The first thing that came into my mind when I saw the word “Arab” was money.
The source for my idea is my geographical knowledge. As we know Arab countries are famous for its oil and tourism. And it brings input to their budget.
1) Reptilian Brain – Hollywood has its own stereotypes.
Limbic Brain- this is the music that comes to my mind when I think about the oriental world.
Neocortex Brain – We have a saying: When the fire captures the dry part it’s possible that it will also capture the wet part. Because of some crime personalities of terrorism bands the American or the other people of world judge the whole Arabian people. This is the label that was put to the Arabian people. There are jails, criminalities in each government but it doesn’t mean that what this people do is just killing and robbing. Arabian people are one of those numerous people like Russian, Jews and etc that suffer from Hollywood stereotypes.
It’s time for Hollywood to break these stereotypes and produce something interesting, different that reflects the truth!
2)Editing – in my opinion the most important thing in shooting a movie is the editing process. Music, images and different footages of films- First you think that you can never make a film with this stuff but a powerful editing change these thoughts suddenly. And also powerful acting, directing, producing can be thrown to the garbage with weak editing.
3)Throughout the video, the narrator uses “we” to suggest that American filmmakers altogether portray Arabs as corrupt, immoral and violent. This way he persuades one to believe that serious change has to be made in this matter…which it really should.
The repetition of scenes in which Arabs are “insulted” is a great way to persuade one. The words of the narrator just aren’t enough and the scenes provide hard evidence for the viewer to rely on.
The narrator provides a simple solution and prediction that the young filmmakers of today will change the stereotypical portrayal of Arabs. In my opinion, this change is not a simple change; in fact, it is much more complex than it seems, for there should be more information and awareness being spread.
4)Suggestions,
Instead of showing the scenes and talking about that the Arabs are not portrayed well in Hollywood, the narrator should explain deeply how those scenes depict the criticism of Arabs. In addition, a solution should be suggested. Just saying that "stereotype will change" makes viewers think that it is already planned for. But because it is not, the narrator should suggest ways through which this problem can be solved, or even ask for a solution from the viewers. that way, many more young filmmakers can think about this issue and consider not using these stereotypes in future films.
Recommend,
Yes I would recommend this to my family and friends. It cannot hurt to inform more people about an issue that serves to make young viewers think of Arabs (or any other race being depicted as bad) negatively. Spreading the word around would not only inform but also bring many chances of change.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Saturday, August 29, 2009
DOTCOM Launches PHASE 3! - Module #1: Reflecting on DOTCOM, Phase 2
It’s a wonderful feeling to come back to our online classes=))
1) Hmm the most challenging part for me was when I realized that my life will change from now. But how will these changes affect my future?
First day when I was in the bus I was like: “will I get use to the new conditions & new people in my life?” because it was my first trip abroad and my first time far from my family…
So I lived firsts in DOTCOM
But after an hour when I awake from thinking I realized that my doubts were meaningless I felt myself as at home.
And literally started enjoying my time in the USA=)))
2) The landing of the airplane on to the Dullas international airport was the most rewarding moment for me. The best moment in life is when you accomplish something you have worked your whole life for. I have worked on improving my English since I was 8 & the last stroke in this portrait had to be a trip to an English speaking country. And that was the time that I finally got what I desired!!
3) Everyday we had a lot of fun because all our DOTCOM colleagues have sense of humor. So there are many funny memories which always make me smile
Rope course was the most fun part for me. It’s amazing to feel yourself in the sky. Feels like you have wings and you are the one who fulfilled the wish that human beings desired during all the period of their existence. Even this thought gave me lots of fun:)))
4) 5 months ago we-all 30 students were doing modules as now…it’s like the same scene. But now thanks to this project, we all have more world view and we are more knowledgeable. We are are aware of our skills and this makes us more confident. And we all are strong enough to make differences in our countries. The fact that we are back to our online classes gives me so many happy feelings. I am excited about everything in DOTCOM- from modules to US colleagues trip to our homeland Azerbaijan and our meeting in Georgia.
here you can see the students’ faces after the tough volleyball battle:D:D
even the rain cant stop us =))
1) Hmm the most challenging part for me was when I realized that my life will change from now. But how will these changes affect my future?
