title: God of War III

text: For pre-orders, some retailers included a premium costume for Kratos: the Apollo, Forgotten Warrior, and Phantom of Chaos skins from Amazon.com, Game Crazy and Play.com, and GameStop, respectively. GameStop pre-orders also included a poster signed by "God of War III" concept artist Andy Park and an entry in its "Be the Envy of the Gods" sweepstakes. 7-Eleven issued a "God of War III" poster for pre-orders and sold a Kratos' Fury Slurpee in "God of War III" cups. The cups and their specially marked Mountain Dew bottles had codes usable on the Slurpee website for "God of War III" downloadable content, including a behind-the-scenes video, wallpapers, PlayStation Home content, and an in-game Kratos skin, the Morpheus Armor.


title: God of War III

text: In December 2009, Santa Monica accepted video submissions from players to determine the ultimate "God of War" fan. The top 18 submissions were included in the closing credits of "God of War: Unearthing the Legend", and all winners received a copy of the "God of War III Ultimate Edition" signed by the development team. Sony and Spike TV sponsored a Last Titan Standing contest, in which fans over 21 could win a chance to play "God of War III" before its mainstream release. Spike's "GameTrailers TV" presented "God of War III: Last Titan Standing" on March 15, 2010, and the winner received a custom-made "God of War III" PS3. A week before "God of War III"s release, the developers released Kratos' backstory on the "God of War" website, under the title "Path to Olympus".


title: God of War III

text: On March 20, 2010, a NASCAR car driven by Joey Logano during the Scotts Turf Builder 300 had a "God of War III" and GameStop-themed paint design.<ref name="3/10/2010"></ref> In April, Machinima.com released five "Art of the Game" videos for "God of War III" on the PlayStation Store, featuring interviews with team developers. A "God of War III" action figure line was produced by DC Unlimited. To celebrate the game's entrance into Sony's Greatest Hits library, Santa Monica sponsored a sweepstakes from March 4 to April 1, 2011. Fans could submit an original design of an "Ultimate "God of War" Monster" for one of three prizes: a limited folio edition, a special edition, and a paperback edition of "The Art of God of War III", signed by the development team.


title: God of War III

text: The game has 36 trophies, awarded for player achievements (for example, "Releasing the Floodgates" for killing Poseidon). When players received the platinum trophy, they were linked to the website spartansstandtall.com. On May 4, 2010, the site became the official website for "God of War: Ghost of Sparta", the next installment in the series and the second for the PlayStation Portable. Early copies of "Ghost of Sparta" (and all digital copies in Europe) included a voucher to download Kratos' brother Deimos as a costume for use in "God of War III".


title: God of War III

text: On November 2, 2010, the Dominus character skin and Challenge of Exile mode—previously exclusive to the "Ultimate Edition" and "Ultimate Trilogy Edition"—were released as a bundle on the PlayStation Store. The bundle is free for PlayStation Plus subscribers, who could receive the Phantom of Chaos and Forgotten Warrior skins when purchasing "God of War" and "God of War II", respectively, for a limited time. All previous pre-order bonus costumes—Apollo, Forgotten Warrior, and Phantom of Chaos—and the 7-Eleven promotional DLC—the Morpheus Armor—were also released on the PlayStation Store.


title: God of War III

text: God of War III Remastered is a remastered port of "God of War III" for the PlayStation 4 console. It was first released in North America on July 14, 2015, followed by Australia and mainland Europe on July 15, and the UK on July 17. Santa Monica's Creative Director Cory Barlog announced the remastered game in celebration of the "God of War" franchise's tenth anniversary. Ported by Wholesale Algorithms, the remastered version has full 1080p support targeted at 60 frames per second and features a photo mode, allowing players to edit their photos and share their favorite moments. All of the DLC that was released for "God of War III" is included with "God of War III Remastered". By the end of its first week of release, "God of War III Remastered" was ninth in sales at retail in the UK. For the entire month of July 2015, the downloadable version was the seventh best-selling PlayStation 4 title from the PlayStation Store.


title: God of War III

text: In March and April 2010, "God of War III: Original Soundtrack from the Video Game", composed by Gerard K. Marino, Ron Fish, Mike Reagan, Jeff Rona, and Cris Velasco, was included as downloadable content in the "God of War III Ultimate Edition" and "Ultimate Trilogy Edition". Its CD was released on March 30 by SCE and Sumthing Else. The soundtrack was recorded by the Skywalker Session Orchestra and the Czech National Symphony Chorus. Each composer provided a different aesthetic to the score: for example, Marino's approach was brooding, rhythmic, and percussive, and Fish set hopeless and somber moods. In an interview with Game Music Online, Mike Reagan said that although the composers might have used each other's themes, they did not collaborate with each other. Reagan said the real collaboration came from Clint Bajakian, Senior Music Supervisor at Sony, and his team. In scoring for "God of War III", Reagan said that the composers were "able to explore more melodic development than we were on the first ["God of War"]." The score was recorded under the new American Federation of Musicians video game agreement and because of Sony's vision and support, the composers were able to record locally with some of the best musicians in the world. In an interview with PlayStation.Blog, Clint Bajakian described the different ensembles that recorded the score: the brass section is the "lead guitar", the choir gives the game its epic feel, the strings are the body of the sound, and the percussion is the foundation.


title: God of War III

text: A nine-out-of-ten review from Square Enix Music Online praised the soundtrack's orchestration, calling it the best score in the series to date. G4 praised its quality, saying that the compositions were strong and it was "fantastic" as standalone music. A six-out-of-ten review from Tracksounds said that although the score "lacks the intricacy and personality that could set it apart and give it a sense of uniqueness...[it] delivers on its promise of a loud, wrathful bundle of tunes you can kill gods to...for better or worse." The reviewer said to "Enjoy in small doses." At the 2010 Spike Video Game Awards, the soundtrack was nominated for Best Original Score.


title: God of War III

text: "God of War III" received "universal acclaim" according to review aggregator Metacritic, Adam Sessler of "X-Play" said that the game "finishes the trilogy on an exceptionally high note", and it "blends all of its best attributes into a stellar experience." "IGN"s Chris Roper said that "God of War III" "practically redefines" scale in video games, singling out the size of the Titans as being "larger than entire levels in other games". Mike Jackson of "Official PlayStation Magazine UK" called it the biggest "God of War" game yet; if it was the series' last game, ""God of War III" gives PlayStation's toughest hero the send-off he deserves."


title: God of War III

text: Matt Leone of 1UP said that the gameplay has "variety ... You seemingly see, acquire, and participate in something new around every corner". According to Leone, each weapon "adds a lot of depth to the combat system." Christian Donlan of "Eurogamer" said that the "combat system, level flow, and pacing of bosses and puzzles remains largely untouched. But everything's bigger, grander and more elaborate." He praised the weapons' accessibility, saying that it is easy to quickly switch between them. According to Tom McShea of GameSpot, the combat and scale "have been pushed further than ever before ... creating an experience so focused and explosively fun that it's hard to put down, and even harder to forget." McShea said that regardless of repetition, "the brutality of combat is one of the most satisfying aspects of "God of War III"." Joe Juba of "Game Informer" called "God of War III" "visceral" and "brutal", and Kratos "the undisputed king of the genre." Jackson, however, said the core gameplay's familiarity "makes it feel less than the very, very best", and according to Roper, two of the three additional weapons are similar to the main blades; they "have unique powers and slightly different moves, but by and large they're more of the same."


title: God of War III

text: Its plot received mixed reviews. GameTrailers said that "God of War III"s storyline makes Greek mythology more interesting. GameFront's Phil Hornshaw said it had an overly cruel antagonist, and the game assumed that the players reveled in the misery and violence as much as Kratos did. According to Donlan, the story is as simple as it can get. McShea said that although it does not pick up until near the end, it "becomes powerful and moving in unexpected ways, peaking in a thrilling conclusion that successfully touches on many different emotions and provides closure for this epic tale." Juba, on the other hand, considered that the plot "doesn't have any standout revelations or developments".


title: God of War III

text: Jackson called "God of War III"s graphics as good as (if not better than) those in "Killzone 2" and "". According to Juba, the "cinematic camera work [is] even more impressive than Naughty Dog's feats with "Uncharted 2"." Roper said, ""God of War III" presents some of the most impressive visuals that I've ever seen in a game. Kratos in particular looks phenomenal, and is perhaps the single most impressive-looking character ever in videogames." According to GameTrailers, "the levels are expertly designed" and the game's scale is the most outstanding visual achievement.


title: God of War III

text: "God of War III" was awarded the "Most Anticipated Game of 2010" at the 2009 Spike Video Game Awards. At the 2010 Spike Video Game Awards, it was awarded "Best PS3 Game" and "Best Graphics", and Kratos received the "Biggest Badass" award. It was also a nominee for "Game of the Year", "Best Action Adventure Game", "Best Original Score", and "Character of the Year" (Kratos). Other individual awards include "Best Action/Adventure Game" (GameTrailers), "Best Action Game" (GameSpy), "Best PS3 Game" (Game Revolution), and "Best PS3 Exclusive" (Shacknews). At the 2011 British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Video Game Awards, "God of War III" received the "Artistic Achievement" award, and it was a nominee for the "Action" and "Gameplay" awards.


title: God of War III

text: At the 14th Annual AIAS Interactive Achievement Awards (now known as the D.I.C.E. Awards), "God of War III" won "Outstanding Achievement in Animation", as well as being nominated for "Game of the Year", "Action Game of the Year", "Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction", "Outstanding Achievement in Visual Engineering" and "Outstanding Character Performance" for TC Carson's vocal portrayal of Kratos.


title: God of War III

text: Though the original release of "God of War III" was met with critical acclaim, "God of War III Remastered" only garnered "generally favorable reviews", according to review aggregator Metacritic. Reviewers found it odd that Sony decided to remaster "God of War III" for PlayStation 4, as its story picks up immediately from the ending of "God of War II", which may confuse newcomers who have never played the previous games. Praise was given to the smoother textures and improved frame rate, though because the original already had impressive graphics, the changes were not major, and reviewers said these changes were not a strong enough argument to rebuy the game for US$40.


