Killing Us Softly

In the video we saw Jean Kilbourne talk about how the media is portraying women. Her assesment in ways is correct, the subliminal messaging being put on young girls about how they should look can effect their lifestyle. However she completely misses the fact that women "supposed" to be skinny has been around since ancient times and has been a status in our culture forever. We cannot trace the origins of these effects in just this time period. She instantly assumes that the advertisement is causing the genetically honed NEED to be perfect. Of course the argument can be made of who decides what perfect really is. Is it the population that decides? Or one individual? But that is a different topic entirely.

She brings up the issue of abuse against women that has been brought on by advertisements. She states that showing men in more powerful positions and as more agressive. However, we all know younger men are pumped full of testosterone which increases violent activity. This is not advertisement which is causing people to become more violent, but a natural reaction of men. Once again this has been around for hundreds of years and she is trying to make an insignificant connection to advertisements. Most of these advertisements with women are portraying women's products. Why would a man want to read about a product he will never need?

Some of these connections made are far-reaching at best and can be counted out. This is only one person's opinion. Every scientifical discovery ever made has to be backed by numerous sources and repeated again and again.

I am the messenger.

I have been assigned to the book "I am the Messenger" by Mark Zusak. I have since finished the book but will attempt to not give anything away. This book is an extremely easy read with simple vocabulary and an easy linear plot to follow. The book follows a 19 year old boy named Ed Kennedy. It starts with him breaking up a robbery and then receiving a card with three adresses on it. He begins to find that these adresses are real places in which people need his help, and so he begins to help people all over his town. Ranging from getting some shoes to helping a women from her husband.

In our lit circle, we found that Ed reminds us quite a lot of Holden. Not so much that he hates everyone and complains about everything, but more the fact that he doesn't have very many outside connections with friends and family. He has only three friends and his dog the Doorman. He is a 19 year old who wrote his age as being 22 to be able to drive cabs for his job. He realizes in the book that he's probably never going to amount to anything and he lives with that. However we find as the book progresses that he has a purpose.

Choice novels

So we have been introduced to the idea that we will have a choice novel to read and think about. However, my classmates and I have been led astray by our leader, for the "choices" of books are among a predetermined list that must include our decision. Therefore in essence we are not really choosing which books we read but being told we have to read a specific book from the predestined books. I am not so much angry at the choice of books we get because they are fairly decent looking books, no, I am angry at the misleading that has been put onto us by giving us the "choice".