Transcedentalism

A transcendentalist is one who takes their own ideas as a life principle. This movement has created new ideas and standings against the normal. Instead of following normal religion, government, and law, they created their own theories. Many stood for their own rights or simply had a new way of thinking. Opening up to a new movement, they believed in self-reliance and power an individual. This empowering movement was inspiring for those to be creative and create their own policies. Without this movement, we never would have created movements of protest or religion.

I agree with being a transcendentalist because it shows a difference in our community. Nothing would ever be protested against or individualized if we all followed the same plan. Throughout everything we do, we need to be the one to stand out. There were many people in this movement that have created a change in our world. Many of the women wrote and took their stance to stand up for women’s rights. If they never would have tried to make a change, we would end up in the same place as before. I think it is important for everyone to take their stance on their own beliefs even if it means rebelling against what it thought to be normal. This is exactly what these people did- imagining independence.

To become a transcendentalist we need to stand out for our own beliefs. I wish I could say I am a transcendentalist, but I haven’t made a strong stance to be individual against religion and our government. Of course I disagree with a lot of things because I am opinionated, but I have no argument to defend for my self-reliance. Everyone could be a transcendentalist, but the ones that are actually considered to be great are the ones that actually go out to speak their stance. I think it is great for everyone to show their own individuality and make a difference in their life and everyone’s around them.

Contemporary Music in a Vintage Film

Using popular music in the film, it gave a complete different effect and tone to the movie. While the movie was placed in a vintage setting, the music made it seem more relatable to our lives. When a pop song came on during on of the large party scenes, it blended perfectly because that it the type of music our generation would listen to at parties as well. Sometimes that affect worked great with the scene, but at other times it just seemed like it was stuck in place. I first expected the movie to have completely different music, but since the overall hype of the movie was to be modern, it worked well most of the time.

I did however think that the music would have been better if it was more vintage instead of modern. Of course we listen to mostly hip hop and pop, but incorporation this type of music somewhat distracted from the setting. I would have also enjoyed the film if had popular music from that time frame. Because the two generations do not correlate, the music sometimes would clash with the picture. From the scene of viewing the downtown city, it was too overwhelming having a popular song on the radio. Watching the movie, I sometimes got irritated that the director tried too hard to make the movie appeal to teens. The overall movie would have flowed much better if the music was mixed from the older generation to now. Various songs should be chosen to fit best with the scenes instead of squeezing in a bunch of popular hits to make the movie seem more popular. Because of the distinct differences in time, I did not think our generations music generally fit well with the movie.

The music helped the viewer understand the movie better by giving emotion. When the director wanted the party seems to seem wild and crazy, the movie would feature an energetic song. When Gatsby and Daisy were talking romantically, a slow and beautiful song would play. I think this is critical for all movies to do so to add a deeper meaning. Without music, the overall movie would seem boring. I believe that the director intentionally used popular hits to try to target teens more than the older crowd. Most teens do not actually read The Great Gatsby unless told to in school. Since the movie was marketed with better music, it probably helped the movie do well in theaters. Without the appeal to our generation and casting Leonardo, the movie would have been a bust. Even though I disagree with having all popular music from our time in the movie, it probably helped with the success of the movie.

Columbine Gun Law Debate

What is Moore trying to say about American identity and value?  

 

Throughout the entire movie, Moore is constantly getting point of view of what American’s think about the guns laws. The point of views show  that America is very divided between the second Amendment. According to this amendment, we have the right to bear arms. The Columbine and Flint incident made America question the leeway that we have from this right. Most American’s believe that this right should be protected and not be tampered with. From the incidents, Moore is trying to convince others that the gun laws should be much stricter to avoid any radical accidents or murders. It is evident from the high amount of murders in our country that our freedoms may be misused.

Referring to the Atlantic article, Japan has a much stricter policy in order for one to obtain a gun. Through vigorous classwork, background checks, documentation, and continual tests, finally they are allowed to own a gun. While this seems a lot safer than the policies America has, some would argue that the right to own a gun shouldn't be monitored as highly as Japan does. From my personal belief, I agree with Japan’s strict policies to prevent any radicals to gain power of a weapon. Moore also is trying to point out this idea as he interviews many people to get perspective on what the town overall believes. Many people were still all for the original gun policies even after the shootings. With American's identity, he believed that we do not regulate the law as much as we should be and take the second Amendment to be as flexible as possible. Concerning our justice for freedom, Americans need to be more aware of the benefits of stricter policies would do for our safety.

