What do people mean by ‘effects’?
QUESTION Why are the belongings of the deceased referred to as their ‘effects’?
IN Hamlet we find: ‘Forgive me my foul murder? That cannot be; since I am still possess’d Of those effects for which I did the murder.’
‘Effects’ is derived from the Latin ‘facere’, to do or to make. It’s a common root that gives us the suffix ‘fy’ (as in verify ‘make true’.) as well as words such as ‘fact’ and ‘feat’. In this sense effect is ‘something acquired on completion of an action’.
sam Gale, Radstock, Avon.
QUESTION Did George Lucas sue a beer firm for inserting adverts into his films?
IN December 2003, Chile’s Channel 13 aired three adverts produced by Cerveza Cristal, a famous South American beer company established in 1850. Instead of taking traditional ad breaks, the 30-second commercials were woven into scenes from the original trilogy of Star Wars.
In an iconic scene from Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope, Obi-Wan Kenobi (Alec Guinness) moves over to a chest to retrieve Luke Skywalker’s birthright, his lightsaber, but instead pulls out an ice-cold beer. This is followed by a muscular 1980s rock jingle proclaiming ‘Cerveza Cristal!’
In The Empire Strikes Back an exhausted Luke, following a training session with Yoda, reaches for a beer instead of his lightsaber, and in Return Of The Jedi, following a tense exchange with Luke, the Emperor Palpatine uses The Force to levitate a cold one into his hands.
The campaign - known as La Fuerza está con Cerveza Cristal (The Force is with Cerveza Cristal) - won an award at the 2004 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity for its creators, ad agency OMD Santiago.
It was rather wonderful, but Star Wars creator George Lucas wasn’t happy with this collaboration. He filed a grievance with the Chilean Council for Self-Regulation and Advertising Ethics in 2004 and they pulled the ads from the film.
Kathleen edwards, swansea.
QUESTION Has an artist deliberately parodied the work of another?
FURTHER to the earlier answer, a modern example is Czech artist Kristyna Milde, who recreates some of history’s most famous paintings, such as Venus With A Mirror by Titian, using posed Barbie dolls as models.
Frances Thorpe, Braunton, Devon.
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