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L.A. Liberty: The Case Against The TSA
I’ve written (or, more accurately, ranted) about the TSA before, and I’ve recounted my experience opting out of the porno-scanners over the summer that led to my 20-month-old daughter’s diaper being checked for explosives.
As it has for many of us, especially after the TSA announced…
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Anti-war War Game
The game Fallout: New Vegas is an example of media that is stereotypically a war game, while also subliminally presenting anti-war views. New Vegas is set in a post apocalyptic world, presumably after a devastating nuclear war. The player plays as a recently escaped vault dweller and is presented vast wastelands filled with mutated creatures and dangerous bandits. Although the game is centered around violence such as assassinations, mercenary work, the landscape is clearly made to present anti-war views. The suffering and devastation presented by the landscape in the game warns against future nuclear conflict in the real world.
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Poem
Solitude
Laugh, and the world laughs with you;
Weep, and you weep alone.
For the sad old earth must borrow it’s mirth,
But has trouble enough of its own.
Sing, and the hills will answer;
Sigh, it is lost on the air.
The echoes bound to a joyful sound,
But shrink from voicing care.
Rejoice, and men will seek you;
Grieve, and they turn and go.
They want full measure of all your pleasure,
But they do not need your woe.
Be glad, and your friends are many;
Be sad, and you lose them all.
There are none to decline your nectared wine,
But alone you must drink life’s gall.
Feast, and your halls are crowded;
Fast, and the world goes by.
Succeed and give, and it helps you live,
But no man can help you die.
There is room in the halls of pleasure
For a long and lordly train,
But one by one we must all file on
Through the narrow aisles of pain.
Ella Wheeler Wilcox -
Being Liberal: A letter to Ann Romney…from Duchess St. Rollins
This text is retrieved from the guts of the Web as it appears that the original post from the blog of Duchess St. Rollins just disappeared… This is also a good reminder that ANYTHING posted on the Web starts the life of it’s own. The Web never forgets.
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Moral Principle
“No pain, no gain.” This clichéd phrase is one of the morals I believe I live by. Although it’s obvious that I don’t apply this mentality to everything I do, I have used it and I’ve seen it work. Applying this mentality that if you really want something, you have to work hard for it in education and sports have brought many people success. The satisfaction of being rewarded for grueling work is also a plus.
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Denby
Teen movies are filled with stereotypes. The jocks, the cheerleaders, the nerds; we are very familiar with these groups and can easily identify the characteristics are associated with them. But movies are known to exaggerate everything, and stereotypes are no exception. In teenage movies, the jocks and cheerleaders become unsympathetic demons that terrorize the nerds, that are helpless. Their pranks are unrelenting and over the top. Obviously, this is an exaggeration. In real life, most teenagers aren’t single faceted; most of us are a hybrid of these stereotypes. The exaggeration of stereotypes in teenage movies is understandable, because otherwise there would be less conflict. If the jock wasn’t bull-headed and stupid to an extreme, he wouldn’t push the nerd to his breaking point, frequently demonstrated by mass murder in the movies listed by Denby. Movies will be movies; unrealistic and exaggerated things will always be entertaining.
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Parent Movie Discussion
Neither of my parents have heard of the movie “Rebel Without A Cause”, but when I explained some of the teenage stereotypes presented by the movie, they agreed that most of them are probably exaggerated. They told me that they have heard of knife fights and games of ‘chicken’, but have never actually witnessed them. I have heard of similar things from friends in my generation, but I have also never witnessed them. Perhaps these extravagant displays of bravery are just tall tales passed between generations of teenagers. When I told my parents about the violent outbursts of the teenagers in the movie “Rebel Without A Cause”, they shook their head and explained that the situation was caused by a lack of discipline.
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Frigid, chlorinated water dripped from my hair onto my shoulders. Despite the cold, I felt warm, aggressive, and powerful. When I look back at this picture, I can feel what I felt at that triumphant moment. My team mates and I had just swam a relay at leagues, and were being awarded medals. Maybe to someone else, this is just a picture. But for me, it brings back so many associated memories. The miles of laps and the grueling work outs; the pasta parties and the banquets. Everything comes rushing back and I am overcome with a bittersweet feeling. I feel the triumph of the moment, and then I understand that the moment has passed. For those who can relate to this picture, they understand what it feels like to win. For others, it is little more than a picture.
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The Breakfast Club
“The Breakfast Club” is a more recent movie compared to “Rebel Without a Cause”, and again, everything is quite unrealistic. Although our generation of teens do smoke weed, no one does it so publicly. The cliques presented and exemplified by each one of the teens in detention are also unrealistic. In real life, there are few people that can be characterized as only part of one clique. Despite these fantasy exaggerations, “The Breakfast Club” does do a better job of identifying certain types of teens. For example, the insecure jock that can’t think for himself, and the rebellious, house-broken pothead. This more modern movie does a better job of representing teenagers, but there are still several instances of extravagance, perhaps for entertainment.
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Rebel Without A Cause
Although the game of chicken and the knife fights are an exaggeration of the things teens glorify today, the underlying goal of this dangerous behavior is still the same. Every teen still wants to be “cool”. In “Rebel Without a Cause”, the teens glorified acts of bravery. Willing participation in these dangerous stunts allowed a teen to become some kind of aristocrat among his friends; by participating in the game of chicken Jim receives the hand of his opponents girlfriend. Now, in our time, it seems that teens glorify something else. A teen myself, I find it difficult to describe exactly what we think is “cool”, but I can see that it has something to do with rule-breaking and subverting authority. Although “Rebel Without a Cause” is an extreme example of the lengths teens will go to impress their friends, it isn’t completely inaccurate at describing what we strive for.
