Speaking in terms of entertainment, there have become so many ways that you can enjoy media. From different channels, to different devices, from visuals to audio, entertainment comes at you all day long in a variety of forms. But with the all the choices, I believe we have been dumbed down and watered down at the same time. Any idiot with a computer and a camera is a filmmaker. Technology is cheap and accessible and widespread. Look at the quality of what we watch and ingest on a daily basis. Take comedy for instance. Comedy is hard, it takes timing, taste, and the ability to play it straight with discipline and without cracking. Saturday Night Live is a horrid example and shell of its former self. What once was a crafted block of solid acting is now a gross out, sarcasm factory of television with lousy films that follow. A Night at the Roxbury, anybody? The Animal with Rob Schneider, crickets......Eddie Murphy, John Belushi, Steve Martin, Dan Akroyd, Chevy Chase, Gilda Radner, Madeline Kahn, etc.....Must I list more? Name a new cast member. You can't. Sure there have been a few bright spots. Will Ferrell is a genius, Adam Sandler is pretty good too. But after watching and wasting time on what is supposed to be good comedy, I have come to the conclusion that it has become an art that's been lost. We Are the Miller's, not that funny. Superbad, guess it was okay. Caddy shack? Now that was genius. A recent ranking of the funniest guys and gals on the planet by MSN got me to thinking, and cussing. The top ten included Ricky Gervais, Howard Stern, and Dane Cook. REALLY???!! Somebody needs to inform Ricky Gervais that he is not funny, at all. Howard is a shock and gross out king, and Dane Cook can't hold Zach Galifinakis', Will Ferrell's, or Katt Williams' jock. Point made. Moving on......On to social media. How many videos, posts, and clips do you have to sift through to find something truly worthwhile. There is a reason something goes viral, it is that much better than everything else!! Not everyone is a star (ahem, honey boo and Kim) and not everything is a show (ahem, Lizard Lick). No need to post seventy two pics of how funny you are or how many times you did this or that, but the media is sure there to let us know when you do! Vine is kind of interesting as Instagram, snapchat, and others are just reincarnations of one another. Vine only gives you six seconds to hone your craft making it harder to become noticed. Competition and regulations are a good thing people and I have come to respect niche apps like vine that force people have some semblance of talent. I wish I didn't have to hear the same thing over and over though.....
Now that he floodgates are open and everyone has access to such a wide array of interconnected media, the chance brings with it a price. That price is stupidity, bad taste, and a general watering down and dumbing down of entertainment. While the access will undoubtedly uncover some gems, it will be just like wading through all the bad videos that aren't funny and out of bad taste. Your inbox is full......
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
Right versus Responsibility
When does a right become a wrong? Are all rights expected to be unquestioned and eternal or can one's rights actually cease to be protected and therefore cease to exist in some instances? Is a right always a right or are there situations where one' s rights can actually hinder or impede the pursuit of another's happiness? I'm not talking about what the Constitution or Declaration say as they orate ideally. I'm talking about interpretation and subsequent plans for reality based action.
I believe the answer lies in responsibility. Responsibility overrides rights. Let me explain myself. If A. We all have the responsibility to make the world a better place by doing our part as humans to rid the world of injustice, allow everyone to experience liberty and happiness, and work together to build a more perfect union where everyone is considered and given the equal opportunity to succeed. Then B. Your right to be happy is second to your responsibility to insure happiness for all. What a perfectly harmonious world would be where instead of looking out for ourselves, we woke up everyday thinking of ways to make other people successful. In that instance, we wouldn't be able to fail. Just think, success would come at the hands of another, random acts of kindness would rule the day, and unity would be the stays quo; the new normal. Instead we have to face the grim picture of our reality where our technologically connected and advanced world demands to devour time. Life travels at the speed of light demanding that we focus on what we can get, what's mine, and what my piece is. This is because responsibility is hard, a stressful concept that involves effort. It's against our human nature. But calling for recognition of what our entitled rights are, that's easy.
It's all because anything worthwhile is hard to come by, no? A good marriage is hard work and filled with the toilsome responsibility of making each other happy. But how fulfilling to move in union with another. Having kids and seeing something succeed that you created is wonderfully amazing but the responsibility involved can be overwhelming. Experiencing success in career goals is undeniably exciting but the responsibility of holding a job and performing well is a struggle.
Now comes the hard part. There are times when our selfish pursuits of entitled and naturally endowed rights cause another's identical path to be blocked or destroyed. So who has the right of way? Do you have more rights than I do or are we truly equal? Here,is a list to consider:
1. You may have the right to choose what happens to your body, but you also have an overriding responsibility to proceed in a responsible manner that considers consequences of those actions and how they affect others, then who has the right to an abortion? LIFE
2. If we all have the right to pursue happiness, and the overriding responsibility is to insure this to all people, then who has the right to deny anyone the privilege of being recognized as a married couple? PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS
3. If You have a right to speak freely but a responsibility to respect and consider others, and you speak in a way that hurts or hinders me, who gets this right? LIBERTY
Something to think about.. .
