Shamu

“No aquarium, no tank in a marine land, however spacious it may be, can’t begin to duplicate the conditions of the sea. And no dolphin who inhabits one of those aquariums or one of those marine lands can be considered normal”.  - Jaques Cousteau

Growing up in Orlando Florida I was lucky enough to go Disney World, Universal, and Seaworld all the time. I even had annual passes to most of these parks. Most kids loved Disney but my favorite was always Seaworld. All of elementary school I aspired to be a Seaworld trainer and swim with Shamu. One time I was even lucky enough to get to pet and play with one of the killer whales after a show. As I got older my love for animals just infinitely grew. Not until a recent trip to Seaworld did I ever question the conditions that these animals were living in.  My view on parks such as SeaWorld has drastically changed.            

WDCS reports that there are many differences in captive orcas and wild orcas. Wild Orcas live to an average life of 35 years but can live up to 60 while females can live to be 90 years. While in captivity most do not survive over the age of 20. Their life in a shallow concrete tank is completely different compared to the lives they would live in the wild. In the wild orcas can dive up to 60 meters but the largest tank is only 20.7 meters deep. Out of the 136 orcas caught in the wild 123 of them have already died.I will never forget how awesome it was that I got to interact with a killer whale and even play fetch with her. Although I am extremely lucky for that experience, I never considered how unnatural our interaction was.

To Have and To Hold

It seems like all of my friends at school are getting engaged. It seems that the south puts pressure on people to get married are at really young age. I started thinking about why men don't have to wear engagement rings and began to challenge the traditional wedding. Engagement rings are traditionally given to women to symbolize commitment, devotion, and love. Historically engagement rings represented a portion of a bride’s dowry and represented social status. Traditionally men are supposed to spend 3 months pay on a ring and propose to the woman. Today, the newest trend is men wearing engagement rings. I originally liked the concept of this. Why should women be the only ones to show everyone that they are unavailable? If an engagement ring represents commitment and devotion why should the woman be the only one wearing a ring? I don’t want my fiancé getting hit on at the bar or whenever he goes out. Shouldn’t he have to wear one if I have to? The more I thought about it, the more I don’t like the idea of men having engagement rings. I like the tradition of a man asking for your hand in marriage and proposing with an engagement ring. 

Today women have more power and it is more common for a woman to propose to her boyfriend. Some jewelry companies are even starting to manufacture engagement rings for men. I am not against the concept of men wearing engagement rings but I would never expect my fiancé to wear one. In a video on Madame Noire TV, women were asked if they would propose to a man. There were many different responses. One woman said, “ If he can’t afford a ring he can’t afford anything else or to be married”, while another woman said, “ I would definitely propose.” If women want to propose, more power to her.  I think women in today’s society have the power to take the relationship in the direction that they want. If a man is taking too long to propose, why should a woman wait for him to make up his mind and wait for him? I personally wouldn’t want to marry someone who wasn’t ready to propose.

ENFJ

Last week I participated in a fellow New College student's project that required us to take the Myers-Brigg Type Indicator test. The Myers-Brigg test reveals your personality type and preferences in four separate categories. The four categories key areas that combine to form the basis of a person's personality are:

• Where you focus your attention- Extraversion (E) or Introversion (I)
• The way you take in information- Sensing (S) or Intuition ( N)
• The way you make decisions- Thinking (T) or Feeling (F)
• How you deal with the outer world- Judging (J) or Perceiving (P)

Before we were given our test results we were given a presentation explaining each of these categories. We then had to circle where we felt we fell on a scale. I categorized myself as an ENFJ. This means that I am an extrovert, intuitive, feeler, and I judge instead of perceive. As an ENFJ I am described as:

• warm, compassionate, and supportive
• highly attuned to others; their empathy enables them to quickly understand emotional needs, motivations, and concerns
• likely to value harmony and cooperation; tend to look for the best in others
• curious about new ideas and stimulated by possibilities for contributing to the good of humanity

 When I was given my test results later it revealed that I was spot on even to the degree of what I thought I was. I was fascinated by these results. It shows that I understand myself and the strengths of my personality. This was an awesome experience and I strongly recommend that everyone takes this test. Below are my papers from the test... The one of the left is the paper where I guessed what I was and on the right is the results from the computer.

Southern Comfort

I recently watched the Sundance winning documentary "Southern Comfort". It documents the final years of Robert Eads life, a female to male transsexual in rural Georgia. Eads is dying of ovarian cancer and has been refused help because he is a transsexual. The end of the documentary ends with a quote from another character " What a carious thing to be so uptight about. Nature delights in diversity. Why don't human beings?" This really moved me and I started thinking why aren't we accepting of people who are different or have different beliefs or lifestyles? I think people are comfortable with tradition and familiarity. Religion has defined our culture, even if you're not religious. Western culture is dominated by Christianity and their values. There is simplicity and security to the system of masculinity and femininity because there is a program already set out for you. I recommend this documentary to everyone because it will open up your eyes to the challenges others have to go through to be true to themselves.

