i can not get over either of these two movies! They are so heart touching and so moving that i wish more people would be able to watch them! i just told all my 5 roommates about these two videos because the first one is that caring and thoughtful, and the second one is a video of the cutest boy i have ever seen! I can not believe that this man actually gave up one of his kidneys and went through a transplant to a cashier clerk he barely knew. Not many people, non that i have ever met would do such a thing and this man should be commended. this man saved someones life, for the betterment of the other person! this man had no idea where she came from, where her family is, where she would end up but he wanted to save her life and give her his kidney! this man is the pure definition of a hero! no one else would ever do this especially for a complete stranger he has only ever encountered at this grocery store! but hey whatever the circumstances are he is a great man, a great heart, helped out a great women and did a great and tremendous thing that no one else, that i know of would ever do!
As far as this little boy, that video is the cutest little thing ever! and the whole movie is so moving. little children are so open to anything, get so excited about any body and any one, and now when children get older color turns into the truth and the way people should live their lives, when why can not every one live the way these children do? this little kid seems like he is the happiest he can be, he seems like nothing could ever go wrong in his world, but yet once children hit a certain age everything changes? when older and young adults grow up times and views start changing. kids have friends and like each other no matter what color skin they have, why can't the rest of the world be the same exact way no matter what the age groups?
overall both of these movies are so moving and so touching i hope more people out side of this class get to watch them and feel the same way i am sure most of us do. i feel that all most of us in this class will watch these videos and feel the same thing, i feel that we have all learned through our soc 119 experience and that no long are things as strange as they once were. i feel that yes, it is odd that a stranger gave his kidney away to someone he barely knew, but it is the gesture and the aspect of saving the woman's life is what we all need to realize is the true heroic thing this man did. this two young children in the second video, before this class many of us i'm sure wouldn't think twice about two young kids, but now we think about those two young kids will grow up and start thinking differently because of today's society, and because of society's thoughts. more people need to think like these young children, like this heroic man who gave away his kidney and like us as students in soc 119 who have learned and opened our views to bigger and larger things.

the first word that comes to my mind after reading this letter was wow. never in my life have i thought of how it would fully and actually feel to be in prison for life, how it would feel to be in the bunk sleeping before going to bed, how it would be to have prison be an your actual reality of life. I hope after reading this letter, every one has now felt a new compassion and new understanding of how good our lives are and how some prisoners feel who are not the "beast" and "terrible people" of the world. i can imagine a father not being able to talk to his daughter on his birthday, or a father having to ask to borrow someone's phone time to talk to someone they care about. I feel that through this letter it talks about compassion and i can see where this man is coming from. People change and make mistakes and yea what he did was terrible and wrong but as a comment states earlier there is now a new view of the death penalty after reading this letter. i feel that as students we think we have it rough, the papers we have to write, the problems and arguements with our friends and possible family members boyfriends and girlfriends but imagine being in prison for the rest of your life, how yes one mistake one bad judgment can put you behind bars without parole. Im not saying i feel sorry for every prisoner out there but every one does have their own circumstance, their own story their own image of reality and imagine that reality being behind bars for the rest of your waking life.
We have to be grateful for this man to take the time out and share a story with us to see what is on the inside, because i doubt many of us have thought of what it would be like to be their shoes, and i know i haven't necessarily done that until i took this class with Sam. Reading this letter is an experience many other students will not get to have unless they take this class or have a personal relation/ experience with someone in prison. To go tot bed not being able to sleep thinking the next day is going to be as worse and the last for the rest of your life would be terrible and unbearable for most. thank you for this letter to make many realize the other side of the fence and to understand where some prisoners who have changed are coming from. Yes not every prisoner has this way of thinking, and many of us will not think like this about most prisoners but when it comes down to it, their lives of being a free American are over, and some rightfully so, but we need to realize that the stereotype of inmates are not always accurate there are inmates who have changed and who have fully grasped their reality and know they are wrong for what they would of done.

