Renata Salecl and George Takei

    The two speeches I chose to blog about are Our Unhealthy Obsession with Choice presented by Renata Salecl and Why I Love a Country that Once Betrayed Me presented by George Takei. The first speech was okay, the main point is that we are so worried about our own future that we make choices that hurt our society as a whole. The second the speech was a wonderful speech, the main point was how George’s love for our country came from a very horrible act that America committed. They both did better than I will probably ever do, but George did a better job than Renata in my opinion.

    Renata had some very positive aspects presenting her speech. She had a very strong introduction, creatively highlighting what she was going to be discussing in her lecture time. She used stories to keep the audience attention because they could relate to it. She makes pretty good eye contact with the audience and had a good conclusion that tied her points together. On the flip side she swayed a lot while she spoke, making it really difficult to watch her. It was almost overwhelming. She also didn’t have very decisive movements with her hands…sometimes it seemed she was just moving, to move. Not to emphasis points or keep audience attention. The body was also unclear. It seemed to be a lot of filler to use the time given to her…kinda like this blog post.  In the future, I feel Renata needs to work on her body language, so that her audience will focus on the information and not her constant movements. She should also work on the ‘meat’ of her speech, so that her point is noticed before her conclusion.  

     George on the other hand did a wonderful job, probably because he is an actor and trained to do monologues. His introduction was immediately engaging and began the extremely vivid language he uses throughout the speech. He does stand in one place, but when he does move it is decisive and emphasis his points. He doesn’t use any visual aid, but the vividness of his language made it unnecessary to use one. The body of his speech was also very clear, easy to follow and to understand how he was tying the details into a bigger picture. His conclusion was also very strong and highlighted the points made in his speech again. The only problems I saw in his speech where the random pauses he has while he is speaking, and how he would begin a word then switch to a different one. I’m sure these were ways he avoided filler words such as ‘umm’ and ‘like’. However, it confused me at certain times and I thought my computer was messing up. It also called his confidence into question at times. To improve in the future all I think he needs to do is practice his speech a little more to avoid these problem. 

http://www.ted.com/talks/renata_salecl_our_unhealthy_obsession_with_choice#t-786762

http://www.ted.com/talks/george_takei_why_i_love_a_country_that_once_betrayed_me

'Leaked' Nude Celebrity Photos

I could honestly hug Scott Mendelson for writing his piece Jennifer Lawrence Nude Photo Leak Isn't A 'Scandal.' It's A Sex Crime. His article discusses how the 'leaking' of these photos are a crime because they were stolen, not accidentally posted on social media. Leaked is a passive word used by mainstream media to divert the guilt of the individual who stole the photos of these women, and shame the victims for taking/letting these photos get into the public sphere. It may seem silly, but word choice can really effect the way we as the reader interpret the the story. An example would be if I wrote that personal celebrity photos have been stolen, compared to nude celebrity photos have been leaked. In essence I'm saying the same thing, but my choice in words change the way the reader feels or understands the story.
Scott Mendelson did a wonderful job telling, in my opinion, the true story. He discusses how everyone has the right to privacy. Whether in the home or in their storage files on their computers. These women didn't post these pictures on a social media site, it appears they were never intended for public use. Yet, we don't shame the thief who stole them. Instead we, as a society, blame the victims for what happened. How dare these beautiful women take naked photos of themselves and let them get stolen. I agree with Mendelson, that attitude toward the situation is absurd. The blame lays wholly on the thief. Pure and simple.
Again I want to applauded Mr. Mendelson for writing this piece. I can't get over how refreshing it is to read a piece that calls out mainstream media for the way they are reporting this crime  and discusses how this crime isn't the victims fault. We all have the right to privacy, and when that right is violated it is the fault of the person who violated it...not the victims. Also, these photos weren't leaked, and this isn't a scandal. They were stole and posted on sites against these women's wishes, making it a sex crime.