I haven't watched this specific South Park episode, but I've watched the show in the past and therefore know that it can be insulting and controversial at times. Yet, I think that they have made fun of many different groups of people in the show and have not focused on one group. The show wasn't created to target and ridicule one group of individuals. Also, although the show can be crude at times, most people who watch it know that and therefore could chose to not watch it. I don't support shows making racial remarks, however I have to support that freedom of speech should allow them to, just as people's freedom allows them not to watch it.

I agree with you that sometimes those that work hard aren't the ones with the money, yet those who have money aren't sometimes the people who work hard. However, I likewise think its hard to have a solution to the problem. I think that many of the illegal immigrants who are in the United States are some of the hardest workers, but they can't or couldn't afford to become legal citizens. I would think that if given the option, many illegal immigrants would become legal; however the process is hard and expensive. However, I do also understand that illegal immigrants aren't always good for the economy or country. I just think that if people are willing to come here illegally and live in fear of being caught, then they must have been leaving a very bad situation behind.

I think that both of these videos were great videos, which show the good that’s in the world. The first video was truly touching to think that a man would undergo a surgery and give up an organ to a woman he only knew by going through her checkout line. That is a huge sacrifice to make, but that man changed the woman’s life forever. I think it shows that among all of the hate and destruction that we hear about every day, on the news and just in everyday life, there are still people who would make a completely selfless donation, just because they thought it was the right thing to do.
The second video was also great to watch. The little kids were adorable, and the little boy’s face when she said he was her boyfriend was so funny! However, I also find this video to be really sad, because like the message at the end of the video says, kids are color blind, however sadly they don’t often stay that way. I am an elementary education major, and therefore have spent a lot of time around young children and it always amazes me how they don’t regard race the way adults do. It’s so refreshing to see that they don’t yet understand that race matters in the world. I think they notice race from a young age however, but they just don’t care the way many adults seem to when they grow older. Good family friends of mine have adopted two children, one from China and one from Guatemala. They just recently moved, but they use to live in upstate New York, in a town that was very predominantly white, where their children were two of only a few kids who weren’t white. However, it pleasantly surprised me that race wasn’t an issue in their children’s lives yet, since they are still so young. Their daughter who is Chinese would always joke that she had a boyfriend named Sam, a blond hair, blue eyed boy. However, I sadly think that their race would be an issue as they got older. Eventually, maybe as they started dating, it would become an issue for them to be dating people of a different race. Their parents recognized this and it influenced their decision to move to a city which was more diverse. It makes me so sad, and also angry, to think that one day they may not be allowed to date or be friends with someone because people will have a problem with their race.
I think that this shows that problems between races are learned and taught. If kids can be “color blind” then why can’t adults. As with many things in life, I think that adults could learn a lot from the simple and accepting way that children live their lives.

Watching this video, I was amazed to see what a life the Haitians had created for themselves so quickly after they suffered through such horrible destruction. I had never realized how much business could occur within the confounds of a tent community. It's great to see that they are able to come together, while still doing what they had to do to support their families. Although sad to hear, like the video said, that they could be living in these tents for years possibly, it's at least encouraging that they are able to not only set up businesses to take care of the essentials, but also to have some entertainment in their lives. After the experience they lived through, the fact that they can build this type of a community so quickly is miraculous.

I think that it’s sad that so many people, myself included, are so consumed with our own lives, that we give something like an earthquake that killed 300,000 so little of our time and thought. Yet, at the same time, I understand that in life, death and destruction is always all around us, on the news, in the newspapers, and just in life, that I feel like people become so use to hearing it that we've become less affected by these horrific events. However, I don't think that means it’s a good thing. I think that hearing lectures like the one about Haiti are good reminder of why it's so important to stop and think, and help, when something this awful happens to so many people. It’s easy to get sucked into our own lives, I completely understand that myself, yet I like being reminded that it’s not a good thing, so I can see why I do need to step out of the small bubble of my life and see and hear what else is going on.

