Stereotypes ....a current danger!

In spite of  the fact that we are living in the 21st century where new technologies  are developed every day and where it is easier to find more information about anything, we still can hear some absurd clichés or stereotypes.

Well, I'll try to go step by step. Firstly, we all know what a stereotype is: 'A fixed idea or image that many people have of a particular type of person or thing, but which is often not true in reality'. Some examples of this definition could be:

• Blond women are silly.
• Latin American people are good dancers.
• Doctors have an unreadable handwriting.
• Men are stronger than women.
• Girls love pink.
• Immigrants are people that don't have a higher education.
• People from Catalonia are the stingiest in Spain.
• The Japanese are quiet people.

This list could be dangerously longer, couldn't it? I wonder what the origin of it all is. The answer isn't simple, however, I reckon we all tend to generalize about our bad and good experiences and  this is the biggest mistake we can make, as exceptions break rules!

In this sense, we'd better avoid using some words in our daily life like: all, any, always, never. Among other reasons, because  we wouldn't be recognizing other behaviours that someone had had in the past. At the same time, if we use these words, we won't allow  them to have an opportunity to change their future.
 In summary, if our guiding principle are  stereotypes, we will associate a person o anything only with an incident. In consequence, we will be losing the opportunity to really get to know a person, or a new place, culture, people, language, food, and so on and so forth.

Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence

My 

present

 for you  ...

 a great piece of song,

 I hope you enjoy it....

and

 I hope you 

can 

watch 

this film...

keepers of the flame

 I'm really grateful to all  good teachers for helping me to keep my flame ....I've always  felt inspired for all of them.

Environmental problems and causes

Nowadays, the environment is always in the news and it often seems that the news insn't good. To ilustrate this idea I would like to mention some cases, for instance, we can hear about expanding deserts in Africa, or huge forest fires in Indonesia or her in Spain, or serious shortages of water in some countries or on the contrary flood in others. Also we know about dissappearing forest in the Amazon or mealting ice-caps and increasing radiation levels in the polar regions, increasing air and water pollution in big cities and endangered species and so on and so forth. This list could be endless.

In this sense, I can't avoid wondering if  climate change is a mith or  a reality?

On the one hand, many research have showed that the climate change is the result of  human behaviour. Science doesn't doubt it. Extrem weather phenomena have been triggered by climate change. In 2012 scientists researched 12 natural catastrophes and what was the result? ... The result was that half of the cases have a direct relation with global warming.

On the other hand, some people say that environmental issues don't have connection with  human behaviour. They maintain that 'nature is  wise and it undergoes  some changes  throughout every period of  time simply, because it is the result of the cyclical change on the planet'.

As I see it, the  key issue  as far as the environment is concerned is based  on our current consumer society. In other words, many people buy more than they really need. Every day we are bombarded with ads which tell us, if you need to buy a pair of shoes, don't worry, you will buy two pair of shoes for only a little extra money! ....It apparently seems a bargain ...however, few people ask themselves about where it is made  or who made it and the most important thing what it is made from.

If we did,  we could realise that we are not green or eco-friendly, so we are contributing to the increase in carbon emission rates or in the carbon footprint measure or in the damage the ozone layer.

In a nutshell, the environmental issues are the consequences of  human behaviour in a consumer society. I would like to end this post with a quote from Gandhi, who said: 'There is a enough on Earth for everybody's need, but not for everyone's greed'. I hope we'll celebrate this Christmas wondering if we really need to buy without restraint in order to be happier.

The power of words

'Beauty is in the eye of the beholder ....'

This can be really astonishing ... Why don't you tell someone this special word? ... Maybe you can give someone  a special gift.

