Superman Complex

People don't think bad things will happen to them. Whether its getting into the car with someone that has been drinking or forgetting to use a condom, nobody thinks they will be THAT person. That they could be so unlucky to have any real consequences for making a mistake that one time. They can't imagine or wrap their head around the idea that they could be the next poster child for drunk driving and get into a car accident or that they could get pregnant. This obliviousness is what I consider the superman complex. People don't acknowledge that there are consequences to their actions until it is too late. Last weekend my friends convinced me to get into a car with a driver that had been drinking with this exact reasoning and I realized that a free ride is not worth dying for. That waiting ten more minutes for a cab could save my life if this just so happened to be one of those times. Life is too valuable to throw away out of convenience.

Femininity

In my Holocaust class we have been learning about the ways in which the Nazi's stripped the Jews of their human appearance, and in particular the women. Femininity and vanity are attributes that women pride themselves on and make them who they are. When Jewish women were forced to get their heads shaved, stand naked in front of German officials, and made infertile they were stripped of their womanhood and sense of being.

A woman's appearance is one of her highest priorities. Everyone knows that women notoriously spend hours in the bathroom getting ready and spend insane amounts of money on clothes as well as suffer the unbearable pain of high heels and waxing all to distinguish themselves from men and other women and appear feminine. Although times have changed and more is considered about a woman than her looks, appearance plays a large part in a woman's power. It effects a woman's self confidence as well as the way others perceive and treat her. A woman's appearance and femininity make them a woman and define who they are.

Giving birth is another ability women hold close because it is something only they can do. Only women can recreate life. To take all of this away from a woman leaves them empty and without a sense of pride or purpose. It ruins them.

Save Marriage

I have noticed that family dynamics have become some of the most interesting and random aspects of today's society. I personally have grandparents that have been married for fifty years on my dad's side, and a grandmother with five marriages, and a mother with three on the other side. Not to mention, those three marriages had three completely different children resulting in my siblings and I all having different dads. Although I wouldn't change this for the world because I wouldn't have all of these people in my life if it was different, I find it sad that today the fifty year old marriage on my dad's side is more shocking than the serial brides bred on my mother's side. I hear of more and more people that don't believe in marriage and that while they want to spend the rest of their lives with someone, they don't want to get married. It is because divorce has become so casual. People marry people they have only known for a month or met on the internet knowing that if it doesn't work out they can get a divorce. The divorce rate today is so high that I can't blame the people that think that getting married will jinx their relationships. However, it is such an exciting part of someone's life that it is disappointing to me that it is being taken so lightly. I hope that this will start to turn around and that marriage will become a valued aspect of society again.

Mental Eating

I recently started thinking about how much eating has a lot more do with your mental needs than how hungry you actually are. If you are heart broken you either eat an entire tub of ice cream or you don't eat anything at all. Nervousness is pretty much the same. If you're trying to do a diet and restrict yourself from all your favorite foods you are always ten times more likely to think about them and crave them than if you were allowed to eat them. If you know your food is coming but there is still bread in the bread basket you are more than likely to fill up on it and even if you're full and there is still food in front of you the chances of you letting it go to waste are slim to none. I have experienced all of this but as a girl the place I notice it most is dieting. I recently tried to initiate a summer diet and I have never thought about food more. I know that my friends that take ADD medication aren't hungry at all and its because they're brain is telling them that, they can go a day without eating even if their stomach is growling because they have the mental capacity to. It is amazing to me how much appetite alters based on your emotional needs. It goes both ways though. If a person is too hungry, it can drive them to act and do thing's that aren't in their usual personality. I for one am in terrible mood whenever I am hungry but people that are starved are different to desperate measures such as stealing or even killing for food. It is amazing to me how much the two are interlinked.

