Killing Softly

From the Mass Communications (media) Theories II lecture by Mr.Hardip Singh

George Gerbner was the founder of the Cultivation Theory which investigates the effects of long-term television viewing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultivation_theory

It was based on his research that mothers are wary of how much television their kids watch and to us a real pain in the neck. But there are some resounding truths in this study which I agree to. The fact that we wouldn't know what affects us until we've seen it and the fact that what we see is all stored in the subconscious part of our mind slowly forming out train of thoughts without us realizing it.

Not just television but I think media as a whole is part of the blame. Nowadays we see more depressed and troubled kids with issues of self-esteem, addiction, bad influence and the list goes on and on. The question is what happened to these kids? Forget peer pressure and all those teenage rebellious stage but focus on the sole source of the problem. The media.

Why I say the media?

Have you ever seen a plump model on a fashion magazine with wrinkles or maybe a bit of zits? Well, I can tell you that I have yet to see one. So far every model we can think or is portrayed to us as flawless beautiful women that all men want and "if every men wants those type of women who wants me?" is the question most teenage girls struggle with.

And sadly most of them arrive at the same conclusion. Plastic surgery, nose job, eyebrow picking, bust enhancement and all sorts of modifications. The result? the death of a normal teenage girl and the birth of a copycat with self-esteem issues.

There are so many more examples I could mention but in case of sensitivity I choose not to because the point I am trying to make here is "Is the future of our children not as important to us as how much we can sell"? 

Some might argue with the "It makes them develop better thinking abilities". You know what I say? Cognitive Dissonance. How can they choose when the world has already chosen for them?

What's for Dinner?

From the movie Delicatessen (a review)

A young man named Louison arrives seeking a job at a quiet apartment building seeking a job. The landlord Clapet and the tenants welcomed him into their humble abode but seem to keep a distance from him. But fortunately Louison is able to win some of their hearts over at the same time making the situation even more complicated. Spring begun blooming when Louison meets Julie Clapet and form a sort of friendship with him but Julie always looks uncomfortable when she gets close to Louison. Is it just mere shyness? Julie's father is not pleased at her decision and their relationship is further strained. The tenants of the building are hovering around waiting for something. Julie is torn in between but does what she believes is right to do even if it meant seeking help from feared 'Undergroundners'. Everybody is tensed and Louison is trying to figure out why so. Starring Dominique Pinon as Louison, Marie-Laure Dougnac as Julie Clapet and Jean-Claude Dreyfus as Clapet. 

What is the secret?

It Was Probably Sour Anyway

From the Limited Effects Theory lecture by Mr.Hardip Singh

Remember the fable by Aesop? The one about the Fox trying to get some grapes but in the end it was too high for him to reach so he gave up and contented himself by saying the grapes were probably sour anyways. My dear readers that is what we will be discussing today. The Cognitive Dissonance Theory.

Okay, so probably not grapes but did you ever buy something you did not need and when you reached home just said "oh well, I might need it someday" and God knows where you placed it till now?

Why did you say such a line? To comfort yourself even though you know you were wrong? Is it better to deceive oneself to feel better? Would you rather not know the real consequences of your actions? Would you really just sugar coat it?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bp39qSdyTc4&feature=related

Well maybe at the moment since its just about you, you might say "well hell, yeah! its my **** life so I can do what I'm **** pleased to do!!" So lets take it away from you. What would happen if a government did this?

Yes, do you picture it? A corrupt government trying to cover up its corrupt actions under false pretenses so that they will not be subjected to the fiery arrows from the people. A statement to blind you so that you will be oblivious to their nasty deeds.

Not feeling so good right now? okay maybe just maybe you might also fall into the group of people that says "I don't care about politics", what would you do if it was one of your family members or close friend who did that to you? Say he/she did something behind your back that was so obvious and tried to cover up by telling you that he/she did it for some other 'greater good' but you could prove the bluff anytime?

Apparently this is what leads us to this study. To me, I'd just say social cognition is a LIE. It's just some pretty made up fantasy made for not taking the blame. It's what some people deem as a 'white lie'. Its just by all means wrong.

So the next time you catch yourself trying to 'pretty up the situation', ask yourself, are you doing any good deceiving yourself and probably some other people? Is self satisfaction better than the truth? Would THIS not affect your judgement of things in the near future? Will you always have to be a LIAR?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=korGK0yGIDo

Drama Into Real Life

From the Writing a Review lecture by Mr.Hardip Singh

  The thought of writing this review came to my mind sort of by chance because our lecturer said don't write a review on 'normal' stuff so yea, I decided to write a review of Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart's relationship in contrast of their Twilight characters Bella and Edward.

 Okay I suppose it's best we start from the beginning..

  

  Have you noticed? It was probably due to the fact that Robert and Kristen was working together in the vampire romance movie Twilight that they started dating? Funny too how close they are to their characters that their actions that reflect the behaviour of Bella and Edward are also portray in their everyday lives.

  Bella the normal chick meets Edward the dashing vampire whom everybody knows and who all girls have fantasies about. Flash to reality- Kristen who was just a small time actress which nobody noticed meets Robert the famous for playing Cedric Diggory (character in J.K Rowling's Harry Potter series) and who fangirls are crazy about.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=xuJLa0xnIj8&NR=1

 Bella and Edward starts dating despite the disagreements from friends and family. Reality check-Kristen and Robert came out that they we actually dating and shocked some people, but others thought it was predictable considering how intimate they were on set.

