What if it was you?

The female experience for the modern woman may have gotten more equal and/or bearable throughout the years, but by no means is it equal to that of a man's. Objectification is a huge factor of why women are not seen as equals; women are seen as objects, in the eyes of most men. As of very recently, I have identified myself as a feminist, although I never really understood the extent to which women truly suffer because of this objectification. I recently came upon a gem, a short film which asks a simple question to men: what if it was you?

Oppressed Majority is a video that very expertly flip-flops society, putting women into the position of social and economic power, and follows around a man during a day of his life. The events of the video are slightly NSFW: to portray the common man running without his shirt on, the women joggers are not wearing shirts, and there are slight levels of violence. As the man's day progresses, the events become more and more morally troubling, starting at slightly disturbing and eventually ending at a level of the complete violation of rights.

The video begins with the man walking down the street with his son, getting a few comments from women passing by, ranging from "keep smiling, cutie," to "lookin' good." This may seem harmless looking from the outside, but in the perspective of the man, it's weird to have strangers compliment you nonstop, which is what women today have to deal with constantly. It gets even more frustrating when the man goes to pick up his mail, and an acquaintance woman begins to talk to him about business, and stops in the middle of a sentence and says, "you know, I should probably be talking to your wife about this, huh?" This degrades the intelligence and usefulness of the man (therefore the woman in today's society), ultimately making him feel like crap.



The man eventually gets sexually and physically assaulted by a group of girls in an alley (after dropping off his son at daycare, run by a man submissive to his wife), where he afterwards goes to a police station. The policewoman interviewing him was very skeptical and/or unimpressed with his claim, even saying (with a condescending tone), "assaulted in broad daylight, with no witnesses. Who would have thought?" To which the man breaks down crying, and goes out to wait for his wife to pick him up.

After he and his sympathetic wife are leaving the station, the man seems to be severely traumatized, and then breaks down over the overly oppressing "feminist society," to which his wife scolds him for, saying "I can't stand your masculinist nonsense," and then commenting on the clothes he wears, how he may as well have been asking for it.

This video was a unique way of portraying to me, and possibly all males, what women have to deal with constantly in today's society: from sexual objectification, to physical/sexual harassment, to not being taken seriously, and everything in-between. This video has made me realize the true horrors of objectification, and make me even more obligated to fight for the end of it.

Are Guns the Enemy?

Gun ownership is a sport for some. Concealed carry allows them to feel safe and target shooting serves as a fun hobby. Taking away guns would be stealing a way of life from these people. However, those who own guns turn a blind eye to the numbers of people that die in the United States due to gun violence.



I've heard many people defend their artillery with the statistic that the U.S is far behind a lot of countries in terms of gun violence. However, in terms of developed countries, the U.S is in the #1 spot by a ridiculous margin. People who own guns are vapid dissenters to the gun control movement because it disrupts their daily life. Kids dying in urban concrete jungles might not be in their backyard, but getting rid of guns is. Gun owners represent an overbearing majority that cannot be overpowered until the number of Americans with guns drops. It has been steadily dropping over the past 10 years, so strict gun control and possibly, far in the future, the repeal of the second amendment, could happen. Until then all Gun control enthusiasts can do is compromise.
 

An Epidemic of Gun Violence

The epidemic of gun violence that has spread in America is one that must be put to a stop. The frequent appearance of some act of gun violence in the news has created a culture in which Americans are not surprised by these acts of violence. American culture has also become filled with violent movie, television shows, and video games that have further desensitized its viewers. Gun violence is a serious problem in America and has killed so many people but the access to guns remains the same. Wide spread access to guns and the use of them by the wrong people are what has made gun violence increase in America. 

The solution to ending the epidemic of violence is to limit who is able to get a gun in America. Tougher laws should be put in place to prevent dangerous people from obtaining a gun. Screenings and background checks on those who want to obtain a gun would help decrease the number or guns falling into the wrong hands. Some may view these screenings and background checks as invasions of privacy but that would be a small price to pay if it meant preventing someone else from being a victim of gun violence in America. While these laws may make the process of obtaining a gun take longer because of the increased vigilance on whom the gun is being given to, it will help prevent guns from falling into the wrong hands. While increased vigilance and tougher laws are not ways to completely end gun violence, they are stepping stones that will help end the epidemic of gun violence in America.

