Pleasantville

Pleasantville was one of my favorite movies of the year, I won't lie. The transformation of the town through Bud is both enlightening and dark. The movie addresses many social issues as the people are changing and becoming more aware of the outside world. The reference to people as colored and the discrimination against them brings us back to the civil rights movement and the advancements made for entire cultures. We also see a book burning like something hitler (I didn't capitalize hitler or purpose, he is a deutsche) would do with the third reich. Basically the film tells us to open our eyes and see the world in a new light, much like this whole semester of classes.

Outfoxed

This was amazing and quite possibly one of the best things I've ever taken the time to sit down and watch...now only if I could convince my parents to do the same, not likely. Anyways, I had no idea before this that FOX was this subversive with their broadcasting practices. The worst part is that I was actually duped by them during the 2004 election between Bush and Kerry with their propaganda of Kerry being indecisive and unreliable. I had no idea about the game they were playing then.

If anything the movie/documentary was as eye opening as it was educational. I'll never look at news the same way again because of the crazy stuff I was shown and it should definitely be used in Ted's future classes as well since I never would've watched this on my own.

Pleasantville

After seeing this movie I'm reminded of why I didn't want to see it in the first place, besides having Tobey Maguire being in it. It's incredibly boring! I get the ideas and significance behind using color as a means of showing a shift in society from the utopia of the past to the utopia of the future, abrupt as that may be.

Something about it just seems...off. Maybe it's the way it trivialized racism by having people who had color being segregated from those that were black and white. It was a very recent change and the kind of hatred that brought about real segregation was absent. Instead we just got people who were afraid of change (kinda like the old Bush administration).

Sicko

This movie was horrible on several levels. It didn't really tell me anything I didn't already know, the fat-ass narrator was obnoxious and he didn't really offer any ideas as to how we might improve the health-care system in America. I have no health-care, my job offers it but because I'm only part time it would eat most of my weekly pay check, all for coverage that full-time employees (i.e; managers) get for free and then some.

Only problem is that I'd have to work 50+ hours to become full time in order to get coverage I might need. Yes it's fucked up and unfair, yet all sicko does is rub it in my face that places like Canada and the UK have free, universal health care. What's his solution? I'd love to hear it instead of him asking random people how much they pay for health care when the last 5 people he asked in the same place said they paid nothing.

What an aggravating blowhard.

Three Kings

I find myself conflicted with this movie. On one hand I have vivid memories of being in grade school, 4th or 5th grade to be exact, during Desert Storm. Most of those memories were thinking "yea, we Americans are bad-ass!" I don't think I even understood what Muslims were back then, except that they were terrorists and we needed to kill them (I kid you not) in order to be safe.

Now that I'm 28 and my little brother is a combat medic in Iraq I'm acutely aware of the situation in the Middle East. Because of that I found the first half hour to be irritating for no real reason, and the village scene was like a (welcome) reality check for the movie, despite the comical sound effects in the slow-motion gun battle. From there on out I was pleasantly surprised with the direction the plot went.

Really makes me wonder what kind of movies will be made about the Iraq War 10 a decade from now.

OUTFOXED

One of my new favorite movies. It also makes me sick to my stomach. I made my family watch it with me this time around, and they conceded since I had been bugging them to watch it for about a year. To know that millions of people watch these news programs and news broadcasters(actors) and believe everything they hear is scary. However the same could be said for the far left. It reinforces the need for personal research, and unbiased media. Working with the public it amazes me on a regular basis to hear what individuals in my area believe to be fact. It only reasserts this need for true "fair and balanced" journalism. Unfortunately journalism is a lost art. Any idiot with a computer can start a blog, gain followers and reproduce crap that people with take as fact. I often have to play dumb when talking politics to not offend my clients and it is difficult. So i change the subject and talk about school, and tell them about this great movie they should watch..OutFoxed!

