Memories of Manipulation

Leonard Shelby, the main character in Momento is similar to a typical consumer who is first exposed to advertisement and is constantly manipulated by it without their knowledge of its manipulation and therefore do not realize it affects them. Leonard’s lack of making new memories creates a huge possibility for others to manipulate his life. He could be lied to about his life after the accident to benefit others. But how is his ability to be manipulated much different than our ability to be manipulated? Even though we have the power to create new memories; others constantly manipulate us for their own good. What is so important about having those memories? Memories are crucial part of our life; they give us the power to believe that we are in power of our decisions even though we are constantly being manipulated. Does having the ability to know that you are being manipulated change the act of manipulation?

Im tired

While Memento has captured my attention, I find the experience of watching this film to be very exhausting.  They way it is filmed, showing you a clip here and there and then working backwards to give context and eventually things start to come together, is rather difficult to follow.  I feel as though if I don't pay attention for a minute or two I might miss something really important to the rest of the story. Except after understanding the basis of the story, I realized that this is entirely done on purpose.  Leonard's condition prevents him from creating new memories, making his life extremely difficult from day to day.  Leonard is constantly forgetting what he was saying or working on and having to make reminders for himself.  In this way the director seems to be filming the movie to mimic Leonard's thought process.  We are thrown from one scene to another with immense confusion until the storyline rewinds a bit and builds up to the scene that first created the confusion.

The movie is also tiring in how Leonard is constantly fighting manipulation.  It might just be that I am acutely aware of this after this semester, but since Leonard is unable to create memories for himself he has to rely on the notes he leaves himself and the notion that those notes are trustworthy.  It would be extremely easy for Leonard to fall victim to someone manipulating him and his motives.  He is in such a state vulnerability that the manipulation we discuss in class is a severe problem for him every day. 

What its like on the other side...

After reading Martina's post about dorms and the anxiety everyone was feeling going into housing, I just wanted to give my view of it from a different angle.
I am going to be an RA next year in Bundy West. I didn't have to deal with the process of lottery and figuring out where I was going to live. I've known that information since March.

But sitting at the tables during the sophomore housing was really unsettling. In the beginning it was fine because people with good numbers got the rooms they wanted. But as numbers began to increase and the rooms available started to decrease, the stress that engulfed the room was unbearable. People would be freaking out about how they didn't get the rooms they wanted or that they would have to walk from the dark side. I felt helpless even though I was the one who was supposed to be helping them figure out their living situation.

There were girls running to get their sticker and number without looking at the charts and available rooms. They just went straight to where they wanted, hoping something was left. There were times were they had to go back and forth between buildings because they wanted to be by friends but also wanted to get a good room. In that time where they left one table, the original room they wanted would be taken by someone else and they would have to figure out a whole new plan again. I wanted to cry for them because they ended up screwing themselves over. I also witnessed someone who was planning on pulling a friend completely leave them in the dust. There was one bundy single left and the kid wanted to live there. It was awkward for me to witness the interaction but the friend was understanding... for the most part.

It was also interesting too see where people ended up living because of the new situations with the all freshman buildings. Next year will be interesting because housing this year was so messed due to this new rule with freshman dorms but I know I will have fun no matter what.

Time to Stop Playing Detective

What strikes me about Momento is that every aspect of Leonard's life--every person, every written word, every action--is a possible and likely manifestation of manipulation. I found myself thinking as I watched the movie, "Oh Teddy's definitely trying to use him. He's trying to stop him from killing him." Or, "Oh wait now Natalie is for sure using him to carry out her dirty work." At this point in the movie, everything, literally everything seems like the result of manipulation. And then I looked up the movie and found this:

A photo of photos within photos within photos within photos….

When you see this, it hits you that you can't escape the manipulation. Memento is merely a Russian nesting doll, doomed to collapse in upon multiple layers of contortion and manipulation (somewhat reminiscent of Cat's Cradle right?). But perhaps more importantly, manipulation is an inescapable fact of our way of life. In college, we're told to work hard to fill those requirements, to get an internship, to to research, to get a job. When you watch TV, this company and that brand is trying to make their product look as enticing as possible just so you can go spend your money on something you probably don't need. Even your friends try to pull you this way and that, to help them with this, to do this with them. "Oh you should go out. You're smart so you don't need to study an extra hour for that exam." "Come get diner with me. You had lots of healthy food yesterday so let loose." 

