Liana Melendez
Eng101.103
December 3, 2009
Dr. Smith
Hollywood films generally portray women to suffer from “Penis Envy!” Beginning from decades and decades ago, men have always been known to be the ones who are in charge and in control. Back in the days women could not do many of the things men could do. For example, women could not work, they could not vote, and in some countries women still can’t leave the house if not with their spouses. These rules apparently were enforced by men.
Since women could not work, men were known as “The Bread Winners.” They would work in order to maintain their families and the only thing women could do was be a housewife. However, as decades and decades passed, these circumstances slowly began to change. Things changed so drastically that now women work, vote; leave their homes as they please and even more beyond that. Although women can do anything a man can do today, the world still has a way of believing that men, somehow, are still in control and can still make the rules at home.
Even your average household chore of cooking has remained a task predominantly done by women! This is all due to the fact that men still believe that because they have a penis, their only goal in life is to be “The Bread Winner” in their household and women simply should handle the rest, not because they say so but because it just simply is. However, now that women have more freedom to accomplish tasks similar to men’s, women still are limited in how much they can do, due to the control that men have. Therefore, women go through life-long phase of “penis envy” in which they admire the power that men acquire and are envious in resent towards it. Hollywood definitely portrays this in movies, demonstrating women suffering from “Penis Envy!”
One Hollywood movie that portrays a women suffering from “penis envy” is The Matrix. The main character (of course being a man) was Neo. His love interest in the film was Trinity. Trinity was also an important character but it was only because Neo’s life depended on Trinity at one point. Trinity “gets down” just like the men in the movie. She is a computer programmer and hacker which were known to be men’s tasks back in the days. In the movie, she is one of the very few females so in some way it seems as if she is competing with the roles of the men in the movie. Trinity takes part in chases with police officers and agents, she gains the ability to go back and forth into the Matrix world, she joins the Nebuchadnezzar men in their task to unplug Neo from the Matrix and she blows things up as well. She takes the liberty to somewhat guide Neo throughout the movie although he is male and men are usually known to lead because men are always in charge. This Hollywood movie shows that Trinity can be in love with Neo but she doesn’t love him because he can support her but because he let her be in control.
Women have been shown to be envious of male roles in Hollywood. Today females like to be in control in their relationships and in their households setting their household standards and rules. Little by little we view in Hollywood films that women are generally gaining more power and this is simply due to a line in history of “Penis Envy!”
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Term Evaluation Blog
While taking Dr. Smith's ENG101 and ENG103, I learned to think a little bit more outside the box. At the beginning of this semester, the course was almost like a philosophy course. Most of my blogs and essays helped me develop a new thinking strategy. Learning to really dig deeply into my brain has enabled me to know that there can always be a solution even if I am stuck and feel like giving up on a challenge.
With the variety of assignments I was given this semester, I have mastered the technique of multi-tasking. I learned to keep up with weekly blogs and essays as well as work on mid-term projects and work outside of my academic career.
I am very excited to move onto future semesters of my learning experience in college and using the skills Ive developed!
With the variety of assignments I was given this semester, I have mastered the technique of multi-tasking. I learned to keep up with weekly blogs and essays as well as work on mid-term projects and work outside of my academic career.
I am very excited to move onto future semesters of my learning experience in college and using the skills Ive developed!
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Media Final Diaries
November 17, 2009
It is already November 17th and I don’t feel as if I have a topic good enough to use for my media final. I have not yet decided what I would really love to convey in media related material. When my professor, Dr. Lucca, mentioned that some of his former students have made documentaries for their media final, I found it to be an intriguing idea. I needed some sort of objective though if I were going to do a documentary. Coming up with an idea that would actually work for my objective seemed a bit difficult to find. It took me a while to decide because I knew I wanted it to be based on something I would feel excited to work on, something interesting!
Since I could not come up with a strong topic for a documentary, I decided to use a video that I had already put up on YouTube three years ago. My cousin, James, who went to film and photography school, had a project back in 2006 to direct and record a PSA (Public Service Announcement) commercial on any topic and put it on YouTube. He decided to base his topic on the idea that people tend to believe that words can’t hurt, but they actually do! He asked me to star in the video and I agreed. The entire process in developing the video took a total of seven hours but the video itself had to be cut to thirty seconds after editing. It took place in an abandoned police prescient which I thought would have been pretty cool to talk about, especially if I had the extra footage to show.
I hoped that the fact that it was done so long ago, would not make it count as cheating. So I asked Dr. Lucca if it was okay and he said it was fine and that I can add onto it for the presentation. I thought about creating some type of power point to go with how the video was made, but still I don’t think my final project will be good enough! I think it’s missing something and that’s what I need to think about.
Today I will be visiting my cousin to find out if he would happen to have the extra footage of the PSA. If not, then I guess I will have to think of something else =/
Let’s see what happens…
November 18, 2009
So I was at my cousins house yesterday and it turns out that he actually does not have the extra footage we took from the PSA because it was on the computer's software from the school! I was a bit dissapointed that I wouldn't be able to use some of the extra footage to show my classmates because I feel that would have made it way more interesting than a powerpoint! However, I figured discussing what I needed for my project with my cousin James, his boyfriend Miguel, and my sister Zuleika, we can all come up with something unique that I can direct with them in it.
We began discussing typical documentary topics, one of them being: Inside the Life of a Pothead. It sounded like a good idea at first but then we came across another idea that we thought would work out quite nicely. Briefly, the synopsis would be about the life of a Drag Queen!
Soon enough after I brought it up to them, they agreed and we started planning the steps to how exactly were we going to put this documentary together. We decided not to base it on the "The Life of a Drag Queen" but The Art of Female Impersonation! So we called it Transformation: The Art of Female Impersonation. Since this documentary could only be about five to seven minutes we agreed on getting part of the footage from them casually speaking in front of the camera to show the naturality of those who do dress up as the opposite sex and that when they do dress up in drag that it's just a new character they are impersonating. We thought if we'd also get some footage of them shopping for things they need to be a Drag Queen it would be a nice addition for the documentary. Then the main part of it would be footage of James transforming from male to female and we could just display that in a fast forward mode so it doesn't take very long. After that, we decided we'd go watch a Drag Show at a gay club in the city to record some of the show to express the extravagance of Drag Queens.
