One thing I was surprised about though is that he did not mention what he thinks about the person he killed and how the members of their family feel. He said that they feel compassion and sympathy for each other, even though they have all done something to kill someone else and make someone else’s family feel this exact way: powerless. I was interested in hearing how he deals with what he made somebody else go through, because they all seem to be so sympathetic to each other when the situation occurs. It was just very surprising to me to hear that all of these, what I thought to be barbaric men, come together to comfort one another. I always thought of murderers as people who can not fit in with a community or group of people, whether that be in jail or not.
They make them out to be serial killers who are just on a rampage against whoever it is they are killing, whether it be women of a certain look or whatever. It was interesting to read this letter and to hear what a murderer, contrasting to my belief, actually sounded like. You just never believe that people in jail have any feelings at all other than rage and anger, let alone compassion. If I heard that somebody’s’ son had died in jail, I would not think that somebody who hated him would comfort him; I would think that he would make him feel worse, maybe by making jokes about it. It is hard to believe that people like that have real feelings and it almost makes you feel really bad for them, knowing how hard the feelings are that they probably have to live with every day of their lives.
This letter was one that I found very touching and also surprising. First of all, I have never known anyone that was in jail other than for drunken fights for no more than a weekend. But from what my perception was of people who went to jail for murder charges, I always had some preconceived notion that they are either cold blooded murderers or sick people who just find some sick, diluted joy in murdering people. Always when I think of people in jail for murder, I have a tendency to forget about the people who accidentally killed someone in a fight or something like that, which is still bad, but it does not mean that they are just sociopaths who have taking a liking to killing people. The media does not help in playing a role in what people think about murderers. In movies, shows, and even documentaries, they show murderers as people who are absolutely crazy.
I think Sam’s class is probably the class where I have learned the most information simply by just listening and not scribbling down notes just to pass the test. Also, the class is so interactive, it is easy to pay attention and although the topics may seem like common sense, it makes it easier to get involved and really hold an opinion over the topic. I have really learned from the way that Sam does not hold back at all. He is not worried about being politically correct and addresses the stereotypes the way people think of them but seem a little bit too afraid to say, so I think the class has really taught me a lot. I don’t necessarily think I can sit here and list of things that have changed an opinion for me or what has made a difference because I think a lot of what goes on in Sam’s class is of value and use in the real world.
After the people actually said where they were from, it was amazing to me how wrong the student was who grouped them and I think it really taught me that you cannot just look at somebody and think you know really anything at all about them. Just because we think people might look the same does not mean that we are in any way correct, I’ve found. It just makes me think harder now when I see someone who does not look just like me. It has also opened my eyes up to a bunch of different cultures and different ways of thinking. Not only Sam’s class alone, but more the discussion group I have found very useful and I feel like that has taught me a lot.
I think this is a question that a lot of people in the class have actually thought about and it is one that we talked about in our discussion group. This class is one that was really an eye opener for me. I think a lot of what we talk about during class is stuff that we, as students, do already know, but maybe things that we haven’t thought that hard about before. I don’t really think that anything in the class has necessarily changed an opinion that I have had, because I think that I went into the class pretty open minded however, it really has opened my eyes to things that I never even really thought about before. For instance, something that really was interesting to me and made me look harder at others was one of the first days of class when Sam lined a bunch of people up in the front of the room and took a smart student from the class and asked him to group the people into who he thought were most alike.
Although it hasn’t been proved that violent videogames is causing violent behavior, it has been shown that there is a strong correlation between the two. If violent videogames is causing children to believe violence is okay, can you imagine what it make the children believe who play the games where they can be violent with women, objectify them, rape those in power over them and grope them and lift their skirts? It seems like it would just brainwash the minds of young kids so that there is no hope in the future for a society that is gender equal and not so male dominated. It just seems like we can never make progress in social issues such as these when there are games like this promoting the issue.
It just shows men going to seek revenge over women in power so that men may exhibit their power over women. Secondly, this game seems like one that would only be used by rapists and sick perverts so that they can stimulate their distorted thoughts and behaviors. Now, I know that there are shooting games and problems with violence videogames which is also a problem, however I think that this is just taking it to a whole new level. At least those violent games can be played by boys and girls. I know girls could play this game as well, but I mean come on, what kind of girl would want to rape another girl? It’s sick. Also, I feel that the violence in the videogames is still a problem that we have not quite figured out yet.
I think these games are completely and utterly sick. First off, if what goes in on the game cannot be shown on the report, than there has got to be something seriously wrong with it. I think that the only people who actually want to play this game have got to be sick and perverted people. I cannot believe there is a game that promotes stalking, rape and harming women who fire them. There is so much that is wrong with that that it is hard to figure out what to say first. They are allowed to grope, stalk and rape women, yet they are not allowed to show genatalia. That just seems ridiculous to me, like why choose to draw the line there? It is almost laughable to me. Now, I am not some extreme feminist, or really a feminist at all, but I do believe that society needs to draw the line somewhere. Although we are a male dominated society, it is not okay to objectify women as a form of entertainment. First off, the concept of the game that you can go rape women who fired you is ridiculous. If that does not exhibit the idea of male domination in our society than I don’t know what does.
It was very interesting as well to hear that the reason for this is because a lot of these kids feel detached from their culture. The one girl said that she knows she is from Africa, but she knows that Africa has so many different cultures and she does not know which one she is supposed to celebrate. She does not really feel any connection to them. These children seem to just go along with the ideas that are being projected in society that white people are good and black people are bad, and they said even though they know they are not right, these ideas are being thrown at them and they have to just run with it because they do not know where they came from. They do not have any other messages telling them how to behave or how to celebrate their African culture. They only know what they see in our society.
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