Pleasantville

This is one of my favorite movies. The first time I saw it my father and I where going to have a daddy-daughter night. Little did I know this movie had a lot to do with sex, as i sat crouched down in my chair hoping my father wasn't as embarrassed as I. Although after re-examining this movie, it has more to do with dissent and acknowledging your feelings than i had once noticed. The fact that they change color, after having an orgasm, or getting angry, or creating beautiful art is like someone turning a light of enlightenment on inside them. The fact that the town slut(in real life) stayed in this altered world in order to be a "better person" however is ridiculous. To want to change is not, but to want to stay in a fantasy is. Most individuals, when receiving what they have always wanted, whether thats respect usually want more, or are unhappy with what they have been left with. This idea that staying in the "happy land" is what will make her happy is hard to accept.

Forest Gump

"Stupid is as Stupid does" the iconic quotes that have come out of that movie will last a lifetime. But the stretch of history that is explores is even more interesting. What stands out to me though is not the story or the history but the ease in which they placed Forest in the same room, as JFK, Nixon etc. I'm not naive enough to think that it's an easy task, but it truly makes you think about the images, and videos you see on an everyday basis. What is real? The photographic truth. What we see is not always what is.

The Chappelle Show

The episode of The Chappelle Show that featured Dave Chappelle as the "white supremacist" was hilarious! This episode was not only funny, but definitely disrupted all ideas of what a white supremacist would be like. It was genius of Chappelle to create a black character who was blind to be the white supremacist. The entire episode is based on the fact that the blind black man did not know he was black which aided to the fact that white supremacy is ridiculous. This episode was also disruptive when the white kids in the car pull up next to Chappelle blaring rap music. Chappelle screamed racial slurs at them thinking they were black, but in reality they were white and took the comments as compliments. One of the parts that stands out to me is at the end when they say the Chappelle's character finds out he's black, so he divorces his wife because she is a "N-word lover." This just reemphasizes the absurdity of racism and white supremacy.

Do the Right Thing

This was a great movie, and yet it was very confusing. Not knowing the historical relevance of the kid being killed by a cop prior to watching it added to the confusion. But the question remains what is the right thing? Is to accept your surroundings, and do what you can to survive? The street, a character in its own right, was torn to pieces in one night, and yet, the inhabitants just kept going with their day. The mix of races was also an interesting situation. Between the Koreans(?) the African-Americans, and Italian Americans, it wasn't quite clear who the viewer was to identify with. What is unfortunate is the loss of life, and to me the destruction of property, and the obvious wall between each racial group. The movie was powerful, and some of the more minor characters had more of an impact on the story than Mookie and the Italian family.

The pilot episode of Friends

The pilot episode of Friends was extremely disappointing. This episode was boring, uneventful, and actually kind of sad. None of the characters in the show seemed to be going anywhere in life. Not to mention, not had a happy love life either. The only person who seemed to have a chance at love was Monica, and it turns out that the guy she was dating just wanted to have sex with her. They seemed to only have each other and many times the characters did not seem happy with one another. For example, when Ross asked Chandler and Joey if they could help him put furniture together in his new apartment, they were less than enthusiastic. Ross just wanted his friends around to help him deal with the emotions stemming from his divorce, but Joey and Chandler did not have any motivation to help him. Overall, this episode was depressing and had not point. I am glad the show got funnier in later seasons.

The South Park Ladder to Heaven Episode

I was never a fan of South Park until I got to this class. Honestly, I don't think I gave it a chance due to the terrible animation and obnoxious voices. Nonetheless, I am starting to appreciate it more and more.

The episode that really stuck out to me was the "Ladder to Heaven." This episode did a really good job exposing how America rallies around the silliest things sometimes. Also, it showed how ridiculous the competition between countries can be through the race with Japan for who would reach heaven first. The fact that the government rallied around boys because they thought that Hussein was creating weapons of mass destruction in heaven was hilarious! It really demonstrated how absurd the Bush administration was and how America acts before it thinks.

