In 1982, the black and white keys of the piano inspired a Paul McCartney to compose a song of the harmony that the both of them bring together. However, like music not everyone has an understanding or like for a particular song or genre. Trying to bridge the melody together, the motion picture Guess Who’s coming to Dinner focuses on the inter-racial relationships and their barriers. The movie does an excellent job of isolating the racial factor as the only disagreeable reason why anyone could object to a relationship.
Doctor John Wade Prentice is the perfect gentleman. He is a well-educated physician and humanitarian. He is an established member of the medical field and is a loving family man who has had the misfortune of losing his wife and child in an accident. However, being an African American in love with a Caucasian woman poses problems that arise between the family and society.
This film is based in the late 1960’s and opens with Dr. Prentice and Joanna Drayton arriving together at the San Francisco Airport from a vacation spent in Hawaii where the two unsuspected couple found love. Leaving the airport in the back of a taxi cab, the couple share a loving and embracing kiss while the driver views them with confusion. The question often arises, “Is everything alright?” upon introducing Dr. Prentice with employees of Mrs. Christina Drayton and her husband Matt Drayton because nobody would suspect Joanna Drayton of having a relationship with a Negro. Tillie, a black servant of the Drayton’s additionally accuses John Prentice of fooling around and being a “Black Power Nigger.”
The parents of John and Joanna are pleased to hear that their children have found love until they discover that their partner is not of the same race. Not wanting to cause emotional harm to Joey, Dr. Prentice confronts Mr. Drayton and tells him that without his approval, he will refuse to marry his daughter. Matt Drayton takes time to think about the couple and a scene in the movie suggest that something new can be good such as when Matt tries Fresh Oregon Boysenberry ice cream for the first time.
Essentially, inter-racial relationships aren’t such a big deal today as they were 40 years ago. Maybe part of the credit is owed to writer William Rose and director Stanley Kramer who helped revolutionize relationships through the media by opening the prejudicial eyes of their ignorance, worries, and fears. Therefore, like the beautiful music black with black keys make and white keys with white keys, it is not unusual to hear or see the melody of black and white keys together.
Friday, July 4, 2008
Consuming Music
Audio is a part of the senses. It stimulates receptors in the ears that the listener most likely finds enjoyable. I prefer to make any listening experience as enjoyable as possible. This is because I believe in order to consume the most out of the experience, it is necessary to bring as many senses together as possible. Therefore, I tend to purchase equipment that will give the greatest reproduction of sounds with the highest fidelity and also the best video reproducing equipment to complement the sound or vise versa. I find music is best complemented with a visual such as a screen saver or a movie, such as a music video. For example, while playing music on Windows Media Player, the screensaver moves in the background in sync with the music for added effects and a music video will add additional entertainment to the song by adding to the story the song is telling. The sense of touch can also be stimulated with music. For example, a large powerful subwoofer will cause the floors to rumble and rattle the walls with its deep bass stimulating this sense. Additionally, games such as Guitar Hero get the consumer involved interactively by not only stimulating the ears, eyes, and hands, but the mind as well to develop skill and coordination. Ultimately I try to build a concert; because I believe a concert is the way music was meant to be listened to…LIVE!
Friday, June 27, 2008
NK Disarming
I am interested to see how far North Korea plans to go with its plans of nuclear disarmament. So far it looks like the North Koreans are ready to surrender its nuclear their program and have destroyed a nuclear cooling tower in Yongbyon. President Bush has already stated that he will remove North Korea from the terrorist list and lift sanctions.
This is great news! I always felt that we should have attacked North Korea instead of Iraq. North Korea told us flat out that they had weapons of mass destruction, but yet we invaded Iraq for suspicion of possession??? Kim Jong Il, Dictator of North Korea even went as far as to attempt to launch a potentially loaded ICBM over the US on July 4, 2006. Fortunately, the missile failed, otherwise we could have had some real fireworks!
But how could someone so evil, suddenly have a change of heart? Could it be that he has finally realized that humanity is more important that power? Whatever the reason, I just hope it’s sincere. Although it may be very rare, I believe that bad people can change, and when they do change it is one of the most beautiful things. I look forward to seeing a North Korea with a better economy for its people. Ironically, it could be the very same hand that destroyed them with excessive military spending to the hand that feeds them with federal aid.
