McMurphy's Sacrifice

I was shocked when I read to the end of the novel and found out about McMurphy's death, however, as we were dicussing significant events in class I knew his submission to the nurse was getting closer, but I never guessed that it would cost him his life. I still question the actions he had taken at the end, and most importantly why would he choose to stay in the hospital to choke nurse Ratched instead of escaping out of that same window where Sandy and Turkle had escaped from. Moreover, why would Bromden kill McMurphy? Doesn't that just show how he is defeated, or is it the opposite. How is McMurphy considered to be a martyr? Did he try to kill the nurse in order to benefit the patients of the ward, or was it for his own benefit. Did he choke the nurse because he felt his manhood was broken, and thus wanted to rebel against the force which caused that? Well, I found out that Bibbit's death answers that question. How would the story have been different if Billy never committed suicide, would McMurphy escape, or would he have done the same and tried to kill the nurse. I think that there is a bigger chance of him leaving the ward instead, because it wouldn't make any sense to stay. McMurphy was also symbolized as the savior Jesus Christ, so that itself tells which side he fought for, which is clearly the patients. What I don't understand is why he did it though after when he found out about the patients not being committed, wouldn't just make sense that it would rather be the patients to save McMurphy, but that defeats the whole purpose of why McMurphy is so different than the patients. In conclusion, I would say that McMurphy had to die because he's the hero, and most heroes die in order to get things done, and pass a message onto the next generation.

Advertising

At first, I thought the targeted audience of this Burger King advertisement is for children, because at the end the guy says, "New BK bacon double homestyle melt, better than mom can make." But then I gave it some more thought, and watched it again. I saw that the first lady who talked was kind of desperate to eat that sandwich by looking at her face, so I decided to include the mothers into the category, and then the fathers, because they also eat what food mothers cook. The ages of the targeted audience should be from four to fifty five, and that's about reasonable, because older people like grandma and grandpa usually eat something different according to what's healthy for them, and younger people than four, well, I can't guarantee if they'll finish up the whole sandwich without throwing up, so they're going to have to order a smaller size or something else. I also decided that the targeted audience are middle class people because that bacon double homestyle melt isn't a fancy food, like lobster or anything you eat at a fancy restaurant.

The environment around is very calm at the beginning, and then it gets interrupted by those moms who are trying to run over the Burker King. So, as things escalate from this calm environment to the chaotic psycho moms, you can see that the product is the main focus of this whole advertisment with all the angry disturbance about it, but you might think different according to what you see, and rather think it's funny how they went after him, and that's when you unconsciously recieve the message of this advertisment, however, I don't know if that's good enough to make you buy the product, but a closer look at the product in the end makes it look tasty enough to buy. They leave you with that image of the new bacon, so it can regenerate unconsciously into your thoughts when you are walking by a Burger King restaurant.

Television Ad: "Reptillian Hot Buttons;" Don't Push My Buttons!

This particular television ad was aired during Superbowl XLII (2008). As everyone knows, all Superbowl ads are amognst the best (and most expensive) ads shown on television all year. I would think that all television ads during superbowl season or any television ad on any day should be "clever," because thirty to sixty second ads cost about a million dollars. It is remarkable how anyone can afford that much money for a clip that lasts for as long of a time as it takes to urinate in a restroom!

In this particular ad, a squirrel runs out to a street to pick up an acorn that fell from a tree. As this innocent squirrel is getting his acorn, a roaring car comes around the bend and nearly hits the animal. As the car inches closer to the squirrel, it lets out a boisterous scream along with a racoon, an owl, a rabbit, a rat, a turtle, a deer, a cricket and three gophers. Obviously these animals were fictional, because no animal can scream almost human-like! Even the wife was screaming, sounding like the animals! Luckily, the driver saw the squirrel and swerves out of the way just in the knick of time.

This ad is trying to subliminally encourage the general American culture to be aware of where they are and to always pay attention to the road. The more durable a car and/or it's tires are will help reduce the amount of roadkill on roads. This ad went for the target consumers of the product, which were Bridgestone tires. The worst thing that could happen to a driver is to kill something or to get into an accident. Personally, I do not understand why it is called an accident. Let's say, for example, the driver in this ad did not see the squirrel and hit it. I would not consider this to be an accident, rather it is an "incident" caused by inattention! Animals are keys to our lives and environment.

The "reptillian hot buttons" this ad pushes is to humanize animals and to make us view them as people. This ad also indirectly pushes for greater sales for its foreign manufacturer (Japan) which is never really identified throughout the ad's message. Ads of this subliminal nature actually cause a significant financial landfall for foreign sponsors that the ad never identifies. Corporations always try to rig their products to make them look better than what they truly are. It is an effective way for corporations to exaggerate the truth.

