Pursuit of Greatness

Dear Dolly Parton,

I have recently watched the Netflix original To The Bone. This movie follows the life of a girl named Ellen, who battles anorexia and her journey to health. This movie reminded me of you, Dolly, as I noticed similarities between you and a character named Dr. William Beckham. He runs an unconventional house for people suffering from eating disorders. Dr. Beckham turns his back on a normal life in the pursuit to achieve one for the patients.

When looking at all the inspirational work you do with your life, I couldn’t help but think about the influencing comparisons between this character and you. I’ve always been awestruck at your outstanding accomplishments, especially our fight to promote and improve literacy with your “Imagination Library”. The act of sending books to children has spread from Tennessee, Canada, the UK, and Australia. This compares to Dr. Beckham because through his selflessness of his work, he is able to impact so much more. One of the main points the movie acknowledges is how the disease of anorexia affects family, friends, and loved ones. It stresses the point that an illness is not a battle for just one person, but rather a unit. By changing one person's life, and leading them to a place of health and mental stability, Dr. Beckham affects much more than just one person and manages to change the lives of many. It is his sacrifice that allows his influence to make a difference, similar to yours. Through your work with the library, your pledge of 3 million to victims of wildfires, all of which includes, one thousand a month to each victim, and the $500,000 to the Fort Sanders Medical Center. While Dr. Beckham might not have affected as many lives, he understands as well as you that in order in order to make an impact and a difference, you need to sacrifice what you can to who you can.

Another similarity between you and Dr. Beckham is the integrity and originality in how you help and give back to others. Dr. Beckham is known for treating the patients in a home in an unorthodox yet effective matter. He achieves this by not stressing food, limiting family exposure, and a point system in which you can earn your freedom. His new method and perspective of the serious disorder is what leads the patient to a better self-sustaining life, and a 6-month long waiting list to get in on the program. You embody this mindset, as well by the way you execute your programs.

The movie has an ominous ending that can be left for interpretation. It ends with Ellen finally taking her health seriously and going back to work with Dr. Beckham. This ending doesn’t reveal if Ellen finally achieves health, or where any of the characters end up. I felt this was a lovely representation of life as the characters are going to keep working towards health. Dr. Beckham keeps working to help others and you keep working to inspire, without an ending in sight.

Drug Lords

This week in my blog post I decided to watch the Netflix docu-series I watched Drug Lords. The first three episodes were about Pablo Escobar and I wasn’t feeling like watching those so I skipped straight to the fourth episode. This episode focuses on Frank Lucas and the country boys.

Frank Lucas is an infamous American drug dealer. He is known for revolutionizing the trafficking of heroin but finding a way to cut out the middleman. He would directly buy heroin from the Golden Triangle in Southeast Asia. Under the wing of Bumpy Johnson he began his life of crime in Harlem. After the death of Johnson, he realized that in order to make more profit he would have to cut out the middleman of the Italian mafia in order to make larger profits. Making no less than 300,000 dollars per kilo of heroin sold.

The most astonishing part of all of this is that he has only spent a total of twelve years in prison. He was sentenced to seventy years in prison but only was forced to serve five of those seventy years because he chose to cooperate. The evidence that he was able to provide leads to over one hundred further drug-related convictions. Lucas was then arrested again in 1984 for a drug deal and only served seven years, and was released in 1991.

This episode greatly reminded me of the docu-series that I watched earlier in the semester, Dope. This series focuses more on the beginnings of heroin trafficking, whereas Dope focuses on the modern day epidemic of heroin. What I find most interesting is that not much has changed between now and back then. The dealers are still “cutting” the heroin with other substances and chemicals in order to make the most of their supplies. This is seen in both shows multiple times.

Since watching Drug Lords, I have been pondering the influence of Frank Lucas. Do men like Frank Lucas give the dealers shown in Dope the confidence to continue to do what they do? Frank Lucas trafficked drugs all over the world and made millions of dollars every week and only had to serve twelve years in prison. Yes, twelves years is a pretty decent amount of time, but in the span of a lifetime it really isn’t that long. Also, considering the amount of money he was able to make I would think that the prison time would be worth it. Obviously, you would have to cooperate with law enforcement in order to be able to have that light of a prison sentence. At the end of the day the benefits seem to outweigh the cost, at least in Frank Lucas’s case. Personally, I think that seeing well known guys like Lucas serving light sentences possibly gives them the confidence that they either won’t get caught, or maybe get off easy like Frank Lucas. I may be completely wrong about this, but it’s definitely something to consider.

A New Standard: Stranger Things

For the blog this week I will be talking about Stranger Things season 1. Season 1 gives us something that we have never seen before with a unique story, dramatic and lovable characters, and a whole new world. The story follow a group of kids: Mike, Dustin, Lucas, and Will and what happens when the Dungeons and Dragons Demogorgon becomes real.

