If you wanted to know how weak your willpower is... try not to click "next episode" when watching tv shows on netflix

1. How to get away with Murder

• Summary: A sexy, suspense-driven legal thriller about a group of ambitious law students and their brilliant, mysterious criminal defense professor. They become entangled in a murder plot and will shake the entire university and change the course of their lives.

• Justification: Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are kind of new to the whole murder thing (as far as we know) in the beginning of the play. Macbeth let his wife have pick a movie on his account during their Netflix and chill night and she decided to watch some murderous T.V. Macbeth got hooked after the first episode Sometimes the account holder lets someone borrow your account and they start watching a bunch of shows that you would not normally watch. Then  the suggestions that are shown are something that the account holder would never watch based on the shows that they watch and we all know strong Macbeth is against the power of suggestion (not very). So, he added this to his queue...and then he probably killed Duncan.

2. Ferris Beuller's Day Off

• Summary: Teenage Ferris convinces his entire school he's at death's door, then hits the streets of Chicago with his girlfriend and best friend for a day of fun. But the school's fed-up principal is determined to catch him and put an end to his field trip.

• Justification: In this movie we analyzed Ferris as Macbeth, Sloane the girlfriend as Lady Macbeth, Cameron the best friend as a murderer, and  Mr. Rooney the principal as Macduff. Ferris goes against good moral behavior as a student and skips school. He avoids getting caught by Mr.Rooney and his parents. This is similar to Macbeth and Lady Macbeth sneaking around killing people, avoiding Macduff. Both Macbeth and Ferris keep up the appearance of a moral person. Macbeth tries to put the blame on other people like Duncan’s sons and Ferris creates a doll device to keep up the appearance of being sick to avoid being caught by his mom. Both Macbeth and Ferris have other people do immoral deeds for their own benefit. Macbeth hires the three murderers to kill Banquo as well as other people and Cameron pretends to be Sloane’s dad to get her out of class. Ferris is kind of like the king of his high school and Macbeth is the King of Scotland. Macbeth would want to watch this movie because he sees a lot of himself in the comical style of Ferris.

3. Hercules

• Summary: Hercules, son of the Greek God, Zeus, is turned into a half-god, half-mortal by evil Hades, God of the Underworld, who plans to overthrow Zeus. Hercules is raised on Earth and retains his god-like strength, but when he discovers his immortal heritage Zeus tells him that to return to Mount Olympus he must become a true hero. Hercules becomes a famous hero with the help of his friend Pegasus and his personal trainer, Phil the satyr. Hercules battles monsters, Hades and the Titans, but it is his self-sacrifice to rescue his love Meg which makes him a true hero.

• Justification: First of all Hercules is based off of Hamlet a Shakespeare play and Macbeth was written by Shakespeare. Hercules becomes this great hero on the basis of the fact that he is suppose to be a Greek God. Hades and Macbeth both had the supernatural, the weird sisters in Macbeth and the Fates in Hercules. Hades is told a prophecy that benefits him by the Fates. Macbeth becomes king based on the prophecy that is told to him by the weird sisters. Hades and Macbeth are similar in the fact they both tried killing people to fulfill the prophecy. Hercules is a strong warrior. Macbeth is a moral military man at the beginning of the play. However, Hercules seeks to purify his soul where Macbeth is destroying his. We see Macbeth fade from Hercules to Hades. Meg fools Hercules, like Lady Macbeth fools Macbeth. Hades controlled meg...lady Macbeth controlled by the witches...or is a witch?? Initially, Macbeth adds this to his queue because he associates with Hercules’s god-like attributes, but then he keeps watching to see if Hades’s prophecy comes true, to see if his own prophecy will actually hold out.

4. Gossip Girl

• Summary: Kristen Bell provides the voice of an anonymous blogger who narrates the action in this hit series set in an exclusive New York City boarding school. The plot centers on the day-to-day dramas of the school's most privileged students.