Don't you see? The photos within photos? The stories within stories? We can't escape it. Manipulation is an inevitable fact of life. All we are left to do is accept it. 

But that can't be it. That can't be the only thing we were meant to get out of this class. Memento has more to tell us. I keep going back to one of Teddy's lines. "You wander around playing detective. Well maybe you should start investigating yourself". Maybe that's it. We've done the detective work. We've read the books that raise our awareness of manipulation. We've seen the objects in every single one of our lives that testify to a world of manipulation. Now it's time we find ourselves in this mess. Where do we find ourselves in this sea of artifacts? Will we find anything at all? I believe that we're all in there somewhere, swimming around, trying to find our way. But at the point where all the forces cancel out, at the juncture where all things meet, you will find yourself. Thus, it is up to us as individuals to choose whether we will be the mere empirical product of those forces, a simple effect of a cause, or something more, someone more, a person with memories never to be forgotten, friends you never want to let go to, and a life lived because you chose to live it that way. 

The possibilities are endless as to who we will find at that center. Just remember that our eyes were opened not just to see the tempest around us, but above all, to find ourselves amidst the chaos. 

Memento: A Reminder of Death

When I learned that our class would be spending two periods watching a movie called "Memento," I double-checked the spelling of the title. Was the word spelled like "momento" in spanish, or "memento," like the phrase I've learned about in Art History, "Memento Mori?" I quickly learned the movie title was spelled like the ladder, as in "Memento Mori." From what I have learned in Art History classes, the expression "memento mori" translates to something like "Remember that you will die." Developing with the growth of Christianity, the phrase was a symbolic reminder of the inevitability of death. In fact, early-Christian artists portrayed a skull in their works to portray this quickly growing and popularizing idea.  (I also just learned that you can add pictures to this blog post, so if you want to search for the skull in this early-Christian work, check it out).

In relating this idea to Momento, I can see that the inevitability of death is present both literally and figuratively. From the very beginning of the movie, we learn from a polaroid photo that someone was killed, and later understand that the man's name was "John G." who was shot and killed by Leonard. Thus, the audience immediately learns the ending at the very beginning. Here lies the theme of the inevitability of death; we know from the start that John G. dies, the question is just a matter of when. Another instance of where I noticed the theme of "memento mori" is a more abstract example. Even though viewers don't witness it, Leonard metaphorically dies when he loses his short-term memory. His anterograde amnesia limits him from developing new memories after the trauma was inflicted upon him, and therefore emotionally dies because he cannot really live life to the fullest. Leonard might be physically breathing, but he no longer has the ability to live on a deeper, emotional level. There is even a scene in the movie where Leonard's friend/helper Teddy alludes to this idea. Leonard recalls the incident when his wife was killed and his short-term memory was destroyed, saying, "He destroyed my ability to live," in which Teddy responds, "You're living now." Leonard then fires back: "Only for revenge."

Light Side/ Dark Side

This past Sunday afternoon was the housing lottery, where we are supposed to figure out where we will live next year and with who. I kept hearing people freaking out because they weren't going to get the dorm they wanted, or there were no rooms left where they wanted to be. However, every time I asked someone where they were living they answered with "dark side" or "light side." My roommate and I really wanted to be in Bundy, where all sophomores are supposedly going to be, so when both our numbers ended up being quite terrible we did not get it. 

I was not mad that I ended up getting a dark side dorm, I was fine with it. To be honest it does not make that big of a difference to me where I am as long as I am around some of my friends, which I am. Every single time I told someone I ended up on the dark side (whatever this even means) they would respond "Oh I'm so sorry" or "You're gonna be such a dark sider." Someone tell me how what dorm building I was put in because my lottery number was terrible is going to change my personality from a science person to an artsy person? I'm pretty sure that cannot happen. 

So who says what one side is versus the other? Why should I have to fit into those stereotypes? Yeah, I live on the dark side, take four classes on the light side, three of which are sciences-- and I am totally okay with it. 

Why has our campus been divided into two in the first place? And why do we allow the stereotypes of each side dictate who we are? A few years ago, tour guides were not allowed to refer to this side of campus as the dark-side, implying that it is a bad thing. Why? 

