END OF HUMCORE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After 3 quarters of Humanities Core, I have learned that there can be deeper meanings behind almost anything.

Looking at the world from a humanistic approach is not something I used to but now it's interesting because it's trying to find the meaning behind anything and see how it relates to the individual and the society as a whole.

My favorite parts of the quarter was doing film analysis, not only because it's shorter than reading but because I like seeing into the director's mind and finding the purpose behind each shot. I also enjoyed the analysis of art pieces because every single time I would see something new or someone would point out something I had never noticed before. The cool thing about art is that its entirely in the control of artist so every part of it is intentional and that's brilliant. 

Overall I feel what benefit me the most was the fact that I learned so much about different conflicts and wars and things I didn't know went on or are going on in the world. It felt enlightening although sometimes it was overwhelming.
It's been a great year though! 

Researching Thoughts

In order to be prepared for my research essay on Red Dawn, the 1984 original version, I researched on Cold War propaganda. What was a shock to me was that how much fear the propaganda created in people, and I just could not believe how people were so convinced by it. I mean looking back with knowledge on the subject matter it's easy to judge, but it really opened my eyes to how much control the media has on people.

My own personal experience I know that advertisements use different techniques to persuade people to buy their products. For example,

The real shock to me was the government's hand in the media and films during this time and to this day. The fact that ideas and mindsets can be spread through media it's kind of scary and intriguing at the same time. These are my thoughts so far on my paper! 

Boot Camp Brutality

Set with the task of writing a literary journalism piece and completing an interview to be the basis of it I found myself drawn to the boot camp experience when joining the military.


Previous to Humanities Core, I just thought that boot camp was physically demanding and if the person is tough enough they could handle it. But then after watching Full Metal Jacket I got to witness how it can be mentally detrimental it can be.

A character in the film was falling behind in training and he was harassed to the point where he committed suicide after killing his army recruiter. The main character, Joker, goes through training pretty well and a lot of the people he meets are waiting for him to get the "thousand yard" stare. The end of the movie after he has to commit an act against his own moral beliefs and he is left with that thousand yard stare.

Then when I interviewed a family friend about his experience even during peace time. He recalled how it was and compared it to slavery. After that experience, I now believe that boot camp strips the humanity of a recruit in order to make them more prepared for killing.

Mistreatment of Women in the Military

The documentary Invisible War, directed by Kirby Dick, reveals that women in the military are being sexually harassed and raped and the blame is being put almost entirely on them. Due to the fact that the military runs by its own code of law, women are prosecuted and these horrendous activities are covered up. The film presents the original enthusiasm of women joining the military and then that being utterly ruined and their lives often destroyed by the acts done to them and then the everlasting repercussions. Since most of society is unaware of this, there has not been political action to help women in the military. At most there are programs that don't work and tell women that they should do their best to prevent rape instead of just advertising that people shouldn't rape. 

HERE's a link to the trailer of the film! 

If you watch it and also find yourself shocked and disturbed by what occurs in our very own military then sign the online petition.

While watching the movie I found myself absolutely disgusted and shocked being a female myself I can definitely emotionally connect with these women. I believe that no one, regardless of gender, should ever be harmed while giving up their lives to serve our country and protect our freedom. 

Perspectives of War

Similarly to the title of this blog, humanities core is a course based upon learning the perspectives of humanity. Whereas last quarter was based on agency and how to analyze the symbolism and syllogisms of texts, this quarter was focused on war theory and torture and how to analyze films. 

Upon reflection....

Looking back at the beginning of the quarter, I had the simple belief that history is what we memorize from a textbook. Specifically focusing on war history, it was a simple formula of plugging in dates and concepts and memorizing the order and importance of events.


It was not until this course that I was brought to understand that textbooks are based on the writer's perspective of the events. One person's perspective of a car accident from across a road can be completely different that someone in the car next to the collision. In relation to the textbooks seen (to the right), both textbooks are written by authors in the US. However, is the US perspective accurate on teaching it's newest generations about the entire world? Is the information accurate enough to determine the mindset of the new leaders of our country? <- Who makes sure that these questions are answered? The government is the entity that makes sure our textbooks are up to date and filled with proper information but how can we know for sure that what's being sold as the facts is truly the facts? Human error is completely plausible due to the fact that people are filled with bias and the capacity to misconstrue information into false assumptions.

Now realizing this, this quarter showed me that the only way to fully make sure that one is closest to gaining the truth is by receiving information from multiple sources. Referencing back to the car analogy, in order for a police officer or a lawyer to find out who was truly at fault they must interview all witnesses. Since the person across the street and the person in the car next to the collision have different recollections, it's up to that officer or lawyer to determine what is more reasonably accurate. Or make the decision to look deeper and find more sources for evidence. This is essentially the same when it comes to researching a topic, especially war with its multiple dimensions, one must find all sources available and determine what could be the truth.

Perspectives are encompassed by the mind and the mind is only capable of understanding the things that are put into it, seeking truth requires the right sources of knowledge. I believe that this concept is one of the most important to be grasped out of this quarter.

