nt26sunyorange

[nt26sunyorange]

Superhero Films: What Should The Future Of This Genre Be?

COVID Curing Superhero

Fictional Character Biography

Curtis Watts Jr: Doctor Stabilizer who was born on May 15th, 1993.

Early Years: In Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, Curtis Watts is born at Vancouver General Hospital, where he will later work as a doctor. Curtis is born into a low-income family who struggles each and every day. Curtis Watts was raised by a single parent, his mother Jesenia Watts. Jesenia Watts had Curtis Jr at 18 years old. She also gets married to Curtis Sr at 18 years old as well. She then went on to have his brother Chris Watts at the age of 22. His father, Curtis Watts Sr left his life at an early age, right after Chris Watts is born and neither of the brothers share a relationship with their father. Not having his father in his life filled him with anger but he used all that energy into becoming the best version of himself. Curtis Watts Jr. Has a little brother, Chris Watts, who was born on September 25th, 1997. Curtis Watts Jr spent most of his adolescence life taking care of his younger brother while his mom had to work two jobs to put food on the table. Although, his mother was in his life...with her working so often it felt like he really did not have any parent at all. It was always him and his brother Curtis from the age of 6. A lot of the times he did not have much to eat but he learned how to make quick things such as sandwiches or canned soups that he would have in his cabinet to make for himself and his brother. In the midst of taking care of his brother, he also focused on his studies and mastered each thing he put his mind too. From the age of 10, Curtis skips two grades and attends 7th grade where he gets bullied for being smaller than everyone else in the school. With all the bullying he endured he never had anyone to turn to. He progressed through each grade working on himself and strengthening his knowledge every year with the end goal of becoming a doctor. He also obtained a paid internship at Vancouver General Hospital to bring in extra money for his mother to pay all the bills, while obtaining knowledge that will further benefit him when he goes to medical school. He also did internships at that same hospital in the past for free. With Curtis Watts Jr skipping two grades he graduates at the age of 16 years old at Skyview High School, in Vancouver School District. This then leads him to getting into UBC Faculty of Medicine at an early age with multiple scholarship offers. With leaving his brother behind he continuously makes visits back home every weekend. His social life was not very social up until his junior year in medical school. He made friends with fellow members in his Medical School. He also meets a young lady who he falls in love with, named Sasha Mcgregor, who is a year older than him and studying to obtain her MD. Curtis never felt comfortable enough to have a social life because he was working his hardest to have a better life to provide for his mother and his brother, so they no longer had to suffer and struggle to pay bills. As Curtis put in work, he ends up graduating and obtaining his MD within three years. This makes Curtis Watts a 19-year-old doctor (2012). With the multiple internships Curtis has done at Vancouver General Hospital in the past he was able to acquire a position as a doctor at the hospital as well.

Current History: Speeding forward to the year of 2020 when COVID-19 first was discovered and given a name, many people did not know how to handle it or how to treat patients as it was a new virus that had just came about that was killing people rapidly. Curtis produced the idea to create a serum that contained COVID-19. Outside of working at the hospital this was his focus. Creating the serum took a lot of resources and focus. The main purpose of creating this serum was to inject himself with an excessive amount of it that could kill him or make him immune to it. The amount he planned to inject himself with was more than the largest animal in the world could handle. The reasoning behind Curtis doing this was to create something that could be used to treat people in the future. Instead of that happening, when Curtis injected himself with this excessive amount of serum his heart ended up stopping then ended up starting again. It was like he was born again but as a new person. Not only did this serum make Curtis immune to getting the virus but it also gave him the ability to heal people just by putting his hands over their head. With the cure comes with people never able to obtain that same sickness again. After that he created something that would give him the ability to teleport. What he created was a teleportation machine. The machine is small, where he could put it in his pocket wherever he is and open it up when he needs to go to his next destination. The ability to teleport helps Curtis later on when he decides to travel the world to heal people from the virus.

