Post Apocalyptic novels and movies are some of the most intriguing and unsettling stories out there. For centuries, people have been creating apocalypse myths. Why? Well the answer is probably very similar to the reason why we have creation myths. The human mind, as I said before, does not like to deal with the unknown. Humans have a drive like no other to discover anything and everything there is to know about the world. Seeing as the creation of our world has already occurred, it is much easier to come up with why and how we were created. Our demise, however, is not so easy seeing as it hasn't happened yet. I find the apocalyptic myths vary greatly. In some cases such as Judgement Day, God comes and takes believers to Heaven while others wait to find out where they shall go. Whereas, today, a major theories could be the sun burning out, complete natural destruction of our planet, and most popular Zombies.
I have always wondered: why Zombies? While I still really can't answer this question, I do have at least a guess. Due to our technological advancements and scientific discoveries, it would seem very possible that a disease could be created or could be spread very rapidly through our world. Hundreds of years ago, traveling across seas wasn't that easy, nor was it common. This would have made a zombie apocalypse much harder to happen at such a rapid pace that we see in the movies where overnight it seems almost everyone in the world has become a zombie. Today, with airplanes and cruises, a zombie apocalypse at such a rapid speed, could very well be possible.
Another rather interesting thing you may notice in Zombie movies, is that they end with a ray of hope. A hope for humanity to prevail after such tragedy can be seen in several zombie movies. For instance in World War Z, Brad Pitts character ultimately discovers how to become immune from the disease and stop it from spreading. This, while doesn't completely solve the fact that millions of Zombies are still running around killing people, does shine some hope to at least prevent further infection and begin the new start for those still living on Earth. In I am Legend, the alternate ending not the original, it ends with Will Smith's character realizing that the infected still have some form of humanity seeing as the alpha male who is after him just wanted to get the female infected that Will Smith had taken at the beginning of the movie. This leads to Will Smith giving the girl back and being spared by the infected alpha male, unlike the original where he blows himself up to save the other two survivors. Even non-zombie apocalyptic movies have hopeful endings, Hunger games, ends with Katniss having a family and living happily ever after.
So why do these "myths" end with hope? What if the human mind just can't comes to terms with the ultimate demise? Hope is ingrained in our system. Even if the world ends, we like to think there is some light at the end of the tunnel. This explains why in you go to heaven or hell in some mythology after the world ends. So that you have something to look forward to or hope for even when you are gone. We will never know what will happen when the world ends or why it ends until it happens. My hope is that we as humans can find it on ourselves to want to save our world and try to live on it as long as possible. Our world won't last forever, just like we won't, but if we can give ourselves a few more hundred years, then why not?
Thursday, February 23, 2017
Thursday, February 16, 2017
Kevin Hart's Journey to Save his Daughter
One of my favorite Super Bowl Commercials is the one where Kevin Hart keeps track and a watchful eye on his daughter while she is on a date. The idea behind the commercial is that Kevin Hart uses his new Hyundai to track down his daughter and her date. As their rather extravagate date night goes on Kevin Hart pops up in places only the boyfriend/date can see ultimately scaring the guy out of doing anything Kevin Hart felt was inappropriate for his daughter. By the time they wrap up their date, the guy is so scared he races the daughter home and leaves jumping at the sound of the car locking. It is a truly brilliant commercial.
The interesting thing about the commercial is the similarities it has to mythology. Kevin Hart could be looked at as a hero on a long journey to ultimately save his daughter from impurity or the evil of the world that has taken shape as a attract male. Seeing as Kevin Hart goes to so much trouble as even getting a helicopter at the end to scare the guy once and for all, you could surely see how epic this story really is. The daughter and the guy have a rather extravagate date night. They start at the movies where Mr. Hart is waiting just a few rows behind eating popcorn. From there they leave for what appears to be a state fair with Mr. Hart hiding in the plethora of stuffed animals as the guy wins a game for the daughter. Hoping to avoid anymore pop ups by Mr. Hart, the date decides to take his girl all the way to a beautiful "cliff" area where one would think no one would think of even going. However, Mr. Hart succeeds in finding them using a helicopter as he dangles with a megaphone to insure that the date understands he has messed with the wrong father. The date now most likely fearing his life hastily drives the daughter, who is now rather disappointed, home where he very skittishly hands Mr. Hart his keys back and briskly walks away jumping as Kevin Hart locks the car. This is no doubt quite an epic tale with the heroic father, struggles to track them down, goes to great efforts, and ultimately conquers in his feat to save and protect his daughter.
There are many myths in many different cultures who in some way, shape, or form have featured a similar story, although it was more likely a hero saving the love of his life and not his daughter. This could easily be a modern interpretation of those myths. The cultures of the past and the cultures of today share much in common, maybe even more than we like to think. One of those is the love a father has for their daughter and what that father will go to in order to protect her. Kevin Hart is no different in that aspect as I am very sure this is something he would actually want to do as his daughter, who is still too young for a boyfriend, ultimately gets older.
