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Visual Literacy
The misconception of selflessness sometimes comes from the lack of ability for self-love due to unpleasant circumstances. In the song Prayer of the Refugee by Rise Against, the band speaks out for all the immigrants and refugees that flee to the United States in hopes of a better life and the harsh reality they face. "Before we packed our bags, and left all this behind us in the dust. We had a place that we could call home, and a life no one could touch...We are the angry and the desperate, the hungry, and the cold. We are the ones who kept quiet, and always did what we were told." (Rise Against). Immigrant and Refugee parents are always viewed as selfless and praised for the sacrifices they make in order to better the lives of their children; however people often overlook that this "selflessness" is something they chose to do; they are forced into a life of constant work just to provide for their family, if they hadn't chose this path, the only other path left for them would be death. The music video is presented with constant crosscuts of the band singing in a store called the All American Home Center, and close ups of people, even children of color working in sweatshops and at converter belts; a direct contrast of the goods provided at the store, clean, and organized, to the dirty, tired and overworked laborers. Showing the part of society people usually overlook and ignore, they know that it exists, but no one wants to think about it enough to step out and make a difference.  Toward the end of the video, the pan shot shows the band smashing the merchandises sold at the store in to pieces in slow motion, a deep focus shot of the broken pieces falling off the once organized shelves; he pieces eventually spell out the words "FAIR TRADE" at the end of the video. This scene suggests that the lowest parts of society are the building blocks of the country, without them, the country would just crumble to pieces; emphasizing the importance of the fair treatment to the very people that are building what keeps the country running for everyone. The stereotype of the selfless immigrant is only a delusion created by the consumers of the products to help ease their conscious, refugees and immigrants crave a better life and they have no choice but to live and work through horrible conditions to achieve their dreams.

Ceremony
Some people try to justify the fear of death because the fear of being labeled as a coward is much greater, some people would rather die. In the novel Ceremony by Leslie Silko, when Harley was beaten and tortured to death by Emo, Tayo had the choice to fight for Harley which would result in absolute death or flee the scene.  “The screwdriver was slippery in his hands. It nauseated him to see Harley’s body jerky and twitching in the sagging barbed wire, with hands and knives so greedy for human flesh.” (Silko 252). Tayo knew that if he had tried to stand up and fight for Harley as well as himself, he would die. His fear of death was justified by not giving into evil and ending the cycle of the evil that exists within; although the human nature of his actions were to preserve his own life. The concept of cowardice has existed for as long as the concept of courage has, it is look down upon and people fear to be known as a coward more than they fear death. "The American history of cowardice starts in the French and Indian War with a preacher saying, 'These French and Indians are killing our countrymen, and you people in Virginia are too cowardly to do anything about it.' His sermon, “The Curse of Cowardice,” got a bunch of people to join a company, and they marched on Fort Duquesne [in modern Pittsburgh] and the French scurried. But the British authorities did not think much of the colonial soldiers and thought them cowardly come the 1770s, when the colonists start to rebel." (Walsh). This fear of being a coward has caused much unnecessary deaths and violence throughout the course of history; people didn't fight and die at battle because they were patriotic and cared for their country more than themselves, they fought to protect their name against cowardice. Today, the view of cowardice is shifting, changing from a forbidden label to a human trait people don't like to admit to.  "Much of the book is about how the term has become less applicable to war, because we know more about human psychology, and we rightly attribute failures in battle to things like post-traumatic stress disorder. The world would be a better place if some people worried less about being cowardly."(Walsh). Walsh explains that "the word and the idea behind it are essential to promoting ethical behavior." While in an ideal world, courage is always better and cowardice; however the ideal world does not exist. The world is a place where humans with human emotions exist, these emotions driven people to behave in ways they otherwise wouldn't. Courage sometimes isn't a term for bravery, but simply a term for the fear of cowardice.

