Author: edwardnihlman

White Paper-edwardnihlman

Content Description

  • Game Developers
  • Game Publishers
  • Retailers
  • Parents
  • Columbine Fallout
  • Games as a Scapegoat
  • The Link Between Games and Violence
  • Violent Video Game Inspired Crimes
  • Other Art Forms

Working Hypothesis 1

Violent video games are not a catalyst of violent behavior, but a scapegoat for it.

Working Hypothesis 2

Parents should be held responsible for violent video game inspired crimes, because they are the ones purchasing these games for their children without care.

Topics for Smaller Papers

Definition/Classification Argument

Other forms of art such as film and music are often criticized for inciting violent behavior in people just like video games. However, if all forms of art are seen as potential causes of violence, then it would seem that anything with some amount of violence when witnessed causes violent behavior. However, many would not attribute violence to the news, or history books.

Cause/Effect Argument

Due to a significant amount of criminals or even victims blaming crimes on violent video games, it has become a belief that violent video games can inspire crime out of people or at the very least, desensitize you to crime. However, research from the American Psychological Association states that while there is a link between decreases in empathy and increases in aggressive behavior, there is no indication that it makes people antisocial or prone to violent behavior.

Rebuttal Argument

While criminals may blame a crime for being inspired by violent video games, it does not necessarily mean that is the case. If someone establishes that they were inspired by a video game, it might lift some of the responsibility of the crime off of them, and as such, makes blaming video games very tempting despite not being true.

Current State of the Research Paper

As of now, I believe I have a decent understanding of the topic and my thesis on it. However, I do not have enough concrete data from research as of yet. I cannot find it, but I want to know more about the study that the American Psychological Association conducted and what kind of numerical data they found. Also, while I may have some interesting viewpoints, I do not think I have figured out my topic well enough to be very persuasive on it, so I am going to read more and figure things out better.

Polio Notes-edwardnihlman

  • Polio is extremely contagious
  • Measles appeared in the United States due to one person having it in Disney Land which is located in California where many people are unvaccinated.
  • India, despite billions in population, only have nine to ten cases of polio.
  • The polio vaccine costs about eight cents to produce.
  • Some people choose to not get vaccinated since a majority of people are already immune/vaccinated.
  • Adults fight off polio better than children.
  • If every children under five was vaccinated then 250 kids would become paralyzed and contract the disease.
  • There is a more expensive version of the vaccination used in the United States that has zero chance of causing polio. It is in the dollars rather than cents.
  • Some believe that vaccines cause autism so they choose not to have their children vaccinated.
  • Muslims are against the vaccination due to pork being involved in the making of the vaccination.

Practice Opening:

No matter how hard the world tries, in 20 years polio will not be eradicated. There will always be that less than one percent of people who remain unvaccinated for one of many reasons. Whether it is fearing that the child may contract the disease or autism from the vaccine, or disliking the components of the vaccination, there are too many reasons for why people will not be vaccinated for polio to ever be eradicated. India’s population of over a billion people only has eight or nine at any given time with polio. This is representative of how no matter how much the world gets rid of polio, it will still be slightly present somewhere.

Missing Dollar-edwardnihlman

There is no missing dollar, but there is a problem with the question. The question asks that if they have now only paid nine dollars each, and the waiter has two; where is the missing dollar? The problem is how it is all presented. The sum of the three women’s payment is 27 dollars, and this is perfectly accounted for. The cashier has 25 dollars, and the waiter has the other two. The three dollars from the original 30 are split among the three women. Seeing it from this perspective, it is easy to see there was no missing dollar at all. The question incorrectly suggested that the two dollars the waiter had were separate from the 27 dollar payment.

Visual Rewrite-edwardnihlman

0:00- A decently groomed white man wearing a button down shirt and tie is standing in a rather standard looking house as determined by the generic cupboards behind him. Based on his appearance and current location, he seems to be doing okay for himself. He is most likely a middle class worker. As he is about to put some sort of food in his mouth, Button Down day dreams to himself.

0:01- Button Down puts the food in his mouth and begins chewing on it.

0:02- The shot changes to show more of the area. Button Down is standing in a kitchen, and also is holding a plate in his left hand. A woman is reading a newspaper. There is another plate and a glass of orange juice in front of her. Due to the lighting and nature of the meal, it appears that the two are eating an early breakfast in the morning. Perhaps they are getting ready to go out to work, which means the woman could be Button Down’s wife.

