Kandahar

Last week I viewed the film Kandahar. In the beginning of the film, little is known about the main character, Nafas, other than that she wants to reach Kandahar. As the story progresses her mission is revealed. The story takes place in Afghanistan, the dry and sandy country. I was surprised by how much I did not know about the way of life in Afghanistan. The culture is so different from ours.

In the beginning, we watch Nafas disguise herself in the traditional burka from head to toe, as a wife of an old Afghan man entering back into the country. On the journey, they get stopped by a thief that takes everything they own including their way of transportation, a small buggy-looking car. They were left, stranded in the middle of the desert, with nothing.

The old man decides to abandon Nafas in the next town and she is left to find a knew way to Kandahar. A young boy, about the age of 12, says that he will take her to Kandahar for a price. They come upon an agreement and they head into the desert by foot. Eventually, they come across a well where many women are sitting around and washing clothes in wide, shallow shaped bowls. The young boy fetches water for the two of them. Continuing their journey, Nafas falls ill and has to stop to see a doctor.

At the doctor's, the room is divided by a sheet with a whole cut in the center. This is because men are not allowed to look upon women in that culture. The doctor treats Nafas's illness and he realizes that she is not from Afghanistan. We, the viewer, then find out that Nafas and her parents escaped from Afghanistan to America, but had to leave her sister behind. Nafas tells the doctor that she is on her way to Kandahar to stop her sister from committing suicide by the second solar eclipse. The Doctor then reveals that he is not Afghan, but a black American, in Afghanistan to help the people in the country. The doctor proceeds to tell Nafas that he will help her find her way to Kandahar and save Nafas's sister.

The doctor takes Nafas to a place in the middle of the desert where two women hand out prosthetic legs to Afghans who lost their leg due to land mines. They find a poor man that will take Nafas to Kandahar. The poor man instructs Nafas that they will join a group of people on their way to a wedding and that they will pretend to be a family member of the bride. The wedding group is stopped and Nafas and the poor man are taken captive.

It is unknown to the viewer if Nafas is released and if she makes it to Kandahar to rescue her sister or if she fails and loses her sister. The ending is left open for you to make your own assumptions and keep you thinking about the film. I really enjoyed the story of Nafas's journey to save her sister from suicide in a country where women are prosecuted and where some have to live with the lose of a limp because of land mines. The film opened my eyes to the struggles the people face that we, in America, do not have to worry about.

Truth About Downloading

Most of us are guilty of illegal downloading without even knowing we are participating in an activity that is ethically and legally wrong. I constantly download free music from the internet, not knowing that I am actually stealing. The copyright laws are so complicated and it’s hard to decipher what is legal from illegal. By attending the Food For Thought: The Low Down on Downloading hosted by Brett Carter, I now have a better understanding of the laws associated with downloading.

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) stated that it targets college students because so many download from illegal sites, therefore, UNCG is in charge of finding students who illegally download music or movies on the internet, so that the university cannot be charged a large fine by RIAA or sued. UNCG catches students illegally downloading mainly on the computers in the computer labs. Last year 69 students were caught downloading illegally. It’s important for me as a student to read the license of a website carefully to learn if I have permission to covert materials to other formats for personal use. I would hate to be caught up in a lawsuit over illegally downloading music or movies.

I religiously download music illegally without knowing who I am hurting. Besides hurting the record companies, I am hurting the songwriters and recording artists, not only their income, but also their personal property that reflects their hard work and devotion to their craft. Artists depend on what they make from authorized sales of their recordings. A lot of students would make the claim that artists already obtain a ton of money from sales, therefore, it wouldn’t make a large impact on the artists income, but for young or upcoming artists their income means their survival. Although many artists make millions of dollars off of their sales, theft is still theft and it does not make it okay to steal depending on whom you are stealing from.

Knowing what’s legal and illegal to download is very important to me and many other students because many of us don’t know the severe consequences there are to illegal downloading. I will be aware and cautious of my actions on the computer now, after attending the Food For Thought Discussion.