STEP BROTHERS

Step Brothers is a film directed by Adam McKay, and produced by Jimmy Miller, Judd Aptow, and Will Ferrell. Will Ferrell and John Reilly act as rivalry step brothers. They have also teamed up together in 2006 for the film Talladega Nights. Will Ferrell plays Brennan Huff, who is a 39 years old and still lives with his divorced mother, and Reilly plays Dale Doback is 40 years old and lives with his widower father. In the movie Brennan's mother and Dales father get married and move in together. Dale and Brennan were enemies starting from the beginning of their parent's marriage, and at the ages of 39 and 40 they never acted as adults. Dale and Brennan's negative relationship later caused the divorce between their parents. The divorce was the point of realization for Dale and Brennan, and as time went on they became friends. Later on in the movie they both got their own apartments started careers for themselves. As they became closer Dale and Brennan shared a child hood dream of becoming a famous international band. However, after the divorce they were forced to give up their dream to enter the workforce, and finally become adults. After months of living separate lives Dale and Brennan reconnected at a gala Dale was hosting for his job. When the entertainment backed out of performing Dale and Brennan worked up the courage, and rekindled their childhood dream of performing in their band. The crowd was amazed by the talent they both displayed, and both of their parents were there as well. By the end of the movie their parents got remarried, and Dale and Brennan had learned to be adults but had still held on to their childhood. The conclusion of the movie suggest that the author wanted to show the audience the importantance of "growing up" in life. However, it is just as important to hold on to a little piece of your childhood. In addition, I believe that the writer wanted to illustrate how remarrige affects the children in some families, and how it is difficult to raise children in these settings. The purpose of the piece was to be insightful and to show a perspective that the audiece would be less likely to see otherwise.

Step Brothers. Dir Adam McKay. Perf. Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly, Richard Jenkins, Mary Steenburgen, Adam Scott, Kathryn Hahn, Rob Riggle. 2008. DVD. Columbia Pictures, 2008.

Naked: I Like Guys

After the success of his first collection of essays, Barrel Fever, and his subsequent numerous appearances on Public Radio International's This American Life, David Sedaris released his second collection of essays, Naked, in 1997. This collection contains stories that are a little more personal, and a good number of them on his experiences growing up as a gay teenager in Raleigh, North Carolina. This particular essay focuses on a month-long summer trip to Greece he took after he completed the eighth grade, designed for American kids who have Greek ancestry. He starts off by relating his experiences during not only the eighth grade, but also in previous grades, with homophobia. While he had realized at a young age that he was "different" from the other boys, he also knew that, given the time and place that he grew up in, he had to hide the feelings he had towards other boys. Many teachers in the school even went out of their way to make fun of homosexuality. For example, his Spanish teacher told Sedaris' class once that she wanted to have a boy first, because she felt that if she had a girl first, any boy she had after the girl might "turn out funny." Another one of his teachers used to occasionally prance around the classroom, limp-wristed and all, making fun of homosexuals. Of course, the only way that Sedaris could deal with this was to separate himself from the other boys who were "different" (they could all identify themselves because they all had "speech problems" (i.e. lisps) in elementary school, and had to see a speech therapist to deal with the "problem"), and also being the one to laugh the longest and hardest at any jokes that had to do with sexuality. Anyway, when school lets out, Sedaris and his older sister Lisa fly up to New York with their father to meet up with the rest of the kids who are participating in the trip. Lisa immediately abandons Sedaris, leaving him to fend for himself on a trip that he really didn't want to go on in the first place. While in Greece, however, he realizes that his bunk mate Jason might have similar feelings towards guys. Upon hearing one of the counselors use a derogatory term for gays towards the entirety of the boys on the trip, Sedaris and Jason turned it into a game, calling each other by the same derogatory term. Their friendship starts to turn somewhat physical, and upon realizing what this could mean for them, Sedaris and Jason suddenly turn on each other. Jason finds a girlfriend, and even claims to have found Sedaris' (non-existent) journal, and shares a page from it that says "I Like Guys." Upon his arrival back in the United States, Sedaris goes home, and after another month of summer break, goes back to school, which has been integrated. Most of his former teachers had left, and one of his new teachers, a black man, not only made fun of gays, but also people like Albert Einstein and the host of a popular local television show. Sedaris ends the piece saying, "this [ridicule] is something we each have in common, proof that we're all brothers under the skin."

Sedaris, David. "I Like Guys." 1997. Naked. Paperback ed. New York: Back Bay, 1998. 81-94.

Image pulled from Wikipedia. I claim the same non-free/fair use media rationale as used on Wikipedia.

When Harry Met Sally - The Friend Rule

When Harry Met Sally. Dir. Rob Reiner. Perf. Meg Ryan, Billy Crystal, Bruno Kirby, and Carrie Fisher. MGM, 1989. 