0:03- This frame focuses in on Button Down cleaning his plate with the faucet water and a sponge.

0:04- The next shot is of the woman’s face as she is watching Button Down cleaning the dishes. This makes her smile indicating that she is happy how responsible Button Down is and maybe also indicating that they have a happy marriage together.

0:05- The scene changes to Button Down being outside, walking towards his car when he notices an older man on their front yard struggling with a tangled cable. Since his car is right next to the house of the older person, it can safely be assumed this is Button Down’s neighbor. Button Down has most of his body in the direction of his neighbor clearly showing a lot of concern for them, which could mean they are about to go in that direction and help them out. Button Down’s house is noticeably less nice and taken care of as his neighbor’s. The neighbor’s hedges are recently cut and well groomed while Button Down’s hedges and bushes look like they belong in an exotic jungle.

0:06- Button Down is fully turned to face the elderly man and has brought his hand up to get the attention of him. It is now even more obvious that Button Down is planning to assist his neighbor with the tangled cable. Despite the lack of care for himself, as seen by the way his front yard looks, Button Down shows a sense of selflessness by helping his neighbor. Button Down must be a very caring guy, even if he cares little for his own appearance.

0:07-0:08- The shot changes one of Button Down spraying water on his neighbor’s hedges while the neighbor is watching him. The neighbor is smiling, clearly happy that Button Down is helping him with his yard work. Considering that it is not his job, and he might even be late for work, this act further solidifies Button Down as a selfless man.

0:09- The scene changes to someone taking a coffee container off its hotplate. The color of the background is grey so it is possible this is either a work environment or a diner.

0:10- The next frame has Button Down and three co-workers in what appears to be a break room. Two of his co-workers are male, and the other female. One of the male co-workers is sitting alone while the other two are sitting together with Button Down standing above them pouring the female co-worker a cup of coffee. This is yet another selfless act from Button Down which continues to show his great character.

0:11- The next frame is a closer shot showing how happy the female co-worker is that Button Down is pouring her a cup of coffee. She shows her appreciation with an almost comical smile.

0:12-0:13- The woman is now drinking her coffee as the male co-worker beside her shows his satisfaction on how well the coffee tastes by having another comical look of satisfaction and then pointing at his mug. This is all directed to Button Down which shows that not only did he pour coffee into everyone’s mugs, but he also may have made the coffee himself. Up to this point, Button Down has oddly not made eye contact with any of the people he has helped out.

0:14- Button Down is now in a line at a grocery store holding several items in front of the cashier. He has tilted his head while looking at the older man beside him in order to tell the older gentleman to get in front of him.

0:15- The older man has raised his hand to show he is only holding a pineapple. This means that Button Down realized that the person beside him would not be very long, and in fact did not want to waste this other customer’s time since Button Down is carrying several items. The older man has also begun to walk in front of the man. For the first time, Button Down has made eye contact with another person, but not for very long.

0:16- Button Down is now driving in the car, but he has his head looking below at the seat next to him. Most likely, his phone went off for some reason which caught his attention.

0:17- The next shot is that of the phone which clearly has a notification on the screen. The notification reveals that the noise was most likely a text message since there is no call screen on the phone at the moment. Within the frame, Button Down is also reaching for the phone with one of his hands in order to respond to the text.

0:18- Button Down has brought up the phone to a good level in order to read the text. There is a grin on his face showing that it must have been a funny message. The man is no longer looking at the road however, which is a dangerous thing to do. This action also betrays everything the man has done before which were all responsible and selfless acts.

0:19- The next frame has Button Down’s car pulling up to a red light from a bird’s eye view. There is a red car beside him, a black woman sitting on the bench to the right of his car. There are two female pedestrians crossing the road and other pedestrians near a building towards the top of the shot.

0:20- The next shot shows us the man who is driving the red car that is beside the Button Down’s car. His windows are open showing that he is looking right into Button Down’s car with his mouth open and a face that expresses subtle surprise. The view even shows Button Down looking at his phone out of focus. This confirms that Red Car is rather surprised, maybe even disappointed that the man beside him is texting while driving a vehicle.

