Final Blog

Age?
19

Sex?
Female

What is your degree subject (both if joint)?
Creative and Professional writing and English

Does ‘Being Bad’ relate well to the other modules you are taking?
Not really

If so, how? And if not, why not?
The other modules that I am doing are modules that are teaching you how to do things i.e Writing for Organisations whereas this Being bad is more looking at why we do things.

Have you found ‘Being Bad’ too demanding, too easy, or at an appropriate level?
I have found that it is at an appropriate level.

Do you think the list of topics covered on the module was appropriate?
Yes, I do. Each topic was linked well to being bad.

Are there any topics not included in the module that you would like to see included?
I don't think so.

Do you think that the format for classes has worked well?
I think that the way that the classes have been taught well, however the only problem with the format for the classes is the ignorant people who believe that it is acceptable to talk throughout a lecture making it impossible to hear.

What did you think of the module team?
I think that the module team have all been very good. All of the lecturers knew a lot about the subject that they were talking about and were very informative.

Do you think it would have been better to have had more:
Small group discussions?
Discussion and debate among the class as a whole?
Information and talk from lecturers?
I think that small group discussions may have been a bit embarrassing in certain lectures. I like the way that if you wanted to contribute you could but nobody was forced to.

The approach taken in the module is interdisciplinary (drawing on perspectives from English Literature, Film Studies, Creative Writing, Philosophy, Religious Studies, Media Studies and Politics): do you think this a useful way of approaching the topics covered in the module?
Yes I think that this was a useful way of approaching the topics.

Do you think that interdisciplinary modules are a good idea?
Yes

Do you think you have benefited from the interdisciplinary approach taken in the module?
Yes

Would you like to see more modules that cover this kind of subject matter?
I would like to see more modules that cover this kind of subject matter, because this lecture has been a refreshing change from the other modules that I do.

Are you planning to take the follow-up module PH2004 ‘It Shouldn't Be Allowed’ at level 2?
Yes I have already registered it!

Would you recommend ‘Being Bad’ to a friend?
Yes I would.

Do you think that the blogs (web logs) were a good idea?
Yes I do, it made a change from just writing essays and assignments.

What did you think of the other assessments (e.g. would it be better to have one longer assessment rather than two shorter ones?)?
No I think that it was better to have two shorter assessments, because the work was then spread out over a longer period of time.

What have you learned from the module?
I have learnt a lot about the subjects that we covered such as bandits and Outlaws.

What parts of the module have you found most useful and why?
I found other people's opinions on things helpful as it helped me to think about how to see other people's point of view.

What parts do you think were a waste of time and why?
I didn't think that any part of the module was a waste of time.

Are there any other comments you wish to make regarding ‘Being Bad’?
No


Here is the link to the page where I got this questionnaire from

http://wolf-nt.wlv.ac.uk/common/newframeset.asp?modid=wlv1508

Response to blog

Blogger - Sam Clare

Here is the link to the page - http://samclareph1000.blogspot.com/

I agree with Sam that it is not always wrong to lie! As she explains in some occupations such as lawyers and policeman, important information does have to be withheld. However is withholding information really a lie? If the information is asked for and the police or lawyers claim that they do not have it then it is lying. Whereas if the information is not asked for then they are not but instead just not giving all the facts that they have available to them.

I also agree with Sam that lying to break up with a person is wrong, it is always best to be honest as it is inevitable that you will end up regretting it.

Response to blog

Here is the link to Kylie's blog

http://sexysuperbitch.blogspot.com/

I totally agree with Kylie when she says that when comedy is directed at somebody else's downfall we will laugh, however when the laughter is directed at us it no longer becomes funny. If someone falls over in the street, you wil laugh because it is funny. However if it was you that fell over would you laugh? Probably not!

We all like to laugh at other peoples misforunes whether we admit it or not.

Bad Comedians

Last night's lecture was on bad comedians, I thought that this was one of the best lectures on the module.

I have never before thought about why it is that jokes make us laugh. As discussed in the lecture most if not all comedians swear. This is because swearing is funny, as we are brought up we are told that swearing is bad and wrong and almost a taboo. So it is inevitable that it will make us laugh.

Reactionary comedians tell the jokes that they do because they know that they will make people laugh about there prejudices whether they are subconscious or not.
I personally find subversive comedians funnier as they do not attack people because of their race, nationality or sex. They laugh at themselves which in my opinion is much funnier.

I don't think that we can ever really analyse why a joke makes us laugh, it just does!

Here is a website that is full of jokes

http://www.comedycentral.com/jokes/index.jhtml

Gambling

Gambling is an addiction that has the power to hurt other people.

If someone gambles occasionally then it is not an addiction if they are able to walk away after putting an amount on that they can comfortably afford. However when people put so much money on card games or horses just so that they are able to rec operate the money they have lost, they are addicted and run the risk of hurting the people around them.

