Entertainment
Entertainment
is a form of activity that holds the attention and interest of an audience, or
gives pleasure and delight. It can be an idea or a task, but is more likely to
be one of the activities or events that have developed over thousands of years
specifically for the purpose of keeping an audience attention. Although
people's attention is held by different things, because individuals have
different preferences in entertainment, most forms are recognizable and
familiar. Storytelling, Music, drama, dance, and different kinds of performance
exits in all cultures, were supported in royal courts, developed into
sophisticated forms and over time became available to all citizens. The process
has been accelerated in modern times by an entertainment industry which records
and sells entertainment products. Entertainment evolves and can be adapted to
suit any scale, ranging from an individual who chooses a private entertainment
from a now enormous array of pre recorded products, to a banquet adapted for
two, to any size or type of party, with appropriate music and dance, to
performances intended for thousands, and even for a global audience.
The
experience of being entertained has come to be strongly associated with
amusement, so that one common understanding of the idea is and laughter,
although many entertainments have a serious purpose. This may be the case in
the various forms of ceremony, celebration, religious festival, or satire for
example. Hence, there is the possibility that what appears as entertainment may
also be a means of achieving insight or intellectual growth.
An
important aspect of entertainment is the audience, which turns a private recreation
or leisure activity into entertainment. The audience may have a passive role,
as in the case of persons watching a play, opera, television show, or film; or
the audience role may be active, as in the case of games, where the
participant/audience roles may be routinely reversed. Entertainment can be
public or private, involving formal, scripted performance, as in the case of theater or concerts, or unscripted and spontaneous, as in the case of children
games. Most forms of entertainment have persisted over many centuries, evolving
due to changes in culture, technology, and fashion. Films and video games, for
example, although they use newer media, continue to tell stories, present
drama, and play music. Festivals devoted to music, film, dance or allow audiences to be entertained over a
number of consecutive days.
The familiar forms of entertainment have the capacity to cross over different media and have demonstrated a seemingly unlimited potential for creative remix. This has ensured the continuity and longevity of many themes, images, and structures.
Psychology and Philosophy
Entertainment
can be distinguished from other activities such as education and marketing even
though they have learned how to use the appeal of entertainment to achieve
their different goals. The importance and impact of entertainment is recognized
by scholars and its increasing sophistication has influenced practices in other
fields such as museology.
Psychologists
say the function of media entertainment is the attainment of gratification. No
other results or measurable benefit are usually expected from it except perhaps
the final score in a sporting entertainment. This is in contrast to education
which is designed with the purpose of developing understanding or helping
people to learn and marketing which aims to encourage people to purchase
commercial products. However, the distinctions become blurred when education
seeks to be more entertaining and entertainment or marketing seek to be more educational.
Such mixtures are often known by the neologisms edutainment or infotainment.
The psychology of entertainment as well as of learning has been applied to all
these fields. Some education entertainment is a serious attempt to combine the
best features of the two.
Court
Entertainment
Imperial
and royal courts have provided training grounds and support for professional
entertainers, with different cultures using palaces, castles and forts in
different ways. In the Maya city states or example, spectacles often took place
in large plazas in front of palaces, the crowds gathered either there or in
designated places from which they could watch at a distance. Court entertainments also crossed cultures.
For example, the durbar was introduced to India by the Mughals, and passed onto
the British Empire, which then followed Indian tradition, institutions, titles,
customs, ceremonies by which a Maharaja and Nawab were installed , the
exchange of official presents, the order of precedence, for example, were all
inherited from, the Emperors of Delhi. In Korea, the court entertainment dance
was originally performed in the palace for entertainment at court banquets.
Court
entertainment often moved from being associated with the court to more general
use among commoners. This was the case with masked dance dramas in Korea, which
originated in conjunction with village shaman rituals and eventually became
largely an entertainment form for commoners.
Dancers in the Mughals Empire performed in Indian courts and palaces.
Another evolution, similar Nautch to
that from courtly entertainment to common practice, was the transition from
religious ritual to secular entertainment, such as happened during the Goryeo dynasty
with the Narye festival. Originally solely religious or ritualistic, a
secular component was added at the conclusion. Former courtly
entertainments, such as jousting, often also survived in children games.
In
some courts, such as those during the Byzantine Empire, the genders were
segregated among the upper classes, so that at least before the period of the
Goryeo Komnenoi men were separated from women at ceremonies where there was
entertainment such as receptions and banquets.
Court
ceremonies, palace banquets and the spectacles associated with them, have been
used not only to entertain but also to demonstrate wealth and power. Such
events reinforce the relationship between ruler and ruled; between those with
power and those without, serving to dramatise the differences between ordinary
families and that of the ruler. This is the case as much as for traditional courts
as it is for contemporary ceremonials, such as the palace of Versailles, thousands
of courtiers, including men and women who inhabited its apartments, acted as
both performers and spectators in daily rituals that reinforced the status
hierarchy.
Like
court entertainment, royal occasions such as coronations and weddings provided
opportunities to entertain both the aristocracy and the people. For example,
the splendid 1595 Accession Day celebrations of Queen Elizabeth offered
tournaments and jousting and other events performed not only before the
assembled court, in all their finery, but also before thousands of Londoners
eager for a good day entertainment. Entry for the day events at the Tiltyard
in Whitehall was set at 12d.
Public
Punishment
Although
most forms of entertainment have evolved and continued over time, some once popular
forms are no longer as acceptable. For example, during earlier centuries in
Europe, watching or participating in the punishment of criminals or social
outcasts was an accepted and popular form of entertainment. Many forms of
public humiliation also offered local entertainment in the past. Even capital
punishment such as hanging and beheading, offered to the public as a warning,
were also regarded partly as entertainment. Capital punishments that lasted
longer, such as stoning and drawing and quartering, afforded a greater public
spectacle. A hanging was a carnival that diverted not merely the unemployed but
the unemployable. Good bourgeois or curious aristocrats who could afford it
watched it from a carriage or rented a room. Public punishment as entertainment
lasted until the 19th century by which time the awesome event of a public
hanging aroused their loathing of writers and philosophers. Both Dickens and Thacker
wrote about a hanging in Newgate Prison 1840, and taught an even wider public
that executions are obscene entertainments.
