Bowling for Columbine

Question:

An underlying theme in the film is the issue of white racism and how this racism has spawned fear. Using specific examples from the film as well as other research, agree or disagree with the concept that racism in our country leads to fear.

Response:

In the film, Bowling for Columbine Michael Moore examines the causes in which could have lead to the disastrous event that played out at Columbine High School in the form of a school shooting. One of these causes that Moore outlines heavily is the media and how they transform racism with their power into fear. Within the film, Moore interviews Marilyn Manson who makes the clever realization that media produces fear in order for consumption to happen. An example of this theory would be how toothpaste advertisers utilize the fear of having bad teeth and bad breath which causes people to reject you, for their customers to buy their product. The fear that these advertisers inspire within the watchers of their commercials causes the audience to question their own teeth and become worried and afraid that they do not match the “standards”. Nevertheless, the fear of bad breath is not the only thing that the media inspires.

The media also inspires feelings of racism towards the minority groups of the US. Moore then continues to state that it is the racist images that are seen on the news and within America’s past that has contributed to this fear and lead to the increased use of weapons within the States. Within the section of the movie entitled “A Brief History of America” (which can be see here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPBHtjZmSpw ) the little bullet mascot outlines how fear is what has driven Americans to where they are now, a fear-inspired, foreign-hating nation. Moore further develops this idea by showing multiple news reels where the culprit of the crimes is a non-white male. Moore discusses the idea that children and people of all ages, are exposed to this and begin to associate negative ideas and crime with all people who are not white.

One of the people interviewed by Moore states “if it bleeds, it leads”. This is in relation to how news companies select the stories that they will headline and use in their newspapers, television programs, etc. Moore states the interesting statistic that when the murder rate went down 20% the coverage that these murders received increased. The media amplifies the fear or a man/woman of a different ethnic background then us is going to try to come and kill us.

This irrational fear that has been blown out of proportion within the United States, is what causes people to want to buy guns in order to protect themselves. The racism that is present in the country and amplified by the media creates fear.

From Rodney Green’s anaylsis of Bowling for Columbine (which can be found here http://mindprod.com/politics/bowling.html), he identifies other possible causes of this racial fear from the movie including:

• The USA was the only western country to historically make extensive use of slaves. Descendants of slave owners inherit the family attitude of fear of blacks.
• The USA was the only western country that historically “recently” killed large numbers of indigenous people. Descendants of pioneers inherit the paranoia of those involved in the massacres.
• The USA’s TV news and reality TV is the most violent of any country. Adrenalin keeps the ratings up. People come to believe they live in a world far more dangerous than it actually is.
• The USA is the dominant economic and military power on the planet. Americans have the normal paranoia of the wealthy that others are just itching to take it all away.
• The USA had a period of prohibition which lead to the rise of the Mafia, and a glorification of the mob in pop culture. Mob morality leaked into everyday life. Prohibition provided high profits to the rum runners. A shot could go for $3 where prior to prohibition it was only a few cents. The need for transporting and warehousing large amounts of liquor forced criminals to co-operate. They had co-ordinate the bribing of thousands of officials. Criminals had to get organised.
• The USA has a much stricter prohibition on drugs than other countries do. Other countries focus more on harm reduction, treatment and education. The resulting high profits stimulate violent turf wars between drug dealers.
• America is the most Christian western nation. It tends to favour fundamentalist denominations that teach God is cruel, vengeful and violent. Right wingers generally are doing most of the shooting. They learn the notion of violent retribution from the pulpit.
• Americans have a love affair with the automobile. Most of the rest of the world don’t use automobiles to anywhere near the same extent, even when they own them. Americans isolated in their cars don’t rub shoulders with the same people day after day the way people in other cultures do. The car lets an American range over a huge territory each day. The automobile means Americans tend to live in a world mainly populated by total strangers. There is a natural primate distrust of strangers.
• The USA has the 2nd Amendment which gives a constitutionals right to “bear arms”. Americans tie gun ownership to virtue and patriotism more than anyone else. They are much more emotional about guns.
• Protection of property is extremely important to Americans. It morally, if not legally, justifies killing a suspected thief. People in other countries tend to value life above property even the life of a burglar. People often kill family members mistaking them for burglars.
• The USA is the most laissez faire capitalist of the western democracies. I develop this idea later.
• Young Americans often enlist or are drafted into military service. Part of the training for this is boot camp, a type of brainwashing where recruits are taught unquestioning obedience to authority. They are also taught to kill perfect strangers on command. There need be no reason at all for the murder.

