I can honestly say that I was touched after reading this letter. Ever since I was in elementary school, it was a given fact that "bad people" belong in prison. I automatically affiliated jail with criminals who were being punished for their actions and I never thought twice about it. My perspective towards inmates was that they were just these uncivil, cruel criminals who were locked up and kept away from society. I saw them as "dangerous" and I also perceived them as people with wrong intentions. Then one day I grew up. I became more open minded towards everything and learned that it's not good to always stick to what you've known or grew up believing. I learned that, especially when it comes to a subject that you personally are not an expert on, I should be open to listen to other perspectives to other stories and other experiences. This is why I am so touched by this one inmate's story. In addition to my childhood assumptions of these "bad people", I never even had the opportunity to visit a prison. Thus, I really shouldn't have judged my knowledge on these inmates based on what I grew up hearing or assuming for all those years. I feel like Sam and Laurie were most definitely right about these lifers. Simply by reading this letter, I can already tell what kind of life these inmates are setting up for themselves. They are not trying to beat each other up and live and fight their way out of prison. In fact, they are there for each other. I have never once considered this in the past. I never once thought that people locked up in jail would be capable of feeling compassion. These specific inmates are perfectly aware that there is no possibility for parole; therefore they have to live with the fact that they are never going to see the outside world again. They have to live with the fact that they're going to end up dying there. Seeing that this particular inmate and his friend are both lifers, it doesn't seem like they are trying to fight the fact that they are going to spend the rest of eternity there. It seems as if they are taking it one day at a time and learning how to live their life in this new environment. In sharing his story, I definitely feel for this inmate and the other men surrounding him. Even though they are stuck in what can be known as the worst place to ever live in, they get through the day together and actually show compassion towards each other. This is the complete opposite from what I used to assume these people to be. I actually feel like these inmates actually care and are learning from this whole experience. They aren't being stubborn and trying to fight the fact that they are stuck there. Living in the outside world and not knowing the details of what inmates, or lifers, tend to be like, I feel terrible for assuming such things. Often times, we forget to realize that they too, are still human.

The girl in this video is absolutely right. Women are beautiful in every way, shape and form. No matter what race, structure, culture, or physical features she has, a woman should look in the mirror and realize that she is beautiful. However, in this day and age, it is almost impossible to embrace that concept when we have all of these figures in the media to constantly look at. There are, in fact a lot of women portrayed in the media these days. They range from really petite, slender women to tall, curvy women, etc. There are all these different variations and everyone has their own preferences. We look at these magazines and we envy their clothes, we want their bodies, it's like we're obsessed or something. It is just something we can't help but do, and the sad part is that a lot of us are guilty of this. It's as if we are so caught up with looking at these women on the silver screen or on TV that it makes you want to be like them. Sure, you can be content with the woman in the mirror staring back at you, but I feel as though our society is always looking for ways to improve ourselves. So if I were to wake up and get ready to go to school, as a young woman, I don't think that I would just get up and out of bed, brush my teeth, put my shoes on, and walk out the door. Maybe I am taking that to more of an extreme level, but what I really want to say is that girls generally do care about what they look like. Maybe they don't dress up " to the fullest" everyday (whatever that means), but I have really been thinking about what some girls had to say in Sam's class the other day. I feel as though girls do not only dress for guys to look at them, but I honestly feel as though girls dress for other girls. In a sense, I see it as a constant competition. In general, girls try to look their best. They wear makeup, do their hair, and dress "to impress" whenever they go out, especially when they go to parties on the weekends. And judging from what the guys say (who knows if this is completely true for the rest of them), they don't tend to go for the girls with the shortest skirts and the biggest cleavage. They always say that "as long as she looks attractive enough, they don't need to overdress themselves." But this can get confusing because we are just so used to hearing the concept of "I like her personality, but looks are the initial thing that matters". As complex as this topic may be, I just want to say that the main point is that girls dress for other girls which is why they care so much about what they look like and which is why they spend countless hours in front of the mirror primping before they go out on a Saturday night.

