English 101-21: November 2014

Sunday, November 30, 2014

The Real Side of Breaking Bad - James Paul

The Real Side of Breaking Bad by James Paul

Congratulations Bryan Cranston, Aaron Paul, and the rest of the wonderful cast of the hit television drama Breaking Bad. After all your hard work and dedication, you helped create one of the most watched and critically acclaimed programs of all time and won award after award for your talents. Seriously, way to go.

Your show delves into a lot of subjects. Some are generally good: family, love, respect. Some are criminal: death, murder, drugs, gangs. However, with this show, even the good subjects are twisted and represent nothing of what they should. Families are broken up, love is used as a crutch and betrayed and respect is only desired on a drug lord related standard. Everything good about Breaking Bad when it started, (a chemistry teacher with cancer decides to sell meth as the only way to support his family because he loves them), turns completely upside down when that same teacher takes over the drug game in New Mexico and only desires money and an empire at all costs.

Now, when I say this show was and is popular, I’m not joking. Thanks to online streaming websites and applications like Netflix and recording appliance likes DVR and TiVo, Breaking Bad was in just about every home in America that has a television, at least one time through its lifetime. That’s an insane fact. Perhaps one of the most compelling reasons to watch Breaking Bad was how utterly realistic the show depicted the world of drugs, gangs, and murders. While the plot itself might not have been the most possible storyline on television for the past five years, no there program went into as much depth as Breaking Bad, which repeatedly showed a large part of the process to cook and produce meth.

Now you might say that this is what makes good television and is what made Breaking Bad one of the most watched television shows in history, and you'd probably be right. This isn't the only show to have a striking amount of realism incorporated into it's filming but this realism is only increasing. The Dangerous thing about unfiltered realism is the effect it can have on those who are exposed it. Many people, whether they want to admit it or not, are quite impressionable and being shown this images and scenes with no holds barred and this realism can have a huge influence on them. Not to mention the children who are to immature to be able to take in the material and realize it is just a television show and fiction.

The great thing about television is, without it going too far, one person or a group of writers can portray a product of their imagination and become successful to all of America. These talented people are what makes television the great source of entertainment. The fact that the realism of these TV shows affects so many people is not on the writers or the actors. They should be able to portray their ideals and imagination to the best of their ability. The responsibility to for society to be able to watch these shows without taking them to heart lies with the television stations, the producers, and the audiences themselves.

The producers of Breaking Bad, including creator Vince Gilligan, never shied away from bragging about the incredibly successful show they created. After one episode in the final season called Ozymandias, Gillian and the other producers of the show called the 60 minute episode the "best hour in television history" and this is actually vey agreed on by multiple high profile TV review outlets. You can not fault these men for feeling proud and boasting about their creation and accomplishments. However, their creation is also ultra realistic and very violent. These producers, who are continuously praised and in the television spotlight, need to do more in the way of expressing that viewers need to be careful when viewing a show with this kind of subject matter. That is not to say they should censor their imaginations, but should have multiple statements to their audiences every season or so to be mindful about what they are watching and how they should react to it.

The television stations that are the medium through which writers make their dreams come true and allow others to see their vision. However, with a show with the graphic violence and drug related material like Breaking Bad, the only thing the station offers in regards to a warning of the nature of the show is a brief three or four second slide before the show starts stating "Parental Discretion Advised." There has to be more in terms of warning and coverage when it comes to a show that goes far beyond the laughter of a sitcom. These shows, like Breaking Bad, portray something sinister and evil. Whether or not the parents know the child is watching something like Breaking Bad is one thing, whether or not they care or feel a need to control what their children watch is another. Without a concrete warning or heads up that is unique and hits home for each individual show, this pushover of an attempt to cover the stations own liability is worthless and accomplishes nothing.

Ultimately, no matter what television stations could come up with in regards to warning viewers about what they are about to see, it's up to the audience to not let it affect them. It's up to parents to not let their children watch shows like this and if they do allow them, to let them know that it is all just fiction. The sad reality is that this can't be counted upon. The American pubic is generally one of overreactions and is influenced very easily by what we see and what is popular at the time.

