Reflective Essay #11 Any Last Words?

Even though we only just read about The Hulk for class today I would have to say that The Hulk is the superhero that I knew least about and now know reasons for his anger. Anyone who has had as hard of a childhood as Brune Banner is definitely going to have some built up anger in his system from having such an abusive father. I always believed that The Hulk was just angry because of the tranformation like a Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde thing but now that it is because he only had a supportive mother and was a very awkward kid when he was little, I understand a lot more for these rage outbreaks. Who wouldn't want to just release all of that anger that you have had all of your life just so you could feel better?

I don't think any superhero that I already knew about had my opinion change about them. I think I had a prettu good grasp on each of the superheroes that we talked about throughout the class. A lot of them I really got into because I understood the articles that we read and liked disecting what it is about the superhero that makes them super or that makes them stand up for certain beliefs. I guess the one superhero that I never really thought about possibly being a villain was Professor X and then vise versa for Magneto. The thought that their roles in the X-Men could potentially be switched as villain and hero was quite shocking. MAgneto is just trying to save the mutant race in a way and Professor X, you could say, is trying to control the mutants and their powers. The idea that this could be happening made me look into the X-Men a little differently and what is really means to be a villain or a hero.

I have learned through class about myself that a lot of us are just like superheroes and if we just tried hard enough to tap into specific things that would make us super we could be. I never thought of myself as being a superhero and with some of our previous reflections I realized that I'm not sure if I would be that successful as a hero. I am to connected to my family and friends that I would be putting them in a lot of danger if my villains ever realized who my secret identity was. And my moral code might be scewed if any of my friends or family were personally attacked. I would definitely want revenge on those who would ever try to hurt my loved ones.

Because Spider-Man is one of my favorite heroes I wish we could have done more discussion in class on him. I mean, he was brought up once in a while for other discussion about certain articles and whatnot but I just wanted to go into more detail about him and his story and compare other superheroes to him. I did, however, really like the discussion week about the X-Men. I think that was one of my favorite weeks of class because they are the first team of superheroes that was more human that the rest and it is just because of genetic mutation that makes them super not necessarily their origin story or anything.

I think that a lot of the heroes we have talked about could qualify as the "good citizen". The most obvious would be Captain America and Superman, but we can argue that Batman and darker superheroes could be good citizens as well. Because almost all of there heroes hold "American Values" of freedom and justice, almost everyone looks up to that and wants to be just as great as them. But that isn't everything that makes up a good citizen. Even The Watchmen can be good citizens because they take into heart the greater good of the people, especially when initially figuring out Ozymandias' plan. They want what's best for the city and every single person in it than just the system of the city as a whole. They would take care of each individual person if they could, a lot like how Captain American or Superman probably would. Every hero I believe is a good citizen and protrays different values that if you were to put them all together you would definitely get a "Super Citizen".

