This movie is unique and riveting and calls the audience to think and challenge themselves when it comes to judging people. Beyond the issue of race and color, we’re all the same. We’re all human. “Crash” brilliantly brings these diverse characters together in a powerful way. It is unpredictable, unlike any other movie. It’s captivating and leaves you at the edge of your seat for the whole 100 minutes.

The movie starts with a crime scene and the scenes to follow are of the day before that lead up to it. A racist cop, Matt Dillon, mistakes a black woman for a white woman and demeans her in the process as her husband, Terrence Howard, watches powerless. After the D.A.’s wife, Sandra Bullock, gets robbed she changes all the locks at her house, but then decides to change them again after she thinks that the locksmith will have his “homies” come and break in later. Little does she know, that locksmith has a family of his own and moved to a safer neighborhood to better his children. All these characters are connected in one way or the other. Racial stereotypes fly all over the place in this movie and one can’t help but nod in agreement at some point or another.

Haggis makes you care for these characters. You are emotionally drawn to them. “Crash” is reality. The sad truth is that things that happen in the movie, probably really do happen in real life. We are asked to question ourselves when it comes to racism. This movie made me question my own belief system.

“Crash” is beautifully written and directed. The all-star cast of actors and actresses deliver top-notch performances. “Crash” shows the power of racism and consequences. A great movie makes you question yourself and your assumptions and to open your eyes. And this movie did it 100%.

With the way technology is going, I don’t think CDs will be as successful as they were before. People will continue to buy CDs, like my mom who only buys them because the CD player in her car won’t read burned CDs. But most people, like the newer generations, will stick to their iPods and other MP3 players. Online music is easily accessible and convenient, whereas CDs, you need a CD player. My friends aren’t even using their CD players in their cars. They’re using auxiliary cords to connect their iPods to the player. Even where CD players are available, it’s not being used. It’s going to be a sad day for the music industry when MP3s take over completely.

I think an influence of this all is the media. The movie Juno had a 16 year old pregnant girl. If these girls didn’t notice, Juno gave her child up for adoption because she couldn’t possibly care for another life. Another young teen in the media is Jamie Lynn Spears, Britney Spears’s 17 year old sister. In a strange coincidence, news of these teen girls’ pregnancies surfaced when Jamie Lynn had her baby.

Where are their parents? I am 21 years old, the prime of my life. I know if I got pregnant right now, my parents would not be happy. At all. One of the girls got impregnated by a 24 year old homeless man? Um. Ew? How did these parents let this happen? What part do they play in these young girls’ lives?

These girls are so young. And now their lives are cut short. They’re not going to get to be a kid again. They’re going to be moms. They’re not even old enough to vote. It’s a shame. It really is. It’s crazy to think that there are alot of women out there who want children more than anything and are more than capable to care for them but cannot, and then there’s girls like this who can have children whenever they feel like it.

Online television is a convenient way to watch the shows you missed. You can watch pretty much anything online nowadays. I watch Ugly Betty and Grey’s Anatomy. ABC.com has full episodes of many of its shows and some in HD. I no longer freak out when I miss my favorite shows.

Hulu is a website where you can watch television shows and movies. There are alot of other websites that offer viewers a chance to view movies online. Some websites even have movies that are new releases. Granted, it may not be the best quality, but it’s still available for the mass.

I think it’s a great idea to post television shows online. Not the newly released movies though. It’s like downloading music illegally. Old movies are okay. But the newly released theater movies are taking away from the profits. The people that work on the films aren’t just celebrities. There’s a ton of people that make movies happen. They always go overlooked, but they deserved to be paid.

I don’t think that it’s going to be end of television anytime soon. I still watch shows on the television. I only watch shows online if I’m busy or forget to watch it. I don’t have to stay up late to watch my shows if I work early the next morning. I can sleep early and watch the show later online the next day. It’s a good time saver.

The leaders of this hierarchical system were Uncle Al, and August. Uncle Al was the leader of the “The Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth.” He made all the big decisions. Decisions that affected those who worked hard for him to earn money. Uncle Al decided who got paid and when they got paid. And he always got paid. Uncle Al had the final decisions for everything. He decided who he wanted to keep and get rid of. If he felt that he had too many people working or were just no longer needed he would “redlight” them. In other words, throw them off a moving train. August, the equestrian director, was also feared by many of the workers. He was an intimidating man who had schizophrenia and would snap at any given moment. He would brutally beat the animals and abuse those around him because no one would say otherwise. Uncle Al and August were at the top of the hierarchy.

