To some surprise, I've never actually seen this movie, let alone heard of it. We've probably haven't even watched a full 60 minutes of the film yet, but I'm already into it! Before we started watching it, I thought, "Oh great, another movie I'm going to have to analyze to get something out of it." At that, I wasn't very enthused. Now, I've looked back on my notes and I've realized that I'm actually analyzing without even thinking about what I'm actually reading in to! I mentioned the differences in social class depicted in the movie and once I saw that that was one of the topics I could write about for my research paper, I was really excited!
I'm starting to stress out though, because I feel like I'm not going to find any resources on gender/social class/race. I already went to my local library's online catalog to try and find things on horror films and things relating to those above stated topics and it didn't bring up anything. I absolutely despise research projects because they stress me out and I always make them harder than they're supposed to be, or maybe they really are that hard, and I'm not looking forward to writing this one. However, I am looking forward to watching the rest of the film!
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Friday, March 23, 2007
Ebert
I read this article thinking it was going to be about how he critiques movies. Instead, I got a review on how to "actually" watch a movie. I felt like a bad person when Ebert was naming off all these great "classics" because quite frankly, I've never seen any of them!
Okay, so he's an experienced movie critic who has seen lots of movies. Well, that is true, but I can't help but feel like he's looking down upon us regular movie goers. I learned all about Theme, and Tone, and Mood..etc. while I was in high school. We needed to know them to analyze books. I'm sorry but picking out things like that in a book is NOT fun. And I LOVE reading books. When I'm told to do mundane things like figuring out the tone of the novel, I get angry. Ebert told us to do the same thing when we watch a movie. NO, IT WILL RUIN MY EXPERIENCE.
I look at books and movies as a form of entertainment, right? Well, don't call me a bad moviegoer just because I haven't seen every silent film created. Or because I choose not to point out tone, mood, style..
This quote in the article really got me thinking. "The more you learn, the quicker you'll know when the director is not doing his share of the job." What exactly is that supposed to mean? I understand it, really, I do, but what is there to learn? I thought a director's job was to help portray the entertainment in films. Hm, I guess Ebert needs to write another article on that.
Okay, so he's an experienced movie critic who has seen lots of movies. Well, that is true, but I can't help but feel like he's looking down upon us regular movie goers. I learned all about Theme, and Tone, and Mood..etc. while I was in high school. We needed to know them to analyze books. I'm sorry but picking out things like that in a book is NOT fun. And I LOVE reading books. When I'm told to do mundane things like figuring out the tone of the novel, I get angry. Ebert told us to do the same thing when we watch a movie. NO, IT WILL RUIN MY EXPERIENCE.
I look at books and movies as a form of entertainment, right? Well, don't call me a bad moviegoer just because I haven't seen every silent film created. Or because I choose not to point out tone, mood, style..
This quote in the article really got me thinking. "The more you learn, the quicker you'll know when the director is not doing his share of the job." What exactly is that supposed to mean? I understand it, really, I do, but what is there to learn? I thought a director's job was to help portray the entertainment in films. Hm, I guess Ebert needs to write another article on that.
Thursday, March 22, 2007
RICH GIRL
So, I just finished watching My Super Sweet 21 Remix with Svetlana from The Real World: Key West. I was super excited because I really like Svetlana. She reminds me of someone I'd be friends with; nice, fun and young, just like me! Anyway, on The Real World, the cast would make fun of her for being "naive" and a "rich girl" and I always defended her because I thought they were just jealous.
Well, after seeing this show I now know that she really is a rich girl! She had two parties: one in Vegas and one in Miami. She not only bought four dresses from Saks Fifth Avenue for her parties but held a fashion show at the Miami one. Her mother just smiled and shopped with her like everything is normal and everyone in the world spends that kind of cash on parties. I can only imagine how much her whole party cost. I forgot to mention her unbelievable penthouse she had to herself while in Vegas, also.
She isn't the first one that has been on this show to "exploit" her parents' wealth. That's really what they're all doing, right? We don't really care how they're all doing between party plans or how old they're really turning. We just want to see what money can really buy you. And with these people that MTV shows, money can buy you anything. As I watch this show and others like it, I find myself being envious of these bratty children. But, why? They're rude, inconsiderate, and I would say they're not going to succeed in life without mommy and daddy's help(money) every step of the way.
