Interpreting Narrative

So, my film is not finished, but I've been showing a lot of people the stuff I have so far. And it's really interesting to hear what people say about it. Everybody has a different interpretation. Everybody has a different perspective -- telling me things that I never thought of while filming.

This got me thinking a lot about interpreting story and how different backgrounds and beliefs can cause different interpretations. 

Here's a little story.

A while ago, I dated this girl named Courtney. She wasn’t the nicest girl -- actually, she was downright cruel, but I can’t deny the love we shared for television and movies. After watching a show or a movie, we would both share our individual opinions and reasons for our opinions. Though we may not have always agreed, (which happened frequently thus resulting in our break up) we would both have educated and thought-out reasons for why we liked or didn’t like a show or movie. This was one of her few redeeming qualities.

            

Courtney and I both followed the show Breaking Bad very closely. It was perfect for television junkies like the two of us because it had strong character development, clever symbolism and great cinematography. We would watch season after season guessing what would happen next. The show follows the life of Walter White, who is an under appreciated chemistry teacher who turns to cooking methamphetamine to provide for his family after he is informed that he has lung cancer. As the show progresses, you see how the life of crime changes Walter White as he deviates from simple family man to becoming a megalomaniac drug kingpin.

          

 Breaking Bad shows the transformation from the good guy to the bad guy. And what usually happens to the bad guy at the end of a movie or television show? They die. When Breaking Bad was coming to its final season, Courtney and I made predictions on how the show would end. Opposed to popular belief, Courtney did not think that Walter was going to die at the end. She was certain that the writers were going to show how Walter pushed away everything that he valued in his life and then show him living with nothing left. I thought that was absurd. There was no way that the writers would let Walter White live after all of the villainous things that he had done throughout the series. Courtney and I had legitimate fights where we would yell and scream at each other because we couldn’t agree how it would end. More of her yelling at me because I didn't agree with her. Well, at least, that's how I remember it. 

She was convinced that Walter White would have to live with himself after ruining his life that he worked so hard to afford. She thought that this would be the punishment that Walter deserved giving the viewers a satisfying ending. I thought that Walter was going to die. I thought that the whole show revolved around how Walter tied to escape death, from when he first found out he had lung cancer to killing his drug competitor, and the conclusion would show how death finally caught up to him. Courtney did not like this. But when the finale premiered and Walter White died, I didn’t let Courtney forget it. It felt great being right. But more importantly, this showed how our different beliefs resulted in our different interpretations.

Directing is not easy

So, coming into this class, my main goal was to make something that I would find funny. Throughout my time here at Ithaca, and being a screenwriting concentration, I've written a lot of stupid short scripts. But I've never had the opportunity to make the stupidity come to life. That's why I decided to take thesis. I wanted to make something - 100% of the way - directing, filming, editing, maybe acting - instead of just writing the story and being done with it.

But, as I started to shoot, I soon realized that I totally underestimated the of challenges of actually making a film. And considering I haven't taken any production classes prior to thesis, it was either sink or swim.

Writing the script has always been easy for me (well, relatively speaking...). But actually taking the finished script to the locations, with a camera, and audio equipment, and actors, and unforeseen problems, and then filming it - well, that's fucking hard.

The biggest thing I worry about is making everything look good. So, I decided to re-watch some of my favorite shows and look at how they're directed and what makes them look so good. First, I watched Louie - probably my favorite show ever in the entire world of television. Since I want my film to have a very Louie-esque feel to it, I took close note to the camera work, the shot angles, what is in focus and what is out of focus, etc. Louie has a lot of hand held camera work. It gives a very "real" feel which is something I want to accomplish in my film. Another element that gives it the "real" feel is the use of natural lighting - street lights, lamps, sunlight, etc. There are also a lot of close ups on characters when they say or do something important, with the background out of focus.

A lot of what I'm saying is pretty self explanatory and obvious, but when it comes to actually implementing these elements in your own film, it becomes challenging. Not only did I watch Louie, but I watched specific scenes from other movies and television shows. For example, I have a scene where my main character gets mugged. So I researched all of the best mugging scenes in cinema to see how they did it. And the more I watched, the more I was able to take and use these techniques.

