Susan Boyle: You Rule the World

Unless you have been living under a rock, you must have at least heard of Susan Boyle. Even the hippie in my English class who probably spends more time sitting on a sidewalk playing his guitar than keeping up on pop culture, knew about Susan Boyle.

The fantastically talented middle-aged woman with looks that caused doubt before she even opened her mouth to sing on Britain's Got Talent, has felt the power of ruling the world. Or at least, ruling the media.

Yes, it's a lesson on a "don't judge a book by it's cover" type issue. But it's also a lesson on media tactics. As soon as something out of the ordinary happens, the media jumps all over it. When something out of the ordinary that has the power to bring people to tears happens...a media storm happens. As is the case with Susan Boyle. 

This is understandable. We want to see happy stories. We want to see what we don't see in the media. For the most part, "hard-hitting" news is serious, sad, depressing and "pop-ish" news is light, fluffy, and fun. When there comes a story that is a cross-over type...just like Susan Boyle, we embrace it. We love it and we want more. 

Who can blame us? Happy is easy. Susan Boyle thank you for ruling the world. At least for the time being.

Twilight Nonsense

So, Twilight.

What more can be said than hasn't already been mentioned?

It is probably one of the most talked about series of books I have ever heard of. And yes, I'm guilty of reading them. (Although I can't quite get through the last one...)

I have come into contact with the obnoxious fans of this series too many times to count. When I say "The books were good...I think Harry Potter was better..." I get screams of indignation and death glares. 

When I say "Edward is kind of a jerk to Bella in a lot of ways." I get replies somewhere along the lines of "HE IS THE PERFECT MAN."

Okay. He's the perfect man if you like the whole "I'm not so much in love with YOU, as I am with sucking your blood...you just happen to be a nice girl..." type of man.

I admit, I was sucked into the fantasy-vampire-filled world just like all the other teen girls around the world. Yet, the more I think about it, the more I've come to realize it's gotten a little out of hand...and when I say out of hand, I mean that we've lost track of what we're really appreciating here.

While I don't fully believe Stephenie Meyer is a fantastic writer, she definitely does have a way of pulling in teenaged girls to fall in love with her characters. These are marketing skills at their BEST. I actually must applaud Ms. Meyer for being able to create such a stir in all of America. I won't spend my time here analyzing the ridiculous plot lines, or the crazy characters that have been made into household names in this entry. 

Instead, I want to just throw it out there, that while many believe the Twilight series is pure literary genius, and many believe it's a laughable excuse for literary genius, I just want to say that no matter what your opinion of the books are, you must give them and the author credit.

When something like a new series of books becomes as virally popular as these have, it's a testament to true talent. Talent in writing, or talent in marketing...you be the judge. All I'm saying is that you mustn't discount what the Twilight series has done for the teenagers of the world.

Creating unrealistic ideas of men, or sparking a generation of readers, the impact the series has had on us, is profound.

And that's not even delving into the movie...that's another blog post completely.

Oscar Award winners bring depth to cinema

One of the great things that happens to students at Ohio University, is the access to newly released movies for free at our student center. Just a couple of weeks ago, an Oscar Award winning movie event was given, where a few of the Academy Award winning movies from 2009 were shown. I went to see The Reader and Revolutionary Road.

It was an absolutely moving experience.

The Reader is a movie about love, lust, and Nazi war crimes. Sound unusual? Maybe it was, but it was certainly beautiful. I have never seen a movie that held so much emotional depth, and so much historical meaning. Starring Kate Winslet, the movie held my interest until the very end. I loved how it switched back and forth so the audience could see the character lives progress, slowly discovering secrets and learning about the hidden lives of the main characters.

While Kate Winslet won the Oscar for her role, the young man named David Kross who played the main character Michael Berg, as a young boy, was a real star in my eyes. His performance was stellar.

Completely flipping sides, Revolutionary Road  was probably the complete opposite of The Reader but just as great.

This movie also starred Kate Winslet, but also brought along Leonardo DiCaprio, reuniting the lovely pair from Titanic. This is what had drawn me to see the movie, but when I saw how their relationship differed in this movie, I was shocked.

