Essay 6 "Sleep Dealer"

Sleep Dealer is a film that conveys a deep connection of ideology with other films (e.g. The Matrix and The Truman Show). A strong connection that is basically what makes the story evolve and hit its climax is the desire of the lead role to be and live something more. Memo, Neo and Truman all have this inquisition which leads them to seek answers and live out the progression of the story. If you really look at it, all of these characters are the same person. They dislike the world they live in; they are persistent and determined to find answers to the truth. I think that the greatest similarity though is between Sleep Dealer and The Matrix. The reason why I say this is because in both of the films Memo and Neo are part of a world that is run by machines that are run by humans. A quote that caught my eye though, was that of Luz the girlfriend of Memo when she says, “…be careful that the machine does not control you.” This is very significant because in The Matrix the characters would feel in real life what they feel in the matrix and in Sleep Dealer the nodes would do the same as the matrix in how it would show Memo a reality that he couldn’t see in front of him. This is a form of control over the humans and this shows a strong connection in terms of reality between both films.
Now, there are some relevant differences between the films. In Sleep Dealer, I think that the primary focus is on Latinos and Immigration. The reason why I say this is because in Sleep Dealer the United States government has control over the water system around the world. They force all residents to pay for water and if not than they won’t have water. Another example is that in the movie, the Mexicans work in sweat shop factories that they call sleep dealers where they are connected into a network that sends they’re movement and talking signals to a robot somewhere in the U.S. as long distance workers for low cost work. This reminds me of what Mitchell says, “Depending upon our relationships to the associated social and political structures, each of us can potentially play many different roles (some strong, some weak) at nodes within these-owner, authorized user, operator…” (9) This idea leads to non-necessity of immigrants in the United States, which they actually make known in the movie and conveys their demeaning status. The Matrix plays a whole different role in terms of story line or core significance because it’s more about the whole world playing an essential role in survival. Neo and the others are all considered one people, the human race. There is no racism or stereotyping in the film. The centrality of the story is freedom from the machines.
These differences show that race is definitely an issue in comparison with The Matrix where race is not an issue at all. This movie was particularly Mexican because the story surrounded Mexico and Mexicans. The lead character Memo is a Mexican who starts out as a farmer who works with his father in a small town called Santa Ana, Oaxaca. Another example that definitely puts it in this racially saturated category is the fact that the movie is in Spanish which definitely marks it as being Latino. Other elements that add to the idea of it being particularly Latino is the Mexican bar, Mexican music, and the culture presented in the film. I think that this movie makes it an importance in presenting Mexican or Latino stereotypes.
There is a big difference between the rural and urban life in Sleep Dealer. Those who live in rural surrounding are faced with economic instability, financial deterioration and the stoppage of technological advancement. We see this in how Memo lives in his hometown and when the movie transitions to the city life. There is a huge difference between these two and the movie seeks to make it known to the viewer how blatant rural life is in comparison to how lively and exciting city life is. All of the films and books contain the central idea of freedom from control. In The Matrix they wanted freedom from the machines. In The Truman Show Truman wanted to be free from the blatant, controlled and counterfeit. Memo sought after a life that was free from economic depression and control. What we see from all these films is the need for change and personal and wide frame freedom. Through the books The Matrix and Philosophy and Me++ we see how philosophers from all around the world and from centuries ago consider this topic to be of vital importance. The reason for this is so that people can realize that we have a mind of our own and we should have control over our own lives. We see issues like free will, determinism, networks, connections, etc. These issues surround each and every one of us. I can honestly say that this topic has been of vital importance to me because this shows me how the human mind works and how there is so much more to look into and determine the truth for ourselves.

