Pop Culture Journal: Insanity

I was an avid watcher of American Horror Story last season, never missed an episode.  You can imagine my disappointment when I found out the new season did not include all of the same cast.  But according to a review by Chris Conaton it is for the better. Conaton thought that American Horror Story was cliche but fascinating at the same time.  The first season was based in a haunted house and showed the effects it had on the family that had moved in there.  The second season American Horror Story Asylum has brought the insanity to a whole new level.  It still includes a couple of the original cast members, but the new members set the story for a whole new plot of events.  Asylum includes even more cliche horror aspects by including aliens this time and not just ghosts and killers.  I was a little weary about watching the new season because it did not continue with last seasons storyline.  But Conaton made it sound interesting and exciting, I also feel caught up after reading his review.  I will definitely be tuning in tonight.

http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/164455-american-horror-story-asylum-the-insanity-is-back/

Lit by the Mood

Sophia Coppola's film Marie Antoinette has fantastic visuals and excellent costuming.  The mood and visual art is so entrancing and exciting from the very beginning of the film, I was hooked instantly.  I could not get over the beautiful gowns that all the women wore.  Everything was so historically accurate and brightly colored how could I not be enthralled?  The story line may have been a bit hard to follow, except for the few comedic reliefs, but everything else was fascinating.

I thought it was brilliant how Coppola chose to use such visual aspects to tell the story.  When everyone was happy and partying the colors were bright and everywhere.  The rooms seemed to be lit in every corner. Even the clothes were eccentric and excitingly colored. But in the scene where we nonchalantly find out the youngest of Marie Antoinette's (Kirstin Dunst) children dies, the room is dark and so are the colors.  You almost cannot tell what is going on.  The clothing of course went from magnificent colors to black and dark depressing colors.  Essentially from here on out the movie is in a dark state, because of all the hatred and revolution beginning to happen. 

Journal #2: Grease Is The Word

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At about the age of six, when I first saw the movie, Grease, I have been hooked.  Everything about this movie is exciting to me.  The quiet new girl in town, falling in love with the most popular bad boy in school.  Having a secret love affair, and then being ignored by him once his friends found out.  True life.  The era in which girls wore only ankle length dresses and it was out of the norm to wear pants.  How wonderful life would be to not wear pants! Not to mention that they broke out into song to help express how they felt.  I have a deep obsession for musicals.

I was so obsessed with this movie that when I found out that Olivia Newton-John & John Travoltas' names weren't actually Sandy and Danny I thought my life was over. It was tragic, even worse when I found out that  they weren't actually together or married.  As I watch this movie now I can sing every song, repeat almost every line, and now I understand all the sexual innuendos.  I can't believe my parents would let me watch such a dirty movie, good thing I didn't understand at the time.  As the movie gets older, in my opinion the movie will never get old.  I suppose that is why it is by far my favorite movie of all time.

It's Just a Game

In David Maraniss's article "Winning Actually isn't the Only Thing," published by The Washington Post, he discusses how upset he was with the absurd call made by the replacement referees in the Packer vs. Seattle game on September 24th.  He couldn't sleep because of it, and it took him 12 hours to calm down and realize how foolish he was being over a game.  He started to ask himself some questions such as; "Would I have reacted the same way if the Packers had been ahead by enough points that the call would have not mattered?" or "What if the Packers had won on a last play through the beneficence of incompetent officials?" He then went on to talk about how hypocritical he found Roger Goodell.  He also talked about his love for Russell Wilson when he played for the Wisconsin Badgers but now found it to be a different story when Wilson was so different in his interview after his win against the Packers.  Maraniss finally concluded that it is just a game the score will be what it is and cannot be changed and winning isn't the only thing.

I agree with Maraniss, winning isn't the only thing.  But it is just a game and I wouldn't get into all the details and rules because I just like to watch it.  I could care less who won the game. It is just a game.  It is not affecting my daily life.  I am more concerned as to if I am going to wake up tomorrow morning or if today will be the last time I tell my loved ones that I love them.  Surely it is nice to win and not have the feeling of being defeated.  But is it that big of deal for a fan to be so aggravated that they are bitter towards the people they come into contact with.  I like how Maraniss asked himself if he would be as upset if the tables were turned and the Packers had won at the Seahawks expense.  Overall I think Maraniss wrote a great article that would be very affective in calming some irrationally irate fans down a notch.  Even if some don't want to hear it.  We all know how stubborn Packer fans can be.

Believing Game Part B

I am not perfect, skinny, or stuck-up.  I do not party like there is no tomorrow, heck, I don’t even drink.  I have never once been involved in a half-naked pillow fight, or even a pillow fight for that matter.  I don’t have the best grades nor have I ever even contemplated sleeping with a professor to do so (um gross!)  I have sold baked goods to help raise money for Anorexia Nervosa and other Associated Disorders, and Cystic Fibrosis.  I have made some of the most important and lifelong relationships with my sisters.  I am a proud member of Delta Phi Epsilon, a sorority that breaks the media portrayed “stereotypical” stigma. 

Believing Game Part A

All sorority girls are the same. They are skinny, blonde, perfect, stuck-up, party-girls who slut around their college campus and act better than everyone else. They have half-naked pillow fights every weekend and sleep with their male professors to get good grades. They bounce back and forth between fraternities and hold bake sales to fund their keggers. They go against every moral I stand for and that is why I will never join a sorority.

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