Blog #5

While watching Jesus Camp, you could see some of the similarities with Blankets. Throughout the book you see Craig struggling with finding his own identity. There are several panels in which you see him struggling to find what he wants to do in life and what he believes. We see him going to church camp and meeting those who claim to be 'Christians' but lead a very different life. He has his own way of what he feels 'honors' God, yet others are telling him that what he is doing is going against God. In one of the panels, you see Craig who expresses his want to go to art school. One of the older adults there then states that his brother went to art school, and then he became the worst thing, homosexual. In this panel we see how Craig expresses what he loves and wants to do, and automatically getting shut down, getting told that if he does that, he is dishonoring God. They continue to push him into becoming a minister. Throughout Jesus Camp, you begin to see the same thing. Once the children were at camp, there was a part of the sermon that told the kids that they were hypocrites, going to go to hell and they made God mad. You began to see how this weighed on the children. The children began to cry and go into what may seem like hysteria. They were basically told that what they were doing was not good enough in the eyes of God. The entire movie was basically judging how others praised God and what they did. They talked about what each other did and if it was right in the eyes of God. The children quite possibly felt an immense amount of pressure to be what everyone expected them to be.

First off; I’d like to apologize if I offend anyone with my blog as I do not intend to try to. This is just an area I’m rather passionate about. I’m not trying to tear down anyone. Also, before saying that just because I don’t like Trump, I must support Hillary; that is also not true. We’re screwed either way. I’ve also included links at the bottom of my blog in case you would like to fact check me or are interested in what happened and what was said.

Over this past weekend, a video was released of republican presidential candidate Donald Trump making lewd comments about women in 2005 while doing an interview with Billy Bush. Some of these comments included, “I’m automatically attracted to beautiful-I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait’ and ‘Grab them by the pussy, you can do anything.’ (The Huffington Post, 2016).  During the second presidential debate this past Sunday, Trump was asked about the comments he had made. He stated that is was ‘locker room talk’ and then proceeded to talk about ISIS. One comment he made was, ‘But it’s locker room talk, and it’s one of those things. I will knock the hell out of ISIS (The New York Times, 2016). Before anyone begins to get upset about my blog and think, I’m not trying to tear down Trump. I’m simply showing the down play of these comments and how they perpetuate rape culture within our society. Yes, rape culture is a thing and this is a prime example of it. When these comments about just kissing women and grabbing them by the pussy, without consent I might add, are downplayed you are automatically sending a message to everyone saying that it’s okay to do so. That you are allowed to do what you want, especially if ‘you’re a star’. It’s the downplay of comments like these, that lead to people such as Brock Turner who considered raping a girl behind a dumpster as ’20 minutes of action.’ 

Throughout the book, March, you see derogatory terms that are used towards the African American population within society. Over this time, these words were used consistently, thus making it seem as those they were okay to use. You could go ahead and use them nonchalantly and everything would be great. It was also conditioned that these words were not a ‘big deal’ either. However, there is one other area of the 2005 video, which should also be addressed. Trump was not alone during the interview on the bus. He was accompanied by television host, and then Access Hollywood host Billy Bush. What happened to Billy Bush you ask? He has been suspended from the Today show (he hosts the third hour) pending further review and investigation of the comments that were made through this interview (USA Today, 2016). Bush was suspended, Trump is still running for president? There is a differential in the power status here, which also ties into March. The entire book is about the civil rights movement. Where one race believed or felt as though they were superior to another and could do anything, they got away with it as well. Although we may have come some way from the civil rights movement, we still have a power differential in our country. The richer you are, the more power you hold. You can do anything from make lewd comments about women to deleting emails, and nothing will come of it. However, if you did that as a ‘normal’ person, you would have a multitude of charges hoisted upon you. In the end, you have an increase of ‘power’ if you are Caucasian, rich or a presidential candidate.  

Links:

Billy Bush’s Suspension- http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/tv/2016/10/10/billy-bush-donald-trump-tape-today-show-suspension-savannah-guthrie/91845784/

Donald Trump’s Comments/Video- http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-women-comments_us_57f8016de4b0e655eab4148d

Transcript of the Debate/Debate Video- http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/10/us/politics/transcript-second-debate.html?_r=0

Quotes from G. Willow Wilson's TED Talk:

1. 'You can't do that, you would have to hire an intern just to open all the hate mail.'

2. 'I wanted to create a hero from a background that is often misunderstood...for a generation that is often misunderstood.'

3. 'Sometimes a mess, stays a mess. There is not always a way out, but there's always a way forward.'

