The Hunger Games Movie Review
Well I decided that since The Hunger Games came out in theaters a couple of weeks ago (thus giving people enough time to see it before giving spoilers) I would write a review on the movie. Let me start by saying that I love the book trilogy; I read the first book around late 2008 or early 2009. It came out in September of 2008 so I guess that makes me a Hunger Games hipster. Lovely, just what I wanted to be. Anyway, enough about my life and let’s get to my opinions.
The story takes place in a futuristic North America which has been turned into the country of Panem. Panem was divided into thirteen districts which were ruled by the Capitol until the districts decided to rebel. The Capitol was able to reclaim control over twelve of the districts while destroying the thirteenth completely. Every year, as a reminder to the twelve districts of what happens when they rebelled, one boy and one girl from each district is selected as tribute to fight in a battle to the death against the other tributes. The protagonist, Katniss Everdeen, is from District 12, the poorest of the districts. She lives with her mother and younger sister, Prim, but her father died a year or two earlier. At the reaping [when the tributes are selected] Katniss volunteers as tribute when Prim’s name is called and she, along with the male tribute Peeta and their drunken mentor Haymitch, prepares for the 74th annual Hunger Games. *Note: The rest of the review contains some spoilers for both the book and movie.
If I had to sum up the movie in one word, it would have to be ‘wow’. Now, mind you, I’m a bit of a Hunger Games fangirl; not crazy obsessed but I adored the books, so my impressions of the movie may be different than those who never read the books. Whether or not that’s a good thing, remains to be seen. I was so impressed with how true the movie had stayed to the book. Only a couple of details were changed, which is common for a movie that was adapted from a first-person novel. In the movie you see President Snow talking to the game maker, a riot in District 11 after Rue’s death, and an ominous scene with the game maker and a bowl of berries, which all but literally tells you that the game maker dies. All of these scenes are never given to you in the book because it is written in Katniss’ point of view, and she was never able to know that any of this was happening. One detail that they unnecessarily changed was the way Katniss received her mockingjay pin. In the book she gets it as a gift from her friend, and mayor’s daughter, Madge Undersee. In the movie, however, neither the mayor nor his daughter are mentioned or shown, instead she buys a woman gives it to Katniss for free at a shop in the Hob. I wouldn’t mind this detail too much if it weren’t for the fact that Katniss learns a piece of important information while visiting Madge at her home in the second novel. I’m sure they’ll figure out a new way to lead Katniss to that information, but I still feel that they could have kept Madge in the film. My guess is that introducing Madge as a character would have made the movie longer than they wanted it to be. Either way, I digress.
Another reason I would say ‘wow’ is because if you hadn’t read the book before watching the movie, there might be a few holes in the story for you. For me, the biggest one would have to be when Katniss had been stung by the trackerjackers and has hallucinations. I feel that it might have been hard for people to realize the explosions were the cause of her father’s death. Other than that, I can’t remember specific details but I know that there are scenes where Katniss will do something and, since we can’t hear her thoughts in the movie, her motives behind her actions will become misconstrued. I’ve had friends tell me that they think Katniss is a mean, rude person because she did something [i.e. the way she talked to her mother after the reaping] when really they just didn’t know why she had done it and after I explained, they realized her true intentions. All in all I think that the movie was very well adapted from the book and I hope the second one is just as good. Hopefully, changing directors won’t cause any harm to the way the movie is produced. I’ll be sure to have my fingers crossed!
P.S. am I the only one who loved that Woody Harrelson [Haymitch] and Lenny Kravitz [Cinna] were in this movie? Also, what are your thoughts toward the anger that some fans of the books feel about black actors having been cast for some of the roles? My opinion is that even if you thought of someone as a white person while reading the book, it’s ridiculous to become infuriated when that character isn’t white in the movie. The character’s race shouldn’t matter unless it’s specifically addressed in the novel yet changed for the movie.
Happy Egg Day!
