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Thursday, March 25, 2010

BLog 7 (Reflection)

In the last two week of class, I was able to look at a lot of things differently , than I did before. I was also able to learn lot of new things as well. First off this is my first time ever doing a blog and it is actually really fun. It is a new way of writing and responding to the things that I have watched and read. One of the major things I want to touch basis on. The movies that we watched in class weren't just me watching movies. Based on the themes of what we were learning I was able to look at the movies in a different light. I have high expectations for this class, in learning more things in different ways.

Monday, March 22, 2010

Blog 6- The Matrixxxxxx..

when you wake up in the morning do you ever thing about what your sole purpose of being here is? How do we differentiate reality and truth away from illusion and lies? Is it too late to be saved ?(what ever saved is in your eyes) In the movie "The Matrix" directed by Larry and Andy Wachowski creates a biblically symbolic notion that we are living in a fake reality for the pacification of the society and the truth has yet to be discovered. In "The Matrix", there is no room for the truth.
Reality:" the resemblance to what is real." So the question is: is what is given to you right before you eyes, necessarily real? The problem with the world today is that everything is taken for exactly what it is, with no question or research behind it. If everything in life is taken as it is, what does that mean for society? It gives authority the maxi um control over you. If I were a character in the movie, I wouldn't want to live in the Matrix. I don't want to the the result of puppetry, and be fed a lie in the life of the matrix. I would want to set apart from the whole and find the truth.
This movie has very parallel symbolism to the Bible. Neo is supposed to be the "chosen one"( the one let loose from the chain in the cave) So as he follows the white rabbit, he meets these people that help him see the truth. Morpheus which means: God of dreams, believed in Neo from day one before he even met him. Morpheus leads the way for Neo, and takes him to see Oracle, which means: giving answers from God. When he goes she tells him that he has a gift, what that he "was not" the one. I think she did that because she was only there to show the path, and allow free will to take it's course. Chyper was tired of living outside of the matrix and lured the Guards to the God of Dreams (Morpheus). He turned on everyone. The name Chyper means: secret writings or Zero. Finally, The only woman that kept everything together, came to get Neo and declared her love "the one", was Trinity which means: union of the father, the son and the holy spirit. When the Oracle said that Neo had a gift but he was waiting for something, I think what she was referring to was him believing.
Illusion:"something deceived by producing a false or misleading impression of reality." That sounds more like the life we live. An illusion. I think that we live in the matrix because we have so many messages being delivered to us, that we fail to search for the derivative of the meaning. We are presented with media, ads, and propaganda and have become slaves to cultural society's rule. Breaking free form this illusion of life will set me free to the real world. Reality.

Blog 5- Get on the ball with work

After looking over My syllabi in each class, I noticed that I have to managed my time to be able to read the chapters fully in each book for each class. for mass media and society we have to make sure assignments are in every sunday before 11pm. For english comp we have to make sure to stay uo to date on the blogs and also start working on the mid term. for the film class we have to learn and get comfortable with the terms, and do the assignment: pick a movie we've watched in class and do the work sheet, pages 18-20.


As of now for me its all about time management !!

Blog 4-Truman Syndrome

Truman syndrome is a delusional state where people feel as if they are always being watched. these people also feel like they are stuck on a reality show and that all of their movements are being monitered. Suffering from truman syndrome can occur in cultures where people are highly servalenced or where they can watch a lot of reality shows, to get the sence of what it feels like to be watched. I my opinion I think it is more of a mental mind game because I live in a society that has high access of reality shows and we are constantly servalenced whether we know it or not. Believing that you are being watched all the time can be very harmful to the people that thing that as well as their relationships with others. Some people believe that they can win money, and they do outrageous things to get the people "in on the joke's" attention. Truman Syndrome can be controlled by taking medication.
The website that I recieved my information from was http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-truman-syndrome.htm and http://www.newsweek.com/id/150492. I feel like these are pretty legit sites because I looked at other sites just as an outline and for the most part the info is the same. I just liked wisegeek because it gave me straight forward info and I liked newsweek because it gave examples of cases of the truman syndrome.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

blog 3. 1984 Truman..