Nevertheless, all of the facts presented by Michael Moore cannot be taken as 100% as fact. To see the flaws within Moore’s Bowling for Columbine see http://www.hardylaw.net/Truth_About_Bowling.html

Conformity

Conformity is necessary for society because it provides a basis for humans to co-operate and accept one another by. As humans, we crave to be accepted and liked by all we meet. Nevertheless, this is hardly the case all the time. It is easier to accept and like someone who is similar to you or believes in the same causes you do. People would rather be accepted then have to face the social horror of being rejected and living on one’s own as a separate group. This need can be linked to evolutionary psychology in the sense that our ancestors felt safe in large numbers when competing for food and shelter with other groups. Conformity helped our ancestors to stay alive millions of years ago and conformity helps us to stay alive today.

Conformity to laws and rules of something as large as a country and as small as a classroom is what keeps the unit running with little disturbance. Although there will never be complete conformity to any law, by having the majority of people conform and abide by these laws is what helps the country to run smoothly. Conformity also allows for people to interact with one another and to function within the community/culture in which they live. By being able to be successful in one’s community people become happy and confident within them, and therefore raising their self-esteem.

Nevertheless, conformity can do as much harm as it does good. Conformity and the need to conform to a higher power have brought out the worst in society; from city gangs to the Halocaust to various destructive cults around the world. These destructive units of conformity have been brought together by charismatic leaders who seek out other individuals that are lost and feel unappreciated and feel like outsiders within their own communities, to bolster their ideas. Gangs attract people of all ages, races and incomes. Gangs are meant to become like a family to the individual and the individual is meant to give up all he/she can give to the group including their life if it came to a turf war with a neighbouring gang. These individuals feel the need to conform and be accepted by these gangs because they feel insecure and unwanted within their current situations. Similar to gangs are cults.

Cults operate in the same way gangs do by luring individuals in by having all the answers to the individual’s current problematic situation. These cults then become like a family to the individual, and the individual pushes his/her own family and friends away and replaces them with their new “family” or cult. Just like gangs, cults can promote peaceful behaviours but can also promote destructive behaviours. An example of a destructive cult would be the Jonestown cult. Jim Jones built Jonestown in 1977 in Guyana. The town was patrolled by armed guards. He preached sexual abstinence but he used the women as his sexual slaves. In 1978, Jones ordered the “White Night,” in which every member drank Kool-Aid laced with cyanide (rat poison). Over 900 people, including Jones himself and 300 children, died. Jonestown attracted people because it was supposed to be a sanctuary from media scrutiny and promote values of economic, racial and social equality.

Conformity is what holds society together but is also, unfortunately what can tear society apart. Conformity can create law abiding citizens but can also create dull and unimaginative citizens also.  But for those who believe themselves to be so separate from society and “non-conformists”, they create a group for which others to conform to. Therefore, ruining their state of non-conformity.

For more on what conformity is and the steps that conformity takes see http://www.statemaster.com/encyclopedia/Conformity-(psychology)

To see how children are affected by conformity see http://www.tparents.org/Library/Unification/Publications/UrbanSundaySchool/Note4.htm

To see the stories behind various cults see

http://www.victimsofviolence.on.ca/rev2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=337&Itemid=27

“Top Ten Crazy Cults”

http://current.com/120jm4c

Tough Guise

The Tough Guise

While watching the movie entitled “Tough Guise: Media Images and the Crisis in Masculinity” two of my close male friends kept appearing in my mind while Jackson Katz explained the various effects that media has on young men and women and their idea of what masculinity is. The following night that we finished the video, I was talking to these two friends and decided to ask them a couple questions just to see what they thought about different topics. Friend 1 is what I believed to be one of the best examples of a stereotypical male, and Friend 2 is what I believed to be not as largely affected by the stereotypical expectations of men.

From the various questions asked I picked the strongest six questions and responses to present in this blog…

Questions:

1)      Do you firmly believe in sports, and if so why?

2)      Why do you believe that sports are mandatory for men?

3)      How has your parents (particularly your father) influence your personal relationships and views on what a man should be?

4)      What would you describe as an acceptable man/ what would a guy have to be like to be your friend?

5)      Describe your dream girlfriend.

6)      How do you feel about how women are portrayed in ads (like the sex-pot, dish-pot, silenced objects of sex type ads)?

Answers…

Friend 1:

1)      Yes because sports are like mandatory for men.

2)      Because that how I was raised? You were a boy; you must play sports or be fat.

3)      I don’t know.

4)      Dutch and athletic.

5)      She has to be shorter than me, brown hair, not huge boobs, but has boobs. Walks with confidence in herself, cares about me and respects who I am.

6)      It doesn’t bug me, it’s their choice.

Friend 2:

1)      Yes… in a way, where they build character and friendships, and also that reassurance comfort from a team.

2)      No, they don’t make or shape a man. Nor do they don’t prove your manly, your virtues and beliefs do.