Well today is Easter, a.k.a the religious holiday that always confused me as a child. I couldn’t remember if Easter was commemorating the day Jesus died or the day that he was resurrected [and honestly I still have to think twice about it] My family isn’t very religious so this type of information was never ingrained into my mind like it is with more strict followers of Christianity. I mean, we all believe in God but we believe more in worshipping Him in our own way instead of following what the Church says. Not that the Church is particularly bad or anything, we just don’t want to follow the rules/guidelines that are heavily present in the Christian religion [such as Lent, for example]. Okay I’m going to stop talking about religion before people come at me with pitchforks and go straight into how I spent Easter as a kid.
My little brother and I shared a room for most of our childhood and when we woke up we would quickly eat breakfast before being corralled back into our room so our parents could hide the eggs that we had dyed the night before. When I was very little [meaning the single digit ages] I would selfishly grab any eggs that I found without thinking about my poor little brother, who is three years younger than I am. However, when I got older I realized how terrible my brother must have felt not being able to find any eggs and I would leave the obvious ones for him to find. That ended up working for me because I appreciated the challenge of searching for the eggs that were better hidden more than I had when I younger. After that my brother and I would take turns hiding eggs for the other person to search for. We could do this for hours, I don’t understand how we kept finding new places to hide them considering the fact that we lived in an apartment and were only allowed to use the living room, but we managed. Around 2p.m we would drive to my Uncle’s house and spend the day with him, my Aunt and my two cousins [both younger than my brother and I] We would play games, talk and eat Deviled Eggs until it was time to go home.
One thing that always bugged me about Easter was the whole Easter Bunny nonsense. It’s a bit like Santa Claus for me; it’s just so irrelevant to the origin of the holiday that it makes no sense for it to be its mascot, yet it somehow is. I’m sure I could merely google the answer to my question but I still wouldn’t be satisfied. No matter what explanation they give me, I’m never going to approve of the association between Jesus’ resurrection and a giant rabbit that hops around leaving eggs for children. At least Santa Claus was based on Saint Nicholas, who really did give gifts to people way back when. The Easter Bunny is just ridiculous. Oh well, at least it gives me an excuse to eat chocolate eggs all day.
3D Movies
Something that seems to becoming quite popular lately is bringing back old movies in the theater and making them 3D. That’s it. No extra scenes or commentary or anything special, just 3D. I’m pretty sure it started with the Lion King, then came Beauty and the Beast and now Stars Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace. I have also heard that both Titanic and Finding Nemo are going to be coming out soon. My only question is: why is this so popular? Why do people feel the need to spend $10-15 to see a movie that’s been out for years in 3D when you can watch it at home? The argument that “Well, I don’t own the movie” is pretty hard to believe because if you are going out of your way and spending the money to see an old movie in theaters, then you must obviously like it enough to own it.
Watching movies in 3D isn’t even that great of an experience; personally I hate 3D movies. They give me headaches, the glasses get annoying and turning your head to look around gets quite awkward. The last movie I saw in 3D was Shark Boy and Lava Girl and that was a can of cheese whiz PLUS the crackers. It was the early 2000s so the effects were all obvious. Like when someone just happens to be playing paddleball and the ball flies at the audience. Or a character stabs another character and the weapon flies out of the screen at an attempt to scare the pants off of anyone watching. So I decided that 3D movies are doomed to be forever terrible and didn’t watch another one since. That is, until January 14, 2012.
For any die-hard Disney fans, you may know that January 13 is when Beauty and the Beast came out in 3D in theaters and while I love all things Disney (mostly the classic animated films) I had no intention of watching it. I didn’t see The Lion King, so why would I watch this? Because my friend dragged me to it, that’s why. I don’t mind so much because she paid for my ticket but either way, I watched it and I as pleasantly surprised. As expected, it wasn’t an Earth-shattering experience that would forever leave me questioning the value of 2D cinema, but it wasn’t as terrible as my last experience with 3D was. The 3D was much less subtle and it always made sense. The glasses weren’t the blurry, one-frame-blue-the-other-frame-red, bulky glasses that I was used to. In fact, at first I thought they were sunglasses until I realized that it made no sense for the theater to give me a free pair of sunglasses with my movie. So while I’m not going to start paying the extra money to see all of my movies in 3D [what a waste of my low salary] I did enjoy seeing my favorite Disney princess in full 3D glory. As a side note, my brother went to see the Star Wars movie today with his friend and when I asked him how it was, he replied with “good” and then went to eat something. As usual, what takes me 500 words to describe, he can sum up in one.
