DEVIANCE: The "La Vida Rosa" Film

In relation to the film, the concept of deviance could be seen in different aspects. Deviance as defined in sociology is characterize departure from a standard or norm. One deviant act that was shown in the film which could be considered as a social problem is crime. We cannot deny the fact that widespread crime is caused by poverty. As shown in the film, poverty leads Rosa and Dado to get involved in robbery, kidnapping and even murder. They believe that it is their only way to have a "normal" life. Normal in a sense that they will have money to buy necessary things for their survival. As explained by the strain theory, they experienced conflict between approved goals and approved means. Rebellion as their mode of adaptation is visible. They tend to replace their goals and the means to achieved those goals. They steal or abduct to have immediate money. Poverty as cause of their deviance is caused by social inequality. As explained by the conflict theory, deviance is committed due to inequality. In order for Rosa and Dado to elevate their status, they get involved in certain crimes. Because of the lack of social control mechanism, as stated by the control theory, they continue to deviate from norms.

Deviance could not only be seen in the part of the two main characters but also with the part of minor characters such as the police officers. These rules contribute to deviant acts that were shown in the film. Deviance as have said is caused by the lack of social control. And Marx argued that it could also be committed with their presence. In the film we can see that they are committing deviance through escalation, non-enforcement and covert facilitation. The police involvement in arresting and making that person confess his or her sin by torture could be considered as a kind of escalation. This is seen in the scene where one police officer is torturing Dado to confess in where his car came from if it is from robbery or anywhere else. Non-enforcement action could also be seen where the corrupt officers do not do their jobs honestly and they are having the syndicate as a sideline job to accumulate money. They acquire commissions from the illegal doings. They do their jobs if it can also benefit them but still they are doing it for the sake of their illegal sideline. This may also be considered in some ways as a covert facilitation. The police officers acquire commissions from the station or from their offices and in this way illegal but seems legal. Legal because they are treated as good officers who are able to capture finally Rosa and Dado while in fact not.

In my opinion, deviance as committed in the film could be better understood if the person examining it is not prone to deviation. In my case I did not see deviance clearly in all aspects because I perceive the action of the people in the story as natural scenes in everyday life.

I was just so disappointed in the ending of the story because I did not expect it to be that sad. I am expecting for a stereotype ending such as Rosa and Dado will be peacefully under arrest as well as the other criminals involved in the syndicate including the police officials. They will be televised around the county and Enteng would see them and cry. In that way, it seems that the film also commit such deviance because it doesn't follow the stereotype ending people would be expecting. In this film deviance is learned through viewing. Exposure to the film may be a way to transmit it. Cultural transmission theory could be apply in this aspect. As differential association states, everyone is exposed to deviant acts.

In one way or another, we must be critical in labeling a person as deviant. Who knows, you may be considered deviant than that person whom you are referring to as deviant.

THE SOLITUDE OF LATIN AMERICA: A Case Analysis

The solitude of Latin America by Gabriel Garcia Marquez tackles about the history, which has encompasses the recent state of the said country. From the past, he mentioned some event that had happened which up to now has great effects on the country's society and government. From the emergence of war, numerous events were recalled. The navigational developments that have tightening such distances between America and Europe seem to have put prominence on our cultural remoteness. It was said that the untold violence and pain of history are the outcome of longstanding injustice and unspeakable bitterness. The literary approach to these events did not however alleviate the status of their society. Although, despite of oppression, plundering and abandonment, the people has responded with life. Latin America disregards the imitation of strategies of developing states because they are reasoning for originality that is up to now prove their quest. The advance countries have .succeeded in obtaining high economy and accumulating powers of destruction. Latin America is choosing the option of being a subject—not responding to the current situation.

In this article, the army or the military is not visible in terms of their participation in the long history and in the recent depiction of the government. The nature of the army must have come from the low political culture of their society. Latin America cannot move on because of its attachment to the past. The people are not active in participation in the government. Just like in Burma, which up to this day is implementing a kind of government, which keeps its people in a state of fear. The society has a low political y^ culture because of they are contented on having their state weak. The people are divided^ in such a way that there is no unity and they are weakly organized. Opinions of various people is not being heard, even the most influential and powerful person is being subject to disgraceful event.