Seven Pounds
Sometimes self-sacrifice must be made in order to achieve self-forgiveness. In 7 Pounds by director Gabriele Muccino, this concept is presented beautifully and tragically. Film has always been an outlet for pain but also a place of comfort and healing. "Idea of seeing ourselves in the art we watch and we make." (Seven Views on Seven Pounds).  Muccino explains the founding idea of art in it's purest form,  the power to heal oneself and the ones who recognize it. Will Smith's character Tim Thomas commits suicide in order to give his heart, literally, to his love interest in the film, Emily. The scene is a series of crosscuts, jumping from current time and flashbacks to the car accident Tim caused that killed his fiancee and six other people, showing the audience that he isn't really dying here, that he died with his fiancee in the crash, his soul is dead. For his body to be left alive he is left to suffer and live only in the pain and blame of the death of seven people. The accident is presented with cut-in cut-away shots, showing the chaotic close ups of the accident emphasizing the disarray of the crash for the people involved in contrast to the longer shot showing the crash from a distance in slow motion in an almost peaceful way, suggesting the grasp of death slowly but surely approaching the people involved. The suicide scene itself holds the same contrast of life and death, chaos and peace. Tim is surrounded by the color blue, a color of death yet calmness, an ariel shot shows him laying in the tub in an God's eye view, ready to meet his fate of death. He pulls the bucket holding the boxed jellyfish in to the tub, the underwater close up shot of the jellyfish is elegant, peaceful, yet deadly. Tim seizes and grabs on to the shower curtains and begins to kick and groan in pain as soon as the jellyfish wraps itself around his right wrist, the same hand that he was texting with in which cause the car crash, indicating once again his fate to meet death in order to be at peace with the pain he caused. To give out his organs and lose his own life to help others, he is helping himself in that he is able to forgive himself and be free from the suffering and guilt that would otherwise stay with him forever.

Culture and Communication
People criticize or praise to reenforce and build their own belief systems. Thanks to the internet, people are able to voice out their opinions on a much larger and global scale. "'I think it's a great place for young people to market themselves,' she said of social networks like Instagram and Vine. 'It's also a super fast way to get your name out.'" (D'Alessio). Today is a day and age where there's so much information out that people just want to find a place for themselves in this world to belong, to feel secure, and to make a name of themselves; social media and mass communication does exactly this. Everyday people are presented with new information and project information out that may be new to some, and people won't always see eye to eye on these issues. "With millions of people on social media sites it is much easier to attract attention than traditional advertising.....I think it’s awesome that these girls at such a young age are already so social media savvy and are already branding themselves in a positive way. Besides, why is showing skin so bad? It's called fashion, people dress to express, not impress." (Anna King).  Positive comments like this one by Anna focused more on seizing the opportunities social media offers that may benefit oneself or even companies for advertise, and the art form of fashion to express one's own ideals and creativity. More negative comments however, focus mainly on the amount of skin the teen's were showing and criticism toward the generation as a whole. "It makes me sad to see such extremely provocative and overtly sexual photos of teenage girls. Especially the one who is 16. What is wrong with young girls who are so starved for attention?" (Lori Wells Mang). People crave attention by nature, humans want to be love and noticed, social media presents a whole new terrace for people to receive love and attention, some even from strangers. Older people are quicker to judge in situations like this not because they're oh-so worried about what these girls are wearing, but more about their own children raised in a society with new technology and platforms that they don't quite understand. They worry for the sake of their own daughters that they maybe overly sexualized, without realizing that nudity doesn't not equal sexuality, by viewing the way the girls dress as provocative,  the ones criticizing are the one sexualizing them. Praise or judgment, everyone has their opinions, it is what make people who they are; and by voicing out these opinions to others, people establish a view that is unique to themselves.

