There are many online trends. Some are funny, like the Hollywood sign vandalism, while others are, frankly, destructive, like the popular “transformation” pictures.
Photo Credit: @transformationfeed
While scrolling through my phone, I came across an Instagram page called “@transformationfeed” which has nearly 1 million followers. The profile is filled with various before and after pictures. Some showed people growing older, more muscular, gaining weight, and, most popularly, becoming thinner. Each photo is flooded with comments about how inspiring these people are, how they wish they could look like him/her, or how they wish they could lose weight.
This page, and its many variants, are just another outlet for people to become obsessed with changing their physical appearance. Little girls/boys will see these photos and want to be older, because that’s the only way they’ll look attractive. Some will see the drastic weight loss and want to lose weight themselves. Obviously this desire will happen anyway, but pages like this just scream that changing ones appearance will make them “inspirational” or “lucky,” among other things.
Photo Credit: @transformationfeed
Of course, these stories are inspiring. And of course, I’m glad these people reached their goal weight, grew older, or fought cancer. However, I don’t like seeing pages that promote unrealistic expectations. These stories spark feelings of discontent, unease, and make those who can’t gain/lose weight feel even worse.
Now, it must sound like I’m complaining, but what if instead of posting before and afters, we just post afters. We just post pictures celebrating the current beauty of these individuals. We just have an account celebrating people of every size. “All bodies are good bodies,” says an article in FEMmagazine.
Donald Trump is now our president. (I know, I wish it wasn’t true as well.) So far, both the climate change and LGBT rights pages have been taken off the official White House website, Trump has ended Obamacare, the Senate has officially elected a bunch of offensive, racist, and unqualified men to Trump’s cabinet, and it’s only Friday night! Oh, he also literally adopted a new slogan straight from “The Purge: Election Year” – the slogan “Keep America Great”. Yeah, I’m really wishing Trump actually took this “weekend off” like he said he would right about now.
First, let me touch on the whole Obamacare fiasco. Without Obamacare, we do not have an affordable health care plan in place. And, I really doubt Trump has been cultivating his own, considering that since November 7th, all he has been doing is hanging out with Kanye West, hate-tweeting, inciting the belief that racism, prejudice, and hate crimes are now “justified,” and, probably (definitely) getting spray tans.
I mean, should the first things Trump does in office be to terminate Obamacare and end awareness for climate change and LGBT rights on the White House page? We already had to listen to Three Doors Down and look at Trump’s orange pallor this morning. All of this in one day? It’s simply too much to handle for someone who isn’t the spawn of Satan.
But, just remember, we now have a President who is a “television personality” and an unofficial cast member of “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory”!
So adulting is hard. It’s not what you imagine when you’re a little kid. Yes, you are able to stay up late and you don’t have to listen to mom and dad. Yes, you can eat whatever you want, but with that also comes having to buy your own groceries – because guess what? If you don’t buy those groceries, you won’t have any food to eat. If you don’t do that dirty laundry, you won’t have any clean clothes. If you don’t set your alarm clock the night before, you will most definitely sleep through your 8am class (luckily that hasn’t happened to me yet, just my roommate, every Monday and Friday.)
There are so many things that I used to take for granted when I lived at home – there was always food, cleaning supplies, and cold medicine, and everything was just at my fingertips. Now that I’m living on my own I realize how truly lucky I was. So, thanks mom and dad.
I’m three weeks into college (when this was written) and I’m incredibly sick. And no I don’t mean homesick, which is surprising since I’m living in Massachusetts, across the country from California. But the kind of sick I mean is high fevers, throwing up, stuffy nose, headache, dizziness and cough, also known as a chest virus, also known as the flu. And it sucks. Trying to navigate through two different busses to get to class while making it to work on time and rushing back for soccer practice is enough to handle, and then to add being sick on top it is far from fun.
And to those who are about to go off to college, let me tell you, the first time that you get sick away from home is terrible. It might not seem like a big deal but when all you want to do is lay in your own bed but you can’t because it’s 3,112 miles away, it becomes a big deal.
So today, after not really being able to breathe for about a week, I finally went to the health center. I only got lost in the building about three times before I finally found the student health center. After my appointment, I was prescribed some medications that would help. Of course these were insanely expensive, and as a college student that’s an issue.
I can’t wait until next month when I have to pay my credit card bill.
Never fear though, while it might seem like I’m hating life right now, I’m not. Even though my family is far away and I low-key can’t really breath or taste anything, I have another family taking care of me right here. My teammates and friends are constantly checking on me and bring me tea and saltines, the perfect (cheap) get-well combination.
Have a headache? Here’s your daily dose of Motrin. Bad anxiety? Here’s some Xanax. Depression? Sinequan. Chronic pain? Oxycodone. Name a problem, and there’s a chemical cocktail waiting for you on some shelf somewhere.
This isn’t about disregarding the benefit that pharmaceuticals have had on people of all ages and backgrounds. Rather, it’s about shedding light on the evils of prescription drugs, and how we need to face this arising problem.
