Presidential Elections

Obama won. Honestly, I wasn't really on anybodies side. I know Obama might be more beneficial to the lower class, so thats good. But I don't trust any of them.

Elektra Image: Erika, Jamin, Janet

Gangsta Gangsta. We're using a mafia themed play to capture the warfare going on between the characters in the original play. Elektra will be dressed informally, while her mother will be a wealthy, and extravagant mafia woman. 

Electra Research

TANTALUS
Greek myths never cease to amaze me. The story of Tantalus, is that he is a favored son of Zeus. He would be privelged to dine with the gods. But was punished (depending on the myth) because he either served his son Pelops to the Gods, or shared the secrets of what he found in the dinner table with others. His punishment was to stand in water neck high, and never be able to quench his thirt. When he would try to drink the water, it would vanish. Fruit hung above him, yet when he reached for it, the fruit would become unreachable. The story is very interesting and amaingly creative.
     This story is relevant to Electra, because Agamemnon's  huge family tree of reaches Tantalus. Pelops is Tantalus son, who gave birth to Atreus, who is the father of Agamemnon. And Agamemnon is the father of Electra, so Tantalus is baically her great great great grandfather.

http://records.viu.ca/~johnstoi/aeschylus/houseofatreus.htm Family Tree

http://ancienthistory.about.com/cs/grecoromanmyth1/p/Tantalus.htm Tantalus

Last Presidential Debate

I finally was able to watch the Presidential Debate. From what I saw, President Obama was a lot more confident with his answers. He was concise, and pointed out many facts, as well as counter attacked anything Romney said that he disagreed with. What I found interesting that seperated the two, was the constant use of relating to the public. Obama would use personal stories, such as the story about the girl and her father on 9/11, to make the point that he was on the side of the people. It was a genius strategy, seeing as a large amount of the viewers relate to the many things he said. The conversation about the veterans needing more assistance, education cuts not being necessary. Obama was in charge of the debate. Romney made some good points, but ultimately, he was agreeing a lot with many of Obama's ideas. After the election there was a new reporter who said "It sounded like Romney wanted to vote for obama." The debate was interesting, and I learned a few things.

Boys Don't Cry

Part 1: Boys Don't Cry is a movie about a young man, who is burdened by the physical body he was born with, which is that of a females. Brandon lives in Nebraska where those who surround him are very close minded, and home trained. Their belief differ from any acceptance of gender identity problems. Brandon stumbles upon a young girl named Candace who introduce him to her friends. As the movie continues, Brandon builds a relationship with John and Tom, as well as a young girl that Brandon takes a liking to. Throughout the whole buildup of the relationship, Brandon kept his secret of being a woman to himself. Inevitably, the crew found out and reacted in a fatal manner which caused Brandon his life. The violence is a product of the way these people were raised as well as their individual tolerance and open mindedness to irregular cases that happen. Living in a town where all you do to have fun; is smoke, fight and do drugs, it is not a surprise that once the truth came out the reactions are bizarre. Also, the fact that John is mentally troubled, he's been to jail, and believes himself to be the top man of the house, and Brandon begins dating the girl he seems to like also come into account as large factors of how the situation became deadly. It is a small town, with small beliefs, and a strict and routine driven way of living.

Part 2: Platos 'Allegory of the Cave' is very relatable to the movie we just watched. I believe that John, Tom, Candice, and Lana's mother are stuck in the cave. They were brought up chained and in a dark train of thought. They do not know of the depth of the world, and what lays beyond it. Lana, to me is a cave dweller who wants to leave the cave desperately. She is willing to leave the cave because she despises the manner of life in it. Candace is still living in the cave, but I see her half chained. She feels sympathy for the way the others in the cave speak and act towards Brandon, therefore her sympathy helps her become more tolerant. I don't think Brandon is in or out of the cave. To me, Brandon is like a reflection of the light, or a mere sun ray living inside this cave. Her gender identity forced her to escape the cage, those in the cave are afraid of her, because she is a projection of what lays outside of the cave. Knowledge, that there is more then just straight and fixed genders. I can not say whether Brandon is out of the cave, because his circumstance makes it difficult to tell whether he is more knowledgable, or is just an example.

Laramie Project

Laramie Research
I found this article very interesting. It has to do with the number of hate crimes against the LGBT community. On 2011 there were 30 hate crimes against gays, lesbians and transgender. It alwso says that a little more then half of the survivors report their attacks, basically, it means the number of hate crimes could be a lot higher then 30, they just haven't been reported.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/02/anti-gay-hate-crimes-murders-national-coalition-of-anti-violence-programs_n_1564885.html

I also found an article on the statistics of suicide rates among LGBT youth. The statistics are pretty disturbing. 36.5% of lgbt youth have attempted suicide. I know it doesn't directly connect ot eh Matt Shepherd incident, but a lot of these children feel the hate of their peers towards who they are. It affects them very much.

http://www.youthprideri.org/Resources/Statistics/tabid/227/Default.aspx

Laramie Project

            Matthew Shepherd was brutally murdered on October, 6 of 1998. He was a 21year old student living in the town of Laramie, Wyoming. His death was publicized and highly exemplified as a hate crime against a gay individual. The tradgedy was so flabbergasting that the Tectonic Theatre Project gathered a number of interviewers and send them to the town to get as much information and insight on the murder, lives and opinions of those who surrounded Matt. A play was then formatted freely, and both sides of Laramie were explored.

Dr.Cantway was the doctor who consistently updated the media as he tended to Matt. A man who openly disagrees with the homosexual life yet, he never gave negative commentary about his patient. Then, at the other end of the spectrum was the Baptist Minister, who doesn’t speak much, but elaborates his opinions of homosexuality by his heavy comment “I hope that Matthew Shepherd as he was tied to that fence, had time to reflect on his lifestyle.” (Laramie Project, 69)

I believe that there are many factors to the difference of feelings and opinions expressed by both of these individuals. Firstly, Dr.Cantway had a personal and close contact view of Matthew. He witnessed the intensity of the situation. The blood stained boy, the coma he fell in to, the weeping parents; the doctor tended to this young man as a human, not as a gay, or a fag or homosexual. The Baptist on the other hand, had no type of communication, whether physical, spiritual, nothing of the sort. He was a distant stranger, who spoke according to the text in his religion and the words chiseled into him from a Bible.  His profession is to preach about the evils of the world, and Matthew, whom he has never had contact with, is a perfect example of that ‘evil’.

When your profession is to take care of the wounded, a sort of intimate relationship connects the patient and that who is tending to them. The doctor felt the sympathy and was certainly impacted to know that this person dying in front of him; was beaten by two other boys that he had taken care of. I think that experience opened his eyes to the fact that it doesn’t matter who it is that walks inside his doors for help, what they did was unacceptable. “…I took care of both of their bodies. And.. for a brief moment I wondered if this is how God feels when he looks down at us.” (Laramie Project, 38)

I definitely believe that the attitudes expressed by these two individuals are culturally produced. We become a by-product of our society. Even Shannon, a friend of one of the accused said it when asked if the two went to school together. “Can’t you tell, we’re a product of our society” (Laramie Project, 62) As children, there are certain things that are taught to us. Our beliefs are grown from habit of thought. As we grow older, there are many times where becoming independent and experiencing new things can help us create our own beliefs. But in this case, many of these people were basically stuck in a box. Their beliefs are caged inside their heads with no type of freedom, or questioning. That is what happened with these two men, one experiences real live humans hurting and connects with their reality. While the other preaches his beliefs off of a book, an experience which is not even his own.