Proud Blonde!

God is Alive by Leonard Cohen is the story of the never-ending fight of religion vs. the temptations of the devil. Magic is the best trick of the devil, in my opinion, because it is the best imitation of the power of the Holy Spirit. In the bible story of The Plagues of Egypt, the Pharaoh’s sorcerers tried to replicate the miracles performed by Moses and Aaron, and with their limited success, swayed many believers. Though Moses and Aaron did get the Israelite slaves out of Egypt, not before a very strong showing of the devil through magic. The Holy Spirit will not be out-powered, but the human spirit is easily strayed and the Holy Spirit cannot always revert them back.

The comparison of God and magic in Leonard Cohen’s poem is a comparison of exact opposites, the truth of the Christians to the tricks of the devil. God is not big-headed or showy; he does not have the bold, creative proof that he exists. The devil takes advantage of the pleasure-seeking people by showy events like magic, giving people on the wrong path the ability to believe that everything they need is here on earth. The repetition and reversal of magic and God in the poem shows how easily people are confused and swayed on the paths they take, the devil is the master of persuasion. The rhythm of the poem shows the constant exchange between followers of God and the victims of the devil. No one can stay on one path for very long because the world is so full of both views. I go to church but I also enjoy watching magicians, I pray before bed but I also enjoy the warm house and bed I have. With so many delusions and temptations in our world today, it is not easy for anyone to devote themselves to one cause, and one cause only. I do my best to follow Jesus’ example, especially during this season, but it is a good thing God is so forgiving.

Cohen spins this poem through a confusing array of words and stanzas, never really giving the reader a chance to understand until they have read it 4 or 5 times. The confusion adds to the dramatics of the poem, the rushed and tangled words are wrote in a way to confuse me, the reader, so that I must look deeper into the poem to find the meaning. I am glad I read this poem because it really made me look at the world through knowing eyes, so I can see the tricks of the devil and the graces of God. I can see how to be a better child, student, sibling, and friend with these knowing eyes. God is Alive.

It takes someone with determination, self-respect, and a willing attitude to fightback when it feels like the whole world is against you. Someone with a personality that can brush off the harsh comments and continue on their path through life, no matter how tough it gets, will earn respect and admiration. Learning from mistakes of others as well as their own, pushing forward through the controversy of every day universal disputes, and never letting anyone tell them what they can or can’t do. The role models of today’s world should not have to be adults or famous figures, they should be the teenagers,the ones who are degraded and forced onto paths they would not or do not chose for themselves.

I am not saying that teenagers are the only ones who are pushed in ways that are unfair or the only ones who deserve to be recognized as role models, but they are the most underestimated and underutilized assets to today’s society. I had the experience of a lifetime this past summer to go to a student leadership conference, a gathering of teenagers who are tomorrow’s leaders, but should also be today’s. At this conference, I met some of the most inspiring people in my life, and they are teenagers. I have never met people so secure about themselves and so willing to be themselves with complete strangers. Most adults today are mere shadows of their bosses or parents on TV shows. If the world could take advantage of this, the adaptation of some teenagers to the media, we could drastically diminish some of today’s biggest problems, like drug and alcohol abuse as well as physical and mental disorders. Teenagers at the conference spoke to me in words louder and clearer than any politicians’ or parents’ voices. No, we can’t claim to have all the answers, but we see the world from a much less biased point of view than most adults. Teens that have adjusted to the projected, impossible perfection are the ideal role models, because they know what they are ’supposed’ to be, but go against it all. Role models should not be classified as older generations, because these teens I met are exactly who I want to be. They are the most real people I have ever met, they are not computer generated or a sculpture of their parents and teachers.

So adults have the years of experience and the “we’ve all been there before” attitude, but do they really understand what we are going through? Their generation matured with the “ten miles to school, barefoot, in the snow, uphill, both ways”mentality, and can’t understand why teenagers today think they are any different. Well the honest truth is, we are very different. We are judged if we don’t have brand new cars at 16 or brand name shoes on our feet. Our relations to one another, our views on the world, and even our families are stressed, in large part thanks to today’s media. As a teenage girl, I know the complications of trying to ‘fit in’ while our dream bodies are computer generated and altered, and this doesn’t just happen to girls. Teenagers are not only going through adolescence, but today we are also going through a war with ourselves and media. The images we are exposed to every minute of every day are the cause of teenagers’ insecurities. Got to have clothing, bodies, and electronics are all pushing us toward becoming someone we are not. These insecurities are the reason adults choose to hang our opinions with less and less weighted importance, but when teens get past these insecurities, that is when our opinions are heavier than any politician promise with video proof. Teenagers who have become their own person, who have over-come the obstacles that our parents and grandparents never faced, are the inspirations to me. These teens are indestructible in their spirit and are the most inspirational people on the planet.