title: Chloe Bailey

text: Chloe Elizabeth Bailey (born July 1, 1998), also known by her mononymous stage name Chlöe, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is best known for being one half of the musical duo Chloe x Halle with her sister Halle Bailey. Together they have earned five Grammy Award nominations since 2018. In 2021, she debuted as a solo artist with "Have Mercy" as the lead single from her upcoming solo debut studio album.


title: Chloe Bailey

text: Chloe Bailey was raised in Mableton, Georgia, with her sister Halle Bailey and younger brother Branson Bailey and later moved to Los Angeles in mid-2012. While in Georgia, she played minor acting roles in films, including "The Fighting Temptations" (2003), starring Beyoncé, and the Disney television film "Let It Shine" (2012). Their dad began teaching them how to write songs at the ages of ten and eight. They launched a YouTube channel at the ages of 13 and 11 respectively, with a cover of Beyoncé's "Best Thing I Never Had". They first performed as Chloe x Halle when uploading covers of pop songs onto this channel. The duo made their talk show debut when they appeared on "The Ellen Show" in April 2012. In September 2013, she made a cameo appearance in the Disney series "Austin & Ally" performing the song "".


title: Chloe Bailey

text: In 2018, Bailey was cast as Jazlyn "Jazz" Forster on the TV series "Grown-ish" after having sung the series's theme song "Grown". The song "The Kids Are Alright" was also featured in the series premiere. She departed the series at the end of the fourth season, when her character graduated from college.


title: Chloe Bailey

text: In November 2019, it was announced that Bailey joined the cast of the horror film, "The Georgetown Project", directed by M. A. Fortin and Joshua John Miller. She will also star alongside Madelaine Petsch in the 2022 psychological drama film "Jane".


title: Chloe Bailey

text: In August 2021, Bailey announced the release of her debut solo single, "Have Mercy", as the lead single off her upcoming debut solo studio album. She had teased the Murda Beatz-produced song numerous times before. She revealed that the album was "90% done" and that it is more pop-oriented. On September 12, Bailey performed "Have Mercy" at the main show of the 2021 MTV Video Music Awards. At the 53rd NAACP Image Awards Bailey was nominated in three categories, including Outstanding Female Artist and Outstanding Soul/R&B Song for "Have Mercy".


title: Chloe Bailey

text: In late August, Bailey co-starred alongside Kesha and Mason Gooding in the scripted podcast, "Electric Easy", a show set in a futuristic Los Angeles in which humans struggle to co-exist with robots, known as "electrics". The show was created by Vanya Asher and executively produced by Kesha. The podcast premiered on August 30, 2021.


title: Chloe Bailey

text: In April 2022, Bailey released "Treat Me" with an accompanying music video as the second solo single from her upcoming album. She explained that the inspiration for the song came after a breakup, when she thought, "'It's time for me to just give myself the love that I'm looking for.'"


title: Chloe Bailey

text: Bailey's biggest musical influence is American singer Beyoncé, and has also stated Kelis is a major influence. She is also inspired by artists such as Grimes, Missy Elliott, Imogen Heap, Tune-Yards, and R&B music.


title: Hancock (film)

text: Hancock is a 2008 American superhero black comedy film directed by Peter Berg from a screenplay by Vince Gilligan and Vy Vincent Ngo. The film stars Will Smith, Charlize Theron, and Jason Bateman.


title: Hancock (film)

text: The story was originally written by Vy Vincent Ngo in 1996. It languished in development hell for years with various directors attached, including Tony Scott, Michael Mann, Jonathan Mostow, and Gabriele Muccino, before being filmed in 2007 in Los Angeles with a production budget of $150 million.


title: Hancock (film)

text: In the United States, the film was rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association of America after changes were made at their request in order to avoid an R rating, which it had received twice before. The film was released on July 2, 2008, in the United States by Columbia Pictures. "Hancock" received mixed reviews from critics who praised its performances, visual effects and premise, but criticized its execution and failure to deliver on its potential, especially during its second half. It grossed $629 million worldwide, becoming the fourth highest-grossing film of 2008.


title: Hancock (film)

text: John Hancock is an alcoholic, reckless superhuman imbued with flight, invulnerability, and super-strength. Acting as a haphazard superhero in Los Angeles, he is often ridiculed and hated by the public for his drunken and careless acts, and becomes enraged when called an "asshole". Hancock rescues Ray Embrey, a public relations specialist, from an oncoming train, which he irrationally derails to save Ray. Thankful and seeing him as a career opportunity, Ray offers to help improve Hancock's public image. Hancock meets Ray's family, his son Aaron, who is a fan, and his wife Mary, who is suspicious of Hancock.


title: Hancock (film)

text: Ray encourages Hancock to issue a public apology, and then go to prison for a time, until Los Angeles needs him properly. Hancock reluctantly agrees, struggling to fit in at prison, and quickly causes trouble when he assaults two fellow inmates that resent the fact he put them in prison. Hancock is visited by Ray, encouraging him to be patient but when he hears he might be in for 8 years he starts to break out. Ray persuades him to stay inside and stick to the plan. Hancock is later visited by Mary and Aaron who bring him homemade spaghetti with meatballs.


title: Hancock (film)

text: The Los Angeles' crime rate rises and Hancock is eventually released to help. He foils a bank robbery orchestrated by Red Parker, with Hancock slicing off his hand to prevent him from activating a dead man's switch. He is praised as a hero and becomes popular.


title: Hancock (film)

text: Hancock has dinner with Ray and Mary, and reveals that he is amnesiac and an immortal, having woken up in a hospital 80 years ago with no memory of his identity. He had awakened in a hospital with doctors telling him that he was stopping a mugging and was clubbed in the head. Ray tells Hancock that Mary is Aaron's stepmother and that his biological mother had died in childbirth. Carrying a drunk Ray home, Hancock kisses Mary, who kisses him back but then throws him through the wall, revealing that she has superpowers, too.


title: Hancock (film)

text: The next day, Hancock and Mary speak in private. Mary claims in the past there were more like them - sometimes called angels or gods by other - but no longer. They have lived for three thousand years and are soulmates. The other angels/gods paired up, lived human lives and then died. Hancock flies away to inform Ray of Mary's kissing him, only for Mary to chase him and incite a violent battle across the city. Ray witnesses the fight, later confronting the duo. Mary admits Hancock is actually her husband from the past, but that she chose to quietly leave him once he had lost his memories.


title: Hancock (film)

text: After stopping a store robbery, Hancock finds that a bullet has hurt him and he needs hospital treatment. Mary tells him that the closer they are, the more mortal they become. They will lose their powers unless they stay apart. The last time Hancock and Mary were together was eighty years ago when Hancock was attacked.


title: Hancock (film)

text: Parker, who escaped prison with several other criminals, attacks the hospital to get revenge. Mary is caught in the crossfire and injured. Hancock recovers, killing the criminals, but is further injured, when Parker shoots him. He is saved by Ray, who cuts off Parker's other hand with a fire axe before killing him as well. Hancock throws himself out of the hospital, trying to increase his distance from Mary so that she can recover, before flying off towards the Moon.


title: Hancock (film)

text: A month later, Ray and his family receive a call from Hancock (who is now in New York City), revealing that he has imprinted the Moon's surface with Ray's AllHeart marketing logo. In a mid-credits scene, Hancock confronts a criminal holding a woman at gunpoint and demands that he help him escape from the police, while calling him an asshole in the process, much to Hancock's amusement.


title: Hancock (film)

text: Actors Johnny Galecki and Thomas Lennon also appear in the film. Mike Epps makes an uncredited cameo in the post-credits scene. Film producers Akiva Goldsman and Michael Mann appear as executives listening to Ray's lecture. Television host Nancy Grace also has a cameo appearance. Daeg Faerch appears as Michel, the young French American neighborhood bully who is thrown by Hancock in the air for repeatedly insulting him. Atticus Shaffer, later known for his role in the sitcom "The Middle", also makes a brief appearance at the beginning of the film.


title: Hancock (film)

text: Vy Vincent Ngo wrote the spec script "Tonight, He Comes" in 1996. The draft, about a troubled 12-year-old, and a fallen superhero, was initially picked up by director Tony Scott as a potential project. Producer Akiva Goldsman came across the script, which he had considered a favorite, and encouraged Richard Saperstein, then president of development and production at Artisan Entertainment, to acquire it in 2002. Michael Mann was initially attached to direct "Tonight, He Comes", but he instead opted to direct "Miami Vice". Eventually, Artisan placed the project in turnaround, and it was acquired by Goldsman.


title: Hancock (film)

text: Vince Gilligan and John August rewrote Ngo's script, and Jonathan Mostow was attached to direct the film. Under Mostow's supervision, a ten-page treatment was written to be pitched to Will Smith to portray the lead role in the film. Neither Mostow nor Smith was yet committed to make the project an active priority at the time. Several studios pursued the opportunity to finance the film, and Columbia Pictures succeeded in acquiring the prospect in February 2005. A second draft was scripted by Gilligan following the finalization of the deal with Columbia. The film was initially slated for a holiday 2006 release.


title: Hancock (film)

text: In November 2005, Mostow and Smith committed to "Tonight, He Comes", with production slated to begin in Los Angeles in summer 2006. Smith's salary in his pay or play contract for the film was $20 million and 20 percent of the film's gross. The actor had also set up a pay or play contract to film "I Am Legend" under Warner Bros. after completion of "Tonight, He Comes". Mostow eventually departed from the project due to creative differences. Italian director Gabriele Muccino filled Mostow's vacancy in May 2006. Since Muccino was busy editing "The Pursuit of Happyness" starring Smith, which Muccino had directed, Smith switched projects to film "I Am Legend" first for its December 2007 release, and then film "Tonight, He Comes" afterward. Later in the month, Muccino left the project because of an incompatibility with filming the story. Since Muccino was preparing "The Pursuit of Happyness", the studio had delayed the production start for "Tonight, He Comes" to summer 2007, enabling Warner Bros. to begin production of "I Am Legend" with Smith.