The interesting thing about the commercial is the similarities it has to mythology. Kevin Hart could be looked at as a hero on a long journey to ultimately save his daughter from impurity or the evil of the world that has taken shape as a attract male. Seeing as Kevin Hart goes to so much trouble as even getting a helicopter at the end to scare the guy once and for all, you could surely see how epic this story really is. The daughter and the guy have a rather extravagate date night. They start at the movies where Mr. Hart is waiting just a few rows behind eating popcorn. From there they leave for what appears to be a state fair with Mr. Hart hiding in the plethora of stuffed animals as the guy wins a game for the daughter. Hoping to avoid anymore pop ups by Mr. Hart, the date decides to take his girl all the way to a beautiful "cliff" area where one would think no one would think of even going. However, Mr. Hart succeeds in finding them using a helicopter as he dangles with a megaphone to insure that the date understands he has messed with the wrong father. The date now most likely fearing his life hastily drives the daughter, who is now rather disappointed, home where he very skittishly hands Mr. Hart his keys back and briskly walks away jumping as Kevin Hart locks the car. This is no doubt quite an epic tale with the heroic father, struggles to track them down, goes to great efforts, and ultimately conquers in his feat to save and protect his daughter.
Tuesday, February 7, 2017
Why Floods? (plus chinese zodiac)
There could be several reasons why flood myths exist. Flooding could just be frequent in that culture, they story could be a way to guide people, or maybe someone just wanted to tell a good story and it was just a coincidence that many cultures have one? While the last option is plausible, it is most unlikely. If I were to guess, the answer would more likely be one of the other options.
In different regions of the world, flooding may be a common thing that happens every once in a while, like how we discussed in class about Egypt where the Nile would flood every so often. That could be a very likely explanation to their flood myth. What is interesting about their flood myth is that, the God Ra ultimately decides against Hathor killing all of the people. In reality, floods from the Nile river most likely did not end up killing all the people, just how Ra stops Hathor from killing all the people. The climate and environment of the Nile river could have very much affected this myth. The same could go for some of the other myths. Places where flooding was very uncommon could explain why almost all of the people died in those myths just like how a society unaccustomed to floods would experience more deaths.
Stories often have themes or moral ideas within them. I feel myths are no different. The flood myths could easily be a way for elders, parents, or even government like structures to mold their people's morals. In other words, by telling a story about how a god decided to kill almost every one but say a few people because humans have become corrupt and terrible, you could easily persuade a group of people to behave, especially children. If children grow up hearing about their god nearly destroying humanity because they became bad, those children may be more inclined to be good and stick to their moral compass.
I actually found the flood myths very intriguing seeing as how several seem to be very similar yet they were documented at different times and places. For instance how Israel's flood myth is very similar to the Greek flood myth.
Chinese Zodiac
I am a tiger, specifically an Earth tiger which slightly disappointed me since I wanted to be a water tiger. I actually found that most of the characteristics of the tiger were not very like me. For instance, the tiger is said to be brave, cruel and forceful, which I am not entirely. I can be brave sometimes but the cruel and forceful is no where close seeing as I am shy and way to nice sometimes. I personally really like the zodiac signs that we are more accustomed to. In those signs, I'm a pisces, which are said to be compassionate, gentle and wise. I am gentle for sure, I don't like being aggressive unless it is necessary. I love helping others, which is the compassionate side of me. I would be curious in seeing if anyone else agrees with what their Chinese or even constellation zodiac says about them.
In different regions of the world, flooding may be a common thing that happens every once in a while, like how we discussed in class about Egypt where the Nile would flood every so often. That could be a very likely explanation to their flood myth. What is interesting about their flood myth is that, the God Ra ultimately decides against Hathor killing all of the people. In reality, floods from the Nile river most likely did not end up killing all the people, just how Ra stops Hathor from killing all the people. The climate and environment of the Nile river could have very much affected this myth. The same could go for some of the other myths. Places where flooding was very uncommon could explain why almost all of the people died in those myths just like how a society unaccustomed to floods would experience more deaths.
Stories often have themes or moral ideas within them. I feel myths are no different. The flood myths could easily be a way for elders, parents, or even government like structures to mold their people's morals. In other words, by telling a story about how a god decided to kill almost every one but say a few people because humans have become corrupt and terrible, you could easily persuade a group of people to behave, especially children. If children grow up hearing about their god nearly destroying humanity because they became bad, those children may be more inclined to be good and stick to their moral compass.
I actually found the flood myths very intriguing seeing as how several seem to be very similar yet they were documented at different times and places. For instance how Israel's flood myth is very similar to the Greek flood myth.
Chinese Zodiac
I am a tiger, specifically an Earth tiger which slightly disappointed me since I wanted to be a water tiger. I actually found that most of the characteristics of the tiger were not very like me. For instance, the tiger is said to be brave, cruel and forceful, which I am not entirely. I can be brave sometimes but the cruel and forceful is no where close seeing as I am shy and way to nice sometimes. I personally really like the zodiac signs that we are more accustomed to. In those signs, I'm a pisces, which are said to be compassionate, gentle and wise. I am gentle for sure, I don't like being aggressive unless it is necessary. I love helping others, which is the compassionate side of me. I would be curious in seeing if anyone else agrees with what their Chinese or even constellation zodiac says about them.
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