We have a hard time separating what is real and what isn't. Until the American population can regain control ourselves and become mature and intelligent, shows with striking reality like Breaking Bad and other programs will continue to influence and shock American culture and even trickle down to affect our youth and won't stop this pattern.

Breaking Bad is my favorite television show of all time. I absolutely loved it. But it is impossible to ignore what Breaking Bad and shows like it can do to America. These shows are so real and violent that without being able to stop the influence of shows like this, society will continue to fall into a false reality that can be controlled by what they see on television.

OITNB: The Prison They Created by Abigail Rogers final draft for portfolio

After a long day most people like to sit down, kick their feet up and enjoy watching their favorite TV series. With the help of Netflix, the viewer can now watch basically anything they want. As Netflix has gained more and more popularity in recent years, they have started producing their own TV series. The series that has gained the most attention and fan base would have to be Orange is the New Black, or OITNB for short.

The show focuses on a privileged white woman named Piper Chapman, who was convicted of a felony charge ten years after committing the one crime. She faces many obstacles while serving her time in prison and meets many prisoners while trying to learn how to survive throughout her sixteen-month punishment.

Although the show gained popularity very quickly, many people have trouble getting on board with the show because of the unrealistic portrayal of what prison is like for the women in OITNB. Former prisoners, ex-guards and even government officials have openly talked about the many differences between the TV series and real life prison.

Jenji Kohan, creator of the Netflix series Orange is the New Black, has never been to prison, has never been convicted of a crime and grew up in a wealthy family in Los Angeles, California. Many viewers blame Kohan for creating these impractical representations of prison. Kohan has a rare talent for creating strong independent female characters, which are the most brutal and self-centered people on this earth, in her series.

For example, in her first TV series she created and produced, Weeds, the main character was a young widow named Nancy who supported her two children and their lavish lifestyle by becoming a drug dealer. Throughout all nine season of Weeds Nancy continuously made horrible decisions for her family based on her needs and wants. Although Nancy was completely immoral and selfish, the viewer had an emotional connection with her.

With what Kohan is doing in her work with Orange is the New Black, she changes the perception of how you view the characters by making them likable and giving them a more emotional view than prisoners have been perceived before, which happen to be prisoners in Orange is the New Black.

Orange is the New Black presents the prisoners in a different light than has been done before. Kohan introduces them as people, instead of criminals. The viewer sees the background story of the character. When you are introduced to the character, the show makes you feel sorry for them, because you see inside their life outside of prison. She creates an emotional bond with the character and the viewer. Many of the women depicted in the show were caught committing the crime, but they weren’t doing it for themselves. Many of them were stealing to provide for their families, selling drugs to make ends meet for their family, etc.

The penitentiary that the women are sentenced to is what raises the most problems for people. In many interviews for former prisoners they explain how it is considered to be a fairytale. The living conditions do not seem too unbearable in Orange is the New Black. Their dorms are spacious and semi-private. The jobs they are assigned do not require any serious physical activity. It appears that they have a large amount of free time and it almost comes across as a summer camp.

The food prepared is often made with fresh vegetables, the meat isn’t solid frozen and the women working in the kitchen actually get to prepare the meals in Orange is the New Black. The male guards hang around the dorms and monitor the living situations. Former prisoners have commented on how unrealistic it is for the male guards to be there. In actual prison, the males only came around to escort someone to solitary or to make big deliveries.

But why would Kohan and those working on/with the show create an unrealistic depiction of prison when they have a great opportunity to show the world how undesirable prison really is?

Well many factors play into this. The show is not a documentary and never claimed to be. Although the story is based off real events and real people, it is media. And the main purpose of any form of media is to entertain. So instead of putting a lot of work into the showing the real life prison conditions, the show connects with the prisoners on an emotional level, making the viewer see them differently.

Most shows about prison and those who spend time there make the prisoner out to be a monster and take away their human qualities. OITNB shows how they struggle on a level just like we do and it makes them more likeable. The show plays with your emotions instead of informing you, which is what the show was created to do.