title: Hancock (film)

text: In October 2006, Peter Berg was attached to direct "Tonight, He Comes" with production slated to begin in May 2007 in Los Angeles, the story's setting. Berg had been midway through filming "The Kingdom" when he heard about the film and called Michael Mann, who had become one of its producers. The new director compared the original script's tone to "Leaving Las Vegas" (1995), calling it "a scathing character study of this suicidal alcoholic superhero". The director explained the rewrite, "We thought the idea was cool, but we did want to lighten it up. We all did." Before filming began, "Tonight, He Comes" was retitled "John Hancock", and it was eventually shortened to "Hancock".


title: Hancock (film)

text: Filming began on "Hancock" on July 3, 2007, in Los Angeles, having a production budget of $150 million. Locations such as Hollywood Boulevard were designed to look damaged, having rubble, overturned vehicles, and fires. Smith's character is also an alcoholic, so for scenes in liquor stores, the art department designed fake labels such as Pap Smear Vodka for the bottles because "brown-bag brands" like Thunderbird and Night Train refused to lend their names. Reshoots were filmed in Times Square in May 2008, the late date resulting in the cancellation of the film's original world premiere in Australia on June 10, 2008.


title: Hancock (film)

text: "Hancock" was Peter Berg's first film with visual effects as critical cinematic elements. He considered the computer-generated fight his least favorite part of the film, citing limited control in making the scene successful. According to the director, "Once the fight starts, you're very limited and you're at the mercy of your effects guys ... unless they're really technically oriented ... it's definitely the time we have the least amount of control as directors." He and other filmmakers worked to cut down on the fight scene, believing that the film's success would come from the character study of Smith's character, John Hancock, similar to Robert Downey, Jr.'s acclaimed portrayal of Tony Stark in the previous May's superhero release, "Iron Man".


title: Hancock (film)

text: Visual effects supervisor Carey Villegas described Peter Berg's photography as "very high energy", to which the visual effects crew had difficulty adapting. Though the crew had estimated developing 300 visual effects shot at its initial bid, the final tally was approximately 525 shots. An unexpected shot was a scene in which Hancock shoves a prisoner's head up another's anus, and filmmakers initially attempted to film it conventionally, using sleight of hand techniques with cameras. Finding that doing so did not capture "the vulgarity of the gag", the crew was enlisted to use computer-generated effects. Visual effects were also applied in conjunction with the film's choreography, incorporating palm trees, twisters, and debris in the computer-generated fight scene and combining visual effects with a crane shot to portray Hancock's derailment of a freight train.


title: Hancock (film)

text: "Hancock" had its world premiere as the opener at the 30th Moscow International Film Festival on June 19, 2008. To avoid copyright infringement, organizers took "unprecedented" steps to prevent illegal reproduction of the film.


title: Hancock (film)

text: For the film, Sony created a digital cinema package (DCP) having 4K resolution, containing four times more information than the typical DCP that possessed 2K resolution. Projectors for the higher-resolution package have been installed in 200 theaters in the United States with two dozen in evaluation.


title: Hancock (film)

text: "The New York Times" noted that "Hancock"s original story and controversial subject matter present a stark contrast to "a summerful of sequels and animated sure shots" and represent a gamble for "an increasingly corporate entertainment industry". "Hancock" had been reviewed by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) twice, and both times received an R rating instead of the makers' preferred PG-13 rating to target broader audiences.


title: Hancock (film)

text: The MPAA questioned elements including Smith's character drinking in front of a 7-year-old and the character flying under the influence of alcohol. Scenes that were removed to receive a PG-13 rating from the MPAA included a scene of statutory rape, two of three uses of the word "fuck", and intense shots of needles going into arms. The MPAA allowed scenes of Hancock shoving a prisoner's head up another's behind and of Hancock having explosive ejaculation during sexual intercourse, though Berg chose to save the latter scene for the DVD, explaining, "It just wasn't that funny. Never was. You'd put it in front of an audience and there'd be two, maybe three people laughing. There was no way to do that and then regain even a modicum of emotional integrity." The director kept the scene with the prisoners since a Las Vegas test screening was overwhelmingly successful: "At the end of the day, I couldn't ignore an audience when they're laughing that hard." With such elements, studio executives only became comfortable with "Hancock" when the marketing approach focused on action and humor. Berg noted, "The ad campaign for this movie is much friendlier than the film." The MPAA ultimately gave the film a PG-13 rating, citing "some intense sequences of sci-fi action and violence and language".


title: Hancock (film)

text: "Hancock" was originally titled "Tonight, He Comes" and later changed to "John Hancock" before settling on its final title. Prior to the film's release, marketing consultants attempted to persuade Sony Pictures to again change the title "Hancock" because it was too vague for audiences, suggesting alternatives like "Heroes Never Die", "Unlikely Hero", and "Less Than Hero". Despite the advice, Sony stayed with "Hancock" and anticipated marketing on the popularity of the film's star, Will Smith.


title: Hancock (film)

text: "Hancock" was part of Sony's experiment in providing content to consumers who own a BRAVIA television equipped with an Internet connection. The film's release over the Internet took place after its theatrical run and before its release on DVD. According to Sony executives, distributing "Hancock" was an opportunity to showcase BRAVIA, though the method has been perceived as an "obvious threat" to cable companies' video on demand. The film was available to BRAVIA owners from October 28, 2008 to November 10, 2008.


title: Hancock (film)

text: The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on November 25, 2008. The single-disc DVD provides a theatrical cut (92 minutes) and an unrated cut (102 minutes) as well as five featurettes and two documentaries. The double-disc DVD includes these features, a digital copy of the film, and two additional making-of extras. The Blu-ray Disc includes these, an on-set visual diary, and a picture-in-picture track. George Lang of "The Oklahoman" described the unrated cut as "a rare instance when deleted scenes enhance the final product". Christopher Monfette of "IGN" thought that the Blu-ray Disc was a "beautiful" transfer, the audio was well-balanced, and the featurettes were well-supplied.


title: Hancock (film)

text: In the week ending November 30, "Hancock" placed first on three video charts: the Nielsen VideoScan First Alert sales chart, Home Media Magazine's video rental chart, and Nielsen's Blu-ray Disc chart. With the year's Black Friday shopping day on November 28, "Hancock" was the top seller in the Blu-ray Disc format. Over 5.38 million DVDs were sold for a revenue of $91,066,638.


title: Hancock (film)

text: Prior to the film's opening five-day weekend in the United States and Canada, predictions for its weekend performance ranged from as low as $70 million to as high as $125 million. The film was shown in advance screenings on July 1, 2008, in 3,680 theaters in the United States and Canada, grossing $6.8 million. The film was widely released on July 2, 2008, expanding to 3,965 theaters. At the conclusion of the five-day weekend, "Hancock" took top placement at the box office in the United States and Canada, grossing an estimated $103.8 million. The film had the third-biggest opening 4th of July weekend after "Transformers" and "Spider-Man 2". "Hancock" was Will Smith's fifth film to open on a 4 July weekend and was his most successful opening to date. The film was also Smith's eighth film in a row to take top placement in the American and Canadian box office and the twelfth film in Smith's career to lead the box office. "Hancock" was also Peter Berg's strongest opening of his directing career to date. Chad Hartigan, analyst for Exhibitor Relations, said about Smith's successful opening, "Audiences don't care what critics say; they're going to turn out for anything he does."


title: Hancock (film)

text: Outside the United States and Canada, "Hancock" grossed $78.3 million in its opening weekend, drawing from 5,444 screenings across 50 markets, ranking it the third highest international opening of 2008 after "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" and "Iron Man". "Hancock" averaged $14,382 per screen. It placed on top in 47 of the 50 markets in which it opened; its strongest openings were the United Kingdom with $19.3 million, Germany with $12.4 million, South Korea with $8.5 million, Australia with $7.3 million, and China with $5.5 million. The Chinese opening was the fourth-biggest opening to date for the country. Other international performances included $3.4 million in Brazil and $3.1 million in Taiwan. In Hong Kong, the film opened in first place with $1.3 million, averaging $37,300 across the 35 venues. The film's overall gross for its opening five-day weekend worldwide is $185.6 million.


title: Hancock (film)

text: In the following weekend of July 11, 2008, "Hancock" fell to second place in the United States and Canada behind "", grossing an estimated $33 million, a "modest" 47% drop in revenue (see second weekend in box office performance). The film's recorded American and Canadian attendance was higher than the Smith feature "Men in Black II" in both films' second weekend, but it was significantly less than attendance records for Smith's other films, "Independence Day" and "Men in Black" through the same point. Internationally "Hancock" expanded to 8,125 screens across 67 markets, ranking first at the box office again in 30 markets. The film's top opening grosses for the weekend included $11.4 million in Russia (589 screens), $9.9 million in France (739 screens), $4.6 million in Mexico (783 screens), $2.2 million in India (429 screens), $1.7 million in the Netherlands (90 screens), $1.3 million in Belgium (69 screens), and $1 million in Ukraine (81 screens). In territories playing "Hancock" for a second weekend, the United Kingdom dropped 45% to total $33.4 million to date, Germany 37% to total $24.2 million to date, South Korea 38% to total $14.7 million to date, and Australia 47% to total $14.4 million to date. For the second weekend, with the 67 markets, "Hancock" accumulated an estimated $71.4 million in the international box office, only a $7.2 million drop from the previous weekend in territories outside the United States and Canada.


title: Hancock (film)

text: In "Hancock"'s third weekend of July 18, the film took top placement in the international box office a third time, grossing an estimated $44.8 million from 8,286 screens across 71 territories. The film had beaten "The Dark Knight", which premiered that weekend in 20 international markets. "Hancock" had tracked 32% internationally ahead of its performance in the United States and Canada. It had opened in four new markets for the weekend, ranking first in Spain with $8.6 million from 562 sites and first in Norway with $1 million from 60 sites. "Hancock" also kept top placement in France, estimating $4.4 million from 741 screens for a total of $16.8 million to date.


title: Hancock (film)

text: The film experienced a late resurgence in the international box office on the weekend of September 12, grossing $10.6 million from 1,425 screens in 31 markets. Making up most of the amount was $8 million from the film's premiere in Italy on 678 screens. "Hancock" has grossed $227,946,274 in the United States and Canada and $396,440,472 in other territories for a worldwide total of $624,386,746.


title: Hancock (film)

text: On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average score of . The site's critical consensus reads, "Though it begins with promise, "Hancock" suffers from a flimsy narrative and poor execution." At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating, the film has received an average score of 49 out of 100, based on 37 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.