I believe the answer lies in responsibility. Responsibility overrides rights. Let me explain myself. If A. We all have the responsibility to make the world a better place by doing our part as humans to rid the world of injustice, allow everyone to experience liberty and happiness, and work together to build a more perfect union where everyone is considered and given the equal opportunity to succeed. Then B. Your right to be happy is second to your responsibility to insure happiness for all. What a perfectly harmonious world would be where instead of looking out for ourselves, we woke up everyday thinking of ways to make other people successful. In that instance, we wouldn't be able to fail. Just think, success would come at the hands of another, random acts of kindness would rule the day, and unity would be the stays quo; the new normal. Instead we have to face the grim picture of our reality where our technologically connected and advanced world demands to devour time. Life travels at the speed of light demanding that we focus on what we can get, what's mine, and what my piece is. This is because responsibility is hard, a stressful concept that involves effort. It's against our human nature. But calling for recognition of what our entitled rights are, that's easy.
It's all because anything worthwhile is hard to come by, no? A good marriage is hard work and filled with the toilsome responsibility of making each other happy. But how fulfilling to move in union with another. Having kids and seeing something succeed that you created is wonderfully amazing but the responsibility involved can be overwhelming. Experiencing success in career goals is undeniably exciting but the responsibility of holding a job and performing well is a struggle.
Now comes the hard part. There are times when our selfish pursuits of entitled and naturally endowed rights cause another's identical path to be blocked or destroyed. So who has the right of way? Do you have more rights than I do or are we truly equal? Here,is a list to consider:
1. You may have the right to choose what happens to your body, but you also have an overriding responsibility to proceed in a responsible manner that considers consequences of those actions and how they affect others, then who has the right to an abortion? LIFE
2. If we all have the right to pursue happiness, and the overriding responsibility is to insure this to all people, then who has the right to deny anyone the privilege of being recognized as a married couple? PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS
3. If You have a right to speak freely but a responsibility to respect and consider others, and you speak in a way that hurts or hinders me, who gets this right? LIBERTY
Something to think about.. .
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
Shut Down or Shut Out?
With the recent governmental shutdown looming large over the political landscape, it is easy to lose faith in politicians no matter what side you are on or party you belong to. But the most certain result of this debacle has to be the fact that America is a politically divided nation with two large groups forming at either pole. There is no middle anymore, sorry fellow Libertarians! It is obviously a tug-o-war between two ends with no compromise and no regard for team work. Being a communications major, I realize that teamwork, willingness to work together, compromise, reaching across the aisle, partnerships, and give and take relationships, are all keys to success in group situations. Houston, we have a problem! What will it take for our nation's leaders to drop the petty political maneuvering shenanigans we are experiencing now, and put aside differences in order to do what's best for the country. It's going to take the citizen's of the United States resolving to take back America through better education and showing up at the polls, through informed voting and actually speaking back into our great nation with a voice loud and clear, that we the people have had enough and are taking back our country. Our government is too powerful as it is (look up federalism) and our politician's have no regard for truth, liberty, or justice for the American people, instead politically positioning themselves to get elected and then failing us by grouping into an elite political club that argues among themselves. Excuse me Mr. Senator, remember me? I am Mr. Average American that lives and works and makes this country great. Yeah me, way down here at the end of your nose! We could also use a heavy dose of party realignment in all parties where politicians reign it back in and find out how far from the average voice they have become. The way it is in reality as noted by many political scientists, is that most citizens have leanings on both sides, enjoying Democrat and Republican views. Sometimes chicken, sometimes gravy! The problem is that we are forced to choose either one or the other. Nobody is right all the time! Politics is not adaptive, it is a rigid affair, black or white. Maybe, just maybe, that is the problem. By the way, how many times have you contacted your senator or representative? How many times had you totally agreed with a politician on all aspects? How many times have you researched a candidates voting record? It is your right and duty. Just saying.....
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
Django is Chained
by Honky Kong
When I think about movies that have made a difference in American culture, I think about movies made that spark a movement, right a wrong, or create a conversation about how things should, could, or would be. Django Unchained is no such movie. Shame on Quentin Tarantino for thinking us so uninformed and uncultured. The problem that I have with the blood fest, n*** word using, Django is that it misses its opportunity, its responsibility, and in the process does more to mar race relations than to fix them. I hear all the time from members of all races, "Yeah but it's a comedy made about something that was horrific. It makes it okay to be entertained by this topic." Yes and absolutely no. While Django does a good job of creating a light atmosphere about a heavy topic bringing audiences of all races together, it still divides to conquer. You see the main plot point and theme of the movie is still the fact that two colors of human are still at odds and still out to get one another. Racial unity is what is needed in modern day America as race is still a HUGE factor that plagues our culture. This piece does nothing to rectify or unite, instead branding its comedy from unfortunate moments between two sides pitted against one another for social advantage. Oh, and the gore. Oh, and the racial slurs. Oh, and the gratuitous violence and sexual innuendo. Django is neither historic or really well told or acted. It is really just a cussed out, gored up version of a not so well executed Blazing Saddles. Tarantino has often been interviewed about living in a biracial neighborhood growing up and stating stories about having friends of different races was his norm. You would have thought this fact would have caused him to rally for his friends, banking on past experience and learning and teaching through his obvious talent. I feel that filmmakers have a great responsibility because with great power, comes great responsibility. Lets face it, filmmaking is power as we have learned. We create our own cultures. Is it okay to have fun? Of course! But relying on a racial slurs for laughs, buckets of blood to shock, and using the degrading theme of white versus black is not fun.
