Bollywood and 'grocery store' video piracy in Australia

This article seeks to examine the ongoing struggle between narrowcast media piracy practices serving migrant communities and the attempts currently being made by players in the Indian film industry to legitimate, and thus capitalise on, the circulation of Indian films in key offshore markets. This article poses the question of whether an alternative network of distribution is likely to emerge which might supplant Asian food stores as the primary distribution network for Indian films, and to place this problem within the existing framework of cultural practices surrounding Indian films in Australia.

Suntans and sun protection in Australian teen media: 1999 to 2000

In this study, the portrayal of tanned skin and sun protection in magazines, television programs, and movies popular with Australian adolescents were analyzed. Images of models in magazines (n = 1,791), regular/supporting characters in television programs (it = 867), and regular/supporting characters in cinema movies (n = 2,836) for the 12-month period August 1999 to July 2000 were coded and analyzed. Alight tan was the most predominant tan level, and protective clothing was the most common sun protection measure displayed across all forms of media. There were significant associations between gender and tan levels in the television and movie samples. Although it is important to monitor the portrayal of tan levels and sun protection measures in media targeting adolescents, overall, the authors' findings revealed a media environment generally supportive of sun protection objectives.

Who wants to live forever?

For millennia, human civilization has been fascinated with overcoming death. Immortality, eternal youth or at least the prospect of reaching biblical age have had a strong lure for religion, art and popular beliefs. Life after death, which is, in essence, eternal life, is the one central element of nearly all religions since Ancient Egypt. If we believe the Old Testament, some of the patriarchs lived for several hundreds of years. In the medieval ages, the fountain of youth was a popular myth, often illustrated in paintings, such as Lucas Cranach's The Fountain of Youth (Fig 1). And society today has not lost its fascination with immortality, as seen in Hollywood movies such as the Highlander films (1986–2000), The 6th Day (2000) or Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), and novels such as H. Rider Haggard's She. But for the first time, modern science may provide the knowledge and tools to interfere with the ageing processes and fulfil this age-old dream. This possibility has triggered an intense debate among scientists and ethicists about the potential of anti-ageing therapies and their ethical and social consequences. Given that anti-ageing therapies could dramatically change the social fabric of modern societies, it is quite astonishing that these debates have neglected the views of the larger public.