I have been blessed into a happy home with loving parents and siblings, and I am grateful for that every day, but as a teen, I also feel like sometimes I am nothing but a burden to them. I feel like sometimes I am invisible and other times I feel like I stick out of my family like the ugly duckling. I go to school, play sports, and participate in school activities, all costing money. My parents groan when they see permission slips and school fees, telling me when something big rolls around I am going to have to help pay. So when the oppurtunity to go to Europe came, of course I got a job and started saving. But with work, school, homework, and friends, my home life is stressed. I try to stay on top of my homework, but my parents yell at me to clean my room. I work so I can help pay to go to Europe, and my dad tells me to fill up the car with gas. I study for my tests, but only after mom makes me do the laundry and vacuum the carpets. All these responsibilities are hard to keep up with, and I understand my parents also have responsibilities, but do they know how much stress we are also under as teens? I am not saying we have more stress, but we do have our own stresses and their demands only make it worse. Teenage rebellion is because our parents don’t always notice our extra work, the cleaned kitchen or washed floors, between our efforts to tell them we are independant. Teens are amazing jugglers, we take what we can, but it can get to be more than we bargained for. All we ask is for time for ourselves every now and then, we give it to our parents and other elders.

No matter what age we are in life, we always see our generation as the most difficult. So today we live and work in safer buildings than twenty years ago, but we also have increased chances of terrorism than we did twenty years ago. Fifty years ago we didn’t have the colour TVs and internet, but fifty years ago we didn’t have media influencing our body shapes, clothing, and popularity. Every generation has a new excuse as to why they are the hardest done by of all the generations, and I do believe teenagers have considerable amounts of stress and confusion in their lives. Though most don’t deny that, trying to prove they are the most stressed group is not easy. Teens will always be the most difficult because they do believe they are always right, but they are not as biased as many adults, and some are more themselves than some adults. Teens are a crucial part of society, and do have many good ideas that should be taken seriously, but in reality their misunderstanding and underestimation will never be cleared up. But if you had moments of realization of the troubles of teens in the post, we are known as the best complainers.

Leonard Cohen had a prominent religious view when he wrote I Have Not Lingered in European Monasteries; he is putting front and foremost the battle between stoics and epicureans. Throughout the first 4 stanzas of the poem, Cohen is focused on proclaiming what he does not do in his life, the life of an epicurean. These first 4 stanzas are what Cohen sees as the waste of time that stoics spend on religion and God. In the last stanza of Cohen’s poem, he admits what he does in the epicurean life he follows, and he is not ashamed of it. Leonard Cohen is obviously a strict epicurean, and his poem I Have Not Lingered in European Monasteries, is evidence of that.

I personally disagree with what Cohen says in this poem, as I try to find a balance between the epicurean and stoic virtues. I do not claim to be completely selfless and do everything in the name of God, but I do go to church and pray every night. I ask for God to help me to find my path in life, and I try not to take the easy paths or get tricked into the paths of the devil. I enjoy personal indulgences like gifts on my birthday and Christmas rather than donations to the food bank, but I also try to donate, like the shoeboxes to India. I do believe in Heaven and Jesus, and I do my best to earn my spot in Heaven, but it is a good thing that God is so forgiving and accepting. Cohen does not believe in doing well on earth, other than for himself. He lives to satisfy his every need and make his life as easy and enjoyable as possible, without thought of the others in the world who are not as lucky as him. Especially at a time like Christmas, I feel very guilty for the way I live, in a comfortable house, good family and friends, and more money than some can ever dream of, but Cohen would never think of this because of his epicurean, or Scrooge, attitude. Everyone sees “good” and “bad” differently, but I will do my best to be a “good” or holy stoic, because to me that is the way life should be lived, with love and fear of God.

