Unexpected: BenX Review 1

Mr.Garrioch told us that this is an absurd film but wow, I did not expect that coming. The beginning scene really caught my eyes because I have never seen a movie that starts by showing the computer game. Also the title played a role in surprising me because “Ben X” is such a title that you cannot expect what is coming. The word “unexpected” would perfectly describe my first impression about the film.

I enjoyed many different and fresh approaches the film made. By comparing the main character’s real life and the virtual game with similar surrounding was interesting. Especially, the part where Ben complained about the difference between the game and the reality made me to think a little about why so many people are addicted to computer games or other sort of gateways to escape and hide from the reality.

Although I did not finish watching the whole movie, the plot is dull and simple in some ways. Many people can grasp that this movie will be dealing with the issues of autism and bullying and other similar problems. However, from the start, the director managed to develop this obvious plot into such an un-obvious way that the movie, after all, did not turn out to be one of those boring educational videos that works so well as a sleeping pill.

To eat or not to eat, that is the question : Earthling Review Revised

           
        No wonder it earned the nickname “vegan maker.” It really portrayed the ugly side of humans as if the director wanted to make the viewers throw up. Especially in the slaughterhouse scene, the workers slit the throats of cows that were hung by their legs. As the narrator politely explained, the cows were usually conscious while the whole process of killing was going on. The bleeding really warned the viewers that the next one hour and ten minutes would be painful.

From the beginning, this film clearly showed that we, humans, are “speciesist”. According to the film, “speciesism”, a similar concept to racism and sexism, is a prejudice based on different species. Because humans can overpower animals, we exploit other species just to serve our needs regardless of their thoughts, emotions, reactions and even lives. The director addressed the main five areas of the film: pets, food, clothes, entertainment, and science. Although many interesting ideas and vivid images are presented in all five areas, personally I really want to focus on food.

     

     In the beginning, it starts with the quote by Australian philosopher, Peter Singer: “Killing an animal is in itself a troubling act. It has been said that if we had to kill our own meat we would be all be vegetarians.” A very sound quote indeed, as it is portrayed in the film, it really is disgusting. However, let’s look at this quote from a more realistic view point. Do we have to kill our own meat? The truth is that we do not need to throw ourselves in those painful processes just in order to eat meat. If we have money, we can eat any kinds of meat from turkey to beef without cutting throat or shooting captive bolts into their brains. We do not need to endure the unnecessary guiltiness.

Of course, this argument sounds very “speciesist”, and I also agree on that criticism. To some people, it is really arrogant toward the animals who share many common aspects with humans which makes them very equal to us. But not everything is idealistic. It might turn a few people into vegetarians due to some sort of inspiration. But this refutation cannot force people who want to continue their meat diet. This eating habit is not just an option that can be changed easily. It is a habit that is reinforced during whole life and a part of the individual’s life style which people and the society should accept the difference.

Now let’s talk about how the film portrayed this issue on the screen. In the movie, the white word appears shortly. After, the film shows the footage related to the word. As an example, the word “Dehorning” appears, then the movie shows the video of dehorning the cow with a huge wrench. Personally, this presentation method was very neat to develop on many ideas. Also most of the scenes, there was not any dialogue but narrations. But in some special parts, narration dies out and a short dialogue by the people in the scenes come out. As an example, when slaughtering pigs, the narrator stopped talking and the voice of the butcher comes in. This tried to move the audience more toward to the director’s opinion. Also, as I already mentioned, many colorful and strong images allowed viewers to engage in the film more deeply.

Because of those methods, films are well-structured. From the division of five different areas to minor sections, the contents are ordered very well that audience can grasp the idea more easily. However, there are also some problematic parts in the video clip. During the food section, blood was all over the scenes. The director never hesitates to provide the nastiest scenes such as conscious pigs that are splashing blood all over the floor while tied up to a rope. This part contained unnecessary violence. By the word “unnecessary” here, it means that the director exploited violence, and it seems like he forgot the main goal of the film which is to change people’s “biased” behavior. While watching the film, I felt really disgusted that the scenes make me to look at other places but not the screen. However, when the film finished, it really did not have an influential effect on me because I had no problem eating meat that day. It kind of came to me that although the visual images really imprinted the sickening feeling, in the long term, there was not any significant effect at all.

Overall, this movie is a significant film that portrays well about the dark side of the human race. It really makes us to look back on ourselves. The director succeeded to induce viewers to reflect of their actions and pay more attention about the world that surrounds them. However, there are also some drawbacks. Few violent scenes of the film are unnecessary if we consider the objective of the film. Personally, I suggest that it would be fine to watch this film for greater spectrum. One thing to keep in mind is that you should be careful not to expect too much. If you are inspired by the film and feel like becoming a vegetarian, then go ahead. If you are not, well, why don’t you go have some nice sirloin steak as a prize for enduring the torturing film. 

Childhood Trauma: The fixed shoes (revised)

With a pair of shoes, you enter the repair shop. Just by glance, its size is about thirty feet square from the outside but as it turns out, it feels much larger when you enter. Inside, you can easily find shiny leather shoes which are placed on the shelves. The man who is probably in his fifties has very friendly expression in his face. At the moment when you enter the room, he is polishing a brown shoe.

