Perpetual "Potter" Popularity

After almost a year of blogging, I have learned an incredible amount about American culture and society. Yet, this weekend, I couldn't help thinking back to my very first post, "Book to Movie to Profit," in which I discussed how movie adaptations of books have become the norm. The past few days, it was Harry Potter weekend on ABC Family, a weekend dedicated to one of the greatest book-to-movie adaptations of all time. Turning J.K. Rowling's wizarding world of Harry Potter into eight movies earned the franchise over $7 billion at the worldwide box office. Clearly, the book-to-movie adaptation was a success.

Even though I've seen every Harry Potter film multiple times, I couldn't help tuning in for the Potter movie marathon. The beloved movies still interest me and countless numbers of others, despite many years since the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, the final film in the franchise. People today still love all of the Harry Potter films, opting to watch them over and over. Why can't Potterheads seem to get enough?

People seem to relate well to Harry, Ron, Hermione, and many of the other characters in the series. As the books progress, the characters grow up and undergo many experiences similar to those of real human beings. Harry Potter also seems to represent a "true hero" to many. People don't get tired of watching somebody they relate to and respect. The characters in J.K. Rowling's novels are more than just characters, they are symbols of people throughout the real world. The growth of the characters from children to adults is representative of the growth that all people experience. Watching the Harry Potter movies, in some sense, allows people to play back their own lives. As long as people continue to enjoy remembering their pasts, I don't think Harry Potter will ever get old.

No Country for Female Singers

I have never found the appeal in country music. Yet, many of my friends can't get enough of the southern sound. Whenever they tune into channel 99.5 on the radio, I cringe as they sing along to male voices with country twang. I rarely hear them singing along to female country singers, despite a few songs by Miranda Lambert, Carrie Underwood, or Taylor Swift. It turns out that country radio stations purposely avoid playing too many female artists in order to achieve the highest ratings possible. Keith Hill, the self-proclaimed "leading authority on music scheduling," insists that country music stations will acquire the greatest number of listeners by limiting the number of songs by female vocalists to 15%. He remarked, “If you want to make ratings in Country radio, take females out." Although Hill's comments shocked me, I thought he was just trying to advise radio stations to appeal to their audiences. Yet, many people viewed Hill's comments in a much more negative light.

Miranda Lambert

Many female country singers, including Miranda Lambert, viewed Hill's remarks about only dedicating 15% of overall music to female vocalists as extremely sexist. She fired back, saying "this is the biggest bunch of BULLS*** I have ever heard." She then continued on, insisting that she is "gonna do everything in [her] power to support and promote female singer/songwriters in country music. Always." While I am supportive of Lambert for promoting fellow female musicians, I disagree that Hill's remarks are completely inaccurate. They may seem sexist on the forefront, but to me, Hill only seemed to be reporting facts on what country radio listeners tend to tune into. Unfortunately for female country vocalists, it appears that most country fans are drawn more toward male voices because the listeners are, for the majority, female. I believe in equal rights for men and women and I am obviously against sexism, but I don't think Hill was intentionally being sexist. All types of media have their audiences. For country radio, it's young females. Appealing to an audience is supposed to be the goal of radio stations. Businesses, in the end, are all about profit. I can't blame country radio stations for taking action based on what will appeal to their audience and earn them the most money.

ALL Black Lives Matter

Time Magazine cover representing a lack of
change from the 1968 to 2015 when it comes
down to racism and police brutality.

This year, there have been way too many deaths of African Americans due to police brutality. Michael Brown, Eric Garner, and Freddie Gray are just three of many who have been killed by police. Outraged by police treatment of African Americans, many protestors have begun the "Black Lives Matter" campaign. I think the campaign is very important, bringing the issues of racism to the forefront. After watching the police brutality of the 1950s-1960s depicted in Selma, I see countless similarities to the police brutality of the present day. Racism is still thriving, whether people would like to admit it or not.

