Weekly News

How Pauline Cafferkey's Ebola relapse tears up everything doctors thought they knew

This article caught my attention because Ebola was a massive, worldwide issue just a few months back, therefore I'm sure it caught many other people's attention too.

Pauline Cafferkey is a nurse that suffered from Ebola 9 months ago, she was admitted back into the infectious disease unit on the 9th of October. This was clearly a shock to doctors as Jonathan Ball, a professor of molecular virology, said "but I don't think anybody would for one minute have expected complications quite as serious as they certainly appear." This suggests that doctors and researchers of the Ebola virus didn't look deeply into the effect that it might have on someone, after they have recovered from it. However they now know that "while their bloodstream, their saliva and organs such as the liver are free of the Ebola virus, there are immuno-privileged pockets where it can hide out." These are parts of the body that the immune system cannot protect from the virus, for example, it was recently found in the fluid that is inside of the eye. "The genital tract is another immuno-privileged site", this means that Ebola can actually be sexually transmitted, although this is rare. Scientists are concerned that the virus could lead to recurrence of outbreaks.

The hospital that Pauline works in is identifying the people whom she's had recent contact with, to stop the virus from spreading. Doctors will also be more attentive of the long-term issues that might happen to survivors of Ebola.

This article is very informative, and it's successful because even though it informs people of an issue that they could possibly get worried about, it reassures them that doctors now know what they're doing and will be able to detect any future problems to do with Ebola right away.

Short Term 12 Analysis

Short Term 12 is a 96 minute drama directed by Destin Daniel Cretton. Some of its main characters include Brie Larson (Grace) and John Gallagher Jr. (Mason), although these names might not sound familiar to some of us, the cast did an amazing job in portraying their characters, I think this because I would consider this movie as quite an emotional one, and I think they expressed them very well as it should make the audience feel empathy towards them.

This movie uses a variety of different visual and audio codes to appeal to a wide range of audience. While this movie is classified as a drama, it includes romance and occasionally some comedy. Additionally, this movie changes from happy to unhappy moods and events all throughout, keeping the audience engaged. This is particularly seen when it's Masons 'parents' 30th anniversary, this perhaps might be one of the happiest scenes in the movie. This is because there is very cheerful music playing while the scene shows the audience children playing around and having fun along with Grace and Mason; this then continues onto showing us them dancing, with very clear expressions of their faces to show us that they're both very happy and content in that moment, this is done by a close up. This was the perfect moment for Mason to ask "will you marry me?", and of course Grace said yes.

However this mood is drastically changed in the next scene, when they wake up in the morning and get a phone call about Grace's father being let out of prison. This once again puts a very negative atmosphere upon the movie, this is done by using very blunt language in conversations that Grace is having with Mason.

Grace: Mason, you have no idea what I'm going through right now.

Mason: Then tell me. That's how this works. You talk to me about it so that I can take your hand and fucking walk through this shit with you. That is what I signed up for, okay? But I cannot do that if you won't let me in.

Grace: I can't. I'm sorry.

The language used in the quote above is very dismissive, making the audience feel sorry for Mason as he hasn't done anything wrong; it also makes the audience lose hope in their relationship. But like most movies, everything ends well for pretty much all of the characters which can come to as a relief for the audience because they all deserve happiness after everything that they have been through in their lives. Furthermore, the ending could give the audience hope for a better future, no matter what tough situations they face.

Crash (2004) Film Review

This movie was directed by Paul Haggis. There is a lot of star power in this movie, some of which include Matt Dillon, Brendan Fraser, Don Cheadle, Sandra Bullock, Ludacris and many more. This movie has won 3 Oscars and has had another 65 wins and 81 nominations; this suggests that it was a very successful movie. The genre of this movie is drama.

During this movie you continuously see racial based prejudice and stereotypes, making it the central theme of the movie. The audience sees racism to all cultures and colours, from the rich to the poor and the powerful to the powerless; all the characters become victims of it but are also guilty of it. The director did a very good job of interlocking multiple stories into one, the lives of the characters crash into one another by coincidence, serendipity and luck. This movie clearly teaches the audience not to make assumptions about people because they prevent us from seeing who people really are. For example, Jean (Sandra Bullock) wrongly accuses a Mexican locksmith as a gang member because he has a “shaved head, pants around his ass, the prison tattoo”, where in fact he is a caring family man. There are also examples from this movie that show people are aware of their stereotypes, and decide to live up to them. This is seen when the characters Anthony (Ludacris) and Peter (Larenz Tate) are having a conversation about how people treat/look at them differently because of their skin colour.

