Typecasting

As of April 6, I started a boycott of the music industry.

I don't think I will boycott, but I will definitely be skeptical towards another industry I despise: Hollywood.

I saw The Forbidden Kingdom last weekend, an action film starring Jackie Chan and Jet Li. I expected them to be the protagonists, but instead it was some dumb white kid. He ruined the movie for me! The action sequences were great, because he got owned and the Chinese people owned, but the story revolved around him. This was a problem since he's a dick. Another movie that I haven't seen because I'm boycotting is 21. It's the story of Chinese American MIT student Jeff Ma, but they hired a white British guy. The story of a mostly-Asian blackjack team became the story of a white-dominated team. "There are Asians in the movie," people tell me. Fair enough, there are two Asians, even though neither has a serious role in the movie.

That's the problem, apparently. American people don't want to see minorities taking on serious roles. Another, less reasonable, argument is that there aren't enough minorities in Hollywood to cast serious roles. That's total bullshit, and it's a terrible way to justify racist casting.

Look at it this way. 30 Rock is a great show, and in it, Tina Fey satirizes show business. One recurring issue is that, as a brunette, she can't be an actress. Only blondes can.

The problem is you need serious actors in order to establish a precedent. You need a precedent in order to disrupt racist casting. But you need to disrupt racist casting in order to hire serious actors. What Hollywood is doing right now is refusing to give the minority actors their opportunity. They subsequently get roles that hardly anyone can take seriously, thus perpetuating the cycle.

I don't know what can be done. But I do know that I would love to see some casting with a hero that's NOT white, or a black guy that does NOT die or go to jail.

FIGHT TYPECASTING AND RACISM

More fair comparison

I can't go to HMC prefrosh because it's the first two days back from school, and that'd suck. I wish they planned it better...
Still, I feel compelled to, in light of more information, reconsider yet again.
Pros of Caltech:

• The name--I'll get better jobs and grad school opportunities
• The location--Pasadena has lots of character, very unique
• The housing--Houses instead of dorms, lots and lots of character, strong unity
• The research--research programs encouraged for literally all students
• The size--small so I'll know almost everyone
• The pranks--fun stuff
• The building--even more fun stuff

Pros of HMC:

• The location--Claremont is gorgeous and HMC is adjacent to other schools
• The consortium--great classes in pure sciences and liberal arts at other schools
• The profs--Mudd profs are education-driven
  
• The housing--guaranteed, with some of culture in each
• The music--CS prof Keller owns at trumpet
• The research--research programs encouraged for upperclassmen
• The name--HMC is recognized as a serious undergrad school
• The bread--College would be $40K cheaper

Cons of Caltech:

• The chicks--they really weren't exaggerating
• The difficulty--I can't get below a 3.0!!!!
• The music--the director is better than A but still...
• The profs--except for FEYNMAN, they're mostly research-oriented and not really that helpful
  

Cons of HMC:

• The name--nobody knows it outside of jobs and stuff
  
• The peers--half of them have the merit scholarship, but nearly all Techers qualified
  
• The pranks--not as many
  

That's all for now... Goddamn I hate being indecisive

Unfair Comparison

To be fair, I won't decide between HMC and Caltech for a little while longer; maybe I'll do an overnight at HMC.
But since prefrosh weekend was an intense orientation, I feel compelled to write a comparison.
Pros of Caltech:

• The name--I'll get better jobs and grad school opportunities
• The location--Pasadena has lots of character, very unique
• The housing--Houses instead of dorms, lots and lots of character, strong unity
• The profs--more research-driven profs can be helpful
• The research--research programs encouraged for literally all students
• The size--small so I'll know almost everyone
• The pranks--fun stuff
• The building--even more fun stuff
• FEYNMAN IS GOD!!
  

Pros of HMC:

• The location--Claremont is gorgeous and HMC is adjacent to other schools
• The consortium--great classes in pure sciences and liberal arts at other schools
  
• The housing--guaranteed, with a bit of culture to each
• The music--CS prof Keller owns at trumpet
• The research--research programs encouraged for upperclassmen
• The name--HMC is recognized as a serious undergrad school
• The bread--College would be $40K cheaper

Cons of Caltech:

• The chicks--they really weren't exaggerating
• The difficulty--I can't get below a 3.0!!!!
• Music program is sort of weak
  

Cons of HMC:

• No respect
• Peers not as crazy geniuses
• Not as much pranks or fun stuff

That's all for now... I should do an overnight at HMC but after Caltech's prefrosh, I don't think it could change my mind...

Ignorance!!

Goddamn ign'ance! I hate how when we're getting our decisions in and now we have to decide where to go, people are trying to draw me away from my dream school.
Misconceptions about my dream school:

• Caltech students are nerdier than MIT students
• Wrong! Techers party more than MIT kids. It's a fact!
• Caltech is unknown outside science and technology
• True, but so is every school. People who don't know Caltech won't know the Indian Institutes of Technology or Carnegie Mellon or places like those.
• Caltech girls are the ugly
• Fair enough, they're not the most beautiful. But you can't say Stanford or Cal girls are any better.
• The guy:girl ratio is 4:1
• It's 2:1, but half the guys are antisocial anyways, so I don't have to worry.
• Caltech parties suck
• Techers have a reputation for going all out on parties, building elaborate sets like a Russian nuclear sub or a pirate ship to make each party unforgettable.
• Caltech education undermines humanities
• Of course it does, seeing as it's an institute of TECHNOLOGY. But I actually downloaded the free textbook of an Econ prof there, and I love it. I look forward to enrolling in his class.
• Pasadena is a boring town.
• Anyone who says this has never been there.
• Everyone at Caltech is exactly like me
• Anyone who says this is clearly an idiot! How can that be possible?

And if people still don't believe me, I found some quotes!

"People think that we're all nerds who sit and our computers all day or run around in lab coats. Some people might fit this description, but, other than the level of intensity we face in our coursework, we're just like any other school. Whatever our extracurricular activities, Techers are very intense. We're athletes, artists, musicians, poker players, party animals, and everything else in between."

"There's also a really great movie theater called Reel Pizza that serves really good pizza and tons of food beyond your typical candy and popcorn. The theater has couches, and it's also much cheaper than multiplexes. Sometimes, they show Hollywood blockbusters, but mostly it's offbeat and interesting films."

"Ditch Day is the best event of the year. It's a day when the senior class originally used to cut class and go to the beach. Now, underclassmen attempt to break into seniors' rooms and seniors endeavor to keep them out though various constructions, scavenger hunts, projects, and other challenges. It's a lot of fun!"

There you have it, and if you still don't believe me:
http://www.hackcollege.com/2007/01/15/interhouse-at-caltech/
Check it out!