Now, my family is not by any means "rich" but we're not "poor" either. I would say we're well off. But, would my mother buy me a brand new convertible Mercedes? In her own words, "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?" Not only because I'm too "young" but realistically what would a 16(19 in my case) year old new driver need an expensive car like that other than to "brag." There's a limit to what your parents, and their money, can and will buy you, even though I didn't think that existed in my household :).
It also depends on your parents' attitudes and how they want your goals and morals to be in life. According to my dear mother, who has a Mercedes, she can have one and I can't because she's "older and deserves it." Hm. I guess my mother wants me to work and experience what making and having your own money is like and I think that's important for everyone! Now, money is important in life. I'm not trying to make it seem like it's not, but, I feel like there's a certain way to manage your money and not just throw it around. Even Bill Gates manages his money! That's just plain being smart. Since we live in a materialized society, we're used to seeing materials as a way to represent class and wealth. This show just emphasizes my belief.
Well, after seeing this show I now know that she really is a rich girl! She had two parties: one in Vegas and one in Miami. She not only bought four dresses from Saks Fifth Avenue for her parties but held a fashion show at the Miami one. Her mother just smiled and shopped with her like everything is normal and everyone in the world spends that kind of cash on parties. I can only imagine how much her whole party cost. I forgot to mention her unbelievable penthouse she had to herself while in Vegas, also.
She isn't the first one that has been on this show to "exploit" her parents' wealth. That's really what they're all doing, right? We don't really care how they're all doing between party plans or how old they're really turning. We just want to see what money can really buy you. And with these people that MTV shows, money can buy you anything. As I watch this show and others like it, I find myself being envious of these bratty children. But, why? They're rude, inconsiderate, and I would say they're not going to succeed in life without mommy and daddy's help(money) every step of the way.
Now, my family is not by any means "rich" but we're not "poor" either. I would say we're well off. But, would my mother buy me a brand new convertible Mercedes? In her own words, "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?" Not only because I'm too "young" but realistically what would a 16(19 in my case) year old new driver need an expensive car like that other than to "brag." There's a limit to what your parents, and their money, can and will buy you, even though I didn't think that existed in my household :).
It also depends on your parents' attitudes and how they want your goals and morals to be in life. According to my dear mother, who has a Mercedes, she can have one and I can't because she's "older and deserves it." Hm. I guess my mother wants me to work and experience what making and having your own money is like and I think that's important for everyone! Now, money is important in life. I'm not trying to make it seem like it's not, but, I feel like there's a certain way to manage your money and not just throw it around. Even Bill Gates manages his money! That's just plain being smart. Since we live in a materialized society, we're used to seeing materials as a way to represent class and wealth. This show just emphasizes my belief.
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Jodi Picoult
So I've recently been obsessed with Jodi Picoult. After reading My Sister's Keeper, that I sobbed through, I decided to read some more books by her. A few days ago I finished The Tenth Circle, and I stayed up all night reading The Pact. Now, she seems to have a theme with all of her books. She writes about really intense situations involving family, teenagers, and abuse.
Now, I hope that doesn't make me a sick person, feeding off of all this negativity that is somewhat true to other people in the world, but she makes her words flow so you're constantly wanting to turn the page! No wonder she's a New York Times Bestseller.
I think a good comparison to Jodi Picoult would be the Canadian based t.v. show, Degrassi. I LOVE THAT SHOW! It also deals with tough issues, such as bullying, suicide, teenage pregnancy, rape and so on. I think this gives people the information on such extreme situations that it really is teaching them to be aware and what to do in case this is to happen to you.
Back to Jodi. I've passed down My Sister's Keeper to my mother, who probably hasn't touched a book since she was in school. She slowly got into it and now I see her reading it every free chance she gets. It's all about a family with two daughters and a son. The oldest daughter has cancer and the youngest daughter was basically born to save her older sister. All anyone cares about is the sick girl, nobody pays attention to the son, and all anyone wants out of the youngest is blood or other parts of her body. I recommend this book to everyone!