Put the Guns Down

Chicago is a beautiful and busy city. There is much to do and see in the city of Chicago. People are usually attracted to the food and the beautiful architecture. There are many positive upsides to this beautiful city but, the gun violence overlooks all of those upsides. Gun violence has been a major problem in Chicago for many years. Year after year, the violence in the streets of Chicago only seem to get worse.

There are too many illegal guns in the streets of Chicago. Majority of the guns used to commit these crimes are not registered. If gun laws were enforced, the percentage of murders and shootings in Chicago will most likely decrease. If guns become harder to retrieve, the amount of crimes committed with them will decrease. Because of the easy access to guns, they fall into the wrong hands. There have been multiple incidents where children of young ages have found guns in their households. Some of these children play with guns as if they were toys and have been killed because of the carelessness of some gun owners.

In order to fix America, people must begin with their own communities. If they do not try to better their surroundings first, they will make no progress with America. Gun control must be enforced in America. If this streak of gun violence continues, there will be no hope of bettering our environments.

The odd ones out.

Here in America, the second amendment of the Constitution states that we as citizens have a right to bear arms. Now, as Family Guy has once joked, this does not mean that we have a right to have a pair of bear's arms on display within our homes. What it does mean is that we have a right to have a firearm within our possession, presumably for self-defense. Now a large debate within our country (and a hot topic for presidential debates) is what we are to do about our gun laws, as there are some people who decide to use this right for more than self defense. There are people who use it to take over government buildings (Bundy Militia in Oregon), and plenty of mass shootings that take place in the US, which, as you can imagine, is not the intent of the second amendment. Now, the question is what are we going to do about it?

In all honesty, America's officials need to crack down on gun laws and background checks immediately. Guns are useful for a lot of things for a lot of people, hunting, self defense, etc., and they should definitely continue to be used for those things, but for those things only. America needs to put in place more in-depth background checks onto whoever is looking to buy a gun, in order to assure that whoever is buying it is mentally and criminally sound. This is exactly what Australia does, and they haven't gotten a mass shooting since 1996, because their minister completely cracked down on who could buy and sell guns.Why America hasn't taken the hint yet? I'm not entirely sure.

Striking a Balance Between Order and Liberty

The Second Amendment of the constitution states, "the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed." This amendment was first ratified in December of 1791 and serves as one of the most controversial amendments included in the Bill of Rights.

While some American citizens find gun control to be an infringement upon their liberty, gun control is needed to keep order in our country. Living a mere distance from the murder capital of America, crime is something that unfortunately happens everyday. This January, there have been a total of 203 shots in Chicago alone. These numbers are unacceptable. The lives of people are being put at risk everyday due to different opinions over the second amendment. Although citizens should have the right to bear arms when necessary, our country could take preventative measure to balance liberty and order here.

Tighter gun our background check system is one preventative measure to take. This will ensure no repeated, violent offenders get the holdings of a dangerous weapon. Strengthening gun eligibility can also help. For example, requiring a photo ID to those who have guns, requiring those who seek to own a gun to go through safety courses and pass tests, and requiring a mandatory safety child locks. Another preventative measure that can be taken is strengthening the sentence put on gun crime offenders. These actions alone can help to prevent more lives from being taken.

It would be unreasonable to have no gun control laws at all. The world would be chaotic if you could go around shooting people without punishment. On the other hand, it would be unfair to not allow Americans one of their given rights as citizens. So, just how free can we let the the "land of the free'" be free? By allowing citizens the right to bear arms so long as they are doing so responsibly and undergo the right training, we can hopefully find a balance between order and liberty.

The Removal of a Culture in a Children's Movie

Pocahontas is a popular movie created by the well known Walt Disney Corporation that was ultimately targeted towards children. Normally, people would not bat an eye at this, but within the seemingly innocent movie is some extremely offensive content in respect to race and gender. Many times, the Native Americans are portrayed as "savages," and the movie endorses the idea of the good Indian and the bad Indian. Not only that, but the history of the movie is completely wrong, and it gives an idea that the colonists were at equal fault of the Native Americans, effectively oppressing them to the point where children do not think twice.

