Monday, March 28, 2011

I Will Never Understand People


   At the beginning of this month, Rebecca Black's Friday music video (above) went viral. On the most part it received negative reviews, yet it was still popular. I see people posting this video to their Facebook profiles, yet they write how awful the song is and how it makes them want to vomit. What is ironic is that since this video, Rebecca Black has made it big. She appeared on MTV for an interview and Jay Leno. If the song is so bad,  then why give her so much publicity, or even make a parodies of her song?
                                  
                                              

   After all "imitation is the greatest form of flattery". I am saying this as a person who is addicted to spoofs and even tends memorize and sing them on a daily basis. I believe that parodies are an artistic form of pointing out different ideas and even making fun of songs. Sometimes the parodies are even better than the originals but the second video, which is the parody, is in my opinion atrocious. I found the video above on my Facebook updates one friend posted it on another mutual friend's profile. I thought that this parody was even worse than the original song. My theory on why this parody is so bad is because the original song was so horrible that is did not form the strong foundation that is needed to form a decent parody.

  Think of all the energy wasted making this parody, that energy could have been used to spoof the incompetence of the Japanese Government with the accident at Fukishima Nuclear Power Plant after the tsunami, or even Gaddafi's refusal to back down after the Libyans revolt. I think that those topics would have made excellent parodies. I could imagine a Gadaffi, ranting and raving and dodging bullets every second, as Obama and the U.N. offer him millions and billions of dollars to just back down and check himself into Bellvue for a month. He would then refuse the offer and go on a rampage, until Sarah Palin shoots him because she thought that he was a caribou. (The story would work just as well with Dick Cheney shooting him by "accident".)

  Now back to the publicity part. What I do not get about people is the fact that they focus on thing that they hate. A few examples I have are, Charlie Sheen, the Westboro Baptist Church, Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, etc .Human behavior always baffles me, especially when it comes to how they react to different things. Whether it is the media or the average person I will never understand why they are interested in the Charlie Sheens and Lindsay Lohans since their behaviors in my opinion is static, failing drug tests breaking the law and acting like lunatics, how predictable. Why is the media actually interested in something that is so constant. Charlie Sheen will always be crazy, same with Lindsay Lohan and, the Westboro Baptist Church will always tell people that they are going to hell and protest funerals. We seem to dislike these things yet we give them attention. What I find really annoying is that I cannot turn on the news, or, open a newspaper without hearing something about the three things that I have mentioned before. Everybody seems sick and tired of them yet everyone seems to talk about them.

   As for the Westboro Baptist Church the only reason that I interested in it was because, as a person interest in American Government, I was curious about whether Snyder v. Phelps would get a writ of certiorari. The case did go to the U.S. Supreme court, which decided in the favor of the Phelps party, which means that they are allowed to protest at funerals. Now that we have established taht established we should simply ignore them. After all if we get angry and counter-protest, then we are playing into their game. They want attention, if we do not give them attention then things will not seem as bad as they are, and they will just blend back into nothingness. Maybe we will even realize how few people are protesting from the Westboro Baptist Church. I find it ironic that a few noise makers can incite hundreds of counter protesters.

  The Rebecca Black video was abysmal at best. However if we keep giving her attention and making parodies of her that will just increase her notoriety. She has every right to record a video, but if you think it is so bad then, do not watch the video and then share it with your friends. Attention gives positive reinforcement,  if we ignore her maybe the record companies and/Rebecca Black will get the message. After all as the saying goes "any publicity is good publicity". We are giving these celebrities and Rebecca Black exactly what they want and, we do not realize it.

PS. I am only posting this not out of my interest in Rebecca Black's video, but out of my frustration with people who keep giving misbehavior and mediocrity undeserved attention. The reason that I have mentioned the public figures like Charlie Sheen, Lindsay Lohan, Westboro Baptist Church and, Paris Hilton, is not because I care about them or even intentionally follow their lives. It is because their lives are all you hear about. We know that they will get into trouble, spew invectives and do erratic things, so why are we interested in something so predictable?

