Join or DIE!!!

            “THE DOOR is everything!  All that once was and all that will be!  THE DOOR controls time and space, love and death!  THE DOOR can see into your mind!  THE DOOR can see into your SOOUULLL!” (Courtesy of Charlie the Unicorn 3).

            In this case, THE DOOR is Wikipedia.  Really, where would high school students be without Wikipedia?  But, on to the topic.

            As defined by Wikipedia (see, there was a reason for my tribute), propaganda is “a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position”.  And I have an example that might not be very important but just might be perfect.

            High School open houses.  They are the definition of propaganda.  High schools invite prospective students into their midst and try to persuade them to apply (come to the dark side; we have cookies).  I’ll use Whitney Young as an example, not that I’m condemning the dolphin habitation.

            So.  We wait for about an hour until the doors are opened.  We walk through the school to either the orange-n-blue bedazzled gym or the orange-n-blue bedazzled auditorium.  We hear a speech.  And the basics of that speech are “Join us!  We’re super awesome! We’ve won AAALLLL these competitions.  We have qualified teachers!  Etc., continuations, and blah blahs”.  Admittedly, we are kinda awesome.  But at open houses, you don’t hear about the BAD.  You don’t hear about gross lunches, crazy teachers, and any bullying going on.  And why would the bad be told?  That’s no way to attract buyers- excuse me - students.

            Again, I’m not disagreeing with the way that open houses are run.  I’m just saying there’s some propaganda-nizing going on.

Charlie the Unicorn 3 @ Yahoo! Video

Black Boy or Black Breaking?

            Black Boy or

Beat Street

?  Black Boy… Beat Street…  I’ll take Black Boy for 200, Alex.

            Black Boy, that ancient book that was so appropriately named, tells the story of a black boy by the name of Richard Wright.  The novel recounts his supposedly true life of Wright as an African American in the South in the 1910s and 1920s.  And as far as I have read, Wright didn’t have it easy AT ALL.

            (I don’t know how far we were supposed to read but I’m pretty far into the book, so [SPOILER ALERT])

            First, he sets the house on fire. Yes, as in flames.  (He wanted to watch the pretty curtains burn).  As ♪ Burn, baby, burn ♪ plays in the background, Richard’s family rush out and Richard is eventually beaten to within an inch of his life.  After beginning the book with an event as… EVENTFUL as this, it is to be expected that this novel is gonna be one trippy ride.

            Next he kills a kitten. A kitten.  A poor, defenseless little kitty cat.  THE MONSTERRRRRR!!!!! But he only did it because he wanted attention, right?

            Then blah blah, his life is even more messed up, he’s hungry, he gets separated from his brother, his mommy gets sick, etc., etc.  You know what, I’m just going to stop right here.  That’s enough meat for this blog stew.

            What do I think of this “autobiography”? Well, for one thing, it is ridunkulous.  It’s just sad that people actually had to live like this.  And, forgive if what I’m about to say is wrong, but one part of the book amused me when it probably shouldn’t have.  It’s the part when Richard was working for a white family and he said that they treated each other so badly.  I just found it funny how the family members were treating each other.

            So, as pity-producing and generally emotion-provoking “Black Boy” is, the book isn’t really half bad.