How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days

Contrary to the popular opinion in this class I LOVED this movie. However after discussion amongst us I notice obvious flaws in the representation of women. This movie was great in showing that women can play both sides, the pretty, vulnerable needy female -OR- the self-sufficient, educated, interested in sports female. While I do think these two sides are both exaggerated, I don think they can be one in the same. However there is this representation that women who fall into the first category will scare a man away, when in actuality it seems to be the opposite. A female who is strong, and asserts her intelligence will often scare men away. Where most women play the vulnerable card in order to lure her man, and once successfully snagged, only then does she assert her intelligence. Where in this movie, Andy does the opposite. I do however have an issue with a writer writing anything they don't want to. That a female has to take the job at a beauty mag, in order to move up in her career is ridiculous. Almost as absurd as The Devil Wears Prada, which is a similar story. The beauty of being a writer is that your pen (or keyboard) can take you anywhere and a true writer would never continue to put their name on something they did not believe in. Unless, they did actually find some satisfaction in that position. t

Married with Children

I remember watching Married with Children occasionally when I was a child, but I do not remember anything like the episode we watched in class. My mouth literally dropped within the first few minutes of the episode and did not close until after it was over. This episode seriously shamed the female gender.

Peggy was a horrible representation of the women of the late 1980's and early 1990's. Most of the women in sitcoms during this time were empowered, strong-willed, intelligent, and many even had a career. Yet, Peggy was obnoxious, trashy, overly-sexual, and down right disgusting. Peggy exuded every terrible female stereotype there is. And, don't even get me started on their hooker of a daughter. Their daughter Kelly was incredibly stupid and forwardly a slut. There were even references to her being a prostitute. If the rest of the episodes portrayed women like this, I don't know how it could even be on television.

Pleasantville

I had seen Pleasantville when it first came out a few years ago, but it was interesting watching it again now that I have learned to look for symbolism and cultural influences in films. The first thing that took me by surprise was how barren the landscape at the high school was and how negative every teacher made their future sound. No wonder David wanted to escape.

This film was also interesting to watch again now that I have been researching women in sitcoms. I loved watching the stereotypes of the 1950's housewife break down, especially in Betty Parker. Betty, the 50's mother-figure, began the film in black and white and as a woman who only lived to cook, clean, and take care of her husband and children. Yet, as the film progressed and things began to turn to color, Betty was one of the most receptive. Betty realized that there was more to life than just being a housewife. So, Betty finally turned color when she masturbated for the first time which is definitely a cultural taboo for women. I also found it interesting that Jennifer, who told Betty about masturbation, ended up becoming more tame by the end of the film. This was a very interesting role reversal.

Sicko

Sicko was by far the most personally upsetting and shocking film we watched this semester. I have had a lot of health problems growing up, and I cannot even begin to imagine how much money it has cost my parents. The fact that I could have had wonderful medical care for free in another country just makes me sick (no pun intended). Not to mention, I am already dreading the medical bills in my future.

It is amazing how jaded Americans are regarding health care. We were all taught growing up that free health care was not nearly as good as having health insurance. I know I was brought up to believe that nations with free health care do not provide nearly the level of medical attention we can get here. In reality, the medical care is the same in other countries like England, and they do not have to pay for it. Additionally, I was led to believe that doctors do get paid well at all in nations with free health care. Yet, the man in England had a beautiful house, a nice car, and seemed very well off. I am so moving to Europe...

Outfoxed.

I always knew that the FOX Network was more on the conservative side, but I never knew it was this bad! I was shocked that some of the people, especially the man on the phone at the beginning, were so terrified of Murdoch that they would not reveal their identities. Also, I found it interesting when O'Donnell exposed that the turning point of the FOX Network towards complete conservatism was when Murdoch called the station and ordered them to play a tribute to Ronald Reagan instead of reporting the news. O'Donnell pointed out that after that, the station was completely devoted to Republican propaganda and conservative viewpoints. I think it's terrifying how much power Murdoch has in our country and how influential his viewpoints are due to the FOX Network. Thank God there is at least the more liberal CNN to balance it out. From now on, I am just going to switch back in forth between FOX and CNN and just believe that I can create a "happy medium" in my own thoughts.

