After discussing Christmas in class I have noticed that we have been following the same pattern every year, we have been told how to celebrate Christmas. From decorating our homes to putting up a Christmas tree with ornaments and such things that are images of Santa. The real meaning of celebrating Christmas is "an annual holiday celebrated on December 25 that commemorates the birth of Jesus of Nazareth." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas)
On Christmas Day, it has been a tradition for my family and I to decorate our home with lights,put up the Christmas tree, fill it up with gifts, and cook a family dinner. This year was pretty different than every other Christmas becuase it was only my parents, my brother and I. We decided this Christmas was going to be different because we always did the same thing every year. We always celebrated Christmas as our culture has taught us to celebrate.
Everyone has their own meaning for celebrating the holidays. I think that the main reasons are religion, and respect for the country's culture. We also have why there are people who don't celebrate holidays which is individuality.
Lets take for example, religion. Christians celebrate Christmas very different from other religious groups. They believe Jesus was born on that specific day and to pay respect to him, they celebrate it. From setting up the symbols that represent him such as "baby Jesus" which they place underneath the Christmas tree- to saying prayers. They value this day and feel it is necessary to give up their time to say thanks to God. I can relate to this becuase I am a Catholic who has been taught that I should pray and thank God for everything I have in life.
I have been pretty confused with the reason why I have been trying so hard to be accepted in my society by celebrating and doing things the way our culture tells us to. I know that everyone has different levels of how important and valuable a holiday is to them, but I feel that it should be the individual's choice on how to do and celebrate something. I believe when a child comes to an age of making his or her own choices, they should have a say in which they want to believe in something or not. For example, if someone doesn't want to continue their religion, they should have the right not to believe in it anymore as long as they have morals set for them and respect others beliefs.
One dominant message about Christmas is fitting into the society. Everyone wants to be accepted into the world, but being an individual is what separates you and makes you an independent person. If people were to make their own choices on how to do things in life, I feel like Christmas wouldn't be so commercialized. We wouldn't spend so much money on things that are images of Christmas and other holidays such as Halloween and Easter. We would think about our own beliefs and save our economy. Christmas would be just a day that everyone would have a day off to relax and think more about life such as the difference between a meaningful and meaningless life.
One marginal message about Christmas is hurting the environment.
-Christmas trees have been sold commercially in the United States since about 1850.
-Until fairly recently, all Christmas trees came from the forest.
-In 2002, Oregon, North Carolina, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Washington, New York, and Virginia were the top Christmas tree producing states. Oregon was the leading producer of Christmas trees – 6.5 million in 2002. (http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/trees/facts.cfm)
No one realizes the harm Americans are causing in our country. We have been destroying our own country by feeling the need for spending so much money on things that are supposed to be images of Christmas, that we have been so blind. This is one of the marginal messages that have tried to reach the public, but since our culture prohibits many messages, we can never reach our goal to send the positive messages that can finally be something useful to our society.
In conclusion, I believe that people should have their own beliefs in life. It doesn't really matter what others think.
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Monday, December 8, 2008
Trampled Wal-Mart worker
I did expect crazy things to happen on Black Friday, but to imagine people getting injured and one even losing his life, was outrageous. An innocent man has lost his life becuase of brainless people who have nothing better to do than break down the doors of a store and trample someone to death and all to buy their families crap made by wage slaves in China, sold by people who aren't even making a living wage to people who really can't afford what they are buying. I think that this is insane. I bascially feel that Black Friday should be banned, becuase of these people's actions, someone's life has ended and his family's happiness has been destroyed.
You can see that on this day the majority were the middle class, who can be pretty selfish and aggressive people, especially on days there are sales going on in stores. Their lack on intelligence is just unacceptable. To barge into a store, to race one another to get to that one item that's on sale for $20 less is rhetorical. I'm just really disappointed that not even one person who was apart of the stampede of human beings was capable of trying to help the people who were practically getting stomped to death. For example, the pregnant woman of eight months was pretty stupid in going into a crowd like that, to go shopping but besides the point...she was a pregnant woman and not everyone is blind. My point is all those people out there bascially committed a crime, they trampled someone to DEATH and left many injured. They should definitely feel ashamed for acting like animals.
In the article, when it discusses about the Walmart employee who died, "He was such a young man with a good heart, full of life. He didn't deserve that." This saying after someone dies is pretty common and just becuase he was such a "nice" guy doesn't mean he wouldn't have died any time soon...but on the other hand he was a very young man to die at age 34 must be pretty hard to believe and I really feel bad for his family that now has to go through this sorrow and pain. They must feel furious to know the way he died. He literally trampled to death and no one helped until it was too late.