Yet, Rich Lowry of Politico Magazine recently argued that some people are worth more than others: "Let’s be honest: Some black lives really don’t matter." This comment angers me to my core. I completely disagree with Lowry. All lives, all races, all people matter. Lowry is trying to be clever, yet he comes off as completely racist. We, as a country, need to acknowledge that racism still exists. Otherwise, in 47 years, we will likely see another Time Magazine cover like the one to the left. We all need to admit that black lives matter and racism is unacceptable. 

America Bids Farewell to "American Idol"

With season 14 of American Idol finally wrapped up, it is clear that the show is losing its touch. This year, as I discussed in my blogpost "From Contestant to Judge on American Idol" back in March, the show took on a completely new format in order to attract more viewers. Unfortunately, Idol's decision to switch to one hour-long episode per week didn't do the trick. The season 14 finale rallied only 7.74 million viewers, down 26% from the 10.53 million who watched the season 13 finale last year. Clearly, the show is failing to appeal to Americans these days. 

Host Ryan Seacrest and Judges Jennifer Lopez, Harry
Connick Jr., and Keith Urban, who will stay on American Idol
for its final season. 

A few days ago, it was announced that Season 15 of American Idol will serve as the show's final season. After creating many stars, including Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Chris Daughtry, and Adam Lambert, it seems that Idol has run its course. The show that inspired Americans across the country to chase their dreams of becoming successful singers no longer achieves the same reaction after 14 years of the same old, same old. New shows, like NBC's The Voice, have caused Americans to rethink what they want out of a singing contest. When it comes to TV, Americans get very picky. They always search for the newest, freshest take on television. American Idol has simply run for too long to maintain its "fresh" vibe. Everything dies out after awhile, including television shows. It's American Idol's time. I just hope it goes out with a bang.

Where's the Middle Class?

As we have been discussing class during American Studies, I have become more aware of people trying to identify themselves with certain labels. When I came across this article in the New York Times, I thought it pertained to what we have studied in class. According to the article, the 2016 presidential candidates have been avoiding using the term "middle class" to describe most Americans. With the economy still unstable, even "middle class" seems unattainable to many people. The presidential candidates don't want to bring up that term since it no longer has the same positive connotation. Sarah Elwood, a professor at the University of Washington, claims, “The cultural consensus around what it means to be ‘middle class’ — and that has very much been part of the national identity in the United States — is beginning to shift.” Middle class is no longer something people want to strive for. 

Even in the middle of the pack, many people these days struggle to live well-off. The real middle class has become extremely small, with the majority of Americans being fitting into either the upper or lower class. Now, the American class system looks like an hourglass, with barely anyone left to live comfortably in the middle. According to Felicia Wong, the president and chief executive of the Roosevelt Institute,“If you’re technically in the 50th percentile in income distribution but you can’t afford to send your kids to college or take a vacation, are you middle class or not?” The "middle class" simply isn't a real middle class anymore. If we don't start taking care of the lower class and creating more of a real middle class, I don't think our economy will become stable. No one can obtain the American Dream without the middle class.

Closing the Gap

CEOs earn 350x time more than the average worker

In Inequality For All, the documentary we watched in class, Robert Reich discusses the immense pay gap existing between CEOs and their employees. He claims that a CEO's pay is about 350 times that of an average worker. This gap is ridiculous and unnecessary. It creates a greater disparity between the upper and lower classes, while greatly diminishing the middle class. Reich insists that a strong middle class is the key to a stable economy. If this wage gap continues to widen, the United States will struggle to maintain a strong economy.

Fortunately, I watched a story on the news recently about one CEO trying to reduce the gap between his earnings and the earnings of his employees.  The CEO of Gravity Payments, Dan Price, decided to cut his salary from $1 million to $70,000 so that all of his employees could make at least a $70,000 annual salary in the next three years. Price's decision to raise the salaries of many of his staffers while cutting his own earnings was an extremely bold but incredible move. Price claimed that he was initially prompted to increase the pay of his employees after reading a study relating income to happiness. Additional income up to $75,000 makes a significant improvement in a person's overall emotional well-being. I hope more CEOs follow Price's lead and start to consider the well-being of their employees, as well. The world would become a much happier and more economically-stable environment.

