#5: What to do when things go wrong?

Blame is something that is used a lot, whether it be fairly or unfairly. There will always be someone who is going to try to place the blame of a situation gone wrong on someone else. No one wants to be the cause of anything problematic. With the society we live in today, it is easy to place blame of the wrongdoings of the world on almost anything. As a result of this, people are always trying to find the root cause of situations gone wrong such as deaths and tragedies. Placing blame of situations gone wrong on other things such as books, or the media is easy to do, however it is hard to say if these factors are ever truly the cause.

One example of a tragic situation that's blame was placed on another source was a novel written by Stephen King called Rage. This book being about a high school student who held his math class hostage and ends up killing his teacher was thought to influence students of multiple real life school incidents of shootings and holding classes hostage. Four of these incidents had connections to the book Rage itself. Stephen King made the choice to put a halt to all printings of the book in case it really did cause these situations, although he himself did not believe it was the sole reason for these acts. 

It is impossible to definitely state whether or not things such as aggressive stories involving violence can be the exact cause for real life incidents like school shootings, but it is easy to put the blame on them. Although this ultimately puts the blame on the author of stories such as these. Being that King actually wrote this novel while he was in high school, I think it made readers who were students at the time able to relate with the book a lot more. Especially if they were struggling with issues themselves; a book such as this can easily influence them into acting out the story in real life. However, it is not fair to put the blame on the author because in no way did he suggest or encourage anyone to cause a school shooting. It is hard because everyone is entitled to their freedom of speech, and authors creativity along with this can end up being very powerful to readers, and evidently more than they expected. 

There are other issues too such as video game violence being related to real life gun violence, and tobacco companies being blamed for deaths in America. Although even studies have proved that gun violence has more to do with the accessibility of guns in America rather than the violence portrayed in video games. However, people still place the blame on the video games. Even tobacco companies are blamed more strongly for those who have died of tobacco use instead of the individuals who chose to use it themselves. 

Almost every negative situation can be blamed on an aspect of the media, or something in our societies culture instead of the individuals that cause these problems themselves. Although it is true society can strongly influence people to act in certain ways, it is unfair to place all the blame on a source that may or may not have impacted one's decision. Negative situations should be looked at for what it is, and discuss possible factors that may have influenced it although it is unfair to place all the blame on someone or something else.

#4: Option 1: #AskHerMore

Successful female celebrities are often heavily judged on their personal appearances first rather than their talent. This is expected being that they are in the spotlight 24/7, however it clearly is not an aspect that should solely make up who they are. Unfortunately, even during the events such as award shows-that are meant to be celebrating their accomplishments-the focus still seems to be mainly on their looks. The appearances of these female celebrities should not be the only focal point of their careers, however what should be taken into consideration is that fashion is also an essential in this industry, whether you like it or not.

It is well known that in today's society there is a stress on women and their appearances. There are constantly new unrealistic standards on how females should look everywhere in the media. Whether it be weight, makeup, or the newest fashion trend, it influences females everywhere. With this being said, it is obvious that those celebrities who are in the spotlight are constantly going to be judged. However, these famous people should also be aware that fashion is an important aspect to their career they initially took on along with their celebrity status. 

Fashion is something that plays a role in most careers. Obviously there are the clear careers of being a designer, or a model that most think of when they think of fashion. Although even jobs in business, law, education and more require a certain kind of dress. Most do not think of this aspect when choosing a career but it is a factor to being successful. So imagine how this would affect celebrities and the things they are expected to wear. 

With appearance becoming such a big deal in today's society, the fashion industry has seemed to become an even bigger deal as well. This creates a stronger pressure on celebrities to wear the hottest designer names, and the newest trends. A dress a celebrity would choose to wear on the red carpet can cost thousands of dollars, so why wouldn't you want to brag about it? With fashion being such a big deal, a lot of interviewers want to know what you're wearing. These questions about what people are wearing often occur on the red carpet before any award show. The red carpet is like the runway to show off on, so of course a lot of questions will be about their appearances. Things like the mani-cam are just more creative ways that are meant to be fun to show off the details these stars put into their looks. 

Of course it is also expected that female celebrities are going to feel frustrated when the ONLY thing they are being questioned about is their looks, while men are getting more publicity for their accomplishments. There is a double standard there. I don't think it is meant to be an insult. With all the fashion trends there are in the world, a majority of them seem to cater to women rather than men. Women have more of a variety when it comes to fashion, as well as a stronger pressure to look pretty and I think this is what interests interviewers on why they made the fashion choices they did. 

I do believe interviewers should take into consideration to #AskHerMore because despite fashion being a big factor to any celebrities career, it is not what got them to where they are. It is unfair that men seem to get more recognition for their accomplishments on the red carpet than women do. However, in the society we live in today appearances can unfortunately overtake what is really important. Interviewers should find a balance to compliment celebrities on their appearances and fashion tastes while also addressing their hard work that got them to their success. 

#3: Option 1- Super Bowl

Every American knows of, or at least has heard of the Super Bowl. Every American is also familiar with the sport of football, being that it is popularized as an American sport. The Super Bowl is one of the biggest events of the nation each year. It is an annual championship game within the NFL in the United States. Whether you are a sports fan or not, the Super Bowl draws attention to a majority of the U.S. in many ways.

