Blog #23 Robot Stories…. Last Blog of the semester!
I think this is the last blog of the semester. It was said in class that we should have 22 blogs total but I have 23, oh well. Here it goes….
I already wrote about the film in my last blog so I am going to write about what we talked about in class. I thought the whole classification conversation was interesting. I think that we should be able to just appreciate all films for what they are instead of looking at them as just asian american films or american films. I think that the message in the film should speak for itself, but in todays society, even with all of the progress we have made, it is still all about labels. It’s sad to say that out loud but it’s true. I think that our discussion in class should be a discussion that everyone should have so we can all really think about it. I know that this is a controversial topic but I think its a discussion worth having. Yayyy all done!!!
Blog #22 Robot Stories
I am doing this blog a day late…. again. So I am going to write about the movie we watched in class. First off I think this was a very strange movie. I have to say I liked part 1 the best. Part two was really weird and part three was really sad. With that said moving onn…
Ok so the first story My Robot Baby was interesting. I thought the first part when she was hiding in the closet because her parents were fighting was somthing that a lot of people can relate to. I thought it was harsh when her mother came in and told her to never “fall in love, get married, or have children”. I dont understand how a mother can say this to her child. Imagine how that must have made her feel? I think this was why she was hesitant to get a baby with her husband because she was afraid of being a bad mother. I think she needed to take the robot baby more seriously even though she knew it wasnt a real baby she still should have treated it like one because its good practice for her future real baby. I thought it was interesting that they ended that movie with the robot hiding in the closet. When she went in to look for it I think it finally hit her that she had become like her mother and I think this scared her more than anything. I think that after this experience she will be a better mother because she knows that everything she does will have an impact on her child.
The second story about the mother with the child in the coma was interesting. It seemed like the child in the flashbacks might have had autism or something. I thought her flashbacks were interesting and showed us what her relationship was like with her son, and I think she regretted not having a closer relationship with him once something happened to him. I thought the whole thing with the action figues was intersting and something that everyone can relate to. I know when I am upset I focus on cleaning. When you are upset you try and do anything to take your mind off it. This was a strange diversionary tactic but it rang true none the less.
The third story was about the man that was a robot. I thought it was interesting how he imitated the socia slang that he heard people say and was able to spit it back out in appropriate context. I thought it was cute that he found a female robot to be infatuated with. I thought it was really creepy that the male staff were molesting the female robot and the female staff member was feeling up the male robot’s chest. I dont know why someone would do that. I think it was cute how they met in the end but sad how everyone else just called them freaks because they didnt want to see that they had feelings and werent just robots anymore. I thought this was a strange love story but it was definitely interesting.
The fourth story called clay was about a man who found out he only had a year left to live. I thought it was really sad how the doctor told him the bad news, he was just like oh well 20 years ago you would have been able to beat this but its too strong of a virus now so I would say you have about a year left. He just mentioned that he could have his memory scanned into that computer system thing, which i still dont understand, and then he could live on forever. I think its interesting that the old man was so against this because it seemed like something that was commonplace for society at that time. He thought it wasnt fair and he was going to live forever in this perfect world that he didnt deserve and he didnt think that was right. I thought this was really admirable of him, and It was very sad when he died by the stream. But at least he died with his dignity and stuck with his principles.
Blog #21 End of My year of meats
Ok so this blog post is going to be about our group discussion. My group had the topic of the representation of America. We discussed one passage on pg. 35 where they discuss wal-mart and the idea of overindulgence and greed. We thought about how this relates to how other countries see americans as greedy and selfish. The Japanese came into wal mart and were amazed that we had all of this for the taking. They figured that we must just take advantage of all of these commodities around us, and we sometimes do.
We also found another quote on pg. 336 where she was on the train and this poor family offered her some of their fried chicken and other southen comfort foods. She took the food and was all of a sudden thinking that this was America! It’s funny how almost every description of American includeds some sort of food, or eating. We thought this quote contrasts to the first quote because this shows that some Americans are kind and giving even though they dont have a lot to give, like the family on the train. We thought this was an interesting contrast and it truly shows that America is full of diversity and there cannot be just one sterotype or view of Americans because we are all different
Blog #20 My Year of Meats part 2
OK i know this blog is wicked late but im going to do it anyways.
