"GOOD" Hair - Dorm Film Post

The movie that my group and I watched was a documentary produced by Chris Rock called Good Hair. This documentary explores the background and industry behind the hair of African American women. From discovering the outrageous prices of weaves and treatments to traveling to India and other countries that produce hair, and hair products for these women; Rock tries to understand why African American women go through all this hassel just to have straighter hair. His adventure was sparked when one of his little girls asked him why she did not have good hair. To read a fuller review you can check out: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=113429227 This review does a great job of covering the basics of the movie, while also cautioning that this movie raises a lot of questions but does not necessarily answer them. This film definately makes you reconsider how you view other people and also redifine the beauty standards that the Empire has forced us to believe as truth, even if we are not conscious of it. Personally this movie has not influenced a particular change in habits in my life, but instead the movie has challenged me to be a stronger encouragment to other women no matter what race, or age that are struggling with self- image issues and hopefully help them realize that no matter what hair type, clothing style, or amount of makeup makes them any more beautiful or less beautiful in God's Kingdom.

Zac Brown Band Artifact 1

           Zac Brown Band’s album titled, “Uncaged” is one of the most listened to albums in my iTunes. Zac Brown Band is a country band that is made up of seven men who work together to write their music. I went to one of their concerts back in California and noticed that the men in Zac Brown Band like to improvise music; In numerous songs they took a few minutes just to play their instruments without lyrics. The band has a relaxed feel to its music but it stays true to its country origins.

            When it comes to human purpose, Zac Brown Band’s album “Uncaged” says very little about it. There are a few human purposes that I was able to interpret from the songs when I was listening. One theme that I felt was present through many of the songs was the theme of living life to the fullest and not holding back on your dreams. In the song titled “Uncaged” Brown sings, “everyday find a way to face my fears.” This idea seems to imply that he is trying to grow and to challenge himself to get the most out of his life. Another theme about human purpose that I found was to not take time for granted and to enjoy the life you have been given. In “Day That I Die,” Brown says, “It’s funny how time can make you realize we’re running out of it.” I agree with Brown here, time really does fly and I think we really should enjoy the life that we are blessed to have.

            As far as creation goes, Zac Brown Band sings a lot about the earth and nature. In the song “Uncaged” Brown mentions an ocean, river, mountain spring, sunshine, and plains. In many of the other songs there is at least a mention of the ocean. Brown does not talk about how these things were created but he does spend quite a bit of time singing about how wonderful these creations are.

            It was hard for me to pick out themes of the kingdom and the empire in the songs of Zac Brown Band. One of the few things that did jump out at me was, “sometimes things that may not matter jump in front of things that do.” (Last But Not Least) These lyrics remind me of the Empire and how people just go along with the flow, not questioning, and not being intentional. I think that it is really easy to pass off the blame for our forgetting things but in reality we are completely to blame.

            Zac Brown Band does encourage its listeners to believe in getting high off of marijuana. “Where the wind blows babe, you can bet I’ll be riding high with it, holding on for my dear life.” And “I’mma get faded at the tiki bar tonight…then I’mma roll one up, like my name is Bob, partying like I’m a Jamaican.” are two quotes that explicitly talk about getting high. Getting high is something that reminds me of something that would happen in the empire. In the empire people might have wanted to escape their reality because of how tough it was, in the kingdom life should be enjoyed without the help of hallucinogens.

            The theme of redemption really showed up in the song “Uncaged” when Brown sings “freedom is a gift, get living.” Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins and therefore we have been set free from the chains of sin.

Woodland Mall

     This weekend, a couple of my friends and I decided to go to the mall to look around. None of us really planned to make any purchases or came with much money, but it was a slow day, and we had little else to do. Not to mention that I had this assignment to complete. We decided to go to the Woodland mall, because it was the closest to campus. When we were inside, I decided to browse the Apple store, because who doesn’t like to do that. The inside of Apple stores features several tables of devices for people to test-drive. This seemed to be a major draw for the potential buyers among whom I browsed. The ability to use one—actually hold one in their hands—makes it much more difficult to leave the store without one. It occurred to me that the chains that fastened Apple’s devices to the table were actually quite symbolic. I don’t think it would be too extreme to say that as soon as a Browser touches one of the devices on display, he immediately connects at least a small part of his identity to the product. This intellectual bondage is symbolized by the chain.

     In this way, Apple has figured out what Clotaire Rapaille would refer to as the necessary marketing “code” for triggering a Browser’s interest in the prospect of pleasure. Smart phones and laptops are luxurious and fun to use, so Apple has said “why not let them!” But all those sleek smart phones and laptops and geniuses have a slightly different agenda; they’re all saying one specific thing. And that is “iWorship.” Apple is a systematic religion, and, as the John Pahl reading explained, exalting consumerism as the meaning of one’s life is a mutation of a good thing: religion (p. 69).