Human Behavior: Compare and Contrast: The Four freedoms & American Dream
Project proposal
I want to recreate my own version of Norman Rockwell's The Four Freedoms. My thinking skill is Comparing and contrasting and I would like to compare how our version of the American dream and our freedoms are perceived in 2018 compared to the 1940s. The purpose of this is to show how our country has evolved rather then died because a lot of people say that the american dream is dead but it is far from it. I would like to bring more hope to the people of our country because I feel that a lot of people talk down on America but we are such a great nation.
Artist Statement
In my project I compared the old American dream to the new one at the same time as showing how different the perception of the American freedoms are in 2018 compared to the 1940s. I have concluded that our freedoms are the same and are used today but their individual definitions have changed according to our modern society. I used Norman Rockwell's painting of president FDR’s beliefs of the Four Freedoms. I recreated his work but with a modern spin. This is my first series too I didn't intend them to be turned into a poster or to be the same size like Norman Rockwell's painting.
What is the American dream?
Definition:the ideal that every US citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative.
How would someone today define the american dream? Today the American Dream is not about moving to America to have a luxurious lifestyle and get famous. Today the American dream is living life in a capitalist country having extended freedoms, having a voice in your government, and being able to pursuing a life that makes you happy. People don't even realize how free our country is because they focus on laws like having to pass a health inspection for your restaurant or not being able to hurt you children as the government having too much control. I think the laws we have are mostly protecting us. The American dream could be simple as being able to have an education as a woman, or to be able to wear your favorite clothes, or to marry someone of the same sex. In some other countries gender roles are huge and stops people from doing things that aren't designated for them. That is why I think that the American dream has changed to be more focused on the freedoms our country has in the way that people are able to pursue millions of different lifestyles and be creative and have the opportunity to be themselves.
What do people expect the American dream to mean? Move to America and get rich. This is not the case at all. People can become rich but that is not what America is about. I was reading
America is a wonderful place full of opportunity and the freedom to pursue happiness. Although some might say that the american dream is dead. I think that this is not true the American dream has changed. I read the book the Two Kinds written in 1989 about a young Chinese girl named Jing-Mei. Jing-Mei’s mother moved them to America and pushed her daughter to be extremely talented and a prodigy because her mother had the idea that going to America her daughter would become a child prodigy and make her rich. That did not happen and it ended that her mother dispersed her because her mother believed that her daughter failed the american dream.
Norman Rockwell’s “Four Freedoms”
This is a painting that I found on the Norman Rockwell Museum site https://www.nrm.org/2012/10/collections-four-freedoms/
This painting was supposed to reflect President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's vision for a post war world. In 1941 FDR believed that America should be based on four human freedoms: Freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom from want, and freedom from fear. In 1942 artist Norman Rockwell was attending a town meeting and someone had given an unpopular view and that made him think about his next painting. He wanted to paint the freedoms from the perspective of his hometown. I want to recreate that idea using inspiration of my town and things that I personally see in my local community and in school.
This is Norman Rockwell's interpretation of FDR's four Freedoms. He started by sketching things that he saw in his town including the top left one of that town meeting. He then turned the painting into a poster with a cover artist Mead Schaeffer. This poster became so popular it received 25,000 requests for reprints. It was making history by 1943 when the U.S. Department of Treasury made a joint campaign to sell war bonds and stamps.It was a success and people were buying war bonds and buying reprints. I don’t want my paintings to be sold or made to advertise anything. I just want them to be inspired from the four freedoms painting remake into the modern interpretation of the American dream.
In my first painting represented the ‘OURS...to Fight for Freedom from want. Norman Rockwell had painted a family eating dinner at a table together the scene is very lively and mirrors Andrew Jackson's constitution that all men should be allowed to pursue happiness. Which basically means being able to do what makes you happy in the Constitution it is a right that people are allowed to freely pursue joy in life and live in a way that makes you happy as long as you don't violate others or do anything illegal. I compared that to my interpretation of how today the American dream is being able to have the opportunity to pursue your dreams and find happiness in that. I painted a young tiger in a stalking pose hiding in a bush, I made the tiger stalk the American flag. This represents the way I view the American dream being achieved today. The tiger represents a person stalking their dreams and freedoms and waiting for an opportunity to grab that dream head on. For the actual painting part this only took me one class because I didn't feel I needed to make any changes to it because it is simplistic and gets a point across. I had a chat with my family and they thought it meant that that the government was a tiger trying to take your freedom away and I thought that was a very interesting point because unlike other countries where its legal to rape children we have laws in place that limit us from doing stupid stuff. Some people can look at the American dream as dead because they feel limited because of taxes and laws and permits.
Right here is the final product of my second painting this one doubles as freedom of speech and freedom from religion. 2018 in America we have the freedom of speech and are allowed to display or not display the American flag as freedom of speech. I think that this is a good meaning to it because in 1987 the Edwards v. Aguillard case changed the way religion is taught in school. Prior to this the topic and teaching of evolution was banned in public schools and instead creationism and class prayers were happening. Now creationism and teaching religion is banned and evolution theories are taught. I think now we are taught the freedom of not having a religion because prior to this almost everyone was practicing some religion now I only know like less than a handful of people who go to church or even believe in a god. I think that the freedom of religion in Norman Rockwell's painting was from a culture of people who all practice some sort of religion. Now in 2018 we still have the freedom of religion but we also are not looked down on if we don't have a religion.
My last painting is based on the freedom from fear. I choose to paint a photo of my friend in rainbow because she is expressing her sexuality in a way that would have had her killed before 2010. Now that gay marriage is legalized in all 50 states the LGBTQ community doesnt have to live in fear that they cannot marry who they love and be accepted anywhere but there is still fear there is still hate. I think that people are now brave in the way that they are able to come out in school and not be judged here in our high school. It is sad that people sometimes are scared to love themselves because not everyone is going to accept you. I made sure to use bright acrylic mixed with water to make it seem like watercolor. I wanted to use vibrant colors to express the colorful person she is and how she isn’t afraid to say that she isn't strait. She embraces herself mostly.