SOPA
Well a few days ago, on the 18th, in protest to the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) many websites participated in some sort of blackout. Google censored its logo, Wikipedia went into a complete blackout and WordPress allowed its users to either blackout their blogs, display an anti-censorship banner on their blogs or both. Since I didn’t get the email until the day after when I actually checked my email account, I couldn’t blackout my blog -sigh of disappoinment- but I was able to show my support to the cause with the banner.
For those who don’t know what SOPA is and don’t want a lengthy explanation written at a level that only college professors could understand, I’ll just cut to the chase and tell you why everyone was so mad about it: it was going to censor websites that are based in the United States that had any material that was copywrited. For example, a media sharing website called megaupload was shutdown and some people involved with the website were charged with a number of federal crimes.
You can see why this would upset people, not just in the United States, but around the world. It hinders our freedom of speech and even hurts businesses that may be selling items that belong to other companies; like if a small cupcake shop’s website puts up a large company’s cupcake recipe. That small cupcake shop would have to shut down its website and any other website that is affiliated with that website would have to cut all ties. If the shop and anyone involved were to refuse, they’d face jail time.
Luckily, the SOPA bill has been so strongly protested against that it has been indefinitely postponed. While that is a triumph, it’s isn’t a complete victory because at any time the bill could rear its ugly head and threaten the users of the internet all over again. So pay attention and do your part in this or any cause that you believe is important. Because if you don’t stand up for your rights, then they’ll eventually go away.
Happy New Year!
I would like to wish everyone a happy new year. This is a time of reflection, usually found in the form of new year’s resolutions. In previous years I would partake in the annual tradition like many people do; be a better person, lose weight, be more outgoing etc. This year, though, I decided that I just don’t care enough. I’ll only be wasting a month of my year doing something that I’ll end up giving up during February anyway. I would like to stick with it but like most (if not all) resolution makers I give up and vow to try again next year. So instead of disappointing myself and feeling like crap for not going through with my resolution, I’ll continue my life the way it is because honestly, I’m happy with my life. So have a good year and I hope you have the willpower to stick with your resolutions.
Happy Holidays?
Whatever it may be!
Well it’s five days after Christmas and I just found the time to blog about it. I also wanted to make sure that when I made this post, all of the religious holidays in December are over. Christmas and Hanukkah are both done [I think] and even though Kwanza is still going strong, I decided to just do the post now. You know that stereotype that Americans are uncultured and don’t know anything about the countries outside of their own? Well to some degree, that is true for me. Not all countries [I know quite a bit about Mexico and South Korea] but for most of them, yes. This is also true about different religions. Hell, this is true about my OWN religion. So in order to not screw up and offend anyone, I’m not going to talk about the religion behind the different holidays around this time of year. Instead, I’m going to talk about commercialized Christmas.
Well, everyone can agree that the basis of Christmas is to celebrate Jesus’ birth. And before it gets mentioned, yes I know Jesus wasn’t really born on December 25th but that’s not really the point; the point is to celebrate his life and appreciate what we have and all that jazz. It’s funny, as an American Thanksgiving is advertised more of a family holiday than Christmas but to me it has always felt like the opposite was true. Thanksgiving seems to be more forced than Christmas; as if you have to spend time with your family that day while Christmas is when you actually want to see them. I never really liked Thanksgiving because I don’t like turkey or the other option: ham.
Speaking of food, it really sucks having two holidays that come with large dinners right next to each other. Right after you finally finish your leftover turkey by eating nothing but turkey for days, Christmas comes around and you have more leftovers. Yes, in retrospect having too much food is such a first world problem that others wish they had. I realize this, I’m not an idiot, but growing up in an American middle-class family, these are the kinds of things that bother me. I don’t always think about what I have, I sometimes focus on the little things that are wrong.
One of the reasons I love these holidays are that it reminds me of everything that I have and, at least for a couple of months, I appreciate the things I take for granted, such as my health, family, friends, possessions etc. It’s sad that as a society, Americans [and I'm sure people in other countries too] forget how lucky they are.