Children
Children
entertainment is centered play on and is significant for their growth and
learning. Entertainment is also provided to children or taught to them by
adults and many activities that appeal to them such as puppets, clowns,
pantomimes and cartoons are also enjoyed by adults.
Children
have always played games. It is accepted that as well as being entertaining,
playing games helps children's development. One of the most famous visual
accounts of children games is a painting by Pieter Brueghel the Elder called
children Games, painted in 1560. It depicts children playing a range of games
which were presumably typical of the time. Many of these games, such as
marbles, hide and seek, blowing soap bubbles and piggyback riding continue to
be played.
Most
forms of entertainment can be or are modified to suit children needs and
interests. During the 20th century, starting with the often criticized but
nonetheless important work of G. Stanley Hall, who promoted the link between the
study of development and the new laboratory psychology, and especially with the
work of Jean Piaget, who saw cognitive development as being analogous to
biological development it became understood that the psychological development of
children occurs in stages and that their capacities differ from adults. Hence,
stories and activities, whether in books, film, or video games were developed
specifically for child audiences. Countries have responded to the special needs
of children and the rise of digital entertainment by developing systems such as
television content rating system, to guide the public and the entertainment
industry.
In
the 21st century, as with adult products, much entertainment is available for
children on the internet for private use. This constitutes a significant change
from earlier times. The amount of time expended by children indoors on screen
based entertainment and the remarkable collapse of children engagement with
nature has drawn criticism for its negative effects on imagination, adult
cognition and psychological well being.
Music
Music is a
supporting component of many kinds of entertainment and most kinds of
performance. For example, it is used to enhance storytelling, it is
indispensable in dance 1, 4 and opera, and is usually
incorporated into dramatic film or theatre productions.
Music is also a universal and popular type of
entertainment on its own, constituting an entire performance such as when
concerts are given 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. Depending on
the rhythm, instrument, performance and style, music is divided into many
genres, such as classical, jazz, folk, rock, pop music, or traditional 1, 3. Since the 20th century, performed music, once available only to
those who could pay for the performers, has been available cheaply to
individuals by the entertainment industry which broadcasts it or pre-records it
for sale.
The instruments used in musical entertainment are
solely the 2, 6 or solely instrumental 1, 3 or some combination of the two 4, 5, 7, 8. Whether the performance is given by
vocalists or instrumentalists, the performers may be soloists or part of a
small or large group, in turn entertaining an audience that might be individual
10, passing by 3, small 1, 2 or large 6, 7, 8, 9. Singing is generally accompanied by
instruments although some forms, notably a cappella and overtone singing, are
unaccompanied. Modern concerts often use various special effects and other
theatrics to accompany performances of singing and dancing.
Games are played for entertainment sometimes purely for entertainment, sometimes for achievement or reward as well. They can be played alone, in teams, or online, by amateurs or by professionals. The players may have an audience of non players, such as when people are entertained by watching a chess championship. On the other hand, players in a game may constitute their own audience as they take their turn to play. Often, part of the entertainment for children playing a game is deciding who will be part of their audience and who will be a player.
Equipment varies with the game. Board games, such as Go, Monopoly or backgammon need a board and markers. One of the oldest known board games is senet, a game played in Ancient Egypt, enjoyed by the pharaoh Tutankhamen. Card games, such as whist, poker, and Bridge have long been played as evening entertainment among friends. For these games, all that is needed is a deck of playing cards. Other games, such as bingo, played with numerous strangers, have been organised to involve the participation of non-players via gambling. Many are geared for children, and can be played outdoors, including hopscotch, hide and seek, or Blind man bluff. The list of ball games is quite extensive. It includes, for example, croquet, lawn bowling and paintball as well as many sports using various forms of balls. As well as many sports using various forms of motor skills. Number games such as Sudoku and puzzle games like Rubik cube can develop mental prowess.
Video games he second half of the 20th century and in the 21st century the number of such games increased enormously, providing a wide variety of entertainment to players around the world Video games are popular in East Asian countries such as South Korea.
Reading
Reading has been a source of entertainment for a
very long time, especially when other forms, such as performance
entertainments, was either unavailable or too costly. Even when the primary
purpose of the writing is to inform or instruct, reading is well known for its
capacity to distract from everyday worries. Both stories and information have
been passed on through the tradition of orality and oral traditions survive in
the form of performance poetry for
example. However, they have drastically declined. Once literacy had
arrived in strength, there was no return to the oral prerogative. The advent of
printing, the reduction in costs of books and an increasing literacy all served
to enhance the mass appeal of reading. Furthermore, as fonts were standardised
and texts became clearer, reading ceased being a painful process of
decipherment and became an act of pure pleasure.
By the 16th century in
Europe, the appeal of reading for entertainment was well established.
Among literature many genres are some designed,
in whole or in part, purely for entertainment. Limericks, for example, use
verse in a strict, predictable rhyme and rhythm to create humour and to amuse
an audience of listeners or readers. Interactive books such as choose your own
adventure can make literary entertainment more participatory.
social criticism. The Japanese Manga style
differs from the western approach in that it encompasses a wide range of genres
and themes for a readership of all ages. Caricature uses a kind of graphic
entertainment for purposes ranging from merely putting a smile on the viewer
face, to raising social awareness, to highlighting the moral characteristics of
a person being caricatured.