At one point in the movie, the song "Savages" makes an appearance. The lyrics are unbelievably offensive and racist towards these Native Americans. "They're savages, savages, barely even human," is repeated multiple times within the song. It portrays the Indians as unpredictable hooligans that only follow through with physical carnal pleasures with the song having a complete lack of acknowledgement for any intelligence whatsoever. The lyrics clearly outlaw the mixing of races, saying "They're not like you and me. Which means they must be evil. We must sound the drums of war!" I am honestly unsure what the writers were thinking as they wrote this song that was meant for children. Something that makes it even worse is that these "savages" retaliate, calling the settlers demon and "paleface," in an attempt from the writers to try and even out the aggression from both parties.

Sure, they end up making it a love story between Pocahontas and Captain John Smith, a Native American and an English settler, with a happy ending and all, but how much of this was actually the case? In fact the whole movie twists history entirely, leaving out the cruelty and killings of many Native Americans, not touching on the fact that Pocahontas was not even a woman when the events actually took place, she was about twelve.

Another thing the movie did wrong was the visual aspect of the humans. Pocahontas's image was in that of standard American beauty, instead of whatever would be the norm of her own Native American culture. The dignified image is the produce of Western colonialism entirely, and reinforces the idea that there is no Native American culture, only western culture's perspective on it.

Truth and Death

    9/11 is one of the most important moments in recent American history. It started (or at least justified) a war, sparked worldwide controversy, and forever changed our cultural landscape. Songs, stories, poems, apologies, in a single afternoon millions of lives were changed, and thousands were silenced.

    People dance around the subject all too much in my opinion. It makes people uncomfortable and sometimes even ashamed, and if it makes them neither of those it makes them angry. So we use euphemisms and meaningless phrases such as "never forget", as if simply repeating it enough will cement it in history rather than whichever historian fate smiles upon.

    Let's look at some numbers. In relationship to war, 9/11 was practically nothing. More than a hundred times than many Americans died in Vietnam for no reason at all. Even as recent as Iraq, the death toll of American soldiers is 4,425, and they were sent over in the name of ending the death caused on that September day. Of course, if you look at the Iraqi casualties in that war, estimates range from 100,000 to 1 million. Strange how we don't talk about those as often.

    Still, there must be a difference between deaths in 9/11 and war casualties, right? War is often justified, and the destruction of the towers was a brutal and senseless act of violence. This argument holds up less and less the more I think about it. The fact is, war has killed millions upon millions upon millions of people, often for nearly meaningless reasons in retrospect. Do those who die at war feel any differently about it than those in the towers? I doubt it.

    So why are we so adamant to never forget? Why do the lives of those thousands weigh so heavily upon the American people? Maybe because for once, the brutal deaths aren't oceans away. They aren't fought "valiantly" in filthy trenches with dozens of pounds of equipment strapped to their backs. They're regular people doing regular things who never for a second thought their lives might be on the line. They could be you.

    Death is everywhere. Cancer, suicide, murder. Slightly farther away we find starvation, water deprivation, disease. To think that because we humans have built ourselves a pillowfort or two, death is any more preventable is foolish. But that's what we have to tell ourselves to make it. So when two planes slice our tallest pillow into rubble, it rattles us to our very core.

    By the time I have finished writing this, it will be 9/12. The CIA estimates that 108 people die every minute. Most of them probably don't have pillowforts built for them. I doubt many of them look like me. But that doesn't mean that their deaths are any less valid or tragic.

    We are mere steps away from a true global community, united past skin and history. But for us to take that step, we need to realize that everyone dies. Everyone mourns. Over three thousand people lost their lives unjustly that day, but they are a mere droplet in the ancient pool of billions.

   Life is short, death is random. Love more than just thy neighbor.

"Tips" for Being An Unarmed Black Teen

Very recently, I read a short but profound article titled "Tips For Being An Unarmed Black Teen." The article was published by "The Onion," an American News Source. The title seems very straightforward, however, has a deeper meaning to racism in America.

The article begins by addressing riots raged in Ferguson,MO after the shooting death by police of an unarmed African-American. The article sarcastically gives tips on being an unarmed African-American in America that provide insight to the real problems America is facing with racism.

"Be sure not to pick up any object that could be perceived by a police officer as a firearm, such as a cell phone, food item, or nothing." This point in the article had me evaluate every Afrian-American shooting situation I could think of and reflect. Treyvon Martin had Skittles and was shot to death. Micheal Brown was unarmed when he was shot to death. The Onion's sarcastic argument "or nothing" should be taken literal today.

