Tag: Media

Women Issues

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Today in the United States, women make 82 cents to their male counterparts 1 dollar. Then this is broken down into different races and ethnicities. “Black and Hispanic women workers are paid only 65 cents and 58 cents on the dollar, “stated epi.org. “Compared with 81 cents for white, non- Hispanic women workers and 90 cents for Asian women.” Inequalities between different races and ethnicities between women are also so different. Women who are white and Asian get a step higher than those who are Hispanic and black. Women are treated like shit still to this day.

We can not leave our houses without protection- pepper spray, knives, tasers, and more. We fear our lives; wondering if we are going to be killed, sexually assaulted, or raped. We are scared of our shadow and men. When we say all men, we do not mean all men, but we do not know who will hurt us and who will not.

The Pink tax exists. Products that are geared towards women and females are marked up higher than products that are the same but are geared towards men. This makes feminine products more expensive and harder to buy. Menstrual products are expensive, and these products should be free. Every person who experiences menstruation should be able to have these products for free.

photo credit: Indy100

Media and Society pick women apart for their bodies, thus creating lots of body dysmorphia in women and teens today. If someone is not the perfect hourglass figure or what society deems as skinny, then they are considered fat or overweight. They could be healthy and still be deemed overweight, and this could cause lots of eating disorders and body dysmorphia. But if someone is too skinny, then society comments on their weight as well. Society and the media love commenting on women’s bodies.

Speaking on commenting on women’s bodies brings up the topic of abortions. Men love commenting about women and what they should do with their bodies. There are laws set in place against women having abortions, such as the gestation limits. This law states that “43 states prohibit abortions, generally except when necessary to protect the women’s life or health, after a specific point in pregnancy, ” (guttmacher.org). These laws are made by men who try and restrict women and their bodies.

Women all over the world experience inequality.

Bibliography

“An Overview of Abortion Laws.” Guttmacher Institute, 1 Mar. 2021, http://www.guttmacher.org/state-policy/explore/overview-abortion-laws#.

Gould, Report • By Elise. “What Is the Gender Pay Gap and Is It Real?: The Complete Guide to How Women Are Paid Less than Men and Why It Can’t Be Explained Away.” Economic Policy Institute, http://www.epi.org/publication/what-is-the-gender-pay-gap-and-is-it-real/.

Surplus

americanapolloLeave a comment

Just because something is currently relevant doesn’t mean it should be used in everything. This is something that I have learned since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Yes, it’s obvious that this disease is the most important current event. But it doesn’t need to be included in everything we do. I recently worked with a former teacher to craft a letter to a college that I was wait-listed at. We had a disagreement over a section where she insisted that I mentioned we were “shifting to online learning due to COVID-19.” This allusion was not relevant, and I refused to include it. I’m sure that everyone else is as tired as I am of hearing it over and over, especially an admissions officer who already knows that this is affecting students throughout the world.

Another reason why a constant stream of coronavirus related media is detrimental is because it usurps other important global news. For example, locusts are tearing through eastern Africa, demolishing crops and leaving many farmers with nothing. On a lighter note though, a second individual has been cured of AIDS, which is a huge victory for everyone. But you may not have known that, as virtually everything is about the bloody coronavirus.

It’s important to talk about major events, especially if there is a life threatening aspect to them like now. But it is equally important to provide a breather from all of this information, as it can be stressful, and honestly annoying. I also realize that I am contributing to the problem by writing this. Oh well.

Also the image below is a piñata that you can buy in Tijuana.

Credit: Mexico News Daily

Death Note to Whitewashing

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In an interesting turn of events, Ed Skrein, who was originally set to star in Hellboy, backed out of his role this summer because of his character’s mixed-Asian decent. Now, I’m upset that not enough people are talking about this. Hollywood is known for casting white actors in place for roles that are for people of color. However, Ed Skrein is the only actor, that I’ve heard of at least, that has declined a role because of this reason.

This is big news because of how rare it is. We’ve seen actors and actresses with amazing, prolific careers ignore whitewashing and accept a role that a person of color deserves. Earlier this year, Scarlett Johansson played main character Major Mira Killian, adapted from the Japanese manga series Ghost in the Shell. The movie barely saw any profit, less than 70 million made in its entire box office career. Matt Damon starred in the Great Wall, a movie literally about a white man leading a gigantic Chinese army against monsters attacking the grand fortress. Most recently, Netflix released Death Note, starring Nat Wolff, another adaptation of a popular Japanese manga.