13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi

                                                      

Directed by Michael Bay, 13 hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi, is based off a book which was then based off the true conflicts in Benghazi. 

SPOILER WARNING! 

             The movie starts with introducing the setting, "The opening text states that there were over 200 American outposts in Libya until 2012. Following the 2011 civil war, the deposition and execution of dictator Muammar Gaddafi, Benghazi became one of the most violent places in the world, forcing the United States to pull their outposts out of there, all except for one called The Annex, which is protected by a team of CIA contractors, the Global Response Staff (G.R.S.)." 

                       (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4172430/synopsis?ref_=ttpl_pl_syn)

Focusing on a team of 6 soldiers placed in this highly dangerous part of the world, it allows for the audience to grow to care about the dynamic between these men. It even highlights each of the men calling home, by doing this, it creates a sense of sympathy from the viewer to the character. However, in showing this brutality towards characters the audience cares for, does this mean it is an anti-war film or rather a glorification of brutality with the US coming out strong at the end?

  

  

The movie introduces the dynamic and set up of the situation at hand, then it moves to present a new security issue. A US ambassador comes to Libya to speak, and his compound needs to be protected. The security detail at hand for the ambassador is presented as a bunch of "newbies" and when the team of 6 goes to check it out they immediately find it lacking The "newbies" ignore the team's warnings about the lack of protection and the audience can then predict from this point that this is where the main issue will happen. 

It ends up with the ambassador's compound being brutally attacked, with the main team of 6 fighting the restrictions placed on them to go assist as time runs out for the ambassador and his protection team. After the team finally goes over and salvages what they can, the fight moves to their own top secret compound. Scenes of countless attacks and counter attacks later, the team makes it out alive but not unharmed. The movie ends with a sense of the US prevailing over all and coming out from the battle strong. However, due to the fact that this is a war movie it does not end completely "happily ever after", but rather it also shows the loss of life and destroyed mental states of the people involved. 

After I personally watched the movie, walking out of theater my mind was reeling with emotion but also with the thought that, "wow this was based off true events." That, I believe, is the power of the movie, the fact that it had a lasting image in my mind even now weeks after I've seen it. 

Besides this, looking at the movie from an analytical standpoint, it does present the middle east as the enemy without giving much info about the true conflict of their country and the issues at hand for the civilians there. However, what I found intriguing in what they DID show, was that there were civilians going about their daily lives watching television while the brutality happens around them and they seem completely desensitized to any of it. That itself was powerful to us, the audience, because we were all shocked and disturbed by the violence. Then we were shocked to see how normalized violence is there that the civilians are unaffected by it. It causes the audience to compare that lifestyle to their own, which I did.  

Overall, the movie did a good job of providing that patriotic spirit while showing the troubles of another country. However, I do not find that the violence shown in 13 Hours is a well enough deterrent towards violence in general, but rather it shows that US violent force is necessary although there are repercussions. This is more understandable because the movie was meant as entertainment rather than a documentary of what truly occurred on a factual basis. Moving on towards future outlooks on entertainment, a viewer should keep in mind the medium, genre, and the emotions that come from it. Thinking about how entertainment affects you makes you more alert to how your mind is being controlled by the media. 

Violence presented in the media has an everlasting control on the mind of the subject viewing it, whether it's presented as negative or positive is where the issue comes to play.
13 hours presents violence from the US as necessary, while violence from the people of Libya is negative.

It's all about the presentation of the facts. 

Hour of Torture

  

The clock is ticking down, anxiety builds as the viewer roots for protagonist federal agent Jack Bauer to get the vital information needed to take out a nuclear threat and save millions of lives. “24” was a hit show on the Fox network with a plot aligned around Jack Bauer and the C.T.U (counter-terrorism unit). Each season is based on the 24 hours of one day, and each episode is one hour of action, drama, and political thriller.  The show covers Bauer fighting to neutralize threats such as; terrorist plots, presidential assassination, nuclear threats, sleeper cells, and much more that Bauer often reluctantly finds himself dealing with. A main tactic Bauer uses in neutralizing threats is torture, regardless of the risks in the show to his life or his job. He validates his use of torture by claiming the information to be crucial to the safety of civilian lives. The show's validation of torture creates a misconception in the minds of the audience about torture itself allowing for a more desensitized reaction.




Bauer’s use of torture is regarded as excessive 
even within the show, but due to the fact that it manages to be justified somehow in the plot, it allows both the characters and the viewers to “accept” it as a necessary evil. Some of the torture done in the show includes, bone breaking, electrocution, chemical injections, as well as various mental forms. As a personal fan of the show, I found the various forms of torture to be cringe worthy indeed, however with the clock ticking down on every episode, I also found myself pining for that crucial information as well. However, looking at the show from an objective standpoint, it completely desensitizes the audience to the true horrors of torture in many ways. 

