Sunday, February 20, 2011
Natural Born Killers
Class time is going to be devoted to discussing the deeper issues related to Natural Born Killers, so I'm giving you this space to give just a simple personal reaction to it. What did you think of the film (love it, hate it, etc.) and how does it compare to other movies in the same vein that you've seen before? As usual, 250 word post up by Thursday night (2/24) and 100 word response up by Sunday night (2/27).
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When watching the beginning of NBK, I didn't really know what to expect, let alone understand the movie. The beginning was very weird and I was wondering what in the hell was happening at certain parts. As I watched more of it I began intrigued by how the movie was telling it's story and wanting to know more. To me, the interview were Mickie was giving his thoughts on what he did and why he did them was the most interesting part of the movie. I liked his take on murder and I thought it was very creative and not only brilliant but very different from what I was expecting to hear him say. After that scene, the movie hooked me in and I couldn't stop watching. I loved how the movie portrayed the media and how corrupt it is by everyone just wanting whats best for themselves and not thinking about other people which was a prime example of Scagnetti. What is funny is, this movie is ranked 6th or 8th (not sure which) on Entertainment Weekly's list of most controversial movies and I thought that was hilarious. I don't see this movie being controversial at all. Granted, it is violent, and very blunt and straight to the point, but that's how movies like this should be. It makes a message and a very powerful one at that. I've even read reports on how this movie had influence to "copycat" crimes like the Columbine High School massacre which in my opinion, is beyond outrageous. To sum everything up, I'll say again what I said in class. Even though the movie was a little out there at times, I think that it was a great film and it definitely has meaning, ESPECIALLY to today's society and hopefully people can get over the violence because it is a great movie.
ReplyDeleteI didn't watch Natural Born Killers, I watched Super Size Me instead, compliments of Netflix.
ReplyDeleteSuper Size Me is about a guy (Morgan Spurlock) who, to show the negative effects of fast food on the body, goes on a 1-month McDonalds binge. There are some rules: 1) He can only eat what is on the McDonald's menu (including bottled water if they have it), 2) He must have all three meals daily: breakfast, lunch, and dinner, 3) He must super size his meal if the cashier asks, and 4) He has to have tried every single item in the menu at least once.
Spurlock was a perfectly fit and healthy human being before the challenge, much more healthy than the average American. While watching it, it felt like such a shame that he was so set on doing this, on ruining his health and well-being to convey his meesage. So... It does get very personal. It does get very graphic and implicit. The worst part of it was when the gastrointestinal bypass was shown—in HD, for a full four and a half minutes. Although Spurlock, a perfectly fit and healthy human being, chose to do this to himself, it is slightly shocking to see someone who would willingly do the same to themselves. There was a man who came to McDonald's at least once every day (but usually more) and ate nothing but Big Macs. He must be in a worse condition than Spurlock was at the end of his binge. It is horrifying to think that there are people out there who do the same or even worse, even while knowing what it does to their bodies.
@Astx7:
ReplyDeletePart of the problem with Mcdonalds or anything with the fast food industry is many people don't actually know what is in the food to begin with. Simple chicken strips from Mcdonalds has over 20+ ingredients, and not healthy ones either. This food is bad for you, proven to be bad for you and people know that, but American culture has accepted sitting down with friends and digging into food that "I" would call shit. I've seen Super Size Me several times, and even though it does show you how bad the food really is and why it isn't supposed to be in the human body, WHERE they actually GET the food from is Food Inc. My suggestion is to first watch Food Inc, then watch Super Size Me and if that doesn't make you stop and think about what you are doing to your body then I don't know what will. Obviously, everybody isn't as strict as I am about eliminating everything bad from their diet and eating the same thing every day. I understand that, but in my opinion if you want something similar to Mcdonalds and to not harm your health then go to the store, choose reasonable items and make it yourself at home. America will continue to go downhill with Obesity numbers rising and continuing to rise as long as people are willing to go to places like Mcdonalds, Burger King, etc etc. But I'm not going to give all the blame to the fast food industry, it is also the gargantuan portion sizes that restaurant chains dish out as well. People need to make better decisions every day about their health. Thats the bottom line. But part of the problem is it costs a fortune to actually live a HEALTHY lifestyle, because that's what it is, a lifestyle. The bad food should cost more than the healthy food but it's the other way around. Now I will stop rambling on because I can talk about this all day.