3)      I don’t want to be like him, he played sports and was a jock – I don’t (I’m a girly boy)  , his virtues and morals are few – mine are high, so my view on men and what they should be are of my own, and a man should be fair and just to everyone, treating everyone with respect. A man is as only good as his word – for relationships/commitments. Also a man should take responsibility for all his actions.

4)      An acceptable man would be someone who does what he can for himself and others around him, while treating everyone equal, and has a sense of duty to complete what he has committed himself to. An acceptable man also could be a man who tries to make the world better for himself and everyone else. For a guy to be my friend he just has to be who he is, as a man should be accepting of what anyone chooses to be. One thing though is that if morals of a guy are low and he treats people poorly I wouldn’t want him to be my friend, but I would accept him.

5)      My dream girlfriend would be described as someone who can accept me as I am, and not dislike me for what I’m not. Also I feel she should have strong morals and beliefs, in that she would stand up for anyone down and out or a cause that people might think stupid. She should also be able to wear pants.

6)      It’s wrong but women model for it sooooo? Also sex sells, which is wrong too, because if something can’t be sold because it’s not needed and needs to be sold as something “sexy” is just pathetic and a waste of time.

  CONSIDERATIONS:

Friend 1:

-         Lives as an only child although he has an older brother (who does not live with him)

-         Lives with both parents in the home

-         Is very sports focused throughout his entire life

-         Sixteen years old

-         Is currently in a relationship

Friend 2:

-         Lives with a younger sister

-         Parents are divorced and he lives with his mother

-         Has never been entirely sports focused

-         Sixteen years old

-         Is currently in a relationship

Analysis:

From the first and second questions it is easy to distinguish what each value and get out of the sports that they participate in. Friend 1 has a very straight focus on winning and looking athletic (of the physical benefits of sports) while Friend 2 focuses on the mental and emotional benefits of sports.  From these initial responses Friend 1 has already put the “tough guise” on and refuses to show any deep emotion when regarding sports for fear of appearing weak, while Friend 2 accepts it.

 The third question emphasizes the ability/want to look within themselves to find an answer that may not be able to quickly grasp. Friend 1 fluffs off the question with a simple “I don’t know” therefore showing that he does not feel the need to look for the answer or to appear weak by analyzing within himself. Friend 2 looks for the answer and hints heavily at the affect that his parent’s divorce has had on him by stating things like “I don’t want to be like him” and “A man is as only good as his word – for relationships/commitments. Also a man should take responsibility for all his actions.” From these two examples it is easy to gather that Friend 2 does not have a particularly strong relationship with his father. This is probably due to the stress that the divorce has placed on him and incidents that have happened afterward.

It is interesting to note that in the fourth question, for Friend 1, race enters the picture; therefore amplifying the racial stereotypes that are found within the media. Athletics, again repeats itself within Friend 1’s answers showing the need for acceptance through sports. Friend 2, again, identifies moral qualities and characteristics within men who he looks to befriend. He also stresses the idea of acceptance of all even though he may not agree with everything that that person does.

Regardless of the other questions, I believe that question five is the most telling of these two individuals. Friend 1 immediately identifies physical characteristics that are shallow and changeable (hair colour and breast size), he identifies height as an issue demonstrating that he needs to feel powerful in the relationship by being taller. The use of confidence, made me laugh to myself because the first thing I thought of was the phrase “confidence is sexy” contributing to the fact that he wants his girlfriend to be “sexy” which then can be related to other things. Both Friend 1 and 2 identify that they want to be accepted as who they are by their girlfriends and the need to be accepted; showing that they are both insecure with themselves. Friend 2, reinstates his importance for morals and values and shows a humorous side by adding, “She should also be able to wear pants.”  This phrase can be easily linked to, how he does not need a “girly-girlfriend” in order to feel appreciated.

The last question, I believe is also interesting to see how each of these young men appreciates women. Friend 1 says that it doesn’t bug him, therefore implying that he does not care for women’s rights and that he does not truly value or appreciate the women in his life. Friend 2 shows that its wrong but it’s also the women’s fault (as stated before with Friend 1). He also recognizes that most products do not relate to the sexy image that they are advertised with but admits that as a society, sex sells.

I find it very interesting that both of these friends have grown up in small towns and small schools so the exposure through schools is not high for either of these boys. The sibling issue is interesting however, that Friend 2 has a younger sister so he is more accustomed to having females around, and that Friend 1 has grown up in an environment where he is generally the center of his parents’ attention since his older brother does not live with him.

The imaging that the media presents to all young people are shocking and disgusting (see” I Gotta Feeling” post) but to see the direct influence that these medias have in both positive and negative effects hit so close to home is very eye-opening for myself.