the first word that comes to my mind after reading this letter was wow. never in my life have i thought of how it would fully and actually feel to be in prison for life, how it would feel to be in the bunk sleeping before going to bed, how it would be to have prison be an your actual reality of life. I hope after reading this letter, every one has now felt a new compassion and new understanding of how good our lives are and how some prisoners feel who are not the "beast" and "terrible people" of the world. i can imagine a father not being able to talk to his daughter on his birthday, or a father having to ask to borrow someone's phone time to talk to someone they care about. I feel that through this letter it talks about compassion and i can see where this man is coming from. People change and make mistakes and yea what he did was terrible and wrong but as a comment states earlier there is now a new view of the death penalty after reading this letter. i feel that as students we think we have it rough, the papers we have to write, the problems and arguements with our friends and possible family members boyfriends and girlfriends but imagine being in prison for the rest of your life, how yes one mistake one bad judgment can put you behind bars without parole. Im not saying i feel sorry for every prisoner out there but every one does have their own circumstance, their own story their own image of reality and imagine that reality being behind bars for the rest of your waking life.
We have to be grateful for this man to take the time out and share a story with us to see what is on the inside, because i doubt many of us have thought of what it would be like to be their shoes, and i know i haven't necessarily done that until i took this class with Sam. Reading this letter is an experience many other students will not get to have unless they take this class or have a personal relation/ experience with someone in prison. To go tot bed not being able to sleep thinking the next day is going to be as worse and the last for the rest of your life would be terrible and unbearable for most. thank you for this letter to make many realize the other side of the fence and to understand where some prisoners who have changed are coming from. Yes not every prisoner has this way of thinking, and many of us will not think like this about most prisoners but when it comes down to it, their lives of being a free American are over, and some rightfully so, but we need to realize that the stereotype of inmates are not always accurate there are inmates who have changed and who have fully grasped their reality and know they are wrong for what they would of done.

I agree with many of the comments written above, and above all i do agree with this girl in the video saying how women are all beautiful no matter what race or size someone is. And that statement is very true and we are all beautiful in our own ways, it is just unfortunate how hollywood portrays women, and how hollywood and movies and the media makes the image of the perfect "ideal" woman. In our lab yesterday our discussion group talked about how in America, images and body figures play such a significant role in how women feel they need to look like. Its the skinny and "pretty" woman that hollywood puts on the runways, in magazines, television shows, and movies that makes other women feel less beautiful and who make other woman feel that certain traits are what is "right". As the play showed how, what if flat chested woman were the ideal figure for woman? would girls still be getting implants, would woman still be getting plastic surgery? no, woman would be getting breast reductions, and it is a shame that because of the figures we see in the media many woman do feel they need to change the way they look. As we also said in my discussion group yesterday, many woman get bigger breast and have plastic surgery because of the competition between females and because of the need to feel accepted by the male race. Woman feel they need to do as much as they can to look good, and to be up to the guy's standards because thats what "pretty" females look like, big boobs small waste and pretty face. It is unfortunate because as this girl stated int he video blog every one is beautiful no matter the size or race or the size of boob one may have.
I think once the media stops portraying the "ideal" woman to be tall, skinny, big breasted the majority of the woman will feel they do not need to do anything to change who they are. In our lab we talked about how woman dress, and how woman portray themselves is based off of other woman and the media and "whats popular". This is all true, being a female it is about what is in "style" and what looks good, and possibly what are the celebrities wearing. It is easy to say we don't look at other girls and compare ourselves to them but to say that would be untruthful, because at one point in time i would think every girl would look at another and want to get the same kind of shirt they have, or same kind of shoes (uggs for example) just because they think it does look good on that other person, and they want to have it to. Women today do not feel beautiful in their own way, they feel beautiful if they are upholding the standards set by society. One day every women will feel beautiful because of what they were born to look like, and do not need makeup and all new clothes to feel a certain way, but today the majority of the women are going to feel they need to dress, and look a certain way to feel beautiful.