If I learned anything, it's that you have to steal. You have to steal from the best and make it your own. That's the only way you can make something of quality.

Our Anaconda Don't Want None Unless You Got a Series Commitment Hun

This week it was announced that Nikki Minaj would produce and appear in an autobiographical sitcom about her life growing up in Queens in the 90s. The show will run on ABC Family and might single handedly save television. This show has everything millennials want in a TV show: Nikki Minaj, the 90s and their parents disapproval of the content.

It is also being written by a woman, Kate Angelo (The Bernie Mac Show, Will & Grace, Sex Tape) which at least female identifying millennials will approve of. And god knows broadcast television needs it, millennials are watching television less and less and the content being put out there is not doing much to stop the trend. If traditional linear television hopes to survive they absolutely need to start tapping into a different formula. Gone are the days where 6 white twenty somethings trying to make it in New York (actually a 3 camera set in Burbank) with their antics haunted by a creepy laugh track is gonna bring in this generation of twenty somethings. Those carefree "shows about nothing" left with the 90s along with the affordability the Manhattan apartments they were supposed to take place in. Our generation now wants an accurate and diverse perspective on the world, and Nikki Minaj might be the one to give it to us.

It is my guess that many 20 somethings will tune into this show and will continue to be loyal to its brand, if the writing and casting come together as promised. Other networks should take note and should begin looking outside their scope of hot white 20 year olds and towards a demographic of people they are now so desperate to appeal to. 

Will & Grace and the Importance of Not Forgetting What You're There to Do

Many people think of Will & Grace as a show that was groundbreaking for LGBT rights. It's not a bad legacy to have and not illegitimate either. Will & Grace normalized the gay experience while also being unapologetic in it's portrayal of gay characters (even if they came off as stereotypical at the time). However, a more fitting remembrance would be that of a perfect sitcom.

Let me be clear, by perfect sitcom I don't at all mean the best sitcom. That is of course subjective and usually a title taken by Cheers, Friends or Seinfeld among many other top shows. However, a "perfect" sitcom is one that doesn't forget what it's there to do, make people laugh. Shows like Friends and Parks & Rec often forget this, they sometimes find themselves relying heavily on sentimentality and extensive character arcs. It doesn't make them bad shows or cheapen their quality, however it bends their genre to their own whims instead of succeeding in its established guidelines. And while this may seem like a narrow set of requirements, such strict guidelines can actually allow for a more polished product, especially for novice television creators. It allows them to serve the genre, and more importantly their audience, when creating. And teaches them not to allow their voice and own creative desires have precedence over what best serves their characters, story and audience. It's the same reason writers rooms exist, to create an environment that values input over personal voice.

Will & Grace, partly because of it's groundbreaking content, exemplifies this best. It would have been easy to create a show that was specific to the creators', David Kohan and Max Mutchnick, voice and experience. It would have also failed. To create a show that could only speak to the gay experience of two men would fail to reach a substantial audience. Instead they decided to serve a comedic voice, to put comedy over perspective, to fit into a genre so they could tell their story instead of pushing their voice. It's what keeps the consistently funny, while shows like Cheers and Friends have ebbs and flows to their series run, partly due to their extensive character arcs. Insread Will & Grace focuses on short storylines and characters arcs which the put the characters into situations that explain their character as opposed to relationships. It also allows for comedy to take precedence over the easier alternative of sentimentality. Will & Grace knows what it's there to do, make people laugh and serve the audience over the experience of the creator

How I Met Your Mother had the WORST Finale Episode EVER

*SPOILER ALERT*

How I Met Your Mother was a television sitcom that had a total of 9 seasons and ended in 2014. The show was amazing, following a group of friends, Ted, Barney, Marshall, Lily, and Robin. The main plot line, derived from the name of the show, was listening to Ted Mosby tell the very long, detailed story of how he met his wife, to his children. This series was critically acclaimed and loved by a lot of people...until those last five minutes in the season finale. The WHOLE SHOW was based on finding the mother, and in the last five minutes they kill her off and Ted ends up with Robin?! No no no no no no no no no.