Where do I begin with this movie? Well it did mess with my mind. I have never seen a movie in this form and it was far from abstract. At first I didn't like the movie because the whole idea of praising mass murders was not something I was too crazy about. Through out the movie I was trying to understand why you would even make a movie like this? I do think there has been worst movies, so I could not say it was a gruesome, violent, nasty movie because it wasn't. In todays movie, there has been a lot worst. I think this hasn't been the first movie Take the Saw movies for example, the whole purpose for those people to be tortured and killed was for them to appreciate life and realize that what they were doing in their lives was wrong. In a sick way that is what Micky and Mallory where doing. The movie made more sense when we were discussing it today in class, Professor B really made some good points on what the movie was trying to talk about and why the movie was that way. The fact that our society praises these people just doesn't make no sense. I didn't realize how clever the film was made by using actors such as Rodney Dangerfield to play characters far from their normal characters and alluding to other mass murders that were was made infamous by the media. All in all Natural Born Killers was a very different movie and I liked it, well sort of I'm a big wimp when it comes to violence. (:
ReplyDeleteThis movie was not all that bad but I was not a big fan of it. I watch violent movies all of the time and I just do not like watching movies like SAW or in this case, this movie. I am not a fan of watching a movie where the protagonists just walk around and kill people. I despise movies like that. I'd rather watch a movie pertaining to war because war movies really interest me, whether they are from hundreds of years ago such as, Troy or decades ago such as Saving Private Ryan or a couple of years ago such as The Hurt Locker. Those movies to me have meaning. I realize that Natural Born Killers has some type of meaning, but I just can't interpret that meaning unless it is extremely explicit because I was just blown away by how much killing there was. Going back to SAW, I'm sure that Natural Born Killers has a more intriguing meaning than SAW even though SAW's meaning is supposed to make you appreciate life more. When I watch SAW, I don't focus on the meaning, I am too busy cringing because the torturous methods used in that movie are extremely graphic. Don't get me wrong, I can sit there and watch them without getting grossed out or anything, its just I don't like seeing people die for no apparent reason. That's the main reason that I didn't like Natural Born Killers too much
ReplyDeleteI guess there is some merit to the film for its interesting cuts and scenes. There really isnt anything that has impressive or revolutionary so that is why Im middle of the road. The story was meh, not that easy to get into, and the characters were not all that likable so I think the whole movie missed its mark on me. I guess it would have benefited if I brought a half pound of shrooms or acid strips to see it. I only figured out the controversy from the reading assignment, and from that I agree with the writers of these articles that it does not take a movie to set someone over the edge to kill someone. They had bad wiring in the first place and now had a perfect excuse for their actions. If one really wanted to see gore ish violence, then Hostel is up your alley. Its the perfect blend of porno and guts a flying to satisfy any blood thirsty movie watcher. So I say watch the movie as a movie, it shouldnt change your life but maybe it might give you new insight on a different perspective of an issue.
ReplyDeleteNatural Bork Killers was a pretty cool movie, far different than anything I had seen before. I didn't understand what the point of the movie was until I saw how crazy Wayne Gale was about getting the story of Mickey and Mallory on tv for everyone to see. (I totally hated Wayne Gale by the way. Total looney.) After that came the crazy fans of the couple, which also helped understand the true meaning of the film. It was clear to me that Stone was pointing out how the media was making Mickey and Mallory famous, and obviously for the wrong reasons. I think that Stone didn't have to give so much GRAPHIC violence to get the meaning across though.
ReplyDeleteThe main reason why I liked the movie is that, well, it's different, mostly because of its "psychedelic" style. I liked how sometimes the shots would go from normal color to black and white, which always made it seem like a reality show thing, especially when the Warden Wurlitzer was walking with Scagnetti across the jail. The other weird scenery, like the images that flashed across as Mickey and Mallory drove, I think portrayed their lifestyle. A little crazy and confusing. I also found that most of the characters in the film were kind of out of it. Warden Wurlitzer with his anger issues, Scagnetti was a weirdo, and Wayne Gale... who was the craziest of all.
