My Mr. Nate Chinen Rxn

SO, first, I was impressed with Mr. Chinen's chapel speech because it was 1) funny/informal/nice typical non ancient Iolani alum plus 2) informative, deep, and slightly poetic? The "listen" part was very deep; I agree listening gets one a long way in life. Plus, I wish more people were more respectful in chapel so hopefully THEY were listening.

Next, I'm just a little saddened at our unusual lack of discussion in class. I love our class discussions because our class tends to bring all these different deep insightful ideas that clash and mesh to form new ideas, etc., but today, we were all tired and lazy from the mix of extended and first thing in the morning (?) I suppose. Plus, I will admit, I was a little intimidated by Mr. Chinen's pro-critic status... I didn't really want to sound stupid as he already has his professional NY Times worthy opinion (not that my opinion isn't just as important but you know...)

However, I am not of deep thought, and as our class warmed up to him, I learned a lot about the tricky media and just listening to songs in general. I am victim to the if it's catchy I don't really care what it's saying illness, but I wonder now what exactly I'm promoting/supporting. From now on, I hope to judge a little harder and pick my tunes a little more carefully.

I am also thankful for Mr. Chinen's presentation because I learned more about the Hollywood news I barely pay attention to. I am also left with a lot of unanswered questions especially about domestic violence, but I will continue to keep my eyes and ears open as well as my mind to eventually grasp the whole picture. In fact, I just read on the internet (not 10 minutes ago) Rihanna's coming out with the Chris Brown abuse story. I'm glad she sees how her decision keeps women moving in the wrong direction rights wise. I will try to continue to support her, and I hope Chris Brown learns you cannot mess with a woman and hope to cover it up with some cutsey songs without some hardcore humbling involved.

Overall, I am going to pay more attention to the music I listen to as well as the world around me, media and world wide. I would also like to keep gathering knowledge on domestic violence because I have been close to some cases and would like to continue formulating the whole picture before judging. Thanks to Mr. Chinen for some eye opening info and some new ideas to mull around in my head!