**Both friends were notified that their answers would be published on the blog.

Death

Death:

In North America, death is marked as a rite of passage into whatever you believe follows life. I use the term “whatever” because in North America, and typically Canada, beliefs about what follows life are so widely spread. A typical Canadian funeral, involves visitation, where friends and family can talk and grieve with those who were closest to the deceased person, and a funeral where their death is mourned and then later is buried.

http://www.generations.on.ca/funeral-suggestions.htm suggests multiple ways to make the funeral a more personal event for those grieving and to make it special for the deceased person. Some of these ways include:

• Write a letter to the person who has died and express all of the feelings you ever wanted to say, but were afraid to or just never got around to expressing. Seal the letter in an envelope and place it in the casket. Your written thoughts will go with your loved one to his or her final resting place.
• Bring in the favorite song of the person who has died on compact disc or cassette and your Funeral Director will play it for you during the visitation and/or funeral service.
• Request from your Funeral Director that helium balloons be ordered to release after the grave site service. Everyone can be given one and some brief words can be said before releasing them in the air.
• Bring in photographs spanning the life of the person who has died and your Funeral Director will incorporate them into a memory board to be present at the visitation and funeral service. These can be photos with family, friends at work, fishing or hunting, golfing, knitting, baking, serious and comical. No photo is in bad taste when it depicts the life of the one you are commemorating.
• If your loved one had a hobby of building things or was involved in the arts, crafts or photography, bring some of their works in to be displayed at the funeral home.
• If you have favorite scripture readings, let them know what they are and your Funeral Director will see to it that they are incorporated into the service.
• If your loved one composed poetry or essays, let your Funeral Director have a copy. Your Funeral Director will reproduce several copies so that people might take it with them from the funeral home or perhaps they could be recited as a part of the remembering ritual of the funeral.
• Have a personal friend or family member read the poetry or favourite scripture passage.
• If the person who died was not a regular church attendee, consider having the funeral in a favourite place that perhaps reflected their lifestyle like a favorite park, the marina if he or she was a boater, a basketball court, or center ice. The possibilities are numerous.
• What may seem very hard to do at the time, but is cherished for years after the funeral, is when family members close the casket instead of the funeral staff. As our mothers always tucked us in at night as children, closing her casket is the last time they can tuck her in. It is a very tender moment for the family to say their last good bye to the physical body.
• Eulogize the person who has died during the funeral or visitation. Oftentimes the clergy person did not know the person who has died and since the funeral is intended to recognize a life that has been lived, it is important to recognize that life in a personal way. Who better can do that than someone who knew the person who died on a personal basis.
• Place cherished items in the casket like pictures of the grandchildren and other family members, a photo of the family pet, a favorite golf club, a pool stick, a well worn baseball cap, or a religious item. Your Funeral Director welcomes all of them as your way of saying good bye.
• If a husband always drove his wife everywhere or a wife drove her husband to his appointments, consider having the spouse drive the hearse to the cemetery or at least ride in the hearse with our staff member. It is a very personal way of accompanying your loved one to their final resting place.
• In processing to the cemetery, consider a favorite place your loved one liked to go, like their favorite park, or the beach, or a favorite restaurant, or maybe they were happiest at home. Your Funeral Director will arrange to have the procession pass by this favorite place.   

All of these suggestions lead to having a more personalized funeral and to celebrate the dead persons life but yet mourn it at the same time.

In North America, death is something that is widely feared and when someone dies the public process of mourning their death is usually done within a week. The North American culture aims to avoid death; which is why these mourning funerals are so quick and words and phrases such as “passed on” and “the late…” have contributed to this fear of death. North American’s are generally in control of everything that happens to them accept death, which is what generates and amplifies the fear of death. Announcements for deaths in the family are usually done through newspapers and directly telling one another.

However, in Italy it is custom to create posters of the lost loved one with the date and time of their death and their funeral and plaster these posters all around town. After everyone is alerted of the death, they do not send condolence cards or anything of the like but they send telegrams and make phone calls to the family. Finally on the day of the funeral, the family follows the hearse to the church where lavish floral arrangements have been made and the funeral takes place. The funeral begins with a traditional funeral mass done by a priest and then is followed by various people who knew the late person speaking about them. Following this, the coffin is carried back to the hearse and the people of the funeral follow on foot to the cemetery. The family of the deceased can choose for them to be put into a vault (which is cheaper) or buried in the earth (which is more expensive). Traditionally, a family dinner follows but no large celebration or party. A personal experience with an Italian death from an American anthropologist, Deirdré Straughan, can be found at http://www.beginningwithi.com/italy/living/death.htm

While the North American funeral aims to hide death and secret it away from the living population, death in Italy aims to respect the deceased and give them a traditional send off. Tradition is a very high value in the Italian culture and is illustrated in their role for death because all workings behind the funeral are traditionally based.

