Your TV Destiny

Charmed: The first thing the witches would suggest is the TV show called Charmed. This TV show is about 3 normal girls turned witches by an accidental spell casting that learn of their destiny and have to adjust to living with supernatural powers in the real world while fighting against evil using their supernatural powers. The supernatural content and idea of not being widely accepted because of having supernatural abilities makes this show something the witches from Macbeth can relate to and why it's on their suggestion list. They see themselves in the 3 main characters, always together and figuring things out as one.This TV show comments on the character of the witches. It says that they rely on each other and like the story told through their characters. As fellow witches they support the creator of the TV show in his characterization of the 3 main characters. They fight for good and not evil so the witches support them because they present witches in a positive view. 
Teen Witch: This 1989 film about an unpopular teenager who learns she is a witch and then uses her supernatural powers to gain popularity at her high school. The witches like to appeal to people of all ages which is why this film is one of their suggestions. Starring a teenage girl like the TV show charmed they can present magic to a younger generation. By choosing this film it reveals the witches like magic to not only be viewed as something dark but also fun in a way.They support using magic to accomplish their own agenda, such as when they set Macbeth on a self destructive plan for their own amusement. Keeping this suggestion in mind viewers should understand the witches use magic to accomplish their goals and not just tell others about their future. 
Into the Woods: A recently released film Into the Woods has just been added by the witches as their next suggestion for you. About a couple that is trying to have kids but gets cursed by a witch and don't end up having kids. Along the way they find their fates relates to fairytale characters. This film was selected for its theme of fate being the ultimate plot driver. The witches really liked this film for its reliance on the curse of the witch to tell the story. It reflects the witches prophecy and the idea that you can't escape fate. Something the witches believe in in Macbeth. This selection reveals that the witches believe their prophecies carry meaning and are true. This is the only suggestion that shows how important the idea of fate being a driving force and the importance the witches felt towards the prophecies they gave.
Witches of East End: This TV Series follows multiple generations of witches and how they use their super natural powers once they learn they've had them after unknowingly lived with them for years growing up. This Series is included because it presents a different aspect of witches being accepted if they're not known as witches to people in society. By including this we can tell the Macbeth witches may have wished they were more accepted by their society. It also presents a different way witches use power. One again in a modern setting as opposed to their time they picked this because it shows how witches became accepted in the fictional town its set in. From this we can conclude the witches of Macbeth enjoying watching TV/Movies with supernatural aspects in them. 

Salem: And finally could this really be the witches suggestions if Salem wasn't included? This new TV series was chosen by the witches because they would like to use a fictional spin on the Salem Massachusetts witch stories to help their American audience relate by including America as the setting for the story. Unlike some of the suggestions above the witches chose to include this series set in the 1700s to keep some of the historical aspect of witch craft for their audiences. They included this to show their are different views of witches but also some of the same stereotypes across them all. The witches in Macbeth hangout around a cauldron and recite spells and prophecies, while the Salem "Witches" also try to recite spells, perform magic, and hang around a cauldron. By including this series we can learn about the witches view other witches. By including it they support showing how other witches were treated by their respective societies.

Works Consulted:
IMBD.com

Fate vs. Chance or Other

To me fate is the end result of something that is in the hands of a higher power, and chance is random factors that happen to someone but that someone didn't have control over it. I like to believe that neither of these guide my life and that the choices I make guide how my life goes. I think chance is the result of preparing the right way and catching a break as a result of the work put in. In sports the hard work leads to lucky breaks. Most of the time the losing team or lazy team doesn't get the lucky breaks. To a certain extent I believe that everything happens for a reason, so in that way I guess I believe in fate. I don't know really, I just live and what ever happens happens and I move on and keep making decisions that put me in the best position to be where I want to be in the future. 

Based on what I've read so far (Act 1and 2) I believe that Shakespeare thought fate played a role in life and impacted how people lived and made choices. I believe Macbeth as person, like not as a character ,had the power to make his own decisions and he could have ignored "fate". However as a character his fate was predetermined by the higher power of Shakespeare. At the beginning of Act 1 the witches set up the fate that Macbeth played out throughout the rest of Act 1 to make come true. The first witch says,"All hail Macbeth! Hail to thee, thane of Glamis," (Shakespere). Then the second witch says, "All hail Macbeth! hail to thee, thane of Cawdor," (Shakespeare). At this point Macbeth is confused as to why he is being called King of two places. He then has an internal struggle and decides that he wants to make the fate as said by the witches true so he has to kill Duncan. Helping to push Macbeth towards fulfilling fate Lady Macbeth pushes him to get him to have the drive to want to take Duncan's place. In Act 1 she and Macbeth have a conversation in which she uses tactics such as comfort, humiliation, and blame to convince Macbeth he has to kill Duncan. 