The End of Junior Theme, But Not of Film Violence

Junior Theme is finally coming to an end. After weeks of research, I've learned an incredible amount about the increasingly violent nature of movies. Unfortunately, it only looks like the violence in movies will worsen as years go by. We see violence all across television and other types of social media every day. Filmmakers feel the need to heighten the violence in their movies in order to match the amount of violence seen across television and the internet. With Youtube and 24 news coverage, graphic videos are always able to be found and watched. People are used to consuming tons of violence each and every day, so it is not surprising that filmmakers have been influenced to pump their films full of graphic images.

Sadly, people have also become desensitized to violence due to the constant exposure to violence through television and the internet. Yet, moviemakers still want to have an effect on their viewers. In the eyes of filmmakers, the only way to create a shock for the audience is to increase the amounts of violence in films with even more guns, explosions, blood, and death. As technology advances and people find more ways to access real-life violent images and video clips, this desensitization will only worsen. Therefore, at this rate, films will only increase in their amounts of violence. Somehow, the world is going to have get used to nonstop violence in all forms of media. Yet, it seems like we are pretty close to that point already.

More Technology = More Violence

As I have continued to research violence in movies for Junior Theme, I have discovered that movies have drastically increased their usage of special effects over time. New special effects technology has allowed filmmakers to further experiment with violence. This new technology has caused an increase in the graphic portrayal of violence in film.

Back before 1968, the Production Code Association prohibited any graphic violence from appearing across the big screen. Yet, once the Production Code was eliminated in 1968 and replaced by the MPAA ratings that are still in effect today, filmmakers chose to experiment with more technology as a means of portraying violence. They started out using squibs, which more realistically depicted bloodshed. Squibs became widely used throughout films for years.

World War Z special effects

However, after the introduction of computer-generated imagery (CGI) to film, movies have become even more graphically violent. It is very rare for someone these days to watch a movie without viewing some type of gore, battle, or other violent scene. Filmmakers have heightened the amount of depicted violence in their films using CGI, including movies such as Lord of the Rings, Independence Day, Harry Potter, and World War Z. As technology improves each year, it worries me that the violence in films is going to be unavoidable. When filmmakers move beyond CGI into some new technology, the increase in violence is almost unimaginable.

Bye Bye Film Censorship

While I was searching for information about how movie violence has increased over time for my Junior Theme, I found a very interesting article that explored how the Catholic Church largely influenced film censorship throughout the early to mid-20th century. The Production Code Administration (PCA), chaired by a Catholic named William Hays, monitored Hollywood films of all genres, limiting the amounts of violence, sex, and "indecency" appearing on the big screen.

Monster and little girl in Frankenstein (1931)

The PCA greatly censored James Whale's Frankenstein (1931), which was viewed as "immoral" to many Catholics. Originally, the film included a scene in which the monster noticed a young girl tossing flowers onto a pond. He joined in, watching the flowers float atop the water. The monster then suddenly threw the little girl into the pond, hoping to see her float along the surface like all the beautiful flowers. When the girl drowned, the monster ran away into the forest, mortified. The PCA became very upset that this scene was revealing innocence in the monster. It ordered that much of the scene be removed. The edited version of Frankenstein only showed the monster reaching for the young girl before the scene cut to the girl's father carrying her body through the village, her stockings around her ankles. This scene depicted no ounce of innocence in the monster; rather, it caused the viewer to believe that the monster intentionally drowned the young girl. This censored version of Frankenstein remained in circulation for 40 years.

I can't believe it took 40 years for the original version of Frankenstein to be released. The PCA managed to limit not only the violent drowning of the young girl from the screen, but also the innocent intentions of the monster. Without the scene depicting the monster's mortification after accidentally drowning the girl, the PCA was able to convince the audience that the monster was evil without any backstory. Today, the PCA and the Catholic Church no longer censor films. The MPAA rating system, consisting of G, PG, PG-13, R, and NC-17 ratings replaced the PCA back in 1968. I wonder if the fact that America has become a less religious place factored into the elimination of film censorship. Nevertheless, without the PCA in effect, more violence is definitely appearing on the big screen than ever before. The downfall of the PCA certainly seemed to contribute to the increase in movie violence over time.