Latin America's intervention of army may have come from the low political culture of their society. Because of this low political culture, there is an influence-taking place between the state and the army. Since the people are not active participant in the government, the army or the military work behind or inside the government to convince the people. In convincing them, they put threats and sanctions and they try to pressure them by giving limited time. This is visible in the article. It was describe in the article that they do not have a moment's rest. Such scenario includes "numerous women arrested while pregnant have given birth in Argentine prisons, yet nobody knows the whereabouts and identity of their children, who were furtively adopted or sent to an orphanage by order of the military authorities." I think the military or the army here is also doing their work--­that is to remove a person from a high position in the government. This intervention level is now displacement of civilian government. This can be seen in the statement: "A promethean president, entrenched in his burning palace, died fighting an army alone; and two suspicious airplane accidents, yet to be explained, cut short the life of another great-hearted/president and that of a democratic soldier who had revived the dignity of his people.

A Groovy Get-Together

What is Forrest Gump without Feather or Braveheart without the bagpipe version of the Amazing Grace? Truly, what are great movies without their nostalgic soundtracks? When we are asked to define a person, a place, even an era, much like the Beatles did for the swinging seventies, and when we are at a loss for words, music fills the gap. Music sets the tone, tempo, and mood, and parties, much like movies, will never be parties without the groove and the magic of music.

Musicians have a duty to create an ambience where people might be able to talk to one another. How can music make every gathering fun, spontaneous, and memorable?

To set the tone, you have to find the right songs with an energy you are hoping a majority of the crowd would be into. Ideally, I’d love to mix in a little Al Green, John Legend, Prince, Sting, U2, and give it my own touch of “Rock ‘n Soul.”

Recognizing the cyclical nature of the music industry, but also the universal language of it, how can a diverse audience have different responses to one genre of music be something that can be listened to in the same environment by a diverse audience?

In general, people interpret the music they hear differently. It all depends on one’s past and how the emotions portrayed in the music brings back a certain memory, whether good or bad. Music, its lyrics and energy, allows you to relieve that particular time, thus people’s reaction will always be different. Music talks about love, hate, life and situations that any audience can relate to, connect, and understand. It speaks to our hearts and soul. Music is a form that just knows how to reach deep down to our mind and spirit. With an open mind, one can also easily understand the artist’s interpretation and experience it through their point of view as well as unify it with their own experience.

If music is the key to a good party, what personal favorites do you recommend for…

…. Family get-togethers? Some good ol’ rock n’ roll music like Elvis Presly, Christmas songs by Frank Sinatra, old jazz standards (Nat King Cole) and classical music, especially Bach.

… hanging out with friends? Disco music! Like the Bee Gees and Supremes! And pop/ R&B like Usher, Alicia Keys, and Christina Aguilera.

…chilling out for a party of one? Soothing sounds of Norah Jones, KD Lang, Joni Michell, and Whitney Houston.

A good jazz combo is spontaneous, improvisational, and collaborative, which is like most truly great parties. What is the perfect party scenario for you as a jazz singer or musician?

Crowded. With lots of people, and [the crowd being] extremely receptive to your singing and the type of music you’re playing.

FREEDOM SONG: A Reviewer’s Reaction

Freedom Song is a story about the struggle to fight the individual’s civil rights against the society’s discrimination of “color”. “If not me, who? If not now, when?” a famous line from the story asked by the major character in the film—Owen Walker, a black teen growing up in Mississippi during the 1960s—a time when Jim Crow segregation laws were not legal, they were looked on by many Whites as being the way God wanted it. Owen’s involvement in the civil rights movement started when, in his younger days, his father slapped him due to his disobedience in entering the waiting room “Whites Only”. Inspired by his uncle Jonah and by the Freedom Riders he saw on TV, Owen acquired this feeling of getting revenge and dreams of the day that he can go back to the waiting room.

The story told in Freedom Song predates the jadedness I sometimes feel about the lip service that is being done about the movement nowadays. Weber said that culture, being autonomous, is shaped by individual orientation of rational self-interest. As the individuals form collectivity or societal level, they are becoming the essential elements in the realm of politics. In this film, the Blacks are the subject or point of analysis of how culture changed people’s beliefs of acquiring civil rights. In forming the movement, they became the essential elements in the realm of politics. The film’s story is so rich and historically important. Unlike others we have read in history books, the story was told from the standpoint of ordinary people doing extraordinary things. The people in the movement could be considered as the unsung heroes who put their lives in risk for what they thought was just. Another aspect I totally reacted to was the portrayal of just what it meant to show non-violence in the violently environment of racist rage. It was mentioned in the film that being non-violent and practicing non-violence is a political strategy that really works. The civil rights movement seems to be simply narrowed to the Blacks being not allowed to vote, not to borrow books from the library or to sit in cafeterias and be served. By concentrating in these raised issues, the story almost underestimates the fullness of the struggle for civil rights. Still, even with these, Freedom Song remains an influential movie about a period where some people want to forget and other people never can.