Torture is presented as a necessary action in order to save lives and therefore is justified. Torture is also normalized through the fact that it occurs so frequently in each of the episodes that the audience grows used to this form of information gathering. Ultimately, torture is desensitized through both the justification and the increased occurrences. In addition, characters of the show often “recover” from torture immediately showing no mental duress. This lack of the real negative consequences of torture being presented in the show adds to the whole concept of torture being a necessity in information seeking by the government. The show even goes further and leaves the legal aspect behind when in one instance Bauer quits his job and leaves his associates in order to commit an illegal act of torture which was then validated by the show in his gain of crucial information. Leaving the legality of torture behind, “24” moves toward the morals of the situation, if hurting this one life could save millions, why not? 

Due to all these aspects of desensitizing and moralizing torture, I believe that, although entertaining, it creates a negative perception of torture. Viewers of the show are going to be more willing to accept the use of torture in information seeking by the government because they are falsely presented to true nature of it and the repercussions. This misconception is a detriment to the mindset of society however, “24” is not the only outlet that causes this. Violent video games, movies, and music all contribute to this mass desensitization in society today. However, this does not mean the children of the future are doomed to live in a violently corrupt world because this misconception can be remedied with education on the real life situations that involve these acts of violence.                                       

Remembering War

How is the American Civil War remembered today? Are there conflicting understanding of the reason for the war, or what the war was "about"?

The American Civil War causes a couple main thoughts in the mind of a young student who has taken history classes growing up. Thought such as slavery and abolition, confederacy vs union, and a time of extreme internal conflict in this country.

      

 Slavery was an extreme case of dehumanization of an entire race of people for the benefit of another, as a result when some minds were awakened to the treachery an abolition movement began. Those in favor of the abolition made up the Union side of the war, while those against made up the Confederacy.  

"a time of extreme internal conflict in this country" <- this is a part of my own remembrance of the war. Today, the education system provides a section of learning in a class every so often to provide the generations with knowledge about what occurred in our history. To learn from the past is how to best prevent repetition of mistake in the future. This is how the education system "remembers" the Civil War by providing the lessons to be taken from it to the future of our society. 

When it comes to the reason of the war, that could be difference for anyone studying it. The main concept shared was that its surrounded the topic of slavery. Posing questions like can people be considered "property". While students these days are being taught the main overhead facts of the war, it is only until Humanities Core this year where Professor Fahs shares a more personal look at the war that I really understood it. Looking at pictures, poems, and texts about the war and how it affected difference people specifically provided a closer connection to the past. Re-envisioning how it could have felt back then versus just learning the dates and facts of what occurred. 

With this new combination of facts and feelings, I feel like I have more an understanding of the war as a whole. I will never fully be able to grasp how it was back then, however, with a more personal touch, I can attempt to provide a better remembrance. 

A Sight in Camp

A SIGHT in camp in the day-break grey and dim,
As from my tent I emerge so early, sleepless,
As slow I walk in the cool fresh air, the path near by the hospital
tent,
Three forms I see on stretchers lying, brought out there, untended
lying,
Over each the blanket spread, ample brownish woolen blanket,
Grey and heavy blanket, folding, covering all.


Curious, I halt, and silent stand;
Then with light fingers I from the face of the nearest, the first,
just lift the blanket:
Who are you, elderly man so gaunt and grim, with well-grey'd hair,
and flesh all sunken about the eyes?
Who are you, my dear comrade? 10

Then to the second I step--And who are you, my child and darling?
Who are you, sweet boy, with cheeks yet blooming?

Then to the third--a face nor child, nor old, very calm, as of
beautiful yellow-white ivory;
Young man, I think I know you--I think this face of yours is the face
of the Christ himself;
Dead and divine, and brother of all, and here again he lies.

-Walt Whitman


In this quarter of HumCore we have been doing a lot of reflection on works of art and to me, poetry is a work of art like any of the paintings and sketches analyzed in class. A past teacher once told me that every word a writer inserts is deliberate and must be recognized when thinking about the text. I believe that this especially true in poetry as they are often shorter than novels, so the emotions are more compact and attention to details such as punctuation is necessary.


The overall tale of this poem is that of "a sight in camp", a glimpse of this specific moment of the war. While reading it I envisioned that the world was frozen in time and then Whitman practically walked through the scenery and wrote of what he saw. The poem starts with Whitman exiting his tent and seeing three bodies near the hospital tent. These three bodies come from men of different age groups; a small child, a young man, and an older gentleman. Whitman reaches the old man first, then the small child, and lastly the young man.


The main concept I got from this piece is the age groups, I believe that age is shown to not only evoke empathy from the reader but also to show that murder in war has no discrimination. Everyone falls victim to the violence. In reading the words, "Who are you, sweet boy, with cheeks yet blooming?", that was the moment everything sunk in for me. Whitman states that the boy's cheeks have yet to bloom, the child has not even gotten to adolescence yet and his life was taken away. The shortness of life, the lack of experience, shown here in these words provides insight to the treachery of war. Although Whitman speaks of an older and younger man, it was really the child that sparked the most emotion out of me. Ultimately, as a whole Whitman covers the fact that all three of these people no matter how much they got to live all had to succumb to a brutal death.