Yes I live on the dark side with huge concrete buildings. No, I don't listen to indie music, I take all science classes, and I can barely draw a stick figure.

"Buy me!" -College

What struck me from the mediated artifacts was Siobhan's interpretation from the college brochures. High school students go out looking for the perfect school and they rely on these pieces of paper and their tour guides who are all looking to tell them the things they want to hear. I was a tour guide in high school and we were trained to tell each kid what they needed to hear for the school to be right. Don't get me wrong, I loved my high school experience but that being said, my school was not for everyone. On our tours we were taught to ask leading questions like "are you interested in the arts?", as we would approach the arts center so that we wouldn't drag on about a program a prospective student wasn't interested in. We would manipulate the image of the campus to make it fit like a glove for whatever kid stepped onto it. I could tell on some tours that certain kids wouldn't love it there as much as I did but if I had ever said that to them I would have gotten in so much trouble. My job was not to help a kid determine if the school was right for them but rather sell each kid a school that fit their needs, whatever those may have been. Even tour guides were picked strategically for prospective students, hockey players with hockey recruits and musicians with musicians; this way students could in a way see where they would fit into the campus. I guess what struck me most about Siobhan's main point was that after all the years of being a manipulator for a school, I still went out and looked at colleges as blindly as all the kids that came to me for tours and opinions. I asked people how they liked the school, listened to the speeches, and became enamored with the picturesque buildings. I had forgotten all about what a game these admissions processes really were. This is not to say at all that I feel I ended up at a terrible school but it served as a moment where I laughed at myself a bit, and realized I had been manipulated just as badly as I had manipulated through the years.

I Don't Remember Why I Wrote This

Memento is an interesting take on a widely studied form of reterograde amnesia. It's an ingenious plot idea to explore what the consequences of someone's life with this condition could be. It's also puts a direct spotlight on the dynamic and imperfect nature of memory. This semester, I have been helping a professor who is studying memory to code autobiographical narratives of stressful events in people's lives. People talk about these moments in many different ways, and it is my job to give a rating to each phrase of the narratives based on whether it is factual or interpretive (and then a number based on why). A "stressful event" in someone's life varies greatly from person to person based on their experiences and personalities. Some include horrific diagnoses of loved ones, while others describe tripping down the stairs at graduation. Most of the phrases that are coded are given an interpretive rating, despite many of them being simple descriptions of what happened to the person. This is because certain things are emphasized ("It was freezing cold") or because they are internal ("I was so nervous"). As I continue to code, I realize how few pieces of these stories can be considered 'factual'. These statements are things like "I picked up the phone" or "It was raining". It is generally agreed upon that we remember things better when they had an impact on us, and even more so when this impact is negative. If this is the case, these memories are bound to be filled with "interpretive" content. Obviously we don't remember what we had for lunch a few weeks ago, but we would remember several details about the day someone we knew passed away. I've been thinking about all this quite a bit as we watch Memento, and find it difficult to imagine living life without any short-term memory at all, however imperfect it may be.

Accuracy of Memento

Like Barbara, Memento reminded me of what I am learning in my neuroscience class, Intro to Brain and Behavior. We are discussing temporal lobe amnesia, and how individuals with this amnesia cannot form new long term memories, which is exactly Leonard's problem. I learned that although they cannot form new memories, they can learn with practice, forming implicit memories. Although amnesia patients won't remember practicing a task, they will show improvement over time. When Leonard explains why he denied Sammy Jankins' insurance claim, it was because he did not exhibit learning with practice. The movie seems to accurately portray this problem. In class, we also talked about how an amnesia patient can keep notes to try and remember recent events. Although notes can help to a certain extent, I feel like the Polaroids Leonard uses are inefficient. I think they are too ambiguous to be that helpful, but they do concisely tell Leonard the basics of what he needs to know about his situation. In addition, Leonard could be so easily manipulated, and is manipulated, because of his memory problem. For example, Burt, the man who works at the motel where Leonard stays, charges Leonard for another room because he knew Leonard would think he just forgot he got another room. This makes him vulnerable, just like we are vulnerable to manipulation in a more general sense.

