When you stare into the abyss...

...the abyss stares back at you.

About a week ago, my roommates and I almost died laughing at a ridiculous story about Miley Cyrus making the threat to bring down the band Radiohead saying she was "going to destroy them." The reason? Apparently Radiohead is one of the pop star's favorite bands and when they were set to appear at the 2009 Grammy awards, she wanted to go meet them. They turned down her request stating that they don't like to meet with fans. In response, Miss Cyrus left the awards show early and made her statement about bringing them down.

What makes me bring this up isn't the silliness of the situation (although, it is absurd), but rather the mentality that someone would have to think that they are important enough to warrant meeting with whomever they please. I believe that this is sign of a larger, more serious problem.

Why is it that every pop princess (often Disney related) since Brittany Spears (almost ten years ago) ends up messed up and in often in less than desirable circumstances, or falls off the radar altogether. Each version does a bit better when they try to appeal to the young audience but they always end up unravelling at the end.

It makes me upset that people seem to overlook this pattern and still fall for the newest "clean" pop sensation and it looks like the Cyrus era may be beginning to end.

Perhaps what we should really take from this is the psychological harm this kind of processed fame is having on these young starlets.

Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?

With the Watchmen movie out and all the superhero summer blockbusters coming out this summer, I am once again reminded of the movie that started it all. It was 1978 when the first superhero movie came out that took itself seriously and it starred perhaps the most famous superhero in the almost eighty years of superheroes. Superman.

And it was with much excitement that such a masterpiece of a superhero movie premiered last summer, The Dark Knight, and it starred my second favorite superhero, Batman. But this excitement gave way to heavy heart when I realized that every movie studio is now trying to make each of their superhero movies dark and brooding like The Dark Knight.

What producers and writers fail to understand is that The Dark Knight was a perfect Batman movie, not superhero movie, that's why everybody liked it.

When superhero movies fail, they do so for two reasons; they fail to properly capture the character and/or they don't take themselves seriously. The Dark Knight did not fail becasue it performed both perfectly and it showed. Perhaps the best thing it accomplished was to show that superhero movies could be more than just special effects and fantasy play, they could raise questions and be dramatic and groundbreaking.

I think it's time that the one that started it all finally had a proper movie after going on what is now thirty years since he changed everything. The movie Superman: Returns wasn't awful, just horribly mediocre and Warner Bros is making the right decision when they decided to start over Superman (plus it worked with Batman). But I don't think they should let the people who made the most recent movie do the new one, the Superman cartoon was deeper and more compelling than the new movie (not that that is saying much, the animated cartoons by Bruce Timm are phenomenal).

I want a Superman movie that raises questions like The Dark Knight does but since Batman and Superman are not the same they would clearly have to be different questions. Superman isn't dark and a warrior of the night who breaks criminals because of trauma that he experienced as a child. Superman had a happy childhood and wants nothing more in life than to live a normal, peaceful exsistence. However he also has a sense of duty and knows that he can't let bad things happen when he has the power to change them.

But perhaps more compelling is the angle of how much power Superman has and how he is to use all of his power without abusing his power and without creating a world that can't do anything for itself and relys solely on Superman. Comic artist Tim Sale (who drew the picture to the left) puts it best "Superman is a generous soul who believes in the power of goodness. He believes in the American Dream, in the way that Norman Rockwell painted it. For Superman, family and community is deeply important, and inclusive."

However, I'm willing to just settle for an actor who at least partially resembles the picture at the top of this article by acclaimed artist Alex Ross. When casting for Superman, I want the movie studios to follow what Tim Sale thought of when he drew Superman "[He] is also an alien, that's how he gets his power, he's not cut; he doesn't need to go to the gym. He's a corn-fed farm boy. I wanted to convey that in his size, his bulk. In addition, I wanted that boyish innocence in his face, an openness, and that took me a while to get without making Clark look retarded."

I can't wait for the summer blockbusters nor the future superhero film classics, but I just really want them to be good so that people can see in them what I see in them.

