This was my first time attending a musical so honestly, I did not know what I was expecting. Even though the plot was kind of cheesy, it was a great experience and I can tell how much time and effort were put in production. It was also interesting to see how important stage crew is in making the entire production run smoothly and without them, the show cannot be a success. Even though the musical was not the length of a movie nor did it have the finance and resource of one, the script and the entire storyline touched upon a very important and controversial topic in the states today. The whole debate about pro-life or preserving access to abortion was hinted at very subtly. The main character was going through a horrible breakup with her boyfriend and emotionally stressed from being pregnant. The musical was able to hint at the importance of allowing women to make decisions for themselves when it comes to giving birth. In my opinion, men should not be allowed to vote on legislation on important issues like abortion that affect solely the individual women.
Category Archives: Explore Cornell & Ithaca: There for You – A New Musical 11.7.2019
The Musical There for you
There For You was very special to me as compared to movie I actually got to feel the emotions of the actors as they performed live on stage. It also made me realize that we take many things for granted and there are people with much more problems compared to what we have. Seeing the actress have to handle pregnancy, mental illness and depression altogether really made feel a lot of sympathy towards her from the bottom of my heart as I knew that what she was going through is what only very few people experience.
[The Matrix]
The Matrix has been a movie that I always intended to watch, and I finally was able to get to watch it during one of our Rose events. The Matrix falls under the genre of science fiction, which is one of my favorite genres. It was fascinating to follow the storyline of the main character, Neo, who gets to know the truth about his existence. One thing that I found quite astonishing while watching the movie was the small details in the use of the red pill and blue pill. Neo had to decide if he wanted to know the truth. The blue pill will allow him to return to his regular life, whereas the red pill will allow him to find out the truth. Neo chooses the red pill. However, the blue pill represents more than just returning to one’s life but ignoring the fact that something else is going on in their lives and who wouldn’t want to know the truth about their existence. The red pill gives a sense of power, as one might end up and see the truth about their own life. The red pill will, however, prevent one from living life as they would, which may be a scary thing to many. This movie presents a lot of dilemmas that the audience might present a different analysis.
Red or Blue?
We live in a society in which your political orientation is a determining factor of who you are as a person and your views of the world. Over the years, the definitions of what it meant to be a Democrat or a Republican have changed, and the difference between the two has become more evident than ever. Polarization in the American government has intensified, more so after the last election. In the discussion of Overcoming Polarization in the American Democracy, it was shown that Republicans and Democrats, conservatives and liberals, have always been a key element of political elections, yet they never seemed to be polar opposites. I learned how, on a global scale, Democrats can be compared to the Liberal Democrats of Britain or the Labour Party of Britain. The American Republicans can be placed between the Conservative Party (Canada) or the Freedom Party (Austria) and the Alternative for Germany. An interesting aspect that can be inferred from these international comparisons is that American Democrats are very close to the center/moderate line separating the concepts of “liberals” versus “conservatives.” The Republicans, however, fall much farther to the right, which portrays a certain form of extremism in conservative values and perspectives within the party, compared to the rest of the world.
One major takeaway from this event was the idea that, in order to overcome this polarization within American society, communication must be enforced. Effective communication amongst members of two different parties or simply opposing political views should learn how to come together and talk about their opinions while respecting their counterparts. Listening to the two sides of the coin, or the two opposing opinions will allow the person to create an unbiased opinion about current events or controversial issues. Listening to others while remaining open-minded is key to achieving unity.
In conclusion, always communicate the thoughts and issues you are passionate about while listening and remaining respectful of others. And, most importantly, if you want your beliefs to be represented in the government, go out and vote!