Another fact I find amazing is that most people are okay with this film simply because the right colored guy ends up winning at the end. This supersedes the fact that both sides should come together and instead relies on revenge as justice. I feel the message here is sent out to the American public and the world that first, we are okay with our past and okay with laughing at the destruction it caused. Two, I feel it sends the message that we are still divided, as we are, and okay just as long as the underdog wins every once in a while.
In 2013 I feel we are more creative and far more socially minded than what this film relays about us. I feel that bringing up painful wounds of actions past does nothing to heal and in this case more to harm. The fact that races are still slugging it out in the media says something HUGE about America and I don't feel that it is a good thing. From the Trayvon Martin Case to jokes about our current president, the gap in between is still agape and race is unfortunately still a problem. But whatever the case, we as a country are not ready to be entertained by movies that divide.
In the end, whether or not you liked this movie or spend much time thinking about race relations in the United States, at some point the actions have to be centered on change. Actions must be directed towards thinking of others and what can be done so that all races feel at home in their skin and in our culture. I culture is indeed created by the symbolic interactions of groups assigning meaning, then lets create a new meaning that includes rather than segregates, that joins rather than divides and for God's sake lets become UNCHAINED!
by Honky Kong
When I think about movies that have made a difference in American culture, I think about movies made that spark a movement, right a wrong, or create a conversation about how things should, could, or would be. Django Unchained is no such movie. Shame on Quentin Tarantino for thinking us so uninformed and uncultured. The problem that I have with the blood fest, n*** word using, Django is that it misses its opportunity, its responsibility, and in the process does more to mar race relations than to fix them. I hear all the time from members of all races, "Yeah but it's a comedy made about something that was horrific. It makes it okay to be entertained by this topic." Yes and absolutely no. While Django does a good job of creating a light atmosphere about a heavy topic bringing audiences of all races together, it still divides to conquer. You see the main plot point and theme of the movie is still the fact that two colors of human are still at odds and still out to get one another. Racial unity is what is needed in modern day America as race is still a HUGE factor that plagues our culture. This piece does nothing to rectify or unite, instead branding its comedy from unfortunate moments between two sides pitted against one another for social advantage. Oh, and the gore. Oh, and the racial slurs. Oh, and the gratuitous violence and sexual innuendo. Django is neither historic or really well told or acted. It is really just a cussed out, gored up version of a not so well executed Blazing Saddles. Tarantino has often been interviewed about living in a biracial neighborhood growing up and stating stories about having friends of different races was his norm. You would have thought this fact would have caused him to rally for his friends, banking on past experience and learning and teaching through his obvious talent. I feel that filmmakers have a great responsibility because with great power, comes great responsibility. Lets face it, filmmaking is power as we have learned. We create our own cultures. Is it okay to have fun? Of course! But relying on a racial slurs for laughs, buckets of blood to shock, and using the degrading theme of white versus black is not fun.
Another fact I find amazing is that most people are okay with this film simply because the right colored guy ends up winning at the end. This supersedes the fact that both sides should come together and instead relies on revenge as justice. I feel the message here is sent out to the American public and the world that first, we are okay with our past and okay with laughing at the destruction it caused. Two, I feel it sends the message that we are still divided, as we are, and okay just as long as the underdog wins every once in a while.
In 2013 I feel we are more creative and far more socially minded than what this film relays about us. I feel that bringing up painful wounds of actions past does nothing to heal and in this case more to harm. The fact that races are still slugging it out in the media says something HUGE about America and I don't feel that it is a good thing. From the Trayvon Martin Case to jokes about our current president, the gap in between is still agape and race is unfortunately still a problem. But whatever the case, we as a country are not ready to be entertained by movies that divide.
In the end, whether or not you liked this movie or spend much time thinking about race relations in the United States, at some point the actions have to be centered on change. Actions must be directed towards thinking of others and what can be done so that all races feel at home in their skin and in our culture. I culture is indeed created by the symbolic interactions of groups assigning meaning, then lets create a new meaning that includes rather than segregates, that joins rather than divides and for God's sake lets become UNCHAINED!
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