As the recent shootings in America have proved, there continues to be injustice done involving Americans of color. How can America be "the land of the free" when unarmed black boys are continuing to lose their lives?

American Sniper: Another Untrue War Story

American Sniper is an award-winning, critically acclaimed but extremely unpopular movie. The movie is based off of Chris Kyle’s memoir of his time in Iraq as history’s deadliest sniper, which gave Americans a unique look at the realities of the Iraq War. However, many critics questioned how much of this story was reality and how much of it was Chris Kyle’s “reality.” After Chris Kyle was deemed an American hero for an ephemeral period of time, the release of the movie caused many to believe that Chris Kyle was racist, sexist, and, above all, a liar. American Sniper is a clear example of the predominant, invidious notion of Muslims in the United States which qualifies this story as false through stereotypes, historical inaccuracy and unrealistic heroism.

One major and recurring theme throughout the movie was that of seemingly innocent and gregarious Muslims eventually revealing themselves as terrorists and villains. In one scene, a Muslim man invites American soldiers to his house for a holiday meal, but is later discovered to be an informant and a terrorist. In another scene, a boy is seen carrying a cylindrical object, which he received from his mother, and that object is revealed to be a bomb intended to kill American soldiers.

According to O’Brien, a war story is supposed to make you uncomfortable; it is not pleasing nor moral, not simple nor straightforward. Chris Kyle’s account is simple and straightforward. The principle character makes it clear who the enemy is, and makes the viewer comfortable with that fact that he has killed over 160 people. Muslims are generally characterized as terrorists, which is what a large portion of the American public wishes was one hundred percent true. 

On top of stereotyping all Muslim people and even women in general, most of the “true” events were completely fabricated for the sake of Chris Kyle appearing as a modern hero. According to much research conducted concerning the life of Chris Kyle, many events that appeared in the book did not actually occur. The enemy sniper, Mustafa, that Kyle reportedly killed is still alive. The robbery at a gas station that he reportedly stopped never even happened.

O’Brien says war stories are never glorious, but Chris Kyle’s version of events is complete romanticized heroism. Although Chris Kyle is no longer here to defend himself, it is clear that his original story was false, which made the movie adaptation of American Sniper seem even less true. If this movie is what passes as a cinematic masterpiece, it is clear that Hollywood needs to diversify its' industry.

Pusha Man

Pusha Man/ Paranoia is a song that was released in 2012 in Chance the Rappers Acid Rap album. In his songs he sings about many different topics, in Paranoia, the second half of Pusha Man, Chance talks about people ignoring crime in chicago. I believe that this is poetry because he isn’t just singing mindlessly to a beat trying to make a catchy song, he is spreading awareness in a problem that he really believes needs a solution. One line from the song is:

They murking kids; they murder kids here

Why you think they don't talk about it? They deserted us here

Where the f**k is Matt Lauer at? Somebody get Katie Couric in here

Probably scared of all the refugees, look like we had a f**kin' hurricane here


He begins by identifying one of the problems that Chicago has. Gang violence has gotten so bad in Chicago that people have gone as far to murder kids who are forced to walk through some of the bad neighborhoods on a daily basis. He also mentions that the media has done nothing to try and help them, “why do you think they don’t talk about it?” In this line “they” refers to the media who has chosen to ignore the cries for help of the people living in violent Chicago neighborhoods. This idea is expanded on later in the song when Chance says that the place where children are growing up is so violent that the news is scared to even go there. “Probably scared of all the refugees, look like we had a f**kin’ hurricane here” Nobody besides local Chicago news focuses on the murder rate in Chicago, and everyone even kids just get left as another statistic for death. Chance is fighting hard to get more people to be aware of the danger of Chicago and has even gone as far to start a movement called Save Chicago.

Game of Thrones- Feminist Critique - SPOILERS FOR SEASONS 1-4

The HBO television series Game of Thrones has been nominated twice for Golden Globes best drama. The show mostly takes place in the fictional country known as Westeros where many people fight to become king and sit on what is known as the iron throne. Through out the show there are many examples of women being seen as sex objects and people who should not be allowed to fight. “My father said that fighting was for men.” While there are many women who are slaves, prostitutes, or nothing more than a wife, there are  many main characters who become much more than that. Although Game of Thrones can portray women as sex objects, it breaks gender stereotypes by showing women as people who can be as powerful as any man in the show.