Yesterday Miguel and James also informed my sister and I about a campaign called "NoH8." It is a national campaign towards diversity. You can Google it or go on the website http://www.noh8campaign.com/. The photos of the campaign are of people from all over, including celebrities, in white t-shirts, duct tape over their mouths and NoH8 written on the side of their face. The title of the campaign "NoH8" (No Hate) is pretty self explanitory. It is intended for viewers to see that there should not be any kind of hate towards diversity. I felt that the NoH8 campaign would be a nice touch to the documentary because needless to say, there is a great amount of hatred towards female impersonation in this world! James already has a NoH8 photograph so somewhere along the days where we will be working on the project, I will have one done since he is also a photographer!
I am really excited on getting started with this project. We will get together on my next day off which will be on Sunday the 22nd!
November 22, 2009
Ok so today is Sunday, my day off from work. I just got back home from James' house. Today we began taking notes on what the objective of the documentary will be and what exactly we will be pin pointing in five to seven minutes.
We also decided to walk over to Cosco because Miguel and James said that they carry this great set of make-up brushes they would like to get and it would be could to get some footage of us going over there and them actually purchasing brushes to show and speak of the steps in which they take to become females. We did get footage of us walking over there but when we got there we realized it was Sunday and they had closed early. So we turned around and decided to try it again the next time around.
So we ended up not getting all that much done today but we did start preparing. To make up for loss of time a little, I told them i'd go over their house on Tuesday night after work for just an hour to get my picture taken for the campaign. This way he can start editing it before I go over on my following day off.
Things are slowly going to start to pick up now. Our date to go out to the gay club to watch and get footage of the Drag Show will be exactly one week from tonight on Sunday the 29th. That day I will definately have to go over early that day to get all of the transformation on camera and then go out! I can't wait!
November 24, 2009
Today is Tuesday... well by now it's already wednesday since it's already past midnight. Today I went to work after school, got out at 8:30pm and made it to my cousins house by 9pm. Knowing that I had limited time plus I having to make up for loss of time, I got to work right away.
As soon as I settled in, I took out all the make-up and the brushes and began, what we like to call, "beating my face," (a phrase for doing my make up... well)! As I was almost finishing, James began setting up his studio lighting and his camera for the shoot.
After setting everything up, James touched up my make-up as he knew what I would need to be seen in a flattering lens under the camera. Finally ready for pictures, I stood right there in front of his bedroom door posing away.
The idea I went with for my NoH8 photograph was me pulling the duct tape off of my mouth with part of it still stuck on the end, symbolizing "speaking out" against discrimination, but of course I had to squint my eyes a little and try to "love the camera" as photographers always say. I had the "N-O-H" part written on the lower side of my face with black eyeliner and the "8" written with red lip liner.
We took about 20-25 shots just to be sure we would get a perfect one, or at least close to perfect. Luckily it didn't take too long. By the time were finished it was around 10pm just as planned and I left home with my sister at just about 10:30pm. The trip home is about a long hour and a half train ride followed by a 30 minute bus ride so thats why I had to make it snappy!
When I was arriving home I was satisfied at the fact that one more part of the documentary has been done and now I can go to sleep, well of course after I finish this blog that is. Im so happy that tomorrow I don't have to wake up as early to go to class, plus, I won't even be going to meet my class at school. The class is meeting at the Museum of the Moving Image at 10:50am. I'm excited to see it and happy that we're getting a little break from the typical class work! Then Thursday will be Thanksgiving and I have a day off to myself! God is good! No, no, He's GREAT!
November 28, 2009
So today is Saturday night, more like Sunday morning. I just got in. It's been a pretty crazy day. I went to work and then to my best friends birthday dinner in which she was proposed to by her boyfriend! It's been a great mix of emotions this evening but one thing that I am also very excited about tonight is that James has sent me the finished product of my edited photograph for the NoH8 campaign!!!
That's really the only reason why I decided to Blog tonight because it's not like we did anything with the documentary today. The picture however is going to give the documentary a nice touch in the end... I will attach it below.
And there it is <3
November 29, 2009
We are finally here on the big day of getting all the main footage. It is 5pm and I am sitting on James bed blogging on his laptop (thought it'd be pretty cool to say that since it's a blog and not a formal paper lol)
We are just about ready to begin taking footage of the long and drawn out process of James transforming himself from male to female. In a few minutes i'm even going to get a clip of him shaving.
A little earlier today, might I add, James took a large piece of cushion and began cutting it into a "P" shape. He did this purposely to fill it into his jeans to create the illusion of curvy hips! This is yet another trick in the process of female impersonation.
2 hours later...
It is now 7:13pm. In the last two hours I was able to record James shaving (as I was speaking to him of course), and then beginning his make up routine. One thing I learned was that before he even put any foundation onto his face, he began dabbing on little dots of red lipstick onto his jaw line. I wasn't sure what this was for at first until he claimed that although he had shaven, you would still be able to see that greenish shadow from the stubs of facial hair. He said the red would be able to cancel out the green. That was a pretty interesting fact to learn!
Right now James is putting on his outfit in which we put together. He's also going to attach a hair piece for the final touch.
After he comes out, the rest of us will finish up getting ready, doing our make-up and get ready to go see the drag show. Of course we will be taking a cab over there and back. Why? Because you shouldn't really take "Drag" onto the train... another reason why we are associating this documentary with the NoH8 Campaign.
November 30, 2009
Wow, Last night was awesome! As we left the building I took some footage of our group walking the street and hopping into the cab. In the cab I interviewed them with a few simple questions on how they feel walking in female couture.
Inside the club, the show started and the drags began coming out, imitating extravagant performances of different stars. One was imitating Erykah Badu, one did Rihanna's song Russian Roulette, one did Britney Spears and there were many more. It's a wide variety of music that is performed.