Curtis Watts Jr physical appearance consist of: A black male, height of 6’2, brown eyes, short haircut, and is built like a basketball player (not too buff). Curtis never really had the time throughout his days to work out but maintained a fit body because of the foods he ate. He lived a vegan life from 12th grade in high school to now and that has helped him with his psyche overall. As I have stated previously Curtis has worked hard to be where he is now, a doctor. He has educated on things further than what school can teach. He has researched more things than many people would. If he is not sure about something he will write it down and when he gets the opportunity, he will research it to fully understand it. I would say his IQ is above a 140, which means he is a genius at that point. He is smarter than most people around him, but you would never know because he is a very humble being. Curtis can utilize his emotions to apply them to task. He can also think of many problem-solving solutions. The fact that he is self-aware of himself and able to control his emotions helps put a lot in the long run. Curtis Watts Jr is a hero. The definition of hero is “A hero is a real person or a main fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage or strength.” I say that he is a hero because he is saving people. Saving individuals from something that may kill them is something that is the quality of being courageous and having the strength to do so as well. He is saving people and give their families a sense of relief because they may have died in that situation, that to me is a hero. With curing people, he will eventually be able to save the entire world from the virus all together. Curtis Watts Jr advocates for everyone to be healthy. His desire from young was to be able to help people and make them feel better, which is why he became a doctor. The desire to do that lead him to creating such a powerful serum that turns him into a superhero that can cure people from such a deadly virus. If he can save the world from all diseases, he would do just that. Curtis current pursuits now that he has the ability to heal people is to travel the world and cure the people who are on their death beds first, then get to the people who may have just gotten the virus. His pursuits come with traveling the entire world and taking a leave of absence from his job at the hospital in the meantime. While traveling the world to cure people Curtis meets many families and hears a lot of different stories and the world basically thanks him for what he is doing. He is remarkably successful with his pursuits as each individual who has the virus that he encounters is saved because of him. The teleportation machine enhances his ability to help people in multiples because he is able to travel at a faster speed. In DC Universe you have Superman and Batman and to me they are the best likened to Curtis Watts Jr. Superman had the powers of intelligence, and flight which I feel relate to Curtis. Although intelligence is not one of Curtis's powers, he is still intelligent, genius like. He relates to ability to flight not because he can fly but because he can take flight through teleportation at any moment. As for Batman, the powers he has that relate to Curtis are Genius-level intellect, ability to utilize high-tech equipment, and peak human mental condition. Curtis does match the genius level intellect and with him being able to create a teleportation machine all on his own shows that he has the ability to utilize high-tech equipment. I say that him and Batman share peak human mental condition because with the alterations that happened to Curtis after the serum, he was boosted to his highest mental state a human could possibly be at. Although they have these similarities each of these superheroes are vastly different. Curtis Watts Jr does something that they cannot do and that sets him apart from them.

Future: Curtis Watts Jr dies at the age of 35 in 2028. Curtis Watts Jr is killed by some man, Jackson Richards, who lost their mother. Jackson Richards ends up killing Curtis because Curtis was supposed to save his mother but got there too late. His late arrival caused a young man to lose his mother. His mother passed in 2021 from the virus. From that moment he blamed Curtis forever and said that he would pay for what he has done. He made it his business to figure out who Doctor Stabilizer was. He plotted on killing Curtis for 7 years. He did his research on him and tracked down his every move to figure out the right opportunity to kill him. Curtis ended up finally going back to working in the hospital full time again in 2027. This made it easy for Jackson Richards to track his every move from that moment forward because he was back to a normal routine rather than traveling the world and it being unpredictable of where he would end up next. When Jackson finally figures out where Curtis lives, he goes back to his hotel room and plans the murder of Doctor Stabilizer. His plan was to sneak into Curtis' apartment while he was at work and wait for him. He did not think it would be an easy kill because he knew that Curtis could teleport. So, when Curtis came home, he waited in his room and as soon as Curtis opened the light, he hit him upside the head and knocked him out. He did not want it to be a quick and easy kill. He wanted Curtis to die slow like his mother did, so he tied him up. He spoke to Curtis about why he was about to die. He cut Curtis piece by piece. He researched areas of the body you could cut off without dying quickly. The amount of blood loss is what caused Curtis to die in the end.