In conclusion, I am a very careful driver and have never killed or harmed an animal in any way, even without the Japanese tires. Just like the driver in the ad, I would do all I could to swerve out of the way. In my mind, killing an animal of any kind, should be considered murder! In the ad, the narrator says, "for drivers who want to get the most out of their cars." This ad does not need to use animals as potential victims to make their sales point. Though this ad was cute, the same message could have gotten across in another way.

Supersize Me: Would You Like That To Be Supersized?!

For the past few days, we have been watching a movie called, "Supersize Me." In this movie a young man undergoes a thirty day trial restricting his eating to only McDonald's, for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Before he begins his trial he is medically tested for health problems or any other issues that might not allow him to successfully complete this thirty day trial. It is important that one gets tested for any medical problems before beginning anything that could cause harm to yourself. It is hard to believe that this young man was able to go a full thirty days eating only McDonald's. Almost consistently he ordered the supersize value meal. Hence, this is how the movie got the cartoon-like, but disturbing title.

There are over 31,000 McDonald restaurants worldwide, employing more than 1.5 million people. McDonald's operates in more than 119 countries, on six continents. Can you guess which continent they don't have one on? People truly do not realize the number of calories they consume on a daily basis, let alone the number of calories each McDonald’s meal has. An order of large fries at McDonald’s is equivalent to consuming an entire conventional meal. I would rather consume five bags of candy than purchase an order of large fries that are saturated in oily fats. As much as I love McDonald’s and fast food restaurants, the government should ask McDonald’s to refrain from selling any single food item that exceeds 500 calories. Our recommended daily diet should not exceed 2,000 calories.

Since there are so many calories in fast food, it can cause many different types of diseases, including obesity, diabetes (Type I and II) and heart disease. With the known risks of an unhealthy high calorie diet, why do people continue to eat at McDonald’s each and every day? McDonald’s employees are trained to be persuasive with their customers. For example, when employees tell their customers you can get the large for only fifty cents more, people readily agree to this offer. I consider this to be unnecessary and a contributor to unhealthy living. If our country needs fast food restaurants, we should have fast food restaurants that serve healthy fast foods, not fast food that is unhealthy.

In conclusion, I believe McDonald’s should be limited as a fast-food restaurant choice. They could easily limit the number of calories in their food offerings, without changing them. Wendy's, a competitor, has done exactly that. To show the unhealthiness of McDonald's food, the subject of “Supersize Me,” only after a day or two of his trial, suffers a powerful “McStomach ache” and actually regurgitates all of the McDonald’s food he consumed. In the end, he almost suffers from a coronary heart problem that could of cost him his life. Shouldn’t this message tell people something?! In the future, all McDonald’s is going to do is create an unhealthy base for future children to develop diabetes or heart problems and become obese! It makes me sad to know that our country is the most obese country in the world. I blame a large part of our country’s obesity on the famous restaurant with the golden arches known as, “MickeyD’s.”

Spirit Week: The Agony, The Pain!

Though spirit week is a time when the school is supposed to show a lot of enthusiasm and pride, this year's spirit week was much different than the norm. During field day on Thursday, the seniors experienced a hurftul thing that ruined our class pride for years to come. Almost every year, routinely, the senior class wins the bucket, because it is their last year. This year the rules were changed and made a little different. Ever since this class entered Groves High School as freshmen in 2005, the field day bucket competition was always rigged, meaning that it was pre-arranged for the senior class to win the bucket. This year the classes had to play fair and make every effort win the bucket for their class. This was the first time ever that the senior class did not win the bucket. Essentially our class will leave Groves never having won the bucket. The junior class will not have to worry about that.

As field day on Thursday came to an end, we as seniors were astonished to find out that we came in second place trailing behind the juniors by only ten points. Our class of roughly 300 students, many of whom broke into tears, tried to understand what hit us as the juniors retrieved the symbolic bucket indicating that they won field day. Field day is a very important day during spirit week for which the seniors always win. We threatened to plan a "senior skip day" that Friday to demonstrate how hurt we were. Ever since we were freshmen we were waiting to become seniors to claim our bucket prize, showing that we truly are the kings and queens of the school. We will never forget the hurt imposed on our class by not winning the bucket. The only consolation was that we at least won powderpuff football, and overall spirit week.