title: Hancock (film)

text: Todd McCarthy of "Variety" felt that the film's premise was undermined by the execution. McCarthy believed the concept ensured the film was "amusing and plausible" for its first half, but that the second half was full of illogical story developments and missed opportunities. Stephen Farber of "The Hollywood Reporter" said that the opening established the premise well, but that the film came undone when it began to alternate between comedy and tragedy, and introduced a backstory for Hancock that did not make sense. He said it rewrote its own internal logic in order to pander to its audience. Stephen Hunter in "The Washington Post" said it had begun with promise, but that the change in tone partway through was so abrupt that the film did not recover. Jim Schembri of "The Age" called the change in direction "an absolute killer story twist", and David Denby of "The New Yorker" said it lifted the film to a new level by supplementing the jokes with sexual tension and emotional power.


title: Hancock (film)

text: Jim Schembri wrote that Berg's direction helped to sell Hancock's "well-drawn" backstory, Todd McCarthy said the gritty visual approach adopted by Berg did not mesh well with the "vulgar goofiness" of certain scenes, and Stephen Farber said that Berg's frantic direction compounded the storytelling errors. Stephen Hunter said that Berg had not understood that the shifting tone and plot twists were meant to be humorous, and that he had played straight what was supposed to be a dark comedy and subversive satire. David Denby said Berg's style—especially his use of close-ups—was intended to showcase "genuine actors at work", while Manohla Dargis of "The New York Times" insisted Berg had taken Hancock to heart and brought gravity to the film.


title: Hancock (film)

text: David Denby described Smith's performance as contrasting with his performances in his other films. He said, "For the first time in his life, Will Smith doesn't flirt with the audience ... he stays in character as a self-hating lonely guy." Stephen Hunter argued that Smith and his co-stars had misunderstood the material in the same manner as Berg. He added that the examination of Smith's character came across at first as an examination of "phenomenally gifted" black sporting superstars who were "marginalized", "dehumanized" and exploited as a product by society. Manohla Dargis was struck by Theron's performance, saying that she enabled Smith to deepen the film's emotional complexity. Todd McCarthy said that Smith's "attitude-laden quips" helped to carry the film's superior first half, and that all three leads performed capably, but he said no opportunity was offered for the supporting characters to register. Roger Ebert writing in the "Chicago Sun Times" praised the three leads, saying that Smith avoided playing Hancock "as a goofball" and instead portrayed him as a more subtle and serious character. Stephen Farber said that "Hancock" was a good showcase for the leads, affirming that Smith shone in a film that was only sporadically worthy of his performance, while Colm Andrew of the Manx Independent said that despite the mix of themes "the laughs are frequent and genuine (no forced slapstick), the fight scenes exciting and the emotional stuff quite moving ".


title: Hancock (film)

text: Jim Schembri concluded that the film was "refreshing, savvy, fun and fast". He said it managed to mix comedy and action successfully, and that the drama came across as surprisingly genuine. Stephen Farber believed that the extended development of the film had reduced its quality, but that the visual effects were "stellar" and showed wit. McCarthy praised the effects, but said the film was "both overwrought and severely undernourished." Roger Ebert observed the film was "a lot of fun", and Manohla Dargis admitted that it was "unexpectedly satisfying". She said that while it faltered and felt rushed towards its end, it had an emotional complexity and "raggedness" that spoke with sincerity about essential human vulnerabilities. Stephen Hunter concluded that "Hancock" was ultimately "indigestible".


title: Hancock (film)

text: "Hancock" won the award for "Best Summer Action/Adventure Movie" at the 2008 Teen Choice Awards. Smith's performance won him the award for "Favorite Movie Actor" at the 2009 Kids' Choice Awards.


title: Hancock (film)

text: Director Peter Berg said prior to "Hancock" release that if the film pulled in as much business as predicted, a sequel, "Hancock 2", would likely follow. After the film's release on DVD and Blu-ray Disc, actor Will Smith said that there was ongoing discussion about a possible sequel, "The ideas aren't ... developed, but we are building out an entire world; I think people are going to be very surprised at the new world of "Hancock"." In August 2009, Columbia Pictures hired screenwriters Adam Fierro and Glen Mazzara to write the sequel, and the studio planned to bring back the producing team from the original film. Charlize Theron confirmed that she would reprise her role, and Berg said to expect a third actor to star as another figure with powers like Smith's and Theron's characters. In January 2012, Berg reaffirmed his plans to make the film. During a 2020 interview, Theron indicated that she remained interested in a "Hancock" sequel but admitted there has been no progress to move forward to production.


title: Hurrem Sultan

text: Hurrem Sultan (, , ; 1500 – 15 April 1558), also known as Roxelana (; ), was the chief consort and legal wife of the Ottoman sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. She became one of the most powerful and influential women in Ottoman history as well as a prominent and controversial figure during the era known as the Sultanate of Women.


title: Hurrem Sultan

text: Born in Ruthenia (then an eastern region of the Kingdom of Poland, now Rohatyn, Ukraine) to a Ruthenian Orthodox priest, Hurrem was captured by Crimean Tatars during a slave raid and eventually taken to Istanbul, the Ottoman capital. She entered the Imperial Harem, rose through the ranks and became the favourite of Sultan Suleiman. Breaking Ottoman tradition, he married Hurrem, making her his legal wife. Sultans had previously married only foreign free noble ladies. She was the first imperial consort to receive the title Haseki Sultan. Hurrem remained in the sultan's court for the rest of her life, enjoying a close and faithful relationship with her husband, and having six children with him, including the future sultan, Selim II. She was the grandmother of Murad III.


title: Hurrem Sultan

text: Hurrem eventually achieved power, influencing the politics of the Ottoman Empire. Through her husband, she played an active role in affairs of the state. She probably acted as the sultan's advisor, wrote diplomatic letters to King Sigismund II Augustus of Poland () and patronized major public works (including the Haseki Sultan Complex and the Hurrem Sultan Bathhouse). She died in 1558, in Istanbul and was buried in a mausoleum within the Süleymaniye Mosque complex.


title: Hurrem Sultan

text: Hurrem's birth name is unknown. Leslie P. Peirce has written that it may have been either "Anastasia", or "Aleksandra Lisowska". Among the Ottomans, she was known mainly as Haseki Hurrem Sultan or Hurrem Haseki Sultan. "Hurrem" or "Khorram" () means ""the joyfull one"" in Persian. The name "Roxalane" derives from "Roksolanes", which was the generic term used by the Ottomans to describe girls from Podolia and Galicia who were taken in slave raids.


title: Hurrem Sultan

text: Sources indicate that Hurrem Sultan was originally from Ruthenia, which was then part of the Polish Crown. She was born in the town of Rohatyn southeast of Lwów (Lviv), a major city of the Ruthenian Voivodeship of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, in what is now Ukraine. According to late 16th-century and early 17th-century sources, such as the Polish poet Samuel Twardowski (died 1661), who researched the subject in Turkey, Hurrem was seemingly born to a man surnamed Lisovski, who was an Orthodox priest of Ruthenian origin. Her native language was Ruthenian, the precursor to modern Ukrainian.


title: Hurrem Sultan

text: During the reign of Selim I, which means some time between 1512 and 1520, Crimean Tatars kidnapped her during one of their Crimean–Nogai slave raids in Eastern Europe. The Tatars may have first taken her to the Crimean city of Kaffa, a major centre of the Ottoman slave trade, before she was taken to Istanbul. In Istanbul, Valide Hafsa Sultan selected Hurrem as a gift for her son, Suleiman. Hurrem later managed to become the Haseki Sultan or "favorite concubine" of the Ottoman imperial harem. Michalo Lituanus wrote in the 16th century that "the most beloved wife of the present Turkish emperor – mother of his first [son] who will govern after him, was kidnapped from our land".


title: Hurrem Sultan

text: Shaykh Qutb al-Din al-Nahrawali, a Meccan religious figure, who visited Istanbul in late 1557, noted in his memoirs that Hurrem Sultan was of Ruthenian origin. She had been a servant in the household of Hançerli Fatma Sultan, daughter of Şehzade Mahmud, son of Sultan Bayezid II. She was presented to Suleiman when he was still a prince.


title: Hurrem Sultan

text: European ambassadors of that period called her la Rossa, la Rosa, and Roxelana, meaning "the Russian woman" or "the Ruthenian one" for her alleged Ruthenian origins. She is the sultan's consort with the most portraits in her name in the Ottoman Empire, though the portraits are imaginary depictions by painters.


title: Hurrem Sultan

text: Roxelana, called Hurrem Sultan by the Ottomans, probably entered the harem around seventeen years of age. The precise year that she entered the harem is unknown, but scholars believe that she became Suleiman's concubine around the time he became sultan in 1520.


title: Hurrem Sultan

text: Hurrem's unprecedented rise from harem slave to Suleiman's legal wife and Ottoman Empress attracted jealousy and disfavor not only from her rivals in the harem, but also from the general populace. She soon became Suleiman's most prominent consort beside Mahidevran (also known as Gülbahar), and their relationship was monogamous. While the exact dates for the births of her children are disputed, there is academic consensus that the births of her five children —Şehzade Mehmed, Mihrimah Sultan, Şehzade Abdullah, Sultan Selim II and Şehzade Bayezid — occurred quickly over the next four to five years. Suleiman and Hurrem's last child, Şehzade Cihangir was born with a hunchback, but by that time Hurrem had borne enough healthy sons to secure the future of the Ottoman dynasty.


title: Hurrem Sultan

text: Her joyful spirit and playful temperament earned her a new name, Hurrem, from Persian "Khorram", "the cheerful one". In the Istanbul harem, Hurrem became a rival to Mahidevran and her influence over the sultan soon became legendary.


title: Hurrem Sultan

text: Hurrem was allowed to give birth to more than one son which was a stark violation of the old imperial harem principle, "one concubine mother — one son," which was designed to prevent both the mother's influence over the sultan and the feuds of the blood brothers for the throne. She was to bear the majority of Suleiman's children. Hurrem gave birth to her first son Mehmed in 1521 (who died in 1543) and then to four more sons, destroying Mahidevran's status as the mother of the sultan's only son.