Macbeth controlled the outcome of his situation. He made the decision to kill Duncan and he didn't have to do that. I think that he let other people get in his head and that caused him to make the poor decision to kill Duncan, not fate. In Act 2 he says,"I have done the deed," (Shakespeare). During this Act he regrets killing Duncan and spends the act trying to convince himself he did the right thing. In Macbeth I think Shakespeare has the main character be driven and in a way obsessed with making fate come true because it reflects on his time and how he felt about the power fate had. 

89 Huicholes

As I walked through the Limited Visibility exhibit at The Contemporary Art Museum  I was intrigued by the art displayed. I don't generally enjoy art museums or looking at art for long periods of time, as I easily get bored staring at art wondering why someone created it. However the art at CAM had parts of the pictures artists left out of their art which made it more interesting to look at. I found it especially interesting to look at the work while listening to the curator discuss the background of the artist. By leaving certain features out of their art I think the artist creates more meaning and pulls viewers in to think more about why the artist left something out, instead of why the artist created it in general.

I chose to do my visual analysis on the 84 black and white images put together by Santiago Sierra, called 89 Huicholes. The work features 84 pictures of people from the Huichol tribe in Mexico, where the pictures were taken. The limited visibility aspect of this piece is that the people are photographed from behind and we can't see their faces, only their back, neck, and back of the their head.

Santiago Sierra. 89 Huicholes. 2006. Mexico

sketch

                                    

At CAM 89 Huicholes is displayed by 5 rows of 17 framed 5x7 or 6x9 pictures (Not sure which), except the 5th row only has 16 pictures. Each picture is black and white and is taken of a person or persons looking away from the camera. The plain black and white color scheme adds to the limited visibility, it takes away from the personality of the people in the pictures leaving the viewer to ponder what the person is like. Each picture is taken in front of the same white back drop leaving the focus and importance on the people in front of it. Also important to the composition of each shot is the body language presented by the Huichol people. Some of them are holding small children, some have their shoulder shrugged, some are tilted or angled towards something, and some fill up more of the white than others.

The pictures are of people from the Huichol Tribe who live in the rugged terrain of Mexico in 2006. They are said to be one of the few remaining tribes that still have Pre-Colombian Traditions. The rugged terrain and 5 day journey to their village has kept the modern way of life out of their society. They live a simple life and survive of the land. Huichol means the life of Shamans, they are healing people and are very connected spiritually with the Earth. They do have some modern ways of life such as a dentist that travels to them every so often to provide dental care. The Huichol Foundation is working to help them preserve their culture and traditions by providing them with the things they need to do so. The Huichol Tribe is open to people coming to their village to learn about their ways of life. (http://www.huicholfoundation.org)

With that being said they are indigenous people who struggle to like Native Americans in America did/do for land and other rights. In the pictures they have their backs to the camera which creates the meaning of the work. All Sierra gives the viewers is the title which explicitly gives the viewers exactly what they are looking at, however he doesn't go further than that leaving the viewers to interpret his art to find the meaning. I think the meaning created by not showing their faces is that they don't have a voice or are not "worthy" of having their faces shown. The position of facing away from someone also suggests guilt, or punishment. This work makes me think about how the people of the Huichol Tribe are different than modern society and might be viewed like they aren't as good as modern people. This work particularly caught my eye at CAM because of the interactive role the viewer has with the art to give the people meaning and faces. Looking at someones back who is holding a small child, and both are wearing traditional clothes made me think about the differences in the life I live and the life they live. If I had seen their faces I wouldn't have connected myself to them because I'd be able to read their faces to know how they feel about their lifestyle.