This is great news! I always felt that we should have attacked North Korea instead of Iraq. North Korea told us flat out that they had weapons of mass destruction, but yet we invaded Iraq for suspicion of possession??? Kim Jong Il, Dictator of North Korea even went as far as to attempt to launch a potentially loaded ICBM over the US on July 4, 2006. Fortunately, the missile failed, otherwise we could have had some real fireworks!
But how could someone so evil, suddenly have a change of heart? Could it be that he has finally realized that humanity is more important that power? Whatever the reason, I just hope it’s sincere. Although it may be very rare, I believe that bad people can change, and when they do change it is one of the most beautiful things. I look forward to seeing a North Korea with a better economy for its people. Ironically, it could be the very same hand that destroyed them with excessive military spending to the hand that feeds them with federal aid.
What's Tim Thinking?
Tim Robbins keynote speech at the National Broadcasters Association this year was directed towards the power and potential of the broadcasters and its use. It was a plea to ask broadcasters to empower the “weak” and to help unify the nation. In another speech, Mr. Robbins criticizes the president for bombing Afghanistan and forming community watch for suspicious activity as a consequence of 9-11. I believe that by following Mr. Robbins advice would just shift extremes. Media would still fail to balance out. For example, the Canadian sitcom Little Mosque on the Prairie perhaps sends the message that Tim is looking for. The show displays the lives peaceful lives of the Islamic people and the prejudices they have to deal with everyday but it fails to show the radical side of Islam. Take a look at this article that I found written by a Muslim from Saudi Arabia (perhaps in the US). While I am pretty sure that most Muslims in the United States like Americans or have neutral feelings it is pretty obvious that there are nations overseas full of Muslims that hate us because of our support to Israel and other reasons. Broadcasts and media have a duty to show us what is going on in the world. We can not close our eyes or look the other way and pretend that we are living in Disneyland’s Small World. Being realistic, I believe that there are just too many people in the world, too many religions, and too many cultures to be understood by all of the different opinions in the world to achieve world peace. In my opinion, Tim Robbins is naïve and asking us to be naive with his hopes that Americans would have came together after 9-11 by fighting the war on terroism by sending a message that says we are stronger because we and our communities rebuild! And while I believe that Bush’s attack on Iraq was wrong I believe that we had every right to invade Afghanistan. Metaphorically speaking, had the 9-11 attacks been a slap to your cheek, would you turn you face and give the perpetrator your other cheek?.....I didn’t think so.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Water for Elephants
The New York Times best seller, Water for Elephants exhibits a separation between upper and lower social classes. Author Sara Gruen shows us though the life of Jacob Jankowski that this separation has been around since the Great Depression era and still exists in present times.
When Jacobs was young, he saw and experienced first hand the challenges that were present within the different social classes. It all started while Jacob was attending Cornell University and was called into the dean’s office. Jacob felt worried that he might be expelled by the higher authorities due to the illegal alcohol and his pornography collection he kept in his dorm room. Unfortunately, things were much worse and soon Jacob found himself face to face with a relentless esquire who repossessed the home. Finding himself at the bottom of the social classes and no longer identifying himself with other students, Jacob runs away only to find himself now as a member of the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth.
The Benzini Brothers Circus in comparison to other circuses is a very low class form of entertainment. They are always comparing themselves to others, especially the Ringling Brothers. For example, Big Bertha has better dinning services with waiters and Ringling has a better act overall with several elephants. The Benzini Brothers pick up the leftovers from other failed circuses. In fact, Ringmaster, Uncle Al acquired the circus in this manner. The shows are exaggerated. For example, the fat women isn’t as heavy as what she’s marketed to weigh and the show has fake freaks such as a horse who has his head protruding from his rear side. The circus is also financially in a lower class. At times they don’t have enough money to pay the crew and they throw members from their train when they no longer have use for them or can’t pay them. Finally, at a certain point Jacob express just how low the circus is when he says that he lied and has never heard of the Benzini Brothers. He also makes it a point to say that Ringling was “great” as making a comparison.