Throughout all of this you can tell how people live in our culture, as long they're getting what they want, they really do not care. Their priorities are to get everything others don't have or already have, trying to live as happy as possible and to do the right thing. None of those make sense or exist in my life. You make mistakes but you get right back up and keep living. There's no right or wrong way to live in my book but going to the extent to getting someone killed to get what you wanted, is just plain wrong.
You can see that on this day the majority were the middle class, who can be pretty selfish and aggressive people, especially on days there are sales going on in stores. Their lack on intelligence is just unacceptable. To barge into a store, to race one another to get to that one item that's on sale for $20 less is rhetorical. I'm just really disappointed that not even one person who was apart of the stampede of human beings was capable of trying to help the people who were practically getting stomped to death. For example, the pregnant woman of eight months was pretty stupid in going into a crowd like that, to go shopping but besides the point...she was a pregnant woman and not everyone is blind. My point is all those people out there bascially committed a crime, they trampled someone to DEATH and left many injured. They should definitely feel ashamed for acting like animals.
In the article, when it discusses about the Walmart employee who died, "He was such a young man with a good heart, full of life. He didn't deserve that." This saying after someone dies is pretty common and just becuase he was such a "nice" guy doesn't mean he wouldn't have died any time soon...but on the other hand he was a very young man to die at age 34 must be pretty hard to believe and I really feel bad for his family that now has to go through this sorrow and pain. They must feel furious to know the way he died. He literally trampled to death and no one helped until it was too late.
Throughout all of this you can tell how people live in our culture, as long they're getting what they want, they really do not care. Their priorities are to get everything others don't have or already have, trying to live as happy as possible and to do the right thing. None of those make sense or exist in my life. You make mistakes but you get right back up and keep living. There's no right or wrong way to live in my book but going to the extent to getting someone killed to get what you wanted, is just plain wrong.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Thanksgiving Day/ Black Friday
On Thanksgiving Day, my family each picked something we were going to make, I cooked the turkey, my mother cooked the pork a certain way which in Spanish we call it "pernil" and my bother made the BBQ chicken. We celebrated Thanksgiving like a "normal" family would, we waited until the rest of my family came so that we can eat. In my family we are supposed to pray before we eat, which is something we completely ignore by now but I guess something told them we HAD to pray on that specific day. So you can say, we only pray on specific occasions... as my father did a prayer I looked around the table as we were all holding hands and I felt as if it was pointless to pray for the food we were about to eat. When we started to eat, we just talked about random things in life, from funny experiments we had to what we were going to do the next day. POINTLESS.
I know you're suppose be thankful for all the little things you have on Thanksgiving Day but as we talked about in class and I listened to Andy's interesting reason for why people really celebrate it, I thought to myself maybe celebrating Thanksgiving is pointless, its just another day of us being on Earth, we don't have school or work and we cook a feast and stuff our faces. I mean that really doesn't seem that interesting when you think of it. But I guess Thanksgiving is a just day to forget all the bad in the world and focus on all the good things that may come. Thanksgiving Day would be looked as a marginal message because no one really worries about how much food they eat and how they look, just as long as you are with your family, everything is okay... which is something I am okay with.
On Black Friday, I didn't even think of going to buy anything at all especially from watching that video in Andy's class, but I went. My brother convinced me to go at 5:00am but we ended up going at 6:30am. It was my first time going to shop on a Black Friday. It was horrible, having so many people shoving and pushing you, was the last thing I wanted to have done to me especially at 6:30 in the morning. Lets put it this way I wanted to smack each and every person that was rushing to get to some item that would still be there by the time they got there. I guess it was my fault in picking Macy's as my first store to go to. I ended getting a couple of jeans and shirts which I did not get at Macy's because of the situation there, I ended up shopping in Union Square.
I was really shocked to see how poeple acted on this day. I was very pissed off to hear that there was a guy who was trampled to death in a Walmart store which sounds really stupid. It was an accident that could've been avoided. I just think that day was pretty chaotic and people acted like animals. There's really nothing more to say but that people in the U.S can be very unintelligent.