Overall it was a great night and I was highly satisfied with the footage I got for the documentary. I wanted to show that there in fact can be an artistic angle to female impersonation and that is entertainment!
Now all thats left to do is to edit all the footage into one movie, adding background music and wording on the screen. My next day off is Thursday so I will be going over after school to create the final product!
December 3, 2009
It's late, im tired, it's been a long day, but I feel a need to blog about how today went. My sister and I went to James house after school. I figured it wouldn't take more than three hours to edit, but when we got started, it seemed like it would take longer.
I began uploading all the videos onto moviemaker in the order I wanted them to play. Then I layed out the plan for the entire documentary and I started to feel that the finished product was going to come out as good as I expected. However, it just so happens that today was Miguel and James' anniversary so they were planning on going out later in the night. So after we layed everything out and discussed how every part should go, we decided that i'd leave them with my camera so he can finish editing the documentary and e-mail it to me by sunday night. I can't wait to see the final product!
December 4, 2009
James text me today saying that I should send him another question that he can discuss in front of his web cam because he didn't see too much cohesiveness between the footage and the topic about the campaign at the end. So I gave him a few options on what he can discuss to make it work. So far he hasn't wrote me back.
December 5, 2009
It's Saturday now. For some reason I still have not heard from my cousin. Im hoping he's planning on surprising me tomorrow with the final product having used his own finishing touches...
December 6, 2009
... It's Sunday night, I just finished working a 13 hour shift at work today and still, James has not responded to any of my texts. I was wondering if maybe he felt like I was making him do it for me or if he got lazy or discouraged and doesn't want to tell me that he's not into it anymore...
So this morning I texted him; "Hey James, I hope the documenary is coming along nicely. I feel bad that you're pretty much having to do it for me since im not there but remember... Santa Clause is coming soon!!! Let me know of anything you want because you are really doing me a big favor."
He never responded. In the middle of the day, I was getting a little nervous about it so I told my sister and she recommended I try to reach Miguel. Then I text Miguel; "Hey you it's Lili, tell your man I hit him up! Im getting a little nervous about the project. If he's getting lazy tell him i'm going to reward him!!! Santa Clause style!!!"
I figured if I can sound a little goofy and offer an incentive, I wouldn't come off as too demanding or as if i'm using him. After all my plan was to edit it with him. The only reason why I left it for him to finish it was because it was their anniversary and they were going out.
Even so, still no response from either of them.
I must admit, im pretty upset and angered about this but at the same time i'm taking it pretty well. I think i'm still a little bit in denial that he would actually do such a thing. I'm shocked that my own cousin would disappear on me a few days before my project/final is due knowing that it can affect my grade! I haven't done anything for him to act this way either.
At this point i'm at a loss for words. I don't know what to say!
December 8, 2009
Today is Tuesday. I am scheduled to present tomorrow. It looks as if i'm going to have to go with plan B which was my original idea of using the PSA with a powerpoint to go with it. Can you say BORING?! But hey, it's better than nothing right?! I am going to make it to school an hour early tomorrow to put together a quick last minute powerpoint presentation. Let's see how that goes.
December 9, 2009
I presented first this morning. Before I began I felt the need to explain my "what-had-happened" story with the documentary I had been working on all along. It hit me even more today that my cousin left me hanging like that. Would have never expected that in a million years... nor deserve that!
The PPT was not so bad and the PSA wasn't horrible either. I just know that the documentary I had spent three weeks worth of days off working on would have been 10x cooler!!! UGH
At this point nothing I can say or feel is going to get the final product of the documentary in my hands soooo on that note.... this is the end.
Below is the link to my PSA on YouTube.com... here it goes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWP-PztE8OY
It is already November 17th and I don’t feel as if I have a topic good enough to use for my media final. I have not yet decided what I would really love to convey in media related material. When my professor, Dr. Lucca, mentioned that some of his former students have made documentaries for their media final, I found it to be an intriguing idea. I needed some sort of objective though if I were going to do a documentary. Coming up with an idea that would actually work for my objective seemed a bit difficult to find. It took me a while to decide because I knew I wanted it to be based on something I would feel excited to work on, something interesting!
Since I could not come up with a strong topic for a documentary, I decided to use a video that I had already put up on YouTube three years ago. My cousin, James, who went to film and photography school, had a project back in 2006 to direct and record a PSA (Public Service Announcement) commercial on any topic and put it on YouTube. He decided to base his topic on the idea that people tend to believe that words can’t hurt, but they actually do! He asked me to star in the video and I agreed. The entire process in developing the video took a total of seven hours but the video itself had to be cut to thirty seconds after editing. It took place in an abandoned police prescient which I thought would have been pretty cool to talk about, especially if I had the extra footage to show.
I hoped that the fact that it was done so long ago, would not make it count as cheating. So I asked Dr. Lucca if it was okay and he said it was fine and that I can add onto it for the presentation. I thought about creating some type of power point to go with how the video was made, but still I don’t think my final project will be good enough! I think it’s missing something and that’s what I need to think about.
Today I will be visiting my cousin to find out if he would happen to have the extra footage of the PSA. If not, then I guess I will have to think of something else =/
Let’s see what happens…
November 18, 2009
So I was at my cousins house yesterday and it turns out that he actually does not have the extra footage we took from the PSA because it was on the computer's software from the school! I was a bit dissapointed that I wouldn't be able to use some of the extra footage to show my classmates because I feel that would have made it way more interesting than a powerpoint! However, I figured discussing what I needed for my project with my cousin James, his boyfriend Miguel, and my sister Zuleika, we can all come up with something unique that I can direct with them in it.
We began discussing typical documentary topics, one of them being: Inside the Life of a Pothead. It sounded like a good idea at first but then we came across another idea that we thought would work out quite nicely. Briefly, the synopsis would be about the life of a Drag Queen!