Epicureanism and Stoicism will always be a part of human society, and no one will overcome the other. God created us all differently, given us different and independent minds that can believe whatever we choose. Cohen’s poem is one of the minds that chose to not believe in the Holy Spirit and live on earth and earth only. My personal mindset has always been to live as a servant of God, fulfilling the reasons and roles I was put on earth for, though at times it gets difficult. I am not saying that I will get into Heaven before Cohen, that is not my decision, but I do believe in the words of the Bible. I will hope to one day follow the path of my grandparents and other family and friends before me into the grace of God.

D.G. Jones wrote the poem Pastoral with a very clear mindset. He was not trying to make up a fantasy with fairies and happily-ever-afters. Jones knew that this poem was going to be controversial and have deeper meaning than a Disney or Pixar plot. Habitat destruction, through pollution and humans claiming lands that are needed for the world’s ecosystems, is a very controversial topic today, and when Jones wrote this poem, he knew exactly what he was getting into. Pastoral appreciates the miracle of the balance of nature, as well as the imbalance humans are causing, and D.G. Jones wrote this poem to emphasis this miracle that can never be fixed once ruined.

Pastoral is every environmentalist’s dream poem, it shows the strength of nature yet also the instability of the beauty it possesses. Every well-written poem or story has conflict that keeps the reader interested, in this poem, earth, water, and fire are the conflict. They’re the controversy that keeps the reader entertained from start to finish. With pollution and environment destruction posing a huge threat in today’s society, this poem hits home for the people trying to maintain the earth’s environment and stability.The jet that is introduced at the end of the poem shows how tiny one thing can look in the perfection of nature, but with the readers better understanding of the jet, he or she knows how damaging it is. The sound pollution from the engines and air pollution from the burning fuel are some of the major environmental problems associated with the jet. D.G. Jones captured his audience from the very beginning by spinning major problems in society into an understandable poem that can be related to a moment in everyone’s past.

I have a million emotions, from mad to guilty, running through me as I read this poem. I feel guilty for my impact on the environment, I feel angry for human’s inventions that cause destruction, and I feel sad for the animals that are the ones feeling the affects we are having. The destruction of the environment is not just the cause of one person but of the world as a whole, and saving the world may have to start back at one person at a time, just like the destruction started. I want to start recycling more, buying more environmentally friendly products, rallying against habitat destruction and pollution, I want to make my impact in society, not on the earth. The earth will always be here, but it is ours to ruin or take care of.

Jabez Harry Bowering was a very different kind of orphan than what I picture as an orphan today. He ran away from home at an early age, found work to support himself, and then tried to figure out what he wanted to do with his life. He was very mature and brave for his young age, leaving home at the age of 8 and moving across the Atlantic ocean at the age of 12. I have always pictured orphans as very timid and immature, because they did not have the proper up-bringing. George Bowering’s poem on his grandfather is one of a revelation that George had when he realized what his grandfather had done in his early ages and how the old man did so.

Grandfather was written in the same way Jabez’s life was lived. It is full of action with adjectives like “hacking,” “blast,” and “snarled” as well as a never ending or slowing endurance with the lack of punctuation. The way Jabez lived his life was just as common as the way society does today. He did not wait for others around him, he just pushed on his way, that is until he was “blinded by the blast of Christ” and began to slow down, and bring others with him. He became a much more noble person, one with a new-found purpose in life. “He moved west with another wife and built children and churches Saskatchewan Alberta British Columbia” He was determined to have as many followers as possible, to lead people who may not have someone to follow, just like in his childhood when he did not have parents or a role model to follow. His followers were of utmost importance because they were the ones in need of leading, because they had not been raised in the light of Christ which Jabez had been “blinded” by, just as the bible story of Saul on the road to Damascus. This caused strain on his family relations because he did not spend as much time with his family, and did not see them as his greatest importance. George Bowering wrote this poem with strong adjectives and lack of puntuation to emphasize the new understanding he had of his grandfathers life, when George was old enough gain this knowledge, a life with desperation, dedication, and blessings.

George Bowering is a very established poet who has wrote many famous poems, like Grandfather. The deep meaning behind the poem Grandfather really intrigued me to read on, it was a dedication to his grandfather whose life was not easy, but it was also an epiphany into the reasons behind Jabez’s attitude towards George when he was a child. Grandfather is a poem that impacts me personally because I also have a grandfather who came from across seas, and it really makes me look into what happened before he came here, to understand some of his strange characteristics.

