Pop! Goes My ♥

"...Nobody Touches You..."

So this post is about the award winning movie, Crash!

The 3-time Oscar-winning movie had a slew of super stars in its cast, and their talent, in combination with an awesome screenplay, is the reason that it became so successful. Set in L.A., the movie breeches the fence which separates us from them and we are able to connect with the characters and understand each one's personnal struggles with stereotyping and discrimination.

Here is my favorite line, performed by Don Cheadle in the opening scene of the movie, "It's the sense of touch. In any real city, you walk, you know? You brush past people, people bump into you. In L.A., nobody touches you. We're always behind this metal and glass. I think we miss that touch so much, that we crash into each other, just so we can feel something." This idea circulated over and over as the two days played out, as we met each character and got a sense, not only of who they were, but what they believed. When they started crashing into each other we saw their pervading ideas turn into words and actions. The reason the movie was so effective was its realism and the way emotions were framed. It took ordinary L.A. situations and turned them into a cohesive plot where each character was interrelated with the people they despised the most.

L.A. was the perfect setting for the movie because there are so many different ethnicities crammed into the city. Unlike Hawaii where we accept and embrace the beauty of diversity, Los Angeles seems to have a lot of trust issues between races. People go about their daily lives, ignorant to their own ignorance, avoiding each other so that they don't have to attempt to understand each other. When they finally make connections, they do it in grand fashion, choosing to careen out of control and explode in each others' faces. I have never lived on the mainland (although I did live in Orange County when I was 1) so I was doubtful as to whether I would understand the stereotyping going on in the movie. To a certain extent I feel that I understand the feelings being exchanged--just not on a personal level.

Hawaii does an exceptional job of preparing us for the world where understanding is a "street smart". Although stereotypes still exist in Hawaii, they are less prevalent in the way our society works. We may have deep-rooted traditions but feelings of stereotypes have really lessened and, sort of, faded from our way of life. Tolerance is part of Hawaii's quintessential citizen, a convenient truth planted in all of the "touching" that we do. There are rarely crashes here because of the habit we have made to reach out to one another and embrace diversity. If only Los Angeles had a little of Hawaii's cohesiveness, they'd be a lot better off...

Rollin’ with the High Seeds

Identity and Culture Moment: Rollin’ with the High Seeds

This past weekend was the USTA National Open--a level two tournament which hosts the nation’s 64 top tennis players in the 18 and under division. Because Hawaii is one of four tournaments that occur simultaneously, the top 224 players are accommodated in Honolulu, Texas, Florida, and Minnesota. With my national ranking in the 150 range, I got into the tournament without standing by on the alternate list. Skyler Tateishi is the Hawaii-Pacific section’s number one player (I’m second) so both of us, as well as Stephen Royalty & Jonell Magdaong were able to get into the draws. After a horrendous showing in singles for the Hawaii players, it was doubles up next. When the draws came out on Saturday afternoon, I learned that I was slated to play with a guy from California. Apparently, our combined ranking pushed us up the seedings so that we were the number 8 seeded team. Rain on Sunday postponed our match to Monday at 130 PM so after another night of anxiety and self-inspiration, I woke up and prepped for my match with Mr.Californication.
My friends were unavailable to warm me up so my father, who has absolutely no tennis experience, fed tennis balls to me from a basket. I was really groggy when I woke up this morning not because I slept late but because I was stuck in awake-sleep. I guess I was really pissy this morning so my father cut the practice to 20 minutes. We got to the Central Oahu Regional Park tennis courts at 1 PM and I checked in only to learn that my partner had not checked in. To add insult to injury (is that the right cliche?), the draw-makers replaced my previous partner with someone else, a guy from Florida. With the Floridian-orange as my partner, they upgraded us to 6th seed--the highest seeding I’ve ever held in such a prestigious tournament. At 130 PM, I checked back in with the desk to see if we were about to play. To my shock, amazement, and horror, I learned that my partner decided not to play and an upset loss he suffered earlier in the day in his singles match, wrenched him into a complete give-up attitude. I was really, really upset that some guy who took a 6-hour plane ride and another guy who took a 12 hour plane ride, could decide not to play and screw over someone they never knew, not even bothering tot make sure someone took his spot. Without a doubles partner, I was left the victim of an identity and culture moment.
It was really hard for me to understand how such a thing could happen in life. How can people bear to know that they ruined a stranger’s weekend with all the stress, the plans my family had to move to accommodate my schedule, the time I invested in being paranoid and prepared, only to realize that it would all be in vain? I’m lucky that I have such supportive people in my life who are willing to make things work when I need them to. I named this entry “Rollin’ with the High Seeds” because I realized that this weekend was about my encounter with high rollers. Singles is the main reason to participate in a tournament because a win there carries so much more credibility than doubles so, naturally, doubles falls in second priority. The only problem is that top players, like the two deusch bags I was supposed to partner with, think that screwing a local kid like me won’t hurt them. In the overall picture, they aren’t even affected but for me, personally, it pisses me off that they can come here, enter half-seriously into the doubles draw, then expect everything to work itself out when they pull out. Being in a situation where I wasn’t the best made me realize how people who are out of the top echelon, feel. To get stomped on by those who have the skill and abuse those beneath them was horrible. Ultimately, I felt used--used as an alternative, a fill-in, a “2nd best” choice that didn’t need to be considered during decision making. My disappointment wasn’t with the tournament officials who made the final decision to default my match, it was with the players whom I had never known/met but fell victim to, unimportant.
Seriously, if those guys ever read this post, I hope they felt bad for ruining my otherwise peachy 4 day weekend. Biotches.