Soon enough after I brought it up to them, they agreed and we started planning the steps to how exactly were we going to put this documentary together. We decided not to base it on the "The Life of a Drag Queen" but The Art of Female Impersonation! So we called it Transformation: The Art of Female Impersonation. Since this documentary could only be about five to seven minutes we agreed on getting part of the footage from them casually speaking in front of the camera to show the naturality of those who do dress up as the opposite sex and that when they do dress up in drag that it's just a new character they are impersonating. We thought if we'd also get some footage of them shopping for things they need to be a Drag Queen it would be a nice addition for the documentary. Then the main part of it would be footage of James transforming from male to female and we could just display that in a fast forward mode so it doesn't take very long. After that, we decided we'd go watch a Drag Show at a gay club in the city to record some of the show to express the extravagance of Drag Queens.
Yesterday Miguel and James also informed my sister and I about a campaign called "NoH8." It is a national campaign towards diversity. You can Google it or go on the website http://www.noh8campaign.com/. The photos of the campaign are of people from all over, including celebrities, in white t-shirts, duct tape over their mouths and NoH8 written on the side of their face. The title of the campaign "NoH8" (No Hate) is pretty self explanitory. It is intended for viewers to see that there should not be any kind of hate towards diversity. I felt that the NoH8 campaign would be a nice touch to the documentary because needless to say, there is a great amount of hatred towards female impersonation in this world! James already has a NoH8 photograph so somewhere along the days where we will be working on the project, I will have one done since he is also a photographer!
I am really excited on getting started with this project. We will get together on my next day off which will be on Sunday the 22nd!
November 22, 2009
Ok so today is Sunday, my day off from work. I just got back home from James' house. Today we began taking notes on what the objective of the documentary will be and what exactly we will be pin pointing in five to seven minutes.
We also decided to walk over to Cosco because Miguel and James said that they carry this great set of make-up brushes they would like to get and it would be could to get some footage of us going over there and them actually purchasing brushes to show and speak of the steps in which they take to become females. We did get footage of us walking over there but when we got there we realized it was Sunday and they had closed early. So we turned around and decided to try it again the next time around.
So we ended up not getting all that much done today but we did start preparing. To make up for loss of time a little, I told them i'd go over their house on Tuesday night after work for just an hour to get my picture taken for the campaign. This way he can start editing it before I go over on my following day off.
Things are slowly going to start to pick up now. Our date to go out to the gay club to watch and get footage of the Drag Show will be exactly one week from tonight on Sunday the 29th. That day I will definately have to go over early that day to get all of the transformation on camera and then go out! I can't wait!
November 24, 2009
Today is Tuesday... well by now it's already wednesday since it's already past midnight. Today I went to work after school, got out at 8:30pm and made it to my cousins house by 9pm. Knowing that I had limited time plus I having to make up for loss of time, I got to work right away.
As soon as I settled in, I took out all the make-up and the brushes and began, what we like to call, "beating my face," (a phrase for doing my make up... well)! As I was almost finishing, James began setting up his studio lighting and his camera for the shoot.
After setting everything up, James touched up my make-up as he knew what I would need to be seen in a flattering lens under the camera. Finally ready for pictures, I stood right there in front of his bedroom door posing away.
The idea I went with for my NoH8 photograph was me pulling the duct tape off of my mouth with part of it still stuck on the end, symbolizing "speaking out" against discrimination, but of course I had to squint my eyes a little and try to "love the camera" as photographers always say. I had the "N-O-H" part written on the lower side of my face with black eyeliner and the "8" written with red lip liner.
We took about 20-25 shots just to be sure we would get a perfect one, or at least close to perfect. Luckily it didn't take too long. By the time were finished it was around 10pm just as planned and I left home with my sister at just about 10:30pm. The trip home is about a long hour and a half train ride followed by a 30 minute bus ride so thats why I had to make it snappy!
When I was arriving home I was satisfied at the fact that one more part of the documentary has been done and now I can go to sleep, well of course after I finish this blog that is. Im so happy that tomorrow I don't have to wake up as early to go to class, plus, I won't even be going to meet my class at school. The class is meeting at the Museum of the Moving Image at 10:50am. I'm excited to see it and happy that we're getting a little break from the typical class work! Then Thursday will be Thanksgiving and I have a day off to myself! God is good! No, no, He's GREAT!
November 28, 2009
So today is Saturday night, more like Sunday morning. I just got in. It's been a pretty crazy day. I went to work and then to my best friends birthday dinner in which she was proposed to by her boyfriend! It's been a great mix of emotions this evening but one thing that I am also very excited about tonight is that James has sent me the finished product of my edited photograph for the NoH8 campaign!!!
That's really the only reason why I decided to Blog tonight because it's not like we did anything with the documentary today. The picture however is going to give the documentary a nice touch in the end... I will attach it below.
And there it is <3
November 29, 2009
We are finally here on the big day of getting all the main footage. It is 5pm and I am sitting on James bed blogging on his laptop (thought it'd be pretty cool to say that since it's a blog and not a formal paper lol)
We are just about ready to begin taking footage of the long and drawn out process of James transforming himself from male to female. In a few minutes i'm even going to get a clip of him shaving.
A little earlier today, might I add, James took a large piece of cushion and began cutting it into a "P" shape. He did this purposely to fill it into his jeans to create the illusion of curvy hips! This is yet another trick in the process of female impersonation.
2 hours later...
It is now 7:13pm. In the last two hours I was able to record James shaving (as I was speaking to him of course), and then beginning his make up routine. One thing I learned was that before he even put any foundation onto his face, he began dabbing on little dots of red lipstick onto his jaw line. I wasn't sure what this was for at first until he claimed that although he had shaven, you would still be able to see that greenish shadow from the stubs of facial hair. He said the red would be able to cancel out the green. That was a pretty interesting fact to learn!
Right now James is putting on his outfit in which we put together. He's also going to attach a hair piece for the final touch.