Empathic Civilization

Empathy comes from what one sees of the self within another. Upon reading the article and seeing the pictures of women who are victims of domestic violence in India, the viewer is not only in shock, but also feels great empathy toward these women. "What happens when a woman turns down a man’s proposal? As far as most of us know and romantic comedies go, it just really sucks for the man.
But in many parts of the world, where forced and arranged marriages are commonplace, saying 'no' either isn’t an option or comes with horrific consequences." (Ryot). The author presents this article by putting the readers in these women's shoes, comparing the situation to what the reader is familiar to, and the horrifying reality that women in India has to face; creating an increased empathic emotion to draw attention from the readers. In the Empathic Civilization, it shows how in order for one to feel empathy towards others, one must have a clear sense and value of oneself. ""Selfhood goes together with empathic development, increasing selfhood, increasing empathic development. " (Empathic Civilization). For one to be selfless, one is also apathetic. The logic behind empathy is that upon seeing the unfortunate of another, one feels the unfortunate emotions as if it happened to him or herself. Without compassion for oneself, he or her cannot show compassion for another. Empathy is built on the founding base of self-love, self-worth, and the value of life itself. "So if you think about the times that we've empathized with each other our fellow creatures it's always because we felt their struggle, we had the depth and empathy and the celebration of life. And we show solidarity with our compassion." (Empathic Civilization).  To feel is to love, whether the love is received by oneself or another, the projection of love is what keeps humans connected; and when one shows love even during times of struggle, is because they know what it is like to be without love. Empathy is about being aware that one should to do things in a certain way, because they would hope for others to do the same for them in the same situation.

video and image analysis

This music video is a constant crosscut between real life war clips and politicians speaking; to the band themselves acting in war-like scenarios. It's presented with a dirt yellow tint, emphasizing the lack of life and humanity of the world taken over by war. It begins with a satellite image, zooming in more and more down to a single car, the shot is presented as if the viewer is watching through the lense of a rifle, or a drone, watching as the target is being targeted. In one cut-in cut away shot, the lead singer can be seen dressed in full combat gear and points his weapon directly at the camera in full frontilty,  showing the viewer what it feels like to be on the other side of the gun. It then cuts to a medium shot showing the same scene from his side, instantly the intense feeling of being at gun point is no longer over whelming the viewer, displaying the general attitude of apathy towards war in the American society today.  Historical clips like Gandhi's fasting protest are Nazi's walking in uniform are cross cut and played to show contrast between the good and bad ways to push for change in society. As the video progresses, the band can be seen shooting at flying weapons, bombs, and even tanks in a whip pan. No real human opponent can be seen through out the entire video,  suggesting the real enemy is war itself, as well as the pain and destruction it brings; again emphasizing the lack of humanity of war. 

This music video begins with a cross cut between a man's side profile to a boxing ring, the sounds accompanying these cuts are short and cut-off, chaos can be heard during the boxing ring shots, while a loud, steady heart beat muffles the chaos when the shot is cut to the mans side profile. The diegesis here is that his heart is beating hard because he is preparing to fight in the ring. The video then goes back in time, flashback to 6 months ago of the same man washing dishes at a restaurant, the close up shot shows sweat beads dripping down his face, emphasizing his exhaustion, but more plates are brought to him by the owner, ignoring his body conditions completely.   The scene then shows an old man,  who is also the father of the man from the beginning of the video, sitting in a bar alone in a low key lighting shot, he is drinking but his facial expression is sad, suggesting a drinking problem. The scene then crosscuts constantly between the first man experiencing problems in his life; to running in the neighborhood and practicing boxing skills; to Eminem rapping in a dark room with bright backlighting, showing only his silhouette.  One particular scene shows an close up of his father in frontality, screaming at yelling in to the camera, creating extreme discomfort to the viewer. The diegesis here is that he is drunk and yelling at his son for not being able to support the entire family, the scene takes the viewer in the eyes of the man and presents itself to make the viewer feel despair and frustration just as the man feels.  In the scenes where he is running, the shots are filmed with a fish eye lense, creating a sense of entrapment and suffocation, symbolizing his struggle to break free from his current life to better provide for his family. The scenes of Eminem are very low key lighting, his face can't really be seen in that he wants his songs to be focused on the message he is trying to send than on himself. The flashback ends and he is ready to step in to the ring, then his father can be seen drinking at a bar in a cross cut watching his son fight on tv. At the end of the video Chantelle stands in for Sia's voices, standing a rubble of broken down buildings, where she was only presented in a tight, suffocating, low lighting frame before; emphasizing her new found freedom and confidence.