Imagine if everything that made up your life was a lie, to protect you from a conflict-filled “real world”. From the first step you took, the first word you’ve spoken, to the friendships you’ve built. Is the perfect society really worth living a lie? That was the question that Truman was faced with in Sea haven. Censorship in Sea Haven and in other societies promotes a lack of gratification and a search for truth.
In the movie “The Truman Show” Jim Carey (Truman) had a very parallel life to a few important concepts in literature. In the novel 1984 by George Orwell, the protagonist, Winston Smith is very parallel to the main character Truman, in Sea haven. They are somewhat victimized in both their societies. The director of “The Truman Show”, Christof is a mirror of “the Party” (Ingsoc).
Looking at the life from Winston’s point of view you would learn to dislike the society in which he lives; as well as watching the society in which Truman lives; so fake and sugar coated. The Ingsoc created a controlled environment, with the fear of being watched by “Big Brother” (the head of the party). This is a parallel that goes directly to Truman, throughout his whole life he was watched and didn’t know it. His whole life was made up from a lie to believe in things that were not true. A very important character in 1984 was Syme, he the Sylvia in the novel. Syme was a major threat to the party, because he refused to conform and believe what they were trying to do to the Society. In effort to save Winston from learning the truth, he was vaporized from their society. Sylvia too was kicked off of “The Truman Show” for partially revealing to Truman the truths of what was going on. When living in any society you have friends and foes. Some of those friends though, may very well be foes. A great example is Marlon, Truman’s childhood friend. There a scene in the movie where Marlon “sincerely” convinced Truman that nothing was going on. Nobody was watching him and if it was true that he would be in on it. He led Truman astray based on gaining his trust. The friend/foe character in the novel was O’Brien. Winston thought that he could confide in O’Brien, but in the end he turned out to be a part of the inner party who ended up turning Winston in.
The juxtaposition in the movie “The Truman Show” and the novel 1984 by George Orwell creates the image in my mind that the movie allows the viewers to see bigger picture and how it is connected to the world outside of New Haven. Truman’s life can then be concluded by saying all things in life are not what they seem no matter how real they may be in front of you, and the more that his life was censored the more he strived for the truth, which is when he decided to leave New Haven. Winston on the contrary, was not lucky enough to survive the suffering that came with finding out the truth. So the question then again raises… is a “what seems to be perfect” society, really worth living a lie?

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Blog 2- Allegory of the Cave

“The allegory of the cave” was meant to describe a philosophers place in society, which is not view things as blatantly as they are but to look deeper into them. This myth described a group of people chained together, with their head fixed to a blank wall. This forced them to only be able to see shadows of real objects cast by a fire behind them. Now if the bound cavemen were to see the actual item of the shadows they’ve seen for their whole life, they wouldn’t take that as real nor would they recognize those items either. Furthermore if one of those cave men broke free and was forced out of the cave to discover things they’ve never seen the caveman would take that experience as torture and unreal.
After the cave man sees all of the things that he has never seen: the items that cast the shadows, the green grass outside the cave, the sun, he has the choice to go back to the cave to share his knowledge with the rest of the cavemen. If he did the response in turn would be that he is crazy and all those things were unreal. So what the myth really means is when one (philosopher) strives toward the sun (“ultimate knowledge”) then tries to liberate the others (the bound cavemen) who refuse to believe him or her, it shows how naive the cavemen are for only taking the shadows(which are fake) as real and everything else is falsely.

Getting blinded by the sun is the way to get ultimate knowledge.

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

I am a cyborg!

When it comes to being cyborg the first person that comes to mind is Robocop. It says it all in his name. He is part robot that is dependent on mechanics and electronics to help him get through daily trouble. I would never compare myself to him because I don’t have guns, a suit of protected armor or computerized brain. But I do use machines and electronics to get me through my everyday trials and tribulations. So the question raises in my mind am I really a cyborg?

One day I was on my way to work, I was already running late and I left my house nearly running to the train station, only to realize I didn’t have my metro card. “GREAT” I said to myself. There was nothing that I could do but go back home to get my metro card, so I could get on the train. Or there was that time I left my phone home and I felt absolutely lost and not like myself, I kept reaching into my pocket because of the infamous “phantom vibration” only to realize my blackberry was not there. Becoming a cyborg has been a gradual process that has changed from a luxury to a bear necessity in my life. In order to function in today’s society the dependency of mechanics, electronics and all that techy stuff is what I have succumb to(sadly). But really, it is not my fault. Everywhere you look, there’s a machine, an automated service or some kind of “not so luxurious” need, rather than a desire. Train stations, no longer deal with tokens, it’s the power of that magnetic strip that gets you from place to place. Or even something as simple as applying to a job has turned into an ocean of websites that I have to surf through just to find that application. Me becoming the cyborg I am is basically what good ole Charles Darwin was explaining. You must evolve and adapt to your surroundings in order to survive. I am technologically savvy because the world is becoming that way. So yes I am a cyborg, I depend on these tools: my cell phone, laptop, metro cards, etc. to get to my means, and accomplishments for today. So maybe Robocop and myself really do have something in common huh?

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