Topic Turmoil

Starting Junior Theme research was very difficult for me this week. I struggled greatly to find a topic that I really cared about. At first, I hoped to focus on a topic revolving around mental illness. However, after speaking with many people throughout the class, mental illness seemed to be a common topic. It was clearly a very interesting issue to many, but I wanted to choose a topic that most people were not researching.

I've always loved music so I started to consider making that my topic. I've always wondered why music has been so captivating, so enjoyable, so universally loved. Researching its psychological effects became the my goal. Yet, as I began searching for my answer to why music has such a profound effect on listeners, I realized that I wasn't focusing on an American issue. Music's psychological impacts on people interested me greatly, but if I researched that topic, I wouldn't be following the assignment.

Therefore, I decided to pick a new topic once again. I brainstormed many ideas with my parents, trying to come up with issues that truly interested me. The first thing that came to my mind was movies. I've enjoyed watching movies for all my life. Except, I've always tried to avoid ultra-violent films. Unlike me, many people seek violent films in the theaters. Over time, extreme violence has become more difficult to avoid when choosing a movie to watch. I began wondering why this violence has increased in movies. Then, I realized I had my question to research. In the end, it all came down to thinking about my interests, while not forgetting to focus on an issue surrounding that topic.

It's Discrimination, Not Freedom

 Sticker on an Indiana business that has decided to serve
all customers

Yesterday, Governor Mike Pence of Indiana signed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act into law. This bill allows a business to deny service to gay people due to conflicting religious beliefs. I think this law is completely unjust, specifically targeting and discriminating against gay people. People should be allowed to freely hold religious beliefs, but those beliefs should not be used as excuses for discriminatory actions.

However, many stores are choosing to put up stickers to express their decision to serve all customers. Designer Desserts, a cupcake shop in Indiana, has chosen to put up one of these stickers to show its  support for  all people. The NCAA is also struggling greatly with this law, questioning whether the organization should hold future events, such as the Final Four, in Indianapolis. With the NCAA and many other organizations and companies, including Designer Desserts, questioning this bill, I think it's pretty clear that this new law is unjust. It seems like a classic example of discrimination. Religion is being used as an excuse to target a specific group of people. That should not be allowed.

Finally a Black Spokeswoman for Dior

As I was scrolling through my Facebook newsfeed the other day, I came across a post that truly surprised me. Rihanna has just become the first black woman spokesperson for Dior! I'm so glad that the Christian Dior company is trying to become more diverse. However, the company was founded back in 1946. Why has it taken so long for an African American woman to represent Dior?

I think Dior's hesitance to hire a black spokeswoman for so long speaks to Americans' flawed perception of beauty. The company is finally making strides by hiring Rihanna, but she has very light skin for an African American. Throughout American history, white skin has always been considered better than dark skin. Even today, according to a CNN study, children of all skin colors seem to be biased toward lighter-skinned individuals. This bias can probably be traced to the media's insistence on whitewashing. When African Americans are used in ad campaigns, they are often photoshopped to look very light-skinned. For example, Beyoncé's skin was lightened to such an extent that she could probably pass for white. A comparison between Beyoncé's normal skin color and her retouched image can be seen below.

Beyonce's normal skin color (left) compared to her
photoshopped skin color (right)

At least Dior is finally hiring an African American, despite Rihanna's light skin. Rihanna claims that "It is such a big deal for me, for my culture, for a lot of girls of any color. I think to be acknowledged by Dior, it means a lot as a woman to feel beautiful, to feel elegant and timeless." Hiring Rihanna is definitely a first step for Dior. I just hope that Dior doesn't insist on photoshopping Rihanna to look even more light-skinned. Dark skin should be considered just as beautiful as light skin. The more African American women that appear across social media, the more likely that Americans will begin to see the beauty in all skin colors. 

Happiest Place or Priciest Place?