Nevertheless, pharmaceuticals have given the dying a fighting chance, helping many to overcome problems with anxiety, depression, or chronic pain, and even allowing the elderly to live a comfortable life.
Still, despite all this good, there is a downside. That downside is blatant fraud, loopholes, and a competitive market that, in many instances, has been hijacked. That combined with the fact there’s an epidemic of over-prescribed prescriptions running awry in the United States leaves a bad taste in the country.
To give perspective to how large the pharmaceutical market is, the average American spends $1,000 per year on pharmaceuticals, and seven out of 10 Americans are on at least one prescription. That is 70% of 325 million people, which, multiplied by 1,000 equals 227.5 billion dollars in annual revenue by Big Pharma JUST in the U.S.
This enormous market thrives on the United States’ shortage of price regulations and the unhealthy American lifestyle, which includes overeating, little exercise, and hours of anxiety-provoking work – for which pills then have to be the replacement.
Antibiotics make up 17% of all prescriptions, followed by anti-depressants (13%) and then highly addictive opioids (13%).
Once again, it is important to emphasize the importance of pharmaceuticals. Usually, common chronic issues like obesity would heavily affect the average life expectancy. However, the U.S. ranks 26 in life expectancy at an average of 80.1 years, possibly thanks to high rates of diagnoses.
With good new including the increasing life expectancy, there must also be bad news. As Americans’ use of pharmaceutical drugs has increased, so has drug abuse.
Prescriptions are being given out constantly – 67.2% of office physicians give out prescriptions, amassing to 2.3 billion drugs being provided/ordered. These tend to be the heavier, more dangerous drugs (like opioids) that doctors must order directly.
Over-prescribing has become somewhat common, even when doctors use their best judgement. Doctors have little time to spend with patients, and many patients have been exposed to ads influencing them to request prescriptions from their doctors.
The abuse of prescriptions drugs isn’t a new phenomenon. However, the extent to which prescription drugs are being used is now becoming wider known. Also, the amount that is actually being reported might just be the tip of the iceberg.
For example, more people die from overdosing on prescription drugs than overdosing on all other illicit drugs combined.
That is absolutely insane, considering the war on drugs. Yes, the war on drugs is an attempt to curve the rise of crime rates that come hand-in-hand with illicit drugs, but it is also an attempt to stop the death of addicts. It’s as if the U.S. government sees the problem of legal drug abuse as perfectly fine to ignore as long as they get to heavily tax the billion-dollar market.
In 2008, 20% of Americans abused prescription drugs. Because this was a report from over seven years ago, it is likely that those statistics have gone up significantly, and have possibly even doubled.
Attempts by the U.S. federal government to curve this epidemic have been laughable. Only 1/10 citizens who are abusing prescriptions have being treated across the country.
Yes, there has been an increase of funding for prescription drugs in an attempt to fight the epidemic, but the effort was small and useless compared to the problem itself.
What statistics would persuade the U.S. to largely fund treatment for prescription abusers and safety belts to prevent so many deaths.
For instance, drug overdoses outnumber car accidents in 29 states. The U.S. made the law requiring a seatbelt illegal for people’s benefit. Yet today we still see a fairly weak safety belt around prescriptions, even though the deaths tied to them are only increasing. That doesn’t really make sense.
Based on the horribly juxtaposed 13 book children’s series, Lemony Snicket’s A series of Unfortunate Events is back on the screen.
After an adaptation starring the ever bold and physical comedian Jim Carey, there was something missing – a certain element of discomfort that made your skin crawl. Long-time and new fans alike are excited to see the whimsical and dark series come to life in ways the movie didn’t.
Thanks to Netflix, 13 years after the movie, fans left wanting more are treated yet again to the world of the Baudelaire Orphans.
Photo Credit: Flickering Myth
Netflix is a growing empire, what with its ever-increasing show and movie collection complete with the little red Netflix stamp in the corner. But none of its other series’ are nearly as daring as Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events. Clocking in above The Crown as Netflix’s most expensive show to date, and aimed to appeal to every major viewing group, A Series of Unfortunate Events had to jump through all the hoops and stick the landing.
And stick the landing it has, masterfully translating a rich and vivid book series to the big screen.
With Daniel Handler (or better known to A Series of Unfortunate Events fans as none other than the Lemony Snicket) writing for the first two episodes detailing the first book, the show was off to a strong start.
The filming, dialogue and acting perfectly reflect the original material in ways that are often lost in book-to-screen translations. The actual visual and audio result is a style that is resonant with Wes Anderson’s later works like The Grand Budapest Hotel, Moonrise Kingdom and even Fantastic Mr. Fox, with vivid colors, sharp dialogue, specific score, and subtle etchings of humor in small, seemingly insignificant places that make all the difference.
Sticking pretty closely to the original books, the Netflix series has only upward to look. Having only covered four books of 13, and with the introduction of a secret organization only hinted at in the books, the show will undoubtedly grow in complexity and content as the series goes on.