The Self in Manipulation

 

            Memento has been interesting to watch because it ties in what I have been learning about in my Neuropsych and Philosophy classes. Today in Philosophy we discussed selfhood and attempted to determine the components that constitute a self. It made me consider how individuals with disorders such as Korsakoff’s, neglect syndrome, and in Leonard’s case, anterograde amnesia, are affected by their condition. Having these disorders makes it impossible not to be manipulated by the world around you. People with neglect syndrome can only see half of their visual field while people with Korsakoff’s syndrome may live in the past, aware of only a small period of their lives. All these conditions make me wonder, in some cases, can people lose their sense of self entirely? Or do such lesions just alter one’s selfhood? Does a person’s condition then become a part of their self?

            In the movie, Leonard says “Facts, not memories. That’s how you investigate.” But even facts can be faulty. He attempts to manipulate his long-term memory through photography that can be manipulative in and of itself. It’s a cyclic relationship with no winner. The photographs and the descriptions below them can aid Leonard’s memory, but at the same time they can also be used against him. They are merely snapshots of the past. They aren’t facts and they aren’t memories. I wonder if, in living a life based on manipulation, Leonard’s selfhood has been totally and completely wrecked. Can he even have a self if he can’t create new memories? Or does he have a self because he is aware of his condition, and has discovered a way to live with his amnesia? If that’s the case, then does it even matter if his photographs can be manipulated by others and himself?

Don't Miss a 'Momento'

NOTE: I know that the movie title is in-fact spelled "Memento", not "Momento", but I had to have a good title....

One of my favorite things about a movie like Memento is the fact that it is a movie that demands attention. I am undeniably guilty of, as is – I would venture to guess – everyone else whom is reading this post, passively watching a movie. This is how my typical movie watching experience goes:

• Turn movie on
• About two hours passes
• ‘Yeah, that movie was pretty good, I guess’

I don’t normally watch them critically; I’m not involved. The movie just… happens. But with a movie like Memento, The Usual Suspects, Primer, Margin Call or Sixth Sense, if you blink for too long you will miss a critical part of the movie. Everything matters, right down to the quotes. In fact, here are two for you consideration – keep them in mind:

• “Certainties: its the kind of memories that we take for granted"
• "Memory can change the shape of a room; it can change the color of a car. And memories can be distorted. They're just an interpretation, they're not a record, and they're irrelevant if you have the facts.”

I enjoy the suspense and the twists. Most importantly, I like trying to figure the movies out before the “big reveal”. They is something that is both frustrating and gripping about knowing that the Director is more than likely going to out smart you. But none-the-less, I persevere and try again and again. But movies like Memento keep the viewer guessing because literally everything is significant. Even still as I watch this movie for yet another time, I pick up on certain nuances that I missed in prior viewings. All that can really be said is that Christopher Nolan is a genius. Memento is one of those timeless classics that any moviegoer, regardless of their tastes in films, does not want to miss.

Picture Perfect

Today I asked a friend to help me take pictures that I could send to my brother and mother for their birthdays coming up.  However, I know nothing about photography so he had to help me out a lot.  One of the things he taught me was that it is often more pleasing to have the subject of your photograph off to the side of the frame as opposed to right in the middle.  I tried a bunch of different shots, some with the subject in the middle and some with it off the to the side.  And he was right.

I saw that even if I thought a photograph would come out well, often it fell flat.  This reminded me of the Polaroids in Momento.  Even though Leonard tried to use his Polaroids to remember, they weren't enough.  He was often confused by why he had taken the photo or what the memory actually was.  Even though he had a picture of a memory he wanted to help capture, it always fell short.  He needed to use words to label the Polaroids.  And even then, once he wrote something down on his Polaroid, he would believe the words completely because he had nothing else to go off of.  However, as we have seen through our class and what I found out today is that words and pictures can be deceiving and manipulative.  The only thing we count on is our intuition and whatever feels right.  But even our intuition can fail us.  So what can we truly count on?  

