Once Upon a Time

I chose the TED Talk by George Takei called "Why I Love a Country that Once Betrayed Me". The main claim of this talk was the idea that the American democracy is not perfect and that it is our responsibility to make it better. Takei mentioned often arguing with his dad who said that "this democracy is a people's democracy, and it can be as great as the people can be, but it is also as fallible as people are". Takei also talks about the importance of appreciating the 'American Way' and to work really hard to allow them to work. This talk also focuses on the difficulty that Takei had with dealing with the fact that a country built on equality imprisoned him with his family without cause. The idea that being an American citizen is for everyone regardless of race was also central to this story. The bravery of the Japanese-American units who went from being behind bars to fighting for a country who didn't trust them was something that Takei made sure to recognize. He also recognized the resilience of children.

The purpose of this talk is to discuss George Takei's experience in the Japanese Internment camps and the subsequent conclusions he had came to about hypocrisy in general. This message is important to spread because there are still injustices happening today. Takei is a pretty credible guy when it comes to this topic considering he was there. Also, he is a well like character from one of the most famous sci-fi shows of all time (For those of yall who don't know who George Takei is, I recommend sitting yourself down and looking up Star Trek on Netflix-educate yourself), and I find well liked people often come across as more believable. The logos in this is also very interesting. It's undeniable that there is a fair amount of bias in his story. Although, for someone who went through an experience like that at such a young age, he is very forgiving. This in turn relates back to his logos.

The main part of this talk appeals to emotion. The idea of a five year old being put in these conditions for no reason is unacceptable-especially by a country that is founded on the principle of freedom and equality. Emotion being the primary strategy is understandable for such a personal story. This talk happened in Kyoto, Japan which only adds to the appeal of this strategy. Takei's story is so emotional and raw that it actually makes it more believable. His use of ethos make the logos he uses significantly more effective.

I chose this story for a few reasons: a) I had actually seen a couple of gifs from this talk  and I was interested in watching the entire thing b) George Takei is an amazing human being and c) I think it's important to learn about America's past mistakes so that the people who suffered them aren't just forgotten. It's hard to imagine how many things have been glossed over in the history textbooks because they don't fit the "Abe Lincoln never told a lie-Chris Columbus discovered America-George Washington and the Cherry Tree" America that's portrayed to us. George Takei's story is incredibly important to American history and that is why I chose to watch this talk.

A quick end note: This talk is really sad, so here's a lighter story about a girl who immigrated from China and tried to make US a communist state by ending Christmas for all. (Source: http://theseerasures.tumblr.com/)

so i immigrated to the US at age 9, right, and one of the first things my family did was join the local Chinese church. as far as the whole “figuring out how to do things so we no longer have to live in the back shed of Uncle Joe’s* Magic Emporium” thing goes, it’s a pretty sound strategy! now we had people to teach my dad how to drive and give us old furniture and say “hey, Seattle is pretty rainy maybe you should rent an apartment-like space before either a) the shed roof caves in b) your daughter with the famously delicate constitution falls dramatically ill from a strain of black mold or possibly herpes”

*is not my uncle, that’s what his store was called. he sold magic gadgets and my dad knew him because???? possibly in a past life they ran a meth empire in Albuquerque, who knows

ANYWAY. thanks to the church i did not fall dramatically ill from black mold or possibly herpes, but there was an unforeseen factor in joining a Christian church, which was that they? were pretty hardcore? about Jesus?**

**in a nice “we build houses for the homeless” way, not in…the other way

given that we’d just immigrated and that China’s religious policy is worshiping Mao’s preserved corpse ehhhhh…let’s call it “freedom of atheism,” my family was decidedly not hardcore about Jesus. my parents mostly took the bemused “i guess Jesus is okay since he indirectly led to us living in a place suited for human habitation” route, but i

was

DISGUSTED.

i was the first kid in my class to get her red scarf, okay, and when we sang the national anthem and saluted the flag every morning i f*cking meant what i was singing. we almost didn’t come to America; my dad had more lucrative job offers in Germany and Belgium, but i put my foot down because everyone knows Europe is full of gross imperialists Dad, GOSH, and the Americans helped us fight off the Japanese.

