Ted Talks

One thing I've been enjoying very much lately is a site called Ted Talks.

It takes lectures and talks from all over the world on all types of topics and collects them in one place. It talks about such serious topics as over population and global warming as well as simple ones on the place of love in our lives.

Looking at it from a media stand point, its uninterrupted information. Also, its great because people can get to lectures and talks that they would only get from attending a big college or by being lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time. Now, they can hear all these lectures and its great to be able to have this great resource that is free to anyone with an internet connection.

Reddit

So, for a silly/informative time, you should give Reddit.com a look.

Reddit isn't new and chances are that people already know about it, but on the off chance that people don't I wanted to talk about it.

Reddit is a site where people are constantly posting new pictures and posting links to other news. Things can be rated up or down and you can check to see whats new or whats really popular at the time. There are tons of boards to look through.

This is how I've read most of the info on Wikileaks. I like it because it seems to accumulate all the articles in one place in order to get the best and most up to date information.

Give it a look!

Epic Mickey (and Oswald too)

We spoke a little about what video games can bring to the media and I wanted to talk about something I've been enjoying lately.

What I've been playing is a little game called Epic Mickey.

I'm a sucker for Disney, especially old school animation. Epic Mickey is supposed to be a game which highlights and brings up old animation characters that have been forgotten.

At the forefront of the game is Disney's first main character, a plucky rabbit named Oswald the Luck Rabbit.

Now, for what its worth, the game isn't perfect, but it definitely accomplishes what it set out to do: reintroduce people to Oswald again.

When Disney created Oswald, he was working for Universal. He went to the heads of animation to ask for more time and a raise for his staff. They then told him that they had stolen his staff away and was going to give him a pay cut.

He left the company and took a few animators that were still loyal to him to create what would later become Disney animation. Of course, we know the rest of the story, but the sad part was that, in leaving, Disney had to leave behind his character Oswald, since Universal owned the rights to him.

Years later, the Disney company decided that, in the memory of Disney, they needed to get the rights of Oswald back under Disney. They ended up making a trade with Universal and now Oswald is back in his rightful place.

This story is sort of told in Epic Mickey, however, its told from the Cartoons point of view. Oswald growing bitter and feeling forgotten as Mickey grows ever more popular.

In a strange way, this game has been really great to play since it gave me a story as well as a new character to care about.

Wikileaks

This is a simple post.

I simply want to talk about how I feel about the whole Wikileaks thing.

One the hand, I understand how some people may fear and dislike the actions of Julian Assange and his website. People see what he does as a potential for people to be hurt. More specifically, for soldiers and people who fight for our country to be hurt. They want to make the point that nobody should have the right to put anyone else in jeopardy, no matter what. I think this is a valid point and its true, nobody should have the right to do this, as well as understanding that Mr. Assange has a moral obligation to make sure his site would never do this.

However, I also agree with the other side of things. I believe in truth and justice and I've seen Wikileaks attempt to show more and more truth than most other places. Its important to have a way to keep our government in check. A site like wikileaks could be a good way to do this. Wanting to give people the cold hard truth about their gov't is a nobel aspiration. I like that its being compared to water gate (being called Cable gate) because of what that means. Daniel Ellisburg did the right thing years ago when he blew the whistle on what our gov't was doing. Now, Mr. Assange is doing the same, but with tons of world leaders and the things that they didn't have the right to do.

Honestly, as of now, my convictions are with truth and justice. I'd like to hope that Wikileaks and its leaders will have the moral fiber to know the difference between something that will get people killed and something that will bring light to dark actions

National Geographic, you too?

At a young age, I love PBS. I was more interested in shows with animals and scientific facts than cartoons then. And, of all the science programs, one was the cream of the crop: National Geographic. It came out once a month and was always interesting. I loved every minute of them and saved my money to buy them when I could.

Now, Fast forward to today.

I decided to watch a few shows on the "National Geographic Channel." I assumed that this channel existed to show all of the amazing programming that National Geographic had to offer. Well, my first clue to the down fall of the magazine gone program was that its name was now "Nat Geo." As if National Geographic was too difficult to remember or say. I brushed this off as I started watching a show on the Colossal Squid, the largest variety of squid in the world. I was very disappointed.

The show was about a team who were trying to dissect one of the most intact specimens of Squid that they had ever come across. In stead of being about facts and the squid, the show was mostly about the drama that came around the squid. Very little information was given and mostly the show kept zooming in and out of peoples faces and the narrator would say something like "tensions rise over the squid not defrosting fast enough."

I knew what had happened and ever since, ever time I try to watch a show on that net work, the same thing pops up. National Geographic as I knew it, is dead. What is in its place now is Drama.

Network executives see that TV stations like MTV are making a lot of money showing shows that are all about drama. They want some of that money, so they copy it, only with squids instead of dramatic rich people. Its very disappointing and for at least one viewer, National Geographic as it used to be is dead.

In its place is "Nat Geo." A watered down, drama filled, fact-less, boring mess.