I know you're suppose be thankful for all the little things you have on Thanksgiving Day but as we talked about in class and I listened to Andy's interesting reason for why people really celebrate it, I thought to myself maybe celebrating Thanksgiving is pointless, its just another day of us being on Earth, we don't have school or work and we cook a feast and stuff our faces. I mean that really doesn't seem that interesting when you think of it. But I guess Thanksgiving is a just day to forget all the bad in the world and focus on all the good things that may come. Thanksgiving Day would be looked as a marginal message because no one really worries about how much food they eat and how they look, just as long as you are with your family, everything is okay... which is something I am okay with.
On Black Friday, I didn't even think of going to buy anything at all especially from watching that video in Andy's class, but I went. My brother convinced me to go at 5:00am but we ended up going at 6:30am. It was my first time going to shop on a Black Friday. It was horrible, having so many people shoving and pushing you, was the last thing I wanted to have done to me especially at 6:30 in the morning. Lets put it this way I wanted to smack each and every person that was rushing to get to some item that would still be there by the time they got there. I guess it was my fault in picking Macy's as my first store to go to. I ended getting a couple of jeans and shirts which I did not get at Macy's because of the situation there, I ended up shopping in Union Square.
I was really shocked to see how poeple acted on this day. I was very pissed off to hear that there was a guy who was trampled to death in a Walmart store which sounds really stupid. It was an accident that could've been avoided. I just think that day was pretty chaotic and people acted like animals. There's really nothing more to say but that people in the U.S can be very unintelligent.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Dominant Corporate Messages
The main goal of dominant corporate messages is to tell us how to live life meaningfully. They come up with the most persuading words and ideas to make us believe their words are true. I can agree with this becuase I am in this society and I live my life by watching others live theirs and learn from their mistakes so that I don't repeat them. But there are some messages that just screw our heads up, all they're trying to do is make us "perfect". For example, they say we're all beautiful but if we use their products, we'll be even more beautiful and maybe even perfect in their eyes. From using products and materials that we see from advertisements and the media, we are brainwashed that it will work on us.
In the Women's Health magazine, the front cover is bascially the introduction to what you have to start to do to get your life together to live a good and meaningful life. This is to all the women, "The No-Diet Solution!FLATTEN YOUR BELLY IN TWO WEEKS!" this message tells women that in order to live a good and meaningful life you need to be slim and in shape. The extraordinary thing about this message is how the media is telling women that they can lose weight in a matter of two weeks. They send these ridiculous messages to get you to think that this actually works and that is it mandatory to look good in order to be glamorous. (http://media.magazines.com/product/72/33/9061.jpg) In the front cover of this magazine, there is a attractive Caucasian woman who is slim and famous. The point of this is fro young women and older women to have a model figure that they can look at when they are buying all these expensive products and materials to look JUST like them.
Another example is Teen Magazines, which are a big thing in this society. They are mainly pointed at teens. For girls the messages is to look beautiful and young and stay slim. For guys, the message is to be strong and fit to look good and attractive for girls. In Seventeen Magazine, they teach you about fashion, hair, skin & make-up, health, sex, dating, and careers. The way they view a good and meaningful life is looking perfect.http://www.seventeen.com/ There is no part in this magazine that I have seen that they say you must go to college and be intelligent. Basically all messages are telling you how to look good on the outside but they never seem to have ideas on your future-wise such as education and careers.
In the Women's Health magazine, the front cover is bascially the introduction to what you have to start to do to get your life together to live a good and meaningful life. This is to all the women, "The No-Diet Solution!FLATTEN YOUR BELLY IN TWO WEEKS!" this message tells women that in order to live a good and meaningful life you need to be slim and in shape. The extraordinary thing about this message is how the media is telling women that they can lose weight in a matter of two weeks. They send these ridiculous messages to get you to think that this actually works and that is it mandatory to look good in order to be glamorous. (http://media.magazines.com/product/72/33/9061.jpg) In the front cover of this magazine, there is a attractive Caucasian woman who is slim and famous. The point of this is fro young women and older women to have a model figure that they can look at when they are buying all these expensive products and materials to look JUST like them.
Another example is Teen Magazines, which are a big thing in this society. They are mainly pointed at teens. For girls the messages is to look beautiful and young and stay slim. For guys, the message is to be strong and fit to look good and attractive for girls. In Seventeen Magazine, they teach you about fashion, hair, skin & make-up, health, sex, dating, and careers. The way they view a good and meaningful life is looking perfect.http://www.seventeen.com/ There is no part in this magazine that I have seen that they say you must go to college and be intelligent. Basically all messages are telling you how to look good on the outside but they never seem to have ideas on your future-wise such as education and careers.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Thoughts on Our New President Barrack Obama
I guess I can say I'm glad that someone with intelligence won the election and is now our president, but to be truthful I didn't exactly follow up on the whole election. Now I feel like I should have payed more attention to each candidates' speeches and follow up on the votes because I am still a little lost with everything that has happened since I never really payed mind to the things that were stated by each candidate. Right now I do think that Barrack Obama has a lot of pressure on him just because Americans have high expectations from him. I hope that everything he has stated in his victory speech will have actions sooner than we think because everyone is waiting for a change.