The Planet of the Apes

Probably my husband is one of the biggest movie buffs that I've ever known. He can remember dates, names, soundtracks of the movies, even complete dialogues. In fact, he has some scripts of his favourite films. In my case, I'm  the complete opposite. I enjoy watching movies, but frecuently, I forget important information about my favorites movies. I don't know why. Maybe it's because I'm used to asking him about these data.  Yesterday evening, I took  advantage of all his knowldge of movies and I asked him about my  favourite movie in my childhood. I know that I could have looked for it on the Internet, but for me it is more enjoyable to talk with my cinephile husband ... the result is this review: 

The Planet of the Apes was directed by Franklin Schaffner and it is based on the book 'La Planète des singes' written by Pierre Boulle. It stars Charlton Heston as Taylor; Kim Hunter as Zira and Maurice Evans as Dr Zaius. The film won an honorary award for its outstanding make up in 1969.

The movie is set in the future in the year 3978. It was filmed on location in Utah, Arizona and the last scene was filmed on Zuma beach in California.

The Planet of the Apes is a science fiction film. At the beginning of the story an astronaut crew crash-land on a strange planet. They thought that it was deserted until  they discovered some primitive humans. But they are really surprised when they realize that this planet is being dominated by an intelligent ape race, who are even   able to speech. The crew tried to escape but the apes caught them. A wound Taylor's throat prevented him from speaking. While Taylor is trapped in a cage, Zira, a scientist ape tries to teach him some words but it is impossible, as he can´t speak. However, Taylor steals a piece of paper and he writes his name and other information. After that when his throat has healed, he tells them that he comes from another planet. The oldest scientist Dr Zaius, wants to hide at all costs this truth, because he thinks that humans are violent, selfish, destructive and greedy. Finally, Taylor manages to escape riding on horse. When he is galloping along  the shoreline he sees the wreck of the Statue of the Liberty. He then realizes that the strange planet has always been... The Earth.
  
Although this movie is old, I strongly recommended The Planet of the Apes, because with this film the audience could reflect on the destiny of the human race and  also on the nature of human conscience like a simple animal or like the most dangerous and destructive species on earth. 

 

Something's Gotta Give

In my English class I wasn't able to remember this title: Something's Gotta Give. Yeah, I must confess I have a head like a sieve .... but it only in terms of movies, fortunately for me.

For this reason, I decided to watch again this film to remember some facts, and one more time I couldn't help laughing.

This movie was directed by Nancy Meyers. It stars Jack Nicholson as Harry, who is a confirmed bachelor; Diane Keaton as Erica, who is a famous writer; Keanu Reeves as the young Dr Julian and Amanda Peet as Marin,  Erica's daughter. With this film the actress Diane Keaton was nominated for her fourth Oscar.
 Most of the film is set in a lovely and elegant village on the East of Long Island in 2003. This place is more best known as 'The Hamptons'. The rest of the film is set in New York.

This movie is a romantic comedy. It's about showing how mature, middle-aged people live a relationship. At the beginning of the story, Harry and Marin have a relationship even though he is older than her. It so happens that Harry, Marin and Erica decide to spend a weekend at Erica's beach house. But one day Harry has a heart attack. At the hospital they meet Dr Julian, who had read all the novels that had been written by Erica. In fact, he loves her although, he is younger than her. As a consequence of Harry's heart attack, Harry must live with Erica. Thanks to this time together they ended up falling in love. However, Harry is afraid of commitment and he breaks up with her. Then Erica gets depressed, but gradually, she gets over her depression through the writing of a new novel that she has been writing based on the relationship with Harry. In the end, Harry understands that he can't fight his feelings and they live together.

I strongly recommended Something's Gotta Give, for three reasons: firstly, it has an incredible sense of humour, it makes you laugh from beginning to end. Secondly, it has a fantastic soundtrack in particular I loved listening to French songs and Maroon 5. Finally, the stars are awesome, the performance by Jack Nicholson and especially by Diane Keaton are quite natural, so the audience can sympathize with their roles.

In a nutshell, with this film the audience could reflect on how a mature woman and an older man face up a relationship, in spite of the big differences between them and younger people. Another very important aspect of the plot is how it approaches the fear and the value of commitment.

I'm not a sadistic person, but I love this scene because with it I could remember that nobody dies for love...although it  apparently seems to have that effect. This experience is really hard to get over.