The Tenth Circle was all about a young girl going through a rape, with the investigation and the trial and what not. Her father and mother's issues are also brought in and it turns from being all about the young girl to their entire family. There's also secret messages in the artwork and I stayed up for an hour trying to decode!
The Pact says it's a "love story." I would fight that. It was about two families living next door and raising their children together. Eighteen years later the girl decided to kill herself and the boy charged for her murder, even though the defense says it's a "blotched suicide pact." In this book you see everything change between these best friends and even within their own families. This book jumps around so you don't quite know the truth until the end, at which I sobbed, of course.
Now I'm on to read Nineteen Minutes!
Now, I hope that doesn't make me a sick person, feeding off of all this negativity that is somewhat true to other people in the world, but she makes her words flow so you're constantly wanting to turn the page! No wonder she's a New York Times Bestseller.
I think a good comparison to Jodi Picoult would be the Canadian based t.v. show, Degrassi. I LOVE THAT SHOW! It also deals with tough issues, such as bullying, suicide, teenage pregnancy, rape and so on. I think this gives people the information on such extreme situations that it really is teaching them to be aware and what to do in case this is to happen to you.
Back to Jodi. I've passed down My Sister's Keeper to my mother, who probably hasn't touched a book since she was in school. She slowly got into it and now I see her reading it every free chance she gets. It's all about a family with two daughters and a son. The oldest daughter has cancer and the youngest daughter was basically born to save her older sister. All anyone cares about is the sick girl, nobody pays attention to the son, and all anyone wants out of the youngest is blood or other parts of her body. I recommend this book to everyone!
The Tenth Circle was all about a young girl going through a rape, with the investigation and the trial and what not. Her father and mother's issues are also brought in and it turns from being all about the young girl to their entire family. There's also secret messages in the artwork and I stayed up for an hour trying to decode!
The Pact says it's a "love story." I would fight that. It was about two families living next door and raising their children together. Eighteen years later the girl decided to kill herself and the boy charged for her murder, even though the defense says it's a "blotched suicide pact." In this book you see everything change between these best friends and even within their own families. This book jumps around so you don't quite know the truth until the end, at which I sobbed, of course.
Now I'm on to read Nineteen Minutes!
Friday, March 9, 2007
Juvies
Grey's was another rerun this week so I chose to write about MTV Juvies. I find this show very intriguing. The first episode I ever watched, I thought to myself, "This show is going to be awful." And yet now, I watch every new episode. It's really addicting. I think it draws people in because people love to watch others in trouble. We are nosey and like to know what exactly they did wrong and how they're going to "pay" for their wrong doings.
On this specific episode, there were two teenage sisters. They were put in Juvie because one sister tried to save her other sister from getting stabbed to death in the middle of a group fight. Now, I really liked these two girls because they didn't seem like delinquence, like most of the kids do. They were just caught at the wrong place at the wrong time. The judge really made them sweat when it came to their sentencing, and if I would have been the judge, I would have let them out and tracked down the girl that stabbed the older sister.
I get to thinking about why any parent would want their bad child on t.v.? Obviously these kids are still minors so they can't sign away consent to have their faces not blurred out so I wonder if these families get paid for "telling their story." I bet they get something out of it. That's just another thing wrong with our society.
On this specific episode, there were two teenage sisters. They were put in Juvie because one sister tried to save her other sister from getting stabbed to death in the middle of a group fight. Now, I really liked these two girls because they didn't seem like delinquence, like most of the kids do. They were just caught at the wrong place at the wrong time. The judge really made them sweat when it came to their sentencing, and if I would have been the judge, I would have let them out and tracked down the girl that stabbed the older sister.
I get to thinking about why any parent would want their bad child on t.v.? Obviously these kids are still minors so they can't sign away consent to have their faces not blurred out so I wonder if these families get paid for "telling their story." I bet they get something out of it. That's just another thing wrong with our society.
Thursday, March 8, 2007
Real vs Unreal
As I was writing my paper, I quickly realized that achieving 5 pages was going to be hard. I already had a lot of ideas of what to write about, considering how I watch a lot of reality television, but I only got about 3 pages out of it.