In my opinion it is not a problem when nobody is getting hurt but when they are, it is wrong.

http://www.gamcare.org.uk/

Response to Alex B post on Gambling

Here is the link to Alex's page!

http://evilentries.blogspot.com/

I agree with Aleksy that Gambling is almost certainly addictive. I agree that people who gamble are often greedy and overly confident. It is also true that many crime films are based in casino's as they are readily associated with crime and corruption. As Alexsy said Gambling is a very lucrative business with people making a lot of money out of it.

Response to Blair Cummings post on "Kids"

http://blair-beingbad.blogspot.com/

"Whether this would influence people to go out and do these things I would hesitate to agree. Teenagers are known to go and do rebellious acts and even by watching this film, I do not think it would make a difference on any statistic you could attempt to analyse".

I agree with you that the idea that the film "Kids" would influence teenagers to act the same is a bit far fetched. It is too easy these days to blame childrens behaviour on the television programmes that they watch or the games that they play. The film was not meant to teach children how to act or how to be like the children in the film but instead it was meant to shock them and make them realise that they do not want to end up in the same situations.

Lying ..... with integrity?

Is it ever right to lie? That is the question that we looked at in yesterdays lecture.

Some people have very strong views that you should never lie no matter how small the lie is. Some of the people in the class even believed that you should not lie to children about Santa and the tooth fairy.

I think that some lies are not as bad as others, for instance telling a child that Santa brings their presents every Christmas, just allows for a bit of magic to be brought into their lives whilst they are still young enough to enjoy it. This lie does not hurt them in any way, instead it gives them some excitement.

White lies to prevent a person's feelings are also in my eyes alright, if you can conceal the truth and keep them from feeling bad about themselves then that is an advantage to telling the lie.

I don't believe that you should tell lies to your partner whilst you are in a relationship. You will inevitably have to cover the lie with more lies and will dig yourself deeper. In these cases it is always better to tell the truth. If someone had done something wrong and then lied about it to me, I would be even more hurt that they had lied instead of just telling me the truth.

http://www.spectacle.org/0500/lies.html Here is a link to a website that contains an ethical debate about lying.

Response to Catherine Holmes post on smoking

I completely agree with Catherine's view that, we should all have freedom of choice to do what we want. However as she points out this means that as non smokers we also have the right not to have other people's second hand smoke enforced upon us. For example today I stood in Wolverhampton bus station and a man behind me started to smoke, the smoke all drifting in my direction meaning that if I were to breathe (which is sort of essential to help me not die) I had to inhale the smoke as well. This hardly seems fair as I have not chosen to smoke he has, so why was it being forced upon me? I also agree that smoking does not look cool and it also does not look attractive. It is a terrible habit and one that kills people.

Here is a link to Catherine's Blog
http://cat-beingbad.blogspot.com/

Field Trip

I think that we should go and see the that new production play thing that Daniel Radcliffe is in. It has caused a lot of controversy as he appears naked, and some people have said that he shouldn't have done this as he is a star that children like to watch. It seems a more appropriate idea than a theme park which doesn't really have anything to do with our module.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/showbiz/bazbamigboye.html?in_page_id=1794&in_article_id=397961

Here is a link to the Daily Mail website which tells you a bit more about the play.

Is it just me, or is bad behaviour becoming more acceptable?

Is it just me or does it seem that bad behaviour seems to be more acceptable these days?


Maybe I'm just getting old and grumpy, but it seems as though behaviour of children today has deteriorated. I would never have spoken to adults like my younger sisters and cousins do, neither would I have behaved in the manner that they do.


It seems to me that "Being Bad" is the "cool" thing to do today and that children believe that this is the way to become popular, by having no respect for people older than themselves.


Is this lack of respect and rise in bad behavior due to the lack of discipline that parents are allowed to enforce upon their children?


When speaking to older generations who received the cane they firmly believe that it did them no harm, in fact it taught them to have more respect for the people of authority round them.


This brings me to the idea, that perhaps schools and parents are too soft on children today.

If this lack of respect and bad behaviour continues we have to ask ourselves, where will it end?


http://www.crimereduction.gov.uk/asbos/asbos2.htm

Here is a link to an ASBO website that includes the statistics on bad behaviour.

Bad Cinema

Kids caused uproar when it was first released and was instantly set at an 18 rating. The film was also banned in some countries. The director of the film Larry Clark, believed all parents should see the film as a warning to them and that they should make sure that their children weren't doing the same.

Kids is about a young boy named Telly, who's main goal in life is to have sex with as many virgins as possible he claims that he is a "virgin surgeon", he only sleeps with virgins as he believes that he won't catch any STD's from them. It is not long however before one of his "conquests" Jennie realises she has HIV and attempts to track Telly down before he sleeps with any more young girls.

This film shocked me, the girls that Telly was sleeping with were only 12 and 13, they had only just hit puberty and yet he was taking away their virginity. In my opinion it is not right, children of that age having sex. Not only is it illegal but they are also too young to understand that it is something special and not something that should be done to please ignorant, self centred lads like Telly.

Another part of the film that shocked me was the young lads doing drugs, they were damaging there lives at such an early age.

Although Kids was not a real life story it shocks and disgusts me that this sort of behaviour goes on. What happened to the days when children acted like children? Why is it that kids today grow up so fast? Why are they in such a hurry to grow up?

