My final response to our Film class is that it was a very interesting class, perhaps one of the easiest class that I have ever taken, I liked the different topics that were presented, however I felt that the topic about gay issue was repeated quite bit of time. I understand that the gay topic is a hot topic right now, especially for the State of Utah and California, but we could have spent one day on that issue and used some of the other days on different controversial issues, for example: cloning, Area 51, single mothers, women in the workplace, racial profiling, education vouchers, or even the BCS. That is just a suggestion.
My favorite topic was on racism, I really liked the movie American History X, because it showed both sides of the issue. I am from Brazil and my ancestors are Native Indian, African and Portuguese. While I was growing up I saw racism from black to white, white to black, and black to blacker. The last one is my favorite, it is ridiculous how we can discriminate another human being that is just a little darker than us from our perspective view, and unfortunately some of my family members still use those kinds of expression against others.
The other day I was watching the Brazilian News on YouTube and the President of Brazil known as Lula, said that “the economy crisis is faulted by all the white people with blue eyes”. After watching the video I couldn’t stop laughing at such an unbelievable statement. This is a proof that this topic is still very real and exists even today. It is awful to see how much ignorance with racism can cause so many problems to a whole nation, because since that statement was spoken the U.S. Governments have started to pay more attention and also to question my country’s relationship with Venezuela. It is my hope that the U.S. doesn’t penalize my entire country for one person’s idiotic remarks.
I never understood why we treat each other so poorly just because of our skin color. I can’t see how that can be enough to discriminate one another. We are all exactly the same inside, we all have the same anatomy, and we all should be treated equal no matter of what skin color that we have.
I really ejoyed this class because it opened my eyes to all of the changes and issues going on around me. I talk about these issues every time with my family and it is so interesting to see everyones stand point on it.
I think that this was a very good class and I wouldn't have taken it if it wasn't for the fact the title was diversity. I wanted to take this class because we talk about every pay issues and the more important life changing issues that no one really wants to talk about. my brother took a film course all about how a person would make the movie and I knew that wouldn't interest me as much as this class did.
I agreed with some points and totally disagreed with others. I was inpressed and ashamed. I was proud and offended. I liked how this class wasn't totally one side and biased, but how we explored all sides of the issues and made a person think.
I really think that this class was belificial because I got to learn so much more about my stand points and what the issues really meant to me. I learned that it is okay to disagree with people and to try to see another persons point of view. I would definately reccomend this class to others in the future. I feel that it definately made me grow as an individual. THANK YOU!!
Wow, wasn’t this a rollercoaster ride? This was one of the easiest classes I have ever had the privilege of taking. But in a lot of ways it challenged me in ways I didn’t expect to be challenged. It made me ask questions about topics that I would not have otherwise cared about. It opened my eyes to different sides and points of view, which I have stated in earlier post, is one of the more healthy things a person can do for themselves.
Sara’s approach to teaching is kind of a holistic one in that it encourages thinking, imagining, and the expression of feelings. I know it sounds like I’m a “flower child” but I believe when we learn like this it forces our minds outside of our everyday boxes and we also benefit from hearing what our peers think which makes for a one of a kind learning experience, that I am grateful for. Yes, I am grateful for ALL your points of view even if I don’t agree with them. You have all made me smarter and have helped me work toward becoming a better person
If all we can take away from this class is an inkling of tolerance (which might not have otherwise been there) than I think this class was successful. I hated the fact that I had to take a “diversity” class to get my degree but now I see why it was important. You and I will be the new leaders of the future and it’s our job to do better than those who came before us. That’s going to involve keeping an open mind, sharing your ideas, asking questions about the unfamiliar when we are frightened, and most of all, working together(through differences) so our children can do better than we do it.
This was a reply to one of my post: “Someone up above mentioned that they would rather go camping with an atheist and talk about science and a gay friend for comedic relief...then with a stuck up kid who thinks he is better then everyone. I think generalizing both scouts, atheists and gays like this is more harmful than good. Some gays aren't funny, some atheists don't like science and some scouts might not be stuck up.”
This person is absolutely right, generalizations are harmful but they failed to conceive the point I was trying to make, which I thought was a very simple one. ANYONE who bases what they believe around anything that diminishes, secludes, or that demoralizes another is what’s “more harmful that good” (in your words). Of course not ALL scouts are stuck up, of course not ALL gays are funny and of course not ALL atheists “like” science. I’m sure (I hope) everyone in class, including me is aware of that. My oversimplification was merely for point sake and should be taken with a grain of salt. Try to focus your time and energy on educating someone who doesn’t have access to the library or the internet. On the lighter side, wouldn’t you agree that ALL people who wear glasses are the smartest...lol maybe we can let that generalization slide since it makes us feel cooler?
In closing, This has been a fun class and I hope all of you do well for yourselves. In the words of Brian from Half Baked (one the greatest movies ever made) "Don't worry. Don't worry, I'm not gonna DO what everyone thinks I'm gonna DO and FLIP OUT MAN. All I wanna know is who's coming with me? Who's coming man? Who's coming with me? Huh? Who's coming with me man?"
The class seemed to revolve a whole lot around gay issues. I thought time could be much better spent on viewing films outside the homosexual drama genre. We didn't even scratch the surface on some other major topics that are as diverse, if not more diverse then the gay lifestyle and what a struggle it seems to be. What about the struggle of people who are immigrants to america? People who come from abusive homes? People who deal with life at the poverty level of living? These are very diverse topics. None of which were covered. Instead we come to class to watch some homo's give each other a good time in the park. There is a lot more to life then sexual orentation. Like Angels in America? What the hell was that besides boring and gross?
American History X was a great film! It was entertaining it had a good story and it taught tolerance.
The bullshit films had some good arguements and they were pretty entertaining.
Who killed the electric car was an alright film, although I will never understand why people made such a big deal out of losing an electric car. They acted like they had lost a family member or something.
I learned a couple things throughout this class but it came at a price, watching some of the gay films made me uncomfortable. And it doesn't make me a homophob to say that watching two dudes go at it makes me feel uncomfortable. You honestly have to be lying if you were thinking to yourself during that last trans america film "oh yeah blow your dad, that is totally normal." I don't have a problem with gay people, because I have yet to meet a rude gay person. I couldn't care less what they live their lives like. But I do have a problem with having to watch softcore gay porn week after week.
The class should be called Film and the homosexual culture, not filming diversity.
The class smelled like ass every week because we had a good mix of every nasty fast food restaurant smell in the room, and don't tell me some people were totally ripping ass after they ate some of that crap. It stunk so bad! At least crack open the door to the outside a little..
The projector screen got progressively worse as the class went on.
Do people shower anymore? What has happened to hygene? Seriously some of you kids smelled like you have been sleeping in poop. Wear some deoderant, shower every once in a while. This definitely detracted from the class.
I would not recommend this class to anyone unless some of these problems were fixed.I'm glad the class is over.
I'm sorry if this post offended anyone, actually no I really don't care if it hurt anyones feelings, I was told by the teacher to never appologize for being honest on these posts.
Free at last free at last! Thank the lord almighty we're free at last!
For my final post I would like to reference back to the very first movie we watched, JFK. For starters, I really enjoyed the movie. I am something of a history buff, especially the more modern history, anything past the turn of the 20th century. After watching this movie, I decided to further my research into the subject since it interested me so. That is what I am going to talk about for my final post. My information will be referenced from mostly two sources. One being the article in Wikipedia on the assassination of JFK, the other will be the episode of the TV show, conspiracy theories, which featured Jack Ruby. Several theories seem to exist. Obviously the theory that states there was more then one shooter. Former U.S. Marine Sniper, Carlos Hathcock, said he attempted to duplicate the single shot. He said, “We reconstructed the whole thing: the angle, the range, the moving target, the time limit, the obstacles, everything. I don’t know how many times we tried it, but we couldn’t duplicate what the Warren Commission said Oswald did. Now if I can’t do it, how in the world could a guy who was a non-qual on the rifle range and later only qualified 'marksman' do it?” This would seem to suggest that there must have been two shooters but Hathcock left out one detail, dumb luck. I am not saying that dumb luck is the reason there was only one shooter but it does create a possibility. Perhaps Oswald was just trying to shoot and happened to pull off a master shot. It’s happened to many of us while we are playing pool, so I would assume it to be possible for Oswald as well. This next theory, I had not heard before, it claims that there was two Oswalds’. The claim states that either, Oswald himself is not dead and was using a political decoy on the day he was assassinated or that he used this decoy somewhere else earlier in the assassination. Perhaps to give himself the appearance of being at another location while he was shooting JFK. It should be noted though, that when Oswald’s body was exhumed in 1981, that the body was identified as being Oswald from both dental records and the existence of a childhood scar. Another theory that strikes in the heart of potential conspiracy is that Lyndon Johnson killed JFK. In his book, Blood, Money, & Power: How L.BJ. killed J.F.K, McClellan claims that Johnson killed Kennedy out of the fear of being dropped from the Kennedy ticket in 1964. The book also claims that a partial finger print of Malcolm “Mac” Wallace was found at the sniper’s nest and that Wallace was a close associate of Johnson’s. The book further points out that several oil magnates helped pay for the assassination. There are many other theories that you can read about. They range from the release of three well dressed tramps who found in a box car near the grassy knoll who were released with out questioning to a theory that JFK’s body had been altered and changed so that the autopsy would show something different then what actually happened. There is the Israeli Conspiracy, the Cuban Conspiracy, Organized crime and CIA conspiracy (which I believe is the theory mostly used in the movie) and the Cuban exiles theory. Plus many more. One thing that is obvious is the change that JFK’s assassination had on this country and it’s respect for the government. I feel that the loss of JFK led to us having the Watergate scandal. The loss of trust for the government (even if for no reason) creates a government who does not care about having us trust them. It was the shot heard across America and whether one conspiracy is true or not, the effects remain the same and this country will never be the same again.
My favorite film all semester was American History X I thought that the most remarkable way in which the director conveyed his message about racism in this film is the way in which the subject is treated. Racism is probably one of the most difficult subjects to approach, American History X presents it without worrying about stepping on someone’s toes or offending them. The film's main subject for racism, Derek, is not an unintelligent redneck racist as films often portray them but is in fact well-spoken, intelligent young kid although he clearly holds ideals that are appallingly wrong. The part of the film shows that sets it apart from all other previous movies regarding this topic, it explains that it is not just the white, neo-Nazi racists who are fools to be involved in this but all racism is thoughtless, irrational, stupid and unintelligent loved the fact that the movie taught me the fact that hatred and racism will destroy a person and those around him. I thought this class brought me lots of life lessons that could have otherwise been learned in a bad or deadly way. This class has been great because it truly has broadened my horizons so that I may accept other people no matter what they believe in religiously, where they buy there groceries, or what gender they are or may like.
This class is the closest historical moment for all of us. that I ever had experience with such of of effort to stand by. I mean, I feel great full. Well, I think, I started very bold statements about what I know how I think I understand the our human life ought to be. Since, I'm from traditional and conservative family. But I decided to go the the best school in the left wing school. then I found the great friends, teacher and also differences. Now , that is the facts and evidences, that you and I can't choose who we want and what we should do. In School where I from, it is only one of the best in left side of town. All of them have only one goal. I realized, school in here doesn't make it difference at all. Here, I saw the people of all part of life come from difference families, race , gender, religous , income, education background and politicals. But We come to school that more then that. I t is more meaning full then educations, money or recognitions. But we are here in school particular in this class FILM 1070 to share the common purpose that who we are. How much love is enough for people who living the corner of the rooms. I heard the voice NOW! I am one of them to heard them sad from inside out, heart broken and burning for the things around me. that never fit the school. But This class in this particular school taught me the great lessons. I have the question about gays movie in particular. why the produccers or people who made the moview like to add kinda odd nundy parts or too strong communication to the audience? They might think that we can handle or accepted right away. The time will come but but we must be patient and go slowly but surely. I didn't say it is and bad in the wrong to way to do that or anythings like that. Another the thing about language of movie specially in The actors (Two guys in combination set of movies)They kinda over accentuated and alway think that they are right for any arguments if they are legitimates about that. finally, I had read your post on the links about transsexual. I pay more attentions and focus on this subjects more then the movie because, I understand and feel it better with facts, evidence and histories stand point of views. This is very clerical piece of informations for me. I like to know more. This is great stuffs. If I have to pick the gays movies I would pick TransAmerica, the Angel of American is good too but It is too long, a lot of flash backs and fantasy. I got confused. The Davinci Code was is great too They are alway fighting between religious and science. I would wake in the gray line just for now and wait too see who will be the winner. Overall, This school and this class brought me the life and hope for the better future for us and for all. I feel much satisfaction about class now.
Thank you so much Sara for all you do and for helped me out Love
Hopefully some of you read my last post under the Transamerica link because I really wanted to end this class by giving a piece of me to all of you. Just in case we happen to run in to one another on campus somewhere or meet on the street sometime. And just in case that doesn’t happen if anyone would like to continue discussing controversial or diverse topics etc. my email address is jcobgull@gmail.com. I will not recognize most of you because I always sat in the back two or three rows and usually only saw the back of your heads. But any ways if you are board and want to get to know me more for some reason, a small summary of a few important events in my life are in the former post I mentioned. The reason I have given some of my personal life’s history there and made reference to it here is probably because I think it ties in nicely with what I have gotten from this class which is what my final post will contain. I am extremely glad I was able to take this class and although I was disgusted at times or confused at times I had a great re-awakening to many things of importance. I say re-awakening because I don’t think I was introduced to anything I hadn’t thought about before but my understanding and interest in these things came to life once again, and they are important issues that we all have to deal with, make up our minds on and get past. I was a student here at SLCC a few years ago and didn’t last long due to family responsibilities and other endeavors but I have always wanted to come back. The reason being was for classes and experiences like this one, where my preconceived notions are challenged once again, new understanding is gained, and confirmations about former beliefs are strengthened. Some of the things I will take from this class include the renewal of the need for me to independently verify what others are saying without accepting it blindly. This is something I had learned before but as with many things one learns, over time the process becomes dulled. Like for instance in the first movie JFK I found myself being swayed towards the belief in a mass governmental conspiracy and cover up in the assassination, but upon further research I don’t buy it like I did after watching the movie. I think one could spend their whole life researching this event and still never be sure what really happened. So why waste the time? For some maybe it’s intriguing and they have a passion for it, so if it suits them, fine. Then With the next film which I think was American x, I was reminded of my own racial ignorance as a youth and how utterly stupid I was and how twisted the whole racist thinking is. We are all great in our own right! And this film gave me a new commitment to combat this problem wherever I can (peacefully).Moving on to the next film that I recalled was the Last Temptation of Christ. For those of you who know me by now, you know that I did not like that movie and not because it challenged my faith but I just found it to be stupid, poorly scripted and acted. I do believe Christ was tempted like all of us but by that I don’t say that I believe he was confused at all about his mission or how to accomplish it. In the scriptures it tells of how at a very young age Jesus exclaimed to his parents “whist ye not that I must be about my Fathers business”. I could go on and on about how the scriptures (at least the ones I believe to be authoritative) give examples of how he had no doubt as to whom he was, what his purpose was and exactly what he knew he would do to accomplish it, but alas it’s all a matter of faith. And as I have implied before, to each his own. These are my beliefs and I respect other viewpoints as well. On to subject of gay rights and the discrimination of gays. I wish I had all the answers but I don’t. Some claim you’re born with the tendency and some claim it’s a process of finding your identity later and so on. So many claims and theories and yet the answer to this question may never be known. I have my own opinions about it but as I said before I am no Jesus. I’ll let him tell me the truth when and how he will. My job is to love and do as he did as best I can. I will say this much though, my heart has been softened once again on the matter and that means I will have new opportunities and productive relationships because of it. I think that encompasses the main jest of what I have received from this class. I do think we should have spent less time going for lunch and spent more time finishing movies and discussing. My suggestion to Sara would be to tell the class to show up on a full stomach with a drink and commence discussions and movies immediately. But all in all I have enjoyed the time spent in this class and actually looked forward to attending. I can’t say that about all the classes I have taken. Thanks Sara. God bless you and best of luck to you and the class in all you do!!
Lots of people in this class bitch every time they have to watch movies about homosexuality. Most of the class thought that Angels in America was a horrible movie. I personally thoroughly enjoyed it. I guess I am not that surprised about the class' reaction to this theme, given the location and the predominant religion. Call me ignorant, stereotypical, rude, arrogant, whatever, I still think I am more accurate at assuming that the religious predomination fuels these reactions more than anything in the world. Religion is the worst thing for discrimination, because if the church says it, most of the people are going to go along with it, given they follow that church. Don't try and tell me that the Mormon church is against homosexuals, just look at the shit they pulled in California! The monetary support for the passing of Prop 8 came most from the LDS church and its members. 45% of the funds came from the LDS church, while there was numerous other people in support of it. Also, the church was encouraging their members to donate and support Prop 8, because homosexuals finally got equal rights in a state that is within 2000 miles of their center. This is utterly disgusting and I will never be able to see the LDS church as a good thing again. I believe that the LDS church is an instrument of hate, comparable to the KKK but less violent about it. How is hating someone for the sole reason that they are black any different than thinking that someone is "damned" for their sexual persuasion, thinking that they don't deserve to be with the person they love, or thinking that they are less than you because they like something you don't? Grow the fuck up people! You were warned you would be offended in this class, so why don't you shut the fuck up and quit bitching about Sara's choices of themes and movies. She obviously chose right, because you are so up in arms.
I find it ironic that people bitch about the "gay movies" but turn around and say that American History X was great. The intent of both is the same. American History X attempts to show us that white supremacists make it hard for blacks, while the "gay movies" show that ignorant fucks like the Mormons make it hard for them. I'll be glad when I get away from you people, I am thrilled I never have to come back to read your bullshit.
I was more offended by the people in class, rather than the movies. How strange...
Overall this class was a learning experience. I enjoyed the topics that we discussed and I think a lot of us in class are very open minded to new ideas and feelings(judging by the posts). Yes, I must admit some of the movies were boring to me, not because of the topic just because they were too long or they were filled with sarcastic bad acting (Temptation of Christ). But I understood the message that each film was trying to get across.
My top favorite movies we saw in class were: American History X, Da Vinci Code, and the very last one TransAmerica. I think American History X and TransAmerica had very strong messages that dealt with racism and acceptance.
While I was watching TransAmerica, I was pondering what would be my soap box moment about and through the movie and our final discussion I decided to do it on plastic surgery. It amazes me how much technology has evolved that we can now decide to fix our imperfections and feel better about ourselves. However, plastic surgery can also have a negative side.
The controversy against cosmetic plastic surgery, a very risky procedure that for the last decade has been the new trend people have been following. Celebrities, the media, and television shows have had a drastic influence on how society views plastic surgery as the new “cool” thing to do. Every year the number of people who decide to go under the knife increases by the thousands. Why do people decide to have plastic surgery? Has plastic surgery got out of hand? Do people over do it? Are they using it for the wrong reasons?
A major point to realize is the media has understated the affects plastic surgery has on people. The message they’re sending is that plastic surgery is a very common and quick procedure. The only document the positive “happy” side of the surgical treatment making it seem like a regular thing to do. The media never shows the months of healing and the pain the patient goes through. Some of these factors are ignored by patients when they decide to alter, remove or enhance a part of their body.
There are two different types of plastic surgery, there’s cosmetic plastic surgery and there’s reconstructive plastic surgery. The difference between the two procedures is reconstructive surgery is surgery that is performed when patients have been affected with a birth defect, an accident, or a disease that has destroyed part of their body like breast cancer or tumors. Reconstructive surgery is the most helpful, helping individuals reconstruct something they had no control of. Now, Cosmetic plastic surgery is surgery that is performed to enhance your personal appearance by adjusting things you’re not satisfied with. More and more people are getting cosmetic procedures to adjust their imperfections, just last year 11.9 million cosmetic surgeries were performed in the United States (http://www.apa.org/surgery.htm.
In society today body image is everything. We are influenced by celebrities, movies, and the media to be thin, tall, and beautiful. There is so much influence to be perfect that even teenagers are going under the knife. Studies show that 335 thousand teens, 18 years old and younger have had plastic surgery in 2006 an increase comparing it to 306 thousand in 2003.
Many individuals receive plastic surgery for many different reasons; nevertheless, they all do it for the same principle of boosting up their self-esteem. As we can see plastic surgery is a benefit to our society with moderation!!!! With the results its providing consumers, it’s without question here to stay.
This was an awesome class! It introduced new issues to me that I really didn't think much about and for that I want to thank Sara for always presenting both sides of an arguement.
Hmm its hard to pick just one topic to talk about. I think the most affective movie that we watched was American History X. That movie was very hard to sit all the way through. It had a great meaning though. I have always been bothered with people that are racist. I don't think that any individual should be treated any different because of the color of their skin. It is very wrong and a horrible thing to do. Well to start off, I didn't like the sex scene that happened right at the very start of the movie. And then when that guy got curbed right after, that was hard to watch. Right from the very first 10 minutes of this movie I was hating it. By the end of the movie I realized how good of a meaning this movie portraid. The older brother was the leader of all the white people in his town. He was the biggest hater of black people before he went to prison. I loved seeing him change his ways and become friends with a black man. Even though he got raped and beaten up in prison, he grew up so much. When he finally got out of prison, he had to and help his brother change his ways. I loved seeing him use all his power to try and get his younger brother to change his thinking about racism. When he finally got his little brother to understand, he got shot by a black boy at school that misunderstood his way of thinking. That part of the movie was so hard to watch.
I think that everyone should see this movie and see how people can completely change. I hate racism! I hate when people are racist against others. It makes them look so ridiculous and stupid. Everyone that is racist should watch this movie and maybe it will change their mind about different colored skin.
I really enjoyed this class. Most of them I would have never watch if it were not for this class. Now if I would watch them again probably not. As a whole I thought it was a very well structured class that gave both part of the story and both extreme part of the story. It opened my eyes to think about how or what people feel and think before I make a judgment about them. I would encourage people to take this class if they wanted to get a feel how other may feel about different topics. I don’t agree with every thing that was said in the movies or in class but every one had the right to there own options and beliefs. I do appreciate a class that let you be open about your thought and feeling about the different things that are in our world. The class was controversial but never in a hostile way, like it’s my way or the high way on what you think or believe about a certain topic and this is what is right and what is wrong. I have learned a lot and appreciate that I had an opportunity to come take this class.
