Malaysian Airlines MH370

I have recently become somewhat obsessed with the missing flight from Malaysia, Malaysia Airlines MH370. I'm frequently reading articles about the lost flight, searching for new leads or details but generally finding the same few facts everywhere I look. The lack of answers has gotten quite frustrating, to be honest. But yesterday, I clicked on an article that did show something different; upon opening the article, I saw this photo of a family member of one of the flight's passengers. Throughout all of the updates and lack of truly new information throughout the past two weeks, I hadn't even thought about the family members of the passengers. I realized that very few articles had taken them into account.

This photo shocked me and made me angry, and it got me thinking. If I'm anxious and frustrated by this situation, how in the world are these family members dealing with it?  All forms of media have jumped on this mystery, searching for ways to keep it interesting and at the surface of news. In doing this, though, they are creating a still suspense for families while simultaneously following them around with cameras to capture their fear and grief.
Houses of pilots and passengers are being searched for new information. Some have accused the pilots and even some of the passengers of Though, of course, keeping all possibilities open and searching for evidence is incredibly important, it is certainly adding to the stress of the families. It is fair for authorities to be searching for leads. However, I believe it is not fair for media to be harassing families for photos and interviews as shown in the photo above. It's somewhat abusive and only serves the purpose of creating a dramatic story that will keep readers and viewers, like me, obsessed with the mystery.




Image Source:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/13/malaysia-airlines-flight-satellite-images

Hamlet

In this blog post, I won't address any specific photo/image of Hamlet, but rather I'll discuss the different portrayals of Hamlet that plays and films show, and the different images of characters that these portrayals create.

One specific scene that was portrayed quite differently by multiple versions was the scene where Hamlet kills Polonius and confronts his mother, Gertrude, for marrying his father's murderer. When I first read this scene, I did not assume that the interactions between Gertrude and Hamlet were incestuous in any way. I assumed that this was simply a rather tense conversation between mother and son. And my original vision of the scene was supported by several of the film versions we watched (Kenneth Branagh's version and Laurence Olivier's versions, for example).

Then, however, we viewed the film version starring Mel Gibson as Hamlet, and this version portrayed the scene in a completely different way, creating an incestuous relationship between Hamlet and Gertrude. This simple change in portrayal of one scene changed the vibe of both versions completely, forcing us to question all of the interactions between Hamlet and Gertrude throughout the play. It also makes us wonder which type of portrayal Shakespeare originally intended, whether he viewed the relationship between Gertrude and Hamlet as incestuous or not. It's fascinating how the change in portrayal of just one scene can change the way we view an entire play.