Anthony: Look around! You can't find a whiter, safer, better lit part of this city. But this white woman sees two black guys, who look like UCLA students, strolling down the sidewalk and her reaction is blind fear. I mean, look at us! Are we dressed like gang-bangers? Huh? No. Do we look threatening? No. Fact, if anybody should be scared around here, it's us: We're the only two black faces surrounded by a sea of over-caffeinated white people, patrolled by the trigger happy LAPD. So you tell me, why aren't we scared?

Peter: Because we have guns?

Anthony: You could be right.

Right after this, they both run up to the white woman and her husband and pull out their guns to threaten them and end up stealing their car. This was very shocking to me as they were so offended by the stereotypes people have of them, yet they turned out to be that stereotype.

After an extreme turn of events, towards the end of the movie the characters come to the realisation that stereotypes don't apply to everyone. Some examples of this are when Jean (Sandra Bullock) confesses to her maid Maria that "You're the best friend I've got", this is after she realises that no one else was there for her when she needed them most. Another example is when Officer Tom Hansen shoots Peter, because he thought he was in danger of Peter pulling out a gun on him, when in fact it was a St. Christopher statue that he had to keep him safe. This teaches the audience not to jump to conclusions about someone as it might lead to some horrible consequences.

Additionally, at the end of the movie it starts snowing which represents purification of the characters actions as the negative things are being covered with snow, which gives a sense of freedom. This was foreshadowed at the beginning of the film when Waters says he is freezing and a detective says "I heard it might snow", this is significant as it very rarely snows in Los Angeles, which implies that anything can happen, giving viewers hope. The last scene of the movie is a car crash and some more angry racist comments, just like the movie started; this suggests that people will never learn to stop being racist towards one another.

In conclusion, although I do believe the central theme of the movie is racism, I don’t think it’s what the movie is truly about. I think Haggis used racism as a catalyst for the actions and reactions found in the movie. He based them on race as it is one of the first things we notice when we look at someone. Haggis says “it’s a story about strangers, and how we affect strangers”. So yes, this creative film is well worth a few hours of your time.

Weekly News

Sugary snacks in hospital vending machines 'send wrong message'

This article puts pressure onto the NHS to provide their workers and patients with healthier food, as the things they're selling in vending machines could be the cause of why someone would be admitted to a hospital in the first place. "In a survey of hospital trusts in England, the Observer found that all of the 76 that responded sold a range of confectionary or salty snacks, yet half failed to offer plain dried or fresh fruit" This suggests that hospitals do not think about what they are selling to people who come there and they're sending out "entirely the wrong message" The article is implying that it's like the NHS want more patients to come in with the problem of diabetes and obesity, which is already very popular in the UK.

The food that hospitals offer is a particular concern for their employees as they often rely on vending machines when they're working late night shifts. I think that hospitals should provide much more healthy food for their employees and patients, as this will result in a healthy work force that can give good care to patients, and patients will be getting better, not worse during their stay at the hospital.

However, the article did include that "Many hospital trusts say their vending machine services are contracted out, and that they are unable to control which products are offered." This means that they have no input into the food and drink that is being sold. Therefore, I think that they should stop having vending machines to ditch all the unhealthy, sugary foods and try to encourage everyone in the building to eat better food.

Weekly News

Up to 13 killed in college shooting in Oregon

A 20 year old gunman killed 10 students and wounded at least 20 on the morning of Thursday 1st October in a school located in Roseburg, Oregon. He died in a shootout with the police shortly after and his motive for the deaths is unknown. Barack Obama demanded for tighter gun laws, as he has realised that these shootings have become a routine - 

"We are not the only country on Earth with mental illness or with people who want to harm each other, but we are the only country that has these mass shootings every few months."

Killers have turned schools, which are supposed to be safe institutions for their students into massacre sites repeatedly - "There have been 74 US shootings since Sandy Hook". I think that Obama's push for gun control is hopeless as America would've changed their laws by now considering their history on school shootings, I think he needs to try much harder to stop these incidents from recurring.

Teens Presentation

My presentation.