So all in all.. I enjoyed watching Natural Born Killers
I enjoyed the visual montage of Natural Born Killers. In the beginning of the movie it was a little slow, but as the movie progressed in become more and more interesting. Usually after someone sees a good movie, they try to decide which scene was their favorite. After some carful thought, I think my favorite scene from the movie is when Wayne Gale is interviewing Mickey. I feel like this was the turning point in the movie when the killer was in a way, humanized. It was a very profound scene and I felt it was the prelude into the climax of the movie, which, in my opinion, is the prison riot. I have further appreciation for the movie after our in class discussions. When talking about the controversy over the movie, I can understand why it would spark up and start a fire in the American public. Although I don’t necessarily agree with some of the malicious comments aimed toward Stone and the movie itself. I feel as though the movie itself was a work of movie art. It weaved together black and white, color, and animation to add to the deeper meaning of the movie. Overall I liked the movie and I felt that it had a stronger deeper meaning than just violence. It was a well done movie and I would watch it again.
ReplyDeleteI thoroughly enjoyed the movie "Natural Born Killers". In the beginning I was a little uncomfortable watching this movie with trippy visuals and effects I did not really understand or care for, but as the movie went on I started to realize that they were all a part of a bigger idea. As weird as it may sound I enjoy movies that make me slightly uncomfortable. Most movies are very similar in the way they are filmed and how the main characters act, but in movies like this, everything is completely different than what I typically watch and what I am used to when watching a movie. Also, I enjoy a little violence and gore when watching movies so this film in particular was exciting to me. But overall, I enjoyed this movie most because of the concept. To think that people give fame to those who commit the most vicious and awful crimes is disgusting and an issue that other movies or books never really touch on. People in the film rally around Mickey and Mallory Knox and support them outside the courthouse although they know how many terrible murders these sick people have committed. As Mr. Breckinridge showed in class there is a fan club dedicated to Charles Manson. For people to idolize the worst moral characters and support them is sick. However, it is reality and people actually do love the infamous. An idea that no one wanted to talk about until this film premiered.
ReplyDelete@ Cliz- While I did enjoy the movie and found it very interesting, I see where you are coming from in your post. Idolizing murderers really should not happen and it is crazy to do so; however, that is the point this movie is trying to make. It is showing how Americans have become obsessed and even idolize people of the most awful moral fiber. I do not think Oliver Stone agrees with the thought of making celebrity out of terrible people and that is why this movie is satirical in nature. From the beginning when the movie showed a sick and twisted sitcom as the life of Mallory, it was evident that this movie was a satire.
ReplyDeletePersonally I found Natural Born Killers to be rather interesting. I didn't think it was disturbing at all but I feel that we also had expectations for it to be worse. I've noticed that if I have expectations for a movie being very high then I don't quite meet them because I set the bar too high. I actually enjoyed how Woody Harleson depicted Micky Knox. The comedy factor brought in at times really made the movie enjoyable. I found the filming style a little weird with random slips of different things. It was annoying and weird the way they talked. I didn't like that they hinted Micky's history with his childhood but never came out and said it until the interview. We never fully understood why he did what he did until then.
ReplyDeleteCompared to other movies I've seen this movie's violence factor isn't as bad. I watched a movie in my french class called Les rivières pourpres and its sequel Les rivières pourpres II: Les anges de l'apocalypse. These translate to Crimson Rivers and Crimson Rivers 2 The Angels of the Apocalypse. In that film they had some really disturbing scenes involving crucifying some victims and leaving them to rot and be found by the cops weeks later. Also a thing about the film along with its disturbing scenes it was a rather scary movie to watch, given I was in 8th grade when I saw it. Still Natural Born Killers had some minor cuts of disturbing images like during the riot showing the guards being hung and literally torn to pieces.
