Cullum, Harp of Burma

Harp of Burma is a two-part anime film adaptation of the famous Japanese novel Harp of Burma by Michio Takeyama. It is set towards the end of WWII. After my research about it on the internet, I found that it was also adapted into a Japanese film named The Burmese Harp and follows the same story. After reading Death and Other Bad Stuff in Samurai from Outer Space and watching the film, I came to a conclusion. The Japanese have no problem talking about death, whilst in America, bringing up the topic sets a kind of depressing mood in a conversation and is to be avoided. 

In Harp of Burma I could not stop thinking ‘Muzishima is so loyal’ and I kept wanting to say ‘spiritual’. He did not join his battalion in returning home because he wanted to bury his fellow Japanese soldiers. I think it is amazing how loyal Japanese soldiers are to each other and to their country. After reading War Films Depict Japan as a Misunderstood Victim I also could not help but think, ‘is this how loyal they really are or is this how they want everyone else to think they are?’ 

I do think the Japanese are depicted as poor pitiful victims after reading War Films Depict Japan as a Misunderstood Victim. Then again, there are far more films produced by Japanese directors than there are one produced by American directors. The Japanese don’t have a problem with discussing death. It is a natural part of life and it happens to everyone. Another big difference in Japanese and American views on death is suicide. In America, suicide is a way out that cowards take. As America is predominantly Christian, as Americans we see suicide as a sin. In the Japanese culture, for samurai, ritual suicide is praised and is honorable; this idea is true for most other battle situations. In Harp of Burma the Japanese soldiers accept the fact that they might all die now that the fighting has stopped. Sure, they may be sad about it, but they accept it. The Japanese accept the fact that the world is an amoral place. 

Cullum, Botchan Corrupt Principals

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In Student Days, you can automatically tell that education in Japan is a serious thing. The film in class made it obvious that there was also quite a bit of corruption in the education system. If you had money or if your parents were a ‘big deal’ you could get in without the good grades. Unfortunately, for Botchan, he had no such connections and he had to study. In the film from class, a series of unfortunate events happened to Botchan. His sick brother, that had not even been prepared for the test, passed the test; Botchan, who had studied hard and long, had not passed the test. His brother also ended up with the girl he was in love with and wanted to marry. 

In Botchan it was pretty evident that the principal and the vice principal (Red Shirt and Buffoon) had all the power, and they did not exactly use it right. Hoffa had been kind to Botchan since the moment he had arrived. On the first day of class, the students immediately started ridiculing Botchan. Every day he arrived to class, they had a new cartoon drawing of Botchan with mean things that were meant to humiliate him written next to it. After his night duty mishap, he confronted Red Shirt and Buffoon about it and on a fishing trip, Red Shirt and Buffoon pinned the students behavior or Hoffa. After they turn against eachother, Hoffa stands up for Botchan and Botchan then realizes that Red Shirt and Buffoon were the ones behind the students. The principal and the vice principal were corrupt! 

Our Senior Sweatshirts

In my high school, we always joked with the teachers, but we would have NEVER dared to treat a teacher like the students in Botchan treated Botchan. There was far more teasing among students like the kind in Botchan. My senior year, there was an issue that the student body, mostly the senior students, complained and pushed so hard to get through, that our principal quit over the intercom about. At Belle Chasse High School, we had/have to wear uniforms. A black or red uniform shirt with the school crest and khaki shorts or pants. We had to wear white, black or red socks and we had to have lace up shoes. If you wore an undershirt, it had to be black, white or red. On Fridays, we were able to wear club and senior shirts. We were told that we weren’t going to be able to wear any sweatshirts or shirts that didn’t say ‘Belle Chasse High School’ on it anymore. This excluded all of the club shirts, club sweatshirts, some sports team shirts and last but definitely not least, this means we couldn’t wear our senior sweatshirts and shirts. We were outraged. Everyone got their parents to call to the school and complain. We had bought these shirts sweatshirts from the school, so why couldn’t we wear them to school? Students were dropping by the principals office to complain, and parents were showing up to school to yell at the principal. We ended up pushing him so far, that he told us ‘no more uniforms, I quit’ over the intercom. 

       In my four years of attending Belle Chasse High, there was one teacher that got punched twice. He was seriously annoying and unnecessarily mean to his students though. My freshman year he told a student to shave and that he was writing him up and the kid straight up punched the teacher in the face. Senior year, he took someones phone away, they stood up and slapped him across the face, took their phone and left. So I thought it was appropriate to include a video of a student punching a teacher in the face. This is exactly how the punch went down freshman year, except the teacher didn't push the student first. 

Mya Cullum~

From My Facebook!

Hello everyone! My name is Mya Marie Cullum and I turn 18 on Labor Day. I am from Belle Chasse, Louisiana and I'm a commuter here at Loyola. I work at the Palace Cafe on Canal street and I LOVE it there.This is not my only blog, I also have a Tumblr, which I am ALWAYS on in my free time. I love the color purple and Hello Kitty! Right now I'm on a 'Young the Giant' kick. I'm into indie music and floral patterns. My hair has been blue, purple, pink, red, bright blonde, and orange. I have two little brother, one is 8 and one is 10. I used to be a cheerleader in primary school. I like to eat food, a lot. I'm thinking that I won't have much of a social life this year due to school, work-study, and my job at Palace. For the last three years I have had a job, I haven't gone a day without one. I've worked at PJ's Coffee of New Orleans as a barista Quiznos Subs as a sandwich artist, and now Palace Cafe as a hostess. I'm very outgoing and this year I have vowed to work out, I'm trying to utilize as much of Loyola as I can. I'm a Mac user and I HATE PCs. As a dare during senior year I joined the school's 'Miss BCHS Pageant'. I ended up winning second runner up and EVERYONE was surprised by this, not just me.
I enjoy Studio Ghibli anime. I love Howl's Moving Castle, Kiki's Delivery Service and Spirited Away. Non-anime things that I love anyway include video games, books, tv, food (again), music and random miscellaneous items that have sentimental value to me. I enjoy not having a social life by playing Fallout3, watching ABC family (because lets be honest, Pretty Little Liars, Switched at Birth, Secret Life of the American Teenager and the Lying Games are pretty amazing), watching Fringe, blogging on tumblr, playing Pokemon, watching Misfits and reading. I love Looking For Alaska, Cracked Up to Be, Beautiful, Harry Potter, Southern Vampire Series, and the Mortal Instruments. Now go laugh at that baby picture of me as a pumpkin.