The title of the first episode of the series tells you the main premise of the show: Episode 1: The Vanishing of Will Byers. With Will being missing we are introduce to my favorite character of whole show, Hopper. Hopper is the chief of police in Hawkins, and is the head of the search for Will. We are also introduced to Will’s mother, Joyce, who shows that she will find Will no matter what she has to do. Even going into the Upside Down.

The Upside Down is a new environment that I had never heard of before until viewing season 1. The Upside Down is a reverse world in which all of the buildings are there but they are all overgrown with an odd plant life. Almost looking like there are tentacles of some larger being all over the ground. In this space the Demogorgon can travel and hunt as it pleases, as well as enter the real world, because it attracted by electricity.

Then there is Eleven. Eleven is one of, if not ,the biggest bad asses in all of entertainment. Eleven has telekinetic powers so she is the muscle of the search party. He backstory also helps show why she is the way that she is. She has been experimented on for her entire life, like the other 10 before her. Her abilities have been perfected though, unlike her brothers and sisters. Lastly, at the end of the series, she sacrifices herself to save the rest of the group and kill the Demogorgon.

Season 1 of Stranger Things show how relationships can prevail against any enemy or struggle and that all ups come with downs. Mike finally got his friend back, but at the loss of Eleven.

From Weed to Wins, Coach Snoop Does It All

Coach Snoop is a Netflix original series that focuses on the trial and error of the Snoop Youth Football League. While the beat slingling, pot smoking, national icon is wild on camera, when around the kids, he tones it down. He acts similar to that of just about any other prideful coach you would find. He loves and cares for these kids, just like a father. The reason the Snoop Youth Football League was created, was to keep inner city California kids off the street and out of gangs. The series has you meet past SYFL stars that are making it to professional football. The series is very influential and real. Every episode had tension and a lesson to be learned.

The biggest thing that stood out to me while viewing the series was the attachment and relationship that Snoop Dogg had with these kids. For example, there was an instance where Snoop noticed a kid acting unlike himself. Snoop confronted the kid on a personal basis to figure out the problem. The kid went on to explain that his mother was having trouble paying rent that month. Snoop took this as an opportunity to use his wealth as a way to help people. To get his player back in the game, he told the kid to tell his mother that he will take care of the next six months of rent. This just shows how much Snoop cares about the livelihood of the kids he coaches. This definitely provokes emotion in the viewers, and creates an attachment with the show, which caused binging on my part.

Snoop Dogg uses more profanity on the field, than I do when I step on a Lego. I really enjoy that the show includes this in airing. There are two reasons why I am a fan of this. For one, my football coach acted no different. This is exactly how coaches act, and I am glad that they included the realism of the sport. The second reason, is that it adds comedic relief. I find it funny when Snoop goes off on a kid. But, Snoop only uses profanity as a use of language, not to tear one down. Snoop wouldn’t persay use profanity to punish the kid, but as a way of motivation. He uses profanity to get the kids fired up, and ready to do work on the field.

Every episode, Snoop narrates a small clip about his early life, and what got him interested in playing football. I enjoy learning more about Snoop, because I have enjoyed his music for many years now. I knew previously that he played football, and about the league, but this shows the great detail of the subject. It is interesting how Snoop got involved with football, and his desire to coach others to keep out of trouble. The show does state, that they have had some members end up in prison, but the turnout rate is good. The influence this league has on the kids is tremendous to me.

Coach Snoop will leave you in tears, from the emotion put into the care of these kids. The show will also make you laugh like never before. The emotions provoked by this show, will force anyone to continue watching. I would recommend this show to nearly anyone, as it reaches to a wide variety of audience. Coach Snoop is a show that I am glad I watched, it is a show that I will not forget. 

The Crown: Just another working woman?

There is something to be said about the American anglophile and the perpetual fascination about our former colonial lords. Recall that America only exists because of its desire to cleave away from Britain to form its own distinct national identity, yet we never stopped admiring our forebears from across the pond and surely that irony isn’t lost on anyone. Why are Americans so enthralled by British culture? The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Harry Potter, James Bond, Monty Python, Gordon Ramsay, Simon Cowell, The Great British Baking Show, The Office, and the list just goes on. Maybe it’s the accent. Whatever the cause, it appears The Crown and it’s portrayals of the British Royal family has also captured the attention of Americans.

            The Crown is another series that seeks to dramatize the Windsors while serving as pseudo-history for those of us who might not otherwise crack open a book on 20th century British history. Of course it shows us the scandals and the familiar scenes that have been depicted over and over again like the Royal Wedding, the Royal Coronation, the Kennedy meeting, and others. However The Crown has been able to accomplish an incredible feat that was attempted with The King’s Speech and The Queen. Netflix has managed to make Queen Elizabeth not just a sympathetic character, but more importantly a relatable character. You may say to yourself “what could possibly be familiar about some incredibly wealthy European monarch?” Well first there’s the obvious, Queen Elizabeth is familiar because she’s been with us so long. Her majesty has been in the public eye since at least 1936 when her father became King, and she’s been the reigning monarch since 1952 (a full year before Elvis recorded his first demo at Star Studios). But outside of how ubiquitous she is in movies, television, history, music, print, and currency, there is something familiar about the struggle of a woman living under immense pressure balancing a personal life and a professional life in an arena dominated by men.