I didn’t like the movie all that much, but I suppose that I’m extremely biased in saying that because I don’t like Oliver Stone as a director. I’ll give the devil his due, however, because NBK is one of the most visually striking movies I’ve ever seen. The whole movie was a satire of the media’s adulation of serial killers, or at least of violence and the atrocities committed by people in order to garner ratings, and to me it felt like Stone tried to barrage his audience with as much visual stimulation as he could in order to shift focus from some of the hilariously bad dialogue throughout the film. In all honesty, I don’t think the satire was that effective because, at least to me, it was so obvious. Sure, the movie makes some claims that are true, and it does poke fun at the media, but it wasn’t subtle. The way that Downey plays his role, overly dramatic, thick Australian accent, kind of two-faced; the way Harrelson plays his role, uneducated, care-free, prone to violence and anger. It was all so obvious, especially after the second time I watched the movie. Overall, I suppose it was a good movie, and that’s hard for me to say, considering who directed it.
ReplyDeleteI believe if I watched the movie a second time I would have a greater appreciation for the movie. Although this movie was very entertaining, until we talked about it, I had not thought much about the themes or what the movie was getting at. I like it more after talking about it, and realizing some things I had missed the first time watching it. The characters were very drastic and over exaggerated, but I think that helps touch the craziness of the situation. The cliché characters are always seen in parodies and satires. Natural Born Killers was practically a huge satire/parody. This movie reminded me a lot of the movie, Manson. The feeling of violence and gore were just as prevalent as NBK. The director also used “trippy” effects, as we saw. Although, the reason for making the movies might have not been fighting for the same cause, each dealt with how the media and people view mass murders. The attraction may be demented, but in Natural Born Killers, Mickey and Mallory had people who admired and were lured by them. In Manson, the girls in his cult captivated the boy in the jury. He found a way to relate to them, then made excuses for why she was not as guilty as the rest of the jury felt they were. Both movies address the idea, of the media having a “soft spot” or disturbed admiration for actions. I cannot say I really liked or hated this movie, however I am glad I watched it.
ReplyDeleteNBK is not a film I would watch in my spare time. It was okay but it was a bit too abstract for me. While I can appreciate the style Stone used and his creativity, the story line didn’t really grab me. The controversy with the movie is largely said to be the violence. What violence? I’ve seen worse in my neighborhood. Yes there was violence but it really wasn’t that big of a deal. I love action packed movies, violence whatever, I was expecting this to be one of my favorite films and after watching it I was a bit disappointed. I suppose I sound a little crazy for loving violent movies but that’s just my preference I hate romance films and other mushy films. In terms of the way it was directed I haven’t seen a film that went to this extreme before in terms of the many different styles that was incorporated but other films were far more entertaining. My initial reaction to the film was that I realized that this really does happen in society where the media glorifies killers but I guarantee that I will not remember any scenes from the movie in a year. The message was a bit memorable but as far as the film I guess it was just too out there. I would suppose this is considered to be a action/drama but this has to be one of the worst action movies I’ve ever seen. I watch films to be entertained, not so I can take a look at society and the things that occur. If I want to analyze that I’ll watch the news and come up with my own conclusion. NBK did not leave me entertained.
ReplyDelete@Daniella. I feel the same way about this film. I am not all about the idolization of these mass murderers either, but I am not exactly against watching the movies. What really set me off about this movie is when they were showing the three guys who were talking about how if they were serial killers, they would be Micky and Mallory. They were saying that Micky and Mallory were doing it right, etc.... But in general, the movie just had me on edge because of the non-stop and no point intended violence. They just killed people for the hell of it and I am not about that at all. If you are going to put a movie on with extreme amounts of violence, then make the protagonist have some type of motive for killing people. That is all I ask.
ReplyDelete@ed:
ReplyDeleteEven though I don’t share the same enthusiasm for NBK as you seem to have, I agree with some of your points. I felt the same way at the beginning sometimes I was wondering what the relevance of some of the scenes were. It did come together as the movie progressed and while Mickey’s take on murder was interesting I didn’t necessarily like it. It was creative, but with him saying that I think he’s giving himself an excuse. If that reasoning was held by everyone then murder would be no more of a big deal as walking down the street because it is “natural”.