Reliance

People have become to reliant on outside forces. Therapy is a an example. While there are those who undoubtedly need it and I don't pass judgement on them I think most don't. I personally was forced by my mother once during my "teenage rebellion" stage and not only hated it but was able to convince the therapist that my mom was in fact that one that needed therapy. I have many friends on the other hand that would die without their therapist. I was browsing through a self help book that told me to think of ten awful things that had happened to me during my childhood, and I couldn't think of one. As far as I know most of my other friends wouldn't be able to either. I think therapy makes people reliant. I have the same feelings about prescription drugs. Though there are definitely some that need it, getting ADD medicine has become one of the easiest things to do. Once these vices are given to someone they need it, it becomes who they are. They can't make decisions without talking to their therapist first and they can't study for a test without Adderall. I personally think people are capable of making decisions and accomplishing thing's on their own. People have a lot of personal strength and I have faith that most people that put their lives in a therapist's hands and eat up every word they say or that are prescribed something that makes them absent or at the very least different, would be better off without it.

How Do You Define "Responsibility" in Advertising?

Being responsible in Advertising would be putting the message you are sending out before the product. Creating good work that promotes the truth and moral substance while selling your product. For example, the Taco Bell Drive Thru commercial that implies that by going through the Taco Bell Drive Thru you will miraculously lose weight is the perfect example of not being responsible. Another example would be ads that promote smoking which we all know at this point can kill you. Blatantly telling consumers a lie and insulting their intelligence is what makes bad advertising. If you can make work you are proud of and bring something new to the table that makes the consumer think, maybe even challenges them you are creating something worth it.

I also believe that being responsible in Advertising involves being conscious of the world and society that you are in. Advertising that promotes products such as eco-friendly cars are being socially responsible. Advertising that promotes ways to save money in the difficult economic times and provide options for those that are less fortunate is being responsible. However, showing these advertisements in a way that is creative, like the car ad with the choir singing the sounds of the car is the best kind of work you can do.

Confused Much?

I was recently talking to a friend who is from South Africa and he was telling me about AIDS there and how as part of the effort to start its spread people started sex education. However, this was completely unsuccessful. The condoms that they passed out to promote safe sex had directions stapled to it, going THROUGH the condom obviously defeating the purpose. Even more surprising then that, people would put the cucumbers that they were taught with next to the bed, put a condom on it, and proceed to have sex. Although funny at first, I found it depressing how uneducated these people were. In a culture that is so overly informed and centralized around sex, it is amazing to me that there are places around the world that don't even know how to properly use a condom. In my mind, that is one of the first things you learn about is how to use a condom. There are so many resources that make them available to us, without holes, and that encourage us to use them. Not only that, but there is definitely more then enough education in school, media, and of course from the dreaded sex talk that is unbelievable to me that a place can be so clueless.

Rites of Passage

Rites of Passage are used to mark the socially recognized transition into maturity. They are a part of every society but mean completely different things to different people. Mothers consider it a first haircut, girls consider it a sweet sixteen party, and fraternities consider it hazing. Rites of passage welcome someone into a new phase of life and give them a tangible sense of growing up. It is a way to test their maturity and if they succeed, to show their social growth and success. Rites of passage give someone a place in society, and bring people together. Whether it's pledge brothers bonding together during their humiliating tasks, or a Jewish community coming together to bar mitzvah a boy and welcome him into mature life, Rites of Passage form social communities. Rites of passage are one of the few thing's that have remained consistent in our fast moving culture and that makes them special. When I graduated from high school I felt the same feeling of accomplishment that my parents and grandparents had felt at my age. and based on the tears I know they saw me really start to grow up. Rites of Passage need to be continued as a way to bring people together and as a tradition.

Sharpie

One of my classes posed the question of what kind of office supply I would be. This question took some thought give the fact that I have never though of myself in terms of office supplies before but I decided that a Sharpie would represent me best. They are bold and permanent. I speak my mind and have opinions as well as take action to defend them. If I make a mistake in the process, I don't try to erase it, it becomes a part of me. I use my mistakes to create new things. People use sharpie because it doesn't come off and I leave a lasting impression on those that know me. Sharpies are reliable and effective, two attributes I would like to consider myself as well.

