Aboriginal 101 & Aboriginality

http://www.cbc.ca/8thfire/2012/01/aboriginal-101.html

https://www.nfb.ca/film/aboriginality

I'm not familiar at all with any history about the First Nations People and I sort of wish I knew more just because their times were so, so different form now and they were so much more in touch with themselves and others instead of literally being absorbed by tecnology and materialistic things. 

The videos displayed people with very little knowledge on aboriginal people but some still had some idea about what was going on. They seemed very disinterested except for one lady who's boyfriend is Matee. They probably weren't too concerned because that was in the passed and didn't really interest them. From the first video I learned that there are 52 First Nations which was a surprise because I always thought it was a very, very small community and had probably less that 6 languages but it was shocking to be proven wrong by such a high number. The animation showed me the 2 sides, ours and theirs. The fact that we sit around, sad and despressed ooking clicking through channels for fun whilst the First Nations people would dance and be active for a living, very different views and perspectives on things. It also seemed like the little boy representing our times was jealous of the Aboriginal man. Our times our so unique and even sort of sad that we live off technology and are so dependent on material things.

Innapropriate Social Media

The term #rapeface, meaning the awkward smile some people show in pictures that seem to resemble that of a man who's about to rape someone is being used lightly and as a funny term that has no meaning. Teenagers take up the majority of the internet user populationa nd quite frankly teengers also enjoy pety things in life like finding the stupidest things funny and making big things little and mkaing fun of them. They take things that don't relate to them and just step all over it and defile them because they don't know what it's like and they have no way of relating to the pain and agony that might come with some o those things they consider to be small, minor and unimportant. That's why such a negative word/hashtag is being used all over social media and why young people find it hysterical and why a major topic that is so cruel and harsh is taken to be small and funny. To me, I think that someone who has actually experienced rape would feel defiled and just so saddened by this word because it ws probably an event that's taken just a huge toll on them and they'll never forget it nor will they ever feel "full" again in the sense that they were held against their will to participate in a sexual event. A victim might even feel anger that such a massive and hurtful thing to them is a funny joke to others and that people who don't know what is behind rape can go on with their lives, happily and untouched and make fun of a stupid awkward smile. That smile could be permanently implanted into the victim's brain, in their nightmares and idiot's like teens could laugh about a life mangling thing like that.

Christmas: Calm or Chaos?

http://popcultureandamericanchildhood.com/2012/02/27/christmas-capitalism-at-its-best/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3hDCMV5PyE

Christmas is a great time of the year full of family and joy for most people but when you actually think about it and realize that there are people less fortunate who don't get all of these material objects that we long for at Christmas time, it's sad and we shouldn't just "come to the realization" that that's happening, we should act upon it. Keeping them in our minds isn't going to fix the fact that we have everything we could ever need and more but they are struggling so hard for a fraction of what we have. I think Christmas has gotten out of hand seeing as before Christmas was about Jesus and the very miraculous night that was but it's turned into caring about nothing but ourselves and the anticipation leading up towards the morning when we get to open our presents and everything about us not why Christmas was even invented or the purpose behind it all. We've completely lost the true meaning of Christmas and don't even remember to maybe think about Jesus' legacy and how much more that should mean to us than a couple materialistic gifts that in reality mean nothing whatsoever. Not only has Christmas turned into a self-centred thing, it's become more about shopping than spending time with loved ones and basically the things that matter. We should start to appreciate the things we brush over that mean so much more than that and do not deserve to be brushed over at all because tha's completely rude and seriously unacceptable. It's not just about being sellfish and thinking about just ourselves but it's lke brushing away Jesus. To conclude, I think that we've just completely lost the meaning of Christmas and we're so deeply invested in shopping, eating and gift opening, there's no way we can get it back which is the biggest dissapointment. Especially to Jesus.