Comedy is both a genre of entertainment and a component of it, providing laughter and amusement, whether the comedy is the sole purpose or used as a form of contrast in an otherwise serious piece. It is a valued contributor to many forms of entertainment, including in literature, theatre, opera, film and games. In royal courts, such as for example, in the Byzantine court, and presumably, also in its wealthy households, mimes were the focus of orchestrated humour, expected or obliged to make fun of all at court, not even excepting the emperor and members of the imperial family. This highly structured role of jester consisted of verbal humour, including teasing, jests, insult, ridicule and obscenity and non verbal humar such as slapstick and horseplay in the presence of an audience. In medieval times, all comic types the buffon, jester, hunchback, dwarf, jokester, were all considered to be essentially of one comic type, the fool, who while not necessarily funny, represented the shortcomings of the individual Shakespeare wrote seventeen comedies which use many of the techniques still called upon by performers and writers of comedy, such as jokes, puns, parody, wit, observational humour or the unexpected effect of irony. One liner jokes and satire are also used to comedic effect in literature. In farce, the comedy is a primary purpose.
The meaning of the word comedy and the audience
expectations of it have changed over time and vary according to culture. Simple
physical comedy such as slapstick is entertaining to a broad range of people of
all ages. However, as cultures become more sophisticated, national nuances
appear in the style and references so that what is amusing in one culture may
be unintelligible in another.
Live performances before an audience constitute a major form of entertainment, especially before the invention of audio and video recording. Performance takes a wide range of forms, including theatre, music and drama. In the 16th and 17th centuries, European royal courts presented masques that were complex theatrical entertainments involving dancing, singing and acting. Opera is a similarly demanding performance style that remains popular. It also encompass all three forms, demanding a high level of musical and dramatic skill, collaboration and like the masque, production expertise as well. Audiences generally show their appreciation of an entertaining performance with applause. However, all performers run the risk of failing to hold their audience attention and thus, failing to entertain. Audience dissatisfaction is often brutally honest and direct.
Storytelling
Storytelling is an ancient form of entertainment that has influenced almost all other forms. It is not only entertainment, it is also thinking through human conflicts and contradictions. Hence, although stories may be delivered directly to a small listening audience, they are also presented as entertainment and used as a component of any piece that relies on a narrative, such as film, drama, ballet, and opera. Written stories have been enhanced by illustrations, often to a very high artistic standard, for example, on illuminated manuscripts and on ancient scrolls such as Japanese ones. Stories remain a common way of entertaining a group that is on a journey. Chaucer uses pilgrims in his literary work the Canterbury tales to show how stories are used to pass the time and entertain an audience of travellers. Even though journeys can now be completed much faster, stories are still told to passengers en route in cars and aeroplanes either orally or delivered by some form of technology.
The power of stories to entertain is evident in
one of the most famous ones Scheherazade a story in the Persian professional
storytelling tradition, of a woman who saves her own life by telling stories.
The connections between the different types of entertainment are shown by the
way that stories like this inspire a retelling in another medium, such as
music, film or games. For example, composers Rimsky Korsakov, Ravel and Szymanowski
have each been inspired by the Scheherazade story and turned it into an
orchestral work, director Pansolini made a film adaptation, and there is an
innovative video game based on the tale. Stories may be told wordlessly, in
music, dance or puppetry for example, such as in the Javanese tradition of
paying, in which the performance is accompanied by a gamelan orchestra or the
similarly traditional Punch and Judy show.
Epic poems such as Homer Odyssey and Iliad, and
sagas such as the Sagas of Icelanders or the celebrated Tale of the Genji, tell
such gripping stories that they have inspired countless other stories in all
forms of entertainment. Collections of stories, such as Grimms Fairy Tales,
have been similarly influential. This collection of folk stories was originally
published in the early 19th century, became iconic and had significant
influence in modern popular culture which subsequently used its themes, images,
symbols and structural elements to create new forms of entertainment.
Some of the most powerful and long-lasting
stories are the foundation stories, also called origin or creation myths such
as the Dreamtime myths of the Australian aborigines, the Mesopotamina Epic of
Gilgamesh, or the Hawaiian stories of the origin of the world. These too are
developed into books, films, music and games in a way that increases their
longevity and enhances their entertainment value.
Theatre performances, typically dramatic or musical, are presented on a stage for an audience and have a history that goes back to Hellenistic times when leading musicians and actors performed widely at poetical competitions, for example at Delphi, Delos, Ephesus. Aristotle and his teacher Plato both wrote on the theory and purpose of theatre.
Expectations
about the performance and their engagement with it have changed over time. For
example, in England during the 18th century, the prejudice against actresses
had faded and in Europe generally, going to the theatre, once a socially
dubious activity, became a more respectable middle class pastime in the late
19th and early 20th centuries, when the variety of popular entertainments
increased. Operetta and music halls became available, and new drama theatres
such as the Moscow Art Theatre and the Suror in Theatre in Russia opened. At
the same time, commercial newspapers began
to carry theatre columns and reviews which helped to make theatre a legitimate
subject of intellectual debate in general discussions about art and culture. Audiences
began to gather to appreciate creative achievement, to marvel at, and be
entertained by, the prominent stars. Vaudeville and music halls, popular at
this time in the United States, England, Canada, Australia and New Zealand,
were themselves eventually superseded.
Play, musicals, monologues, pantomimes, and
performance poetry are part of the very long history of theatre which is also
the venue for the type of performance known as stand up comedy. In the 20th century,
radio and television, often broadcast live, extended the theatrical tradition
that continued to exist alongside the new forms.
The stage and the spaces set out in front of it
for an audience create a theatre. All types of stage are used with all types of
seating for the audience, including the impromptu or improvised 2, 3, 6, the temporary
2, the elaborate 9, or the traditional and permanent 5,
7. They are erected indoors 3, 5, 9 or outdoors 2, 4, 6. The skill of
managing, organising and preparing the stage for a performance is known as 10. The audience's experience of the
entertainment is affected by their expectations, the stagecraft, the type of
stage, and the type and standard of seating provided.
