Monday, January 24, 2011

War, huh, what is it good for

The images and stories from chapter 3 and 7 had a very real impact on me. I loved the paragraph in "The First Thanksgiving" when she says, 'It is curious that we Americans have a holiday--Thanksgiving--that's all about people who left their homes for a life of their own choosing, a life that was different from their parents' lives. And how do we celebrate it? By hanging out with our parents!' Every year I'm asked what family I'll be spending Thanksgiving with. Will I be going home? I'm 28 years old. Isn't my home where I live now? Am I forced to spend the holiday with family from where I grew up because I'm single and don't have my own children to make a dinner for?
I had a difficult time looking at the war images in chapter 7. Children Fleeing a Napalm Strike, Vietnam was especially hard to look at. I don't read books about war, I don't watch film about war, and I don't look at images of war. My grandfather served in the Korean War and instilled in me many horrifying stories that allowed my imagination to produce an image of what war is. Being from the south I've seen plenty of Civil War reenactments to last me a lifetime. I try to avoid war at all costs.
I loved the Vodka ad. Probably one of the funniest things I saw in the images. I especially loved the second ad in which the orange asked who the tomato was the vodka was talking to. If I were someone that drank, the ad would be appealing to me. I also enjoyed seeing the "This is your brain on drugs" image. It brought back memories for me. I was 5 when that ad campaign came out. It's probably one of the first things I remember seeing on television. It was even shown while I watched saturday morning cartoons!
My favorite reading was probably the "Ghetto Haiku". It said a lot to me about how people are treated in the world. Stereotypes are everywhere. No matter how hard we try, we all have certain stereotypes we place people in at one time or another. Perhaps we should take a second to put those stereotypes aside and be courteous to everyone. Except everyone and be a friend to everyone. It would make the world a much better place.

1 comment:

  1. I liked what you said about the "Ghetto Haiku". I found that one very interesting and wonderful! It is very true that all too often we have set stereotypes that we place on other people, and I agree that if we all just focused on being nice, things would sure go a lot smoother. I wonder though, if we have stereotypes we place on ourselves? I know that sometimes I feel trapped by my on perceptions of who I am, perhaps we should cut everyone some slack, including ourselves.

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