           The Queen is like a lot of working women, despite her obvious aristocratic status. She has a significant other who expects too much, a job that demands all of her free time, and she’s still expected to look and act like a lady. Now it’s possible that we’ve always been a little too critical of Queen Elizabeth, not understanding the pressures that young women face generally speaking that is only exacerbated when they’re under the media microscope. How many times have the tabloids commented on her makeup, her weight, the way she speaks, and cataloged every gaffe or misstep? Maybe we’ve always owed her our sympathy. Conversely, maybe Netflix has just done a damn good job of minimizing the struggles of ordinary folk (like those who died in the Great Fog) and dramatizing whether her Majesty wants to wear gold or platinum. The Queen had a hard day? So did the teachers who were grossly underpaid during Conservative and Labour governments. More importantly, the people living under oppressive colonial rule in Africa had much harder lives than her Majesty who languished over how her son would do in one of the best private schools in the country. Are we meant to weep for her Majesty because the Crown has tremendous production value?

            Regardless of whether her Majesty should be a sympathetic character, I can’t help but feel for her. The Queen reminds me of so many other women I know, who are just doing their best. Yes, some people have harder lives and sometimes it’s indirectly because of her Majesty’s actions but here’s there’s something that’s worth considering. When we observe the world and character’s through this arbitrary “whataboutism” where no one’s struggles mean anything because someone else has it worse, then nothing means anything and that is less than ideal. The Queen lives a different life than the viewer, she owns castles and hosts balls. It is a life of luxury and that’s indisputable, but does an excess of luxury make up for a deficit in education or love? I should say not. 

Grace & Frankie: Netflix shows Hollywood evolving on representation

Firstly, bravo to Netflix for not creating another network show that centers around beautiful young women working as waitresses or successful men womanizing their way to even more success. This show does something that isn’t common in television, and that is have protagonists that we don’t necessarily see ourselves in. It has become old hat for shows to center around a mild anti-hero or an unassuming everyman who wanders into adventure, these characters are familiar and they skew young.  It is a rarity to see women in starring roles, even more rare to find older women, and rarer still to keep them from falling into the stereotype of gentile senior citizen. That isn’t a problem in this Netflix original because after just half an hour it becomes very apparent that Grace & Frankie aren’t exactly Dorothy & Rose from NBC’s The Golden Girls. Grace and Frankie swear (a lot), they take peyote, they work, they’re political, and they’re not just older women (Betty White is 62 during the first season of the Golden Girls, but her character is stated to be 55) but they are old women. Jane Fonda, who stars as Grace, is 80 years old and Lily Tomlin, who stars as Frankie, is 78. 

         But of course Grace & Frankie isn’t about the age of its namesakes, although age plays a not so insignificant role in the show. The premise of the show is Grace’s husband and Frankie’s husband have secretly been homosexual lovers for years and decide to finally leave their respective wives to be with one another. There was a time in our history when being gay was a punchline, it was slapstick and essentially the beginning and end of a joke. Then at some point we transitioned to a period where homosexuality was treated with a stoicism and seriousness that had previously been reserved for films about war, the apex of which I believe was Brokeback Mountain in 2005. This show straddles a reasonable medium, something Modern Family failed to do with their portrayal of a gay couple. Frankie & Grace’s husbands are gay, but that’s not their defining trait in the same way that age does not define Grace & Frankie.

         There’s a concept that has been floated about in sociological circles called “intersectionality”. Recently it’s been co-opted by -insert overzealous ideological movement- to mean any number of things. Intersectionality is partially defined by Oxford as “The interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, class, and gender as they apply to a given individual or group.” So just for a moment, I’m going to make the point that with marginalized groups it’s important to have media representation but not if that portrayal is as a caricature. Hollywood, for all the liberal values it claims to espouse, has a penchant for promoting stereotypes that aren’t accurate to life and then pat themselves on the back for including groups traditionally left out of media. What is remarkable about Grace & Frankie is that its characters aren’t that remarkable, and while some are gay, female, latino, black, old, and so on, they’re just people. 

         But I digress, if I haven’t made it clear already, I’m thoroughly impressed at Netflix’s ability to create an entertaining program that incorporates age, gender, and sexuality without relying on those traits as crutches. With that being said, it is important for show runners, critics, and activists alike not to do back flips to try to pick apart how shows aren’t sufficiently progressive and therefore are tools of the patriarchy. For all the praise I’ve laid upon Grace & Frankie, there are still critics who pontificate about “whiteness” or “classism”. The editors of the website ma’yan have said the show is “troubling in its normative portrayal of wealth and whiteness”. That might very well be true, but surely just for a moment we can stop and appreciate art for what it is? Every show and movie doesn’t have to center around a working class family comprised of a biracial lesbian couple with a disabled adopted child from Costa Rica, which probably still wouldn’t satisfy some critics. America is a diverse place, rich people and white people exist, their stories are no less important than anyone else’s. An argument can be made that these stories are over represented, but it’s a mistake to think that representation is a zero sum game. We can tell more than one story, and we should.

