In the article "Children of the Screen" by Hannah Baylon, it seems as though she is arguing that we are all influenced by pop culture, and in so doing we lose our sense of individuality. Personally, I do believe we are all children of the screen. It’s inevitable these days. No matter what we do, in some way we will be influenced by the media. It comes out in what we wear, what we buy, even how we decorate our homes. No one can live a life that is completely media free.

However, I must disagree with her statements "A negligible fraction of today’s society is free to explore and nurture their creative potentials," and "While watching television may seem a harmless break from the duties and routines of our daily lives, there is a higher cost to the consumer than is purely financial." I believe that there can be harmful effects of watching television, but there are some benefits. I also don’t believe that only a small portion of society is free to be creative. Look at it this way, without television or video games, sure people would be more active. But, for those who actually created those shows, movies, and games it’s a loss. That was their creative expression. The media allows so many opportunities for people to get out there and create a work of art.

A movie can have a positive effect upon a person. It’s not exactly detrimental to our health if we watch a few. Everyone is still "free to explore and nurture their creative potentials". No on is stopping that. It’s up to us what we choose to do. Whether or not we take the opportunity to do so is our own fault. Taking away the media wouldn’t change a thing, except taking away the creativity of the actors, screen wrights, directors, musicians, etc. Just because someone takes four hours out of their day to watch television, doesn’t meant that if it wasn’t there they’d be doing something extraordinary. The ambitious are the ones who will be creative. The media can’t take that away from them.

And I have to say, in her final paragraph she is a tad bit dramatic. We will not be spiritless just because we are influenced by the media. I think the article does have a point, but to say that all media is negative, I just can’t agree. Take, for example, the history channel. That’s an excellent way for people to learn who really won’t pick up a book. It’s probably more beneficial to read the book, but visual aid can’t hurt. And when she discusses the Darwinism take on the matter and our adaptation to our environments, I must say we’ve created an environment that has adapted to us, I think the key word being "created". We haven’t lost our sense of creativity. Some people just choose not to use it.

The Picture of Dorian Gray tells the story of a man who basically sells his soul to stay forever young. Through a portrait of himself, you can see who he really is and who he has become. As time passes, and his appearance stays the same, his soul becomes more corrupt and ugly. Eventually, the people around him begin committing suicide because of his actions and he even kills the painter of the particular portrait after showing him what has become of it. At the end, only one person is spared from Dorian’s ways and that is Gladys, the niece of the painter, whom he loves. After his one good deed is done, he then stabs the painting in the heart, thus killing himself. The portrait then returns to its original state, transferring all the wickedness onto Dorian himself, showing who he really is. I believe, throughout all of this, the message of the story is to not judge a person by his looks alone. Dorian Gray was a handsome man, but he was corrupt. So little of his friends realized this before it was too late.

Perhaps my favorite scene was in the beginning when Lord Henry Wotton captures the butterfly. The painting has just been finished and Basil and Gladys have just signed the portrait at the bottom. Lord Henry begins talking about how much a shame it is that the portrait will go on staying young forever, while Dorian himself, as well as the rest of them, will age with time. They will all begin to look different. Gladys then begs him not to change until she catches up with him. I find this ironic, because indeed he does not change by the time she reaches his age. While all this is happening, Lord Henry gets slightly distracted by a butterfly and captures it with his hat. He then puts it in some solution, which I can only guess traps the poor thing forever making it a souvenir. The butterfly then will be entrapped at that stage of its life. It’s in this scene that Dorian also makes his wish to basically trade places with the portrait so that it should age, instead of himself. He doesn’t realize it then, but his wish does come true. It’s this particular scene that sets the fate of Dorian and most of the other characters in the film.

That scene, even before I saw the rest of the movie, I knew would be my favorite. I think the symbolism of the butterfly is what did it for me. This beautiful creature would eventually cease to be, but Lord Henry captures it and in so doing, keeps it at that particular moment. It will be that beautiful thing forever. I think the other great thing about the fact that it is Lord Henry who captures the butterfly is he is the one who sets it in Dorian’s mind that youth slips away even before we realize we had it. But when he actually captures the butterfly, he’s so nonchalant when he says he caught it, as if it was no big deal. But in all actuality it was so significant to what happens to Dorian. Dorian is to be like that butterfly; stuck at one age, retaining all his youth and beauty. But, unlike the butterfly, Dorian’s beauty is only an illusion.

Who is that Person?

It took me a little while to determine the gender of this figure. You may argue that it is male or female, but I perceive this particular painting to be a woman, based on her very slender hands. I chose this portrait, because I think her expression can deceive people. When I first looked at her face I believed her to be sad or depressed. Her eyebrows are raised in the middle creating a crease in her forehead and her lips are slightly pursed giving her this slight pout. Trying to put an explanation behind the depressed appearance, I thought because this person is an elder it may have something to do with a lack of youth, as if she was finally defeated and age got the best of her. Her life was slowly coming to a halt and there wasn’t much left. Or that’s what I thought at first.

After looking at her face a little more in depth I noticed her eyes and stopped looking so much at the brow and the pursed lips. Her eyes definitely weren’t melancholy. Well, not for herself at least. They have a certain sternness that is recognizable in any parent or guardian when their child has acted out or gone against their will. Acknowledging her slouched posture and limp hands, she still seemed slightly defeated to me, however her defeat isn’t centered around herself. This is a portrait of a woman who is wise and cares for others.

I think the main reason her face is set the way it has been is because of what she does know. She knows too much for those she cares about, but there is nothing she can do to help them. She seems disappointed, possibly because of lack of respect the younger generation may have or because she’s not being accounted for by them. Her goal would be to help them to learn how to be a good person and how not to take life for granted, but each and every day she sees it happen. Her age is very apparent, but younger people don’t realize that every day they are getting older. This is something that she knows very well and only wishes they would see this as well.

This portrait reminds me of those elderly who truly are taken for granted every day. This is every person’s grandparent. The one who tries their hardest to make sure that you are raised right, live a good life, and make the right decision. But this is also the grandparent that sees the same child disappoint them. It doesn’t make them angry so much as it just upsets them. As every grandparent wishes and hopes for the best, they generally never expect to see themselves become disappointed as this one is. This face, to me, goes right along with someone saying " I love you, but you need to get your life together," or even "You’re better than this." Either one, the look on this woman’s face is not a sadness for herself, it’s definitely directed at a loved one.