caught in a landslide, no escape from reality

I don't think the news media is challenging our political leaders in any aspect. It seems like the more opportunities they have the less they deem fit to say anything to the contrary.
In a way, I understand how frightening it could be to challenge power, but didn't they know that risk of controversy was a part of journalism? Well behaved people seldom make history, after all. Journalists are supposed to ruffle some feathers in order to get to the truth. The best example of the ease of journalists creating difficult situations is during the last presidential campaign. There were many times when the news media should have taken their time to question the two candidates who were running to lead our country, yet they never got to the bottom of anything.
Particularly during one of the first debates between (at the time) nominees Donald Trump and Hilary Clinton, Matt Lauer (a popular NBC News journalist), was tasked with properly questioning the two candidates in order to determine their worthiness of leading our country. As mentioned in this article from the New York Times, Lauer failed multiple times to properly question and correct inaccuracies spewed by the candidates. He was seen as going "too soft" and not having any journalist integrity.
Recently, our new President has declared the media (the whole media umbrella?!) "the enemy of the people." President Trump and his administration has been caught in a web of lies that continue to grow every passing day. Why does our leader only want us to believe the White House without questioning? I think he believes we are all mindless robots that only need him as our ultimate power source, and that is not the case. We are the people that are supposed to question and find the truth. The news media should be the people we trust to help us uncover the truth and not cover up inaccurate information.

gunning for violence

I don't want to be that old lady that rants about guns and video games but it is hard not to see the impact games like that have. I see it all the time, especially recently, how we need guns "like in those games!" to "take care" of people once and for all. This is coming from people I've known for years, friends who I would normally not think of as "gun people" but lately it's been different. Every once in a while I hear about how they think if they had this gun or that gun like they see in video games and movies it would all be different. They would all be the hero. I think thats the root of the issue. The heroes always have weapons, giant guns or even bazookas, something so over the top and idiotic. In this article about the popularity of video games from the Huffington Post by Greg Perreault, he talks about how "games also give us the ability to take risks that seem real without real world consequences." I think this is a more plausible reason for the increase of violence in video games, people enjoy the freedom that video games give them, like an alternate reality. In that world, you can be kill and be cruel and violent and still be the hero in the end. Video game companies are in it for the money, just like everyone else. And if everyone wants to be the hero, regardless of morals, why not let them have that chance? I think we should be worried about how violent video games are becoming but I don't want games to just be taken away. I don't think just banning games would be helpful but I also don't know how to make it so they aren't just full of senseless violence. I have played games with wonderful story lines that have included violent tendencies, so I don't know how to keep the strong stories but change the violence. What would be a good way to even begin a conversation about violence in video games without starting a war like the how NRA is with their guns?

fight or fight, there is no flight

When I think of the term "happy violence" I think of movies that I have enjoyed immensely over the years. The super hero movies that I love like Iron Man and X-Men are full of violence that end in a semi-happy ending, or at least happier then before. Inglorious Basterds and Django Unchained are both movies that also have many moments of violence (sometimes even grotesque) but in the end it is all for the good of the heroes in the film.
I think violence in films and tv shows and even in the books I read are just realistic. There is violence in every day life, whether it be things that happen on the news or our neighborhood kids getting into fights. However, violence like the "happy violence" that happens in the movies I mentioned are "extra." Though historically "scalp hunting" like in Inglorious Basterds did occur, it is another feeling entirely when seeing a realistic depiction of a scalping on your screen. Is it possible to achieve the same level of disgust for the villains of the movie without being so bloody and violent? I'm not sure. Even as I'm typing this, I can't shake how much I enjoy those films and how satisfactory the last bit of violence against the villains really are.

game of throne spoilers

I watch a lot of television shows and films. When I watch I never think of who is behind the whole production. I never think of "the man" that is behind it all. When watching new shows or films all that is really going through my head is if I love it or hate it.
One of my favorite shows on television right now is Game of Thrones. Ben Wyatt (Parks and Recreation character/fan) describes it perfectly, "it's a crossover hit. It's not just for fantasy enthusiasts, they're telling human stories in a fantasy world." It's one of the most talked about shows because it has so much going on in any given episode. Favorite characters are never safe and people love that unpredictable thrill.
On freepress.net it shows that HBO is owned by Time Warner Inc. It's not too surprising because I have always known that Time Warner is huge and owns a ton of networks. It is surprising that they own HBO along with websites like TMZ.com (which is cyber garbage) and magazines like People and InStyle (which are waste of paper). How can Time Warner have great shows on HBO and Cartoon Network and then go around and release trashy fake news on People and InStyle? I know it's all for the money, but can't they have some integrity with their products?