First day when I was in the bus I was like: “will I get use to the new conditions & new people in my life?” because it was my first trip abroad and my first time far from my family…
So I lived firsts in DOTCOM
But after an hour when I awake from thinking I realized that my doubts were meaningless I felt myself as at home.
And literally started enjoying my time in the USA=)))
2) The landing of the airplane on to the Dullas international airport was the most rewarding moment for me. The best moment in life is when you accomplish something you have worked your whole life for. I have worked on improving my English since I was 8 & the last stroke in this portrait had to be a trip to an English speaking country. And that was the time that I finally got what I desired!!
3) Everyday we had a lot of fun because all our DOTCOM colleagues have sense of humor. So there are many funny memories which always make me smile
Rope course was the most fun part for me. It’s amazing to feel yourself in the sky. Feels like you have wings and you are the one who fulfilled the wish that human beings desired during all the period of their existence. Even this thought gave me lots of fun:)))
4) 5 months ago we-all 30 students were doing modules as now…it’s like the same scene. But now thanks to this project, we all have more world view and we are more knowledgeable. We are are aware of our skills and this makes us more confident. And we all are strong enough to make differences in our countries. The fact that we are back to our online classes gives me so many happy feelings. I am excited about everything in DOTCOM- from modules to US colleagues trip to our homeland Azerbaijan and our meeting in Georgia.
here you can see the students’ faces after the tough volleyball battle:D:D
even the rain cant stop us =))
Monday, July 6, 2009
Day # 5: Our first DOTCOM reflection Assignment
1) Unfortunately, I did not have the chance to really get to understand the concept and system how the media works in Washington DC...because i was there only for one night.. But in one night i experienced few sources of the main media in Washington DC. The main media source in DC are newspaper, televisions, and radio. most of the students elementary, middle, and high school students are spoiled with the luxury of television, video games, and musical products such as ipods. There are over 50 channels which the youngsters can spend watching all day long and not get bored. However for the grownups the news channels, and news papers and radios have corrupted their minds about how bad the economy of the United States. and it was more effective to the community living around.
2)During the time I was in Washington D.C I hadn’t learned very much about my fellow DOTCOMers from other countries. The reason I hadn’t actually learned much about my fellow DOTCOMers is because I felt I had already known them quite well. The reason I felt so confident about knowing my American counterpart is due to the fact we had already had various opportunities to form a relationship with American DOTCOMers prior to my arrival in the US. The only thing I feel I had learned about my fellow DOTCOMers while in DC is how they planned to spend the following 3 weeks.
3) I found the most difficult part of the DOTCOM program so far to be the long wait between when we left Azerbaijan to the arrival in the US. The reason I found this to be the most difficult part of the program was because of anticipation of traveling to a new place we’d never been before. Total, the trip to the US took approximately 12 hours, 8 of which were spent without landing. The 8 hours nonstop portion of the flight was quite boring, but we remained positive by thinking of the amazing 3 weeks waiting for us in the US. Whenever we felt bored or a little discomfort, we just thought of the land before us, and that seemed to ease our discomfort. We knew that a few hours of boredom were well worth the countless experiences we would have in the US.
4) One part of the DOTCOM program I found exciting and rewarding about the DOTCOM program was the knowledge that we would be living with amazing American families with our American partners. We had never been to the US, so many things seemed new and interesting to us. Also, we have met wonderful people by participation in the DOTCOM program. Another exciting and rewarding part of the DOTCOM program is the 3 weeks we will be spending in this country. We will most likely learn something new about this country with each new experience we have, and perhaps have a greater grasp of American culture. Though 3 weeks may not seem very long, we know we will cherish each and every day we spend in the US.