One of the main characters in season four is Brienne of Tarth who shows that a women can easily be as strong or stronger than most men that she would have to fight. “My father said that fighting was for men.” “Mine said the same thing, but I kept fighting the men and eventually he said if you're going to do it you might as well do it right.” Another character in the show is Sandor Clegane, known as The Hound for his extreme brutality and loyalty to his master similar to the male stereotype. The Hound is one of the strongest characters in season four and protects Arya Stark. In the last episode of season four, The Children, during her mission to bring Arya Stark back to kings landing, Brienne of Tarth ends up crossing paths with Arya and The Hound. The Hound does not believe that Aryas mother sent Brinne to rescue Arya and ends up fighting her. At the end of the suspenseful battle Brienne of Tarth ends up slaying The hound. There are many other scenes in the show where Brienne defeats men who you would otherwise suspect would easily kill her. This proves that women can be better fighters than men. (Click here for the video)

Arya Stark is first seen as a woman stereotype however as the story progresses she turns into a headstrong woman who does not follow traditional gender roles. After her father was betrayed and executed Arya flees kings landing with the help of a night's watch recruiter and is forced to act like a boy named Arry. Once Arya is taken into The Nights Watch she immediately becomes more like the male stereotype and fights back when she feels threatened.However, She is then taken prisoner working as a slave to Tywin Lannister but quickly makes an escape. Soon after escaping she gets kidnaped by The Hound who takes her across the country to try to ransom her to her aunt. After some time of traveling with The Hound Arya becomes good at doing what she needs to do for herself, including killing the man who stole her sword from her. Later in the show Arya admits to The Hound that he is on her list of people who she wants kill because he killed one of her friends. However throughout their “adventures” it is clear that they both enjoy being with each other and The Hound tells Brinne that he is the only one who should be watching over her. After Brinne severely injures The Hound Arya takes all of his supplies and leaves him to die, crossing him off her list. Arya Stark is a perfect example of an independent and headstrong woman who does not follow a typical women role, and although she became good friends with The Hound she never forgot what he had done. (Click here for the video)

Daenerys Targaryen is one of the most feminist characters in the show. Daenerys story begins when her brother forces her into marriage with Khal Drogo the leader of a savage village known as the Dothraki. Her brother forced her into marriage with the hope that he could use their army to return to their home in kings landing and take the iron throne. He eventually becomes overdriven with power that Daenerys has him killed. Eventually Daenerys and Khal fall in love, however Khal soon dies leaving Daenerys to lead the Dothraki. Refusing to have a Women as their leader the Dothraki leave Daenerys. Saddened by her loss Daenerys burns herself at the stake along with the witch who killed her husband and three dragon eggs that were given to her as a gift. When the fire came to an end people were shocked to see her alive with three dragons. Daenerys then goes from city to city freeing every slave and building an army of her own so that she can one day sit on the iron throne. Daenerys truly shows that she is not a stereotype but much wiser than any man who she has come across. (Click here for the video)

Game of Thrones is a well made show that stars many female characters that refuse to follow traditional gender stereotypes. Many people are repulsed by how much women can be degraded in this show because many of them are prostitutes and are often nude in the show. However after finishing season four it is easy to see that it is a very feminist show and passes the Bechdel Test as well as the reverse Bechdel Test.

Order v. Freedom

In our society, I believe that Arthur Miller was correct in stating that it is impossible to achieve a balance between the two paradoxical forces of order and freedom.  In our present day society, it can be seen clearly that freedom is valued more by individuals, while the government places heavy weight on the value of order.

A good example of the presence of the value of order in our society would be from some of the police conflicts that have appeared during the past year.  Even though many law enforcement altercations have provoked many civil disobediences in the past month, the conflicts actually exemplify the extent to which the government is willing to encroach on the freedoms of society and essentially the government's strong values of order.  These conflicts have led to the public's general distrust of our national government, which then leads to more civil disobedience and, in turn, a harsher instillation of order on the citizens of the country.

An illustration of how freedom is valued in our society could simply be the reaction to all the police brutality cases occurring right now.  In Ferguson, MO, people began looting and rioting in their town (which I personally believe gets their case nowhere), and others began protesting the acts of Officer Darren Wilson.  These are all signs that our society believes heavily in the value of freedom despite the opposing view of our government today.