Following Uncle Al and August were the performers. The performers, as well as August and Uncle Al, stayed in the trains closest to the back. Uncle Al’s train was just at the caboose. The performers, with the exception of the circus’s downfall, were always paid. They ate their meals at tables draped with picnic tablecloths, silverware, and flowers. They have lavish parties that require tuxedos. Marlena was the performer that got the special treatment. Her act was popular among the crowds. Marlena’s marriage to August may have had some influence on how she was treated. Her and August were the golden couple of the circus. Uncle Al threatened Jacob and eventually redlighted Camel and Kinko because he wanted August and Marlena to get back together.

At the bottom of the “circus hierarchy” were the workingmen and the animals. Both groups endured poor living conditions. Spaces were cramped and workingmen shared sleeping cars with animals. Unlike the performers, Jacob and Kinko stayed in the car closest to the engine. The workingmen were divided by a curtain from the performers and those above them in the kitchen. They did not have silverware or flowers on their tables. These men worked and slaved harder than anyone on the show and were treated with the least respect. When Jacob got lost and tried to find his way back to the lot, he came across a hobo jungle. Boys younger than him were huddled around fires with no money and no home. Some boys tied their shoes to themselves while the slept so no one would take them. One man saw Jacob dressed in a fancy tuxedo and all Jacob could think about was that the tuxedo was the only thing that separated the two. Jacob was just as poor as them because of the poor conditions at the circus. The men who were “redlighted” came back, and caused the large stampede that ended the show for good. Amidst all the chaos, Uncle Al was strangled to death. The workingmen were pushed beyond their limits. The animals were also treated inhumanely. Horses were slaughtered and given to the other animals as food. They were tormented. Rosie, the elephant, got the worst beatings from August. The animals were captive and treated unjustly. Eventually, Rosie got her revenge.

In modern times, elderly people are somewhat like the workingmen and animals. The older Jacob was sent to a nursing home where he had no freedom. When he started “acting out,” he was medicated. Rather than the nurses talking to him to settle things, they made him take more medication. Although he was not able to do things on his own, one lady, Rosemary, treated him very well. She would sneak him real food and was the nicest of the nurses to him. He felt safe with her. Unlike “The Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show On Earth,” the circus in the present time did not have older people working. A young teenager was working the ticket booth whereas back then, the old men held that job. The older people get, the less control they have over their lives. The elderly slowly lose place in society, going lower and lower the class system ladder.

Water for Elephants explored the issues of social class during the depression era and how it has evolved in the modern day. During the depression, people were struggling to make a living. They relied on their social class because they shared the same characteristics and status. The “circus hierarchy” during the time left the workingmen at the lowest step of the ladder. The bosses and managers took their power to another level driving those beneath them to rebel. The performers struggled a bit, but not as much as the workingmen. The animals received the worst treatment and were held in captivity. In modern times, the elderly seem to get the short end of the stick. The older a person gets, the less they are capable to do so others must help them and take over. Sara Gruen portrayed the social classes as a hierarchy and showed how it changed from the depression era to modern day.

In the video, one guy was talking about the technology that will get rid of the commercials, like TiVo and DVRs. When I record shows on there, I fast forward the commercials. So I agree with what he was saying. It’s going to be sad for the advertising world when everyone has a TiVo. But there’s still magazines and billboards to broadcast from. And the radio. Movies are also a great way to advertise. After the Sex and the City movie came out, my friend’s sister went out to a bar and the bartender said that ever since the movie came out, he’s made about a 1,000 cosmopolitans. The drink isn’t a brand, but it just show how powerful society can be affected. It’s crazy how much influence advertising and marketing can have on society.

