Are you a Transcendentalist?

When it comes to transcendentalism, I believe that it relates to the idea that someone is rebelling against a social norm, creating a sort of situation that doesn't necessarily have to be there; yet, people are speaking about what they truly believe in, so it is a situation that they personally think is worth their time and effort.  The mind of an individual is a complex thing and no one has the right to say what is right and what is wrong considering everyone has a different way of thinking about things.  I think transcendentalism has both it's strengths and weaknesses, but depending on what side you are taking-- for or against the rebellion-- what you see as strengths may be viewed as weaknesses to someone else.  Transcendentalism involves putting yourself out there and getting involved.  You can't expect someone to act upon an issue for you, so I think one of the strengths this brings is it makes people show who they truly are due to them expressing their morals, values, and beliefs while taking a stance on an issue.  Now, with speaking up against something considered normal, there can come conflict that could potentially lead to a bigger problem, which would show that their are weaknesses that come out because of this.

I think that people taking care of themselves and not letting others tell them what to do or what to believe is something I would agree with when it comes to transcendentalism.  I don't like people telling me how to think or what is considered okay and what is not, so it is nice to know that others have those opinions too.  On that note, sometimes there are situations where I would rather follow along with what has always been done.  I feel there are times were it is not worth the effort to "rebel" and find I would rather stick with the norm.  This doesn't mean I would stick with something I feel is morally wrong, it simply means I'd rather take a step back in situations where the outcome wouldn't drastically change depending on which way I went with it.

In the end, I wouldn't consider myself that much of a transcendentalist, which I don't find to be a bad thing.  I am not one to express my opinion in such a way that would create conflict, so I wouldn't put myself out there as much as others might.  I like to take into consideration how other people feel on an idea before I just take off with my own, which I think goes against what transcendentalism is.  Just because I am not as outward with my opinions as others doesn't make me any less of a leader per say, it simply means I take a different type of tone when going about certain things.

The Great Gatsby Follow-Up

While reading The Great Gatsby, I found the text to be rather boring and dull due to the fact that I couldn't get fully engaged, but when the movie began, the characters came to life with the help of the colors and music. In class, we would take the text to an entire different level and discuss what little details could somehow make up something totally different; yet, were somehow very rational depictions.  During this time, it was hard for me to understand how we were coming to this conclusions, so being able to see the characters come to life with the use different color schemes was rather helpful.

 Not only was I able to relate how the colors represented something deeper- something we had discussed in class- but I was able to see first hand how characters were depicted from the actual text.  For example, Daisy had blond hair, was rather small, and wore outfits that weren't over the top, but gave us insight about who she was and where she came from.  In other words, she was rather innocent looking, which I wouldn't have necessarily thought of from the book due to her indiscretions, but really, from the film, I could see that she wanted to please everyone, which was near impossible.  The difficulty of that task was eventually what broke her in the end and I was able to visually see this when it was acted out in front of me.

The music also added an entire different level to my opinion on the book.  Not only did I recognize the music because it was so up to date, it was transformed in such a way that made what was being acted out all the more exciting.  It changed the way I had pictured scenes from the book in my head, which made me appreciate the actual text a little bit more.  An example of this was the shirt scene with Gatsby and Daisy.  During an activity, one question was why do you think that Daisy cried during that scene and could it represent something deeper?  The music during this scene made me realize that Daisy was in fact happy for most of the time, and then when the music came to an end, I could see that her emotions were changing, which visually helped me.

Bowling for Columbine

Since 2002, I don't think that our culture and values have changed all that much.  And if they were to be any different, I would say that it hasn't changed for the better.  Americans are instilled with a certain fear where we expect the worse to happen and that is rarely the case.  Yes, there have been numerous tragedies that have occurred, but the likelihood of something happening like that to daily, eventually to everyone, is very slim.  Throughout the past decade, crime rates have gone down; yet, the fear of crime has gone up.  How does that work?  Like Michael Moore said, "people with this much fear should have such easy access to guns and ammo."  Why?  Because what is truly to fear?