This was so disappointing, because not only were Ted and Tracy the cutest couple ever, what was the point of Barney and Robin even getting married in the first place? Maybe their excuse was that they didn't want to be predictable, or just the opposite, they wanted to make the fans happy and give them the relationship they wanted from the beginning; Ted and Robin. There was an overwhelmingly negative reaction to the finale, and I don't think that's what the producers and writers wanted. One thing I must admit is, that the show was never about the mother in the first place, it was about Ted. In the title, the "I" is the subject and the "Mother" is just the object. So we did need all those years to realize the type of man that Ted was before he did meet the mother. However, when Ted reveals at the end of the finale that the person he was talking about the whole time was the children's "Aunt Robin," the show suddenly became about her, and not Ted.

Just because the writers always pictured a happy ending between Ted and Robin, doesn't mean that that's how the show had to end. I stand by my statement that Ted and Robin should NOT have ended up together because this was basically just a cop out. They made such a BIG deal about Ted finally letting go of Robin and spent a lot of time focusing on that so that his heart would be ready when he did meet the mother. So all in all, I think that the ending was terrible, and for me, it ruined what I used to consider one of my favorite shows, and that is a sad fact.

Is Binge Watching Really the Way You Should be Watching Television?

If you have Netflix, HBO Go, Hulu, or any television streaming website, you know how it feels to binge watch a TV show. There comes a point in the level of binge watching where you should ask yourself, "Is this healthy?".

Where binge watching can't directly effect your health, it's best not to try and over do it. This way of viewing TV shows is kind of like being hooked on drugs, you get addicted and there's no way you're not going to push the button for next episode when it appears.

But there's another question that comes along with this style of television, are you really appreciating the show? If you watch so much of one show at a time there is a point where you will get distracted or become disinterested in what you are seeing. Are these TV streaming websites taking suspense and drama out of TV shows? There's no waiting anymore, you can automatically click on a button to see what is happening next.

Netflix is definitely taking over the television scene and there is no way that it's going to stop. People spend hours and days of their lives watching continuous television and missing out on the "reality" of the world. They are stuck in this virtual world which can ultimately lead to them regretting the decisions that they made to binge watch television. They do this to be caught up with the times, or to watch that one popular show that they missed out on. Either way that you look at it, binge watching television online is hindering the lives of people and their health. There is no looking back now, and we will walk forward in this digitally infused, binge watching obsessed world.

Game of Thrones TV Series Set To Spoil Books

The showrunners for Game of Thrones made an announcement this weekend, and readers of the books are outraged. 

Fans of author George R.R. Martin’s series “A Song of Ice and Fire” are some of the most dedicated fans to any current literature, and an announcement from Game of Thrones show runners D.B. Weiss and David Benioff this weekend confirmed that the show will catch up to the books in season 5, pass the books in seasons 6 and 7, and spoil the ending in season 7. George R.R. Martin has been working on “A Song of Ice And Fire” since 1991, with the first book in the series being published in 1996. To date, the first 5 books in the series have been released, and the sixth book is soon to come. Fans of the books hoped that Martin would be able to release the sixth book before the television series caught up and began spoiling elements of the plot, but that is looking less and less likely as Martin’s writing continues to move at a glacial pace. Season 5 of Game of Thrones begins to air on HBO starting on April 12, and will cover the ending of books 4 and 5. Unless Martin can seriously expedite the rest of the sixth book, the show will begin its sixth season next year and begin spoiling the plot.

There has already been some deviation between the books and the television series. There have been characters added and removed, deaths changed, and plot elements added and skipped. This deviation from the book series is likely to increase drastically in season 6, as Martin has shared with the show’s creators relatively few details about what is to come. In a quote from showrunner David Benioff this weekend, fans now know that “[the television series will] meet up at pretty much the same place where George is going; there might be a few deviations along the route, but [the show is] heading towards the same destination”. Even if Martin does manage to finish the sixth book in the series before the sixth season of the show airs, there really is no hope left for the ending of the story. Martin is taking, on average, about 4 years per book, and the makers of the show are not going to wait that long to produce their final season. Therefore the show and books will have (basically) the same ending, but the show will spoil it for the dedicated readers of the books.

