Reflection...

Reflecting on Being Bad..

All in all the module was interesting. Some of the subjects made less interesting lectures, such as Infidelity, as there did not seem to be very much to discuss on the subject.
And the religious cults lecture, which did not actually talk about any religious cults. Besides Jehovas witnesses. There were many interesting lectures, I particularly enjoyed Bad Cinema, though i missed the discussion on Kids, (to run and see another film at the lighthouse) which i would have likedto have attended. To see how other people and non film students react to shocking cinema.

In terms of assessments i enjoyed writing the essays. I chose the subjects i found most interesting. The blog to some extent was a good idea, embracing modern media forms. I believe there should have been an alternative, i would rather have done another essay or creative work, as I found the blog was a chore to maintain, and in many cases found I had little to write and had to pretend I had an opinion on some subjects. When in most cases I am apathetic in regards to religion, smoking, infidelity.

More on Body Modification.

i Agree with Becky.. http://beingbadbeingbecky.blogspot.com/ who said...

A lot of people choose eastern designs without fully understanding their meanings, I have indeed met people who have been offended by a friend of mine having a tattoo in chinese writing 'because it looked good' and yet not knowing what the words meant - it could have said 'kick me repeatedly' or something obscene and she would have no idea because that did not concern her when she got the tattoo.

I remember there being an influx of people with their own name written down their fore arm in chinese letters or even just in English in a gothic font. Simply because David Beckham had one. As soon as David Beckham grows too old to play professional football, his influence will end, and he will fade away. However, these people will be stuck with their own name written on their arm for the rest of their lives. It actually appears as if they need to be reminded of their own name, since many of them are football fans and therefore have the IQ of an aggressive riot prone goldfish.

And here is a web site which Beckys friend particularly needs, as it translates things into foreign languages.

http://www.tattoos-by-design.co.uk/

Bad Cinema

As a film student this is a subject i have a lot to say about.
I find the term "bad cinema" alone is ridiculous, the only bad films in the world are Pornography and Snuff films. Cinema has been blamed for some terrible occurences, like marilyn manson was victimised for Columbine, The korean film Oldboy has been blamed for The Virginia Massacres by Cho Seung-Hui. If the people saying this had seen the film Oldboy they would know that a gun is used only once, and this is when the Villain (sort of) of the film takes his own life. Cho did take his own life at the end his rampage, but there are hundreds of films which portray suicide.

Cinema much like literature can be easily divided into categories similar to fiction and non fiction. Films that have been banned for their content such as A Clockwork Orange, are fictional. They portray rape and murder, but none of the actors were harmed in the making. Cinema is escapism. It can portray some darker aspects of the world, yet this only reflects the darker aspects to some peoples personalitys. Cho Seung-Hui had other motives to his rampage, bullying feelings of alienation from his fellow students. Oldboy was the not the cause of the tragedy.


http://www.freezedriedmovies.com/blog/index.php?/archives/8-MoviesOldboy-Blamed-For-Virginia-Massacre-Tartan-Issues-Statement.html

Response To Luke Gough.

Luke Gough Wrote.
we are living in the tail end of a society that uses scare tactics to stop you from touching yourself, and although this is a little bit of an exaggeration (cause there isnt a god...), its an illustration of the crap we are all told from an early age. "you'll go blind", "hairy palms", "acne". Rewind a couple years and you can add epilepsy and death to that list. So why the taboo? Mostly, its just clinging to the last few victorian morals we have left, generation through generation being told its wrong.

I Agree entirely with this statement. Masturbation is another of the subjects we are lied to about as children. I believe it is more harmful to tell a child they will go blind if they give in to temptation. Than it is to be open with the child and just try talking to them not down to them. If a child believes that what they are doing is wrong and perverted yet they cannot control their natural impulses. They will believe that they are just that, masturbating perverts. Everyone has done it, if this were true, our country is run by masturbating perverts, we are taught in school by masturbating perverts.

On a lighter note, I was amazed at how difficult it is to find a picture for this subject on the internet, that is not pornography.


--"If everyone who masturbates were to turn purple at noon tomorrow, you'd swear that you were in a vineyard." --Harold Ivan Smith (Baptist seminary professor)


http://www.wayneandtamara.com/bigbookofmasturbation.htm

Body Peircing and Tatoos.

I missed the lecture for this subject unfortunately. However, neither of these to me are bad or antisocial behaviours. Unless you tattoo pornographic or controversial images onto your body, these are just forms of expression, the only person you harm is yourself.
I believe some tatoos are a mistake. When you are young a tattoo can look good but as you get older and your skin ages, they can look quite unattractive.

Bad Comedians.

There are numerous "Bad" Comedians. Due to the many Bad or controversial issues out there, some bad things comedians can do are acceptable, swearing has become accepted as has the nasty comedian. However, some things such as racism and Homophobia, with coomedians such as Roy Chubby Brown and Bernard Manning, i have never found funny. Some comedians are considered bad by some parties, where others would see no offensive material. Bill Hicks was considered a very offensive comedian by many religious groups due to his material relating to religion, particularly casting a poor light on Christianity. I however have always found him hilarious.

This blog depicts what i can imagine would be hellish night. At the hands of an ignorant comedian.

--"Then he dug himself even deeper. He said, “Yeah, that family that got lost in the snow in Oregon. Big tragedy, yeah, I feel bad for them.” I couldn’t believe it. I wanted to hold my hands over my ears. I wanted to wing a huge glass bottle at his head. He kept going though. “What can you expect though? Of course they got lost, because everybody knows that Asians are such bad drivers.”

http://www.racialicious.com/2006/12/11/comedian-james-kim-died-because-asians-are-such-bad-drivers/

Bad Cinema Kids.

Kids, a good choice for Bad Cinema. Not as well known as A Clockwork Orange, for example. Which i have come to understand many people have an opinion on (generally Negative) regardless of whether they have even seen it. Therefore, many people have to establish there own opinion rather than simply agree with the standard hatred and shock at bad cinema. Kids is beautifully shot by photographer Larry Clark.

The film itself deals with some deeply controversial issues. HIV, Drug abuse, underage sexuality, underage drinking. To name a few. My only problem when watching the film was the uncomfortable amount of child nudity Larry Clark shows. It would easily have been possible to tell an equally shocking and true story without doing this to the Kids he films. Therefore the film leads us to question larry clarks motives here as a middle aged photographer/photographer. However, though the pornographic nature of the film can be uncomfortable, it is important to see past this and discuss the films many merits.

The film tackles the subject of HIV, the dangers of unprotected sex, and the lack of sexual awareness in young people, expertly. The film highlights The risk of AIDS and brings it much closer to home for many people. Rather than imagining the Virus's effects in Africa thousands of miles away, we are forced to see its horrifying impact in western society.