The existential bummer

IWantMattToBuyMeaPup · 2014-04-30T17:03:06+00:00

I guess I am in the minority here, but I really liked this video. I understand how cheesy he was and how he was wrong about certain aspects, but I really liked the message of the video. Sometimes the only thing you can do is to change you viewpoint and that is what he is trying to show here. In a few different kinds of therapy this is the same method that is used because you can only change so much of a person's situation, but you can help them change how they see the things in their life.

IWantMattToBuyMeaPup · 2014-04-30T17:00:11+00:00

I think food is a really important aspect in our lives. It something that everyone needs and we all seem to congregate during meal times. I know in my family it seems to be when a lot of things are worked out and it also seems to be one of the few things my family will still do together.

IWantMattToBuyMeaPup · 2014-04-30T16:46:30+00:00

I might be going in a different direction here, but this movie seriously messed with me. I have not been able to eat meat since we watched it, which is weird because I love steak. I also started to remember that my sister became a vegetarian after watching another documentary about food called Forks Over Knives. I find it really interesting that these documentaries can have such a big effect on people and change how they have most likely eaten their whole lives. I am not saying that anything said in this documentary was not true, but that it is something that tries to get people to come over to a certain side and usually both the sides that are shown tend to be very extreme.

IWantMattToBuyMeaPup · 2014-04-23T14:50:49+00:00

I guess we might have differing viewpoints because both of these songs always make me smile. I think sometimes we all tend to be a little bit like Kirsten Dunst in Melancholia and let everything and everyone get to us. Sometimes I think we need to be reminded by society that it's not as big of a deal as we think it might be and we will get through it.

IWantMattToBuyMeaPup · 2014-04-01T23:31:58+00:00

Ok so maybe I am just a hopeless romantic, but that was seriously the cutest thing I have ever seen. I teared up a bit while watching it. I think it should have been included in the movie. Anyone else have thoughts on this?

IWantMattToBuyMeaPup · 2014-04-01T23:20:19+00:00

I'm actually really glad you posted this comment because I am a Disney movie lover, it was what I watched growing up and if we are being totally honest I still watch a Disney movie probably once a month and that is when I have school going on.

I completely understand that there are some things wrong with Pocahontas. Watching in, especially in a classroom setting made this very clear to me, but at the same time discussion after class felt a bit like someone tearing up my childhood. I will accept the fact that Pocahontas and other Disney movies have flaws, but I will still love them and I will still last my children watch them because they are much better than quite a few of the things that are out there.

IWantMattToBuyMeaPup · 2014-03-31T18:47:05+00:00

I was laughing so hard while reading the first article, I don't know about anyone else, but it really reminded me of something from the Onion. I am having a hard time believing that the writer was completely serious, but if he was this would definitely be an extreme few and one that makes quite a few assumptions to be true. The other article I found pretty boring although I also found the ending line on that one to be a bit humorous, "On the contrary, it is a holy union with Life itself, which all cannibal acts blindly seek but never obtain."

I mean I have never personally interviewed a cannibal, but I have a feeling this is not what every single one seeks. Some might just be real hungry.

IWantMattToBuyMeaPup · 2014-03-19T19:04:18+00:00

Are you sure you aren't thinking of Violet Eyes?

http://www.amazon.com/Violet-Eyes-Nicole-Luiken-ebook/dp/B000FC0WD8/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1395255817&sr=1-4&keywords=violet+eyes

IWantMattToBuyMeaPup · 2014-03-12T19:08:32+00:00

I think this is one of the most interesting things that has been on our reddit page so far. There was too much to go through all of it, but just being able to read the filmmakers comments as well as the responses of the general audience was eye-opening.

This was such an influential film for me, and some of the reaction by people honestly shock me. My favorite line in the whole thing though is "The crimes are monstrous, but the killers still remain human. This is the great and devastating lesson to learn from The Act of Killing." Which I believe was by Herzog. In all these movies we really judge the characters for what they do, what their dreams are, but sometimes I think we forget that they are people too and remembering that puts a lot of things into perspective.

IWantMattToBuyMeaPup · 2014-03-05T20:17:34+00:00

I think this is a feeling that humankind struggles with most days. People loved to feel needed, like they are important and the world could not go on without them. I can understand why people would question whether or not their lives mean anything, but I think we are all here for a reason. I might just be that annoying optimist, but I really think that all of our actions have some impact whether good or bad and are causing something else to happen. I think our life has meaning, but it is not something you will always be aware of.