Disney's Magic Kingdom

Back in October, I wrote about Disney replacing its Maelstrom ride at Epcot with a new Frozen-themed attraction in order to make the Norway exhibit more profitable. After all, Frozen-themed merchandise has been earning Disney over $1 billion annually, leading Disney to have a record-breaking year in profit last year. After such a success, Disney is trying to earn even more money. In fact, Walt Disney World just hiked up its prices to $105 a day for admission to Magic Kingdom. This is the first time in history that prices have surpassed $100 at the theme park. For the average family, a trip to Walt Disney World would be extraordinarily expensive. Yet, when I was little, my siblings and I always loved Disney. My parents wanted us to have the Disney World experience, despite the park's priciness.

My parents were definitely not the only ones making the decision to take their children to the extremely expensive Orlando. According to Kay Hymowitz, author of Liberation’s Children: Parents and Kids in a Postmodern Age, "It’s become an American ritual...just about every kid, white, black, brown, rich and all but the poorest of the poor, go to Disney World.” It amazes me how Disney World has become such a "ritual" for American families. Parents are willing to sacrifice enormous amounts of money in order to provide their children the opportunity to go to the Happiest Place on Earth. The real "American" ritual may be for parents to spend tons on their children. Disney just brings out the true American money-spenders within us all.

SAE Shut Down

Fraternity at University of Oklahoma that released the
racist video

Yesterday, the Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE) fraternity at the University of Oklahoma released a very racist video. In the video, many members of the fraternity chant, "You can hang ‘em from a tree, but it will never start with me/There will never be a n***** SAE." No one can deny that racism still exists today. This video was disturbing and completely unacceptable.

Fortunately, the president of the University of Oklahoma, David Boren, decided to take action. He claimed that "Real Sooners are not bigots, real Sooners are not racist." He ordered that the fraternity be shut down and that Oklahoma would not provide housing to "bigots." Boren claimed that he would have a zero-tolerance policy when it came to racism and he is sticking to his word. I'm very pleased that Boren and the University of Oklahoma have decided to take immediate action against SAE. Just because the school is located in the South doesn't mean it should be a school full of racists. I'm proud of Boren for making it clear that racism should not be tolerated at the University of Oklahoma or anywhere else in the US for that matter. 

The Mystery Behind #TheDress

White and Gold Version (Left), Original Image (Center),
Black and Blue Version (Right)

I'm sure by now almost everyone has heard of "the dress". In case you haven't, this past weekend, there was a huge controversy over whether the dress on the left was blue and black or white and gold. Social media buzzed crazily when people could not agree on the colors of the dress. Personally, I saw blue and black. I was extremely confused when my cousin told me that she could only see white and gold. After a heated debate across almost all social media platforms, the designer of the dress, Roman Originals, tweeted that the dress was in fact blue and black: "We can confirm that #TheDress is blue and black! We should know!" Of course, I was relieved to find out that my theory was correct.

However, I was most interested in the fact that people became so invested in this mystery. News about this dress spread so quickly across social media because everyone was so eager to discover the truth. Not only was this a mystery about a dress, but a mystery about health, and specifically vision. Many feared that there was something wrong with their eyes when they disagreed with others about the dress color. It amazes me how Americans are so obsessed with their health. News spreads about the newest cancer treatments and salmonella-infested foods very quickly each day. I think to many Americans, viewing the wrong color of the dress was just another health concern. Of course, media went abuzz.

"Stay Weird, Stay Different"

Graham Moore after winning an Oscar for The Imitation Game

During the Oscars this past weekend, I was pleasantly surprised to see so many people use their winning speeches as opportunities to   bring certain issues for the forefront. For example, after winning an Oscar for Boyhood, Patricia Arquette pointed out the importance of women gaining equal rights. John Legend and Common spoke up about the discrimination against African Americans after the two singers won the award for their song, "Glory". However, many people, including myself, considered Graham Moore's speech the most moving of the night.