Personally, I really enjoyed Natural Born Killers. As the movie began, I really did find it to be a trip. The colors, background images, and music definitely gave off a very dark vibe. As the movie picked up, I was really able to understand the point that stone was trying to make. It was clear that this was a criticism of the glamorization given to murderers by the media. This was made clear by Robert Downey Jr.’s character and his absolute obsession with getting an interview with Mickey. I think my favorite part of the whole movie had to be Mickey’s interview. Mickey said something that most people are unwilling to believe, he explained that since humans have no natural predators; humans have to be humans predators. Without some form of death other than natural, we would simply be over crowded. As a population could we compensate for that? Would we have enough homes, enough food, enough water? I think Stone really hit a controversial topic alone right there. Humans are largely unwilling to face death. In the animal kingdom, thousands of species eat their own, and brutally kill others for survival, yet when one human kills another human it upsets the balance of humanity. The evolution of mankind could definitely be described as over populating this planet, and I feel like that was a good point for stone to include in the film. I also found it interesting that Stone let them live in the end. I feel that is left up to interpretation.
ReplyDelete@Carlos Fuenmayor
ReplyDeleteCarlos, I agree with you on the obviousness of the theme. I was able to follow that development of the media satire for the whole film. And I agree with you on the lights and distractions. I thought there were a lot of times where they were using poor dialogue, but I’m of the opinion that it was to form characterization, and also play a pun on the American hero. Stone could have been questioning why people idolize uneducated, hillbilly murderers instead of public officials or scholars. I’m not sure why you don’t like stone, I’ve enjoyed many of his films, especially Platoon.
@Cliz I agree with that. I think that films like Saw and Natural Born Killers are not pointless but just have too many distractions to show us a point. I also think that the movie had some interesting points and unlike Saw, managed to get somewhat of a point across. The meanings behind films do have to do with the viewer as well. Sometimes we just need to watch a film a few times to fully understand the meaning of the film. Other times the meaning jumps out to you and explains itself easily.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, Saving Private Ryan is an amazing film. One of the greatest I've ever seen.
I consider that Natural Born Killers is one of the worst movies I have seen in my life. I just didn’t like it. I have seen a significant amount of satire films to know when one is good, and I have to say that this movie is not a good one. I understand the point that Stone was trying to make with it but I don’t believe that the direction he took was not the appropriate one. Also, I don’t understand what was so controversial about this movie, and why people consider it to be so violent. Don’t get me wrong, this movie was pretty violent, but there are far more violent films that have not sparked as much controversy as Natural Born Killers. Since the beginning, I had a feeling that I was going to be disappointed with this movie. I mean, what the hell was that about? The car scene looked straight up fake. It was like Oliver Stone went over the budget and had to improvise with those clips in the back. To me, that scene ruined the whole movie for me. I kind of started liking the movie when they explained the story behind Mickey and Mallory. The fact that both of them came from dysfunctional families and that Mallory was raped by her own dad made me understand a lot about their behavior. What really pissed me off was the ending of the movie. I hated the fact that they got to walk away alive after they killed so many people. It is true that anyone can argue that this also happens in real life, as it happened the O.J. Simpson case, but come on Oliver Stone, people like that should not be able to walk around the world freely.
ReplyDeleteWhen we started watching Natural Born Killers in class I thought that it was pretty cracked out and somewhat boring. Once they got arrested is where the movie picked up speed and I actually started liking it. I never heard of the movie before it was stated that it was the movie we would be watching, and hearing how it was so controversial I was really interested in seeing the movie. I did not hate the movie and I did not love it, to me it’s a movie I would watch when I’m bored and browsing what’s on Netflix (and it is on instant streaming). Like Mr. Breckenridge said in class, they have made worse movies than this when it comes to violence, language, and drugs. I mean come on now; it came out in the mid-90s, Rambo, Scarface, The Godfather series and a lot more movies I’ve seen from 80s has just as much or more violence than Natural Born Killers, I mean I don’t see them cutting a person body up with a chainsaw like in Scarface, but they do put the scene into the movie when Mickey is watching TV. To be honest I thought the action in Natural Born Killers was less than what they make today, of course there wasn’t the technology we have today with more advanced CGIs that can make things so realistic. But the concept of them, killing innocent people, killing cops, riots, those are in movies today, and you barely hear about them being controversial. Well at least I don’t, I try not to pay attention to it because people make a fuss about anything that they seem wrong and can make a little thing into something bigger than it really is.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete@Carlos Fuenmayor. I completely agree with you in your dislike for Oliver Stone. I don’t think his movies are that good and personally and cannot respect a man that has publicly declared that Hugo Chavez has been wrongfully accused of being an idiot. What authority does Oliver Stone has to put down the opinion of millions of Venezuelans?