     “Can you repair these shoes?” you tell him as you point the bottom of your ripped shoes. He answers with a gentle nod. You feel very assured because they are one of your favorite pairs of shoes. Then you ask the person about the price. He tells you that it is only five thousand won. Compared to what you have expected, it turned out that the price is much cheaper. You give him the shoes and money right away and thank him for such service. The shop keeper tells you to come back few hours later. As you stroll back to your home, the only thought in your mind is your fixed shoes.

     Few hours later, because you are gone somewhere, your mother goes to the shop instead. About ten minutes later, she returns with the shoes. They look like a new pair of shoes that seem like you bought them yesterday. However, your mom asks you a strange question. “Did you really pay the money?” At first, you are baffled that do not get the meaning. Few seconds later, you speak to her about the purpose of the question. Then she tells you about what happened at the repair shop.

     After finding the shoes, she is about to leave the shop. But then the shop keeper tells her to pay the price. She is confused since you already told her that you already take care of the payment. But the shop keeper insists that you have paid nothing but only gave him the shoes. So she has to pay the shoes again. Your shoes are fixed only once, but they were paid twice. Later that day, you visit the shop again to tell that you already paid for it. But with skeptical glance, he tells you that he never receive the money.

     

     You feel betrayed by the shop keeper. You do not insult him or show impolite attitude, but asked politely and paid the price. It can be a tiny mistake because anyone can make mistakes sometimes in his or her life. However, inside your mind, it is filled with anger and frustration. If you were an adult, would you be treated the same way as this? Why would not he believe you?

      

     The shoe repair shop is in the middle of the road to your middle school so you always have to pass it every morning. In the beginning, you almost try to kick the door because you are angry. However, as time passes on, your negative feelings lessen and you no longer care about it. Although it might have been a mistake, it was the first time you realize that the world around you is not always perfect. As time passes, it turns out that there are more “shop keepers”.

Reading Journal: Quotation

"You think we're insane, and we're not," said the captain.

     We are insane. But we are not insane.
   
     Then what is the boundary that determines this insanity?

      People think and act based on what they know. Like an old proverb,  "You are what you see", people cannot understand other cultures or knowledge because they are out of their scope. In history, when different cultures or people conflict with each other, the results were always tragic. In our class, we constantly related the stories of Native Americans to the novel. When the immigrants from Europe and those indigenous people collide, they had gone through violent battles that resulted so many casualties. In the end, one of them had to suffer terribly. Why could not they befriend each other and accept the differences?

     Same thing is happening the book. The captain faced many Martians who were not welcoming them but showed no interest toward them. What he received was death caused by a psychologist who could not accept the different form of an "Earth Man". For Martians, the captain was "insane" but for the captain, the Martians were "insane". Then what and who can define the 'insanity"? At least, both humans and Martians cannot, I guess. If this kind of attitude toward each other does not change, there would be similar consequences in the end that resemble the history of Native Americans.

Childhood Trauma: The fixed shoes

     With a pair of shoes, you enter the repair shop. Just by glance, its size was about thirty feet square from the outside but as it turned out, it feels much larger when you enter. Inside, you can easily find shiny leather shoes which are placed on the shelves. The man who is probably in his fifties had very friendly expression in his face. At the moment when you enter the room, he is polishing a brown shoe.

     “Can you repair these shoes?” you tell him as you point the bottom of your shoes which are ripped. He answered with a gentle nod. You felt very assured because they are one of your favorite pairs of shoes. Then you ask the person about the price. He tells you that it is only five thousand won. Compared to what you have expected, it turned out that it is much cheaper. You give him the shoes and money right away and thank him for such service. The shop keeper tells me to come back few hours later. As you stroll back to your home, the only thought in your mind is about your fixed shoes.

     Few hours later, because you were gone somewhere, your mother goes to the shop instead. About ten minutes later, she returns with the shoes. They looked like a new pair of shoes that seemed like you bought them yesterday. However, your mom asked you a strange question. “Did you really pay the money?” At first, you are baffled that do not get the meaning. Few seconds later, you speak to her about the purpose of the question. Then she told me about what happened at the repair shop.

     After finding the shoes, she is about to leave the shop. But then the shop keeper tells her to pay the price. She is confused since you already told her that you already take care of the payment. But the shop keeper insisted that you have paid nothing but only gave him the shoes. So she has to pay the shoes again. Your shoes are fixed only once, but it was paid twice. Later that day, you visit the shop again to tell that you already pay for it. But with skeptical glance, he tells you that he never receive the money.

     

     You felt betrayed by the shop keeper. You did not insult him or show impolite attitude, but asked politely and paid the price. It can be a tiny mistake because anyone can make mistakes sometimes in his or her life. However, inside your mind, it is filled with anger and frustration. If you were an adult, would you be treated the same way as this? Why would not he believe you?

