English Debate Club: Was Elsa's Decision in the Movie Frozen Right?

Um…Sometime back, maybe a few months ago, I signed up for our school's English Debate Club, which was made by a 3rd grade girl who's the smartest in the whole school. 
So, last Thursday, we got together in the conference room and talked about the movie, Frozen. If you read my post on Frozen you would know that I really liked the movie. So anyway, we talked mainly about whether Elsa's decision was right. By decision we meant-or at least I thought- the choice that Elsa made to stay locked up in her castle, shuning everyone, including her sister, Anna. Before we met that lunch time, I thought about it a little. Honestly, I didn't really think there was a right or wrong because either way I would still have understood Elsa. However, because I wanted to look at the movie in a different perspective I chose to say that Elsa was wrong. Here is what I said:


Before I talk about whether Elsa made the right decision let me first talk about what Elsa's problem is.
As you all know, Elsa has an abilty to conjure ice. However, after the incident where she almost froze her sister, she gets scared of her ability and loses confidence in herself. 

Now, let me tell you why Elsa made the wrong choice.

First, effects of social confinement. We humans are social beings. We want to talk to other people, we have to interact each other not just for enjoyment, but also for survival. Then, what happens when we are alone, isolated from society? There is little good in being alone. In severe cases, we would become animals. Or, in the case of Elsa, she would develop the psycological problems that she already has. What I think is that instead of confining herself, she should have actually opened herself to other people. After all, Elsa is the queen of Arendell. I'm sure she has plenty good friends to help guide her. She could have surely asked for the help of a psycologist or therapist. Or, she could have gone to her sister Anna, who would have surely helped Elsa. However, what did Elsa do? She chose to lock herself in her lonely castle. Cuting off all the people who could have helped her. By confining herself she made the problem even worse. Instead of solving it, she let the problem grow and grow. Her emotions built up inside her. As in the movie, this builduop of emotions eventually erupted when she is confronted by her sister at the party. If she had talked with other people about what she was going through her emotions wouldn't have exploded as it did in the movie.





Second, irresposiblity. Elsa is the queen of Arendell. She has to care for her people. But, what does she do? She stays in her castle not even seeming to care about her people. She just locks herself in her room just moping and trebling about her own ability. Elsa could have also used her abilty to make an ice castle for her people. Also as you saw in the movie, people like Kristoff made a living off of selling ice blocks. If Elsa used her ability to make ice blocks, Arendell could have prospered off the ice block business. Also as you saw in the movie if Elsa made ice sculptures and beautiful buildings our of ice, Arendell could have become a major tourist attraction. 

Third, Perspective. To me this is the biggest problem with Elsa. Elsa has an awesome ability. I mean how many people in the Frozen world would have that ability? I'm sure many people would envy her. But, Elsa sees her abilty as freakish and scary, and tries to hide it. I think that instead of seeing her ability as a terror, she should see it as gift. Also in the movie, Elsa acts like she can't control her ability. However, I don't think it's her ability that is the problem. It's Elsa's emotions and the way she sees her abilty that's the problem. If Elsa really couldn't control her ability, ice would appear everywhere without control. Also when Elsa made that beautiful castle as she sang "Let it Go", instead of that beautiful castle. 
 What would have really appeared is probably a heap of ice that looks like this. Or, maybe when she wanted to build that castle her abilty wouldn't have worked at all and she would have got nothing. I think that it's not Elsa's abilty that can't be controlled. I think that it is her emotions that is causing her to lose "control"over her ability.  






These are three reasons why I think Elsa made the wrong decision. Thank you!!!

After this ENC meeting, I realise that I saw Frozen in a perspective different from when I wrote my post about the movie and it was pretty cool to have that experience. Before I end this post, I would like to say that I don't hate Elsa. I actually like her mature character, however like all people, I think that she too has some flaws. Thank you (again)!!

