February 19, 2008

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. This is true. I have seen my share of couples where one person in the relationship is very pretty and the other is....less pretty. But they love each other and no one can change what they see or feel for the other person. Our society today makes us feel ugly. In the United States, a "beautiful" woman is supposed to be 5'10, 100 lbs. and gorgeous without makeup. Why did we let things get this bad? Models are starving themselves to stay thin so they won't be considered "ugly." "Ugly" in American eyes is normal in mine. You need to have a little fat on you to be healthy and REAL. If you don't properly groom yourself with the right haircut, clothes, makeup, etc. you can't be "pretty" in America. It's really sad how our image has changed from the past. In Europe throughout the renaissance, women with big hips (for childbearing) were considered beautiful and paintings are still on display of them. Women in general were beautiful and worshipped almost because of their beauty. Now it's hard to even get attention unless you look like Adrianna Lima (sp?). We have tried to change things over the years, but let's face it: things are still the same.

Feb 13

Does geographical position determine how a country will develop? Yes. In the example of countries that live on a coast, their economy will thrive on aspects of water (fishing, trading, etc). If a community lives in a busy, high-profile area, the country will develop to that standard. I thought it was interesting when Dr. Wachanga showed us the two different views of Africa. The first one was of tourists exploring the african savannah with the animals and beauty of the land. The second view was of the starving children and the tragedy of the continent. I have grown up seeing both of these views when hearing or learning about Africa. Stereotypes exist for every community and country, and there are probably more than one view for each as well. I found it very amusing that there are africans who will come to the U.S. and attend African festivals, dressed a certain way and doing certain "african" dances for entertainment. It really is just for show and it has nothing to do with the culture in Africa. The map of Africa is very hazy...with all the many different regions and tribes and communities and countries...it gets very confusing...I found it interesting that in Kenya/Tanzania, the people say they are going to "London" when going to Kenya and "Germany" when going to Tanzania....just because those were the people that took over each territory. It's funny that the reporter who did the story on the "barefoot" monks made it a point to say they were barefoot, when that is part of their culture... I would love to see a story from one of them saying that we were all walking on campus with our shoes on. When it comes to criticizing documentaries, voice is power. We use celebrities to get to the public, which is understandable but also really sad. I hate how much we idolize celebrities and think that because they use a product, it must be better. Why can't my neighbor say a product is good and we trust her judgment? Cameras do lie...everyone has their point of view and there is not way to not be biased when filming anything..whether you try to be or not.

Feb 4, 2008

In class we watched the very entertaining movie, "The Gods Must Be Crazy." I found it highly enjoyable and want to make everyone I know watch it. I thought it was brilliant to point out that the bushman's life was way more simple and peaceful before the coke bottle fell. It caused anger and weird emotions in his family and that is exactly what is wrong with society today. We are too high-tech and complicated and we are suffering because of it.

Now, to address Dr. Wachanga's questions:

When I think of African Documentary film, I automatically think of a documentary set in Africa. This doesn't have to the be the case, it could have similarities to Africa but not be filmed there I guess. Africans belong to Africa as a genre, but like we saw in the movie last week, there were other people involved. When African Documentary film is brought up, it is common to just think of a documentary set in Africa and about Africa.

I think even if it is produced by a non-African but is still set in Africa and about Africa, it is still considered an African documentary. If an African produces a film about a non-African society it shouldn't be an African documentary because it's not about Africa in any way. I think that it does not matter who produces, directs or narrates a movie--if it is about Africa, it's African...if not, it's not.