When I’ve heard Sam talk about visiting the “lifers” a few times in class, I thought it was really interesting and was curious to know more. After reading this article however, I am pleasantly surprised to realize I didn’t truly understand what he was saying about how interesting and eye opening it is talking to them, until I read this post. Reading this post I was so amazed by what I was reading. I honestly think very little about prison, or prison inmates, and even less about prisoner’s who are in jail for life. I also have never actually been inside a prison, so much of what I know about prison I’ve seen in movies, watched on TV, read in books, ect. Therefore, I am realizing how much of a preconceived and stereotypical view of prison life, and prisoner’s I hold. Many times popular culture depicts prisoners as mean, scary, and uncompassionate. Also, I’ve always thought that all prisoners must be unhappy all the time, because who really wants to live there life in jail. However, from what Sam has told us about the “lifers” view on life, they don’t seem to be this way.
After reading this post I was happy to find that my view of prisoner’s and convicts has changed or at least broadened. It was really interesting to hear a story about the pure, compassion of a man when he knew someone else needed help, and therefore offered that help, even though he hated the other man. I feel like the story would be nice to hear regardless of where it occurred, but the fact that it occurred in prison makes it surprising. However, my own surprise at hearing this surprised me! I don’t think I really knew how much of a stereotype I had of prisoners, that they were emotionless and uncaring. I almost feel like society wants to believe that image because if someone is a criminal and has been convicted of a crime, I feel like it’s easier to say that they are a bad person than it is to say that they just made a mistake. Therefore popular culture and the media focus on all the negative scenarios, further perpetuating the stereotype. And I also understand, like the post said, that there are convicts who are not good people, and maybe this doesn’t apply to them. However, I think that’s the harm in applying stereotypes either way, it’s better to just try and be opened minded, and not assume all prisoners act or are a certain way. I feel like people who have not been probed to think about prisoners would do well to read this post, because it offers another side to the perception that society holds of the men and women in prison. If nothing else, it may cause people to think about the preconceived notion they are holding, or even broaden it!

This question is interesting because I found that when I was writing my other blog comment that dealt with body image and being influenced by the media, I kept saying girls and not including boys into the issues. However I don't think that they aren't affected, I just think that we so often associate body image and the idea of conforming to an ideal with women. Just looking around at the similar outfits worn by men, it’s easy to see that they conform their image from some type of ideal style as well. Also, although being skinny may not be as much of an issue, guys are always trying to bulk up and get muscles. Human nature creates a tendency for people, of both genders to care about their appearance. Through caring about their appearance, the image that the media puts out can't help but play a role in determining how people want to look.

When Sam said we were going to be talking about Christianity I wasn't sure what to expect. However, I did not anticipate the type of lecture that he gave today, yet I was pleasantly surprised. I walked away from class with a whole new perspective on the war in Iraq and in general what it means to think like an American. As I was sitting in class I found myself gradually becoming more aware of the way that living in a country and being exposed to the media from that country can completely shape the way one sees others and themselves. It's easy to get caught up in the idea that the way that I look at things as an American is the way that they exist. However, I am surprised, yet awakened to the idea that there are so many different ways at looking at the same issue, and yet unless you put yourself in the perspective of someone else, you may not even realize that the way you are viewing the world is through a specific lens, and in this case, an American lens.

I really like this comment and I think that it shouldn’t really be about whether it’s worse to have bigger boobs or smaller boobs, but should be about loving your body the way it is. It seems that increasingly most women do not like the way they look and I can sympathize with them because I too criticize my body at times. It seems girls, and I’m sure boys as well, always want to change the way they look. However, when I look at my friends, as they complain about how they are too “fat” or “have a big nose” all I see is their positive qualities and that they are all beautiful. Therefore, when you take away all the many body issues, women are united by their friendships with each other, and their way of seeing the beauty in their friends that goes beyond physical appearances.
I think that the media is to blame, but only as much as you let it. I understand how easy it is to get sucked into thinking that you have to look like the models in magazines, or actresses on TV. In a culture where the people idealized are mostly skinny it’s easy to get sucked in. I recently was watching a TV program where they were talking about different actresses, and they made a comment that it was nice that a few actresses embraced their curves, and didn’t follow Hollywood’s ideals of being super skinny. Yet, pretty much all of the actresses they were talking about were still at most size 4 or 6’s. I remember me and my friends saying that even Hollywood’s idea of being “curvy” was still skinny by most people’s standards. Most people on TV are all around the same skinny size, and it seems like for those who aren’t, people make a big deal out of their weight and often focus on their size. However, although it’s hard, you just have to remind yourself while watching TV or reading a magazine that that’s not how you have to look. That you don’t have to be that skinny, or have that type of face to be beautiful.
I think this can apply to race as well, such as the video that we watched in class a couple weeks ago, where the black and brown girls were talking about how they felt ugly because of their skin color. This could also be attributed to the fact that a majority of celebrities are white and there are not a proportionate number of black and brown celebrities. The media is not real however, and although it may not be right or even fair that there are so many skinny, white celebrities, they are out there. Therefore people need to try and look past the media and see the beauty in themselves and others that is not compared to the media set standard.

Although I am appalled at this game, like Sam said, it's easy to say "it’s disgusting", which it is, but it does show larger processes that are occurring. First, I feel like it shows a general disregard for the female gender, because it takes a lack of respect to not be bothered by a game whose goal is to rape women. Also, I am surprised by the interview with the young girl where she said she wasn't bothered by the game. It’s almost as bad that women buy and condone this game, because they are sending the message that they are okay with what they game is portraying. I think that women and men alike should stop supporting and buying these games in general.