Films are a major form of
entertainment, although not all films have entertainment as their primary
purpose, documentary film, for example, aims to create a record or inform,
although the two purposes often work together. The medium was a global business
from the beginning: "The Lumiere brothers were the first to send cameramen
throughout the world, instructing them to film everything which could be of
interest for the public. In 1908, Pathe launched and distributed newsreels and
by World War I, films were meeting an enormous need for mass entertainment. In
the first decade of the [20th] century cinematic programmes combined, at
random, fictions and news films. He Americans first contrived a way of
producing an illusion of motion through successive images, but the French were
able to transform a scientific principle into a commercially lucrative
spectacle. Film therefore became a part of the entertainment industry from its
early days. Increasingly sophisticated techniques have been used in the film
medium to delight and entertain audiences.
Animation which involves the display of rapid movement in an art work is
one of these techniques that particularly appeals to younger audiences.
Films
also re imagine entertainment from other forms, turning stories, books and
plays, for example, into new entertainments. The story film, a documentary
about the history of film, gives a survey of global achievements and
innovations in the medium, as well as changes in the conception of film making.
It demonstrates that while some films, particularly those in the Hollywood tradition
that combines realism and melodramatic romanticism are intended as a form of
escapism, and others require a deeper engagement or more thoughtful response
from their audiences. For example, the award winning Senegalese film Xala takes
government corruption as its theme.
Dance
The many forms of dance provide entertainment for all age groups and cultures. Dance can be serious in tone, such as when it is used to express a culture's history or important stories, it may be provocative, or it may put in the service of comedy. Since it combines many forms of entertainment music, movement, storytelling, theatre it provides a good example of the various ways that these forms can be combined to create entertainment for different purposes and audiences.
Dance is a form of cultural representation that
involves not just dancers, but choreographers, audience members, patrons and
impresariorsoming from all over the globe and from vastly varied time periods. Whether
from Africa, Asia or Europe, dance is constantly negotiating the realms of
political, social, spiritual and artistic influence. Even though dance
traditions may be limited to one cultural group, they all develop. For example,
in Africa, there are Dahomean dances, Hausa dances, Masai dances and so forth.
Ballet is an example of a highly developed Western form of dance that moved to
the theatres from the French court during the time of Louis XIV, the dancers
becoming professional theatrical performers. Some dances, such as the
quadrille, a square dance that emerged during the Napoleonic years in France
were once popular at social gatherings like balls, but are now rarely
performed. On the other hand, many dances, including folk dances, have evolved
into competitions, which by adding to their audiences, has increased their
entertainment value. Irish dance theatre, which sometimes features traditional
Irish steps and music, has developed into a major dance form with an
international reputation.
Since dance is often associated with the female
body and women experiences, female dancers, who dance to entertain, have in
some cases been regarded as distinct from decent women because they use their
bodies to make a living instead of hiding them as much as possible. Society
attitudes to female dancers depend on the culture, its history and the
entertainment industry itself. For example, while some cultures regard any
dancing by women as the most shameful form of entertainment, other cultures
have established venues such as striptease are performed in public by
professional women dancers for mostly male audiences.
Various political regimes have sought to control
or ban dancing or specific types of dancing, sometimes because of disapproval
of the music or clothes associated with it. Nationalism, authoritarianism and
racism have played a part in banning dances or dancing. For example, during the
Nazi regime, American dances such as swing, regarded as completely un German,
had become a public offense and needed to be banned. Similarly, in Shanghai,
China, in the 1930s, dancing and nightclubs had come to symbolise the excess
that plagued Chinese society and officials wondered if other forms of entertainment such as
brothels, should also be banned. Banning had the effect of making the dance
craze even greater. Ireland, the Public Dance Hall Act of 1935 banned but did
not stop dancing at the crossroads and other popular dance forms such as house
and barn dances. In the US, various dances have been banned, either because
like burlesque, they were suggestive, or because, like the Twist, they were
associated with African Americans. African American dancers were typically
banned from performing in minstrel shows until after the Civil War.
Dances can be performed solo 1, 4 in pairs, 2, 3 in groups, 5, 6, 7, or by massed performers 10.
They might be improvised 4, 8 or highly choreographed 1, 2, 5, 10, spontaneous for personal
entertainment, such as when children begin dancing for themselves, a private
audience, 4, a paying audience 2, a world audience 10, or an audience interested in a
particular dance genre 3, 5. They might be a part of a
celebration, such as a wedding or New Year 6, 8, or a cultural
ritual with a specific purpose, such as a dance by warriors like a haka 7 Some
dances, such as traditional dance in 1
and ballet in 2, need a very
high level of skill and training, others, such as the can- can, require a very
high level of energy and physical fitness. Entertaining the audience is a
normal part of dance but its physicality often also produces joy for the
dancers themselves 9.
A circus, described as one of the most brazen of
entertainment forms, is a special type of theatrical performance, involving
acrobatics and often performing animals, usually thought of as a travelling
show, although permanent venues have also been used. Philip Astely is regarded
as the founder of the modern circus in the second half of the 18th century and
Jules Leotard is the French performer
credited with developing the art of the trapeze, considered synonymous with
circuses. Astley brought together performances that were generally familiar in
traditional British fairs at least since the beginning of the 17th
century, tumbling, rope-dancing, juggling, animal tricks and so
on. It has been claimed that there is no direct link between the
Roman circus and the circus of modern times. Between the demise of the
Roman circus and the foundation of Astley Amphitheatre in London some 1300
years later, the nearest thing to a circus ring was the rough circle formed by
the curious onlookers who gathered around the itinerant tumbler or juggler on a
village green.
The form of entertainment known as stage magic or conjuring and recognizable as performance, is based on traditions and texts of magical rites and dogmas that have been a part of most cultural traditions since ancient times. Performance magic relies on deception, psychological manipulation, sleight of hand and other forms of trickery to give an audience the illusion that a performer can achieve the impossible.
Stage magic is performed for an audience in a variety of media and locations: on stage, on television, in the street, and live at parties or events. It is often combined with other forms of entertainment, such as comedy or music and showmanship is often an essential part of magic performances. Audiences amazed at the stunt performances and escape acts of harry Houdini, for example, regarded him as a magician.