The film is written for those people who need a swift slapped in the face to make us remember our responsibility to signed up to vote and to take the chance we have to vote. It is because it is difficult to deal with corrupt officials—with their lies and fake smiles, and attitude of caring only for the people they supposed to serve when the time for election comes. All of us owe our freedom to those who first struggle for it and led us to ultimate sacrifice in order for us to get hold of the right of every citizen—to vote and make our elected officials work for all of us for the change and for the better of all the nations in the world.

BATEK: A Cultural and Modern Art

The UP Vargas Museum and the Cultural Committee on Arts presented Batek: Traditional Tattoo on a Kalinga Village. The study of Batek is a master thesis of Ikin B. Salvador. http://journals.upd.edu.ph/index.php/humanitiesdiliman/article/viewDownloadInterstitial/32/716

Batek, is an art of tattooing, a general term for tattoos here in the Philippines. The word “tattoo” was derive from a maori word “ta” meaning scar. “It is an act or practice of marking the skin with indelible patterns, pictures, legend, etc by marking punctures in it and inserting pigment” (Webster’s Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary). In Kalinga, Batek is a permanent and irreversible marker that differentiate the Ilobos from other groups. It also connotes that a woman is of marrying age and prepares them to a rite of passage called adumba where they find their potential mate in a ceremonial dancing” (Salvador, 2002). The Ilobos believe that the absence of Batek connotes a negative aura and a bad omen or dinuras for the community.

The lubo tattooing process is a very meticulous work. The manbatek or the tattoo artist first prepares the biyog or the ink from a burnt pinewood or saleng. The fanga or clay pot is burned upside down on the hearth durpong while the saleng is continuously burned for about two hours. Smoke coming from the saleng is trapped under the fanga and produces the merteka or the black powder, which will afterward smoothly scrape off using tsut-tsut or sometimes a piece of coconut shell. It is later mixed with a sugar cane soot which they called unas or water and placed in the taki’nao, half of a coconut shell. The mixture is stirred well until it becomes thick black ink. Tattoo patterns are carved in the kammai or the handmade wooden stencil. In creating the designs, a thread or a tiger grass is pressed on the skin three times. Some use a thin stitch to draw certain designs. The manbatek puts the ink on the carved patterns of the kammai and then gently press in on the skin of the person to be tattooed. The manbatek picks up the pat-ik and with a firm blow, hits the gisi, a main tattoo instrument made of carabao horn., The needles start piercing the skin while the ink goes in. The manbatek keeps hitting and the needles slowly work their way through the skin. Then finally, the pattern of the tattoo-stamp can be recognized on the sorelling of the skin (Ibid.).

The Batek is such a wonderful work of art that is still vivid up to this day. But, like a song, it gradually fades. Batek, is not just merely an art or a practice among Ilobos. I think it is a form of language for their culture. It serves as a symbol for their status, role and their importance in the community.

It is amazing that they have created such a complicated thing despite their simple way of living. Though Batek has been disappearing in the face of Ilobos culture, it is still of great use since “city people” have adapted it. It does not gain as much meaning as before but it was given a place in fashion and arts. Furthermore, technology has elevated its method of creation.

But what really is the genuine essence of Batek or simply body tattoos? Is it just simply a form of art, cultural identity or just a body stain?

Body tattoo’s meaning relies on the person who wears it. It is relative. Like in Kalinga village, it is mainly a form of their cultural identity. For some, it is for psychological and emotional expression or a form of rebellion. For most people, they find it “cool”. Just to “go with the flow” attitude.

Tattoos as being a prominent part of a culture should be given an importance since culture itself is a social factor that gives distinction between the races and tribes. It is a very important element that is embedded and consequently molds the character of an individual.

This was written on June 20, 2002 in the University of the Philippines Baguio. I was a 2nd year student then and Ms. Ikin was still teaching Political Science courses. This was graded 17 over 20.

For Mothers of Soldiers Fighting for Peace

Grace Monte de Ramos on Brave Woman (http://www.apwn.net/index.php/edition/more/3_poems_from_grace_r_monte_de_ramos/) talks about a mother's feelings of losing a son at a young age, all because of being a soldier. The poem started stating that she is a mother of two sons. From there, I know that the persona is obviously a mother, but what kind of a mother she is? She continued on saying that her sons joined the army and based on the tone of the poem, it was quite difficult for her to let her sons be soldiers yet she did not complain. She stresses the phrase, " I am the mother of two sons, two sons..." followed by the line "And one, the youngest, now gone" clearly emphasizes her grief on losing one of her two sons at seventeen, and the sad thing was, she would not be able to know the names of the people who killed her son. She also did not miss describing her son as a fine, young man and how she took care of him as all mothers do.

