This is appropriate for Easter. Oops, I'm a little late.
http://sonofmanproject.com/
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Whatever You Do, Don't Read This
I was surprised at how much I got into writing this letter to my Hebrew teacher. I tried to be nice, but direct and really tell her how I felt. I have a lot to do right now, but I thought a lot about this letter and revised parts of this over and over again. If you want to understand more about my experience in watching this movie, see my post entitled, "So Desensitized" from a week ago or so.
March 31, 2010
Shalom,
Pesach semeach. I have been thinking for awhile about sharing with you some of my concerns with watching the movie, Be and Become for your class. I haven’t been sure how to do this exactly and I feel like there hasn’t been a good time to bring it up with all of the stressors your family has been through recently. I am writing a letter so that I can express better than I could in person some of what I felt while watching the movie and how I am affected. If you have any questions for me or would like to discuss it further in person I am willing to do that.
I was unpleasantly surprised by a couple of parts in the movie—two parts in particular. I’m guessing you are fairly familiar with this movie and know what scenes I am referring to. Both are sexual in nature. One involves the adoptive couple in bed together and is rather brief. The other one is considerably longer. It involves a scantily clad female seducing the main character in the dance club by helping him take off his clothes in her private room, touching him, and exposing herself enough so that he would give her money. This scene was especially disturbing considering that these characters in the movie don’t know each other at all prior to this interaction. The brutal violence that follows their interaction only makes it worse. I don’t even know all that happened because I was averting my eyes for half of the scene.
To be completely honest, I was shocked that a movie assigned by a BYU teacher would have such content. I honestly felt like I was betraying BYU and its standards by watching this movie in a classroom that is set aside for the important purpose of learning. I felt like I was watching trash that would hinder anyone from learning truths about life. I realize that people have differing levels of sensitivity to media content. I think males in general may be more affected by sexual content than females. I know I felt disturbed watching these scenes and felt very uncomfortable with them. This bad feeling didn’t just leave right after the movie was over unfortunately. It was lingering. I now have scenes etched in my mind that I wish were not there. As a result, I want to strongly encourage you not to show that movie to students in the future, or at least to edit out parts of it.
I admire your interest in refugees and immigrants and some of the plights that they may experience. Your humanitarian spirit is impressive and encourages me to be more humanitarian minded. I really mean that. I can glean some value in learning about and seeing some of the difficulties of immigrants or refugees though saddening and disturbing they may be. Depictions of poverty, communication frustrations, cultural misunderstandings, or societal difficulties may help me and others have more compassion and understanding for God’s children when these depictions are not obscene in nature. However, I cannot see any value in watching depictions that desensitize viewers and hinder compassion rather than fostering it. Watching immoral behavior of others normalizes so much of what modern day prophets warn us against today and does not increase faith, hope, or charity to help others. I understand that people may be taken advantage of or be put in difficult situations that are part of real life for them. However, I believe that seeing obscene depictions of such tragedies does not help anyone to assist others. Seeing it may increase pity, but not compassion because such content brings the viewer down and makes them less able to lift others up. We can really only understand and help others when we are sensitive and susceptible to be influenced by God’s love, not when we are hardened or desensitized by obscenity. Please do not encourage your future students to watch this movie unedited. Todah.
With a lot of forethought and feeling,
Eliyahu
(Jason Burningham)
I'm curious to see how many people read this post with the title that I gave it. I'm performing a little personal pyschological research : ), so if you read this post will you please leave a comment telling me you read it? Even if you don't have anything to say about it, just say "I read it." Thank you.
March 31, 2010
Shalom,
Pesach semeach. I have been thinking for awhile about sharing with you some of my concerns with watching the movie, Be and Become for your class. I haven’t been sure how to do this exactly and I feel like there hasn’t been a good time to bring it up with all of the stressors your family has been through recently. I am writing a letter so that I can express better than I could in person some of what I felt while watching the movie and how I am affected. If you have any questions for me or would like to discuss it further in person I am willing to do that.