In conclusion, Arthur Miller was correct in his statement, however I think he left out that although both of the paradoxical forces will never achieve a balance, they are still diametrically opposed and will have an ongoing conflict to achieve a greater presence in our society.

Balance of Freedom and Order

In Arthur Miller's introduction to the Crucible, Miller bluntly states that it is impossible for a balance to be struck between order and freedom in any society. Miller's Crucible clearly supports his argument, as Salem, the story's setting, is dominated by order. Both order and freedom are vital aspects of a society, keeping it organized while giving people power and therefore a reason to be in that certain society. In many instances within our society today, we can still see occurrences which result from an overpowering of either freedom or order. Although strict order may create an idealistic community, even by granting the greatest believe of possessed freedom, a balance can never be reached between the oppression caused by order and the sense of opportunity resulting from freedom, explaining why our society will never be entirely, internally at peace.

In Miller's Crucible, Salem's destruction is a result of an overpowering of order. In Salem, if anyone does not oblige to the strict order of their Puritan society, they will be accused as worshipers of the Devil. In the story, a group of girls is caught conjuring in the woods. The girls attest to seeing the Devil and also seeing women with him who are current members of their society. Because these women are accused as worshiping the Devil, Salem has no choice but to hang these women, as worshiping the Devil is intolerable to Salem's puritanical society. Salem's overuse of order results in their society to be based on lies which members precariously threw out as to protect themselves. In Salem's order, however, there is also an instance of freedom. The girls had the freedom to immediately shift blame on to other women of their society. The girls were not punished for conjuring the Devil as they rightfully should have been, and many innocent women were hanged in Salem's attempt to assure its order. Clearly, the imbalance between freedom and order in Salem resulted in total societal destruction.

In our society today, the imbalance between order and freedom seems to be present greater than it ever has before with the issues related to police murdering the innocent. The occurrence in Ferguson is a prefect example of this imbalance. On August 9th, Michael Brown was shot seven to eight times by Officer Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri. Michael Brown was allegedly robbing a convenience store and upon seeing Wilson, he surrendered with his hands in the air. Even though Brown surrendered, Wilson shot Brown a multitude of times which many see is an unjust abuse of power. Many believe shooting unarmed Brown was and action completely out of proportion. This is an example of the imbalance between freedom and order because Wilson, a policeman and enforcer of order, was given too much freedom, the freedom to take a life whenever he thought was necessary. Many instances across the United States are similar to this situation in Ferguson, supporting why critics believe that the people who enforce order in this country have a supererogatory amount of freedom. As a result of the Michael Brown shooting, many members of Ferguson began violent protests, setting fires to cars and destroying buildings. Its is evident that the imbalance of freedom and order still exists today and is the cause of societal destruction.

Order and freedom are both necessary aspects of all societies. A certain amount of oppression must be enforced while giving an equal amount of freedom, or societal destruction will result. This is supported by the Crucible, where Salem experiences destruction as a result of its overuse of order and misuse of freedom. In Ferguson this year, Michael Brown's death illustrates the existing imbalance of freedom and order as the enforcers of order are given too much freedom. Both the Crucible and Ferguson result in internal desolation, confirming the urgency of the need to crete a balance between freedom and order, before another society follows the unfortunate path of Salem and Ferguson.

Postmodernism's Form of Story Telling

Postmodernism, in my experience, is a form of unconventional story telling. After seeing show and tell today, I learned that many other people believe this of postmodernism. When I say Unconventional story telling, I mean a different or unique way of presenting an idea or story. Many of the items brought to show and tell, mine included, were examples of unconventional story telling.

This abstract form of story telling may incorporate many different forms of story telling that make it unique. One of the more widely used forms of story telling used in postmodernism is non linear plot. The item that I brought to show and tell was the film Reservoir Dogs, directed by Quentin Tarantino, was a prime example of non linear story telling as the film skips around to different parts of the film and incorporates long extensive flashbacks that provide back story over specific characters. This non linear story telling allowed the individual characters be the focus of the film rather than the immense action sequences that were purposely not filmed. Another example of non linear storytelling is the film Memento, directed by Christopher Nolan, which is displayed scene by scene in reverse order. The use of non linear storytelling in this movie allows the viewer to empathize with the film's protagonist, Leonard, as he suffers from short term memory loss, having the film presented in reverse order does not give us any pretext for the any scene that we are watching so we react to the events in the film with the same confusion as the main character.