In class today, Alex and Sam moved me with their thoughts and ideas about how they felt with the election. I thought to myself of course who wouldn't expect more from a black president, but we as Americans need to step up and not sit on our asses and help out too. This isn't just up to him, we need to work together to make change and that is what I feel Obama means when he states, "this isn't about me, its about you"
We also cant expect change right now, we have to be patient and let things flow...
In class today, Alex and Sam moved me with their thoughts and ideas about how they felt with the election. I thought to myself of course who wouldn't expect more from a black president, but we as Americans need to step up and not sit on our asses and help out too. This isn't just up to him, we need to work together to make change and that is what I feel Obama means when he states, "this isn't about me, its about you"
We also cant expect change right now, we have to be patient and let things flow...
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Comments
I would have to agree with your analysis because the youth today is so influenced with what they see, they don't realize that all the material stuff will go to waste one day or another. The style, teens have today always wear out and when something new comes out everyone is out to look that same way. While others are in fact trying to be different than those who want to be just like their favorite celebrity and so on.
I never really looked at the video the way you viewed it but i get an understanding now of what the meaning of the video and how the media brainwashes people to be someone they're not. -to Andy
i really enjoyed reading your analysis and i would have to agree with you. i don't understand how some rich little boys would talk about love is all you need but then again they have people doing everything for them while they sit on their asses...it just doesn't make sense. -to kyle
good job on the analysis. it really caught my attention how well you explained everything. It's crazy how people think money and clothes is everything but you gotta admit we're all doing it even if we don't realize it. - to sam rios
I never really looked at the video the way you viewed it but i get an understanding now of what the meaning of the video and how the media brainwashes people to be someone they're not. -to Andy
i really enjoyed reading your analysis and i would have to agree with you. i don't understand how some rich little boys would talk about love is all you need but then again they have people doing everything for them while they sit on their asses...it just doesn't make sense. -to kyle
good job on the analysis. it really caught my attention how well you explained everything. It's crazy how people think money and clothes is everything but you gotta admit we're all doing it even if we don't realize it. - to sam rios
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
LDH2B BIG PAPER
People believe that having a good and meaningful life will make them a better person and that they will go to heaven when they die, but to be truly honest I don't think there will ever be a "right" or "wrong" way to live life. So, to the people that are trying to better their lives to be happier, "wake up to reality becuase whatever you do, your life will never be perfect". We usually get our ideas from people we think are wiser and more intelligent than us but the truth is, no one knows. Three major sources where we get the main ideas of a meaningful life are - corporate/commodified culture, folk culture, and big subcultures.
My ideas on the good and meaningful life are to take risks in life that will help you become a better person and to overcome things you never thought you can do. Many would think of my ideas as rhetorical and childish but I really feel that working on yourself to be happier and successful will make you feel more of a better person not precisely give you a good and meaningful life but feeling right about yourself is key in my life. What I am trying to say is if you love to draw or write, go right ahead and do it but do something that is healthy for you and your life. In my point of view, an example of a meaningless life would be to be the person that sits on their ass and accomplishes nothing in their life. Someone who rather waste his or her life playing video games and watching t.v for hours and doesn't explore the world to try new things. One of the biggest dominant cultures is the corporate message from the media. The majority of of music videos, movies, and advertisements give us an insight on how to live a good and meaningful life. It's not so much of a positive advice we get but a more "in order to be cool or in order to be beautiful this is what you must do..." We always find ourselves in these situations and it's not one of the best because it's as if we're slaves to the society; whatever is told, we have to do it. For example, a teen in high school always feels pressured from worrying about his/her looks to his/her's way of living. You always want to belong to a group or else like it is told, "You'll be a geek or an outsider" as our society calls it.
Corporate dominant messages bascially send messages that are going after young people who are naive to believe the things they say. In VH1, the international T.V show "Real Chance of Love," is about two brothers who are out in the world trying to find love. The massage that they give young people is that you need to have fame in life and you should do anything to get the person you love even if you have to embarrass yourself on national t.v. These women are exploiting themselves to some guys that they barely know and are willing to do the most dumb things to get them. If you watch this t.v show you see drama after drama with between all these young and beautiful women who are all after the same two guys.