Dress Up

Costume parties are one of my favorite events to attend because I have the opportunity to create my own costume. The pictures above are from previous parties where I was Cindy Lou Who, Buddy the Elf, and Veronica Corningstone. I made my Buddy the Elf costume. I went to Joann Fabrics and purchased the felt, fur, dye, and a pattern to make the costume. I used a children's robe pattern and then sewed together the pieces to create the top. I then used glitter paint to put the detailing around the trim of the collar. I then glued the fur around the neck and cuffs. To make the hat I used a party hat and wrapped felt around it and then put yellow ribbon around the top. I couldn't find yellow tights so I can to dye white tights yellow. Unfortunately, I didn't use gloves so my hands turned yellow and I looked like I had jaundice. It took over 3 days to complete but my Buddy the Elf costume is still my favorite costume I have worn!

Intertextuality

My cultural text is the movie Elf starring Will Ferrell. 


Four Horizontal Intertextual Connections:

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Movie ( 1998)- Genre: Film

Rudolph is one of the most recognized Christmas characters. He is different and made fun of because by the other reindeer because he has a red shiny nose. Just like Rudolf, Buddy in Elf is different than his peers and is an outcast trying to prove himself.

How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)- Genre: Film

The Grinch in How the Grinch Stole Christmas can be compared to Buddy the Elf’s biological human dad, Walter Hobbs. The Grinch and Walter are anti-Christmas and holiday cheer. By the end of both movies, both the Grinch and Walter Hobbs overjoyed with holiday spirit.

The Santa Clause ( 1994)- Genre: Film

Much of plots from Elf take place in the North Pole, which looks similar to the North Pole in The Santa Clause.

Home Alone (1990)- Genre: Film

Both Buddy the Elf and Kevin from Home Alone are lost in New York City trying to find their families. Along their journeys they make new friends and find themselves along the way.

Four Vertical Intertextual Connections:

The North Pole- Genre: Geography

Many of the scenes in Elf take place in the North Pole at Santa’s Workshop. They are influenced by the mythology and traditions of Christmas. The North Pole is home to Santa, Mrs. Clause, their reindeer, and elves who work in Santa’s workshop. 

 

Christmas Carols- Genre: Music

Christmas carols originated in 4^th century Rome but became secular Christmas songs in the late 18^th century. Christmas carols are sung and played throughout Elf to create holiday spirit.

 

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens- Genre: Literature- The struggle of Ebenezer Scrooge to believe and find true Christmas spirit is similar to the movie Elf. Scrooge’s character development is reminiscent of Buddy’s father Walter Hobbs. They both dislike Christmas but in the end they find the true meaning of Christmas. 

 

New York City- Genre: Geography

New York City represents the contrast between Christmas tradition and post modern disbelief in Santa Clause. It also reveals changing of Christmas from a religious holiday to a commercialized holiday.

Two Signifiers:

Santa’s Sleigh- In Elf, Buddy is chosen to help work on Santa’s sleigh. Santa’s sleigh cannot fly without people believing that Santa exists. Santa’s sleigh is symbolic of Christmas spirit.

Santa Clause- In the movie Elf, Santa represents the innocence and childhood beliefs of Christmas. Santa is symbolic of the people who believe in him and who don’t.

Two Public Tertiary Texts:

“ I can’t say enough good things about this movie! I’ve seen it twice, and I laughed as hard the second time as I did the first! I consider this to be the perfect holiday present for the whole family! So, you'd better watch out and you'd better not cry! And in keeping with the holiday spirit, I’m gonna tell you why! Give yourself "the gift of 'Elf'" for Christmas and discover the simple pleasure of believing in the spirit of Christmas!”- Holly McClure

http://www.crosswalk.com/culture/movies/features/elf-movie-review-1229822.html

“Funny and intelligently made, a film for kids and adults that's both sweet and sardonic.”-

Mick LaSalle San Francisco Chronicle - http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/elf/

 

Moral Myopia vs. Moral Muteness

The sport industry has become a huge part of the entertainment industry because it is filled with drama and scandals. There have been many controversies that have rocked the sport industry like the OJ Simpson murder trial, Tiger Wood’s many affairs, and the Michael Vick dog fighting ring. From the outside it appears that the industry handles these situations with moral myopia because everyone frowns upon the actions of these athletes. In reality everyone wants their team to win and seems to be extremely forgiving causing moral muteness. For example, Michael Vick led a dog fighting ring, failed a drug test while on bail, and served 21 months in jail. After his release he signed with the Eagles and is making millions. Did we forget what he did or just forgive him because we want to see him play? It infuriates me that he can kill hundreds of animals for fun and then we are going to support his behavior by allowing him back in the league. I understand that everyone deserves a second chance but when does it cross the line?