Talking about Death Note for a moment, back in 2015, when Nat Wolff was announced as the film’s lead, Light, there were obviously mixed responses. One came from up and coming actor, Edward Zo, who was denied the opportunity to even audition for the same role. Why? Because he was “too Asian.” Here is his story below:

Something he said really stuck with me. “Hey, your story is really cool. Everything about this story is awesome, except you,” he said, when explaining what whitewashing feels like. What directors are doing is taking away the authenticity of a story. You don’t see white actors playing slaves, it’s not their story to tell. Manga, a style of Japanese comics, is quintessentially Japanese. Not white. What you get are stories that stay with Japanese adults and kids alike. Why take that essential part away in the movie version?

Photo Credit: imdb.com

What I just talked about are just actors stealing roles from Asian, more specifically Japanese, actors. I could show hundreds of examples of Hollywood whitewashing. Some older movies even use blackface and yellowface instead of just hiring people of color. What all these movies have in common nowadays are their social media outcry based on their faulty casting. I hope that Skrein’s decision and the obvious negative effects it has on a movie’s reviews will deter Hollywood from whitewashing in the future.

TV Theories

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Photo Credit: Wikipedia.com/Riverdale

SPOILER ALERT: Riverdale 

Fasten your seatbelt, because I’m about to speed into the different theories of one of my favorite tv shows ever, Riverdale.

Riverdale first aired on January 26th, 2017, and immediately after the first episode I was hooked. It didn’t take long to become obsessed with the mystery of who killed Jason Blossom. But while trying to put together the pieces of the puzzle that was his death, we followed many other characters on their crazy journeys through their sophomore year of high school or their parents that, in fact, were the main causes of the most extra drama that existed on this show.

Now I’m going to fast forward to the season 1 finale, and wow… that was a plot twist. While we did figure out Jason Blossom’s murderer was his own flesh and blood, Clifford Blossom, the writers decided to have one of the purest characters in the whole show shot.

FRED ANDREWS!!!!!

WHY???!!! I don’t know, but the ending of the episode had many angry, distraught Riverdale fans desperate to know who would do this to the nicest character in the whole show. Seriously, what has he done wrong? He’s the only parent in the whole show who hasn’t freaking manipulated their kid or messed them up psychologically. He’s supported his son’s music career (and come on, just because Archie is cute, it doesn’t mean we have to pretend his singing is that good). But he still supported him, and yet he’s the one kicked to the curb, and SHOT?! Not okay, writers, not okay.

Now I know there are lots of other mysteries that need to be solved in season 2. Who’s Cheryl’s unexpected love interest? Who’s Betty’s long lost brother? What’s Hiram doing back in Riverdale? Who’s Veronica’s ex, and how is he going to affect Varchie?

But that’s what I’m not here to talk about.

Who shot Fred Andrews? Who would WANT to kill Fred Andrews? Clearly someone had enough beef with him to attempt first degree murder. And how do we know it wasn’t just Mr. Andrews being in the wrong place at the wrong time? Well, no money was taken from the register at Pops, and who would go “rob” a restaurant without taking money? It wasn’t just an accident. It was pre-meditated.

Now onto theories. I’m writing this because I want to know who shot him. I have multiple.

Sheriff Keller. This theory is simple. As I was watching the season 2 premiere, I noticed the sheriff had the exact same eye color as the robber, and it was scary. The same bright, green eyes full of evil!!! If you look closely at the robber’s eyes, and then his, you’ll see it too. Also, it’s not just a coincidence that he sucks at doing his job. How are four sophomores able to solve Jason Blossom’s murder before the sheriff of the town? So far the case is going no where either, but maybe it’s because the guy in charge of the case is the shooter. Coincidence? I think not. Plus, he’s the last person anyone would suspect, and in this show you must always except the unexpected.

Even though the sheriff has the power to cover it all, and the eye color, one thing he doesn’t have is the motive. So, now I’m onto my second suspect, Hiram Lodge. Hiram Lodge’s eyes are brown, so he may have not been the shooter, but he has the motive, and the resources. He has the Southside Serpents working for him, and probably many other people who owe him favors and would do anything to stay on his good side. He also has a motive. Fred was having a fling with Hermione Lodge and he wanted to take over his construction site, what reason did Hiram Lodge have to not kill Fred Andrews?

Now I’ve been focusing only on Fred Andrews, but we all know someone else was killed in the season 2 premiere: Miss Grundy. The teacher we all loathe, but she was killed, and what do Miss Grundy and Fred Andrews have in common? Archie cares about them both. A lot. So, maybe the murderer has been targeting Archie, and everyone he cares about all along.