This is a close up shot from the film Shutter Island, the main character Teddy Daniels is being held by his wife, the diegesis here suggests his wife is comforting him, trying to calm him down. Eyes are the windows to one's soul, they convey and express emotions that words can't. Teddy's eyes are completely in shadow, unable to show emotion because the ones he feel are only false emotions. He is blind to the reality just as the audience is, not seeing the truth behind the story where Teddy himself is the one that murdered his family. He is unable to face this fact and therefore blinds himself from the truth, creating another reality for himself to deal with this burden. This shot is relatively well-lit, however, it is dull in color, suggesting a sense of decay and corrosion. 

This is a medium long shot from the TV series Daredevil, it is off centered as well as off balanced, suggesting an imbalance in Wilson Fisk's life. He dominates the right portion of the shot, looking at a plain white painting named Rabbit in a Snowstorm, this painting is a reminder of the darkest times of his childhood. His costume in this shot is a plain black suit, a color of dominance and control, however the painting makes him feel lonely and powerless, a direct contrast between his suit and the white painting. The low key lighting presents the shot with even more contrast, emphasizing the constant battle good vs evil with in the show.

This is a medium close up shot from the TV series Dexter, it shows Dexter as a three year old sitting in a pool of blood. He is looking into the offscreen space at a police officer who then becomes his adopted father. The audiences eyes are drawn to the light on his face as first glance, white and pure although he is surrounded by a pool of dark red blood. Red is a color of violence and evil, while white is a color of innocence and purity. Young Dexter's costume is also white,  however his hands are covered in blood, foreshadowing his fate in the future as a serial killer; his shirt is also blood stained, marking his loss of innocence forever.

Craigslist Joe and The Empathic Civilization

"Selfhood goes together with empathic development, increasing selfhood, increasing empathic development. " (Empathic Civilization)

"We have the technology that allows us to extend the central nervous system and to think viscerally as a family not just intellectually. When that earthquake hit Haiti and then Chile, but especially Haiti, within an hour the Twitters came out and within two hours some cell phone videos, YouTube; and within three hours the entire human race was in a empathic embrace coming to the aid of Haiti." (Empathic Civilization)

"So if you think about the times that we've empathized with each other our fellow creatures it's always because we felt their struggle, we had the depth and empathy and the celebration of live. And we show solidarity with our compassion." -(Empathic Civilization)

During Joe's month long journey, he received help from kind strangers from all across the country, through this kindness, he feels the need to give back and help others himself as well. In one city he organized a toy drive for needy children, as well as volunteering as a tutor. In another he helped a woman with cancer reorganize her living space.

Press pause play

"I wasn't trying to make money, I was trying to make a point." -Seth Robin

"It's not about the leaders and rules. It sounds good and thats what matters." -olafur arnalds

"It's not about better or worse. It's about different."

"Almost everybody I meet in the world of art, music, literature or creative expression, everybody is equally excited and afraid. Nobody really knows where their next pay-check is coming from, but they’re really excited about their ability to create and share their work.." -Moby“

"I personally find perfection in art and music to be really off-putting. I like listening to Billie Holiday because there’s vulnerability […] I get really intimidated and bored by perfect digital art.”- Moby

“We are on the verge of a new dark age. The creative world is destroyed. All we have is cacophony and self opinion. We have a crisis of democratized culture.”- Andrew Keen