Such a harsh term. If you do something wrong, like shoplifing, you’ll get banned from that store. So if a book is considered “bad” it gets banned or challenged. If the content of the book is too violent, explicit, or

against certain beliefs, then the book gets banned. I think that the government, or anyone else for that matter, should not be allowed to ban books. Most of the people that ban these books don’t even read them. I think it’s stupid to ban books just because of the content. Banning books to protect children doesn’t make sense. There is violence all over the media. There’s war and gun shootings reported on the news, kids shows like The Power Rangers and video games like Grand Theft Auto. If you’re going to ban books because of the violence, then they should ban everything else. Some books have bad words. So do song lyrics. Rappers rap about women in deragatory terms. I know a lot of kids that listen and sing to these songs. To ban books because of the content or appropriateness is absurd. These authors aren’t writing to sway the opinions of the readers, like The Da Vinci Code. It’s a novel. It’s not real. It’s one guys take on the subject. The controversy behind it blew up. Everyone was buzzing about it. Ron Howard, who directed the movie version of the novel told people that it was just for entertainment and not theology purposes. And I totally agree.

You don’t have to agree with it. You don’t have to believe it.

Books shouldn’t be banned. Period. There are important lessons to be taught in many of these books. Children will be exposed to these evils no matter how hard you try to protect them. Why not let them read and learn?

Even American Idol has its flaws. My sister auditioned for last season’s show in San Diego last summer. Sure, she’s no Whitney Houston or Mariah Carey, but she’s got talent (the first girl singing in the video). The whole auditioning process reminded me of herding cattle. Thousands auditioned that day and only a hundred or so made it to the next round. A mime actually made it through. Yes, a mime. Because you know, mime’s love singing. Everyone was in disbelief when we saw her walking through the hall with a “golden ticket” in her hand. One guy said, “Was it just me? Or did a mime just walk by with a ticket?” Her goal was probably just to get onto tv. And she managed to get her few seconds of fame. Miming. Not singing. Which proves that the show doesn’t care about the thousands of people who waited for 6 hours in the 100 degree weather to audition. My sister was crushed. I kept telling her that she did good and the show is just looking for entertainment. Next time she should wear a banana suit. You either have to be Whitney Houston status or William Hung status.  If you’re just “good”, sorry. Better luck next time. This girl knows what I’m talking about.

Reality tv is just getting more and more ridiculous. The new summer reality tv shows are going to be a laugh.

The film Good Night, and Good Luck gave today’s audience a look at the conflict between television journalist Edward R. Murrow and U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy regarding the Senator’s anti-communist acts. Murrow disagreed with the Senator’s methods and used his power in journalism to bring the Senator down. The question is why now? Why did George Clooney, writer and director, decide to make a movie like this now? Why didn’t someone else make a movie like this closer to the time period? What was Clooney trying to prove?

Clooney, who majored in journalism, has a knack for the subject. His father was a television journalist. I think that he wanted to show his audience how real journalism should be. Today’s media is all about ratings and pleasing the people rather than speaking the truth. When will someone dig deeper to fill in all the gaps on the war in Iraq? Everyone is left in the dark. People care more about what antics Britney Spears is up to. When she shaved her head completely bald, it was all over the news. I was laughing in my head when I saw it. Why? Why does this deserve to be on the new? That just shows what the world has come to.

There needs to be more investigative reporters like ABC 7′s Dan Noyes and the I-Team. Good Night, and Good Luck showed me how the media’s priorities have changed drastically over the years.

So in California, same-sex marriages are now legal. I say, “GREAT!” Gays and lesbians should have the same rights and privileges as anyone else. It bothers me how narrow-minded most of society is when it comes to gays and lesbians. They’re not doing anything wrong. If two people love each and want to join in a union with one another, they should be able to no matter the gender, race, or sexual orientation. America has come a long way, but apparently not long enough. Same-sex marriages should be legalized everywhere.

Marriage is a civil right. Gays and lesbians are citizens so why should they be denied that right? On a side note, I think same-sex couples should also be able to raise children. Would you rather a child grow up in home with domestic violence in a bad household? Or would you rather have a child grow up with two people of the same-sex who love and care for their child? If gays and lesbians want to have children, why deny them that opportunity? They WANT children. Most people nowadays have children by accident or for the wrong reasons and those children don’t get the love and care they they need. Children need to be in a loving home and who’s to say that gays and lesbians can’t provide that love? Same-sex couples should be given the same rights and respect as any other couple. We’ve gotten used to interracial couples? Why not same-sex couples? Why can’t we all just get along? There should be more shows like Will and Grace and more gays and lesbians in the media, like Ellen DeGeneres to show the world that gays and lesbians are human like us.

Until then, I couldn’t be more happier for these same-sex couples. Congratulations!