Below is the Season 2 trailer for the TV series. The second season was released in the summer of 2014. In the trailer, you can see many of the living conditions for the prisoners. You can see a good view of the dorms that they live in, the relationships between the inmates and the guards and the war that goes on between the different races.

Shelby Large Portfolio Revision Version:

Transgender Students in Public Schools

11/20/2014

Their rights, just as important as all other students.

Students today are a lot different than those of previous generations. These last few years, our generations are being taught to express themselves, to be who they really are, and that its okay to stand out. The LGBT community is at an all time popularity, with more and more powerful gay, transgender, and lesbian celebrities in our culture. All this pro-expression in our culture is great for young minds trying to figure out who they are, but then why are our public schools still denying all this progress?

Adolescents is a time to understand emotions, and school is a staple in molding young minds. Our children are in school 7/8 hours a day, 180 days of the year. What they do day in and day out and how their school treats them is how they learn how to handle the world outside their homes. We are putting these very influential, growing minds into structured facilities that are denying self expression. What does this say about how young people know about the outside world?

With the public school standards the way they are, young people are being taught it is not okay to be different, causing many in the LGBT community to have struggles just getting through the school day.

Middle and High School is already one of the most stressful and awkward times in young people's lives, so many influential staples happen during these early years. This is the beginning stages of finding ones true self. The smallest things can affect a person permanently, emotional scaring can cause dramatic negative effects on a persons future.

Majority of the public schools use the traditional Male and Female bathrooms and locker rooms, but only allow students to use the facility of what they were assigned to not what they identify with. This forces uncomfortably among transgender students and can cause permanent emotional scaring.

Many young people face identity disorders, clinical depression due to mistreatment in schools. These emotional scarings can even lead to suicide.

Some of the problems:

Transgender individuals face many problems, and at times more than the rest of the LGBT community. Besides the most common, discrimination, transgenders face many issues with being able to fulfill basic needs. Needs such as getting a job, getting health care, and the right to use the restrooms. For all others we do not think about these being being hard to get, it is easily at our reach.

Imagine being humiliatingly told you can not use the restroom.

When it comes to getting a job, health care, and using the restrooms, many of us do not think about the legal matters behind each of these factors.

Many jobs have trouble hiring transgender employees because of gender norms, dress codes, and background checks. Even though it is illegal to discriminating not hire someone, some employers simply don't know how to adapt their businesses for a transgender employee.

Health care, you would think is something that can be accepting of a persons identity but you'd think wrong. Health care requires extensive legal work, documenting a persons sex and medical history. Many health care options do not have categories that can legally accept transgenders.

Even though public schools have noting to do with my last two factors, this last factor is a problem in and out of schools. As I said previously, bathrooms become a problem allowing people to be comfortable or accepted. These problems come in to play in our public school setting, denying students the right to use the facility of the gender they identity with. In other words, these discriminating factors deny students natural rights.

Not all schools are denying student rights, currently in the last few years some schools have been pushing for a change.

Few schools have signed votes, on how to address the bathrooms situation for transgender students.

Sadly, in most counties, when this issue is brought up it is instantly brushed under the rug, many school boards do not know how to deal with this issue and can not find answers that work for everyone.

Many parents and communities will not allow their public schools to even bring up the issue. Typically, communities ran by older generations, do not want to change or fix the bathrooms to be suited for those who identity with other genders. Old ways and many religious stand points do not see transgender as something people are. The option to allow transgender students the right to use the bathroom of their choice causes such a debate, many schools do not want to even bring up the issue as to not cause even bigger problems. Including, one of the most well know, Bullying.

Bullying affects on Transgender Students

It doesn't take long to find a story where a transgender student was being bullied for being different.
In Katie Hills case, she was the first transgender student to graduate from her school. And one of the first transgenders in her community. She faced bullying and discrimination at school, causing clinical depression and identity disorders.

She faced years of discrimination and struggles to find who she really was. She was laughed at all through her school years, until later on in her high school years when people came around and some even apologized. Her own family had trouble accepting who she was. Which in any cases is also a problems, it isn't just our schools that need to change, but parents need to back up transgender students and the schools trying to show acceptance.

