Alright, I finished the novel Carrie about two months ago. It was 253 pages long, and the book was split into three parts. I enjoyed the novel so much that I even went back to Chapters to see if their was any other novels like Carrie. So now I'm reading CRANK by Ellen Hopkins.
The novel Carrie by Stephen King was about a 16 year old girl who is telekinetic, which means she is able to move and control things with her mind. Carrie White is made fun of constantly at school by other students. She is the most hated person by all her fellow high school students. But one day the students push Carrie's nerves a little too tight, and it sends her on a killing spree through the town. Which also ends in her own death.
I loved the book, and I watched the movie a month ago twice. They left out so many important points in the movie that should have been portrayed. I was honestly very disappointed. I didn't expect Carrie, or any of the characters to look the way the did in the film as they did in the novel. The movie was way too short, the ending was pathetic, and the movie in general was a complete fail in my eyes. The film detoured away from the novel's original message, making the whole story sound corny and dumb. It seems like they did not try and match the novel at all.
It just goes to show that novels are always better than the films. Or maybe everyones view on certain novels are different. I'm going to structure my report around the basic fact that not all films live up to the novels they are based on. And the film for the novel Carrie is a good example of a film that did not live up to the novel.
So, we were assigned a project that should take roughly the rest of the school year to do. That is to choose a Fictional novel that was transformed in to a movie. Based on the books I have read (and that would be a lot of books) the movies literally fail at trying to be as up to par as the original novel/book. A very good example of that would be the ever so popular Fictional novel "Twilight." The book alone was over three hundred pages long, and the movie was only and hour and twenty minutes long. A good example of a novel that had a movie based on it that was actually good, and told the novel through the story very well was "Lord Of The Rings." Those movies were like 4 hours each!
I decided to choose "Carrie" By Stephen King. For two major reasons: I have never read this book or have seen the movie before in my life. And it's a novel and movie based in an older time frame (1970's). I already know I will be interested in this novel, it is a horror novel based on teens around my age. I can't wait to see if they made the movie to be just as good as the novel.
*DING DING*
Let round one begin with a simple breakdown on how teen Americans are. Teen Americans are ruled and controlled by violence, drugs, etc. There are over twenty shows alone on television to date about America and they're overly packed prison cells and jail houses. What kind of reputation does that put on Americas teens? Not a very good one. Over 50% of teens in America are born to teenage mothers, leaving them with no father. And to top that up, America is in the biggest recession it has been in for a while, resulting in limited, to no jobs. Which means theres no money, cars, housing, food, clothes, etc. So that means the stealing rate has risen sky high in America. Did I mention the drop out rate in America is the highest in the whole entire WORLD? American Teens usually drop out of school at age 15 (majority-wise). And not to mention, did you know that India has more HONOUR STUDENTS than America has CHILDREN. There are American teens who are obsessed with fame and fortune, and who can actually afford to live. Not saying you have to be famous to live in America, but hey, it looks like every American teen, family, person, animal; has their very own show. So maybe you do have to be famous to live their. What day dreamers, eh?
*DING DING*
It's round two, time for the Canucks to get their breakdown. Canadian teens live the complete opposite lifestyle. Canadian teens are well known for their dedication to schooling and learning. Canadian teens are also more active and fit than American teens, Canadians lead a healthier lifestyle altogether. Canadian teens are majority-wise born to mature appropriately aged adult parents. The divorce rate is much lower in Canada than it is in America, and the parents are more strict in Canada, leading to a better lifestyle for their teens. The drugs and drinking rate is lower in Canada than most countries in the world. And the economy is slightly suffering due to America (Thanks), but not enough to cause teens to steal. Canadian teens are not focused at all on becoming famous in general, unlike American teens. Canadian teens are all about the future, and wanting to succeed in life.
This is just my opinion, it has nothing to do with the individual personalities of either countries teens, just the vast majority. Teens in Canada and their media is strong, because we enjoy watching Americans on the television. And American teens like to be on television. So in media senses, the two countries may be alike in one way, we both love media.
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We have all seen the movie Mean Girls, right? Well, if you haven't, then chances are you live in a shoe box. The movie Mean Girls is a common high school stereotypical film, portraying the true sides of people in their so called social groups. The question is, "Do you think that the stereotypes in high school movies are accurate or not? Explain." I'm here to answer that question with my personal opinions. So here it goes.
To me, films on high school pretty accurately display the common high school stereotypes. From the Popular Plastics, to the Jerky Jocks, the Simulated Sexually Active, Brilliant Band Geeks, to the Art Freaks and so on and so forth. Every high school has its own social structure whether people are willing to admit it or not. The movie Mean Girls also portrays how high school 'cattiness' and the need to be popular and liked can hurt peoples feelings and ruin friendships. In the end the movie sets forth the message that these social circles will always be there, and there is absolutely nothing you can do to eliminate them. But otherwise you should treat every person the way you would want to be treated personally.
The common stereotypes placed upon humans is generally depicted on what clothes they wear, and how their hair is styled. If you appear with blonde, clean, perfectly styled hair, designer clothing, and accessories, you will immediately be stereotyped as a Prep, or in this movie's case a Plastic. But that's not all, people can smash a stereotype on someone so quickly by just looking at their hair and pants. If they have black hair, and wear skinny jeans, hey they're immediately Emo. And Emo is a music genre, not a human stereotype for those out there who didn't know.
People these days just can't like others for their personality, they only care about how you dress, and how popular you are, and that determines how the rest of your high school life will go. It's also very common to get the Wannabe's trying to force themselves into the clique they want to be a part of.
With this all said, I completely agree with the film Mean Girls' perception on typical high school stereotypes. The film was well put together, and it made me feel like I was just entering another new high school. Even if some lines from the script were a bit over dramatic.
There is no denying that technology is a main source in people's lives today. It has affected the way we perform our daily routine, communicate with other people, etc. These days, most of the technology we have is thought of as a good thing. In fact it is not a positive for our world, its is bad for us. Way back when, people would have to get together to communicate and interact towards each other. These days all people have to do is log onto their computers, and interact in a chat room. The computer technology has cut down on physical interaction between humans. All the communication is performed through the Internet, chat rooms, and e-mails. Also, computers have hurt almost all youth due to cyber bullying. Computers run almost everything in our world, and if they break down, nobody knows how to do the job the computer was doing manually. We have become dependent on the computers to make all things easier and keep us going. Nothing is done manually anymore.
Which leads me towards technology challenged teachers. Teachers these days range between the ages of 27 and 57. But the majority of teachers are well in their 30's. Which means they most likely have no experience with technology such as laptops, iPhones, cameras, or iPads. In fact, they probably just learned how to use the car radio. Most teachers don't even spark an interest in wanting to learn the newest technology, because they think it's just an unnecessary addition to there every day life. And in a way, they're right. They are also very wrong in many ways, because the technology these days is taking over, as I stated before, It's a prime component in out every day lives, which teachers don't seem to understand.
My final point of the day, powerpoint. Teachers of this day and age use powerpoint for presentations which is a positive change from the usual 'black board' method. But once again, It's a new form of technology! Teachers can write notes, state quotes, and show important informational photos. Students also use powerpoint to create slideshow projects. For example; a powerpoint project on the Holocaust. Including text, photos, and other informational data. So there you have it! Technology is taking over our lives, and our world. In a negative way in some sorts, but it seems to be all positive once you analyze everything.