I realized that I was looking at the guidelines of the essay too much. Instead of letting my hand just write, I felt like I had to keep double checking to see if I included everything I needed, which ultimately gave me writer's block because I was thinking too much.
At our peer conferences I didn't get much feedback so I got pretty worried about my final draft. I quickly tried to put some sentences together to make my paper longer, fearing I was just babbling. I reread and rewrote my paper for an entire night, the night before my conference with Ellen.
After walking down Woodward for 15 minutes, I finally made it to the meeting and I think the one on one time really helped. I took Ellen's ideas and advice and I really like my paper now. I have a full 5 pages and I'm satisfied with the whole essay.
I would really like one on one time with Ellen next time too, but only if I think I need it. It's good to get peers' advice also, but they're in the same boat I am and sometimes they don't put a lot of thought into their editing, when I really do. I hope my essay will be looked at as very thoughtful because I know a lot of my peers don't think reality t.v. is real.
I realized that I was looking at the guidelines of the essay too much. Instead of letting my hand just write, I felt like I had to keep double checking to see if I included everything I needed, which ultimately gave me writer's block because I was thinking too much.
At our peer conferences I didn't get much feedback so I got pretty worried about my final draft. I quickly tried to put some sentences together to make my paper longer, fearing I was just babbling. I reread and rewrote my paper for an entire night, the night before my conference with Ellen.
After walking down Woodward for 15 minutes, I finally made it to the meeting and I think the one on one time really helped. I took Ellen's ideas and advice and I really like my paper now. I have a full 5 pages and I'm satisfied with the whole essay.
I would really like one on one time with Ellen next time too, but only if I think I need it. It's good to get peers' advice also, but they're in the same boat I am and sometimes they don't put a lot of thought into their editing, when I really do. I hope my essay will be looked at as very thoughtful because I know a lot of my peers don't think reality t.v. is real.
Friday, March 2, 2007
SEX
As I've said before, I've come quite obsessed with Grey's Anatomy. So obsessed I went out and bought the first and second season using my credit card that is designated "only for emergencies." OOPS. But, in this case, it was an emergency. I've come to the conclusion that my beloved show is nothing more but a show to exploit women in their sexual situations.
After Meredith Grey slept with a couple more people after Derrick, I thought, "Hm, she's just trying to get over him." NO. She had another one night stand and I can't help but think that men actually expect ALL women to do this. Maybe I'm just being naive but I don't believe most women have that much sex with all these different (gorgeous) men!
However, during one of the episodes, all the interns are poking fun of Meredith and all her sexual liaisons when all she says is, "I have an active sex life." EEK. Doesn't that qualify as whorish?
Now, I'm not trying to make my show look bad, but being a female and having all these popular shows with powerful women, which is a good thing, degrade themselves by having sex a couple times an episode is pretty insulting.
Not to mention, she has been known as "the naughty mistress" and "the intern that has been sleeping with my husband." I don't know about anyone else's feelings on that, but I'd feel horrible and wouldn't want to show my face again! Isn't sex supposed to be private and meaningful? Atleast that's what we've been taught since we were young, but it's not something to exploit. And I guess, that part of the show really bothers me, once I actually start thinking about what I'm watching.
After Meredith Grey slept with a couple more people after Derrick, I thought, "Hm, she's just trying to get over him." NO. She had another one night stand and I can't help but think that men actually expect ALL women to do this. Maybe I'm just being naive but I don't believe most women have that much sex with all these different (gorgeous) men!
However, during one of the episodes, all the interns are poking fun of Meredith and all her sexual liaisons when all she says is, "I have an active sex life." EEK. Doesn't that qualify as whorish?
Now, I'm not trying to make my show look bad, but being a female and having all these popular shows with powerful women, which is a good thing, degrade themselves by having sex a couple times an episode is pretty insulting.
Not to mention, she has been known as "the naughty mistress" and "the intern that has been sleeping with my husband." I don't know about anyone else's feelings on that, but I'd feel horrible and wouldn't want to show my face again! Isn't sex supposed to be private and meaningful? Atleast that's what we've been taught since we were young, but it's not something to exploit. And I guess, that part of the show really bothers me, once I actually start thinking about what I'm watching.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)