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In this, the third and latest movie version of John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men,  screenplay written by Horton Foote and directed by Gary Sinese, the audience is  introduced to a variety of underdogs who are faced with a variety of unfortunate predicaments. We must first note that the title Of Mice and Men comes from a Robert  Burns poem means “the best laid schemes of mice and men often go awry”. This theme follows the plot line through out the movie. The audience follows two men, George (Gary Sinese) and Lennie (John Malkovich), through a brief point in time in their lives during the depression era. Lennie, a slow-witted man, continually gets into trouble and drags George, Lennie’s friend and guardian figure, along with him. Due to Lennie’s unintentionally harmful actions, he and George are forced to travel the country to go-nowhere farm jobs. In this movie they wind up at Tyler Ranch, near Soledad, California. Just as in all of the other towns George and Lennie had worked at, Lennie winds up in trouble at this one when he, not-purposely, kills Curley’s wife, a beautiful flirt played by Sherilyn Fenn. When the men of the ranch decide to go out and find Lennie to kill him for his crime, George decides that it must be him who ends Lennie’s life. If he had not killed Lennie, Lennie would have wound up in a mental institute, been killed by the other workers of the farm, or he would have lived, causing other lives, including George’s, to be put in danger from his unpredictability.
The words “And will there be rabbits, George?”, said by Lennie, are delightful to the audience when George tells Lennie about their dream. They plan on living off of “the fat of the land”. What Lennie’s favourite thing to do is, is to listen to George tell him about what it will be like after they get money together to buy their dream. After the movie, these words wind up haunting the viewers because of the heart-wrenching end: George tells Lennie of their dream land, while he prepares a gun in order to shoot Lennie, without his knowing.

Gary Sinede and John Malkovich are perfect for the role of George and Lennie as they perfectly portrayed their book counterpart. The chronological order of this film is not completely parallel to that of the novel, but it still achieves the same
in-depth effect. I personally found the ending quite depressing due to the death of Lennie, you can see the pain George has to go through to kill Lennie but viewers can also understand his intentions and the need for it to happen. This film is a must see for those who are fans of John Steinbeck, or for those who want to see an exquisite film
those who just want to see an exquisite film.

The movie, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, tells the story of McMurphy, a convict, who is sent to a mental institution because he believes he is insane.  In actuality McMurphy, is sane when he comes to the mental ward, he only wants to get out of the work that jail time entails.  It is believed that his stay in the mental ward is what drives the man insane.  While in the mental ward, he interacts with the patients of his ward and ends up changing their worlds completely.  When two different societies are combined, they undoubtedly will change one another.  This is the case when McMurphy coming from the “real” world, a society where a person can do what he pleases, is associated with the mental ward patients, whose lives are completely controlled by their nurses and their routines.  McMurphy and the patients have a significant effect on each other.

The mental ward and the world that McMurphy comes from are completely different.  The mental ward is completely based on rules.  The patients’ lives are based on the routine that their nurse, Nurse Ratched, has established for them.  Nurse Ratched believes that the rules she sets for the patients are in their best interest or getting better.  The nurses have entire control over the patients.  They are locked into their beds every night, get up at the same time, they eat at the same time, and they watch tv at the same time every day.  The patients follow Nurse Ratched’s rule without ever questioning them.  Basically, they have no minds of their own.  McMurphy comes from a society almost opposite of the mental ward.  He has lived his whole life doing what he wants.  He has never had a nurse hovering over him telling him what he has to do at all time.  Being in prison shows that McMurphy has a hard time living by the rules.  So living by strict rules of the mental ward is going to be even harder for him.

Living in the mental ward is very hard for McMurphy at first.  The patients and McMurphy cannot understand one another so socializing with them is hard for him.  When he begins to interact with them, he has a profound effect on the patients of the mental ward.  McMurphy has a hard time following the rules that Nurse Ratched sets for patients of the mental ward.  So he has to question her and protest against the rules of the ward.  Before McMurphy came to the ward, the patients never questioned Nurse Ratched’s rules.  Seeing McMurphy challenge them incited a sense of freedom within them to disobey Nurse Ratched and everything they knew as true.  McMurphy’s presence gave them a will for freedom that they did not have before.  Under McMurphy’s supervision the patients had the nerve to escape from the mental ward for one day and go sailing.  Something they would have never of thought of doing before they knew McMurphy.  After encountering McMurphy, the patients were brave enough to oppose Nurse Ratched’s rules openly.  Such as the time Martini threw a tantrum that disputed Nurse Ratched’s rationing of their own cigarettes.  McMurphy also got them to come together as a group and fight Nurse Ratched’s controls.  McMurphy gets the whole ward to vote against Nurse Ratched rule that they were not allowed to watch the World Series.  Another thing that the patients would not have done without the help of McMurphy.  Life in the mental ward has an effect on McMurphy as well.  McMurphy’s goal was in the mental ward was to escape from it but after he came into close contact with the people of it he lost that aspiration.  When he had his window of opportunity he did not escape but instead chose to remain in the mental ward.

