Way Overdue Essay

      In both our world and the fictional one, one constant is the human struggle to escape. Escape from problems, from people, and escape from life in general. Many people in our world find this at the bottom of a bottle, or the end of a blunt. But in the brave new world, the people find this in Soma and sex. From the outside it seems raunchy, but at the heart of it, how different is the brave new world from ours?
      Any time our world is juxtaposed with a fictional world, a lot of discussion will arise about similarities and differences. This is just about the entire basis of the zombie phenomenon with TV these days. Escapism has been an important creative output since the beginning of stories. Whether it's ancient stories of Gods saving humans and judging them, or films of generic heroes saving the girl from an evil monster, people always find enjoyment in them. Dreaming and hoping is an important part of the human experience. Brave New World explored this by creating a world where that's all anyone did - escape. Escape from feelings, from love, compassion, and empathy. It's like giving up, and taking the easy way out. You don't have to experience pain or sadness anymore, but at the same time, you don't get to experience true happiness. That's what is seen in the novel, and the odd man out is Bernard. 

       Human defects are beautiful because they create individuality. We treat individuality great because it makes us more interesting. In a coke white, test tube world this isn't beautiful. It's a mistake. It's a mathematic, cold, sharp world and there can be no round edges. Bernard makes this story so human because he's a person out of place. He tries to fit in but keep his individuality, and this struggle is what ruins him in the end.

Education, Ego, and Misconceptions

When someone mentioned how smart Lukas was today, and he replied with "No I'm not", and we got into the conversation about taking compliments and how it's seen as arrogant to be sure of yourself, one person popped into my head. And that one person's name is Kanye West. When many people hear the name, they instantly think about the bad things he's known for by the media, but not many people think of who he is as a whole and what he's created. Just listening to a few interviews of his view on the world and of course, his music, you can really get a picture of who he is and why so many people love him. He was in an interview recently where he talked about a lot of things we are currently talking about in this class, and that have to do with my masterpiece, and I just wanted to share it in the hopes that some people get their minds changed a little. A lot of the things he had to say were very interesting and thought provoking. I really do think he's one of the most important and influential creatives of this generation, just portrayed badly by the big entertainment media outlets like E! and TMZ. (blech)