After he comes out, the rest of us will finish up getting ready, doing our make-up and get ready to go see the drag show. Of course we will be taking a cab over there and back. Why? Because you shouldn't really take "Drag" onto the train... another reason why we are associating this documentary with the NoH8 Campaign.
November 30, 2009
Wow, Last night was awesome! As we left the building I took some footage of our group walking the street and hopping into the cab. In the cab I interviewed them with a few simple questions on how they feel walking in female couture.
Inside the club, the show started and the drags began coming out, imitating extravagant performances of different stars. One was imitating Erykah Badu, one did Rihanna's song Russian Roulette, one did Britney Spears and there were many more. It's a wide variety of music that is performed.
Overall it was a great night and I was highly satisfied with the footage I got for the documentary. I wanted to show that there in fact can be an artistic angle to female impersonation and that is entertainment!
Now all thats left to do is to edit all the footage into one movie, adding background music and wording on the screen. My next day off is Thursday so I will be going over after school to create the final product!
December 3, 2009
It's late, im tired, it's been a long day, but I feel a need to blog about how today went. My sister and I went to James house after school. I figured it wouldn't take more than three hours to edit, but when we got started, it seemed like it would take longer.
I began uploading all the videos onto moviemaker in the order I wanted them to play. Then I layed out the plan for the entire documentary and I started to feel that the finished product was going to come out as good as I expected. However, it just so happens that today was Miguel and James' anniversary so they were planning on going out later in the night. So after we layed everything out and discussed how every part should go, we decided that i'd leave them with my camera so he can finish editing the documentary and e-mail it to me by sunday night. I can't wait to see the final product!
December 4, 2009
James text me today saying that I should send him another question that he can discuss in front of his web cam because he didn't see too much cohesiveness between the footage and the topic about the campaign at the end. So I gave him a few options on what he can discuss to make it work. So far he hasn't wrote me back.
December 5, 2009
It's Saturday now. For some reason I still have not heard from my cousin. Im hoping he's planning on surprising me tomorrow with the final product having used his own finishing touches...
December 6, 2009
... It's Sunday night, I just finished working a 13 hour shift at work today and still, James has not responded to any of my texts. I was wondering if maybe he felt like I was making him do it for me or if he got lazy or discouraged and doesn't want to tell me that he's not into it anymore...
So this morning I texted him; "Hey James, I hope the documenary is coming along nicely. I feel bad that you're pretty much having to do it for me since im not there but remember... Santa Clause is coming soon!!! Let me know of anything you want because you are really doing me a big favor."
He never responded. In the middle of the day, I was getting a little nervous about it so I told my sister and she recommended I try to reach Miguel. Then I text Miguel; "Hey you it's Lili, tell your man I hit him up! Im getting a little nervous about the project. If he's getting lazy tell him i'm going to reward him!!! Santa Clause style!!!"
I figured if I can sound a little goofy and offer an incentive, I wouldn't come off as too demanding or as if i'm using him. After all my plan was to edit it with him. The only reason why I left it for him to finish it was because it was their anniversary and they were going out.
Even so, still no response from either of them.
I must admit, im pretty upset and angered about this but at the same time i'm taking it pretty well. I think i'm still a little bit in denial that he would actually do such a thing. I'm shocked that my own cousin would disappear on me a few days before my project/final is due knowing that it can affect my grade! I haven't done anything for him to act this way either.
At this point i'm at a loss for words. I don't know what to say!
December 8, 2009
Today is Tuesday. I am scheduled to present tomorrow. It looks as if i'm going to have to go with plan B which was my original idea of using the PSA with a powerpoint to go with it. Can you say BORING?! But hey, it's better than nothing right?! I am going to make it to school an hour early tomorrow to put together a quick last minute powerpoint presentation. Let's see how that goes.
December 9, 2009
I presented first this morning. Before I began I felt the need to explain my "what-had-happened" story with the documentary I had been working on all along. It hit me even more today that my cousin left me hanging like that. Would have never expected that in a million years... nor deserve that!
The PPT was not so bad and the PSA wasn't horrible either. I just know that the documentary I had spent three weeks worth of days off working on would have been 10x cooler!!! UGH
At this point nothing I can say or feel is going to get the final product of the documentary in my hands soooo on that note.... this is the end.
Below is the link to my PSA on YouTube.com... here it goes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWP-PztE8OY
Monday, November 9, 2009
Boundaries
The main physical boundary that defines me as a person is my skin. My skin, just like everyone else, is the one physical boundary that I cannot get out of. There is no escaping of your skin. Outside of my skin, I have a layer of body moisturizer. This penetrates my skin and enables it to be soft, supple and flexible to continue with my daily tasks. Most mornings I wear a layer of make-up on my face. First I apply a layer of foundation, at times some concealer, then powder to set it, bronzer, blush, eye shadow, eye liner, and mascara. Yes, I know what you are thinking, I am indeed a make-up whore! On my hair I sometimes have a layer(s) of hair serum or gel and perhaps a layer of perfume along my neck and shoulders.
I live in an apartment with my family. I spend a third of my time there, a third of my time at school and another third at my job in Bloomingdales 59th Street. These boundaries keep me from wandering the streets with nothing to do and they also keep me from the cold in the winter. Speaking of Winter, boundaries that also protect me from the cold are my layers of clothing. On an everyday basis, I wear at least a t-shirt, blouse or dress and shorts, jeans or pants. I don't really think it's neccessary to discuss what goes under it! In the winter, i use more layers that are heavier such as sweaters, coats and sneakers or boots.
I spend a lot of my free time sitting behind a computer as I am right now. I am able to connect with the world at my fingertips without escaping any boundaries. My cell phone is another boundary since I can speak or text through it but like a computer, i am still only behind it.
I live in an apartment with my family. I spend a third of my time there, a third of my time at school and another third at my job in Bloomingdales 59th Street. These boundaries keep me from wandering the streets with nothing to do and they also keep me from the cold in the winter. Speaking of Winter, boundaries that also protect me from the cold are my layers of clothing. On an everyday basis, I wear at least a t-shirt, blouse or dress and shorts, jeans or pants. I don't really think it's neccessary to discuss what goes under it! In the winter, i use more layers that are heavier such as sweaters, coats and sneakers or boots.