Using statistics from other countries, we can understand that even though we do not have strict gun laws, we have the highest amount of murders. This is outrageous that these types of murders are not common, but still seem to be happening. Comparing our numbers to Canada, there are about 7 million guns present in 10 million homes. They have been accounted for only a few murders each year opposed to our strikingly high murder rate. Unlike Canada, not every American even owns a gun for hunter or protection purposes. What could be the cause of our high statistic? From one of the interviewees point of view, he made it clear that it was how our culture is raised. America does have a past of multiple wars unlike Canada. Growing up in a new century without a worry about war, this is not the case anymore. These few criminals cannot be determined by simply stereotype. From the Flint incident, a 6 year old boy was capable of murdering another 6 year old girl. At any age this type of violence is possible. What can draw the line to determine what America should be doing about this? Our values should shift to keep the protection and safety of the citizens over allowing simply anyone to access a weapon.

Deafness is only a Difficulty

  The family was very controversial to implant the cochlear implant into their child’s ear. To us, it would make complete sense to allow our children to hear. To the deaf culture, they would argue that one you are deaf you should remain deaf. They believe that the way you are born is the way you should remain. Coming from the parent’s point of view, they wanted to allow their child to have as many possibilities being deaf. They didn’t want her to change her identity and forget who she originally was. Her father prefers to be deaf and would rather “throw up a pill that could allow him to hear” to keep his identity. He believed that it is invasive to alter a person’s identity and would only create robots. While they want to allow their children to have as many possibilities as they could, it would almost seem like a disability to the other world.

               In my point of view, I think that the parents are crazy to keep their child from having the implant. While some of the deaf culture was able to be successful in their own way with real jobs, the world is in fact changing. Jobs become biased and competitive to the very best. Communication is key in business to properly be able to lead a company. When comparing two candidates for a job, deaf and hearing, they would rather hire someone that can communicate properly and does not need an interpreter every time they want to have a simple chat. It would also cost the company more money to have to pay for the interpreter also. In our real and cold world, disadvantages such as deafness only make it harder to be hired due to the competition. Some jobs requiring less in person contact would be easy for deaf culture to get a job, but most jobs require humans talking to one another.

               Watching the movie, it was hard to watch because my emotions would get so wrapped up in what they were saying. It made me angry when Peter and his family would continue to “yell” about their positions when they also do not realize what their child would be missing. They obviously knew their child wanted to communicate with her friends and was often isolated by speaking people because they would not properly communicate with her. As a child, it would be difficult growing up without communication because it is the time to make friends. I could not even comprehend the complication of middle school and high school being different from everyone else.  Peter’s mom often said that people would mock him or make fun of him when she took him out in public. He may have not cared about what the speaking people thought of him, but his mother was often ashamed that he was treated like that. Especially in middle school when it is the time for bullying and clique development, it is only to the child’s disadvantage to be different from everyone else. She would be excluded from the popular girls and would most likely be made fun of just because she is different. It is sad that this continues to occur every day even with normal people, but those with a disadvantage are often mocked by the way they talk or act. It would only harm the child if they kept her without a normal life.

    What it to be taken into consideration is if this is truly a disability or not. To my point of view, I strongly think life would be more difficult and there would be many opportunities and quality of life that they would not be able to experience. Simple things that we may not realize from the ringing of a telephone, pounding on a door, or even music would not be able to hear. The family constantly says “I would not even want to hear sound.” I don’t think they realize what they would be missing out on. It would be much harder to communicate with the whole world as they approach it without sound. It would be very hard to even be involved in a school sport. Without listening to a buzzer, or even music to dance from, I don’t understand how they would be able to know what to do. One simple example, but there could be a list of things that the family would not be able to do. They would make contradictions saying that they feel like they can do just as much as we could do. No one can be the true argument since I don’t completely understand the deaf culture and they do not understand what they are missing in the hearing world. It takes an open mind to try and fit into both worlds and try to make the best out of the situations they are presented with.

Fear of Octopus

Streaming in between layers of waters, my head would pop up through the surface to reveal the cool air up above. Being able to twirl and wind through such peaceful waters, there was nothing more that I loved to do than swim. It kept me always exploring and wondering what was underneath. Face breaking the surface, we could stare down and wonder what is at the bottom. For most of us, we would never actually know what lies beneath. I pondered  this idea many times trying to uncover the secrets of the water from a lake to even a large ocean. It would be interesting to know what was down beneath, but in a large swimming pool the only thing I could do was use my own imagination.