Fantasy magicians have held an important place in literature for centuries, offering entertainment to millions of readers. Famous wizards such as Merlin in the Arthurian legends have been written about since the 5th and 6th centuries, while in the 21st century, the young wizard Harry Potter became a global entertainment phenomenon when the book series about him sold about 450 million copies, making it the bestselling book series in history.
Street Performance
Street entertainment, street performance or
busking is forms of performance that have been meeting the public need for
entertainment for centuries. It was an integral aspect of London life, for
example, when the city in the early 19th century was filled with spectacle and
diversion. Minstrels or troubadours are part of the tradition. The art and
practice of busking is still celebrated at annual busking festivals.
There are three basic forms of contemporary
street performance. The first form is the circle show. It tends to gather a
crowd, usually has a distinct beginning and end, and is done in conjunction
with street theatre, puppeteering, magicians, comedians, acrobats, jugglers and
sometimes musicians. This type has the potential to be the most lucrative for
the performer because there are likely to be more donations from larger
audiences if they are entertained by the act. Good buskers control the crowd so
patrons do not obstruct foot traffic. The second form, the walk by act, has no
distinct beginning or end. Typically, the busker provides an entertaining
ambience, often with an unusual instrument, and the audience may not stop to
watch or form a crowd. Sometimes a walk by act will spontaneously turn into a
circle show. The third form, cafe busking, is performed mostly in restaurants,
pubs, bars and cafes. This type of act occasionally uses public transport as a
venue.
Parades
are held for a range of purposes, often more than one. Whether their mood is
sombre or festive, being public events that are designed to attract attention
and activities that necessarily divert normal traffic, parades have a clear
entertainment value to their audiences. Cavalcades and the modern variant, the
motorcade, are examples of public processions. Some people watching the parade
or procession may have made a special effort to attend, while others become
part of the audience by happenstance. Whatever their mood or primary purpose,
parades attract and entertain people who watch them pass by. Occasionally, a
parade takes place in an improvised theatre space and tickets are sold to the
physical audience while the global audience participates via broadcast.
One
of the earliest forms of parade were triumphs grand and sensational displays of
foreign treasures and spoils, given by triumphant Roman generals to celebrate
their victories. They presented conquered peoples and nations that exalted the
prestige of the victor. In the summer of 46 B.C.E. Julius Caesar chose to
celebrate four triumphs held on different days extending for about one month.
In Europe from the middle Ages to the Baroque the Royal Entry celebrated the
formal visit of the monarch to the city with a parade through elaborately
decorated streets, passing various shows and displays. The annual Lord Mayor
shown in London is an example of a civic parade that has survived since
medieval times.
Many
religious festivals have some entertainment appeal in addition to their serious
purpose. Sometimes, religious rituals have been adapted or evolved into secular
entertainments, or like the Festa del Redentore in Venice, have managed to grow
in popularity while holding both secular and sacred purposes in balance.
However, pilgrimages, such as the Christian pilgrimage of the way of St. James,
the Muslim Hajj and the Hindu Kumbh Mela, which may appear to the outsider as
an entertaining parade or procession, are not intended as entertainment, they
are instead about an individual spiritual journey. Hence, the relationship
between spectator and participant, unlike entertainments proper, is different.
The manner in which the Kumbh Mela, for example, is divorced from its cultural
context and repackaged for Western consumption renders the presence of voyeurs
deeply problematic.
Parades
generally impress and delight 5,
6, 7, 8, often by
including unusual, colourful costumes 6,
7. Sometimes they also
commemorate 5, 8 or celebrate 1, 4, 8, 9, 10. Sometimes
they have a serious purpose, such as when the context is military 1, 2, 5, when the
intention is sometimes to intimidate, or religious, when the audience might
participate or have a role to play 6,
7, 9. Even if a parade uses new technology and is some distance away 10, it is likely to have a strong
appeal, draw the attention of onlookers and entertain them.
Sport
Sporting competitions have always
provided entertainment for crowds. To distinguish the players from the
audience, the latter are often known as spectators. Developments in stadium and
auditorium design, as well as in recording and broadcast technology, have
allowed off site spectators to watch sport, with the result that the size of
the audience has grown ever larger and spectator sport has become increasingly
popular. Two of the most popular sports with global appeal are association
football and cricket. Their ultimate international competitions, the World Cup
and test cricket, are broadcast around the world. Beyond the very large numbers
involved in playing these sports, they are notable for being a major source of
entertainment for many millions of non players worldwide. A comparable multi
stage, long form sport with global appeal is the Tour de France, unusual in
that it takes place outside of special stadia, being run instead in the
countryside.
Aside
from sports that have world wide appeal and competitions, such as the Olympic
Games, the entertainment value of a sport depends on the culture and country in
which it is played. For example, in the United States, baseball and basketball
games are popular forms of entertainment, in Bhutan, the national sport is
archery, in New Zealand, it is rugby union, in Iran, it is freestyle wrestling.
Japan unique sumo wrestling contains ritual elements that derive from its long
history. In some cases, such as the international running group Hash House
Harriers, participants create a blend of sport and entertainment for
themselves, largely independent of spectator involvement, where the social
component is more important than the competitive.
The
evolution of an activity into a sport and then an entertainment is also affected
by the local climate and conditions. For example, the modern sport of surfing
is associated with Hawaii and that of snow sking probably evolved in
Scandinavia. While these sports and the entertainment they offer to spectators
have spread around the world, people in the two originating countries remain
well known for their prowess. Sometimes the climate offers a chance to adapt
another sport such as in the case of ice hockey which is an important
entertainment in Canada.
Fairs
expositions shopping
Fairs
and exhibitions have existed since ancient and medieval times, displaying
wealth, innovations and objects for trade and offering specific entertainments
as well as being places of entertainment in themselves. Whether in a medieval market
or a small shop, shopping always offered forms of exhilaration that took one
away from the everyday. However, in the modern world, merchandising has become
entertainment, spinning signs, flashing signs, thumping music video
screens, interactive computer kiosks, and day care cafes.