Forest Gump

I want to first start out saying that Forest Gump is one of my favorite and most beautifully done films of all time.

The scene that really sticks out in my head is the one during the anti-war rally in Washington D.C. This scene, visually, is amazing. All of the people brought together like that really made it powerful.

I did find it interesting that the woman at the beginning was pushing Forest and the other anti-war veterans around like they were part of her own militia. Also, every time I watch this scene I get really upset because I want to know what Forest is saying. Yet, I know the reason the film cuts Forest out during his speech is to make keep the viewer thinking that he is less intelligent than he is. Also, by cutting out Forest's speech, the film continues to hide Forest's true feelings about things. This scene is also one of the most exaggerated, "Hollywood" type scenes in the whole film when Jenny dramatically runs to Forest through the water.

Do the Right Thing

This movie was difficult to watch for me. I cannot stand racism. In fact, there are only two subjects that I get outwardly angry and offended by, and racism is one (sexism is the other). Immediately my mind started racing. Was racism that outward and horrible in Brooklyn in the late 1980's? If it was then, how much has it changed now? Unfortunately, I am ignorant when it comes to these questions because I live in a happy little suburb where racism is still a problem, but I do not witness race riots or anything like that.

This brings me to the question of, did Mookie do the right thing by throwing the trash can in the pizza parlor at the end of the movie? I'm not sure. If Mookie did not throw the trash can throgh the window, the crowd might have inflicted violence towards Sal. On the other hand, it may have blown over after a lot of yelling, or the police might have stopped the fight. But, do I blame him for being that upset? Not at all. In fact, I really blame Radio Raheem more than anything. If Radio Raheem had not started all of the violence by choking Sal, then he would probably still be alive and a lot of things would have been avoided. Yet, I also blame Sal for being so racist in the first place and losing his temper.

Overall, this movie left me feeling upset, annoyed, frustrated, and confused. I can see why it is an important film to see, but I don't think I will be watching it again.

Three Kings

As I stated in class, I have seen this movie on two separate occasions. One thing that strikes me is the timing of its release. Rather than do it at any time near the actual Desert Storm operation, the film came out damn near a decade later, when nothing was really going on overseas. I think it was supposed to serve as a reminder of our country imposing its force in places where it isn't really wanted.

The fact that Clooney's character is a burnt out military man is brilliant. During the opening scene he doesn't really give a shit about what is happening over there, he feels the whole idea of a military is ridiculous and just want's to retire. Fast forward to when they find the gold and they are about to leave, he realizes that there is more to the occupation than just being there. They were supposed to liberate a nation of people. His focus shifts from the gold and retirement to the actual task at hand. I think most people even forgot why desert storm took place to begin with. This movie was good at reminding us of that.

Sicko= American Brainwashing Technique

Sicko demonstrates just how brainwashed Americans truly are. It is one thing to filter the news or highlight certain parts, but it is not okay to repeat the same portions drilling the information the network wants the viewer to see into their head. This movie was a real eye opener for me. I knew from watching Outfoxed some of the problems with Fox news, but wow this movie hits it home.
The concepts of news filtering and inducing thoughts of its own while still having a bit of truth is just mind boggling. This movie really does a great job in showing just how important it is for us-Americans, and everyone else- to be critical thinkers and to research for ourselves. It is okay to expose those wrongs in the media, but you had better be careful when doing it. This is a revolutionary movie, if I ever saw one.

thank God Troy didn't die!