Why are we so fearful of the unknown?  Because society has such a strong influence on the people around them.  Whether or not you believe that the media affects how you go about your daily life, in the end, it does in fact impact everyone.  We are told what is right and what is wrong.  We are told who is normal and who is different from the rest of us.  We are told what social status is acceptable and what social status is not.  Culture and values can change depending on where you are from, but overall how different can they really be when everyone witnesses what is going on in the country they call home.

The documentary showed us that everyone is affected by tragedies in a certain way and everyone has their own way of dealing with them.  Nearly everyone interviewed in the documentary believed that gun control doesn't have to be strictly regulated and it is okay, even encouraged, to keep a loaded gun near you at all times.  Is that the way to go about your fears though?  Who is to say they have the right answer to this question?  No one.  In the end, people are going to do whatever they need to do in order to feel safe.  When it comes down to it, they will protect themselves before anyone else.

Sound and Fury

The documentary Sound and Fury jumped right into the main plot from the beginning.  It began with Peter and Nita wanted the implant because they want Heather to be able to live in both the speaking and sign language world and then it changed rather quickly that she herself wouldn't benefit from the cochlear implant, so her opinion for Heather changes.  This then leads to the grandmother voicing her opinion on why they are making a poor decision and this is the beginning of my frustrations.  The arguments that took place during this film allowed me to gain my own opinion as well, so it was frustrating when the people within the film thought differently than I, like Nita and Peter.  Due to the individuals being interviewed separately, I was able to understand where they were coming from, even if I didn't agree with what they were saying.

In my opinion, I think that Peter and Nita should have gotten the cochlear implant for Heather because she would be able to have a chance at more opportunities if she were able to hear.  I'm sure if she put her mind to it she could do anything a hearing person could do, but it would be more difficult and take more of an effort.  The opportunity presented itself to better their daughter's life, and they didn't take it.  She still would have been a part of both worlds, just not as directly.  As you can see, I believe in the cochlear implant, so I am happy that Chris and Mari decided to get one for their son, especially considering he is a twin.  If Chloe were to hearing and I were to be deaf, I would always feel as if she was better than I.  I would be jealous that she had something I didn't and it would always be a constant struggle to come in second compared to Chloe.  Whether the children were to get the implant or not, I feel like there would always be that wondering of whether or not it was the right choice.  What would Heather be like if she would have received the cochlear implant?  What would Mari and Chris's son be like if he didn't get the implant?

When it comes to the main Discourses, I would say that they are the connections between the hearing people and the connections between the deaf people.  Hearing people don't know what it is like to be deaf and deaf people don't know what it is like to be able to hear, but that doesn't make one necessarily better than the other.  Within the deaf community, I was able to see that they did not view their differences as a handicap and saw that they were happy with who they were.  The people within the deaf community that could hear, like Mary for example, found it hard to fit into this Discourse.  She didn't necessarily want to use sign all the time and this made for an interesting family dynamic.  

(Fear Of) Dirty Laundry

Some people may just call this OCD, but in my mind, it is so much more than that.  Having a stain on my clothes and not having clean clothes is an irrational, yet legitimate, fear of mine.  I may not even be wearing an item of clothing for long and I still throw it in the dirty laundry because you never know.  I can just imagine sitting at lunch during school and spilling on myself, which would then lead to me getting called out to go home and change.  My friends would then laugh and question why I was making such a small thing a big deal, but I don’t succumb to peer pressure.  Nope, not me.   