0:21- The red car driver has changed his facial expression to show more clear disappointment in Button Down.

0:22- The shot is a close up of Button Down’s face who is no longer looking at his phone, but has turned his head to look out of his window. Most likely he has noticed that Red Car is staring at him. However, he has not fully noticed him yet, because he still appears rather happy.

0:23- Button Down has clearly made full eye contact with Red Car, because his face changes to a nervous look. Ignoring the brief moment of eye contact in the grocery scene, this is the first moment of extensive eye contact between Button Down and another person. This is no doubt done intentionally, because this is a moment of character betrayal. Button Down has done something against his character, and as such is really taking in what people think of him.

0:24- Button Down has now turned his head in the other direction to make full eye contact with the black woman who is sitting at the bench. The woman is looking directly at Button Down while frowning. Similarly to Red Car, this woman shows clear disappointment with Button Down’s decision to text while driving a car. Her face is very scary looking, but still in a rather comedic fashion.

0:25- Button Down is now seen looking away from the woman with his phone no longer beside him in the shot. He must have put it away as soon as he realized what he is doing was wrong. His face still clearly shows concern since he is being judged by others around him. He has gone back to not making eye contact with people, as he is clearly afraid of their judgement and would rather not think about it.

0:26-0:27- The next shot is a close up of the woman frowning at Button Down, further driving home the disappointment she feels with him texting while driving. These comedic facial expressions are seemingly used to express that Button Down is not a bad person, but he did make a bad decision. Button Down should not be condemned for what he has done, but rather reconsider for the next time such a situation arises.

0:28-0:30- Button Down is looking at the woman again with his face and tucked lips showing that he is embarrassed with what he did. Texting while driving is an irresponsible thing to do. Even though Button Down has proven to be a selfless person through noble acts of kindness, this does not make texting while driving any less wrong.

Works Cited

Adcouncil. “Todd’s Texting Troubles | Texting and Driving Prevention | Ad Council.” YouTube. YouTube, 19 Oct. 2015. Web. 09 Oct. 2016. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZG3pHiIPsI&list=PLi7KHBEqsINcuTxl_tz5cz7WyYZJtGNli&index=13>.

Open Strong-edwardnihlman

Video game developers and publishers may be creating and marketing violent video games for younger audiences, but they are not to blame for the consequences. With plenty of forms of content awareness for video games; the people who are truly to blame are the parents allowing their children to play these games. In a Harris Poll survey, one third of 2,278 US adults said they allow their children to play any type of game, and two fifths of that said they have no understanding of video game ratings systems. This lack of knowledge or care for the subject is why parents purchase violent video games for their children, and in turn video game inspired crimes should be blamed on them.

Violent video games increase aggression, but they do not lead to violent activity. For several years, politicians have believed that when children enact violence in a video game, they are prone to do the same in real life. While the American Psychological Association’s studies on the mental impact of violent video games have proven that they increase aggression in a verbal or mental setting; this aggression is not seen in their actions. With this in mind, violent video games are not a catalyst of violent behavior, but a scapegoat for it.

Proposal +5-edwardnihlman

Edwardnihlman’s Proposal

For my research essay I will be analyzing the American government’s tendency to blame personality corruption on the developers of violent video games rather than the parents who buy the games for their children. Over the last decade or so, there have been instances of violent crimes committed by the youth that are rooted in inspiration from violent video games. While it is questionable whether or not video games have truly impacted these criminals, a bigger question is perhaps who should take responsibility for the actions of these people.

Most video game inspired crimes are committed by young, impressionable individuals. A major argument is that the content of the video games is what inspired them to commit a crime, so the developers of the product should take responsibility and edit said content. However, video games, similarly to movies, have a ratings system in place to advise parents what games their children should or should not be playing. In turn, this means that the only people who should hold responsibility for children’s increased aggression are the parents who allow it to happen.

Edwardnihlman’s Sources

APA Review Confirms Link Between Playing Violent Video Games and Aggression

The Essential Content of the Article: The article is an analysis of a study by the American Psychological Association. They explain that their research indicates that people who play violent video games have increased aggressive behavior and decreased empathy and sensitivity to aggression. It also states that while there may be an increase in aggressive behavior, there is no correlation between playing violent video games and committing criminal activity.

