Grizzly Man

We have been talking a lot in class about the similarities between Timothy Treadwell and Chris McCandless. I could sit here and write about what I think are huge similarities and differences between the book and the movie, but that is not why I am here. I am just going to focus on Treadwell and the movie for right now.

Overall, I think that the documentary was not as good as it could have been. What we see in this movie is a man that is living among bears in hope to educate children about how "harmless" these bears really are. One question I had when I heard that was, "How do you expect to educate children with all of the profanity you use?"

Another thing that I saw was a man who was not at all "in tune" with the world, which is why he went into the wild. But that is not at all the case. Treadwell, I believe, went into the wild for his own personal strength. Instead of being "in tune" with society, he wanted to be "in tune" with bears. The thing which troubles me is how he got to this conclusion, however. After years of struggling with drug addictions and overdoses, he finally decides to trade that in for life in the wild. Clearly, this man was in no shape to educate little children.

One thing I would like to know coming out of this movie, is what the intention of the documentary was really about, Timothy Treadwell, or the bears? In my opinion, it was more about Treadwell than the bears, but was that how the documentary was marketed? This is a review I found of the movie online. Apparently, a lot of people thought this movie was going to be a documentary of bears.

So was Timothy Treadwell in the right state of mind? To some, maybe. But for me, definitely no.

TV Tokenism

On Thursday and Friday in class, Mr. Bolos talked a lot about TV Tokenism. As we were watching the different clips and hearing about how this plays into our television dramas so much, I felt very naive. I have never ever looked at a TV show like through those kind of eyes before and I feel like I never will look at a TV show the same again. After Friday, however, I got home and was showing different TV websites to my sister, and I saw a very big contrast from the dramas today and those of the past. It really shows today that shows that have started in the past couple of years are getting better than those who started in the 90s.
Here is an example: ER, a hospital drama that started in the 90s had its season one dvd case as any other one before the turn of the century. But in Grey's Anatomy, which started after the turn of the century, all of the characters are intermixed.

Parallel Between Into the Wild and the outside world

During class today we talked a lot about the parallels and contrasts we see in the book. One that really stuck out to me today as we were discussing was the parallel between McCandless giving his real name and social security name while applying for the job at McDonalds, and suicide. We kept talking about this subject as I made more comparisons. One, for instance is how Chris left his car behind, or gave away his car, to the wild and then left and went off. The car was the one thing that Chris took with him when he left on his journey, and then he decided to give it away after it broke down. When someone is about to committ suicide, some consider giving away or leaving behind something that meant a lot to them to a specific person. Others, could take things with them when they take their life, and similarly, Chris took some of his belongings with him after abandoning his car. I could take this a little further and compare it to the tradgedies of the shooting that happened in Omaha yesterday. A nineteen year old boy who was said to be slightly ill-minded opened fire in a shopping mall and killed nine people, including himself. In this situation, he left behind questions for his family and the victim's family and everyone else in the shopping mall at the time. Instead of just committing suicide, he took with him the lives of nine other people. This tragedy his very unfortunate. So, there are comparisons all over the place relating to this book.

The Political Compass

So yesterday in class we talked a lot about the Political Spectrum and the Political Compass. I came home last night and had a long conversation about it with my parents. As you might know, I am not one for all the Political Talk, so I didnt have much to attribute to the conversation except from what I learned in class, which was a lot. At the end of our conversation my dad turned to me and said, "So, what do you think you are?" Not knowing exactly how to answer that question, I quickly changed subjects, but in my mind, I could not stop thinking about it. I came to the conclusion that if I had to guess, I would be right where Ghandi is in the Liberal/Liberitarian quadrent. I just took the quiz on the Political Compass website, and it did tell me I was a Liberal/Liberitarian, but I was also kind of close to the middle. I would post my chart, but my computer froze right after I took it, so here is one I found right off of google. I am a little up and right of Nelson Mandela.

Geography: Our Destiny?

So on Friday during class we took a poll about if you agree or disagree with some item on the "US and us" paper. One of the controversial items that we picked out as a class was the one that said, "Geography is our destiny; where you live determines who you become." On the sheet, I said I disagreed with the quote, but now, looking back at it, I realize how strongly I disagree with it. I do not at all believe that where we live determines who we become. Just because we live in a community and go to a school that is more well off than other places, in Chicago, or even the rest of the world, does not mean that we are going to be more successful in life than those who do not. I strongly believe that the people in the world who do not have any money or any place to live could become one of the most successful people in the world, because they challenge themselves to do so.
Another point is that because Chicago is such a nice place to live, we get all of the supplies we need to survive. If I went to New York City, another nice place to live, I could struggle and become an entire different person with an entire different life there. However, it is true that some people in New York do live the same lives we do.

Is the US lost in Geography?

A newspaper article from the Chicago Tribune this morning wrote that United States Americans are one of the least knowledgeable people in World Geography today. There have been many surveys which have led to this conclusion, but why is it that one of the strongest countries in the world today can't even tell New York from Arizona? Although this article talked a lot about around the world geography, I am going to use some of my knowledge from years past in the US.
When I was in third grade, my teacher made it a point to teach us every where every state in the US is and what their capitals are. By the end of that year, I didnt even have to look at a map and I could go across the US from top to bottom and name every single state and its capital. My older sister had the same teacher as I did, but my twin, who did not, has never learned how to do this. Over the years, my knowledge has left about the states and their capitals, but I could tell you if the state is in the West or East quite easily.
My sister came home from college this year and told her that her room mates from New York could not even point out on a map where Illinois was, let alone their home state of New York. Knowing all that I do from third grade, and also knowing that these college students, who are at one of the top schools in the nation, I could tell that this is not something to be proud about. When I was little we had a puzzle in the house of the US and you had to put all of the states where they belonged. That was a great learning tool.
So I think what this article is trying to say is very good. Students should have to learn more aabout the geography of the world because it is a key factor to knowing baout current events in the world.

Moment of Silence Gone?

Last week in the newspaper, there was an article about how the new "Moment of Silence" law was on hold for the time being. When I heard that the first time, I could not help myself but to laugh. I found myself laughing not because it was on hold, but because after all of the trouble this new law has caused us for the past month or two, they have decided that they need to re-word it. A man found that the original title of the act, which was called the "Silent Reflection and Student Prayer Act" was unlawful and unconstitutional. Going back to the discussion we had in class right after the Act was established, I definately agree with him. Especially for public schools where the students are very diverse, having an act mandated which states that we should take time for "Silent Prayer" is unlawful, and in some cases either mocking or going against some religions.