I would like to start by saying that I really enjoyed this class and will definitly recomend it to other people. My soapbox moment will be on one of my favorite topics: religion. i would first like to start by saying something that i have stated before and that is that there is no concrete evidence that jesus christ even existed. i know that many of you will dissagree and say that i am wrong, if so then show me. because i have not found any evidence for it. my biggest argument is at the following link: http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_jcpa5b.htm here you will find that there are many similarities between the life of jesus and the life of the egyptian god horus. who by the way was about 3000 years BC. another thing that bugs me is when i ask people how they KNOW that there is a god. "i just know" that is not a good enough reason for me im sorry. explain how you KNOW these things or better yet how you can know these things. one of the stories of the bible of abraham and issac. basically god wants abraham to prove his love and loyalty to god and orders him to kill his son. now abraham decided to but before he does god stops him and is pleased with him. WHAT THE HELL? im sorry if god came down to me and told me to kill my cousin to prove that i really was loyal to god, i would tell him to go to hell. because i do not want to believe in or worshiip a god that wants me to prove my loyalty by doing something like that. so as you can tell i am against religion, you can believe whatever but religion needs to be gone. it is the cause of all major wars. Your god is different from my god.... lets kill each other. another interesting thing is how religion changes. like with the roman gods. no one believe in that now, and if a roman guy was to here of what we believed he would laugh at us. no no no the storms at sea are cause by the god of the sea not by what you say it is. and also when the book of mormon was first wrote it said that a black man could not get into heaven. now it has been changed and there are black church leaders. im not against that but don't you think that there is somehting wrong with a religion that changes its beliefs to work with the time? one last thing... do you guys know that the only religion that acctually worships the devil are called devil worshipers? satanists do not worship satan. look it up. and voodoo and pagan and witchcraft are actually religions based on good things. i mean you guys eat bread and drink water that is supposed to be flesh and blood. so why critisize other religions like that when you have no right. thanks again it was fun.
I enjoyed this class very much. What other class do you get to watch movies all semester long? Penn and Teller were my favorite class days. They took controversial subjects and made them very entertaining and humorous.
I also enjoyed American History X as well. The movie tells a story of change. Racism has been a big part of the history of our country. With the election of our first black president, President Barrack Obama, it shows that we have come a very long way as a country. I am not sure that we will ever rid ourselves of racism completely. This world would be a much more peaceful place if racism didn't exist. Is it possible to imagine a place where everyone is accepted, no matter what their color of skin is or who they worship or what their sexuality is?
This class has changed the way I feel about certain subjects and has strengthened my feelings of other subjects. This class has been rewarding for that fact alone. Thanks!
This is one of my favorite classes I have taken during college. The films were good. The topics discussed were quite controversial. I do agree that there was a bias towards more gay issues than other diverse topics.
A recent issue that came up in the news that was blown out of proportion was the Ms California controversy. Here is what happened:
Hilton served as a judge for the Miss USA 2009 pageant in Las Vegas, Nevada on April 19, 2009. During the Q&A portion of the contest, Hilton's question came to the Miss California representative, Carrie Prejean. Hilton asked: “Vermont recently became the fourth state to legalize same-sex marriage. Do you think every state should follow suit? Why or why not?” Prejean responded: “Well I think it’s great that Americans are able to choose one way or the other. We live in a land where you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite marriage. You know what, in my country, in my family, I do believe that marriage should be between a man and a woman, no offense to anybody out there. But that’s how I was raised and I believe that it should be between a man and a woman. Thank you.” Hilton called the answer “the worst answer in pageant history", remarking to ABC News; "She lost it because of that question. She was definitely the front-runner before that."[50] He stated that "There are various other ways she could have answered that question and still stayed true to herself without alienating millions of people" and on his video blog remarked "She lost not because she doesn’t believe in gay marriage, she lost because she’s a dumb bitch!"[51] He then issued an apology for this comment but in a subsequent interview with MSNBC he retracted his apology and said "I called her the b-word but hey I was thinking the c-word but I didn't say it".[52] Hilton later stated on Larry King Live "Yes. I do expect Miss USA to be politically correct."[53] -Wikipedia
When I heard about this and saw interviews about it, I got really upset that this happened. The question, no matter how she answered, would alienate a group of people. Perez asked for her opinion and she answered. She was honest and shared her beliefs. Because it was not in his view, and of the minority, she lost her chance to win. She has since gotten a lot of support, even from the gay community. The way Perez Hilton reacted and continues to react is beyond childish and immature. He called her some obscenities which were uncalled for.
You do not call those who differ from your opinion bitches or cunts. You don’t draw dicks in their faces (www.perezhilton.com) because it’s funny and you can do it. You respect people, even if you don’t agree with them. It’s called tolerance.
I honestly believe that marriage is between a man and a woman. That doesn’t stop gays from being together. That is their sexual preference. Whatever makes people happy, they should do it. If there are places that allow gay marriage or civil unions, go for it. Go there and get married. But stop bullying the places that don’t agree with it. I watch everyday on the news about gay marriage and being allowed in more states. What that will mean is more divorce too. Good and bad come from it.
If being gay makes you happy, I won’t stop you from being happy. I’m glad you are happy. But stop pushing the issues down everyone’s throats as if we need to hear it or want to hear it. Love can be between an man and a woman, a man and a man, or woman with a woman. You do not need marriage to show that.
I was having a hard time thinking about what to rant about for my final post. So many topics, just one to pick. Then, as I was driving in my car tonight it hit me, well...almost hit me. I've lived my entire life in this country, never been out of it, not even for one second...unless you count Hawaii as a foreign country, which wouldn't be entirely false. I love America, I think it is the greatest country in the world, yet, I find myself losing hope in Americans. As I said, the inspiration almost hit me, it was a stupid driver swerving into my lane of traffic for no reason other than she was not paying attention. We are a society that is always in a hurry and always distracted. Next time you are driving down the road, take notice of just how many stupid, aggressive drivers there are on the road. Look are how many people are texting while driving. And it's not just drivers that suck. I hate, absolutely HATE those morons that stand outside of whatever place they are that week, holding those stupid signs that say "SHAME ON..... Labor disputes". I just want to swerve my car right into their idiotic sign. Unions, in there defense, have good underlying motives, but are so money hungry that they have corrupted business that they have seeped into. The number one reason why we are a sucky society, is the media, the stupid, idiotic, moronic media. There is more money paid for a picture of some lame, loser, self-absorbed celebrity, than a teacher makes in months of hard work, doing a job that actually matters. We need to spend more time and energy on getting better educations for kids than on finding out who the biggest loser is...because in hollywood, they're all losers.
I really love to spend once a week to sit down with group a watch somethings. After watched so many films, I really can decide which film will be my favorite. I suppose I'm like the film about histories, actions, comdies, or science fiction films more. Alas we didn't really see science fiction films in this class.
JFK really shows something so dark behind the back of government. If the truth of JFK's assassination is really as JFK film says. Than that a very ugly page to add in American's history, men. But JFK film are just an film, just see another view of guessing.
Fahrenheit 9/11, an documentary film for us to watch. I really like to see something much deeper then what media always telling us everydays. I always think Afghan War is justify, because US is trying to pay back the wound of 9/11. But about the Invasion of Iraq, I don't think it's right war to pick. What's Iraq ever done to the US? Except don't listen whatever US says and have bunch of the oil to drill, I think the true reason Iraq got invaded. Many people who believe in what government and many politicians want to punch Michael Moore in the face, for broke down what their believe or their goods. Just like I saw on the posts of Fahrenheit 9/11, so many people was so angry at Michael Moore. For me, Michael Moore got guts to talk different way which peoples won't believe in. (I got nothing against, so don't angry at me as angry at Micheal Moore.)
Penn & Teller: Bullshit! is one of my favorite on all we've watched in this class. Telling us about something in funny ways, but I think for some people who believe on no profanity will think this film is rude. I think these films of Penn & Teller is very relaxing.
I never like religious type films, It will making me feel bored and annoying. But if the religious film is basing on a historical war, then I'll love to watch them, the blood boil feeling on the battlefield will always wakes me up, I love to watch war films.
This class was absolutly mind blowing. I thought there would be alot more issues discussed, but I guess not. My favorite movie that we watched in this class has to be American History X. Reason being is because it is about racism.
‘Humans’…strange word isn’t it? Humans are said to be the most complex beings on the face of the Earth, and the only ones who can properly distinguish emotions. Usually we are the only creatures on this Earth that hurt intentionally and usually without any reason. How can we even state that we are caring when we are capable of these things? Most of us have insulted another just for fun without caring for another’s feelings. This affects them a lot, it lowers their self-esteem and makes them unconfident. Have you ever hurt another? Imagine how they would feel and how this would affect them the very next day? We hurt another because of the color of their skin or the religion they follow? This affects children especially, How cruel! And do the abusers take sympathy? To put it bluntly, NO.
I believe that discriminating against some one because of their ethnic or cultural background is a harmful, stupid and above all irrational type of behaviour. There is absolutely no place or reason for racism in today's multicultural society, where people with all different backgrounds should be able to live together in harmony. The only way we are ever going to be able to achieve the desirable goal of world peace is by abolishing racism and realizing that in reality everyone is just the same, no matter what their beliefs are, or what country they originate from. I think people need to be more culturally aware, this will let them appreciate all aspects of a person and their culture, instead of stereotyping and going by popular belief. This can only be achieved through education.
In closing, I feel that every person on the planet deserves respect and the chance to live whatever life they want and not be criticised or put down for what they look like or what their beliefs are.
When I signed up for this class to fulfill both my art and diversity credits needed to graduate I totally thought that all we were going to watch was all sorts of different foreign films since the title of the class is "film and culture" and not "film and controversy." To me this class would be much more interesting if the two were mixed together like maybe watching a Spanish film where there are gay people being bashed, or a film about African people hating other African people just for being different.
Of course personally I think if you watched all of the South Park episodes from season one till whatever they are on now you could see every single subject that was controversial and brought up within this class in those episodes as well as their attempt to explain or solve it. Whether the topic is racism, gays, Mormons, Catholics, aids, religion, illegal immigration, and a shit ton more its all their in South Park.
For me the thing that pisses me off more than anything right now is when we as Americans latch on to our English language and bitch about anyone who cant speak it very well or at all. What we should be bitching about is the fact that we can only speak one language. Yes English is the number one language used in business and it is a very important language. However it is super ignorant to only want to speak one language and look down on people who cant speak your own language.
American society needs to step up our education we as Americans need to become multilingual. Many other countries are learning a second language while in grade school through high school. Why aren't we? I mean how are we supposed to compete with the rest of the world and people immigrating to the United States when we cant communicate with anyone who doesn't have a similar tongue.
If you go out and look in your newspaper or on the internet you will see that jobs are giving bonuses to multilingual people. I want those kind of incentives but I'm a slave to my one language. For those of us who are not immigrants from foreign speaking countries I find it sad that we aren't at that level of having multilingual skills. Our ability to only speak one language is about as sad as a person who is illiterate.
I am pissed off that people want to dumb us down to one language. I hope that in the future America will become more diverse in the way we speak so that the world can be opened up unto us. Sure our schools do teach foreign language but how are we ever supposed to be able to retain it when we take French and there is no books to read in French at our bookstores. A student who takes Russian or Chinese cant find movies at the store with those dubbed languages. The only language that is getting out there into our systems and stores is Spanish. So we almost have all the resources to learn a second language and retain it but we still need more for when our interest are in other parts of the world then the Spanish speaking ones.
Sadly I know that what I want is a false reality. I know the reason there is so little foreign films, books, and music within our stores is due to lack of demand. I just wish that we did have the demand. We cant immerse ourselves into other languages within our current state. I'm trying to do such an adventure with Japanese because my wife is Japanese however I still continue to suck because I don't have the option to turn on the radio and listen to Japanese music in my car. I tried to order TV Japan from Comcast Cable but due to lack of demand in the area I cant get it. Also due to the fact that I am an American English TV and radio have the ability to pull me in to their convenience when there is not something else to do it.
I hope the future comes with more knowledge and not just in spoken language, but also such things as sign language and the ability to read music.
I just feel retarded that I can only speak English and a little bit of Japanese. I want to be able to speak Spanish as well. I just want able to enjoy all they entertainment and sensations that another language can bring and the lack there of is killing me.
Excellent class! i truely enjoyed it i liked the fact that we had to do multiple view points it truely gave me some perspective. so i had several topics that i felt i didn't say enough about the first is shared by all the topics and is the attitude towards controversial topics such as religion. religion is a belief not a fact period the end you can't treat it as fact a belief is something of yours not everyones so don't talk about burning copies of the last temptation of christ because you don't agree with it. comments like that make me wonder why people are in college. others are similiar like the whole bullshit thing with peta when somebody behind me said they bomb shit let's bomb them okay that puts you at their level and doesn't get anything acomplished an eye for an eye leaves everyone blind period the end! racism american history x (great movie) hit the nail right on the head hate is baggage and after seeing that i was amazed to hear all the negative comments about people like michael moore because your opinions differ from his doesn't make you superior in anyway. think before you express yourself put yourself in other peoples positions before you express yourself by making shit personal by completely attacking a person thats uncalled for. as far as bullshit went like the swearing thing just pick your audience i'm not going to walk into a church and say fucking shit or oh my god just because i can if i'm with friends then fuck ya i will say what i want. i would like to know where penn and teller got there info for there bits such as recycling and like the fung shway (maybe spelled wrong) which i totally bought what they said until somebody mentioned to me "well what about like a placebo effect" thats a very valid point if you think something like that will help you on a path to wellness happiness or whatever it just might. i guess just live and respect great class i enjoyed along with the conversations of everyone in the class though i always didn't agree it was a great experience.
One of the biggest concerns around our society today is the classification or social groups to which people are categorized into. This is not a matter of choice; you are quite literally born into a certain group depending on your ethnicity, social status, wealth and gender. It can be quite complex ,like for example a male who is Caucasian will be born with certain privileges over a female that he may not be aware of, such privileges include: jobs, business ownership, certain sports etc. Now take that same male and make him of any other ethnicity and he will be below a male who is Caucasian but still above a female, confusing? Yes, this topic can be difficult to comprehend if you are not the oppressed, so I conducted an exercise in one of my classes to further develop an understanding of this.
We had a group discussion about affirmative action and throughout the discussion I mostly kept quiet and listened to what others had to say, towards the end of the discussion I spoke up and gave my opinion, I also added that I wanted them to be honest with me and tell me what they thought of me keeping quiet throughout the discussion, now all of my peers were white but this is not a racial rant so look beyond that. Some of them said I wasn’t being very helpful and surprised them towards the end, while the rest thought that maybe I did not speak English well enough because of my Hispanic ethnicity and with that I concluded that, this is what minorities have to face on a daily basis, obviously it is not racism because I could tell the students did not discriminate but it is something that has become part of our society, a classification based on ethnic assumptions. How does this affect the oppressed? They constantly have to prove beyond themselves that they are capable of doing certain tasks, whatever they may be. For women, they have to go the extra mile if they choose to become police officers, pilots or members of the military. In a male oriented environment, they will always be seen as inferior so they have to demonstrate otherwise. African Americans have to constantly break assumptions about them based on their skin color or what they are “supposed to be” like, these assumptions are something that we for the most part do unknowingly. It is a vicious cycle that feeds on itself, that even if you choose to ignore it, you still affect it.
Another category that I foresee coming is that of genetically engineered people, what does this consist of? You engineer your child by choosing certain attributes they will have before they are even born. Imagine a world where certain individuals are genetically engineered to be superior then others. I first saw this in the film “Gattaca” but now it does not look far from reality (www.genochoice.com). I believe doing this will just add another category to the cycle of socialization and further maim any kind of progress we can do to correct it. So what is the main idea I am trying to get at? I do not want people to assume I am writing in favor of certain groups, awareness is all I ask for. Yes, we are all different physically but we are also the same. On a lighter note maybe one day everybody will mate with everybody and we’ll all end up looking the same but then you’d have the wealthy, the middle class, and I think I’ll stop there before I make this longer! Thanks for the class Sara, it was great.
Peace
Ronny
P.S. I agree with Stephen Marston on Southpark being the best at offending everyone equally.
I don’t agree with gay marriage because of the procreation aspect, as well as the religious aspect. I know that people who do not believe in God will not agree with much I say. I can understand that, and all I ask is you hear me out and try to understand this standpoint of it, as I will do to try and understand the counterarguments. I am not trying to change anyones opinion on anything I just hope an acceptance of differences and compromise can be reached. In addition I will point out some of the counterarguments that I agree with in support of gay relationships.
The reason that most people do not agree with gay marriage, I believe, is because it is not in harmony with the topic of God. Believers of God also believe that God is the author and instigator of marriage. He consecrated it for his children to be able to bring more of Gods children into existence and into the process of life in order to live and learn. God Consecrated marriage specifically between a man and a woman, God made man and woman and the idea of marriage and procreation. In fact God created everything both in the earth and out. Marriage is not an idea of society. It was with Adam and Eve and has continued until now. That is why Believers in God can’t stand for the idea/definition of marriage to be altered by man, because it is not ours to change. Plus, Marriage was not made for same sex couples. It is nothing against homosexual people. It just goes against our belief system that marriage is consicrated by God for procreation between a man and a woman.
Atheists like to quote Darwin’s theory of evolution to disprove God and his existence. I would like to use another of Charles Darwin’s theories to argue the principle of gay marriage. Natural Selection or Survival of the Fittest. Whatever happened to living, and thriving to survive? Can’t we see what would happen to a beginning civilization of Gay couples? There would be no pro creation there would be no survival. So if we are going to use science as a method of disapproving something, then obviously we know where Darwin stands on the subject of gay marriage.
“While a Democratic presidential nominee and U.S. Senator, Barack Obama stated that he personally considers marriage to be between a man and woman,[72] and supports civil unions that confer comparable rights rather than gay marriage” (Wikipedia). I agree that marriage is between a man and a woman, and I do support civil unions that give comparable rights, not the term marriage necessarily, but a civil union. I think a gay couple could raise a child just as well as any couple and if they choose, should be able to do so.
I think that there should be no discrimination, or hate. Some people choose a different life style than others, and that is fine. It does not give anyone the right to stereotype or hate. Acceptance is a theme we learned in this class and it should be cultivated into our lives. I support homosexual people in their decisions, but if you ask my opinion and ask me to vote on the idea of gay marriage I am agsinst it.
Well this class has been quite interesting! The majority of the films that we watched I didn't enjoy to much, but hey that is just my opinion. The two most entertaining films in class were american history x and the da vinci code. These two films didn't make me want to get up and leave they actually kept me in my seat and awake. I enjoyed the class and learned some new things that I didn't know before and I saw things that I could have gone without seeing, but in the beginning of the semester I was warned. The thing that I would like to talk about is about the film Angels in America.
This film really kind of upset me at why people always choose mormons to go against? Especially controversial homosexual topics. I believe that during the whole proposition 8 thing there were more than just mormons that were going against what the homosexual people wanted, but for some reason the mormons got hit the hardest. I don't agree with gay marriage at all. I totally agree with what tygraff said when he said "Can’t we see what would happen to a beginning civilization of Gay couples? There would be no pro creation there would be no survival." It is totally true from that aspect. Another thing that really made me mad is that towards the end of the film the one gay guy said that God had abandoned us. Then I dont know who it was but some idiot in our class started clapping! That just really made me mad! How the hell can you say that God has abandoned the world? I mean honestly, look at how the world lives and treats each other? From a religious aspect people are living so against Gods commandments that they have abandoned him! He hasn't abandoned us nor will He ever! Those kinds of thoughts are what is making the world such a terrible place that one day people are going to realize that they need God in their lives more than they ever did before. These are my thoughts Im sorry if Ive offended anyone but that is just the way I feel. Im not against gay people or non religious people at all, I just believe differently than you do. I had an enjoyable semester and wish all of you luck in the future! Thanks Sara!
I am going to take my soap box moment to rant about the class, I found it funny that there was alot of comments about the movies we were watching, but the comments normally came while the teacher was out. This class was supposed to be about contraversy, and opening our eyes. The movies that were chosen were all for the reason that we are supposed to open our eyes, understand the underlying messege in the movie. And every time a movie came up that we didnt want to watch, there was always grumbling because thit was a shitty movie, or that movie sucks. Well, you may think that movie sucks. They all held an important messege that we were supposed to try to understand. The part I find most funny is that the class was supposed to teach us tollerance, and help us understand others points of view, beliefs, and rituals. But instead, I think it closed some peoples mind to the view of the other side. Instead of opening it, they became so ignorant and unwilling to respect the thought that someone may think differently, which digressed from the actual motive of the class and the overall objective of what we were there for.
People didnt show up becuase they didnt want to watch a movie, or they would not pay attention, and i find that more disrespectful to the class because we suffered while trying to pay attention. If you are not going to take a class seriously when its probably the easiest class you could ever take at any institution of higher learning. Then you might as well forget the thought of school because your just waisting your time and the time of everyone else in the class.
Here it goes...my soap box moment. Agreeing with some of the previous posts, I feel this class opened up my mind to subjects I wasn't 100% clued in on. For instance, I always knew PETA was for the ethical treatment of animals and yada yada but I didn't know to what extent they were doing until I watched the Bullshit episode about it. It actually made me want to do my own personal research on it to grow a greater and more educated opinion. But that alone was just one of the many movies we watched in class that got me thinking. I understand that when I signed up for the class and saw the syllabus that it stated something along the lines of "you will get offended", I was actually looking forward to it! Just because I personally am such a diverse and free-thinking person that I found it almost a personal challenge to see if I could get offended by any of these movies shown. To my amusement it was a yes and no. A no because some of the things we went over I already had a pretty well-rounded grasp on the subject and expected it when I visited the links week after week. But yes by the religious movies. I know I know, religion is a touchty subject for most but I wasn't aware of so many movies that had a huge underlying religious theme to them! Like I have stated in many of my posts, I am a catholic and I was expecting movies like The DaVinci Code and sorts but not The Last Temptation of Christ. But....one thing that will separate me and a great portion of the class...I could understand that people have different opinions. We are free-thinking college students! Well...at least we are suppose to be. I remember a few posts and remarks made in class during these religious movies that did in fact piss me off. I mean, everyone is valid to their own opinion but the moment someone disagrees with you on THAT level...get over it! Not everyone thinks the same like your little group of maybe 2 or 3 do. That's what makes the world so great is the diversity of people and of cultures. To be the same with everyone else and think the same would be bland! I wish those people who walked out of movies and decided to leave nasty, uneducated posts to movies on here to avoid a class that makes you think outside of the box..wait...I guess that would also mean to avoid interaction with anyone outside of your clique. Oh what a deprived world they must live in. But overall for the class I thought it was great and insightful. Being able to see another portrayal of something I think opposite of was quite enjoyable and interesting. Didn't piss me off or get me angry. It made me stretch my horizon of thinking and give me a better understanding of the subject discussed. To me, that alone is very educational.