What it Proves: The information does not help for any particular stance, but does show that there is a correlation between violent video games and increased aggression.

22 Charts & Graphs on Video Games & Youth Violence

The Essential Content of the Article: This article contains tons of data and graphs detailing gamer demographics, video game sales, and violence trends among the youth.

What it Proves: The information here will be beneficial if any statistics are needed to prove a particular point, or just for a basic understanding.

A Timeline of Video Game Controversies

The Essential Content of the Article: This article gives a breakdown of important video game related controversies. Within it there are many related to the topic of video game censorship in response to tragedies inspired by games.

What it Proves: The timeline found in the article will help in citing the several instances in which the government tried to blame video games for affecting younger minds and causing them to commit crimes.

Why do we blame games for real-world violence?

The Essential Content of the Article: The article provides a study that shows one third of 2,278 US adults will let their child play any video game. The article discusses the lack of awareness parents have to the video game ratings, and how in turn the misinformation leads to them purchasing inappropriate games for their impressionable children.

What it Proves: This article proves that a substantial amount of parents put very little thought into what they are purchasing for their children, and can be seen as the true reason for these children committing terrible acts of violence.

How the ESRB Works

The Essential Content of the Article: This article discusses how the ESRB rates video games. It explains the process of how each game receives their rating through meticulous speculation.

What it Proves: This article shows that the ESRB puts a lot of thought into the rating of each game to ensure that the right audience is playing the title in order to prevent things such as children playing extremely violent and mature games.

E03: Critical Reading-edwardnihlman

“Caleb has been home since 2006, way more than enough time for Brannan to catch his symptoms.”

-By saying that Caleb being home since 2006 is “more than enough time for Brannan to catch his symptoms,” it is almost as if the author is saying that with enough time, anyone living with a PTSD victim will eventually inherit PTSD themselves.
-The author also says that Brannan is “catching his symptoms,” in order to further relate it to the idea of it being contagious like the flu or some other physical illness. This could be misleading, because if anything, Brannan would be developing her own personal PTSD. In other words, her symptoms would be associated with a violent husband rather than Caleb whose symptoms would be related to the violence found in war.

“The house, in a subdivision a little removed from one of many shopping centers in a small town in the southwest corner of Alabama, is often quiet as a morgue.”

-The author compares the house that Brannan lives to a morgue to accentuate how quiet the house is. There are many other options that the author could have compared the quietness of the house to, but she went for a morgue seemingly, because of how the house and the morgue also share a sense of tragedy.

“You can hear the cat padding around. The air conditioner whooshes, a clock ticks.”

-The grammar of this sentence is rather disorienting. It is clear what the author is expressing, but is not written correctly or clearly. What the author is trying to express however, is that the house is so quiet that any noises that are heard are more noticeable than normal. This description gives off an unpleasant atmosphere rather than a peaceful one, because of the author’s earlier comparison to a morgue.

“When a sound erupts—Caleb screaming at Brannan because she’s just woken him up from a nightmare, after making sure she’s at least an arm’s length away in case he wakes up swinging—the ensuing silence seems even denser.”

-This sentence only further builds the quiet nature of the house as distressing. The author unnecessarily adds the detail of Brannan having to stay an arm’s length away from Caleb when he wakes up. While it does further describe the stress she goes through, it is arguably unnecessary in this context since the topic at hand are the sounds that are made within the house.

“Even when everyone’s in the family room watching TV, it’s only connected to Netflix and not to cable, since news is often a trigger.”

-While the author clearly was implying that news is a trigger to Caleb, because of how it will occasionally cover wars, and maybe even the war Caleb fought in, it does not outright say it. If a reader is uninformed enough, they may have no clue as to why the news is a trigger to Caleb. This lack of detail is generally seen through the article and definitely takes away from the author’s argument.

Stone Money Rewrite-edwardnihlman

Does Money Truly Exist?

For as long as I can remember, I have always viewed money as a physical item whose digital presence only existed for as much money as there really was in the physical world. However, NPR’s broadcast on money made me realize that money is not truly physical, but more so an idea that expresses wealth. Through further research on the topic, I learned not only that money as an idea has been seen throughout history, but how it works and even helps.