Body Manipulation

Memento made me think about body manipulation. The main character, Leonard, manipulates his own body to serve as his memory. Since he cannot remember anything since his wife’s death, he tattoos himself to remember certain details about his wife’s murderer. In this instance, Leonard manipulates his own body as guidance, but it made me think of the way that women manipulate their bodies to fit an ideal. Women are manipulated by the media into thinking that their bodies are not good enough and need to be manipulated in order to be beautiful. Women wear makeup, manipulate their hair, get plastic surgery, and starve themselves to look like the “ideal woman.” These manipulations can be harmful to women and their health, yet this ongoing cycle never stops because the ideal is unattainable. Manipulation is so prevalent in our lives and while many forms can be harmless, body manipulation and the media manipulation that motives women to manipulate their bodies, can be quite harmful. Though Memento is not about female body image, Leonard seems to believe that he has no other option than to manipulate his body so he can find his wife’s murderer. Women in our society also seem to believe that they have no other option but to submit to this manipulation and manipulate their bodies.

Societal Pressure

After listening to Martina talk about how her family manipulated her into wearing her childhood watch on her non-dominant hand, it struck me that society manipulates us to do the “correct” thing often. When we watch a commercial, the viewers see the actors having the “latest” trend and wish to be like them. This is especially true when we see a famous actor buying a specific brand of toothpaste, and see their pearly white teeth.We say to ourselves “Oh, if so-and-so gets this toothpaste, then so should I”. As humans, we have this innate need to belong, and we think by buying the product that our good friend Brad Pitt is showing, we can fit into society. This manipulation helps companies by having more of their product sold. As the viewers, we want to associate with the celebrities because they are the aristocrats of our society. They set many of the trends in our society, and incorporate these trends into our culture. Advertising is the key manipulator in the business world. It helps drive success amongst businesses across the globe. Without these ads, many companies could not sell their products because possible customers would never see their merchandise.

It seems interesting to me that at Hamilton most students have Apple computers and not PCs. When we had to bring our computers into my Spanish class one day, only one person had a PC. Is our society pressuring us to buy Macs? Is there better advertising for Macs? Or is this solely a coincidence?

Help With Evidence

I noticed that part of my argument rested in part on recollections of class discussions. In the hope of creating a fuller argument, I was hoping that you could comment below to support or maybe even disagree with my argument (I referenced this post in my paper as additional evidence, if additional evidence is desired). I argue that we have been manipulated by the storytelling around us (movies, books, dance, art, etc.) to look for fulfilling endings. I was hoping that you guys might comment (whenever in the semi-near future) with your experience when reading House of Danger. Did you pursue multiple endings? If not, was it because you felt like you shouldn't for some reason or maybe just didn't feel like it or didn't have time? Thank you in advance for any comments!

A Manipulated Easter

After an entire semester of discussing the presence of manipulation in literature and in our lives, I realized that my understanding of manipulation is broad and somewhat foggy. So, I decided to look up the definition on my MacBook's "dictionary" application. According to the app, manipulation is the "control or influence (a person or situation) cleverly, unfairly, or unscrupulously" or, to "alter (data) or present (statistics) so as to mislead." Upon reflection of this definition, I realized the presence of manipulation during my Easter weekend at a friend's house in Connecticut. 

For breakfast, my friend's mother cooked omelets with spinach and goat cheese, and for dinner, she prepared a beautiful Easter meal, consisting of scalloped potatoes, green beans, brown rice, buttermilk biscuits, and ham, to name a few. For dessert, we feasted on a bunny-shaped ice cream cake paired with chocolate fondue. 

Not to discredit my friend's mom in any way, but I'm almost positive she doesn't prepare these kinds of meals every morning and night. My presence, as well as it being Easter, made Mrs. W control the situation and influence me into thinking that meals were always extravagant and over the top at their home. Unconsciously, Mrs. W influenced the way I thought about her cooking, her as a person, and their family's lifestyle. 

manipulating ourselves to manipulate others

When writing this post, I was trying to think of big sources of manipulation that haven’t already been mentioned. I realized something that I don’t believe anyone has talked about is relationships. Boyfriends, girlfriends, hookups, etc. are all major sources of manipulation, especially in college. The way we interact with the people we are interested in revolves around manipulation.

“How do I get them to know I’m interested?”

“How do I make them interested?”

“What will they think if I say this?”

“Why aren’t they responding to my text?”

“Should I text again?”