In the course of this semester, we have covered numerous issues. Some of which I have already known and others that have never been brought to my attention. I have to say that this class has opened my eyes to many issues facing our society today. I was especially surprised about what I learned about PETA. It is extraordinary to think that there are many hidden aspects of organizations that people do not see or question. I am glad that I was exposed to these issues because it has made me a more knowledgeable. I feel like I have a good grasp on these topics to talk to others about it. I think the most controversial topic will be the issue of gay marriage. Of all the issues that we covered in class, this is the one I have the strongest feeling towards. As a person who truly believes in equal rights for all, I fully support gay marriage. It is amazing to me that in a country where we pride ourselves in freedom and equality for all that we could debate whether or not gay people deserve the same equal rights. The issue of gay marriage goes beyond the definition of the word 'marriage'. It is not fair to not give gay couples the same rights that are entitled to married couples. As far as hospital visitation, insurance coverage, and even estate or beneficiary rights are withheld from gay couples. It is unfair to use an excuse of GOD and the bible to withhold rights from others. I am more than happy to hear the other perspective but give me more than just that excuse, please. Well, I did my ranting. Overall, I really enjoyed this class. I respect hearing other people's ideas and perspective and I enjoyed the diversity. The movies were really good. Some were really funny, while others were very insightful. I really like watching movies and this class gave me the opportunity to watch movies that I otherwise would never see. I wouldn't trade this experience for anything else.
I go through a lot of internal conflict when posting these blogs, and with this being the "Final Blog!" it goes without saying that tonight, I have been especially conflicted. I want my post to "mean" something, but at the same time I'm not sure why. Who is this post for? As I review my previous posts , they are all shouting a message, they all have something to prove. What that is, is still up for debate, as are my motives. All I know is that I have absolutely no idea.
Their is an overwhelming sense of helplessness that has accompanied me through most of these movies, with it comes the repetitive idea that I am only a spectator. I guess what I'm trying to say, regardless of how coherent or structurally sound it has been, is that I don't understand, I don't understand why people misspell words when the site has a built in spell check? Why is "totally" one of the most popular words in these blogs? How can jcrayk post a blog or even speak without immediately being struck by lightning? Are we all just stupid?
Shit. Now I going to "try" to write about something entirely unrelated. This is mostly a consequence my brains inability to focus on anything. I know this has been hard to understand and I apologize for the inconvenience. Please know that it's not my fault. I've written too much and I'm not deleting it.
MySpace sucks!!! Social networking is a joke. Maybe I'm just old fashioned but looking at photo after photo of you just chillin' makes me want to throw up. The only thing that would make my space interesting is if I could guess how long it will take for some of these kids to commit suicide. Not PC? That's controversy.
I've managed to make an entire blog that is so useless and unreadable that you couldn't be more unclear if you typed with your eyes closed. But still it's late and I have to go to bed. I tried really but tonight just wasn't my night.
I would like to take the time in my final post to say what I liked and didn’t like about the class. First what I liked: I really liked the structure of the class and most of the film selection. I also liked the way the class was set up so we responded in a blog rather than writing up a bunch of reports or some other form of busy work. I thought that the discussion before each film were a good set up to let us know what to focus on in the film and what is expected in the blog. I also have to admit that the class did a good job of introducing films that offended a lot of the class. Now for what I didn’t like: first and for most the thing that really pissed me off was the fact that we were warned that the class was vulgar and it would offend people and yet almost every film and you got people that got up and walked out on the film. It wasn’t the fact that they walked out but they knew what the film was about and sat in the front row so we all got to watch them get pissed off and leave. There is nothing worse than going to a movie and having people leave from the front row and walk out. Enough about that the only other thing I didn’t like about the class was all the documentaries. I think it is more personal opinion and I realize that you can’t please everyone but I am not a huge fan of documentaries. Other than that I really enjoyed the class. Since you wanted this to be longer than our normal posts I will close like this: SCREW FLANDERS, SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS!
If you can't drive get off of the road. Well today i am going to write something that really pisses me off and that is bad drivers. I like to think that i am a pretty good driver i like to go fast but i know how to do it, you get people who go fast and swerve in and out of cars making it so the cars they are swerving in and out of have to slow down it is especially stupid in rush hour traffic.
That brings me to my next topic tailgating, get off my back if people would just have 2 to 3 car lanks between cars all this rush hour traffic would not be so bad. If you in the fast lane that means go fast if your in the slow lane that means all you fast drivers so riding the cars that are going the speed limit in that lane. Fast lane=fast slowlane= slow.
Now when there is an accident on the freeway or even on the street. people are so stupid they have to come to a complete stop to investigate the scene, just move to the side still drive and watch it on the news that night, the cops can handle it there is no need to stop and check it out.
Next on my list is people who can't read road signs if a sign says no left turn don't turn left so i have to wait for you to turn cause i am behind you and you cant read so stop cause it is stupid and finally school zones come on people go twenty when the lights are flashing little kids don't like to get hit by cars
Be smart about driving, if you need to get somewhere fast just leave earlier and if you can't drive don't that means you grandma. be safe and i really enjoyed this class the end
It was good class to take. I enjoyed most of it. I watched movies that I normally do not watch. Some movies were little bit hard to watch but it is good to learn new things and understand. Even though there are many bad comments for movies in this class, from reading everybody’s last post, lots of people liked this class too. It is always hard to accept something different from normal. I do not know what is normal is but if we do something different from most people do, people look us as abnormal. It is very sad that there are still people here that discriminate people because they are just different. I have been very lucky that nobody discriminate me because of my race. They treat me same as other people and when I have problems understanding English; they help me instead of making fun of me. Sometimes I hear that Korean or Chinese people hate Japanese because we did cruel thing in past. It makes me sad little bit because I did not do anything to them but they already hate me before they know who I am. I think it will make people become better person if we look people individually instead of look as group. This class let me thing about what is important, we are all difference and it is ok. I wish that more people understand this.
this was quite possibly the best class I have ever taken, ever and I would like to summarize what I specifically learned. I found that there was a magic bullet forged by illuminati mystics, that without John Conner to lead us in the fight against bigotry we will have to rely on Batman, That the Green Goblin gave his life trying to kill Spiderman should'nt you do the same? That Angels not only have gender they also have flaming pubes instead of flaming swords, that it is hard to face ones own mortality but if you can trick the ghost of Ethel Rosenburg into lullibying you into the long goodnight it will be okay. That Michael Moore is a fat douch-bag and I wouldn't have it any other way. That the people who oppose Michael Moore not only stoop to his level but are just as fun. That I really don't like being yelled at. That distorted facts about electric cars are more interesting than a movie interpertation of a book based on a Dan Brown novel. That Feng Shui, Bottled Water, Recycling (exept cans), Family values, Profanity, and PETA are BULLSHIT! That a movie based on a Dan Brown novel is less interesting than a documentary on the electric car (deja vu?) Found that a standard non leap year consists of 525600 minutes and innumerable heartaches loves and losses. That Penn & Teller are worth 289 MegaFonzies in awesome. And that traditional family vacation movies suck compared to a father/mother son vacation across america and that I FUCKING HATE FREUD!!! so, so long and thanks for all the fish.
wow where do I start.. This was such an interesting class. When I first signed up I thought it was going to be like watching 300 or something but it was totally different.
The main point of this class was about acceptance on no matter who you were!! In every movie we eatched it talked about life in general and made you sit back and realize what life is. In American History X They really made it clear that hate shouldn't be an issue no matter what the problem is and how you should deal with it.
In Angels in America they taught us that no matter what you believe, whoever you like, you should always go with what you feel!! You need to stand up for what you believe. Don't feel sorry For who you are!!
All the Bull Shit movies really opened my eyes on everything they explained. I really liked the wal-mart one because it makes you realize how many people don't know what goes on behind the scene. They just go there cause they like the prices they see but they don't know what goes in it. The illegals was great too with how they can just hop over the fence and live here for freedom. They need to become legalized to be able to live her and gain their own rights.
So in a nut shell the class was pretty good. It helped me think about everything around us. From tran sexuals to cars it makes you think on what really happens... I would definatly recomend it to everyone who has a closed mind. Thanks!!!
My final post is going to be on two things. First about the people I like to call story beaters. These are the types of people that when you tell a story, they always have to finish with one that's "better" in their opinion. First of all, I'm probably telling you a story for a reason, and unless I ask, I don't care if you have a better one. For example: This girl I work with, has a story for everything. I guess she knows, or she knows someone who knows about everything. At work we were talking about allergies. I understand that everyone is allergic to one thing or another, but there is no way that you, or someone you know is allergic to everything. She just had to put in her 2 cents. I hate it when you talk about a trip, or an accident, or anything cool- there is always someone out there that can beat it. Next subject on my list is I hate it more than anything when people ask me if I'm good at my job. I'm a phlebotomist. I hate it when a patient walks in and asks me if I'm any good at drawing blood. Sometimes I feel like telling them that I just walked off the street and I felt like torturing someone, now which arm can I use? But of course I can't say that, I just smile and say I've been doing it for 4 years so I better be good. I know that it's not fun getting your blood drawn, I don't like it either. But deal with it. It has to be done so quit complaining. Go home and take your cholesterol meds so you don't have a heart attack. Now for the defense, I know that sometimes people have a bad experience getting their blood drawn, but have you ever thought that the phlebotomist that did it was maybe just having an off day? Don't we all have them? That doesn't mean that every time you get your blood drawn you have to ask if the phlebotomist is any good. If anything, watch what you say, I'm the one with the needle. heh heh :)
I have enjoyed the movies that we have seen. Some more then others. I enjoyed getting to watch differenet diverse movies because in most cases i probably wouln't have gone an rented half of the movies that we watch. One of the movies that i really like was American History X. To me that was a movies that was a movies with a strong message. That hatred and racism still go on today. I have lived in utah most of my life growing up, and i lived in pittsburgh for two years while i served and LDS mission. I will say that there is a lot of racism that still go on, and that i felt some of that being a minority as an LDS missionary. Things that i would hear about in high school thinking that it was all in the past. Wrong it is still going on today. maybe not as much as in the past. American History X reminded me of all that goes on. It also showed me that we have consequences for our actions. People do mistake and do things that they reget and people do things that they know is wrong but do it for fun. It is sad to see that stuff that goes on in American History X still goes on today. I hope that we can all respect what others believe in and do, as long as it follows the right of other and that they don't take that freedom away from other people for no reason.
this was a an ok class. i liked how we went into a very broad range of topics. my favorite movie that we watched was american history x, it showed how wrong and biased people can get after being raised in a racist house.
this class spent too much time on how the gay community is oppressed. i can understand that they have to go through a lot more than an average american, but we did not need to spend a third of the class talking about it.
the penn and teller movies seemed to be the most fair out all the movies. penn and teller showed both sides of the arguments and kept their show entertaining in the process.
overall, this class need to spend less time on gay movies and more time on the topics discussed in bullshit. penn and teller covered the most interesting topics, but they didn't have enough time to show the topic completly.
I’m very happy I took this class. Not only was it easy but I thought it was very interesting and I learned a lot from it. I took a film class in high school and loved it. We had a lot of class discussions, and I loved hearing what everyone thought and everyone’s point of view. I liked how we did that in this class and I liked the idea of blogging because not everyone was able to get their point out there so it was fun and interesting to read everyone’s thoughts. I also liked how we were able to say whatever was on our mine. Not many teachers let you do that, so it was nice to have that freedom. I liked most of the movies we watched. I thought most of them were pretty interesting and some of them were on my movie list. I liked all the important points we discussed for all the movies. Some of them I didn’t even realize so it was nice to have my mind opened up. I liked America History X, which was a movie I’ve been wanting to see. I liked how in the movie the brothers changed for the good and that Edward Norton’s character was trying to be a good example to his family. I liked how he learned a lot in prison and how that opened his eyes a lot. Fahrenheit and Fahrenhype 9/11 were also interesting movies that I wanted to see. It’s hard when both are so one sided you don’t know which side to believe. Conspiracy theories have always interested me so it was good to see both sides and to learn more about it. I think it’s an important subject that we all need to know the truth about. I liked watching the documentary on the electric car. That is one thing I didn’t know about the electric car. I had no idea that it was just taken away by the government. In the movie people were being so dramatic and crying over it but now that I think about it I would be. I think that it’s a great idea and to have that taken away is sad, especially if you were on of the creators. I think that’s a defiant slap in the face. I really liked this; a lot of people thought it was boring but learning about something that can better our environment has always interested me. I thought Penn and Tellers Bullshit was pretty funny. Some stuff I totally agreed on and I thought it was hilarious. Like bottled water for example, I’ve never been that person that goes out and buys bottled water but my whole family is. They hate tap water but I think water is water and I can’t taste a difference. One I didn’t agree with was Recycling. I think that it helps, we might as well try and do our part to help out and I think recycling is one thing we can do. The Da Vinci Code is one that I’m iffy on. I liked the book a lot better. I think it’s an interesting and creative story line. I think that everyone has wondered if Jesus has a bloodline. So I liked how it when into that and all the mysteries of Da Vinci’s art work. Rent, I kind of liked. I think it would be better to see on Broadway but it was an ok movie. I don’t like musicals that much, I think they’re cheesy but I did like all the characters and how everyone stood up for what they believed in. I liked seeing the bohemian lifestyle. I liked Transamerica and the whole values behind it. Like being excepting of yourself and others. I liked how it was funny and how it really teaches people to be open minded of others and not to assume things of people. Overall I really liked this class and what I am taking away from it. I’m very happy I took it and I would recommend this class to anyone. It wasn’t just watching movies but it was learning life values also. So thank you.
Holy shit 4 hours it has to be the longest fucking class I have ever taken! With that being said it was also the easiest and most interesting class I think I have ever taken. I'm probably going to sound like a broken record but I loved how this class makes you think about every perspective of the movies my favorites are the ones that have multiple things going on like Amgels in America and RENT. I think by far Angels in America was my favorite. Hated how long it was but I loved everything else. You have a mormon couple where the wife is a classic pill popper from 'Happy Valley' and her husband is secretly gay. Then there is the gay couple where one partner is dealing with one of the worst diseases, AIDS and the other partner can't even deal with the thought of it. Also you have the big shot lawyer who isn't gay he just sleeps with men and then got AIDS. I love how they all come together and especially love the hallucinations with the Angel. These movies make you see how the other side lives. None of us, well maybe very few of us know what its like to be gay, an addict, not wanting money, or to be racist! I like how in all of these movies they overcome their problems to become a better person or they realize that they don't need anyone's acceptence which is something the general population needs to learn as well. All in all I loved this class by far one of the best classes of my college carreer so far and the discussions are the best I now have a new serious I want to watch BULLSHIT Penn and Teller are awesome and I am amazed and awed by their topics!! Also I love Erin Wilkins blog it made my day I needed a good laugh!!!
I liked the class alot but it wasn't what I was expecting. I enjoyed most of the movies and the ideas/controversies behind them. I loved the little homework required, but I also thought that may have been the greatest downfall to the class. Overall it was a great class and I enjoyed my time in it. Other than all the annoying japanese comic talk. Annoying!
We were told to give a gutteral response to the films but this was almost impossible. First of all we had a class discussion after each movie which was benifitial in understanding multiple viewpoints but it dilluted each persons gutteral response. secondly two weeks for each post.... very lenient and was nice but it took away from the point. We had to much time to think about it. Also I know it was our faults and everything but the whole research thing totaly took away from the gutteral response.
The thing I disliked the most was the two or three weeks where we were required to argue both sides. I felt that this completely destroyed the point of the posts which was to give our ideas and thought about the controversy of the week. But when we are required to argue both sides it muffles our voices. We are not able to speak our minds and say what we think. It is also personally humiliating to be forced to argue for a controversial idea that you are either totally against or totally for. I understand the importance of seeing boths sides but that is degrading.
The discussions after each movie were very interesting. I thought it was great to hear other people who had the same or similar ideas as mine and also to hear opposing ideas and "discuss" the differences.
I have no particular movie or controversy that I wish to get into rather the central idea in all the films of the Other which was only made verbal by Sara after the last film, however I have been learning about this idea all semester in my english class.
Each week I was personally chanlleged by the films whether they were stupid as hell or not they all engaged the idea of the other in some way or another. It was interesting to learn how to see multiple sides to a story or issue before I made my personal judgement about it. This was not always the case though. I often times found that I had already made my judgement about the topic before I really began to see all sides involved and was forced to step back and reevaluate my position.
I found the idea of the other to cross over from my school work into my home life and my daily thinking. I am constantly trying to see all sides and understand why I make the assumptions and judgements I make about things and analyze all sides before I decide again what my stance is or what my beliefs or assumtptions are.
I really liked this class. I never watched rated R movies because I thought I was too good for them. I figured I didn't need all that swearing and violence in my life. I ridiculed people that watch rated R movies other than the war ones. I decided those were ok. But I really liked watching those movies and letting them piss me off. It was good to get a sense of what I really believed. I just believed this or that because people told me it would make me happy. I was so sheltered. Some of the movies helped me look at the other side of things that I normally would try to ignore. Some movies also helped me really defend what I believe deep down and I always will. I'll give you some examples JFK- they never talked about all the conspiracies our government might have created. of course not why would they in a government ran program. I had no idea about any of that stuff. In school they just told me "it was Lee Harvey Oswald, he's a bad guy". So I'm glad I got some deeper looks into our government. The Last Temptation of Christ- this movies just pissed me off. I still question the churches beliefs but this movie completely solidified how I feel about Christ. I know it was just a last temptation of his that everything was fake but just the idea brought up a lot of anger and made me pick a side. American History X- I never liked hearing racist jokes but I sometimes sputter out rude remarks about another race when I'm angry. This movie just hit me. Hate is Baggage. I love that. I cannot be mad at someone for their color but for their actions. My family is racist and I always like to get into serious discussions with them about it. We cannot blame other races for things that make us mad. That is absolutely ridiculous. I really try now to remember Dericks story eben though it is hard. This is probably one of my favorite movies. Angles in America-this movie really grossed me out. I have some great homosexual friends and I completely support them but watching their sexual actions was really hard for me. I don't need to enjoy what they do to support them though. I also think that it's ok to be grossed out by some of the actions your loved ones do. I love people that smoke but that doesn't mean I need to hang around them when they do that or if I start getting grossed out that they should hate me. I will never hate a person for being homosexual and I will try not to get grossed out. I thought I was ok with what they do but it does bother me a little. I can still love them though. Recycling- I was kinda happy about this cuz I'm not the best recycler but I also think we should still reuse plastic. We waiste money already on lots of things. Like our Dork president that is spending a lot of unneccesary money on a lot of stupid shit. That bugs me. The profanity one was just lame. I like to swear but there is always a time and a place for that. people do get offended by that and respectful people respect other people. IT is the polite thing to do to watch your mouth along with other actions that might offend someone. Poor penn and teller just think it is funny to piss people off.
Anyway I really liked this class. I wish I participated more but I just sound like a dork when I try to express myself and my opinions. I also learned a lot about the people around me. I think everyone should try to face the things that are controversial to them. It is healthy.
I want to say something about those cry baby ass people whining about people in the front row leaving during the film because you think that they didnt like it. I sat in the fron t row nearly every film and I got up and left about every film to. I had to take a piss. So unless you'd rather me piss on your lap shut the hell up. Second of all your idea about them knowing what the film was about before had and going anyways then to just leave (if thats actually what they did) is Fing ridiculous. Say you have never had Thai food but you decide to go to the restaurant and try it. If you decide you absolutely hate the food you dont sit there and finish eating everything on your plate until you puke all over the place you get up and you leave. And then y ou can say that you tried it, you tried your best and you gave it a chance. If something doesn't sound the greatest to you you dont have to like it but try it first and maybe thats what these people did. So quit being an ass! Thank you and have a great day.
Well, It's been a long and interesting ride throughout the semester but, it was fun for the most part. Anyways, we went through a lot of different topics, all were very controversial, but one stood out to me more than the others. Immigration. Maybe it's because I'm an immigrant myself or maybe it's the fact that I'm associated with a lot of them in one way or another throughout my life or maybe it's something I'm very passionate about and wish it could be better in this country that I love so much. Lot's of maybe's, but on thing for sure is that it's not a pretty picture, but a very bad and degrading situation all around. They say that they don't want to work and pay taxes like everyone else. They don't want to enter this country legally but rather jump the borders, commit crimes and run back to their home country to escape prosecution. They take many of the jobs that many legal citizens could have had. The fact is that many of these so call jobs, the Americans don't want. They rather have jobs that are clean and behind a desk. Who's going to do the cleaning and washing, raking, sweeping, scrubbing, carpeting, tiling, plumbing, etc? The point is, someone has to fill these needs, why not. Why can't we somehow find a way to make the process of filling these legal documents simpler and or cheaper? It's absolutely ridiculous. Thousands and thousands of dollars just to begin. I know of many that make that initial effort but fall short and then stop all together due to the fact that the money slows down somehow. Why can't we make it a simpler process for everyone to enjoy and feel welcome to this country? Wasn't this country originally build by immigrants who were searching for the same thing as today's immigrants, freedom and prosperity. Can you imagine if we tally up the money that's tied up in all the W-2's with improper SS#'s filed away somewhere? Can you imagine all those tax returns unaccounted for? We can certainly use that money to speed up the process somehow. Now we're building a wall to keep them out. The Mexican people for some reason always gets the blunt of it. Maybe it's because they are the closest to the continental USA, but still very unfair. They are our neighbors, our closest neighbor in fact. Weren't they here first at one time or another? Anyways, can't we just get along. This country is better than it may seem. I believe it with all my heart. God Bless America.
ironic that my topic is the same topic but opposite view point of the previous post. I do have a big problem, not with immigration, but with illegible immigration. People are welcome to our country if its through the correct channels. If the come illegitimately they are a detriment to our country, no matter what the other side uses as excuse, "oh well no one else is willing to do the jobs they do.." BS and if that is the case they are still welcome to the same jobs but with a REAL social security number. Health care alone's biggest problem is people, many of whom are illegal immigrants, that have no health insurance who's bills fall onto the rest of us in the form of higher premiums. So the economy is the biggest reason for boarder control, i will consed that the majority of immigrants aren't a huge threat to our populations, most are hard working people coming in search of a better life, which is great if they do so legally. I will admit that this may or may not happen if illegal immigrants came or not, but not speaking English is unacceptable in my opinion. Example, our cleaning lady has been here over 10 years and still can't understand or speak english. thats just an unwillingness to learn, she won't apply herself to try and it annoys the crap out of me.