Instead of a lustful, crazy-in-love relationship like Rose and Jack had been a part of, Frank and Alice's relationship in Revolutionary Road was cold and bitter, showing the cracks in a marriage during the 1950's, where it was incorrect to look human. Instead Frank and Alice felt the need to be the perfect family, the perfect spouses, and the perfect people. All the while, they struggled to find the real meaning in their lives, ending with a stunning series of scenes that everyone should see.

Overall, both movies were wonderful. Very different...but very meaningful. I'm usually a sucker for romantic comedies, but I have a newfound respect for serious dramas. They can really deliver a message and I fully believe that they have the power to change lives. I am definitely going to be watching more dramas in my future, and suggest that everybody do the same. They may not be the happiest, but they almost always deliver a strong message.

Oh, how the tables have turned...

At tonight's PRSSA meeting, we were lucky enough to have two OU alumnae, M.J. Clark and Jessica Hamlin join us and give us tips on the interview process for jobs and internships, and basically discussed things that we may not have thought of when it comes to life in the PR industry.

One topic of discussion was blogs. Jessica Hamlin suggested that we all blog about "our passions". Now I'll be the first to admit, this blog has no real direction, and this statement hit home. I need to focus on things that I think matter. I need to find a real area to explore, not just stick out my feelers and write about whatever suits my fancy! 

This got me thinking. My passions seem sort of trivial to the world of PR...dance, literature, cinema...do you see a trend?

That's when it hit me. 

What is my specialization...Fine Arts and English.

What have I enjoyed all my life...Fine Arts and English.

What is my passion...Fine Arts and English.

Therefore, what should my blog be about?

You got it...Fine Arts and English.

I'm going to try to focus on the Fine Arts of the world...more specifically the art that is affecting the United States from around the world. I want to include dance, music, literature, theatre...all of the things that make me happy and make me forget about my stressful life. 

This is going to be a trial run...hopefully in an effort to find my true passions and develop a following, I'll realize if it is the right choice or not. 

Wish me luck! And the title and web address are likely to change...hopefully a change for the better!

Gone With the Wind: Southern Values: Right or Wrong?

Gone With the Wind = outstanding movie. 

Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable = outstanding actors.

233 minutes = not so outstanding.

Yet, I find myself being intrigued the entire way though. Usually, with most movies I lose interest after 2 hours. But there is something so wonderful and glamorous about this movie that makes me stare at the screen, wondering what is going to happen next, even though I've seen it multiple times. 

There is an aspect of Gone With the Wind  that really makes me think though. The entire movie is set in the South, and is focused on the Civil War. Having grown up learning that Southern values around the time of the war were horribly wrong, and that all of the people living in the South were cruel to their slaves and were white supremacists, the first time I saw this movie confused me.

The movie somewhat debunks these claims that I learned in school. The O'Hara family owns slaves...but by the middle of the movie they work together more than they work against each other. We learned in Black Media last quarter of the "mammy" character, which is obviously represented in the character of Scarlett's maid who is appropriately named...Mammy.  Mammy and Scarlett have a very close relationship, yet the separation between boss and maid is still very clear. 

Even with these separate roles between the slaves and the owners, the relationship between the two groups is much different than you learn in a textbook in seventh grade history. It becomes obvious that the people of the South truly believed in the idea of slaves and never looked at it as a cruel and harsh thing. Instead, they thought of it as what it was to them...a tradition, and the way things truly should be. 

How can we hold it against the people of the past, when they grew up with it? It's kind of like me hating country music...all of my friends from Southern Ohio can't believe I have such a closed mind, but my argument is how in the world could I all of a sudden like country music if I never grew up with it!?

Those examples aren't very strongly related...but hopefully everyone can see my point. I definitely believe that the people of today who believe in slavery are wrong...but back in the days of the Civil War, the people of the South were simply fighting for what they believed in and they didn't know any better. 

I kind of hate it and love it when random things like this pop into my head...love it because it's fun to write them down, but hate it because they rarely make sense and become a bother to my brain until I finally jot them down! 

Hopefully I didn't lose anybody in this little entry...It's random after all!