2)During the time I was in Washington D.C I hadn’t learned very much about my fellow DOTCOMers from other countries. The reason I hadn’t actually learned much about my fellow DOTCOMers is because I felt I had already known them quite well. The reason I felt so confident about knowing my American counterpart is due to the fact we had already had various opportunities to form a relationship with American DOTCOMers prior to my arrival in the US. The only thing I feel I had learned about my fellow DOTCOMers while in DC is how they planned to spend the following 3 weeks.
3) I found the most difficult part of the DOTCOM program so far to be the long wait between when we left Azerbaijan to the arrival in the US. The reason I found this to be the most difficult part of the program was because of anticipation of traveling to a new place we’d never been before. Total, the trip to the US took approximately 12 hours, 8 of which were spent without landing. The 8 hours nonstop portion of the flight was quite boring, but we remained positive by thinking of the amazing 3 weeks waiting for us in the US. Whenever we felt bored or a little discomfort, we just thought of the land before us, and that seemed to ease our discomfort. We knew that a few hours of boredom were well worth the countless experiences we would have in the US.
4) One part of the DOTCOM program I found exciting and rewarding about the DOTCOM program was the knowledge that we would be living with amazing American families with our American partners. We had never been to the US, so many things seemed new and interesting to us. Also, we have met wonderful people by participation in the DOTCOM program. Another exciting and rewarding part of the DOTCOM program is the 3 weeks we will be spending in this country. We will most likely learn something new about this country with each new experience we have, and perhaps have a greater grasp of American culture. Though 3 weeks may not seem very long, we know we will cherish each and every day we spend in the US.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
MY TOP THREE REEL ACTION THAMES
1.Hunger:Although I have never experienced hunger or have had anyone close to experience it, I know that it is one thing I am fighting for. I get involved n society with my opinions and my voice to reach out to help those who need it most. While some people worry about which expensive car to buy, others worry they might die of starvation. For me, it makes no sense to not fight against hunger. As buildings rise, the number of starvation rises. UNICEF and other aid services try their best to help those in need, but I believe that it is not enough. Thomas Malthus once said that the food supply will never keep us with the exponentially growing population. I do not fully agree, because we DO have the means to stop the spread of hunger- we just need to want it for our futures, and the futures of our children. We cannot stop exponential population growth. But we can start an exponential population growth of aid and food supplies.
2.Peace/War/Conflict:Although Peace and conflict are opposite things they also have common sides. They are exist since the humanity. People live in the earth for millions of years. Even though countries fight each other a lot of people die it still shows that peace takes superior position. Peace and conflict always replace each other. Some countries choose not to fight with other countries and create friendship relations with them. They are happy and get enough with what they have but others don’t get enough what they have and they always want more and more. So it takes to conflict. I think that conflict starts from the avidity because a lot of people are always killed just for a land. Is it worth to kill millions of people, to flow blood for land?!
I’m the Peace supporter. I think that every normal person who understands the disastrous effects of conflict must be the peace supporter.
I believe that one day everyone will leave in peace… Don’t forget rain may come, and snow may come but the results of the conflicts will never be forgotten and the blood of those who dies in wars will never be washed away….
3.Media:The present and media… we cannot divorce these two factors. Now everybody uses computers, connects to internet, read books, watch movies with one word we all are addicted to media. The person who doesn’t use media means would be seemed strange for all of us. I don’t think that there would be a person like that in the modern world =)
Media services us endless functions. First of all it makes life easier and much more interesting.
Whenever we have nothing to do, Video games are always there to entertain us; it’s impossible to imagine our life without computers. And it’s the reality that nothing can replace computers; internet makes us more sociable; good books can make a world of difference in our life, without books life would be very meaningless; Newspaper is the best way to follow the news; we can follow the latest trends and style news, celebs’ lifestyles by magazines- They are all the means of media. So it means that media has unexampled role in the formation oh our character. So we just need to use media in the maximum beneficial way ;)
2.Peace/War/Conflict:Although Peace and conflict are opposite things they also have common sides. They are exist since the humanity. People live in the earth for millions of years. Even though countries fight each other a lot of people die it still shows that peace takes superior position. Peace and conflict always replace each other. Some countries choose not to fight with other countries and create friendship relations with them. They are happy and get enough with what they have but others don’t get enough what they have and they always want more and more. So it takes to conflict. I think that conflict starts from the avidity because a lot of people are always killed just for a land. Is it worth to kill millions of people, to flow blood for land?!