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

I'm Offended by This

  Today in macroeconomics class, my professor was discussing unemployment. He mentioned that discrimination increases during times of high unemployment because, many more people are applying for that job and it is easier to get away with discrimination. The example my professor used was that a man was not hired because he had green skin. He probably used this skin color because, he wanted to avoid using a real minority, so he would not offend anybody in the class by singling out a real minority. The problem is that, he offended me. As a Martian, I am offended that I was singled out like that.

  I know many people will ask why I am calling myself a Martian, the answer is because I am one. As a kid I was always different. I did not think like everyone else.  There were many reasons for including that facts that I, did not understand the social rules, always got into trouble, was in my own world, was hyperactive, was defiant, and, could not understand why thing were the way they were. I did not understand why I was so different. In seventh grade I finally learned what made me so different. My teacher was "kind" enough to point it out to me, by calling me a Martian every day in front of the class. Growing up as a Martian (or Alien American to cover all groups of space aliens) was awkward especially, when trying to blend into an Earthling run society where there was no Alien Awareness. I was forced to hide my true "skin color", with little success.  If my professor was aware of the existence of Alien Americans, he probably would not have used a person with green skin as an example, so as not to offend me as part of a minority group.

   As a result of the offensive comments made by my professor, I am joining the NAACP. I know that most people will say that the NAACP is an organization for African Americans but, isn't green a color? If the NAACP will not let me join then, I can say that the NAACP discriminates against, Martians and other space aliens, and form my own special interest group for fellow Aliens, the Alien Awareness League (AAL). We will first fight for recognition because, most people do not know that Martians, along with other species of space aliens exist. We will then fight for civil rights and awareness, such as Alien Awareness Month. The month of awareness will be dedicated to how Martians and other Aliens were mistreated and, had to live in and fight an unjust world that was run by Earthlings, without Alien Americans having a say in it. Since I am planning to be an Alien rights leader, I plan to make July Alien Awareness Month because, I was born in July. I plan to fight for affirmative action and be a representative of the Alien American community in a way that is similar to Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton for the African American community. I will even lobby on Washington for Alien rights. I will preach about every hint of racism against Alien Americans. I will use the guilt of the Earthlings to my advantage.

   I will make sure that Alien Americans as a special interest group get their slice of the pie, just as any other minority group would. After all, "All's fair and love and war". This is how Alien Americans are planning to take over the world.

PS. To all you Earthlings out there this post was just a joke to make a political point.  I seriously was different as a kid and my teacher did call me a Martian. I am not a Martian but, I am sometimes on my own planet.

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Purim 2011: My First Purim Without Going to a Party of Some Sort

My Purim Costume

  I was always awkward when it came to Purim. I was never invited to a Purim party outside of school. This year I was invited to two Purim parties, yet I choose to be alienated. In short I skipped both parties.

   For those who do not know what Purim is, I will explain it to you. Purim is a result of how the Jews were not killed in the Persian Empire despite the fact that Haman, the king's advisor had the king sign a declaration saying that on the 13th of Adar the Jews will be killed. Queen Esther was kidnapped forcibly married to the king and revealed that she was Jewish, and that Haman wanted to kill her people. The king signed a declaration saying that the citizens of his 127 countries can try to kill the Jews, but the Jews had the right to defend themselves. Haman was hanged on the gallows that he wanted to hang his Jewish nemesis Mordechai along with his ten sons. Because of this today Jews celebrate, dress up, and drink. For those who are interested you can probably find an English translation of the Book of Esther.

  I wonder why I choose to seclude myself from everyone. I think that one reason is that, I am scared of making a fool out of myself. Another reason I think is because whenever I go to a party I tend to, pig out on the food, hang out in a more secluded part of the premises (like the back room, or if it was a party by my school my school auditorium rather than the gym where the party is going on), or as I said before make a fool out of myself in general. I thought that this year I would be more outgoing, but I was so busy with school and working on my philosophy and history papers. I know that I am the way I am, but I should stop making excuses for myself and attend more parties and events. I should open myself up to new experiences, I might even enjoy some of them. I also should be more prepared and actually buy a costume for Purim next year.

   However this year I decided to dress up as something that I have been scared of for a long time. I am dressing up as myself. This Purim I will not hide behind masks and costumes and pretend to be something I'm not, like other people. I am going to be myself and happy with that.
                                    
                                                      HAPPY PURIM!!!!!!!

Monday, March 14, 2011

How Rude!

