Mall trip

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Shatterd Glass

On Wednesday, January 13, I attended the film Shattered Glass that was playing in Commons Lecture Hall. This movie was about a young, talented writer named Stephen Glass who works for the prestigious magazine, The New Republic. Glass always stuns his co-workers with new, creative, and fascinating stories for each magazine. Glass writes his most compelling piece, titled Hack Heaven which amazes everyone working for the magazine. However, the new editor, Chuck Lane, become suspicious of the article after receiving information from other sources that claim the information is false. After much investigation, Lane concludes that over half of Glass’ articles were fabricated and that his sources were made up. Glass’ co-workers have a very hard time accepting the fact that Glass was lying and they get very angry at Lane. Glass tries to conceal his lies but only manages to dig himself deeper which leads to a suspension and ultimately being fired from his job at the magazine.

This compelling movie shows us a real and personal struggle with evil for Glass. He wants to be the best writer as well as go to school and become successful. This stressful schedule leads him to cheat and lie, a pitfall of evil that consumes him. His greed for fame and recognition causes him to affect not only his life, but his co-workers and the overall magazine reputation. Glass’ sin is very obvious, he literally lies about his whole purpose of his career in order to become famous and appreciated. This sad movie of a talented man who goes downhill reminds us more in depth that we live in a sinful and greedy world. Once we become consumed in the idea of being the best that we can, we will do anything to achieve it. This is clearly shown through Glass who is determined to succeed at everything, even if that means spinning a web of lies. The sinful empire consumed Glass and his entire life and reminds us of the dangerous and greedy world that we live in.

Discussion Questions:

1. Why were Glass’ coworkers reluctant to accept Chuck’s claims that he was invented up his stories?

2. What lessons can we learn about evil and how it affects our life?

The Mall: my life, my happiness and my self- confidence

"This is the Carden of Eden without the fall; the resurrection without the cross; spring and summer without fall or winter" (The Shoping Mall as "Stairway to Heaven", Leading Nowhere).

Every shop has its own 'climat', atmosphere, design.... It is unique, as each of us. If you wanna feel more womanly and cherished you just go to Victoria secret shop and buy super sexy underwear, if you wanna be an exclusive and eye- catching person, you just buy some bright jewelry at Claires and enjoy it ( they even do free ear piercing for free!). Every person is an individuality with individual preferences: the fragrance of scent is one of the things that every one want to find. Bath & Body Wash shop can help you to "discover" your hiden desires. The world of advertising is a fake but it is beautiful and super rememberable! Behind every shop there are wise and sensible people who know how to make business.

I noticed that almost every shop has is own music: Shops for teenagers play teen music,music that want you to be independent and freestanding; shops selling rock clothing play rock music make you' rebel' and dark side in yourself seeker( Hot Topic shop); but when you come in a mall you 'sink' into calm and unflurried world, "shopping mall as a sacred plase". Why? You need to realize that you are in a right place and then just go with the crowd!

Also, trees....they are everywhere! The mall is not a stony cave, this a place where the life is. You sit on a bench, breath 'clean air' , 'socialize' and then make your life 'happier' doing shopping.

"Light ...is our primary experience of energy"(The Shopping Mall as "Staitway to Heaven", Leading Nowhere). Every shop has is own illumination, but it is interesting to notice that the whole mall, halls are naturally lightened. Now i see why the author of "The Shopping Mall ..." tells us that the light makes a mall the place of "vitality and energy". For me it was funny to see that there is enough light...to see...there is nothing to hide or fog. Do they want to show consumers that they play the game? Interesting!

I think that the most powerful thing to attract consumers attention is sales. Sure, the experience of water, light, trees, and music works, but when people see the opportunity to buy something cheaper , it works two-fold. That's why all sale signs are so huge.

So, there is no need to tell that the mall makes us feel like " lacking something", "disoriented"and addicted; it was absolutely clear after my thought today at the mall: " Wow, it is so cool...I will buy it...probably...it is a pretty good deal...I will buy it!" I guess we will never be satisfied with our lives and everything we have to do is to 'feed' our insatiability and ego.

*References: Discovering God, The Shopping Mall as "Stairway to Heaven", Leading Nowhere by Jon Pahl

The Secret Life of the American Teenager

The other night I was watching The Secret Life of the American Teenager, which is a TV series on abc family about a young girl, Amy, who became pregnant at band camp. The show is all about Amy's life: her friends, family, boyfriend, school, rivals, and the father of her son. The show is typically known for having some pretty bad acting (which it kind of does) but I still find it an interesting show to watch and talk about with others (it gives a lot of girls something to talk about together---a 'shared experience'). The show gives us a glimpse into the world of a teenage mom without anyone actually having to experience it.

