Blog #4

Post your opening & closing paragraphs of your Icons Artist Statement. Then....

Opening:

Lights dimmed, the screen shrunk to a widescreen format. Popcorn bags rustled with anticipation. But instead of seeing the familiar movie trailers, an underwear model appears on screen, and you hear: “Hey, do you wanna see my d**k?” “What the f*ck are you wearing?” “Mark your spot” “You want some f*cken more?” And with that the commercial ended. I overheard giggling in the back, I turn around and see for every adult there were around 1-2 kids under the age of 14. I did not see or hear any parent attempting to prevent the children from witnessing that commercial. The bleeps were so short; you could clearly hear the obscenities. It hit me suddenly, why in the world were kids this age in a movie rated R? And why were there so many? Throughout the movie every time someone’s head got blown off or was killed in some gored demise, I would hear a child’s chuckle. These kids weren’t scared, they found this funny! I walked out of the theater thinking to myself, where the hell is this generation going?

Closing:

That very thought echoed in my head, and as I passed by a group of young kids in front of a computer watching Dr.Tran. I recognized s tiny voice yell “EVERYTHING’S F******* WONDERFUL!!” I walked up to the group. Asked if I could show them something cool, I proceeded to put on an episode of the original Pokemon. The children watched intently. Now everything’s wonderful.

1. Explain why you chose this opening/closing combo.

To complete the loop of talking about moral degradation in America I closed with myself doing the small action of showing some kids that it doesn't need to be stupid or crude to be entertaining.

2. How does it tie together your big ideas?

I mention stereotypes in the middle paragraph but it just ties in with moral degradation. The conflict was what can I do to reverse moral decay, and the resolution is taking a small step to help by replacing something "bad" with "good"

3. Explain the types of thoughts that you hope your reader has when they are done reading your work.

At the least I want them to start thinking about how the moral integrity of what they watch listen and see affects society. Or leave them with the thought of "they showed THAT to kids??" or "Kids actually are exposed to this??"