UNBIASED Fifty Shades of Grey Review

Well, I guess I'm a little late to the party, as I believe the film’s theatre run has now come to an end.


Fifty Shades of Grey nail polish...really?

However, I managed to catch it JUST before it did. Not because I was purposely trying to avoid all the Valentine’s Day hype... I honestly just had no desire to watch it.

I haven’t read the books, so didn’t feel compelled to watch the film out of loyalty. Plus, the trailer looked kinda crap and in any interview I’ve caught with the actors, I didn’t feel they had enough charisma to sell me the movie.

However, after an afternoon recounting some recent stresses in our lives, my gal pal and I decided to do something fun and silly on a whim, to take our minds off things.

Signs He Feels Guilty For Cheating

Since the dawn of time men have had their philandering way. When you add into the equation a handsome man who is young, rich and famous…well, hardly anyone is surprised when an individual like this is unable to remain faithful.

Zayn Malik Twitter

The One Direction boy band member is, of course, responding to the following images that are circulating on social media, which seem to indicate he’s been stepping out on his fiance Perrie Edwards, of X Factor/Little Mix fame:

Gender Inequality and Sexual Violence In South Asian Communities

A harrowing documentary shown on BBC4 caused a lot of controversy about a week ago. This documentary was India’s Daughter.

Image courtesy of Ramesh Lalwani {{CC BY-SA 2.0}}

I was already familiar with the story of a 23-year old student Jyoti Singh, who was gang-raped, assaulted and left for dead in such a gruesome manner (she later succumbed to her massive internal injuries), since it sent shockwaves around the world at the time it happened. It also solidified Delhi’s reputation as the "rape capital of India".

I’ll be honest with you, I avoided watching India’s Daughter because I knew I was going to find it distressing. Plus, if you’re already in a depressed and disillusioned state, stuff like this doesn’t help.

Besides, the utter lack of remorse by the men who committed the act, as well as the obvious negative cultural attitude towards women and the gender violence perpetrated against them, all highlighted in the documentary, I knew would just anger me.

When shocking events like this are reported in developing parts of the world, there’s a certain comfort in it happening in a place so far away, and in a seemingly less "civilised" place than a developing country like the UK, which has a much more forward way of thinking.

How To Use Copyrighted Music In YouTube Videos

With news emerging of Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams having to pay out a massive $7.4 million to the family of late Marvin Gaye, for the apparent breach in copyright with the song "Blurred Lines", it emphasises just how serious (and costly) copyright infringement is, especially in the world of music.

 

Personally, I think it’s quite dangerous that artists can now be sued if they take inspiration over a vibe or influence, especially as these days music-wise, pretty much everything’s been done – it must be difficult to come up with something that doesn’t sound similar to content produced by someone else. I love chart music, but even I can recognise that 80% of stuff released sounds the same these days.

 

The thing is, the music industry is known for its heavyweights that come down on people like a tonne of bricks at the slightest hint of copyright infringement or music piracy. Firms like Warner Music, Sony BMG, EMI and Universal, in particular, seem to epitomise greedy American corporate culture in the music business. You can tell these firms are unable to reconcile an age of sharing online with music production, because of its potential to hit their profits hard.

As such, sites like YouTube find themselves in an awkward position between appeasing the major record labels, and still being current and engaging with (and not penalising) its users, without which the site wouldn’t have its mass worldwide appeal, as well as providing a readymade target audience to receive adverts.
 

Curry-Related Brown People Problems

"When you open a tub of margarine and
there's daal inside instead :-/ " 

My posts have been a bit depressing of late, so I’m going to try and lighten the mood.

Curry. As a British-Asian person, you grow up eating it just as much as (if not more than) English food, which then always seems so bland and simple in comparison.

You crave it if you go a few days without it but similarly, you body (specifically your digestive system, if you’re of a sensitive disposition) protests if you eat curry all the time.

It’s not just us Asians who like a good curry: an "Indian" regularly tops polls as the nation’s favourite takeaway.

Is Modern Life Making It Hard To Be Happy?

A few weeks ago, I remember doing my daily reading of the news and thinking, "another day, another suicide story" :

Image courtesy of geralt {{CC0}}

1) Shirley Jensen

2) Rachel Gow

3) Elizabeth Outram

Then of course, there was the recent story of Willkes Mcdermid.

Now, it could just be the media picking up on a trend which meant these sad stories were at the forefront of the news, but there were a lot of similarities in each story.

Recently too, I've been meeting new people or reflecting on people I do already know/once knew. I always thought I was way more messed up/emotionally damaged than most, but from what I’ve observed there are a lot of people who are deeply unhappy, stuck in a rut or dealing with a lot of their own baggage. They may appear to have it together on various social media outlets, but half of what people put on these sites is misleading; even major depressives can convince people they're doing great, with boasts about their general goings on.

“[On Smoking] I’m sorry, but it calms me down. I tried painting but I kept painting my own tombstone and the teacher said I was bumming everyone out.” – The Mindy Project

Depression, it seems, is the common cold of mental health.