Non linear story telling is used in a variety of ways that let the viewer feel closer to the character and to better understand them. Postmodernism is way to present stories in a unique fashion that, in some cases, adds a deeper meaning to the story.

Affirmative Consent Law

According to the article "Where Yes Means Yes: California Passes First Affirmative Consent Law," California just passed a law stating that consent before sex must be conveyed in a direct, verbal or nonverbal way. This means that lack of resistance or objection can no longer be viewed as consent. Thus, a person who is drunk or unconscious is unable to give consent. California is now the first state to have an affirmative consent law. The law states, “Lack of protest or resistance does not mean consent, nor does silence mean consent. Affirmative consent must be ongoing throughout a sexual activity and can be revoked at any time.”

This law is extremely important. American society currently exhibits rape culture. Rape culture is a phrase describing a culture that promotes objectification, sexualization, and victim blaming, which all normalize and trivialize the occurrence of rape. Modern feminists are working hard towards fighting victim-blaming and the overall commonplace of rape in our culture. This law is a major step towards diminishing rape culture. The current laws in all other states allow the prevalence of rape and victim blaming. Without passing these laws, sexual violence will continually be used as a means of asserting power over the victim.

Rape and sexual assault are extremely physically and psychologically harmful to women (although they can also affect men). Not only do these actions violate and disempower women, they also reinforce the traditional, masculine ideals of violence and aggression. In order to work towards a more peaceful and humane culture, America needs to take further steps to prevent sexual violence. California’s affirmative consent law is an important contribution to the advancement of women’s rights and our society as a whole.

Land Mines Ahead, Tread Lightly

The United States of America is getting closer to eliminating the use of land mines in war. While land mines can be very helpful in disposing of the enemy, they pose a large threat to the civilian population of whichever country is plagued by war.

 Long after a war is over, the ground in which the war is fought is often left covered with land mines. This is a great danger to all animals or civilians that have the unfortunate luck to discover a land mine by placing their foot on top of it.

The United States of America was one out a small group of countries that did not sign a treaty in 1997, which banned the use of land mines. This week, the Obama Administration agreed to destroy most of the United States' three million stockpiled land mines. This agreement supplemented a white house decision earlier this year to halt production and acquiring of land mines.

The land mine is a helpful tool during the war but after the war they become a major hazard to civilian population. The action that the Obama administration has taken to eliminate this threat to civilian life is excellent, but the action itself has come to late. In the time between 1997 and the present, the situation in the middle east has escalated dramatically and it is impossible to determine the extent to which land mines have devastated the populations of these countries.

All in all, it is should come as a relief that American land mines will no longer threaten the lives of civilians.

Isis and the Middle East

The other day, the U.S. began air strikes on ISIS. Isis is one of many issues that have occurred in the middle east this past century. It is curious why this region of the world always seems to have issues. I read an op-ed in the New York Times titled as "Isis Crisis". In this op-ed the author, named Thomas Friedman, tries to explain why this region has so much conflict. He believes it is only because of the Islamic religion, however I disagree. Every religion has extremists and although these certain extremists have taken their violence much to far, the original reason for conflict in this area is oil.

Oil is a major energy source in our world. Every country needs oil and will do anything to get it. The middle east is a region known to have a lot of oil, because of this many countries wish to control the oil wealth in this region. This greed for oil causes conflict between countries trying to control the region and people in the region. Since these conflicts occurred the region began to become broken by war and civil dispute. Arising from this crippled society are extremists. Since Islam is the primary religion in this area the extremists are Islamic. Also the United States' attempt to control the oil in the area has made many of the citizens in the area hateful towards us. When they believe they can hold no hope on their individual governments they turn to someone else to lead them. These leaders are the extremists and so the hatred grows and violence erupts.

The author of the op-ed argues that the extremists arose out of a broken religious society. He says, that Islam is the only reason for the violence in the area, and that the Arab society is too far gone. He says that any of our victories will be temporary. I agree that there is a very large amount of extremists, but he does not offer the idea that our involvement in the area sparked violence. His statements also do not go into the fact that their are many muslims trying to fight ISIS. Religion has sparked violence but the same  religion is also attempting to stop it with our help. The extremists of Islam are a terrible group of people and must be destroyed, however Islam is not the only reason for violence.