Initially, I was introduced to the concept through the aforementioned NPR broadcast. The hosts of the broadcast discussed how all money cannot be truly accounted for. If someone makes a deposit of cash to a bank, then it is possible for that same cash to be loaned to a startup business. The money that the original man deposited is still his, but its physical form is no longer in his possession. (NPR) Despite not having physical money, an individual’s wealth is undisputed through digital numbers. A significant amount of purchases, withdrawals, deposits, etc. occur by simply transferring these numbers. For example, if someone wanted a computer then they would give them money in order to acquire it. Where this gets interesting is that most people will not purchase an expensive computer with physical cash. Rather, they will swipe a debit or credit card and their digital numbers will transfer over to the store. Now they have officially bought the computer as far as the business is concerned. This may appear normal at face value, but when I was thinking critically about it, it was almost baffling to consider that someone can get a real item with the use of non-existent currency. This made me realize that money is more imaginary than it is real.

Alongside the broadcast’s discussion of money as an idea, one of the hosts brings up a story that is elaborated in Milton Friedman’s The Island of Stone Money. In this essay, Friedman talks about the Island of Yap and how its residents would use giant stones to make major trades. These stones stayed in one spot even if it was traded. Natives of the island simply took a mental note of who the new owner was. (Friedman) While it may come off as a foreign concept, the idea of stone money being traded in a mental, almost imaginary space is no different from the way modern day countries have their “money” as numbers stored in a digital space. The stones of the Yap culture share the same exact presence and purpose as the digital currency of present day.

This concept reminded me of discussions I would have with my father. He had been experimenting with bitcoin mining, and as such would frequently talk about it. However, I never could grasp the concept of people digitally mining money that had real world value until now. Bitcoin miners have machines that compute complex code in order to generate bitcoins into a virtual wallet. These bitcoins can then be used as currency while remaining anonymous. (Renaut) What had always perplexed me was how these bitcoins, which didn’t exist in the real world, could have value to them. Through my recent research, I realize that people hold value in bitcoins, because they trust it. The people of Yap learned to trust the stones. The people of America have learned to trust the number shown in their bank account page. It may seem overly simple, but it really is just that. If something can be vouched for, then people will trust it. The wealthiest family of Yap did not even have a stone on the island. People simply vouched for their ancestors that their stone was not only the grandest of all, but it had fallen into the ocean. What banks of the modern day do is no different. A bank is simply assuring its users that the numbers they see in their account are legitimate.

The idea of money not existing in a physical sense had even saved the nation of Brazil. During the 1950s, Brazil printed so much paper money that over the years they faced a massive problem of inflation. In 1992, four men countered this by coming up with the Unit of Real Value or URV. URVs was a virtual value of everything from prices to wages. The URV of any given thing never changed, but the amount of cruzeiros, Brazil’s currency, that a URV was worth did change. (Joffe-Walt) While this concept of imaginary money is a little different from the ones previously discussed, it still relies on people’s faith in a non-physical form of currency. While people are going out using cruzeiros as a means to purchase items, their paper money is only worth as much as its value in URVs. Citizens of Brazil have to put their faith in a constantly changing URV similarly to how the people of Yap put their faith in the value of stones.

After all of that extensive research, it is still a little hard to swallow that money has to be trusted and is not something that can be known for sure. What if banks mess with an account’s numbers? What if the wealthiest family on Yap lied about their giant stone at the bottom of the ocean? Despite the abundance of questions I may have, I did get an understanding of how it works and in the case of Brazil, how it can even help.

Works Cited

Friedman, Milton. “The Island of Stone Money.” Diss. Hoover Institution, Stanford University , 1991.

Joffe-Walt, Chana . “How Fake Money Saved Brazil.” NPR.org. 4 Oct. 2010. 30 Jan. 2015. <http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2010/10/04/130329523/how-fake-money-saved-brazil&gt;.

Renaut, Anne . “The bubble bursts on e-currency Bitcoin.” Yahoo.com. 13 Apr. 2013. 30 Jan. 2015. <https://sg.news.yahoo.com/bubble-bursts-e-currency-bitcoin-064913387–finance.html&gt;.

“The Invention of Stone Money.” 423: The Invention of Stone Money. This Is American Life, WBEZ. Chicago . 7 Jan. 2011.