I spend a lot of my free time sitting behind a computer as I am right now. I am able to connect with the world at my fingertips without escaping any boundaries. My cell phone is another boundary since I can speak or text through it but like a computer, i am still only behind it.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Fate
I think that my life is determined by a special, individual fate! In life, you go through many ups and downs but in certain cases along the way, things will occur that work in your favor. This is what I call fate.
I am a firm believer in the "everything happens for a reason," idea. When one door closes, another one opens. In this case, when that happens, it was simply meant to be. If it worked out in your favor, then it was fate. I believe fate has put certain things in my path that even if it didn't last long long there, it was meant to be there for the learning experience.
In the Matrix film, no one has control of their life. Everything that goes on is predestined. The oracle in the movie even tells Neo that she would offer him to have a seat but she already knew he wouldn't take it. Nothing in the Matrix world is based on free will. Simply, their lives are determined by an individual fate (programmed impulses to the brain).
Schick explains that, "fatalists, as they are called, believe that certain things are bound to happen no matter what anyone does." (Irwin, 91) He then continues with, "An oracle prophesied that Oedipus would kill his father and marry his mother. To avoid such horrible fate, Oedipus left the city where he grew up, but ended up doing exactly what the oracle had predicted." (Irwin, 91) This shows that no matter how you go about your daily situations, the end result will always be what was predestined in your fate.
Sometimes people will think that they will do something different, something in their own freedom and free will. What they don't know is that whatever results from what they did was bound to happen however they did it.
I am a firm believer in the "everything happens for a reason," idea. When one door closes, another one opens. In this case, when that happens, it was simply meant to be. If it worked out in your favor, then it was fate. I believe fate has put certain things in my path that even if it didn't last long long there, it was meant to be there for the learning experience.
In the Matrix film, no one has control of their life. Everything that goes on is predestined. The oracle in the movie even tells Neo that she would offer him to have a seat but she already knew he wouldn't take it. Nothing in the Matrix world is based on free will. Simply, their lives are determined by an individual fate (programmed impulses to the brain).
Schick explains that, "fatalists, as they are called, believe that certain things are bound to happen no matter what anyone does." (Irwin, 91) He then continues with, "An oracle prophesied that Oedipus would kill his father and marry his mother. To avoid such horrible fate, Oedipus left the city where he grew up, but ended up doing exactly what the oracle had predicted." (Irwin, 91) This shows that no matter how you go about your daily situations, the end result will always be what was predestined in your fate.
Sometimes people will think that they will do something different, something in their own freedom and free will. What they don't know is that whatever results from what they did was bound to happen however they did it.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Research Reflection
When I first had to come up with an idea for my reseach topic, I chose Bob Marley because I knew a lot about him and I figured I could write a good paper on him. At first I wasn't planning on starting my research early, however I did start early because the class had mini assignments due every week in class on the mid-term paper. Because of that, I first wrote out an outline and a draft of my powerpoint. Then I made up an "Ugly Draft" which consisted of cut-and-pastes of reseach that related to each section of my outline.
Little by little i was able to work with my "ugly draft" and write my own words about in what ways did Bob Marley affect the media. During the final week, I came up with a claim for my paper as it was a required assignment. Being that I had to work the entire final week I had to write the paper, I wasn't able to accomplish much each day. Finally the weekend came and I had Sunday off. I decided to go to school to finish it. The Library opened at 12pm. I sat there finishing up my paper til about 4:30 pm. I finally saved it and uploaded it. It was such a relief when I finally finished it.
While assembling my powerpoint, I used some of the evidence I used in my paper and attached it to a related picture. I also used information I had already known and pictures of merchandise I knew of.
If I had a do-over, I would have tried to time myself better. I think I tried my best with the time I had, however I think it could have been better if I had extra time. On a scale of 1-10 I would you rate my effort as a 7. On a scale of 1-10 I think I would rate the final product as an 8.5.
Little by little i was able to work with my "ugly draft" and write my own words about in what ways did Bob Marley affect the media. During the final week, I came up with a claim for my paper as it was a required assignment. Being that I had to work the entire final week I had to write the paper, I wasn't able to accomplish much each day. Finally the weekend came and I had Sunday off. I decided to go to school to finish it. The Library opened at 12pm. I sat there finishing up my paper til about 4:30 pm. I finally saved it and uploaded it. It was such a relief when I finally finished it.
While assembling my powerpoint, I used some of the evidence I used in my paper and attached it to a related picture. I also used information I had already known and pictures of merchandise I knew of.
If I had a do-over, I would have tried to time myself better. I think I tried my best with the time I had, however I think it could have been better if I had extra time. On a scale of 1-10 I would you rate my effort as a 7. On a scale of 1-10 I think I would rate the final product as an 8.5.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Truman
I believe that in life we need to go about our daily routines not knowing what is to come in the future. In fact, I think the future shall be and stay unpredictable. That idea also includes no one else knowing what is to come in your future; except of course for God being that I am religious. I believe that God knows the main points that are in your life’s plan however he gives you the gift of free will and allows you to make it to each point on your own. I think Christof slightly portrays similarities to God however they differ in other ways as well.
In the Truman Show, Christof, the director of a television network is using Truman’s life to put out a show for the sake of his career. I must admit I sympathize for Truman because I feel he was being exposed and watched as if he were a museum exhibit. I found it amusing that in the movie they make it seem possible for this to even be done. It was also shocking to me that not only does every single person in Seahaven watch the Truman show but they also act in it when Truman comes around. Christof, coincidently having “Christ” in his name, watches Truman’s every move in a white house high up somewhere. At the end when Truman gets the idea that he is being exhibited on a show, he finds Christof. Just before Truman enters his home, Christof speaks to him through what appears to be the sky. Christof watches Truman just like God watches us however he cannot tell what is in Truman’s future.
