The Wiz Live!

           If you didn't know, "The Wiz" is the black adaption of L. Frank Baum's "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz." According to the author of this article, it's best to watch this Broadway musical with Black twitter. "Black Twitter" refers to the complex and powerful society on Twitter that focuses on issues of interest to the black community, be they political, social or entertainment. The article also explains how some people weren't happy about the adaption in general because they felt the original was good already so it didn't meed to be touched.

            When I first heard about this musical, I was excited because after many, many years of little diversity in casting, it's slowly but surely becoming more diverse. This article really stood out to me because after seeing some negative comments about this musical, I do agree that it would be best to keep up with black twitter as you watch. Many people got offended that the cast was all black, failing to realize that The Wizard of Oz, released in 1939, was a full white cast.  
                             

As a student, I think it's so cool growing up in a time where we can connect with people hundreds of miles away from us through social media. It's so amazing  that websites like Twitter have this platform of people who do they're best and empower and build up one another. Whatever type of cause people are fighting for, it's a lot easier to get in contact with and connect with people who share the same thoughts you do. As a filmmaker this inspires me to one day film something that will give someone something to dream about. I'm sure this musical has inspired many young black children to go for their dreams, because they're overcoming a predominately white business, and they're able to preform really well.
           Will diversity continue to grow in movies and television? Will people stop trying to find a problem in everything, like the "racism" of having an all black cast?    

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Equal Rights for Women

      Women in the film industry make up one-third of fictional characters in films and television shows, and one-fourth of all jobs behind the camera such as directing, screenwriting, cinematography etc. This article explains that the lack of women in the film industry isn't the only problem, women usually play roles that aren't very powerful and don't have the same force and range as men. Another big issue is women of color in the film industry. Viola Davis was the first black woman to win an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama. In her acceptance speech, she does bring up the lack of women and color and says diversity and various ambitions are being left on the cutting room floor.

      This is important to me because women need more positive representation in the film industry, especially women of color! If you look at shows with powerful women lead roles, such as Veep, and Commander-in-Chief, the lead actresses are straight and white. We need more women of color playing powerful roles. It's also important because I'd love to work in the film industry when I get older. It's interesting to hear about all the progress were trying to make to get more women to be successful in film. I hope that one day, when I'm working on a movie, I will have plenty of female coworkers.

     Theres so much I'd like to know, like, will women be able to succeed easier in the film industry or will it always be difficult.  

                 

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Even the Issues Are in Debate!

    Of course Democrats and Republicans have their own ideas of solving certain problems, but it seems as though they can't even agree on the issues we should be focusing on. The reason for this is because theres no single dominant issue motivating each party, theres just a jumble of policy differences and priorities between the two parties. In the most recent presidential debates, Republicans seemed to focus more on abortions, immigrants, and the Iran nuclear deal. Democrats focused more on gun control, police brutality and college tuition. Ben Barnes, a Texas Democrat says, "The Democrats are looking ahead toward tomorrow and trying to determine what we should do, while the Republicans are looking at today and talking about what's wrong," While all the issues brought up by both parties are important, they need to be able to talk about them calmly and clearly.

     This article caught my eye because the presidential debates have been a hot topic these past few days and I was interested in learning more about the candidates and their views. Especially as a teenager, it's very important to stay updated with whats going on around us, to stay educated and prepare ourselves for when we have to start doing "adult things" like voting for president or paying bills. Its difficult to keep up with every political issue and make sense of it all and it's even more difficult when one party has a number of different issues they're focusing on without hearing much of that the other party has to say about it and vice versa.

     I wonder if both parties will be able to agree on important issues to focus and if they can talk about these issues calmly or if it will always be hectic between them?

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Call Me!

     According to Julie Dobrow, you figure out unwritten rules by breaking them. These unwritten rules could be staring into someones eyes rather than looking somewhere else or taking up multiple seats on crowded public transportation. She observed this unwritten rule of texting people, unless its an emergency, you text! She then gave her students the task of calling anyone they needed too instead of texting them for twenty four hours. If they did not pick up the phone, you leave a voice message. This experiment brought back many results. People were either confused, pleasantly surprised, or worried by the random phone call.

     This article caught my eye because I'd much rather text someone than call them. I believe its more time efficient, if your busy you could send a quick text. Obviously if its something important or urgent, then calling is the way to go, However, f you just want to make plans somewhere or you want have a casual conversation I'd just text them. It was interesting to see the reactions of the recipients, and I imagine how my friends would act if I called them asking what page I could find the chemistry homework on. As a filmmaker, I realize that things are constantly changing. Although its perfectly normal to have two friends have a phone conversation in a film, it's more relatable to have them texting or video chatting, even though phone conversations are a lot easier to film.

     This makes me wonder, will texting always be the go-to way of reaching someone? What other forms of communications will be available to us in the future?

He Named Me Malala

    A new documentary hit the theaters this week by the name of 'He Named Me Malala' which tells us about the journey 18-year-old Malala Yousafzais' went through to becoming the youngest Nobel Peace Prize winner. This documentary will bring you right into the world of Malala, causing you to feel a whole range of emotions in an hour and a half. Standing up for girls education in Pakistan, Malala was shot in the head by The Taliban. She doesn't use her story to gain sympathy or to get what she wants, she uses it to gain supporters on causes that matter.