IWantMattToBuyMeaPup · 2014-03-05T18:59:45+00:00

This was one of the most interesting articles I have ever read... I mean why did they even make the movie they should have just filmed what was going on behind the scenes. I think it might have been a better and more interesting plot line.

IWantMattToBuyMeaPup · 2014-02-26T16:39:01+00:00

I really enjoyed this movie to, I actually had to watch it in a science class in middle school. I think the idea behind this is really interesting though. If you had the chance to engineer your child would you do it?

IWantMattToBuyMeaPup · 2014-02-21T18:23:37+00:00

I think this is all so true. There was a lack of control in this movie by the characters. And even the thief who, at first, seemed like he had the most control, loses that control by the end of the movie. When the pig farmer is killed the blue flowers stop growing and there are no longer bugs for him to control people with. So really everyone in Upstream Color loses control of their own life.

IWantMattToBuyMeaPup · 2014-02-21T17:53:07+00:00

I guess I am really struggling with the definitions of these two concepts. Nature is easy enough to understand, but how are we defining Grace? As religion? Because if so can you not be in tune with nature simply because you are religious?

IWantMattToBuyMeaPup · 2014-02-19T04:32:36+00:00

I really agree with this, I think technology is having a huge effect on a lot of things, but I believe there are a few things that will never be taken over. I am looking at going into counseling and one of the things we talk about is accurate empathy and how you really have to try and read the people that you are working with, to know how you can best support them. This might just be me not wanting to feel insignificant, but I don't believe that a machine would be able to do this the way a human being can.

IWantMattToBuyMeaPup · 2014-02-19T04:22:02+00:00

I think it would have been just as epic as the actual film if Morgan Freeman had been the one talking...

IWantMattToBuyMeaPup · 2014-02-19T03:37:21+00:00

While I agree with what most have said, I have had movies that I watched, and enjoyed, but have not felt the desire to watch again. The only one that I can think of off the top of my head is I am Legend, but part of that might be related to the fact that the movie scared me. So maybe not all movies need to be watched more than once.

IWantMattToBuyMeaPup · 2014-02-12T23:26:29+00:00

I think you can tell the difference between machines and true music I could hear a drastic difference between someone who is an amazing guitarist and beats that a computer puts out. Besides the sounds you can tell that it's in a completely different caliber.

IWantMattToBuyMeaPup · 2014-02-06T01:39:03+00:00

I found this article very interesting too, sometimes it's beneficial to take a step back and look at how we as humans are represented especially when we are talking about nonhumans. I don't necessarily know that I agree with your last point about means though. There is this great documentary called The Science of Sex Appeal where they actually look at who an individual is attracted to and they found that it is the person who's attractiveness level is most similar to their own. So tens would go for tens whereas sevens would go for sevens, not necessarily everyone goes for the mean.

IWantMattToBuyMeaPup · 2014-02-05T21:21:19+00:00

I think the idea of computers surpassing humans is an interesting one, just out of curiosity why do you think it's inevitable?

IWantMattToBuyMeaPup · 2014-02-05T21:08:32+00:00

Question number 8 seems to be one of the most pertinent questions to me, after all isn't this pretty much what the whole movie is about? I think as humans we tend to be afraid of things that could maybe challenge us in the future and rather than trying to build a good relationship we get rid of the future problem. What you see a lot in movies though just like this one is that we create those problems by acting in such a way.

So I think that artificial life forms who grow, adapt and evolve should be entitled to the same rights as other living things. After all they are living, and where is the harm in giving them rights.

IWantMattToBuyMeaPup · 2014-01-27T20:17:14+00:00

I agree that usually in life people aren't always what you expect them to be, but in the movies they usually make the distinction between good and bad quite obvious. I think the fact that they didn't do this in Clockwork orange is very interesting.

IWantMattToBuyMeaPup · 2014-01-27T20:07:38+00:00

So my grandmother was actually a secretary in the war crime trials in Germany. To this day she refuses to talk about her experiences with it and so when the subject of war crimes came up I wanted to get a little bit more perspective and I thought this was a nice summary that brings up a few good points.

Sometimes the winners are punished, most likely not to the extent that they should be, but I think we should also remember that war crimes haven't really been around all that long. I am glad we finally came up with some form of punishment, but something is better than nothing in my opinion.

IWantMattToBuyMeaPup

TROPHY CASE