Movie Review: RoboCop (2014)

Put a man inside a robot? That sounded pretty interesting, so I went to see RoboCop at the local Lotte Cinema. I knew that this Robocop movie was a remake of the old movies because on the CGV channel they would play the original series so that people could watch it before they watched the one in the theaters. I wonder if this movie will live up to its original. To me, it's probably not because the idea of a robot+man isn't new any more. Anyway In this review, I will compare the original Robo cop movie to the remake Robo cop movie. So here are the differences that I found:

1. Suit-- The high tech body armour suit that robocop wears has had some major work done. It has a black coat of paint to make it look more tactical, as quoted by Raymond Sellers, the head of Omnicorp, and the visor, which was just a black screen in the original, is now replaced by a robot looking red laser beam thing. These 2 things make the new suit look like a cross between Iron man and Batman. The new suit also seems to offer more flexibilty and freedom of movement because in the movie, Alex almost walks like a normal human. Whereas the old robocop looked luggish and slow and made machine noises whenever he moved. The new robocop suit keeps 2 things from the old version. The guy's mouth is sticking out to show that there's a man inside, and the spring loaded holster in the suit's leg is still present.

2. Motion Picture Rating-- The original Robocop was rated R. However, the new Robocop has a rating of PG-13. So, the original movie had more swearing and violence. I particularly remember how in the original movie, gunshots would spray blood everywhere. The ratings were lowered probably so that the  movie could attract a wider audience, which equals more money. Although I don't like gore, I have to admit that the action would have seemed more realistic if the new Robocop movie had more gore in it.

3. More humane Robocop-- The new Robocop still keeps his feeling and humaness. Although the doctors gave Alex a shot to stop him from feeling emotion, Alex somehow overrides the program and the shots by his own will. He even prioritzes his mission on his own and defys the orders of Omnicorp, which is essentially why Omnicorp decided to eliminate Alex.

So, these are just 3 differences I noticed. Now, I'd like to write a little about the content of the movie.
As the original did before, this movie also raises up several moral and political issues. Is it okay to replace human officers with machine robot ones? Is it okay to trust a robot with a matter of life and death when they have no feelings? Should we let private companies take care of our national security?
Although this is just a fictional movie, I wonder if one day my generation or maybe our next generation will see conferences about the very issues that this movie raises.
Anyways, at the press conference in the movie the head of Omincorp himself admits that even if the robot officer accidently kills an innocent child, it will feel nothing. This is what leads Omnicorp to put a human in a machine. People just found a human like robot to be more appealing. However, the scientists at Omnicorp face a difficult problem. The Robocop doesn't perform as quickly as a robot. So, Raymond (head of Omnicorp) convinces the head scientist to rid Alex of his feelings to make him a better officer. Later on however, Omnicorp decides to eliminate Alex.
This whole incident, I think, symbolizes the way big and power companies bully workers and other small companies and look only to fill their own bank accounts. The movie also reminds me that although there may be far skillful and smart computers, people want something a warm person rather than a cold and calculating person, even if the later could be smarter or more capable.

Book Review: 먼나라 이웃나라 21세기: 미국

미국에서 태어나고 오래 동안 살았음에도 이 책을 보니 미국에 대해서 내가 잘 알지 못함을 알 수 있었다. 미국에서도 이  책 속의 내용을 배웠었는데 다른 나라의 책이라는 관점으로 미국 역사를 다시 보니 다른 것이 많다. 미국에서 살면서 미국은 정말 대단하고 강하고 좋은 나라라는 선입견이 있었는데 생각이 조금 바뀌었다. 인디언 탄압, 먼로 독트린, 국제 무대 장악 등을 봐서 미국은 건방지지만 강해서 아무도 도전을 못하는 듯하다. 또한 전쟁을 가지고 경제 부응을 한다는 것이 참 부도덕하다는 생각이든다. 그런데 어느 정도 이해는 해야한다고 생각한다. 이 책에 케데디의 말이 하나있었다. 케네디 대통령이 말하기를 미국은 하도 커서 가많이 있기 위해 빨리 움직여야 한다. 그러니까 미국은 경제를 위해서 누군가를 싸워야하고 군수물자 수출로 돈을 벌어야 한다. 그렇지 못하면 힘이 약해질 것이기 때문이다. 그런데 미국이 좋은 나라건 나쁜 나라건, 300년의 짧은 역사에 세계 최강대국이 된 것은 정말 대단한 업적이다. 우리나라도 미국의 끊임 없는 개혁과 열린 자세를 본 받았으면 좋겠다. 