War with Chicago (Op-Ed)

Last week, Obama declared war on Syria to stop an organization called ISIS. He has decided to send air strikes on ISIS in order to stop them from violently killing Americans and citizens of Syria. Some may be thinking, 'Good, we need to step in and show them that no one messes with America,' but we should be thinking 'Why are we going to war?' With all the violence going on in our own country, we shouldn't even be thinking about fighting a war overseas. We should be thinking about fighting a war right here, in Chicago.

Obama wants to save others, but in order to save others, we must save ourselves first. The amount of violence in Chicago has increased substantially since last year. The murder rate in Chicago is 4 times larger than in New York and 2.5 times higher than Los Angeles. Since October 18th, there have been 419 homicides in Chicago. In the year of 2013, there was a TOTAL of 454 homicides, in which 374 people were killed by guns. The average age of people murdered were between 18 and 24 years old. This average age is also known as the common age of gang members in Chicago. If I were to turn on WGN News at Nine, I would immediately see a story about a young kid being murdered or shot and wounded in Chicago. Not only would I hear about it happening in Chicago, but also in my own town. This past summer a family, who lives near me, was robbed at gunpoint in their backyard.

Obama shouldn't be sending soldiers to fight in Syria; he should be sending them to help Chicago. He needs to send the National Guard to Chicago so they can arrest all the gang members, decreasing the amount of homicides. He shouldn't be launching air strikes on ISIS; he should be creating laws to banish guns. He shouldn't be increasing the number of soldiers heading overseas to war; he should be increasing the number of officers here, helping Chicago.

There is much that can be done to stop the violence in Chicago, but it cannot be accomplished while we are at war with Syria. If Obama is busy caring about the air strikes on Syria and plans to destroy ISIS, who will be busy caring about Chicago and destroying the gang organizations here? Yes, we have a police force here that is meant "To serve and protect us", but something just isn't working. We need to look at fixing our own cities before we head off to fix someone else's.

Reaction to USA Op-Ed on Discipline

An op-ed recently ran on the USA Today website with the title "What's appropriate discipline?". The author of the piece, Jared Pingleton, is a clinical psychiatrist, a minister, and the director for Focus on the Family's counseling department. The piece was written as a direct response to the Adrian Peterson arrest. Peterson, an All-Pro running back for the Minnesota Vikings, was recently charged with reckless or negligent injury to a child in Montgomery County, Texas. Peterson was accused of, and admitted to, disciplining his four year old son by hitting him with a tree branch. This caused the child many cuts and bruises, and ultimately led to the arrest of Peterson. The Vikings subsequently suspended Peterson indefinitely.

Many media figures stood in support of the suspension, and strongly against the physical discipline of a child, as former NFL player Cris Carter said "My mom did the best job she could do raising seven kids by herself, but there are thousands of things that I have learned since then that my mom was wrong. It's the 21st century - my mom was wrong. She did the best she could but she was wrong about some of that stuff she taught me and I promised my kids I won't teach that mess to them." 

However, many media figures stood against the Adrian Peterson backlash and talked about how physical discipline of a child is a common practice, and even necessary. Former NBA player Charles Barkley went so far to say in a response to a stance against Peterson's actions by a former NFL player "… but he's a white guy and I'm a black guy. I don't know where he's from, I'm from the South. Whipping - we do that all the time. Every black parent is going to be in jail under those circumstances." 

Jared Pingleton writes in his piece that he is also a believer in physical punishment of a child. However, he tries to draw a fine line between child abuse and "affirmation and discipline." He speaks out in favor of mild spanking to keep children in line and to keep them obedient.  

I vehemently disagree with Pingleton on this matter. I believe that all varieties of corporal punishment should be taken out of the household. Teaching that violence is the answer installs bad morals for children as they grow older. Adrian Peterson's mom is living proof of this. After her son's arrest, she made a statement saying "we were only trying to prepare them for the real world. When you whip those you love, it's not about abuse, it's about love." Installing this lesson into Adrian Peterson at a very young age, in turn caused the abused to become the abuser. 

Cutting back on all corporal punishment and being proactive about punishments should eventually stop the cycle of abuse.