The second stanza of the poem shows a mother who cannot help to think about the physical features of those who killed her son which left her in a hanging end of not knowing the "murderers" of her son. The third stanza comes in a realization for her that being a soldier is difficult; you do not even know what will happen to you or where you will go--die today or tomorrow; and that it is a matter of taking lives to win the fight. She thought about mothers like her and how the feeling of losing a son to a battle and that her son had to pay in exchange of her life.

I can see a mother who is suppressing her emotions, not wanting to cry of losing a son, though the pain in her heart is obvious by the use of words in the poem and the repitition of her having two sons. The "grief in the lines, sunken cheeks, and silent" description of hers makes me feel and determine her bitterness and her painful suffering. She is in a way confused on what she feels for losing men who kill and are killed.

Yet after all these depiction of what a mother of two sons who are soldiers is, we can see a brave woman. To borrow lines from a proclamation, let me end this article by saying that:
To become a parent is one of life's greatest joys. We devote ourselves to our children, investing our hopes and dreams in them and protecting them so that they may have a better life than we have had. There is probably no greater pain, therefore, than the loss of a child. None of us expects to outlive our children, and when mortal hands rob us of our posterity, the loss is devastating. Every mother has experienced this pain. As much as the soldiers themselves, these brave women know the meaning of sacrifice for country. Long after a slain soldier is laid to rest, that young man or woman's mother will remember her loss every day for the rest of her life. When a mother bids farewell to a child in uniform, she begins to serve her count in her own private way, worrying that her child will be in harm's way and that this young man or woman, in whom she has invested so much love and care, may pay the ultimate price on the battlefield. And when the unthinkable does happen, a mother must carry the wounds within her heart forever. We have a sacred duty to remember these brave women. Like the brave soldiers who have lain down their lives in defense of our freedoms, their mothers have earned our deepest honor and sympathy, having sacrificed so much for the country, yet continuing to give of themselves to ensure that the ideals of freedom and democracy live on for future generations. Their losses and their contributions can be no greater, and our obligation to them cannot be measured." - THE WHITE HOUSE Proclamation 6590 Gold Star Mother's Day, 1993 September 13, 1993 By the President of the United States of America

AN INTRODUCTION

Why titled my blog as “The Critic Reviewer” boils down to what I intended to write.

Basically, when you say critic reviewer, it means someone who review a critic. Simple as that definition, the Meriam Webster Dictionary defines critic as “one who expresses a reasoned opinion on any matter especially involving a judgment of its value, truth, righteousness, beauty, or technique.” It was derived from the Greek word 'kritikos" meaning "able to make judgments". Review, on the other hand, is defined as a “critical evaluation” or a “retrospective view or survey”. It was derived from the middle French word "reveue" meaning: "a reviewing, review" and the combination of two Latin words "re" meaning "again" and "videre" "to see" forming the French "reveeir" meaning "to see again".

Over the years the definition of what is a critic and what is a reviewer have come to be identical. Even the majority of modern English language usage dictionaries reflect that opinion by using one to define the other: a critic is someone who writes reviews, and a review is something written by a critic.

What a reviewer usually offered is primarily a revisiting of the events with a judgment based on those events. How well have the actors performed their roles, or how well has the author created his plot and other information pertinent to the item's presentation are reviewed and judged in terms of a standard based on contemporary expectations and demands.

A critic will spend less time reviewing content and more in placing the item in context with works of a similar nature so there is a basis of comparison for judgment. There is no point in judging a detective novel by the same standards that you would judge a book of poetry, or a music CD by those one use for an opera. Each material have their own sets of criteria that have been established by precedent over the years and it is the critics job to be able to understand enough about a genre to "judge" how well an individual piece fits within it. A critic has to be able to inform his or her audience about any information that is pertinent to the item being critiqued.
With the development of a popular culture and a corresponding popular press, the criteria or standards change too quickly which led to the non-distinction between the two individual concepts.

While there is no doubt that a review is by far the more popularly used, if one genuinely wishes to inform a reader of more then just your personal opinion, being a critic is the way to go. Although the distinction between the two is hardly ever made any more, the difference is obvious.

If anyone of you reading this introduction would like to express their opinion, choose one—be a critic or a reviewer.