Refelctive Essay #10 HERO

I would first like to start off saying that I absolutely loved this book! I could not stop reading when I finally got to the last ten chapters. I thought the plot line and characters were fantastically portrayed and if only I had super healing powers.
Thom's Coach tells him he can't play on the basketball team anymore because of the comment that was made about him from the opposite team of Thom being gay. I think that that situation is totally unacceptable. Discrimination against someone's sexual orientation, especially a teenager, is the worst thing an adult can do to someone's self-esteem. If I were in Thom's position I definitely would had tried to go to the school principle and plead that this action was not fair. My family already deals with discrimation from school coaches with my brother. He is an awesome baseball player and his team even voted him as captain, but because the coach is so young and better "friends" with some of the other players because of the coach's younger siblings that attend the same highschool, my brother never got to play his junior or senior year of highschool in baseball. My parents did not take that situation lightly and phone calls were made. I was very disappointed as well. As an adult, you would think they would know better.
Ruth is trying to tell Thom not to wait anymore for a perfect fantasy life that will probably never happen. His fantasies about Uberman being madly in love with him or his dad breaking down his defensive wall and hugging him in public are personal issues that will probably never be solved. In that case, Thom needs to grasp reality and start living a life that makes him happy without thinking of all of the disappointments and getting his hopes up. When I first started college I was definitely looking for a certain someone to make me happy. In that case, I had a behavior that I was not proud of that I guess tried to compensate for my unhappiness. When I finally found my boyfriend I realized that all I had to do was be the real me and stop trying to pretend I was someone I wasn't and stop trying to make things happen instead of letting things happen on their own. That is how I am in control of my happiness because I know that everything happens for a reason.
I think a moment to feel exceptional happens to most people. I do feel that some people, when they don't get certain achievements in life, tend to give up instead of trying a new way of things or just waiting a little longer for that moment. Moments like that we can't make happen. It takes time until people really notice that you have achieved something great. I know from experience. I have been waiting a long time to finally become recognized by my dance studio at home because I have always been at every recital to help and have offered to choreograph dances and for a while I wasn't getting anything. It wasn't until this year that I made a dance for a couple girls that people fell in love with at their summer recital. I just thought to myself "FINALLY!". After that, they have been asking me to choreograph a lot more for them and it makes me feel very accomplished.
I think that the "first perfect kiss" is achievable but not until its with the right person. Everyone has to experience a first kiss and sometimes its awkward and sometimes its great but you can still have a "first kiss" with a new boyfriend/girlfriend. Like Thom, I have a really big crush on Mark Wahlberg. I don't know why I have this crush I just fell in love with him after watching the Italian Job. I think we have crushes like this because we know that if we lives in an alternate universe where anything and everything is possible, we would want to be with those famous people. And it's not that we want to be with them because they are famous, it's because the characters that they portray sometimes may make us believe we understand the type of person they are so we feel that we would be able to connect with them. That is probably how Thom feels about Uberman.

Reflective Essay #9 To Infinity and Beyond!

Reading The Watchmen was surprisingly very entertaining. I found it a hard book to get into at the beginning just because there was so much going on at once. But after you get through some of the major character development, the story moves along at a quick pace. I tried watching The Watchmen movie a long time ago when it first came out and I couldn't even finish it I was so confused and had no idea what was going on. Now, after reading the novel, I wouldn't mind trying to watch it again to see how the movie portrays everything. The whole time I was reading the novel I kept thinking about the articles we had previously read and the documentary movie that we watched. Everything in the book seemed like it revolved around the same ideas that the documentary was about and the articles. This was a story about normal everyday people taking an initiative to try and stop crime. Now, as much as I love this idea, if it were to happen in my own neighborhood, I'm not exactly sure how I would react to it at first. If some like Rorschach were to just walk up and down my street I would definitely be scared, but I would also wonder what the hell he was doing with a mask on.
Another part of this week that was interesting for me was arguing in Ozymandias was a terrorrist or freedom fighter. I was the terrorrist side and I was on that side when I read the book. I thought that he took himself more into consideration than the world because he thought he was on this mission to create peace. But usually missions like that do not cause 3 million deaths in the process. I was happy to know that Rorschach's journal made it to the newspaper office because if the boy ended up printing it, then the world would know that Ozymandias was a villain more than a hero. Something that I thought supported this was when Dr. Manhatten told him that nothing ever ends. Ozymandias' goal was to end war when really all he did was prevent from happening right away. As long as humanity lives there will never be an end to fighting. So my opinion still stays with him being a terrorrist.
the last thing that really intrigued me was the way that all of the Watchmen became heroes. Rorschach became a hero out of hatred from his childhood. The second Silk Spectre had to become a hero because of her mom. Jon Osterman didn't really have a choice because his dad was already deciding his future for him. Nite Owl seemed like he didn't really want to be a hero if no one else was doing it. The Comedian just had a very angry outlook on life and took out his anger through working with the government and being able to kill people without feeling bad about it. I am not sure if I would have the guts to become a hero even if I was forced to. It is a cool idea but there are so many responsibilities that we have talked about in class and as we have seen in the Watchmen, not all of the heroes are that successful. But someone has to bite the bullet if humanity is threatened. I just hope it won't have to be me.

Reflective Essay #8 Is This Real Life?