Graham Moore won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for The Imitation Game. When Oprah announced Moore as the winner, Moore looked stunned but extremely excited. He rushed up to the stage, eager to spread his words of wisdom to the millions of people watching the event.  Moore said, "I tried to commit suicide at 16 and now I'm standing here. I would like for this moment to be for that kid out there who feels like she doesn’t fit in anywhere. You do. Stay weird. Stay different, and then when it's your turn and you are standing on this stage please pass the same message along." Moore bravely shared his own story of attempting suicide when he was a teenager. He got through it, and now look at what he has become! I think it's wonderful that not only did Moore share this story and bring suicide to the attention of the public, but he also advised people to "pass the same message along". Unfortunately, suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in Americans of all ages. People need to know that they may go through dark times, but they can still become something great. Being different doesn't make you worth any less. In fact, it makes you more interesting. Just look at Graham Moore; he won an Academy Award! If that isn't interesting, then I don't know what interesting means.

Redefining American Beauty

Yesterday,  a new unaltered photograph (on the right) of Cindy Crawford circulated all across the internet. Crawford, 48, has been a supermodel all her life. However, after aging and having children, her body looks more like the average woman. Crawford once said, "When I was 23 other women could look at me and say, 'Well, she's never had kids,' but now I have and I know what it's like to have to lose baby weight." After giving birth, she hasn't been able to completely lose her extra belly weight. In this photograph, she decided not to hide that fact. Through this picture, Crawford is inspiring others to appreciate their bodies.

When I first viewed this image, I was delighted to see a woman embracing her natural beauty without Photoshop touch-ups. We have too many photographs in magazines, on billboards, on the internet, and on TV that depict extremely skinny models who have been Photoshopped to look even "better". Yet, those images aren't real. The expectations for beauty aren't real. These unrealistic expectations help explain why approximately 91% of women are unhappy with their bodies.  That fact hits close to home since my cousin struggled with Anorexia Nervosa for a few years. The media's focus on extremely skinny women only contributed to her anxiety. Whenever she started to eat more normally, reminders of thinness haunted her as she turned on the TV or logged onto the computer. For people with eating disorders, this technological age tends to only perpetuate their bad eating habits. Until more photographs like Crawford's begin to appear throughout our society, I'm afraid that women all across America will continue to be unsatisfied with their body images. People need to learn to embrace others' "imperfections" in order to redefine American beauty. This Cindy Crawford image is a step in the right direction.

Mug Shots for Gun Shots

While I was watching the news the other day, one of the anchors brought up a story about police officers in Miami. As I listened, I became extremely disappointed in these officers. When National Guard Sgt. Valerie Deant visited the Miami police's firearms training center, she was horrified when she noticed an old mugshot of her brother posted on the wall, a bullet hole piercing through his eye and forehead. This mugshot, taken back when Deant's brother was 18 years old, was being used for target practice. Five other photographs of black men appeared alongside her brother's mugshot, all used as targets by the Miami police.

The logic behind using these photographs for target practice is very flawed. Woody Deant, Valerie Deant's brother, is now 33 years old with a wife and children. After being arrested at the age of 18 for drag racing, he served four years in jail. Woody Deant hasn't been involved in crime since that incident. Yet, by using his old mugshot as a target, Miami police continue to portray him as a criminal. He is a real person, not just an ex-con. Deant and the five other men pictured above did not deserve to have their photographs used for target practice.

Alex Vaquez, a retired FBI agent, agrees that the use of real people's photographs as targets was not appropriate: “The police have different options for targets. I think the police have to be extra careful and sensitive to some issues that might be raised.” If the police run into Woody Deant out in Miami, they will have his image ingrained in their minds as a target they need to shoot. The police also clearly seem to be targeting blacks as the people they need to shoot down. Using these images as targets will almost definitely translate into targeting African Americans in real life. This racism needs to stop. African Americans are people; they shouldn't be targeted and shot just because of their skin color. By using photographs of black men as targets for shooting practice, the real danger to society appears to be the Miami police.