I’m the Peace supporter. I think that every normal person who understands the disastrous effects of conflict must be the peace supporter.
I believe that one day everyone will leave in peace… Don’t forget rain may come, and snow may come but the results of the conflicts will never be forgotten and the blood of those who dies in wars will never be washed away….
3.Media:The present and media… we cannot divorce these two factors. Now everybody uses computers, connects to internet, read books, watch movies with one word we all are addicted to media. The person who doesn’t use media means would be seemed strange for all of us. I don’t think that there would be a person like that in the modern world =)
Media services us endless functions. First of all it makes life easier and much more interesting.
Whenever we have nothing to do, Video games are always there to entertain us; it’s impossible to imagine our life without computers. And it’s the reality that nothing can replace computers; internet makes us more sociable; good books can make a world of difference in our life, without books life would be very meaningless; Newspaper is the best way to follow the news; we can follow the latest trends and style news, celebs’ lifestyles by magazines- They are all the means of media. So it means that media has unexampled role in the formation oh our character. So we just need to use media in the maximum beneficial way ;)
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Gunel: My 90 Seconds Elevator Pitch
My name is Gunel. All my friends call me Gunka. I’m in the 10th grade. I have a lot of hobbies such as surfing on net, reading books, watching movies and hanging out with my friends.
I....am a people's Person. I am a 50% funny, 50% serious person. I am also a confident person who never lets a "You can't do it" statement serve as an obstacle in my journey of life. I am person believing in the inevitable corruption of humanity. I am a reality person. I am also a person believing that if six of us are corrupt, four of us will reach to make a difference. I am a hope person. You may ask me, am I a self-less person? No, no I am not. I am a self-conceited person. Being Proud of what I can do, and fighting for what I can't. That’s all what I want to say about me.
The music that sounds the back round is our national folk music and is one of my favorites. The name of this music is “Sari Gelin” and it is performed by the Alihan Samedov. I adore this music because it’s the memory of our history.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Wrapping up PHASE 1!
A) All of the modules were excited for me. As I have never experienced such interesting project. But I have to admit that there could be some the most excited modules for me. I call them my favorite top 3.
So let’s start the countdown.
The third of my list is asking questions to active bloggers.
Because this assignment gave me an amazing feeling of responsibility on analyzing my thoughts and turning them into the right questions.
The second was the Knowledge Tree.
With the help of this module I discovered new characteristics of myself and it was just fun to turn back and look at your life from the point that you stand.
Finally here is the very very first one Acme Persuasion.
I loved this assignment because it had a little bit scientific future-kind of marketing analyses. I have never thought that commercials can be so affective on our buying behaviors.
B) All of the modules had a little flavor of challenge. It’s always difficult to create something to plan and organize to process of creating. Actually it means no sense to do activities that are easy for you. The greater is the challenge. I was learning trying to show the others my opinions, show who I am and I should say that the assignments connected to these whole process and the sense of doing something very right. Just like the way you want to do it also pushes you to this way of difficulties. So when I look back it’s hard for me to pick just one thing from this karma and justify it as the most challenging.
C) First of all I have to say that this project was the most awesome project that I have ever attended. Because in other projects the result was not as exciting as in this one- 3 weeks in the US. However it’s a fact that there are 20 other participants that were disappointed as they could not reach this result. If I was in charge of this project I would have also concentrated on students who weren’t able to get this gift. I know there are some rules it’s impossible to send all of us to the states. But maybe a little difference can be MADE. I would have give an opportunity to those students to spend one week in the DC with the winner students and after a week when the winners continue their traveling and go to Vermont I would have send them back to Baku. With this change maybe the hazard of losing wouldn’t make them so exhausted depressed.