ReplyDeleteThe only movie that Oliver Stone has directed that I can say that I really like is Platoon, and there are way better movies about the war in Vietnam. I pretty much agree with your opinion on the movie but when you say that you suppose it was a good movie.
Missing the first part of Natural Born Killers was a mistake because I did not understand the movie. After watching the middle of the movie I realized that the movie was about an mental asylum and there were two killers Mickey and Malory. Once watching the beginning of the movie at home, the movie was a lot more clearer to me. Natural Born Killers is a very interesting movie and I liked it a lot because it was a different take on murders. Comparing this movie to other killer movies, Natural Born Killers is not as bad as some movies. The take Stone took on this movie is good, because a person can view murderers thoughts through this movie. I don't like the concept of the film, but there was no need for a controversy. There are many movies that have far worse controversies than this one. From watching this movie I realized a lot more about mentally ill people and what they are capable of. In other movies there is a lot more violence than Natural Born Killers. Watching Natural Born Killers for the first time was awkward and confusing to me because it was about murderers and sociopaths. The nature of the movie was imaginative and insane. To fully understand the movie, I would have to watch it twice making it easier to analyze the movie.
ReplyDeletePrior to watching the movie I honestly didn’t know what to expect. I hate horror films, and when Breckenrigde compared it to the Saw movies I got a little frightened. However, I really enjoyed the movie. There were a few parts that I had to turn away from like when the riot broke out and the prisoners started torturing the guards or when the prisoners beheaded the warden but overall the movie was very entertaining. I remember during my senior year in high school in my AP psychology class when we were going over mental disorders I always wondered what really goes on in the mind of a serial killer who has a mental problem. Do they feel any remorse? Do they feel like their doing the right thing? Or do they just get some sick, twisted thrill out of torturing people? I also wondered what caused some of the serial killers to kill and NBK gave me a very in-depth example. Mallory and Mickey were abused as children which caused them to be a little off. They also felt that death was apart of nature and look at murder as an “industry”. The love tha Mickey and Mallory had for each other gave the film a “heartbeat” in my opinion. Mickey and Mallory would do anything for each other and had such a strong passion for each other. Now the violence in the movie was a different story. What makes movie’s that include murder so frightening to me is when a murderer kills for no reason. “Jigsaw” from saw even wanted to make people pay for their wrong doings or wanted them to appreciate their life but Mickey and Mallory took their anger from their childhood out on random people. What made the film controversial was the recognition from the media and the people who were fans of Mickey and Mallory. In a way it was like they were supporting the murders. It is true that people seem very entertained by murder and violence. I have no idea why, I don’t even watch the news anymore, it makes me fearful to even step outside!
ReplyDeleteI like romance movies and I like this movie because of the love story in it. I do not really like the movie in general because I thought it was weird but I like how the director gives off a message using this movie to say that the media makes some criminals look like celebrities. I thought that this movie is pretty clever by getting that message clear. I did not like the weird pictures and drawing and how the characters randomly pop up in a middle of the scene with dressed as a demon or having a weird moment. I thought it was also peculiar how while Micky and Mallory were driving how there were random weird pictures whenever they drive and how the windows showed those weird pictures again. I do not really like violent movies and I cannot help but not like this one either because it is just not my taste in movies. The only thing I like is how the movie portrayed a society where they cheer for criminals who kill innocent people and how society praises these criminals when they should be hated for their horrible crimes. It shows how society does not care about the criminals’ misconduct and how the media makes them seem cool-like and popular. I was so shocked when I heard there are fan clubs for murderers where I think that it is just down right wrong. Overall the movie was not that bad even though it was not one of my favorites.