I was unpleasantly surprised by a couple of parts in the movie—two parts in particular. I’m guessing you are fairly familiar with this movie and know what scenes I am referring to. Both are sexual in nature. One involves the adoptive couple in bed together and is rather brief. The other one is considerably longer. It involves a scantily clad female seducing the main character in the dance club by helping him take off his clothes in her private room, touching him, and exposing herself enough so that he would give her money. This scene was especially disturbing considering that these characters in the movie don’t know each other at all prior to this interaction. The brutal violence that follows their interaction only makes it worse. I don’t even know all that happened because I was averting my eyes for half of the scene.
To be completely honest, I was shocked that a movie assigned by a BYU teacher would have such content. I honestly felt like I was betraying BYU and its standards by watching this movie in a classroom that is set aside for the important purpose of learning. I felt like I was watching trash that would hinder anyone from learning truths about life. I realize that people have differing levels of sensitivity to media content. I think males in general may be more affected by sexual content than females. I know I felt disturbed watching these scenes and felt very uncomfortable with them. This bad feeling didn’t just leave right after the movie was over unfortunately. It was lingering. I now have scenes etched in my mind that I wish were not there. As a result, I want to strongly encourage you not to show that movie to students in the future, or at least to edit out parts of it.
I admire your interest in refugees and immigrants and some of the plights that they may experience. Your humanitarian spirit is impressive and encourages me to be more humanitarian minded. I really mean that. I can glean some value in learning about and seeing some of the difficulties of immigrants or refugees though saddening and disturbing they may be. Depictions of poverty, communication frustrations, cultural misunderstandings, or societal difficulties may help me and others have more compassion and understanding for God’s children when these depictions are not obscene in nature. However, I cannot see any value in watching depictions that desensitize viewers and hinder compassion rather than fostering it. Watching immoral behavior of others normalizes so much of what modern day prophets warn us against today and does not increase faith, hope, or charity to help others. I understand that people may be taken advantage of or be put in difficult situations that are part of real life for them. However, I believe that seeing obscene depictions of such tragedies does not help anyone to assist others. Seeing it may increase pity, but not compassion because such content brings the viewer down and makes them less able to lift others up. We can really only understand and help others when we are sensitive and susceptible to be influenced by God’s love, not when we are hardened or desensitized by obscenity. Please do not encourage your future students to watch this movie unedited. Todah.
With a lot of forethought and feeling,
Eliyahu
(Jason Burningham)
I'm curious to see how many people read this post with the title that I gave it. I'm performing a little personal pyschological research : ), so if you read this post will you please leave a comment telling me you read it? Even if you don't have anything to say about it, just say "I read it." Thank you.
Sexual content in Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs?
Here's my sexual content assignment that I've been saving to post for this really busy week of school.
1. What programs did you choose?
I don’t watch TV and the assignment instructed to not change my habits. I e-mailed Dr. Coyne asking her what I should do for this assignment, suggesting I could maybe do the shows I need to watch for our content analysis project. She suggested that I watch a movie. So, since my wife wanted to watch, “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” that’s what I did.
2. How much sex is in the programs? Keep a running tally for each program and write it below.
There wasn’t any sex in the movie thankfully.
3. What sexual messages are portrayed in each of the three programs?
The figure of the primary female character in the movie was ridiculously thin (she’s a clay figure so they can do that) and had really long legs, and big eyes. I think they tried to make her attractive or something. Her and the primary male character attempt to kiss each other without knowing each other very well or very long. There are several ensuing scenes of unsuccessful kissing and in the final “happily ever after” scene, the movie closes with a successful kiss between the main characters.
One random camera shot in the movie gives a close up of the buttocks of the police man. I’m not really sure what the point of it was, but it shows his skin tight shorts that reveal his crack and all, covered by blue shorts. I guess there are several shots of one character clothed in nothing but his underwear. It was harder for me to pick up on things like this that involved males rather than females. I notice more easily when females are clad scantily I guess. Go figure.