An Italian Funeral Wreath

“I Gotta Feeling Tonight’s Going To Be a Good Night Because I’m Gonna Get Laid”

Media

The Black Eyed Peas - The E.N.D.

The music video, “I Gotta Feeling” by the Black Eyed Peas (which can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYZ78FXTdiY&feature=related)  is filled with disturbing images of women and ideas that do not appear to be morally destroying on the surface but when regarded with a close eye are completely revolting to regard.

THE FIRST MINUTE (0:00-1:00):

In the first THREE SECONDS of the video, there are three women walking, however, you do not see their face, nor their entire backside; only their butt and legs. From this first image, the viewers are informed that these three ladies are not entirely human, but are simply a pair of legs and a butt. Moving through the video, the first 25 seconds are mostly made up of various women and men getting ready for their evening out;  there is an African American man with a fro-pick doing his hair (a racial slur), Fergie applying lotion to her leg, while her leg is in her face (an unrealistic expectation for women, hyper-sexualization), a woman applying lipstick and other various make-up (women must look attractive), a woman putting on heels (attractiveness),and the most classy image of a naked women showering (attractiveness, hyper-sexualization). The next 20 seconds of the video are people (both men and women, but generally more women) coming to this party. At 39 seconds, Will.I.Am is seen to be sitting on a bed while he repeats the phrase “I gotta feeling that tonight’s going to be a good night. That tonight’s going to be a good night. That tonight’s going to be a good, good night.”  The hidden implication of this phrase while he sits on the bed should translate the lyrics to be “I gotta feeling that tonight’s going to be a good night. That tonight’s going to be a good night. That tonight’s going to be a good night because I’m going to get laid.” From this image, young boys are shown that in order to have a “good” night, you must get laid and have sex. While this phrase plays we are also seen an image of Fergie in a bra, thong and feather boa. Thus sending young girls the idea that, they must dress like this in order to have a “good” night. By the end of the first minute we are reintroduced to the idea that women are just butts and legs, that both men and women need to look their best while going out through the preparation they take and the wonderfully, necessary image of a showering women. So in the first minute we are told that women are not full beings, they are less than human, that women must be sexy, that both men and women must look attractive in order to have good nights, that a man must have sex in order to have a good night and that a women must dress sexily to have a good night… Pathetic.

THE SECOND MINUTE (1:00-2:00):

In the first 30seconds of the second minute we are shown flashes of men and women passing by going to the party and arriving at the party, without truly seeing their faces. By not seeing their faces, we are unable to give them an identity causing them to become objects or “scene furniture” within the video. Throughout the last 30 seconds of this minute, women are seen as objects of sex; gyrating on the men as well as on each other, and their scantily clad clothing. However the most interesting symbol,  to me, that is used in this minute is the feather duster. Fergie, as well as other women in the video are seen throughout, using the feather duster on one another and on the men.  The symbol of a feather duster within a women’s grip is that of cleaning, and taking care of the house. These women are doing neither in this video. The feather duster is used as a symbol of seduction while promoting the value that; women are to stay at home and clean the house while the man brings home the bacon. This lesson is both degrading to women and men. Women are not limited to house work and the pressure of financial supporting  a household should not be solely the men’s responsibility either. 

THE THIRD MINUTE (2:00-3:00):

This minute generally contains more scenes of partying, the hyper-sexualized image of women, the return of the classy, and ever-so-seductive feather duster. However, new to this minute is the introduction of alcohol and lesbianism. Alcohol is shown as a gateway into this “good night”, in the sense that it allows for the people to relax and let their emotions flow. After saying “Fill up my cup” while holding a red disposable cup which is usually associated with beer, Will.I.Am yells Mazel tov, which in Hebrew translates to good luck (http://www.yourdictionary.com/mazel-tov). This phrase is then followed by “look at her dancing… just take it off”. What a Hebrew wishing of good luck has to do with alcohol or a girl’s dancing can generally be lead back to the idea of having sex. Most people link good dancing with good sex, and the idea that people are more susceptible to have sex while under the influence of alcohol is a proven fact. Even the phrase “good luck” can be viewed in a sexual matter because another phrase for sex is “getting lucky”. Also regarding sex within this minute, is the introduction of lesbianism. In the video, around 2:40, there is a scene with two women kissing. From this scene, the viewer can gather that it is alright for two women to publically display their affection for one another but if two men do it is not socially acceptable. These two women kissing is meant to be displayed as sexy, erotic and engaging to male audiences, who would be repulsed to see two men kissing on screen rather than the women.