Um there was so much reading I dont even now what I want to talk about. I dont know about everyone else but I was sad to hear that Akiko got her period. I dont want her to have a baby with John and I dont think that she does either. I wish that she would be strong enough to admit to him that she doesnt want to have a baby.
I also thought that the fact that Jane’s Japanese heritage was being questioned was something that seemed very familiar to us. Every book we have read about the Japanese culture contains something about how Japanese a person is. This seems to be an important issue throughout all the stories and I dont really seem to know why it matters how Japanese she is. She is half Japanese and half American I believe and I dont understand why they think this is not Japanese enough? Why does that even matter, why does this damn topic keep ccoming up? frankly im sick of reading about it.
Blog #19 My Year of Meats Part I.
ok so I have to say that I am liking this book a whole lot more than the last one. I think its really nice to read a contemporary novel and I can relate to the story a lot more. ok so here it goes
my first thoughts are about the memo sent to the production theme from japan in the beginning of the book. I thought it was interesting how everything they desired was considered american and everything on that list started with attractive. I thought it was interesting how they considered everything that was american in value either had to do with attractivness or meat. This sounds like a weird combination but it seems to fit. Think about it, we are a land of superficial thoughts and we are full of people who like to eat. I can understand why people would make this connection with america.
one other thing I thought was interesting was the idea of Jane’s name. Her parents couldnt come up with a compromise on her name so they hyphenated it. I think it was a really interesting choice because her mother was so adamant about her daugher having a good strong name because your name is what you put forward for the whole world to see. Which I think is a good point. One thing that I didnt understand was, if her mom felt so strongly about a strong name, then why did they name her Jane. I know it said this was because they could not compromise on anything else but it seems contradictory because this was the name that she was going to be putting forth and I thought it was a little strange. Also just because of the fact that Jane is so american and i think this was a purposeful choice on the authors side. It definitly makes you think.
The part with suzie flowers made me sad and disgusted at the same time. I was mad that suzies husband would announce his affair on national television. I was upset that the producers decided to add that boinggg sound when they showed suzie’s reaction to the news. I was disappointed at that choice and that they would go to her after this has all happened and still ask her for her wedding phots because they wanted to use them in the beginning of the episode. I mean have some compassion! In a way i expected from the rest of the crew but I was upset at the producers decision to still add that part in the episode. I think it was a poor choice and I expected more of her. I dont know why im so suprised by this because this is what we are surrounded by in the reality tv we watch today.
One other thing I thougt was interesting was the addition of Wal-Mart to this story. I think that this is quintesential american. We have all this stuff at our fingertips and I can understand why someone from another country would be amazed by this. I think that this chain ties well into the idea of want and need as discussed in the book. I think this is also an impportant facet of american life, as we talked about in class we are always wanting something and always needing something. I think that sometimes people need to think about what the definition of need is. We need food and water, we do not need the newest iphone. I think this is something that I am guilty of and I can understand why other countries can sometimes see us as greedy.
I could go on forever but I think thats enough for this post.
Blog # 18 End of Native Speaker
OK I have to say that I am so glad this book is over. I just could not get into it. There were some parts that were interesting but most of them were hard to follow and just left me uninterested. But with that behind me here are my thoughts about this end reading.
My first thoughts are about the ending. I always try to think about how a story is going to end before I get there and I was thinking to myself that I would be angry if Henry and Lelia got back together in the end because she was so awful to him in the beginning and they just seemed to be a mismatched couple from the start. But after reading the final chapter I have to say that I have changed my mind. I think that Henry has learned why Lelia had felt the way she did about him and why she wanted to get away and hes trying to change. I think they seem like a better fit now, she is finally accepting him for who he is and they are working together in something they both love which I think is bringing them closer.
I am also thinking about the discussion we had in class today about the list and whether or not Henry should have given all of those people up. I think that Henry’s fear of his boss hurting him or his wife if he didnt turn over the list is valid and I dont think that we should judge him for making the decision he did. Like we were talking about in class we have hindsight in our favor looking back on it so its easy for us to critique his choice but I cant say that I would have done anything different. I think he was trying to just get this last job done so he could be free and clear from it and move on with his life. If he were to be a martyr and try to save all of those people then his family could have suffered for it. I think thats a hard call to make. And who’s to say that even if he did hide the list and be killed for it that these people would have actually been saved. They would have just hired someone else to redo what Henry had done and all of those people that Harry had died in vain trying to save would have been deported anyways. I think this was a lose lose situation and its hard to say what you would have done until you are in that situation. I think this says a lot about Henry’s character that he wanted to just get that one last job done so he could protect his family and put all those experiences behind him and move on.