The Decline of Horror Movies

I am one of the few who actually enjoy horror movies. However, when I was watching saw yesterday and it was literally scene after scene of people just getting killed. There was zero story line or suspense and I realized this is becoming a trend. Our culture is so over exposed that the only way production companies think they can surprise people anymore is to literally make it all gore. The best scare movies are ones like The Exorcist, Scream, and Seven where there is a thrilling story with a twist to go along with all of the blood and gore. In Seven the murder has a clever agenda that makes you more enthralled by the movie as you try to figure it out and become more attached to the characters. People in my generation are so over exposed to aspects of society like sex, drugs, and murder that literally nothing is a surprise anymore. Everything has been done or seen somewhere else and to avoid being unoriginal the movies that come out are either all killing or just stupid and it's a shame.

Music as Culture

When I was in Cannes this summer I noticed that the music playing in their clubs was switched with the music in the United States. The rap and hip-hop was something I had heard years before but the techno/house music was so much newer then ours. I wonder why it would work that way. I guess the obvious answer would seem to be that most of the techno/house music is from Europe and most of the rap music is from the U.S. and this made me realize how much music is part of the culture. I would never wonder why people dress differently, but for some reason music to me seemed more universal than it is. Music is something unique to a certain place and when thinking about the lyrics and moods of the music show a lot about where they are from. It expresses issues and aspects of the culture that they are from.

The Downside of Famous

Every little girl grows up wanting to be a star. Whether its an actress, a model, or a singer the idea of being in the spot light and having everyone know your name seems incredible. However, what you don't realize when you're five modeling off your beauty in the beast underwear in the mirror (so not me) is that you don't just get positive attention, you get negative attention. Your life is a show to everyone whether it's your divorce, being too fat or too thin, or being in rehab it's for everyone to know. Your personal space and privacy are stripped away from you, leaving you naked to the rest of the world. You would miss out on the simple joys of life like going to the grocery store, playing with your daughter at the park, or going shopping because people would be following you and pointing at you. Normal starts to look a lot better when your life becomes every one else's business. Now, the exception to this is if you're doing something you love. Paris Hilton does absolutely nothing to make it to the tabloids, and frankly i think she's too dumb to feel shame, but if you're Meryl Streep and you wouldn't have it any other way then to be an actress the rest is worth it. Growing up in Los Angeles and getting over being star struck has allowed me to look past the fame and realize these people are real with real problems. I know that despite the success and the fact that my five year old self would slap me across the face, I wouldn't want that for my own life.

Boys Night vs. Girls Night

On occasion, men and women feel the need to have nights where they exclude the opposite sex. Whether its to cheer a best friend up after being dumped, to play hard to get, or there just being nothing else to do they happen. However, genders have very different ideas of a good time when they are alone. When I think of Girls Night I think of ordering in dinner and watching a soppy movie although some would argue that pillow fights and hair braiding are a girls night. Boys on the other hand, amuse themselves for hours with video games and weed. However, the main thing I notice is that at the end of the night girls always end up wanting to turn girls night co-ed and the guys would rather hang out by themselves and I don't completely understand why. Maybe it's because boys act so differently when they're just around boys or maybe it's because they have a more sexual track of mind that doesn't understand why they would just hang out with girls. I'd like to think the first idea but the second definitely holds some truth: Girls are more emotional, Boys are more sexual.

The Expectations of Genre

I was watching "The Break Up" the other day starring Jennifer Anniston and Vince Vaughn hoping to watch a feel good romantic comedy. Little did I know they wouldn't be together at the end! The romantic comedy genre made me expect a happy ending and when it wasn't one I was upset. People watch romantic-comedies to feel happy and good, not to watch the couple break up and stay apart!! Now I guess taking a step back the title should have forewarned me but because the genre was romantic comedy I expected everything to work out in the end. Genres have very specific plot structures, often making them predictable, but also making the viewer comfortable and attached. When you're rooting for a couple in a movie you're enjoying it-when they never get together and it's left unresolved you feel let down. This is true of most genres. When you watch a horror movie when someone opens a mirror and then closes it someone is going to be standing behind them and when you watch an action there is always a huge explosion and a sex scene. While predictable sounds like a negative attribute for a movie to have it's not. Genres are a necessity, they are there to help people decide what kind of movie they want to watch.