In conclusion, to some people a "bucket" is not a significant issue to cry over. However, the bucket is a symbol of sprit week to seniors. It is hard to explain what it means to the seniors, but it shows a tremendous symbol of pride. Everyone knows we won fair and square. Rumors have gone around that the juniors even stole some of our ideas in order to win extra points in some of the competitions that were played. When field day ended, we were not the only class that thought the judges made a mistake with their decision. Even the freshmen and sophmore classes thought the judges made a mistake. At least, on Friday, we replaced the hurt and returned to living in one "house," cheering on our football team to victory over Royal Oak High School and ending the spirit week of 2008 on a positive note. I personally think spirit week is a ludicrous activity and I hope schools will no longer force each class to compete with each other. School administrators will eventually discover that it does not bring spirit within each class. Instead, it brings anger and agony between classes!

P.S. I hope that homecoming will be a safe and hazard free environment. I know that the senior class will try to hold no grudges.

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest: This Novel Drives Me Cukoo!

Our class has been reading a book called "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" for the past few weeks. This book takes place within a secure mental hospital, somewhere in the state of Oregon. All the characters that are presented in this book are diverse, with different disabilities. Although this book degrades many people and has strong usage of profanity, literary critics consider it to be one of the best books written during of the 20th century. This book illustrates a strong lesson of human nature versus nurture. I find it hard to believe that this book has been critically acclaimed all over the world and had a movie made from the original text. I found this book to be very disturbing to read, and I do not understand how some "cuckoo" could write such a lucrative book.

I did not realize that the book received much criticism for its apparent misogyny and racism. However, as I was reading the novel, I immediately recognized a number of offensive racial comments by the narrator. An example of such remarks was how he singled out the black orderlies in the institution by calling them "black boys" and how he referred to the nurses as being either castrated or prostitutes. I do not think that anyone in this modern world would consider such degradation to be appropriate. However because this book took place during the 1960's (when it was supposedly acceptable to say those things) there were no real consequences as opposed to consequences that would be imposed in this modern, post civil rights era. The narrator, a paranoid schizophrenic, often divorced from reality, presents to the reader that his credibility may not be 100%. The reader may believe him to be exaggerating the issues or they may be totally removed from reality. Many other challenges may also be brought into question. Paranoid schizophrenia is a significant disability that disables one from understanding reality.

In conclusion, the novel helped usher in the change in culture that defined the 1960's, also known as the baby boomer years, which helped define the different personality types that live on this world. Every character in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," came from a culturally different perspective. The moral lesson of this book is trying to illustrate the different types of cultures within our society. It utilized the backdrop of mental illness as demonstrating only one micrccosim of society. It chose the bad backdrop to illustrate society in general!

Presidential Elections: Who Will Win--Obama or McCain?

As we inch closer and closer to the moment we have all been waiting for, we will soon find out who the next president will be to serve our country. There are many positives and negatives on both sides of the candidacy. However, if the Republicans win, I would be personally disappointed. The last time the Democratic party won was when William J. Clinton won in 1993. It has been exactly eight years that we have had a Republican in the White House. It is time for a Democrat to lead our country into the right direction.

Although both presidential candiates have a lot to offer to the country, Barack Obama appears to have more strengths than John McCain. The most obvious strength is Barack Obama's youth and he also appears to be more intelligent and charismatic than John McCain. Barack Obama also sees our country not as a whole but as being made up of individual needs and individual problems. I truly feel that Barack Obama understands everyone, no matter if you are Jewish, Christian, Muslim, etc. John McCain on the other hand, seems more in tune with big business interests. Also, not to leave out the obvious fact, Obama would also be the first African-American president. Another history making event.

On the other hand, John McCain has an extensive understanding of our country's strengths and weaknesses. John McCain has been a United States Senator for many years and his foreign policy experience exceeds that of Barack Obama. John McCain, is also better known than Barack Obama who is not widely known outside his home state of Illinois, so he has to boost his recognition as the next president of the United States of America. Did you know that John McCain was not born in the United States, unlike Barack Obama, who was? John McCain was actually born in Panama when it was considered a U.S. territory. The only reason why he can run for the presidency, is because while the Panama Canal was being constructed, it was then a U.S. territory called the Canal Zone. If this were not true, he would not be constitutionally eligible to run for president.