If I were to dress up as a superhero, hypothetically speaking in the real world, I would definitely not have a cape. After watching the Incredibles, capes don’t look like a superhero’s best friend. I would also probably wear a mask. I like the idea of mysteriousness behind a superhero and would like to know that people are trying to figure out who I am. I would probably make my costume out of material made with dance costumes, like spandex but not as tight. I am kind of a self-conscious person so I wouldn’t want to show parts of me that I don’t like showing. I would probably wear pants or leggings, definitely not a skirt or short shorts. My top would probably be just a t-shirt or a baby-doll style shirt. I don’t need to show all of my stomach or cleavage. I would be a more conservative superhero when it comes to my costume. I would definitely want so gadgets or small tools to use when going around fighting crime. I like the idea of hand to hand combat and fighting, I think weapons are cheating. But a few helpers to climb buildings or help me get away would be nice. The biggest problem that is happening in my town is gangs and bullying within schools. My brother is a victim of bullying so I do not tolerate any type of bullying whatsoever. Gangs are also a huge problem because a member lives down the street from me and sometimes I don’t feel safe in my own home because of him. So those two problems would be my main focus. I was most inspired by Master Legend. I think that since he is able to run very successful charity drives is a very important way of helping out with a big problem. There are always going to be homeless people everywhere, and the more that everyone can help, the bigger difference we all can make.

Reflection Essay #7 Well if the cape fits...

This week's discussions have been so interesting to talk about. I have never really seen any of the X-men besides the newer movies, but the reading has helped me understand so much about them. I believe that if I were a mutant like Storm that I would love being mutant. I wouldn't have any type of physical attributes that would make me look different in any way so it would be easy to fit in to society. Having a mutation like her's would definitely an awesome experience. On the other hand, if I had a mutation like Rogue's I would probably hate being mutant. I am a very personal person and love to give hugs and whatnot so to not be able to physical touch someone any more for the rest of my life would be heartbreaking. My dream is to work with children through psychology and if I weren't able to reach out to them, then there would be no point in my life anymore. Life could definitely go on without me. I'm not sure if I could say that these experiences are similar in any way other than the fact that I would be mutated. I would be ok with having a mutation if it were one that would let me get through life the way I wanted. But if it were to hinder relationships I have or prevent me from my dreams for the future then I wouldn't want the mutation anymore.
I think that there are similar experiences that happen to adolescents in high school. It is the roughest part of life trying to fit in with people you want to be like. My school was definitely "cliquey" and I unfortunately was in a lot of different groups. I was an academy kid, a dancer, and an orchestra player. It's hard knowing that you have these types of titles when all you want to do is go to school and be friends with everyone. I think the X-men help teenagers see past things that may be holding them back like a "band geek" or a "nerd" because there are specialties that come with having those talents. Those students will probably go to fancy colleges and get realy awesome paying jobs where are the "jocks" may end up leaving college with broken bones and can't do anything anymore. Everyone is different and to see that mutants are all different in themselves but still stick together is encouraging.
I think I identify most with Mystique, espeically from the movie First Class. When I was growing up, I was always looking for a special someone who would just like me for me. I had to watch all of my friends have boyfriends and dates to dances when I was all alone. I didn't even go to my senior prom. I thought there was something wrong with me and that's why no boy in my highschool liked me. I didn't know what to change or what to do to make someone notice me. I guess I finally found a Magneto because my boyfriend loves me for who I am and I can be myself around him even if it drives him crazy. He understands me and I can talk to him about anything. So no, I wouldn't want a cure. Like Mystique, I don't have to hide anything anymore.