When Harry Met Sally is a classic example of the communication barriers that exist between men and women. The film is full of examples of miscommunication and misunderstandings between the two genders but this Youtube clip is a short example of the film's genius. Harry explains to Sally his theory that a friendship between a man and a woman will forever be tainted if there is attraction between them.  Sally is confused by his theory but surrenders in saying that they will never be friends.  The two, however, do proceed to have a deep and meaningful friendship that later turns into something more.  This movie, though now seemingly outdated, remains a classic for the ages because of the way it discusses the differences between men and women.  Though time has passed and styles have changed since its' release date, men and women continue to run into the same communication and miscommunication patterns.  It remains that men think more concretely and simply than women.  Women, on the other hand, tend to over analyze and think on a deeper level than men when it comes to relationships.  Though there are exceptions to this rule, Harry and Sally depict classic communication and attraction that causes them both to fall in love and learn to speak each other's languages.     

Baby Mama

Director and the writer of Baby Mama, Michael McCullers shows the importance of understanding one another using the “baby.” This movie influences many women busy in their own lives without a family. Kate (Tina Fey) is a single businesswoman who has wanted a baby for a long time, yet not possible due to her body type. She decides to hire Angie (Amy Poehler) to give birth for her baby. The two ladies go through many conflicts, including the unbelievable junk food Angie eats during her pregnancy. This eventually results in a strong bond between Kate and Angie. Although Angie is not actually pregnant, Kate believes that she is, and treats her as a pregnant woman; Kate is anxious for the baby. However, Kate finds out about the non-existence baby and another surprise faces her soon after that completely changes her situation…Kate is pregnant! Angie is also pregnant; a baby between her and her boyfriend. The two ladies’ bond shows again as the movie ends with the babies. Maturity and bond are the strong themes throughout the movie.





Baby Mama. Dir Michael McCullers. Perf. Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Greg Kinnear, Dax Shepard, Romany Malco, Maura Tierney, Holland Taylor, and Sigourney Weaver. DVD. Universal Pictures, 2008.

Statz Rappers

So you think statistics are just for geeks and nerds! Time to change your mind! With this number 1 hit jam of the summer 2006 you’ll soon realize that you can have fun, enjoy music – even if you aren’t a hip-hop fan– and have a good time learning statistics.
This video was developed by Chuck Tate together with a psychology student at the University of Oregon. Chuck was teaching a Research Methods in Psychology course and wanted his students to enjoy statistics as much as they like hip-hop. With the help of other psychology graduate students (in order of appearance: Jeff Loucks, Chuck Tate, Chelan Weaver, and Cara Lewis) so as to make the song and video more appealing. The song is a parody of Nelly’s “Grillz”, which maximizes its impact.
The song is a creative way to think about teaching. Students would like to see it at least once, if they like it and want to understand the lyrics; they’ll have to refer to their statistics lessons. It would be a great idea for statics teachers to start their course with it.

Eddie Izzard - Being Bilingual

This video is of Eddie Izzard during his DVD recording of Dress to Kill, filmed at the Stage Door Theater in San Francisco, California. Izzard is an Emmy Award winning stand up comedian and actor. His notable comedic stand-up work includes Live at the Ambassadors, Definite Article, and Dress to Kill. He has influenced the works of Harry Hill, Dara O'Brien, and Demetri Martin. Born in Yemen to British parents and raised in British society, Izzard's performances target religion, pop culture, language, and world history due to his worldly influence. Throughout this video, Izzard talks about the petty differences in pronunciation between UK English and US English and describes the two countries as being seprated by a common language. He gradually moves on to examine the need for Europe to become bilingual because of business, noting that misunderstandings because of the language barrier can lead to loss of business. Izzard's anecdotes of how English speakers are less willing to become bilingual is suggesting to the audience that English speakers hold a certain air of elitism which holds them back from truly becoming a "melting pot" which should come naturally because of the 200 languages spoken on the same continent. This piece is insightful in that it pokes fun at the ridgidity of European socieities from a European's point of view. The point of this piece is to educate as well as make one wonder what we must do for the future. The audience this bit is meant for is the whole of Europe and English speakers to blatantly point out the issues they are not willing to deal with. Because this is meant to emphasize the unspoken truths of a European mentality, the audience would most likely be offended but come to recognize that it is a simple solution that must come to fruition.

Eddie Izzard. Dress to Kill. Dir. Lawrence Jordan. Stage Door Theater. WEA Corp, 1998. DVD. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IzDbNFDdP4

Brad Neely

Brad Neely is a comic book artist who also occasionally does short videos. His video series include "I Am Baby Cakes," "China, Illinois," and "The Professor Brothers." The Professor Brothers follows two professors, Frank and Steve Smith either teaching a class at a local college, partying outside of work, or (like in the video) singing a song, for example, one about JFK. The song about George Washington is humorous due to the exaggerated abilities given to him by the singers and the squeaky sounding voices of Cox and Combes. Although Neely sold the characters, the song, and the cartoon, Frank and Steve have the same voices as Cox and Combes and, in another video, the brothers sing their own song about a president.

"Cox and Combes' Washington." Super Deluxe. Brad Neely. Youtube.