By
the 19th century, expos which encourage arts, manufactures and commerce had
become truly international and were not only hugely popular but were having an
enormous impact on international ideas. For example, the 1878 paris exposition
facilitated international cooperation about ideas, innovations and standards. From
London 1851 to Paris 1900, in excess of 200 million visitors had entered the
turnstiles in London, Paris, Vienna, Philadelphia, Chicago and a myriad of
smaller shows around the world. Since World War II well over 500 million visits
have been recorded through world expo turnstiles. As a form of spectacle and
entertainment, expositions influenced everything from architecture, to patterns
of globalisation, to fundamental matters of human identity and in the process
established the close relationship between fairs, the rise of department stores
and art museums, the modern world of mass consumption and the entertainment
industry.
Safety
Some entertainments, such as at large festivals, concerts, clubs, parties and celebrations, involve big crowds. From earliest times, crowds at an entertainment have associated hazards and dangers, especially when combined with the recreational consumption of intoxicants such as alcohol. The Ancient Greeks had Dionysian Mysteries, for example, and the Romans had Saturnalia. The consequence of excess and crowds can produce breaches of social norms of behavior, sometimes causing injury or even death, such as for example, at the Altamont Free Concert, an outdoor rock festival. The list of includes those caused by, overcrowding, terrorism, such as that targeted a nightclub, and especially fire. Investigations, such as that carried out in the US after the often demonstrate that lessons learned regarding fire safety in nightclubs from earlier events such as the do not necessarily result in lasting effective change. Efforts to prevent such
incidents
include appointing special officers, such as the medieval or, in modern times,
who control access, and also ongoing improvement of relevant such as those for
building safety.
Industry
Although kings, rulers and powerful people have
always been able to pay for entertainment to be provided for them and in many
cases have paid for public entertainment, people generally have made their own
entertainment or when possible, attended a live performance. Technological
developments in the 20th century meant that entertainment could be produced
independently of the audience, packaged and sold on a commercial basis by an
entertainment industry. Sometimes referred to as, the industry
relies on to produce, market, broadcast or otherwise distribute many of its
traditional forms, including performances of all types. The industry became so
sophisticated that its economics became a separate area of academic study.
The film industry is a part of the entertainment
industry. Components of it include the Hollywood and Bollywood film industries,
as well as the cinema of the United Kingdom and all the, including, and others.
Another component of the entertainment
industry, applying the same forms and to the development, marketing and sale of
sex products on a commercial basis.
Amusement parks entertain paying guests with, such as roller coasters, train
rides, water rides, and dark rides as well as other events and events and
associated attractions. The parks are built on a large area subdivided into
themed areas named lands. Sometimes the whole amusement park is based on one
theme, such as the various SeaWorld parks that focus on the theme of sea life.
One of the consequences of the development of the
entertainment industry has been the creation of new types of employment. While
jobs such as, musician and exist as they always have, people doing this work
are likely to be employed by a company rather than a patron as they once would
have been. New jobs have appeared, such as or supervisor in the film industry,
and attendants in an amusement park.
Prestigious for excellence in the various types
of entertainment. For example, there are awards for Music, Games, Comics,
Comedy, Theatre, Television, Film, Dance and Magic. Sporting awards are made
for the results and skill, rather than for the entertainment value.
Architecture
for entertainment
Purpose-built structures as venues for
entertainment that accommodate audiences have produced many famous and
innovative buildings, among the most recognisable of which are theatre
structures. For the ancient Greeks, the architectural importance of the
theatre is a reflection of their importance to the community, made apparent in
their monumentality, in the effort put into their design, and in the care put
into their detail. The Romans subsequently developed the stadium in an
oval form known as a circus. In modern times, some of the grandest buildings
for entertainment have brought fame to their cities as well as their designers.
Two of the chief architectural concerns for the
design of venues for mass audiences are speed of egress and safety. The speed at
which the venue can be emptied is important both for amenity and safety because
large crowds take a very long time to disperse from a badly designed venue and
this in turn creates a safety risk. The Hillsborough disaster is an example of
how poor aspects of building design can contribute to audience deaths.
Sightlines and acoustics are also important design considerations in most
theatrical venues.
In the 21st century, entertainment venues,
especially stadia, are likely to figure among the leading architectural genres.
However, they require a whole new approach to design, because they need to be sophisticated
entertainment centres, multi experience venues, capable of being enjoyed in
many diverse ways. Hence, architects now have to design with two distinct
functions in mind, as sports and entertainment centres playing host to live
audiences, and as sports and entertainment studios serving the viewing and
listening requirements of the remote audience.
Architecture
as entertainment
Architects who push the boundaries of design or construction sometimes create buildings that are entertaining because they exceed the expectations of the public and the client and are aesthetically outstanding. Buildings such as Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, designed by Frank Gehry, are of this type, becoming a tourist attraction as well as a significant international museum. Other apparently usable buildings are really follies, deliberately constructed for a decorative purpose and never intended to be practical.
On the other hand, sometimes architecture is
entertainment, while pretending to be functional. The tourism industry, for
example, creates or renovates buildings as attractions
that have either never been used or can never be used for their ostensible
purpose. They are instead re-purposed to entertain visitors often by simulating
cultural experiences. Buildings, history and sacred spaces are thus made into
commodities for purchase. Such intentional tourist attractions divorce
buildings from the past so that the difference between historical authenticity
and contemporary entertainment venues theme parks becomes hard to define. Examples
include the preservation of the Alcazar of Toledo, with its grim Civil War
History, the conversion of slave dungeons into tourist attractions in Ghana, and
the presentation of indigenous culture in Libya. The specially constructed
buildings in amusement parks represent the park's theme and are usually neither
authentic nor completely functional.