Reflection Essay #6 Friendship & Duty

This week in class has been a good week to think. In terms of friendships, I would have to say that I have a lot of Utility friendships. I consider myself to be a very social person and friends with a lot of different people so there is a lot of benefiting from each other in those relationships. My few close friends that I have would be Pleasure friendships. I only have a few people in my life that I am super close to and actually tell them things I don't tell anyone else. I love spending time with them and we always hang out on a regular basis. My boyfriend and I definitely have a relationship of Utility and Pleasure and almost Virtue. We are always worried about each other and want to be with each other with as much free time as we get. However, we have to think about ourselves when it comes to different things like growing up and homework.
When I was in highschool at my dance studio I was always the lead role under the main character. My best friend in high school was always the main lead. My junior year we were doing Peter Pan and I knew that was my chance to be the main character for once in my life. After we had auditioned the day came to find out parts. The dance teachers brought me in to tell me what part I had and they ended up making me decide between Captain Hook and Peter Pan. I was devasted when I wanted to be excited because they weren't giving me a part they were making me choose. They kept telling me that everyone loved what I did with the Scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz last year and that I would do a really good job at Captain Hook but they had heard that I really wanted Peter Pan and basically wanted me to decide what I wanted. My moral mind was telling me to pick Captain Hook because I knew that I could do a good job portraying it but my heart was telling me to take Peter Pan and run. That's what I decided in the end was Peter and during the show season I regreted it but when I look back I am so glad I picked it because I never would have gotten a main character part after that. There were so many time throughout that year I came home crying because I wasn't lead parts with any of my friends. I was on a separate night from them. But I made new friends with the girls who were on my night.
There was a time in highschool that I got into a huge fight with my mom about something. I was screaming at her that it woke up my little brother. The next day when she took my car and phone priveledges away from me I punched the wall in the staircase and hurt my hand but then my dad came up and gave me a little talking to. I have never really gone and beat someone up about  something but sometimes I do let me emotions get the best of me. I guess if I were a superhero it would be really hard for me to try and detatch my emotions from my goals because then everything would become so personal which is very dangerous in the super world.

I thought this was funny! I saw it on facebook and thought it would be perfect to put on my blog. Enjoy!

Reflection Essay #5 The Law of Creativity

Trying to look back on my childhood of times when I was most creative is kind of hard for me. I think that the lost creative thing I can remember myself doing as a kid was when I was in girlscouts and I had to create a solar powered microwave/oven. I can't remember exactly how I made it but I remember standing outside wondering if it was going to work. My mom and I used a hotdog to put inside it to see if it was working. From what I remember, it worked and it was one of the memories that I am proud of myself and wish I did more like that.
Looking for a time when I used my creative side to solve a problem/make a decision is even harder to think of. The only thing that I can think of that is close to being creative is when I decided that I wanted to study psychology in college. I took a class in highschool my senior year and had high hopes to spark an interest. I learned that it was exactly what I wanted to study for the rest of my life. Dealing with psychology makes you think of different ways to say things and manipulate different situations. I can't think of a specific time I did this but I do know certain tricks like "reverse psychology" that would make me tap into my creative mind to work around a problem differently or make certain decisions.
Iron Man was just on a few minutes ago and Tony Stark is incredibly creative, not only as a superhero, but just as one of his personality traits. Himself as a man is just an arrogant, sarcastic scientist. As Iron Man he is always thinking of different ways to use his suit to defeat crime. Specifically before he even becomes the Iron Man we know him today, Tony has to make himself into a weapon that was devised in a cave to help him and a fellow prisoner escape. If he wasn't as creative as he was then he would have made the missle that he was instructed to do and probably died and never made it out. The more that he becomes Iron Man, the more ideas that he figures out to try and make his suit better or even how to do the most destruction with the least effort. Like the scene when he travels to the place that he was held captive and blows up a tank with a smaller missle than the one that was just shot at him. I would definitely have to say that Iron Man might be one of the most creative superheroes there is.