The legacy Curtis Watts Jr (Doctor Stabilizer) left behind upon the human race was the elimination of a disease that killed millions of people. He whipped out the last of the virus and left the human race with nothing left to worry about. There will be other illnesses, diseases, and viruses but he left the human race with one less thing to worry about. People were able to leave their house without mask and take in the air freely. He gave the world life again and that alone is a big legacy to leave behind.

[nt26sunyorange]

Violent Media & It's Psychological Effects

The movie Irreversible starts out very confusing as you learn along the way that the movie is told backwards. For me this was new as I have never seen a movie like this before. It even starts off with the credits the fact that the story of murder, rape, and lovers is being played backwards gives the movie a lot more dimension than it would have if it were played in chronological order. Reading about Irreversible you learn that during the filming of Irreversible Alex and Marcus were together in real life, so we can see that raw and authentic emotion on screen. (time stamp: 1:16:12-1:24:24) We watch Alex and Marcus romance within this time stamp. It shows how two people can be really in love with each other and enjoy each other's company. How life can be before the madness that occurs. This is really the beginning of the story, but we watch from Marcus’s freak out at the gentleman's club up until that point. When the movie starts you may be confused because you start to wonder what reason Marcus and Pierre, who is Alex’s previous lover, is looking for La Tenia for. Watching the movie in this order from end to start rather than start to end a lot of people might wonder Marcus is acting so careless and out of control like he is. (time stamp: 18:00-22:20) Within this scene he is seen searching for La Tenia and physically assaulting people in the process no matter the cost. As the crime he is trying to avenge is not yet seen it allows people to build up that suspense and want to see what previously occurred to lead Marcus down this rampage. We see the rape of Alex and then after that there is a party that came before the rape showing what lead her to be alone during the night. (time stamp: 1:03:30-1:05:10)

Due to Marcus being on drugs, it upsets Alex and caused her to leave into the night alone. Before that there was the train ride and the happy couple Alex and Marcus in bed together. I believe that the movie playing in backwards format shows the very worse than happens upfront and then leads back into the lives of the individuals that will face everlasting alterations in their lives later down the road as we have seen. For me this shows me that it is never made clear whether Pierre kills the right man or not.

This is classified as an extreme cinema considered the play out throughout the movie. Pierre, the ex, bashes someone's head with a fire extinguisher, and we, the audience, witness Alex’s rape for about 8 minutes (time stamp: 43:05-54:00).

Not only does this “La Tenia” person rape Alex, he also psychically assaults her leaving her in a coma and almost unrecognizable. All this because she walked through an underpass after being advised by a woman that it was safer. You could be doing nothing wrong at all and staying out the way and people will still find a way to mess with you. What happened to Alex was truly devastating, but I do believe this is something that needs to be touched base on. I believe the Directors intent for this movie is to show how your life can change within an intense and how violence can come from nowhere even when you are just minding your business, as Alex was on her way home. The reversed affect allows us to examine each detail of what is going on rather than it just being a rape/revenge story. This film is not an adaptation of a book.

If I had to give this movie a letter grade, I would give it a B.

