The last Friday Film with Judge Miller was really interesting, because we stopped part way of the film in order to discuss whether or not the lawyer was manipulating the defendant to say that he was guilty of a crime. I thought that this discussion was interesting as it demonstrated the power of framing- the ability to change people’s mind of whether they have committed the crime or not just by how the lawyer is able to frame their options. In that regard, this discussion shed light on the challenges lawyers face, because if they do not adapt to their audience of defendants in a specific manner, the defendants will not give them the response they need to win the case. Although lawyers have a duty to always support the righteousness, the film shed light on the flimsy boundary between right and wrong actions, which can make it challenging for lawyers to decide what to do in these types of situations. Lawyers do want to win cases, however if they change how the data is presented to fit a certain frame, are they going against their duties? The film also shed light on the challenges with personal morality and duty: If criminal lawyers want to win, they must set their own feelings aside. However, to what degree should personal morals guide people or must lawyers just completely forget about their morals when dealing with these types of cases? In that regard, it may seem that lawyers have to live in complete contradiction of themselves as times. Judge Miller also mentioned the challenges when defendants lie about their circumstances. It would be interesting to evaluate if there is a playbook on how to tell if defendants are lying so that lawyers would not have to waste their energy. Or in some cases do lawyers not care whether their defendants lie since lawyers may want to spin a story that they can tell best? This discussion was intriguing on getting to understand the complex decision making that defense lawyers must make on a daily basis.
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Feeling the Experience to Understand
I thought Hannah Gasby’s special was incredibly important in manifesting the repercussions of having to live in the society where we do today, in which people are constantly forced to be put in categories that do not really define them. This show was so powerful because rather than simply just telling the struggles that she faces on a day to day basis, she allows the audience to really feel and comprehend her pain. I took a class on Intergroup Dialogue and learned the # 1 reason that people do not admit the privilege that they have is because the increased stigma they receive for having privilege hat they do . not ask for. However, their lack of knowledge is sometime treated as blissful ignorance and perpetuates the issue where the problems of the marginalized are not being highlighted enough. A next step for addressing issues for all people to ignore this issue because “it is not their problem” and think of ways of uniformly educating people about the plights of those who are marginalized. If we consider other people’s problems our problem, that may be a start towards becoming a more empathetic society. It is challenging to always envision ourselves in the position of others, which is why this special was so important, because it really allows people to understand the issues the marginalized communities face. The medium she used was humor to convey this marginalization, which was significant in being able to display the gravity of the issues in a way that different facets of people from all walks of life could visibly comprehend. Hasan Minhaj is another comedian who uses comedy to educate which is powerful, because if people feel entertained and grasped by the way information is being presented, they are more likely to apply the knowledge they hear from these experiences to their own life. That, I truly believe, is when impact starts. It will be interesting to see in the approaching years, alternative mediums of effective communication people take to convey important ideas to the general public.
Sunset after Cloudiness
The movie Sunset Boulevard was really interesting in shedding light on the typical comeback journey that many people who have been out of the industry want to have. However, if people aim to use manipulative mechanisms in order to achieve this comeback, they will not be benefitted by this. In that regard, a takeaway is that it is important to understand the implications and ramifications incidents have prior to actions so that people can be in the proactive and not reactive stage. But, as a woman, I think that this movie also sheds light on the extra precautions that we need to take, since we can never anticipate people’s actions. There is a lot of techniques now that prepare women to fight men, however not much emphasis is given on instilling proper values in men to not mistreat women. Given that this is an institutionalized problem, it will be hard to tackle, but it is important to get the conversation starting. Although we can trust people to help change our lives, it is important that people understand that they themselves are the only people that can change their lives. People need to understand that only they want what is completely best for themselves. It can be hard to separate emotions from thinking when in relationships, however I believe it is important that people have a sense of self and understand the realities of their situation instead of excusing the behaviors of others. In that regard, there can be . sunset after cloudiness if people realize that they don’t need objects or people to lift them up after devastating or tragic events. Rather, people just need confidence and belief in their abilities. This films also sheds light on empathy: It is so easy for third party people to judge others when we have no idea how we would react to certain situations. Thus, rather from being judgemental, I really wish people could be more empathetic to the struggles of others, since all people are going through tough times regardless of whether they publicly admit it.