Okay last part of the rant [I think] Christmas has become less about family, appreciation and oh yeah, the whole CHRIST part of CHRISTmas and more about presents. It’s kind of sad how the media has influenced this holiday. Even if you’re like me and aren’t super religious, I think that being together as a family should at least mean more to you than the presents you get. I’ve seen all sorts of people on the internet complaining about not getting the new iPhone and saying how they have horrible parents for not getting it for them. All I can think is “shut up you spoiled little kids.” Seriously, it’s disturbing how ignorant and whiny some kids can be.
All in all I hope everyone enjoyed [or are still enjoying] their holiday season. This is the time of year to celebrate togetherness so have a wonderful time with your friends and family!
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1
Okay, feel free to judge me because I won’t blame you one bit. I am quite aware of why someone would shake their heads in disappointment about me watching this film. I also wouldn’t blame you for leaving this blog and never looking back. Yes, the storyline isn’t that great. Yes, the actors are pretty terrible. Yes, this is perhaps one of the most overrated fandoms that ever was. Even knowing all of these things I can’t help but watch them. In 2008, just slightly before the saga burst into the flames of popularity, my friend recommended the book. Before that, I didn’t read much; sure I liked it but I wasn’t crazy obsessed with any books in particular. In fact, I didn’t even want to read Twilight at first. But I did and oh boy did that change me forever. I fell in love with that book series to the point of obsession. I reluctantly admit that I have read every book in that saga ten times each. In one summer. It was pretty bad for a while but after I saw the second movie I got over the series. I think it was all of the hype that was caused by the movies that killed the series for me. Well, that and I realized that the books are for pre-teens. So now I watch the movies merely for old times sake. It’s hard to explain why I would watch something that I’ve grown out of, but I guess it’s the same for all super fans of geeky franchises can relate. Star Wars, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, World of Warcraft, Halo, Call of Duty; the list goes on and on: we all want to watch the next movie or play the next game, even if we aren’t particularly in love with it anymore. I guess it’s just one of those things you need to experience for yourself to understand.
So how about I get to the movie now, I bet you’re almost asleep by now with my long, boring intro. Well I definitely liked this movie better than the previous three. I don’t know what it was, either the directing, writing, camera work, or what but I think this movie was done more well done than the others. It also seems to be the first one where the protagonists, Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson, seemed happy. Usually Rob looked upset while Kristen…well she showed no emotions. While she still had those moments [actually she still looked pretty emotionless a lot] she also looked happy in multiple scenes, as did Rob. So, for this I’m proud of them. The scene where Bella gives birth is enough to make the most gung-ho mommy-to-be cringe in fear at having a little miracle. I’ll spare you the details because for all I know, one of you still wants to see the movie [and if you do I'm sorry that it seems like I'm teasing it but it's mostly myself I'm making fun of.] but I hated it. Also, I don’t see why everyone hates the name Renesmee, sure it’s odd but I think it sounds kind of pretty. Also, if Stephanie Meyer is going to reinvent the vampire’s traits, habits and now fertilizing abilities what is so weird about her making up her own name? People will judge anything these days. Well that’s my mini movie review [lamest and shortest review ever] and I’ll let you either watch the movie yourself or judge me harshly in the comments. Either way, have a good day.
Happy Belated Turkey Day
If you’ve ever lived in America during November then you know what I’m talking about: a holiday we like to call Thanksgiving. For anyone who, for whatever reason, doesn’t know what I’m talking about, it’s a day where Americans give thanks for the good things in their life and usually celebrate it with their families. The first Thanksgiving was when the pioneers came to America and, after nearly dying of starvation, were able to survive because the Native Americans helped their crops grow so they threw a big feast to celebrate. How do we repay them? By killing their main source of survival [buffalo], stripping them of their land and murdering them in masses. But that’s a different can of worms that I don’t feel like opening for it would lead to a giant rant. So instead, I’ll just stick to the holiday.