Quotes from 'Ms. Marvel, Spider-Gwen and the Ongoing War Against Sexism in Comics.'

1. '...you have to make their waists so small they can't hold internal organs. You have to TAKE AWAY all of their muscles! NONE of them should look like they weigh over one hundred thirty pounds. (And that's fucking generous.).....Also they should be posed SUBMISSIVELY and VULNERABLY, that means they shouldn't be looking at the audience saying 'fuck you', they have to say 'fuck me'.

2. 'So yeah, I want to see ANATOMICALLY INCORRECT, SKINNY, UNDERWEIGHT, VULNERABLY POSED men who's image says nothing more than 'please bend me over and fuck me hard, I'm a powerless sex object only here to compliment your ego.'

                As he looked up upon the mountain ahead of him, he knew that the worst was yet to come. The frigid air was piercing his cheeks and lips. He wanted to lay down and give up until he saw someone coming from behind. A hooded figure appeared and looked up at the mountain as well. “Going to be quite a journey getting up that huh?” the figure said. ‘Yeah, don’t know how I’m going to make it up there. I’m cold and my energy is draining. I may just give up.’ The figure looked at him, reached out his hand and gave him hand warmers. ‘This isn’t my first journey across this land and up this mountain’, the figure said, ‘stick with me and I’ll make sure you get to the top.’ ‘Well thanks man. I didn’t catch your name?’ “That’s because I didn’t give it. What’s yours?”, the hooded figure exclaimed. “I’m not telling you mine unless you tell me yours”, he replied. ‘Let’s go. If we hurry, we won’t wake the monster.”, the hooded figured replied. “Monster?” he said in a scared tone.

            The snow kept falling as He and the hooded figure continued on their journey. ‘Man. It’s nice to have someone to talk to and be with through all of this.’ He said. ‘I’ve traveled this journey many times. I’ve met several people along the road. Most of which are completely depleted of energy, so when I get to them, there’s nothing I can do to save them.” “Man, I’m awfully glad I met you then. So uhh, can you tell me more about this monster?” “The monster is something you don’t want to mess with. It steals a part of your soul when it gets you. Throughout your journey you’ve gain confidence in yourself, this monster isn’t afraid to steal that from you.’ As the hooded figure told this to him, his face got as white as the snow on the ground. ‘I can see your afraid, but follow me, do everything I say and it will be okay.’ He nodded in agreement and continued up the mountain.

            Snow was falling harder and harder the closer and closer they got to the mountain. Their scarves began to freeze and were no longer providing the warmth that they were intended to. The snow was getting deeper and deeper and with every step, struggle came more and more. He got slower and slower and eventually fell to the frozen ground. ‘Just go on without me, I’ll only hold you back.’ ‘No. Get up. We’ve made it this far, we’re going all the way up the mountain. I will carry you on my back if I have to.’ ‘Just a few minutes rest. I cannot carry on. My legs are frozen.’ ‘Buck up man. We gotta go before the monster wakes up.’ ‘But, but, but.’ ‘NO BUTS! Get your butt up and let’s go man!’ ‘Alright, alright, alright. Let’s go.’

            They trudged another 20 minutes or so when out of nowhere, the hooded figure stopped. ‘We need to be quiet. They are out.’ ‘Who, who’s out?’ ‘The monster! Who else would it be? Godzilla?!’ They continued walking along being as quiet as they could. They tried to breathe as quietly as they could when all of a sudden, He felt a tingling in his nose. He had to sneeze. The monster was flying above the path they were taking. The monster had jagged sides, a long tail and a red eye, that when looked into, stole your hopes, dreams and confidence. He could not hold in the sneeze any longer. He tried to quiet his sneeze which only made it sound as though a mac truck had sounded his horn. No sooner than the sneeze was let out, did the monster stare directly at them. ‘Well, you done did it now dude.’ ‘What do we do?’ He asked. ‘Well. We have two options. We can lay down and die. Or run.’ ‘Well, the snow is deep and running really isn’t my thing so…’. The hooded figure then pulled him along and stared running. ‘What do we do?! It’s gonna catch us!’ ‘We hide under these houses and behind these stones. It can only see what’s directly in front of it. It won’t be able to spot us.’ He and the hooded figure than ran behind one of the stones. ‘How long until it goes away?’ ‘Sometimes it’s a few hours, other times it’s a few minutes.’ The monster than came around where they were, so the hooded figured pulled him back, hitting the snow off the stone. ‘Hey uhh, I have a question.’ ‘What?’ Why does this stone say Garrett?’ ‘Well, He’s the last one that could not keep up with the journey.’ ‘Wait. These are all gravestones?!’ ‘Yeah, they all died. But don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll make it.’ ‘There’s like 50 of these things. How many people did you make the journey with?!’ ‘All of them, but they all were eaten by the monster.’ ‘You said you could help me!’ ‘I can! You just have to trust me!’ After hiding for the better part of an hour, in the snowy distance appeared another figure. This figure was running as fast as it could to get to safety. He spotted him and the other hooded figured and yelled, ‘Hey guys! Hey! What’s up? I’m Charles.’ The monster quickly whipped around spotting Charles and ate him. ‘Well, that’s 51 gravestones now.’

