Blog 12: Gattaca response

The concept that human’s which would have been genetically engineered ending in the result of them being classified as the “Other” has been represented numerous times within our history. We can see evidence of this during Hitler’s rein of terror as he found Jewish people to different; this difference would make them into the “Other”. His belief was so strong he decided to exterminate all the Jewish men, women, and children. Another point in time could be when black slaves where taking and thought to be inferior by slave owners. White slave owners saw these black slaves as their own property and nothing more. To them the slaves had no rights and were not equal to them making these black slaves into the “Other”. During the times of exploration by Christopher Columbus and the Conquistadors, Indian’s that were native to the land were thought as savages and weren’t accepted as equal beings. With Christianity being such an important part of these explorer’s they felt the need to bestow their religion on this savage society to turn these “Others” into just another. Gattaca demonstrates a world based on perfection or at least trying to achieve perfection. The society was developed under a genetic principal. Those humans genetically born where presumed as perfect specimens whereas those born as how god intended where labeled as invalid. Similar to our history with slaves or Indians the views of the invalid humans were negative ones. As an invalid in Gattaca you were limited to what you could do within this society. Vincent the main role in the movie is labeled as invalid and is told all his life that because he is invalid he isn’t capable of as much. He could never believe this though he wanted more for himself and to him it just didn’t make any sense as to why people would stop him from progressing. He was the “Other” in this story the outcast the black sheep. Even though with the odds stacked against him by what people told him all his life he felt like it was wrong and inaccurate. Currently in our society we can see this still being depicted. Whether is it against someone’s sexual, preference, their race and ethnicity, and the level of education they posses. The end result is the role of the “Other” remains and will always remain society.

Blog 11: The Concept of the Other

The “Other” as defined by me would be a person who is closed minded, judgmental, hypocrite, and full of themselves. I’ve never been a fan of ego’s and demanding figures or leaders. To me this person or character has no role in society but to be the example of exactly what not to be. A closed minded attitude hinders any relationship that person and I could ever have. I prefer to have a sort of two way street in terms of communication. To have a road block do to a person’s lack to understand difference of opinion would truly just aggravate me. Judgmental, hypocritical, and egocentric are other attributes which I would closely associate to the “Other”. These attributes are ones that’s I’ve encountered in people within my life throughout different experiences. From what I have felt and have come to understand a person holding such attributes would not make a good candidate to be around myself. The reason for this is mainly that our personalities would clash and lead to arguments that could never arrive at a common ground. So I tend to avoid it as soon as I see one of these characteristic come fourth in a person.

Blog 10: Reflection

The overall connection and relationship of illusion and the perception of reality among all the content is what caught my attention most. Within each of the stories ignorance of a reality and living an illusion held a strong presence whether looking at Neo from the “Matrix”, the prisoners within the “Allegory of the Cave” and “Oedipus” we can see evidence of this cognitive concept. In the “Matrix” Neo is living in a world, which in fact only exists inside a machine. Trapped in this world for so many years unaware of a reality could be compared to Prisoners in the “Allegory of the Cave” whom were also prisoners to an illusion and yet again could be seen in “Oedipus” who was lied to about his lineage and lived in an illusion. All three characters were secluded and blinded from the truth; all had the idea that what in front of them was in fact real. I found these concepts to be appealing in the sense that it allowed me to sort of “think outside the box.” Within my very own writings I’ve been a prisoner to certain structures and limited my very own imagination do to these structures. I was unaware of this till I came across such a creative concept. Similar to these characters I feel as if I have awoken from an illusion.

I myself as a writer try to find and develop better ways of reaching my audience. I know a weakness of mine has been creating a great way of grabbing the attention of the reader. I can easily grab the attention of a passerby or in a group of people via verbal communication however when it comes to my writing even when I read it over I feel its just does not live up to my expectation and or represent my thoughts to their full meaning. With the blogs I feel as if it has allowed me to express ideas a bit more clear however I still feel it hasn’t been my best work nor have I shown it. I guess another weakness is I truly am my “own worst critic.”

Blog 8: Ignorance, Bliss, and Knowledge in Oedipus the King and The Matrix.

Within the two texts, the concepts of ignorance, bliss/happiness and knowledge are shared equally throughout the storylines. We can see this is evident between the main characters Neo and Oedipus. Both characters depend on an Oracle to help provide insight and knowledge with upcoming future events, both live in a state of ignorance, and up to the point of which the prophesy is developed to be true they were full of bliss/happiness. With the “Matrix” we see the character of Neo who was trapped in a world of lies and illusion to some level his lack of knowledge kept him within boundaries of his ignorance. However he takes it upon himself to learn more about the reality even though this reality is beyond his comprehension of anything which he has ever seen or has believed as presented by Morpheus. Oedipus was too trapped in a world of illusion and ignorance. This world was manipulated since his birth by a lie having to do with his lineage. He believed he was a son to a King and Queen from across the land. To Oedipus those were without a doubt his real parents. That is until he went seeking the truth from a prophet named Teiresias who then caused Oedipus to begin questioning his life. If we were to compare the two stories the prophet Teiresias could assume the role of Morpheus and vice versa both held important knowledge to allow the main characters to continue on in their journey seeking out the truth. Ignorance was show with both characters in opposing ways, with Neo he did not believe he had such power within him, his very doubt he showed a level of ignorance, Oedipus thought of himself as an intellectual he believed in himself to almost becoming that of an egocentric maniac this superior complex was where his ignorance lived. With the use of oracles as representatives for knowledge and wisdom and situations which challenged the bliss and or happiness or the levels of ignorance both characters demonstrated we can see how within these two texts can correspond to one another.

Blog 7: Annotated Bibliography

Works Cited
Berkowitz, Edward D. Mass appeal: the formative age of the movies, radio, and tv. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010. Print.
In this book: Information on the stars on both radio and television during the 1930s. The culture and trends between the 1930s to the late 1940s.

Goodwin, Sue. American Cultural History. Lone Star College-
Kingwood Library, 1999. Web. 7 April. 2011. http://kclibrary.lonestar.edu/decade40.html
Number of television units across America and at when it increased. A few mentions of popular radio broadcasts at that time which would later move onto becoming television shows.

Nobleman, Marc Tyler. The television, Minn.: Capstone Press, 2005. Print.
Television becoming popular and the Television of today.

Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. “Television in the United States"
Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 22 July 2004. Web. 7 April. 2011.
This site has a few good articles on the adaptation of radio to television and the birth and growth of major Television broadcasting networks.

Thesis:
Television is an addictive phenomenon which can be found across the world in homes, jobs, cars and now even mobile phones.

Outline:
-Introduction to television -

-Television and its history -

-Town to receive first exposure to television -

-Demographics of these towns -

-Programs offered and evolution of radio broadcast into television -

- The different effects of such programing -

-The role models portrayed on television -

-Their influence on society -

-The view of the viewers -

-A jump into current modern day Television -

-Conclusion