Effects of developments in electronic media
Globalisation
By the second half of the 20th century,
developments in electronic media made possible the delivery of entertainment
products to mass audiences across the globe. The technology enabled people to
see, hear and participate in all the familiar forms stories, theater, music,
dance wherever they live. The rapid development of entertainment technology
was assisted by improvements in data storage devices such as cassette tapes or
compact discs, along with increasing miniaturisation. Computerisation and the
development of barcodes also made ticketing easier, faster and global.
Obsolescence
In the
1940s radio was the electronic medium for family entertainment and information.
In the 1950s, it was television that was the new medium and it rapidly became
global, bringing visual entertainment, first in black and white, then in
colour, to the world. By the 1970s, could be played electronically, then
devices provided mobile entertainment, and by the last decade of the 20th century,
via. In combination with products from the entertainment industry, all the
traditional forms of entertainment became available personally. People could
not only select an entertainment product such as a piece of music, film or
game, they could choose the time and place to use it. The proliferation of
portable media players and the emphasis on the computer as a site for film
consumption together have significantly changed how audiences encounter films.
One of the most notable consequences of the rise of electronic entertainment
has been the rapid of the various recording and storage methods. As an example
of speed of change driven by electronic media, over the course of one
generation, television as a medium for receiving standardised entertainment
products went from unknown, to novel, to ubiquitous and finally to superseded.
One estimate was that by 2011 over 30 percent of households in the US would own
a console, about the same percentage that owned a television in 1953. It is
expected that halfway through the second decade of the 21st century, television
will be completely replaced by online entertainment. The so called has resulted
in an increasingly transnational marketplace that has caused difficulties for
governments, business, industries and individuals as they all try to keep up. Even
the sports stadium of the future will increasingly become a competitor with
television viewing in terms of comfort, safety and the constant flow of
audio-visual information and entertainment available. Other flow on effects of
the shift are likely to include those on public architecture such as hospitals
and nursing homes, where television, regarded as an essential entertainment
service for patients and residents, will need to be replaced by access to the
internet. At the same time, the ongoing need for entertainers as professional engagers shows the
continuity of traditional entertainment.Convergence
By the second decade of the 21st century, was
being replaced by and all forms of electronic entertainment began to. For
example, convergence is challenging standard practices in the film industry,
whereas success or failure used to be determined by the first weekend of its
run. Today, a series of exhibition windows, such as DVD, pay preview, and fibre
optic video on demand are used to maximise profits. Part of the industry
adjustment is its release of new commercial product directly via video hosting
services. Media convergence is said to be more than technological, the
convergence is cultural as well. It is also the result of a deliberate effort
to protect the interests of business entities, policy institutions and other
groups. Globalisation and are two of the cultural consequences of convergence.
Others include and interactive storytelling as well as the way that single
franchises are distributed through and impact on a range of delivery methods.
The greater diversity in the ways that signals may be received and packaged for
the viewer, via terrestrial, satellite or cable television, and of course, via
the Internet also affects entertainment venues, such as sports stadia, which
now need to be designed so that both live and remote audiences can interact in
increasingly sophisticated ways for
example, audiences can watch highlights, call up statistics, order tickets and
merchandise and generally tap into the stadium resources at any time of the day
or night.
The introduction of television altered the
availability, cost, variety and quality of entertainment products for the
public and the convergence of online entertainment is having a similar effect.
For example, the possibility and popularity of user generated content, as
distinct from commercial product, creates a networked audience model makes
programming obsolete. Individuals and corporations use to broadcast content
that is equally accepted by the public as legitimate entertainment.
While technology increases demand for
entertainment products and offers increased speed of delivery, the forms that
make up the content are in themselves, relatively stable. Storytelling, music,
theatre, dance and games are recognisably the same as in earlier centuries.
What is the Definition of
Entertainment
The term entertainment can be defined as the
action of providing or being provided with amusement or enjoyment. This can be
an event, activity or performance that is created to entertain.
Advantages and disadvantages
of entertainment to society
Present day entertainments are either good or bad or ugly.
Present day entertainments are either good or bad or ugly.
Advantages: good ones with pure fun, frolic, and knowledge dissemination through various media keep us in good moods, healthy thoughts and entertained. Bad ones can be ignored by matured audience or readers but nonetheless, they leave a bad impression on our minds. The ugly ones are those that border on vulgarism like hard core porno entertainments, horror movies or badly worded books or comics.
Disadvantages: All the above will be of great disadvantage if any form of entertainment is not used moderately and on a selective basis by those who seek fun and laughter. Any kind of entertainment, good or bad, will be bad for children who get addicted to any kind of habit, become couch potatoes and finally end up with obesity, lack of interest in studies and finally become a burden to the society.
Nowadays, products of hi-tech like a Mp3 or DVD-players become to be parts of the humans life. In my opinion, these technologies have merits and demerits.
People use these modern techniques everywhere and any time because they are portable, compact and may contain a lot of info compared with diskettes or tape recording. For example, we can take Mp3 or DVD-players with us during the travelling or going to somewhere. And these devices don't claim more place than oldest. Moreover, we are able to record not only music or movies, but also educational programmes. These types of technologies have some opportunities. For instance, it can work without electricity and it is easy to handle. Besides, they have additional devices earphones in order not to distract other people.
Benefits of Entertainment
The entertainment scene has evolved as there are different patterns and options for your amusement. There are specialized amusement choices that give you the feeling of an emerging culture of enjoying life at its fullest. Read on and find out why the entertainment scene has become more popular than ever before.
Movies and are great forms of entertainment but have also proven beneficial for your mental health and general well being. They allow you to relax as you escape from the concerns and worries of day to day activities. You can free your everyday worries by watching your favourite movies or listening to soothing tracks.
Life teaching
Although not familiar to many,
movies can teach you more about the world we live in. By watching movies, you
learn how experiences can affect our lives. On the other hand, documentaries
are very educational as they teach you lots of different things.