      

     The shoe repair shop was in the middle of the road to your middle school so you always have to pass it every morning. In the beginning, you almost tried to kick the door because you were angry. However, as time passed on, your negative feelings lessened and you no longer care about it. Although it might have been a mistake, it was the first time you realize that the world around you is not always perfect. As time passed, your idealistic view of the society was slowly destroyed by many 'shop keepers'. Shoes were the only things that were fixed.

Reading Journal 2 : THE BODY

       The Body’s subtitle is “fall from innocence”. Chris, Gordie, Vern and Teddy went through this while searching for the body of Ray Brower’s. The journey had changed their minds a lot at least to Gordie and Chris. For me, I am still going through this process, I think. As I mentioned before, I already saw a dead body but I was too young to notice and realize. But now, although I am not looking for a dead body, many incidents happened and they had affected me a lot.

       Before I came to KMLA, I was just one of the “good” students who obey to what adults say and study hard. But recently, the thoughts and moral codes are starting break inside me. Before, adults were superior to me. The perception I had in my mind was that they were wise and make always right decisions. My father was one of the most perfect examples. I was so proud of my father at first. He was the role model. But these days, I am still proud of my father but I do not want to be same with him. The realization that he is just another person who is imperfect but has some flaws and scars in his life came to me without any signs. Andy’s fight with the shop keeper and Chris’s milk money incident portrays the truth of the adults. They are just other interest groups who are willing to exploit children who have not fallen from innocence, yet.

       Also the dormitory life allowed me a new experience toward the inner self of other individuals. Unlike normal schools, I can see how all the kids talk, behave, and counteract with others. In other words, it is possible for me to see how they live. And sometimes, their inner self sometimes come out through their words and actions. Sometimes, they are disgusting. First it came to me as almost like a betrayal. Those made me to close myself toward them. Seeing the other face of the person was very unpleasant. When Chris and Gordie were facing the older gang, Vern and Teddy ran away and disappeared from the scene in order to not get involved in the fight. Of course, they would be afraid but they valued their safety compared to the bonds between them. I was feeling the same notion which Chris and Gordie might have felt at that time.

           

       To get back up, remedies are needed. Although Chris and Gordie got beaten up by Ace and his gang, it does not really matter because they had much more valuable things that Ace did not have: true friendship. Chris and Gordie were able to overcome those incidents because they had bonds to prevent them from falling down. Fortunately, I was able to meet friends who could be the friends. They helped me a lot and kept me up to face the reality. Personally I really enjoyed the quote, ““I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was twelve. Jesus, does anyone?” but also thought that it would be fine to change the number into seventeen.

Reflective Essay : Things To Keep In Mind for Successful Dormitory Life

          It has been about ten months since I started to live in the dormitory. For many of the students including me, they had never experienced any similar things such as this. Few of them left the school because they could not adapt to this but mostly, everyone is doing fine. I learned new knowledge and studied new subjects, but I learned things that are more important than my grades or exams. Most of them came from my life in the dormitory. In each room, six people share one room. This is the only place where students can get freed from teachers and EOPs. Because the rooms have so different characteristics compared to any area of this school, the life inside the room is also very important. I want to tell you is what I learned during this first year: things to maintain a positive dormitory life.

           Harmony is one of the things that students need in order to be stay well with other people. It also applies same at the outside of this school. But it is much of a greater deal because the person has to live with two other people who are very different from him or her. There was one room on the first floor last semester which atmosphere was terrible. One of the people in the room was having conflicts with the other five and it was just not pleasant to see. The separation between roommates and homemates are terrible. They are the ones that you have to live with everyday and not going well with those people will make the dormitory life miserable. They should try to accept others and be more reluctant to other people’s behaviors although they might not like or used to it.

           Similar to harmony, tolerance is also an important key to the successful dormitory life. Every student has different habits and ways of lifestyle. Some might wake up early whereas others might wake up late. Some people would like to listen to loud music when others prefer classical music. Because everyone is not the same, everyone should have tolerance to other’s actions or behaviors. Sometimes, your roommate would cross the line and did things that made you mad. However, you should try to understand why that person did that instead of starting a conflict. Then roommates will understand the things so that he should avoid things in order to prevent frictions between other people. The atmosphere of room depends on the tolerance of the people in the room. Therefore, they should always try to look at with different perspective to at least try to communicate better with the members of the room.

           Unlike harmony or tolerance, this one is about the person’s attitude. The students here are isolated from their parents and other people who take care of them. This type of situation might help the students to act and make decisions on their own which is great for developing independence. However, it is like the double-edged sword. If the person just could not control or not even try to control his lifestyles, then I recommend him to quit the school. That is why the self-control is the one of the factors of the positive dormitory life. Nobody stops you from playing computer games or watching cartoons or sleeping all days. However, nobody pays the price of those actions but you. Developing a regularly life by using moderation is so important because that is the only way to use the time wisely in this busy life of KMLA.

           There are many other important things that people should keep in mind in order to live well in the dormitory. But whatever the lesson or the moral is, you should maintain a great and close relationship with the members of your room and can moderate your behavior on your will If you can both of them, I can bet you that based on my one year experience, you will go through an enjoying and terrific life in KMLA.