1. What programs did you choose?
I don’t watch TV and the assignment instructed to not change my habits. I e-mailed Dr. Coyne asking her what I should do for this assignment, suggesting I could maybe do the shows I need to watch for our content analysis project. She suggested that I watch a movie. So, since my wife wanted to watch, “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” that’s what I did.
2. How much sex is in the programs? Keep a running tally for each program and write it below.
There wasn’t any sex in the movie thankfully.
3. What sexual messages are portrayed in each of the three programs?
The figure of the primary female character in the movie was ridiculously thin (she’s a clay figure so they can do that) and had really long legs, and big eyes. I think they tried to make her attractive or something. Her and the primary male character attempt to kiss each other without knowing each other very well or very long. There are several ensuing scenes of unsuccessful kissing and in the final “happily ever after” scene, the movie closes with a successful kiss between the main characters.
One random camera shot in the movie gives a close up of the buttocks of the police man. I’m not really sure what the point of it was, but it shows his skin tight shorts that reveal his crack and all, covered by blue shorts. I guess there are several shots of one character clothed in nothing but his underwear. It was harder for me to pick up on things like this that involved males rather than females. I notice more easily when females are clad scantily I guess. Go figure.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
The all-powerful PowerPoint
What did we do before PowerPoint? I mean, how did teachers teach anything? This week I have used a couple of simple PowerPoint slides in seminary lessons I've taught. It has made certain activities much more convenient and easier to do with the class. Today I went to a little presentation about buying a home (not that that will happen anytime soon). I don't know how the presenter would have communicated his ideas very well without PowerPoint slides. Seriously, since when have people been using PowerPoint and what did teachers do before that? Is PowerPoint used in junior high or high school classes now? I can't think of it ever being used in my classes until BYU. I guess people used overheads, but that just seems harder to make and less effective for learning. What would the world be like without PowerPoint? Ponder that one over your next bowl of cereal.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
So desensitized
As part of an assignment for my Hebrew class I had to watch this movie about an African refugee in Israel. My teacher told us it was her favorite Hebrew movie she had seen so I had high expectations for it. A group of us watched it in the basement of the JFSB one evening and I couldn't believe what was in the movie. I felt like I was somehow desecrating BYU's building or something by watching it. I had to look down during two sexual scenes--one quite short, and the other for what seemed like a really long time (but was probably only a minute or so--so as to not see what was happening on the screen. The student in charge of getting the movie for us from our teacher and playing it was indecisive about whether to fastforward it or not. She said she thought "it doesn't show anything" but I couldn't believe that she could classify what was happening with people taking off their clothes and what not as not showing anything. I think she realized when it was too late that she should have fastforwarded the movie. In any case, I felt like my spirit was offended and I was surprised that a BYU teacher would have us watch this movie. I feel like I should talk to my teacher about it, but I'm not sure how to go about doing it. It made me realize more how our society is so accepting of such depictions and that people as a whole are so desensitized to sexual scenes and suggestions. It honestly makes me sad when I think about it.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
TV and interacting with my in-laws
I was at my in-laws house for most of the day today in West Jordan because my wife's brother's family is in town from Colorado. Although I would say that my wife's family isn't big into watching TV, because of the NCAA tournament the TV was on most of the time we were there today. I couldn't help but notice how much it drew everyone's attention, including my own, and seemed to sort of limit really meaningful conversations. We were there to see my brother-in-law and sister-in-law and their daughter and son since we only get to see them once or twice per year, but we were all distracted by basketball games on TV. Also, my sister-in-law was intent on playing games on her ipod during part of the time as well. As we were driving home to Provo I couldn't help but feel like we had all missed out on opportunities to build relationships. Media is an interesting facet of our lives.
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