I agree with many of the comments written above, and above all i do agree with this girl in the video saying how women are all beautiful no matter what race or size someone is. And that statement is very true and we are all beautiful in our own ways, it is just unfortunate how hollywood portrays women, and how hollywood and movies and the media makes the image of the perfect "ideal" woman. In our lab yesterday our discussion group talked about how in America, images and body figures play such a significant role in how women feel they need to look like. Its the skinny and "pretty" woman that hollywood puts on the runways, in magazines, television shows, and movies that makes other women feel less beautiful and who make other woman feel that certain traits are what is "right". As the play showed how, what if flat chested woman were the ideal figure for woman? would girls still be getting implants, would woman still be getting plastic surgery? no, woman would be getting breast reductions, and it is a shame that because of the figures we see in the media many woman do feel they need to change the way they look. As we also said in my discussion group yesterday, many woman get bigger breast and have plastic surgery because of the competition between females and because of the need to feel accepted by the male race. Woman feel they need to do as much as they can to look good, and to be up to the guy's standards because thats what "pretty" females look like, big boobs small waste and pretty face. It is unfortunate because as this girl stated int he video blog every one is beautiful no matter the size or race or the size of boob one may have.
I think once the media stops portraying the "ideal" woman to be tall, skinny, big breasted the majority of the woman will feel they do not need to do anything to change who they are. In our lab we talked about how woman dress, and how woman portray themselves is based off of other woman and the media and "whats popular". This is all true, being a female it is about what is in "style" and what looks good, and possibly what are the celebrities wearing. It is easy to say we don't look at other girls and compare ourselves to them but to say that would be untruthful, because at one point in time i would think every girl would look at another and want to get the same kind of shirt they have, or same kind of shoes (uggs for example) just because they think it does look good on that other person, and they want to have it to. Women today do not feel beautiful in their own way, they feel beautiful if they are upholding the standards set by society. One day every women will feel beautiful because of what they were born to look like, and do not need makeup and all new clothes to feel a certain way, but today the majority of the women are going to feel they need to dress, and look a certain way to feel beautiful.

I agree with many of the comments written above, and above all i do agree with this girl in the video saying how women are all beautiful no matter what race or size someone is. And that statement is very true and we are all beautiful in our own ways, it is just unfortunate how hollywood portrays women, and how hollywood and movies and the media makes the image of the perfect "ideal" woman. In our lab yesterday our discussion group talked about how in America, images and body figures play such a significant role in how women feel they need to look like. Its the skinny and "pretty" woman that hollywood puts on the runways, in magazines, television shows, and movies that makes other women feel less beautiful and who make other woman feel that certain traits are what is "right". As the play showed how, what if flat chested woman were the ideal figure for woman? would girls still be getting implants, would woman still be getting plastic surgery? no, woman would be getting breast reductions, and it is a shame that because of the figures we see in the media many woman do feel they need to change the way they look. As we also said in my discussion group yesterday, many woman get bigger breast and have plastic surgery because of the competition between females and because of the need to feel accepted by the male race. Woman feel they need to do as much as they can to look good, and to be up to the guy's standards because thats what "pretty" females look like, big boobs small waste and pretty face. It is unfortunate because as this girl stated int he video blog every one is beautiful no matter the size or race or the size of boob one may have.
I think once the media stops portraying the "ideal" woman to be tall, skinny, big breasted the majority of the woman will feel they do not need to do anything to change who they are. In our lab we talked about how woman dress, and how woman portray themselves is based off of other woman and the media and "whats popular". This is all true, being a female it is about what is in "style" and what looks good, and possibly what are the celebrities wearing. It is easy to say we don't look at other girls and compare ourselves to them but to say that would be untruthful, because at one point in time i would think every girl would look at another and want to get the same kind of shirt they have, or same kind of shoes (uggs for example) just because they think it does look good on that other person, and they want to have it to. Women today do not feel beautiful in their own way, they feel beautiful if they are upholding the standards set by society. One day every women will feel beautiful because of what they were born to look like, and do not need makeup and all new clothes to feel a certain way, but today the majority of the women are going to feel they need to dress, and look a certain way to feel beautiful.