To me it seems that Thanksgiving takes a backseat to Halloween and Christmas. Being sandwiched between those two money-making holidays leaves little attention to Thanksgiving. Halloween begins to be advertised sometime in September; costumes, candy, decorations, party supplies etc. are thrown at you from all sides. Then, before Halloween has even come and gone, Christmas time comes around for stores everywhere. If Halloween seemed bad, Christmas is worse [stores boast holiday savings for months ahead of the actual day]. It also seems that every commercial somehow manages to incorporate the holiday into its product. Even car insurance, which has zero correlation with Christmas, has found a way to sneak it into its commercials [luckily I happen to love these commercials so I don't mind]. Poor Thanksgiving doesn’t have a chance with those two so close to it. The only thing that is mentioned about Thanksgiving is Black Friday and even that has no ties to the actual turkey day. Oh well I guess it doesn’t matter. After all, you don’t need advertisements to make my country eat large quantities of food in one sitting; we do that on our own.
2011 MTV EMAs
I started this post on the 7th but then the Penn State Scandal popped up and I just had to give my opinion about it and then I got super busy so yes, this is way late/out of context considering all that’s happened since the award show but it was important to me so I’m going to post about it anyway. Sunday November 6th was MTV’s European Music Awards and I usually don’t watch award shows because I don’t really care to see who wins. Yesterday, though, I watched the online live streaming (because America doesn’t show Europe’s award shows on television) from the pink carpet before show at 2:00pm until it ended at 5:00pm. Why you ask? Because my favorite music group of all time was nominated in the Worldwide Act cateregory. So, now it’s time to present the winners of each cateregory. (I’ll put the name of the singer/group as the caption for the picture of said singer/group)
1) Best Alternative
30 Seconds to Mars
Well I don’t know much about this band but I’ve heard and enjoyed a few of their songs. They were up against, Arcade Fire, Arctic Monkeys, My Chemical Romance, and The Strokes. To be honest I knew the winner would probably be either 30 Seconds to Mars or My Chemical Romance. I could be wrong, but I don’t think the other bands are very popular and what is an award show if not a popularity contest?
2) Biggest Fans
Lady Gaga
Yay Lady Gaga beat out Justin Bieber! I thought for sure that Justin Bieber would win because his fanbase is so strong. But Gaga’s little monsters fought and won it in the end. Congrats Lady Gaga; you’re loved.
3) Best Live
Katy Perry
I happen to love Katy Perry’s songs, sure they aren’t deep or meaningful but then again, are there any nowadays? She’s a very successful singer and my personal favorites are California Gurls [of course, I'm biased] and Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F) even if Rebecca Black is in it. I’ve heard Katy Perry sing live and I think Lady Gaga is a better live singer than her but since she won so many awards, I really don’t mind.
4) Best Female
Lady Gaga
Oh Lady Gaga, how can you not love her? Even if you think her songs are terrible or you want to rip your hair out every time you see one of her crazy outfits, you can’t help but admit that she has major spirit. Her lyrics to Born this Way are an inspiration for everyone to realize they’re unique and you shouldn’t try to change yourself to fit the views of others. Keep up the good work.
5) Best Rock
Linkin Park
I’m so glad that Linkin Park won this award. Up until last year this was my favorite American band. Then sometime in 2010-early 2011 I realized I like Korn a lot better. [LP's newest album was a big part of that decision, it kind of sucked] Well anyway LP was against Coldplay, Foo Fighters, Kings of Leon and Red Hot Chili Peppers and I must say, i believe LP was the best. I hate the Chili Peppers and for them, no amount of California based songs could win my heart.
6) Best Male
Justin Bieber
-sigh- You had to know this was coming, right? I am personally not a Belieber, not because I have anything against him exactly, I just think he’s incredibly overrated. Funny and true story: When his video for “One Time” came out it was one of itunes’ weekly free videos. As you probably guessed, he wasn’t popular yet and I had no idea he existed until seeing this video. I watched the preview and my heart melted. Why? I found it adorable that a twelve year old white boy was rapping and acting like a little gangster. I even called my, then twelve years old, brother to come in and see this adorable kid rap. Then a few weeks later I saw a magazine headline “Justin Bieber turns sixteen!” I was so shocked you wouldn’t believe it. His competitors were Bruno Mars, David Guetta, Eminem and Kanye West. I think Eminem should have won, but at least it wasn’t Kanye.