I liked this class just because it caused so much controversy and got people all pissed off right off the bat. It opened my eyes to different things and got me thinking in different ways. I liked how there was a topic that almost everyone in the class could relate to at some point and be offended by. As far as the soap box moment, I found the bullshit episode on fung shui to be the most ridiculous. Paying someone to move your shit so you'll get rich or be happy and prosperous? Are you kidding me??? People do some really dumb things. It amazed me that people are actually making a living out of this scam. How do they pull that off? They should get some kind of reward for being able to make money from something so retarded. That takes talent! Other than that, this class was really easy but challenging in a different way than most classes. I would recommend it to anyone that isn't easily offended.
I had wrestled with the thing that I most wanted addressed regarding this class, and while others have touched on it, I choose to address the core causes behind the problems of responses to films in this class: the dumbing down of America. Americans today are often guilty of anti-intellectualism, anti-rationalism and generally low expectations. We no longer praise or expect public individuals to be exceptional, learned or well spoken; politicians seek to be the “everyman,” to be just “ordinary folks.” This country has come to fear and distrust smart people to whom we cannot immediately relate, as they are “elitist” or prone to using intellectual abilities to trick people. The push toward a culture filled with “the salt of the earth” reeks of the worst sort of populist manipulation. And while I don’t intend to focus entirely on the dangers of this type of widespread sentiment, it opens people up to dangerous demagoguery and devalues important elements of society (education, arts, history, critical thinking, science, etc.)
Anti-Intellectual waves in American History are not exactly new (although our current surge is more like a tsunami than the normal cyclical wave). The national ideals of individualism, freedom of action, thought and religious thought, and American exceptionalism have long helped create a rather ethnocentric (not to mention hubris-filled) idea that individuals don’t need improvement in thought, knowledge or education. The initial move toward anti-intellectual ideas began in America in the 19th Century.
Today’s anti-intellectual thought is unified with an anti-rational element that makes critical thinking scarce and results in individuals proud of ignorance. Americans as a group increasingly rely on dogma and are increasingly possessed by pragmatically focused values; part of the reason that cultural capital like higher learning, arts and sciences are suffering is that such pursuits and learning are no longer intrinsically valuable. Collegiate education has been reduced to a means to a better job and more money and is therefore valued instrumentally as far as it can get you ahead economically. The well rounded interdisciplinary college student is a thing of the past.
Intellectual pursuits are valued only as far as they are practical. How often will a student of any age now remark, “when am I ever going to use this?” and then pursue the subject only halfheartedly until testing and promptly forgetting anything new. It’s no wonder that American elementary, middle and high school students rank so poorly against the average standard test scores of developed nations; our students consistently rank 26th to 28th, despite consistently feeling that we have one of the best education systems. A post WWII generated self-conception as exceptional, later indoctrinated into American youth despite specific evidence to the contrary, prevents us from honestly and critically evaluating areas in which we need improvement. For example, in 1960, the United State’s infant mortality rate was 12th in the world, in 2004, we had moved down to 29th. (http://tinyurl.com/r6tmqz) And yet, how many times do we hear our health care system touted as the best in the world?
Our political system is founded and dependent on a learned and intellectual electorate. Paradoxicaly, then, our elections are filled with candidates that are not, or are afraid to be labeled, intellectuals; politicians seek first to be liked, second to be re-elected, third to build political capital and alliances, and perhaps fourth (at best) to critically examine what governance is best for the people.
This leads to a distinct lack of analysis or commitment based on informed thought. As Susan Jacoby writes, people no longer trust that “there are no such things as evidence or fact, just opinion.” People do not trust evidence, or reason or the rigorous methodology of science, but instead phrase all assertions and valuations as mere opinion. In short, we have become a nation of cowards. We are afraid how we will appear by doing any relevant research and even more afraid to state what we think without the qualifier of being “just my opinion.”
I have been disgusted by the number of times individual blog posts danced around what a person really wanted to say, or proudly announced ignorance on a topic while still asserting definitively on a topic, or clearly state how they feel, only to turn around and close with the concession not to take the poster seriously: because there was no intent to offend, or everyone has rights and freedom, or everyone has right to their own opinion.
The collective cowardice in this class typifies what anti-reason and anti-intellect have done to our country. At the times I read a post where the author felt no need to qualify or apologize for their own remarks, I rejoiced, even if that post showed little reason, critical thinking or research. I might completely disagree with the position or find their ideas indicative of terrified closed thinking, but I still find it refreshing to find honesty for a change. Of course, honesty only earns so much credit; willful ignorance can be just as maddening. I died a little inside when I read Brandon Mounteer’s post about Transamerica: “What's with all the gay movies all of a sudden? Is the teacher trying to tell us something? Is the world suddenly gay?, cuz last I checked, I liked the world. I love the world! Guess HIV ruined the party for the fudge-packers. Anyway, that movie sucked almost as bad as this class.” When I encounter thinking like this I fear for the future of my country.
And the anti-reason, pro-ignorance stances taken are not the exclusive purview of the far right; extremists of all stripes in this country cling to demagogues that supply them with information that is safe and in-line ideologically. (Penn & Teller and the Fahrenheit/Fahrenhype films show this distinctly.) If anyone wants to read any additional information about anti-intellectualism, Susan Jacoby’s newest book is called “The Age of American Unreason.”
I personally thought the first two movies were the best of the semester. JFK and American History X. They both had a great plot and played out very well. All the controversial films didn't really appeal to me honestly, the people in the movies that didn't tolerate with outcast may have pissed me off, but gays and such don't bother me. most of the movies didn't make uncomfortable for the overall content, but occasionally within the films the was, like the curb stomp, or where the kid was attracted to his father. i guess i'm too open? ... i don't care what people do, it doesn't personally effect me. the soap box movie for me was American History X, it had a great message and watching Ethan Suplee singing white power song was a guilty pleasure. i would have liked to see atleast one foreign film, i can think of one that i think would have worked well and that Battle Royal, 9th graders are sent to an island where they have to kill each other over a weekend and if more then two are left at the end every one of them dies. it done very well and has a great message of what life is like in a big business, how the children see all the adults.
Overall, i thought this class was very beneficial and would recommend everyone to take it. We watched a lot of diverse movies throughout the semester; some i liked more than others. I think the most important thing this class taught was to think outside the box. The films we watched made us view many different aspects of society. These movies allowed me to evaluate my personal thoughts on a lot of things. I believe one of the best things you can do for yourself is to question your own personal beliefs and values. To take a step back and look at things in a different perspective and persona, it will ultimately shape you into a better person.
Personally, my favorite movies in this class were JFK, American History X, and the Bullshit episodes. JFK's conspiracy is bewildering. we will never know exactly if JFK was set up, but the movie brought up alot of proof for it. AMerican History X was a movie i had seen before and is still shocking to watch everytime i see it.
This class was awesome. it seemed very easy in some aspects, but it was also very challenging in others. The ability to write in this blog format is a plus because it gives you the opportunity to express your true feelings about the subjects at hand. i wish more classes provided this free-style blogging format. it really challenges you to express yourself freely and without sounding like a jackass. this was by far the best film class i have taken so far.
I am going to talk a little bit about a poor, sad and obviously troubled person by the name of Randy Sheppard, now for all I know Randy could be a girls name because I don't know very many people in the class, but for argument sake I am going to assume that it is a he.
After reading his comment it's very apparent that Randy has some issues, he seems to blame all of the worlds problems on mormons. I mostly pitty his sorry ass for how angry we mormons make him. Let me just say on behalf of all mormons that we are very sorry Randy that we have made your life such a living hell, and that it bothers you so much that we have morals, because apparently in your mind, it is only the mormons who seem to have them. Yeah, we may get offended by hearing words like the ones you obviously enjoy using and we may be against gay marriage and we may have even had a hand in the outcome of proposition 8, but according to you, mormons are the only ones who think and do these things and have these morals. Sorry catholics, protostants, baptists, jews, muslims and even the jahova's witnesses, sorry to all of you because Randy Sheppard thinks that you all have no morals and that you are incapable of living life and fallowing anything that the bible teaches, I use the bible cause I know randy, and maybe you don't but we mormons have another book that we call the book of mormon and I know that other religions don't have it, so I'll just leave it out. But the bible, as far as I know, all christian religions have them and you may be an athiest which is completely fine with me, but I'm pretty sure that you were born into some religion, it may even be mormon oooooooooooh.
I pitty scum bags like you who can't find anything else to blame his anger on except for mormons or catholics or whatever, it would be the same for any group of people. Also just a little fact for ya dumb ass, while mormons votet for prop 8, they were not the majority of votes. Ethnic groups such as blacks and Hispanics were the majority of citizens against it, so I guess according to you moron, the blacks and hispanics hate the gays more than we do.
Well I've been going on for a while now so I think I will stop. The class was good, it could have been better. peace out.
hello all and goodbye. i am sure that i will see some of you around the campus as we continue, but this is the end of the semester. ^^ i guess that i would like to harp about freedom. when i think of freedom i think about the ability to make my own choices and then reap the rewards of those choices. as my dad would tell me, my generation has far fewer freedoms "choices" than he did as a child. he doesn't elaborate very much, but i can see where he gets this from. in the current economy we have seen freedom and its counterpart responsibility take several hits. we see companies that have made very bad decisions bailed out. does this mean that they no longer need to worry about the consequences of their actions? not in the way that many would think, because we are making them pay for needing to get bailed out. on the other hand we are offering other people who made bad decisions similar kinds of bailouts, without such steep stipulations. the people that bought homes that they couldn't afford. the people that bought too many homes so they could try to get rich quick. we might even loose the right to choose what kind of car we drive. i have been reading that the government wants to limit yearly pay on the wealthy. honestly they aren't my friends, but what happened to the freedom to make as much money as you can. i still want to be able to make as much money as i can get someone to pay me. on the other hand, we do have CEO's and the like that are hugely overpaid for what they do and i feel that they are taking that money from those of us that work under them. freedom means that i can still try to take them to court or to the public eye and take whatever action i feel i need to. freedom means that i can go out and buy a gun to protect my family. freedom means that i can protest the guy buying the gun too. freedom has its good and bad points, but being controlled by someone else and being forced to carrying out some other persons ideas as to the way that i should live is , to me, wrong. that seems to me to be a point that we should all think carefully about as we continue on in our lives.
Overall i enjoyed the class, especially compared to other college courses. I mean i don't think sarah could have made this class any easier. i also like how we were encouraged to speak whatever was on our minds and be completely honest about anything. I agree with some of the other posts that said that maybe the whole gay issue was touched on a little too often in this class. Don't get me wrong i think it was definitely good that we touched on it and discussed it because it is one of the most controversial issues in our society today, however i just don't think it needed to be the focus as much as it was when there are many other controversial topics that could have been discussed, especially since there are only 12 classes in the whole semester so we can only discuss a fraction of the controversial issues or ideas that exist today. Like sarah promised there were a couple times during the course that i got a little offended, or uncomfortable i should say, however i learned a lot and got a different view and perception on subjects that i had previously felt somewhat different about. i thought it was bullshit that we had to watch rent, i understand that the movie had controversial issues and topics, but we had already covered the hiv/aids issue with angels in america(which took two whole class periods) and we also touched on the gay issue in that movie as well. That leaves the whole bohemian lifestyle topic which is mostly bullshit. I understand the whole pursuit of happiness idea and think that's great but if you're looking for hand outs and free shit and think you can live here and not have to pay for anything then bitch and complain when you do... that's bullshit. Anyways you throw those three topics into a two hour movie and make it a musical and i think i'd rather kill myself than watch that again. I understand that the movies were shown for the controversial value much more than the entertainment value but there are many movies out there that are very controversial and at the same time captivating and interesting/entertaining to watch. Movies like a clockwork orange or requiem for a dream. Overall though i liked the way the class was structured and taught and would definitely recommend it to other people.
I liked the class, I liked how we could express our feelings about the movies without being scared what to say. The topic I would like to talk about is Electric cars. There are a few reasons why I liked the gas vehicles over electric vehicles. Gas vehicles in my opinion would be a lot quicker, which is great for me since I am into racing. I also believe gas vehicles will be more modifiable than electric vehicles because you can mess with the engine to make it stronger and quicker. I believe electric cars will cost a lot more than a gas vehicle. Despite my opinion, there are still many good reasons why electric would be better, such as less pollution, very convenient where you can charge your battery from home, no oil changes, and probably very easy to maintain. Overall the majority would probably choose electric vehicles over gas, and i would definitely invest my money in an electric vehicle as well. To me it seems as if electric cars would get big, then just die down again. It makes me wonder, is this always going to happen when they get close to perfecting the electric car? For example, in 1996 G.M. introduced the EV1, which to me was a great car; it was quiet, fast, looked nice, and could drive up to 80 miles on a single charge. It looked like everything was going great, the state of California started putting up a few charging stations, then companies started arguing that the technology was to scary for the auto industry(ones that make money of combustion engines, oil changes, etc…). So then all of the EV1 had to be taken back from the owners to be crushed. To me, this makes me think a lot, are gasoline vehicles ever going to get replaced with electric vehicles? I think it is ridiculous how every time someone got close to perfecting the electric vehicle it would just get killed, to me that makes no sense... because some day, electric cars will indeed HAVE to replace gasoline vehicle, because of many reasons... such as global warming etc... so why not try to perfect the electric vehicle now? I really enjoyed the movie we watched in class "who killed the electric car?" it gave me many new insights on the electric car, in the movie one of the reasons it said it died was because the auto industry was scared such as mechanics and such, I think this is total bullshit, because this is LIFE. we cant always get rid of things in our ways... Every company will always have its competitors, these companies shouldn’t have had any effect on the electric vehicle, and it is really unfair to everyone that helped create the EV1 to see it destroyed. Mechanics would be one of the biggest to be effected by the electric car, but by the time the electric car replaces the gasoline vehicles, the mechanics should be able to find a new profession. Therefore, electric cars should not be affected by anyone other than the consumer themselves. Statistics show that more people liked the EV1 than the people that disliked it. People will start realized that global warming is real, and that it is real serious, then people will start investing more in electric vehicles. The EV1 will eventually replace the gasoline powered vehicles, so why not start brings in the electric vehicles slowly? The EV1 should definitely be brought back because people outside of California and Arizona most likely have never heard of the EV1, let alone drive it. GM should give everyone a chance to lease an electric vehicle. The more people that drive an electric car will help everyone on this planet out by reducing pollution and reduce deaths. having gasoline powered vehicles replaced with electric powered vehicles will help not only the ones we love, but also our planet. According to Seattle Times, Americans used 8.93 million barrels of gasoline a day in 2003. A barrel holds 42 gallons, so that's roughly 375 million gallons per day. By using electric vehicles we would be saving million gallons of gas per day, which we could put toward better use, than using it to pollute our planet. Electric vehicles will also help reduce deaths caused by carbon monoxide coming out of dirty exhausts. Also according to statistics, an average person spends close to $2000-$3000 on gasoline a year depending on vehicles size. People would be saving a lot more money as well switching to electric powered vehicles, not to mention electric vehicles need close to no maintenance. According previous owners of the EV1, the EV1 was the perfect electric vehicle that worked with very little problems, Sucks to see such a nice car getting crushed and shredded for worthless reasons. in conclusion i think the world needs to realize that global warming is coming and that it is REAL, we need to do something about it! someone needs to invest more money into electric vehicles and help our planet out!
My post has absolutely nothing to do with what was covered during class. Therefore I'm going to complain about video game based films. I am what most people consider a ‘gamer’, one who plays a lot of video games. I play because it helps me to disconnect a little from daily pressures. Obviously it’s a problem when it gets in the way of normal duties but that’s where time management factors in. Since I love to play games certain genres have their appeal over others; RTS (Real Time Strategy) RPG (Role Playing Game) FPS (First Person Shooter) or Puzzle games are my favorite.
I also enjoy a lot of movies, and when I see previews for a movie based game I love, my circuits overload with excitement and expectation. So is it a good idea to base a film off a game; who knows? One of the biggest criteria I look for when I see a game based movie is how closely the screenwriters follow the story/style of the game. Now granted, people argue that if a movie mad after any game followed the story exactly the same, wouldn’t that ruin any element of surprise for its viewers? It is possible that it could; however; when certain elements in a game that draw a following are omitted from the film, it tends to have a very negative review from gamers.
One game takes the fore front as an absolute failure on the screen is the Resident Evil Trilogy. As in the 1996 Resident Evil for the Playstation, the game opens in a mansion just outside of Raccoon City, where a team of S.T.A.R.S. (Special Tactics And Rescue Squad) members have come to investigate the downed helicopter of their unfortunate colleagues. You play as either Chris Redfield or Jill valentine, as you happen upon the weird goings-on at the mansion, uncovering truths about pharmaceutical company Umbrella, all while trying to escape back to civilization in one piece.
You will have more than creatures barring you escape as you puzzle your way around the grounds, seeking a variety of keys and other means of unlocking doors. Resident Evil on the big screen has a similar beginning in a mansion, but severely lacks any characters from the game, any puzzle solving, any depth into the Umbrella Corporations secrets, and any similarity to the games story other than Umbrella did some genetic experimentation—shit hit the fan, and now there are zombies running amok in the labs. I read Ebert’s review of the first film and he gave it a shaky two and a half stars; the second a half star and says, “Parents: If you encounter teenagers who say they liked this movie, do not let them date your children”. There was no review to be found for the third installment.
Reviews from gaming sites such as GameRevolution.com and IGN.com gave the game series anywhere between a raving A+ and B rating! Don’t you think that’s saying something about the screenwriter’s inability to properly convert some games into films?
There have been a couple successful games created into movies such as the Tomb Raider series. It features the heroine Laura Croft as played by Angelina Jolie, in search of a hidden civilization, treasure/artifact or a combination of the three. Tomb Raider, the game, produces a plethora of puzzles and acrobatic feats to be solved that keep a gamer glued. The screenwriters were able to keep all the elements of that game and put it to film with a completely new story; that goal is more easily attainable since ever new game in the franchise has a completely new story so none of the pre-existing games overlap. Here’s a little trivia for you; in the 2008 Guinness World Records Gamers’ Edition, the first Tomb Raider movie is listed as the most successful film based on a video game, making $244,703,340 at cinemas worldwide. The least successful is the 2005 video game movie Alone in the Dark. The film earned $5,178,569 during its US theatrical run, but cost $ 20 million to make. Max Payne is another film that stuck very close to the game. There were a few extra additives that gave a new twist to the story once told before in the gaming world.
Now why is it that some games that have high popularity in the gaming world, do so terribly in the film industry? Are screenwriters simply taking their own view/perspective of the game and soaking it in Hollywood just to make a buck; or are they trying to create another story within the pre-existing game plot line? How is this done? Why should we even care?
This process by which games and film are fused together is called convergence. Henry Jenkins book “Convergence Culture” defines the term convergence as “a word that describes technological, industrial, cultural, and social changes in the ways media circulates within our culture. Some common ideas referenced by the term include the flow of content across multiple media platforms, the cooperation between multiple media industries, the search for new structures of media financing that fall at the interstices between old and new media, and the migratory behavior of media audiences who would go almost anywhere in search of the kind of entertainment experiences they want”.
Film and games are two separate entities whereby entertainment is had on two separate levels. Both are a form of entertainment and as such it is all determined on how individuals feel. There are gamers and non gamers; however; some gamers choose to take ‘gaming’ far too seriously and play for too long. Is it harmful? In Steven Johnson’s book “Everything Bad Is Good For You” he talks about how games invite the mind to use more critical thinking. He says, “…games force you to decide, to choose, to prioritize…because learning how to think is ultimately about learning to make the right decisions: weighing evidence, analyzing situations, consulting your long-term goals, and then deciding. No other pop cultural form directly engages the brain’s decision-making apparatus in the same way”.
While engaging in those thought provoking moments of a game that force my mind to use--as Steven states it “probing and telescoping”, my mind attaches itself to those stimuli. I know that when a game has me deeply engaged in a puzzle that has a time limit and I fail, I don’t let up until it is solved; that said; the satisfaction I feel after solving it is amazing! When those moments of anxiety, fear, tension, and adrenaline rush are left out of a game based film, it is so, so unsatisfying! Now granted films have a different way of keeping an audience engaged by way of how the storyline is put together. Some films require you to keep track of events until the end; then connect the dots for the big finale when the plot suddenly twists your hypothesis and throws you off your feet.
Steven also mentions that, “games create a probe, hypothesize, reprobe, rethink cycle; …put another way…they are learning the basic procedure of the scientific method”. Games cause the player to plan ahead for any tasks that are unfinished. In the Resident evil series, you need to plan carefully enough with the limited space your inventory has to carry the right weapon, the right amount of ammunition, the right first aids, and the right puzzle items to finish the task. Sometimes ammunition and first aid’s are dangerously low that you only have enough to tangle with maybe two to three enemies before you’re completely dry; unfortunately; there’s about double that amount in your way before the scenarios is over.
During the convergence process from games to movies, it is rather difficult for an audience to make a decision for the characters on the big screen; however; elements of attack and evade tactics could be used instead. All the two genres of media have really done is share a theme and plot to create what might be portrayed on a film to represent what the game had to offer.
Will there be any effect on gamers and non gamers in the ripples of time, most likely not? Needless to say that video games have had a huge impact in society and its evolution has been the spawning grounds for many new civil and military technologies. If games can take a person to another dimension to escape their own, I can’t wait until they build a ‘holo-deck’ machine to recreate games in a lifelike sense.
My final response to our Film class is that it was a very interesting class, perhaps one of the easiest class that I have ever taken, I liked the different topics that were presented, however I felt that the topic about gay issue was repeated quite bit of time. I understand that the gay topic is a hot topic right now, especially for the State of Utah and California, but we could have spent one day on that issue and used some of the other days on different controversial issues, for example: cloning, Area 51, single mothers, women in the workplace, racial profiling, education vouchers, or even the BCS. That is just a suggestion.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite topic was on racism, I really liked the movie American History X, because it showed both sides of the issue. I am from Brazil and my ancestors are Native Indian, African and Portuguese. While I was growing up I saw racism from black to white, white to black, and black to blacker. The last one is my favorite, it is ridiculous how we can discriminate another human being that is just a little darker than us from our perspective view, and unfortunately some of my family members still use those kinds of expression against others.
