Thursday, 30 June 2011

Reflection on Whale Whores and The Cove

                The episode of South Park is about the actual TV show “Whale Wars” and the Japanese whalers. It is quite funny and during the playtime of the episode, several gags are seen to be included to maintain the audiences’ attention to the show. I feel that the episode is pretty good and it seems that the writers do not like the TV show Whale Wars. The episode is named “Whale Whores” and it is not one sided, in my opinion. Both of the parties are clearly shown to be quite stupid and the Japanese are portrayed as a savage and ignorant bunch in the episode. The producers and the team even went as far as showing the Japanese launching kamikaze attacks on the whales, which is obviously insane. It will make the audience laugh, whether they are for or against whaling. There are some clear insults on both the actual characters from Whale Wars and the Japanese. The anti-whalers are shown to be doing their thing just for media attraction, not because they have their body and mind in the job. The most interesting and funny part will be when the Japanese whalers are depicted as a group of retards. They actually believe that whales and dolphins bombed them and again believe the main character when he fools them with edited photo of a chick and a cow instead of a whale and a dolphin. All in all, I like “Whale Whores” as it conveys the key points clearly while making the audience laugh.
                Next will be the reflection on “The Cove” film. It is about a group that is desperately trying to get the dolphins that are being slaughtered every year in a small town in Japan called Taiji. The film is actually a documentary on the group’s attempts to free the dolphins and get people to see them as “real” beings and not toys. After going through the film, the feeling was rather hard to describe.  I was uneasy, a feeling that is between anger and pity. If I were asked to describe the term “horrifying”, this documentary will be definitely the one I will point out. Nobody will ever have imagined how terrible the story of dolphins in this film is before watching. It is quite sad to see that even the government covers up the truth about the Taiji dolphin slaughter while the majority of the population does not know about it. They made up a very bad excuse which was about dolphins eating too much fish. Throughout the film, the American group attempts to stop the Taiji townsmen from killing the dolphins. For me, “The Cove” is truly strong, moving and touching while being extremely depressing and sad. It is an overall good documentary film that tells us that there are some animals struggling for their very existence.

Why Study Geography?

                When you first look at Geography, you may think that it is useless and has nothing to do with you. You might even see it as a burden if you are going to pursue a career that is not related with Geography. However, you will be gravely wrong. Geography is not merely learning about maps and plotting locations. In fact, it is because of Geography that people come to know what is going with our Earth. They become more careful, and even have started to take precautions for the future. It is also Geography that allows us to know more about our environments.  As a being on the Earth, basic knowledge of Geography is a must know for the good of both the living things and our beloved Planet Earth. Without sufficient knowledge you can even die in disasters when you can survive with proper precautions. Last but not least, Geography helps people with by allowing them to gain various skills which will be of use in every career. To sum up, we need to study Geography to understand more about the world around us and for the priceless knowledge that Geography gives us.