    Malala is an inspiration to so many young girls. She stands up for what she believes in and tries to make a difference in the world. I think its amazing she gets her own documentary to further educate people on not only her life but the causes she's working for such as empowering young girls through education. Its also amazing that people are referring to her as a heroine, because she really is. She is a perfect role model for any young child, being brave,  humble, sensitive and peaceful. As a student I realize that anyone can do anything to benefit the world. As a filmmaker it opens the door to so many different types of genres of movies I could be filming.

    Now, I wonder, how does Malala feel about all the support she's getting? We live in a world now where keeping up with causes, making donations, spreading the word online etc. is so much easier, has this helped Malala raise awareness about causes she's fighting for?

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No means no!

     On Saturday, September 12, an article was published to the Chicago Sun-Times where editor Mary Mitchell questioned if the sexual assault of a sex worker, at gunpoint, could really be classified as rape. She believes that taking the sexual assault of a sex worker "minimizes the act of rape" and is "an insult" to 'real victims'. The article then goes on to explain how sex workers are mistreated by police and many of them don't receive the justice they deserve if they're a victim of sexual assault.

    This article caught my eye because I found it shocking that someone would use their platform to send out such an awful, incorrect message to so many people. There is no such thing as a fake victim of sexual assault. If you are not given full consent, you have no right to do as you please, no matter the persons age, gender, sexuality, clothing, line of work etc. I found this article important because the media tends to blame the victims in situations like this, such as what they were wearing, how they were acting, or if there had been drinking involved when none of that should matter! Young girls and boys then start to believe if they were ever in a situation like that or have been in a situation like that, it would be their fault, and that adds so much more emotional damage to the victim. People who do the wrong thing should face serious consequences for their actions.

   Finally, I wonder, does Mary Mitchell have a comment on all of the negative feedback she's getting? Why does media put blame on the person who doesn't deserve it?

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#FeelTheBern

     It's no secret that news sources will report about things that will get them the most views, or they twist a story around to make it seem more interesting than it really is. This is exactly why the New York Times article claims that in the August alone, they have published 63 articles on Donald Trump, 54 articles on Hillary Clinton, but only 14 articles on Bernie Sanders. Although this article focused on the lack of coverage Sanders is getting in the media, it made me realize how much stuff gets misrepresented in the media, especially with presidential candidates.

           

     I chose this article because the media only shows you the stuff they think will get the most views. If they have the option to write an article about Bernie Sanders' budget proposals or Donald Trump kicking someone out of his press conference, they'd go with the Trump story, and they have gone with the Trump story. A majority of the articles published on presidential candidates won't teach anything worth knowing. Many people who are working or going to school don't have time to research every candidate and find out which one they agree with the most, they use what they see on TV or news sources on their phone. Some people don't even know who the candidates are other than Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. Its hard finding accurate, factual article's that will teach you about a candidates proposals and what they want to accomplish while in office. This article affects me as a student because I see so many people getting wrong information from the media and either don't know or don't care to make sure its accurate. As a consumer it worries me because I have believed many things I've seen online without further researching it. As a filmmaker it has inspired me to one day create content that teaches people about stuff that matters, stuff that will help people, stuff that is truthful and accurate. 

       Lastly, I wonder, will the media ever produce content thats backed up with facts in order to teach people about current events, or will it always be about views and money to them?

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Sony Pictures reaches settlement in hacking lawsuit

   In November of last year, Sony Pictures was hacked, releasing the personal information of many Sony employees. U.S. officials blamed North Korea for this attack because it happened around the time The Interview was going to be released, a comedy with a plot to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. A lawsuit was filed in mid-December saying Sony failed to secure computer systems, servers and databases leaving employees confidential information such as, social security number, and health insurance records unprotected. Sony tried to dismiss the case but the court rejected their request. Sony has finally reached on an agreement to solve the case but a settlement was not disclosed.

     This intrigued me because the threat of hackers are becoming such a big problem. There's so many news stories of hackers getting into websites and emails of people and releasing private information. As a student it worries me because kids do many things online that require personal information such as applying for colleges and jobs and those sites could be hacked anytime. It's also important to realize that even big companies like Sony can be hacked so you shouldn't give personal information unless you have to. 

     I do wonder though, how serious are other companies this? Will they really secure their websites to protect people information or will they just wait to see if it happens to them? 

                                             

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NBCUniversal makes $200-million investment in Buzzfeed

   In the hopes of reaching a younger audience, NBCUniversal makes a $200-million dollar investment in the social news and entertainment company, Buzzfeed. With the technology available to such a large amount of younger people, they have moved away from traditional broadcast media, such a television and radio, and choose to get their news and entertainment online. NBCUniversal plans to collaborate with Buzzfeed on projects such as movies, television shows, olympic coverage, and other ad agencies. They also plan to use this collaboration to put more of their content on social media because shareable content is key to gaining a bigger audience. 

   This article caught my eye because, as a part of the demographic NBCUniversal is trying to reach out too,  I do get most of my news from the internet and I read a lot of Buzzfeed articles.  Being a student with a lot of homework, I don't really have the time to watch 30-60 minuet long TV shows or be up-to-date on all the headlining news stories, so I appreciate the fact that they're trying to make their content more easily accessible through social media. As a filmmaker, and someone who spends way too much time watching Buzzfeed videos on Youtube, I think its really cool they got the opportunity to work with such a big company to expand what they're doing. It made me realize how many opportunities are out there if I do decide to work in the film industry.

   This does, however, raise a few questions. Now that Buzzfeed is working with this big company, is their original content going to depreciate? Will they be able to handle these new projects and keep up with their huge audience online? I guess we'll find out! 

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