I agree with many of the comments written above, and above all i do agree with this girl in the video saying how women are all beautiful no matter what race or size someone is. And that statement is very true and we are all beautiful in our own ways, it is just unfortunate how hollywood portrays women, and how hollywood and movies and the media makes the image of the perfect "ideal" woman. In our lab yesterday our discussion group talked about how in America, images and body figures play such a significant role in how women feel they need to look like. Its the skinny and "pretty" woman that hollywood puts on the runways, in magazines, television shows, and movies that makes other women feel less beautiful and who make other woman feel that certain traits are what is "right". As the play showed how, what if flat chested woman were the ideal figure for woman? would girls still be getting implants, would woman still be getting plastic surgery? no, woman would be getting breast reductions, and it is a shame that because of the figures we see in the media many woman do feel they need to change the way they look. As we also said in my discussion group yesterday, many woman get bigger breast and have plastic surgery because of the competition between females and because of the need to feel accepted by the male race. Woman feel they need to do as much as they can to look good, and to be up to the guy's standards because thats what "pretty" females look like, big boobs small waste and pretty face. It is unfortunate because as this girl stated int he video blog every one is beautiful no matter the size or race or the size of boob one may have.
I think once the media stops portraying the "ideal" woman to be tall, skinny, big breasted the majority of the woman will feel they do not need to do anything to change who they are. In our lab we talked about how woman dress, and how woman portray themselves is based off of other woman and the media and "whats popular". This is all true, being a female it is about what is in "style" and what looks good, and possibly what are the celebrities wearing. It is easy to say we don't look at other girls and compare ourselves to them but to say that would be untruthful, because at one point in time i would think every girl would look at another and want to get the same kind of shirt they have, or same kind of shoes (uggs for example) just because they think it does look good on that other person, and they want to have it to. Women today do not feel beautiful in their own way, they feel beautiful if they are upholding the standards set by society. One day every women will feel beautiful because of what they were born to look like, and do not need makeup and all new clothes to feel a certain way, but today the majority of the women are going to feel they need to dress, and look a certain way to feel beautiful.

I agree with many of these comments before me. I although am not an expert on welfare by any means. I have not bee around welfare growing up, and much of the aspect of welfare has not been brought up around me. I feel that welfare is looked down upon and i do think it is a shame for people who are born into welfare because their lives are set up to be less fortunate then those born into richer families as children. Talking with my roommates about this topic, we have just discussed a couple weeks ago about how some actresses and famous people are adopted into very rich and powerful families. This goes to show more how unfortunate for those who are born into welfare families how just by being adopted or being born into richer families can cause a life changing experience. It is just unfortunate that those who are no so lucky to be taken in by someone wealthy their lives are not as planned out for them.
i feel that if the state cut off welfare that would just hurt those who are using welfare. I feel that welfare is helping out those who are poor and those who are born into poorer families, because welfare is suppose to help the poor and not change their social status. I feel that social status would be affected because if those who were on welfare were no longer known as people being "On welfare" then maybe others views would be different. i feel that welfare is suppose to help those who are poor so whether they are on "welfare" or not, these people still are struggling individuals who need help paying their bills and surviving. i think social status would not really change unless there was help in the world who could help and change those poor people into no longer struggling human beings. i think status is always going to be an issue but i feel that for those on welfare there is more important things out there to worry about then what their status is in society. i feel that if i had to be on welfare i would be so consumed with trying to figure out how i am going to live and pay for my family then what status i am in society. However, it would be a great thing if changing welfare could change status in society but i think when it all comes down to it, people who are less fortunate still need help and still need ways of getting help from society who has more money so they can survive themselves and so their families can survive.
i feel that status is society is such a cliche thing, whether we are born rich or poor, we can't change who we are. Whether we are poor or rich in society on welfare or not, we all still have our family and friends to keep us going. Taking welfare away will not change the status of society it will just reduce the help that poor people get from our society.