culture and communication

Smoke Signals

The portrayal of native people by non-native people on the big screen from the beginning of native cinema has always been stereotypical, faulty, and lack authenticity. In the film Smoke Signals by native film maker Chris Eyre, however,this struggle is presented in a comedic light, giving insight to what it's like to be a native person living with the false expectations. During the bus ride where the main characters, Victor and Thomas are on their way to pick up Victor's father's ashes; Victor complains about the amount of times Thomas watches the film Dances With Wolves and how he isn't "indian" enough. "Quit grinning like an idiot. Indians aint supposed to smile like that! Get stoic, like this. You gotta look mean or people won't respect you. White people will run all over you if you don't look mean. You gotta look like a warrior! You gotta look like you just came back from killing a buffalo!" (Smoke Signals)  In which Thomas response to as "But our tribe never hunted buffalo - we were fishermen." (Smoke Signals) The misrepresentation of the Native Nations in cinema creates a false image of what "indians" are suppose to look and act to both native and non-native people, it creates an inaccurate standard and image that native people are expected to lived up to; a mold they're suppose to fit into. Although Thomas enjoys watching Dances With Wolves, he understands the difference between reality and entertainment. When he sees the old western "Indian" film playing at Suzy Song's place, he says "The only thing more pathetic than Indians on TV is Indians watching Indians on TV." (Smoke Signals) Thomas recognizes the ridiculousness of the concept of "Indians" not only being entertainment to white people, but native people as well; it's pathetic that the natives who watch do not even realize the disrespect and racism within those films. For those that do realize and step up to the light to show that the Native Nations aren't what all the movies have made them out to be, it's rough journey. After having to put up with the sheriff's racist indian jokes, Thomas and Victor were able to not be leave his office without charges. " 'I can't believe we got outta that guy's office alive.'  'Yeah, I guess your warrior look does work sometimes.' " (Smoke Signals) The real sad thing here is that although the accident was completely the drunken white man's fault, no one would have believed Thomas and Victor's words if it weren't for the man's wife speaking out against her husband. They joke about living up to the "warrior Indian" image, but they knew when it really came down to White vs Native, Native doesn't stand a chance. There are many more ironic remarks made by native people through out the film that mock the native stereotype established by the film industry, whether intentional or not, they're bringing awareness and shining a positive light on native films.

As Victor's character develops throughout the film, a theme of forgiveness emerges. Through Victor's journey to retrieve his father's ashes, he learns to forgive not only his father, but also himself.  From the beginning of the film, Thomas can be seen tossed out of a window and saved by Victor's father Arnold. " 'You saved Thomas. You did a good thing.' 'I didn't mean to.'" (Smoke Signals) Tomas's Grandma thanks Arnold for saving Thomas, even though she knew the fire was Arnold's fault, she still is thankful for having her grandson, and she want to remind Arnold there's still a sliver lining in the tragedy. However Arnold spent the rest of his days drowning in the guilt and responsibility, never being able to forgive himself, which led to his abusive acts toward Victor, alcoholism and eventually
leaving his family behind. Unfortunately, Victor never knew about the reason behind his father's action till it was too late. In an argument Thomas has with Victor, the subject of Arnold leaving comes up and Thomas points out how it has changed Victor. "All I know is that when your father left, your mother lost you too." (Smoke Signals) When Arnold left, Victor was only a child; he didn't know why his father left, so naturally, he blamed himself. He was so focused on the hurt his father brought to him, he couldn't see the hurt he brought to his mom. Once Victor found out the real reason why Arnold left and why he'd always been more of a father to Thomas that himself, he is finally able to let go of his painful past. Although Arnold passed before he was able returned home to his wife and son, Victor is the one to release his ashes back in to the cycle of life, and Thomas's voice ends the film with "Do we forgive our fathers in our age or in theirs? Or in their deaths, saying it to them, or not saying it?If we forgive our fathers what is left?" (Smoke Signals) Victor forgives in both Arnold's time and his time, he is able to forgive his father for leaving when he found out about the fire. he then able to forgive himself. He can finally forgive and forget, let go of his past of pointing blame and taking blame, and move on with his life, with only the great memories of his father.

Writing Post #22 Ceremony analysis

Through Tayo's journey of looking for the spotted cattle and bringing it home, he also experiences self-discovery, becoming more aware and understanding of his emotions and presentness. T'seh serves similar purpose as Reed Woman, a symbol of life; when she sleeps with Tayo, she aids in his process of healing, literally bringing the life back to his life in which helps him be more perceptive of the world around him. "He breathed deeply, and each breath had a distinct smell of snow from the north, of ponderosa pine on the rimrock above; finally he smelled horses from the direction of the corral, and he smiled. Being alive was alright then, he had not breathed like for a long time." (Silko 181). This detailed description is the first time Tayo's sense of smell has be presented in a rather positive light, instead of those filled with damp, rotting memories of war.