Blog 6: Mitchell & Webb - Needlessly ambiguous terms

   One of the many ideas in Chapter 5 includes Ambiguity. This is when words, phrases, or sentences have more than one meaning. I felt that there had to be something comical on YouTube that dealt with ambiguity. I was right. I found a clip from a BBC Sketch Comedy Show. A criminal leader is annoyed with Detective Harrison and wants him killed. The leader hires 2 of his men to assassinate Harrison. As he gives instructions he says he wants Harrison "removed" and "taken out the picture." One of the hired killers claims that the terms are ambiguous and he needs to be straight forward and just say he wants Harrison dead.

    As I said earlier I wanted to find something funny on YouTube that dealt with ambiguity. I really enjoyed this video as it dealt with it perfectly. An any situation the things you say can be easily ambiguous. It's possible someone who speaks another language while trying to learn another language might be confused about what you said.

    What I really liked about this video was the phrase "taken out of the picture." I came close to thinking that Detective Harrison was going to be removed from a photograph. I quickly remembered that this wasn't the case.

    There isn't much to agree with in this video but in a way there were trying to make an interesting point in which I do agree with. Ambiguity can be confusing. As I said "taken out the picture" almost fooled me.

     Ambiguity is definitely an interesting subject. I really like the fact that words and sentences can have more than 1 meaning. There's no question that there is more to ambiguity that meets the eye.

     The world is definitely affects by this. Advertisers are probably the most guilty of this. They might say a product is big. What do they mean when they say that? Do they mean the product is popular or big in size? Politicians will even do things like this. It's important to be aware and alert of this.  

Blog 5: Cussing

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2007/06/whence_the_.html

    Bad Words have been around for many centuries. The F Bomb has been around since at least 1500. Back in the day it was highly offensive as it has to do with sex. Today it has become less offensive as it means much more than sex. The S word means feces which was highly offensive back in the day. Today the word is used in many different ways and is less offensive. There are other curse words that aren't as offensive today and have lost some it's original meaning. Today the N word is commonly used today. It wasn't long ago when it was offensive towards African Americans.

    I've always been curious as to why bad words were bad. I sometimes asked myself if any word could have easily been considered a swear word. It's interesting how a bunch of sounds put together can make a bad word. When it comes down to it, all they are are just words that we speak. Just about anything we say could cause someone to become offended. In countries like Britain the world "Bloody" is offensive and considered a bad word. Is possible that there are words in other countries that are offensive. It's interesting that Bloody isn't bad in America.
 
    I found it interesting that the phrase "That Bites" used to be considered offensive. I've rarely heard anyone actually say that. The only place I've heard it was in the comic strip "Zits." When other bad words were said they were bleeped out. "That Bites" wasn't bleeped out so obviously the phrase isn't considered bad.

    I agree with what is said in this article. It seems like just about everyone cusses at least once on a daily basis. Even in movies I hear more cussing. Cussing seems to be getting more acceptable. I was also under the impression that more than one F Bomb in a movie automatically makes it R Rated. Of course in some of the latest PG-13 Movies I've seen it's been said at least twice.

   There's no question about it. I really would like to understand all this better. It's a topic I've been thinking about my whole life. As a Christian I know in The Bible it never mentions Bad Words but it does talk about speaking kind things to each other. So I guess in a way The Bible kind of did say not to say Bad Words since they can be offensive.

    Most people in the world have cussed at least once in their life. It's part of the way we communicate with each other. Some have said that it sometimes makes us more honest. Is is possible the world needs more honesty. Do they need more negativity?
 

Blog 4: Hollywood Around the World

http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/movies/2013/04/14/cinemacon-box-office-international/2076515/

   Hollywood isn't dependent on American Audiences as much as they used to be. 70% of the money Hollywood makes now comes from International Sales. Movies like Battleship flopped here in American but did well Internationally. Slowly Hollywood is catering to foreign tastes.

   This article caused me to think about many different things. One of those things was somehow you have to get these movies into another language either by subtitles or doing a voice over of that language. My last blog came to mind when I talked about The Super Bowl Coca Cola ad. Americans forgot their was diversity in this country. Perhaps we might have thought that Hollywood Movies can only appeal to Americans and it can only be in English. This is not true. We are a melting pot and everybody wants to enjoy a movie. There are some Hispanics in this country who can only speak Spanish. How are they going to enjoy a movie if it's in English?

 I found it interesting that Hollywood is adding more international actors to the cast simply appeal to foreign audiences. Byung-hun Lee who is a South Korean Actor was in the 2nd G.I. Joe movie. Nobody in America knows who he is so they don't care. He's well know in Asia so Asian's care more. The movie made over $80 Million overseas which is twice the amount it made over here in America.

   I agree with this article. I felt like I've seen a change in movies over the last few years. I remember watching Life of Pie. Sitting through that movie was a challenge. I didn't hate it but I wasn't blown away by it. Perhaps there are a few Americans who are crazy about it. It's entirely possible that the movie was mostly targeted towards Indians. I'm interested in knowing more. I wonder what Hollywood is going to be like in the next 20 years. Is it possible they might make a movie and only release in a certain country because it mostly appeals to them?

   This definitely affects the world. Hollywood is trying to appeal to other countries for more money. Countries will get a taste of American Culture as well as part of their own culture. Language makes a person who they are. It helps defines a culture. Hollywood understands that. They need to understand the language and culture. It is also important to remember that America is a melting pot full of people around the world. In many ways this is helpful for them as well.

Blog 3: Coca Cola Super Bowl Commercial

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nataly-kelly/cocacola-superbowl-ad_b_4714935.html There is a lot of anger over one of this year's Super Bowl Commercials. Coca-Cola presented the song "America the Beautiful" in 7 different languages. Many are saying that English is the American Language and doing what it did is Anti American. Although there are arguments supporting that it's not Anti American such as we have no official language, other languages are spoken here, and we all have a foreign background. I picked this article because I found all the controversy interesting. I also remembered that we've been recently discussing "English" in class. I remember how we discussed that we take words from other languages and incorporate them into our language. I find it interesting that a lot of people such as me forgot that English isn't the only language in America. I think a lot of people also forgot the American is melting pot full of people around the world. The article said that there are 381 languages spoken here. It's possible those who speak more than one language and perhaps immigrated here to the U.S. possibly liked the commercial. I agree with all that the article says although I admit I didn't feel the same way last night. After thinking about it it makes sense. I have a few relatives from Mexico who worked hard to live here and gain citizenship as well as learn English. They are just as American as every other American. This article definitely affects the world. Many countries see us as an opportunity. There are those who want to be here. This commercials shows that they are welcomed here regardless of who they are and what language they speak. What's important to remember is that the people who found this country came from somewhere else. I think Coco Cola realized that and felt the need to express that as it seems many people have easily forgotten.