This is what Santiago Sierra had to say about it, "The interesting thing is also that when you have somebody… when you don’t see the face of somebody, their position becomes more active, you know, you have to think why does she not show me the face, you know. And in a world full of images, this image, which is an anti image in a way, becomes full of meaning, because the person has to create what the person doesn’t see."  (http://www.magasin3.com/en/exhibition/santiago-sierra-2/)

This is not the only work by Sierra that captures the backs of people, leaving their faces unknown. In 184 Peruvian workers he does the same thing capturing the backs of 184 workers. He also gave homeless women one night in a hotel room for standing facing a wall in a mall. Following the Iraq Afghanistan war he had veterans stand facing a corner for an exhibit. All of his work is very evocative and has deeper meanings. They all have meaning surrounding social conditions, violence, religion, or societies in general. (magasin3)

I think this piece was chosen by the Curators to be apart of the Limited Visibility exhibit because it represents limited visibility in every way. It provokes viewers to think about the people photographed and find the meaning behind the work. This was easily my favorite work at CAM because of the level of thought I had to put into determining the purpose behind it. 

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Jane Eyre

4. What does Mr. Brocklehurst’s analogy between the ill-prepared breakfast and the “sufferings of the primitive Christians…the torments of martyrs…the exhortations of our blessed Lord Himself” reveal about his character? How does this attitude contrast with that of Miss Temple to reveal the author’s social message? 

Mr. Brocklehurst is the kind of religious person I strongly dislike. He uses his wealth (shown by his family's clothing) to push his interpretation of the Bible and religion on others while not applying it to his own life. For whatever reason he feels he can tell other people how to live their lives using the Bible as his source of power. Mr. Brocklehurst's analogy reveals that his character is an influential person using the Bible to justify his methods of treating the girls cruelly. He feels he is carrying on the work of God and Jesus. It reveals that he finds a source of power in the Bible, which he is using on these girls who have to suffer through it. He says his plan is to bring them up patient and self denying, and if that means they miss a meal or are treated harshly he doesn't mind. He has power over Miss Temple so he is able to control her into reinforcing his methods and beliefs.

Mr. Brocklehurst's attitude contrasts with Miss Temple in that he controls her and she has to reinforce his beliefs. She works at Lowood so she must have some faith in what he supports and is doing with the girls. She may enjoy it to a certain extent but the text shows she at least tries to be decent to the girls. In the text we see that she has allowed them more clothes than they are supposed to have, gave them more food than they were supposed to get, and she told Jane not to worry about the dropped slate. All of these nice things she has done Mr. Brocklehurst wouldn't have done and yells at her and girls for doing those things.

Charlotte Bronte's social message revealed in the contrast between Miss Temple and Mr. Brocklehurst is that at that time people in society abused religion and the power they found in the Bible to mistreat people that we're below them in society. Bronte has Miss Temple be a nice character but ultimately obey Mr. Brocklehurst because she is a woman and would have had to obey him if she wanted to keep her job. He is the one in power because men had power and he was able to push his beliefs on people because of his status in society. Her social message is still relevant today. The idea that anyone can interpret the Bible and then push their belief on others is, to  me, ridiculous. Everyone has their different beliefs and interpretations and they aren't right or wrong, it's just wrong to push them on others because they may have different views.

http://www.literature.org/authors/bronte-charlotte/jane-eyre/chapter-07.html

                                                    

     My name is...  

My full name is Delia Rose LoSapio. 

Before every club soccer game we have check in with the refs who call our name and we give our number (they do this to make sure we are who we say we are). In the last 5 years I've done this about 90 times and I would say that out of those 90 times 75 times have resulted in my teammates laughing at the ref's attempted pronunciation of my name and me correcting him/her. The attempted pronunciation usually reflects the area we are in and the culture, race, and background of the ref attempting to pronounce my name. I never get mad when people don't pronounce my name correctly, whether it's a ref, a Starbucks Barista, a game announcer, or a sub. If I got mad at everyone who pronounced my first or last name wrong I'd always be mad. I just correct them and move on.I don't let my name define me because it's not all of me, it's just what people call me.

I've only met a few people who share the same name as me so I would say it's safe to say I have a unique name. Honestly I'm not sure why my parents chose my name, but I know they had a few names picked out but when I was born they decided that I wasn't any of those so that's how I came to be Delia. Rose was my Great Grandmother's name on my Dad's side of the family. It's also my cousin's middle name on my Dad's side of the family. They chose that for my middle name to pass down a family name. My last name, LoSapio, is significant to me because it reminds me of where my family is from. Every summer until high school my brother and I went to New Jersey and spent a month with my grandparents. We called it Camp LoSapio, anyway one summer my grandparents took us to Ellis Island and we were able to find our name on the wall from when My Great-Great-Grandmother came from Italy through Ellis Island. My last name reminds me of my large Italian family, the great food, and the fun giant family reunions.