This topic is a very interesting topic and a topic that i feel needs to be brought up. Over the course of using the text messaging on the board in our class has raised a lot of feelings and i feel that it is brought up some tension between white and people of color only when we are separated and are told to respond to each statement. i feel that by "white people" needing to respond, and then "people of color" needing to respond i feel that ultimately there is going to be conflict amongst the class. The topic of this video makes sense to me, because yes i am white, but i did also notice what this kid is talking about from those days in class when "white" people need to answer and then "people of color" need to answer. I feel that all comments whether from people of color or from white people i feel that there are rude comments flying back in fourth on the board from all races. This video is true though, white people did say rude things, but so did people of color and I can not find a reason why there was alot of noise and commotion when a white person made a rude comment but when it was time for the people of color to make a comment, and theirs was rude there was no commotion. I am white but i would never say half of the things that come up on that board. I fell that many of them are rude and i just can not believe that people can actually have the balls to say that stuff for the whole class to see. i feel the comments are just rude and obnoxious on both ends when they are derogatory to one race or another. Some comments are practical and necessary for class but the other comments are just not needed. i know some times there are tensions and issues but then those obnoxious comments should not be said, especially on a screen in class, they should be kept to themselves if they feel that strongly against the other race.
When i see those comments on the board from both sides, whites and people of color i just do not understand why people still have to live in the past. I feel that so much has been done since back when race was a problem and i feel that by now all races should be able to come together. I feel that when those comments come up from people of color along with the comments from the white people the same reaction should be taken because its about the same thing. both comment whether the race are just talking bad about the other, and i feel that people should try to move forward and come together and put those past stereotypes aside and move forward so one day when a professor asks what does it mean to be white and what does it mean to be a person of color, the responses will not be derogatory towards any one.

I completely agree with this comment and completely disagree with the schools decision. if my high school canceled my prom over one girl trying to bring her girlfriend, I would want to change schools. I know that is not very possible, but most people would. Every senior high school student looks forward to their prom day from the first day of freshman year if not earlier. The fact that they would actually ruin the rest of their students, including McMillen's dreams of going to a high school prom is RIDICULOUS. Any school that holds their own beliefs over the student body's welfare and activities is just poorly run. No one should ever feel that they can't express themselves, especially in high school. High school is the time when students and teenagers find themselves, and experience a beginning for themselves. This poor girl must be humiliated and terrified. Like this comment said, I bet the other students are blaming her, and are accusing her of ruing the prom, and that is terrible. That is a terrible terrible way to end her senior year, and it is all because the high school administrators are trying to prove a point to someone.
People in my high school brought who ever they wanted to prom and prom was wonderful for everyone. Every one enjoyed their night and there was one girl who did wear a tuxedo if i remember correctly, proper or not she did. No matter what other people wear or don not wear, bring or do not bring, every one has their own fun, and their own experience at prom and this girl should not be accused of this event not happening. The administrators need to realize it IS the 21st century and we should be allowed to BRING whoever we want to PROM. Its a high school function to close off the last four years of our teenage life with our close friends who we have grown up with and this school district just ruined it for everyone.
I am putting my apologies out to McMillen because what she is going through is not fair, and it should not be happening at all. These kids along with every other high school deserve a prom night. They deserve that event that is told about in movies, magazines and shows. Everyone should be allowed to go to a prom and no matter what the circumstances no one should be denied of the right to go. She shouldn't of even asked, she should of just brought her girlfriend like everyone else would bring their boyfriend or girlfriend, same sex or not. This school district should really rethink their decision because not only are they ruining her year, her girlfriend's year, they are ruining the rest of the student body as well.
I hope other school districts do not start making this a rule or a decision because they are going to start and ruin a life long tradition that has been a great success for everyone. Every one so far has had the best time of their life at the prom for the most part and school districts need to let every one else experience that for themselves.