Blog 10: Gattaca response

“The new ideal human, the genetically engineered ‘superior’ human, will almost certainly come to represent ‘the other.’ If history is a guide, either the normal humans will view the ‘better’ humans as the other and seek to control or destroy them, or vice versa” (236).

I fully agree with this hypothesis. The normal humans were on this planet first. Therefore, there's no reason to not think the new genetically engineered human is the "other" because I sure would. I feel that the normal humans would try to eliminate the "better" humans because we aren't accustomed to the new humans. The "other" represents someone that is different. We don't want anything foreign.

I also think the normal humans would try to eliminate the new ones because of competition. There's always someone better than us but it feels like it would be cheating if humans were "made" to be better. It isn't natural. Coinciding with genetically engineered humans doesn't seem fair.

In Gattaca, the "other" humans were the opposite of what I think. The "other" were the invalids which are the normal humans. It's not fair that invalids weren't allowed to have good jobs or allowed to be combined with the valids. Even the name "invalid" is crazy to me. How do you call original humans invalid? That's pretty absurd if you ask me. I like to refer the "valids" as fake humans. The "invalids" should've tried to take out the genetically engineered humans.

Blog 9: Essay 2 (Hero)

Don't Believe the Hype


Hero was more than just a story about Bernie Laplante and John Bubber's heroic acts. The way the media was portrayed made me do a lot of thinking. I already knew that trusting the media was wrong but the movie illustrated how naive people can be. It shows different perspectives of how people take in what the media says.


The everyday people who watch the news, listen to the radio and read the newspaper were naive and it was easy to see that they believe everything they hear or read. When the reporter was interviewing people to get their reactions on whoever the hero was, everything seemed to be exaggerated. He was even considered to be the "Angel of Flight 104." The little kid who thought his father was still in the plane even said that the hero gladly went to rescue his dad. This is a great example of how people will eat anything they hear up. Laplante definitely didn't say "Sure, I'll save your father", like the kid made it seem. In actuality, Laplante went in the plane very bitterly. However, because of the interviews and what the kid said, it made the "unknown" hero likable.


The media had people sucking up to Bubber. They would do anything for him. Gail even tried to kiss him when they were in the elevator alone. When the reenactment of the plane crash was being filmed, someone even said to Bubber, "every moment of life I owe to you" , and then kissed him on the cheek. I think that's going way overboard. He was being treated like a god. He didn't deserve any of that attention. The media treated the situation like it was the second coming of Jesus. It's very honorable that someone saved people's lives but there are boundaries and I feel as if the sucking up to Bubber crossed those boundaries.


Bubber isn't a complete scum bag for lying. He inspired a child to wake up from a coma. He also saved Laplante from almost falling off the ledge of a building. The media made sure everyone knew that. Although, these things actually happened, that was the only heroic or inspiring act Bubber had done. This didn't add to saving people from the burning plane because that never did happen. But, because no one knew that, the media portrayed Bubber as almost supernatural.


When Bubber was about to commit suicide, people and news reporters were gathered all around. They had no idea why he wanted to kill himself. According the media, Bubber's life was perfect. He had all the money and fame, so this confused people. They hadn't known he was lying and feeling guilty. Again, this shows people had no knowledge of what the real situation was because of how the media manipulated it.


Someone who did know exactly what was going on was Laplante. Multiple times in the movie, he referred to the media as "bullshit". When he was talking to Gail, the reporter, he said "you can't believe one word you see on tv, not one word." I'm sure he knew that before the plane crash ever happened, but now that he was in this predicament and was the only one who knew the truth, that statement was coming from a place of experience.


Laplante said it best; the media is bullshit. Hero can definitely teach others a lesson about not believing everything they hear or see in the media. Nothing is really as it seems.