In the beginning Archie quarrels with the Colonel about reasons for occupying Iraq, which are morally questionable reasons, and we actually do realize that the Americans are in Iraq not for the citizens of the country, which they should be and actually told the American republic they were doing. Archie does do the good thing and save the refugees, however because of Adriana's ability to sway a story and make the American public sympathize with the refugees and the soldiers (Troy, Archie, and Elgin), the soldiers were only honorably discharged when in fact they would have been given a more strict punishment.
I also like how this film could actually be reintroduced into American culture today and still work, especially since we are in the 2nd Persian War, more or less. Really how mnuch different is this war from that one in 1991? Its still a media war, the soldiers are still unhappy, as well as the American public, and the racism is exactly the same.
All in all Awesome
p.s. I'm glad Troy didn't die-I almost had a heart attack

Three Kings

I thought Three Kings was a good movie despite distracting me with the oil torture. I thought the movie was very effective in disrupting the way in which Americans viewed the Iraq war with Bush Sr. The movie even states that this war is a media war and that Clooney's character needs to play along. This movie shows how similar the Iraqi people are to the American soldiers with the shot reverse shot of Troy and the guy he shot. Also the scene after Troy was captured and he was talking with his captor, the movie makes the Iraqi people and what happened to their life after US bombing more real. Three Kings also disrupts the way in which the war was viewed by actually showing what happened to the Iraqi people who were tortured by Sadaam and how the US army willingly turned the other cheek. There was also a really good scene when the movie disrupts the intention for starting the war, throughout the movie Clooney and Troy's main motivation was finding and stealing Kuwait's gold. This represents America's true greedy motivations for starting the war to justify itself as a global power in a hope that this will fix its other problems.

Three Kings

Three Kings was a really great movie, but I had a really hard time watching it. I don't know if that's because it is somewhat true. Desert Storm happened to long ago for me to remember and when I learned about in school, it was too new to be really extensive in history books. All I really know about it is that it was in Iraq and George Bush was president. It was meant to help Americans forget about Vietnam.

This movie, to me, educated me on what happened during this war. Why were we there? Mark Whalberg's character Troy said at one point, when he was being tortured, to a soldier of Sadaam's army, that you can't just invade a country (referencing Sadaam's take over of Kuwait). To me this is almost ironic coming from a soldier in this movie. Is that not exactly what they did to Iraq? We needed to maintain the United States as a global power, and the way this was done was by invading Iraq, with the excuse of liberating Kuwait. America used the military to take matters into their own hands and "save the world."

This movie was an amazing movie and probably my favorite of all the movies we watched this semester. It makes me think twice about what America has done in the past. I am a proud citizen, but it is clear that America needs to turn and begin to focus on problems at home instead of trying to fix the rest of the world. Every country has problems, and the Middle East definitely has more than others, but how can America expect to help other countries when we are having so many problems. America needs to learn that we don't always need to be the savior, we don't always have to save the day.

Outfoxed and Sicko

I'd say that Outfoxed was a well made documentary but after the first 20 minutes I really just wanted to turn it off both because it had already made its point of how Fox news manipulates news and the fact that it is disgusting how much power it has. Going into this movie I already knew how crazy and conservative Fox news is and their obsession with throwing out its "fair and balanced" slogan just from watching a little bit of the Glen Beck show and hearing critiques of Fox from The Daily Show. What really struck me is how often Fox repeats its point to really drive it into the viewers' brains. The montage with all the different reporters who kept on calling Kerry a "filp flopper" over and over was extremely annoying but it is ingenious to repeat the same thing over and over until finally the viewers start believing the newscasters because it's been said so many times. I don't think Fox would bother me so much if it didn't constantly claim that it is "fair and balanced" all the time; nothing on it is fair and balanced. The liberals on the regular shows look inferior to the conservatives and do not get as much time as the conservative hosts. Once a guest starts to voice his/her opinion on a topic that the host doesn't agree with, they get cut off immediately. The the worst host that does this is Glen Beck who repeatedly yells at his guests to shut up and then attacks their character at a later show, this is not only annoying but incredibly childish and its amazing that Fox can get away with this.

