Assignment #8

The extraordinary Pantene commercial has to be one of the most moving and profound commercials I have ever seen.  It seemed like so much more than a commercial; it felt like a real story.  It was so deep I just can’t get over it!  The message I got from it far surpassed any lecture or article on becoming successful.  It shows that anyone can be great, as long as they never give up.

Now to analyze this clip to death!  The setting represented the differences between the two competitors.  It would go from the nice house and grand piano of the snobby rich contestant to the poor sidewalks and violin of the poor deaf girl.  This showed that no matter where they came from, they can both end up in the same place.  There was of course the external physical conflict with the pushing, verbal abuse, and the fight.  But there was also internal conflict.  The deaf girl was continuously degraded and discouraged, and she had to deal with that on the inside.  And at the same time, the rich girl had internal conflict.  She was worried that the deaf girl might beat her in the competition.  And she chose to act physically on her fears.

I believed the deaf girl’s violin was an ambiguous symbol of her soul.  Of course, she needed the violin to play the music, but it also represented her on the inside.  When the guys came and took it and broke it, she broke on the inside.  But she taped it up and fixed it, just like she healed on the inside.  She refused to let the broken violin stop her like she refused to let a broken pride stop her.  When she went out on the stage, the violin shined, just like she shined.

I think it’s unanimous that the protagonist in this story was the young deaf girl and the antagonist was the rich snobby girl.  But if I were relating this to a more general situation, I would say that the protagonist would be the average joe kind of person just trying to make a difference and succeed in the world.  While the antagonist would be the industry bigots who think they own the world and no one else matters.

The climax of the clip to me was when the fight began.  When the guys showed up and started beating the old man and took the girl’s violin, my heart sank.  That was an epic part that made the story what it was, that gave it the message that it should convey.  And like I said earlier, this message or theme, was succeeding no matter what obstacles you face.  If you don’t have all the resources, time, and money, you can still be as great and make as much of a difference as those who do have all of those things.  You just can’t give up; you have to keep on keeping on.

Lyre Bird – Assigment #7

Wow!  What an interesting creature!  I had never even heard of the Lyre Bird until watching the Youtube video today.  It is neat to see that there is as bird that you cannot identify by its call, as we normally do.  It’s almost like a prettier, more subdued Parrot.  Parrots have been beaten to death over the years with the endless jokes, movie scenes, plush toys, and other amusements.  It’s refreshing to see this bird that is more natural and real.

It’s incredible to hear what deforestation has done to this animal.  When you first hear it, you find it hilarious that a bird sounds just like a car alarm.  But when you sit down to write about it, you realize the enormous negative effect it has on the bird.  Setting aside the fact that they mimic as they do, deforestation alone is extremely harmful to animals.  They lose safe harbors and mates and eventually become extinct all together. 

Now lets throw in the mimicry.  The sole purpose for their mimicry is to obtain mates.  So if deforestation comes and the only sounds it hears are those of cars and equipment, what is it going to mimic?  That would be the cars and the equipment!  Therefore, their mating call is not reaching out to females because they think it’s just the workers and logging trucks.  Then, the mating doesn’t occur and no new Lyre Chicks are born, thus eliminating the population even faster. 

Deforestation has negative effects on all rainforest inhabitants.  But this poor bird bears the brunt of a double dose of danger because it depends on a totally natural environment.  

So, all in all, deforestation is bad.  Uhmmm kay.

No, seriously, it is.  We need to help the animals! :)