The Constant Gardener

It occurred to me a while ago that in some cases, despite the presence of elements that can be problematized, sometimes the ends justify the means, especially when the means are not overtly destructive. And this works both in the production of The Constant Gardener and in the development of its protagonist.
The Constant Gardener, despite [...]

Disney’s Animal Kingdon

Disney’s Animal Kingdom theme park is divided into 7 areas:

Oasis
Discovery Island® area
Camp Minnie-Mickey
Africa
Rafiki’s Planet Watch® area
Asia
Dinoland, U.S.A.® area

And once again, Disney exhibits complete disregard for historical, temporal, or spatial accuracy. In the case of Dinoland, U.S.A and the entirety of Africa and Asia, fictional locations are placed next to real ones (does this make the [...]

When analyzing the blockbuster film Black Hawk Down in class we discussed the differences in “organization” between the American army and the Somalian militants. Similar to the opening Kilgore scene from the movie “Apocalypse Now,” in the first part of the first attack scene the director of Blawk Hawk Down presents the American army flying over the ocean onto the [...]

I went to youtube to find one last bit of material to blog on and had to look no further than the homepage. At the top is a Spotlight: Connecting to a Cause. Today they’re featuring the ENOUGHproject, which seeks to have electronics companies not fuel war in Congo over control over minerals.
http://www.youtube.com/ENOUGHproject
I would write [...]

Advertising Critique

http://thewest5.wordpress.com/
In general, I liked this project because it gave me insight and information about advertising in Africa and what representations arise from them. I liked the project generally but I had some issues with specific analyses and methods used to arrive at conclusions.
Their mission statement reads:
The magazine explores the implications of the advertising industry by [...]

“Africa”

Long before I was born, in  February 1983, Toto’s “Africa” hit #1 on the Billboard Charts, but even today, I hear it every so often.
The lyrics are as follows, brought to you by www.lyrics-songs.com:
I hear the drums echoing tonight
But she hears only whispers of some quiet conversation
She’s coming in 12:30 flight
The moonlit wings reflect the [...]

Indian-Ugandans, African-Americans, Indians, Africans, and Americans

I am ambivalent about the comparison in Mississippi Masala between African-Americans and Indians from Africa about 54 minutes into the film. The Indians were brought to Africa by the British to build a railway (as slaves)? Then they stayed and made lives there.  I think it’s great that there is an attempt between two peoples [...]

The Pirates We’ve Always Known

Shared experience is a beautiful thing. It is what makes us know that “A is for Apple” and “C is for Cat.” But the trouble with shared experience is that no one really exists to question it. J. M. Barrie completed the play Peter Pan: or, The Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up in 1904, and [...]

Making Definitions

I was thinking about Said and the IMF and starting thinking about the US and its exceptionalism. The US decides what is valuable, what is necessary, what makes people civilized, what makes a country’s people capable of running that country. And it has as relates to international relations in general. And it has since it [...]

Spoiling the Natives

One must be careful when justifying the rejection of globalization.
Globalization is a tricky term in general, as it can be taken as homogenization (or McDonaldization, based upon the idea of hegemony) or heterogenization. Each can be problematized, and globalization undoubtedly consists of elements of both, but the idea that groups of people should not be [...]