In conclusion, I see this race as being one of the closest presidential elections yet. My father, and brother who are liberals, say that this will be a "landslide." However, my grandparents and mother are conservatives, so I am stuck in between who I should vote for in the next presidential elections. We do need change in politcal parties to try and correct the tragic things that have happened to our country within the past seven years. I do not understand why these two good people have to be so harsh on each other just to win presidency! At least, whoever wins, we will make history as to Barack Obama being the first African-American to serve our country or John McCain to be the oldest president to serve our country. Even Sarah Palin will make history by becoming the first female Vice-President.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

I didn't realize that this novel has been banned by many different schools because of its racism and misogyny, I don't believe that Ken Kesey was aiming for that. I don't know if his interpretation of Nurse Ratched is part of being sexist, or just using her as a symbol of dictatorship. After the first group meeting with McMurphy arriving at the hospital, he said that she's a ball-cutter, and was trying to defend the patients at the mental institution, he also mentioned that some of them arn't as crazy as they are supposed to be, and that they are just being locked up from their freedom, so he wants to help them out by changing the way things are in the mental institution, and in order to do that he has to surpass or bring down the head of the institution which they all believe is Nurse Rachted who's in control, and not the doctor. I think that Nurse Ratched is more on task, and she's just trying to do the best in her job to make herself happy, I dont believe that she's emasculating the patients in order to that, but McMurphy and Harding made an argument about it, and they agreed that she is indeed trying to emasculate them, or as they called her a ball-cutter. I still didn't read the author's thought about Nurse Ratched except for her physical description, but Cheif Bromden never talked about how he hated Nurse Ratched to the guts like the others, except that he hates when she tells the black boys to shave him in the morning. And just because he referred to the aides as "black boys" it doesn't mean that he's racist, after all African Americans are black, and there is nothing wrong of saying that.

If some of the patients aren't committed, then why don't they just leave the mental institution? Why do they feel as if they have to put up with Nurse Ratched instead of being out there in the world where they can do whatever they want according to law, but still have much more freedom than being locked inside the institution, what are they afraid of? I mean it's really worth a try, and that's what I think will happen after McMurphy and the others go fishing.

Mean Girls

This movie is too dramatic and unreal, I mean generally speaking there are no groups of popular boys or girls that are worshipped by students or even teachers, it just doesn't exist, and you can't say there are groups of "unpopular" students, because they still have their own group, and to be "popular" as I see it, in other words is just having friends. However, being a loner doesn't mean that a person is unpopular, maybe he/she are introverted and don't like spending time socializing with others, and that doesn't make them losers. In schools, students are always divided into certain groups of friends, or cliques; group of people who share common interests, views, purposes, or patterns of behavior, and who ever doesnt fit a specific clique means that he/she can't be accepted into that group, and that's what I think is dividing the Groves community apart even though they try to make everybody respect each other's differences, so students will communicate with one another. But the main problem is that some students are unwilling to change their attitudes toward the others, and this certainly happens in schools that hold larger number of students, like in West Bloomfield High School. One day I was walking in the hallway, and I overheard a girl saying, "oh, hell no" when a gay guy was walking infront of her, wearing a girl sort of clothing; red pants, pink jacket. It's very difficult to bring a whole community together, because there are always different types of cliques, and it's very unmanageable to break them down to only one.

I know that most young men are always interested in what a girl has to offer, and it's always based on looks and not smarts, but what I dont understand is why do some girls feel as if they need to dumber themselves to attract certain guys? Why can't they just be themselves, and not try to make themselves look stupid like what Cady did in that movie, she purposely failed math quizes, so she can make Aaron Samuels tutor her. Where is their self-esteem?

Mean Girls: The Movie

In class, we watched a movie called "Mean Girls." This movie clearly emphasizes that there are many different types of people with different personalities in school. Generally, you conform your school behavior to the group of people you identify as your friends. In "Mean Girls," there is a group of girls called the "plastics" who appear to be the worst people to befriend because they make fun of everybody and stress negatives about their supposed "friends." These girls also talk behind other kids backs for no good reason other than to upset them. This often causes an innocent student to lose a friendship based upon gossip that the "plastics" committed. For high school students, like those in this movie, talking behind someone's back or ridiculing another person for absolutely no reason, is very immature.

When I was growing up I was often ridiculed at my old school, which was a private Jewish Day School, becuase I learned differently and I was perceived to be a "little strange." Just because someone acts different does not give another person the right to degrade a classmate's inner-self. When one degrades another person, it leads to greater frustration and causes the child to learn negative things about other people and destroys former friendships that will never be resumed. Also, I will be the first to admit that there are some kids at school I ridicule and tease because I learned the hard way from students that riducled me for things that I could not help. I know that I should not do this and I do not understand why our generation cannot simply accept kids for who and what they are.

So, my question is, why do children "single-out" other students just because they are different? Have you ever been accused of being a bully, by degrading another student because they were different, or were you the victim of a bully? If you were a bully, explain how it made you feel. I can say first-handed, that when a person singles-out another person by talking behind their backs because they are different is very hurtful. I hope one day students will know the true meaning behind the saying, "Treat others the way you would like to be treated."