So, here’s my third and final theory on who could be the green eyed murderer hiding behind a ski mask because he’s too much of a wimp to show himself; Miss Grundy’s ex husband. The guy who scared Grundy so bad that she thought the only way to ever get away alive was by running off and changing her name. Maybe when he found out Archie and Grundy were having an affair together, he wanted revenge. He could be planning to make Archie’s life absolutely miserable by hurting everyone he cared about before taking him out himself at the end of season 2.

Case closed.

Photo Credit: Netflix

The Return of Twaimz

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On August 30th, 2017, a Youtube legend and internet icon known as Issa Twaimz made his return back to youtube.

After being gone for a year, stuck rewatching the same beautiful videos over and over again, Twaimz finally started hinting at his return. At first I thought it was just another rumor. Maybe it’d get all our hopes up like that time My Chemical Romance posted a “Welcome to the Black Parade” teaser on their Youtube channel for the first time in years – sending us all back into our emo selves – but it wasn’t.

It was real.

And it was amazing.

At the beginning of August, Twaimz started dropping hints that had all his fans leaning off the edge of their seats. From little video snippets on Instagram, to suggestive tweets and hilarious Snapchat stories, the return of everyone’s favorite Youtuber would soon fall upon us.

And thus, The Return of Twaimz was born.

He said that a small surprise would be coming, but it was anything but small.

It was huge. It was nineteen minutes worth of terrifying, hilarious content that was absolutely beautifully constructed. Please note, that I had stayed up until one in the morning to watch this video due to technical difficulties, and the lack of sleep I had was worth it. With nothing but the light of my telephone screen, the video starts off with a sweet tribute to all his old videos. From the crush song, to the videos of “what to do as a Christmas tree”, the first couple minutes were nostalgic until the video took a dark turn when he began getting haunted by his younger self.

Though I do not want to spoil the whole video, let’s just say it was memorable. It mostly consisted of plastic horses, Donald Trump, and Twaimz ability to master the art of rapping Nicki Minaj without messing up.

I could not have imagined a better return to Youtube than this. It was creative, spooky, and hilarious. Since his return, he has released the bloopers to his new video, an “ask Issa”, and a couple other videos. But most importantly, on October 1st at midnight, Twaimz released a new song to put everyone in the Halloween spirit.

The return of Twaimz was the best way to start off my junior year, and I am already more eager to see more of his new videos. So, if you need some comic relief in your life, or need a motivational theme song to walk into battle with, I suggest you start watching his videos right away.

Photo Credit: Tumblr.com

Music and TV Shows: Always and Forever

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vampire diaries.wikia.com
Photo Credit: vampire diaries.wikia.com

Everyone has their favorite things in life. Sometimes they’re people’s favorite bands or singers. Sometimes people put their hearts and minds into their favorite tv shows or books. They become a topic of conversation over a dinner table, where those part of the conversation are imagining alternate endings to the season’s finales, or ranting about the ships we want but the writers won’t give. Maybe, the viewers begin to feel a part of the story the more they get into it. Those are just a couple things, but it’s these interests that make life a little more enjoyable for some people.

As I entered my junior year of high school, I told myself not to get invested into a new tv show. Thanks to Netflix, from the moment my parents started our subscription in sixth grade, I’ve gotten into many different tv shows. I’ve had too many to count. My favorites have always been “The Vampire Diaries” and “The 100”, or “Riverdale” which just premiered at the beginning of 2017 with season two coming out in less than a month. But now my favorite tv show is “The Originals”.

In October 2013, “The Originals” aired just after the season 5 premiere of “The Vampire Diaries”, and is a spin off of the famous vampire tv show. It is about the family of the first five original vampires, starring Joseph Morgan, who plays a character named Niklaus Mikaelson, and is a hybrid between a vampire and a werewolf. He returns to New Orleans with his brother and sister, Elijah and Rebekah, to regain control of the city he had lost over a century ago.

This is just the beginning of season 1. Now just starting season 2, I can assure that this series has been a series of twists and turns I never expected. This show never ends with the drama, the emotions, a mixture of feeling sadness and anger towards a show, the feeling of yelling at the characters though they can’t hear you, and that’s just how I felt in the first season. I still have 3 more seasons to go, and the next one aired will be their last.

Despite the constant conflict between the family in the show, Elijah always describes the loyalty between them to be “always and forever”. Maybe decades from now I won’t remember every detail of the shows I watched in high school, or all the facts of my favorite band members, but I’ll remember these little things being big parts of my life. And I’ll remember that, as cheesy as it sounds, always and forever.