I really enjoyed watching this because I don’t normally watch movies that aren’t in English. During Lecture 4, I got the opportunity to watch movies that weren’t in English. These movies have exceeded my expectations. As for Irreversible specifically it doesn’t get an A for me because starting the movie off, I was really confused. I didn’t understand what exactly what was happening and why certain people in the movie like Marcus, were acting the way they were acting. A lot of times when we are watching movies or giving movies a chance if the opening of the movie or the beginning of it isn’t an eye catcher or something that may draw you in, you change it to something else. The confusion of how we even got to this right in the beginning of the movie made me have that same thought of wanting to change it quickly. Considering this was a movie I had to watch for class I couldn’t change it. I had no choice but to give it a chance. With me giving it a chance and taking that time to understand each aspect of this film, I truly enjoyed it in the end. Although it was very graphic and dark, it gives a perspective on the harsh realities of how cruel and dangerous people can be in this world without it even being called for. I feel that it is very important to watch movies like this because it provides people with different viewpoints and more of an understanding that they may have not had prior to watching it such as on the topic of rape and how a woman can be doing absolutely nothing and can be attacked in such way, uncalled for. A lot of times women are blamed for being raped because of what they might have on. I appreciated this movie because it was based on Marcus and Pierre seeking revenge for her. A lot of times women aren’t taken seriously so the fact that they were doing any and everything to get to the person that did what he did to Alex showed that no matter what she had on, what La Tenia did was wrong, and he had to pay for it. Overall, this is a movie I would recommend to someone to watch, I would just advise them to give the beginning a chance. That it will get better and become more understandable as it progresses.

[nt26sunyorange]

LGBTQI & BIPOC Representation In Media

All the films we watched this week based on the LGBTQI culture fit the “Queer” visual style and can be just that. Each film has its own individual style, and this allows us to recognize the tone of the movie. Although these movies are all different the visual style that plays apart is everything that goes into the film, such as the clothes they wear, the scenery, the way they speak, and more. I feel these fit the “Queer” visual style because all of them are based on LGBTQI plots. Boys Don’t Cry is a great example for why there is a such thing as Queer visual style because you have a woman who goes by a boy's name and dresses like a boy and dates women.

This movie illustrates everything visual style includes as I mentioned before the way they dress, the sceneries, the angles, and the way they speak. In Boys Don’t Cry Brandon cuts her hair like a boy, dresses like one, does the same things “boys” are meant to do, and dates women as well. In this scene we see her stuffing her pants and wrapping down her chest. (time stamp: 31:17-32:27) Brandon embodies the Queer visual style. Even when searching up the word Queer it says that this was the word used to describe people who liked the same sex. Each movie developed a relationship between the same sex. That alone is why there is a “Queer” visual style. Even with the best friend Eric in Mysterious Skins, by the way he dresses (time stamp: 32:13-32:35) and portrays himself in this movie contributes to visual style.

Touching base on race, gender, and sexual identities intersecting is very important regarding visual style. When speaking about race in these movies I feel that this is important when addressing visual style. In Moonlight we witness Chiron get bullied for being gay. (time stamp: 46:53-48:03/1:00:55-1:02:00)

I mention Chiron being bullied because he was bullied based off the premise of him being gay. As we know Moonlight is a black film, that’s where race comes to play. In Mysterious Skin, throughout the whole movie Neil who is a white man proudly has sex with different men for money. (time stamp: 22:50-25:30) Neil consistently has sex with different men for money and nobody once judges him in the film.

As another example we also have Elio in Call Me By My Name.

Elio falls in love with Oliver in this film and his parents knows about their secret relationship the whole time. They were accepting of who their son truly is and who he chooses to love. I believe all of these read into visual style because you have these three different films who share the same sex relationships but are dealt with differently. The attitudes of these three films are approached very differently and that plays apart in what visual style is. In regards to gender, Boys Don’t Cry embodies that. We don’t really have too many films that touch base on the transgender community or girls/guys that dress like the opposite sex because that is who they believe they are. In Boys Don’t Cry we have Brandon who is a female but identifies as a male. The visual style within this film allows us to look inside of Brandon’s life and see how other people may be dealing with the same thing.