Blog # 17 Native Speaker part 3
Ok I am not liking Henry Park so far. I just don’t understand his job. I mean he lives his life by pretending to get close to someone only so he can rat them out. I mean I just think hes being hypocritical and if he was in there position he wouldst want someone telling on him. I think hes only a citizen just because of his marriage to Leila so he should really count his blessings and hope that they don’t get divorced because he could lose his citizenship. I didn’t completely finish the reading yet and I hope I’m not totally off base here.
I am liking this book now, it is an easy read and keeps me pretty interested. But that doesnt keep me from disliking both of the main characters. I think that Harry’s ambiguity is starting to get obnoxious and I wish he would just say what he wants to say and mean it for once. I think that Leila is kind of full of herself and needs someone to take her down a peg. I think that she uses that fact that she can speak perfect english against Harry just because she is insecure about their relationship and needs to make herself feel that she is in some way better than him. But language is not the only thing that makes a marriage. I think its pretty cowardly of her to just take off on vacation and just leave him a note of everything she hates about him. I think she should just be a grown up and talk to him about whats really bothering her, if she wants out the relationship then she needs to be upfront and honest about it. phew sorry a little rant there but just how I feel so far.
Blog #16 Native Speaker Pg. 19-130
I am slowly getting into this book, its not my favorite so far but here it goes…
I like how we are slowly getting to know more about each character. Henry seems to always speak in circles and can never seem to get to the point in any of his stories. Everything we hear from him is jumpy and fragmented. Leila, on the other hand, is almost always blunt and honest. She gets to the point and makes sure you know what she means. One interaction that I thought was interesting was with Leila and the housekeeper. She was trying to help her fold laundry and the maid was politely trying to get her to leave the room but Leila insisted and they ended up getting into a “hockey checking” battle until Leila accidentally hits her in the ear with her elbow and the maid runs away. Later when she goes back to check on her the maid calls her a selfish American cat. I think that Leila doesn’t realize what she is doing sometimes. She seems almost socially inept. I think she thinks that she is helping and people are liking her, but she almost always comes off as rude and strange. I think this is an interesting facet of her character that we are bound to learn more about.
Blog #15 Native Speaker p. 1-18
I am pleased to finally be reading a contemporary piece. I think this book is turning out to be both interesting and confusing. The first thing in this book that seemed really interesting was the list that Leila left for her husband. I found some of the things on the list to be humorous like when she calls him good in bed and then overrated. I think that there were some things on the list that were just intended to be hurtful, like when she called him a B+ student of life. I think she is just really digging at him saying that he will never be perfect because he is not a native speaker and how can he expect to thrive in an English speaking world without knowing English. I think she is also bragging that she can speak so well and he cant. Another thing I thought was interesting was his indifference to his wife taking multiple trips a month without telling him where she was going or who she was going to be with. Not to mention that she was taking their “savings” with her. He just seemed so ignorant about the issue.
One part of this book that confused me was Harry’s job. I didn’t know if he was a spy or if he worked in the government. He talked about how he had to watch people and report them and I was confused. On his wife’s list she calls him a traitor and I think that his job choice probably has a lot to do with this. I look forward to reading the rest of this story and gaining more insight into these characters lives.
Blog #14 Vietnamese Americans
I am going to focus this blog on the poem that my group did in class called my Hmong Father. I know we talked a lot about how we didnt even know that the Hmong was a separate group, we thought it was a place. I think this just shows how little people are educated about this topic. In the poem the son was talking about how his father had to travel through the war in Vietnam to get them to America so they could have a better life. He discusses how brave his father was and how proud he was of him. Then in the last stanza he is wondering where that brave man went and says that he sees a man trapped by his race, religion, and ethnicity. I think this shows that his father was this brave man in Vietnam but now that they are in America his smarts don’t get him very far. He cant speak English and cant get a job. I think that the son is disappointed because he sees a shell of his former father. They came to America looking for the American dream and ended up wasting their life because they just aren’t accepted. I think this is a similar problem had by many families. Particularly with parents and their children. Parents always want their children to succeed and are disappointed when they feel they have not taken the steps necessary to become all they can be.
