When I went to Thanksgiving last week my parents asked me if I had heard about what happened in India. I hadn't, so they told me that there were terrorist bombings and buildings taken over and Pakistan was being accused of the attacks, etc. I was very surprised to hear of such a terrible thing and I was shocked that I hadn't heard anything about it earlier. I realized that we're in a bubble here at Columbia. Or at least I feel like it. I never watch tv and I barely ever get the chance to read the paper and if no one else does either, how will we ever know what's going on in the outside world? Question 1. Do you also feel like you're in a bubble? 2. Do you feel guilty about not being able to read the paper and watch the news and stay up-to-date with the world? 3. Does it matter if we know what's going on out there? 4. Is it our duty to be knowledgeable world citizens? 5. If we know about these horrible things what can we do about them?

I was motivated today to take a look at the paper and I saw that GM is asking for $18 BILLION to prevent its collapse. I feel like one day I'm going to look outside my window and the world will be in ruins, having crumbled while I was inside intensely focused on reading the "great books" or writing that paper.

Also watched this disturbing video today: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NA98U0Csers
I just can't believe that this kind of thing goes on, it acceptable among men, and nothing is done about it. It's disgusting, how can they call themselves human?

But then, what is human? And who gets to decide what's right? Are there fundamental rights and wrongs and if so how come some people just don't see them as so? Are we allowed to go into another country and tell them what to do? Where is the line? When do we need to step in?

Monsters in Video Games

During my first couple of reading of Jeffrey Cohen's "Monster Culture: Seven Theses" I was not very interested in the content. It does present a good number of ideas and theories to ponder on with a healthy selections of examples but my only interest in any of them was simply to get whatever assignment done so I can focus on whatever "more important" code I had to write or problem set I had to finish. It was not until Sunday, after reading Lytton Smith's poem "Monster Theory" and the discussion with him on Monday that I finally grew honestly interested in the theses. Of course, in traditional Stephanie fashion it took video games to do it.

I touched briefly on the topic of monsters in video games during my group presentation with Sheldon and Ridwan, but never actually thought to pull back from the Dracula monster and look at the horde of video game monsters and how they relate to each of Cohen's theses. The discussion on Monday caused me to return to "Monster Culture" and search for which theses related to the various video game monsters I could think of. Immediately I could relate "Thesis II: The Monster Always Escapes" and "Thesis III: The Monster is the Harbinger of Category Crisis" to the Flood from Halo, "Thesis VII: The Monster Stands at the Threshold... of Becoming" to Lord Vayne of Final Fantasy XII, and "Thesis VI: Fear of the Monster is Really a Kind of Desire" to Riku's relationship with the Heartless of Kingdom Hearts, just to name a few.

I guess my question to you is what other video game villains or monsters have you encountered and how do they relate to Cohen's theses? And, if you are not as intense of a gamer as I am (and I would hope not for the safety of your social life) what monsters in current television, particularly cartoons (I would name a few in that category but I do not want to take them away from you), do you see and how do those relate to Cohen's theses? The major requirement I want to place though, is that these monster not be historically prevalent monsters, but newly established monsters. I know this moves away from Cohen's monster which is historically grounded, but that is my objective.

Women with Opinions: Link

1. www.youtube.com

2. Search - Jane Eyre: Interrupted Wedding 

Women With Opinions Should Stay in the Attic

One of Cohen's most interesting exhibits in his exploration of "Monster Culture" is the portrayal of Bertha in Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre.  In this classic piece, Bronte creates the character of Bertha, Rochester's Jamaica born psychotic wife, who is hidden away in the attic as a dark secret.  In preparation for our presentation on women in Monster Culture on Monday, please take a look at the video of Jane and Rochester's "interrupted  wedding" and focus on the depiction of Bertha in comparison to that described by Bronte in the passage below.  Please prepare questions and comments on the historical depiction of women, the modern presentation of such values, and how the two differ.  Think of how the "monster" of feminism has changed through these examples and what it says about our current mentality.  Do we inherently prejudge women of bold, foreign, or passionate nature?  Will we always face this monster?  How, if ever, can we make it disappear?

Textual Description:

Bertha was a "a big woman, in stature almost equalling her husband, and corpulant...virile force...purple...bloated features...exotic...Creole...of wealthy Jamaican planter...at once intemperate and unchaste."

Monsters on the Campaign Trail

As I read Cohen’s essay on Monster Culture, I was very interested in how Cohen successfully delineates a number of notable events in history and describes a monster of that time period. After seeing his examples of monsters throughout history and reflecting back on the sample essays use of the terrorist as a monster, it seems undeniable that monsters play a key role in society.

Looking back on the last few days of the election and its exciting conclusion, I began to wonder if there was a monster to be found in this historic time in our nation. My mind automatically drifted back to the controversial cover of the New Yorker. I remember the time surrounding that publication, on in which all the misconceptions that Obama is a Muslim seemed true and legitimate. I also linked it to the fact that days before the election, 60% of Texans were under the impression that Obama was a Muslim. In the end it didn’t prevent him from winning, but it did help spur these misconceptions.

As for a solid monster figure, I couldn’t really come up with one. Though the campaign was lengthy and filled with epithets and recurring characters like Joe Six Pack and Joe the Plumber that were meant to represent the average American, I couldn’t find one figure that constituted a monster the way Cohen describes it. One thing that did strike me was the significance and large role that terrorism continues to play. National security was still a top issue in this election and the candidates did use vague phrases like “take them out” to calm the nations fears on a national security strike.