The other day I was watching the Brazilian News on YouTube and the President of Brazil known as Lula, said that “the economy crisis is faulted by all the white people with blue eyes”. After watching the video I couldn’t stop laughing at such an unbelievable statement. This is a proof that this topic is still very real and exists even today. It is awful to see how much ignorance with racism can cause so many problems to a whole nation, because since that statement was spoken the U.S. Governments have started to pay more attention and also to question my country’s relationship with Venezuela. It is my hope that the U.S. doesn’t penalize my entire country for one person’s idiotic remarks.
I never understood why we treat each other so poorly just because of our skin color. I can’t see how that can be enough to discriminate one another. We are all exactly the same inside, we all have the same anatomy, and we all should be treated equal no matter of what skin color that we have.
I really ejoyed this class because it opened my eyes to all of the changes and issues going on around me. I talk about these issues every time with my family and it is so interesting to see everyones stand point on it.
ReplyDeleteI think that this was a very good class and I wouldn't have taken it if it wasn't for the fact the title was diversity. I wanted to take this class because we talk about every pay issues and the more important life changing issues that no one really wants to talk about. my brother took a film course all about how a person would make the movie and I knew that wouldn't interest me as much as this class did.
I agreed with some points and totally disagreed with others. I was inpressed and ashamed. I was proud and offended. I liked how this class wasn't totally one side and biased, but how we explored all sides of the issues and made a person think.
I really think that this class was belificial because I got to learn so much more about my stand points and what the issues really meant to me. I learned that it is okay to disagree with people and to try to see another persons point of view. I would definately reccomend this class to others in the future. I feel that it definately made me grow as an individual. THANK YOU!!
Wow, wasn’t this a rollercoaster ride? This was one of the easiest classes I have ever had the privilege of taking. But in a lot of ways it challenged me in ways I didn’t expect to be challenged. It made me ask questions about topics that I would not have otherwise cared about. It opened my eyes to different sides and points of view, which I have stated in earlier post, is one of the more healthy things a person can do for themselves.
ReplyDeleteSara’s approach to teaching is kind of a holistic one in that it encourages thinking, imagining, and the expression of feelings. I know it sounds like I’m a “flower child” but I believe when we learn like this it forces our minds outside of our everyday boxes and we also benefit from hearing what our peers think which makes for a one of a kind learning experience, that I am grateful for. Yes, I am grateful for ALL your points of view even if I don’t agree with them. You have all made me smarter and have helped me work toward becoming a better person
If all we can take away from this class is an inkling of tolerance (which might not have otherwise been there) than I think this class was successful. I hated the fact that I had to take a “diversity” class to get my degree but now I see why it was important. You and I will be the new leaders of the future and it’s our job to do better than those who came before us. That’s going to involve keeping an open mind, sharing your ideas, asking questions about the unfamiliar when we are frightened, and most of all, working together(through differences) so our children can do better than we do it.
This was a reply to one of my post:
“Someone up above mentioned that they would rather go camping with an atheist and talk about science and a gay friend for comedic relief...then with a stuck up kid who thinks he is better then everyone. I think generalizing both scouts, atheists and gays like this is more harmful than good. Some gays aren't funny, some atheists don't like science and some scouts might not be stuck up.”
This person is absolutely right, generalizations are harmful but they failed to conceive the point I was trying to make, which I thought was a very simple one. ANYONE who bases what they believe around anything that diminishes, secludes, or that demoralizes another is what’s “more harmful that good” (in your words). Of course not ALL scouts are stuck up, of course not ALL gays are funny and of course not ALL atheists “like” science. I’m sure (I hope) everyone in class, including me is aware of that. My oversimplification was merely for point sake and should be taken with a grain of salt. Try to focus your time and energy on educating someone who doesn’t have access to the library or the internet. On the lighter side, wouldn’t you agree that ALL people who wear glasses are the smartest...lol maybe we can let that generalization slide since it makes us feel cooler?
In closing,
This has been a fun class and I hope all of you do well for yourselves. In the words of Brian from Half Baked (one the greatest movies ever made) "Don't worry. Don't worry, I'm not gonna DO what everyone thinks I'm gonna DO and FLIP OUT MAN. All I wanna know is who's coming with me? Who's coming man? Who's coming with me? Huh? Who's coming with me man?"
The class seemed to revolve a whole lot around gay issues. I thought time could be much better spent on viewing films outside the homosexual drama genre. We didn't even scratch the surface on some other major topics that are as diverse, if not more diverse then the gay lifestyle and what a struggle it seems to be. What about the struggle of people who are immigrants to america? People who come from abusive homes? People who deal with life at the poverty level of living? These are very diverse topics. None of which were covered. Instead we come to class to watch some homo's give each other a good time in the park. There is a lot more to life then sexual orentation. Like Angels in America? What the hell was that besides boring and gross?
ReplyDeleteAmerican History X was a great film! It was entertaining it had a good story and it taught tolerance.
The bullshit films had some good arguements and they were pretty entertaining.
Who killed the electric car was an alright film, although I will never understand why people made such a big deal out of losing an electric car. They acted like they had lost a family member or something.
I learned a couple things throughout this class but it came at a price, watching some of the gay films made me uncomfortable. And it doesn't make me a homophob to say that watching two dudes go at it makes me feel uncomfortable. You honestly have to be lying if you were thinking to yourself during that last trans america film "oh yeah blow your dad, that is totally normal." I don't have a problem with gay people, because I have yet to meet a rude gay person. I couldn't care less what they live their lives like. But I do have a problem with having to watch softcore gay porn week after week.
The class should be called Film and the homosexual culture, not filming diversity.
The class smelled like ass every week because we had a good mix of every nasty fast food restaurant smell in the room, and don't tell me some people were totally ripping ass after they ate some of that crap. It stunk so bad! At least crack open the door to the outside a little..
The projector screen got progressively worse as the class went on.
Do people shower anymore? What has happened to hygene? Seriously some of you kids smelled like you have been sleeping in poop. Wear some deoderant, shower every once in a while. This definitely detracted from the class.
I would not recommend this class to anyone unless some of these problems were fixed.I'm glad the class is over.
I'm sorry if this post offended anyone, actually no I really don't care if it hurt anyones feelings, I was told by the teacher to never appologize for being honest on these posts.
Free at last free at last! Thank the lord almighty we're free at last!
For my final post I would like to reference back to the very first movie we watched, JFK. For starters, I really enjoyed the movie. I am something of a history buff, especially the more modern history, anything past the turn of the 20th century. After watching this movie, I decided to further my research into the subject since it interested me so. That is what I am going to talk about for my final post.
ReplyDeleteMy information will be referenced from mostly two sources. One being the article in Wikipedia on the assassination of JFK, the other will be the episode of the TV show, conspiracy theories, which featured Jack Ruby.
Several theories seem to exist. Obviously the theory that states there was more then one shooter. Former U.S. Marine Sniper, Carlos Hathcock, said he attempted to duplicate the single shot. He said, “We reconstructed the whole thing: the angle, the range, the moving target, the time limit, the obstacles, everything. I don’t know how many times we tried it, but we couldn’t duplicate what the Warren Commission said Oswald did. Now if I can’t do it, how in the world could a guy who was a non-qual on the rifle range and later only qualified 'marksman' do it?” This would seem to suggest that there must have been two shooters but Hathcock left out one detail, dumb luck. I am not saying that dumb luck is the reason there was only one shooter but it does create a possibility. Perhaps Oswald was just trying to shoot and happened to pull off a master shot. It’s happened to many of us while we are playing pool, so I would assume it to be possible for Oswald as well.
This next theory, I had not heard before, it claims that there was two Oswalds’. The claim states that either, Oswald himself is not dead and was using a political decoy on the day he was assassinated or that he used this decoy somewhere else earlier in the assassination. Perhaps to give himself the appearance of being at another location while he was shooting JFK. It should be noted though, that when Oswald’s body was exhumed in 1981, that the body was identified as being Oswald from both dental records and the existence of a childhood scar.
Another theory that strikes in the heart of potential conspiracy is that Lyndon Johnson killed JFK. In his book, Blood, Money, & Power: How L.BJ. killed J.F.K, McClellan claims that Johnson killed Kennedy out of the fear of being dropped from the Kennedy ticket in 1964. The book also claims that a partial finger print of Malcolm “Mac” Wallace was found at the sniper’s nest and that Wallace was a close associate of Johnson’s. The book further points out that several oil magnates helped pay for the assassination.
There are many other theories that you can read about. They range from the release of three well dressed tramps who found in a box car near the grassy knoll who were released with out questioning to a theory that JFK’s body had been altered and changed so that the autopsy would show something different then what actually happened. There is the Israeli Conspiracy, the Cuban Conspiracy, Organized crime and CIA conspiracy (which I believe is the theory mostly used in the movie) and the Cuban exiles theory. Plus many more.
One thing that is obvious is the change that JFK’s assassination had on this country and it’s respect for the government. I feel that the loss of JFK led to us having the Watergate scandal. The loss of trust for the government (even if for no reason) creates a government who does not care about having us trust them. It was the shot heard across America and whether one conspiracy is true or not, the effects remain the same and this country will never be the same again.
My favorite film all semester was American History X I thought that the most remarkable way in which the director conveyed his message about racism in this film is the way in which the subject is treated. Racism is probably one of the most difficult subjects to approach, American History X presents it without worrying about stepping on someone’s toes or offending them. The film's main subject for racism, Derek, is not an unintelligent redneck racist as films often portray them but is in fact well-spoken, intelligent young kid although he clearly holds ideals that are appallingly wrong. The part of the film shows that sets it apart from all other previous movies regarding this topic, it explains that it is not just the white, neo-Nazi racists who are fools to be involved in this but all racism is thoughtless, irrational, stupid and unintelligent loved the fact that the movie taught me the fact that hatred and racism will destroy a person and those around him. I thought this class brought me lots of life lessons that could have otherwise been learned in a bad or deadly way. This class has been great because it truly has broadened my horizons so that I may accept other people no matter what they believe in religiously, where they buy there groceries, or what gender they are or may like.
ReplyDeleteThis class is the closest historical moment for all of us. that I ever had experience with such of of effort to stand by. I mean, I feel great full.
ReplyDeleteWell, I think, I started very bold statements about what I know how I think I understand the our human life ought to be. Since, I'm from traditional and conservative family. But I decided to go the the best school in the left wing school. then I found the great friends, teacher and also differences. Now , that is the facts and evidences, that you and I can't choose who we want and what we should do. In School where I from, it is only one of the best in left side of town. All of them have only one goal. I realized, school in here doesn't make it difference at all. Here, I saw the people of all part of life come from difference families, race , gender, religous , income, education background and politicals.
But We come to school that more then that. I t is more meaning full then educations, money or recognitions. But we are here in school particular in this class FILM 1070 to share the common purpose that who we are. How much love is enough for people who living the corner of the rooms. I heard the voice NOW! I am one of them to heard them sad from inside out, heart broken and burning for the things around me. that never fit the school. But This class in this particular school taught me the great lessons.
I have the question about gays movie in particular. why the produccers or people who made the moview like to add kinda odd nundy parts or too strong communication to the audience? They might think that we can handle or accepted right away. The time will come but but we must be patient and go slowly but surely. I didn't say it is and bad in the wrong to way to do that or anythings like that.
Another the thing about language of movie specially in The actors (Two guys in combination set of movies)They kinda over accentuated and alway think that they are right for any arguments if they are legitimates about that.
finally, I had read your post on the links about transsexual. I pay more attentions and focus on this subjects more then the movie because, I understand and feel it better with facts, evidence and histories stand point of views. This is very clerical piece of informations for me. I like to know more. This is great stuffs.
If I have to pick the gays movies I would pick TransAmerica, the Angel of American is good too but It is too long, a lot of flash backs and fantasy. I got confused.
The Davinci Code was is great too They are alway fighting between religious and science. I would wake in the gray line just for now and wait too see who will be the winner.
Overall, This school and this class brought me the life and hope for the better future for us and for all. I feel much satisfaction about class now.
Thank you so much Sara for all you do and for helped me out
Love
Hopefully some of you read my last post under the Transamerica link because I really wanted to end this class by giving a piece of me to all of you. Just in case we happen to run in to one another on campus somewhere or meet on the street sometime. And just in case that doesn’t happen if anyone would like to continue discussing controversial or diverse topics etc. my email address is jcobgull@gmail.com. I will not recognize most of you because I always sat in the back two or three rows and usually only saw the back of your heads. But any ways if you are board and want to get to know me more for some reason, a small summary of a few important events in my life are in the former post I mentioned. The reason I have given some of my personal life’s history there and made reference to it here is probably because I think it ties in nicely with what I have gotten from this class which is what my final post will contain. I am extremely glad I was able to take this class and although I was disgusted at times or confused at times I had a great re-awakening to many things of importance. I say re-awakening because I don’t think I was introduced to anything I hadn’t thought about before but my understanding and interest in these things came to life once again, and they are important issues that we all have to deal with, make up our minds on and get past. I was a student here at SLCC a few years ago and didn’t last long due to family responsibilities and other endeavors but I have always wanted to come back. The reason being was for classes and experiences like this one, where my preconceived notions are challenged once again, new understanding is gained, and confirmations about former beliefs are strengthened. Some of the things I will take from this class include the renewal of the need for me to independently verify what others are saying without accepting it blindly. This is something I had learned before but as with many things one learns, over time the process becomes dulled. Like for instance in the first movie JFK I found myself being swayed towards the belief in a mass governmental conspiracy and cover up in the assassination, but upon further research I don’t buy it like I did after watching the movie. I think one could spend their whole life researching this event and still never be sure what really happened. So why waste the time? For some maybe it’s intriguing and they have a passion for it, so if it suits them, fine. Then With the next film which I think was American x, I was reminded of my own racial ignorance as a youth and how utterly stupid I was and how twisted the whole racist thinking is. We are all great in our own right! And this film gave me a new commitment to combat this problem wherever I can (peacefully).Moving on to the next film that I recalled was the Last Temptation of Christ. For those of you who know me by now, you know that I did not like that movie and not because it challenged my faith but I just found it to be stupid, poorly scripted and acted. I do believe Christ was tempted like all of us but by that I don’t say that I believe he was confused at all about his mission or how to accomplish it. In the scriptures it tells of how at a very young age Jesus exclaimed to his parents “whist ye not that I must be about my Fathers business”. I could go on and on about how the scriptures (at least the ones I believe to be authoritative) give examples of how he had no doubt as to whom he was, what his purpose was and exactly what he knew he would do to accomplish it, but alas it’s all a matter of faith. And as I have implied before, to each his own. These are my beliefs and I respect other viewpoints as well. On to subject of gay rights and the discrimination of gays. I wish I had all the answers but I don’t. Some claim you’re born with the tendency and some claim it’s a process of finding your identity later and so on. So many claims and theories and yet the answer to this question may never be known. I have my own opinions about it but as I said before I am no Jesus. I’ll let him tell me the truth when and how he will. My job is to love and do as he did as best I can. I will say this much though, my heart has been softened once again on the matter and that means I will have new opportunities and productive relationships because of it. I think that encompasses the main jest of what I have received from this class. I do think we should have spent less time going for lunch and spent more time finishing movies and discussing. My suggestion to Sara would be to tell the class to show up on a full stomach with a drink and commence discussions and movies immediately. But all in all I have enjoyed the time spent in this class and actually looked forward to attending. I can’t say that about all the classes I have taken. Thanks Sara. God bless you and best of luck to you and the class in all you do!!
ReplyDeleteLots of people in this class bitch every time they have to watch movies about homosexuality. Most of the class thought that Angels in America was a horrible movie. I personally thoroughly enjoyed it. I guess I am not that surprised about the class' reaction to this theme, given the location and the predominant religion. Call me ignorant, stereotypical, rude, arrogant, whatever, I still think I am more accurate at assuming that the religious predomination fuels these reactions more than anything in the world. Religion is the worst thing for discrimination, because if the church says it, most of the people are going to go along with it, given they follow that church. Don't try and tell me that the Mormon church is against homosexuals, just look at the shit they pulled in California! The monetary support for the passing of Prop 8 came most from the LDS church and its members. 45% of the funds came from the LDS church, while there was numerous other people in support of it. Also, the church was encouraging their members to donate and support Prop 8, because homosexuals finally got equal rights in a state that is within 2000 miles of their center. This is utterly disgusting and I will never be able to see the LDS church as a good thing again. I believe that the LDS church is an instrument of hate, comparable to the KKK but less violent about it. How is hating someone for the sole reason that they are black any different than thinking that someone is "damned" for their sexual persuasion, thinking that they don't deserve to be with the person they love, or thinking that they are less than you because they like something you don't? Grow the fuck up people! You were warned you would be offended in this class, so why don't you shut the fuck up and quit bitching about Sara's choices of themes and movies. She obviously chose right, because you are so up in arms.
ReplyDeleteI find it ironic that people bitch about the "gay movies" but turn around and say that American History X was great. The intent of both is the same. American History X attempts to show us that white supremacists make it hard for blacks, while the "gay movies" show that ignorant fucks like the Mormons make it hard for them. I'll be glad when I get away from you people, I am thrilled I never have to come back to read your bullshit.
I was more offended by the people in class, rather than the movies. How strange...
Overall this class was a learning experience. I enjoyed the topics that we discussed and I think a lot of us in class are very open minded to new ideas and feelings(judging by the posts). Yes, I must admit some of the movies were boring to me, not because of the topic just because they were too long or they were filled with sarcastic bad acting (Temptation of Christ). But I understood the message that each film was trying to get across.
ReplyDeleteMy top favorite movies we saw in class were: American History X, Da Vinci Code, and the very last one TransAmerica. I think American History X and TransAmerica had very strong messages that dealt with racism and acceptance.
While I was watching TransAmerica, I was pondering what would be my soap box moment about and through the movie and our final discussion I decided to do it on plastic surgery. It amazes me how much technology has evolved that we can now decide to fix our imperfections and feel better about ourselves. However, plastic surgery can also have a negative side.
The controversy against cosmetic plastic surgery, a very risky procedure that for the last decade has been the new trend people have been following. Celebrities, the media, and television shows have had a drastic influence on how society views plastic surgery as the new “cool” thing to do. Every year the number of people who decide to go under the knife increases by the thousands. Why do people decide to have plastic surgery? Has plastic surgery got out of hand? Do people over do it? Are they using it for the wrong reasons?
A major point to realize is the media has understated the affects plastic surgery has on people. The message they’re sending is that plastic surgery is a very common and quick procedure. The only document the positive “happy” side of the surgical treatment making it seem like a regular thing to do. The media never shows the months of healing and the pain the patient goes through. Some of these factors are ignored by patients when they decide to alter, remove or enhance a part of their body.
There are two different types of plastic surgery, there’s cosmetic plastic surgery and there’s reconstructive plastic surgery. The difference between the two procedures is reconstructive surgery is surgery that is performed when patients have been affected with a birth defect, an accident, or a disease that has destroyed part of their body like breast cancer or tumors. Reconstructive surgery is the most helpful, helping individuals reconstruct something they had no control of. Now, Cosmetic plastic surgery is surgery that is performed to enhance your personal appearance by adjusting things you’re not satisfied with. More and more people are getting cosmetic procedures to adjust their imperfections, just last year 11.9 million cosmetic surgeries were performed in the United States (http://www.apa.org/surgery.htm.
In society today body image is everything. We are influenced by celebrities, movies, and the media to be thin, tall, and beautiful. There is so much influence to be perfect that even teenagers are going under the knife. Studies show that 335 thousand teens, 18 years old and younger have had plastic surgery in 2006 an increase comparing it to 306 thousand in 2003.
Many individuals receive plastic surgery for many different reasons; nevertheless, they all do it for the same principle of boosting up their self-esteem. As we can see plastic surgery is a benefit to our society with moderation!!!! With the results its providing consumers, it’s without question here to stay.
This was an awesome class! It introduced new issues to me that I really didn't think much about and for that I want to thank Sara for always presenting both sides of an arguement.
Hmm its hard to pick just one topic to talk about. I think the most affective movie that we watched was American History X. That movie was very hard to sit all the way through. It had a great meaning though. I have always been bothered with people that are racist. I don't think that any individual should be treated any different because of the color of their skin. It is very wrong and a horrible thing to do. Well to start off, I didn't like the sex scene that happened right at the very start of the movie. And then when that guy got curbed right after, that was hard to watch. Right from the very first 10 minutes of this movie I was hating it. By the end of the movie I realized how good of a meaning this movie portraid. The older brother was the leader of all the white people in his town. He was the biggest hater of black people before he went to prison. I loved seeing him change his ways and become friends with a black man. Even though he got raped and beaten up in prison, he grew up so much. When he finally got out of prison, he had to and help his brother change his ways. I loved seeing him use all his power to try and get his younger brother to change his thinking about racism. When he finally got his little brother to understand, he got shot by a black boy at school that misunderstood his way of thinking. That part of the movie was so hard to watch.
ReplyDeleteI think that everyone should see this movie and see how people can completely change. I hate racism! I hate when people are racist against others. It makes them look so ridiculous and stupid. Everyone that is racist should watch this movie and maybe it will change their mind about different colored skin.
I really enjoyed this class. Most of them I would have never watch if it were not for this class. Now if I would watch them again probably not. As a whole I thought it was a very well structured class that gave both part of the story and both extreme part of the story. It opened my eyes to think about how or what people feel and think before I make a judgment about them. I would encourage people to take this class if they wanted to get a feel how other may feel about different topics. I don’t agree with every thing that was said in the movies or in class but every one had the right to there own options and beliefs. I do appreciate a class that let you be open about your thought and feeling about the different things that are in our world. The class was controversial but never in a hostile way, like it’s my way or the high way on what you think or believe about a certain topic and this is what is right and what is wrong. I have learned a lot and appreciate that I had an opportunity to come take this class.
ReplyDeleteI would like to start by saying that I really enjoyed this class and will definitly recomend it to other people. My soapbox moment will be on one of my favorite topics: religion. i would first like to start by saying something that i have stated before and that is that there is no concrete evidence that jesus christ even existed.