Though I have not been directly exposed to Hentai, I do have a handful of friends who enjoy reading manga books. Often times, mangas include pornographic animations, which can also be called Hentai, at some point in the book. At first, I was befuddled as to why my friends actually enjoyed reading these types of comic books and after asking them, I did not get any outrageous responses. They all pretty much responded in the same way, saying that it is simply a hobby of theirs. They continued on by saying that similar to reading any other American novel, the story that these comics told was just as interesting and captivating. Who am I to judge them on something that they enjoy reading? I do feel that the Japanese culture puts such outrageous ideas out there. I have seen plenty of their game shows on Youtube, one involving a segment which involved a game of Human Tetris, and I saw that their ideas for their pranks and game shows are extremely hilarious and just so out of the ordinary. Though I do think that all of their game shows are hilarious, I am already aware of how their ideas are so broad and raunchy that I feel as though no other country would ever think to do such daring actions. Their country shares their differences with ours as well as other countries that what is accepted and normal in their country may be found unacceptable in ours. And don't get me wrong, I am not saying that under any circumstances rape is, or should be, acceptable, but my point is that it is as if we all live in different worlds. After watching this CNN video, I could not believe that this whole Hentai idea that I was partially familiar with was taken to the next level. First off, is this video game really named "Rape Lay"? And judging from what this video says about this game, it seems as though the only object of this game is to rape these poor girls! How can someone honestly sit there and enjoy raping these characters? I understand that this is "just a game" but just the thought of raping these women in order to win is such a disturbing thought. I'm sure that there was a humongous controversy when games like Call of Duty came out because it involved having skills to kill people. It is understood that there are other video games out there that involve fighting and beating their opponents to death as well, but who would actually branch off with this "ingenious idea" and create this game where you can grope women? Who knows what will be next?

First and foremost, I would like to say that I found yesterday's class to be amongst one of the most interesting lectures we have had so far this semester. I was born and raised in America and my parents came here from the Philippines. I have spent almost all of my life living in North Jersey where I have been familiar and acquainted with plenty of Asian Americans, like myself. The town I live in is extremely diverse, but especially populated with Asian families, most in which are Filipino. In fact, considering that we were heavily populated with so many of these families, I couldn't help but befriend the majority of Asian Americans that went to school with me. It isn't like I hand-picked my friends and was "only friends with Asian people", but that is just how it turned out to be. Occasionally, I would come across some students, who, with their families, came to America from their "native" Asian countries such as the Philippines, Korea, Japan, China, Lao, India, etc. Now whether or not moving from another country to America is the exact distinction or definition of an Asian is something I am not exactly sure of. I guess it would be safe to assume that their first and native language was not likely to be English since they were born in an Asian country and not in America. In fact, I grew up with a bunch of friends who were born and raised in the Philippines. They spent the majority of their childhood in the Philippines and by the time they reached middle school or high school, they moved to America and got their citizenship here. So is the difference between an Asian American and an Asian simply based on just a matter of living in this country and getting your citizenship? I am an Asian American and is it a shame that I can't even identify the differences for myself? Nonetheless, I feel like there are just a whole bunch of stereotypes for Asians, even though two races are identical. What people need to realize is that Asia is such a humongous continent that you can't just generalize Asia as a whole. How many times do I have to tell people that I am not Chinese, Japanese, or Vietnamese? There are other countries in Asia too... And sometimes, it's so hard to identify a certain individual's race that I get so sick of guessing. It's a lot safer to just ask what nationality the person is instead of automatically assuming that every Asian or Asian American is from those three "main Asian countries". I can say that I have a general idea of what Filipinos may look like, but there are instances when I can't even tell.