Those are just some examples of the thoughts that run through many people’s heads. The entire thing is one big mess. It is all about people trying to manipulate other people to think what you want them to and as a result, have a certain opinion of you. Also, the whole process ends up manipulating you and the way you think and act. When you think about it, it’s all crazy. Why can’t we just take a breather and have confidence in the fact that it will work out the way it’s supposed to? All of these thoughts not only are for the sole purpose of manipulating someone else, but they then manipulate us to act in a certain way.  

Do we manipulate religion or does it manipulate us?

The Easter holiday drew my attention to the manipulation of religion. Raised in a Christian household, I attended church every Sunday and grew up believing in God. Although God is intangible, unreachable, and possibly not even real, the teachings of the Bible insist that the followers of Christ do not question his presence. We are told he is omnipresent. Growing up I believed this,  I had no choice not to. I won't go into further details regarding the Christian or Catholic faith, as I'm sure many of you have greater knowledge of it than I do. In this blog post, I hope to highlight a few forces of manipulation surrounding the idea of religion and religious holidays. 

There are various forms, practices, and types of religions. Some even supposedly originated from the same "God." If each religion is unique and individual, do all offer a different message? The same message? Conflicting messages? The short and sweet answer is that there is some overlap between the messages religions preach, however all are unique in their own way. Thus, manipulation is at work in the form of different religions. 

Next, Atheists do not believe in a God or practice religion. Have they been manipulated not to believe in a God or have we been manipulated to believe in a God? Do they believe in forces greater than themselves? Are there forces greater than ourselves not represented by a God?

Finally, Easter and Christmas serve as two of the greatest examples of manipulation. Both represent a major religious holiday in the Christian faith, however, both have been largely manipulated by external social and economic factors. The resurrection of Christ is associated with the arrival of the Easter Bunny, egg hunts, and obviously lots of chocolate. Our society has manipulated the religious holidays into something completely different than the original meaning. Even further, each family manipulates Easter, Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Halloween, by practicing family traditions, which are individual and unique. The meaning and enactment of religious holidays are driven by manipulation to be ever-changing. 

Ps. I apologize for failing to mention religious holidays outside the Christian faith. I hope to hear about some of them in class and whether or not they mimic or differ greatly in their forms of manipulation. 

Who's manipulating whom?

This assignment, and all the recent blog posts have made me start to think that we are being manipulated, by Janelle, to believe in manipulation.  This entire class has been focused on how we are constantly manipulated and Janelle has been drilling into our head that we need to open our eyes and realize this.  After everyone brought in their mediated artifacts I realized that these things, and Janelle, can only manipulate us if we allow them to.  We have complete control over ourselves, and the idea that we can be so easily manipulated by meaningless objects in our everyday life seems almost absurd.  Of course its not as easy to prevent yourself from all forms of manipulation, but I felt as though, after lengthy discussions concerning manipulation, it was worthing bringing up the idea that the concept of manipulation is ultimately in our control.

It's a Two-Way Street

As I've been reflecting on everyone's mediated artifacts, it's hard to adopt an optimistic attitude about all the influences brought to our attention and how change our lives everyday. Each item represents one small piece, but as they begin to add up it's not to feel like more than that. Our cars are built to fall apart, our foods are filled with disgusting chemicals (and apparently cocaine…), our shampoos are destroying the planet, and people with authority can make other people feel like shit without any consequences. When these add up, it's hard to think that my life isn't just one giant sham. This was not exactly what I was hoping to get out of the activity, so I decided to come up with as many positive forms of deception as I could. While susceptibility to peer pressure can lead us astray, it can also be a strong force in the opposite direction. For example, if you are attempting to help a friend who openly refuses any direct advice, it is possible to manipulate them into doing something for their own benefit. Hypnosis can sometimes be used as a form of treatment for mental illness, behavioral disorders, and addiction. This course in it of itself is a prime example. It has manipulated me in more ways than I am even aware of, and yet, I feel no worse off for it.

Society: you lost.