Blog 8: The Concept of the Other

a) give a description of your "other."
In my opinion, there's no such thing as normal. Everyone is different. Therefore, it's hard for me to choose what I consider to be the "other." If there was a gun at my head and I had to choose the "other", it would have to mentally challenged people. The reason being is that I cannot identify with them. That doesn't mean I want them to be eliminated from this planet.


b) explain what it is about it that makes you feel such opposition to it
I feel that I can't relate to them in the way they get treated because of their disability. I couldn't imagine going through the problems they go through. It's hard live in our society and be seen as a normal person when you are mentally disabled. It's an unfortunate thing that people think this way.


c) discuss what has happened or would happen in situations where you have to interact with someone who belongs to "the other" as you define it. You should make sure that you do not write something offensive to members of that group, but at the same time if you keep good manners you should express your ideas openly.
I honestly wouldn't have a problem interacting with someone I consider "the other." However, it might be hard communicating and understanding what they're trying to say to me. I don't think I've ever interacted with someone who was mentally disabled. I would like to experience it and see how I would handle it.




FOLLOW-UP

I know I have been seen as "the other" by my parents because of the music I listen to. I listen to all types of music but the main one is hip hop. It's not the same "hip hop" that you hear on the radio. I don't listen to what everyone else listens to. I get questioned a lot by my parents for my reasoning of being so attracted to it. They don't understand how I can just listen to someone rap all day long. My mom is always saying "Don't you get tired of it?" It's pretty annoying. I don't see my parents any different because they don't understand my musical taste. As I said before, to me, no one is normal. Nobody has the same tastes. It can be annoying at times that I get questioned but it doesn't bother me so much anymore.

Blog 7: Outline and Annoted Bibliography

i haven't finished developing all my ideas for the thesis but this is what I have so far.


Outline

Thesis: Walt Disney had a great influence in entertainment in the 20th century.

- Disney appealed to all different types of people.
- Disney's influence on animation. (He made the first color cartoon.)
- He was a television pioneer. (He was first to present full-color programming with "Wonderful World of Color")
-He used more than one medium to get his work across.


Conclusion: Walt Disney was an innovator.







Bibliography


A, Brad. "Walt Disney Biography." JustDisney.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Oct 2010. .

A bio can be very useful for this midterm because it can say where Disney got his his inspiration from. I can also find out his big accomplishments through a bio.




"Walt Disney and His Influence on the Mass Media." N.p., 03/1993. Web. 18 Oct 2010. .

The title says it all. I can find out why he was such an influence on mass media.




Lewis, Jon. American Film A History. New York and London: W. W. Norton & Company, 2007. 235. Print.

Since this is an american film book I can include Disney's influence in the film industry.



Campbell, Richard, Christopher Martin, R., and Bettina Fabos. Media & Culture An Introduction to Mass Communication. 7th Edition 2011 Update. Boston and New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2010. 422. Print.

In this textbook, I can see Disney's early years and his development of the iconic Mickey Mouse. I can also find how his company diversified.




Gabler, Neal. Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination. Vintage , 2007. Print.

I have yet to read this book but I read reviews on it and it says that this has a lot of the truth behind Disney and his accomplishments unlike information you can find on the internet which isn't always true.





Barrier, Michael. The Animated Man: A Life of Walt Disney. 1 edition. University of California Press, 2008. Print.

This is another book that i haven't read but I also read a review for this and I found that readers found this even more enlightening that Gabler's biography of Walt Disney. This is a quote from a review "Barrier knows animation inside and out, and he uses his knowledge to give us a picture of a real man and boss who tried to make animation great." By just reading that line, I know I will be able to get a lot of useful information out of this book.

Blog 6: Hero

Hero was more than just a story about Bernie Laplante and John Bubber and the heroic act that took place. The way the media was portrayed made me do a lot of thinking. Laplante was the hero all along, yet no one knew that. The media exaggerated the story so it made "the hero" look like an angel. It is ironic because of Laplante's bitter and cynical personality.  Bubber was the one who received all the credit and fame for saving everyone from he plane. The media portrayed him incorrectly from his initial interview to the reenactment of the incident. Bubber was the mainly responsible for the way he was portrayed because he lied and he never came out and told the truth. This made me hate him yet like him all at the same time. I hated him because he was a liar. He knew he was wrong but still continued to go with the flow. However, he isn't a complete scum bag. He inspired a kid to wake up from a coma and he saved Laplante from almost falling off a building. But, none of that would've happened if he hadn't lied.  