In our world we receive mixed messages about life in general. We are told how to live life. From having the good looks to being the richest person alive, I wanted to demonstrate how music videos influence us to live a certain way.The song Lip Gloss is basically giving out a message to all young people that you have to be cool in order to be accepted. As you can see in the video in order to be "cool" you have to have expensive products and materials, look a certain way to get attention from others especially the opposite sex. These messages are influencing young people that they have to act like someone that they're not to be accepted in a group. At the beginning of Lil Mama's video she is sitting in the care with her mother ready to go to school as shes about to get out she tells her mother she wants to be "part of the cool crowd" her mother gives her the lip gloss and as the video begins she quotes,
"They say my lip gloss is cool
My lip gloss be popping
I'm standing at my locker
And all the boys keep stopping
What you know 'bout me?"
In this quote she is saying that because her lip gloss is so "cool" guys are after her and girls are jealous of her. She wants to be the center of attention which is what a lot of young girls these days tend to accomplish. There is a part in the video that show a "geeky" boy with eyeglasses turns "cool" as Lil Mama blows some sparkles at him and automatically he drops his glasses and begins to dance ridiculously. You can see in the video that they are in a school dancing through the hallways, not even getting an education learning about important subjects but being educated on how to be cool. The video also shows a clip where there is a poster that has Lil Mama for class president. The meaning behind that is voting for her because she is "cool" and good looking, not because she will contribute to the school's education and intelligent. Most videos similar to these give mixed-messages to young people. Some may say its the way they express themselves as showing how much fun they're having as young people but they are really brainwashing people that there is a specific way to live a meaningful life which is to have all the glamor in the world. Pop culture has influenced young people so much that they truly believe that to be happy in life you need all the expensive products and materials, that you need to be good-looking and I feel that is when all the fixing you body up doing surgery, botox etc. comes in. People want to look like their favorite singer or celebrity and they will do whatever it takes to look and feel like them. People need to realize that being cool is not going to make your life more meaningful but its going to show how dim-witted you really are.
My ideas on the good and meaningful life are to take risks in life that will help you become a better person and to overcome things you never thought you can do. Many would think of my ideas as rhetorical and childish but I really feel that working on yourself to be happier and successful will make you feel more of a better person not precisely give you a good and meaningful life but feeling right about yourself is key in my life. What I am trying to say is if you love to draw or write, go right ahead and do it but do something that is healthy for you and your life. In my point of view, an example of a meaningless life would be to be the person that sits on their ass and accomplishes nothing in their life. Someone who rather waste his or her life playing video games and watching t.v for hours and doesn't explore the world to try new things. One of the biggest dominant cultures is the corporate message from the media. The majority of of music videos, movies, and advertisements give us an insight on how to live a good and meaningful life. It's not so much of a positive advice we get but a more "in order to be cool or in order to be beautiful this is what you must do..." We always find ourselves in these situations and it's not one of the best because it's as if we're slaves to the society; whatever is told, we have to do it. For example, a teen in high school always feels pressured from worrying about his/her looks to his/her's way of living. You always want to belong to a group or else like it is told, "You'll be a geek or an outsider" as our society calls it.
Corporate dominant messages bascially send messages that are going after young people who are naive to believe the things they say. In VH1, the international T.V show "Real Chance of Love," is about two brothers who are out in the world trying to find love. The massage that they give young people is that you need to have fame in life and you should do anything to get the person you love even if you have to embarrass yourself on national t.v. These women are exploiting themselves to some guys that they barely know and are willing to do the most dumb things to get them. If you watch this t.v show you see drama after drama with between all these young and beautiful women who are all after the same two guys.
In our world we receive mixed messages about life in general. We are told how to live life. From having the good looks to being the richest person alive, I wanted to demonstrate how music videos influence us to live a certain way.The song Lip Gloss is basically giving out a message to all young people that you have to be cool in order to be accepted. As you can see in the video in order to be "cool" you have to have expensive products and materials, look a certain way to get attention from others especially the opposite sex. These messages are influencing young people that they have to act like someone that they're not to be accepted in a group. At the beginning of Lil Mama's video she is sitting in the care with her mother ready to go to school as shes about to get out she tells her mother she wants to be "part of the cool crowd" her mother gives her the lip gloss and as the video begins she quotes,
"They say my lip gloss is cool
My lip gloss be popping
I'm standing at my locker
And all the boys keep stopping
What you know 'bout me?"