• Justification: Macbeth is very in touch with his feminine side and connects with a main character Blair, the powerful queen bee of the prep school and like Macbeth does immoral things to benefit herself as well as get other people to do them for her. Lady Macbeth is Chuck (Blair’s lover) and he gets her do things that go against her morals (losing her v card to Chuck instead of Nate and prostituting herself to help Chuck). Chuck also goes insane after Blair starts becoming more independent, similar to Lady Macbeth after Macbeth plans to kills others without her aid. Blair has a lot of ambition she creates her own prophecy to fulfill like getting into Yale, starting her own clothing line, becoming societally relevant in New York. Macbeth of course has his own prophecy to societal hierarchy in Scotland. Both Blair and Macbeth are willing to step on whoever gets in their path to get what they want. Macbeth would want to add the to his queue in order to learn the ways Gossip Girl was able to keep secret for so long so he can keep his.

Mad or Nah?

I believe that people who are not "evil" take the first step into evil because they seek some benefit out of "turning to the dark side". In Macbeth, we see him take the first step into evil when he kills King Duncan. He was tempted at first by the three witches when they told Macbeth of the prophecy. The second witch says, "All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, thane of Cawdor!", then the third witch says,"All hail, Macbeth, thou shall be king hereafter!" (Macbeth, 1.3). Macbeth is shown this path to power and we see that even a respected and brave warrior can have a deep desire for power and how outside forces can easily corrupt and tempt him. He shows his desire for power by killing eveyone in order to gain and keep it. He was also being Lady Macbethed along the way, but Macbeth was the only one who actually killed the guards and King Duncan. We see Macbeth change into an independent diabolical force that plots the murder of his Banquo and Fleance in order to keep his power.

The consequence of choosing evil are the loss of one's morals, loss of sanity, guilt, and the punishment after being caught. In Macbeth, we see the loss of his sanity as he continues to murder more people. For example, after killing King Duncan Macbeth says, "I'll go no more: I am afraid to think what I have odne; Look on't again I dare not" (Macbeth, 2.2). He acknolwedges that he has killed and therefore has relinquished his morals, but ignores the significance of losing them and chooses to ignore it. After Banquo is killed Macbeth sees his ghost. This represents the buildup of guilt within Macbeth and the consequence of losing his sanity in order to keep an appearance of innocence and ignoring what he has done. These murders have a snowball effect and once Macbeth started he could not stop. Macbeth was a respected and brave warrior before he turned into a murderer and someone with good morals does not easily give them up. There must be consequences.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MRS. GENESKY!!! HERE'S SOME CAKE!!!

Salty or Nah? (FREEBIE)

I'm gonna use my freebie for this semester, but I saw this "Standing Salt" and thought it looked ornate and shiny so...

"Envy is the Ulcer of the Soul." - Socrates

"The Perfect 'Body'"as advertised by Victoria's Secret in Fall 2014

In this advertisement we see women who are tall, large-busted, with long legs. They are also very pale, barefoot, and only wearing lingerie. The slogan reads, "The Perfect 'body'. Perfect fit. Perfect comfort. Perfectly soft. Explore the collection".

The purpose of this advertisement is to persuade high to middle class women to buy Victoria's Secret's new line of lingerie by telling women that these garments will allow them to finally have the "perfect" body. The commercial's intended audience are wealthy to middle income women because Victoria's Secret is a relatively expensive brand. The audience recognizes the brand because of its famous "Victoria's Secret Angels", who are the supermodels, and the "Victoria's Secret Show" that airs every year, showing thin, long-legged, busty supermodels wearing high heels, extravagant wings and lingerie, strutting down a run-way to music performed live by popular music artist's.

This advertisement associates with envy because it is displaying a body image that they think their customer wants to achieve. The supermodels displayed are called "Angels" who are famous for only their societal ranking on the "hotness" meter. Victoria's Secret wants the audience to believe they will look "perfect" with the use of their "perfect" bras. They repetition of the word "perfect" resonates with the audience that this is what the ideal image of a perfect body looks like and what they could have if they purchase the bra. Their slogan was very offensive and harmful because it perpetuated low self-esteem among women who are made to feel that their bodies are unattractive and imperfect because they do not fit the narrow societal standards of beauty. This advertisement also contributes to the encouragement of negative body imaging and eating disorders in society. The realization of this message led an audience of 27,000 people sign a petition to remove the slogan. Victoria's Secret changed the slogan to "A Body for Every Body" after the negative reaction displayed by customers. However, they did not change the picture showing women who have relatively the same body, leaving their audience unhappy with the brand.

