Hollywood Endings

So this past weekend I watched, what I would consider one of the greatest movies, Pride and Prejudice (2005 version with Kiera Knightley). The book is also fabulous and I absolutely love the story. Not only does it accurately illustrate the complexities of the female mind but it also hints at the evolution of the female status in society. This lead me to think about the intangible concept of love.

In Pride and Prejudice the main character, Elizabeth Bennet, struggles to break through the boundaries of English society. She rejects marriage proposals, which at the time were primarily made based on social and economic status. And she tries to find love, which she eventually finds in the very proud Mr. Darcy. But what does it mean to "find love"?  

In some countries, arranged marriages are the norm and love is unearthed from the pairings. But in America, we all go out looking for true love. We are repulsed  by the idea of allowing money and standings to determine who we end up with, and we look down on other countries for their practice of arranged marriages. Divorce rates in America are about 40-50%, which is relatively high in comparison to countries such as India with a .11% divorce rate, Japan with  27%, or Singapore with 10%. (Statistics from www.divorcestatistics.org/).

In other countries, children are brought up knowing that they will be in an arranged marriage. Not only does this make them more accepting of the concept, but also more prepared for the different range of personalities they can expect. On the other hand in America, we, encouraged by media and entertainment, look down at societies with this practice and are convinced that love will guide us to find our soul mate. We are taught to be ourselves and to be independent; therefore, we are less tolerant of others, leading to higher divorce rates. Hollywood tells us that there will be someone who is perfect for us, and this makes us less willing to compromise. So should we really keep waiting and dreaming for the perfect Hollywood ending?

"Enjoy it While it Lasts"

I was, I am, I will be
I used to sing out loud but now I sing in my head.
I used to think I was the best but now I need to beat the best.
I used to sit and dream but now I multi-task.
I used to play in the mud but now I strive to keep clean.
I used to be afraid of waiters but now I can ask for anything.


Now I am afraid but one day I will be fearless.
Now I think I can't, but one day I will be unstoppable.
Now I resent my mother but one day I will be as strong and beautiful as she is.

This is the poem I wrote in American Studies today. We constructed poems based on two formats, the "I used to ... but now I..." and the "Now I ... but one day I..." formats. These poems illustrated who we were and how we re-told our stories, and re-created ourselves from our memories. We were asked to read some lines that we were exceptionally proud of. Many of the lines that were read dealt with different extremes of the American philosophy.

 For example in line two of my poem, I illustrated the need to be the best not only is it an emotion I've struggled to understand but, this is an extremely American value. As a kid I could play to play, not play to win. Sure I'd play and think I was the best, but whether or not I really was didn't really matter as long as I was entertained. But as I grew older, not only is being the best important but  if you aren't the best then you didn't try hard enough. That's a mantra that parents have often drilled into the children of America.

Another thing my parents have tried to encourage is not wasting time. Children are allowed to day dream and fantasize. However as they grow older they're forced to live in reality, in constant worry for what's to come. Americans frown upon any minute that is "wasted" not planning for tomorrow or doing something else that is productive.

My overall conclusion was that Americans value their childhood. We value our childhood because it allowed them to have fun and think they were the best with out having to push to be the best. We value our childhood because we could live for today, not plan for tomorrow. We value our childhood because it allowed us to live a calmer, slower, less stressful life that is unique to America and perhaps adds to it's ever busy mentality. So kids, enjoy it while it lasts.

Nosy or Informed?



Courtesy of Google Images



Similar to last week's blog I was inspired again by my American Studies class' discussion. Shocker, I know, seeing as this blog is for my American Studies class. In class we were analysing a chapter from Henry David Thoreau's "Walden". In this chapter he claims that "all news, as it is called, is gossip" (Thoreau, 69). So this week I decided to evaluate what Americans consider "news-worthy" and why we consider these things "news-worthy". I began to answer my questions by exploring the New York Times current, international news page. I saw things like Protest of Thousands in Cairo Turns Violent, Russia Identifies Defect in Rocket That Crashed, and Nigeria: 9 Killed in Attack on Village in Plateau State. All of these things would be considered "news-worthy" to Americans but why do we consider these things "news-worthy"? Why do we need to know about protests in Cairo turn violent, or what Russia identified in a crashed rocket, or even the details on deaths in Nigeria? At first I wanted to defend the position of the need for news because I am addicted to news and knowing things. But after much mental wresting I came to the realization that, people really do not need to know all these things. People don't even need to know some of the things on theNew York Times' national news page such as, Texas: Progress Made Against Wildfire. After thinking about the benefits of knowing these things I came to the conclusion that there really aren't benefits to knowing that nine people were killed in a village attack in Nigeria or that progress has been made on a wildfire in Texas. People don't really need to know any of these things and it just distracts them from their own lives. We consider things "news-worthy" when they can quench our curiosity, if they're interesting enough or bizarre enough. Anything out of the ordinary has the potential to be news or it could also be considered gossip. Why we consider these things "news-worthy" is probably because of our need to always know, to always be informed, to always be in the loop. Spontaneity is not the norm in our culture, our culture is riddled with scheduals, routines, plans, and maps. Everthing is planned out so that we can always predict and be informed. That is why we value gossip and news so much, because it keeps us informed it keeps us mentally prepared for everything. That distraction hinders our personal developments and growth as people. Since we as Americans value news for informing us about everything else we fail to improve our own faults and lives because we are so busy worrying about everything else.  

A Big Drop in Nationalism?



Courtesy of Google Images

 As summer comes to a close I was reminded of the adventures I had embarked on this break, while sitting in my American Studies class. My teacher had briefly mentioned Six Flags Great America and it got me thinking, what does naming an amusement park "Six Flags Great America" say about the way we view ourselves and our nation?

Taken from my past trips to the park I came to realize that, aside from perhaps the Southwest Territory Region and the American Eagle roller coaster, there is very little in the park that actually pertains to America. With this in mind I began to analyze what was in the park. All I could think of was cartoons, roller coasters, fast food vendors, and carnival games. Is this what we want to represent our nation? The replacement of American related attractions with more fanatical attractions suggests the depreciation of patriotism in favor of entertainment.



Courtesy of Google Images

  Naming an amusement park "Six Flags Great America" almost degrades the majesty of the American nation. It creates an image of Americans just being fun-loving, careless people. It brings up the question of whether we as Americans, allow ourselves to neglect our country in order to experience more pleasure in our lifestyles. I believe that we do. Given the recent economic and foreign downfalls America has experienced, Americans no longer feel a surging sense of nationalism. Therefore naming an amusment park that reflects the less positive aspects of our lifestyles after our nation does not matter. We do not intentionally try and, in a way, disgrace our nation but we just feel quite as proud of America as we once did. It all boils down to the fact that we are experiencing a loss of nationalism. We just do not care as much about our nationalism anymore and instead care more about our own enjoyment. In a wrap we have chosen rollercoasters and fastfood vendors over nationalism.