            Nevertheless, I don’t know that Grace & Frankie will be the show that moves us towards a more open society or if television can even have that effect on us. I can say that Grace & Frankie says a lot about our aspirations for society, and shows the maturation of media as it relates to sensitive subjects like race, age, gender, and sexuality.

"Crashing" Setting Norms

If you have been following along, you would know that last week I talked about the importance of setting in an Netflix original. This week though, I would like to address the opposite. In the Netflix original, Crashing, the setting is used almost entirely as a hook for the show, but it is not the focal point.
A British TV show about the mixed personalities of a group of adults meshing together only caught my eye, and many others, at first because it was set in a disused hospital. Without that surprise turn at the end of the summary, it would just sound like a wanna-be Friends reboot. But hearing that every main character is a “property guardian” of a disused hospital is something new. You almost think you are going to get a comedy-horror feel among the dark and dingy rooms, but not quite. It mostly serves as, well, a hook. It catches my attention, but it doesn’t hold my attention like in other TV shows or movies. The relationships and situations that is portrayed between characters could all possibly happen outside this setting, in say a regular apartment complex or a park. Here, the setting isn’t the most important item going on.
The first episode is where we get the most emphasis on the hospital setting. The characters talk about what they can and cannot doing inside the hospital (including smoking, throwing parties, and having overnight guests),  and then continue to do it anyways. That shows how little their situation affects them. At a “forbidden” they throw, some people mention how their seemingly normal coworkers live in an abandoned hospital, but every resident just brushes it off and says they are doing it to save money. There’s only one character that shows any embarrassment for her living situation, and it is the character that is the stereotypical uptight one. She does the justification of saying it is the best way to again, save money, for a wedding. After that, when the setting is directly addressed in the show it is in situationally ironic moments. A shelf in the big room falls right as one of the main characters, Katie, complains that no one fixed the fallen shelf in the bathroom. Above all else, they just really make use of what they can that is left in the hospital, and that mixes in the setting more with the story line. At the same party, a scavenger hunt is played, and the answer to where the prize is hidden is written on x-rays. No one bats an eye.
If any setting in this show really matters, I believe it’s the setting of Britain (specifically, Fitzrovia, in central London) more than the hospital. Where the particulars of living commune-style in a hospital aren’t continuously addressed, we see British culture leaking through all parts of the show. From their restaurants and their hobbies, to their dress and their language. Those parts stick out more, especially as an American viewer, than any other minor detail.

Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee

The netflix original Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee is a great show on netflix. It is about a very respected comedian named Jerry Seinfeld who takes famous actors and comedians out for coffee. Every episode he takes a different exotic car to pick up the guest he is getting coffee with. In all of his episodes he starts the episode off with the history of the car. He gives the audience very interesting facts and describes each car very elegantly. This is very appealing to me because it makes the car even cooler than what it already appears to be. I really enjoy this show because you get to see famous comedians being themselves and not acting. It is something that is very new and original that you do not see happen a lot. There are four seasons of this show, which is great for someone who has not seen it yet because they will have lots of material to watch.


On season two: episode one, Jerry Seinfeld has a very special guest on his show. He had Barack Obama on his show. At the time this show aired, Barack Obama was the President of the United States of America. This is not a typical of this show because it is normally a comedian. I thought this was a really cool episode because you got to see the President of the United States of America not be so formal. The episode starts off by Jerry Seinfeld talking about the car he was going to drive for the episode. It is a blue 1963 corvette stingray that is one of the coolest cars that I have ever seen. It is a slick car that catches everyone's attention. He then goes to the White House to pick up Barack Obama. Since he is the President of the United States Jerry Seinfeld was not aloud to go to a cafe like he typically does with comedians. This is a great episode because of how unique it is. They had coffee in the White House and walked around the property which was very cool thing to see. Another thing I liked about this episode is that it is not really about politics. Jerry Seinfeld asks Barack Obama a lot of interesting about being the president. One question Jerry asks Barack was what kind of underwear he wore and are they all the same colors. This is a very odd question, but I think this is the reason this show is so good. He makes the show personal and relatable. Jerry asks questions to really famous people that exploits there humanity. These questions he asks really shows the audience how these famous people are human and are just like everyone else in the world.





This show is one of my favorites on netflix because of how different each episode is. With all the different comedians on the show you get a feel for how famous people really are. Jerry Seinfeld does an excellent job of opening up to famous people and showing there true personality.