Hidden Sexual Messages in Disney?!

I was recently told about the sexual messages hidden in Disney movies, specifically Aladdin, The Lion King, and The Little Mermaid. The first one heard was In the scene where Aladdin and Jasmine are to take a magic carpet ride, Aladdin calls on Jasmine to come with him, and continues to speak under his breath “teenagers take off your clothes”. I am deeming that a myth right off the bat. The second one I heard was that in the Lion King about midway through the movie when Simba, the hero, plops down and a cloud of dust rises above him. As the dust begins to trail off, it forms the letters S-E-X, with each letter fading as the next becomes clear...still not very convinced. However, in the third movie, The Little Mermaid, supposedly King Titan has an erection in one of the scenes and there is a phallus shaped tower on his castle. That I looked into and saw was true but I still can't believe it was on purpose. Would the makers of these disney movies really do that intentionally? You can't even tell without someone pointing them out so was it just for fun? This personally ruined my seven year old view of these movies because its all I see when I watch them. I don't understand the point!!

The Pound Mentality

My roommate was recently nervous because our sorority big/little was coming up when the pledge class above picks a little sister in the new pledge class. She rushed as a sophomore and was nervous that no one would want her because everyone wants a puppy, not a dog. While this example is a little ridiculous I feel like this mentality isn't just seen in sororities and pounds. When families go to adopt a baby, they want the youngest possible child. Whether its makes it more their own because they have no memory of life before that or they just think they are cuter is a mystery but it does happen. This mentality can be seen in a professional environment as well in professions that are "young" like fashion magazines. There was celebrity drama recently because Megan Fox got a role over Angelina Jolie because of her age. Youth is something that people desire whether it's in themselves or in another person. People, women especially, will pay thousands of dollars just to look like the puppy that everyone wants again.

Can You Re Experience Pain?

There are two kinds of pain: physical and emotional. Both happen to everyone, both hurt like crazy, and both can be healed. What I wonder is can you re-experience pain when you think about the memory? If I think about when I broke my wrist no matter how hard I try I can't re-experience the pain in my wrist that I had that day. I know that it hurt a lot, but there is no way for me to feel the pain when I think about. On the other hand, when I think about my high school boyfriend breaking up with me and remember the different things that happened and the things that were said I can feel sadness and tears and remember the pint of ice cream that followed. Not to the same extent, but I can channel and re-experience those same emotions just by thinking about it. It is interesting to me that you can feel a broken heart but you can't feel a broken bone after it has happened.

Can Lying Be Right?

I always wonder if telling the truth is always the right thing to do or if leaving out certain parts of the truth is still lying. For instance, if a girl cheated on her boyfriend once and it meant nothing and would never happen again, is it worth it to ruin a really good thing for a one time mistake? Would the guilt ruin the relationship anyways? The obvious answer to this is she shouldn't have cheated on him period but when you're the one emotionally involved your priorities are different. If someone close to me asked me for advice I would tell them to tell the truth because its the "right" thing to do but if I was the one who in that position I don't know if I would follow my own advice. If the only thing that comes out of the truth is pain and suffering how can it be right? It's comforting to think of right and wrong as black and white but there are so many grey areas in between that I'm starting to believe the only thing you can do is what FEELS right. No one ever got what they wanted by following their head and living by the book.

Life Gimmicks

People constantly look for someone or something to tell them what is going to happen to them and how to feel. Whether it's a daily horoscope telling them they will find love, a mood ring turning red because they feel passion, or a $5 psychic telling them they will marry a Leo people believe it. Most people are incapable of making their own decisions, or want something to look forward to so they buy into these gimmicks. When my Sagittarius daily horoscope tells me I am going to have a good day or that I will find love on the 31st I want to believe it and so I do. People want excitement and are more inclined to create it if someone tells them its supposed to happen. People want decisions made for them and they look to these vices as an excuse. I think this is another reason board games like Life where you find out different things that are going to happen to you throughout your life are so popular. People like learning and hearing about themselves.