When the two different societies of the mental ward and the outside world meet, they were bound to change each other.  These changes can be seen by observing the patients actions to the old rules of the mental ward and McMurphy’s actions while in the mental ward.  Who can say if these changes were for the better?  All that can be said is that they clearly changed in some form or another.

I really enjoyed this movie as it has a very exciting plot. It is one of my favourite movies where it has won numerous awards such as the Academy Award for Best Picture. I would recommend this movie to all drama lovers who wants to immerse themselves into a great film.

The outsider by Graeme Lay is a short story about a tourist from The United States of America. He has come to the small town called Kaimara to pursue his passion of surfing. There, he meets a hopeful girl named Justine. Justine is an innocent girl who is bored of the town she lives in. The quote “Tuesday morning, and even less happening than usual.” Reinforces that she is bored with this town and how inactive it is. This makes the arrival of an outsider really interesting to her. Justine is really interested in Karl and so they soon enter a relationship. Justine is really obsessed with Karl and she treats him like a god. She would make him coffee, warm up his bath and would light the coal range. She seems to look over the fact that all Karl cares about is surfing. He spends most of his time on his surfboard rather than with Justine and Justine seems to cope with this fine. This is quite alike to the protagonist in the film “Into the Wild” because Chris Mccandless cares about his adventure and experience rather than his own family who is worried sick about his wellbeing. Most of the readers knew what was coming when Karl left Justine as a single pregnant woman. Karl does not seem to care about her at all and Justine overlooked the fact that he does not want to spend his life as a father but as a avid surfer.

Freedom is an idea that is associated with Karl and his lifestyle. He does not have a job and he does not have to care about anything like work or family, all he does each day is surf. Surfing may be his escape to his own world of freedom. The quote “Wetsuit gleaming like a seal.” Shows that Karl is a good surfer and his life is very water dependant as the author compared him to a sea animal. He must fell naturally at home in the water. Another quote that shows his passion for surfing is “Head bobbling like a Muslim at prayer.” Makes us think that surfing is like a religion to him. He respects it and finds peace with it. Chris Mccandless also finds peace with tramping. He leaves his life behind and begins anew as a backpacker who is trying to find his place in the world. Chris enjoys Freedom and does not miss his family or his old life at all. He is indulged into his new passion.

The character Karl Sikowsky is very alike to Chris Mccandless in the way that both of them left their old lives behind to start a new life as a pursuer of their interest. They both enjoy the taste of Freedom and they do not care about the consequences of their old lives and who they left behind.

The film Into the Wild is about the life of a young boy, Chris McCandless, who leaves his family and old life behind to pursue his idea of freedom. The movie has a different approach to his life than the book, written by Jon Krakeur, which was published in 1996.

One of the main standout difference is the way Chris McCandless was portrayed. In the movie he was as a hero and an idol. He seems easy going and is very nice to people he meets on the way. The book however portrays him in a much darker sense, Jon Krakeur portrays Chris as a selfish boy who does not see the effect his actions are taking on his family. Jon Krakeur also discusses many opinions he has on Chris McCandless to show us what most people think of him as. The book also goes into his background and his childhood, specifically to how he developed his thoughts and his opinions on society whereas the movie starts with him finishing his college education, not showing how he developed his ideas on society and how he was questioning society since he was a child. Hollywood went in depth with Tracy. In the movie, Tracy was a cute girl who is in love with Chris, she tries to seduce him and sings a song with him making us viewers think that she will be a big part of Chris’ adventure and story but the book barely talks about Tracy at all, she is just a girl who has a crush on Chris but Chris does not pay much attention to her. I think why the movie included many scenes on Tracy is because they want it to seem like Chris is a normal guy with a normal teenage life but the truth is much different to that.