Positive Unexpected Circumstances
The film I,Daniel Blake was really interesting as it displayed a common and important phenomenon: how new and unexpected scenarios can allow people to feel emotions and experience situations that they grow from. Although Daniel could have looked as his situation negatively and been upset by not being compensated despite his health condition, Daniel learned to forge a new bond with his mother and help her out. They say that in negative situations, that is when true family bonds are forged strongly. In this case, Daniel’s circumstance could be interpreted as “meant to be”, because as a result he was able to connect with his mother on another level. What is most interesting about this incident is how Daniel did not necessarily fake optimism at every point in the journey. In fact, on the contrary, Daniel let himself feel the emotions of sadness and chose not to act on those emotions at all time. I think this is an important lesson in life. While we do not need to feel satisfied and happy all the time, we can acknowledge that we are upset or angry, etc and not let those emotions completely affect us. As a person that does not deal well with unexpected situations, I am trying to keep this mentality as throughout my life, I will encounter moments that will throw me off guard, yet they do not need to derail me completely. It can be challenging to distance ourselves from the problems that we encounter but doing so is incredibly important in being able to move on.
Willpower to Fight
I enjoyed watching Blank Panther for the second time, because now as a person interested in technology, I was able to understand the implications and struggles that T’Challa goes through in terms of bringing forth the Wakandan technology. This is because often times, when there are technologies that can be dispersed to help communities, there can be a lot of resistance in doing so. This is of particular interest to me since currently I am working on a project that analyzes how medical doctor ratings influence patient outcomes. In this sense, when doctors refuse to use technologies, this increases their likelihood of receiving negative feedback from patients and subsequently losing money. There are many reasons why technology(similar to the Wakandan technology) are not welcomes by people. A main reason in the face of human-robot interaction is the fear that these technological systems will question the impact that doctors can have which makes them very inclined to reject their use. However, if people like T’Challa do not fight for these technologies to be used to help people, will we reach a limiting point to which we can cure diseases? I think it is interesting to evaluate the opportunity cost of using human labor instead of technology due to lack of policies/legislation because in some sense, we could have been more technologically progressive in the health care fields had there not been this resistance. However, this brings in the question of how we can continually introduce technologies to supplement and not substitute physicians work in order for medical technologies to be really purposeful in our society? We need to have a willpower to fight against obstacles that may be preventing health care systems from being as technologically progressive as they can be, but how must we do so in a way that keeps all stakeholders(people, physicians, insurers) satisfied? While currently there are not tangible solutions to these areas, I am looking forward to joining the healthcare industry at some point and analyze how we can further penetrate technologies into the field. Similar to T’Challa, I would be excited to be able to think about the ways in which I can design technologies for social and health impact.
Interviewing for Life
This interview experience with Cornell Engineering was insightful since it brought to light the common themes and areas that interviewers expect people to have or show potential for. However, these interview tactics were not only helpful for jobs, but helpful for general approaches to life and even academic. Topics such as leadership, collaboration, work ethic go just beyond trying to impress the interviewer with stories but skill that will actually help people be more successful. Another insight that I learned from these interviews though is how they can’t always be authentic. If people know beforehand the types of qualities and skills that are expected, they will bring up or even make up stories related to these skills so the actual abilities of people can’t be tested until they start work. That is why I believe an alternative system of interviewing would be used where people are evaluated based on how they actually perform tasks and duties on the day of the job. This type of interviewing would be more representative of how people can perform in jobs. It’s understandable that this type of change would be difficult to implement due to the fact of time and money constraints, but I am interested in seeing how interview styles can change during the approaching years to be more representative of actual work applications.