The separation of social classes is much more visible within the circus. There is a clear distinction between the workers and the performers. At meal time there is segregation between the two. Each are assigned their own table and it is forbidden for workers and performers to sit together. The performers are regarded as “kinkers” to the working class and the workers are known as “roustabouts” to the performers. The dining tables of the performers are dressed while the tables of the workers are bare. Also, the performers have much more luxurious train cars which is noted when the doctor changes expression as he travels from the shiny luxurious cars at the tail of train to the battered cars of the workers at towards the front of the train. Moreover, their sleeping conditions are also different. The performers sleep on beds such as when Jacob approached August’s bed with intentions to kill him, and workers like Jacob sleep on horse blanket with mildew. The working class is also at the mercy of Uncle Al. When more performers were acquired from Fox Brothers, he rationed two of the workers cars for the new performers. Additionally, when funds are low, the workers are the first who do not get paid. This resulted in Jacob paying a doctor with his father’s pocket watch for Camel’s bill. Camel was also lucky to see Marlena’s doctor because workers don’t get medical attention; they just get “redlighted.” The workers are also the ones to get blamed and punished if anything goes wrong. For example, before it was discovered that Rosie was the lemonade thief, the workers were fined for being suspects. Finally, Kinko triggers an incident that causes Jacob to become fed-up with the social classing when Kinko uses the work “kike.” Jacob then points out that performers pick on the workers, workers pick on the Polish, and the Polish pick on the Jews.
There is also a separation of social classes outside of the circus. The doctor that treats Camel for Jake Leg is disgusted by the workers. He won’t let his knees touch the ground when examining Camel, makes reference that Camel is an alcoholic, talks to Jacob as if he’s stupid, and wipes his hands thoroughly after the examination. Bums are also looked down upon as one of Blackie’s duties is to remove them from the train. Walter (a.k.a Kinko) was also not fit to live among the class of his mother. Being a dwarf, he was unfit for farm work, thus sold to the circus. When Jacob is finding his way back to the menagerie from the raid at the warehouse and his first kiss with Marlena, he stumbles across a “hobo jungle.” Jacob feels the homeless individuals starring at him with hostility due to the suit that he’s wearing. However Jacob realized that the suit is the only thing that separates them from being the same class. Marlena came from a certain class of family where her marriage was to be arranged. By marrying August a Jew, she lowered her class standing and was disowned by her parents. Marlena and Jacob also encounter problems together when trying to find a room for Marlena after August’s and Jacob’s fight. Marlena is denied a room because the clerk thinks she and Jacob are fornicating until he finds out that she is part of The Most Spectacular Show on Earth. Blacks are also portrayed in the book to be from a lower class. There is an image of a black boy shining shoes in the town after Jacob’s embarrassing moment with Barbara and Nell. Also, while blacks set up the banners to the circus, whites prepare the lemonade for the customers.
After the disaster at the circus, Jacob finds himself slipping into a higher social status. He finishes his exams at Cornell and marries Marlena. They had three children and found work with Ringling. When Rosie was too old, Jacob luckily found a job at Brookfield Zoo and was able to afford an automobile, and a ranch for Marlena’s horses.
In present times, Jacob Jankowski has moved back down the social ladder and has been sentenced by his children to live his final years in a nursing home. Here he is treated much like a caged animal by sometimes being isolated for disciplinary correction. Jacob also states that he is “poked and prodded like a piece of meat,” and that he is a “Jell-O eating sheep” when he is sedated. He has a hard time with locomotion and is on the verge of senility. He is given a special diet and is sometimes treated to a little extra treats from Rosemary such as cream and fruits; just like Rosie was given alcohol once and a while. He is visited sometimes from his children who are there only to serve a duty and are often anxious to leave. In the nursing home, Rosemary is very much loving and caring to him. There is also a “horse faced” nurse that has an August attitude which denies Jacob his walker and Dr. Rashid who is much like Uncle Al, calling the shots.
In the end, Jacob escapes the nursing home to watch the final acts of the circus. Along the way he encounters a woman who almost foils his outing and the ticket boy who won’t let him in without admission all in part to his social classification. However, Jacob meets Charlie O’Brien who allows him to find refuge in the Circus, where he can find a sense of belonging and identification.
Throughout the years very little has changed. The presence of social classes separates and segregates the community as we know it. Mostly it’s in terms of money. We see wealthy neighborhoods and slums like the “hobo jungle” and workers for the same corporation get different benefits depending on what position they are. For example, a retail employee for Sprint will get 3 holidays a year whereas a business representative will get 7 days a year. There will always be somebody on the top delegating the work and making the decisions. Ultimately, if we are not the ringmaster, then we are just the rubes.