THE FOURTH MINUTE (3:00-4:00):

This minute includes the band, and other random people partying in a room while dancing with glow-in-the-dark paint on their bodies. The infatuation of needing to paint their bodies with this paint can be directly taken from the lyrics “let’s paint the town.” The phrase “let’s paint the town” is used throughout daily life and is used to convey the emotion of wanting to go have fun; which, is the entire plotline of this music video.

THE FIFTH MINUTE (4:00–5:00):

The last minute of this music video, continues with scenes of partying where women are used as objects of sex and are hardly clothed, and alcohol is seen throughout. Another image of the traditional house-wife female is portrayed at 4:20 when a female is seen to be taking cookies out of an oven and her cookie tray is overthrown, causing the female to appear helpless when her and her cookies are thrown to the ground. Immediately after this scene, the camerea cuts to a scene where a women has fallen on the ground for no particular reason. Both of these scenes, emphasize women’s vulnerability. Continuing on to the end of the video, women are seen to be; rolling on beds, or leaving the party while stumbling and only seen from their back side. The final scene that viewers see is that of a woman curled up on the grass clutching a beer cup while the words “THE E.N.D.” surround her. “THE E.N.D.” is the Black Eyed Peas’ new album and the last three seconds of their video serve to promote that new album, in which this song can be found on. Proving these last three seconds to be a direct advertisement for their album.

CONSIDERATIONS:

In my opinion I think the target audience of the Black Eyed Pea’s music is girls aged 12-24 since they lay within the pop culture and mainstream music that is regularly played on radios and tv. However, the young teenage girls from ages 12-15 are the most susceptible to the hidden messages throughout the video because they are unable to distinguish (since they lack the knowledge to distinguish) between reality in the videos and what is purely done to sell the music. This young bracket of girls is being exposed to unfair and unrealistic images of women, in which they aspire to be in order to have a “good night”. Their entire definition of having fun is redefined by this video because, now, these young girls are being led to believe that in order to have fun you must; first, dress scantily, second, be drunk, third, let any man do whatever he wants to you, fourth you must be innocent and clean the house and bake cookies but at the same time make-out with other women and various men. These ridiculous necessities to have fun cause these girls to go to drastic measures in order to prepare for their fun. These young girls can possibly develop eating disorders in order to get the right look, they put themselves in danger by dressing scantily in public leaving multiple opportunities to get raped or abducted by child porn advocates, and most of all their self-esteem is damaged beyond repair.

PERSONALLY:

Personally I am disgusted at all the hidden messages that this song and this music video contain and what their implications imply. I’ve always found it funny when one my 6-year-old students comes into hip-hop class and asks to listen to this song and other songs like Low by Akon, and when they sing along and dance their own dances to the various songs. But when I realize what they are singing and what they could be implying with their own cute dances, it is shocking to see that they do know what some of the words mean and can easily act them out. I never put much thought into it before but now that I can identify some of the ways that these little 6-year-old girls are getting the messages through the music that their parents listen to and the programs that their parents watch, it is very sickening. I now hope to limit the amount of inappropriate music that I use while teaching the younger students, and try to focus on keeping the songs clean as well as the choreography and costumes un-suggestive.

LYRICS VERIFIED BY http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/b/black_eyed_peas/i_gotta_feeling.html

Phobia’s:

From http://www.phobia-fear-release.com/list-of-phobias-and-their-meanings.html there were hundreds of phobia’s listed but the most interesting to myself included:

-      Autophobia – Fear of being alone or of oneself

-      Automatonophobia – Fear of ventriloquist’s dummies, animatronic creatures, wax statues-anything that falsely represents a sentient being

-      Geniophobia – Fear of chins

-      Herpetophobia – Fear of reptiles

-      Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia – Fear of long words

-      Molysomophobia – Fear of dirt or contamination

-      Pediophobia – Fear of dolls

Ahhh! Barbie dolls!

-      Pedophobia – Fear of children

-      Peladophobia – Fear of bald people

-      Triskaidekaphobia – Fear of the number 13

-      Teutophobia – Fear of German or German things

From the “Fear Not” article by Kluger, it is learned that researchers have identified three main types of phobias; Social phobias, where the sufferer feels paralyzing fear at the prospect of social or professional encounters, Panic disorders, where the person is periodically blindsided by overwhelming fear for no apparent reason and Specific phobias, where a person is afraid of a specific object.  Autophobia, pedophobia, peladophobia  and Teutophobia are examples of Social phobias because the fear is of certain “types” of people. Automatonophobia, geniophobia, herpetophobia, hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia, molysomophobia, pediophobia, and triskaidekaphobia are Specific phobias because they are fears of certain objects/things. All of these phobias can become apart of panic disorders if the phobia advances.