Living across the bridge from New York City, I can relate to this question simply because I have been asking myself this for a long time. I have a large amount of biracial friends, and the majority of them are half white and half asian. In other words, my friends would fall under the categories of both white and black/brown people. In fact, one of my closest friends from high school happens to be biracial. She is half white and half filipino, and in most cases, she classifies herself with the minority group. Of course this doesn't mean that she would completely leave out the fact that she was half white whenever she'd introduce herself to new people, but if she had to choose a race of both of the two, she felt more comfortable with identifying herself as Filipino. No, this was not because she favored one race more than the other, but often times, she would express to me how she never really knew what distinct ethnic background her dad belonged to. This was because when she traced back his parents, grandparents, etc., all of his ancestors resided in America for the longest time. Thus, she was more familiar with her mother's culture. She knew exactly where her mother and all of her mother's ancestors grew up.
On the contrary, I do see where this student is coming from when he says that everyone is actually a person of color, even white people. I do see that you can't necessarily just put a label on people and say that they are "white" or "black and brown". But what about those cases similar to the one that my high school friend was facing? I do understand the point that some white people in America cannot trace back where their ancestors originally came from. In fact, I know a lot of people who are like that. Simply put, their families have lived in America for so long that they just do not know or cannot trace back where their ancestors are from. It could be an endless list of possible races; therefore they simply classify themselves as "white". It is clear to see that Sam is classifying these groups in the easiest way that he possibly could. Usually, a person is considered white based on their skin color and their physical appearance. But here is where I can see the struggle that this student's biracial friend faced. Most Puerto Ricans are very light skinned and seeing that this person's mother or father is white as well, does that make him, or classify him, as white? I guess it all depends on which option this person decides to choose. Again, I feel like biracial people often stick to the fact that they are minorities because their "other half" is, obviously, another race. If a biracial person is familiar with his or her one parent's culture opposed to the other parent's culture, I feel like it would be safe to classify that person as "more as" one race than the other.

After reading this article, I can't help but feel angry towards this act. Are we seriously still dealing with these issues in the year 2010? Honestly, I thought we, as in America, were way past this. Canceling an entire school prom not only affects the lives of this one student, McMillen, and her date, but it also affects the students and teachers who were also planning and planning to attend the annual prom. Though others may disagree with me, I feel that prom is supposed to be one of the biggest highlights of a high school student's year, especially for those who are seniors and juniors. I know that from my high school, students worked and saved up a lump sum of their money for them to spend solely on end-of-the-year expenses, including prom. To have the school board threaten to cancel the "biggest dance of the school year" would probably cause a complete uproar amongst the student body. I could just imagine the dialogue between cliques around the school... And to find the reason behind the cancellation be because of a student's choice in her date and apparel is completely absurd. I think that this is ridiculous, to say the least. The ultimatum, I feel, is not even significantly better either. McMillen definitely has the same rights to be at her own senior prom than anyone else at that dance. There shouldn't be any rules against who she wants to bring and her choice of apparel. I can't help but feel bad for the girl, especially after she said that she expected her peers to hate her for all of this. It isn't like McMillen is trying to do all of this to be stubborn and cause a whole controversy. The poor girl just wants to enjoy her own prom and bring her own date and wear her own outfit. So what if her choice of clothing will not be similar to the other girls' $400 dresses? I would think that people would be used to acknowledging that there are people in our society who do not have the same sexual orientation as others. After reading the last comment of this article, I couldn't help but shake my head. Is it safe to assume that the state of Mississippi is "different" than the rest of the United States? Should we automatically not include Mississippi when it comes to addressing LGBT issues across the nation? If McMillen was reminded to "remember where she was", it makes me wonder exactly how many LGBT's there are in her high school. Also, it makes me wonder how many people are afraid to come out of the closet in her town. We live in the 21st century and I'm sure that she is not the only person from her school who is LGBT.

