 million (U.S.) to produce and only made $40 million (U.S.) at the box office. 2005s Batman Begins was an unapologetically dark and complex film. Roger Eberts review may well have spoken for many Batman fans who ached for more substance and less pure style The character resonates more deeply with me than the other comic superheroes, perhaps because when I discovered him as a child, he seemed darker and more grown-up than the cheerful Superman. He has secrets. As Alfred muses Strange injuries and a nonexistent social life. These things beg the question, what does Bruce Wayne do with his time? (Ebert, 2005)Apparently, the moviegoing audiences agreed with Mr. Ebert, rewarding Warner Brothers with $205 million (U.S.) in box office receipts in the United States alone, and a similar and still increasing tally worldwide. The lesson here is that while an artistically unambitious and shallow film like Batman and Robin, which is more childish cartoon and marketing machine than serious filmmaking, can certainly turn a modest p rofit, it is entirely possible to be artistically ambitious and make plenty of money at the same time. One wonders why the latter is more often the exception rather than the rule, to the detriment of the integrity of comic books and their rich characters.In theory, the adaptation of comic books to the film and television arenas could have been a boon to not only the comic book industry, but a force for cultural good in the sense of spreading the subversive word to a larger audience. While there is no question that American and Western teenagers are far more aware of Batman and The X-Men than they were 30 years ago, the expansion of the audience has come at a price.First of all, the structures of film and television do not generally lend themselves well to the sort of narrative complexity that is a hallmark of comic books ongoing multi-character storylines. While the two X-Men films to date were generally well-received by fans of the comic books, many fans vociferously complained tha t many characters were either simply not included in the storylines, or they were altered to suit Hollywood norms in order to maximize audience appeal. While a third X-Men film is in the works, the simple truth is that 20th Century Fox, the movie studio that produced the films, simply cannot make any more than one X-Men film every two to three years and the complicated narrative history of over a dozen characters unspoiled over the course of 40 years of storytelling simply cannot be done adequate justice by a two-hour movies as good as they may be which get released only periodically. Secondly, for many young people, seeing an X-Men or Batman film may be their very first exposure to these universes, and depending on their reaction to the quality of the films and their natural consumer predilections, it is not certain that these teenagers are going to seek out the more dimensionalized, rich, and complex narrative universes to be found within the comic book series.In fact, given the immense popularity of video games among teenagers, who as a general rule spend as much, if not more time transfixed by their Playstations and Xboxes than they do reading, it is more likely that teenagers who see X-Men films will buy the video game adaptations of the X-Men comic books instead of investing in the comic books themselves. The statistics bear this out in 2004, sales of comic books in the U.S. totaled $300 million a considerable sum of money, but a far cry from the $850 million sum reached ten years earlier.Comic book money had, for better or for worse, flowed away from the comic books themselves and into the reinventions of the comic books the movies, the video games. It is unfair, perhaps, to dismiss video games as worthless, but also difficult to avoid the conclusion that the X-Men video game, which is simply a violent combat simulation featuring the various mutant characters, carries more artistic and social worth than the comic books to which the video game owes i ts digital existence.Lastly, the value of ancillary X-Men merchandise, such as T-shirts, lunchboxes, and plastic soda cups from Burger King adorned with X-Men characters, is fleeting and thus fairly dubious in comparison to the lasting collectors item value of the comic books themselves, to say nothing of the inherent worth of the content of the books, and the visual and narrative artistry contained within them.Ultimately, and sadly, the postmodern machinery of consumer capitalism has appropriated comic book visuals and narratives and separated them from their inherent artistic value in order to make them both more appealing to a mainstream audience, usually children and younger teens, and more exploitable in terms of ancillary markets such as merchandising. The positive side of this equation is that the subversive art and storytelling found in comic books was brought to a larger audience, but may well have been eviscerated of its soul in the process.Films like Batman Begins, with i ts dark exploration of the recesses of Bruce Waynes psychology, and X-Men 2, with its unapologetic homosexual allegories, do their source material adequate justice and make their corporate masters a lot of money in the process. What can be hoped for the future is that movie studios see fit to release more films such as these and less of the vapid, lowest-common denominator special effects orgies that tend to predominate the box office landscape. Hellraiser and Constantine were met with outright hostility by fans of their comic book source material and performed poorly at the box office. It is no longer enough to simply adapt a comic book to guarantee success. Many audience members have grown more shrewd and sophisticated, and demand quality in storytelling.In the words of Nightcrawler in the film X-Men 2, Most people will never know anything beyond what they see with their own two eyes. If this is true in a world where what is put before the eyes of teenagers is predominated by movi es and video games, it is imperative that the content not merely reflect the status quo desired by consumer capitalism, but the thought-provoking stories and characters, daring and subversive thoughts, first brought to us decades ago in the best comic books.BIBLIOGRAPHYSabin, Roger. Comics, Comix Graphic Novels A History of Comic Art. Phaidon Press, 1996.Robinson, Jerry. The Comics An Illustrated History of Comic Strip Art. Putnam Publishers, 1974.Wertham, Fredric. Seduction of the Innocent. Amerion Publishers, 1954 (Reprint 1996).Tuzi, Marino. Individualism and Marginality From Comic Book to Film Marvel Comics Superheroes College Quarterly, Spring 2005 Volume 8 Number 2. Taken from htt