I've already seen Sicko before and so I was prepared to see all the nonsense of our health care system exposed. After seeing this movie made me want to live in Europe more than before. There really is no reason why the US should have such a terrible health care system that basically kills thousands of people a year by denying them the right to proper health care. The most shocking part of this movie to me was that even Cuba, a country with hardly any resources when compared to the US, has a much better health care system than the US. The movie was shot very well, the personal stories of different people from around the world and their dealings with health care make good arguments in and of themselves.An annoying part of the movie that I just picked up on was the comments that Moore threw in about the Iraq/Afghanistan wars, these comments really didn't flow with the argument being made about health care.

Sicko

I don't necessarily love Sicko because I find Michael Moore kind of annoying, but that is beside the point.  I think Sicko does a really good job informing people about how well socialized medicine works in other parts of the world and how truly messed up our health care system is in America.

The thing I took from it was not as much about health care and things like that, but more about how American media has been able to control the entire American population and their thoughts about socialized medicine.  I thought it was very telling to see the media examples mentioned throughout the movie.  For decades, the American government has essentially been publishing propaganda working against many of the things that work in other countries.  I think this can even be related to Fox News and the Outfoxed film we just watched.  Fox News is one of the media members that publishes the untrue stories about medicine practices in other countries. 

I thought it was funny that Sicko was able to find media examples in which American media outlets presented foreign medicine.  Foreign medicine was characterized by questionable service, long wait times, and terrible medical staff members, but obviously once Moore went to Canada and other countries with universal healthcare we see that none of this is true.  Once again, like I said in my last post, it is truly sickening to me that as a country, we are so uninformed that it takes a movie like Sicko to inform us of these truths.

Wow...America has issues

Watching Sicko made me question a lot of things about the way America runs everything. I remember the line that sticks out the most to me in this movie is that in other countries the government fears the people, fears they will revolt, fears the people will take down the government. In America, we fear the government, the people are afraid to revolt, afraid the government will take us down.

I think part of America's health problem is the mindset of Americans. It is all about the individual not the entire population. One person is more concernced with bettering him/herself instead of bettering the people of the nation. I believe most doctors simply want to make the biggest salary possible. Executives in health insurance companies are determined to keep their 6 if not 7 figure salary and will do whatever it takes to do so, even if it means potential fatal results to those around them.

I don't understand how America, supposedly the country of all sorts of opportunities can be so far behind in matters of extreme importance as health care. This matter determines whether or not someone lives or dies and the fact that we as Americans continue to ignore the problem is not good. We need to look to countries that have happy citizens, happy about there health care system. All countries have issues and I know many countries that have universal health care have much higher tax rates, but you have to ask yourself if lower tax rates are worth someone's life. With hgiher tax rates we could save lives,but until people of America stop thinking about how to better themselves instead of living together as an entire nation, this will always be an issue. We need to know that people of all ethnicities, class, etc., are important and make America what it is.

Outfoxed

Outfoxed is a very well made documentary that definitely makes it point in the first 5 minutes of the movie. There is not one part of this film that strikes me, but all of the facts presented in the beginning. I don't really ever watch news so I honestly don't know much about it, but I'm not sure how a news station can use a slogan of "Fair and Balanced" if all they do is attack liberals or simply don't include them.

The one figure that really stuck out to me is the fact that over the course of so many episodes in the Brit Humes show, 83% of guests were conservative and only 17% were liberal. It doesn't take a brain surgeon to realize that that is not exactly fair and balanced. This movie definitely opened my eyes to see that you can't believe everything see on television.

This makes me wonder about all news channels. Fox News may be obviously biased and extremely influenced to the right, but what about other news channels? I know they can't honestly be completely impartial. But how skewed are other channels? It's just interesting that today, we are so reliant on the media to deliver us honest facts to help us to decide what it is that we need to know, but clearly it is hard to trust what you hear on television from the news.

