Comment Two

This post is in response to Sarah's post on body modification : http://broomie89.blogspot.com/2008/04/body-modification.html

I think you have made a really interesting point by highlighting the tendancy to judge people by their appearence. When I was researching for my post on body modification I came across the Scary Guy too and I was surprised when I read about what he does to promote anti-bullying and general acceptance of other people.It just shows that society has such a narrow minded view on people who look unique.
I agree with your views that body modification is a personal taste and that as long as it is concentual I have no problem with it. However, as you said the foot binding thing really freaked me out, I think more because people are often expected or even forced into it...this is the part of body modification that I don't agree with.
Overall, your post raised points that I hadn't considered so I found it really interesting to read!

Comment One

This post is in response to Fran's post on masturbation: http://beingabadgandalf.blogspot.com/2008/03/since-lecture-on-this-aspect-of-being.html

Hey Fran
I totally agree with your comments on how masturbation is treated in films, either as a joke or as something that is strange or kind of pervy (couldn't think of a better word). I think that in reality masturbation is the one of the lesser serious of the bad behaviours discussed in the module, yet in some films it is portrayed as something quite wrong.

The film 'Happiness' springs to mind when commenting on masturbation in films and I think it is the only film I have seen that tackles the subject of masturbation with some degree of dignity. The film features two sub-plots in connection with masturbation, one portraying it as a normal behaviour discussed between a young boy and his dad (even though its quite a morally wrong conversation) and the other portraying it as a behaviour practiced by a pervy stalker guy who is obsessed with his neighbour. Although the film has some darkly funny moments it is a serious observation on disfunctional families/individuals and I think that this is why the subject is included with some sort of seriousness. If you are going to see this film (is you haven't already) it has some really cringey moments!!
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0147612/ is the link to 'Happiness' IMDB page

Body Modification

I was surprised to discover the range of different practices that are classed as body modification. For example, I didn't realise that make-up and hair colourant was a form of body modification but then it is changing the body's original appearance, even if it is only temporary.

I always considered body modification to be an extreme change to the body but the lecture we had changed my views on this and it also made me realise that I have actually modified my own body in many ways through invasive and non invasive practices. Before the lecture I always linked body modification with people with loads of piercings or tattoos and never really thought about body modification as a religious practice or for medical reasons, such as pacemakers and hearing aids. In this case I don't think that body modification is a bad behaviour because it is improving the quality of life for the individual who undergoes it. However, I do find some cultural practices involving body modification to be really disturbing and possibly even a bad behaviour. Examples of this include a practice called breast ironing which is known to be practiced in Cameroon and Chinese foot binding. I think that most of these practices are done for traditional reasons and the people that do them probably aren't aware of the medical implications that result as a consequense.

I think that people choose to modify their bodies for aesthetic or artistic reasons in order to feel more unique, for example, whilst researching I found a number of people who have compleatly changed their appearance in order to look like animals, such as The Leopard Man and The Lizard Man. I don't consider this to be a bad behaviour as I think that people should be able to do what they want with their bodies as they aren't affecting anybody else. I think that some people may not find body modification acceptable because it could represent a sign of mental illness or criminality. I think that some people could find body modification offensive, particularly people with strong religious beliefs as it is changing the way God intended the body to be.

I have included some websites that I found interesting in relation to the topic of body modification below

http://www.bmezine.com/

http://www.thescaryguy.com/

http://www.bodymod.org/home.aspx

An Inconvenient Truth

I recently watched Al Gore's documentary An Inconvenient Truth and I thought it was very intersesting. After the film had finshed, it made me think about whether polluting the atmosphere and wasting energy could be classed as a bad behaviour. Obviously,it isn't a good behaviour but is it a form of bad behaviour or just a very bad habit?

In my opinion I think it's very difficult to answer this question because of the varying degrees in which people waste energy and pollute the Earth. For example, I feel that on the whole in the UK people don't purposely waste energy by doing things like leaving lights on or leaving electrical appliences on stand by instead of switching them off, it's simply a habit that can be avoided with consideration. However, there are people who consciously pollute the atmosphere by for example, fly tipping and littering. In this case I would say that this is a bad behaviour, possibly one of the reasons for this is because doing things like littering and fly tipping are criminal offences and carry punishments.

