Tuesday, December 12, 2006
"Some say I like to live in constant crisis, but I think I just actually give a shit."
After watching this movie, I think I've finally figured out why our world's problems just can't go mainstream - just like how I think Common never should have gone mainstream with that fuckin Gap commercial (hahaha damn that's another story!). Just to give my own brief synopsis, this movie is about the diamond trade and two African men (played by DiCaprio & Hounsou) that pursue their own respective agendas as they both make their paths back to a hidden diamond that Hounsou's character placed near diamond fields when he was caught by the Sierra Leone's Revolutionary United Front (R.U.F.). Along the way, they meet a reporter played by Jennifer Connelly who aid both of these characters by providing them with the tools to achieve their itineraries. Oversimplified, yet there's more here. This movie ultimately brings the problematic process of the diamond trade into visibility (which is already problematic in itself, right?) and also heightens visibility of child soldiers, racism amongst white-skinned Africans and dark-skinned Africans, the U.N. involvement (or lack thereof) and guerrilla groups. I'm all for bringing about awareness but I just feel uneasy and very critical about every shape or form media that attempts to do so. But then how hell are we gunna know things? Well, that's what I have yet to figure out. But my super ultimate problem as to why the mainstream doesn't have the capacity to digest or even react to issues is because an omg-let's-do-something-about-it attitude is quickly is deterred. With what? With statements like "OMG Leo DiCaprio could have done a better job with that accent" and "The ending was pretty cool." Wow, moviegoers.. we are so hung up on our celebrities that we can't even give a shit about what's real outside of our U.S. bubble and our movie theaters.
The Gap commercial is next.
x_magsalita.
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
A real newsfeed.
A 2-month-old baby girl drunk on vodka, four times the legal limit. How did this happen? Nancy Grace investigates. Tune in Sunday at 8 p.m. ET on Headline News.
I can't just watch t.v. anymore.
More importantly, it's unfortunate that almost every time I sit down to watch t.v., an act usually done for leisure and relaxation, I get riled up and vexed at the portrayals of select middle class stories that posit entertainment as headlines for the conservative, upper-class, white folks that CNN serves up. I'm tired of hearing middle-class white women speak up to blame rather than aid their fellow women and be given talkshows for daring to do so. Let's really try to see where we're coming from. Did this "story" really require an entire Sunday night segment? Did we really have to hear Nancy Grace argue with professional doctors, drug & alcohol experts, and the parents of the baby girl? What does the visibility of this "story" really mean? Damn... and if it's not Nancy Grace then it's Paula Zahn.
And on to other news (in an attempt to compensate for the mile-high pile of words and commentary that I've neglected to unleash):
Wii have a problem. In fact, wiihaveaproblem.com This site's existence make me laugh harder than the amp'd mobile commercial featuring E-40's "U and Dat Booty" song and the Asian/American guy in it. Being the sister of a once-hardcore gamer who idolized and made me tape The Wizard, the cousin of a now-PC games freak and after playing the role of the ex-gf who has generously paid the Nexus bill a couple of times, I can say that I've been around the gaming block for a while now. Excuse my generalizations, but I've put in enough hours to know a couple things 'bout how to play the game, how to master the game and how to pwn the game. I've spoken with a couple of wannabe-engineers that place video game production and all of its social manifestations on a pedastal and we've concluded that if you're gunna use excessive physical force to "swing", "hit" and "push" shit around to play a video game, then it's almost equally (perhaps more) beneficial to just HIT THE GYM instead. Playing a virtual sport as opposed to playing it foreal? What the hell is going on?! I'm not tryna rip on the Wii and its faithful fans, but
I just don't get the hype. Yet, I do understand tryna flip the price of a PS3, though, to turn a pretty penny into a couple of Benjamins. Chyeah so check that damage toll when you get the chance.
Remember my Model Minority Status entry? Well, here's a seemingly legit version of the article I commented on. What does this picture (to the right) show?
1. 1 white guy outta hella Asian students.
2. "Wow, no one goes to class except the Asians."
3. "Hah, must be a math class."
What does this picture (to the right) really show? Talk about looking for something and straight up finding it. This picture just portrays a small section of an entire lecture hall and just so happens to focus on an area with Asian-identified people. Read the article, it's ample food for thought. We need to take a look at the institutions in play rather than the propositions that are not.
Because I'm not all words all the time:
Because you showed that you woulddo anything for your family. R.I.P. James Kim.
x_magsalita.
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