Multitasking

There are days when I'm doing so many other things while driving that I don't even remember how I got from point A to point B. I have made it a personal new years resolution to take my time and enjoy things. I feel like there is so much going on and a pressure to get them done as soon as possible and it reduces the quality of the things that I am doing and my memory of them. I want to get the most out of the thing's I do and I would rather do something really well then get everything done but produce mediocre work. This led me to wonder whether I was a performance oriented learner or a mastery oriented learner. I care about the quality of my work but more than often I am doing it for someone else, to please a teacher or a boss which makes me a performance oriented learner. As of this year I am taking y time to get the most out of everything I do, in attempt to make myself a more performance oriented learner. The more time I spend on something, the more attached and proud of it I am and I will be doing the work for the work, not to please others.

The Vampire Craze

It's impossible to miss the sudden obsession with vampires. Twilight is what seemed to kick off the vampire craze but it was followed by shows like The Vampire Diaries and True Blood as well as other movies like Daybreakers. All of these have one specific thing in common: they're all gorgeous. The vampires that we see in movies that were a big hit 50 years ago are scary and out to hurt everyone but the vampires that are in Twilight and The Vampire Diaries are all gorgeous and fully capable of having a relationships with humans. Not only do vampires exist in these shows but a set of rules and guidelines have been created as well. The traditional stake through the heart and no sunlight rule seems to have stuck but now they sparkle in sun (Twilight), are hurt by silver (True Blood), and drinking their blood gives you an amazing high (True Blood). I've developed an amusing theory that vampires are real and that the government is just preparing us for their debut. I wouldn't mind if they all looked the way the actors in these shows do.

Hallmark Religious

I was talking to a friend of mine yesterday who is giving up everything but fish and vegetables for lent. She was clearly using lent as a reason to diet, and not to observe the holiday itself. I find that a lot of the religious holiday's have become extremely superficial. Christmas has become about Santa Claus, reindeer, and presents and not about the birth of Jesus. Easter has become about a rabbit hiding candy in plastic eggs around your back yard and not the day that Jesus was resurrected. Chanukah is about dradels and potato pancakes and Good Friday is a day off school as far as I'm concerned. I won't deny the fact that I was brought up this way and that I still think every child should be brought up to believe in Santa and the Easter bunny, I just believe the religious significance should play a part. Although religion is not a large part of my life, it is meaningful and serious and something that I respect. I am embarrassed to say that if I asked my eight year old sister who Jesus was there's a good chance she wouldn't know. I think it would be a shame if hallmark religion spread and a commercialized culture took over completely. Not everyone needs to be religious and believe in it, but knowledge about why the holiday is even there should be taught.

Expressions

I was sitting outside my 11 am class the other day in Dallas Hall and watched all of the different facial expressions of people as they walked through the doors. Some were timid and didn't know who to walk in front of or when they could open the door, others were courteous and held the door open, some had huge grins on their face probably from a good test grade or a text from the person they like, and others the polar opposite with huge bags under their eyes either near tears or punching a wall. It was amazing to me how even before I looked up at their face and just saw the way the door was opened, how much I could tell about the person and the kind of day that they were having.

21

Turning twenty-one is every college student's dream because it marks the end of fake ids, lectures from parents, and the occasional alcohol violation or cop run in. I think the fact that we can go to war before we can have a drink is ridiculous but until the rest of the world agrees the only hope is look older. Obviously a fake id is the quick fix solution but there's always the guidelines that come along with that. There's the debate over whether it's better to walk in to a liquor store or bar with make up on so that you look older or if that makes it look like you're trying to hard and that you shouldn't wear any to look relaxed and carefree. There's also the question of whether walking in with a group of people makes you appear younger, as if you need someone by your side, or if that's thinking too far into it. Basically, the question is whether its independence or appearance that make you appear older. I personally think its a mixture. I think that the way you hold yourself is the key.