   I have always had problems in the classroom and today was no exception. I tend to have problems with classroom etiquette, when it comes to raising your hand, the tone of voice I speak in (I tend to speak in a very loud voice), and dominating the class discussion. However, what made today different was that, instead of being told off by the professor, I was told off by a fellow student. She said that I needed to tone it down and that I was degrading the professor. However, what upset me most, was that I never even spoke to this student before, it would have been one thing if she was a friend, or even an acquaintance, but she was not. My initial thought  was that she was just plain rude.

  It all started today in art history class we were discussing Greek and Roman art. People were allowed to give input their observations on the artworks. When it came to discussing the busts of  Julius Caesar (the top picture ) and Pompey the Great (the bottom picture) which were both made made in the 1st century BCE  . Class discussion was open and I decided to voice my observations along with everybody else dd.

   While everybody else said that Pompey looked younger than Caesar, I disagreed. I noticed that Pompey had wrinkles. The only thing that made Pompey seem younger was his hair. He did not have the facial expression that one normally sees on competent leaders. He looked as if he was a lazy person who did nothing all day. The way I described it was that he was not better looking than Caesar and not idealized because, he had a big nose with worry lines, he did not seem to be relating to everyone but had a spaced-out look on his face. To me Caesar seemed more alert and engaged than Pompey. I guess the reason that I found Caesar to be more relatable is because I am not used relating to normal people but rather to politician-types.When I gave my input on both the statues someone did interrupt me to counteract my input on the size of Pompey's nose, which was also not perfect classroom etiquette on her part.  I might have called out a few times when it came to the statue of Augustus 14 AD which was when he died. How we supposedly knew it was after his death was because he was not wearing shoes. When a person asked if Greek had shoes (Augustus was Roman, and yes ever heard of gladiator sandals?) I said that gladiators (who were Roman) had sandals, and yes the Greeks also did and asked if the person ever heard of gladiator sandals. I was not degrading the professor but, maybe I should not have called out and let the professor respond to that one.

    I acknowledge the fact that I am not the perfect student. If I forget to raise my hand or offend the professor. I do expect the professor to give me some constructive criticism in response to my transgressions. One such example is, when last semester when my Classics professor professor was discussing the midterm I called out when he said that the lecture on The Odyssey was his favorite lecture. I called out to ask why. What I did not get was that when he said that it was his favorite lecture, he meant that a huge portion of the midterm would be on The Odyssey. The next lecture the professor called me up to discuss my calling out. Yes I was angry, however, he had every right to do so.

   I do not mean to be disrespectful, but I just do not understand what is appropriate speech. To me appropriate speech means that it lacks hate. I also tend to go too far when joking. Such and incident happened last semester when I made a stupid joke at a  fellow  Brooklyn College student. I just thought that it was a harmless joke. However, I was wrong because it turns out he told his mother. When his mother started being hostile towards me I just commented my observation that she did not seem in the mood to talk. She then said that I was not so nice to her son. Forget the fact that we are college students and he had his mother intervene, why could he not just tell me himself that he was offended by my harmless joke?

    Now back to what happened after the art history lecture. After the lecture, as I was leaving a fellow student came up to me and told me to tone it down. She also said that I was degrading the professor. My thoughts at that moment were, "that if the professor has a problem with me he can tell me himself.", that she is a fellow student and not the professor's assistant so who was she to tell me off like that?", and that I just thought that I was giving my intellectual input. I even spoke to someone I knew from elementary school about this and she agreed with me.My point is that I feel that students should not try to intervene in the student-teacher relationship the same with that parents should not intervene in peer relations.


PS. Although I thought that it was wrong for a fellow student to tell me off, I will take what she said into account. I will continue to work on my calling out and how I tend to take over a discussion (in and out of the classroom), along with my social skills.

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Modesty and Orthodox Judaism


   In my previous post I discussed how modesty has taken over Orthodox Judaism. When my friend saw my post, she sent me this video. The woman in this video talks about how modesty is the most important thing. I guess that the woman in the video thinks that being modest is more important than being a decent and ethical person. She also does not seem religious, when it comes to not being materialistic and close to God. All she talks about is what she buys, eats, and drinks. I do not consider myself a spiritual person. However, she seems to be more materialistic than I am. This video makes me wonder even more whether modesty really makes a person religious.