I think that if you asked a group of people if they thought that drug dealing was worse than wasting energy they would say yes. I don't think that the majority of people consider wasting energy to be a crime and therefore they don't think it is as serious as for example, drug dealing. Many of the the other behaviours discussed in lectures were classed as criminal offences and I think that this is partly why they were chosen to be discussed.

To me it seems that ignorance and laziness are the main reasons why people pollute the Earth with intent. Watching the devastating effects of global warming around the world made me realise the extent at which pollution is costing the planet. In many cases, this effect isn't felt so much by the people who pollute but those who are too poor to pollute, for example, those who can't afford to waste electricity becasue they can't afford the electricity in the first place. It is this harsh reality that makes me consider concious acts of pollution to be a bad behaviour, please leave some comments on your views on this as I am especially interested as this topic wasn't featured in our lectures.

I have included below some links to websites about global warming and a link to a clip from An Inconvenient Truth.

http://www.npower.com/web/Green/index.htm
http://www.climatecrisis.net/
http://www.globalwarming.org/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XMn_Ry3z6M

To Smoke Or Not To Smoke

Following the discussion during the lecture on smoking I wouldn't place myself in any of the categories of tobacco smoker that were outlined, these being :

• Those who smoke regularly



• Those who smoke occassionally



• Those who used to smoke but have successfully given up



• Those who have never smoked

I would place myself in a category that describes people as those who very rarely smoke as I have tried smoking, therefore don't fall into the category of those who have never smoked, although I don't think I smoke often enough to fall into the category of those who smoke occassionally.

I came across this website whilst doing some research on smoking, after reading the information it made me wonder why people start smoking in the first place, especially because of the shocking statistics on smoking related deaths and the links between smoking and lung cancer.

http://info.cancerresearchuk.org/cancerstats/types/lung/smoking/

However, I don't agree with tobacco smoking being classed as a "bad behaviour". I think that this is because smoking has always been socially acceptable and even fashionable when it was first introduced. Even though in more recent times smoking has become less popular which I think may be related to the introduction of the smoking ban. I think that people may view smoking as a bad behaviour becasue of it's negative affects on people's health but I see it as a personal choice if people choose to smoke and there are alot worse things that people could do which could be classed as a bad behaviour. For example, consuming alcohol can be far more dangerous than smoking a cigarette in the short term as far as driving over the limit is concerned and I think that generally people would class this as the bad behaviour when given the choice of tobacco smoking and drink driving.

I was thinking about why people choose to smoke and I think that the media has a significant impact on people's decisions regarding smoking. Particularly the influence of smoking in cinema. As a film student I have been studying film noir recently and it has become apparent that smoking is a major feature in these films. For example, the femme fatale in the films almost always smoke as a way to enhance their sexuality. Smoking in the times when film noirs were produced was also seen as being very sophisticated and not as damaging as it is now. An example of smoking in film noirs is Gilda, the main female character in Gilda is seen smoking on many occassions throughout the film and the cigarette is used as a phallic symbol to increase her sexuality and make her appear more sexy. I think that this trend of smoking being seen as cool and sexy has continued to the present day. This maybe the reason why young people experiment with smoking, to give them the impression of being cool and also because they may be pressured into doing so to fit in with their peers.

I can't see any benefits of smoking other than it gives people a chance to chat and socialise whilst having a fag but really people can do that any way without having to smoke. I don't know if my opinions on this would change if I was a regular smoker but I would be grateful if people would offer their views on the benefits of smoking.

Revenge is Sweet

I came across this video on Youtube and I thought it was quite amusing. It got me thinking about the phrase "revenge is sweet" and in particular if revenge could be classed as a bad behaviour. I think it depends on the situation in my opinion and the severity of what it is that someone has done in order to get revenge.

I also thought about whether or not revenge really is sweet. I think in the case of this video it is because the character seems happy with the out come of her actions even though the video isn't exactly realistic. Although, I do think that the guilt that people may experience after they have tried to get revenge would take away its sweetness if what they had done was particularly bad.

Here is the link to the video....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5pdMqlmhx4

Infidelity Pt.2 Rationale

Here is the rationale that accompanies my creative writing piece from my previous post.

