Unconvinced

Sissela Bok’s excerpt titled “Aggression:  The Impact of Media Violence” is not very convincing.  Bok uses the Logos appeal, however, not effectively.  After reading the title I expected to read solid evidence regarding the issue of media violence and its contribution to aggression.  I found that Bok’s thesis was somewhat convoluted and more of a discussion as opposed to a statement.  Bok attempts to convince the reader of the correlation between aggression and media violence, but her sources do not come across as credible or factual. 

The first instance of this is Bok’s use of John Grisham as an example.  Grisham’s friend was murdered by a young woman and her boyfriend after the couple repeatedly watched Oliver Stone’s film Natural Born Killers.  Grisham reacts by writing “in protest against the film” and proposing legal action by relating films to breast implants as being “products.”  Bok goes on to write about the fact that Grisham himself has written many books that have been converted to films and contain violence.  This gives the impression that Grisham’s protest is based purely on emotions which does not help Bok’s cause. 

Bok chooses to use psychiatrist Brandon S. Centerwall’s studies of “white homicide” in this piece.  These studies show that violence has risen with the launch of television.  This also is a weak example as “his conclusions have been criticized for not taking into account other factors, such as population changes during the time period studied, that might also play a role in changing crime rates.”

While this piece made me think about the issue of aggression and how it relates to the portrayal of violence in the media, I am not convinced one way or another. 

Can television be properly viewed as increasing aggression when you consider the numerous historical examples of violence and aggression?  Consider Ghengis Khan and many others.

Africa is Beseeching Our Help

Stephen Lewis’ “Pandemic: My Country is on its Knees” is gut wrenching.  In this piece, Lewis tells us about the transformation of Africa, a continent that he is madly in love with.  This land that was so full of promise and hope when Lewis first happened upon it is currently being demolished by AIDS.  Africa is being ripped apart by this pandemic and the rest of the world is not doing near enough to help. 

I believe that Lewis’ goal in writing this is to open people’s eyes to what is really happening throughout a large part of Africa.  He is trying to impart passion and fire into his readers. Lewis does this in a variety of ways.

Firstly, Lewis’ descriptions convey so much horror.  Some of what he writes sounds downright sinister, for example when he is describing the adult medical wards in a hospital in Malawi.  He refers to it as a scene from “Dante’s Inferno” which is an allegorical journey through hell.  This is an extremely effective course of action; it is shocking and thought provoking.

Lewis then brings to his reader’s attention the fact that some countries are actually contributing to this massive catastrophe.  He explains that there is an overwhelming shortage of medical professionals in many parts of Africa.  Many African doctors are being “poached” by nations that have more money and better working conditions, leaving the HIV infected people in Africa with poor care, if any. 

Though Africa is facing a medical crisis of epic proportions, Lewis reminds us that all is not lost.  He writes about several programs, including PMTCT and MSF, that are making a difference. Africa is in desperate need of the whole world’s help and Lewis is very successful in persuading me of that point.  I imagine that each person who reads this lecture of Lewis’ will realize the magnitude of Africa’s dilemma and will want to do something about it.   

What can our country do to help countries in dire need like Africa?

I’m not sure I know what’s really going on

Margaret Atwood’s “Letter to America” is written to a country that has lost their identity.  Reading this letter I felt sad.  It is as if she is speaking to a close friend who has become someone else, someone completely different from the person she once believed them to be.  America has impacted her in so many ways and shared countless memories.   Atwood is urging self reflection because the countries choices are destructive to themselves and also to the rest of the world.  

In the first part of her letter, Atwood reminisces about what America used to be.  This larger than life nation produced so many musical, literary, and big screen heroes.  This country, birthplace of the sought after American dream, “stood up for freedom, honesty, and justice.”

Though Atwood is hesitant and feels embarrassed she goes on to let America know exactly what she thinks about the degradation of a country that was once supreme.  She does not mince words when she writes “You’re gutting the constitution.”  Freedom has turned into your private property being searched without permission.  Honesty is becoming unrecognizable.  When a nation has to wonder if what they are told by their leaders is actually true, something is wrong.  It’s hard to see the justice in people being jailed or worse without any basis.  America is drowning itself in debt and “torching” their economy. 

To me, the best example that Atwood brings up is her suggestion that America could end up going the root of the USSR.  It seems like a slap in the face to say that America could become the very thing they once hated and stood against. 

In the last paragraph Atwood offers this forlorn country hope for redemption.   She encourages America to remember what it used to stand for and to invoke the spirits of the heroes that shaped this country in such a positive way.

Has Canada lost its identity in any way?