Blog 12 "Sleep Dealer"

I have to say that Sleep Dealer was a good film. I didn't think that i would be that interested but i was interested the whole time. You can definitely see how this movie was "particularly Mexican" because the story line took place in Mexico and basically everybody was "conceived" to be Mexican. The lead character Memo is a Mexican who starts out as a farmer who works with his father in a small town in the film. The movie being in Spanish definitely marks it as being Latino. Another element that added to the idea of it being particularly Latino was the Mexican bar during the movie that shows a "ranchero" who's playing the snare drum with Mexican type music playing in the background. I believe that the connection between this film and the other films is the basis of machines taking a lead or crucial role in society. The way people connected were through the nodes in Sleep Dealer that was similar to The Matrix in how Neo and the others would be "jacked" into the matrix where they connected to another world. I think that there is a huge difference between this film and The Matrix, especially when it came to the issues of race. In The Matrix, race was definitely not a primary issue of importance because race wasn't even looked at. In fact, the only race to be known was the human race as a whole. In Sleep Dealer race played an exponential role. The focus was on Memo who's family was barely getting by and the government had taken control over the water system. So in looking for a way to support his family, Memo went to look for an opportunity and that opportunity came to him through being a sleep dealer. This movie has racial stereotypes written all over it. This is where Sleep Dealer and The Matrix differ. One thing is certain though. Memo, Neo and Truman all believed that there was more and they were all searching for answers to there unanswered questions. This is greatly important because this desire is what leads them to the climax and synopsis of the story.

Essay 3 "Pass"

Free will is the ability to make a choice and no one interfering in that choice. Fate, however, is the concept that things or events happen because they are predetermined and they are supposed to happen. When looking at these two concepts you can automatically see the difference between them. In free will you always have a choice to go one way or the other. In fate you do not have a choice and your life is predetermined.
I believe that i have free will. I say this because I can always make my own choices, decide what I want to do, and how I want to do it. The problem is not finding out if free will is certain. The problem is in the decision making process in our minds. What I mean is that we do have free will, but because of our way of thinking, we tend to make the same decisions because of what we have been "programmed" to know and how to react in certain situations.
The programmed mind is something we need to understand in order to comprehend free will. If we look at the example of a child, we see how children absorb the world around them from when they are born till when they start school. Human beings are not automatically filled with all knowledge in order to understand every aspect of the outcome of every decision. We are taught to believe certain things, think a certain way and also to react according to someone else's standards. Now, this in itself does not mean that we cannot be knowledgeable in order to truly make a decision based on what we truly want. This all depends on the person.
In "The Matrix" we see how Neo lives in the matrix not knowing if it's real or not. We see how he sees the "world" as a vague and unreal world with no purpose for existence. Since he already has this view sinking in the very foundation of his mind, Morpheus is able to convince him to make decisions that lead to him being unplugged from the matrix. The essential case made here is that even though Neo had free will to choose, it was expected of him to make the decision that he made. All the events in his life led him to this one important decision and we knew what was going to be the outcome. Another way that we can look deeper into this is by the idea of Determinism.
In "The Matrix and Philosophy," Schick develops the idea of Determinism. Determinism presents the idea that everything that happens is caused by something else that pushes it into fruition. I believe that this is true, but not to the extent that Laplace claims it to be. Laplace states that nothing happens without a cause. that is understandable. My disagreement is with the idea that the same cause always produces the same effect. I disagree because the effect depends on the decision of the person in the cause. I probably wont react the same way as someone else because as i stated earlier, we are all "programmed" differently. This cannot be determined.
If free will is based on us being able to make our own decisions then we do have free will. There is no error in the concept. The reality of it is that we need to consider many possibilities. We have to consider our upbringing, knowledge, and beliefs because all these things determine the paths and choices that we will make.

Blog 9 "Research Project / Media Final"

So far i plan to work on a music video with Ender. We are planning to work on original lyrics and music. We would like to write about everyday issues that people have to go through. I would like to write a song like a story. Topics would include child abuse, rape, and drugs. Our main priority right now is to write the song and develop it from there. We also plan to add videos of certain situations that involve these topics. Now, for the reasearch paper we plan to use blogger and basically give a daily log of everything that we are gonna do, what we're working on, any ideas, etc. This log would basically give "The Making of The Video" and all work put into it.