title: Hurrem Sultan

text: Suleiman's mother, Hafsa Sultan, partially suppressed the rivalry between the two women. According to Bernardo Navagero's report, as a result of the bitter rivalry a fight between the two women broke out, with Mahidevran beating Hurrem, which angered Suleiman. According to Necdet Sakaoğlu, a Turkish historian, these accusations were not truthful. After the death of Suleiman's mother Hafsa Sultan in 1534, Hurrem's influence in the palace increased, and she took over the ruling of the Harem. Hurrem became the only partner of the ruler and received the title of Haseki, which means the favorite. When Suleiman freed and married her, she became the Haseki Sultan (adding the word sultan to a woman's name or title indicated that she was a part of the dynasty).


title: Hurrem Sultan

text: Around 1533/1534 (the exact date is unknown), Suleiman married Hurrem in a magnificent formal ceremony. Never before had a former slave been elevated to the status of the sultan's lawful spouse, a development which astonished observers in the palace and in the city. It was only possible for Hurrem to marry Suleiman after the death of Hafsa Sultan. It was not because Hafsa Sultan was firmly against this unification, but because it was not allowed for a concubine to rise above the status of the Valide Sultan (Queen Mother).


title: Hurrem Sultan

text: Hurrem became the first consort to receive the title "Haseki Sultan". This title, used for a century, reflected the great power of imperial consorts (most of them were former slaves) in the Ottoman court, elevating their status higher than Ottoman princesses, and making them the equals of empresses consort in Europe. In this case, Suleiman not only broke the old custom, but began a new tradition for the future Ottoman sultans: To marry in a formal ceremony and to give their consorts significant influence on the court, especially in matters of succession. Hurrem's salary was 2,000 aspers a day, making her one of the highest-paid Hasekis. After the wedding, the idea circulated that the sultan had limited his autonomy and was dominated and controlled by his wife. Also, in Ottoman society, mothers played more influential roles in their sons' educations and in guiding their careers.


title: Hurrem Sultan

text: After the death of Suleiman's mother, Hafsa Sultan, in 1534, Hurrem became the most trusted news source of Suleiman. In one of her letters to Suleiman, she informs him about the situation of the plague in the capital. She wrote, "My dearest Sultan! If you ask about Istanbul, the city still suffers from the plague; however, it is not like the previous one. God willing, it will go away as soon as you return to the city. Our ancestors said that the plague goes away once the trees shed their leaves in autumn."


title: Hurrem Sultan

text: Later, Hurrem became the first woman to remain in the sultan's court for the duration of her life. In the Ottoman imperial family tradition, a sultan's consort was to remain in the harem only until her son came of age (around 16 or 17), after which he would be sent away from the capital to govern a faraway province, and his mother would follow him. This tradition was called "Sancak Beyliği." The consorts were never to return to Istanbul unless their sons succeeded to the throne. In defiance of this age-old custom, Hurrem stayed behind in the harem, even after her sons went to govern the empire's remote provinces.


title: Hurrem Sultan

text: Moreover, remaining in Istanbul, she moved out of the harem located in the Old Palace ("Eski Saray") and permanently moved into the Topkapı Palace after a fire destroyed the old harem. Some sources say she moved to Topkapı, not because of the fire, but as a result of her marriage to Suleiman. Either way, this was another significant break from established customs, as Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror had specifically issued a decree to the effect that no women would be allowed to reside in the same building where government affairs were conducted. After Hürrem resided at Topkapı it became known as the New Palace ("saray-ı jedid").


title: Hurrem Sultan

text: She wrote many love letters to Suleiman when he was away for campaigns. In one of her letters, she wrote:


title: Hurrem Sultan

text: Hurrem Sultan is known as the first woman in Ottoman history to concern herself with state affairs. Thanks to her intelligence, she acted as Suleiman's chief adviser on matters of state, and seems to have had an influence upon foreign policy and international politics. She frequently accompanied him as a political adviser. She imprinted her seal and watched the council meetings through a wire mesh window. With many other revolutionary movements like these, she had started an era in Ottoman Empire called the Reign of Women. Hurrem's influence on Suleiman was so significant that rumors circulated around the Ottoman court that the sultan had been bewitched.


title: Hurrem Sultan

text: Her influence with Suleiman made her one of the most powerful women in Ottoman history and in the world at that time. Even as a consort, her power was comparable with the most powerful woman of the Imperial Harem, who by tradition was the sultan's mother or "valide sultan". For this reason, she has become a controversial figure in Ottoman history — subject to allegations of plotting against and manipulating her political rivals.


title: Hurrem Sultan

text: Hurrem's influence in state affairs not only made her one of the most influential women, but also a controversial figure in Ottoman history, especially in her rivalry with Mahidevran and her son Şehzade Mustafa, and the grand viziers Pargalı Ibrahim Pasha and Kara Ahmed Pasha.


title: Hurrem Sultan

text: Hurrem and Mahidevran had borne Suleiman six "şehzades" (Ottoman princes), four of whom survived past the 1550s: Mehmed, Selim, Bayezid, and Cihangir. Of these, Mahidevran's son Mustafa was the eldest and preceded Hurrem's children in the order of succession. Traditionally, when a new sultan rose to power, he would order all of his brothers killed in order to ensure there was no power struggle. This practice was called "kardeş katliamı", literally "fraternal massacring".


title: Hurrem Sultan

text: Mustafa was supported by Ibrahim Pasha, who became Suleiman's grand vizier in 1523. Hurrem has usually been held at least partly responsible for the intrigues in nominating a successor. Although she was Suleiman's wife, she exercised no official public role. This did not, however, prevent Hurrem from wielding powerful political influence. Since the empire lacked, until the reign of Ahmed I (1603–1617), any formal means of nominating a successor, successions usually involved the death of competing princes in order to avert civil unrest and rebellions. In attempting to avoid the execution of her sons, Hurrem used her influence to eliminate those who supported Mustafa's accession to the throne.


title: Hurrem Sultan

text: A skilled commander of Suleiman's army, Ibrahim eventually fell from grace after an imprudence committed during a campaign against the Persian Safavid empire during the Ottoman–Safavid War (1532–55), when he awarded himself a title including the word "Sultan". Another conflict occurred when Ibrahim and his former mentor, İskender Çelebi, repeatedly clashed over military leadership and positions during the Safavid war. These incidents launched a series of events which culminated in his execution in 1536 by Suleiman's order. It is believed that Hurrem's influence contributed to Suleiman's decision. After three other grand viziers in eight years, Suleiman selected Hurrem's son-in-law, Damat Rüstem Pasha, husband of Mihrimah, to become the grand vizier. Scholars have wondered if Hurrem's alliance with Mihrimah Sultan and Rüstem Pasha helped secure the throne for one of Hurrem's sons.


title: Hurrem Sultan

text: Many years later, towards the end of Suleiman's long reign, the rivalry between his sons became evident. Mustafa was later accused of causing unrest. During the campaign against Safavid Persia in 1553, because of fear of rebellion, Suleiman ordered the execution of Mustafa. According to a source he was executed that very year on charges of planning to dethrone his father; his guilt for the treason of which he was accused remains neither proven nor disproven. It is also rumored that Hurrem Sultan conspired against Mustafa with the help of her daughter and son-in-law Rustem Pasha; they wanted to portray Mustafa as a traitor who secretly contacted the Shah of Iran. Acting on Hurrem Sultan's orders, Rustem Pasha had engraved Mustafa's seal and sent a letter seemingly written from his mouth to Shah Tahmasb I, and then sent Shah's response to Suleiman. After the death of Mustafa, Mahidevran lost her status in the palace as the mother of the heir apparent and moved to Bursa. She did not spend her last years in poverty, as her stepson, Selim II, the new sultan after 1566, put her on a lavish salary. Her rehabilitation had been possible after the death of Hurrem in 1558. Cihangir, Hurrem's youngest child, allegedly died of grief a few months after the news of his half-brother's murder.


title: Hurrem Sultan

text: Although the stories about Hurrem's role in executions of Ibrahim, Mustafa, and Kara Ahmed are very popular, actually none of them are based on first-hand sources. All other depictions of Hurrem, starting with comments by sixteenth and seventeenth-century Ottoman historians as well as by European diplomats, observers, and travellers, are highly derivative and speculative in nature. Because none of these people – neither Ottomans nor foreign visitors – were permitted into the inner circle of the imperial harem, which was surrounded by multiple walls, they largely relied on the testimony of the servants or courtiers or on the popular gossip circulating around Istanbul.


title: Hurrem Sultan

text: Even the reports of the Venetian ambassadors ("baili") at Suleiman's court, the most extensive and objective first-hand Western source on Hurrem to date, were often filled with the authors’ own interpretations of the harem rumours. Most other sixteenth-century Western sources on Hurrem, which are considered highly authoritative today — such as "Turcicae epistolae" (English: "The Turkish Letters") of Ogier de Busbecq, the Emissary of the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I at the Porte between 1554 and 1562; the account of the murder of Şehzade Mustafa by Nicholas de Moffan; the historical chronicles on Turkey by Paolo Giovio; and the travel narrative by Luidgi Bassano — derived from hearsay.


title: Hurrem Sultan

text: Hurrem acted as Suleiman's advisor on matters of state, and seems to have had an influence upon foreign policy and on international politics. Two of her letters to King Sigismund II Augustus of Poland (reigned 1548–1572) have survived, and during her lifetime the Ottoman Empire generally had peaceful relations with the Polish state within a Polish–Ottoman alliance.


title: Hurrem Sultan

text: In her first short letter to Sigismund II, Hurrem expresses her highest joy and congratulations to the new king on the occasion of his ascension to the Polish throne after the death of his father Sigismund I the Old in 1548. There was a seal on the back of the letter. For the first and only time in the Ottoman Empire, a female sultan exchanged letters with a king. After that, although Hurrem's successor Nurbanu Sultan and her successor Safiye Sultan exchanged letters with queens, there is no other example of a female sultan who personally contacted a king other than Hurrem Sultan. She pleads with the King to trust her envoy Hassan Ağa who took another message from her by word of mouth.


