Extra Credit Post

Ahh it's black friday. I didn't go shopping today though...I went yesterday at 6 pm.  Every year it seems that black friday starts earlier and earlier and of course me and my family bought into the hype. It was insane at great lakes crossing yesterday, I waited an hour and a half just to buy two t-shirts. As I was standing in line trying not to go crazy, it occurred to me that there are many parallels between the consumerism of the roaring twenties and the consumerism around the holidays in our society today.

After waiting very long in line for two shirts I realized that I had wasted my night. What happiness would buying this give me? It's literally 10 dollars off of a shirt. The great gatsby does an excellent job of showing how pointless materialism really is.


Fitzgerald was disillusioned with how america had turned into a materialistic driven country so he wrote gatsby. If fitzgerald was alive now I'm absolutely positive he would be even more disgusted than he was back then. The amount of advertising on our buildings, televisions, radios. and games is ridiculous.  This all ties back to my experience yesterday.We all know how destructive chasing money and materials is, and how money doesn't equal happiness, but we continue to buy into black friday. Why do we all go crazy on black friday? Why does buying clothes and appliances on minimal sales make us so happy? Fitzgerald and all of us had this same question. I'm afraid that we are all aware of our stupidity but we will never break the shackles of consumerism. With that being said, I'll see all of you next year for the sales! :)

Lost Generation

I'm quite happy actually. I'm happy because I got to do some more research on one of my favorite eras from american history: the 1920's. I aced this unit in APUSH so I was excited to do research on it.

Anyways, modernism in the 1920's is really interesting to me. It was a time of industrialization, a time of change, a time of new ideas and values. Long gone were the days of rural lifestyle, the place to be was the city. Screw community and family living, independence was the goal.Forget the farms, the stock market was where the real money was at. Modernism was embraced by many but modernism was also rejected and frowned upon by many.

One such group that were disillusioned with all the changes were the writers of the lost generation. Ernest hemingway made the bold statement "You are all a lost generation." Many other writers of the time believed in this such as F Scott Fitzgerald. The disillusionment of all these writers were because of "the lack of purpose or drive resulting from the horrific disillusionment felt by those who grew up and lived through the war, and were then in their twenties and thirties. Having seen pointless death on such a huge scale, many lost faith in traditional values like courage, patriotism, and masculinity." (O'Connor, university of oxford)

The lost generation is important. Some of the most influential and praised books were a product of the writers of the lost generation. The Great Gatsby and a Farewell to Arms are both essential pieces of american literature. I'm excited to read the Great Gatsby.

Loving you is complicated

Butterflies are beautiful, and there are no attempts from anyone to make them more beautiful. People are also beautiful like butterflies , yet white America continues to attempt to "Pimp" these butterflies. Why? The parallels between Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye and Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp a Butterfly are uncanny. Both projects tackle the themes of white america bearing black america down, racism, self hatred/love, beauty, and socioeconomic standing. There are many songs from this album that could be analysed within the context of The Bluest Eye, but I want to focus on "u" which arguably is the most difficult song to listen to sonically, but arguably the most personal and deep song to listen to lyrically. The song is all about depression, more specifically self-depression and self hatred, which is something Pecola deals with in Morrison's book. 

You preached in front of 100,000 but never reached her
I fuckin' tell you, you fuckin' failure—you ain't no leader!
I never liked you, forever despise you—I don't need you!
The world don't need you, don't let them deceive you

Here, Kendrick acknowledges being hailed as a great by hip hop legends, yet not feeling as if he's accomplished anything. He says he never reached "her" which is women in general and more specifically his sister. He realizes he can have critical success but without making a difference in people's lives he feels useless. This is quite similar to how Toni feels in the foreword, she is unsatisfied because readers felt “touched but not moved”. Morrison also says that self loathing is worse than being disliked because it's internalized and it can lead to self destruction. 

Self destruction. Which is exactly what Kendrick is going through in the song. He's drunk, he's crying. He's wailing. We see a man literally hate himself so much that it leads to near destruction. He second guesses his accomplishments and second guesses living. 

You ain’t no brother, you ain’t no disciple, you ain’t no friend
A friend never leave Compton for profit or leave his best friend

This song is a stark contrast to "i" which is an upbeat song about positivity and self love. 

(I love myself)
Illuminated by the hand of God, boy don't seem shy
(I love myself)
One day at a time, uhh

Kendrick himself says "there can be no 'i' without 'u'." Life will always be hard, but self hatred can be avoided. Self love can be achieved, you must battle the struggle of loving yourself in the face of strife. 

But then again...Loving you is complicated

Ugliness and Beautiness

OK, quick question. Who the hell decides what makes a person beautiful and what makes a person ugly. Seriously though. Also, who the hell decides that we all have to agree to this standard of beauty. You know when I read the question "Is race a social construct?" I scoffed and didn't think much of it. But after much research i concluded that race is indeed a social construct. Now if someone were to ask me "Is beauty a social construct?" I wouldnt research it at all because the answer is obviously yes. The concept of beauty and reaching the perceived standard of it has ruined many lives and made many people feel terrible about themselves. We are constantly being bombarded with how we should look and what we should wear by society. Billboards, movies, television, and advertisements all perpetuate the backwards standards about beauty that we all have to live with.
The Bluest Eye delves into the emotional effects that these beauty standards can have on people. "Each night, without fail, she prayed for blue eyes" (page 46) Pecola wishes and wishes for blue eyes and she hates herself because she doesn't have them. This is a terrible thought and a terrible feeling. Imagine hating yourself because of how you look. Something you have no control over. There are times when everybody thinks this. Sometimes I wish I was taller but at the end of the day I can't control that and I'm happy. For other people though, they don't realize that and they start to hate themselves over what they can't control. To solve this issue I think that there needs to be more emphasis on self love instead of the same old standards everyone strives for.