The Arrested Development Pilot: One of the best pilots EVER

Arrested Development aired it's pilot on FOX on November 2nd, 2003. Since then, throughout its four seasons, the show has received 6 Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and recognition for being one of the funniest shows aired on television.

In my personal opinion, the pilot of this show is one of the strongest pilots for a television series I have ever seen. Typically, pilots are ruled out to not be considered the best, but this show breaks that rule. In this episode, you are introduced to every important character in the series. The main character, Michael Bluth, played by Jason Bateman, narrates the episode and gives a detailed description of his highly dysfunctional family members. The fast paced editing and highly saturated coloring make the episode even more intriguing to watch. Lower thirds are used as well as many graphics to point to certain things and create different vectors.

Another aspect that I found interesting is that when they go from one setting to another, they don't just cut it, they create two different boxes on the screen and then bring the next scene into full. I have never seen that done on a TV sitcom before. The dialogue that is used is absolutely hysterical and the conflicts that arrive are so coincidental and unrealistic that they make you laugh out loud. The killer cast of Jason Bateman, Michael Cera, Portia de Rossi, Will Arnett, and many more add hilarious antics with each of their lines. Overall, this pilot was incredible and really set a high standard for situational comedies.

Hands Down BIG HERO SIX is one of the Greatest Disney Movies of the year !

Big Hero 6 is an action packed comedy about "boy- genius" Hiro Hamada, who develops a strong relationship with Baymax--- a plus sized inflatable health-care robot made by his brother. This was an excellent movie. Walt Disney Animation Studios, presents the team behind "Frozen" and "Wreck- It- Ralph", and now "Big Hero 6". (Great job team you've done it again!  #Favorites! )

In recent Disney Animations I feel that the plot is more developed and brings a lot of stimulation to the viewers. I first noticed this with Frozen. Instead of the bad guy being introduces to the view as soon as the movie starts we have to figure out towards the end who really is the villain. In Frozen's case it was Prince Hans.. Which I didn't really see coming.

In Big Hero 6, it was even more complex... First, you have Hiro and brother Tadashi both geniuses. Then the relationship between the Professor Callaghan and Alistar Krei. The relationship between Hiro and Baymax. Then we come to find out Yokai's connection to Hiro and Alistar. All very complex and a bit confusing I might add, but extremely complex. I enjoy movies that do not provide me with enough information to know what is going to happen next.

Overall, this movie was a touching movie. As a young adult I never get tired of watching anything cartoon, disney, or animation related. Disney just keeps getting better from animation, to story complexity, and for filling the audiences enjoyment.

Every Tuesday is PLL Day

Every Tuesday I scramble to my TV to watch my favorite series, Pretty Little Liars. The story focuses on four teenage girls, Aria Montgomery, Spencer Hastings, Emily Fields, and Hanna Marin and their daily struggle of getting blackmailed by an anonymous harasser.

The plot started the night that their so called friend, Alison Dilaurentis went missing. From there on out they have received various texts, threats, and have almost gotten killed a numerous amount of times. The mystery of the show is to find out who "A" is, but it never seems to go in their favor. When they think they have finally discovered the true person hiding behind "A's" black hoodie, another twist is thrown at them. Filled with drama, intense love stories, and relatable characters, Pretty Little Liars excels at being an amazing teen television show. Though I absolutely love this show, I sometimes ask the question, "when is it too much?" The plot of this show takes many twists and turns that sometimes are even confusing to the viewers. Pretty Little Liars has been approved for seven seasons, while currently being in their fifth. However, I can't see where they are going to take this show for two more seasons after they reveal who head "A" is at the end of season five.

There just comes a point in a show, where the writing becomes too complicated. There are so many side plots and characters that appear for such a short amount of time, that you don't know what is important anymore. Pretty Little Liars has made a significant impact on the expectations of a teen drama, and I think that they need to get back on the right track that they started on in the beginning of the series. This show is amazing and doesn't get enough credit for what it's worth. I think if they tightened up the plot,and focused on what was important, the show would be appealing to all audiences and not just the teenage realm. But don't get me wrong, I love my girls. 