If I was in Truman’s position, I would rather go live in a place where I am promised I would have nothing to fear. Personally, being watched by everyone on television from birth freaks me out. Wouldn’t that freak you out too? To me leaving Seahaven to live in a place where I have nothing to fear means living in a place where no one is watching me, nonetheless on a television program to benefit someone else’s pocket.
The Truman Show reminds me of The Matrix because Truman and the people of the Matrix world both live in worlds that they most likely don’t want to be a part of. In other words, they are living immorally under someone else’s examination.
In the Truman Show, Christof, the director of a television network is using Truman’s life to put out a show for the sake of his career. I must admit I sympathize for Truman because I feel he was being exposed and watched as if he were a museum exhibit. I found it amusing that in the movie they make it seem possible for this to even be done. It was also shocking to me that not only does every single person in Seahaven watch the Truman show but they also act in it when Truman comes around. Christof, coincidently having “Christ” in his name, watches Truman’s every move in a white house high up somewhere. At the end when Truman gets the idea that he is being exhibited on a show, he finds Christof. Just before Truman enters his home, Christof speaks to him through what appears to be the sky. Christof watches Truman just like God watches us however he cannot tell what is in Truman’s future.
If I was in Truman’s position, I would rather go live in a place where I am promised I would have nothing to fear. Personally, being watched by everyone on television from birth freaks me out. Wouldn’t that freak you out too? To me leaving Seahaven to live in a place where I have nothing to fear means living in a place where no one is watching me, nonetheless on a television program to benefit someone else’s pocket.
The Truman Show reminds me of The Matrix because Truman and the people of the Matrix world both live in worlds that they most likely don’t want to be a part of. In other words, they are living immorally under someone else’s examination.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Fate Freedom and Foreknowledge
I believe that my life is determined by a special individual fate! I feel that in the end, things will end up the way they were supposed to end up all along. In certain situation, things may just work out in your favor. I think it is all predestined. I call that fate.
I am a firm believer of the “everything happens for a reason” idea. I think that sometimes things happen in life that was just meant to happen. Even if it wasn’t the best experience, fate put it in your path for the learning experience. There have been times where I have been caught in situations where I would not want to be in, but in the end I come out a better person. To me I feel it was in my fate all along to help make me who I am.
In the Matrix movie, the oracle knows everything that will happen. The oracle tells Neo that she would offer him a seat but she already knows that he will not take it. This shows that the people of the Matrix world do not have free will. Everything people do or say in the Matrix world is already predestined. This is all due to their determined individual fate.
Schick explains that, “Fatalists, as they are called, believe that certain things are bound to happen no matter what anyone does. Take the case of Oedipus, for example. An oracle prophesied that Oedipus would kill his father and marry his mother. To avoid such horrible fate, Oedipus left the city where he grew up, but ended up doing exactly what the oracle had predicted.” This shows that no matter how you go about your life situations, in the end, they will always turn out the way it was planned in your fate.
I am a firm believer of the “everything happens for a reason” idea. I think that sometimes things happen in life that was just meant to happen. Even if it wasn’t the best experience, fate put it in your path for the learning experience. There have been times where I have been caught in situations where I would not want to be in, but in the end I come out a better person. To me I feel it was in my fate all along to help make me who I am.
In the Matrix movie, the oracle knows everything that will happen. The oracle tells Neo that she would offer him a seat but she already knows that he will not take it. This shows that the people of the Matrix world do not have free will. Everything people do or say in the Matrix world is already predestined. This is all due to their determined individual fate.
Schick explains that, “Fatalists, as they are called, believe that certain things are bound to happen no matter what anyone does. Take the case of Oedipus, for example. An oracle prophesied that Oedipus would kill his father and marry his mother. To avoid such horrible fate, Oedipus left the city where he grew up, but ended up doing exactly what the oracle had predicted.” This shows that no matter how you go about your life situations, in the end, they will always turn out the way it was planned in your fate.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Source and Ontology
To me the term ontology means the study of the way things are supposed to be and how they are. I never really knew what this word meant until I read a line in the Matrix and philosophy that said, “The second way to distinguish between the categories of real and unreal has to do with their respective ontological status- put plainly, the way things exist.” (Irwin, 61). In other words, Sanford and Gracia use the term ontology to express how things just are. Dictionary.com states that ontology means: “the branch of metaphysics that studies the nature of existence or being as such.” All together, my understanding of this word is the science behind every living source.
Source on the other hand to me does not mean HOW things are but WHERE they came from. For example when writing a research paper you would need to gather information first in order to write your paper. Then you would list the sources in which you got your facts from and that means where they came from. Dictionary.com says, “Source: any thing or place from which something comes, arises, or is obtained.” In the Matrix and philosophy, Gracia and Sanford state, “The two ways of distinguishing between the real and unreal world- the sources for each and their ontological status- clarify the distinction between the two categories of the Matrix.” I agree with Gracia and Sanford’s idea of the source because I believe everything has a source. However I do not agree on the fact that you can distinguish between real and unreal using ontological status because if it’s unreal then it wouldn’t have ontological staus.
Source on the other hand to me does not mean HOW things are but WHERE they came from. For example when writing a research paper you would need to gather information first in order to write your paper. Then you would list the sources in which you got your facts from and that means where they came from. Dictionary.com says, “Source: any thing or place from which something comes, arises, or is obtained.” In the Matrix and philosophy, Gracia and Sanford state, “The two ways of distinguishing between the real and unreal world- the sources for each and their ontological status- clarify the distinction between the two categories of the Matrix.” I agree with Gracia and Sanford’s idea of the source because I believe everything has a source. However I do not agree on the fact that you can distinguish between real and unreal using ontological status because if it’s unreal then it wouldn’t have ontological staus.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Does the Matrix Possibility Even Make Sense?