Stroking back and forth form side to side, my mind would often imagine beautiful fish swimming around me following my moves. The vibrant colors from the ocean would reflect off the bottom and reveal a secret mermaid castle. Classic mermaid movies often guided my creativity as I thought about treasures and beautiful princesses I could admire. While it was all just a dream as I would float back and forth, soon my mind began to think of things other than a fantasy. Beneath the castle fantasy, there was often a secret layer with the evil queen trying to stop everyone from good. She would destroy the beautiful fish and create trouble for the peaceful mermaids in the ocean. I would soon let this idea drift into the swimming pool and fear that she would someday come back to get me. I used to think that the water was a peaceful escape, but as I neared the deep end the imagination would turn almost into a nightmare.

As my feet paddled through the water, thoughts of the monster grabbing me and strangling me down into the water were the only things that crossed my mind. I feared being pulled underneath and never feeling the warm air up above. To this day, I have let my 5 year old ideas get the best of me and I stay clear of the deep waters. Never will I allow myself towards any dangers that could someday drag me under the water to no escape. While this idea is extreme, it haunts me every time my eyes glance underneath to the bottom of the pool. While some fear of my realistic ideas, my creativity sure got the best of me.

Summer reading book

William Cooper portrays his theories in his book, Behold a Pale Horse, in attempt to warn the world of what is to come over a period of time. After being a Chief for Naval Intelligence, he acquired so much knowledge about the government- details the public would have never known. He swore into secrecy during his time in the navy and knew about the governments’ secret activities and plan for domination. When he tried to leak top secret information to a reporter, he was immediately kidnapped into a limo and forced off a cliff. The government couldn't take any chances having any confidential information being spilled out to anyone not sworn to secrecy. When the men thought his pulse would run out after being pushed off a cliff, they left him there with the words kept secret and his mouth kept shut up. But what they didn't realize is that Cooper ended up surviving his fall and was determined to find a way to exploit everything he knew. 

The book was often very confusing because it addressed so many different topics. Although his ideas are separated into different chapters, there were so many details and side tracking that many ideas were jumbled together at once. The main theme of the book overall was to get his point of deception across. He exposes information about the New World Order, Alliances, Secrets, and truths about lies we have been told. Because of the corruption and mistrust of the government, he was determined to remind everyone of the falseness and deceit that we can’t see or understand that has mislead our people and our country for decades. Cooper frequently stated that he is an expert on topics as far-ranging as alien abduction, extra-terrestrial life forms, secret societies, Presidential politics, and secret government organizations. His theories may only be conspiracies, but most of his accusations seem believable by the evidence that is provided. It takes an open mind and consideration of his point of view to interpret the goals of his theories. Over half of the book contains undocumented allegations that prove that everything he was saying was worth the time to consider. The source of these documents is unknown, but add believable documentation that addresses each of the themes he tries to prove to be true. 

Blurred Lines Controversy

Never really noticing the lyrics and the true meaning behind it, this song was just seen as a catchy tune on the radio. This song became very popular for the interesting beats, but also for the controversy behind it. Many people could claim that the lyrics are simply just about Thickel's lust for a women saying "just wanna get nasty" or other seductive lines. While only some think that the lyrics are harmless, many others have fought that the meaning portrays rape. The things said in the song really do seem to empower the man and make the women seem like an "animal." He would say things like "he don't smack that ass and pull that hair up for you" and "I know you want it." Both of these lines are very controversial because of the tone of his song and also the use of these lines. Many have claimed that saying "I know you want it" is often used by rapists to their victims. According to many other websites explaining the meaning to his music, the "blurred lines" is known as the grey area between sexual consent and rape. Basically, repeating this lyric throughout this song portrays that the girls are there just to be taken advantage of. Even though "blurred lines" has been interpreted so many different ways, it wouldn't cause so much controversy if there wasn't a dirty meaning behind it. Already degrading women in the lyrics, the video doesn't help his case of just a catchy tune.
Only seeing the newer video, the video itself was really strange to watch. The plot of the song didn't have any connection to the things the girls were doing in the video. There was a lot of random objects such as a sheep, dice, and other things. Although the items might not have a strong connection to the song, the video didn't make sense overall. The newer version also wasn't as provocative as the older video was supposedly. The video got its poor reputation for the nudity and the lyrics that went along with the dancing girls. Thickel must have know that there would be so many mixed messages from his video since he involved many nude girls around him and his friends. The huge dispute could have never been created if he originally used the video without nudity and controversial things.The big discussion leveled off after he reported to the public that the song was simply about him and his wife. While, this may seem really creepy, it was a good enough cover up for people to begin to believe it wasn't about rape or anything along those lines. Thickel may have stirred up a quarrel for attention, but could have nonchalantly written his lyrics to make people believe differently about his intentions.