When regarding how some researchers believe that phobias began with our ancient ancestors it also important to note the implications of classical conditioning. To say that our ancient ancestors, like Lucy, had Automatonophobia, the fear of ventriloquist’s dummies is highly doubtful for there were no such things as ventriloquist dummies then. This phobia is due to classical conditioning where a person has had multiple and continual bad experiences with ventriloquist’s dummies and begins to associate negative feelings towards them. However a phobia such as Herpetophobia, the fear of reptiles, could be a phobia that began within our ancient ancestors. Phobia’s regarding ancient peoples are generally related to the fear of insects/animals, natural environments, blood/injury and dangerous situations. All of these causes of phobia threatened survival and caused these people to immediately leave their presence, increasing their fear of the unknown. The fear or reptiles can easily fit within the category of insects/animals and could as well threaten human survival, therefore initiating fear. These fears are said to be controlled by the paralimbic region of the brain which also controls all primal responses, according to the “Fear Not” article.

Nevertheless, all phobias are not without cures. The most simple, but perhaps the hardest form of a cure is systematic desensitization, in which individuals imagine scenes or events that are increasingly anxiety provoking and at the same time engage in procedures that endure feelings of relaxation. For example, pediophobia, the fear of dolls could be treated by encouraging the patient to think of all the things that remind them of dolls, and then calm them down by giving them tea, or a warm drink. Then bring a picture of a doll in and calm them down again, followed by bringing a doll towards the patient and calming them down, and finally, allowing the patient to hold a doll while calming them down. Replacing thoughts of “this doll is going to kill me” to “it’s a doll, I can handle it.” Is the main goal of this cognitive-behavioural therapy. In addition to cognitive-behavioural therapy, group therapy may be used as well as individual therapy. Along with therapies, there are various medications such as Prozac, Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRI’s) and Paxil that work against phobias. For a more detailed description of these various counters to phobias see http://www.anxietypanic.com/phobiatreatment.html

Father of Three

Question 1
Indicators that this man was suffering from a mental illness include; hearing voices through a “nasal transmitter” and he also had conspiracy theories revolving in his head regarding the neighbours, the children being pushed into drugs and prostitution and that his children were being bullied. This mental disorder could be schizophrenia because some of the symptoms of schizophrenia are hearing voices and creating conspiracy theories.
Question 2
The triggering factor for the father to commit these murders was that the day prior to the murders Schoenborn’s wife informed him that they were getting an official divorce. This would be a very upsetting and depressing moment for Schoenborn, which could have then initiated or triggered the schizophrenia to amplify itself causing the murders.
Question 3
One of Schoenborn’s theories was that the mother of their children had been telling the children about his experience in the psychiatric ward. The negative stigma that is attached to being admitted to a psychiatric ward is very stressful to the person being admitted. Schoenborn probably did not want his children to think that he was “crazy” and therefore became upset that their mother had told the children this. As a society we can work to prevent this stigma that is attached to people who are admitted to psychiatric wards by being open-minded and reminding ourselves that these people are just like everyone else.

Gattaca

1) Wouldn’t every parent want to ensure that their child was perfect and had the attributes of physical attractiveness, intelligence and athletic prowess to be able to do whatever she or he wanted in life? If so, then why is the society in the film so devoid of happiness, vitality and fun?

In the film, Gattaca, almost all parents wanted to ensure that their child was perfect and had the specific attributes that they wanted in their children. Because of this, the society created a depressed and very formal atmosphere. The children are born with their goals laid out for them and have no choice in what they really want to be. Their talents and their strengths are laid out for them therefore planning out the rest of their lives with nothing for them to discover. These children who were born “perfect” were not really perfect at all. They lacked the heart and drive that is needed to accomplish something that is thought to be impossible.

When these perfect specimens like cannot live up to the expectations that are laid out for them, they do not know what to do with their life and therefore give up. Jerome was a perfect example of this. Jerome’s purpose (or what all his traits laid out for him to be) was an Olympic swimmer, Jerome took place in a swim meet and received second place. Jerome felt that second place was not good enough for himself and that is when he tries to commit suicide. However Jerome failed at committing suicide and became paralyzed from the waist down.

Another example of imperfection within perfection is Irene. Irene is a “valid” in the society and is constantly looking for flaws in her peers. By always looking for, and finding these flaws in her peers, she has become very distant with everyone. She has become distant due to the fact that she tries not to associate with those who she feels are lower than herself.

Not only is this society hard on itself as well as others but it also lacks true love. When someone becomes romantically interested in another person they take their DNA and have it tested to find out more about the person through their genes rather than actually talking and getting to know the person. Children are also conceived through test tubes rather than the natural way that Mother Nature intended for children to be made.