Here is a review of Kids

http://www.film.u-net.com/Movies/Reviews/Kids.html

Body Modifications

Out of all of the lectures that were on the module guide I thought that this lecture would be the least interesting. I was however wrong.

When we were asked, "who has modified there body?" nearly every one in the class put their hands up. A student close to me who had not put his hand up remarked that he could not believe how many people had modified their body, he soon fell from his high horse though when the lecturer explained that something as simple as cutting your hair was modifying your body.

I did not know that tattoos and piercings were used as a way of identity in tribes, and that they see it as racism when someone copies the style of their tattoos.

Some of the piercings were horrible, like the ones where people were suspended from wires by the piercings that they had, had done on their backs.

It was interesting to learn that key figures such as Winston Churchill's mom and the Queen Mother both had tattoos.

I don't think that body modifications are necessarily a bad thing, once again I think that it is down to personal preference.

Here is a link to a website that contains images of tattoos and body piercings along with information about them!

http://www.bmezine.com/

Bandits and Outlaws

When we think of Bandits and Outlaws, we immediately think of fictional characters such as Robin Hood, for many a childhood hero. Someone that people looked up to after all he only stole from the rich right? However from the lecture I learned that this was not always the case, it was only their own community that bandits did not steal from. So it turns out that Robin Hood and other bandits were not exactly the good guys that the films and television programmes portray them as. It both shocks and amazes me that behaviour such as this has been glorified, when really these bandits and outlaws such as Ned Kelly and Jesse James are killers.

Here is a link to a website that tells you all about the notorious Australian Outlaw Ned Kelly.

http://www.ironoutlaw.com/

Introductory Lecture

During our introductory lecture, we were asked what we thought being bad was. It soon became apparent from the conversations, that everyone had a different view on what being bad actually is (although nearly everyone however agreed that revenge was a good thing). During the following weeks lectures we will have to look at some quite controversial topics such as smoking, infidelity and masturbation. All of these topics will be viewed differently by people and that is what makes this module so interesting, hear other peoples views and topics on subjects.

I have included the picture of Stewie from Family Guy, because as everyone who watches it knows he is very BAD.

Being too religious?

Religion has a huge influence on some people's lives, whereas it has none on others. It is a difficult question as to what is too religious. When Thursdays lecture was begun with a prayer, I was completely confused. I suppose in some ways I thought "why is this man forcing his beliefs upon us by making us listen to him prey?". I am not a religious person, but that does not mean that I think it is wrong for other people to be. Everyone is entitled to their own beliefs, but that does not however mean that people can force upon me their beliefs and preach at me because I am not religious. When someone looks down other people because of their beliefs, this for me is being too religious.

Here is a website that explains about religion and the origins of it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion

Infidelity

It was interesting to discover in the lecture, what other people in our class perceived as infidelity. As with all of the topics that we have covered so far in this module, infidelity is another topic that is not just black and white.

The broad spectrum of what people believed infidelity was surprised me. Some people believed that looking at another person whilst in a relationship was infidelity whereas others believed that it was only infidelity if you had sex with another person whilst in a relationship.

One of the articles that we looked at in class, was about a woman who committed adultery because she had not had sex with her husband for years. Although yes she may have been frustrated the correct thing to do, would have been to split up with her husband first!

Here is a link to a website that has some quick facts about infidelity

http://www.family.org/marriage/A000001115.cfm

Masturbation

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Smoking .... don't even get me started!

If someone was to ask me what I hated most in the world, it would have to be smoking or spiders but for the purpose of this blog we'll say I answer smoking.
There is nothing worse than sitting in a bar or standing waiting for a bus with someone smoking nearby. Not only do your clothes then stink when you get home the smoke also chokes you (well it does me).
Whats that I hear? ..... All smokers argueing that they have the right to smoke when and where they please, well fine but why should us non smokers not have the right to stop us being forced by other people to inhale their dirty filthy smoke?
The other thing that I do not get (maybe its just me) is how can smoking be considered as sexy? It is vile and not only that it makes you smell horrible!

I think that my rant about smoking is over for now!

I have included a link to the Wikipedia website that gives information about the smoking ban

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoking_ban

Being Bad - What do you think?

Is shoplifting any different to any other kind of theft?
Shoplifting is still theft, taking things that do not belong to you. Although it does not hurt people as burglaries or mugging does, that still does not make it right.

Why do people who can afford to buy things shoplift them instead?
People who can afford to buy things and yet still steal them do it for the excitment, the rush that it gives them. In the case of some people it could be that they are acting in this way to get attention, it is almost as though they want to get caught so that somebody will pay them some attention.

Is it prostitution to take money from someone who is expecting sex, but then not to supply it?
In some ways I believe that it is prostitution as the woman has still put a value on herself, and this is not right. However, if she does not have sex with the man and just takes his money is that not just theft?

When does a concerned interest in someone's activities become stalking?
I think that accessing someone's private emails and accounts is bordering on the edge of stalking, it is wrong that someone should read private information that was not intended for them.