Movie Review: Frozen

My mom had reserved seats for this movie a few days ago telling us that we had to watch this great movie. Although I respected my mom's opinion, I was honestly not cool with the idea of watching what seemed like another princess movie. But then, I remembered the movie Princess Bride from GLPS and decided to watch it.
Here's the trailer:

Frozen is an anamation movie that was released (in Korea) about 2 weeks ago. It was directed by Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee. Despite the asian looking name, Jennifer Lee is actually American. This really reminds me of Mr. Albert Lee from GLPS21.
Anyways, the movie opens with a short episode of Micki mouse. In the cartoon, Micki and his friends rescue Mini, Micki's girl friend, who is captured by some fat dude. While this was happening, the 2D cartoon characters would jump in and out of the screen to become 3D and almost real life characters. Although I was watching the digital version of Frozen, at this short intro cartoon, I almost had the illusion that I was watching 3D and was in the wrong theater room. So, after this came the movie itself.
Here's a short clip of the beginning of this small cartoon unfortunately it doesn't show the most creative and interesting parts.

So, here is the summary of the movie:
(Don't worry because there are no spoilers just things on IMDB): Elsa, princess of Arendell, has a beautiful and dangerous gift. She can make snow and ice at will. After an incident where she almost froze her sister Anna, Elsa isolates herself from everyone to hide what she thinks is her curse. On Elsa's coronation day, the firmly closed doors of Arendell are opened for the first time in many years.  Everything seems good especially for Anna, Elsa's sister.
(Before I go on… Here a comparison of Anna and Rapunzel. Although there are some differences, they do look a little similar)

Anna finally gets to meet real people at a real ball. She even meets Hans, a prince who Anna thinks is her true love. However, things turn bad as Anna triggers Elsa's emotions, causing Elsa to lose control over her ability. Elsa accidentaly makes ice in front of everyone. Her dreaded secret revealed at last, Elsa flees from Arendell, and sets off an eternal winter that even she can't control. Determined to turn things back to normal, Anna embarks on a dangerous journey to find her sister Elsa. On the way she accompanied by Kristoff, a ice seller; Sven, Kristoff's reindeer; and Olaf, a very cute and funny snowman. The four travel through the harsh terrain, hoping to find Elsa and bring an end to the eternal winter magic she set off.

This movie was very surprising and broke the structure and format of the traditional princess movies that Disney usually comes up with. Instead of the traditional prince and princess romance kind of thing, in this movie there was a lot of emphasis on love between family as you can see with Elsa and Anna. Also, there is a big difference especially in the character of the princesses. Back in old times, princesses were like these puny and beautiful women who were basically just sitting there waiting for their true love to rescue them. But, in this movie the princess, especially Anna is a very outgoing and strong person, who actually changes the story. For example in a traditional princess movie, the princess would be in danger and some handsome and strong prince would run off to rescue her. However in this movie it is not the prince who goes looking for Elsa. It is actually the princess (Anna) who goes.  Another aspect of this movie is that it sort of different from old movies is the meaning of love. Although you will find out if you watch the movie, love isn't always what it seems to be... A character I really loved was Olaf, which is the snowman that helps Anna. He was very funny and his jokes often helped me stay focused on some of the "boring" parts of the the movie. It was really funny how a snowman would say that he wanted summer back saying that he wanted to know what the warmth felt like.  There was something I noticed and it was that the trolls from the movie looked sort of like the Jeju Do key chain souvenirs. Here are pictures of each so you can compare them:

There were also a lot of parts, especially in the beginning where the characters would sing. The songs were pretty catchy and at times it was like watching a cartoon musical.
Here's a clip of the song "Let it Go":

The anamations on this movie were also very good. It created a more realistic and artistically beautiful world. Even though it's just snow, the animations made the scenes look really magical.
Here's a picture of the ice castle form the movie. Beautiful, isn't it?:

Anyways this movie really goes outside the box in terms of storyline and characters and this was probably what made the movie interesting. This is (for me) the best animation movie I've ever seen so far. The story wasn't as obvious as the former princess movies like Snow White or whatever and I think it's pretty good. Hopefully I haven't spoiled the movie for you and I do recomend that you watch the movie.