I would like to conclude that the movie is very different to the book. The movie is a drama, enjoying approach on Chris’ life but the book is a thought provoking adventure and makes us understand what was wrong with the actions he took and how he was not a good person the movie makes him to be.

Following my previous blog which was a few positive facts about technology this week. Even though i support the use of technology, during this blog i will be focusing more on the negative sides of technology. Everyone reading this blog has access to new technology and most of us have technology merged into our everyday lives so these negative traits about technology will most likely apply directly to the reader.

One of the most discussed negative side of technology is the wall it creates for physical interaction. Smartphones and computers have access to social media and even though it might seem like it is easier to connect with people around the world, these connections are only made through glass screens. Online interaction requires much less skills and courage than real interaction making many teenagers miss out on the much needed interaction skills required during their future such as manners, gestures and the many emotions we can feel when talking to someone special. Most people are glued to their smartphones and take less notice of the world around them. Bangkok is a city where most people are on their smartphones all the time. Sometimes if someone is waiting for something or is free then they have a reason to be on their phones but the big problem is the people who are either with their friends, family or partner and are still using their smartphone disregarding the people around them. I think this is the breaking point for many people and why so many people are against technology.

Technology was created to improve peoples lives and make it more convenient but this also creates many health problems as well, one of the many health hazards that can come from technology is obesity, especially child obesity. Technology enhances our lives but with the convinience of technology comes inactivity. Many children prefer to stay home and watch tv or play on the computer rather than socialising or going outdoors. A recent research has found out that american kids spend an average of 7 hours a day either on a computer or on the TV, this is a staggering amount as a child usually only stays up for around 13-15 hours, this shows that a child spends roughly 50% of his/her day glued to technology. All this inactivity whilst on technology will almost certainly lead to child obesity so i would recommend to all parents reading this post to limit your childs technology use because it can hugely impact their future life.

As i said in the beginning of the blog that i support the use of technology, i understand the negatives and will try to limit my own use of technology as it can turn out to be extremely harmful. I also strongly recommend all readers to consider their own use of technology and further research the negatives of technology because there are many more negatives to this topic. I believe that if the world was not as reliant on technology we would have a different lifestyle but it may be too late as technology has quickly become a part of us as 21st century human beings.

Everyone can agree that smartphones and computer have hugely impacted our lives but many people are debating whether technology is a positive advancement in our lives or not. Over the past decade technology has taken over our lives and society as a whole. People from all ages and races have access to technology or technological equipment. I am going to further look into the positives of technology on our lives.

In education, technology has improved classroom interaction and given new methods of teaching and working. Most classrooms have a computer and a smart board. This helps the teacher interact with the students easier and is also more accessible for both the teacher and students giving easy access through a big interactive screen. Technology has also given programs where students can work from, whether being Microsoft office, photoshop or even the internet. Microsoft word is one of the most used programs for high school students as it makes writing essays or making posters a lot easier and faster than hand making them. Microsoft office offers tools such as autocorrect which helps with spelling and grammar of the document and ultimately improves the document without the student needing to do anything. Photoshop is also another program that students could use to edit, rearrange or drastically change any given picture. This opens up a wide range of potential jobs so this is a program that students can master and can carry these skills into their near future. Nowadays there are free websites and programs on the internet where students can study entire courses from their computers wherever they are. This can open up to a whole new method of studying where students can possibly study a whole years worth of courses at their very homes. I believe technology has greatly impacted education and has also opened up a door to a whole new style of teaching.

One of the other main impact of technology is communication. Technology has opened up a completely new and extremely efficient way of communication whether it is calling, texting or social media. Before technology, there was only face to face communication or sending letters. With technology, if someone wanted to contact another person then he could just pick up a phone and call them with the click of a button or he could type a message and within a second it would arrive in the other persons phone. This drastically increases the ability and quality of communication. Many people debate whether this type of non-contact communication will hinder a persons social skills but as i am a person who constantly uses this kind of communication, i personally believe that this new ability of communication has improved human life and is exactly what we need for our ease of communication.

Technology has very rapidly merged into our everyday lives and without technology, the world today will be very different. I believe that without technology, we as a civilisation could not advance, therefore for the debate against the advancement of technology, i believe that technology is what is advancing the world and it also opens up to a whole new world possibilities