American Horror Story: Murder House

American Horror Story: Murder House is the first season of the FX television series American Horror Story aired between October 5, 2011 and December 21, 2011. The season was produced by 20th Century Fox Television, and the executive producers were Dante Di Loreto and series creators Brad Falchuk and Ryan Murphy.

The season centers its focus on the Harmon family: Ben, Vivien and their daughter Violet, who move from Boston to Los Angeles after Vivien has a agonizing miscarriage and Ben has an affair with one of this students. They move into a restored mansion, unaware that the home is haunted by its former inhabitants, most of which were murdered in the house.




The first season of American Horror Story was well received and praised by television critics and fans. The cast was generally praised, particularly Jessica Lange and Frances Conroy. The series drew consistently high ratings for the FX network, ending its first season as the biggest new cable series of the year. The first season was nominated for various industry awards, including the Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series- Drama. In addition, Lange won many Golden Globes for Best Supporting Actress, The Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series, and the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie.  Conroy was also nominated for the Supporting Actress Emmy. The main cast includes Taissa Farmiga, Connie Britton, Dylan McDermott, Evan Peters, Denis O'Hare and Jessica Lange.

*Spoiler Alert* 

The entire series is one thick plot unraveling itself and the Harmon family discovers the horrors and secrets of the house.  They try to get out and move from the house, but they are doomed from the start.  Ben sees patients in an office in the house, most of the patients he treats are spirits of the house trying to cope with their psychological problems.  Vivian is raped, and then carries for most of the season twins, one of which is her husbands, and one of which is her rapists son.  Violet, their daughter, who is the first of the family to die in the house, suffers from depression, and is in love with Tate, a spirit in the house, and little does she know, is her mother's rapist.  The sickening story unfolds with scary scenes and complex character development.

I highly recommend watching all seasons of this show.  I think that it is well made and executed terrifically.  

Lighting in Game of Thrones

**SPOILER ALERT**

Sticking with our class theme of lighting today, I decided to analyze the lighting of the series I am currently binge-watching — Game of Thrones. The majority of scenes in Game of Thrones take place in three places: Essos (a desert-like continent), King’s Landing (a well-developed coastal town), and The Wall (a city in the frozen tundra of the North). The lighting in the scenes from each place changes dramatically, and perfectly matches the mood and tone of the storylines that take place in each location.

The first location I’ll discuss is Essos, the desert continent. This story line follows one of the show’s main protagonists, Daenerys, as she travels from city to city freeing the slaves and killing their masters, recruiting former slaves who wish to join her army. In the beginning of the series, Daenerys is given to a barbarian-like race called the Dothraki and is made “khaleesi” (queen) of one of the tribes. Her only purpose is to give the “khal” (king) a baby, and she is mistreated as many women in the series are. These scenes are very dark with lots of shadows and warm colors, which does a good job of portraying the mood of the scenes. As time goes on though, Daenerys gains power and begins to form an army. She fights for a good cause and is a very positive character, so her scenes change to being lit with soft, warm light. Daenerys has bleach blonde hair and wears very bright colors, which contrasts the dark, plain colors worn by the slaves she frees. As she gains power and her army grows, the colors lighting in her scenes gets brighter and brighter with less shadows.

The second location, where much of the show takes place, is King’s Landing. As the name suggests, this is where the King and the royal family lives. The storyline in King’s Landing follows two families: the Starks and the Lannisters. Sansa Stark is another one of the series main protagonists, but she is forced to marry into the antagonist Lannister family. While some of the happier scenes take place outdoors with bright colors and full, soft light, the dark and twisted scenes take place inside the castle and are much darker. Since there is no electricity in the time period/world that the show takes place in, everything is lit with candles. The show does a great job of targeting light to make it appear that each room is lit only with candles since there are rarely windows inside the castle, even though the number of candles shown couldn’t possibly create enough enough light to actually show what’s happening. It is interesting watching these scenes, and the lighting is always impressive.