ReplyDelete@Jesusafv-
ReplyDeleteWell, you pretty much hit the nail on the head there; that’s precisely why I don’t like Stone. I think he’s a meddling American douchebag, if I do say so myself. It’s all the more obvious to me because I am Venezuelan and I had to leave my beautiful country because of this asshole. He’s a soldier who thinks he’s a politician, and he’s a peasant who thinks he’s an economist. Regardless, Platoon wasn’t even that good. Can’t even begin to compare itself with Apocalypse Now or FMJ. Oliver Stone is a terrible director in my book.
@ Ed:
ReplyDeleteI know exactly what you mean when you say that eating healthier is much more expensive. Buying ingredients to cook a healthy meal at home is quite expensive compared to a $1 burger, fries, and drink at any fast food restaurant. Sometimes money, time, and convenience wins over opting for healthier options.
I work at Starbucks, and recently my coworkers and myself looked at the nutritional facts pamphlet that we rarely ever keep in the store. We learned that our most fattening drink is a venti white mocha. It has 500 calories. To put it in perspective, a 6-inch chicken sub from subway has 350 calories. Most people aren't aware of how fattening and bad for them their daily drinks really are.
Recently at a campus-wide meeting about up-selling, the managers mentioned that one of the easiest ways to up-sell in places like Subway or the food court. To substitute chips for apples or yogurt, for example, it costs about a dollar extra. Just the fact that they're charging to choose healthier side dishes shows how people think about them.
@astx7
ReplyDeleteI love Super Size Me! It really opened my eyes how how damaging fastfood can be. The movie also sow that it is just one big business, those people are willing to do anything to sell their products. No matter how unhealthy or harmful it can be to people. But it was pretty brave of him to take on that challenge, and was willing to put his health and body at risk. I remember there was a scene that he was trying to eat breakfast and he couldn't help but puke outside of his car. I'm happy that the film had a great impact in America. Now there is no such as super sizing food, they are trying to sell "healthier" food. But, in the end fastfood will always be fast food and people really need to be careful and watch what they eat. We only have one life to live, why not make it a long healthy one! (:
@astx7 + Ed
ReplyDeleteAnother problem with American society (of which the fast food industry feeds in on) is that groceries cost more than fast food. People in America have become increasingly lazier over the past decade and are less willing to go out, shop, and cook their own food. So what is the alternative to buying groceries? The answer is fast food of course. It's cheaper than buying the groceries, cooking them, serving them, and then cleaning up the mess. So to get deeper into the problem, Americans need to clean up their act and stop being lazy.
@Julie-Ann
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with her because I was not really that touched with the movie. I also appreciate Oliver Stone’s style but this movie is not something that I would write down on my list of favorite movies. I also agree with her that this movie should not even have a controversy with its violence because there are a lot of other movies with much more violence than this one and I just think that it is just ridiculous. Overall I only liked the movie because of the love story and the fact that it sends out the message of our society making criminals out of celebrities because of the media.
So about Natural Born Killers, Wow!! I was pretty much speechless during the first day because it was just so weird. I did not enjoy it at first because I already have a preconceaved notion about old movies being bad but during the second day I really started to enjoy the movie. Then when we finished the movie I have to say, I would watch that again and I will recommend many others to watch Natural Born Killers. There is one thing I did not really like about the movie and that was mallory. I dont know why but I just can not stand her. She is portrayed as a girl who acts like a complete animal and it just does not sit well with me. Mickey played his role very well. I realized when we finished the movie that he was in a recent movie Zombieland, that I enjoyed as well. Overall I can see why people find this movie controversial. It praises serial killers and has no sense for censorship which was also another surprise to me. I will be truthful and say I thought older movies had no violence that we have today but this movie completly changed my mind. Natural Born Killers was move than violent it was just plain torchering. Another surprise in this movie was having Robert Downey Jr. in it. His role was played very well and showed how killing takes over a person. The entire movie was just interesting and really kept me wanting more the next day we watched it.
ReplyDelete@astx7:
ReplyDeleteI watched Super Size Me a few years ago, and I thought that the message he was trying to portray was pretty cool, although he did take some insane measures to do so. He successfully showed that fast food is indeed unhealthy, but I was a little against his diet. I mean, every meal?? I (hope) there aren't tons of people out there who eat McDonald's all day long. I also thought that it was a bit shocking that someone would go on such an extreme diet just to show people the effects of fast food.. because his health went downhill, and I think he had some trouble letting go of McDonald's food.