Reflection Essay #4 Fiction Suit

Part One
I decided one day to call up Wonder Woman to ask her how she deals with life. I can't seem to grasp the real reason I am here doing what I am doing. I felt like nothing I was doing what right. My team doesn't understand the stress I am put through and my family expects me home all of the time. I am torn between what I know is right for everyone and what is right for me. I was just done with everything. So when Wonder Woman finally showed up, I asked her, "How do you do it? Really, how can you live day to day choosing between certain situations that may ruin one part of your life or someone elses? I know I can't do it anymore". She looked at me with hard stern eyes and said, "How do you do it?". I was so confused at that point. She was the superhero not me. So why is she asking me? She laughed, "I could never do anything that you deal with. I am only known as Wonder Woman. And yes, I am expeted everywhere are once when something is wrong, but I'm not allowed to have what you have. You have friends, family, and a future that you can make depending on what you want it to be. I can't have a family or really close friends because there lives would be at stake with what I do. You can. I will always be lonely at times, but you will never have to be. I can't go to school and give up being a superhero like that because I want to be a model. You have a choice. Don't choose the path that leads to loneliness. You may feel like giving up because times are tough, but when won't they be? I can't stop every criminal in the world. There are times we want to give up and that's all a part of being human. You are a superhero in your own way, you just may not see it yet." I looked at her and realized she was right. Life isn't going to be handed on a silver platter and perfect. We have to make it what we want it to be in order to be happy. "And we wouldn't really appreciate the good things if we didn't have the bad, right?"
"Exactly!"
"Thank you so much. I only have 21 years under my belt. You might be getting another call in another 10 years. HA!"
"I'm always here. And I have many years left to help."
I never thought a superhero would be jealous of a human's life before. Makes you think what all we are taking for granted.

Part 2
I told my friend the other day how much I appreciated always being there for me and that I was always there for her when she needed me. She said "Thanks!" and that she would always be there for me too. She honestly is a friend that I see myself keeping in touch with after college. We both have been through a lot of crap through college and to know that even if we may not be on best terms makes me feel that I know she is a true friend. I have many friends that I feel forget about me don't understand that I am hurt sometimes by a lack of thought. But this one person makes me believe that she won't forget about me and I won't ever forget about her. I have lost a lot of friends from high school so it's nice to know that this girl is really a true friend.

Reflective Essay #3 My Powers Begin

                I have never learned so much about superheroes or known so much about them until now. I am amazed to finally know the real history about Superman and Batman, etc. Like novels and other literature, comics have so much more meaning built into them than most people would believe. Reading some of the articles from this week and even in Supergods, the comparison between Jesus and Superman is almost exactly the same. The both were sons of a higher power with “special” powers and were sent to Earth to help humanity. I never once thought about that connection before.

                I also never realized that all of the superheroes have a backstory that allows them to come to Earth or become created for a distinct reason to make them the good guy. Batman’s parents were killed, Spider-Man’s Uncle Ben was killed, Wonder Woman defends her lover. All have a specific reason as to why they are helping us and justify why they need to be our superheroes. Being a woman I would probably more closely relate to Wonder Woman because I would try to defend whoever I loved against anything that may harm them. And I can somewhat relate to Spider-Man because many people are taken away from us in different ways, and some not by the hand of man but illness too. To make sure that everyone was protected 24/7 is a difficult and what sounds like an impossible task. And as we have seen by some superheroes, it is. But it is what we would be fighting for that would make it worthwhile.

                As I sit here think about what type of superhero I would be, I think I would have to be a rechargeable superhero. I would always need caffeine in the morning to make sure that my superpowers would work for the day. My background motive would probably be the lack of self-confidence I had as a child. I would want everyone to be treated fairly. Bullying could possibly be one of my important missions because I was always picked on as a kid and now my little brother gets it too. Knowing that I would be able to stop the hurt and violence in schools would really make me feel better and hope that kids would be able to grow up in safer environments and be able to have the confidence that I never had.

Reflection Essay #2 Immoral Secrets

                This past week of Reflections has really been interesting. I never knew that you could examine so much out of comics. Secret identities are always just a given for superheroes. We all know that Spider-Man is a regular teenager trying to get through high school and make Mary-Jane notice him. Batman is Bruce Wayne who fights crime as a scarier hero but has no actual superpowers, so on and so forth. But yesterday in class and after reading Morris’ article, I never really thought about how Superman’s secret identity is reversed. He comes to earth as a “super” man and has to create a secret identity of an ordinary man to fit in. Everyone else is already an ordinary man. That was something I never really thought about until it was actually brought to my attention.