Confidence is Key

After scrolling through show after show I finally decided to watch Girl Boss. It looked interesting and relatable and I decided to give it a go. The first episode, “Sophia” surprised me as it was not like most of the other pilots that I had seen. It did not start out slow and clunky and it was actually entertaining and held various twists and turns. Most pilot episodes can be dull and boring as they spend most of the episode introducing characters and slowly setting up the plot. Although this episode exciting and I will give you an overview about what happened, I’d like to focus on the overlying theme I found while watching -- Confidence and persistence.
In overview, Girl Boss is about a 23 year old named Sophia who is really just like struggling at life right now. The episode starts with her having to push her car on trolley tracks because her car stopped working. Shortly after that she meets her friend at the bar and has a one night stand with the drummer of the band that was playing at the club. I did find the aftermath of the hook up humorous as they had a conversation about the bed where she compared it to sleeping in a biscuit, and then she made him make ocean noises so she could fall asleep. After the one night stand she goes to work, proceeds to get into an argument with her boss and gets fired (she’s going to tell everyone she quit so it looks better). She leaves her job and storms into a thrift shop where she finds a jacket that is worth much more than they were selling it for. She ends up stealing a rug and then going out to dinner with her dad where she confesses that hey maybe her life isn’t going as well as she had planned but she’ll figure it out. She goes home to find an eviction notice on her door and ends up ripping her pants.Although everything seemed to be going downhill, it was at point that she decided hey she could sell her jacket on eBay. What’s the worst that could happen? No one bids? Oh well. She comes back from her nightly routine and sees the bids at a whopping $185 and climbing. Things were starting to look up.
There are various areas in this episode that made me stop and think, “wow I would have just given up” but Sophia did the exact opposite. In the beginning of the episode when he car breaks down but she still pushes it to the destination without calling for any help. She has dinner with her dad towards the end of the episode so we know that he’s in the picture and could have easily helped. She persisted and did it herself!
In the bar I feel like her confidence was pretty high. I mean for pete’s sake she had the confidence to sleep with a guy she didn’t even know! And she also asked him to make ocean noises after they had sex. I would have evacuated so fast! At her job it was basically her confidence that got her fired. Yeah she ate her boss’s sandwich and kept telling her that it was fine but she also got fired for it so yeah the confidence wasn’t for the best here.
Even though she got fired she still persisted and found her way into a thrift shop. She doesn’t know it at the time, but that jacket will be the start of a major boost in her life and not just because it is fashionable. I believe the jacket symbolizes confidence. Everything that happened after she put the jacket on was done with a “can-do” attitude and nothing knocked her down. Even when she realized that everything was going downhill and her dad offered for her to move back in, she persisted through it and said that she would figure it out because that’s what adults do.
Girl Boss had a great first episode that was full of a lot of unsuspecting twists but no matter what happened Sophia had the confidence to persist through every obstacle. Although her confidence did put her in a few pickles she ended up with a great idea that could potentially be a good twist in her life right now. I’ll probably end up watching the rest of this show to figure out if Sophia continues to persist or if her confidence falls astray.

What is The OA?

Disclaimer: I’ve only watched the first episode of the series as of this post. Some predictions might or will be wrong.




This week, I watched a show that raised many questions but answered few of them. However, that didn’t stop me from loving every second of it. In the Netflix original The OA, a video of a woman jumping off a bridge goes viral. The woman is Prairie Johnson, a resident of Crestwood, MO that had gone missing from her parents’ home seven years before the show begins. Strangely, she doesn’t respond well, if at all, to that name. She tells the nurse at the hospital, “I’m the OA.” The pilot episode shows her return to her hometown and the struggle of her story, unknown to her family.

The OA, even though it is excellent, brings up questions that might stay unanswered throughout the series. Many questions stem from just the first episode, “Homecoming.” What does “OA” stand for? What do her scars mean? Who is Homer and what is he to OA? I asked these questions and more after my first time watching.

The title of the series itself brings a question upon us. What does “OA” stand for? Overeaters anonymous? Obviously, that’s not the case. After a quick google search, Mrs. Broderick-Allen decided Prairie’s new identity was not an entire support group. Other than that one fraction of a scene, no one speculates what this name might mean. My small theory is that the O stands for otherworldly. When Prairie begins telling her story, we begin to see unnatural occurrences in her life, and death. Her new name may be a title from another dimension.

Another otherworldly seeming aspect to the OA is the strange scarring on her back. The first glimpse we get of them is a shot of Prairie’s shoulder in the tub after she gets attacked by the dog. The scars look like symbols from a completely different world. The viewer, however, is left clueless to what they might be. Perhaps they represent each “death” OA has experienced. In the interview with the FBI, she says that she and her companions have “died more times than [she] can count.” These scars stretch across her back. Each one could symbolize every time she passed into wherever she went after her disappearance.

Finally, the last question left lingering in my head: who is Homer? Who exactly is he and what connection does he have with the OA? Many times throughout “Homecoming,” Prairie records videos talking to Homer. She seems to have a very strong emotional attachment. The tone of her voice is longing and slightly distant as if she weren’t completely focused on the camera. Maybe Homer was the OA’s lover in another life. Maybe even in another dimension.