In the beginning of the series, Aimee becomes pregnant, which is sort of a given no-no (sex before marriage). But the show goes on to portray a lot of adultery and lust between not only the teenagers but their parents as well. The young are willing to lie to their parents and everyone seems to be willing to cheat on their 'loved' ones just to 'have a little fun.' On the show, everyone seems to be living in the moment without thinking about the consequences of their actions.

As often seems to be the case in the empire, their imaginations are shaped by what others are doing. Everyone else is fooling around and having sex/cheating on other people, so it must be ok, right? Not so much, but I still know a lot of people who believe in that philosophy in real life too.

In regards to the kingdom, I think this show gives us a few interesting ideas. First, I think the show gives us something to talk about in regards to the reality of teen pregnancy. Amy doesn't suffer very many teen mom hardships in the show, they do a good job of 'romanticizing' the whole idea for the most part. I think it's important to keep the realities in mind while watching the show and to talk about them with others. Also, I think the show can give us a new idea on how to approach issues related to sex and pregnancy. I'm not saying sex before marriage is right, but wouldn't the kingdom want us to embrace our children (in the future), like Amy's parents did, even if they did become pregnant? Also, shouldn't we embrace those who we know that are unexpectedly pregnant, instead of shunning them, as we often do?

This show, in many ways can be rather unrealistic. At my high school atleast, many girls who become pregnant either quit school or transfer to our alternative school and I don't think I've ever seen a pregnant high school girl who stayed in school treated so well by other students. But maybe that should be how we treat those whom we know... I mean, forgiveness and caring for the outcasts is what Jesus is all about right? What do you think?

Honest question, what would you do if you or your girlfriend became unexpectedly pregnant or one day a child of yours became pregnant? In light of the kingdom, how would you handle the situation?

Thank You for Smoking

I watched the movie Thank You for Smoking, which is about Nick Naylor, the vice president of the Academy of Tobacco Studies. He is “the face of cigarettes”, and a lobbyist who knows statistically 1,200 people die a day from smoking, but Nick casts his morals aside in order to sell his product to the people. His talent is twisting words in his favor, and states, “Michael Jordan plays ball, Charles Manson kills people, everyone has a talent,” to describe and justify his deception to the public.

The movie talks about the evils of sin through selling merchandise like cigarettes, guns, and alcohol. It emphasizes deciding for yourself whether they are bad or not. This is blatantly ironic though, because the movie is based around selling a product that people already know the dangers of, and changing the minds of the public in favor of a harmful artifact.

The movie talks about redemption coming from the individual. I think that it has a theme of living life how you would see fit, and not to the glory of anyone else (including a higher power). It is definitely pacifying us for the empire. It shows us the power of product placement, and how far companies will go to keep the public from the truth (for example the Academy of Tobacco Studies paid millions of dollars to a man who got lung cancer from smoking cigarettes to keep him from going public with his story). It also showed people being backhanded and exploiting “lower society” for personal gain. For example, Nick Naylor’s boss stole his idea to put the “sex back in cigarettes”, in order to impress the highest authority. Also the Senator of Wisconsin exploited a young cancer patient to help with his campaign (which ended up backfiring).

Thank You for Smoking encourages us to believe in ourselves, and to follow our talents (no matter how deceitful). It takes a very individualistic approach, and promotes freedom of choice, while also suggesting our minds are being made up for us. For example, a sly movie executive, when asked if he was concerned about the health issues he was promoting by putting cigarettes back in movies, stated, “I’m not a doctor, I’m a facilitator. I bring creative people together. Whatever information there is it’s out there, and it’s up to the people to decide for themselves. It’s not my job to decide for them. It would be morally presumptuous.” To which Nick Naylor thought, “I could learn something from this guy.” In a world that’s full of deceit, the movie Thank You for Smoking gives us a good glimpse into the life of a man whose job is to basically put blinders on the public.

