Wednesday, April 25, 2012

The Problem of Obesity in America is Growing Faster Than Those Who Suffer From It


On a serious note though, there is a different end to the spectrum than just obesity. Kids look at magazines covers, read newspaper titles, and look at models all the time who are supposed to resemble the "perfect" body. It is nearly impossible to avoid this type of media when the government is starting programs encouraging kids to loose weight. With this overwhelming flow of pop culture, it is hard for kids to not feel insecure. I for one am unfazed by this "craze to be skinny" because I could afford to pack on a phew more pounds.
In our group discussions we discussed the different types of pressing health issues. Many topics were brought to the table including religion, underage drinking, and various diseases, but I found this one to be very interesting and am glad Margo took it. In the article that she picked they discussed the various culprits for the vast amount of eating disorders among youth, the first being a small boy of 6 who is already worrying about his weight. This is a very dangerous thought, because 6 is a very impressionable and vulnerable age, who knows maybe this kid could grow up with serious psychological damage because of deep rooted insecurities as a child. The second order of business is the government enforcing schools to promote kids to live a healthy lifestyle with their food choices. I thought this sounded like a great idea until I heard about the downsides. Although some kids are yet to receive the message about healthy eating others are taking to far. insecurities among our youth and eating disorders or on the rise. The article explains that while in countries like England the obesity rate is growing, we must also look at the tools they are using to calculate obesity. The BMI scale should only be used for adults who are fully grown. But they are using it on kids to calculate the obesity rates. The article claims that we need to "keep fat in proportion" by not over estimating the amount of actual overweight children in the world.
The last section of the article discusses food in our school systems. They explain that foods like chocolate are not "bad" foods and are actually necessary for a balanced and proportion based diet. They stress that balance is the most important thing for a kids diet.
What I took away from this article is that, yes there are kids who are overweight, but by demonizing these children we are creating an entirely new problem.

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Social injustices must be documented

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere" (MLK Jr.) Of course injustice is a threat to justice but those who are inflicting the injustice usually do everything they can to keep it out of the world's eye. It is our duty as people to exploit social and political injustices for the world to see. Recently a video went viral on the internet involving a man named a Joseph Kony who is the poster child for treating people unjustly. A short documentary was made showing the world what he had done and people reacted. The video nearly got 100 million views in one month. Although sometimes it is hard to tell, people really do care about others in our world, and when they are being treated unfairly or unjustly people rise up. But if there is no way to know or see the unjust behavior, people continue to live their lives, and nothing is done. I will say once again that weither you are a film maker or not it is our duty to exploit and prevent injustices from happening on our planet. It just so happens that film is one of the most effective ways to portray these events to get people involved. A fantastic example that is right in front of our face is the violence in the south side of our city. The film The Interrupters remarkably not only portrays the violence but shows the interruption process, giving its viewers an even even better reason to take action.
In order to prevent injustice you must exploit injustices.

Monday, March 19, 2012

I have such doubts

Donald miller is a boy with much to loose. His relationship with father Flinn has been speculated to be inappropriate but Donald has no say. He is confined by his mother, his church and his environment. Some kids at his school control Donald with their own racist perceptions of him. If father Flynn did touch Donald inappropriately Donald cannot speak out against him because father Flynn is the only man who truly cares about Donald. He can't speak out because all he wants is to please his mother and father and finish his studies. Donald is confined by all these things and thus is in his own jail. In this shot the staircase signifies Donald's jail. He is not free and is confined by his environment. 
The title of the film is very important in this shot. When we look at Donald's face we just don't know what to think, we have our own doubts. I must applaud this actor for leaving a pit in the audiences stomach because they don't know what to think. As I looked at this shot I saw a kid who is confined by his surroundings and is unable to speak up about his situations. But then I look at it again and I see a kid who is a true friend of Father Flynn and unconditionally cares for him and doesn't want anything bad to happen to him. Donald Miller  and this shot exemplifies the moral dilemma in this film which is the conflict of interpreting situations a certain way without being certain.
Judah is confined and jailed in a similar way to Donald. Both characters are conflicted because they view the church/temple as a symbol everything that is morally correct. Judah doesn't understand how he could betray something so sacred and Donald doesn't understand how someone of such power in the church could have a relationship with him. In this shot we see the symmetry of this temple signifying that the Church is always right and is the moral path to follow. We see two rabbi's with two lights, a symmetrical menorah, and basically everything that can be seen on the left is nearly reflected onto the right side. Donald feels that there are higher powers at work that he can't control, as does Judah. In this picture we see moses holding the ten commandments signifying religious morality and how Judah had defied it. Overall both pictures show how morally ambiguous both movies are and how influenced both characters are by things they can't control.

Monday, January 30, 2012

political Bias

Bias can influence not only the petty things in life but our overall outlook on the world. What I find the most interesting form of bias is in the roots of our political views. I believe that it does not matter how intelligent or educated a person can be they fall prey to their environment. Our environment whether it be our parents, priests, teachers, and peers shape the way we view the world. In the specific case of politics there is not any words in the world that can change our political bias because of how strong the roots of our environment are. Unless of course our environment has an extreme changes then our political views can change. I find this very interesting because of how heavily this political bias influences our government and country. When the majority of people believe so strongly in their political viewpoints they latch on to their political ideals and want the country to move in the direction of their party. Because of the way our congress works this is impossible. That is why barely anything has been accomplished because people refuse to compromise to their political bias. This just shows how much bias not only influences our lives and world but also how heavily it effects our government and country.