   Although this video is fictitious and is a satire, you cannot deny that there is an element of truth to it. This video was so similar to the experiences that I have had with many people, that I could not tell that it was fake. I did not know it was fake until my sister told me it was. The reason for this mistake could be 1- I cannot tell that something is a joke unless I am told it is, or 2- as I said before this video is so realistic that I could not tell that it was a joke. You can be the judge for yourself, but personally I think that reason number two is the one that applies most.

Thoughts on the Color Red

  This week I had to encounter a dilemma that I never thought that I would have to encounter again, the question what makes a person Orthodox. From my days in yeshiva I discovered that modesty was the criteria that you were judged by. However when I asked my father he said that, one is considered Orthodox if he keeps the mitzvot as in Sabbath and kosher. However this ugly monster, has somehow found its way back into my life. It is obvious today that modesty has become the most important category for someone to be considered religious even if they do keep Sabbath, kosher and the other mitzvot.

 This story happened this week as I was sitting around in the Hillel before class. I heard a girl getting upset at a Bukharian man. The reason she got upset at this man was because he said that Orthodox Jews do not wear red, and that girl had a red coat. Being upset about this, I asked this man if he considered me religious. I was wearing my jeans, which I consider more modest for me than a skirt, because I tend to sit in an immodest fashion. He pointed out that I was wearing jeans, which is what I expected. However, I keep the Jewish holidays, Sabbath, and kosher. When I told him this he asked if I went to synagogue. I do not go to synagogue every Sabbath and Jewish holiday. The reason being is that I do not find prayer to be helpful and I feel the reason why people pray is because they were taught to, and because it is simply part of the social structure of Judaism, which I have trouble comprehending. People go to synagogue to make friends, I have not been so successful in that department. He said that I was not quite Orthodox because of that. Last time I checked, to be considered Orthodox one had to keep Sabbath and kosher, so this did not make sense to me.

   I later went to talk to the girl that the man had offended. I told her about my exchange with that man. She said that she would not take offense because he was not right in the head. She also said that the anti-red sentiment was from the time of the shtetles. That part she is mistaken about because, when I was in Balkany's school which was a Bais Yaakov, an ultra-Orthodox school the principal and teachers spoke violently against us wearing the color red. Last time I checked this was not during the time of the shtetles. The color red is banned throughout Boro Park and many other Yeshivish/Haredi neighborhoods. I seriously have issues with such dress codes. They tend to look down on those who do not follow it. The funny thing is that I have met women who I consider to be very religious but wear pants. When I stayed at one such woman's  house she  forced me to go to synagogue on Sabbath. The truth is that I like to sleep in, so waking up at 9 AM was a very big strain. The man in the story would have probably considered this family irreligious because the synagogue they went to was very Modern Orthodox.

   I somewhat envy this woman and her family because they are far away from the judgmental Jewish communities of New York. I had such an encounter when someone from my neighborhood said that her mother told her that my sister was not marrying a frum (religious) guy. Being outraged, I said that the reason that her mother said this was because she was a "narrow-headed frummie". I know that that was immature and ad hominem, but at the time it was less than two years since I graduated Balkany's school, and I was sick of people judging my religious devotion along with them judging other people's.

   These values being shoved down my throat is one of the factors that made me skeptical of the Jewish communities.I noticed that they cared more about modesty than the feelings of other people,. If I transgressed in the modesty category I got it over the head. I once faced public humiliation because I was spotted outside of school not wearing socks by a teacher. This teacher decided to announce to the whole class that she saw me dressed "immodestly". How about the saying "Love thy neighbor as if he were thyself" or "Hamalbim pinei chaveroh b'rabim ein lo chelek b'olam habah"? (The second saying means, "If you embarrass your friend in public then you lose your part in the world to come".) I guess that technically I was not a friend because I was a student, but I was taught the loose interpretation where "chaveroh" means a fellow Jew, which she obviously violated.

  I feel that many of the ultra-Orthodox people that I have met turned out to be hypocrites. Why do we judge people according to how they dress? A person can cover themselves from head to toe but still not be religious. The coat in question was a simple wool coat. I believe that this girl should have the right to wear a coat in the color of her choice without being judged.