  Okay this one is a bit of different, Edward left Bella to protect her, Bella escapes loneliness by seeing Jacob (not so much of cheating because Edward told her to be happy by all means when he left but it was still being unfaithful to her promise) Back to reality- Kristen Steward cheats on Robert Pattinson while shooting her Snow White and the Huntsman with her director Rupert Sanders who is already married and father to a daughter.

http://hollywoodlife.com/2012/08/05/kristen-stewart-rupert-sanders-cheating-pics-kissing-director-photos/

  And the all hell broke lose blah blah blah... Edward decides he can't live without Bella and he returns to her side. Reality check again- Robert forgives Kristen and they are now back together. according to the sources it said that the couple could not live without each other.

http://www.examiner.com/article/robert-pattinson-kristen-stewart-together-again-to-join-at-twilight-premiere?cid=db_articles

  Yes and so is happily ever after made, but with a condition!! Edward made a milestone for Bella to be his life-long partner by setting the rule marriage first. To reality once again-  Robert agrees to take Kristen back into his life with the condition that she has to commit to their relationship by vowing at the altar.

http://www.timeslive.co.za/entertainment/celebrity/2012/09/25/robert-pattinson-wants-to-marry-kristen-stewart

 So what do you think we should expect next from the couple? Baby? Well that is not much of my concern but instead I'm really interested in the coincidence of the fictional story plot and the real life happenings. Was Kristen Stewart not able to break herself out of being Bella? Or is she using Bella's character to find hers?  Or maybe she was using Bella as a guideline to her own life? Well whatever that question was it was partially cleared from my conscience when I happened to stumble across this article 

http://hollywoodlife.com/2012/09/25/kristen-stewart-interview-robert-pattinson-cheating-lying/

  That was in Kristen Steward's words folks.. But what do you think? 

When Games and Fantasy Collide

From the Genre lecture by Mr. Hardip Singh

  Ever felt frustrated when you read a really good book but the character just always seem to piss you off with their crappy decisions? Ever wished you could just jump into the story and give them a piece of your own mind? Ever said " if I was the hero I'd be so much better than that coward?" Well.... ever heard of a gamebook?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamebook

  I remember reading my first gamebook when i was like 10 years old because I couldn't find anything to read and LO BEHOLD I stumbled across my brother's "Escape from Tenopia" series. I was reluctant to read it if I remember correctly, because I was afraid I'd just kill my character. (very lame I know but I did managed kill him countless of times before finishing the story) It was  fairly a simple story of some guy whose spaceship crashed on a foreign planet and he has to find a way to get back to his own planet. During this game the character has to make some life threatening decision like whether to trust some bunch of creatures and follow them or little decisions like should he take a nap or eat some rations.

(This is one of the Escape series I read)

  So yea, its not easy being a hero in the story, I can tell you that I managed to kill mine several times and starting over again from the beginning of the story. (you can always cheat by checking what your decision will lead you to by flipping to the other pages and choosing the best route :P) But it was really worth the fight I'd say because at the end (when I finally managed to finish the story without killing him) it felt like I had read more than one book and there was that nostalgic feeling of triumph. (like yeah!!! I'm the boss) 

Yup yup :) so you are interested here's a list of popular adventure gamebooks

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_gamebooks

  And for girls there are also those romance gamebooks are well!! The one I tried was about a normal girl who has to make decision to see which guy she ends up with at the end of the story.. There's her complicated status with her current boyfriend, a guy you will meet if you join the science subject, a guy who dislikes you if you join the automobile subject or a secret admirer. Yes!! its all about the choices and which guy you end up with thingy and if happily ever after exists for you (just so that you'll know I ended up with the secret admirer :P)

(I'm not sure if this was the one I read but its probably the same series/author)

 Well that's about it. You should really try reading one adventure or romance it doesn't count because it really something beyond your normal fiction books and it packs a great experience >.< so do read one!!

Silent Destruction

From the movie Baraka

  During one of our media appreciation classes, we were required to watch a movie called "Baraka" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baraka_(film) . What struck me most about the film about the was though it was close to a silent movie (there was some annoying disturbance thanks speaker settings I think was wrong cause some of the sounds were screeching in my ears) was the volcanoes in the movie. Brilliant idea that was because it just about summarizes the movie of Baraka which shows how humans destroy nature because of their selfish nature. The volcanoes showed me (I think) the doom of humanity for destroying mother earth. It was silent (the volcano)but it was so obvious that great mountain of destruction was watching over the humans from its great height above. When it erupted I "felt" its anger towards the ways of men just exploded and it was punishing mankind with its burning lava. Now the "dawn" hit in me the face when i realized that according to the Bible the punishment for "the unrepentant" is an eternity doomed in the "lake of fire". Lava=Lake of fire. Scary.

Behind Images

From the Semiotics lecture by Mr. Hardip Singh

 
  Hang on a second, what were you thinking just a moment ago? 

The 'science of signs' is the crazy stuff you have in your mind when you see simply just a normal normal apple but to you its represents other things. Doctor? Steve Jobs? Adam and Eve? Many of us have our own interpretation of things, what freedom means to you will be different from what it means to me. Take the apple for example, to me its an annoying thing to see because I have my mother who nags at me all the time at home to eat more vitamins. It means having to hear her fussing over my daily diet and how important my health is, blah blah blah... so conclusion an apple reminds me of my dear mother. How about you? what does the apple mean to you?