My creative writing piece draws on the debate that infidelity can sometimes be justified. For example, my creative writing piece talks about how the main character’s husband cheated on her first and with her best friend so she was obviously very upset. To emphasise this I included descriptions such as "rain thundering down" and Jane feeling that her life had become a "grey existence". I wanted the reader to feel that her husband’s actions had deeply affected her, enough to cheat on her husband as well, which she was very reluctant to do.
I have chosen a linear narrative because I didn’t want a complex narrative to interfere with the complexity of the main character’s situation. I wanted the audience to sympathise with Jane so I purposely didn’t include any dialogue with her husband so as not to hint at any other point of view. The reader can reflect on whether or not they think it is acceptable or immoral to cheat on a partner. I think before reading the short story most would say no, however, I wanted to get across how unhappy Jane was so that the reader may challenge their views on infidelity in Jane’s case.
In conclusion, I think that my creative piece has been successful in terms of getting across how unhappy Jane was in her marriage and that she had doubts about leaving which I think helps the reader to understand the character. However, I think that I needed to explain her relationship with Pierre more in order to help the reader fully explore Jane’s decision to leave her husband. Therefore enhancing the need for the reader to challenge their opinions on infidelity because they would have had a better understanding of the whole situation rather than having to rely on knowing about just Jane’s life in England and not Pierre’s life in Paris.

Hopefully in this rationale I have communicated my thoughts on how the issue of infidelity was included in my creative writing piece. Please leave me some feedback on your ideas =)

Infidelity

This is my creative writing piece which I have written for my first assignment in the Being Bad module. I will publish my accompanying rationale in a different post so that I don't run over the word limit. Please have a read and leave any comments that you feel necessary.

They had exactly two hours before the train was due to leave for Paris. Jane knew that if she stopped to think about her actions she would decide against them, returning to her mundane job and loveless marriage, turning her back on what promised to be the most exciting yet guilt-ridden journey of her life. But that wasn’t what she wanted. She had dreamt about this day for five years, her mind cast back to that winter’s evening when she returned home from work, the rain thundering down, stumbling in on her husband in bed with her best friend. That was the moment, the very moment she realised she had to escape from the grey existence that had become her life. Jane stepped out of the front door of her home, allowing it to softly close behind her, leaving behind those memories of betrayal and selfishness.
As Jane walked to her car she no longer felt guilty, all she could think about was the happiness that was waiting for her in his trendy, Parisian apartment. She had met Pierre two years ago whilst working for the same publishing company. By the time they had fallen in love, Pierre had to move back to Paris and Jane had to return to her love-less life with her cheating husband. Now she had the courage and determination to leave England for a happier life and with a deep breath she got into her car and left the driveway without looking back.
As the car pulled into the train station car park, Jane’s mobile phone started to ring, she looked at the screen and answered with a smile, "I’ll be with you in two hours Pierre" she said. Shortly after, Jane got on the train; she sat down and wondered why she hadn’t left her husband sooner.

Below is a link to a website that offers advice to people who feel that their partner may be cheating on them, it also has some interesting indications as to why people may cheat.

http://www.armchairadvice.co.uk/relationships/saving/common/infidelity.asp

Bad Things We've Done

After the first lecture on the module being bad, I read the post put up on WOLF discussing the bad behaviour we had admitted to. As we admitted to our sins anonymously, it was interesting to discover just how naughty the other people in the lecture are!

I have to say it didn't really surprise me that cheating on a partner was such a popular form of bad behaviour, even though it could be considered to be the most harmful of all the bad behaviours mentioned. I think this is because sex is alot less of a taboo subject than it used to be and generally people are more frivolous than say 50 years ago. Or maybe people just get bored more easily these days? It would have been interesting to find out the ages of those who had cheated as i suspect that the majority who did we're in their teens/twenties and perhaps not in a really serious relationship.

What did surprise me was people's tendancy to turn to violence, especially towards family/loved ones. Whether or not it was in some way justified i don't know but it does raise the question, is violence ever justified? Also, the case of the two people who admitted to the illegal trade of narcotics surprised me because I was surprised that people are willing to risk the consequenses of doing so.

Overall, I think the introductory lecture on being bad threw up some really interesting points to consider when discussing the issue of bad behaviour, below are some links to the consequences of other people's bad behaviour that I found interesting. I think the first link in particular really highlights the in some cases deadly consequences of dealing drugs, you can decide for yourselves if you think the punishment is justified:

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004-04/02/content_320251.htm

http://www.expressandstar.com/2008/04/12/reliant-robin-life-of-drug-smugglers/