My question for you then is: Is the monster of the Terrorist still alive in our society today as it was eight years ago? Were there any monsters that played a major part in this election? How do monsters shape elections and outcomes? Finally, how do covers like the New Yorker help legitimize monsters, misconceptions, and ignorance?

 

The Monster in American Culture

Recently, a friend gave me a poem by Otto Rene Castillo. This poem was entitled 'Apolitical Intellectuals' and was translated from Spanish. Here are some excerpts: (i'm taking out the line breaks to save space)

"One day the apolitical intellectuals of my country will be interrogated by the simplest of our people. They will be asked what they did when their nation died out slowly, like a sweet fire, small and alone....On that day the simple men will come...and they'll ask: "What did you do when the poor suffered, when tenderness and life burned out in them" Apolitical intellectuals of my sweet country, you will not be able to answer. A vulture of silence will eat your gut. Your own misery will pick at your soul. And you will be mute...in your shame."

I bring this poem up because we are amidst a cultural pandemic that has not culminated but begun with our economic crisis. I also bring this poem up because I found it relevant to the political drama of recent weeks and also because I found it personally inspiring.

This past week, I had the opportunity of touring the United Nations with my fellow Columbia students. We had the privilege of attending a forum where many high-ranking officials of the UN spoke. One particular man who worked for the high commissioner for human rights was particularly memorable. He fervently believed in the idea that human rights should be placed above all and was saddened by how many countries, including the United States have made excuses and abused the universally agreed rights of every human being. He received questions from concerned students from China, Afghanistan and Myanmar. What struck me was how the United States was viewed and alluded to. The speakers, on numerous occasions, referred to how they hope the 'new administration' would be better in dealing with human rights issues.

It almost seemed like to me that the United States was viewed as a sort of 'monster' by many outsiders. It seems like our culture has become this monster that we fear ourselves, but we cannot escape from it because we also desire it. Sarah in her previous post talked about harmonizing the American mindset, and Andrew talked about how we must use cultural evolution to solve our problems-- how can we find a way to change our way of thinking and our way of life?

Yet there is hope-- I mentioned the poem because I felt it speaks to what I believe in. During the UN tour, the guide also mentioned something that I found inspiring. He mentioned this food called 'plumpy-nut' (you can wiki it) that is used by UNICEF. This food is a sort of paste that contains lots of nutrients, is easy to eat and easy to digest. A french scientist developed this in 1999 and it has shown to be very effective, especially with starving children. This is the kind of work scientists should be doing. Has nobody in the last 9 years been able to develop something better? Researchers can change the issue of world hunger but instead many doctors spend their time getting rich on cosmetics, liposuction and breast implants. How can we change our mindset to focus on things that matter? Before it's too late?

Do you feel that American culture is a type of monster in itself? Is it not a monster that continues to spread across the world? How can we stop it? How can we reverse it? Cohen's monster is one that is indestructible. Is our monster any different?

A "Transformative" Trip Back Home

I just returned home from my fall break in Bergen County, New Jersey- a county generally defined by its suburban nature and pleasant environment.  The streets are paved to perfection, the awnings on small corporate businesses glimmer under the sun, and the expensive SUVs rarely leave the garage without a clean waxing or touch up.  It was here that I spent last night's presidential election, and after this experience I feel that I must put forth a provocation and seek the class opinion on several aspects.  

When my brother returned from school, a respected all boys private school in the area, he said, "Sarah, I wish you could have been in school today.  There were riots all day.  The Democrats said we need a new, liberal, black president and the Republicans said we will see an apocalypse if a Democrat runs this country."  Not very shocked at the behavior of high school boys, I asked "How old were these kids Joe?"  He responded, "They were mostly sophomores to seniors who split up by race, and my chemistry teacher who told me Obama is friends with Ahmadinejad and believes in what he said at your school."  At first I was slightly jarred by the story, but I brushed it aside in hopes that this was only the result of hormonal, ignorant high school boys.  Unfortunately, this was not the case.

A few hours later, I visited my aunt who seemed stressed about the elections.  She told me that a woman had recently come into her shop and told her it was absolutely disgusting what was going to become of this country.  She declared that we would suffer the wrath of "socialism," "terrorism," and the invasion of "illegal aliens." Ironically, she had just boasted about a manicure at a local salon by several "undocumented workers," but that is besides the point.  If that wasn't enough, my youngest cousin, only seven years old, came home asking my aunt "McCain is the guy that will help us right?  Obama will steal our money?"  

Now, I'm aware that this might sound like somewhat of a political soap opera, but it is not the characters or the words that jar me the most, it is the overall ignorance that so many people hold at the break of a historic moment. Last night, I sat in tears as I saw New York city in celebration and I sat my living room looking at the empty streets suburban streets, with a silence broken only by the music from my neighbor's Benz.  

After such an experience back home, where my "heart is [supposed] to be," I heard an announcer on television speak about his first interaction with Obama at Harvard School of Law.  He stated, " I know this may sound cliche, but when you first meet Obama, you realize he is just a transformative person."  I wonder, is Obama transformative enough to mend this battlefield of a bipartisan system?  Do you feel that harmonizing American mindset is as important as salvaging our economy?  I bring this question to the class, because I cannot explain how grateful I am to be back in an environment where people educate themselves on the issues of this nation and retain educated opinions rather than divided biases. I write this because I hope that in someway my short provocation can liberate a mind of a personal bias or surrender a barrier between the opposing political, racial, economic, or social side.  Beyond just a response, I ask for a "United States of America" to be more than just a charged phrase in Obama's commencement speech.  I ask that it is here and now, that perhaps we can make it a reality.