Supernatural

Ghosts, demons, fight scenes, sex, blood, and a little bit of comedy what else can you want from a perfect show? Supernatural is a horror show on the CW, which features two young men, who are brothers, and their journey to help rid the world of monsters that people may not believe are real, but they are. Innocent people are dying and it is up to Sam and Dean to save the day. This is my favorite show that I like to watch every Thursday at 8pm CT. It appeals to me and many other supernatural lovers. It takes your horror films or horror stories and puts them into the plot of the story. Now this is the best show if you like horror films and even if you don’t how can resist two hot guys fighting monsters. I mean come on people you know it’s awesome!

Supernatural is probably mostly geared towards teen to young adult men because of the violence and bloodshed that is shown in most of the episodes, but it can be appealing toward teen and young adult women because of the young men that are the main characters of the story. I mean don’t get me wrong there are girls like me that like the whole horror movie kind of story, but for some people that don’t it may just get them because of the main characters. The show is mostly portrayed to basically both genders and to a white, middle class audience. It is also mostly geared towards people who believe in the supernatural and through this show they bring all those stories that you have heard and have people experience them in the show. The media is finding out that we are the people that just don’t want to see the same old drama show with teens having sex and getting pregnant. We need a real show that has suspense and really wonder what will happen next without having to wait for the next horror movie to come out.

As any other show the media believes that sex will always sell and that is where these two guys come into this. Basically as I can recall all shows have some reference to sex to attract the audience to their show. It seems to work for the most part. That’s what the media tries to do if they can’t get them to watch the show at first. I personally don’t watch it because of that I just love it because it’s suspenseful and that it’s about supernatural beings. I believe that these things exist and that probably why many people watch enjoy watching the show as well. Supernatural brings everything together angels, old myths, demons, family, and even religion plays a part of it. It just can show how complicated life can really be and brings all these elements into the story. Life can be scary and that’s what Supernatural shows. Watch Supernatural on Thursdays at 8pm CT and you’ll just see what you’re missing.

For more information about this show visit: http://cwtv.com/shows/supernatural

Barbie

Barbie a childhood toy that many girls play with when they are young. Like any other doll they are able to role play with and dress up into different clothes, but one thing is different and that's the doll itself. What seems like a harmless toy given to children can be something more than an innocent toy. It can be something can affect children psychologically at a young age. Although not seen as effecting them at the time when they first play with Barbies it grows into a problem as they get older. They see this girl with perfect features (blond hair, blue eyes, and really skinny) and can have everything she wants. She has a hot boyfriend with equal perfection to her and they have a mansion as a house and an expensive looking car. These unrealistic views on life get into children's heads and as they grow older they have this goal that they should have everything that they should ever want.

Along with that body image is something that they want to perfect as they get older. They want to be like Barbie a girl with the perfect body and hair and they want to look the same. This idea can get as far as having them get plastic surgery when they are old enough so they can look just like her. She is the representation of the perfection of a woman who everyone strives to be. From this you get anorexia, bulimia, and it may go as far as suicide if they can't get what they want and hate themselves because they cannot be like Barbie. Although people strive to be like Barbie you stop to think who wants to be beautiful without brains. I mean Barbie is being controlled by children because it doesn’t have a mind of its own. So what this saying? That beauty is everything and that everything else is secondary. That is scary thought that people would rather have everything that they can ever possibly want, but they don’t have to have the brains to do it. Barbies send out the wrong message to kids. We live in a society that perfection is the utmost important thing for a person. This is sending the wrong ideas to kids and then as they grow up teach their children the same idea when they hand them their first Barbie.

This is a vicious cycle that society gets people into. If it is not shown from Barbies at a young age then it is things that they see on TV that relate to the whole idea of perfection with celebrities being very thin and if they start to gain weight then there is this whole uproar of, oh she’s getting fat or is that a baby bump? This whole idea of having the perfect body is portrayed everywhere in magazines, TV, runways with models having to be a size 2 in order for them to even be eligible to be a model. It’s terrible to think that we have come this far and people are brainwashing children and teens to think that they are not perfect the way they are. This has become a social norm and it is hurting how people see themselves. Barbies may have been the start of this and if it isn’t well then we can see where kids may get some of their ideas from and that is from Barbie.

Chicago Anti Apartheid Movement Collection

Struggling for justice in a country that did not want to give justice to it's people. That is South Africa or was for that matter. In 1990 they were able to elect a president for the first time. "Chicago Anti Apartheid Movement Collection" is a collection of pieces that are being shown at Columbia College Chicago's Library. It depicts the struggles that people of South Africa as well as some of its surrounding counties struggled for equality.

There were many posters and t-shirts that hung on the first floor of the library. They each depict a form of protest that was brought about when it was most problematic. There is even a computer that you can look at archives of things like different newspapers around the time when people in the US even tried to bring awareness to apartheid. There were protests even at Columbia College Chicago in the late 1980s.

One piece that stuck out to me was the one poster of a pair of hands trying to pull apart two bars. It just showed how the country struggled to get justice. I am guessing that after 20 years that they were able to get justice because it says it behind the bars. I felt that this image was very strong that the country’s struggle for justice had finally ended. I am not sure if that is the correct way of interpreting that piece, but I just assume it is because the way the hands are showing the two bars being pulled apart and they are bent. The words 20 years appears behind it. So it makes sense if that was what it was showing.

The gallery for me was good, but not good enough for me. It was interesting to see all of the different posters and t-shirts that showed the struggling South Africa and how it wanted justice for their country. Although it was good I felt that it lacked information. The pieces that I saw, most of them were not labeled and I was not sure what I should think of it. Before I went to this I did not know what the Anti Apartheid Movement was. It was not after I looked at the informational card about how South Africa and other surrounding countries were affected by apartheid and wanted justice in their country. I was still not really sure what it was so I looked up some information online to find out more about it because it seemed interesting and I wanted to learn more about it. This collection was a good collection, but I felt like I could have learned more if they added some more information.

If you are interested in the Anti Apartheid Movement you can come see the different pieces that were made at the time of the movement. If you have no clue what it is, I wouldn’t bother because it gives you little information that makes you wonder what it is really about. The “Chicago Anti Apartheid Movement Collection” runs through the February 28, 2009 at 624 S. Michigan Ave on the 1st floor of the library during library hours.



For additional information:
http://calendar.colum.edu/cgi-bin/view/webevent.cgi?show_favorites=0&cmd=startup&calID=69