Great Movies but Not the Truth

     To me, the proposition: Hollywood produces great movies, but they don't always tell the truth even it is based on 'True Stories', is true since often I have know the original stories or read books and watch the movies to find them different and a little astray from each other.

     The first reason it became like that is because to produce a movie by following the true story will be impossible since the true stories are very lengthy and a movie is limited to three hours. If they were to produce it by the true story, the movie would be more than 4 hours long. To make the movie, they cut the true story short, change it's plot and alter it in many ways that sometime the ending may be different but have the same meaning with the true story.

     The other reason is that the movie is projected as what the viewer and producer what them to be. They usually find the original story to be quite boring and uninteresting that they change the plots and actions in the story to be flashy and entertaining for the viewer to watch since this will attract them to watch rather than the true stories.  

       For example, the Dracula: Untold movie where Vlad Tepes is the protagonist while in the true story in history he is actually a really cruel and inhuman who prefer the impalement method and other tormenting methods to kill people he view as enemy which is a very slow and painful way of death. People who know Vlad Tepes's (Vlad III's) history would view him unfavourably but in this movie the viewer would think the opposite. Another story is Ender's Game where the period of the story in the book started when Ender was six years old until he was an adult but in the movie, he started up when Ender was twelve and ended a few months later.

Asma's Thought of Stereotyping

     By the reference of the Oxford Advanced Learner Dictionary, stereotype means that a fixed idea or image that many people have of a particular type of person or thing, but which is often not true in reality. From my understanding, when you meet a person and you conclude him or her that he/she is in a specific type of group like the nerd, popular or intellectual group of people.
   
     I do think that it is exaggerated generalisations associated with a categorising system, they go beyond the facts at hand and make claims that usually have no valid basis. People do it everyday and you often see people group into a certain pack. But in the college that I am in, not everyone happen to be in a tight pack especially me!

      I do not really judge people much by their appearance just make a little comment to myself about the attitude or what that person did and try to figure out type of person he or she is but not a solid image. even if I found out what type of person he or she is I do not really thought of it much, just get along since I am a bit open-minded and mingle with a lot type of people. Of course there is a part that my mum taught me to be always friendly and kind with everyone.

      So, I do not really like stereotyping since it is like rejecting people when these people might not what they are. It's precisely like rejecting them from this colourful world. People themselves are colourful and not a single file of colour. They may be cruel in manner but kind in the heart or brave and lively when inside they are fear to lose their friends. There are many, many more type and kinds of things in a person that should be evaluate. So, do not do stereotyping and try to get to know the person, like the phrase, you can't judge a book by it's cover.  

Expectations on Critical Literacy

          In all my 21 years of life and experience, I have never heard the two words of 'critical literacy' until I took the subject in my 4th semester in my Diploma in English Communication. I heard many comments, complaints and grumbling towards the subject that really shows their negativity towards the subject. They said stuff like "difficult", "troublesome subject" and "head wrecking". To me, I thought they were exaggerating about it and were only lazy to think critically in this subject.          

           Truthfully, I don't really believe their opinion that critical literacy is all that difficult just that as long as you understand it's concept and what it wants it will be alright and understanding. This is what I learned when I was a first-course  science physic student in Matriculation College. With the fast-track and heavy work way of studying and learn, I have learn that difficult things become easy if you face it front on and try to understand it. The same as I am going to start this so-called-difficult subject, critical literacy this semester.

            Plus, I enjoy the challenge of doing difficult things and overcome them. It always make me excited to do it and try them out whether it is physical or mental activity. This is what I think when I thought about critical literacy that our batch are taking this semester. Even though the going will be difficult it could nearly kill me, I'll believe I can do it even i might do a bit (or a lot) of mistakes on the way. I really do hope I can understand and conquer this subject plus score it in souring colours.