In The Matrix and Philosophy, page 36, David Mitsuo Nixon discusses if The Matrix can even make sense. After reading his prompt, I agree that in order to have a false belief you must have true beliefs first. In other words, in order to know something is not real, you first must know what is real. Then you can judge what is not. At first I could not see where he was going with it but he quickly cleared up his point with a conversation example between him and Cletus. Cletus states that bears are scary. Nixon asks if it’s because they are so big or because they are furry. Cletus then replies that he was not aware that they were big or furry. At the end of their conversation Cletus concludes that he doesn’t even know what bears look like. Apparently Cletus must have heard from word of mouth that bears are scary, believed it and repeated it. Nixon says “We can’t really make sense of the idea of a person whose beliefs are all or almost all false.” I realize now that what he is trying to say is that Cletus could not have had a false belief that bears are scary without knowing what a bear looks like and what it means to feel scared.
My response to this prompt is that in the Matrix, people are simply living in a false world. They do not know that what they believe is part of a false reality. Whatever they do believe however, is real to them. Referring back to his prompt on page 28, “Do We Really Know Anything” Nixon states, “Notice that the Matrix possibility does not say that I am in the Matrix right now. It just says that it is possible that I am in the Matrix right now.” I feel that this line contradicts the movie because the people living in the Matrix, other than Neo, Morpheus, Trinity and the agents are not aware that where they live is a false world. In conclusion, I agree with his prompt on ‘Does the Matrix Possibility Even Make Sense?” However, I cannot seem to find the connection he tried to make with the Matrix world natives and what they do and do not know!
My response to this prompt is that in the Matrix, people are simply living in a false world. They do not know that what they believe is part of a false reality. Whatever they do believe however, is real to them. Referring back to his prompt on page 28, “Do We Really Know Anything” Nixon states, “Notice that the Matrix possibility does not say that I am in the Matrix right now. It just says that it is possible that I am in the Matrix right now.” I feel that this line contradicts the movie because the people living in the Matrix, other than Neo, Morpheus, Trinity and the agents are not aware that where they live is a false world. In conclusion, I agree with his prompt on ‘Does the Matrix Possibility Even Make Sense?” However, I cannot seem to find the connection he tried to make with the Matrix world natives and what they do and do not know!
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
The Matrix???
I must admit that when I first saw The Matrix I wasn’t able to grasp the concept of the plot. It was a little bit confusing to me mainly because I was not sure what was Morpheus and Neo’s specific purpose in what they were doing. I then began to understand that they were the “good guys,” the protagonists, trying to save everyone from a false world and that the antagonists were the agents. Even though I eventually realized what everyone’s objective was, I still felt as if there was some other idea beyond that in which I was not grasping.
After a class discussion, I started to get the idea of religious issues being portrayed in The Matrix. It began to make a little more sense to me because it was as if each character in the Matrix was portrayed as a religious figure. Neo was chosen by Morpheus like Jesus was chosen by God to spread a word. That was his specific purpose.
The Allegory of the Cave also helped me understand the theme in the movie because Socrates was on a mission save the enslaved from the cave. At first I didn’t know what the cave had to do with the Matrix but now I see the connection.
I am beginning to grasp some of the concepts of The Matrix but I think I should watch the movie again now and see how I interpret it.
After a class discussion, I started to get the idea of religious issues being portrayed in The Matrix. It began to make a little more sense to me because it was as if each character in the Matrix was portrayed as a religious figure. Neo was chosen by Morpheus like Jesus was chosen by God to spread a word. That was his specific purpose.
The Allegory of the Cave also helped me understand the theme in the movie because Socrates was on a mission save the enslaved from the cave. At first I didn’t know what the cave had to do with the Matrix but now I see the connection.
I am beginning to grasp some of the concepts of The Matrix but I think I should watch the movie again now and see how I interpret it.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
The Allegory of the Cave
I feel as if I am in the Socrates cave. I am still very young, living at home with my family. It is what I am accustomed to my whole life so I don’t exactly have a problem with it. However, at times I look forward to my bright future so much that I am already striving to get out.
I am a hard-working college student as well as a hard worker at my job outside of school. I am making money to give my parents a little break supporting me financially. Especially since education is so expensive. I also have a dedication to my cave and I respect the rules given to me in it. Although this is my home that I am chained to and I love, it still however feels to me like I have a long way to go until I escape this cave of sleepless nights and time-consumed days.
I know that somewhere in the end it will pay off. That is when I will see the sun light. Perhaps then I’d really experience the fresh air and enjoy it considering I have earned it, on my own, but with the support of my parents in this cave. Once I am released from this cave, I will still respect the way I started out in here. After all, the reason I’d have grown to be the person I will be that day is because of my life in the cave.
I am a hard-working college student as well as a hard worker at my job outside of school. I am making money to give my parents a little break supporting me financially. Especially since education is so expensive. I also have a dedication to my cave and I respect the rules given to me in it. Although this is my home that I am chained to and I love, it still however feels to me like I have a long way to go until I escape this cave of sleepless nights and time-consumed days.
I know that somewhere in the end it will pay off. That is when I will see the sun light. Perhaps then I’d really experience the fresh air and enjoy it considering I have earned it, on my own, but with the support of my parents in this cave. Once I am released from this cave, I will still respect the way I started out in here. After all, the reason I’d have grown to be the person I will be that day is because of my life in the cave.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
About Me
Hi, my name is Liana Melendez. I am an Aquarius born on January 23, 1990. I was raised in Queens, New York my entire life. I am Dominican and Puerto Rican. I work as a cosmetic and fragrance freelancer at Bloomingdale's 59th Street. I am a Liberal Arts: Social Science and Humanities student at LaGuardia Community College. I would love to transfer to Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania one day to study abroad all over the world. At this point, I am not 100% sure on exactly what I want to do in the future but I sure am working on finding it. Aside from that, I am very easy to talk to and a compassionate being at that. I love puppies and babies. I also love the beach, make up and tans. I like to exercise. I'm at the gym four to five days per week. I absolutely adore bananas! I just recently became a frequent coffee drinker. Cannot really think of anything else to say about myself at the moment but there is a lot more where that came from and if you have any questions all you have to do is ask =)
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