title: Hurrem Sultan

text: In her second letter to Sigismund Augustus, written in response to his letter, Hurrem expresses in superlative terms her joy at hearing that the king is in good health and that he sends assurances of his sincere friendliness and attachment towards Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. She quotes the sultan as saying, "with the old king we were like brothers, and if it pleases the All-Merciful God, with this king we will be as father and son." With this letter, Hurrem sent Sigismund II the gift of two pairs of linen shirts and pants, some belts, six handkerchiefs, and a hand-towel, with a promise to send a special linen robe in the future.


title: Hurrem Sultan

text: There are reasons to believe that these two letters were more than just diplomatic gestures, and that Suleiman's references to brotherly or fatherly feelings were not a mere tribute to political expediency. The letters also suggest Hurrem's strong desire to establish personal contact with the king. In his 1551 letter to Sigismund II concerning the embassy of Piotr Opaliński, Suleiman wrote that the Ambassador had seen "Your sister and my wife." Whether this phrase refers to a warm friendship between the Polish King and Ottoman Haseki, or whether it suggests a closer relation, the degree of their intimacy definitely points to a special link between the two states at the time.


title: Hurrem Sultan

text: Aside from her political concerns, Hurrem engaged in several major works of public buildings, from Makkah to Jerusalem (Al-Quds), perhaps modelling her charitable foundations in part after the caliph Harun al-Rashid's consort Zubaida. Among her first foundations were a mosque, two Quranic schools ("madrassa"), a fountain, and a women's hospital near the women's slave market ("Avret Pazary") in Istanbul (Haseki Sultan Complex). It was the first complex constructed in Istanbul by Mimar Sinan in his new position as the chief imperial architect.


title: Hurrem Sultan

text: She built mosque complexes in Adrianopole and Ankara. She commissioned a bath, the Hurrem Sultan Bathhouse, to serve the community of worshippers in the nearby Hagia Sophia. In Jerusalem she established the Haseki Sultan Imaret in 1552, a public soup kitchen to feed the poor, which was said to have fed at least 500 people twice a day. She built a public soup kitchen in Makkah.


title: Hurrem Sultan

text: She had a "Kira" who acted as her secretary and intermediary on several occasions, although the identity of the kira is uncertain (it may have been Strongilah or Esther Handali).


title: Hurrem Sultan

text: Hurrem died on 15 April 1558 due to an unknown illness and was buried in a domed mausoleum ("türbe") decorated in exquisite Iznik tiles depicting the garden of paradise, perhaps in homage to her smiling and joyful nature. Her mausoleum is adjacent to Suleiman's, a separate and more somber domed structure, at the courtyard of the Süleymaniye Mosque.


title: Hurrem Sultan

text: Hurrem's contemporaries describe her as a woman who was strikingly good-looking, and different from everybody else because of her red hair. Hurrem was also intelligent and had a pleasant personality. Her love of poetry is considered one of the reasons behind her being heavily favoured by Suleiman, who was a great admirer of poetry.


title: Hurrem Sultan

text: Hurrem is known to have been very generous to the poor. She built numerous mosques, madrasahs, hammams, and resting places for pilgrims travelling to the Islamic holy city of Makkah. Her greatest philanthropical work was the Great Waqf of AlQuds, a large soup kitchen in Jerusalem that fed the poor.


title: Hurrem Sultan

text: It is believed that Hurrem was a cunning, manipulative and stony-hearted woman who would execute anyone who stood in her way. However, her philanthropy is in contrast to this as she cared for the poor. Prominent Ukrainian writer Pavlo Zahrebelny describes Hurrem as "an intelligent, kind, understanding, openhearted, candid, talented, generous, emotional and grateful woman who cares about the soul rather than the body; who is not carried away with ordinary glimmers such as money, prone to science and art; in short, a perfect woman."


title: Hurrem Sultan

text: Hurrem Haseki Sultan, or Roxelana, is well-known both in modern Turkey and in the West, and is the subject of many artistic works. In 1561, three years after Hurrem's death, the French author Gabriel Bounin wrote a tragedy titled "La Soltane". This tragedy marks the first time the Ottomans were introduced on stage in France. She has inspired paintings, musical works (including Joseph Haydn's Symphony No. 63), an opera by Denys Sichynsky, a ballet, plays, and several novels written mainly in Russian and Ukrainian, but also in English, French, German and Polish.


title: Hurrem Sultan

text: In early modern Spain, she appears or is alluded to in works by Quevedo and other writers as well as in a number of plays by Lope de Vega. In a play entitled "The Holy League", Titian appears on stage at the Venetian Senate, and stating that he has just come from visiting the Sultan, displays his painting of Sultana Rossa or Roxelana.


title: Hurrem Sultan

text: In the 2003 TV miniseries, "Hürrem Sultan", she was played by Turkish actress and singer Gülben Ergen. In the 2011–2014 TV series "Muhteşem Yüzyıl", Hurrem Sultan is portrayed by Turkish-German actress Meryem Uzerli from seasons one to three. For the series' last season, she is portrayed by Turkish actress Vahide Perçin.


title: Hurrem Sultan

text: In 2019, mention of the Russian origin of Hurrem Sultan was removed from the visitor panel near her tomb at the Süleymaniye Mosque in Istanbul at the request of the Ukrainian Embassy in Turkey.


title: Hurrem Sultan

text: Despite the fact that male European artists were denied access to Hurrem in the Harem, there are many Renaissance paintings of the famous sultana. Scholars thus agree that European artists created a visual identity for Ottoman women that was largely imagined. Artists Titian, Melchior Lorich, and Sebald Beham were all influential in creating a visual representation of Roxelana. Images of the chief consort emphasized her beauty and wealth, and she is almost always depicted with elaborate headwear.


title: Hurrem Sultan

text: The Venetian painter Titian is reputed to have painted Hurrem Sultan in 1550. Although he never visited Istanbul, he either imagined her appearance or had a sketch of her. In a letter to Philip II of Spain, the painter claims to have sent him a copy of this "Queen of Persia" in 1552. The Ringling Museum in Sarasota, Florida, purchased the original or a copy around 1930. Titian's painting of Roxelana is very similar to his portrait of her daughter, Mihrimah Sultan.


title: John Stuart Mill

text: John Stuart Mill (20 May 1806 – 7 May 1873) was an English philosopher, political economist, Member of Parliament (MP) and civil servant. One of the most influential thinkers in the history of classical liberalism, he contributed widely to social theory, political theory, and political economy. Dubbed "the most influential English-speaking philosopher of the nineteenth century", he conceived of liberty as justifying the freedom of the individual in opposition to unlimited state and social control.


title: John Stuart Mill

text: Mill was a proponent of utilitarianism, an ethical theory developed by his predecessor Jeremy Bentham. He contributed to the investigation of scientific methodology, though his knowledge of the topic was based on the writings of others, notably William Whewell, John Herschel, and Auguste Comte, and research carried out for Mill by Alexander Bain. He engaged in written debate with Whewell.


title: John Stuart Mill

text: A member of the Liberal Party and author of the early feminist work "The Subjection of Women", Mill was also the second Member of Parliament to call for women's suffrage after Henry Hunt in 1832.


title: John Stuart Mill

text: John Stuart Mill was born at 13 Rodney Street in Pentonville, Middlesex, the eldest son of Harriet Barrow and the Scottish philosopher, historian, and economist James Mill. John Stuart was educated by his father, with the advice and assistance of Jeremy Bentham and Francis Place. He was given an extremely rigorous upbringing, and was deliberately shielded from association with children his own age other than his siblings. His father, a follower of Bentham and an adherent of associationism, had as his explicit aim to create a genius intellect that would carry on the cause of utilitarianism and its implementation after he and Bentham had died.


title: John Stuart Mill

text: Mill was a notably precocious child. He describes his education in his autobiography. At the age of three he was taught Greek. By the age of eight, he had read "Aesop's Fables", Xenophon's "Anabasis", and the whole of Herodotus, and was acquainted with Lucian, Diogenes Laërtius, Isocrates and six dialogues of Plato. He had also read a great deal of history in English and had been taught arithmetic, physics and astronomy.


title: John Stuart Mill

text: At the age of eight, Mill began studying Latin, the works of Euclid, and algebra, and was appointed schoolmaster to the younger children of the family. His main reading was still history, but he went through all the commonly taught Latin and Greek authors and by the age of ten could read Plato and Demosthenes with ease. His father also thought that it was important for Mill to study and compose poetry. One of his earliest poetic compositions was a continuation of the "Iliad". In his spare time he also enjoyed reading about natural sciences and popular novels, such as "Don Quixote" and "Robinson Crusoe".


title: John Stuart Mill

text: His father's work, "The History of British India", was published in 1818; immediately thereafter, at about the age of twelve, Mill began a thorough study of the scholastic logic, at the same time reading Aristotle's logical treatises in the original language. In the following year he was introduced to political economy and studied Adam Smith and David Ricardo with his father, ultimately completing their classical economic view of factors of production. Mill's "comptes rendus" of his daily economy lessons helped his father in writing "Elements of Political Economy" in 1821, a textbook to promote the ideas of Ricardian economics; however, the book lacked popular support. Ricardo, who was a close friend of his father, used to invite the young Mill to his house for a walk to talk about political economy.


title: John Stuart Mill

text: At the age of fourteen, Mill stayed a year in France with the family of Sir Samuel Bentham, brother of Jeremy Bentham. The mountain scenery he saw led to a lifelong taste for mountain landscapes. The lively and friendly way of life of the French also left a deep impression on him. In Montpellier, he attended the winter courses on chemistry, zoology, logic of the "Faculté des Sciences", as well as taking a course in higher mathematics. While coming and going from France, he stayed in Paris for a few days in the house of the renowned economist Jean-Baptiste Say, a friend of Mill's father. There he met many leaders of the Liberal party, as well as other notable Parisians, including Henri Saint-Simon.


title: John Stuart Mill

text: Mill went through months of sadness and contemplated suicide at twenty years of age. According to the opening paragraphs of Chapter V of his autobiography, he had asked himself whether the creation of a just society, his life's objective, would actually make him happy. His heart answered "no", and unsurprisingly he lost the happiness of striving towards this objective. Eventually, the poetry of William Wordsworth showed him that beauty generates compassion for others and stimulates joy. With renewed joy he continued to work towards a just society, but with more relish for the journey. He considered this one of the most pivotal shifts in his thinking. In fact, many of the differences between him and his father stemmed from this expanded source of joy.