I’ve always been an extremely neat and tidy person, so if my clothes were to be dirty, it would throw everything off.  Why?  It just would.  I have learned to accept this.  I first realized that this was a fear of mine as a child when my grandma was babysitting my siblings and I.  I don’t remember what spilled on my shirt; however, I remember that it was smack dap right in the middle for everyone to stare at.  I asked my grandma if I could go change my shirt and she said no because we weren’t going anywhere and she didn’t want me to get another shirt dirty.  I guess she did not know how much stress this stain was causing me.  After being told no, I then proceeded to get a wet wash cloth, hid behind a chair, and starting scrubbing furiously, hoping that it would magically disappear.  My grandma found me soon enough and said I could go change, which I immediately did.  Why didn’t I just go change in the first place?  Why did I have to ask for my grandma’s permission? I don’t know.

Today, I would simply go change without asking anyone.  That would just be silly.  My family may make fun of me for how much laundry I have, but that is fine by me.  I’ll fold all the clean laundry my mom dumps on the couch, even if it were to be a mountainous pile, which it normally is considering we have seven people in my house.  I know those clothes are clean, and believe it or not, that makes me happy.

An Analysis: Blurred Lines

This song came out during the summer of 2013, so whenever I hear it, it always takes me back to that time and those memories and I end up finding myself singing along to it in the car.  I like the song and never really thought too much about what the actual meaning of the song was, so personally, I had no idea that this song sparked up so much controversy until I read the articles discussing the lyrics of the song and the music video.  Since reading the articles and watching the video, my opinion hasn't really changed- I still like the song- but I can understand both sides of the argument.

I have to agree with Jennifer Lai when it comes to whether or not the song "reeks of rape."  Yes, the lyrics are not the most appropriate, but that is the same for thousands of other songs out there.  I wouldn't say that our culture revolves around sexual innuendos today, but it is definitely apart of our everyday life, whether we want to admit it or not.  His lyrics are no different than any other song.  If you take apart the lyrics and analyze them, you can come up with a lot of different conclusions as to what they could be referring too.  In the end, whether there was a deeper meaning to the song or not, I think it is very catchy and that is what got him to the top of the charts.

The music video is a different story, however.  I have to admit, the only time I watch music videos to songs is when it is all people talk about due to something worthy of watching with in the video- Wrecking Ball, by Miley Cyrus being a prime example of that- so when I saw the video, I understood where the controversy was coming from.  It was good that the original video was banned because it is very inappropriate and I don't understand why it had to be like that.  To me, it portrayed that women are dependent on men and that having a certain figure is important.  To some extent, I have to agree with Tricia Romano on the fact that the video is degrading to women, but I wouldn't go so far as to say that it suggests women will have sex without consent.  In the end, I think that the video was unnecessary and a better one could have been made, which would have helped the song and Robin Thicke instead of hurting him as much.  There was no reason behind making that kind of video.

The Liar's Club

Over the summer I read "The Liar's Club," a memoir written by Mary Karr, and I found it to be quite intriguing and was surprised I enjoyed reading a non-fiction book so much.  I was confused as to why it was called "The Liar's Club" because it seemed as if the book was just about how she grew up with a mother that went a little crazy.  After awhile I realized why it was called that because her father would meet with his guy friends every once in awhile and Karr would often go with just to sit and listen.  She rarely spoke at the meetings and never talked about them outside of the actual event.  Karr wrote in such a random way that it made more sense than if she were to have written in chronological order.  Not only did she jump from memory to memory, she connected every memory with another.  I really enjoyed this writing style because it was refreshing and was very easy to comprehend.

Why was she writing a memoir?  From the description I would have thought it was because she was raised in such a terrible way that she had to let the world know it is possible to make it out on top, but that was not what it ended up being.  Karr grew up in Texas and was considered wealth off compared to the other people in her town.  Her father worked very hard; yet, always had time for his two daughters, whom he treated like princesses.  Their mother was always home and also spoiled them; however, she had her ups and downs with drinking and acting what they called "Nervous."  Karr was a very stubborn child, but free-spirited and very dedicated.  She had a tough skin and wouldn't let many people in.   Overall, this was a very good book and made me realize that I should be thankful for the life I have because some people don't have it as great, no matter what it may look like from the outside.