Blog 8 "Me++ 7-17"

Boundaries are the formula behind my comfort. My skin protects the inner me so that i don't bleed or more than that, my heart can't be seen or my emotions. It allows for my organs and tissue to work properly. This then leads to me setting a boundary to cover my nakedness to protect me from weather, temperature and being embarrassed about not having clothes on. Next, this leads to my room being a boundary for me from family and people when i want to just be in my room alone to be able to work on music, school and to be able to think efficiently. Then there is the boundary around my room which is my apartment that protects me from the outside world. There is a boundary between me and the cold, people i don't know, and from the dangers of the outside world. Another boundary is the family van that takes us from place to place and it also keeps us warm. The van can be considered a connection to get from place to place. Another boundary around me is my school that keeps me on school grounds and also my church where I'm closed in for service. All of these boundaries can and have been penetrated one way or another. Many of the connections that penetrate are the Internet, sewage, phone line, etc. And everything online is basically networked. I order items online, it gets sent to the warehouse, they send the item through UPS and UPS delivers it to me. Everything works and depends on a network. In order for information to be delivered networks are needed and the connections are what make up that network. A network can be looked at like the structure of a company, a business, or even authority. I constantly access these networks daily through the Internet, in school as a student being part of the educational structure and even as an American citizen because I'm part of the structure of this country. Another thing that dictates the life around me is time. I need to make times for everything. I need to have my school schedule so that i can plan around the time that i have available outside of school. My phone is a constant reminder to me of what needs to be done throughout my day, week, month and year. All of these things are what dictate the very society we live in.

Blog 7 "Essay 4 Reflection"

The Woodstock Festival came to be my topic for my Midterm paper and PowerPoint presentation. I started by going to the Wikipedia website to lay out a basic foundation for my research which then led me to other reliable sources. I then checked on Google and other sources that were linked on Wikipedia and i was definitely able to find a good amount of reliable sources. I found a magazine article from The Rolling Stones magazine and other websites. I was also able to find the documentary from the History Channel "Woodstock: Now and Then" which actually gave me a great amount of info concerning every angle of the event. I also used the article finder in the library website of LaGuardia where i found a tremendous amount of articles giving information on almost all of the major if not all the major issues surrounding the event. I put an extreme amount of attention into my writing also be cause i believe heavily in good delivery of a message or statement. If it sounds intellectual it will also add to the reliability of my information and argument. If i had to rate my effort on this from a 1-10 i think that it would be between a 8 or a 9. I think so because i put many hours into the development of my paper making sure that it complied with the MLA format. Also, i put in a lot of hours into the detail of my PowerPoint presentation to make sure that it look good but more importantly that i was able to effectively provide sufficient information without diluting the facts. I think that my final product is a 9 because i believe that I gave more than enough information to back up the iconic importance of Woodstock in the influence of Mass Media. Honestly though, this has definitely been a difficult molding process because this is actually the first research paper and PowerPoint presentation that i have ever done. My hope is that i was able to deliver effectively and efficiently and that i was able to answer the core thesis of the midterm assignment.

Blog 6 "The Truman Show"

In observation to "The Truman Show," similarities can be seen to all the topics that have been discussed throughout class. One thing that struck me right away was the similarity from Trumans "world," to the matrix. Throughout the movie we can see how even though Truman in his own nature is reacting entirely natural, the world around him is controlled and staged to be a certain way. Truman sees this to be the real world and if we notice his personality and his character we can also see that because of this staged "world," he has become a very happy, gleeful and very respectful person. The similarities between these two movies is astounding. I never realized until today how these films are so similar in the sense that they both convey a story of being enslaved in a world that isn't real. We can also see how the girl Sylvia is sort of like a Morpheus/Trinity figure. She is like Morpheus in the sense that she tries to reveal the truth to him about the fake world that he's living. She is like Trinity in the sense that she falls in love with him and is trying to help him in his conquest to be free.
Another observation is how Christof is kind of like the "God" of The Truman Show. He's in control of everyone, the weather and how things are in the truman show. I dont know if i'm looking to deep into this but when you look at Christof's name it can actually be two words; Christ of. I can also make the observation that Christof is the "Christ of" Truman. In the film there was the scene where Christof tells Truman that he can be safe in his world and that all that lies outside of it are worse deception and lies. In a sense Christof is trying to save Truman from a world that is totally different from his own and where Truman's life is not protected. The thing that make Christof different from God is that he is not omniscient or all-powerful. His knowledge is limited and he can't foresee the future. He can stage a scene but he doesn't know the outcome or how Truman will react. Also, he can't do anything. The only powers he has are those available to him in his studio.