To This Day

To This Day

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltun92DfnPY

This video wasn't something I could have necessarily related to but it managed to touch me and also helped me to see the emotions behind a bully victim. The video talked about a younger Shane Koyzcan going through elementary school and even his struggles at home. He talked about being ridiculed for his weight and how even the girl he liked was being bullied and how the mean, cruel words of other kids changed his whole school experience. He spoke about the pain and what was beneath the surface other than tears that no one could see. He mentioned the metaphor "sticks and stones may break your bones but words will never hurt you" saying that wanting to just set yourself free from all those painful words does not hurt less than a broken bone and that the metaphor brushes over the fact that words can kill you and that everyone is different and will react differently to harsh words and verbal abuse. In the video it showed a girl and a boy holding hands, being sat at the back of the class to avoid spit balls and staying inside at recess to avoid what could happen outside. It bombarded them. He talked about her growing up to become a wonderful mother who's children see her heart before her skin and that's how everyone should be. His parents abandoned him and left him for adoption and all the kids who could still go home to their mom and dad had the audacity to tell him to "get over it" in grade 10 and caused him to want to kill himself. This video is a perfect display of how bad it can actually get and the toll it can take on people. That someone would rather kill them self than be who they are. "He's a stick of TNT lit from both ends" speaks of he's slowly disintegrating and the only thing he has  left is what's in the middle--heart. Despite being an inspiration to friends, he's only a conversation topic between people who don't understand. He says that people ho hurt are merely like the trees in the forest that fall and no one can hear, that we fall, fail, die, end and no one even cares. The people who hurt you were wrong. You shouldn't have to search for something beautiful about yourself and that they were just completely and utterly wrong about everything they've said to you to push you down. I think it could prevent people from going overboard and add support because it's letting us know that they're wrong and that's that. Wrong. It doesn't only show that other people are going through what you're going through but that you can make it through. I am sure this video could cause bullies and just cold-hearted people to realize that what they're expressing to others isn't just going in one of their ears and coming out the other, it sticks with them for years and years and in my opinion, if this video doesn't bring awareness to bullies I don't know what will because it's message is so loud and so clear. 

Manipulating Beauty

http://www.youtube.com/feature=player_embedded

No matter where in the world you go, you get judged on looks.

The message being conveyed in the video is that what you see on billboards, in magazines, etc is processed  and fake. They are trying to let us know that even that person in the photo isn't that pretty without literally being put through software, that those "perfect" people don't actually exist and that those standards you're trying to live up to? they're non existent. They're trying to reach out to all those (mostly teens) people who are lacking self-esteem and are having body image problems to tell them that they're trying to be something that no one else even is. Going to a Catholic school we believe that God created us in His image and that we are perfect to Him and that's all that matters, but it may be hard to believe in that part of our Catholicism. It's complicated for some people to just walk around in a world where you get judged and ridiculed and put down for how you dress or the way you look and still believe that we're all perfect in our own way. But in the end that's not our fault. The people putting us down have the issue not us. 

The use of photo manipulation is stupid. It's false advertising for one, and it is literally benefiting no one whatsoever, not even the makers or brand owners because at the end of the day they're only left with money that will never buy back the pain they've caused people. IT'S ALL FAKE.

I strongly disagree with picture manipulation, there is nothing right about it. That's all, I disagree.

Teens are fragile and letting teens feel bad about themselves is so wrong. Society is focused on clothes, money, material things, looks and bodies. There's no changing that but we can change the part where we put people down for how they relate to those things. So what we're not stick thin, tall, straight-teethed, acne free or rich? We are capable of being true to ourselves which in my opinion is the best thing someone can be.

YouTube

Right now the majority of people using the internet are teenagers who like to spread news and talk about anything and everything. Things that go viral or funny news we hear of, we often resort to letting our friends know who'll let their other friends know and so on and so forth. YouTube subjects have become so popular mainly because of word of mouth. Most people have internet access and extra time on their hands and when you put those two together, you get people tweeting, blogging and facebook, re-posting/sharing videos they liked and it just keeps growing.

I find that videos gain popularity once a famous person or someone with a fanbase acts upon it/endorses it/does what Ellen Degeneres did in her video. It's not necessarily YouTube the site that attracts people to watch videos, it's the videos themselves. In this case it was an adorable surprisingly very talented 3 year-old girl dancing to Beyonce (very popular). Therefore people interested in a  talent, beyonce, dancing and music all came together and watched this video because of it's content, creating views at the same time.

Some videos might get more hits than others for different reasons. Maybe it's because viewers have seen something like this already or it's not creative, it's boring, not amusing, not funny, not of interest, etc. Some videos may even gain or maintain gaining hits because of the YouTube channel it comes from. If the video was made by a famous YouTuber such as PrankVsPrank, they might continue gaining views because they're known to maintain good material that never ceases to amaze. In my YouTube watching experience, I've noticed that videos can go out of style just like clothes but so much faster because they've been over played or overdone. I've also noticed that videos that are well edited or show that work was put into it or are really horribly edited and funny gain lots of views just because that's what people like and the base of video views are mainly caused because of the world's interests.