These questions, however many, make The OA completely worth watching. They may be the reason some of us keep watching.

Filthy Moola

Dirty Money is a Netflix Original that looks into some of the most corrupt ways people have made millions. The show does in depth look into how the corruption began and how the accused ended up getting caught. This is a series of documentaries, which is the perfect way to do this show. They interview experts, to analyze the decisions, the accused to see their perspective, and those who bring them down, to see how they caught on. To keep the show interesting they shoot scenes in different places, show visuals to keep your attention, and explain things in a way that anyone can understand. While the series is a documentary, it has a little bit of drama as well. The drama comes into play for the people who have been negatively impacted.




In the episode "Drug Short", the look in depth into the company Valeant. The company is infamous for buying out smaller pharmaceutical companies; then selling the drugs that they sold at a higher price. One of the elements that the show tries to do is make you feel for those affected by the corruption. This episode tugs at the heartstrings because they interview a couple, whose lives changed, because they could no longer afford the wife's pills to help her stay healthy. In one of the interviews a victim of the cost of the drugs wonders what would happen if his children had been born with one of these diseases. He was quoted saying, "It would be like having a stone hung from their neck for the rest of their life."




The episode slowly builds up from showing what happened, to showing how it happened. One of the cool things, that they do in this episode, is when they show how Valeant started making fake pharmaceutical companies to bill insurance companies for prescriptions. They draw up a visual that shows how the chain of fake companies tied into Valeant. They build a timeline throughout the episode. At each point where the company makes a move, they show CNN's stock market show at that time to see how the company would grow or shrink. They also show the video of the trial, which shows the seriousness of the issues and adds to the drama of the episode.




When interviewing different people in the episode, they have different areas and lighting to set the mood. When they are interviewing about intense parts, or when they are exposing the dirty secretive ways, the shoot in dark areas to set the tone. When they shoot on how they started to bring them down, they shoot in well lighted areas. The people when they are being interviewed are also dressed up nice, which shows the sophistication of the show. The show also uses quiet music in the background of certain parts to build the mood as well. The tempo of the music fits what is going on in the episode.




Shows like these help people to understand how corruption works in the world. Most of the episodes in the series are over cases that just about every person has heard of. People might not have that great of an understanding of what happened but they knew a little bit about it. This show is great for people who like to see inside looks of corruption and how justice was brought about.

Fidel Castro: ¿un sueño inalcanzable?

              En el año 1959, Fidel Castro, líder de la revolución cubana, realizó su sueño y formó un nuevo gobierno cubano. Desde el principio de su tiempo como el comandante del país a su fallecimiento en 2016, Castro siguió siendo leal al idealismo comunista. Aunque soñaba con mejorar y proteger su país, la disolución de la URSS, que mezcló con la pobreza y los bloqueos económicos, causó la disolución de la ley, la economía, y la calidad de la vida en Cuba. En su documental, Cuba and the Cameraman, el director y cámara Jon Alpert demuestra cómo Cuba ha cambiado entre el principio y el fin del reino de Castro como jefe del único país occidental comunista, y también cómo Castro cambia en su reino.

              Al principio del filme, Alpert y su grupo viajan a Cuba para documentar el progreso de la revolución. Se ve que, en Cuba, toda la gente tenía acceso a la educación, un alojamiento, y asistencia médica. En estos tiempos tempranos, la gente estaba feliz. Fidel era muy carismático, y todo estaba bien. Con la ayuda de la URSS, Cuba se mejoraba, y todos estaban muy contentos con el régimen. 

              A la gente le parecía que todo iba a seguir mejorando. Por unos años, el espíritu de la revolución vivía muy fuerte, como los campesinos en sus granjas. Castro voló a Nueva York para hablar en frente de la ONU. Alpert fue el único americano que voló con él. Sus tomas de Castro, con su gran sonrisa, sus bromas, y su esperanza, pintan un retrato de un hombre que auténticamente quiere apoyarle la gente de su país. Al clímax de eso viaje, Castro habló.

              “Hablo en el nombre de los niños del mundo que no tienen un pedazo de pan,” dijo Castro con convicción y fuerza. Me pareció un héroe, peleando por los pobres de cualquier país y representando la lucha contra la injusticia y la corrupción. Después de hablarle a la ONU, Castro se vio en su cuarto, y tuvo la apariencia de un hombre muy normal, y de un líder auténtico. Así le parecía a la gente cubana.

              A pesar de la carisma e idealismo de Castro, la calidad de la vida diaria en Cuba empezó a disminuir. Cuando la URSS disolvió, había menos bendiciones y menos oportunidades para toda la población: de repente había escaseces de alimento, medicina, y otras cosas necesarias para vivir bien. Se acabaron las jeringas en hospitales; agricultores, como los hermanos de la familia Borrego, ni tenían bueyes ni cerdos ni otro animal para cultivar su tierra porque alguien los mató para comerlos; la asistencia médica se podía acceder gratis, pero le faltaba esenciales, como laringes eléctricas después de operaciones para detener cáncer de la garganta; no había agua o electricidad en varios tiempos en La Habana; gente inocente se enviaba a la prisión.