After hearing her story and her struggles, an anonymous donor offered to pay for Katie Hills surgery. She now no longer faces identity disorder and claims to be feeling more accepted all around. After the surgery, she became more in touch with her family and herself. She now wants to help other people like herself figures things out. Katie tells reporters, "I realized, because of this, it's a part of who I am. I don't need to go stealth".

There is rarely a happy ending like Katie's for transgender students.

Sadly too many cases end like Riley Moscatel. The young 17 year old teen, was facing depression and anxiety over the transition form Jessica to Riley.

Riley took his own life, by jumping in front of an oncoming train. “You see me as the happiest person in school, I’m a prisoner of my own body.” -Writes Riley in his suicide note.

Riley Moscatel R.I.P

Death of young people should be enough for schools to change their standards, and try to help push acceptance for all students.

In January 2013, California became one of the first states to sign a law, allowing transgender students the right to use the bathroom and play on the sports teams the sex of which they identify with. After the law was passed, instantly many tired to take it down but did not meet the requirements to do so.

Students all over California reported ecstatic over thee new law. “I’m so excited that California is making sure transgender students have a fair chance to graduate and succeed,” said Calen Valencia, an 18-year-old transgender student from Tulare, as quoted on a report on the law signing.

Society's standards for female celebrities - Megan Unkraut

Feminism in the United States used to be much more simpler than it is today. It used revolve around the principles of equality between men and women, politically and intellectually. In the past, women had to fight for their right to be treated equally, but now the issue of equality between sexes is miniscule.

Of course there are some situations where women are not treated equally, but most of the feminism that is common in society today is a little extraneous. It's one thing to believe in equality for both men and women, that almost goes without saying, but many people have turned the tables on feminism into a crazy "man-hating" riot. At the same time, many women believe in social equality but don't want to be called the "f-word".

The real definition of feminism is "the advocacy of women's rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men. If you look at today's proud feminists you will see either a strong independent woman who believes that women and men are equal and make sure that they don't get cheated of that. Or, you'll see women who believe that the world itself is misogynistic and they are fighting to put women on top. The word feminist is a hard thing to label yourself these days.

So which side do you join if you believe in the values of feminism, but don't want to be labeled a feminist? Situations like these are difficult even for commonplace people to decide on let alone, celebrities.

Many female celebrities have shared their opinion on feminism and it seems to be torn down the middle. Many say they are strong women but wouldn't consider themselves feminists, while others range anywhere between full fledged feminist and not giving a second thought to it.

As a female celebrity, which side is the right one to choose in order to achieve the least amount of scrutiny?

The singer songwriter Lana Del Rey has claimed that she is not a feminist. It's easy to tell just by listening to her songs, you begin to understand her view on equality and that she doesn't seem to mind men being superior to her. In fact, she prefers it that way.

Lana and many other female celebrities such as Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga have denied the feminist label but don't deny the principles of equality. They claim that the reasoning behind their decisions is they "love men" or "don't think of things as guys versus girls".

Although this doesn't represent the true principles of feminism accurately. Lana does things her own way, as an artist should. She claims, "My idea of a true feminist is a woman who feels free enough to do whatever she wants." In her terms she is a feminist, but to the reset of the world she's just a bad role model. It's understandable that Lana doesn't want "feminist" to be her label because of all the negative connotations that go along with it.

Lana also claimed that feminism "doesn't apply to her". It's true that she is a little unorthodox when it comes to a celebrity lifestyle, but when it comes to her music, you can understand her actual personality and where she's coming from on this whole feminism thing.

The song Ride is one of the many songs where she shows her personality and submissiveness. It's also an illustration of Lana's real life events. Even though she doesn't care about the men that are superior to her, she still shows that she is independent and she will do what she wants.

"I was in the winter of my life, and the men I met along the road were my only summer." Those are the very first words of the video. The rest of the video shows her getting on the back of motorcycles, or in cars with strange men. This was all part of Lana's life at one point and it's a controversial one at most. It's no wonder that she can't identify with the term "feminist".

