Driving

Does driving represent more than just transportation? Since driving is different from place to place, does it represent the culture that specific geographical area? Our society has many rules to driving, everyone drives in straight lines going a specific speed and we constantly have police to watch our every move. I don't know exactly what the rules of the road are in different countries but from the video we watched they seem to be a lot less regulated. I guess you can look at it as we are very responsible and want to make everything safe, but it just seems other places are able to do that without all the extra limitations . We are supposed to be so free but we have concerned ourselves so much with safty that we are limiting ourselves. I'm not saying we shouldn't have any rules, but cops dressing up as construction workers to catch speeders it just seems to be going too far.

Collogero's Reality

Collogero's character is a collection of American-Italian stories. In some ways, he is not a character at all, but a symbol for a generation of Italians in a particularly interesting moment in time in which to judge the very subtle differences between right and wrong. A young child see's a hard working father beaten down by his own self-righteous rules whom he loves and respects but he also falls in love with the glamour of gangsterhood. Collogero only eventually gets to know the Sonny's troubles. Throughout the film, as he ages, Collogero swings back and forth on this pendulum of paradigms. This conflict of heroes is an old tale, but Collogero's specific character is born out of the italian american dream story. His reality is very much steeped in the glorification of a gangster lifestyle - money, success, fun, and perhaps most importantly the unique and comradery that only criminal families will experience. When that old world italian clashes with the new world optimism of his hard working father, Collogero is originally deceived and believes that Sonny's lifestyle is the one for him. After the death of his friends, his mentor, and his complete awe at the racism of his neighborhood, Collogero finally moves past his naive views on criminal life. At the end, the heartwarming success of the movie is that Collogero, the next generation, learns and moves foward and continues the American dream.

ship

Our society is supposed to be based off the idea that all people are created equeal, however, although our society values this ideal, we don't truely abide by it. We hold certain people over others. I have always thought that people held different respect compared to other people, but it's strange how we can so easlily say whose life has more value based on what they do or what they have accomplished. Who are we to say whose life has more value? It connects back to the fact that we base who we are on what we do. We wonder why our society has sterotypes or racism. We can't even explain ourselves as people, how should we be expected to look indivually at others.

It's weird to think how many unwritten rules there are in society.  Many times we do things without even thinking, follow these rules without ever being told to them.  There are some social norms that we are taught as a child, like not to talk when you have food in your mouth, but not all norms are taught by our parents.  There is an unspoken pressures by society to make people into behaving in a certain way.  Without all theses rules would our society be happier?  People act differently when they are alone; they are able to act without restrictions.  So, without these constrictions would people be more at ease and less worried.  It all stems back to conformity and  wanting people to accept who you are, except people are never truly acting themselves.  And if everyone started acting themselves would we like them more or less?  Could our society handle no norms? 

silence

I think our society lacks silence.  There is always some type of noise.  I am completely against the moment of silence because it goes against the amendment of separation of church and state, but does our society take its own time to have silence? Are we using noise as a scapegoat to thinking?  When there is silence we are only left with our own thoughts, but now we almost never have silence.   So is our generation thinking less?  Or thinking less on our own?  By having noise on all the time are we taking thoughts of others and making them our own.  Do we unknowingly take the ideas of others because we do not take the time to think ourselves.