              Cuando Castro finalmente murió en 2016, casi 60 años después de que llegó a ser el comandante de Cuba, su sueño no había sido realizado. Como Alpert demuestra con el paso de tiempo, Castro, Cuba, y los agricultores todos acaban. Al fin, las ideas de comunismo, apoyadas por Castro, fracasaron y le dolieron la gente que Castro trataba de ayudar, y él se convirtió en un antihéroe en los ojos de unos ciudadanos cubanos.

              Castro y su sueño han casi muerto completamente ahora: los Estados Unidos han quitado unos bloqueos económicos; hay wifi y selfies en La Habana; capitalismo está listo para su llegada al país. Castro y su reino han pasado, ¿pero vale la pena seguir soñando como Castro? ¿Debe, o puede, Cuba convertirse en una economía capitalista? Solo dios sabe.

Obras citadas

Alpert, Jon, director. Cuba and the Cameraman. Netflix, www.netflix.com/watch/80126449?trackId=14170035&tctx=4%2C1%2Ca6614e45-4f01-41cf-8acb-12f58c094a62-31013167 .

We Meet Again... and Again...

Comedy star Adam Devine stars in feature length Netflix original film, The First Time We Met. The film follows a young man pursuing the girl of his dreams. When things go terribly wrong one night, Devine wakes up in his bed from three years ago. The film nearly mirrors that of the Bill Murray cult classic, Groundhog Day. This movie is categorized as a romantic comedy, as Adam tries to win back the girl while living the same day for possibly the rest of his life. This film is full of gut busting laughs and an emotional roller coaster ride. While not particularly a fan of romantic comedies, this is one that I thoroughly enjoyed, even with it being predictable.

The aspect that drew me to the film in the first place, was that Adam Devine stars in it. The trailer shows hilarious dialogue between himself and the girl in pursuit. The trailer showed it more as a comedy, but the actual film was predominantly a romantic flick. Adam Devine also stars in one of my favorite TV shows of all time, Workaholics. Adam Devine is a slapstick style comedian with a gait and personality similar to that of Jim Carrey. In the film, Adam is able to portray the hopeless love lost boy very well. Even though Adam Devine is primarily a comedic actor, he provokes emotions very well in the film. After viewing this Netflix original, it would be hard to picture the film without Adam as the lead role.

The story of the film was surprisingly satisfying. Even though there are countless films that follow the plot line of this, the ending had a certain twist that made it stand out from the rest. The purpose of him reliving each day, is to become the man she wants through trial and error. I will say in response to the good ending, it is what saved the movie from a disaster. The overuse of this idea would have made the movie boring, but the twists incorporated separate of Groundhog Day, made the film unique and interesting.

The romanticism in the movie was very well done. Emotions flood your thought process throughout the entire film. I wouldn't say that I cried, but quite possibly a tear was shed. The constant rise and fall of the relationship, kept me on my toes. I found myself rooting for them to end up together the entire film, and upset when Adam did something to destroy the relationship. The film had a style of provoking emotion followed by a comedic bit. The comedic relief prevented the movie of feeling sad, but had the underlying tones. Even as someone that dislikes romantic comedies, this is one that I have recommended to my guy friends.

The First Time We Met was a film that provoked a lot of different emotions from the viewers. The Groundhog Day inspired Netflix original romantic comedy film is one that I will recommend to many in the years to come. The film took an old idea and made it into a unique, interesting film. Adam Devine grabbed my attention and kept it until the end. I would say, I thoroughly enjoyed this film.

Like a Breath of Fresh Artic Air: Atypical Episodes 1 and 2

For this blog, I watched the show Atypical. The drama about an autistic boy trying to find his way in the world, and get a girlfriend too, hits right at home for me since I have an autistic little brother. Because of this unique perspective, I feel I am in a unique position to the family dynamics within the show.

The dad, I immediately bought because he acts like he loves his son, but isn't exactly sure what to do to help his son. However, this was probably easy to get right as every show I've seen about kids with disabilities features a hyper-competent mother and bumbling father. In my opinion, this is because we are trying to get away from the father knows best idea from the 1950’s.

The mother, on the other hand, is an odd-duck. She isn't the queen of the family, like Minnie Driver's character on the ABC show Speechless, nor is she a pushover. This is interesting because, like I said before, we usually get the first extreme with smatterings of the other. However, I have a feeling that her subplot with Nick will lead to a cheating angle, which will weaken her character tenfold. In this scenario, the dad will be on the moral high ground and have his wife at his mercy. This would return us to the old dynamic. On the other hand, if the writers are intelligent people, they may see as a wake up call for the husband. He could see that his wife was indulging in escapism because of the stresses of raising an autistic child, and would therefore take on some of the responsibilities. I feel that this is the direction the writers will, since they've made a point to show the father and son’s growing relationship, but only time will tell.