Some celebrities are fine with being feminists, while others are not willing to label themselves for fear that it will come back to haunt them. For a female celebrity, every move they make is being watched and broadcasted. Even the slightest thing could be contorted into something that was not originally intended, but would hurt their reputation. For this reason many women don't say whether they're feminists unless they're completely confident in their beliefs.

Even though it's a major part of pop culture, the personal beliefs of our favorite celebrities shouldn't be the main topic of conversation. We also shouldn't alter our own beliefs just because of a certain celebrity. Lana doesn't conform to the stereotypical female celebrity, she has drawn her own path in life that is unlike anyone before her.

Lana's view on feminism is that a strong woman should be able to do whatever she wants to do. Even though this falls outside the realm of ordinary feminists, she makes a point about women. Instead of fighting for equality, we should focus on being strong independent women who have the ability to do what they please and no be criticized for it.

But really, feminism used to be a great thing for women who didn't have a voice until it became distorted and unrealistic. It turned into a group of women who are trying to reverse the roles of women being inferior to men being inferior. To be a strong, independant woman is one thing, but being a feminist and believing that society isn't good enough for women is another thing.

As for Lana, a female celebrity who has claimed that she is not a feminist, how does this remark affect her in terms of fans or publicity? Does it change the way people think about her?

I don't think so.

I think Lana has a very unusual personality and it shouldn't be a surprise to anyone if her life isn't "status quo". I don't think "artists" should be criticized for not conforming to a standard idea set for women. The term feminist is almost outdated by now, people should view each other as equals and not put labels on each other based on gender, race, religion, or anything else for that matter.

23 GIFs Of Lana Del Rey Doing Something Really Slowly

23 GIFs Of Lana Del Rey Doing Something Really Slowly

Peter Clenny - Dwarves as Art - Final Portfolio Revision

This is a masterfully crafted ASCII video game. All craftsdwarfship is of the highest quality. It menaces with spikes of passion and labor. On the item is an image of dwarves. The dwarves are burning.

In recent years, as video games have become more popular in the mainstream, debate over their status as a form of art on par with film and literature has increased drastically. Ultimately this comes down to the individual's idea of what defines something as art, so this blogpost wouldn't make much sense without my own opinion on what it means for something to be art.

To me, art is something that is made with passion: a creation made from a desire to create, rather than a desire to make money. This doesn't mean that art can't be made for money; many of the world's greatest works of art (such as the works of Michelangelo or Picasso) were created to put food on their makers' tables, but even though they sold their skills they still put everything they had into those works.

The argument I intend to make here is that certain games such as Dwarf Fortress are more worthy of being labeled as art than certain among their mainstream AAA brethren (like whatever this fiscal quarter's iteration of Call of Duty is) because they are made more out of passion than greed.
However, it's important to remember that these are only examples. I'm not saying that all AAA games are made solely out of greed or that all indie games are made with passion; my stance on the subject is that every game is made with a blend of the two, and if "artiness" is passion versus greed, assuming we can determine the creator's passion for their work by how much of their time and effort they devote to it or from the amount of cost-inefficient features, we should be able to determine how "arty" something is by comparing and contrasting those traits to something else.

From a quick analysis of Dwarf Fortress and a randomly selected Call of Duty title:

Dwarf Fortress
- Free
- Tarn Adams, the game's creator, works on it full time and lives entirely off donations from fans
- Has been in constant development for 8 years
- Free

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3
- ~$60 at release
- 4 instances of paid downloadable content
- Developers all moved on to other projects after the game was no longer profitable

Honestly, just the fact that Dwarf Fortress is free shows that it's a work of passion. Why else would you make something that you don't get paid for?

There's also the matter of complexity: passionate creations are more likely to be more complex since there's no reason to shave off as much cost as possible. Dwarf Fortress is one of the most complex games ever, yet as of this writing its creator estimates that it's still only about 40% done!
In Call of Duty, the players roam around one of a fairly small number of predefined areas and complete objectives to score points; in Dwarf Fortress, the game procedurally generates an entire planet!