America has always seemed to be considered America's favorite sport. So being that football is a big deal in America, this is one of the first aspects as to why the Super Bowl is an even bigger deal. In addition to this, if you are a sports fan then you would be familiar with the excitement that comes with a championship game. To win a championship game entails earning a championship title, deeming a team or athlete the best of the best. With the Super Bowl being the biggest televised sports event of the year in the United States, it also brings opportunities for entertainment and advertisement.

Media and marketing are growing industries that have taken over a lot of the society we live in; something like the Super Bowl is a great business opportunity. It offers the chance for sponsorships, ads, and commercials that will be seen by millions of people across the nation. For this reason, the Super Bowl generates an extreme amount of money for the marketing that goes into it. For example, this year it cost $4.5 million just for a 30 second spot of air time alone. Even more goes into things such as celebrity appearances, sponsorships for players and teams, music licensing, and more. This means that the ads seen on t.v. during this game are expensive, and well thought out. Because of this it has achieved a reputation of having entertaining commercials worth watching. The saying "If you're not paying, you're the product." has some truth to it being that the people make the product. A product is nothing if people don't buy it, and in this case, people buy their way to the Super Bowl in attempt to make their product.

Every year during the Super Bowl there is a performance during the halftime show as well. Famous musicians such as Michael Jackson, Beyonce, and Paul McCartney are some well known examples of past years performances. This widens the Super Bowl's audience with having some viewers tune in just to see some popular music being played and how their favorite artists perform.

With the amount of money that goes into the Super Bowl, let alone sports in general, it makes you wonder what is really important in America. America's society has become one full of media and marketing. Everywhere you go you're bound to see advertisement in some way. It's so common now though that we don't even realize how much it is around us. Something as traditional as an annual sports game has almost become more about business than about the original intent of a championship game. Of course, the amount of money that goes into something as irrelevant as football compared to the medical and financial problems around the world is unfair. However, in the culture we live in where everywhere you go you're trying to be bought in some way, the Super Bowl is what makes the money and that's what our society seems to revolve around: money.

With the Superbowl drawing attention to real sports fans, and those who may just be watching for the widely known popular commercials that will be showing, or the famous halftime show, it becomes an event. This championship game everyone is familiar with becomes a celebration that people join in regardless of how big a football fan they may be. The Super Bowl may seem to be a giant business scheme generating millions of dollars but it has still always been an American tradition a majority of America still participates in today.

#2: Micro-Aggressions Option 2

Micro-aggressions are subtle, discriminative comments, or behaviors normally towards certain races. These actions are typically unintended, although this does not always excuse them being used. What is interesting is how they are used. Not only can they be casual, everyday accidental comments, but they are also used purposefully whether it be to intentionally offend someone or just to make a joke. Comedians have used micro-aggressions to entertain their audiences in a way that makes these regularly inappropriate remarks, an acceptable thing to say. While many people probably have different standpoints on this humor, it is interesting to see how they are used.

People can have very different standpoints when it comes to micro-aggressions. Some may see it as a joke and laugh it off whereas others may take it as extremely offensive and negative to our society. In this case those who think it is funny can easily state that those who are offended are being too sensitive.

In my opinion, I think it depends on how it is used. As I had stated before, micro-aggressions can sometimes be used as a voluntary insult which would obviously be negative. However in most cases being that it is normally unintended or being used as a joke I do not think it is that big of a deal. However every person will have their own opinion and because it is racial discrimination, the level of offensiveness is probably different to those of certain races. Being that I am white, I haven't experienced much micro-aggression towards myself, and the little that I have experienced was normally "white girl jokes" that I just laughed off.

Comedians have used micro-aggressions that are funny as well as realistic. In a video of Louis CK, called "Being White" he uses micro-aggressions about white people that in my opinion are pretty accurate. In society everyone knows that there's an unfair advantage to being white for some reason. Louis CK jokes about how "great" it is being white. He touches on real history of white people always having an advantage. He jokes about being able to time travel, and how an African-American would never want to go back to "any time before 1980." The sad thing is this actually has some truth to it being that racism used to be so powerful. All of his jokes about being white had some truth to it and the micro-aggressions he used as examples such as being called a "cracker" really don't have that much offense and don't truly affect white people in a negative way.

Dave Chapelle also used micro-aggressions in his comedic performance. The difference with his jokes seemed to talk about racism negatively. He makes jokes but he also mentions how sometimes racism really can get to him. Chapelle jokes about the stereotype of "black people loving chicken." With that stereotype being so common he states must be "pre-genetically disposed to it." He also mentions the relationship between white people and black people and how if he were to say "peace out" or some sort of slang to a white lawyer, they don't really know how to respond.

Both performances were funny but it is also strange how if these acts were spoken vice versa (Chapelle talking about white people and Louis CK talking about black people) things might be very different. Micro-aggressions can be funny but even in comedy the crude humor still seems to have a possible boundary that it is really okay to talk about your own race. That way, it is less racist because it's coming from someone of the same ethnicity that they're joking about. Both comedians seems to be making a point that micro-aggressions really only affect certain races. Micro-aggressions are everyday comments that I don't think will ever be erased from society, but I think if people are to use them carefully they may not be too terribly negative to society.