7) Best HipHop
Eminem
Speaking of one of [if not THE] best white rappers of our time, he won best hip hop. Since he was against Lil Wayne, JAY Z & Kanye West, Pitbull and Snoop Dogg that’s quite an accomplishment. I thought Jay Z and Kanye would win since Jay Z if so powerful in the hip hop world but I’m glad he didn’t because he bugs me. I think he’s okay, he’s not my favorite performer but that’s just because I never listen to his songs.
8) Best PUSH
Bruno Mars
To be perfectly honest, I have no idea what the PUSH award is for. I’ve looked it up but to no avail; it seems that those who know refuse to share the knowledge. Oh well, if you know what it is please tell me because I’m confused. Alexis Jordan, Big Time Rush, Far East Movement, Jessie J, Katy B, LMFAO, Neon Trees, Theophilus London, and Wiz Khalifa were the other nominees and I’m fine with Bruno Mars winning since I couldn’t care less about the others.
9) Best New
Bruno Mars
Bruno Mars again. Hmm well I didn’t really like Lazy Song but other than that I like his songs. Especially “It Will Rain” that is featured in The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 [Don't judge me, I used to be obsessed with Twilight, got over that after the first movie and am now merely watching it for closure.] The other nominees were Far East Movement, Jessie J, LMFAO and Wiz Khalifa. I hate Jessie J so I’m happy she didn’t win but I happen to like LMFAO more than Bruno Mars. Oh well, at least Bruno looks good! [don't try to deny his powers of looking cool, did you even see the picture I posted for this award?]
10) Best Pop
Justine Bieber
Ugh sorry to any Bieber fans that read this blog post but I just cannot find anything nice to say about him [except that he somehow managed to get a very pretty girlfriend. I guess Selena sees something in him that I just don't but I'm glad they're happy.] He beat Britney Spears, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga and Rihanna, all of whom I believe are better than Justin but what can you do, it is a popularity contest after all.
11) Best World Stage
30 Seconds to Mars
Yet another award I don’t understand but whatever, I’ve already talked about this group and I have no qualms with them althought I think that in the list of the other nominees [Arcade Fire, The Black Eyed Peas, Diddy Dirty Money, Enrique Iglesias, Kings of Leon, Linkin Park, My Chemical Romance, Ozzy Osborne and Snoop Dogg] I think there are some others that should have won it instead.
12/14) Best Song/Best Video
Lady Gaga
What a shock Lady Gaga won both of these for the same song: “Born this Way” and I think she really deserved it. I know this post makes me seem like a Little Monster but honestly I’m not a super fan, I just like that she encourages individuality and discourages judging others for it. Anyway, she was getting chocked up accepting the award for best song, which she was up against Adele’s “Rolling In The Deep”, Bruno Mars’ “Grenade”, Jennifer Lopez ft Pitbull’s “On The Floor” and Katy Perry’s “Firework. For best video the other nominees were Adele’s “Rolling In The Deep”, Beastie Boys’ “Make Some Noise”, Beyoncé’s “Run The World (Girls)” and Justice’s “Civilization”. I’m glad she won both and I hope she continues winning awards. P.S. I marked this as 12 and 14 because that is the order the awards were given in.
13) Worldwide Act
BIGBANG Left to Right: Seungri, G Dragon, Tae-yang, Daesung, and T.O.P
Okay finally, this is why I sat through three hours of people I don’t care about: BIGBANG YAY!! Okay, I’ll try to stop fan girling over this; especially since this happened almost a month ago. -deep breath- Alright, I’m good. So This award went to groups and singers from different areas all over the world. The other nominees were: Restart from Latin America, Lena from Europe, Britney Spears from North America [and who I considered to be the only competition for Bigbang] and Abdelfattah Grini from Africa/India/Middle East. I’ve been in love with Korean culture, and more specifically Kpop, for about three or four years now and I absolutely love Bigbang. Each member is so unique and they are all cool, goofy, sexy down to earth men. Bigbang hwaiting I love you guys.
Well that wraps up this award show [even though you probably already learned the results weeks ago if you actually cared]. Oh well until next time, whenever that is.
Penn State Scandal
For the past couple of days news has been brought into the light about the Penn State scandal that has been going on for over 15 years. A quick summary for those who don’t know the main point: Former assistant coach at Penn State, Gary Sandusky, sexually abused young boys; sometimes on the Penn State campus. There’s more to it and more people involved but already it’s quite obvious how wrong these events are.