Summaries-edwardnihlman

1.) Always the Sidekick: Asians on Film

It seems counterintuitive that Hollywood is trying to gain a greater Eastern Asian audience by embracing Asian culture, while still only utilizing Asian talent in stereotyped or minor roles.

The Chinese movie industry is on its way to overshadow Hollywood, and in response, the American film industry is attempting to reach out to Eastern Asian viewers. Unfortunately, even with a lineup of heavily inspired Asian films such as The Wall, Kubo and the Two Strings, and Ghost in the Shell, Hollywood is more inclined to cast or focus on white actors in what should be Asian roles.

However, this line of thinking has backfired on Hollywood. For example, the original Oldboy made in South Korea saw more success at the box office than the whitewashed remake that still played heavily on Asian culture without an Asian cast. Star Wars: Rogue One’s Asian characters had a negative impact on Chinese viewers due to their “tokenized” nature.

Nevertheless, it appears Hollywood refuses to break away from their backwards thinking on Asian casting. If they truly wish to do better in the Eastern Asian box office, they will have to make a change in their use of Asian talent.

2.) Player Protests: When Athletes Stand Up (or Kneel) for Social Justice Issues

It seems counterintuitive that sports, an industry used for entertainment, can be a form of protest and create a national conversation on the issue of social justice. Contrary to that belief, the sports industry is very much creating more talk around social justice.

Ever since Colin Kaepernick refused to stand for the National Anthem almost a month ago, more people have followed suit. Not only in professional American football, but in high school and college football, as well as other sports like soccer. This has also led to increased discussion of the issues that these athletes are protesting against like police brutality.

Considering athletes from the generation of Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan were less inclined to discuss, let alone protest about social justice issues, using the sports industry as a form of protest might seem like a foreign concept. However, athletes such as Muhammad Ali and Arthur Ashe would often use their platform as a means of bringing issues into the limelight.

But is all of this just talk? Fortunately, that is not the case. Colin Kaepernick has promised to donate one million dollars to groups in the bay area that are fighting against social inequality. His team, the 49ers, have vowed to match that.

Many might think that these conversations and forms of protest will slowly fade away, but with professional basketball games starting soon, it is very likely that this trend will only get stronger from here.

3.) South Korea Prepares for ‘Worst Case Scenario’ With North Korea

It seems counterintuitive that South Korea and its allies continue to hit North Korea with sanctions despite them continuing to do whatever they please.

North Korea has been proceeding with stronger and stronger nuclear tests which continue to put South Korea and other bordering nations like Japan at risk. The United States keeps on responding with greater sanctions, but North Korea finds these forms of attack “laughable.”

A possible counter to North Korea is to press China, North Korea’s only ally, into blocking the transportation of fuel and oil. Unfortunately, that would have a significant negative impact on their population. It is not apparent if China would make such a move.

In the end, it appears North Korea will not abide by any demands other nations place on it. Hua Chunying, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, suggests that “the US side should review developments of the issue, and carefully think about pragmatic and effective solutions.” As it stands, what she has to say may be the only way of ensuring safety for nations bordering North Korea and the world altogether since North Korea shows no sign of simply abiding by what other countries have to say.

Moving Image-edwardnihlman

0:00- A well groomed white man wearing a button down shirt and tie is standing in a very nice looking house as determined by the expensive cupboards behind him. Based on his appearance and current location, he seems to be rather well off and successful. He has his eyes fixated on something and is about to put some sort of food in his mouth.

0:01- The man puts the food in his mouth and begins chewing on it.

0:02- The shot changes to show more of the area. The man is standing in a kitchen, and also is holding a plate in his other hand. A woman is reading a newspaper with another plate and a glass of orange juice in front of her. Due to the lighting and nature of the meal, it appears that the two are eating an early breakfast in the morning. Perhaps they are getting ready to go out to work, which means the woman could be the man’s wife.

0:03- This frame focuses in on the man cleaning his plate with the faucet water and a sponge.

0:04- The next shot is of the woman’s face as she is watching the man cleaning the dishes. This makes her smile indicating that she is happy how responsible the man is and maybe also indicating that they have a happy marriage together.