I believe a queer film, using the power of queer aesthetics can be used to shape and influence the perceptions and emotions of its audience. I feel a lot of people who are homophobic is because that is all they know and most of the time that is what they were taught growing up. Not a lot of people learn about LGBTQI culture on their own, it comes from possibly parents that men and women should only be together and anything else besides that is wrong. I feel that a queer film can be used to shape and influence the perceptions and emotions of its audience because that film can be used to educate people. Even with Chiron getting bullied. There are a lot of people who bully people for being who they are. You don’t know it's wrong but imagine watching a film that demonstrates what you are doing in your own life. Bullying someone for their sexuality, being on the outside looking in it provides you with a different perspective. I believe queer film will take a lot of people out of their elements and in today's day in age that is necessary. In the film Brokeback Mountain, Ennis is too scared to live his life the way he wants to because of what others may think of him and him not truly being comfortable in loving a man. Jack tells Ennis that they could have had a good life. (time stamp: 1:46:45-1:48:35)

I think this is very important because a lot of times we don’t do certain things we want to because of what other people might think. People’s opinions matter too much. I think watching a film like this would show the audience that they need to let people live how they want to live. It will show people that we need to start judging less and start minding our own business more. It also allows us to see that we should live our lives the way we want before it is too late. As Jack ends up dying in the end, Ennis and him never have their happy ever after. I do not believe a queer film can queer an audience. I feel like if that audience is already queer and maybe in denial about it than yes. Other than that, when you truly know yourself and who you are it is impossible for anything to alter those feelings you already know to be true of yourself. It may change a lot of people's perspectives on people who choose to live their lives queer and free and allow themselves to feel comfortable about it or being around it. The film can show the audience how hard it is to be a part of the LGBTQI community, and the audience may feel sympathy towards that. Other than that, a film cannot queer an audience unless they were queer to begin with.

[nt26sunyorange]

The Mental Health Crisis In Media!

Each movie assigned for Lecture #002 were all great and gave me a unique perspective on a lot of things. The two main movies whose endings I enjoyed most were Black Swan and American Psycho. Although I enjoyed these endings the most, I do also believe that these are the two endings or movies that can easily relate within one another. The ending of Black Swan takes place at a theatre and a lot begins to unfold. Throughout the movie we realize Nina has a lot of issues. During the end of the movie, we see firsthand Nina battling within herself. Although she has constant hallucinations and believes Lily is out to get her, we realize that she was only battling with herself. In order for Nina to fully dive into her character as the Black Swan she needed to kill the White Swan. With her fighting “Lily” who is truly herself, a mirror ends up breaking. That is an especially important detail because throughout the movie we witness constant battles with Nina when looking into the mirror. It was like she was looking at who she wanted to be but for some reason could not seem to dive into that person. Nina’s strive to be perfect was at an all-time high and when that mirror broke when she is fighting with herself, she ends up stabbing herself which then allows her to fully dive into the role of the black swan and become who she wanted to be all along. The movie ends off with Nina saying perfect and that is all she fought to be throughout the whole movie.  

In the movie American Psycho ends off with a complete twist. When I sat and watched this movie all I thought was here is this man who clearly is a serial killer and has some type of an obsession with having sex with women and then murdering them but then the end provides us with a twist. We then realize although we perceived this man to be a certain way, he is just someone who can not differentiate between his thoughts and reality which causes him to have several hallucinations. Even when he was running away from the cops shooting everyone, I would have never thought the movie would have ended the way it did. At the end when Patrick Bateman approaches his lawyer, he too begins to realize all he knows is not true as his lawyer provides evidence on why what he is saying is completely impossible. All the committed murders were just his thoughts and things he has drawn or wrote down in his journal as we see when Jean, his secretary, goes through his desk. A lot of times we have thoughts that we don’t act on but in this case Bateman’s thoughts got misconstrued as he thought those were his actual reality.  