Today I watched a movie called Fences with my English class. The movie is about an African-American family. The main characters are: an alcoholic, an old-fashioned father, a housewife, and their sons – one who wants to be a football player, and one who has a job related to music. The father is a stubborn character who wants his son to learn how to “survive” rather than play football.
This movie takes place after the segregation and discrimination against colored people was abolished, and when white and colored people became one nation. Time Changes by Rose Maxton tells us that the pain and the wounds in our hearts are healed as the time changes. Since tomorrow is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, I feel the need to recognize this tragedy in our history. I am glad that in my generation I can go to school and socialize with colored people. Because there were many abolitionists who worked hard for us to be equal, I can live in this great generation.
It’s a well-known fact that the general population dislikes Mondays. I, on the other hand, can’t wait for Mondays. Why? Because it’s Bachelor season!
Photo Credit: ABC.com
Yes, I am a fan of reality TV. Whether it be the dramatic Keeping Up with the Kardashians or a suspenseful finale of a dating show, you can find me on my couch, tuning in. I don’t understand why these shows (or the people on them) get so much hate. Reality TV is just as entertaining as other shows, yet few people say how much they enjoy them in fear of being ridiculed.
These shows aren’t enjoyed by a few, in fact, they’re quite popular. The Bachelor is on its 21st season, while its spin-off, The Bachelorette, is on season 12. Keeping Up with the Kardashians has been on the air for a decade. The Real Housewives has nearly ten spinoff shows. If there are this many seasons, spinoffs, and turns, then these shows aren’t pointless.
Most dislike the genre because the scenes are “fake.” However, what other shows have staged scenes? Oh yeah, all of them. Of course, not every day can be full of one dramatic moment after the other. Producers prompt the people to make certain activities seem more theatrical. Also, interviews can be used out of context or cropped to change the meaning of what the cast member is trying to convey. This shouldn’t discredit a show, because all shows have to have some theater in them or else they’re just plain life.
I understand why some people don’t like reality TV. It’s loud, dramatic, and extravagant. Some depict unrealistic lives or unrealistic people. However, these shows at their simplest are entertaining. And I, for one, love every single sensational, stirring minute.
Last Sunday, January the 8th, the Golden Globes award show was broadcasted to millions of people. Hundreds of paparazzi, celebrities, and their handlers showed up for this event. While the main point of the show is to award actors, directors, and other people involved in making movies, Meryl Streep’s acceptance speech stole the show.
When Streep went up to the stage to collect her Cecil B. Demille award, her acceptance speech calling out President-elect Donald Trump got everyone’s attention. Streep voiced her disappointment and outrage in our soon-to-be president. “It was that moment when the person asking to sit in the most respected seat in our country imitated a disabled reporter,” Streep said. “It kind of broke my heart when I saw it, and I still can’t get it out of my head, because it wasn’t in a movie. It was real life.”
During Streep’s speech, the cameras panned to the other actors sitting in the audience, wearing looks of admiration, sadness, and agreement on their face. The New York Times and countless other media outlets reported on the speech, and Trump commented on it via Twitter.
Photo Credit: Elite Daily
But really, all his tweet does is give more credibility to Streep’s criticism. Should the eventual leader of the free world be spending his time calling out all criticisms against him via Twitter, or calling one of the most famous actresses in the world “overrated” for voicing her opinion? Should he be denying actions that he did, in fact, commit?
I am an international student who has learned the ways of three different cultures. The country where I born doesn’t match my passport. My ancestors came from China, but World War II tore them away from their homeland and brought them to the island of Taiwan. The culture there changed as time went on, and Chinese and Taiwanese people have grown more and more different. Some may say that the Taiwanese and Chinese cultures have no difference, but that isn’t true to me.
When I was little I was taught two languages and was told that I was Taiwanese, and then in school I spoke English. And everyone in my family holds a Canadian passport.
People often ask me if I know where I am from, and I normally tell them that I am Taiwanese but hold a Canadian passport. The truth is that I have no idea where I am from or where I belong, or which country I should love and call home.
There’s just something that is so painfully cheesy and overall too varnished about the music released during Christmas time.
I don’t understand how or why Christmas has become an even more Hallmarked holiday for romance than Valentines Day.
I am very accepting of the concepts of caring and giving that provide the foundation for Christmas, but there’s something about the influx of songs talking about finding true love due to Christmas Magic that really does not sit well with me.
Maybe it’s because I actually am Scrooge, but maybe not. I’m not sure.
Or maybe it’s the fact that I subconsciously believe most things meant to be cute and sweet are extraneous.
Which, upon further reflection, basically means I am the Grinch all year round.
And to those who are about to go off to college, let me tell you, the first time that you get sick away from home is terrible. It might not seem like a big deal but when all you want to do is lay in your own bed but you can’t because it’s 3,112 miles away, it becomes a big deal.
OVS Journalism Blog 
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