                                                       
                                        http://blueprintbasketball.com/there-is-an-i-in-team-but-no-need/

This image highlights the fine line of being an individual in a team setting. The way I see it there are
 2 types of individuals on a team. Type 1, who is the "I hidden in the A-Hole", or not so hidden as they are usually easy to spot, the individual that blames everyone else when things go bad but is the first to take credit after a win. Then Type 2, who is the I that you don't see when you look at TEAM. The individual that does the work but is humble when they win and when they lose they own their mistakes but recognize that it is a team game and often 1 person isn't responsible for a loss. A team made up of Type 1s is not fun to be on, is divided, and generally unsuccessful. A team of Type 2s is fun to be on, united, and is as successful as they can be.
This is the team I won State Cup with last year. We were a team of Type 2's. We won because the team came before the ourselves.

As a goalkeeper and captain I am an individual on my team. My position is the most individualized on the field out of the 11 positions. My teammates don't go to the same trainings I go to during the week (I go to 2 gk specific and 3 team, they just go to the 3 team), they don't have the same warmup, they don't have the same role on the team, and they don't even have the same set of rules on the field. As a result I have to work extra hard to show them that I put in just as much work as they do so that I can take as much credit in a win and an equal amount of credit in a loss as they do (not more). I am very much the I that doesn't exist in team when it comes to the image above. It took me a little while to get used to being in the individualized role on the team. I took loses personally when I shouldn't have because I listened to people blame me for goals that I reflect on now and see that the ball had to get through 10 other people before me.

The most individualized part of soccer is PKs. Just me and the girl shooting. I'll never forget the time we tied the final game of a tournament and went to PKs. We lost, but then long story short we did them again because the ref messed up. We lost again and I took it very hard personally even though we finished 2nd place it wasn't first and I felt like it was my fault. It wasn't, because PKs are meant for the shooter to score but I still felt like it was my fault. After the game my teammates kept coming up to me and apologizing for not scoring and that showed me that even in the most individualized part of soccer we are still a team.

P.S. Best movie quote about team and individuals. Start at 2:20 and go through 2:36

  

How are Others Percieved

                           
                                                                       From

                                            University Avenue Project (2007 - 2010)

                                                      photos.wingyounghuie.com

                                                             Wing Young Huie

                                                     Accessed September 7th, 2014

In this picture taken by Huie there is a black kid sitting at a table holding a sign with a bulletin board in the back with flyers on it. Ignoring the sign he is holding, upon first glance I see a stereotypical  black kid in baggy clothes wearing a snap back. If I were to pass this kid in a hallway at Millbrook I wouldn’t even give him a second thought, if I were to pass him on a street I would distance myself from him and avoid eye contact. At first glance he is an other. He is different from me and the connotation and stereotype given to his clothes and race are negative so much so that I almost fear people that look like him. Wing Young Huie presents othering through the stereotypes that go with appearances and he uses the sign to show that the people society says are others are not all what they are made out to be.

 When I read the sign I felt kind of guilty for assuming that he would be just another black kid that doesn’t care about school and gets into trouble. Our society likes to form stereotypes based on appearances and make assumptions about their character based on their clothes, but is it fair to the individuals with good character that are in that group just because of their appearance? Wing Young Huie uses signs to show that it’s not fair to judge an individual based on a stereotype. By using signs in his pictures he is able to capture their character and clothes in one image. The second half of his sign breaks the stereotype. It shows he cares about school, is working, and has a goal, all things that break the stereotype of a black kid. By breaking the stereotype of this group of "others" he puts himself into the "Oreo group of Others" which is a whole separate issue which I won't get into. Huie does a good job giving "others" voices through his pictures.

Atwood uses appearances to present othering in The Handmaid’s Tale. Every social class in the novel is assigned to a specific color and/or outfit to distinguish themselves from the other groups. The Handmaids wear read so they can easily be othered by the rest of society. In a way Offred’s narrative is similar to the kid’s sign in Huie’s picture. Both the narration and the sign reveal the two do not fully fit the stereotype or group that they are associated with. Based on that I would assume if they had a choice they’d choose to not be in the “other” group they have been assigned by society. Both present othering as something that is connected to appearance and is associated with connotations and stereotypes for each appearance.