In this quote she is saying that because her lip gloss is so "cool" guys are after her and girls are jealous of her. She wants to be the center of attention which is what a lot of young girls these days tend to accomplish. There is a part in the video that show a "geeky" boy with eyeglasses turns "cool" as Lil Mama blows some sparkles at him and automatically he drops his glasses and begins to dance ridiculously. You can see in the video that they are in a school dancing through the hallways, not even getting an education learning about important subjects but being educated on how to be cool. The video also shows a clip where there is a poster that has Lil Mama for class president. The meaning behind that is voting for her because she is "cool" and good looking, not because she will contribute to the school's education and intelligent. Most videos similar to these give mixed-messages to young people. Some may say its the way they express themselves as showing how much fun they're having as young people but they are really brainwashing people that there is a specific way to live a meaningful life which is to have all the glamor in the world. Pop culture has influenced young people so much that they truly believe that to be happy in life you need all the expensive products and materials, that you need to be good-looking and I feel that is when all the fixing you body up doing surgery, botox etc. comes in. People want to look like their favorite singer or celebrity and they will do whatever it takes to look and feel like them. People need to realize that being cool is not going to make your life more meaningful but its going to show how dim-witted you really are.
Friday, October 24, 2008
Analyzing Music Videos
Lip Gloss
1. What is the song basically saying about how to live a good life? Paraphrase the main idea.
The song Lip Gloss is basically giving out a message to all young people that you have to be cool in order to be accepted. As you can see in the video in order to be "cool" you have to have expensive products and materials, look a certain way to get attention from others especially the opposite sex. these messages are influencing young people that they have to act like someone that they're not to be accepted in a group.
2. What lyrics particularly speak to that perspective? Use quotes as evidence.
At the beginning of Lil Mama's video she is sitting in the care with her mother ready to go to school as shes about to get out she tells her mother she wants to be "part of the cool crowd" her mother gives her the lip gloss and as the video begins she quotes,
"They say my lip gloss is cool
My lip gloss be popping
I'm standing at my locker
And all the boys keep stopping
What you know 'bout me?"
In this quote she is saying that because her lip gloss is so "cool" guys are after her and girls are jealous of her. She wants to be the center of attention which is what a lot of young girls these days tend to accomplish.
3. How do the video images support, re-orient, or challenge the dominant theme of the lyrics? Analyze.
There is a part in the video that show a "geeky" boy with eyeglasses turns "cool" as Lil Mama blows some sparkles at him and automatically he drops his glasses and begins to dance ridiculously. You can see in the video that they are in a school dancing through the hallways, not even getting an education learning about important subjects but being educated on how to be cool. The video also shows a clip where there is a poster that has Lil Mama for class president. The meaning behind that is voting for her because she is "cool" and good looking, not because she will contribute to the school's education and intelligent.
4. What else do you notice that's interesting? Look for internal contradictions, aspects of the message that resonate with other messages from the pop culture, points that connect to your own perspective, etc. Analyze squared.
Most videos similar to these give mixed-messages to young people. Some may say its the way they express themselves as showing how much fun they're having as young people but they are really brainwashing people that there is a specific way to live a meaningful life which is to have all the glamor in the world. Pop culture has influenced young people so much that they truly believe that to be happy in life you need all the expensive products and materials, that you need to be good-looking and I feel that is when all the fixing you body up doing surgery, botox etc. comes in. people want to look like their favorite singer or celebrity and they will do whatever it takes to look and feel like them. People need to realize that being cool is not going to make your life more meaningful but its going to show how dim-witted you really are.
Monday, October 13, 2008
Final Draft
When people are asked of their opinions or ideas on what the "meaning of life" is, their sense of meaning has to do with things they enjoy doing while other answers are more complex. For example, your simple answer would most likely be “family” while your complex answer would be “being happy with yourself and enjoying the life you live as an individual”. It is obvious that there is many answers to the “definition” of the meaning of life. Everyone has a different perspective of it and no matter how the answer sounds;it is not wrong it just depends how you view it. From my interviews with my family and friends, I noticed that they struggled with this question, which made me think that there will never be such an answer to sum up the meaning of life. It is just how you look at it. I asked three people who are very close to me these questions, “What do you think and believe the meaning of life is?” “How meaningful or meaningless is your life?”First, I interviewed my father. He began off telling me family was the most important thing to him but as he continued to get more in depth he concluded, “having the freedom to say what you want and believe in what you believe right when you come out your mother’s wound is something that I find most important in my life because without that you wouldn’t be living the life you chose to live now.” I thought this answer was a little strange but when I thought about it I started to agree with it. We choose the lives we live but its only because we have the right to pick how we want to live it which makes our lives either meaningful or meaningless.