Fair and Balanced

The part of Outfoxed I found to be most interesting in the film was Fox News' use of the truth.  I found it particularly interesting that Fox News always uses truthful information, but then manipulates that truth.  Fox News is all about the manipulation of truth.

The first idea that I thought was interesting was simply how they present the news.  Fox News always uses real clips from press conferences and actual quotes that people have said, but they only use the part of the quote that allows them to frame their argument.

Another technique that I thought was interesting was Fox gettting rid of anchor people and producers who were presenting the news in a different way than what Fox News wanted.  Fox News not only completely controls what they want people to know, they control HOW they want people to know it.  After seeing the segment about the Reagan celebration, I remembered a segment that I saw earlier this year on the Daily Show about Fox News that I thought was funny and related to this topic.  Fox News simply just pays the people that they can control and dictate what they say.

Though Fox News is completely sickening, I have to say that what is truly sickening is the fact that Americans are so lazy and so uneducated that lots of them simply just take this information in as though it is truth. 

After I threw up for a while, I took time to step back and realize that Fox News is, in a way, genius.  Rupert Murdoch is able to control millions of Americans on a yearly basis by simply manipulating truth, paying the right people, and taking advantage of a lazy, ignorant American public that will believe just about anything they see on TV because they refuse to read any literature (newspapers, magazines, even internet articles) about the world they live in.

I'm moving to France

I will comment more later because I need to go to work. However I am a mess right now. I can't stop crying (yes I'm a sentimental schmuck), however I just can't stop thinking about those people who volunteered their time, extracting body parts from ground zero and got better healthcare in CUBA! I always joked depending on who won the last election that I would be moving to Canada, but now I'm actually considering it. France however would be my choice, being a smoker. With all of the things fucked up with our country I had no clue healthcare was this bad. I always was under the impression that a hospital cannot turn anyone away. I see now I am very wrong.

This is later: I'm not a Michael Moore fan, contrary to popular belief (being friends and family) but i do appreciate the personal stories and interviews. I do wonder the other side to some of those stories, and there is a part of me that doesn't excuse the uninsured. I have to provide my own, why shouldn't everyone else. However how wonderful would it be if you could live your life worrying about an injury because it would hurt or take your life, as opposed to worrying that you couldn't pay for it.

Reply to both Sicko and Outfoxed

First of all, Rupert Murdoch is ridiculous. I always knew that FOX was a biased representation of the news but I never expected to that extent. The most disturbing thing about this film is that it basically exposes how he illegally put a stranglehold on an extremely large portion of our news. I love how so many of FOX's big names are so wishy washy about their opinions during their shows especially when viewed months apart from each other and then put side by side. It was interesting to see all of the FOX conservative anchors in relation to their liberal counterparts. They definitely appear more powerful and dominant. I can't believe how often they completely changed around what people were saying to make them look bad. That's babyback bullshit. I want the news not an opinion.

I have viewed Sicko in the past so I knew what to expect. However the first time I saw it I was blown away by what other countries were doing for their people and conversely how our government was watching people literally die in front of their eyes without taking action. Michael Moore has been known to edit down hours of footage to get to the good ten minutes of juice he needs to make a point but I don't think he had to do much of that for this film. I do like how he takes real people and helps them share their stories. If he had made the video closer to current times I wonder what approach he would've taken knowing of BarryO's impending health care plan. It is interesting to compare his movie with what is going on with our current health reform and I wonder how it will stack up on a global scale with the countries featured in Sicko.

SICKO MADE ME SICK OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT!!!!