ReplyDeletei know that many of you will dissagree and say that i am wrong, if so then show me. because i have not found any evidence for it. my biggest argument is at the following link: http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_jcpa5b.htm here you will find that there are many similarities between the life of jesus and the life of the egyptian god horus. who by the way was about 3000 years BC.
another thing that bugs me is when i ask people how they KNOW that there is a god. "i just know" that is not a good enough reason for me im sorry. explain how you KNOW these things or better yet how you can know these things.
one of the stories of the bible of abraham and issac. basically god wants abraham to prove his love and loyalty to god and orders him to kill his son. now abraham decided to but before he does god stops him and is pleased with him. WHAT THE HELL? im sorry if god came down to me and told me to kill my cousin to prove that i really was loyal to god, i would tell him to go to hell. because i do not want to believe in or worshiip a god that wants me to prove my loyalty by doing something like that.
so as you can tell i am against religion, you can believe whatever but religion needs to be gone. it is the cause of all major wars. Your god is different from my god.... lets kill each other.
another interesting thing is how religion changes. like with the roman gods. no one believe in that now, and if a roman guy was to here of what we believed he would laugh at us. no no no the storms at sea are cause by the god of the sea not by what you say it is.
and also when the book of mormon was first wrote it said that a black man could not get into heaven. now it has been changed and there are black church leaders. im not against that but don't you think that there is somehting wrong with a religion that changes its beliefs to work with the time?
one last thing... do you guys know that the only religion that acctually worships the devil are called devil worshipers? satanists do not worship satan. look it up. and voodoo and pagan and witchcraft are actually religions based on good things. i mean you guys eat bread and drink water that is supposed to be flesh and blood. so why critisize other religions like that when you have no right.
thanks again it was fun.
I enjoyed this class very much. What other class do you get to watch movies all semester long? Penn and Teller were my favorite class days. They took controversial subjects and made them very entertaining and humorous.
ReplyDeleteI also enjoyed American History X as well. The movie tells a story of change. Racism has been a big part of the history of our country. With the election of our first black president, President Barrack Obama, it shows that we have come a very long way as a country. I am not sure that we will ever rid ourselves of racism completely. This world would be a much more peaceful place if racism didn't exist. Is it possible to imagine a place where everyone is accepted, no matter what their color of skin is or who they worship or what their sexuality is?
This class has changed the way I feel about certain subjects and has strengthened my feelings of other subjects. This class has been rewarding for that fact alone. Thanks!
This is one of my favorite classes I have taken during college. The films were good. The topics discussed were quite controversial. I do agree that there was a bias towards more gay issues than other diverse topics.
ReplyDeleteA recent issue that came up in the news that was blown out of proportion was the Ms California controversy. Here is what happened:
Hilton served as a judge for the Miss USA 2009 pageant in Las Vegas, Nevada on April 19, 2009.
During the Q&A portion of the contest, Hilton's question came to the Miss California representative, Carrie Prejean. Hilton asked:
“Vermont recently became the fourth state to legalize same-sex marriage. Do you think every state should follow suit? Why or why not?”
Prejean responded:
“Well I think it’s great that Americans are able to choose one way or the other. We live in a land where you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite marriage. You know what, in my country, in my family, I do believe that marriage should be between a man and a woman, no offense to anybody out there. But that’s how I was raised and I believe that it should be between a man and a woman. Thank you.”
Hilton called the answer “the worst answer in pageant history", remarking to ABC News; "She lost it because of that question. She was definitely the front-runner before that."[50] He stated that "There are various other ways she could have answered that question and still stayed true to herself without alienating millions of people" and on his video blog remarked "She lost not because she doesn’t believe in gay marriage, she lost because she’s a dumb bitch!"[51] He then issued an apology for this comment but in a subsequent interview with MSNBC he retracted his apology and said "I called her the b-word but hey I was thinking the c-word but I didn't say it".[52] Hilton later stated on Larry King Live "Yes. I do expect Miss USA to be politically correct."[53]
-Wikipedia
When I heard about this and saw interviews about it, I got really upset that this happened. The question, no matter how she answered, would alienate a group of people. Perez asked for her opinion and she answered. She was honest and shared her beliefs. Because it was not in his view, and of the minority, she lost her chance to win. She has since gotten a lot of support, even from the gay community. The way Perez Hilton reacted and continues to react is beyond childish and immature. He called her some obscenities which were uncalled for.
You do not call those who differ from your opinion bitches or cunts. You don’t draw dicks in their faces (www.perezhilton.com) because it’s funny and you can do it. You respect people, even if you don’t agree with them. It’s called tolerance.
I honestly believe that marriage is between a man and a woman. That doesn’t stop gays from being together. That is their sexual preference. Whatever makes people happy, they should do it. If there are places that allow gay marriage or civil unions, go for it. Go there and get married. But stop bullying the places that don’t agree with it. I watch everyday on the news about gay marriage and being allowed in more states. What that will mean is more divorce too. Good and bad come from it.
If being gay makes you happy, I won’t stop you from being happy. I’m glad you are happy. But stop pushing the issues down everyone’s throats as if we need to hear it or want to hear it. Love can be between an man and a woman, a man and a man, or woman with a woman. You do not need marriage to show that.
I was having a hard time thinking about what to rant about for my final post. So many topics, just one to pick. Then, as I was driving in my car tonight it hit me, well...almost hit me. I've lived my entire life in this country, never been out of it, not even for one second...unless you count Hawaii as a foreign country, which wouldn't be entirely false. I love America, I think it is the greatest country in the world, yet, I find myself losing hope in Americans. As I said, the inspiration almost hit me, it was a stupid driver swerving into my lane of traffic for no reason other than she was not paying attention. We are a society that is always in a hurry and always distracted. Next time you are driving down the road, take notice of just how many stupid, aggressive drivers there are on the road. Look are how many people are texting while driving. And it's not just drivers that suck. I hate, absolutely HATE those morons that stand outside of whatever place they are that week, holding those stupid signs that say "SHAME ON..... Labor disputes". I just want to swerve my car right into their idiotic sign. Unions, in there defense, have good underlying motives, but are so money hungry that they have corrupted business that they have seeped into. The number one reason why we are a sucky society, is the media, the stupid, idiotic, moronic media. There is more money paid for a picture of some lame, loser, self-absorbed celebrity, than a teacher makes in months of hard work, doing a job that actually matters.
ReplyDeleteWe need to spend more time and energy on getting better educations for kids than on finding out who the biggest loser is...because in hollywood, they're all losers.
I really love to spend once a week to sit down with group a watch somethings. After watched so many films, I really can decide which film will be my favorite. I suppose I'm like the film about histories, actions, comdies, or science fiction films more. Alas we didn't really see science fiction films in this class.
ReplyDeleteJFK really shows something so dark behind the back of government. If the truth of JFK's assassination is really as JFK film says. Than that a very ugly page to add in American's history, men. But JFK film are just an film, just see another view of guessing.
Fahrenheit 9/11, an documentary film for us to watch. I really like to see something much deeper then what media always telling us everydays. I always think Afghan War is justify, because US is trying to pay back the wound of 9/11. But about the Invasion of Iraq, I don't think it's right war to pick. What's Iraq ever done to the US? Except don't listen whatever US says and have bunch of the oil to drill, I think the true reason Iraq got invaded. Many people who believe in what government and many politicians want to punch Michael Moore in the face, for broke down what their believe or their goods. Just like I saw on the posts of Fahrenheit 9/11, so many people was so angry at Michael Moore. For me, Michael Moore got guts to talk different way which peoples won't believe in. (I got nothing against, so don't angry at me as angry at Micheal Moore.)
Penn & Teller: Bullshit! is one of my favorite on all we've watched in this class. Telling us about something in funny ways, but I think for some people who believe on no profanity will think this film is rude. I think these films of Penn & Teller is very relaxing.
I never like religious type films, It will making me feel bored and annoying. But if the religious film is basing on a historical war, then I'll love to watch them, the blood boil feeling on the battlefield will always wakes me up, I love to watch war films.
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ReplyDeleteThis class was absolutly mind blowing. I thought there would be alot more issues discussed, but I guess not.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite movie that we watched in this class has to be American History X.
Reason being is because it is about racism.
‘Humans’…strange word isn’t it? Humans are said to be the most complex beings on the face of the Earth, and the only ones who can properly distinguish emotions. Usually we are the only creatures on this Earth that hurt intentionally and usually without any reason. How can we even state that we are caring when we are capable of these things?
Most of us have insulted another just for fun without caring for another’s feelings. This affects them a lot, it lowers their self-esteem and makes them unconfident. Have you ever hurt another? Imagine how they would feel and how this would affect them the very next day?
We hurt another because of the color of their skin or the religion they follow? This affects children especially, How cruel! And do the abusers take sympathy? To put it bluntly, NO.
I believe that discriminating against some one because of their ethnic or cultural background is a harmful, stupid and above all irrational type of behaviour. There is absolutely no place or reason for racism in today's multicultural society, where people with all different backgrounds should be able to live together in harmony. The only way we are ever going to be able to achieve the desirable goal of world peace is by abolishing racism and realizing that in reality everyone is just the same, no matter what their beliefs are, or what country they originate from. I think people need to be more culturally aware, this will let them appreciate all aspects of a person and
their culture, instead of stereotyping and going by popular belief. This can only be achieved through education.
In closing, I feel that every person on the planet deserves respect and the chance to live whatever life they want and not be criticised or put down for what they look like or what their beliefs are.
When I signed up for this class to fulfill both my art and diversity credits needed to graduate I totally thought that all we were going to watch was all sorts of different foreign films since the title of the class is "film and culture" and not "film and controversy." To me this class would be much more interesting if the two were mixed together like maybe watching a Spanish film where there are gay people being bashed, or a film about African people hating other African people just for being different.
ReplyDeleteOf course personally I think if you watched all of the South Park episodes from season one till whatever they are on now you could see every single subject that was controversial and brought up within this class in those episodes as well as their attempt to explain or solve it. Whether the topic is racism, gays, Mormons, Catholics, aids, religion, illegal immigration, and a shit ton more its all their in South Park.
For me the thing that pisses me off more than anything right now is when we as Americans latch on to our English language and bitch about anyone who cant speak it very well or at all. What we should be bitching about is the fact that we can only speak one language. Yes English is the number one language used in business and it is a very important language. However it is super ignorant to only want to speak one language and look down on people who cant speak your own language.
American society needs to step up our education we as Americans need to become multilingual. Many other countries are learning a second language while in grade school through high school. Why aren't we?
I mean how are we supposed to compete with the rest of the world and people immigrating to the United States when we cant communicate with anyone who doesn't have a similar tongue.
If you go out and look in your newspaper or on the internet you will see that jobs are giving bonuses to multilingual people. I want those kind of incentives but I'm a slave to my one language. For those of us who are not immigrants from foreign speaking countries I find it sad that we aren't at that level of having multilingual skills. Our ability to only speak one language is about as sad as a person who is illiterate.
I am pissed off that people want to dumb us down to one language. I hope that in the future America will become more diverse in the way we speak so that the world can be opened up unto us. Sure our schools do teach foreign language but how are we ever supposed to be able to retain it when we take French and there is no books to read in French at our bookstores. A student who takes Russian or Chinese cant find movies at the store with those dubbed languages. The only language that is getting out there into our systems and stores is Spanish. So we almost have all the resources to learn a second language and retain it but we still need more for when our interest are in other parts of the world then the Spanish speaking ones.
Sadly I know that what I want is a false reality. I know the reason there is so little foreign films, books, and music within our stores is due to lack of demand. I just wish that we did have the demand. We cant immerse ourselves into other languages within our current state. I'm trying to do such an adventure with Japanese because my wife is Japanese however I still continue to suck because I don't have the option to turn on the radio and listen to Japanese music in my car. I tried to order TV Japan from Comcast Cable but due to lack of demand in the area I cant get it. Also due to the fact that I am an American English TV and radio have the ability to pull me in to their convenience when there is not something else to do it.
I hope the future comes with more knowledge and not just in spoken language, but also such things as sign language and the ability to read music.
I just feel retarded that I can only speak English and a little bit of Japanese. I want to be able to speak Spanish as well. I just want able to enjoy all they entertainment and sensations that another language can bring and the lack there of is killing me.
Excellent class! i truely enjoyed it i liked the fact that we had to do multiple view points it truely gave me some perspective. so i had several topics that i felt i didn't say enough about the first is shared by all the topics and is the attitude towards controversial topics such as religion. religion is a belief not a fact period the end you can't treat it as fact a belief is something of yours not everyones so don't talk about burning copies of the last temptation of christ because you don't agree with it. comments like that make me wonder why people are in college. others are similiar like the whole bullshit thing with peta when somebody behind me said they bomb shit let's bomb them okay that puts you at their level and doesn't get anything acomplished an eye for an eye leaves everyone blind period the end! racism american history x (great movie) hit the nail right on the head hate is baggage and after seeing that i was amazed to hear all the negative comments about people like michael moore because your opinions differ from his doesn't make you superior in anyway. think before you express yourself put yourself in other peoples positions before you express yourself by making shit personal by completely attacking a person thats uncalled for. as far as bullshit went like the swearing thing just pick your audience i'm not going to walk into a church and say fucking shit or oh my god just because i can if i'm with friends then fuck ya i will say what i want. i would like to know where penn and teller got there info for there bits such as recycling and like the fung shway (maybe spelled wrong) which i totally bought what they said until somebody mentioned to me "well what about like a placebo effect" thats a very valid point if you think something like that will help you on a path to wellness happiness or whatever it just might. i guess just live and respect great class i enjoyed along with the conversations of everyone in the class though i always didn't agree it was a great experience.
ReplyDeleteOne of the biggest concerns around our society today is the classification or social groups to which people are categorized into. This is not a matter of choice; you are quite literally born into a certain group depending on your ethnicity, social status, wealth and gender. It can be quite complex ,like for example a male who is Caucasian will be born with certain privileges over a female that he may not be aware of, such privileges include: jobs, business ownership, certain sports etc. Now take that same male and make him of any other ethnicity and he will be below a male who is Caucasian but still above a female, confusing? Yes, this topic can be difficult to comprehend if you are not the oppressed, so I conducted an exercise in one of my classes to further develop an understanding of this.
ReplyDeleteWe had a group discussion about affirmative action and throughout the discussion I mostly kept quiet and listened to what others had to say, towards the end of the discussion I spoke up and gave my opinion, I also added that I wanted them to be honest with me and tell me what they thought of me keeping quiet throughout the discussion, now all of my peers were white but this is not a racial rant so look beyond that. Some of them said I wasn’t being very helpful and surprised them towards the end, while the rest thought that maybe I did not speak English well enough because of my Hispanic ethnicity and with that I concluded that, this is what minorities have to face on a daily basis, obviously it is not racism because I could tell the students did not discriminate but it is something that has become part of our society, a classification based on ethnic assumptions. How does this affect the oppressed? They constantly have to prove beyond themselves that they are capable of doing certain tasks, whatever they may be. For women, they have to go the extra mile if they choose to become police officers, pilots or members of the military. In a male oriented environment, they will always be seen as inferior so they have to demonstrate otherwise. African Americans have to constantly break assumptions about them based on their skin color or what they are “supposed to be” like, these assumptions are something that we for the most part do unknowingly. It is a vicious cycle that feeds on itself, that even if you choose to ignore it, you still affect it.
Another category that I foresee coming is that of genetically engineered people, what does this consist of? You engineer your child by choosing certain attributes they will have before they are even born. Imagine a world where certain individuals are genetically engineered to be superior then others. I first saw this in the film “Gattaca” but now it does not look far from reality (www.genochoice.com). I believe doing this will just add another category to the cycle of socialization and further maim any kind of progress we can do to correct it. So what is the main idea I am trying to get at? I do not want people to assume I am writing in favor of certain groups, awareness is all I ask for. Yes, we are all different physically but we are also the same. On a lighter note maybe one day everybody will mate with everybody and we’ll all end up looking the same but then you’d have the wealthy, the middle class, and I think I’ll stop there before I make this longer! Thanks for the class Sara, it was great.
Peace
Ronny
P.S. I agree with Stephen Marston on Southpark being the best at offending everyone equally.
I don’t agree with gay marriage because of the procreation aspect, as well as the religious aspect. I know that people who do not believe in God will not agree with much I say. I can understand that, and all I ask is you hear me out and try to understand this standpoint of it, as I will do to try and understand the counterarguments. I am not trying to change anyones opinion on anything I just hope an acceptance of differences and compromise can be reached. In addition I will point out some of the counterarguments that I agree with in support of gay relationships.
ReplyDeleteThe reason that most people do not agree with gay marriage, I believe, is because it is not in harmony with the topic of God. Believers of God also believe that God is the author and instigator of marriage. He consecrated it for his children to be able to bring more of Gods children into existence and into the process of life in order to live and learn. God Consecrated marriage specifically between a man and a woman, God made man and woman and the idea of marriage and procreation. In fact God created everything both in the earth and out. Marriage is not an idea of society. It was with Adam and Eve and has continued until now. That is why Believers in God can’t stand for the idea/definition of marriage to be altered by man, because it is not ours to change. Plus, Marriage was not made for same sex couples. It is nothing against homosexual people. It just goes against our belief system that marriage is consicrated by God for procreation between a man and a woman.
Atheists like to quote Darwin’s theory of evolution to disprove God and his existence. I would like to use another of Charles Darwin’s theories to argue the principle of gay marriage. Natural Selection or Survival of the Fittest. Whatever happened to living, and thriving to survive? Can’t we see what would happen to a beginning civilization of Gay couples? There would be no pro creation there would be no survival. So if we are going to use science as a method of disapproving something, then obviously we know where Darwin stands on the subject of gay marriage.
“While a Democratic presidential nominee and U.S. Senator, Barack Obama stated that he personally considers marriage to be between a man and woman,[72] and supports civil unions that confer comparable rights rather than gay marriage” (Wikipedia). I agree that marriage is between a man and a woman, and I do support civil unions that give comparable rights, not the term marriage necessarily, but a civil union. I think a gay couple could raise a child just as well as any couple and if they choose, should be able to do so.
I think that there should be no discrimination, or hate. Some people choose a different life style than others, and that is fine. It does not give anyone the right to stereotype or hate. Acceptance is a theme we learned in this class and it should be cultivated into our lives. I support homosexual people in their decisions, but if you ask my opinion and ask me to vote on the idea of gay marriage I am agsinst it.
Well this class has been quite interesting! The majority of the films that we watched I didn't enjoy to much, but hey that is just my opinion. The two most entertaining films in class were american history x and the da vinci code. These two films didn't make me want to get up and leave they actually kept me in my seat and awake. I enjoyed the class and learned some new things that I didn't know before and I saw things that I could have gone without seeing, but in the beginning of the semester I was warned. The thing that I would like to talk about is about the film Angels in America.
ReplyDeleteThis film really kind of upset me at why people always choose mormons to go against? Especially controversial homosexual topics. I believe that during the whole proposition 8 thing there were more than just mormons that were going against what the homosexual people wanted, but for some reason the mormons got hit the hardest. I don't agree with gay marriage at all. I totally agree with what tygraff said when he said "Can’t we see what would happen to a beginning civilization of Gay couples? There would be no pro creation there would be no survival." It is totally true from that aspect.
Another thing that really made me mad is that towards the end of the film the one gay guy said that God had abandoned us. Then I dont know who it was but some idiot in our class started clapping! That just really made me mad! How the hell can you say that God has abandoned the world? I mean honestly, look at how the world lives and treats each other? From a religious aspect people are living so against Gods commandments that they have abandoned him! He hasn't abandoned us nor will He ever! Those kinds of thoughts are what is making the world such a terrible place that one day people are going to realize that they need God in their lives more than they ever did before.
These are my thoughts Im sorry if Ive offended anyone but that is just the way I feel. Im not against gay people or non religious people at all, I just believe differently than you do. I had an enjoyable semester and wish all of you luck in the future! Thanks Sara!
I am going to take my soap box moment to rant about the class, I found it funny that there was alot of comments about the movies we were watching, but the comments normally came while the teacher was out. This class was supposed to be about contraversy, and opening our eyes. The movies that were chosen were all for the reason that we are supposed to open our eyes, understand the underlying messege in the movie. And every time a movie came up that we didnt want to watch, there was always grumbling because thit was a shitty movie, or that movie sucks. Well, you may think that movie sucks. They all held an important messege that we were supposed to try to understand. The part I find most funny is that the class was supposed to teach us tollerance, and help us understand others points of view, beliefs, and rituals. But instead, I think it closed some peoples mind to the view of the other side. Instead of opening it, they became so ignorant and unwilling to respect the thought that someone may think differently, which digressed from the actual motive of the class and the overall objective of what we were there for.
ReplyDeletePeople didnt show up becuase they didnt want to watch a movie, or they would not pay attention, and i find that more disrespectful to the class because we suffered while trying to pay attention.
If you are not going to take a class seriously when its probably the easiest class you could ever take at any institution of higher learning. Then you might as well forget the thought of school because your just waisting your time and the time of everyone else in the class.
Here it goes...my soap box moment. Agreeing with some of the previous posts, I feel this class opened up my mind to subjects I wasn't 100% clued in on. For instance, I always knew PETA was for the ethical treatment of animals and yada yada but I didn't know to what extent they were doing until I watched the Bullshit episode about it. It actually made me want to do my own personal research on it to grow a greater and more educated opinion. But that alone was just one of the many movies we watched in class that got me thinking.
ReplyDeleteI understand that when I signed up for the class and saw the syllabus that it stated something along the lines of "you will get offended", I was actually looking forward to it! Just because I personally am such a diverse and free-thinking person that I found it almost a personal challenge to see if I could get offended by any of these movies shown. To my amusement it was a yes and no. A no because some of the things we went over I already had a pretty well-rounded grasp on the subject and expected it when I visited the links week after week. But yes by the religious movies. I know I know, religion is a touchty subject for most but I wasn't aware of so many movies that had a huge underlying religious theme to them!
Like I have stated in many of my posts, I am a catholic and I was expecting movies like The DaVinci Code and sorts but not The Last Temptation of Christ. But....one thing that will separate me and a great portion of the class...I could understand that people have different opinions. We are free-thinking college students! Well...at least we are suppose to be. I remember a few posts and remarks made in class during these religious movies that did in fact piss me off. I mean, everyone is valid to their own opinion but the moment someone disagrees with you on THAT level...get over it!
Not everyone thinks the same like your little group of maybe 2 or 3 do. That's what makes the world so great is the diversity of people and of cultures. To be the same with everyone else and think the same would be bland! I wish those people who walked out of movies and decided to leave nasty, uneducated posts to movies on here to avoid a class that makes you think outside of the box..wait...I guess that would also mean to avoid interaction with anyone outside of your clique. Oh what a deprived world they must live in.
