If you are planning on seeing the movie "Remember Me" and do not want the ending to be spoiled then do not read this!

Last night I went with a friend to go see the movie "Remember Me." Going into the movie a friend, who had already seen it, told me that it was a great movie but had a very sad and emotional twist at the end. I figured it was your typical love story where two people meet and fall in love over night, later coming to find that one of them has a life ending illness or tragic accident that separates them. I completely underestimated this tragic event that would soon cause an over whelming amount of emotions to resurface within me.

There were many emotional scenes in the movie that drew you deeper and deeper into the personal life of its main characters. The lead male was a college student who came from divorced parents, not getting along with his father at all who is a workaholic and believes that love is shown through providing a stable income and financial support for his family instead of spending quality time and investing in a nurturing relationship with his children. Early in the movie you find out that he not only has a younger sister who is extremely artistic and talented leading her to be picked on and alienated, but also that they have an older brother who died a few years back. It later comes out that he had committed suicide shortly after going into business with his father, something that the main male character has never let go. He soon meets a fellow classmate and after a few dates the form a bond and love that continues to grow throughout the movie. He had a run in with the cops earlier in the movie, one of which ends up being her father who obviously disapproves of their relationship but can not do anything about it. Like in every movie there is a falling out between the characters and she leaves him thinking the only reason he pursued her was to eventually break her heart and get back at her father. Time passes and his sister goes to a classmates sleepover, to wake up and find that while she was sleeping they chopped off half her her hair. The family seems to be slowly coming together leading up to this point because of the hurt the sister has gone through and the outlandish acts the brother has taken part in because of. Meanwhile, his best friend gets his girlfriend to come back and they slowly begin to build their trust and love once again. Later on in the movie his father asks him to visit him at his office once morning to meet with some lawyers who are working on his case for one of his act outs. His father calls him and tells him that he is going to be running late because he will be taking the younger daughter to school that day. The brother is very happy to hear that his dad is finally taking the time to be a part of his daughters life and waits in his office for him. While he is up there he sees on his fathers screen saver all pictures of the family and his kids and see how much they actually do mean to him in spite of everything. Soon the camera flashes to him looking out the window of the office at the beautiful, sunny morning and as it backs up you can see that he is standing in on of the top stories of the twin towers. The next camera flash is of the sister in class and written on the blackboard is the date, "September 11, 2001."

As I came to the realization of the event that was soon about to happen next, I found myself flushed with emotions and an anxiety I never thought would be the result of this connection. I was immediately thinking "Please don't show the planes crash, please don't show it," not thinking I would be able to watch it again especially now being tied to these characters and their lives. I did not know anyone in the towers and still was filled with such an indescribable anxiety of that day. I believe a larger contributing factor of this was the media coverage of the event for that day and every day since. There are so many feelings, emotions, symbols, attachments, connections etc. that come into play when thinking about September 11, 2001 that would have come naturally, but the media, in my eyes, definitely amplified all of them. From the symbols of the United States Flag, the pictures of the firefighters risking their lives, the live coverage and actually seeing the second plane hit to second tower out of no were, not knowing if this was a repay of this first one or actual reality, the people jumping out of the windows, the collapse of the tower and all of the city under a cloud of dust, the hero's and patriotism that came out of it all, the grieving and the coming together of our country. Everything was felt by everyone that day and I did not expect such a reaction from myself nine years later. How could I not though?

The question that came to my mind immediately was, was our country ready for this yet? But if not, will they ever be? It was a day that has put an emotional scar on everyone's hearts and the smallest event or symbol can take us right back to the extreme emotions that we felt on that very day. I found it to be pretty crazy that this movie was one of those things that could do that. It showed me the great impact that the media does in fact have on us and our emotions and ties to specific events in our lives and that the slightest thing can be shown to us to take us right back to where we were that very day, very second.

Tiger Woods

Tiger Woods has been entering back into the media more frequently lately. In the past few months there has been much negative attention circling around him from his past infidelities with numerous women. It seemed as though all of America was against this once loved and idolized heroic athlete. There was much speculation about how this man we all thought was the all American family man could have this complete other life of sin and selfishness. Sponsors dropped him, fans turned their back on him, and his family shunned him as more and more women stepped forward telling their private stories of their encounters with Tiger. This all began to slowly turn when he came out to the public with his well prompted speech. Many were skeptical to his well practiced apologies and "practiced" pauses and emotions saying it was too planned out and not genuine. For some, however, there was a small piece of sympathy or hope perhaps that putting aside his personal life, we could still view him as the world's greatest golfer he was/is known for. He is indeed the man who made golf what it is today. I am no saying that people have forgotten the pain he put his family through and the women he cheated with for years, but I do believe that people were able to separate the everyday person from the "celebrity." With that said the newest event to hit the media is Tiger's first return to golf through the Masters. There is much discussion going on about his return and his much anticipated performance. Some say there is no way anyone, even Tiger Woods, would be able to come back from everything that has happened and be able to perform as they once had before. Others think his ability to perform and competitive nature is something that will never leave him and he could come back stronger than before. In my opinion, I think that Tiger is an athlete who will thrive under this kind of pressure and will perform at the Masters to prove to everyone that he can still be the athlete and golfer he was always known for and is taking the steps to get his life back together. I think this may be the first big step is doing so.