Michael Moore travels around the globe to find the answer to why the U.S. has such a horrible health insurance system, and compares the U.S. to other top countries, like Britain, and to the one country we believe to be the worst country in history, Cuba. We hear the sob stories from those who are dying, are in debt, and even from those who hate denying those with the ailments that will kill them. Then he goes beyond the healthcare system and talks politics. How does the Universal Healthcare system work, how high are the taxes, etc. What is really awesome, I think, is that he tries to understand why Americans don’t like the French or the Cubans, the French were super nice to him, and the Cubans saluted the 9/11 heroes; so what’s the deal? What is it that the American Politicians have that differ from the rest of the world-CORRUPTION! They all want to be rich, and they think that if a certain piece of legislation could be beneficial to the citizens then they would lose their profits.
I do like how he portrayed the insurance companies…as murderers. Heck Lee even said that he may have killed people. But my favorite was when more or less stated that Richard Nixon was one of the first in a long line of serial killers. Another thing that gets me is that after the passing of the healthcare bill recently everyone is screaming bloody murder because they think the U.S. is now a Socialist country, well the uneducated and completely retarded are saying that it’s Communist. My second favorite part though is how he clearly states that our education, libraries, and postal services are socialized, universal and cheap/free, so why not other institutions, say healthcare??? If these idiots who say that socialism is bad then I wonder what they think about these socialist institutions?? (I will admit our education system is in need of some major help).

So in conclusion…I think I’m moving to France, or maybe Cuba.

Outfoxed...WOW!

Wow I've never been directly exposed to so much drama witht the Republican Party. It is very true that Fox media is an overly zealous advocate for the Republican Party and their view points. It gives off a huge negative vibe, and is very detrimental to 'everyone is equal'. It constatnly sets up the foreigners as the enemy, and that is creating racial tensions and ethnicity tensions as well. We are trying to learn to live together, not to blame people for our misunderstandings or brainwashing techniques.
I will say that I am Republican by upbrining, but I am definitely not going to agree with creating public hysteria and brainwashing American youth. Fox doesn't even have it's facts straight when it is reporting, does this show an extreme case of intelligence....probably not.
Suddam Hussein and Al Qaeda are two seperate things, do we need to write Fox and let them know that? They have no direct relationship, but to 'kill two birds with one stone' Fox I think takes advantage of 9/11 to get their point across about foreigners and the suspicions they hold.
I actually believed when I was a little kid in 5 grade (when 9/11) occured that Suddam Hussein was the leader of Al Qaueda, I was watching a replay from Fox 2....Well, I have grown up since then and have found facts from multiple sources that state otherwise!

Outfoxed

I found it difficult to watch this film because it made me especially angry at the fact this is partially the reason why there are so many idiots in the U.S. today. Its not just because Fox News is employing idiocracy into their “journalism,” but that all journalist and news broadcasts do this. The media is the main source in which the public is informed, or misinformed, about different things, especially politics. I was recently involved in a political argument in which the opposing side believed they were right because they allowed themselves to be told that their beliefs, or even lies, were correct when in fact they were molding those beliefs into their viewers. Fox News, especially, was able to do this because people who are not looking for propaganda when they are being propagandized make it easier to propagandize them.
The film calls bullshit on a lot of Fox News’ different sayings, beliefs, and pretty much everything. They say they are “Fair and Balanced” but they do not employ the same number of liberals as conservatives, or the same amount of time to both candidates, or sides of the issue. They say “We report, you decide;” yeah they report and you decide nothing, but are more or less compelled to believe them because you are stupid enough to succumb to their idiocracy.
WTF-Did he just say that???-“Those who work against our military will be considered enemies of the state by me (O’Reilly).” Really??? If I ever meet him I’d like to punch him in the face. What gives him or even Fox News the ability to declare enemies of the state, or this person and ideology right? What is sad is that his ability to say stupid shit and get people angry is the basis for his popularity, and his job. I know Fox News is not the only ones who do this, but they do it more rigorous than any other.
A few other thoughts popped into my head: What does geographic size have to do with those being murdered in Cali vs. those soldiers in Iraq?? The violence in California is not even close to that in Iraq. “217 days until Bush is elected.” This propaganda is used to get people watching to not only to remember to vote but to make sure they vote for Bush. They also attacked Kerry’s heritage-OMG How psychotic are they? Seriously just because he is French, such a low and vulgar political move, sounds like something Bush would have done.