Sorry if it doesn’t make any sense--I’m not sure if its suppossed to...

Objectionable Material- Tape

When Mr.Maretzki first started playing the movie Tape I was really concerned because it seemed so boring and anti-climactic what with the entire shoot taking place in a dingy hotel room and the cast totalling three people. As time went on, however, I was more worried that I was going to fall asleep! However, the minute that Uma Thurman walked into the room I knew that things were going to get good (too bad that it was half way through at that point). Anyway, I decided that I want to answer 2.75 of the 4 questions!!

***"As you watched the film, how did you identify each character, did their identity (as you perceived it) change, and why?"
and "Assuming that in any relationship between two people there is some balance of power, where did you see power shifting, and what caused it?"***

I think that the character, Vince, played by Ethan Hawke, definitely did not change character-wise but did experience a change in his control of the situation. He went from being in total control of the situation to being in trouble and at the mercy of the plot line by the end of the movie. The reason that he wanted Jon Salter to come visit him was so that he could get a confession out of his friend and present a tape recording to the suppossed "victim" Amy Randall. The coyness of his character, who hadn't matured since high school, persuaded Jon to come clean with the story of what happened the night of graduation (?). Vince was able to nag Jon into confessing a crime that he didn't really commit=total control! He dominated the first half of the movie with his trickery as well as his childish, annyoing, yet captivatingly dangerous lifestyle. Vince's chracter did not change in character, appearing desperate when the movie opened and remaining desperate when the movie closed. It seemed as though the intention of his actions were to screw everyone over and ruin their lives. Contrary to his plan, the arrival of a strong and resolute Amy Randall spoiled his nefarious scheme. When Amy Randall arrived, you could sense that there was going to be a shift of power, simply by the way she walked, talked, and reasoned. Amy had a very powerful character and you could tell that she was very good at thinking on her feet, often taking command of the conversation by focusing on her opponent, Vince's, weaknesses. She went at him like a starved dog, biting the neck of his argument and bleeding it to death! Even as Jon tried to confess the validity of the suppossed date-rape experience, Amy was unstirred, faithful to her original stance that it had never taken place. Her strength of character helped to lift Jon out of his backed-into-the-corner position and revive his self-respect. I was amazed at her resilience as well as her ability to change the minds of others--her character was unwaning and unaffected by the silly plot of Vince. In my opinion, Jon was the victim of both Vince and Amy throughout the story, never gaining the upperhand in both his actions and his interactions with his two friends. He did not have enough dignity to fall for Vince's plot and needed Amy to wretch him back to real life by convincing him that what he thought happened did not happen. It appeared as though he gave up pretty easily and was constantly on the defense--even when trying to tell Amy what happened ten (or however long ago) years before. His character change was barely noticeable because I had perceived him as being a weak person from the beginning of the movie. The only evidence of sustainability that I saw in Jon was his willingness to accept his fate after Amy called the police. Once again, Amy was able to take control of both men and expose their characters as human beings. Through that convincing maneuver we were able to get the sense of a character change in both male characters. Obviously Vince proved himself to be a coward, flushing the drugs he had lived by for too long, while Jon decided to stop running from his guilt and come clean.

***"What does Tape reveal to you about males & females?"***
This may seem like a silly answer but the movie showed me that men are always vulnerable to women. They may think they have the cajones in the beginning, but when the big dance comes, they are often proved wrong. Amy was a great example of a working woman who knew what she was doing and had the means to control the situation. There is nothing more dangerous than a smart, ruthless, lawyer woman! :) jk!

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Stereotype Vomit

todays activity about stereotypes was super engaging! haha idk if its going to look like im a mean person when i say this but ill say it anyway: i had something (mostly derrogative) to say about every category!! i feel sort of guilty about the things i wrote and the fact that the words flowed out is terrible but in actuality, like, if u think about it, the things we put on those sheets of paper were just representative samples of how we judge people when we learn that they fall into that category. this is what i wrote before the really, really, really fun activity...



"i think that stereotypes are a natural thing for humans to formulate because we need heuristics to compare to new situations. we form a representative sample of a certain type of person based on an encounter we've had, then use it as the basis from which to judge similar people. i think that people who don't automatically form/follow stereotypes are probably more open, friendly, and able to make new friends just because they give the new person/situation a chance to defy stereotypes. we need stereotypes to a certain extent but they cause distrust in the overall social make up of this world, interrupting interactions and keeping people apart."



"what i just discovered is that stereotypes occur everywhere and are based on class, gender, appearance, race, sexuality, etc.--pretty much every aspect of IDENTITY! in this way, stereotypes are the enemy of the development of our outward identity. we mold ourselves as to avoid being categorized into a certain stereotype and suppress our natural interests/identity in order to be in a favorable place. it is very difficult for anyone to go against the grain because, once you are placed in a niche, you are encouraged to grow into the role and become the person defined by the role. i agree w.mr.maretzkis conclusion that stereotypes were formed for our survival but that topic lies outside of the "social" realm which i am most interested in."



these are opinions. if you agree then feel free to comment but if u disagree dont rip my head off!



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Stupid Math

im sitting in math class in a really booooored state. we have test tomorrow but i dont feel like studying and im def tired of titian, who happens to be a master artiste. btw i have varsity tennis tryouts today which means more pain and potentially getting cut (!)...im worried.



the juniors did a pretty good job w.carnival but they were just super lucky to have perfect weather...so annoying! its ok if they made more money than us because everyone knows that we get along with each other better. and our variety show was, as mrs.chun said, "in the top 3."

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