Although both movies are entirely different, I believe the connection these two films share regarding the endings is that both individuals hallucinate a lot throughout the whole movie, up until the very end. For example, In American Psycho, it is not until the end when Patrick Bateman realizes all he truly knows is not his actual reality. That he did not actually kill all the people he thought he did. Even when he goes to the apartment where she had the bodies and all of them were gone, I am sure his mind started to go crazy. As for Nina in the Black Swan after fighting with “Lily” she goes out to perform and when she goes back to change her dress, she realizes there is no more blood leaking from under the door and when she opens it, she then sees that “Lily” isn’t there and then realizes she stabbed herself with the glass in the end. Both Patrick and Nina commit crimes within their hallucinations, crimes that anybody would have been arrested for. I believe both characters had a sense of relief when realizing that their hallucinations were not their actual reality. They both share similar mental illnesses and show how serious mental illness can be.  

I believe the purpose of ambiguity in both films was to the people who are watching these films to interpret it in ways that make sense to them. Watching these two films, there are so many different ways you can interpret it. Whether certain scenes were real or actual hallucinations. Both films having ambiguity allows the people watching it to enjoy it just a little bit more. I feel like that separates it from the films with predicable endings. Not knowing what may happen next or how to initially interpret what you just watched may have you at the edge of your seat and keep you glued to the television wanting to watch more.

As I stated before, the sense of catharsis comes from both endings. Patrick realizing, he didn’t commit all the crimes he thought he did and realized that what he believed was true was not and that gave him a sense of relief instead of the feeling of him being in over his head or going crazy. As for Nina in Black Swan she realized she did not kill Lily when checking for the blood under the door and when Lily comes to let her know that she was doing good. Although she stabbed herself, she was still relieved that she did not actually kill somebody.

I picked these two movies because of the endings! The endings truly satisfied more than just my expectations. What I thought would happen in these movies did not happen. When I pick out movies to watch the goal is always to find something that will surprise me in the end. To find something that I can’t predict the ending of. These two movies both had me at the edge of my seat especially American Psycho. All the thoughts I had of what could have possibly happened in the end of that movie, for example, him actually getting arrested and them finding all the bodies. Never would I have thought that Patrick Bateman was living within his thoughts and imagination. It never crossed my mind that what he was doing weren't his real actions. It made it worth watching and I wouldn’t change anything about it. In Black Swan I truly believed that Nina stabbed Lilly in the dressing room simply because she was in over her head and didn’t want Lilly to gain that opportunity of having the part of the Swan Queen. Realizing that she was in a constant battle with herself had me in awe and intrigued me. These endings made the movies worth watching and I also would not have changed anything about the ending for Black Swan.

[nt26sunyorange]

Examining Youth Culture

Throughout the different movies and show I had to watch it got harder to choose who I identify with most because I feel like there is at least one person in each film I relate to. I decided to go with Cady in mean girls.

I identify with Cady the most because starting at a new school and not knowing anyone is one of the hardest things to deal with as a kid/teen. You struggle with making friends, and just being yourself. In the movie Cady finds herself becoming something she is not. She starts playing this “character” that she never was to please a certain group of girls in her school and eventually starts to forget who she truly is. I mention this because a lot of times in the past I found myself doing or saying things that was out of my character and showed that I was not staying true to myself in order to please other people around me. This also has to do with self-identity. Sometimes growing up around a bunch of different people who act differently, you struggle with knowing who and how you want to be. Not knowing that staying true to yourself is the best decision you can make. Just like Cady returning to how she truly is in the end, I continue to stay true to myself and only do the things I love despite what my friends or other individuals in my life do. Realizing who you and how you want to be is particularly important for the growth process of an individual's life. As I mentioned self-identity before that Is also one of the three common themes all these movies/show share. The other two are drinking/partying, and sex or the topic of sex. 