It's not that I strongly disagree with that one student's comment, it's just that I would not want to simply walk away from such a strong situation as exposed in that video. I have come across racist acts numerous times in my life, but this video with the muslim girl definitely affected me. I was honestly sitting there watching the video and it almost brought me to tears. Just seeing the thirteen people standing up for the girl really hit home for me. In particular, I really respected the one white man whose son just came back from fighting in Iraq. He was fighting for this girl and you can tell how strongly he felt towards the situation. On the other hand, those six by-standers who actually agreed with the man behind the counter at least had something to say. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and every person obviously has to feel a certain way towards a situation. This poor innocent girl simply walked into the bakery, and although it was all staged, I found it very very intriguing to actually witness what the nineteen people who spoke up had to say. As for the twenty- two others, I guess we will never know what they had to say since they did not speak up and either take a stand for the girl or bash on her along with the servers. To see such a terrible act of racism in a local neighborhood bakery would definitely put me in a state of shock. To witness an act so horrible and cruel would obviously put me into an uneasy position. I am an Asian American and I can say that I have been mistaken as all other Asian races other than my own. I'm Filipino and I don't know how many times I walk into a restaurant and people tell me to "go back to my nail salon" or "cook some pork fried rice" for them. Honestly? I cannot believe there are people like that actually still exist. Going back to the video, I can say that I do feel that those twenty-two people should have said something and not let something like that go lightly. To see a conversation so unjust would definitely make me frustrated and upset. To refuse the right to serve someone simply by her articles of clothing or her religion is not right. If I were in that bakery witnessing a conversation like that, I would definitely take a stand for that girl. Even though we do not see "every American" dressed the way that she was, that does not make her any different than the rest of us. I also strongly despise the fact that in real life she gets teased and taunted in school and that her peers don't acknowledge her as an "American" but as a "terrorist". These acts are wrong and unjust and should not be ignored by society.

I would have to agree with a bunch of the comments above. Lesbian relationships are more accepted in society than the relationships between gay men. Why? Because women are naturally more affectionate than men are. Women are more likely to talk out their feelings to each other. They are allowed to become emotional. A man's role in society, however, is the exact opposite. We have grown up with expressions such as "Take it like a man!" or "Man up!" And when do people usually use these expressions? They mostly use them on occasions where someone is clearly giving up or backing down from something. So for the most part, society takes 'being a man' to be the person who takes in everything and hides their emotions by letting their steam out in ways other than sitting down and talking to someone. That being said, this would mean that men are not supposed to have emotional breakdowns, men are not supposed to cry, and men are not supposed to show more affection than women. They are usually looked to be the "macho" guys who never talks out their feelings. We do not hear phrases such as "take it like a woman!" or anything like that because generally speaking, we have been brought up with different stereotypes. We all have already made that generalization that women are "gentle and kind" while men are "tough and butch". And so, I suppose this is one of the reasons why people are more accepting towards lesbian relationships opposed to the relationships of gay men. I guess it's harder for people to think about "tough and butch" guys having romantic feelings towards each other in comparison to the "gentle and kind" women being together.
For the record, I am a girl and I am straight. I have grown up with a close-to-equal amount of girl and guy friends. So if I were to one day compliment another one of my girl friend's outfit, appearance, hair, or makeup, it would be okay for me to do so. I don't think anyone in the same room would ever think anything of it. Now, let's say that one of my guy friends was to do the same thing and compliment another guy friend's outfit, appearance, or hair. Immediately after, he would feel that it is necessary to add a phrase like "...no homo" towards the end of his sentence. Why is that? Because they are afraid that since they've let out too much emotion that now all of a sudden others will think that their sexual orientation has completely changed? Adding that little phrase at the end is like a pass to "protect what he has said" so that other people listening will not think twice about it.

