Bradbuy: Traffic

The movie traffic revolves around three different story vignettes that tell different sides on the war on drugs. While many people think the war on drugs is impossible to win, the movie gives hope. Mexican drug cartels generate more money than many small countries. The task of eradicating them is no small feat. First, America needs to look at itself and its own borders before they can aid Mexico in their daily struggle against drugs. More money should be put into treatment programs and more attention should be placed in staying away from drugs in schools. A redistribution of cops should leave less in the suburbs and more in inner city neighborhoods. Not because I am saying that suburbia is any better than the city, but statistically more drugs are bought and sold in these areas. America also needs to crack down further on border control.   Although a harsh method, trespassers into America should be shot on site. This would scare more people from coming over the border smuggling drugs. On the Mexican side, more money needs to be spent in educating kids in schools. America can help be training large city police departments to be better able to combat the cartels. Mexico should also find the money to raise the pay of public officials and cops so that they do not need to be bribed by gangs. Next, although this would have serious political repercussions, America could send in an elite military force to quietly eliminate the heads of the cartels. They are not in hiding and would be easy to find. Also, America has done it before when they took out Pablo Escobar.
      Some people argue that the drug problem could be solved if America legalized Marijuana. They say that the government would generate an income and could control the supply of weed. I disagree. People are making a living off of selling drugs and will not be happy to give up their business to the government. Loyal customers would also still stick to their illegal buyers.  As for other drugs such as cocaine, heroin, and methanphetamenes; not option of legalization could be presented. Here in Loyola, I think that the school has a good grasp on the situation. So far as I know, no serious accusations of major amounts of drugs have been found on campus. The school for the most part trusts its students and the students earn the schools respect by obeying the rules. Unfortunatly. I do not know if that give and take system would work in the real world.

Bradbury: Fear in America

In America today, we find ourselves a nation who looks to the past. We almost idolize the decades before in an unhealthy manner. While my peers and I did not grow up during the McCarthy era, our parents and grandparents did. The results of the Cold War and communism shaped their lives, in turn molding our own. Socialism, like communism, involves much overlook by the government. The two are very different otherwise. In a communist nation, everyone gets paid the same amount no matter your job. This causes a lack of incentive in people which is not seen in socialism. In a socialist society, people are free to do what they want but the government makes sure that big business is not ripping people off. I think people in America are so afraid of socialism because they are not fully educated about what it entails. In "The Crucible", Arthur Miller draws a scene of paranoia that reflected his present day society. He was seriously afraid of the consequences of what McCarthy was doing. That is why he **SPOILER ALERT** killed off all the sensible main characters to get his point across. In that situation, one has to ask themselves if the means justify the ends. To tie it in with "Good", Hitler wanted to create a better Germany that was left in pieces after WWI. He had the right idea of restoring his country but he went about it the wrong way. Just like in 1950's America, the people were scared so they allowed someone in charge to do the wrong thing. It only takes one man (or woman) to make a difference however. This is what we saw in "Good Night and Good Luck". People in America today need to stop thinking how America was and start changing how America will be. Sociologists say that it is never a good sign for the health of a country when they start to look backwards instead of forwards.

The movie "Good" featuring Viggo Mortensen as the "protagonist" John Halder and directed by Vincente Amorim is a drama based on a play by the same name. Why did I put protagonist in quotation marks?  The reason is that throughout the story, the question of whether or not John Halder is a decent man comes into question. In the beginning, Halder starts out a quiet spineless man who is content slaving over his crazed mother and half-crazed wife. He shews away from responsibility such as in the second scene when his father-in-law tells him to join the Nazi party. John passively avoids the question as he does with any serious subject in his life. As the movie progresses however, John slowly gains an elite status in the Nazi party and feels more and more confident about himself. He leaves his wife for a more attractive, younger, socialite, and slowly drifts apart from his jewish friend because whenever he is around him he feels ashamed of what he has become. I do not think that John Halder is a purposefully evil man. In my opinion he is just too weak to speak up. He did not openly seek out the Nazis, but he did not object to being one of them. I think that Halder felt empowered for the first time in my life where he usually was overshadowed by his wealthy Jewish friend; who was now consequently taking up Halder's old stance in society. Although the movie takes place in the 1930's, there are key issues which still are debated in present day, such as euthanasia. Halder's book focuses on the subject of euthanasia. It becomes a jumping off point for the Nazi position on the final solution. Although the final solution is not even considered in the U.S. but euthanasia is. It is legal currently in Washington and Oregon. I find it interesting that movies can show us how things can change so rapidly but core values remain the same over time.

Bradbury: Whats a Bradbury?

Yo fellow bloggers,

Hello my Politics and Reel life peers. My name is Jake Bradbury. I am an avid movie watcher and proud native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Currently I am on the schools rugby team. Rugby is a great sport that is rapidly becoming popular in the U.S. Last year my team and I won the Pennsylvania state championship and became ranked 17th nationally. Besides rugby I am an avid reader. Right now I am reading the Game of Throne series that follows the show on HBO by the same name. The show is sick so you should all check it out (I posted a link to the trailer below). I love sports and am a huge fan of all Philadelphia sports teams (Phillies, Eagles, Flyers, '6ers) and I also passionately loathe the Saints. Last summer, a group of friends and I packed up my '99 Ford Taurus named Consuela and drove over the Walt Whitman bridge from Philly to Jersey and we spent our summer living at the Jersey Shore. No, I am not a guido but I am proud to say many of my friends are. Anyone who has not been to the Jersey Shore should really go its a great time as long as u watch out for them grenades. Since this is a movie class I thought I should share with you movies that I enjoy so that hopefully someone can agree (or disagree) with me or get a chance to watch them if they have never seen it. I think I will discuss one movie per blog. "Raging Bull" is a classic Scorcese film that I find cinematically stunning. The use of lines and shadows in this black and white film really help to convey deeper messages within the movie and Robert DeNiro's rendition of Jake LaMotta, a real boxer, is one of the best acting performances I have ever seen. DeNiro actually put on and then lost all the weight in this movie and taught himself how to box so well that his trainer said he could make a living as a professional boxer. Another interesting fact is that Cathy Moriarty, who portrays Vicki La Motta in the film, was a neighborhood girl from Queens, New York (the town where Martin Scorcese grew up) who had no acting skill but was recruited because Scorcese saw her walking down the street.  Finally, I want to wish all of you good luck this upcoming semester and I am excited to blog with all of you about politics and reel life. If someone needs to reach me whether it be for a question about the homework or you just want to see whats up feel free to come find me in Biever 315.

Me down in Wildwood, New Jersey