If I had the opportunity to genetically select my child I would not be able to. I believe that the child’s life should be decided by itself. Of course the child would have influences on its life but its life should not be set out in stone for it. I would want my child to be able to discover and develop its own strengths and weaknesses rather than them be given to him/her.

The human race is meant for imperfection. Nobody is perfect and no one ever will be perfect. There will always be someone who does not like you or something that you do not succeed at. The human race’s base emotional need is love. Without love humans are neither happy nor satisfied with their lives. Humans need to feel excitement and devastation in order to grow emotionally and spiritually. Without devastation you will never fully understand what excitement or love is. Just as you cannot explain good without evil.

2) In one scene, Vincent states that, “There is no gene for fate.” What does this phrase mean? Much of the film deals with the human desire to control face, versus willingness to let fate run its course. Explain some examples of moments in the film where characters try to control their destiny, and moments when they accept fate.

When Vincent says that, “There is no gene for fate,” he is referring to that success can never be guaranteed. When saying this he is stating that even though people, who are “perfect” to the standards of society, cannot always accomplish what is being asked of them. An example of this is when Vincent beats his brother in the swimming contest to see who could swim further than the other. Vincent, the “imperfect/invalid” brother, beats his “perfect/valid” brother even though Vincent is suppose to have a heart condition which would prevent him from doing so and his brother is suppose to be athletically superior to Vincent.

Examples of situations where the characters contorted their fate are when Vincent’s parents had a selective birth for Anton, Vincent saving Anton’s life, Vincent agrees to fake Jerome’s identity, Irene has Vincent/Jerome screened, Jerome attempting and finally succeeding in his suicide and Vincent constantly working towards his perfect image of himself as an astronaut. These are all examples of when the characters are trying to control their fate because they grab a hold of the situation that is present and try to bend it to better themselves.

Examples of situations where the characters accept their fate are when Vincent’s parents give birth to Vincent naturally, Vincent applying for a custodial job at Gattaca, and Vincent telling Irene that he is not Jerome but is really Vincent the invalid. These are examples of the characters accepting their fate because they took the situation and dealt with the situation as they could without trying to change it.

I believe that humans should accept their fate while being willing to change it but not to have their life planned out fully. As stated before humans need excitement and spontaneity in their life to be happy. If my life was planned and I knew exactly where I was supposed to be going I would be bored of my life before I got to live any of it.

Why does speaking in front of a large crowd make you so nervous?

Assuming that the human brain has not developed much since the Stone Age or that we have “Stone Age minds” I believe that it is because of our fear of being attack that humans become nervous when speaking in front of a large crowd. When we are a part of the audience we feel a sort of security and safety in the numbers of the crowd. Also when we are a part of the crowd, we are not the one being criticized on stage by the audience. This criticism takes place because the audience is trying to pin-point the weaknesses of the speaker so as to find a way to better over come, or out argue the speaker. This can be related to the Stone Age because of how survival of the fittest took place, in the sense that when sizing up an opponent you would find their weaknesses and attack them with that in mind. Also females/males would be analyzing you as a mate and trying to find if you were a worthy enough person to mate with in the Stone Age. This process of finding a mate still takes place today and creates anxiety within an individual when they are aware that they are being openly judged by others. From the view point of the speaker, they are aware that they are being judged on what they’re saying and how they look which can be nerve racking. It is because of our previous need to fight for food and mates to survive that we first take part in these superficial judgments of one another.

Should we be experimenting on apes?

Although humans and the great apes share a large percentage of DNA (up to 98.4%) I do not believe that apes should be in the same category as human beings and given the same rights as human beings either. The striking similarities between humans and apes is quite remarkable in the sense that our DNA is so closely related that humans could accept a blood transfusion or even a kidney from these furry relatives. Nevertheless, mice also are closely related to human beings with 90% of their DNA being the exact same as human beings as well as the great apes. Society does not classify mice to be humans or mice to be a part of the great ape family so why would society now accept the great apes or even mice to belong to the human community? Not to go as far as to say that humans are an elite race, but there are differences between the great apes and humans that are very important to their genetic make-up.
However, I do not believe that superficial testing, such as cosmetic testing, should be used on these magnificent gifts of nature either. It is in my opinion that cosmetic testing should not be the burden for any animal, including the great apes for the sake of beauty products for humans. Although testing for medication that could prove to be useful in saving human lives as well as the animals’ lives for those who are known to suffer from such diseases should be allowed because it benefits both species.
Nevertheless to allow the great apes to have the same rights as humans is ridiculous. The great apes may have developed basic thought processes, emotions, made use of basic language and tools as well as be able to recognize themselves in mirrors but humans have simplify evolved past this primitive state and are able to complete great, complex problems and work past this simple state of being.