Before getting into the people involved I’ll give a timeline of the scandal, starting with the beginning of his career. Note: I did not create this timeline, I took it from the Huff Post. Any and all credit for the timeline goes to the Huff Post. Now let’s begin. [feel free to skim if you must, I'm aware of how painfully long this is, I just posted it for the curious]
“1969 – Jerry Sandusky starts his coaching career at Penn State University as a defensive line coach.
1977 – Jerry Sandusky founds The Second Mile. It begins as a group foster home dedicated to helping troubled boys and grows into a charity dedicated to helping children with absent or dysfunctional families.
January 1983 – Associated Press voters select Penn State as college football’s national champion for the 1982 season.
January 1987 – Associated Press voters select Penn State as college football’s national champion for the 1986 season.
1994 – Boy known as Victim 7 in the report meets Sandusky through The Second Mile program at about the age of 10.
1994-95 – Boy known as Victim 6 meets Sandusky at a Second Mile picnic at Spring Creek Park when he is 7 or 8 years old.
1995-96 – Boy known as Victim 5, meets Sandusky through The Second Mile when he is 7 or 8, in second or third grade.
1996-97 – Boy known as Victim 4, at the age of 12 or 13, meets Sandusky while he is in his second year participating in The Second Mile program.1996-98 – Victim 5 is taken to the locker rooms and showers at Penn State by Sandusky when he is 8 to 10 years old.
Jan. 1, 1998 – Victim 4 is listed, along with Sandusky’s wife, as a member of Sandusky’s family party for the 1998 Outback Bowl.
1998 – Victim 6 is taken into the locker rooms and showers when he is 11 years old. When Victim 6 is dropped off at home, his hair is wet from showering with Sandusky. His mother reports the incident to the university police, who investigate.
Detective Ronald Schreffler testifies that he and State College Police Department Detective Ralph Ralston, with the consent of the mother of Victim 6, eavesdrop on two conversations the mother of Victim 6 has with Sandusky. Sandusky says he has showered with other boys and Victim 6′s mother tries to make Sandusky promise never to shower with a boy again but he will not. At the end of the second conversation, after Sandusky is told he cannot see Victim 6 anymore, Schreffler testifies Sandusky says, “I understand. I was wrong. I wish I could get forgiveness. I know I won’t get it from you. I wish I were dead.”
Jerry Lauro, an investigator with the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare, testifies he and Schreffler interviewed Sandusky, and that Sandusky admits showering naked with Victim 6, admits to hugging Victim 6 while in the shower and admits that it was wrong.
The case is closed after then-Centre County District Attorney Ray Gricar decides there will be no criminal charge.
June 1999 – Sandusky retires from Penn State but still holds emeritus status.
Dec. 28, 1999 – Victim 4 is listed, along with Sandusky’s wife, as a member of Sandusky’s family party for the 1999 Alamo Bowl.
Summer 2000 – Boy known as Victim 3 meets Sandusky through The Second Mile when he is between seventh and eighth grade.
Fall 2000 – A janitor named James Calhoun observes Sandusky in the showers of the Lasch Football Building with a young boy, known as Victim 8, pinned up against the wall, performing oral sex on the boy. He tells other janitorial staff immediately. Fellow Office of Physical Plant employee Ronald Petrosky cleans the showers at Lasch and sees Sandusky and the boy, who he describes as being between the ages of 11 and 13.
Calhoun tells other physical plant employees what he saw, including Jay Witherite, his immediate supervisor. Witherite tells him to whom he should report the incident. Calhoun was a temporary employee and never makes a report. Victim 8′s identity is unknown.
March 1, 2002 – A Penn State graduate assistant [Mike McQueary] enters the locker room at the Lasch Football Building. In the showers, he sees a naked boy, known as Victim 2, whose age he estimates to be 10 years old, being subjected to anal intercourse by a naked Sandusky. The graduate assistant [Mike McQueary] tells his father immediately.
March 2, 2002 – In the morning, the graduate assistant [Mike McQueary] calls Coach Joe Paterno and goes to Paterno’s home, where he reports what he has seen.