so seeing all these fellow Chinese believing in THE CAPITALIST GOD was basically the worst thing to ever happen to my delicate psyche. my parents’ tacit approval was even worse: DID PATRIOTISM AND COMMUNISM MEAN NOTHING TO THEM? DIDN’T THEY KNOW THAT DOING NOTHING AGAINST OPPRESSION MADE THEM OPPRESSORS THEMSELVES??

clearly something needed to be done.

so because the church was pretty hardcore about Jesus, it was understandably also hardcore about Christmas. big party, massive intricately decorated REAL TREE, sleepover for the kids with presents in the morning—you name it. everyone was going to be there.

WHAT A GREAT OPPORTUNITY TO PROVE TO EVERYONE HOW WRONG THEY ARE ABOUT JESUS.

my plan:

1. sleep UNDER the giant real Christmas tree: y’know, the one with real pointy needles reaching all the way down to the base? that sheds? with lots of pokey tinsel?
2. catch Jesus in the act of depositing presents***: look. i’d seen like, ALL of Scooby Doo by this point. i knew Jesus was probably a real person, just not the Son of God.
3. subdue Jesus so he’s still around when everyone else wakes up: CLEARLY VERY FEASIBLE, given that Jesus was a heavyset white dude who used superhuman agility and strength to deliver presents around the world overnight and possibly had reindeer minions and i weighed 70 pounds at most while sopping wet.
4. (who is Santa Claus?? who cares)
5. ????
6. EVERYONE MAGICALLY BECOMES AN ATHEIST AGAIN, AMERICA BECOMES A COMMUNIST STATE

***even if i didn’t believe in him, why was i slavishly devoted stopping a highly altruistic man who gave? people? presents? did i hate joy????

sure enough, at around 3 in the morning i heard soft boots approaching the tree. i reached out and snatched one of the Ankles of Jesus

—whereupon Youth Pastor Liao screamed “OH MY LORD” and kicked me in the face.

and THAT, dear friends, is how i spent my first Christmas in America with a concussion.

Blog Post #8, Baby

In your mind, are there any heroes in Double Indemity? If so, who?

According to Google, a hero is:

1. a person, typically a man, who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities.
2. the chief male character in a book, play, or movie, who is typically identified with good qualities, and with whom the reader is expected to sympathize.
3. (in mythology and folklore) a person of superhuman qualities and often semidivine origin, in particular one of those whose exploits and dealings with the gods were the subject of ancient Greek myths and legends

Now, I think it's safe to say that we don't have anyone from definition 3. There is a stunning lack of cosmic interference in the Film Noir genre.

However, there definitely are heroes according to definition 1 and 2. I would argue that Barton Keyes is a hero because of definition 1. He is brave, which is seen at the very end of the movie when he confronts Neff after listening to Neff admit to two murders. His job requires him to realize when someone has committed insurance fraud and then deny them money and it's reasonable to assume that people aren't exactly happy when they are denied of money and accused of a serious crime. He's also high up in the company, which would qualify as an achievement. And, he's very noble at the end when he waits to call the ambulance while Neff tries to escape. He knows his friend isn't getting far, so he listens to his friend's request.

In a way, Neff is a hero according to definition 2. He's definitely the chief male character and he is who the reader is supposed to sympathize with. The only part that makes him more of an anti-hero is the 'good qualities' part. A venn diagram of 'good qualities' and murders doesn't have much overlap. I would say that Neff could have been considered good up until he kills Dietrichson. 

Another important factor to look at is the time period. Google has this awesome feature where you can see word usage and how it has changed over time. Here's the graph for the word 'hero' from 1900 to 2008:

Double Indemnity came out in 1944, which is one of the lower points on the graph. It's really interesting to see the way that World War I and World War II seem to affect these graphs. There's a spike before the war and after the war. We can see that the lowest point for WWI is right as the Treaty of Versailles was signed in 1919, however the lowest point for WWII seems to be 1940 right after it began. It's also pretty weird that our usage in the 2000s is actually lower than what it was during the World War.