I also interviewed my mother. Her answer was more on the simple side. She said that the meaning of life was to be alive and to finally have the opportunity to be someone. I understood where she was coming from but I didn’t agree with this answer it just seemed too simple. Being alive is something people are happy with but not something people are thankful for on the regular basis, they are just glad that they’re alive while having people that will be helpful to you in your future and the goals you accomplished is something that is meaningful to many. It is also a part of the meaning of life to me. My mother quotes, “Personally, someone might not think my life is meaningful but the way I see it, it is. I am happy with my life and I have my children to prove it. I have a job and I have somewhere to live, I’m not just your average face I am somebody in life no matter how you see it.” This answer was very interesting to me and it made me think more deeply into what the meaning of life really is, but there are many answers, ideas, and thoughts, which questions me what is the meaning of life? How does someone know? The meaning of life is very tricky. People answer this question thinking, “What do I like to do? What do I love most? Who do I love most?” And so on…there is never one answer to this question.
The third person I interviewed was my close friend Yanet. As I asked her my questions she responded, “the meaning of life to me is accomplishing the goal you want to achieve and being someone important in life.” I would mostly likely have to disagree with her answer just because in my perspective I believe that someone can have all the education and money in the world and still may not be happy or feel like his/her life is meaningful; it might just be that they are doing this to feel batter and higher than everyone else or its just an expectation that someone who raised them expects from them.
As you can see, everyone will always a different meaning of life but when you look deep into each and every one of their answers there is a connection to what life means to them it always goes back to what is most important to them and what they really love most.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
first draft
When people are asked of their opinions or ideas on what the "meaning of life" is, their sense of meaning has to do with things they enjoy doing while other answers are more complex. For example, your simple answer would most likely be “family” while your complex answer would be “being happy with yourself and enjoying the life you live as an individual”. It is obvious that there is many answers to the “definition” of the meaning of life. Everyone has a different perspective of it and no matter how the answer sounds;it is not wrong it just depends how you view it. From my interviews with my family and friends, I noticed that they struggled with this question, which made me think that there will never be such an answer to sum up the meaning of life. It is just how you look at it. I asked three people who are very close to me these questions, “What do you think and believe the meaning of life is?” “How meaningful or meaningless is your life?”First, I interviewed my father. He began off telling me family was the most important thing to him but as he continued to get more in depth he concluded, “having the freedom to say what you want and believe in what you believe right when you come out your mother’s wound is something that I find most important in my life because without that you wouldn’t be living the life you chose to live now.” I thought this answer was a little strange but when I thought about it I started to agree with it. We choose the lives we live but its only because we have the right to pick how we want to live it which makes our lives either meaningful or meaningless.
I also interviewed my mother. Her answer was more on the simple side. She said that the meaning of life was to be alive and to finally have the opportunity to be someone. I understood where she was coming from but I didn’t agree with this answer it just seemed too simple. Being alive is something people are happy with but not something people are thankful for on the regular basis, they are just glad that they’re alive while having people that will be helpful to you in your future and the goals you accomplished is something that is meaningful to many. It is also a part of the meaning of life to me. My mother quotes, “Personally, someone might not think my life is meaningful but the way I see it, it is. I am happy with my life and I have my children to prove it. I have a job and I have somewhere to live, I’m not just your average face I am somebody in life no matter how you see it.” This answer was very interesting to me and it made me think more deeply into what the meaning of life really is, but there are many answers, ideas, and thoughts, which questions me what is the meaning of life? How does someone know? The meaning of life is very tricky. People answer this question thinking, “What do I like to do? What do I love most? Who do I love most?” And so on…there is never one answer to this question.
The third person I interviewed was my close friend Yanet from school. She said, “Accomplishing the goal you want to achieve in life and being someone important in life.” I would most likely disagree with her statement because being someone important and having a good education doesn’t mean you think your life is meaningful and you’re happy, it just means you are basically doing this to get a higher paying job or getting the respect you need from others or even having the authority over everyone who is considered lower than you. She also said she believes her life is meaningful because she is trying hard enough to accomplish her goals that will lead her to her future.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Comments
i really liked your video it was very enjoyful to watch. you were yourself and you didn't try to hard to please everyone who watched you.you were very creative by just videotaping yourself and talking about your ideas and thoughts about meaningless and meaningless things which made the video fun to watch.