The Truman Show emphasizes the true power and strength of the human spirit. It will not be contained, not even when forcibly trapped inside a planned and carefully watched city of fakes. With a fake wife and friends, as well as a false sense of security, Truman is the only real, genuine person in Seahaven. Eventually this becomes too much for Truman’s spirit, he longs for more, for something even the director of The Truman Show can’t give him… his freedom. The Truman Show is the ultimate reality check for everyone who doesn’t believe or know the power of the human spirit, it is the most powerful of all natural causes.

Truman’s inability to acknowledge his situation in Seahaven has come from the conditioning he has recieved from Kristoff and the other directors. He has been conditioned to fear anything that may allow him to leave Seahaven, like flying or boats. Actors and actresses he trusted were merely put in their positions and told what to say to prevent Truman’s wish to leave, Truman never had a real friend… until he met Lauren. He took a leap to faith by trying to believe and understand what she told him before she was kicked off the show. I have also been conditioned in my beliefs and priorities. I believe in putting myself first so that I can be ready to help others. I believe in respect for education, wanting to live my dreams. And I believe in dedication to my decisions, especially with sports, which have always been a part of my life. My leaps to faith are a little easier than believing one person over hundreds. I believe in going to chuch and praying before bed. I have been enrolled in a Catholic school since kindergarten and have only had my beliefs strengthened. Truman and I have one thing in common, it is the same thing every human being has in common besides being human. Our human spirit that drives us towards true happiness before we even know what that happiness is. The human spirit is only strengthened when it is suppressed, Truman is the perfect example of that.

The concept of the world to a regular human being is ever-changing and constantly in confusion, with wars, death, and love. For a man like Truman who has never been outside of Seahaven, it would be the exact opposite. Truman sees the world from the eyes of a blind man, only knowing what has been censored in his education and news. He does not understand global issues like poverty or war, only ever hearing about them on the radio or catching glimpses on the TV, all re-worded to make Seahaven sound all too perfect to leave. He does not understand the instability of the outside world because of the prefect stability of Seahaven. Seahaven is the ultimate utopia, with every decision monitored and controlled… except it is only for 1 person. Other utopias, like the virtual reality Second Life, can only exist in cyber space because it is so impractical and demanding. The responsibilities of life need to be shared over the whole population, unlike in utopias where there is only a small group of leaders, like Kristoff and the other directors. Truman does not have responsibilities like other human beings because he doesn’t understand even his own life. The responsibilities I have as part of the human race are simple yet demanded. I must be able to fend for myself when times get hard, and always have a hand out to help those beside me. My responsibilities are my ways of repaying society for my life, taxes, volunteering, and helping others are all part of the societies payment.

The possibility of a real reality TV show like The Truman Show is highly unlikely because of the criticisms that would very likely end the show before it started. Though in reality this kind of show may never actually be aired, the idea is not the only one carried out in books and films. Movies like Harry Potter, S1m0ne, and The Life Before Her Eyes all have something in common with The Truman Show, the unrealistic fantasies of the directors. The ideas of fantasy lands, perfect people, and 2nd choices years later are only what we can dream of. Directors of these movies know their dreams are unrealistic in the real world, but in Hollywood, anything goes. Books are even easier to express dreams and other world experiences. Brave New World, Twilight, and Julius Caesar all come from authors with completely opposite mind sets, but all have their own little worlds in a chapter book. Twilight is a recent phenomenon that has teenage girls, myelf included, obsessed with the male characters Edward and Jacob. BNW was a more sophisticated read about fearing the future. Julius Caesar is the well known and explored power struggle.  These books question our take on reality, is it really as harsh as we make it? And then they came up with reality TV shows. Shows like Big Brother, Suvivor, and Next Top Model are definite proofs that we are exaggerating nothing. Dramatic fights and mental break-downs are all a part of reality and when there is a large monety prize at the end, all hell breaks loose. The Truman Show even has its moment of dramatics, like when Meryl begs the camera to help her from her estranged husband or Lauren tries to tell Truman the truth, even without money, love does crazy things. The imaginations of directors and authors is what will keep this world sane as it watches the ever entertaining reality shows.

The Truman Show has the potential to be a very influencial movie in society, but only if it is properly understood. The relativity of The Truman Show to our lives today should show us how strong our human spirit is, along with the power others have over our lives. The Truman Show has made me look at the world through different eyes, and it should for everyone else who has seen this film.