title: John Stuart Mill

text: Mill met Thomas Carlyle during one of the latter's visits to London in the early 1830s, and the two quickly became companions and correspondents. Mill offered to print Carlyle's works at his own expense and encouraged Carlyle to write his , supplying him with materials in order to do so. In March 1835, while the manuscript of the completed first volume was in Mill's possession, Mill's housemaid unwittingly used it as tinder, destroying all "except some three or four bits of leaves". Mortified, Mill offered Carlyle £200 (£17,742.16 in 2021) as compensation (Carlyle would only accept £100). Ideological differences would put an end to the friendship during the 1840s, though Carlyle's early influence on Mill would colour his later thought.


title: John Stuart Mill

text: Mill had been engaged in a pen-friendship with Auguste Comte, the founder of positivism and sociology, since Mill first contacted Comte in November 1841. Comte's "sociologie" was more an early philosophy of science than modern sociology is. Comte's positivism motivated Mill to eventually reject Bentham's psychological egoism and what he regarded as Bentham's cold, abstract view of human nature focused on legislation and politics, instead coming to favour Comte's more sociable view of human nature focused on historical facts and directed more towards human individuals in all their complexities.


title: John Stuart Mill

text: As a nonconformist who refused to subscribe to the Thirty-Nine Articles of the Church of England, Mill was not eligible to study at the University of Oxford or the University of Cambridge. Instead he followed his father to work for the East India Company, and attended University College, London, to hear the lectures of John Austin, the first Professor of Jurisprudence. He was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1856.


title: John Stuart Mill

text: Mill's career as a colonial administrator at the East India Company spanned from when he was 17 years old in 1823 until 1858, when the Company's territories in India were directly annexed by the Crown, establishing direct Crown control over India. In 1836, he was promoted to the Company's Political Department, where he was responsible for correspondence pertaining to the Company's relations with the princely states, and in 1856, was finally promoted to the position of Examiner of Indian Correspondence. In "On Liberty", "A Few Words on Non-Intervention", and other works, he opined that "To characterize any conduct whatever towards a barbarous people as a violation of the law of nations, only shows that he who so speaks has never considered the subject". (Mill immediately added, however, that "A violation of the great principles of morality it may easily be.") Mill viewed places such as India as having once been progressive in their outlook, but had now become stagnant in their development; he opined that this meant these regions had to be ruled via a form of "benevolent despotism", "provided the end is improvement". When the Crown proposed to take direct control over the territories of the East India Company, he was tasked with defending Company rule, penning "Memorandum on the Improvements in the Administration of India during the Last Thirty Years" among other petitions. He was offered a seat on the Council of India, the body created to advise the new Secretary of State for India, but declined, citing his disapproval of the new system of administration in India.


title: John Stuart Mill

text: On 21 April 1851, Mill married Harriet Taylor after 21 years of intimate friendship. Taylor was married when they met, and their relationship was close but generally believed to be chaste during the years before her first husband died in 1849. The couple waited two years before marrying in 1851. Brilliant in her own right, Taylor was a significant influence on Mill's work and ideas during both friendship and marriage. His relationship with Taylor reinforced Mill's advocacy of women's rights. He said that in his stand against domestic violence, and for women's rights he was "chiefly an amanuensis to my wife". He called her mind a "perfect instrument", and said she was "the most eminently qualified of all those known to the author". He cites her influence in his final revision of "On Liberty", which was published shortly after her death. Taylor died in 1858 after developing severe lung congestion, after only seven years of marriage to Mill.


title: John Stuart Mill

text: Between the years 1865 and 1868 Mill served as Lord Rector of the University of St Andrews. At his inaugural address, delivered to the University on 1 February 1867, he made the now-famous (but often wrongly attributed) remark that "Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing". That Mill included that sentence in the address is a matter of historical record, but it by no means follows that it expressed a wholly original insight. During the same period, 1865–68, he was also a Member of Parliament (MP) for City of Westminster. He was sitting for the Liberal Party. During his time as an MP, Mill advocated easing the burdens on Ireland. In 1866, he became the first person in the history of Parliament to call for women to be given the right to vote, vigorously defending this position in subsequent debate. He also became a strong advocate of such social reforms as labour unions and farm cooperatives. In "Considerations on Representative Government", he called for various reforms of Parliament and voting, especially proportional representation, the single transferable vote, and the extension of suffrage. In April 1868, he favoured in a Commons debate the retention of capital punishment for such crimes as aggravated murder; he termed its abolition "an effeminacy in the general mind of the country".


title: John Stuart Mill

text: Mill died in 1873, thirteen days before his 67th birthday, of erysipelas in Avignon, France, where his body was buried alongside his wife's.


title: John Stuart Mill

text: Mill joined the debate over scientific method which followed on from John Herschel's 1830 publication of "A Preliminary Discourse on the study of Natural Philosophy", which incorporated inductive reasoning from the known to the unknown, discovering general laws in specific facts and verifying these laws empirically. William Whewell expanded on this in his 1837 "History of the Inductive Sciences, from the Earliest to the Present Time", followed in 1840 by "The Philosophy of the Inductive Sciences, Founded Upon their History", presenting induction as the mind superimposing concepts on facts. Laws were self-evident truths, which could be known without need for empirical verification.


title: John Stuart Mill

text: Mill countered this in 1843 in "A System of Logic" (fully titled "A System of Logic, Ratiocinative and Inductive, Being a Connected View of the Principles of Evidence, and the Methods of Scientific Investigation"). In "Mill's Methods" (of induction), as in Herschel's, laws were discovered through observation and induction, and required empirical verification. Matilal remarks that Dignāga analysis is much like John Stuart Mill's Joint Method of Agreement and Difference, which is inductive. He suggested that it is very likely that during his stay in India he may have come across the tradition of logic, on which scholars started taking interest after 1824, though it is unknown whether it influenced his work or not.


title: John Stuart Mill

text: Mill's "On Liberty" (1859) addresses the nature and limits of the power that can be legitimately exercised by society over the individual. Mill's idea is that only if a democratic society follows the Principle of Liberty can its political and social institutions fulfill their role of shaping national character so that its citizens can realise the permanent interests of people as progressive beings (Rawls, Lectures on the History of Political Philosophy; p 289).


title: John Stuart Mill

text: Mill states the Principle of Liberty as: "the sole end for which mankind are warranted, individually or collectively, in interfering with the liberty of action of any of their number, is self-protection". "The only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others. His own good, either physical or moral, is not a sufficient warrant."


title: John Stuart Mill

text: One way to read Mill's Principle of Liberty as a principle of public reason is to see it excluding certain kinds of reasons from being taken into account in legislation, or in guiding the moral coercion of public opinion. (Rawls, Lectures on the History of Political Philosophy; p. 291). These reasons include those founded in other persons good; reasons of excellence and ideals of human perfection; reasons of dislike or disgust, or of preference.


title: John Stuart Mill

text: Mill states that "harms" which may be prevented include acts of omission as well as acts of commission. Thus, failing to rescue a drowning child counts as a harmful act, as does failing to pay taxes, or failing to appear as a witness in court. All such harmful omissions may be regulated, according to Mill. By contrast, it does not count as harming someone if—without force or fraud—the affected individual consents to assume the risk: thus one may permissibly offer unsafe employment to others, provided there is no deception involved. (He does, however, recognise one limit to consent: society should not permit people to sell themselves into slavery.)


title: John Stuart Mill

text: The question of what counts as a self-regarding action and what actions, whether of omission or commission, constitute harmful actions subject to regulation, continues to exercise interpreters of Mill. He did not consider giving offence to constitute "harm"; an action could not be restricted because it violated the conventions or morals of a given society.


title: John Stuart Mill

text: Mill believed that "the struggle between Liberty and Authority is the most conspicuous feature in the portions of history." For him, liberty in antiquity was a "contest…between subjects, or some classes of subjects, and the government."


title: John Stuart Mill

text: Mill defined "social liberty" as protection from "the tyranny of political rulers". He introduced a number of different concepts of the form tyranny can take, referred to as social tyranny, and "tyranny of the majority". "Social liberty" for Mill meant putting limits on the ruler's power so that he would not be able to use that power to further his own wishes and thus make decisions that could harm society. In other words, people should have the right to have a say in the government's decisions. He said that "social liberty" was "the nature and limits of the power which can be legitimately exercised by society over the individual." It was attempted in two ways: first, by obtaining recognition of certain immunities (called "political liberties" or "rights"); and second, by establishment of a system of "constitutional checks".


title: John Stuart Mill

text: However, in Mill's view, limiting the power of government was not enough:Society can and does execute its own mandates: and if it issues wrong mandates instead of right, or any mandates at all in things with which it ought not to meddle, it practises a social tyranny more formidable than many kinds of political oppression, since, though not usually upheld by such extreme penalties, it leaves fewer means of escape, penetrating much more deeply into the details of life, and enslaving the soul itself.


title: John Stuart Mill

text: Mill's view on liberty, which was influenced by Joseph Priestley and Josiah Warren, is that individuals ought to be free to do as they wished unless they caused harm to others. Individuals are rational enough to make decisions about their well being. Government should interfere when it is for the protection of society. Mill explained:


title: John Stuart Mill

text: The sole end for which mankind are warranted, individually or collectively, in interfering with the liberty of action of any of their number, is self-protection. That the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others. His own good, either physical or moral, is not sufficient warrant. He cannot rightfully be compelled to do or forbear because it will be better for him to do so, because it will make him happier, because, in the opinion of others, to do so would be wise, or even right.… The only part of the conduct of anyone, for which he is amenable to society, is that which concerns others. In the part which merely concerns him, his independence is, of right, absolute. Over himself, over his own body and mind, the individual is sovereign.