But overall for the class I thought it was great and insightful. Being able to see another portrayal of something I think opposite of was quite enjoyable and interesting. Didn't piss me off or get me angry. It made me stretch my horizon of thinking and give me a better understanding of the subject discussed. To me, that alone is very educational.
In the course of this semester, we have covered numerous issues. Some of which I have already known and others that have never been brought to my attention. I have to say that this class has opened my eyes to many issues facing our society today. I was especially surprised about what I learned about PETA. It is extraordinary to think that there are many hidden aspects of organizations that people do not see or question. I am glad that I was exposed to these issues because it has made me a more knowledgeable. I feel like I have a good grasp on these topics to talk to others about it.
ReplyDeleteI think the most controversial topic will be the issue of gay marriage. Of all the issues that we covered in class, this is the one I have the strongest feeling towards. As a person who truly believes in equal rights for all, I fully support gay marriage. It is amazing to me that in a country where we pride ourselves in freedom and equality for all that we could debate whether or not gay people deserve the same equal rights. The issue of gay marriage goes beyond the definition of the word 'marriage'. It is not fair to not give gay couples the same rights that are entitled to married couples. As far as hospital visitation, insurance coverage, and even estate or beneficiary rights are withheld from gay couples. It is unfair to use an excuse of GOD and the bible to withhold rights from others. I am more than happy to hear the other perspective but give me more than just that excuse, please.
Well, I did my ranting. Overall, I really enjoyed this class. I respect hearing other people's ideas and perspective and I enjoyed the diversity. The movies were really good. Some were really funny, while others were very insightful. I really like watching movies and this class gave me the opportunity to watch movies that I otherwise would never see. I wouldn't trade this experience for anything else.
I go through a lot of internal conflict when posting these blogs, and with this being the "Final Blog!" it goes without saying that tonight, I have been especially conflicted. I want my post to "mean" something, but at the same time I'm not sure why. Who is this post for? As I review my previous posts , they are all shouting a message, they all have something to prove. What that is, is still up for debate, as are my motives. All I know is that I have absolutely no idea.
ReplyDeleteTheir is an overwhelming sense of helplessness that has accompanied me through most of these movies, with it comes the repetitive idea that I am only a spectator. I guess what I'm trying to say, regardless of how coherent or structurally sound it has been, is that I don't understand, I don't understand why people misspell words when the site has a built in spell check? Why is "totally" one of the most popular words in these blogs? How can jcrayk post a blog or even speak without immediately being struck by lightning? Are we all just stupid?
Shit. Now I going to "try" to write about something entirely unrelated. This is mostly a consequence my brains inability to focus on anything. I know this has been hard to understand and I apologize for the inconvenience. Please know that it's not my fault. I've written too much and I'm not deleting it.
MySpace sucks!!! Social networking is a joke. Maybe I'm just old fashioned but looking at photo after photo of you just chillin' makes me want to throw up. The only thing that would make my space interesting is if I could guess how long it will take for some of these kids to commit suicide. Not PC? That's controversy.
I've managed to make an entire blog that is so useless and unreadable that you couldn't be more unclear if you typed with your eyes closed. But still it's late and I have to go to bed. I tried really but tonight just wasn't my night.
I would like to take the time in my final post to say what I liked and didn’t like about the class. First what I liked: I really liked the structure of the class and most of the film selection. I also liked the way the class was set up so we responded in a blog rather than writing up a bunch of reports or some other form of busy work. I thought that the discussion before each film were a good set up to let us know what to focus on in the film and what is expected in the blog. I also have to admit that the class did a good job of introducing films that offended a lot of the class. Now for what I didn’t like: first and for most the thing that really pissed me off was the fact that we were warned that the class was vulgar and it would offend people and yet almost every film and you got people that got up and walked out on the film. It wasn’t the fact that they walked out but they knew what the film was about and sat in the front row so we all got to watch them get pissed off and leave. There is nothing worse than going to a movie and having people leave from the front row and walk out. Enough about that the only other thing I didn’t like about the class was all the documentaries. I think it is more personal opinion and I realize that you can’t please everyone but I am not a huge fan of documentaries. Other than that I really enjoyed the class. Since you wanted this to be longer than our normal posts I will close like this: SCREW FLANDERS, SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS SCREW FLANDERS!
ReplyDeleteIf you can't drive get off of the road. Well today i am going to write something that really pisses me off and that is bad drivers. I like to think that i am a pretty good driver i like to go fast but i know how to do it, you get people who go fast and swerve in and out of cars making it so the cars they are swerving in and out of have to slow down it is especially stupid in rush hour traffic.
ReplyDeleteThat brings me to my next topic tailgating, get off my back if people would just have 2 to 3 car lanks between cars all this rush hour traffic would not be so bad. If you in the fast lane that means go fast if your in the slow lane that means all you fast drivers so riding the cars that are going the speed limit in that lane. Fast lane=fast slowlane= slow.
Now when there is an accident on the freeway or even on the street. people are so stupid they have to come to a complete stop to investigate the scene, just move to the side still drive and watch it on the news that night, the cops can handle it there is no need to stop and check it out.
Next on my list is people who can't read road signs if a sign says no left turn don't turn left so i have to wait for you to turn cause i am behind you and you cant read so stop cause it is stupid and finally school zones come on people go twenty when the lights are flashing little kids don't like to get hit by cars
Be smart about driving, if you need to get somewhere fast just leave earlier and if you can't drive don't that means you grandma. be safe and i really enjoyed this class the end
It was good class to take. I enjoyed most of it. I watched movies that I normally do not watch. Some movies were little bit hard to watch but it is good to learn new things and understand. Even though there are many bad comments for movies in this class, from reading everybody’s last post, lots of people liked this class too. It is always hard to accept something different from normal. I do not know what is normal is but if we do something different from most people do, people look us as abnormal. It is very sad that there are still people here that discriminate people because they are just different. I have been very lucky that nobody discriminate me because of my race. They treat me same as other people and when I have problems understanding English; they help me instead of making fun of me. Sometimes I hear that Korean or Chinese people hate Japanese because we did cruel thing in past. It makes me sad little bit because I did not do anything to them but they already hate me before they know who I am. I think it will make people become better person if we look people individually instead of look as group.
ReplyDeleteThis class let me thing about what is important, we are all difference and it is ok. I wish that more people understand this.
this was quite possibly the best class I have ever taken, ever and I would like to summarize what I specifically learned. I found that there was a magic bullet forged by illuminati mystics, that without John Conner to lead us in the fight against bigotry we will have to rely on Batman, That the Green Goblin gave his life trying to kill Spiderman should'nt you do the same? That Angels not only have gender they also have flaming pubes instead of flaming swords, that it is hard to face ones own mortality but if you can trick the ghost of Ethel Rosenburg into lullibying you into the long goodnight it will be okay. That Michael Moore is a fat douch-bag and I wouldn't have it any other way. That the people who oppose Michael Moore not only stoop to his level but are just as fun. That I really don't like being yelled at. That distorted facts about electric cars are more interesting than a movie interpertation of a book based on a Dan Brown novel. That Feng Shui, Bottled Water, Recycling (exept cans), Family values, Profanity, and PETA are BULLSHIT! That a movie based on a Dan Brown novel is less interesting than a documentary on the electric car (deja vu?) Found that a standard non leap year consists of 525600 minutes and innumerable heartaches loves and losses. That Penn & Teller are worth 289 MegaFonzies in awesome. And that traditional family vacation movies suck compared to a father/mother son vacation across america and that I FUCKING HATE FREUD!!! so, so long and thanks for all the fish.
ReplyDeletewow where do I start.. This was such an interesting class. When I first signed up I thought it was going to be like watching 300 or something but it was totally different.
ReplyDeleteThe main point of this class was about acceptance on no matter who you were!! In every movie we eatched it talked about life in general and made you sit back and realize what life is. In American History X They really made it clear that hate shouldn't be an issue no matter what the problem is and how you should deal with it.
In Angels in America they taught us that no matter what you believe, whoever you like, you should always go with what you feel!! You need to stand up for what you believe. Don't feel sorry For who you are!!
All the Bull Shit movies really opened my eyes on everything they explained. I really liked the wal-mart one because it makes you realize how many people don't know what goes on behind the scene. They just go there cause they like the prices they see but they don't know what goes in it. The illegals was great too with how they can just hop over the fence and live here for freedom. They need to become legalized to be able to live her and gain their own rights.
So in a nut shell the class was pretty good. It helped me think about everything around us. From tran sexuals to cars it makes you think on what really happens... I would definatly recomend it to everyone who has a closed mind. Thanks!!!
My final post is going to be on two things. First about the people I like to call story beaters. These are the types of people that when you tell a story, they always have to finish with one that's "better" in their opinion. First of all, I'm probably telling you a story for a reason, and unless I ask, I don't care if you have a better one. For example: This girl I work with, has a story for everything. I guess she knows, or she knows someone who knows about everything. At work we were talking about allergies. I understand that everyone is allergic to one thing or another, but there is no way that you, or someone you know is allergic to everything. She just had to put in her 2 cents. I hate it when you talk about a trip, or an accident, or anything cool- there is always someone out there that can beat it.
ReplyDeleteNext subject on my list is I hate it more than anything when people ask me if I'm good at my job. I'm a phlebotomist. I hate it when a patient walks in and asks me if I'm any good at drawing blood. Sometimes I feel like telling them that I just walked off the street and I felt like torturing someone, now which arm can I use? But of course I can't say that, I just smile and say I've been doing it for 4 years so I better be good. I know that it's not fun getting your blood drawn, I don't like it either. But deal with it. It has to be done so quit complaining. Go home and take your cholesterol meds so you don't have a heart attack. Now for the defense, I know that sometimes people have a bad experience getting their blood drawn, but have you ever thought that the phlebotomist that did it was maybe just having an off day? Don't we all have them? That doesn't mean that every time you get your blood drawn you have to ask if the phlebotomist is any good. If anything, watch what you say, I'm the one with the needle. heh heh :)
I have enjoyed the movies that we have seen. Some more then others. I enjoyed getting to watch differenet diverse movies because in most cases i probably wouln't have gone an rented half of the movies that we watch. One of the movies that i really like was American History X. To me that was a movies that was a movies with a strong message.
ReplyDeleteThat hatred and racism still go on today. I have lived in utah most of my life growing up, and i lived in pittsburgh for two years while i served and LDS mission. I will say that there is a lot of racism that still go on, and that i felt some of that being a minority as an LDS missionary. Things that i would hear about in high school thinking that it was all in the past. Wrong it is still going on today. maybe not as much as in the past. American History X reminded me of all that goes on. It also showed me that we have consequences for our actions. People do mistake and do things that they reget and people do things that they know is wrong but do it for fun. It is sad to see that stuff that goes on in American History X still goes on today. I hope that we can all respect what others believe in and do, as long as it follows the right of other and that they don't take that freedom away from other people for no reason.
this was a an ok class. i liked how we went into a very broad range of topics. my favorite movie that we watched was american history x, it showed how wrong and biased people can get after being raised in a racist house.
ReplyDeletethis class spent too much time on how the gay community is oppressed. i can understand that they have to go through a lot more than an average american, but we did not need to spend a third of the class talking about it.
the penn and teller movies seemed to be the most fair out all the movies. penn and teller showed both sides of the arguments and kept their show entertaining in the process.
overall, this class need to spend less time on gay movies and more time on the topics discussed in bullshit. penn and teller covered the most interesting topics, but they didn't have enough time to show the topic completly.
I’m very happy I took this class. Not only was it easy but I thought it was very interesting and I learned a lot from it. I took a film class in high school and loved it. We had a lot of class discussions, and I loved hearing what everyone thought and everyone’s point of view. I liked how we did that in this class and I liked the idea of blogging because not everyone was able to get their point out there so it was fun and interesting to read everyone’s thoughts. I also liked how we were able to say whatever was on our mine. Not many teachers let you do that, so it was nice to have that freedom.
ReplyDeleteI liked most of the movies we watched. I thought most of them were pretty interesting and some of them were on my movie list. I liked all the important points we discussed for all the movies. Some of them I didn’t even realize so it was nice to have my mind opened up. I liked America History X, which was a movie I’ve been wanting to see. I liked how in the movie the brothers changed for the good and that Edward Norton’s character was trying to be a good example to his family. I liked how he learned a lot in prison and how that opened his eyes a lot.
Fahrenheit and Fahrenhype 9/11 were also interesting movies that I wanted to see. It’s hard when both are so one sided you don’t know which side to believe. Conspiracy theories have always interested me so it was good to see both sides and to learn more about it. I think it’s an important subject that we all need to know the truth about.
I liked watching the documentary on the electric car. That is one thing I didn’t know about the electric car. I had no idea that it was just taken away by the government. In the movie people were being so dramatic and crying over it but now that I think about it I would be. I think that it’s a great idea and to have that taken away is sad, especially if you were on of the creators. I think that’s a defiant slap in the face. I really liked this; a lot of people thought it was boring but learning about something that can better our environment has always interested me.
I thought Penn and Tellers Bullshit was pretty funny. Some stuff I totally agreed on and I thought it was hilarious. Like bottled water for example, I’ve never been that person that goes out and buys bottled water but my whole family is. They hate tap water but I think water is water and I can’t taste a difference. One I didn’t agree with was Recycling. I think that it helps, we might as well try and do our part to help out and I think recycling is one thing we can do.
The Da Vinci Code is one that I’m iffy on. I liked the book a lot better. I think it’s an interesting and creative story line. I think that everyone has wondered if Jesus has a bloodline. So I liked how it when into that and all the mysteries of Da Vinci’s art work.
Rent, I kind of liked. I think it would be better to see on Broadway but it was an ok movie. I don’t like musicals that much, I think they’re cheesy but I did like all the characters and how everyone stood up for what they believed in. I liked seeing the bohemian lifestyle.
I liked Transamerica and the whole values behind it. Like being excepting of yourself and others. I liked how it was funny and how it really teaches people to be open minded of others and not to assume things of people.
Overall I really liked this class and what I am taking away from it. I’m very happy I took it and I would recommend this class to anyone. It wasn’t just watching movies but it was learning life values also. So thank you.
Holy shit 4 hours it has to be the longest fucking class I have ever taken! With that being said it was also the easiest and most interesting class I think I have ever taken. I'm probably going to sound like a broken record but I loved how this class makes you think about every perspective of the movies my favorites are the ones that have multiple things going on like Amgels in America and RENT.
ReplyDeleteI think by far Angels in America was my favorite. Hated how long it was but I loved everything else. You have a mormon couple where the wife is a classic pill popper from 'Happy Valley' and her husband is secretly gay. Then there is the gay couple where one partner is dealing with one of the worst diseases, AIDS and the other partner can't even deal with the thought of it. Also you have the big shot lawyer who isn't gay he just sleeps with men and then got AIDS. I love how they all come together and especially love the hallucinations with the Angel.
These movies make you see how the other side lives. None of us, well maybe very few of us know what its like to be gay, an addict, not wanting money, or to be racist! I like how in all of these movies they overcome their problems to become a better person or they realize that they don't need anyone's acceptence which is something the general population needs to learn as well.
All in all I loved this class by far one of the best classes of my college carreer so far and the discussions are the best I now have a new serious I want to watch BULLSHIT Penn and Teller are awesome and I am amazed and awed by their topics!!
Also I love Erin Wilkins blog it made my day I needed a good laugh!!!
I liked the class alot but it wasn't what I was expecting. I enjoyed most of the movies and the ideas/controversies behind them. I loved the little homework required, but I also thought that may have been the greatest downfall to the class. Overall it was a great class and I enjoyed my time in it. Other than all the annoying japanese comic talk. Annoying!
ReplyDeleteWe were told to give a gutteral response to the films but this was almost impossible. First of all we had a class discussion after each movie which was benifitial in understanding multiple viewpoints but it dilluted each persons gutteral response. secondly two weeks for each post.... very lenient and was nice but it took away from the point. We had to much time to think about it. Also I know it was our faults and everything but the whole research thing totaly took away from the gutteral response.
The thing I disliked the most was the two or three weeks where we were required to argue both sides. I felt that this completely destroyed the point of the posts which was to give our ideas and thought about the controversy of the week. But when we are required to argue both sides it muffles our voices. We are not able to speak our minds and say what we think. It is also personally humiliating to be forced to argue for a controversial idea that you are either totally against or totally for. I understand the importance of seeing boths sides but that is degrading.
The discussions after each movie were very interesting. I thought it was great to hear other people who had the same or similar ideas as mine and also to hear opposing ideas and "discuss" the differences.
I have no particular movie or controversy that I wish to get into rather the central idea in all the films of the Other which was only made verbal by Sara after the last film, however I have been learning about this idea all semester in my english class.
Each week I was personally chanlleged by the films whether they were stupid as hell or not they all engaged the idea of the other in some way or another. It was interesting to learn how to see multiple sides to a story or issue before I made my personal judgement about it. This was not always the case though. I often times found that I had already made my judgement about the topic before I really began to see all sides involved and was forced to step back and reevaluate my position.
I found the idea of the other to cross over from my school work into my home life and my daily thinking. I am constantly trying to see all sides and understand why I make the assumptions and judgements I make about things and analyze all sides before I decide again what my stance is or what my beliefs or assumtptions are.
Thanks for the great class Sara.
Hey Sara, hey......
ReplyDeleteI really liked this class. I never watched rated R movies because I thought I was too good for them. I figured I didn't need all that swearing and violence in my life. I ridiculed people that watch rated R movies other than the war ones. I decided those were ok. But I really liked watching those movies and letting them piss me off. It was good to get a sense of what I really believed. I just believed this or that because people told me it would make me happy. I was so sheltered. Some of the movies helped me look at the other side of things that I normally would try to ignore. Some movies also helped me really defend what I believe deep down and I always will. I'll give you some examples
JFK- they never talked about all the conspiracies our government might have created. of course not why would they in a government ran program. I had no idea about any of that stuff. In school they just told me "it was Lee Harvey Oswald, he's a bad guy". So I'm glad I got some deeper looks into our government.
The Last Temptation of Christ- this movies just pissed me off. I still question the churches beliefs but this movie completely solidified how I feel about Christ. I know it was just a last temptation of his that everything was fake but just the idea brought up a lot of anger and made me pick a side.
American History X- I never liked hearing racist jokes but I sometimes sputter out rude remarks about another race when I'm angry. This movie just hit me. Hate is Baggage. I love that. I cannot be mad at someone for their color but for their actions. My family is racist and I always like to get into serious discussions with them about it. We cannot blame other races for things that make us mad. That is absolutely ridiculous. I really try now to remember Dericks story eben though it is hard. This is probably one of my favorite movies.
Angles in America-this movie really grossed me out. I have some great homosexual friends and I completely support them but watching their sexual actions was really hard for me. I don't need to enjoy what they do to support them though. I also think that it's ok to be grossed out by some of the actions your loved ones do. I love people that smoke but that doesn't mean I need to hang around them when they do that or if I start getting grossed out that they should hate me. I will never hate a person for being homosexual and I will try not to get grossed out. I thought I was ok with what they do but it does bother me a little. I can still love them though.
Recycling- I was kinda happy about this cuz I'm not the best recycler but I also think we should still reuse plastic. We waiste money already on lots of things. Like our Dork president that is spending a lot of unneccesary money on a lot of stupid shit. That bugs me.
The profanity one was just lame. I like to swear but there is always a time and a place for that. people do get offended by that and respectful people respect other people. IT is the polite thing to do to watch your mouth along with other actions that might offend someone. Poor penn and teller just think it is funny to piss people off.
Anyway I really liked this class. I wish I participated more but I just sound like a dork when I try to express myself and my opinions. I also learned a lot about the people around me. I think everyone should try to face the things that are controversial to them. It is healthy.
I want to say something about those cry baby ass people whining about people in the front row leaving during the film because you think that they didnt like it. I sat in the fron t row nearly every film and I got up and left about every film to. I had to take a piss. So unless you'd rather me piss on your lap shut the hell up.
ReplyDeleteSecond of all your idea about them knowing what the film was about before had and going anyways then to just leave (if thats actually what they did) is Fing ridiculous. Say you have never had Thai food but you decide to go to the restaurant and try it. If you decide you absolutely hate the food you dont sit there and finish eating everything on your plate until you puke all over the place you get up and you leave. And then y ou can say that you tried it, you tried your best and you gave it a chance. If something doesn't sound the greatest to you you dont have to like it but try it first and maybe thats what these people did. So quit being an ass!
Thank you and have a great day.
Well, It's been a long and interesting ride throughout the semester but, it was fun for the most part. Anyways, we went through a lot of different topics, all were very controversial, but one stood out to me more than the others.
ReplyDeleteImmigration. Maybe it's because I'm an immigrant myself or maybe it's the fact that I'm associated with a lot of them in one way or another throughout my life or maybe it's something I'm very passionate about and wish it could be better in this country that I love so much. Lot's of maybe's, but on thing for sure is that it's not a pretty picture, but a very bad and degrading situation all around.
They say that they don't want to work and pay taxes like everyone else. They don't want to enter this country legally but rather jump the borders, commit crimes and run back to their home country to escape prosecution. They take many of the jobs that many legal citizens could have had.
The fact is that many of these so call jobs, the Americans don't want. They rather have jobs that are clean and behind a desk. Who's going to do the cleaning and washing, raking, sweeping, scrubbing, carpeting, tiling, plumbing, etc? The point is, someone has to fill these needs, why not.
Why can't we somehow find a way to make the process of filling these legal documents simpler and or cheaper? It's absolutely ridiculous. Thousands and thousands of dollars just to begin. I know of many that make that initial effort but fall short and then stop all together due to the fact that the money slows down somehow. Why can't we make it a simpler process for everyone to enjoy and feel welcome to this country? Wasn't this country originally build by immigrants who were searching for the same thing as today's immigrants, freedom and prosperity.
Can you imagine if we tally up the money that's tied up in all the W-2's with improper SS#'s filed away somewhere? Can you imagine all those tax returns unaccounted for? We can certainly use that money to speed up the process somehow.