When Jacobs was young, he saw and experienced first hand the challenges that were present within the different social classes. It all started while Jacob was attending Cornell University and was called into the dean’s office. Jacob felt worried that he might be expelled by the higher authorities due to the illegal alcohol and his pornography collection he kept in his dorm room. Unfortunately, things were much worse and soon Jacob found himself face to face with a relentless esquire who repossessed the home. Finding himself at the bottom of the social classes and no longer identifying himself with other students, Jacob runs away only to find himself now as a member of the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth.
The Benzini Brothers Circus in comparison to other circuses is a very low class form of entertainment. They are always comparing themselves to others, especially the Ringling Brothers. For example, Big Bertha has better dinning services with waiters and Ringling has a better act overall with several elephants. The Benzini Brothers pick up the leftovers from other failed circuses. In fact, Ringmaster, Uncle Al acquired the circus in this manner. The shows are exaggerated. For example, the fat women isn’t as heavy as what she’s marketed to weigh and the show has fake freaks such as a horse who has his head protruding from his rear side. The circus is also financially in a lower class. At times they don’t have enough money to pay the crew and they throw members from their train when they no longer have use for them or can’t pay them. Finally, at a certain point Jacob express just how low the circus is when he says that he lied and has never heard of the Benzini Brothers. He also makes it a point to say that Ringling was “great” as making a comparison.
The separation of social classes is much more visible within the circus. There is a clear distinction between the workers and the performers. At meal time there is segregation between the two. Each are assigned their own table and it is forbidden for workers and performers to sit together. The performers are regarded as “kinkers” to the working class and the workers are known as “roustabouts” to the performers. The dining tables of the performers are dressed while the tables of the workers are bare. Also, the performers have much more luxurious train cars which is noted when the doctor changes expression as he travels from the shiny luxurious cars at the tail of train to the battered cars of the workers at towards the front of the train. Moreover, their sleeping conditions are also different. The performers sleep on beds such as when Jacob approached August’s bed with intentions to kill him, and workers like Jacob sleep on horse blanket with mildew. The working class is also at the mercy of Uncle Al. When more performers were acquired from Fox Brothers, he rationed two of the workers cars for the new performers. Additionally, when funds are low, the workers are the first who do not get paid. This resulted in Jacob paying a doctor with his father’s pocket watch for Camel’s bill. Camel was also lucky to see Marlena’s doctor because workers don’t get medical attention; they just get “redlighted.” The workers are also the ones to get blamed and punished if anything goes wrong. For example, before it was discovered that Rosie was the lemonade thief, the workers were fined for being suspects. Finally, Kinko triggers an incident that causes Jacob to become fed-up with the social classing when Kinko uses the work “kike.” Jacob then points out that performers pick on the workers, workers pick on the Polish, and the Polish pick on the Jews.
There is also a separation of social classes outside of the circus. The doctor that treats Camel for Jake Leg is disgusted by the workers. He won’t let his knees touch the ground when examining Camel, makes reference that Camel is an alcoholic, talks to Jacob as if he’s stupid, and wipes his hands thoroughly after the examination. Bums are also looked down upon as one of Blackie’s duties is to remove them from the train. Walter (a.k.a Kinko) was also not fit to live among the class of his mother. Being a dwarf, he was unfit for farm work, thus sold to the circus. When Jacob is finding his way back to the menagerie from the raid at the warehouse and his first kiss with Marlena, he stumbles across a “hobo jungle.” Jacob feels the homeless individuals starring at him with hostility due to the suit that he’s wearing. However Jacob realized that the suit is the only thing that separates them from being the same class. Marlena came from a certain class of family where her marriage was to be arranged. By marrying August a Jew, she lowered her class standing and was disowned by her parents. Marlena and Jacob also encounter problems together when trying to find a room for Marlena after August’s and Jacob’s fight. Marlena is denied a room because the clerk thinks she and Jacob are fornicating until he finds out that she is part of The Most Spectacular Show on Earth. Blacks are also portrayed in the book to be from a lower class. There is an image of a black boy shining shoes in the town after Jacob’s embarrassing moment with Barbara and Nell. Also, while blacks set up the banners to the circus, whites prepare the lemonade for the customers.
After the disaster at the circus, Jacob finds himself slipping into a higher social status. He finishes his exams at Cornell and marries Marlena. They had three children and found work with Ringling. When Rosie was too old, Jacob luckily found a job at Brookfield Zoo and was able to afford an automobile, and a ranch for Marlena’s horses.