It’s our most famous comedy club. There is a competition KVN (it means the Club of Fun and witted people) among CIS countries. It was and still is one of the greatest achievements of our people. We used to have very popular and strong club-Boys From Baku. They were the winners of the millennium competition and got the name of the best team of the millennium. This team doesn’t exist now. But a few members of the team created a comedy club Planet of The Boys from Baku. They held comedy shows in Baku every year in the style of KVN. So this is a brief scene from one of their shows. It’s my favorite. In this scene the boys are criticizes the musicians and singers who have not real music taste and think that they are the most popular stars. It's the "extempore" version of The Final Countdown-The Queen.
Hope you’ll enjoy it.
So let’s start the countdown.
The third of my list is asking questions to active bloggers.
Because this assignment gave me an amazing feeling of responsibility on analyzing my thoughts and turning them into the right questions.
The second was the Knowledge Tree.
With the help of this module I discovered new characteristics of myself and it was just fun to turn back and look at your life from the point that you stand.
Finally here is the very very first one Acme Persuasion.
I loved this assignment because it had a little bit scientific future-kind of marketing analyses. I have never thought that commercials can be so affective on our buying behaviors.
B) All of the modules had a little flavor of challenge. It’s always difficult to create something to plan and organize to process of creating. Actually it means no sense to do activities that are easy for you. The greater is the challenge. I was learning trying to show the others my opinions, show who I am and I should say that the assignments connected to these whole process and the sense of doing something very right. Just like the way you want to do it also pushes you to this way of difficulties. So when I look back it’s hard for me to pick just one thing from this karma and justify it as the most challenging.
C) First of all I have to say that this project was the most awesome project that I have ever attended. Because in other projects the result was not as exciting as in this one- 3 weeks in the US. However it’s a fact that there are 20 other participants that were disappointed as they could not reach this result. If I was in charge of this project I would have also concentrated on students who weren’t able to get this gift. I know there are some rules it’s impossible to send all of us to the states. But maybe a little difference can be MADE. I would have give an opportunity to those students to spend one week in the DC with the winner students and after a week when the winners continue their traveling and go to Vermont I would have send them back to Baku. With this change maybe the hazard of losing wouldn’t make them so exhausted depressed.
It’s our most famous comedy club. There is a competition KVN (it means the Club of Fun and witted people) among CIS countries. It was and still is one of the greatest achievements of our people. We used to have very popular and strong club-Boys From Baku. They were the winners of the millennium competition and got the name of the best team of the millennium. This team doesn’t exist now. But a few members of the team created a comedy club Planet of The Boys from Baku. They held comedy shows in Baku every year in the style of KVN. So this is a brief scene from one of their shows. It’s my favorite. In this scene the boys are criticizes the musicians and singers who have not real music taste and think that they are the most popular stars. It's the "extempore" version of The Final Countdown-The Queen.
Hope you’ll enjoy it.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
ACME Persuasion
This Video was very intriguing to me, because it actually made me stop and think about those innocent children, wishing for a better tomorrow. It persuaded mostly because of the following reasons: Repetition, Warm Fuzzies, Group Dynamics, Either/Or and Timing.
Repetition
The children use "Dear Parents," "Teach us," and "Don't Teach us" to make one actually stop and think about what they are saying.
Warm Fuzzies:
I believe that if just other people said these things, parents would not respond. But the sweetness and innocence of these children persuade one to listen to them.
Group Dynamics
These children repeatedly use the pronoun "us" to emphasize the effect of social intolerance. Using us suggests that if one does it, then they all with be involved.
Either/or
These children basically put up a deal. Either you teach us to be tolerant, or we will end up like this generation, killing other groups of people because of their religion, race or nationality. Or, either you stop all of your violent (whether physical or verbal) attack on others and see us succeed, or watch us copy your actions of being violent.
Timing
The Music at the end and the rapid change of the children does not bore, but interest one to watch it until the end. It affects one emotionally, and watching it, it is hard to be responseless...
I hope You were as persuaded by these children as I was; they are the future, and without teaching them tolerance, we are literally destroying our future.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
