America's Infatuation with the Occult

          America's fascination with the occult is quite peculiar. America began on the foundation of religion. When I think about religion, I think about having faith in something that brings joy, peace, and happiness to your life. But America has turned it into something evil and that cannot be trusted.It only focuses on finding the tainted, even when it's not there. And there are many cases throughout American culture.

        Probably the most memorable example of America's fascination with the occult, and maybe even the first example was the Salem Witch Trials. During this time, innocent women were persecuted for oddities in their character or "unnatural" occurrences happening in the town. This demonstrates that America, one, rejected people that were different, and two, had to figure out an explanation for everything. If the answer could not be found in the Bible or at church, it was the Devil at work. So basically early Americans needed a reason for everything that happened, which resulted in the belief of dark forces working through people.

        Another example of occult in American culture is all the famous celebrities claiming to be in the Illuminati. Many rappers and singers have been seen throwing their hands up in a triangle, a symbol of the Illuminati. There are no other such public  displays in other countries. What does that say about America? It says that America considers underground evil societies  cool and fashionable. Image is so important in America. People will do just about anything to get looked at.

        And lastly, after doing some research, I found out that the Ouija originated from none other than the good old U.S. of A. In the late 19th century the (and to this day) the Ouija board allowed people to communicate with unseen spirits. A Ouija board has all the letters on it, number 0-9, a "yes" and a "no," and a "goodbye." Two or more people ask a question, place their fingers on the planchette, and let it guide their fingers to the answer. Again, America is the only country that made it a fun pastime to "speak" with the dead. This can be interpreted to mean Americans are very interested about the afterlife or have too much time on their hands. No matter which way we look at it, or what the reasoning is, America has a bizarre obsession with the occult.

P.S. I wrote this first again, but that was mostly because my dad was on the computer.

Anti Heroes

             So this is my first blog post. I lterally wrote this on a piece of paper before I typed it up. I guess I'm the only the only 90's baby that isn't a technology person. Last semester my friend said her Iphone was being slow or freexing up or something. I asked her why didn't she take the battery out and put it back in (I got my frist smart phone over winter break.)But anyways, maybe in the future I'll be able to just type without having to write beforehand. I'm sure that's what Mr. Thomas is hoping for. I have no problem writing (or typing) until I'm actually given something I have to write about a specific topic. So here's my attempt at anti heroes.

             The defintion of an anti hero is a central character in a story, movie, or drama who lacks conventional heroic attributes. In case you were wondering. Because it's not like I was the one who didn't know.... I will now compare Ichabod Crane, the weird antihero from Sleepy Hollows, to Perry Smith, the troubled, murderous anithero from In Cold Blood.
 
              Ichabod and Perry both came from mysterious backgrounds. All we learn about Ichabod's past is that he was born in Connecticut.  We don't know anything else about him. There are so many unanswered questions. What was his childhood like? Why made him decide to teach children? Does he have any close family or friends? The same goes for Perry. Even though this time we're given a pretty detailed past, there are still plenty of questions. Why did his parents allow things to get so bad in the first place? Why didn't they show Perry and his siblings more love and affection? For Ichabod and Perry, the answers to these question had a major influence on the people they became.

               Something else Ichabod and Perry share in common is their need to use others for the benefit that they themselves will recieve. Ichabod seems as though he is inlove with Katrina. But when admiring her home and thinking about the future they could have together he seems more infatuated with the Van Tassle fortune than the girl. Perry used Dick and his plans in order to get funds so he could go deep-sea treasure hunting in Mexico. In both instances, the men don't care about the feelings of the other person. They only care about getting what they want.

                 And finally (finally), Ichabod and Perry both ended up "losing." Ichabod Crande did not get the girl and was either run out of town by the Headless Horseman or bewitched by him. Either way it's an unexpected ending. And we all know what happened to Perry Smith. The death penalty became his fate. Neither men ended up with what they'd wanted. I think it's safe to say that anti heroes don't recieve the storybook happy ending that other protagonists do.

                  So there. I finished writing, or typing I mean, my first blog post. Sorry there are no pictures, maybe next time. Fingers crossed that the next one comes easier to me.