That leaves us with Casey, the sister, and at first, I really didn't care for her. I didn't see her facing many of the challenges that siblings of autistic kids face, like resentment and guilt. They seemed like regular siblings until this one scene. In it, Sam, the autistic boy, walking past Casey, visibly upset. Her response is to drop the conversation and immediately comfort him. That is what any sibling of a person that usually can't express emotion very well would do. After that, I began to like her character more and thinking about it, that may have been the reason she never got in a relationship. She might have felt guilt that that was something her brother could never have.

All in all, I like the show Atypical because of its nuanced approach of a family dealing with autism. Instead of treating it as humor to be laughed at, it is treated as serious. Autistic people do have trouble finding relationships and it is hard for their family to watch the struggle. I'm glad to have found a show that I can relate to in this manner and I can't wait to get back to watching it.

Disjointed: a Casual and Fun Watch

I have been very busy this week, so I have really been unable to get into any other new series. However, I decided because my impression of Disjointed was something nice to put on in the background, I had that on while I was doing my other homework. Thankfully I was very surprised about how much I enjoyed watching it in bits and pieces. The charm that I had talked about in last week’s post had continued to evolve as the series went on. One example of that would be how the intro to the show fast forwards itself after the third episode. The creators know how Netflix works, and that people probably weren’t going to take the time to get up and press the skip intro button. It was very funny the first time I encountered it, and thought it was going to be a one episode gag, but it’s not.

The series also has an overarching plot. Dank and Dabby turn out to be so Youtube famous, they collectively make $175,000/year (Disjointed). Carter, who is the security that checks the identification of the people who walk into the store as it is illegal to sell marijuana to people under 21, finally decides to try weed. He is a war veteran, and has very dramatic PTSD episodes, which are shown in psychedelic fashion in the show. Carter found that weed was able to help him relax (Disjointed). He quickly became my favorite character in the show. To see such a stuck up war hero become so relaxed so fast was calming, like he was finally enjoying life again.

These two and many more make Disjointed so entertaining. I had thought at the beginning that it was a mindless show made specifically for pot-smokers, and to some effect it still is. There are so many weird things happening, such as dancing perishables in the fridge after Carter tried weed for the first time (Disjointed). Those types of things are made for people who are in an altered state of mind, but I do really think that there is something here for everyone. The story stays simple, but every character has their own subplot going on within the story, and because it all takes place in a small shop, those stories intertwine. This leads to many, and I mean many, situations of dramatic irony, which makes the show all the more hilarious. Disjointed seems underrated to me, and I really do think it deserves more credit than it gets.

“Disjointed.” Disjointed, created by David Javerbaum, and Chuck Lorre, Netflix

Seven in One

Hey Emily,

I know you have recommended shows and movies to me before, but for my English class (you know the one where I get to watch Netflix) I wanted to recommend a movie to you. I think you would enjoy the Netflix Original movie called What Happened To Monday. I know you like movies and shows that make you think, and this is definitely one of those movies.

In a dystopian future where only one child is allowed per family, a grandfather of septuplets hides them for their entire life. In order for them to go out into the world, only one of the seven is allowed to leave. Each of the seven daughters is named after the days of the week and they are each allowed to go out on the day of the week that is their name. They all share a single identity so that they will not get in trouble for not being an only child. The movie picks up with them being in their late 20s, but there are many flashbacks to help the viewer understand their situation better. Overall, this movie was really interesting and it had an ending that was very unexpected.

One of the most amazing aspects of this movie was the fact that a single actress played the part of seven different characters and they all had very distinct personalities, attitudes, mannerisms, and body language. The visuals and editing made it look like there really were seven different people in a room, when really it was just one. The brilliant performance alone of Noomi Rapace, the woman who plays the part of every sister and actually won an Emmy for this role, is what makes this movie so entertaining and keeps the viewer on the edge of their seat. Also, during scenes of action, which happened quite frequently, the visuals and special effects were very fitting for the aesthetic that the director created for this movie. They were also pleasing to the eye because they were not only futuristic, but they were executed powerfully.

What I didn’t understand was why the director chose to not make the technology in this film more advanced considering it took place 50 years in the future. While there are obvious advancements such as cryo-freezers, which is where they put siblings if there are more than one, I would have thought that the technology in this film would have been more prevalent than it was. It may represent the fact that while this society is in the future, they may still be stuck in the past. I think another problem about this film was that the themes throughout it were somewhat weak. There is a lot of action that takes place, but the film lacks an overall thematic resolution.

In spite of these few criticisms, I think this was a very compelling work of science fiction. I really think you would enjoy this movie, so let me know if you want to watch it sometime. I’d love to see certain things that I missed when I watched it the first time around.