Laplante said it the best; the media is bullshit. This movie can definitely teach others a lesson about not believing everything they hear or see on tv. Nothing is really as it seems. 

Blog 3: The Matrix Analysis

"Free your mind." This seemed to be a running theme throughout The Matrix. Morpheus kept reiterating that phrase to Neo. Freeing your mind would let go of ignorance and help you see the truth. Morpheus stated, "The mind has trouble letting go". Morpheus also said, "...you are a slave, Neo. Like everyone else, you were born into bondage, born into prision that you cannot smell, or taste, or touch... a prison for your mind." He's basically telling Neo, that he's ignorant.

Doing research, I found that The Matrix has a connection to and was most likely influenced by Buddhism. Buddhism is about discovering the full potential of mind, speech and body, which is said to be our true nature. The Matrix relates to this. The Buddhist doctrine says that the world is an illusion that we must break out of in order to achieve enlightenment.

The first time Neo was connected to the Matrix, he was terrified. He was also in denial and he had a panic attack. It was a lot of information to retain at once. He wanted to go back to where he came from. This is when Cypher started to do some thinking. Just like Neo, Cypher had been taught about freeing his mind. The difference between these two characters was that Cypher no longer wanted to know the "truth". He tells Neo that he regrets ever taking the red pill and wishes he would've taken the blue one. He felt like he was misinformed and Morpheus didn't give him a full explanation of what he was getting into. He must've been curious to know what the "truth" was, but he soon realizes that knowing the truth is not worth all the trouble. Cypher meets with Agent Smith and he tells him that ignorance is bliss. What the brain tells us is true keeps us satisfied as opposed to what the actual truth is. You could tell that Cypher had been struggling with this for a while and he had enough.

The first time "free your mind" kind of clicked with Neo is when he went to see Oracle and there was a kid in the waiting room bending a spoon with his mind. Neo looked perplexed but also curious. He attempted to do the same and he succeeded. I think that he wasn't too sure on how he accomplished it, but either way he did. The time when I think the idea of freeing the mind really clicked with Neo was when he was in the most danger. Towards the end of the movie, he was able to stop the bullets that the agents shot from reaching and he also was able to defeat Agent Smith in a physical fight. He was quicker.

Cypher thought ignorance was bliss. All Morpheus wanted was for everyone to free their mind to flee from the ignorance but Cyper couldn't handle it. He wanted everyone to achieve enlightenment just like in Buddhism. Neo succeeded in this while Cypher just couldn't deal. This shows that perhaps ignorance isn't bliss because Cypher didn't even end up surviving in the whole movie while Neo did.


Resources:
http://www.helsinki.fi/~papinnie/matrix.html#Free%20from%20Extremes
http://atheism.about.com/od/philosophyofreligion/a/maxtrixbuddhism.htm

Blog 5: Plan for media paper

I chose the topic of Popeye but I have a feeling that it’ll be hard to get 7 pages out of it so I really want to do some research and perhaps change my topic. I also thought about Betty Boop but again I’m not sure yet. I feel like if I do my midterm on a real person, I’ll have a much successful paper.
I googled Popeye real quick and I found that it was more than just a cartoon show on tv. It was originally featured in a comic strip. I’m just not sure if Popeye has made such an impact in mass media. I have to find out . When I looked up Betty Boop, I found that she was known as the first sex symbol in animation.
I hope to find a lot of books on my topic. Since Popeye is from the 20’s and Betty Boop is from the 30’s I’m sure I won’t have a problem finding many sources.

I think the term ”reason” means why something is the way it is. For this midterm, the “reason” would be why the person or event changed mass media. The term “evidence” would be how they changed it. I don’t know what “argument” is. I would think it’s the same as evidence but I’m pretty sure I’m wrong.