These three themes are very relatable to the contemporary youth culture. Even with it being a pandemic currently, people are still out partying and drinking. Sex is continuously a topic between a group of men, women, or men and women together. Lastly, self-identity will always be relatable because people lack it. Through my adolescent life as I mentioned and stated before I struggled with knowing my truth self in order to be what people wanted or expected me to be. I realized that was not me and stayed true to myself and currently only do things that will make me happy in the end. Between the ages of 16-21 partying and drinking was really all I wanted to do. Yes, I was underage drinking, at the time I didn’t really know how wrong it was, it was just something we did. Even referring to the movies, there was a lot of underage things going on such as: sexual things, drinking, partying, and doing drugs. In high school all there really was to do was party. Partying came with drinking; you didn’t have to do but at the time for me I felt like it made it more fun. Around those ages and even before, sex was always a topic. I didn’t know much about it up until a certain age which was after high school, but people continuously spoke about it. It was like something you had to do. Some people may have even felt pressured to lose their virginity because their friends did. Even at my age now, 23, sex is still a big topic of conversation. It makes me think that maybe people just don’t have anything else to speak about. The impact all these three themes had in my life I believe are positive. I feel like I had to experience all those things when I did in order to be who I am today. When you don’t experience certain things, that hinders your ability to differentiate between what you like and what you don’t like. The experiences within these themes that I had during my adolescent years allows me to know wholeheartedly what I like to do, what I don’t like to do, the type of people I want around me, the things I want to have conversations about, the amount of alcohol I can consume before reaching a limit, and how much I genuinely am a homebody. I felt like I would be missing out on a lot of things if I decided to stay home within my comfort zone but truly being at home is what makes me happy. Not partying and drinking all the time and having pointless conversations about meaningless sex. I’ve realized who I am, and I live within my truth, dealing with these themes throughout my adolescent life allow me to be able to say that. In these different films there is a specific soundtrack for each. The added soundtrack sets the tone for the movie. It sets the tone for what is happening during that scene. The soundtrack makes what is happening believable and it allows the audience to feel more engaged when watching the film. It is especially important to fit the soundtrack with what is happening in the movie because it will confuse the audience and lack that affect that it is supposed to provide. Here are my 10 songs that define my adolescent experience or just things I listened to around that time (Going through all the songs I use to listen to make this was so refreshing):  

1. TINK-TREAT ME LIKE SOMEBODY(2014): When this song was released, I was 17 years old and in my first ever real relationship. I listened to this song all day on repeat for days. During that time, I felt like I wasn’t being treated the way I was supposed to be treated. I listened to this because it spoke to me and everything I felt was portrayed within this song. It was like she was speaking my feelings for me. “I just want somebody to treat me like somebody” and it was all I really wanted, someone to treat me like they cared about me, but it always seemed like I was asking for something I wasn’t supposed to receive.  

2. CHRIS BROWN-TAKE YOU DOWN(2007): I was 10 when I first heard this song and I didn’t really know the true meaning behind it, but I loved Chris Brown at the time, so I loved everything he put out as well. During those years a lot of songs were and still are sexualized. Looking back, I probably shouldn’t have been listening to it, but I really didn’t know any better.  

3. JAZMINE SULLIVAN-NEED U BAD(2008): Listening to this song I use want to be in a relationship so bad. It made me feel like a women needed a man in her life as she repeatedly says “I need you bad as my heartbeat, bad like the food I eat, bad as the air I breath, baby I want you bad” It was like she couldn’t live without the man that she was speaking about. As a 23 year old listening to this song I realize that she couldn’t truly let go and still being in love she felt that she couldn’t do anything without that man. Sometimes in life you feel like you need that certain person to breathe until you start breathing without them, clearly she wasn’t there yet.

4. THE WEEKND-DARK TIMES(2015): This song came out while I was either in 12 grade or just graduate. Growing up I've always dealt with depression and there were always certain songs I listened to, to get me thrtough my thoughts and what I was feeling within that time. During your dark moments in life you do things that you probably wouldn’t normally do. A lot of those times you tend to even push people away because you know you aren’t okay to hold on to those relationships. During your dark times you make the decision to either stay there or figure out a way to bring yourself back to that happiness you once had. This was one of the songs that motivated me to get back to myself.  