title: John Stuart Mill

text: "On Liberty" involves an impassioned defense of free speech. Mill argues that free discourse is a necessary condition for intellectual and social progress. We can never be sure, he contends, that a silenced opinion does not contain some element of the truth. He also argues that allowing people to air false opinions is productive for two reasons. First, individuals are more likely to abandon erroneous beliefs if they are engaged in an open exchange of ideas. Second, by forcing other individuals to re-examine and re-affirm their beliefs in the process of debate, these beliefs are kept from declining into mere dogma. It is not enough for Mill that one simply has an unexamined belief that happens to be true; one must understand why the belief in question is the true one. Along those same lines Mill wrote, "unmeasured vituperation, employed on the side of prevailing opinion, really does deter people from expressing contrary opinions, and from listening to those who express them."


title: John Stuart Mill

text: I choose, by preference the cases which are least favourable to me—In which the argument opposing freedom of opinion, both on truth and that of utility, is considered the strongest. Let the opinions impugned be the belief of God and in a future state, or any of the commonly received doctrines of morality ... But I must be permitted to observe that it is not the feeling sure of a doctrine (be it what it may) which I call an assumption of infallibility. It is the undertaking to decide that question "for others", without allowing them to hear what can be said on the contrary side. And I denounce and reprobate this pretension not the less if it is put forth on the side of my most solemn convictions. However positive anyone's persuasion may be, not only of the faculty but of the pernicious consequences, but (to adopt expressions which I altogether condemn) the immorality and impiety of opinion.—yet if, in pursuance of that private judgement, though backed by the public judgement of his country or contemporaries, he prevents the opinion from being heard in its defence, he assumes infallibility. And so far from the assumption being less objectionable or less dangerous because the opinion is called immoral or impious, this is the case of all others in which it is most fatal.


title: John Stuart Mill

text: Mill outlines the benefits of "searching for and discovering the truth" as a way to further knowledge. He argued that even if an opinion is false, the truth can be better understood by refuting the error. And as most opinions are neither completely true nor completely false, he points out that allowing free expression allows the airing of competing views as a way to preserve partial truth in various opinions. Worried about minority views being suppressed, he argued in support of freedom of speech on political grounds, stating that it is a critical component for a representative government to have to empower debate over public policy. He also eloquently argued that freedom of expression allows for personal growth and self-realization. He said that freedom of speech was a vital way to develop talents and realise a person's potential and creativity. He repeatedly said that eccentricity was preferable to uniformity and stagnation.


title: John Stuart Mill

text: The belief that freedom of speech would advance society presupposed a society sufficiently culturally and institutionally advanced to be capable of progressive improvement. If any argument is really wrong or harmful, the public will judge it as wrong or harmful, and then those arguments cannot be sustained and will be excluded. Mill argued that even any arguments which are used in justifying murder or rebellion against the government shouldn't be politically suppressed or socially persecuted. According to him, if rebellion is really necessary, people should rebel; if murder is truly proper, it should be allowed. However, the way to express those arguments should be a public speech or writing, not in a way that causes actual harm to others. Such is the "harm principle": "That the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilised community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others."


title: John Stuart Mill

text: At the beginning of the 20th century, Associate justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. made the standard of "clear and present danger" based on Mill's idea. In the majority opinion, Holmes writes:


title: John Stuart Mill

text: Holmes suggested that falsely shouting out "Fire!" in a dark theatre, which evokes panic and provokes injury, would be such a case of speech that creates an illegal danger. But if the situation allows people to reason by themselves and decide to accept it or not, any argument or theology should not be blocked.


title: John Stuart Mill

text: Nowadays, Mill's argument is generally accepted by many democratic countries, and they have laws at least guided by the harm principle. For example, in American law some exceptions limit free speech such as obscenity, defamation, breach of peace, and "fighting words".


title: John Stuart Mill

text: In "On Liberty", Mill thought it was necessary for him to restate the case for press freedom. He considered that argument already won. Almost no politician or commentator in mid-19th-century Britain wanted a return to Tudor and Stuart-type press censorship. However, Mill warned new forms of censorship could emerge in the future. Indeed, in 2013 the Cameron Tory government considered setting up a so-called independent official regulator of the UK press. This prompted demands for better basic legal protection of press freedom. A new British Bill of Rights could include a US-type constitutional ban on governmental infringement of press freedom and block other official attempts to control freedom of opinion and expression.


title: John Stuart Mill

text: Mill, an employee of the East India Company from 1823 to 1858, argued in support of what he called a "benevolent despotism" with regard to the administration of overseas colonies. Mill argued:To suppose that the same international customs, and the same rules of international morality, can obtain between one civilized nation and another, and between civilized nations and barbarians, is a grave error.… To characterize any conduct whatever towards a barbarous people as a violation of the law of nations, only shows that he who so speaks has never considered the subject. Mill expressed general support for Company rule in India, but expressed reservations on specific Company policies in India which he disagreed with.


title: John Stuart Mill

text: In 1850, Mill sent an anonymous letter (which came to be known under the title "The Negro Question"), in rebuttal to Thomas Carlyle's anonymous letter to "Fraser's Magazine for Town and Country" in which Carlyle argued for slavery. Mill supported abolishing slavery in the United States, expressing his opposition to slavery in his essay of 1869, "The Subjection of Women":


title: John Stuart Mill

text: This absolutely extreme case of the law of force, condemned by those who can tolerate almost every other form of arbitrary power, and which, of all others, presents features the most revolting to the feeling of all who look at it from an impartial position, was the law of civilized and Christian England within the memory of persons now living: and in one half of Anglo-Saxon America three or four years ago, not only did slavery exist, but the slave trade, and the breeding of slaves expressly for it, was a general practice between slave states. Yet not only was there a greater strength of sentiment against it, but, in England at least, a less amount either of feeling or of interest in favour of it, than of any other of the customary abuses of force: for its motive was the love of gain, unmixed and undisguised: and those who profited by it were a very small numerical fraction of the country, while the natural feeling of all who were not personally interested in it, was unmitigated abhorrence.


title: John Stuart Mill

text: Mill corresponded with John Appleton, an American legal reformer from Maine, extensively on the topic of racial equality. Appleton influenced Mill's work on such, especially swaying him on the optimal economic and social welfare plan for the Antebellum South. In a letter sent to Appleton in response to a previous letter, Mill expressed his view on antebellum integration:I cannot look forward with satisfaction to any settlement but complete emancipation—land given to every negro family either separately or in organized communities under such rules as may be found temporarily necessary—the schoolmaster set to work in every village & the tide of free immigration turned on in those fertile regions from which slavery has hitherto excluded it. If this be done, the gentle & docile character which seems to distinguish the negroes will prevent any mischief on their side, while the proofs they are giving of fighting powers will do more in a year than all other things in a century to make the whites respect them & consent to their being politically & socially equals.


title: John Stuart Mill

text: Mill's view of history was that right up until his time "the whole of the female" and "the great majority of the male sex" were simply "slaves". He countered arguments to the contrary, arguing that relations between sexes simply amounted to "the legal subordination of one sex to the other—[which] is wrong itself, and now one of the chief hindrances to human improvement; and that it ought to be replaced by a principle of perfect equality." Here, then, we have an instance of Mill's use of "slavery" in a sense which, compared to its fundamental meaning of absolute unfreedom of person, is an extended and arguably a rhetorical rather than a literal sense.


title: John Stuart Mill

text: With this, Mill can be considered among the earliest male proponents of gender equality, having been recruited by American feminist John Neal during his stay in London circa 1825–1827. His book "The Subjection of Women" (1861, publ.1869) is one of the earliest written on this subject by a male author. In "The Subjection of Women", Mill attempts to make a case for perfect equality.


title: John Stuart Mill

text: In his proposal for a universal education system sponsored by the state, Mill expands benefits for many marginalized groups, especially for women. For Mill, a universal education held the potential to create new abilities and novel types of behavior of which the current receiving generation and their descendants could both benefit from. Such a pathway to opportunity would enable women to gain "industrial and social independence" that would allow them the same movement in their agency and citizenship as men.


title: John Stuart Mill

text: Mill's view of opportunity stands out in its reach, but even more so for the population he foresees who could benefit from it. Mill was hopeful of the autonomy such an education could allow for its recipients and especially for women. Through the consequential sophistication and knowledge attained, individuals are able to properly act in ways that recedes away from those leading towards overpopulation.


title: John Stuart Mill

text: This stands directly in contrast with the view held by many of Mill's contemporaries and predecessors who viewed such inclusive programs to be counter intuitive. Aiming such help at marginalized groups, such as the poor and working class, would only serve to reward them with the opportunity to move to a higher status, thus encouraging greater fertility which at its extreme could lead to overproduction.


title: John Stuart Mill

text: He talks about the role of women in marriage and how it must be changed. Mill comments on three major facets of women's lives that he felt are hindering them:


title: John Stuart Mill

text: He argues that the oppression of women was one of the few remaining relics from ancient times, a set of prejudices that severely impeded the progress of humanity. As a Member of Parliament, Mill introduced an unsuccessful amendment to the Reform Bill to substitute the word "person" in place of "man".


title: John Stuart Mill

text: The canonical statement of Mill's utilitarianism can be found in his book, "Utilitarianism". Although this philosophy has a long tradition, Mill's account is primarily influenced by Jeremy Bentham and Mill's father James Mill.


title: John Stuart Mill

text: John Stuart Mill believed in the philosophy of "utilitarianism", which he would describe as the principle that holds "that actions are right in the proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness". By "happiness" he means, "intended pleasure, and the absence of pain; by unhappiness, pain, and the privation of pleasure". It is clear that we do not all value virtues as a path to happiness and that we sometimes only value them for selfish reasons. However, Mill asserts that upon reflection, even when we value virtues for selfish reasons we are in fact cherishing them as a part of our happiness.


title: John Stuart Mill

text: Bentham's famous formulation of utilitarianism is known as the greatest-happiness principle. It holds that one must always act so as to produce the greatest aggregate happiness among all sentient beings, within reason. In a similar vein, Mill's method of determining the best utility is that a moral agent, when given the choice between two or more actions, ought to choose the action that contributes most to (maximizes) the total happiness in the world. "Happiness", in this context, is understood as the production of pleasure or privation of pain. Given that determining the action that produces the most utility is not always so clear cut, Mill suggests that the utilitarian moral agent, when attempting to rank the utility of different actions, should refer to the general experience of persons. That is, if people generally experience more happiness following action "X" than they do action "Y", the utilitarian should conclude that action "X" produces more utility than action "Y", and so is to be preferred.