            Eventually the monster got tired and went back to sleep. He and the hooded figure then deemed it safe to move again. They continued their journey up the mountain. The snow got heavier and heavier, almost blinding them. To keep together, they held onto each other’s scarfs. ‘Man, I can’t see! Maybe we should slow down and wait it out!’ ‘We are on a side of a mountain. There’s no slowing down of snow! We just have to keep moving.’ As they approached the top of the mountain, their steps began to get slower and slower, eventually coming to a halt. ‘We have to keep going. We can’t stop.’ the hooded figure exclaimed. ‘But, I’m so weak. I can’t make it!’ ‘Hop on!’ The hooded figure then carried him the rest of the way to the top of the mountain. In front of them, was a giant door with something sparkling in the windows. ‘What’s behind there?’ he asked. ‘Anything you make it. Use your creativity and imagination. There’s no wrong answer. It’s whatever you want it to be’, the hooded figure replied. ‘What do you want it to be?’ ‘We’re not close enough for me to disclose that. You don’t even know my name and I don’t know yours.’ ’ ‘I asked you your name and you wouldn’t tell me!’ ‘My friends call me Matt.’ ‘ I’m Jeff.’   

When individuals look at this poster, they automatically think of them as the superheros who we know and love. But are they really? According to McCloud Concept 3: Icon, they are icons or representations of what or who we are thinking of. None of these are actually superman or batman, it is a picture of superman or batman. They aren't tangible as the real superhero would be. They each stand for something. Green Lantern, Batman, Superman, Superwoman, The Flash and many more are represented.

Another concept would be Concept 4: The Universality of Cartoon Imagery or Concept 5: Realism vs. Abstraction. Each of these photos are characteristics and have certain features within them. We no longer identify with them because we don't see ourselves in the photos, we see someone else. They are beyond our ability to project our identity upon it because we can't identify with them, unless you are a superhero or something. They have distinguishing features that makes them another person or 'Superhero' like.

The last concept would be Concept 11: Color in comics is fixed with symbolic and iconic meaning of its own. When looking at the picture above, we attribute all the certain color combinations with the given superhero. Red, Blue and Yellow? Superman. Black and Yellow? Batman. Or the Steelers for you football fans out there. Either way, we attribute color combinations with objects or people. The colors can also evoke emotion. When we see red, we can think of love or anger. Yellow is supposed to make people happy while Black makes people sad. Colors play a significant part in our world today. We connect them to other things all the time and don't realize we are doing it.

It's rather interesting how we as people attribute so many different colors, icon and images to other things. We do it without even realizing we are. Red means stop, yellow means slow down and green means go. We've become so accustomed to recognizing colors and having them mean something that has become a part of our everyday lives'.

Hey y'all! My name is Morgan Sowers, I'm 22 and a senior here at Ship. I'm studying social work and hoping to either work in the military field or domestic violence. I took this class because it met one the requirements I still needed and it seemed like an interesting class. I have very little experience with reading comics/graphics manga, unless reading the comic section of the newspaper once in a while counts for anything. I tried to read a graphic narrative before, but was rather confused because it was the books that go from right to left, not left to right and I couldn't understand it. I've never watched anime and I have no idea about familiar novels either. As for video games, if Mario Party, PacMan and GTA count for anything. If they don't count, then, no. I haven't. Throughout high school, anyone who read graphic novels or manga, were often put into the 'nerdy' or 'weird' group. Several of them would walk around dressed like the characters or read them whenever they got the chance. They often distanced themselves from those who didn't read them and primarily stuck with those who did. I wouldn't consider myself a reader of the texts, due to the fact that I really haven't read them. I'm curious to learn about why they are such a big fandom and how to read them. I hope to walk away from this class with a new perspective on the books and actually be able to read them.