Avatar

This past Thursday, my friends and I went to see Avatar at the IMAX in 3D. Fourteen dollars to pay for the ticket to see a 3D movie in the IMAX was well worth it, especially because Avatar is so well known for its outstanding graphics and cinematography. After seeing the movie twice, I realized that it had many similarities and parallels to the tragic history of the Native Americans in North America. An evil group of people, the American military, who are very powerful through military enforcement, decide to occupy some land on a planet called Pandora, which is the planet of the Avatars. The whole purpose of the American military being on Pandora is because of a type of rock that is found deep underground which costs 20million per kilo. From this I learned that money was what drove these people to wipe out an entire culture, people and habitat. The main character, Jake Sully, replaces his dead brother’s job, which was to help find a diplomatic way to move a tribe called the Na’vi out of their habitat, which is built right above the ground where the 20million per kilo rocks are found. After a series of events, Jake Sully finds himself learning the ways of the Na’vi and becoming one of ‘The People’. The Na’vi culture is very different from the American culture. Seeds of Eywa, very pure spirits, help guide the people to be good to mother nature and its creatures. With this outlook on creation, every time someone kills an animal for food they are supposed to pray over it and say, “Thank you brother, for providing us with your body as food. Your body is dead left here, but your soul is with Eywa.” There is another scene that best describes the Na’vis outlook on life and creation, it is when a clan member passed away and while burying him, Jake Sully says, “The Na’vi say that the energy that we are given by Ewya is only to be borrowed, and one day we must give it back.” With all of this in mind, the movie portrays the human purpose as being good stewards of nature and its creatures. While evil still lurks around, as seen through the American military, redemption is found when the victory is won by the oppressed. The movie ends with triumph over evil through revenge which is what the empire professes as true triumph. I imagine the Kingdom of God being more like the culture of the Na’vi. The Na’vi were very respectful of nature and its creatures around them, they always knew that Ewya was the one who provided and kept nature in a balanced state.
Discussion questions:
-If you could change the ending of the movie in light of Shalom and the Kingdom of God, how would you do that?
-What do you think about the US military? Do you think the movie did well in terms of how they portrayed the US military?

My Trip to the Mall

The men gathered together on comftorable chairs, chatting in the middle of the mall actually reminded me of my church back home. I am assuming that at least some of those men were taking a moment to sit and relax while their wives shopped (that's what my dad does, anyhow). But anyways, at my church we have "work days" a few mornings a month. Women of the church gather in the basement in order to make quilts, diapers, health kits, and school kits for an organization called Lutheran World Relief while they talk with one another. Meanwhile, many of their husbands gather in the parlor to sit and talk and do Bible studies. For lunch, everyone gathers together for a potluck meal before going home. I've found work days to be very enjoyable, productive, and social. These men reminded me of the men sitting and talking in the parlor while their wives worked together, or in this case, shopped together. The mall has become a place of 'work' for the women and a place of fellowship and socialization for their husbands. (That's not to say that men never shop, this is just one observation I had today.) I found it interesting, as I had never thought of the mall in that way before.

My photo of the play area is interesting to me for two reasons. The first reason for my interest is because I come from a very small town with a practically non-existent mall (it literally has 2 places to eat, if you count ice cream as food) and it doesn't have any play areas, let alone a play area made of food! The second reason is because as I looked at it today, it reminded me of a church nursery. It's a place to enertain your kids so that hopefully you'll be able to stay at the mall a few hours longer. It made me wonder, how long will it be before the mall provides someone to watch your kids, like in church, so that you can even more fully focus on your shopping experience?

GAP says: Break the rules our way

Today in class, we watched two GAP ads from the past holiday season--one featuring mostly adult clothing and one featuring all kids. Both attempt to appeal to the self-image of a free spirit who bucks trends, breaks rules and does "what just feels right"--all the while promoting GAP's cute boots and sexy lumberjack motif as the way to achieve liberation. I have to admit: the dancing is fascinating to me and I like the funky cheer leading motif. But the flippant embrace of whatever-the-heck-religion-you-practice and the see-through attempt at packaging rebellion and selling it back to us--especially using kids--is disturbing.

Think we're taking these ads too seriously? Well, think whatever you wannakuh.

"Normal" Hair from Sociological Images

As we proceed through the next couple of weeks together with more of a common language for understanding Kingdom and empire, you're encouraged to post things here when you find something that sparks a connection. For example, here's a link to the "normal" hair post from Sociological Images blog that we talked about today.

Welcome to the blog! + some film suggestions

Hi, folks. You're all going to be getting a bit more familiar with this blog verrrrry soon, so I thought I'd break the ice. Need some guidance on how to create your artifact analysis post that's due on Monday? Check out this sample analysis I put together last year about Geez Magazine. Don't forget to use the questions for approaching artifacts (posted in our class Wiki under "Tools" in KnightVision) for guidance.

In case you're hanging around this weekend, casting about for a film to watch for your blog post, here's a running list I've been keeping:

Documentary
Affluenza
The Gleaners & I
Conviction
What Would Jesus Buy?
Food Inc.
The Future of Food
Maxed Out
Favela Rising
The Merchants of Cool
America the Beautiful
Supersize Me
Bowling for Columbine

Fictional
Network
District 9
Blood Diamond
The Devil Wears Prada
The Constant Gardener
The Matrix
Dances With Wolves
Shawshank Redemption
The Village
The Mission

Enjoy!