In present times, Jacob Jankowski has moved back down the social ladder and has been sentenced by his children to live his final years in a nursing home. Here he is treated much like a caged animal by sometimes being isolated for disciplinary correction. Jacob also states that he is “poked and prodded like a piece of meat,” and that he is a “Jell-O eating sheep” when he is sedated. He has a hard time with locomotion and is on the verge of senility. He is given a special diet and is sometimes treated to a little extra treats from Rosemary such as cream and fruits; just like Rosie was given alcohol once and a while. He is visited sometimes from his children who are there only to serve a duty and are often anxious to leave. In the nursing home, Rosemary is very much loving and caring to him. There is also a “horse faced” nurse that has an August attitude which denies Jacob his walker and Dr. Rashid who is much like Uncle Al, calling the shots.
In the end, Jacob escapes the nursing home to watch the final acts of the circus. Along the way he encounters a woman who almost foils his outing and the ticket boy who won’t let him in without admission all in part to his social classification. However, Jacob meets Charlie O’Brien who allows him to find refuge in the Circus, where he can find a sense of belonging and identification.
Throughout the years very little has changed. The presence of social classes separates and segregates the community as we know it. Mostly it’s in terms of money. We see wealthy neighborhoods and slums like the “hobo jungle” and workers for the same corporation get different benefits depending on what position they are. For example, a retail employee for Sprint will get 3 holidays a year whereas a business representative will get 7 days a year. There will always be somebody on the top delegating the work and making the decisions. Ultimately, if we are not the ringmaster, then we are just the rubes.
Friday, June 20, 2008
I'm Sold!
After watching a PBS report titled The Persuaders, I took the time to evaluate myself as a consumer. I thought about some recent purchases I made and carefully asked myself, “What motivated me to buy this particular product.” Focusing on a pair of Maui Jim sunglasses that I bought, I realize that I bought them for their technology. Their lens is composed of several layers that block UV rays, polarize the light, resist scratching, filter light, enhance colors, and are saltwater safe and distortion free. I may sound like I am plugging the company; I might be, but maybe that’s because Maui Jim is one of my “Lovemarks.” When I think about it, I have never purchased another set of sunglasses other than Maui Jim. I wouldn’t say that I’m crazy obsessed with the company and would travel to Hawaii just to visit the manufacture, but I would continue to buy them just as long as I believed they were the highest quality for the value. With that stated, I have looked at other sunglasses and have given them a fair chance, but the others just don’t seem to compare. It just might be the way they market them. They tend to focus more on the fashion and the style rather than the functional quality of the lens. Companies like Prada, Polo Ralph Lauren, and Versace do this all the time. This technique will never work for me. I would feel like I’m buying an over-priced piece of plastic. If the marketers want to deliver me to the companies, they will need to approach me from the technical aspect of the product.
Banned Books?
Please pardon my ignorance. It was recently revealed to me that some books could, and have been banned! The website, Controversial & Banned Books lists numerous publications that were banned and to my surprise, some authors are also banned! This is an outrage! This type of action from the governing bodies, communities, libraries, and organizations, show just how ignorant our people are today. I believe that this serves as a way to silence others and violates our freedom of speech.
Banning is not the answer! Education is the answer. Most people who support the banning of books do so based on what others have said, not because they have read it themselves. If a book is too much to handle for a group of people, maybe a book rating system should be put in place, such as the ratings on movies and video games. I would advise the rating to be broken down such like the ratings on cable television which tell us why the film received the rate it did. For example, a movie may get an R for nudity, alcohol use, blood, etc. For radical groups such as radical Christians, I would also recommend that the rating also include that include some type religious notice which informs the reader that he/she may be offended if the book contains anti-God content.
Ultimately, I believe nobody should have their creative work flushed down the toilet. If you don’t like something, don’t read it. But just don’t deprive others or the authors of their own likes, opinions, and curiosities.
Banning is not the answer! Education is the answer. Most people who support the banning of books do so based on what others have said, not because they have read it themselves. If a book is too much to handle for a group of people, maybe a book rating system should be put in place, such as the ratings on movies and video games. I would advise the rating to be broken down such like the ratings on cable television which tell us why the film received the rate it did. For example, a movie may get an R for nudity, alcohol use, blood, etc. For radical groups such as radical Christians, I would also recommend that the rating also include that include some type religious notice which informs the reader that he/she may be offended if the book contains anti-God content.
Ultimately, I believe nobody should have their creative work flushed down the toilet. If you don’t like something, don’t read it. But just don’t deprive others or the authors of their own likes, opinions, and curiosities.
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