Ignorance

I recently went to dinner with a group of people and one of the guys that was there started telling us how one of his fraternity brothers just came out and how they want to beat him up and kick him out because of that. This struck a nerve for me, not only because I know the guy that he was referring to but I couldn't believe how ignorant he was. They obviously liked him as a person prior to this change, does him being gay really make that much of a difference? My personal belief is that anyone THAT homophobic has to be latently gay themselves but I also realized how much views like that develop from your upbringing. My parents are very liberal but on top of that I was brought up in the melting pot of Los Angeles where there is an abundance of diversity and tolerance. This guy was obviously brought up in a completely different environment by people just as ignorant and uptight to the idea of change if he felt like he had the right to say something like that out loud. I just hope that the people in this world start to evolve and accept more people and change.

Reform This: Fast Food

It's interesting to me that there are extra taxes on cigarettes and alcohol, things that are considered bad for you, but that there isn't taxing on fast food. The media makes a huge point of showing how bad fast-food is and how obesity is a growing epidemic in our country. They made documentaries such as Supersize-Me, have shows on the health channel called "The 610 pound virgin", and have written books like Fast Food Nation hoping to sway people away from unhealthy food but why haven't they taken the extra step and made fast food less attainable by making it more expensive. One of the biggest reasons that there are so many obese people in America is because it is so affordable, so why not put taxes on it. It has large health risks just like cigarettes and alcohol do and is something that hurts people emotionally and physically.

When Did You Realize You Were Wrong?

For the longest time I believed in super-heroes. I believed that there were these amazing people with masks who could fly and stop all the "bad guys". I would draw pictures and imagine what they looked like or even that I was one of them. This shows how much more creative children are than adults. As we get older we are smothered by social norms and the creative gap becomes smaller and smaller. Only certain things are considered beautiful or unique and only certain people's opinions matter. This is a harsh reality considering the fact that when you're young your mom tells you everything, blobs of paint included, is beautiful as long as you made it. I think it's a shame that people are snobs about creativity when literally anything someone makes is unique because it was their idea, only they could have made it. Yes, certain pieces of art are easier on the eye than others but who am I to tell someone what they have created isn't special. I think society today is missing it's imagination and that people need something to believe in.

Super Bowl

Although this ad is short and comes off as low-budget I think its hilarious. It reminds me of the other movies like Madea's Family reunion and Norbit that highlight stereotypical african american behavior. "Mama's" are always included in these movies whether its Yo Mama jokes or the protection and possessiveness shown in this ad, it is always included in comedic black movies or shows. This ad demonstrates Vertical Intertexuality because the meaning portrayed in it reminds me of other genres.

BlackBerry

Something I am always amazed by in our culture is the obsession with cell phones and how actual interaction between people is becoming less and less. I know that I feel naked without my blackberry in hand and use it for way more than calling people. I can text, BBM (blackberry messenger), email, play games...basically my life is in my phone and I'm not the only one. I also know that I spend the majority of my time texting instead of actually talking to people on the phone. While I love texting, I think that the intense decrease in actual phone conversations is making it more difficult for people to be social and have actual conversations. It obviously makes peoples phone etiquette worse but I think it also effects peoples ability to have a conversation face to face. They are so used to being able to think about their response and not having to worry about their facial expressions that when they talk to someone face to face they are not as able. Not only does this effect them socially but professionally, making something like a job interview or a conference much more difficult. Unfortunately, my eight year old sister has her own cell phone and can practically do everything on it that I can so it is only going to continue to get worse.

Highlighters

As I looked around one of my classes last week, I noticed how intense people can get in their notes with highlighters. Each arrow, dash, or bold word gets outlined or swiped with hot pink or yellow-even rainbow. Each is it's own work of art and says something about their personality. Certain people keep their lines exact and have keys in their mind of what each bright color means where as others practically turn the entire page hot pink. I think it shows a lot about how controlled a person is. I know that I consider myself a perfectionist and like to keep all of the lines perfect and to one or two colors but my friend who sits next to me in class uses the full spectrum of colors outlining different words, even drawing pictures. While it does show something about their personality, I don't believe it measures a level of creativity. To most it would appear that she is more creative because of how bright and detailed her notes are but I think that having a certain way of doing something is all it take's to be creative. By deciding to like using hot pink more than yellow, you are making a creative decision and therefore being creative.