The only thing we have to fear...

from http://digg.com/politics/Bye_Bye_Bill_of_Rights

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

My ARP topic presents the idea that those in power will often abuse their power in some way, and that it is up to the masses to consolidate their fears and do what is right. I agree with most of the ideas presented in my topic, the book Kingdom Come. I believe the main ideas were heavily influenced by the famous Latin phrase "Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?" meaning "who watches the watchers?" or "who guards the guardians?"
This is a very important philisophical question, it represents the notion of who is in charge of those society has placed or has allowed to stay in power. Kingdom Come shows the extreme version of this struggle, using characters well known to most people (Superman, Batman, etc.) to represent the fears that many real people have about the abuse of power by those who hold said power.
This idea means a lot to me, people always seem to complain about corruption in government but no one does anything about it until it's too late. This came to a head in my hometown when our mayor at the time (he had been mayor for years, everyone knew he was a sleezy but people still voted for him anyways because he had a nice smile) was indicted on federal charges for tax evasion among other various charges that had been dug up. He fled to Florida, but that is still fed territory adn they eventually took him to court and now he's in a federal prison. That is the biggest news my small home town has had in a decade. Good job...
When I write my commonplace essay, I hope that people will take a good hard look at those they see in power and realize that in our society, the ones in power are supposed to be held accountable for their actions by the common citizen. Most people in power have gotten there through their wits and with a millions dollar smile (It takes that much money to run for congress). I want people to see the corruption in political systems and know that they are the ones that hold the power to correct it.

The feeling you get when you look to the west...

Many leaders through out history are known for their ability to move people with words alone. It isn't just good ideas or logical answers, people are feeling something more to when they hear these people speak to the masses.

The article on Slate.com describes how scientists are finally getting around to discovering what it is that makes us humans react so strongly to certain things. Psychologists call it 'elevation' , that uplifting, warm feeling often associated with a powerful song or speech. The author, using quotations from a research professor currently studying the subject, attempts to show that the new President, Barack Obama, is a person who can cause this emotion within people.

The author attempts to convince the reader of the power of this emotion by using various rhetorical appeals. She uses many quotes and cites many ideas and statements from the researchers as they are the authority in this field. This adds creditbility to her article. She demonstrates the suseptibility of people to this emotion by tying its efects to many great leaders as well as terrifying ones, establishing a binary relationship. She often repeats the name of the emotion, elevation, as if to remind the reader of not only what it is called but why it is called that.

A large anomoly emerges at the end however, after spending over a page and a half on this emotion and how it relates to great leaders including President Obama, she suddenly changes her subject and her tone as she talks about the opposite emotion to elevation, disgust. For a few breif paragraphs she discribes it and it's history. It wraps up the article, but in an odd and uncomfortale way.

Courage Under Groceries...

If this prompt did anything it reminded me that I need to go to Kroger this weekend and pick up some things. And who knows? Perhaps someone someday will write a nice thick textbook about breaking down someone's personallity piece by piece based solely on what is in their pantry and refrigerator. But the real question will be, what would it say?

When Dr. Maytag shows up at my dormroom and sees the breakfast tea imported from England right next to jumbo sized powder tin of Kool-Aid, will he say something like "You find your 30 year old brother rather immature don't you?" or "How are your two dogs back at home?". Will he really be able to draw such large conclusions? Or will he give less dramatic answers such as, "You get bored somewhat easily," or "You're a little absent minded".

I personally have a hard time believing that the first comments could arise from so small an observation. However, if he were given time to sort through every item on my shelf and in my fridge, could he really figure out detailed information from it? Could he really turn information such as the flavor of Gatorade, soda, and Doritos that I consume into things like me being born in small town in Northeast Ohio, having and older brother and sister, and how much of a geek I can be at times (though, it's gone down in recent months).

If I had more than this one life to live, I would entertain the idea of figuring out ways to find out major parts of a person's self based upon their everyday items and actions. Sadly, it's relatively low on a list that you can only take the top choice from and I'm currently entertaining the idea of removing a few Doritos from exsistence, Buffalo Ranch flavored of course...

Crossing the Rubicon...

The blog was supposed to be about what we found interesting in the media represented today, but to be perfectly honest, it was nothing new nor interesting. The Colbert report has lost much interest to me as it continues to use the same satirical overtly conservative jokes. While the original ones were entertaining and amusing, it has since tappered off into a mediocre pollitical humor show.
The main draw of the oil company sketch should not have been how awful it was for the oil companies to do such a thing and play up the pseudo-science that everybody uses these days but the sad fact that it actually works.
I'm willing to bet that everyone has seen those freecreditreport.com comercials with the band that sings about how bad their credit is. What you may not know is that ever since these commercials have aired, people have been sending the "singer" and the other "bandmates" money to help out their "finnacial situation".
Let them keep airing their ridiculous commercials, I refuse to blame someone for another person's ignorance.