Appreciate artistic
culture
Artistic concerts in various parts of the world generate global appreciation of
arts. Today, artistic skills are encouraged through frequent art shows in major
cities. Not only is it a great form of entertainment, but also encourages
others to pursue studies in fine arts in order to reach a wider audience.
Employment opportunities
You will agree with me that casinos employ thousands
of workers yearly. Just imagine a situation whereby all casinos are suddenly
closed. Many people would lose their jobs, not to mention the fact that casinos
boost the economy in form of taxes.
Therapeutic effects
Research has shown that people who gamble occasionally
have lower risk of health complications be it alcoholism, bankruptcy or
depression. They find betting therapeutic as it helps keep them focused,
improving their mental health.
What
are the Advantages of Entertainment
Entertainment
not only relieves you of stress, but a lot helps you regain your energy and thus
recharge your batteries. Your mind diverts away from your day to day worries
and tensions and you are able to divert your mind from the normal schedule. So,
everyone must have a daily dose of entertainment. Listening to music is the
simplest way to entertain yourself. Going for a long vacation is always a good
idea.
Importance of Entertainment in Life
Today life is full of stress and anxiety and
especially in metropolitan cities situation is the worst. Everyone is busy with
his life, no time for family and himself even. Every person is running behind
his hectic schedule. Life become so fast but still no time to relax for 5
minute and release the stress. No need to explain, you can easily analyze when
you are in hurry to reach the office thinking of some of your personal tensions
and then the whole day hectic schedule. Entertainment can add salt in this
discomfort and distasteful life. It is the way of entertainment which keeps the
life going. Else life becomes very dull and boring. Entertainment gives the
life its charm and energy. If entertainment is removed from life then there
will be a blank left behind. To fill this blank we need moments of
entertainment in life. And some of these special moments become memories of
future.
Entertainment can be of any type depending on one choice and likes. There are so many electronic gadgets available to give entertaining moments to minds like the most common is T.V. and music systems. A tired person after coming back from office, if got a 15 minute time to watch its favourite show then that time is enough to relax his tiring mind. This small time period of entertainment can give a smile and a soothing effect to his mind.
Entertainment
has been a part of all cultures, from the Chauvet Cavepaintings to the iPad.
For Rothman, it is the storehouse of national values. Perhaps nowhere is that
observation more apt than in the United States, a nation that Gabler terms a republic of entertainment. Many Americans
seem to feel entitled to high quality entertainment, and more and more
entertainment jostles for their attention. Zillmann goes so far as to predict
that entertainment will define, more than ever before, the civilizations to
come. The importance of entertainment can be gauged by a study conducted by
Brock and Livingston 259. They asked 115 American undergraduates how much
money they would require in order to give up television for the rest of their
lives. More than half said they would demand over a million dollars, with
several naming amounts exceeding a billion dollars.
Despite
the centrality of entertainment to society, however, academia has treated the
subject in a disjointed, scattershot, sometimes condescending fashion, for a
variety of reasons. To start with, the earliest communication theorists chose
to study the mass media in terms of persuasion rather than entertainment, and
most subsequent scholarship has retained that emphasis. Further many school look
on entertainment as too trivial for study. They believe that entertainment
amounts principally to taking up large amounts of the daily time of
individuals, but not representing an important force for human behavior change.
In addition, different disciplines have asserted dominion over different
aspects of thetopic. Scholars of communications, film, literature, art, popular
culture, lei-sure, history, psychology, sociology, economics, policy, law, neuroscience,
and other disciplines all have claimed partial, often overlapping authority.
But
the importance of the whole has been neglected: no single discipline has undertaken
to map the vast landscape of entertainment. Lieb observes that theorists have largely
failed to explain what entertainment is, what kind of functions it inherits,
and how much further it may expand. Vorderer deems the academic response to
entertainment astonishing, to the point of being incomprehensible.
To be sure, some entertainment scholars may see
no need for any single, overarching definition. For them, a subjective approach
suffices, entertainment is whatever individuals find entertaining. But we
believe that development of a more objective definition can help unify and
advance the field of entertainment studies. Terminological exactitude, after
all, is a basic foundation of scholarship. We follow the example of Browne, who in 1972 published Popular Culture,
Notes toward a Definition. He wrote, Despite the obvious difficulty of arriving
at a hard and fast definition of popular culture, it will probably be to our
advantage and a comfort to many who need one to arrive at some viable though
tentative understanding of how popular culture can be defined. So, with due
acknowledgment that some may see our undertaking as bootless, this article
sketches different approaches to defining entertainment and then proposes a set
of criteria. Our hope is to help launch a conversation, one that can fruitfully
continue as diverse approaches to the study of entertainment arise and mature.We
begin with two observations that, though perhaps commonplace, ought to be kept
in mind. First, entertainment often does more than entertain or, put
differently, entertainment functions are often intertwined with non entertainment
functions. According to Stagier, children and teens spent more time at movies
during World War II in part because mothers were Notes toward a
Definition 3 working, so theatres became de facto day care centers. Katz and Foulkes
similarly observe that families may watch TV together in order to bond. Second,
and regrettably, there are few things less entertaining than trying to define mass entertainment.
Traditional Definitions of
Entertainment
According
to the Oxford English Dictionary, entertain in its earliest usage meant to hold
mutually, to hold intertwined. The word comes from Latin, inter, meaning among,
and tenure, meaning hold. One can construe hold as focus attention. Adding among
suggests two meanings: to focus on one of several objects
competing for attention, or to be one of several people focusing on an object.
The multiplicity, in other words, can refer to entertainments or to members of
the audience. The latter suggests a communal nature to entertainment. Turner
applies a slightly different term in writing that entertainment literally means
holding between that is liminalizing. Turner approach suggests that
entertainment functions as a sort of passage, perhaps the audience passage
through an entertainment work.
What is Entertainment Important
Entertainment is important to us as it helps us
escape from real life frustrations and feed our fantasies for examples
cartoons. It also helps to shape our way of thinking, behaviour and values
because some of the films we watch in theatres and television teach us a lot.
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