Violence in Society

"After you read this paragraph, I am going to shoot you... no I'm just kidding", that is just an example of a joke one may find in society these days. Society today is flooded with violence, T.V. shows such as "UFC", "King of the Cage", and "The Contender" which all revolve around the barbaric sport of mixed martial arts. Modern day gladiators have become the role models of today. With over 40% of Americans playing video games, baseball may have a run for its spot as "America's number one past time". Video games have become huge today, some people refer to them as a sport. With ESPN sponsoring MLG (major league gaming) even if one doesn't own the game themselves, they can watch on T.V. the pros go head to head killing each other for a cash prize for the best team. Most games today consist of shooting other players, and with Xbox Live "smack talk" has evolved to a whole new level, being able to put down the other players or tell them how bad you "owned" them. Not only video games, but the movies we watch all have some sort of violence in them, whether it be a super hero defeating evil, or watching "Saw 5" where people are fighting for their lives. Within the first week of its release the movie "Fighting" has brought in $11,441,000. The excitement these kind of movies bring are the closest one can get to the thrill of brutally beating someone, without actually going out and committing the crime themselves. Why would make someone want to imitate the things they see on T.V., in a movie, or something they play on a video game?, maybe it's the message delivered in the music one listens to. With messages in rap music such as "I murder you and laugh, I'm Barry Sanders slashing through the path, you a magician's assistant, I'm sawin' you in half", today's kids growing up to this can only assume that it is normal after hearing it over and over again. Maybe if rap isn't your cup of tea, metal songs such as "let the knife do the talking" or "compulsive psychosis" may interest you a bit more, but they all have the same message "kill the enemy". Today's society has become so obsessed with violence, that it is practically everywhere, and when the news comes on and the big story is a murder... why is one not surprised?

Of Mice and Miserable

If you are considering life long depression, this movie can be prescribed to you. This movie starts off with a homely girl running aimlessly through a field. Apparently, this is a poor flashback of what happened earlier on a farm. After this mellow dramatic chase sequence is over, for those of who haven't already turned off your television, you have to endure pointless dialogue with poor southern accents that come in and out of sentences. If there was any symbolism in this film, it must of been Lennie (the apparent slow one) reflecting on this whole movie, because it seemed to drag on with no real plot or conflict. As if this film had not been cruel enough, they introduce an old dog, only to be shot dead. This scene was obviously meant to be more intense and dramatic, but due to poor camera angles and lighting, the full effect could not be experienced. A nameless woman also in this film who appears to be 14 years old is already married to one of the men. Just as the dog, she was introduced into the film to bring meaningless dialogue, only to have her neck broken by Lennie(who's instinct was to put the girl in a cholk hold until her neck breaks). Characters were poorly introduced from start to finish, it was hard to determine who was a main character and who was just a filler. As clear as a glass of milk this movie comes to a grinding, sudden stop with a mellow dramatic ending, making the viewer cry out "hallelujah", instead of the intended reaction. This movie was poorly acted, directed, and filmed, from start to finish.

0*'s out of 5

If I Could Choose

If I could choose any super power from any super hero imaginable...

I would first pick some of the most obvious super heroes, such as Superman's ability to fly, Hulk's Strength, the Flash's speed, and Wolverine's power to heal himself. To combine just those four together I could be one of the most powerful super heroes to ever grace the pages of comic books ever.

After the most obvious of choices, I would choose some powers with deeper meaning and abilities. I would pick Merlin's ability to cast spells and magic, Professor X's power of mind control and telekinesis, and Night crawler's power of teleportation.

To stray from the idea of only choosing super heroes would be insulting to the great powers of all the super villains. If I was able to choose any super villain powers I would come to the conclusion of Dracula's power of immortality, Spawn's power of hell raising, Darth Vader's power of the force, and Vagita's sayain powers.

To sum it all up, I would have the power and ability to fly, have super strength, incredible speed, ability to heal myself, able to cast spells and magic, the power of mind control and telekinesis, the ability to teleport, immortality, raise hell, power of the force, and the sayain forces. If I were able to aquire all these powers, I could rule the pages of Marvel and DC.