Polarized America

moderatesnotfoundLeave a comment

It’s no secret that the United States is a nation with a political gap between its parties – one that has only gotten worse with the recent controversial election. This division within the nation has shown its ugly face through protests, fighting, and through media outlets.

Photo Credit: people-press.org

The media paints a picture of one side versus the other, leaving very little wiggle room for any moderates. In other words, moderates in media are not found, and any voice of reason must have backing from a political party, or else it will simply fall on deaf ears. There will likely never be a rise of a moderate party, leaving the United States in a rough two-party system.

George Washington, the first president of the United States, forewarned the rising of political parties, telling, “they are likely in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government.”

Whether or not this is happening today through either candidate is up to the reader, but the fact remains that political parties have far too much power. They are far more interested in pushing their agendas than the good of the nation they are supposed to serve. Polarized America, land of the indifferent, ruled by the Donkey and Elephant.

A New Age For Women

beetlejusLeave a comment

The Pirelli Calendar was released early last month and with it may come a much-needed culture shift. 

The calendar, known for hosting nude pictures of supermodels has changed it’s image.  So long to the days of women posing exposed for the “art” and the pleasure of others, and while we say goodbye to that, we welcome an age of smart and achieved women. 

Featured in the calendar are some of my personal heroes such as Patti Smith, Amy Schumer and Tavi Gevinson, along with many other highly respected women.  This is the first time that the models featured in the calendar were chosen for their exploits, not their measurements. 

The band of fully dressed women, with the exception of Amy Schumer and Serena Williams (Schumer’s joke being she didn’t get the  fully dressed message) are all apart of a much-needed cultural movement with the goal of empowering women.   Right now, the world is in the midst of an era of women empowerment, with the first plausible female presidential candidate to the rise of the female super hero such as ‘Jessica Jones’ or ‘Scandal’. 

This calendar was created to stand for something more than naked women since, as Jennifer Zimmerman, the global chief strategy officer for the McGarryBowen advertisement agency said, “Who uses a calendar anymore?”  

 One of the models for the calendar, Tavi Gevinson, the 19-year-old creator of Rookie Magazine, believes this calendar symbolizing a turning point in the media’s view of women.  She stated, “ A white, able-bodied, cis-gendered woman being naked  isn’t revolutionary anymore.  I don’t think anyone’s going to be like, ‘Damn, I wanted those naked chicks’”

Credit to Annie Leibovitz

Shia Labeouf Film Fest

beetlejusLeave a comment

Without any doubt, Shia Labeouf is his own #1 fan.

The actor has been known  for going to great length to gain attention in the media. Most recently, he decided to watch all of his entire filmography in reverse chronological order, while a live stream recorded every minute of the 72 hour Shia-Fest.

This endeavor, which he has titled #ALLMYMOVIES gained quite the following in the past week.  Remarkably enough, the live stream didn’t feature the actual films being watched, but the reactions to the films by Shia himself.

In another peculiar twist, the live stream did not have sound, so the audience watching online had no clue which movie he was actually watching.   From the moment Labeouf took his seat, dressed in a large winter coat with the hood on, looking remarkably like a homeless man, the event had already set the stage for being strange.  The emotions of Shia varied from happy to sad to embarrassed to bored to excited to just being asleep.  At times Shia’s reactions were satirical at best, such as the time he burst out laughing in a particularly racy scene in Nymphomaniac.  Throughout the entire 3 day spectacle Shia also donned some of these exceptional faces

Shia went through a plethora of emotions… and also took a siesta

An intriguing way to spend half a week

Riding the Struggle Bus

Nearly a hundred people queued up to view the screening live, most of these people being students of one of the Universities in New York City, where the screening took place.   For a man who doesn’t want to be famous, Shia Leboeuf goes to some very great lengths to gain attention.   

The Importance of Accuracy in Journalism

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Accuracy is the most important factor in a piece. All stories should be double checked for facts, sources and quotes in order for them to be believable. Journalists strive for factual stories.

Here are some examples of some mistakes:

1- Misspelling a name

2- Fake or not credible sources

3- Fabrication of Quotes

4- Fabrication of stories

5- Wrong title for a person (Mr., Ms., Mrs.,  Etc.)

On another note, the biggest fruit company in the world, Apple Inc. has shipped millions of its new delicious fruits called Iphones. Its former CEO Stephen Joobs, who passed out from money poisoning has come down from heaven to retrieve some of this new  delicious treats.