The last major location of the show is along “The Wall”, a giant, 700 foot tall ice wall in the North that travels 500 miles from coast to coast. The main character here is Jon Snow, the bastard child of Ned Stark, father of the Stark family. Jon Snow is a member of the “Night’s Watch”, the defenders of The Wall who give up their life for the brotherhood. Since the North is a tundra-like environment, the outdoor scenes have no shadows, imitating how clouds diffuse the sun when it snows. The indoor scenes are VERY dark, lit with very few candles, and the color palette is always very dark. Jon Snow has lots of personal struggles, and the mood of the storyline at The Wall is usually dark and depressing. The lighting and color palette matches this mood, with all colors either being pale white like the snow or dark brown like their furs/clothes.

First Episode of The Newsroom

The Newsroom is a television show that premiered in 2012 that depicts an interesting inside look of a newsroom for a very popular fictional news network. The creator, Aaron Sorkin, created the episodes around actual news events that were occurring in the country at the time. The show stars actor Jeff Daniels who plays the lead news anchor and has an outrageous, stubborn personality.

The first episode of The Newsroom was full of controversial topics and intense scenes that pulled you in right from the beginning. In addition to this, this show is identified as a comedy as well and it definitely contains comic elements that make you laugh out loud. In this episode, the first 10 minutes were the most powerful, because of the speech he made about why America was not the best country in the world. This sparked contrasting reactions from people that witnessed the episode, because he really went off on the government and how we are not as great as we used to be. This speech rang a harsh truth in many people's ears that they didn't necessarily want to hear. It created a conflict in the show that you were intrigued by and made you want to continue watching so you can find our the answer to it. In addition to this conflict there are many love conflicts that arise. One between the main character and his new producer that was an old flame, and a love triangle between the secretary and two guys that work for the station. These conflicts that are presented right away make everyone interested in the story and the dialogue. The Newsroom is definitely shot beautifully and the lighting is mostly natural from the windows and very bright. The shots include a lot of close ups and pans of the studio, and they undertake the feeling of the chaotic studio structure very well. The Newsroom is definitely a show that I want to continue watching and I would recommend it to anyone wanting to find a great show to see. 

            Here's the video of this great speech. 

The Background of White Collar

One of my favorite shows, White Collar had its season finale just over a month ago. Throughout the six incredible seasons, we watched the characters grow and the story unfold. An aspect of this show that I thought was amazing was the beautiful background of New York City. They creatively use the city as a source of visual language. Having a constant city background can get monotonous at times, but this show executes it flawlessly.

There are so many lovely shots within each episode that sometimes you feel like the characters are inside a work of art. I find this ironic since the main character, Neal Caffrey, was originally in jail for art theft and forgery. Many of the shots used throughout the episodes are wide shots that show the beautiful architecture of New York City and it gives off such a powerful dynamic.

White Collar Director of Photography, Russell Lee Fine, explains that "The way I've built White Collar is to be super fast…We match our A and B cameras on set. I know I can set the cameras here and there, and rehearse it once, and know I can correct on the fly. Sometimes we don't rehearse at all." The way that this show is set up makes the setting stand out even more. Since it as set up to be super fast, the dynamic of New York City adds to the chaos of the show. Fine also stated that, "we do absolutely no lighting on exterior streets." This means that they rely on the sunlight and the cameras to film in natural light in the daytime. The cameramen for this show are also always on dollies and move quickly with the pace of the show. Overall, the setting of New York City contributes greatly to the show White Collar and the decisions that Russell Lee Fine decided on really enhance the outcome of the episodes. 

Dr. Gregory House: a morphing character

Starting in December, I began the journey of watching the complete series of House M.D. At first, the show was a little off-putting because Dr. Gregory House (played by Hugh Laurie) is SUCH an unlikeable character. The man is extremely sarcastic, manipulative, and is known as "the doctor who everyone hates". But since he's a genius diagnostician, Dean of Medicine Lisa Cuddy, (played by Lisa Edelstein) the head of the hospital (and a constant love interest) keeps him around.