0:05- The scene changes to the man being outside, walking towards his car when he notices an older man on their front yard struggling with a tangled cable. Since his car is right next to the house of the older person, it can safely be assumed this is the man’s neighbor. The man has most of his body in the direction of the older individual clearly showing a lot of concern for them, which could mean they are about to go in that direction and help them out.

0:06- The man is fully turned to face the elderly man and has brought his hand up to get the attention of him. It is now even more obvious that the man is planning to assist his neighbor with the tangled cable.

0:07-0:08- The shot changes to one of the man spraying water on his neighbor’s hedges while the neighbor is watching him. The neighbor is smiling, clearly happy that the man is helping him with his yard work. Considering that it is not his job, and he might even be late for work, this act shows what a selfless person the man is.

0:09- The scene changes to someone taking a coffee container off its hotplate. The color of the background is grey so it is possible this is either a work environment or a diner.

0:10- The next frame has the man and three co-workers in what appears to be a break room. Two of his co-workers are male, and the other female. One of the male co-workers is sitting alone while the other two are sitting together with the main character of the ad standing above them pouring the female co-worker a cup of coffee. This is yet another selfless act from the man which continues to show his great character.

0:11- The next frame is a closer shot showing how happy the female co-worker is that the man is pouring her a cup of coffee. Clearly she appreciates what he is doing.

0:12-0:13- The woman is now drinking her coffee as the male co-worker beside her shows his satisfaction on how well the coffee tastes by having a satisfied look and then pointing at his mug. This is all directed to the man which shows that not only did he pour coffee into everyone’s mugs, but he also made the coffee himself.

0:14- The man is now in a line at a grocery store holding several items in front of the cashier. He has tilted his head while looking at the older man beside him in order to tell him to get in front of him.

0:15- The older man has raised his hand to show he is only holding a pineapple. This means that the man realized that the person beside him would not be very long, and in fact did not want to waste this other customer’s time since he is carrying several items. The older man has also begun to walk in front of the man.

0:16- The man is now driving in the car, but he has his head looking below at the seat next to him. Most likely, his phone went off for some reason which caught his attention.

0:17- The next shot is that of the phone which clearly has a notification on the screen. The notification reveals that the noise was most likely a text message since there is no call screen on the phone at the moment. Within the frame, the man is also reaching for the phone with one of his hands in order to respond to the text.

0:18- The man has brought up the phone to a good level in order to read the text. There is a grin on his face showing that it must have been a funny message. The man is no longer looking at the road however, which is a dangerous thing to do. This action also betrays everything the man has done before which were all responsible and selfless acts.

0:19- The next frame has his car pulling up to a red light from a bird’s eye view. There is a red car beside him, a black woman sitting on the bench to the right of his car. There are two female pedestrians crossing the road and other pedestrians near a building towards the top of the shot.

0:20- The next shot shows us the man who is driving the red car that is beside the lead character’s car. His windows are open showing that he is looking right into the man’s car with his mouth open and a face that expresses subtle surprise. The view even shows the man looking at his phone out of focus. This confirms that the driver of the red car is rather surprised, maybe even disappointed that the man beside him is texting while driving a vehicle.

0:21- The red car driver has changed his facial expression to show more clear disappointment in the man.

0:22- The shot is a close up of the man’s face who is no longer looking at his phone, but has turned his head to look out of his window. Most likely he has noticed that the driver of the red car is staring at what he is doing. However, he has not fully noticed him yet, because he still appears rather happy.

0:23- The man who has now fully noticed that he is being watched has changed his facial expression from happy to concerned indicated by the reversal of his smile.

0:24- The man has now turned his head in the other direction to see the black woman who is sitting at the bench. The woman is looking directly at the man while frowning. Similarly to the man driving the red car, this woman must be disappointed with the man’s decision to text while driving a car.

0:25- The man is now seen looking away from the woman with his phone no longer beside him in the shot. He must have put it away as soon as he realized what he is doing was wrong. His face still clearly shows concern since he is being judged by others around him.

0:26-0:27- The next shot is a close up of the woman frowning at the man further driving home the disappointment she feels with him texting while driving.

0:28-0:30- The man is looking at the woman again with his face and tucked lips showing that he is embarrassed with what he did. Texting while driving is an irresponsible thing to do. Even though the main character has proven to be a selfless person in the eyes of others through noble acts of kindness, this still does not make texting while driving any less wrong.