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Miss Lonelyhearts: A Tragic Life That is Very Familiar

  For English my class was assigned to read Miss Lonelyhearts by Nathanael West. This book was written in 1933. Miss Lonelyhearts is not what it sounds like. First off, Miss Lonelyhearts is not even a female. Miss Lonelyhearts is an alias that an unidentified man goes under as part of the advice column that he writes for. Miss Lonelyhearts has to deal with other people's problems on a daily basis. This impairs his ability to lead a happy life. First he flirts with his boss's wife. He then breaks up with his fiance, and then sleeps with an unhappily married woman who wrote to him. The woman he slept with is married to a cripple who she claims is not a gentleman and that she only married him because she was pregnant. He then tells her that her husband probably loves her. However, he still ends up sleeping with her. He falls ill after this incident. His fiance heard that he is sick and comes to bring him soup. She asks him for the reason why he does not just quit and go into advertising. The reason he gives her is, because even if he does quit, the letters will always haunt him.  His boss then comes and tells him to write to Christ like one of his writers would write to him. Miss Lonelyhearts is a character who expresses his religion in interesting ways. A few examples are 1- He took the ivory Christ of the crucifix and nailed it to the wall 2- He attempted to sacrifice a lamb to God. However, after trying to slaughter the lamb, the lamb escapes and he ends up having to put the lamb out of its misery, because it was cut by hitting its head on the rock. What is ironic is that his initial intention was to eat the lamb.

  Now back to the soap opera part of the story. Miss Lonelyhearts then takes sick leave and goes to a house in the country with his fiance. It is there that he is temporarily able to escape the drama for a few days.However upon returning to his natural habitat he realizes that, he was right about not being able to escape the memories of the letters that he has read. This is realization is said to have been a relief. The reason being is that he felt like that he has been living a lie throughout the duration of the escape. He soon comes face to face with the husband of the married woman that he has slept with. The crippled husband comes to deliver a letter personally to Miss Lonelyhearts. The cripple eventually invites Miss Lonelyhearts over to his house. Upon the arrival of the two men, the cripple's wife automatically begins to flirt with Miss Lonelyhearts. The wife sends her husband out to the store to buy some gin. This is the perfect opportunity for the wife to continue her advances on Miss Lonelyhearts. He continues to ignore her advances until...she tries to assault him by sticking his head between her breasts. He responds in defense by hitting her in the face. His boss then invites him to a party where everything really catches up to him. His boss shows him off as a circus act and even has him read the letter that the cripple sent to him after the incident at his house. The letter says that his wife said that he tried to rape him. His fiance was at this party and runs away and is upset. He found her and tried to obtain her forgiveness and stated that he quit the Miss Lonelyhearts job. His fiance then tell him that she is pregnant and plans to have an abortion. He then asks her to marry him and convinces her to keep the baby. He even volunteers to go into advertising like his fiance suggested earlier. Miss Lonelyhearts has repented for his sins and finally gets his happy ending, or so we think. The cripple comes to meet Miss Lonelyhearts. Miss Lonelyhearts newly reformed decides to embrace the cripple. It turns out that the cripple had a gun on him, and they both fall down a flight of stairs after the gun shot.

  I guess that everyone including me has past experiences that they cannot escape. When Miss Lonelyhearts said that he would never be able to escape the letters, I felt as if we shared the same brain. Despite the fact that many years have past since my childhood I seem to be unable to escape the traumatic experiences of my youth. I feel that this book was meant for people who are think like me. People who seem to never be able to get past the bad experiences in their lives and seem to make one mistake after another. This book is in no means a fairy tale. This book is more realistic by showing us that the past will always haunt us. Miss Lonelyhearts is not happy when he everything is good, because he feels that the happiness is artificial. This is a malady that I am faced with everyday. I am never happy, I have problems conforming to societal norms, because I feel that it is fake and feel like I am living a lie. He seems to trudge through everyday life. No amount of happiness can mask his pain. He originally wanted to write for the sport column, which he never got. He breaks up with his fiance because of his Jesus complex to save everyone after getting the Miss Lonelyhearts column. I have to deal my confusion and problems with society on a daily basis. Miss Lonelyhearts is stronger than me because if I had to deal with all these problems I would have broken down long before Miss Lonelyhearts did. He is not like everyone else because he can no longer think about himself when  he is faced with everyone's problems. He is extremely confused. I feel leading my life is difficult but imagine leading his life. I have problems that many people do not understand, yet I am amazed by the problems Miss Lonelyhearts faces on a daily basis. I sometimes wonder if I was like everyone else and lived the lie that normal people live, if I would discover true happiness. I have tried that but I have discovered that I am less happy pretending to be something I am not, especially when the past catches up to me and I end up bumping into a person that I was trying to escape. My favorite part was that it did not fit into the mainstream fairy tale category. He was not a prince charming. He is constantly tortured until the day he dies.