@TTroyer I agree with what you’re saying about praising people who are doing horrific things. That was something that was hard to grasp when watching this movie. Also the website that Mr. Breckenridge was indeed just completely crazy. Who would dare to make a fan club for a serial killer that terrorized many people? This movie did make people face a thing that no one wanted to and that is what made it a great movie. Because it made you do something that no other movies do. Another thing I agree with how the trippy effects put the movie over the edge and added to the weirdness of the movie.
ReplyDelete@astx7
ReplyDeleteSince I've said all I had to say about NBK, I guess I’ll speak on Super Size me. I remember seeing something like this on TV once. I was flipping through channels and I saw a man vomiting and it had a greenish color. I was disgusted so I turned. Now that I know what it was about, I think it was a very dumb film. Everyone knows the suicidal effects of fast food. What idiot would eat Mcdonals everyday for a month? He did not have to go through all of that to let us know that fast food is bad. Most knowledgeable people know to only eat fast food in moderation and if you know that something is dangerous to your health but still decide to participate in whatever it is then your kinda deserving of the consequences.
So.. watching Natural Born Killers on Valentine’s Day was not a very good way to start of heart’s day for me. -Lol- My first reaction to Natural Born Killers was, “what is the purpose of this movie?” I did not understand it, and I did not know what to expect from it either. I was thinking that this is going to be the worst movie I have ever seen, and I cannot stand another day having to watch this in class! However, on the second day, I was starting to understand the purpose behind the movie, and on the third day, I was actually starting to like it. My favorite part of the movie was Micky’s interview in jail. He explained a lot of why we people perform crime, and that evil is all around us. This movie really taught me how much media corrupts our thinking. Back in ENC 1101, we learned about how advertisements affected us in our everyday lives. In NBK, it showed us how media influenced our thinking and our judgment. In the movie, those people that were supporting Micky and Mallory knew what they were doing was wrong, but in spite that, they wanted to be just like Micky and Mallory. But why?! To became popular for all the wrong reasons possible? Think back to yourself, how much has media affected you and the way you respond to your society? I think for me it has affected me in a different way. I think more carefully about my actions whether or not if I think its morally the right or wrong thing to do.
ReplyDeleteEd, I absolutely agree with you! If we only knew what was in the food that we ate, I guarantee we would be so disgusted with ourselves by eating those products. I remember once in class when I was a junior in High School, we had a discussion about what was in Oreos, I love Oreos, but I haven’t had one since because it is so gross.
ReplyDeleteCliz, I know what you mean about not being a fan of this movie, its not horrible once you start to understand it, it is very abstract. The message is unclear until you discuss it in a group. It reminds me a lot of Saw too, but I found the Saw series after the 4th one just really silly. I think Natural Born Killers was better than Saw.
@Ed
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, at the beginning the movie was hard to understand but later everything began to make sense. The part that I also found very interesting was mickie’s thoughts on murder because it sounded like he was not trying to justify what he did but instead give us a whole new take on murder. I usually will not look for something in a movie that can cause controversy but I did in this one because I wanted to know why it was so controversial but I honestly did not find anything wrong with it.
@astx7
ReplyDeleteI have seen Super Size Me, and I liked the movie, because it really opened my eyes about the percentage of obesity in America and around the world. I don't see the controversy in the movie, because they are trying to make a point of the movie. Goes to show you people take things a little out of proportion sometimes. I agree with you about the main guy being fit and about another person eating one meal from McDonald's a day and it being a Big Mac in a lot worse condition than Spurlock.
@Ed
ReplyDeleteSame here, when watching the beginning to me was like WTF is going on here? It seemed very cracked out to me. I did get into the movie though on the first day and was close to finishing it up on Netflix later that day but did not want to ruin it. I thought that Mickie’s thoughts on murder were when the movie got very interesting and is where the movie picked up on its action. I too was also confused on way the movie was very controversial, I mean I have seen more violent movies that came out before NBK and didn’t see why this one left more of an impact.