2 words

The end... These are one of my least favorite 2 words. You get that relieved, but sinking feeling inside you, especially if it is the end of a  good movie or book. I have been through many "the ends", such as the Harry Potter series and the Star War saga, but the end of GLPS 21 has so far given me the worst "the end" feeling. Sitting her typing this, I still can't believe that this is the end. A week, or even a day ago, it felt like camp was never going to end.
All our classmates, teachers, roommates, PAs, and TAs that we knew like old friends are now going to part. Although we may still contact each other, we will probably never have another opportunity to study, to debate, and present in front of each other like we did in GLPS. As I said in the beginning, there's a sinking, yet relieved feeling inside me. The heavy burden of history presentations and mock trial is now gone. I feel like I can now breathe in all the clean and fresh air, and can see the true beauty of the school campus. But, with this blissful feeling comes the tremor of uneasiness. Although it was tough at times, I wish (now that it is over) that I could study more here. I guess The only way to do that is to come back. Not as a GLPS camp kid, but as one of the mature and bright KMLA students. It will be harder than anything I have ever done yet, but I feel that I have gotten some courage and motivation. To leave evidence of my determination here, I threw a coin into the fountain in front of the Chungmu building, hoping that 2 years from now I would be able to  retrieve it and buy myself a drink. Although not many of you will read this, I would really like to thank everyone at GLPS. To all the teachers, I would like to say that I am very thankful for all their help and passion. To the PAs and TAs, I want to say thank you for taking care of us and forgiving our wrong doing. Finally, I wish my classmates good luck and hope that we will meet someday in the future. Thank you all for a great GLPS!! I will miss everyone...

Funny Looking Picture

This is a picture-obviously- of Kim Jong En, the current dictator of North Korea. He was ugly even with his normal face, but now that his face is all puffed up like a cheese ball, he looks horrendous. Just attach some snakes on his hair, and make his skin scaly, he could be Medusa's husband.
With a simple deduction from this picture, I think I have found why his face is like that. Just look at the buttons on his coat. As you can see, they all have radioactive signs on them. So, we can assume that because this poor dude ordered so many nuclear tests, even he himself has been nuclear poisoned. As you all know, if you get exposed to too much radiation, it will slowly cook your flesh and make you deformed. Maybe that's why his face is so puffed up. A funny thing I noticed about this picture is that although his face is bigger, his eyes, nose, mouth, eyebrows etc, are still in their regular position. Before I stop, I have a quick "fun" fact. Kim Jong en, actually didn't look like what he does know. It is said that he had plastic surgery done to make him look more like his father, Kim Jong ill.
Here's a comparison of the father and son. The first picture is the Kim Jong en, and the second picture is Kim Jong ill.
Oh, and Kim Jong En. Please don't use my post as an excuse to nuke us and make us get all puffy like you. Thank you!!!!!

           VS            

Diamonte Poem

I finished the photo essay and I was wondering what to do. Flipping through the purple blog book that Ms. Angela gave us at the start of camp, I found a few pages on diamonte poems and decided to do it just for fun. OK, so here it is…
Don't forget that there is an explanation of the poem at the bottom!!!

North

horse and buggy, red

testing, boasting, purging

blood, language, DMZ, Korea 

discovering, studying, developing

intricate, egalitarian

South

Explanation: There might be some words here that you may not have heard of. Let me explain the meaning of each word. Here they are:

1. horse and buggy--- A buggy is basically a wagon with a horse driving it. This is an adjective that means that something is old fashioned like the horse and buggy which    people stopped using after the invention of modern automobiles. I used this adjective because North Korea, as you know is very behind in terms of technology. For example, they're still using weapons from the WWII or Cold   War era.

2. Red--- This is just a word that describes communism. I think that this name stuck because the color red was used extensively by the Soviet Union and China

3. Purging--- This is a verb that means to eliminate someone (usually someone with power) in a violet and sudden way. I chose this word in particular because Kim Jong En, the dictator of North Korea, recently killed Jang Song Taek, one of the highest government officials in the Communist Party. 

4. Intricate--- This is just a word meaning sophisticated and advanced. South Korea has the best internet connections for example

5. Egalitarian--- This is a word that means promoting equal rights for everyone. It has a similar meaning to democratic...









Now, let me explain the words in the middle. Although this was sort of an antonym diamonte poem, I chose 4 things that the North and South have in common such as blood, ancestry, language, the same Korea, the DMZ etc etc.
Also, a notable thing is that the poem sort of looks like the Tae kuk symbol on the S. Korean flag. I hope that one day our country may unite and that we can live without worrying that there might be another war someday.

Thank you for reading!!!!!! This may be my last post so bye!!!