Chocolat

I've watched the film Chocolat for the presentation. Honestly, I was expecting the film to be full of symbols and hidden messages about complex social problems. In other words, I was expecting the film to be boring. Surprisingly, the fim was wonderful. I really enjoyed watching it. The only thing that I regret is that I ate A LOT of chocolate while watching it. The film was full of scenes where you see people eating chocolate and you see their happy faces and an unstoppable hunger awakens in your soul. Eating chocolate becomes the purpose of your life. And until you feel that sweet taste of chocolate in your mouth, watching the film is a torture. So, I have a suggestion to people who's thinking of watching this film: Buy some chocolate first, you'll need it. And If you are on a diet, just don't watch the film. It's not worth torturing yourself.

Men are powerful, women are weak

If we are talking about physical power, this statement is true. I think this is why men have been considered to be the "superior gender" for the last 10.000 years. After the neolithic revolution (after mankind established villages and city-states) most of the cultures became patriarchal. This is because men were better farmers and warriors. Physical power was very important in these times. But now, in the modern world, things have changed: physical power is worthless. Machines do the hard work in the farms and we make wars with guns; it doesn't matter who pushes the trigger, a man, a woman or even a child. But cultures change slowly over centuries. In my opinion, old cultures are the reasons of the inequalities between man and woman.

Being a Man

In the previous weeks, we have read many articles and stories about gender issues. Apparently, being a man means having a gun and a muscular body. So, according to the modern culture, I am not a real man! Sexism is still a serious issue in the 21st century. The society expects men to be strong and protective while the women are expected to be weak. This is just wrong.
In history, these expectations were considered natural because men are superior to women in regards to physical power and since physical power was very important in pre-modern times, it is totally normal that our cultures are patriarchal. But we are living in a modern world now and our old traditions and cultures need to change.

Good Morning Vietnam!

2 weeks ago, I've watched a film named "Good Morning Vietnam". It was about a radio reporter in Vietnam. While I was watching the film, I've noticed something. Robin Williams is awesome. I mean he is one of the best actors in the history of cinema. The director was good, the scenario wasn't bad either but the thing that made the film a classic is Robin Williams. Other than the awesomeness of Robin Williams, I've noticed that there are some similarities between Vietnamese culture and Islanmic culture. In both cultures, men and women are not equal. A woman in Vietnam is not allowed to have any kind of relationship with a man who is not a member of her family; just like in today's Iran. I jave emphasized the similarities in the mini presentation and I think that the similarity between two cultures that are thousands of miles away from each other, is very interesting.

Being a Reporter

In the previous weeks, we have read a story named "And of Clay are we Created" by Isabelle Allende. It was about an extra-ordinarily brave reporter. While reading the story I found myself thinking about the life of a reporter: Not organized and full of action. I admired the reporter's life for a second. Then I realized: I can't even get up at 8:30 to go to a lesson at 8:40. There is NO way I'm getting out of bed to go to a disaster zone. I don't have the courage, nor the enthusiasm. Even though a reporter's life may seem admirable, it's definitely not for me. Moreover, that reporter spent DAYS trying to save a girl's life...

I'm happy watching the news in my warm house, sitting on a comfortable sofa and drinking my coffee. Going out there is not for me.

Is TV a drug?

In my opinion, no. We have read the article named "Cultural Power of an Anti-Television Metaphor" written by Jason Mittell. In his article, he explains the effects of this metaphor: "TV is like a drug." He emphasizes that this metaphor is very effective. The word "drug" scares people, especially the white middle class in USA. Even though TV IS addictive, I think that it is non-sense to compare it to drugs like heroin. Watching TV has it's ups and downs, it can be addictive but it can also be informative. On the other hand, drugs are extremely dangerous. As a conclusion, I believe that it is not logical to compare a TV addict with a drug addict.

The Enormous Radio and Reality TV

We have read the short story named "The Enormous Radio" written by John Cheever and the article named "Reality TV:Dearth of Talent&Death of Morality" written by Salman Rushdie. I believe that "The Enormous Radio" and the concept of "Reality TV" are closely related to each other. In the story, Irene, the protagonist, spends majority of her free time listening to the radio. She can hear the voices of her neighbours via the radio. Irene is curious about other people's lives. The radio in the short story violates other people's privacy, just like the Reality TV Shows. And nowadays, there are some many people that are curious about other people's lives,
just like Irene. I believe that both the short story and the article emphasizes the dangers of Reality TV shows. By reading the assignments of Eng101 class, I became aware of the Reality TV issue, which is a serious problem in the modern world.