Now we're building a wall to keep them out. The Mexican people for some reason always gets the blunt of it. Maybe it's because they are the closest to the continental USA, but still very unfair. They are our neighbors, our closest neighbor in fact. Weren't they here first at one time or another? Anyways, can't we just get along. This country is better than it may seem. I believe it with all my heart. God Bless America.
ironic that my topic is the same topic but opposite view point of the previous post. I do have a big problem, not with immigration, but with illegible immigration. People are welcome to our country if its through the correct channels. If the come illegitimately they are a detriment to our country, no matter what the other side uses as excuse, "oh well no one else is willing to do the jobs they do.." BS and if that is the case they are still welcome to the same jobs but with a REAL social security number. Health care alone's biggest problem is people, many of whom are illegal immigrants, that have no health insurance who's bills fall onto the rest of us in the form of higher premiums. So the economy is the biggest reason for boarder control, i will consed that the majority of immigrants aren't a huge threat to our populations, most are hard working people coming in search of a better life, which is great if they do so legally. I will admit that this may or may not happen if illegal immigrants came or not, but not speaking English is unacceptable in my opinion. Example, our cleaning lady has been here over 10 years and still can't understand or speak english. thats just an unwillingness to learn, she won't apply herself to try and it annoys the crap out of me.
ReplyDeletethats it i'm done
I liked this class just because it caused so much controversy and got people all pissed off right off the bat. It opened my eyes to different things and got me thinking in different ways. I liked how there was a topic that almost everyone in the class could relate to at some point and be offended by.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the soap box moment, I found the bullshit episode on fung shui to be the most ridiculous. Paying someone to move your shit so you'll get rich or be happy and prosperous? Are you kidding me??? People do some really dumb things. It amazed me that people are actually making a living out of this scam. How do they pull that off? They should get some kind of reward for being able to make money from something so retarded. That takes talent! Other than that, this class was really easy but challenging in a different way than most classes. I would recommend it to anyone that isn't easily offended.
I had wrestled with the thing that I most wanted addressed regarding this class, and while others have touched on it, I choose to address the core causes behind the problems of responses to films in this class: the dumbing down of America. Americans today are often guilty of anti-intellectualism, anti-rationalism and generally low expectations. We no longer praise or expect public individuals to be exceptional, learned or well spoken; politicians seek to be the “everyman,” to be just “ordinary folks.” This country has come to fear and distrust smart people to whom we cannot immediately relate, as they are “elitist” or prone to using intellectual abilities to trick people. The push toward a culture filled with “the salt of the earth” reeks of the worst sort of populist manipulation. And while I don’t intend to focus entirely on the dangers of this type of widespread sentiment, it opens people up to dangerous demagoguery and devalues important elements of society (education, arts, history, critical thinking, science, etc.)
ReplyDeleteAnti-Intellectual waves in American History are not exactly new (although our current surge is more like a tsunami than the normal cyclical wave). The national ideals of individualism, freedom of action, thought and religious thought, and American exceptionalism have long helped create a rather ethnocentric (not to mention hubris-filled) idea that individuals don’t need improvement in thought, knowledge or education. The initial move toward anti-intellectual ideas began in America in the 19th Century.
Today’s anti-intellectual thought is unified with an anti-rational element that makes critical thinking scarce and results in individuals proud of ignorance. Americans as a group increasingly rely on dogma and are increasingly possessed by pragmatically focused values; part of the reason that cultural capital like higher learning, arts and sciences are suffering is that such pursuits and learning are no longer intrinsically valuable. Collegiate education has been reduced to a means to a better job and more money and is therefore valued instrumentally as far as it can get you ahead economically. The well rounded interdisciplinary college student is a thing of the past.
Intellectual pursuits are valued only as far as they are practical. How often will a student of any age now remark, “when am I ever going to use this?” and then pursue the subject only halfheartedly until testing and promptly forgetting anything new. It’s no wonder that American elementary, middle and high school students rank so poorly against the average standard test scores of developed nations; our students consistently rank 26th to 28th, despite consistently feeling that we have one of the best education systems. A post WWII generated self-conception as exceptional, later indoctrinated into American youth despite specific evidence to the contrary, prevents us from honestly and critically evaluating areas in which we need improvement. For example, in 1960, the United State’s infant mortality rate was 12th in the world, in 2004, we had moved down to 29th. (http://tinyurl.com/r6tmqz) And yet, how many times do we hear our health care system touted as the best in the world?
Our political system is founded and dependent on a learned and intellectual electorate. Paradoxicaly, then, our elections are filled with candidates that are not, or are afraid to be labeled, intellectuals; politicians seek first to be liked, second to be re-elected, third to build political capital and alliances, and perhaps fourth (at best) to critically examine what governance is best for the people.
This leads to a distinct lack of analysis or commitment based on informed thought. As Susan Jacoby writes, people no longer trust that “there are no such things as evidence or fact, just opinion.” People do not trust evidence, or reason or the rigorous methodology of science, but instead phrase all assertions and valuations as mere opinion. In short, we have become a nation of cowards. We are afraid how we will appear by doing any relevant research and even more afraid to state what we think without the qualifier of being “just my opinion.”
I have been disgusted by the number of times individual blog posts danced around what a person really wanted to say, or proudly announced ignorance on a topic while still asserting definitively on a topic, or clearly state how they feel, only to turn around and close with the concession not to take the poster seriously: because there was no intent to offend, or everyone has rights and freedom, or everyone has right to their own opinion.
The collective cowardice in this class typifies what anti-reason and anti-intellect have done to our country. At the times I read a post where the author felt no need to qualify or apologize for their own remarks, I rejoiced, even if that post showed little reason, critical thinking or research. I might completely disagree with the position or find their ideas indicative of terrified closed thinking, but I still find it refreshing to find honesty for a change. Of course, honesty only earns so much credit; willful ignorance can be just as maddening. I died a little inside when I read Brandon Mounteer’s post about Transamerica:
“What's with all the gay movies all of a sudden? Is the teacher trying to tell us something? Is the world suddenly gay?, cuz last I checked, I liked the world. I love the world! Guess HIV ruined the party for the fudge-packers. Anyway, that movie sucked almost as bad as this class.”
When I encounter thinking like this I fear for the future of my country.
And the anti-reason, pro-ignorance stances taken are not the exclusive purview of the far right; extremists of all stripes in this country cling to demagogues that supply them with information that is safe and in-line ideologically. (Penn & Teller and the Fahrenheit/Fahrenhype films show this distinctly.) If anyone wants to read any additional information about anti-intellectualism, Susan Jacoby’s newest book is called “The Age of American Unreason.”
I personally thought the first two movies were the best of the semester. JFK and American History X. They both had a great plot and played out very well. All the controversial films didn't really appeal to me honestly, the people in the movies that didn't tolerate with outcast may have pissed me off, but gays and such don't bother me. most of the movies didn't make uncomfortable for the overall content, but occasionally within the films the was, like the curb stomp, or where the kid was attracted to his father. i guess i'm too open? ... i don't care what people do, it doesn't personally effect me. the soap box movie for me was American History X, it had a great message and watching Ethan Suplee singing white power song was a guilty pleasure. i would have liked to see atleast one foreign film, i can think of one that i think would have worked well and that Battle Royal, 9th graders are sent to an island where they have to kill each other over a weekend and if more then two are left at the end every one of them dies. it done very well and has a great message of what life is like in a big business, how the children see all the adults.
ReplyDeleteOverall, i thought this class was very beneficial and would recommend everyone to take it. We watched a lot of diverse movies throughout the semester; some i liked more than others. I think the most important thing this class taught was to think outside the box. The films we watched made us view many different aspects of society. These movies allowed me to evaluate my personal thoughts on a lot of things. I believe one of the best things you can do for yourself is to question your own personal beliefs and values. To take a step back and look at things in a different perspective and persona, it will ultimately shape you into a better person.
ReplyDeletePersonally, my favorite movies in this class were JFK, American History X, and the Bullshit episodes. JFK's conspiracy is bewildering. we will never know exactly if JFK was set up, but the movie brought up alot of proof for it. AMerican History X was a movie i had seen before and is still shocking to watch everytime i see it.
This class was awesome. it seemed very easy in some aspects, but it was also very challenging in others. The ability to write in this blog format is a plus because it gives you the opportunity to express your true feelings about the subjects at hand. i wish more classes provided this free-style blogging format. it really challenges you to express yourself freely and without sounding like a jackass. this was by far the best film class i have taken so far.
I am going to talk a little bit about a poor, sad and obviously troubled person by the name of Randy Sheppard, now for all I know Randy could be a girls name because I don't know very many people in the class, but for argument sake I am going to assume that it is a he.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading his comment it's very apparent that Randy has some issues, he seems to blame all of the worlds problems on mormons. I mostly pitty his sorry ass for how angry we mormons make him. Let me just say on behalf of all mormons that we are very sorry Randy that we have made your life such a living hell, and that it bothers you so much that we have morals, because apparently in your mind, it is only the mormons who seem to have them. Yeah, we may get offended by hearing words like the ones you obviously enjoy using and we may be against gay marriage and we may have even had a hand in the outcome of proposition 8, but according to you, mormons are the only ones who think and do these things and have these morals. Sorry catholics, protostants, baptists, jews, muslims and even the jahova's witnesses, sorry to all of you because Randy Sheppard thinks that you all have no morals and that you are incapable of living life and fallowing anything that the bible teaches, I use the bible cause I know randy, and maybe you don't but we mormons have another book that we call the book of mormon and I know that other religions don't have it, so I'll just leave it out. But the bible, as far as I know, all christian religions have them and you may be an athiest which is completely fine with me, but I'm pretty sure that you were born into some religion, it may even be mormon oooooooooooh.
I pitty scum bags like you who can't find anything else to blame his anger on except for mormons or catholics or whatever, it would be the same for any group of people. Also just a little fact for ya dumb ass, while mormons votet for prop 8, they were not the majority of votes. Ethnic groups such as blacks and Hispanics were the majority of citizens against it, so I guess according to you moron, the blacks and hispanics hate the gays more than we do.
Well I've been going on for a while now so I think I will stop. The class was good, it could have been better. peace out.
hello all and goodbye. i am sure that i will see some of you around the campus as we continue, but this is the end of the semester. ^^ i guess that i would like to harp about freedom. when i think of freedom i think about the ability to make my own choices and then reap the rewards of those choices. as my dad would tell me, my generation has far fewer freedoms "choices" than he did as a child. he doesn't elaborate very much, but i can see where he gets this from. in the current economy we have seen freedom and its counterpart responsibility take several hits. we see companies that have made very bad decisions bailed out. does this mean that they no longer need to worry about the consequences of their actions? not in the way that many would think, because we are making them pay for needing to get bailed out. on the other hand we are offering other people who made bad decisions similar kinds of bailouts, without such steep stipulations. the people that bought homes that they couldn't afford. the people that bought too many homes so they could try to get rich quick. we might even loose the right to choose what kind of car we drive. i have been reading that the government wants to limit yearly pay on the wealthy. honestly they aren't my friends, but what happened to the freedom to make as much money as you can. i still want to be able to make as much money as i can get someone to pay me. on the other hand, we do have CEO's and the like that are hugely overpaid for what they do and i feel that they are taking that money from those of us that work under them. freedom means that i can still try to take them to court or to the public eye and take whatever action i feel i need to. freedom means that i can go out and buy a gun to protect my family. freedom means that i can protest the guy buying the gun too. freedom has its good and bad points, but being controlled by someone else and being forced to carrying out some other persons ideas as to the way that i should live is , to me, wrong. that seems to me to be a point that we should all think carefully about as we continue on in our lives.
ReplyDeleteMy thoughts while reading some of these posts:
ReplyDeletehttp://tinyurl.com/2o2rnd
Overall i enjoyed the class, especially compared to other college courses. I mean i don't think sarah could have made this class any easier. i also like how we were encouraged to speak whatever was on our minds and be completely honest about anything. I agree with some of the other posts that said that maybe the whole gay issue was touched on a little too often in this class. Don't get me wrong i think it was definitely good that we touched on it and discussed it because it is one of the most controversial issues in our society today, however i just don't think it needed to be the focus as much as it was when there are many other controversial topics that could have been discussed, especially since there are only 12 classes in the whole semester so we can only discuss a fraction of the controversial issues or ideas that exist today. Like sarah promised there were a couple times during the course that i got a little offended, or uncomfortable i should say, however i learned a lot and got a different view and perception on subjects that i had previously felt somewhat different about. i thought it was bullshit that we had to watch rent, i understand that the movie had controversial issues and topics, but we had already covered the hiv/aids issue with angels in america(which took two whole class periods) and we also touched on the gay issue in that movie as well. That leaves the whole bohemian lifestyle topic which is mostly bullshit. I understand the whole pursuit of happiness idea and think that's great but if you're looking for hand outs and free shit and think you can live here and not have to pay for anything then bitch and complain when you do... that's bullshit. Anyways you throw those three topics into a two hour movie and make it a musical and i think i'd rather kill myself than watch that again. I understand that the movies were shown for the controversial value much more than the entertainment value but there are many movies out there that are very controversial and at the same time captivating and interesting/entertaining to watch. Movies like a clockwork orange or requiem for a dream. Overall though i liked the way the class was structured and taught and would definitely recommend it to other people.
ReplyDeleteI liked the class, I liked how we could express our feelings about the movies without being scared what to say.
ReplyDeleteThe topic I would like to talk about is Electric cars.
There are a few reasons why I liked the gas vehicles over electric vehicles. Gas vehicles in my opinion would be a lot quicker, which is great for me since I am into racing. I also believe gas vehicles will be more modifiable than electric vehicles because you can mess with the engine to make it stronger and quicker. I believe electric cars will cost a lot more than a gas vehicle. Despite my opinion, there are still many good reasons why electric would be better, such as less pollution, very convenient where you can charge your battery from home, no oil changes, and probably very easy to maintain. Overall the majority would probably choose electric vehicles over gas, and i would definitely invest my money in an electric vehicle as well.
To me it seems as if electric cars would get big, then just die down again. It makes me wonder, is this always going to happen when they get close to perfecting the electric car? For example, in 1996 G.M. introduced the EV1, which to me was a great car; it was quiet, fast, looked nice, and could drive up to 80 miles on a single charge. It looked like everything was going great, the state of California started putting up a few charging stations, then companies started arguing that the technology was to scary for the auto industry(ones that make money of combustion engines, oil changes, etc…). So then all of the EV1 had to be taken back from the owners to be crushed. To me, this makes me think a lot, are gasoline vehicles ever going to get replaced with electric vehicles? I think it is ridiculous how every time someone got close to perfecting the electric vehicle it would just get killed, to me that makes no sense... because some day, electric cars will indeed HAVE to replace gasoline vehicle, because of many reasons... such as global warming etc... so why not try to perfect the electric vehicle now?
I really enjoyed the movie we watched in class "who killed the electric car?" it gave me many new insights on the electric car, in the movie one of the reasons it said it died was because the auto industry was scared such as mechanics and such, I think this is total bullshit, because this is LIFE. we cant always get rid of things in our ways... Every company will always have its competitors, these companies shouldn’t have had any effect on the electric vehicle, and it is really unfair to everyone that helped create the EV1 to see it destroyed. Mechanics would be one of the biggest to be effected by the electric car, but by the time the electric car replaces the gasoline vehicles, the mechanics should be able to find a new profession. Therefore, electric cars should not be affected by anyone other than the consumer themselves. Statistics show that more people liked the EV1 than the people that disliked it. People will start realized that global warming is real, and that it is real serious, then people will start investing more in electric vehicles. The EV1 will eventually replace the gasoline powered vehicles, so why not start brings in the electric vehicles slowly? The EV1 should definitely be brought back because people outside of California and Arizona most likely have never heard of the EV1, let alone drive it. GM should give everyone a chance to lease an electric vehicle. The more people that drive an electric car will help everyone on this planet out by reducing pollution and reduce deaths. having gasoline powered vehicles replaced with electric powered vehicles will help not only the ones we love, but also our planet. According to Seattle Times, Americans
used 8.93 million barrels of gasoline a day in 2003. A barrel holds 42 gallons, so that's roughly 375 million gallons per day. By using electric vehicles we would be saving million gallons of gas per day, which we could put toward better use, than using it to pollute our planet. Electric vehicles will also help reduce deaths caused by carbon monoxide coming out of dirty exhausts. Also according to statistics, an average person spends close to $2000-$3000 on gasoline a year depending on vehicles size. People would be saving a lot more money as well switching to electric powered vehicles, not to mention electric vehicles need close to no maintenance. According previous owners of the EV1, the EV1 was the perfect electric vehicle that worked with very little problems, Sucks to see such a nice car getting crushed and shredded for worthless reasons.
in conclusion i think the world needs to realize that global warming is coming and that it is REAL, we need to do something about it! someone needs to invest more money into electric vehicles and help our planet out!
My post has absolutely nothing to do with what was covered during class. Therefore I'm going to complain about video game based films.
ReplyDeleteI am what most people consider a ‘gamer’, one who plays a lot of video games. I play because it helps me to disconnect a little from daily pressures. Obviously it’s a problem when it gets in the way of normal duties but that’s where time management factors in. Since I love to play games certain genres have their appeal over others; RTS (Real Time Strategy) RPG (Role Playing Game) FPS (First Person Shooter) or Puzzle games are my favorite.
I also enjoy a lot of movies, and when I see previews for a movie based game I love, my circuits overload with excitement and expectation. So is it a good idea to base a film off a game; who knows? One of the biggest criteria I look for when I see a game based movie is how closely the screenwriters follow the story/style of the game. Now granted, people argue that if a movie mad after any game followed the story exactly the same, wouldn’t that ruin any element of surprise for its viewers? It is possible that it could; however; when certain elements in a game that draw a following are omitted from the film, it tends to have a very negative review from gamers.
One game takes the fore front as an absolute failure on the screen is the Resident Evil Trilogy. As in the 1996 Resident Evil for the Playstation, the game opens in a mansion just outside of Raccoon City, where a team of S.T.A.R.S. (Special Tactics And Rescue Squad) members have come to investigate the downed helicopter of their unfortunate colleagues. You play as either Chris Redfield or Jill valentine, as you happen upon the weird goings-on at the mansion, uncovering truths about pharmaceutical company Umbrella, all while trying to escape back to civilization in one piece.
You will have more than creatures barring you escape as you puzzle your way around the grounds, seeking a variety of keys and other means of unlocking doors. Resident Evil on the big screen has a similar beginning in a mansion, but severely lacks any characters from the game, any puzzle solving, any depth into the Umbrella Corporations secrets, and any similarity to the games story other than Umbrella did some genetic experimentation—shit hit the fan, and now there are zombies running amok in the labs.
I read Ebert’s review of the first film and he gave it a shaky two and a half stars; the second a half star and says, “Parents: If you encounter teenagers who say they liked this movie, do not let them date your children”. There was no review to be found for the third installment.
Reviews from gaming sites such as GameRevolution.com and IGN.com gave the game series anywhere between a raving A+ and B rating! Don’t you think that’s saying something about the screenwriter’s inability to properly convert some games into films?
There have been a couple successful games created into movies such as the Tomb Raider series. It features the heroine Laura Croft as played by Angelina Jolie, in search of a hidden civilization, treasure/artifact or a combination of the three. Tomb Raider, the game, produces a plethora of puzzles and acrobatic feats to be solved that keep a gamer glued. The screenwriters were able to keep all the elements of that game and put it to film with a completely new story; that goal is more easily attainable since ever new game in the franchise has a completely new story so none of the pre-existing games overlap. Here’s a little trivia for you; in the 2008 Guinness World Records Gamers’ Edition, the first Tomb Raider movie is listed as the most successful film based on a video game, making $244,703,340 at cinemas worldwide. The least successful is the 2005 video game movie Alone in the Dark. The film earned $5,178,569 during its US theatrical run, but cost $ 20 million to make. Max Payne is another film that stuck very close to the game. There were a few extra additives that gave a new twist to the story once told before in the gaming world.
Now why is it that some games that have high popularity in the gaming world, do so terribly in the film industry? Are screenwriters simply taking their own view/perspective of the game and soaking it in Hollywood just to make a buck; or are they trying to create another story within the pre-existing game plot line? How is this done? Why should we even care?
This process by which games and film are fused together is called convergence. Henry Jenkins book “Convergence Culture” defines the term convergence as “a word that describes technological, industrial, cultural, and social changes in the ways media circulates within our culture. Some common ideas referenced by the term include the flow of content across multiple media platforms, the cooperation between multiple media industries, the search for new structures of media financing that fall at the interstices between old and new media, and the migratory behavior of media audiences who would go almost anywhere in search of the kind of entertainment experiences they want”.
Film and games are two separate entities whereby entertainment is had on two separate levels. Both are a form of entertainment and as such it is all determined on how individuals feel. There are gamers and non gamers; however; some gamers choose to take ‘gaming’ far too seriously and play for too long. Is it harmful? In Steven Johnson’s book “Everything Bad Is Good For You” he talks about how games invite the mind to use more critical thinking. He says, “…games force you to decide, to choose, to prioritize…because learning how to think is ultimately about learning to make the right decisions: weighing evidence, analyzing situations, consulting your long-term goals, and then deciding. No other pop cultural form directly engages the brain’s decision-making apparatus in the same way”.
While engaging in those thought provoking moments of a game that force my mind to use--as Steven states it “probing and telescoping”, my mind attaches itself to those stimuli. I know that when a game has me deeply engaged in a puzzle that has a time limit and I fail, I don’t let up until it is solved; that said; the satisfaction I feel after solving it is amazing! When those moments of anxiety, fear, tension, and adrenaline rush are left out of a game based film, it is so, so unsatisfying! Now granted films have a different way of keeping an audience engaged by way of how the storyline is put together. Some films require you to keep track of events until the end; then connect the dots for the big finale when the plot suddenly twists your hypothesis and throws you off your feet.
Steven also mentions that, “games create a probe, hypothesize, reprobe, rethink cycle; …put another way…they are learning the basic procedure of the scientific method”. Games cause the player to plan ahead for any tasks that are unfinished. In the Resident evil series, you need to plan carefully enough with the limited space your inventory has to carry the right weapon, the right amount of ammunition, the right first aids, and the right puzzle items to finish the task. Sometimes ammunition and first aid’s are dangerously low that you only have enough to tangle with maybe two to three enemies before you’re completely dry; unfortunately; there’s about double that amount in your way before the scenarios is over.
During the convergence process from games to movies, it is rather difficult for an audience to make a decision for the characters on the big screen; however; elements of attack and evade tactics could be used instead. All the two genres of media have really done is share a theme and plot to create what might be portrayed on a film to represent what the game had to offer.
Will there be any effect on gamers and non gamers in the ripples of time, most likely not? Needless to say that video games have had a huge impact in society and its evolution has been the spawning grounds for many new civil and military technologies. If games can take a person to another dimension to escape their own, I can’t wait until they build a ‘holo-deck’ machine to recreate games in a lifelike sense.
I'm a nerd. So what?
Dave it has always been pleasant reading what you wrote here and expressed with freedom. We look ahead to your posts .
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