A Problem With Stereotypes

I've noticed lately in class that there is a problem with stereotypes in our cartoons. Specifically this seems to be Disney. While I agree that negative stereotypes are bad, I wanted to attempt to stick up for Disney and the hard time that people are giving them.

First of all, stereotypes are something that have been used in cartoons since they began. Just check out this early political cartoon.




















Stereotypes!
Snakes usually represent evil, seen here as the Monopolies
Liberty is usually represented by a woman, seen here wearing our Flag, representing American Liberty.
Uncle Sam is of course a stereotype in and of itself.

In this case, the cartoon uses stereotypes to convey a message.
We see stereotypes all the time and never notice them. This is because cartoons, as well as TV and movies are visual mediums. The more you show and the less you tell the better.

Of course, this can always be used in negative ways, but its not always bad. For instance...











Cars is a great example of stereotypes.
You don't need to be explained these characters, since the movie uses Stereotypes. You don't need to have it explained why they act the way they do either for the same reason. Pixar chose to show, not tell in this case.
Of course, this movie isn't so one dimensional as to remain there. In fact, one of the main themes is to get past preconceived ideas.

This use of stereotypes pops up all the time. Just look at Aladdin.






















Look at the characters. Jafar's angular face and dark features tell us he's evil. The genie's good natured face lets us know he's ok, as well the use of Blue, often a mystical color for Disney (IE, Blue Fairy from Pinocchio, Cinderella's Fairy God mother and magic dress, Blue fairy from Sleeping Beauty). Scimitars, the baggy Arabian pants, curled shoes, vests, are all stereotypes. There have been tons of cartoons of Aladdin before this movie was made and almost all of them featured these stereotypes.
This is simply how many cartoons attempt to use stereotypes to show, not tell, a story. They only have a few hours to convey something, so they need to show as much as they can as fast as they can.












This is also why many of the princesses look and act the way they do. The artists are simply using stereotypes that they grew up with to create these movies. You never need to be told why young men go after princesses, you know why. They are beautiful and desirable. How do we know this with out being told? All through the use of visuals. As time passes however, stereotypes could change as well as the audience. The movies aren't saying this is the only picture of beauty and desire. However, because of the wide spread and universal effect that this movies have had on us from our earliest childhoods, we seem to regard them as more. This is one of the problems of using stereotypes.

Also, you need to keep in mind, that several of the Disney movies that we're talking about are very old. The very fact that we still know the characters and what movies they come from is incredible.
For instance, Snow White is from 1937. What other movie characters do you even know from that time period? Maybe Charlie Chaplin or Laurel and Hardy? Cinderella is the next closest, being made in 1950, but few of us even know much of the film history from that era as well. My point being that several characters are from different eras and the new ones are simply trying to make a film in a similar style.

There are other difficulties as well with using stereotypes as well.

Now, this brings me to some difficult things. I wanted to talk about what made the Princess and the Frog so difficult to produce.
Cartoons have a long history of using stereotypes to show and not tell. This is all good and well, but when you bring that together with African Americans, it becomes difficult. The reason is that, although cartoons have had a good relationship with stereotypes, African Americans have not. In fact, people have used cartoons in particular to create some of the most hateful and nasty stereotypes in history. The horrible lasting effect can sadly still be seen today. For instance when people who were opposed to Obama becoming president, they made racist caricatures.

When you put these two histories of stereotypes together, it doesn't always mix and some people will inevitably be offended, even when people are trying their best to make something that won't offend anyone.

























This is why it took them so long to make this movie, as well as why they seem to have quieted down about its release. It wasn't pushed in as many people's faces as say, a Pixar cartoon would be, because Disney is afraid of any kind of bad press or any one seeing any of it as a negative experience. I heard some one in class mention the character "Mama Odie" in that she didn't have teeth. She doesn't have teeth any more because, as she claims in the movie, to be over 900 years old. However, people might see this character and interpret it as Disney making a disrespectful stereotype.
This type of problem could pop up for almost every character. Giving a character too few defining features takes away from their over all identity and charm, but give them too much in the wrong way and you risk offending people.

Its really a shame too because the Princess and the Frog is one of the best animated films made in a long while by a company that isn't Pixar. However, as a society, it still seems that people aren't enjoying the film, simply because they can't get past the fact that some people in it aren't the right color.

Lastly, I want to make the point that Disney is at least has been trying. With movies like the Princess and the Frog as well as Lelo and Stich, they've tried to create main characters that aren't little thin sticks or only white.
















I'm glad they've stopped making movies with thin blonds....or have they?

The Dollar Menu

Its odd, but for the most part I hate McDonalds and yet, I eat there sometimes. What could possible pull me into their doors?

The Dollar Menu.

Its horrible but this sort of thing completely works on me. Plenty of other places do this and it works on me!

See!!

Horrible!!

Anyways, I understand all the horrible implications of this though. Reduced prices means quality cuts. This often means that conditions are worse for workers and the industry suffers because of it.

But as a poor college student, its hard to argue with all of this cheep food.

This is why I'm still not sure how to feel about this.