March 3, 2002 – Paterno calls Tim Curley, Penn State Athletic Director to his home the next day and reports a version of what the grad assistant [Mike McQueary] had said.
March 2002 – Later in the month the graduate assistant [Mike McQueary] is called to a meeting with Curley and Senior Vice President for Finance and Business Gary Schultz. The grad assistant [Mike McQueary] reports what he has seen and Curley and Schultz say they will look into it.
March 27, 2002 (approximate) – The graduate assistant [Mike McQueary] hears from Curley. He is told that Sandusky’s locker room keys are taken away and that the incident has been reported to The Second Mile. The graduate assistant [Mike McQueary] is never questioned by university police and no other entity conducts an investigation until the graduate assistant testifies in Grand Jury in December 2010.
2005-2006 – Boy known as Victim 1 says that meets Sandusky through The Second Mile at age 11 or 12.
Spring 2007 – During the 2007 track season, Sandusky begins spending time with Victim 1 weekly, having him stay overnight at his residence in College Township, Pa.
Spring 2008 – Termination of contact with Victim 1 occurs when he is a freshman in a Clinton County high school. After the boy’s mother calls the school to report sexual assault, Sandusky is barred from the school district attended by Victim 1 from that day forward and the matter is reported to authorities as mandated by law.
Early 2009 – An investigation by the Pennsylvania attorney general begins when a Clinton County, Pa. teen boy tells authorities that Sandusky has inappropriately touched him several times over a four-year period.
September 2010 – Sandusky retires from day-to-day involvement with The Second Mile, saying he wants to spend more time with family and handle personal matters.
Nov. 5, 2011 – Sandusky is arrested and released on $100,000 bail after being arraigned on 40 criminal counts.
Nov. 7, 2011 – Pennsylvania Attorney General Linda Kelly says Paterno is not a target of the investigation into how the school handled the accusations. But she refuses to say the same for university President Graham Spanier. Curley and Schultz, who have stepped down from their positions, surrender on charges that they failed to alert police to complaints against Sandusky.
Nov. 8, 2011 – Possible ninth victim of Sandusky contacts state police as calls for ouster of Paterno and Spanier grow in state and beyond. Penn State abruptly cancels Paterno’s regular weekly press conference.
Nov. 9, 2011 – Paterno and Spanier, one of the nation’s longest-serving college presidents, are ousted, effective immediately. Earlier in the day, Paterno announced he’d retire at the end of the season. In the end, he didn’t have that choice.”
Yeah, that was a long timeline, which makes it easier to find the crooked events within. One of the most notable events, at least to me and other than the rapes themselves, is Mike McQueary’s role in this scandal. The timeline itself didn’t mention his name so I tried to add it in brackets every time they mentioned him as the ”graduate assistant”. He witnessed a child being raped by Sandusky and instead of trying to stop it or going to the police, he walks away and tells his father. Let me repeat that: HE. WALKS. AWAY. FROM. A. CHILD. BEING. RAPED. I don’t care who you are, what you do, and the possible personal consequences one might go through by interfering, as a human being it is your obligation to help that child and let me tell you, going to your father is not the way to go about it. Maybe if you’re a child that works, but an adult? You are old enough to know that is wrong and you need to alert the authorities or pull Sandunsky off of that poor boy. There are situations where the line between right and wrong can be blurry and therefore one might be confused about how to deal with it, but this? There is no excuse for someone to just walk away, tell your father, tell Joe Paterno [another assistant coach] the day after the event, report it to the Vice President and then allow them to cover it up by merely taking away the rapist’s keys as punishment [which they didn't even do].
This brings up another thing: why was Sandunsky allowed to have keys to the campus if he had been fired? Paterno knew about the accusations made against Sandunsky but he let his have access to the campus anyway. Why? Because they had been close friends for years, that’s why. Joe Paterno knew about the scandal for years but instead of doing the right thing and telling the authorities he decided the university’s reputation was more important than the well-being of the children. I just don’t understand why people are making the Penn State scandal about Joe Paterno getting fired. How about people focus on something other than their precious football. CHILDREN. WERE. RAPED. and people are whining because a man who could have stopped it [but chose not to because the rapist is his friend] can’t coach? This is about institutional coverup, NOT FOOTBALL!
