And the Oscar goes to...

With the Oscar's only a few months away, there has been lots of questioning on whether or not actor Heath Ledger should be nominated for his role as The Joker in 2008's The Dark Knight. Personally, I thought that we was absolutely amazing. After his sudden and tragic death in 2008, I wasn't sure if I wanted to see him in his last movie. I have been a fan of his ever since 10 Things I Hate About You, the romantic comedy. But, after I heard the excellent reviews, I knew that this was one movie that I couldn't miss, and I was right. Every time he came on the big theater screen, he wasn't Heath Ledger anymore. He truly was The Joker in every way. He was creepy, sarcastic, and evil. Even though he has died, there is no reason why his talent in this film should go unnoticed.

Waste of Money??

In class today, the main focus was the Army. We talked about how an arcade was opened to promote the National Guard and other branches, how there are recruitment stations, and benefits for families after a soldier had died. Some students argued that some of these things were a waste of money. Others said that that way of promoting was efficient. Here's what I think is a total waste of money. My twin is on the Crew team at New Trier, and one weekend he had an important race in Boston. When he got home, he told us that he had seen the Army, Navy, National Guard, etc. racing. When talking about a waste of money in class, this automatically came to mind. The job of the Army is to protect our nation. What good are they doing on a river in Boston? How could they have spent their money in a way that would be beneficial to the US?

TV Tokenism

In AS the past couple of days, the discussion has been primarily about TV Tokenism (mostly in Dramas on TV). We talked about how the main character of a series is usually a white person, while the supporting "buddy" character is usually played by an African-American. During the discussion, a student brought up a good point: What's worse? Having a "token" black person or no black characters at all? I knew that this would be a good blog post because since there is not one good answer, it would make a good discussion. In my opinion, I think that both options are both racist. Having an all white cast would discriminate against all other ethnicity, but having the "token" black character isn't much better. Having a token on a drama means it relates to more audiences, which means higher ratings, which leads to more money for the company airing the show. I really can't decide which is worse, but what do others think? In class we also talked about how shows advertise. Mostly, the white main character is front and center, most visible, and most important. The "token" is usually standing behind another character or is next to, but not as large, as the main character. I have included a picture of the TV show Scrubs, which shows Turk, the black surgeon, and his Latino wife, Carla, standing way off to the side of the mostly white cast. Also, look at what they are all wearing. White. Does that mean something? Why didn't they wear black? Networks use tactics like these everyday, but usually we, the audience, don't notice them. Does that make them OK?? Well, that's for you to decide.

Leavin' on a Jet Plane

Over Winter Break, my family and I went to Florida. Every year for the past 4 years we have gone with all 17 of my cousins, 14 of my aunts and uncles, and my Nana and Papa. My grandparents fly us down every year, but this year flying was a bit different. Lets start off with checking in. They weighed our bags, as usual, and then told us that if any of our bags weighed over a certain weight (somewhere around 50 lbs), we would have to pay a fee. None of our bags were over the limit, but what if they were? Theoretically, if we had coughed up the extra $50, our bags would still make it on our flight, so why do we pay? Does that $50 magically make more room on the plane? No. The airline makes you pay for luggage that they know they have space for, but just want a little extra cash. That's the first thing that made me question the airlines. Next, the woman checking my family in asked us how many carry-on bags we had. We told her five. Can you guess what happened next? We had to pay for our carry-on luggage. Even though the plane has more than enough overhead compartments for bags, we still have to pay. Why? I'd like to know that. So, we're finally on the plane now. About one hour into the trip, the flight attendant makes an announcement that they will begin selling food and refreshments. Then she adds that the prices were in the back of the SkyMall magazine. I have flown many times, but never have I had to pay for a soda on an airplane. So, I flip open to look at the prices. A soda was $3. Can you believe it!? I was astonished. Also, they only accept credit cards. My brother got a can of Coke and handed the flight attendant his credit card. Right after she swiped his card, I told her that I wanted a small can of Pringles. She gave me the can of Pringles and walked away. My brother noticed that she handn't charged him for it, so when he asked her what had happened, she looked at him and told him that it would be too difficult to add it onto his bill, so she gave it to me for free. Even after this airline and made us pay for pratically everything that your ticket alone should include, I couldn't believe how refreshing it was to have a complementary can of Pringles.

Merry Christmas...Music!

After a very long wait, my favorite music is back on the radio...Christmas music!! Last year, channel 93.9 started its holiday season on November 1st, the day after Halloween. Mostly everybody thought that that was too early-everybody but me and my friend Elli. We were happiest when listening to Christmas music. We wish that everyday were Christmas!! This year, we started a countdown in advisory-counting down the days until 93.9 started playing our beloved Christmas music again. We started at 20 days to go. On November 1st, I woke up and turned on my radio. What did I hear? Regular music. Not even a hint of holiday cheer from 93.9. It was a major disappointment to me and Elli. My mom, on the other hand, couldn't have been happier. She had to listen to it all last winter with me when I was learning how to drive in her car. But on Friday, my alarm went off at its regular time, and instead of hearing any old song, I woke up hearing the beautiful sound of holiday music. I was so excited that I started yelling for my mom to come into my room. She ran in, worried, but was finally relieved to see me dancing to Christmas music. Sure, it may be early for a few people, but I will celebrate the holiday season as early as possible. It is my favorite time of year. Everybody just seems to be nicer around the holiday season. The music brightens up any day and I love to sing along with my favorite Christmas tunes.

Identity

In class, the book we are reading, Fires in the Mirror, is about racial and religious confrontations with two groups of people: Blacks and Jews. Identity has a large role in this book. In Crown Heights, where the events take place, Jews and Blacks live amongst each other and are "identified" by their race and/or religion. Is that O.K? To be judged by what you believe in or what the color of your skin is? In the book, a young black child is hit by a car and killed. The driver was a Jewish man. A few days later, another Jewish man was killed. So, the driver did a terrible thing, but an innocent man was killed because he was Jewish as well. Just because somebody does a bad thing doesn't mean that everybody who shares the same belief/race should be punished.

Politics in Class?

In class over the pass few weeks, we have discussed whether or not politics should be discussed in class. At first I thought, 'Why not?'. But during the day, my friend asked me what Palin's first name was. I was taken back, shocked. I asked the person if that was a serious question. Their answer was 'Yeah...'. Then I realized, if politics were a large percent of the discussions taking place in A.S., and some students didn't know much about politics, they have nothing to say. They sit and listen, and don't get a chance to participate because they maybe just aren't 'into' politics. So, sure, I don't mind if people voice their opinions in school or loudly support a candidate. But I don't think it's fair when the topic for the majority of class is something that you would have to be tuned into to know about, like a debate or a speech. I like talking about it, personally, but for a student who doesn't follow politics, I see how confusing it must be to sit in class and not have an idea what is going on. Should politics be discussed in class?