I've been constantly looking for little bits of manipulation in my every day life to write something insightful on this blog. Then, in an insomnia-filled night, I realized that for a big part of my life I completely ignored all social manipulations and did my own thing. Especially when I was the only 15 year old who had the courage to tell my grandparents they were rude, and disrespectful, while everyone else sat there and took their rude comments and bottled them up inside. When I was 15 I also decided that I was moving out of my house. I told my mom I wanted to live with my dad and fought her until she said yes. In that two year process I had about four therapists tell me I had some other sort of issue because no girl should want to live with her dad. They claimed that if I were a boy it would all be different. I wasn't "by the books enough" for them to think that I was normal. Eventually, I managed to leave Argentina and move into my dads house. I can guarantee that I would not be writing this blog post today if I hadn't been such a hard-headed, anti-society 15 year old.
I had never thought about this part of my life as manipulation, but the truth is no one would let me leave because society said that girls should live with their mother (I don't know where this started, or who came up with it, but I disagree) and boys should live with their father. I had to threaten to take my mother to court to get what I wanted.
So, society, you failed. Sorry, but you did. I may follow many manipulations that society puts me through, many manipulations that my college imposes, but I sure was not about to follow the manipulation of some thousand-year old psychology book. And here I am. I'm at Hamilton, and I couldn't be happier.
There were only about five or six people who supported my moving to the United States, and I owe them the world. How else would I know that I was being manipulated in most aspects of my life if I didn't move? How would I know that I should challenge things and do what I want not what others tell me to? I wouldn't. But I do. So yeah, society, you lost dude.

Manipulated by You All

We're manipulated all the time, whether it be subconsciously or under our own awareness. This has been brought to our attention from the moment we walked into class on the first day. I've been making it a point to pick up on the countless manipulations I'm faced with every day. I'm manipulated by my friends, by my teachers, by society, by my coaches, by my schoolwork, by standards, and by everything else in between.

Today as I was reading through the blog posts, I realized that I am manipulated by my own classmates as well. I have grown accustomed to reading through my classmates' blog posts before I write mine. I like to see everyone's thoughts and interpretations before I sit down to compile my own. It occurred to me that right now I am being manipulated into writing about manipulation. Everyone else is doing it, so it must be the right thing to do, right? You don't want to be that one person that suddenly posts about something completely irrelevant to what everyone else in the class is talking about, or do you? Sometimes we must learn to take notice of the manipulations in front of us, and take a risk and go against what we "should" do.

The Targeting Approach

I've been thinking a lot about my media(ted) artiFACT because I have to present it in class tomorrow. Well, I've actually been stressing more than anything. I started looking at things I surround myself with and how I may be manipulated by them. After thinking deeply about my favorite things, and finding myself as clueless as when I began. My best friend from high school showed me these youtube videos last year called "Target Women," and they're hilarious. The premise of the clips is that Sarah Haskins, a comedian, goes on a rant/ spiel about products marketed specifically toward women. Her topics range from chocolate and yogurt to Broadview Security.

The chocolate episode hit me particularly hard. I love chocolate. Have I been manipulated to love it and believe that I need it? According to the evidence, I have. Can you recall a chocolate commercial not advertised toward women? I certainly can't. The commercials make chocolate appear like everything we women could possible ever need. I've been watching a lot of "Mad Men" recently. In the last episode, the agency pitches a campaign to Playtex, the bra makers. The entire concept of the ad was created by men and pitched to men. These men decide what women want in a bra. That to me is scary and ridiculous. This is how manipulation works. Some people get together in a room and pitch and idea they think will make me feel like I need their product. This is what I'll be presenting on tomorrow in class, but I thought I'd share the links with you now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPf5L3JE1_4

here's an actual chocolate commercial if you're interested:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwPwQ4S4op8

Manipulation here, manipulation there

I am currently being manipulated to videotape a live softball game. The manipulation started two days ago when my boss sent an email offering an extra pay to whoever volunteered to record today’s softball game. While reading the email, I remember listening to my friends talk about softball but I was not able to contribute because I barely knew how the sport was played so I thought to myself, maybe videotaping the game would be a great way to learn about this sport. Also the extra pay for recording the video sounded great.

When I got to the field, the video camera was able to capture the entire field so I did not have to do any work. I sat done to watch the game. It was an interesting  game but as I sat there watching the game I started to get nervous about my upcoming Organic Chemistry exam and within the next ten minutes I find myself practicing Organic Chemistry while recording a live softball game.

My boss was trying to manipulate her worker with the extra pay and my lack of sport culture manipulated me to take the job but at the end of the day the importance of getting a good grade manipulated me to study Organic Chemistry.