The world is simulated down to what layers of stone make up the different regions and what species of plant and animal live there, and it even uses simulations of erosion to determine the course of rivers and weather simulations to determine how much rainfall an area gets, determining whether it's a desert, rainforest, or anything in between.

Generation of geological features is only the first step: once the world is finished, the game procedurally generates a number of civilizations and powerful "megabeasts" before placing them in the world. It then simulates the interactions between these various entities; civilizations will expand their territory and go to war with each other if they have differing moral values, megabeasts will wander the wilds and be slain by mighty heroes (or, more often than not, particularly lucky peasants), and all sorts of other things will happen that work together to knit the tapestry of history.

Entire dynasties rise and fall, legendary heroes are born and die, kingdoms go to war and conquer or are conquered themselves, and all this is just to set things up for the real game. The vast majority of these simulations won't even have any impact at all on your experience while playing; some unimportant shepherd living on the other side of an impassable mountain range getting eaten by a dragon won't have any effect on your fortress, but the game simulates it anyway because it adds to the flavor of the world.

You're not likely to see that kind of complexity in a game made more to make money than simply to be; it's just not cost-effective. Granted, some AAA games are more complex than others, but as I mentioned above passion and price come in different mixes.
As an example, Metal Gear Solid 2 was made to make money, but from its complexity you can see that a lot of passion went into it as well. A developer who only cares about making money wouldn't bother including a parrot that starts mimicking the enemy alert sound effect if you get caught nearby enough times. That's the kind of addition you only make because you want to and, as I mentioned before, "Art" is best defined as something you make because you want to.

Friday, November 28, 2014

Ellen:Role Model or Jokester?--Jessica Rowe

Ellen: Role Model or Jokester?

If you have a tv or a phone odds are you know who Ellen DeGeneres is. Ellen has her own talk show, and is one of America's most known comedians. Ellen has defiantly made a name for herself these past couple of years. She hosted the Oscars and is on her 11 season of her show. She also serves as a prominent gay/lesbian role model.

Ellen is very passionate in the fight for gay rights. She is always the first person to defend the LGBT community as shown here on one of her shows:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/05/22/ellen-challenges-john-mcc_n_103016.html

A role model is a person whose behavior, example, or success is or can be emulated by others, especially young people.I agree with the fact that Ellen is a good role model. When I watch her show i immediately feel comfortable watching her. She is a very likable person in many different ways. Her comedic attitude is one of the reason I enjoy her the most. She knows how to take a very serious topic and make it easy to talk about. She also does a lot of charity work which i find to be very inspiring. On the other hand some people do not like Ellen as much as I do. Some people think that she takes her jokes too far.

She is by far the most frequently cited example for the LGBT. Ellen came out when she was 16, and since than she has established herself as a successful individual in the gay community. That alone makes her a very unique role model due to the fact that she went through coming out on tv. She is very brave for doing so. Ellen makes coming out seem so easy, even though i'm sure it;s very difficult. She is very causal, which I feel is a huge reason why so many people feel so comfortable looking up to her. She shows young kids that you can be gay and still be successful in the world we live in. She was on the cover of Time magazine, it was a picture of her that read the words "Yep, i'm Gay." on the front cover. She chose very causal words for a reason. She wants people to realize that being gay in this generation is not out of the ordinary. Her being so calm about her coming out inspired many teenagers to feel more comfortable with their sexual orientation.

Ellen just isn't a good role model because she's gay, shes a good role model because she is ans overall a good person. She uses her show to inspire many to not just be themselves but get involved in charity work as well. She supports numerous charitable organizations and won awards for her selfless efforts. On one recent episode she had her wife Portia De Rossi as a guest, many watched to see what would unfold with that. She began her show with a kiss from her wife on national tv. Now i'm sure that was a huge deal to some people but Ellen didn't care. She enjoyed her wife being on her show. This was a huge inspiration to members of the LGBT because she wasn't afraid to show off her wife. She showed a great deal of confidence in that one episode.

She inspires people that they can be successful in 2014 whether your gay or straight. Over the past couple years the openly gay community has grown. Ellen is not afraid of the norm and I think that's what this society needs.