TOW #10 Image Psycho-Pass Episode 11

Though this isn't so much a standalone picture, I deemed this specific screenshot of the animated sci-fi dystopian series Psycho-Pass to hold enough symbolic value and depth to be analyzed in this week's TOW. In this picture, the gun in the woman's left hand has the ability to measure the likelihood of a person committing a crime, in her right hand is a standard rifle. This scene symbolizes the capacity of human morality and judgement vs the defined social ethics defined by society. The gun in this police officer's left hand is symbolic of the judgement of society. In this show's scene, a terrorist/kidnapper/murderer, has been incorrectly deemed to not be a latent criminal and as such the trigger has automatically locked itself. However, the officer, who has seen this man commit his crimes, is now confused. The police force has not used their own individual discretion to judge a person's capacity for commiting a crime in what is assumed to be several generations. The woman must do her job and subdue the criminal, and tries to use her own judgment, as symbolized by the manual, more archaic rifle. However, she is clearly holding the rifle (a two handed weapon) with a single hand, while her other is preoccupied with the other currently locked and useless gun, representing her uncomfort and outright refusal to abandon the judgment of society she has relied on for so long. As a result, she misses her shot with the rifle entirely and fails to capture the villain right in front of her. By using the two guns, this scene acts as a commentary on people's morality and their expression of judgement, saying that our decision making and ideas of morality are shaped by our society around us and as a result, a clear injustice or wrongdoing  may be in front of us may never be put to justice because people are too preoccupied with their society's view on something rather than one's personal discretion.

IRB #2 The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World

The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World I found this book after googling, "funny nonfiction books" and clicking "related" after seeing Eats Shoots and Leaves as one of the suggested books. I read the synopsis and now I want to read it. Also the amazon reviews were positive. I have no further context. Should be fun.

Tow #9 God unable to Remember what year humanity goes extinct ()

This piece is a commentary on the arbitrary fear of the world ending. There have been many occasions such as 2009, and 2012 specifically in which groups of people have made predictions as to judgement day or the end of the Mayan calendar, but almost all reasons for the Apocalypse are based on some sort of divine intervention. The text states, "Dammit, when are [the humans] supposed to die again?" showing the ridiculousness of the situation. The fact that the all-knowing God has forgotten something is showing the asinine nature of all the people dying. He starts to throw out random dates in an attempt to remember but fails. Then, at the end, God had "Scrapped all former plans and just slated the mass extinction for next week." This arbitrary sentence represents the ethos of other theories of the Apocalypse, Ragnarok, Armageddon, etc. happening in a few years, or even months.

TOW Week 8 (Visual Text)

The image I have found has a very profound view on the way people perceive the value of individual human lives. By using a a nighttime backdrop, the eyes notice the ipads in the foreground, with its two messages: One Dies, millions cry, and Millions die, no one cries. The image serves a commentary on the self-absorbed nature of society. By using the famous figure Steve Jobs, and the entire nation of Africa, the artist is able to represent how despite society trying to wholesomely believe in the notion that all lives are equal, is lying to itself. It weighs the influence of a single man over the millions that we should be supporting in Africa.  Using such a stark difference in subjects, but making them commonplace enough, makes this image very shocking and revealing to people who look at it. It's also devoid of any people, but is in a clearly man-made structured area. This may be to give the image a very impersonal, and cold look. It wants to make the audience feel bad about themselves. This images purpose is to spread a message to the people in society who fail to realize their own hypocrisy. It's appeal to pathos and in a way logos, makes this image an effective commentary,