  This might seem like a cliche class paper, but I did genuinely relate to this book. Also this is not a class paper. I am writing about this on my blog because I truly enjoyed this book. I would not write about this unless I truly enjoyed it. Sorry if I am boring you to death. LOL.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Freedom of Speech: The Good and the Bad

  I have been interested in the case of Snyder v. Phelps for a quite a while. The case started when the Westboro Baptist Church, a very anti-gay church protested the funeral of a soldier who died in Iraq, Lance Corporal Matthew Snyder. They normally show up at, or near soldiers' funerals with signs that say hateful things like "God Hates Fags" or "Thank God for Dead Soldiers". They do this at military funerals because according to them, the reason why these soldiers died is because of America's tolerance towards gays.They even wrote a letter also blaming the fact that he was raised in "the monstrosity that is the Catholic Church" and that his father was divorced from his mother. His father, Albert Snyder was so devastated by the protest that he decided to sue them for emotional distress, invasion of privacy, and defamation. The lower courts ruled in favor of Snyder and ordered Phelps to pay millions in damages.The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Phelps and ordered Snyder to pay Phelps's legal fees. The debate was whether the right to privacy and peaceful assembly was more important than the other part of the First Amendment, Freedom of Speech. A writ of certiorari was issued by the U.S. Supreme Court in March of 2010, and the arguments were heard in October of 2010. Today the Supreme Court decided in favor of Phelps in an 8:1 decision. I feel great disgust towards the Westboro Baptist Church however I feel that people have the right to say anything as long as it will not damage anyone financially or physically, and is not threatening. For example in April of 2010 South Park writers Trey Parker and Matt Stone were threatened because of an episode of South Park that they made. This episode apparently had Mohammed in a bear suit. The person in the bear suit was later revealed to be Santa. This episode angered Yousef al-Khattab, the person who has a website called Revolution Muslim. Al-Khattab wrote on his website "warning" Parker and Stone that they should be careful because if not they will end up like murdered Dutch filmmaker, Theo van Gough. Parker and Stone had every right to make that episode because South Park is a show that satirizes all religions and Islam should not be an exception. However al-Khattab's statement should be considered a death threat and be taken seriously. The second part of the episode bleeped out Mohammed's name, blacked out Mohammed's image (which was shown in a previous episode that was taken off the South Park website after the death threat), and bleeped out a speech at the end about fear and intimidation that had nothing to do with Mohammed. The Westboro Baptist Church did nothing of the sort. Psychological harm is relative and is not physical, and does not threaten a person's life. As a Jew, I hate them because they are also virulent anti-Semites, who think that Hitler did God's work. However, I  feel that they have the right to speak their minds. I will keep this in mind when I go to a rally that supports Israel which is another controversial topic.The anti-Zionists, also have the right to voice their opinion. I appreciate this right so that I can voice my opinion, which is pro-Israel. It is not because I empathize with them but because intellectually I know that it is unfair if both sides cannot voice their opinion. After all, people tend to be overly sensitive to their beliefs and get offended easily when we say things against them. Refuting people's beliefs will then become illegal and no one in society will be able to express what they think without going to jail. For example in many European countries you get arrested for hate speech. The offenders did not hurt anybody, yet they go to jail how fair is that? Intellectually I know that if one part of non-threatening free speech is abridged, then all parts of free speech are under that same threat. It still does not stop me from being offended by sexist or anti-Semitic comments. However, I am willing to accept the fact that they have a right to make those hateful comments, in exchange for my right to speak against them and/or voice my own opinion. We should realize that the pros outweigh the cons when it comes to free speech.