I found this article to be very intriguing for it brought up ideas that I have honestly never considered before. Language is a key element to communication. I mean, how many conversations do you have in a day? Think about it. Without language, various forms of technology would all be useless. What would people read? Sure, we can look at pictures on a computer screen and figure it out from there, but we’d only have that? How terrible would it be to have a limit to communication?
I feel like the use of these different languages are being taken advantage of. I mean, how often do you think about something that comes so natural to you? Words. I wouldn’t be able to communicate on this blog if it wasn’t for the use of the English language, would I? And to read this compelling story about this woman who was the last of her tribe, it is truly a reality check for me. It is really sad to know that there are just so many languages that are spoken in this world today and slowly they are all dying out.
My parents were both born and raised in the Philippines. Their parents, grandparents, great-grandparents and so on were in the Philippine Islands for all of their life. This being said, my cousins and I are the first American-born children. For an American, I can say that I actually do know a lot about my parents’ “homeland”. I have visited all parts of the Philippines throughout my life and I have learned so much about the lifestyle my parents had and their culture.
Ever since I was little, my parents did all they could to teach me about the Filipino culture. I can say that I actually do fit in whenever I visit the Philippines. I grew up eating rice everyday, just as plenty of other Asian Americans would. I also grew up eating popular Filipino dishes, singing Filipino songs, dancing traditional Filipino dances, etc. Even though I did not grow up in the Philippines, I feel like I have a good grasp of their culture. However, the one thing that I am not capable of is having a full conversation in Tagalog, the national language of the Philippines, with another Filipino. And because of this, I can definitely relate to this article.
It’s a shame to know that there are more than one hundred dialects and I am not fluent in the national language, my parents’ first language. And on top of knowing Tagalog, they each know one dialect each. And because they did not grow up in the same island in the Philippines, their dialects sound very different from each other. Sure I know bits and pieces of each dialect and I can understand the majority of words in Tagalog, but I am terrible of configuring and structuring a sentence.
Because I live in America, I speak English. I can fully understand and respond to the English language. So what are my children going to be speaking? Chances are, they are not going to be speaking my parents’ language and dialects. If I don’t fluently speak in Tagalog, the chances of generations after me speaking Tagalog is quite slim. Slowly but surely, languages are going to disappear. It’s a sad story, but one day, it is bound to happen.

I honestly don't really watch too many movies in theaters. Instead, I wait a little longer than everyone else and rent movies when they come out on Netflix. But for the longest time, Avatar was the biggest deal amongst all of my friends here at Penn State as well as the people I kept in touch with at home. It was really all that anyone would ever want to talk about and of course, since I haven't seen it at the time, I could not relate to them. So after listening to my cousin's review on Avatar, which was basically her praising the movie, reciting lines as if she was a character in the movie, she eventually convinced me to hop on the bandwagon. Though it seemed a bit late to watch it, the movie theater was absolutely packed. There was not one empty row that night. In fact, I was with a group of eight people and we all had to split ourselves up in order to sit and watch the movie.
Now similar to some of the other posts above, I can say that I never thought about Brooks' ideas on the "white man's burden" while watching Avatar. It's just not one of those things audiences usually pick up while they're trying to watch a critically acclaimed film. ...At least for me, it's not. I'm the type of person who watches a movie, takes it all in, and does a little research afterwards to learn more about what goes into the making of the movie, the actors' backgrounds, soundtrack information, and storylines behind the film. With Avatar, however, I felt no need to look up additional research since my cousin had already told me every little thing there was to know about it before I saw the movie.
The only theme that I picked up on was the similar storylines between Avatar and Pocahontas. Throughout the movie, I felt like I was watching a slightly different version of Pocahontas in regards to the plot. (Perhaps this is why I found the story somewhat predictable.) In Brooks' article, I picked up on a bunch of subtle details that I would have never pointed out in watching the movie. Though I do not strongly agree or disagree with any of the comments he made, I do consider his opinions and thoughts towards Cameron's box office hit. Brooks forces you to realize similarities on the so-called "white Messiah" between Avatar and other movies such as "The Last Samurai" or "Dances With Wolves". Sure, he can look at it that way, but it does not solely convince me to change my whole mindset on these movies. Seeing that it took a good twelve years to produce this movie, I don't think that it was Cameron, or anyone's plan to portray this whole "White Messiah" idea.