Finally Banning Slavery?

       148 years after the 13^th Amendment was ratified by most states in the US, lawmakers in the Mississippi watched the movie “Lincoln”. After seeing the movie, these lawmakers looked up historical accounts of Mississippi’s 13^th amendment. Lawmakers soon realized that the amendment was ratified after three-fourths of the states backed it in 1865. However, Mississippi was among the states that rejected the 13^th amendment. In 1995 lawmakers voted to get the amendment ratified. But the problem was the state never sent official word to the U.S. archivist, and therefore the ratification was never recorded.  

     How can we avoid situations like this in the future? Is it too hard to ratify the constitution in the United States? How can we, the United States, make it so important amendments, like the 13^th amendment, is ratified by all states?

How do Super Bowl Ads Define Us?

I am always very excited to watch the commercials, sometimes even more excited than I am to watch the game (unless, of course, the bears are playing in the game). In the past, I haven’t paid much attention to each commercial, but this year was different. I looked at each commercial with a different perspective than normal and was surprised at what I noticed.

The commercials, as usual, were very entertaining. However, the types of products were advertised was very interesting to me. Most of the commercials advertised are for beer, cars, and chips. So, what does that say about our society as a whole?

Take for example this Godaddy.com (To watch click here)  commercial with Bar Refaeli. Immediately, this commercial grabs the attention of millions of viewers by using Bar Refaeli as the star of the commercial, a very “desirable” woman. Even more so, the commercial shows Refaeli passionately kissing a “nerd”.  This commercial sparked a ton of reactions on twitter and other social media websites. But, what does this say about the United States? That we are a sex-driven culture?

           Another example is the Audi Commercial, which we recently discussed in our American Studies Class. (To watch click here) The commercial shows an unhappy teenage boy who has to go to prom alone, but is totally transformed when the dad gives him keys to his new Audi. With the Audi, the boy excretes confidence, and walks into prom and “steals a kiss” from the prom queen. Stop. Right there. Is this commercial promoting that if you have a fancy car, you can “steal” a kiss from an attractive girl, that, because you have an expensive car, that you have the power to take something from a woman? The commercial continues when the boy drives home from prom, a black eye that was given to him by the prom king, letting out a loud scream, and ending with blackness and the caption “ Bravery is what defines us”. But, what does that mean?What does this say about American culture? That cars are what define us? That cars are what makes us brave?

        How do you think Super Bowl Ads define us, the United States? Do you think, after close scrutiny, super bowl ads promote positive or negative messages?