From Contestant To Judge on "American Idol"

No one I know every speaks about American Idol anymore. Once one of the most popular shows across the nation, American Idol has fallen down a steep cliff. Its finale last year became its lowest-rated episode all time of when it attracted only 6.6 million viewers. This year, American Idol is trying desperately to attract more viewers by adding new elements to the show. Tonight, I watched as American Idol made history by featuring the first judge ever to have previously competed on the show. Adam Lambert, the Idol Season 8 runner-up to Kris Allen, had the opportunity to appear on the judges' panel for an episode in place of Keith Urban. Harry Connick Jr., one of the judges on the show, told Lambert, "I cannot stop thinking about what you must be thinking sitting behind this desk because you're the only person who's done this on both sides."  Lambert could see the show in a completely different light than any other judge having experienced the Idol journey himself.

While on the show, Lambert even recreated his audition by singing "Bohemian Rhapsody" in front of his fellow judges Jennifer Lopez and Harry Connick Jr. After "auditioning" once again, Lambert claimed that he had forgotten just how many nerves everyone faced during the audition process. That moment reminded him of his life before fame; he was able to empathize with the contestants like no other judge before him. Today, Adam Lambert is fronting Queen, a gig not given to just your "ordinary singer".  After season 8, no one on American Idol has even gotten close to achieving the fame of Lambert or some of his predecessors, such as Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Chris Daughtry, or Jordin Sparks. Maybe American Idol should include more of these successful former contestants on the judges' panel to attract more viewers? The show would have a completely different vibe and would probably be more interesting to watch.

Media Clearly Making Strides with "Transparent"

While watching the Golden Globes on Sunday, I was pleasantly surprised to see so many meaningful awards given out. For the first time in history, Golden Globe was awarded to a show with a leading transgender character. Amazon's Transparent ended up winning for both Best Comedy Series as well as Best Actor (Jeffrey Tambor). Now that Transparent has gained public attention and praise, more people are likely to check out the show. After all, 19 million people watched the Globes. It is almost guaranteed that at least some of those people will want to watch Transparent now that it "must be good".

Jeffrey Tambor winning Golden Globe for Transparent

If more people watch Transparent, Amazon's streaming service will also gain an influx of new viewers. Amazon now has its own Orange is the New Black, a popular show which also includes a transgender character. I hope Transparent isn't just Amazon's token show. Instead, with any luck, it might motivate more writers/directors to take risks with shows and not just to write a slight variation on the classic cop show.

Hopefully, Transparent will also inspire people to become more accepting of the transgender community. If the Hollywood foreign press can accept transgender people, why can't everyone? Leelah Alcorn, a 17-year old transgender girl, committed suicide on December 28 since her parents refused to accept her true identity. We need to prevent an incident like this from happening again. People don't have to understand, they just have to accept. After all, my cousins' father is transgender, and he only admitted his true identity years after getting married and having children. It is a concept that everyone in my family struggles to comprehend, especially my aunt and cousins. Nevertheless, they have chosen to be accepting simply because it's the right thing to do.

Disneyland Disaster

Disneyland has always been known as the Happiest Place on Earth. However, it recently experienced a major scare when a sudden measles outbreak started spreading across Disneyland and Disney California Adventure at the end of December. Despite being declared eradicated in the United States in 2000, the virus has reappeared in the USA due to people getting infected overseas before traveling to America. Yet, one or two cases doesn't cause an outbreak. The spreading of the virus is linked to people choosing not to vaccinate against measles, which is a major issue.

The "Happiest Place on Earth"

Many parents these days haven't experienced measles themselves. They don't seem to grasp just how dangerous measles can become. About 1 or 2 out of 1000 people diagnosed with measles will die. There is also no treatment for the disease. Vaccines seem like the easy solution. However, some people have been misinformed that vaccines lead to Autism and other serious health problems, which is simply not true. The more people who choose not to vaccinate, the higher the risk of the virus spreading. Babies under the age of vaccination have no defense against measles. People need to understand that just because the disease hasn't been around in the United States in a long time doesn't mean it can't still become a danger. In order to protect everyone, we need higher awareness of the dangers of measles and the safety of vaccines. If even the Happiest Place on Earth can take a turn for the worse and become infected, measles is clearly still an issue.