-to Ian Garcia
i really enjoyed watching your video as well as reading through your writing about your film but what i really enjoyed most was the question you asked... “Does a meaningful life have to be appreciated by everyone?”
i really do believe people don't see themselves judging others lives but its what you said they do it without even knowing it. but if you really take a look you are the only one that can judge your own life and say if its meaningful to you. it all depends on what you think meaningful is. so, my answer to your question would be no.-to Kyle C.
i was very satisfied with your video the music and pictures kept me entertained and i enjoyed watching your video because it was all about you and whats really important and meaningful to you. -to Kyra B.
-to Ian Garcia
i really enjoyed watching your video as well as reading through your writing about your film but what i really enjoyed most was the question you asked... “Does a meaningful life have to be appreciated by everyone?”
i really do believe people don't see themselves judging others lives but its what you said they do it without even knowing it. but if you really take a look you are the only one that can judge your own life and say if its meaningful to you. it all depends on what you think meaningful is. so, my answer to your question would be no.-to Kyle C.
i was very satisfied with your video the music and pictures kept me entertained and i enjoyed watching your video because it was all about you and whats really important and meaningful to you. -to Kyra B.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
DESCRIPTIVE
What have you included in this video?
I decided to make a slideshow which mostly includes my family and friends who have been an important part of my life. I also have pictures of things that I like and love in general.
Which parts of the video related to relatively meaningful aspects of your life? Which parts related to relatively meaningless aspects of your life?
I believe all the parts of my slide show related to meaningful aspects of my life.
Living in this neighborhood in
My friends who are shown in this video are very special to me. I’ve had a special moment with each of them and become closer more and more everyday I can consider them as family. For example, I met two very extraordinary girls about 3 years ago who have taught me a lot in life and I really appreciate that because in life you don’t meet too many people who catch your attention not by looks but by personality and uniqueness.
My family is number one in my list, they have been with me since day one so I really find that meaningful in life because they always stick by my side and help me through life. And because of them I am who I am now also it is why I am still living life trying to accomplish my dream which is to graduate from college and become a nurse.
What would you have liked to include but weren’t able to?
I would’ve liked to include more meaning pictures such as places I like to go to, specific things I do on the daily basis, my cultural background, my school and in general who I am as a person.
ANALYSIS & INSIGHT
What seem to be some of the main criteria you use to assess how meaningful an aspect of your life is?
I would say if you feel that it is meaningful and important in your life than that’s what matters to you. Everyone has a different meaning of the word “meaningful” but in my case going out with friends to walk around because we’re bored is meaningless but going out and doing something you love such as watching movies with important people in your life would be meaningful. What I am trying to say is things you love to do would most likely be meaningful to you other than things you are used to doing on a regular basis.
Is there a pattern in what you find meaningful or meaningless? What are some of the elements in that pattern?
Like I said things you basically love to do would most likely be meaningful to you. You wouldn’t say standing on the corner of School of the Future is meaningful to you just because it really sounds meaningless but doing something exciting or interesting in your life would be more meaningful. Things that would be meaningful to people but they wouldn’t exactly say it is the air we breathe, the food we eat, the education we eat, the roof over our heads, our parents, etc.
Looking at the video as a whole- is it fairly honest/ accurate depiction of your life? Does it make you seem interesting/special/exciting?
I find it fairly honest and accurate. Although it shows only happy moments in my life with the people I enjoy to be with, I tend to always show this side of myself so that people don’t get the wrong idea of how I live life and what is and what isn’t meaningful to me. Looking at this video I do feel special because I look at all the moments I shared with my loved ones and places I’ve went to and things I’ve accomplished in life so far.
Does your life seem meaningful from an outside perspective? Is it from an inside perspective? Why?
Well, it depends on what the person thinks the word “meaningful” means, but from my perspective I do find my life meaningful in most parts. If I would have to describe my life it would be an interesting life as not so much a boring life because I do things that many would think of as exciting and interesting. But for the most part someone else might not think my life was meaningful just because I really just like to relax and just enjoy life rather then to go wild and do crazy things. From an inside perspective it would be different because they would actually get a sense of where I’m coming from when I think of the word meaningful or meaningless.
What questions do you have about living a meaningful life at this point?
What is the definition of “meaningful”?
What does it take to have a “meaningful” life?
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