♫♪♫"That's Not My Name"♫♪♫ - ᛤᛖᛚᛋᛖᚣ

Kelsey is said to be derived form the Anglo-Saxon name, "Ceolsige", which is derived from the word ceol meaning "ship" and sige meaning "victory".  There are also modern interpretations of the name meaning "brave" or "fierce". The name is unisex and is very common in the United States and the United Kingdom. I feel this name does define me, not literally as ship or victory, but brave, fierce, and successful, which I interpret from "victory". Bravery, fierceness or confidence, and success are all things I value and want to exhibit as a person. I believe I was named Kelsey because my parents had named my brother "Kyle" and honestly I think they did not want to stray away from the pattern of "K" names. My middle name, my father wanted to call me, "Skylar" has an English origination meaning "scholar" or "shelter". I like this name a lot because I value education and protection.

I know my mother debated with my dad on calling me "Shelby", which is a very southern name, originating from England, meaning "a place where willows grow". My mother, brother and I are from Georgia, my father from Tennessee, so we are a very southern family. I am glad she did not name me that because I feel like Shelby has the stereotypical connotation of an unintelligent, peppy person, which I don't feel describes me as a person. There are names that I feel can determine how a person is treated. For example, I feel that people who have Middle-Eastern names already have a pre-determined religion of being Muslim and anti-American beliefs to their name especially in the United States. The same thing happens when people examine their clothing, skin color, religion, sex, etc. All of these connotations can either positively or negatively affect the treatment of that person depending on the beliefs of the person examining them's background and values. For this reason, people may change the way their name or the way they present themselves in order to not be interpreted a certain way or be interpreted a certain way. I know how I present myself changes depending on the situation and the people I am with. I am more comfortable and talkative with my friends, than in the classroom setting or around strangers, where I feel the most uncomfortable. However, I define myself as both of these where as my teacher or my friend who only sees one part of the whole may define me as only shy or outgoing. I am defined by both the interpretations of other people and myself. Considering how people will interpret my decisions and how I interpret my decisions sometimes causes a dilemma because I must ask myself should I please myself, my audience, or both. Any decision I make, either for myself, my audience, or both I still feel defines me though because even though my decision may not be based on my values I still choose that course of action.

Just Wing'N It

This picture, "Roosevelt High School Students", Minneapolis, MN was taken by Wing Young Huie in 1998. They are all lined up shoulder to shoulder, in multiple rows, their arms are folded across their chest and their eyes are closed, praying. All are similarly dressed in tennis shoes, slacks, and over sized tops and coats. The image is in black and white which suggests that Huie does not want us to focus on the color and appearance differences, but the actions taking place in the image. 

Huie describes the population of this school was half Somalian during this time. This picture represents the male Muslim population at the school. Their religion requires asks them to pray five time a day. They would discreetly pray in quiet stairwells and empty bathrooms. Practicing prayer is hard during school hours and caused both racial and religious conflicts within the school environment. Also, there is the conflict of separating religion from state in America. The students ironically would go pray at the Our Redeemer Lutheran Church across the street form the school in the basement and then later the YMCA. The boys would pray first then the girls. 

Wing Young Huie and Margaret Atwood both reference religion as a tool of "othering" in this photograph and multiple times in The Handmaid's Tale. In The Handmaid's Tale all citizens of Gilead are Christian due to the restrictions of a totalitarian government, they do not have freedom of religion. The government in the book uses verses of the Bible to justify the rules they have set in place for their citizens. "Others" who do not comply are simply the enemy. However, in this photograph taken by Huie there is this acceptance of cultural and religious differences taking place in urban Minneapolis, MN. The picture depicts how American culture has incorporated other cultures into their communities. Religion is not used to "other" people, but is used as a safe haven for practicing another religion.