House is a troubled man--he has a chronic pain problem (from a leg muscle injury), he pops Vicodin pills like they're candy, he has past issues with his father that still linger, and he believes that "everybody lies". He also neglects a huge role of being a doctor--actually interacting with the patients. He usually delegates doing the patient history, procedures, breaking into patients' houses (weird??!!) and general patient care to his "team" of 3-4 doctors.

House is the epitome of the benign violation theory---his jokes are insulting, but the benign aspect is that he is always in a position of power over those he insults, so there are no repercussions. Therefore the situation becomes "acceptable", so to speak. I emit a small chuckle for these jokes to combat some the uncomfortable feelings I get from the jokes made.

When I reflect on the nature of the show, I think "why on earth do I watch this?" The medical cases are often gross and the main character is a pill-popping jerk, but I stick with the show because the characters are so interesting. Even though (in early seasons) House is really unlikable, as a person he is very intriguing and the way his character is developed always makes the viewer hungry to know more.

I am now well into season seven (out of eight), and the has been a dramatic change of character from the first few seasons to this one. As previously mentioned, he doesn't interact with patients because he just doesn't like them. But an event in season six was the turning point for House--he finally went to rehab for his Vicodin addiction. After he left rehab (a whole two episodes!) he was still sarcastic, manipulative, and generally disliked; but now he's more considerate of others and actually interacts with the patients and cares about them.

I am interested to see how the writers end the series, and especially how they tie up the loose ends of Greg House's story.

Don't Get Married #Bridezilla

Having watched the entirety of the first season of Bridezillas, I feel qualified to say I know what true bat sh*t crazy behavior looks like--excuse my french here, but if you've watched it you know I'm putting it mildly! 

To those underprivileged humans out there who haven't had the pleasure to binge on the undeniably entertaining nonsense this show provides for the world, I will take the next couple lines to quickly summarize what you've been missing.

Essentially, the brides are unbearable and insane, and their husbands-to-be are typically a hybrid between a defenseless baby bird and a neutered cat. You know, real studs. And though you may think I'm being a little too harsh on these men...allow me to get my Lawyer on and present you with some evidence:

I hope to dear God you chose not to watch that whole thing. Really, ten seconds are enough to get the point! Bridezillas are insane and somehow they're still getting married. 

 

  

The Way You Look Tonight

As I was flipping through the channels on my TV the other night, my family stopped to watch a press conference with President Obama about the ebola crisis in the United States.  As we watched him speak on the subject, I noticed just how tired he looked.  I remember canvasing for Obama back in 2008, and the now worn and tired president is not the same young and spirited man he was when he first ran for office. 

 I thought back to many history classes that I have taken in which we discussed the question whether or not Franklin Delano Roosevelt would be elected for office if he ran today.  If we think of solely his politics, it is easy to think that he would still be voted into office by Americans today.  However, we must also consider his physical condition.  A victim of polio as a child, FDR was weak in his lower body and used crutches and a wheelchair.  When he gave speeches, he leaned against the podium for support.  If television had prevalent in American homes at this time, would people have still voted for him, seeing that he was physically weak?

                








 Personally, I do not think that America would have elected FDR into office.  This was an era before television, an era before the majority of Americans could judge a public official based on their physical characteristics.  The first television was introduced to the American public at the 1939 World's Fair at which FDR gave a speech to welcome all of those in attendance.  It wasn’t until the early 1950s, however, that more than fifty percent of Americans owned TVs.

                 
  Television has influenced politics and increased the importance of the public image.  Before television, people could listen to politicians on the radio or read about them in the news, but there was no way in which the masses could observe the actions and the physical appearance of a person and make judgements about him.  With the invention of the television came the importance of having a presentable image.  Politicians are constantly under public scrutiny, for there are always fans, interviewers, or paparazzi waiting to film or take a picture of a public personality.   The public image has become so important in today’s society.  The body language and physical appearance of a politician suddenly became much more important to the public once the masses were able to watch a public figure live on TV.

                                                                               
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The importance of the public image adds a whole new element to politics.  Because of the influence of television, politics are no longer mainly based on what the politicians believe or what they promise their constituents, but instead on the way a politician looks.  America aims to vote for someone who looks strong, friendly, trustworthy, and like they will be able to protect America in a time of crisis.