5. BEYONCE-RUN THE WORLD(GIRLS)2011: I feel like there isn’t really a lot of songs that represent not just women but women in a positive light and all that we truly do. When this was released it was so catchy you really had no choice but to like it. Not only that though, it says a lot about women being able to do anything and buy anything they want for themselves. Praising women in all fields, and not taking disrespect from men. It is very motivational and speaks a positive message especially for young women. I was 13 when this was released and listening to this song just made me feel good about myself. 

6. JUSTIN BIEBER-MARK MY WORDS(2015): This was another song I used to listen to when I am depressed, it helped me get all the tears out. I feel like crying is important when you are depressed. For me those are the first steps to getting better and returning to my happy self.  

7. AALIYAH-BACK AND FORTH(1994): Although I was not born yet this is on the list simply because I do listen to songs that were put out before my time. This song always reminds me of all the times I would go out with my friends and party, drink, and just have an enjoyable time.

8. DESTINY CHILD-BILLS, BILLS, BILLS(1999): This is just a song I love. Reminds me of all the guys that really had nothing to offer but I still kept them around. If someone offers nothing in your life, why are they even there? I love anything destiny child but I love this song because it lets women know they shouldn’t take any bum behavior from a man. Don’t let him drive your car around, and don’t give him your money. LET HIM GO! A great song.

9. DEMI LOVATO-SKYSCRAPER(2011): Another song that I listened to when I was depressed. It made me feel like although I'm down right now I will soon rise above it.

10. BEYONCE-DANCE FOR YOU(2011): I was also 13 when this song came out and I feel like during that time I knew what this song represented. But it was one of those feel good songs that you put on and just sing all the words to it.  

[nt26sunyorange]

Introductory Blog Post

Hey welcome to my blog! My name is Nastassja but I prefer to go by Nas (yes like the rapper). Here’s a selfie so you can match a face with my amazing personality, haha just kidding. I went to Ramapo High School in Spring Valley, NY. My major is Liberal Arts AA: Psychology which I want to further that into child psychiatry. My interest aside from media is reading, going to the gym, a good hike, capturing beautiful scenery, drinking/partying with friends, and going out to eat. Let me tell you.... I am a true foodie. I love to eat, I don't know what it is and it isn’t something I can even explain. When I go out I have to get the whole 3 course meal. From Apps to Desserts whether I’m full or not. I also enjoy cooking as well. I want to get into culinary school as well and maybe one day open up my own restaurant. The last movie I watched was Double Jeopardy. I noticed it was on Netflix and it’s always been one of my favorites so I couldn’t pass up on the opportunity to rewatch it. The last TV show I watched and am currently watching is New Girls. I literally found out about this show about a week ago when I slept over my cousins house. If you are looking for something to make you laugh constantly definitely give this show a chance. The last book I read is Becoming by Michelle Obama and the last video game I played is Among Us, I feel like everyone was playing it at some point so I gave it a try and played it for a week straight and got tired of it. Games definitely aren’t for me and I tend to get bored with them easily. The last thing I created is this beautiful dish which I attached a photo of, for those who don’t know what they are looking at it is: OXTAILS, RICE & PEAS (which is really beans, not too sure why they refer to it as peas but thats not my business), STEAMED CABBAGE, and my famous TO DIE FOR MAC AND CHEESE. Cooking and being in the kitchen really has become a stress reliever for me and I get better and better every time I make something new. Since we are on the subject of food telling you guys what my last meal on earth would be sounds appropriate. It would definitely have to be a seafood boil. It would consist of king crab legs, shrimp, corn, and potatoes in hot cajun sauce with a side of Mac and cheese and maybe some truffle fries. I would definitely have to have a cocktail paired with that as well. That’s all, I'm pretty simple. I hope this introductory post gives you guys some entail about me and the things I like. I look forward to engaging with everyone this semester and I hope you enjoy what I have to offer on this blog!