                Another thing that interested me during class this week was when we discussed the three articles on superhero morality. Specifically, my group talked about the Robichaud article. In the article, he discussed two different concepts, utilitarianism and nonconsequentialists. I think I agree more with the utilitarian view just because I believe that an event where the greater good or happiness comes out of that event should be enforced rather than one that would cause less happiness. I just think, why would you do something that only helps a few people when you could try and save the whole world? But I know that those situations are never easy to handle when actually faced with them. Then our article brought up a point that really sparked my interest in the respects of illegal vs. immoral. I believe that superheroes were meant to help law enforcement, but when you have superheroes like Batman and Spider-Man whose reputations are not the brightest, we come to a chronic situation of morality. Batman is trying to fight city crime, but because of the masked vigilante, villains like the Joker are created and the only real reason they are there is because of Batman. This is why police officers want Batman to turn himself in so that crimes created by the Joker will stop. But if Bruce were to turn himself in, crime would either decrease or much worse increase. The greater good of this situation would be to not turn Bruce in and keep the Batman because he saves a lot of people. The movie The Dark Knight really portrays this situation well.

                Spider-Man gains his bad reputation from the newspapers. I believe that a lot of people actually like Spider-Man but because some of his stories get twisted around, some people start to wonder if he really is a good thing for New York. This is where Peter Parker’s immoral thoughts begin to take place because he is at a constant battle with himself about if being Spider-Man is the best thing for him. It seems to put his loved ones in the most danger. In this case the utilitarian would say that he needs to stay Spider-Man because he is helping the entire city of New York. When it comes to personal situations like this, we start to wonder if lying to our loved ones about being a superhero to keep the safe is the best solution. In both Spider-Man and Batman’s case, even if they were to tell the world who they were to stop the illegality of their actions, would the immorality of the lying be solved as well? I’m not so sure it would be but I guess we will never really find out.

Reflection Essay #1

My favorite super hero would have to be Spider-Man. I love this superhero because I think I can relate to his personal character as Peter Parker because I was not always the “popular” kid in school growing up. I got picked on a lot when I was young. Another part of me that I think stays attracted to this character is that I wish I was able to climb upside-down on buildings and be able to swing from a web through town. I am also a dancer so the Spider-Man pose is fun to pretend. I grew up watching the movie version of Spider-Man with Tobey McGuire and I am a huge fan of all three movies they made with him even though some of the third movie made others mad. I think that they are all great. I originally grew up watching the old Batman and Robin TV series and my brother and I would act out the whole introductory song. We would run and jump around our living room pretending we were fighting people and we always had to make sure that we shook hands at the exact same time that Batman and Robin did. There was an instance that we missed that crucial part and I was extremely upset because it was so important. I eventually forgot about it and continued to watch the show. But now-a-days, I stick pretty close to Spider-Man, and I’m not quite sure why my preference changed. However, I still like the Batman movies. When the third Spider-Man movie was coming out, I had a special party with my friends to watch the first two movies and then we went to go see the midnight showing of the third movie. It was one of the most exciting times of my teenage life.

                Loeb and Morris specifically bring up Spider-Man in their ending example of “What would Spider-Man do?” and I would have to say that their interpretation of the conscious mind is correct. Peter Parker’s character is meant to be compassionate and loving of everyone that he knows. Part of his whole reason to fight crime is remembering that he let the robber go that unfortunately killed his Uncle Ben. Mary-Jane is a girl that he has had feelings for since he set eyes on her and hates putting her in harm’s way. I love my family and friends too much to put them in danger. I would hate knowing that because of me something bad would/might happen. My conscious is always keeping me away from doing certain things or getting me into tricky situations where guilt would be my weakness. The tagline “From your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man” also kind of inspires me when I think of the question “What would Spider-Man do?” He doesn’t just help out important people or just his loved ones. He tries to help out the whole city of New York. When I look at my array of friends, I would have to say that I am a friendly person and like to know everyone even if we become good friends or not. I like being able to help, act as a role-model, or be a friend to those who need one. No one should ever be left out which is how I was treated in grade school, and so was Peter Parker in high school. All of those feelings that we never had we want to make sure others get.