Difference between Interior and Exterior
At the core, the film “A Man Called Ove” is about how the exterior doesn’t accurately portray the interior of a person. Often times, people have different ways of their exterior covering up how they feel inside. The social media effect is where people only post positive pictures that demonstrate people’s happiness even if they are not feeling well. However, for other people if they are feeling truly miserable, they can’t hide it and it comes out in a negative way. We have become a society that weights “first impressions” so heavily be it through interviews but fail to understand the context and situation behind people which rationalize why they act the way they do. In that regard, I believe the key question that comes from a film like this is how can we keep first impressions in check by trying to fully understand the people that we interact with? Everybody has a story, but not everybody can tell their story. This is an idea that I resonate with on a personal level since I feel that on the exterior I am forced to act a certain way since if I don’t I will be judged a certain way and not all people have the time, energy to uncover what’ underneath the surface and understand you. That is why Facebook Pages like “Humans of New York” are so inspirational since we never can believe what people are going through until we ask them. Achieving this can be challenging but as a general rule, I think it is important that we try and keep this idea in balance when meeting people for the first time, and not make people feel as though they have to act perfect if they aren’t feeling well. The question is how can we be a society that is openly accepting of emotions other than happiness? It’s unrealistic to say that we must always have a positive outlook since there are other emotions for a reason.
Benefits to political fights
The V for Vendetta film was interesting in portraying why people oppress against the government and their thought process behind doing so. Often times, in Hollywood we see films about government agencies taking people down. However, we rarely see films about groups who oppress the government in dangerous ways. While I’m not saying that these groups must be rewarded, there is increased awareness and transparency that is brought as people understand the viewpoints of the other side. It is very easy to get caught up in our own beliefs so much so that we forget that we need to understand where the other side is coming from. There were elements to the film such as when Evey was tied up and asked to reveal the location of V at gunpoint that seemed exaggerated to fill the plot of the romance yet nevertheless the message of the film is important. This film also makes me wonder the degree to which people will learn from this film and apply it to their lives? Will there be similar political oppression groups that take inspiration for movies like this? If so, what responsibility does the media have for the formation of these types of groups if any? The idea of following a leader is so prevalent in our society so much so that sometimes people don’t even know why they are following certain leaders. I believe that there were many people who didn’t know why they were following V and just did so “to follow the crowd”. However, as a society how can we progress if we are so fixated on conforming to society’s ideals of how we should act so much so that are are bounded by the restrictive thoughts that don’t let us discover what we really believe? I believe that as a society we need to find a balance between following leaders and being independent because extremes of either have negative impacts.
Remaining Positive when Faced with Hardship
An interesting element of the movie 50/50 is that it conveys real-life tragedies and how people deal with them. This can be helpful in de-stigmatizing people who are openly afraid of discussing their illnesses and also helps to put their illnesses in perspectives. In contrast to many Hollywood films which only seem to showcase the positive “high points” of life, I appreciated how this movie could relate to people facing tough life situations like cancer. The idea of remaining positive when faced with unexpected situations isn’t always as easy as the main character demonstrates and in that regard, I wished the film made his series of emotions more accurately in terms of describing a potential denial phase, then rebellious phase than acceptance phase since it may paint the picture that all people who encounter that they have cancer are supposed to take it that positively at first which may not be realistic. However, overall the movie could relate to people generally about the importance of continuing to live life properly even upon being hit with such news. I often times feel that when people are initially hit with negative news, it can be difficult to switch the voices in our heads that are making us feel sorry for our circumstances. Learning to appreciate hardships and not consider them the end of the world is an experience that can’t be turned on or off like the switch of a light. Thus, as people navigate difficult situations be it classes at Cornell or other life problems, they must evaluate how they can slowly lead themselves to look at their situations in a different angle instead of expecting them to do this on the onset. The idea of being happy even in the face of difficulties also makes me question the degree to which people ignore their challenges in order to be happier. In that regard, by being positive during negative situations are we really happy or just temporarily ignorant? Ignorance doesn’t seem to be the best solution either way, but can sometimes help alleviate pain or stress. I’m curious what suggestions people have for promoting long-term happiness that doesn’t involve dismissal or denial of harsh circumstances?