Attention Span

The film Koyaanisquatsi is made up of intriguing images and a compelling soundtrack. It is full of life and death, creation and destruction and beauty and horror. The audience is first shown the beauty and wonder of nature and then knocked down with images of destruction and of today's polluted environment. To me the images were moving and powerful, but the music tampered with and controlled the film. The emphasis in the music set the only emphasis for the film therefor creating very strong bias. Also for most of the people that watch this film, the music is probably the driving force and the main component that keeps there minds engaged and their eyes on the screen.

The soundtrack of this film was composed by a very remarkable musician, Philip glass. One of his works is shown in the video below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imbwn6iVryQ&feature=player_detailpage

 For me, although I found the music beautiful, it became repetitive and i was easily distracted from the films grip. When one song continues to play for an extended period of time, no matter how much i like the song, it will start to bother me and grind on my nerves. There is a point I can reach with music where it has no beauty at all, but is only noise and multiple times the music in this film sounded only like noise to me.While watching Koyaanisquatsi I continually found myself wanting to turn the volume off and watch the film without it. The more a song built up and the longer it lasted, the more annoyed I became. I would have much rather watched this as a silent film.

The Truth Behind Plastic

The people in my generation have grown up with plastic all around us. Plastic is just another part of our lives and something that we don't usually think twice about. We drink out of plastic, we eat out of plastic,  we wear plastic, we sit on plastic, we plat with plastic, we stare at plastic, and I am typing on plastic right now. What we don't usually think about as we live our lives in plastic, is how it effects us and out environment. The documentary Plastic Planet gives an overview of the health and environmental issues associated with plastic. It is a very bias documentary because the documentarian, Werner Boote, has the clear opinion that plastic is terrible. In my mind though, it is not just opinion because everything Werner has to say is supported by studies and data and fact. I believe that Plastic is an extremely harmful material and I try to use very little of it in my life. The link below is for an article about a study that links plastic and human diseases.

Plastic Causes Diseases

I was at my house when I watched this film and my mom decided to watch it with me. My family and I have always been environmentally conscious, but this documentary was still eye opening to us. Some of the most memorable scenes where when families put all of their plastic items in their yards. This inspired us, so when the film was over my mom and I wondered all through the house to determine how much plastic was in each room. Overall we noticed that we did not use a lot of plastic, but the one scary room was the kitchen. My family does not buy a lot of processed and packaged foods, but there are still some things at you can only buy in plastic containers. In our fridge we had leftovers in Tubberwear and yogurt and milk and other products in plastic containers and in our pantry many things were also stored in plastic. The picture below if frightening to me because it shows just how many products are sold in plastic. almost everything in a grocery store comes in some sort of plastic. 

This film has moved me to make changes in my life and use less plastic.I want to stop buying drinks in plastic bottle and stop eating off of plastic dishes. I want to buy more cotton clothing and less man-made materials. It is important that more that everyone is educated about and understands the dangers behind plastic. The problem is that plastic does not have an acute effect on us, it takes time for the repercussions to show. We drive safe because we have seen and know that people can be hurt and killed in a car crash. If immediate effects can't be seen, it is harder to believe, but the truth is that the less plastic that humans use, the healthier our environment will be and the healthier we as individuals will be.

Devil's Playground

Did They Have a Proper Childhood?

When a child is brought up in a certain culture or belief system, they will normally carry the same beliefs though their entire lives. The documentary Devil's Playground tells about the lives and decisions of Amish children. The Amish believe that a person cannot choose there beliefs until they are an adult and completely understand what the are committing to in a religion. Amish children grow up following the Amish way, but at age 16 everything changes. When the children turn 16 they are let free to live however they want to for however long it takes them to decide whether or not they wish to join the Amish church. At this point most Amish children let wild, partying and trying anything new that they can get their hands on.

 

When I first learned about the Amish system of letting their children choose there lives for themselves, I really  liked the idea. I think it is very important for people to make there own choices and have their own view. After watching the documentary Jesus Camp, this Amish view was refreshing. As I learned more about the lifestyle though, I became doubtful. Children are raised for 16 years in the Amish culture and around the Amish beliefs so it is likely that they will fall into the same belief system. Is may be true that Amish children have a choice, but their choice is based on a bias perspective.

The other thing that bothers me about the Amish culture is how restricted the children are at first. Restriction only causes a want for rebellion so as soon as the children get the chance they do as much of whatever they can. They drink, they do drugs, they wear makeup, and many other thinks that the Amish church restricts. Eventually about 90 percent go back to the church because it is the home that they know and are comfortable with, but for a little while at least they go completely insane. This for of upbringing reminds me of a friend I had in middle school. She was a very sweet girl and my friends and I would always try to invite her to hang out with us. Her parents restricted her from everything though and chaperoned her where she did go. I was always worried about her though because I knew that as soon as she got the chance, she would get her hands onto everything that she was never allowed. The link below is an article about the effects of strict parenting. 

http://www.livestrong.com/article/523693-the-effects-of-strict-parents/