Who Are We?

“What makes us who we are?”

 

Catherine G. Latterell questions her readers their own identity to think about our beliefs, values, and life goals.

The first assumption she states is that Identity is what we are born with. From birth we are told what we are from a birth certificate from the race that we are, our parents, our sex and date of birth and as we grow into our toddler years that is when we start to learn about our own gender identity.  

We view on how we are treated for example, when we were younger the girls wore dresses and the boys wore pants. In fact when we were younger that is just the starting point of understanding the sense of identity. Social and cultural forces shape our sense of identity, including gender and race which makes us the question, “Is race really something we can choose, or it’s it chosen for us?”

The second assumption Catherine addresses is identity is shaped by culture. Culture marks identity. Identity is shaped through acculturation, a process by which we absorb the practices, attitudes, and beliefs of particular social groups, for example, the clothing that we wear to the types of different music one listen to. Doing these things to make our identity we tend to gravitate to others who share the same interests and values.

The third and last assumption Catherine mentions, identity is shaped by personal choice. Personal decisions can be crucial to ones sense of identity, and that personal choices can outweigh the importance of cultural influences and the experiences of others.

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Are We Who We Really Are?

“Is it who we really are? Or who we want to be, or should be?” 
 

This is one of many questions Ms. Thandie Newton asked her audience in July 2011 on Embracing Otherness, Embracing Myself.

She explains her journey, “the journey to that place of understanding and acceptance. The self’s struggle for authenticity and definition will never end unless it’s connected to its creator with awareness of the reality of oneness and the projection of self-hood. Imagine what kind of existence we can have if we honor inevitable death of self, appreciate the privilege of life and marvel at what comes next.”

When hearing her speech I was in awe.

I would never have the thought that an actress would be so educated.

Thandie made me ask myself, “Do I appreciate life? Do I follow cultures standards on how we view each other? Have I lost my own self of self?”

I have found that I myself have lost my own sense of self. I would never think that all of our opinions on how we view our own life have been formed by others opinions and thoughts. Because of this I have been thinking of my own self and I have discovered I have been following cultures standards on how I view others.

I need to learn to form my own opinions and thoughts on subjects and enjoy or appreciate what life has to offer more.

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Nine Year Old Boy Takes His Life For Being White

Racism is a two way street.

Nine year old Aaron Dugmore was found hanged in his bedroom after he was ‘bullied for being white’ by an Asian gang at school. "They said Aaron was threatened with a plastic knife by one Asian pupil, who warned him: ‘Next time it will be a real one.’He was also allegedly told by another pupil that ‘all the white people should be dead’ and he was forced to hide from the bullies in the playground at lunchtime." via

Now don’t you ever try to tell me there is no such thing as racism against white people. And don’t you dare tell me it’s ‘reverse’ racism either.

No one, not matter their race, religion, sexuality, gender identification, physical and/or mental capabilities, or appearance should have to commit suicide because of bullying.

Nobody, especially a child!

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Mickey Ending Hand-Drawn Animation

 

Snow White, The Little Mermaid, Dumbo, The Jungle Book, Pinocchio. Each are examples of classic Disney films that were each hand drawn frame by frame known as traditional animation or cel animation.

Announced Wednesday, chief executive Bob Iger revealed that it’s shutting down any remaining 2D hand drawn feature animation facilities left and will only be committing to 3D rendered and animated films from now on.

"To my knowledge we're not developing a 2D or hand-drawn feature animated film right now," said Iger. "There is a fair amount of activity going on in hand-drawn animation but it's largely for television at this point. We're not necessarily ruling out the possibility [of] a feature but there isn't any in development at the company at the moment."

The studios last hand-drawn animation The Princess and the Frog, the traditional musical, based on the Brothers Grimm story the Frog Prince but relocating the action to 1920s New Orleans, was well-reviewed by critics but "failed to mirror the astounding success of Pixar at the box office with a middling return of $267m (£178m). Another hand-drawn animation – 2011's Winnie the Pooh – drew praise from critics but pulled in just $33m across the globe. Meanwhile, Disney CGI efforts such as 2009's Bolt and 2010's Tangled grossed $310m and $590m."

"Unfortunately 2D became the excuse for poor storytelling," said John Lasseter, the Pixar boss who also became Disney Animation's chief creative officer in 2006 and who pioneered the CGI animation revolution with Toy Story in 1995. "The general consensus was that audiences did not want to watch hand-drawn animated films, which is of course completely ridiculous. The day I stepped in we got in touch with these guys and set about bringing back the artists that Disney had laid off."

In honor of those whom drew our favorite characters, here are three of my favorite Disney films and their animators:

 

 

The Little Mermaid (1989)

“I heard Part of Your World, Jodi Benson singing that, and it just captivated me. I had to do that. And I went to the directors and said, ‘I really want to do Ariel.’ And they said ‘Well I don’t know. This is supposed to be a pretty girl. Can you do that?’  I said, ‘ Look, I have to do Ariel. I mean, I can feel it in my heart." - Animator Glen Keane

Alice in Wonderland (1951)

 

Fred Moore rose to prominence at Disney very quickly in the early thirties due to his great natural talent and the tremendous appeal of his drawings, which is still greatly admired by animators and animation fans. He had animated some scenes of the White Rabbit.
 



Beauty and the Beast (1991)

 

"Having been lucky enough to work around James Baxter for a number of years (someone who I consider to be the greatest living animator around), I can tell you that that is his ultimate weapon. He doesn’t check emails. He doesn’t compulsively surf YouTube. He doesn’t keep a blog. He doesn’t read blogs. He doesn’t watch TV or eat or sleep or do anything that resembles a sane modern life. All he does is animate. And that’s all you have to do." - Jim Hull

What is your favorite traditional animated Disney movie?

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A Random Ball Pit and Two Complete Strangers

A random ball pit is set up in the middle of a city and this is what happens as people approach it.

 

 

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