As you may know, the NFL season is back and in action even with the coronavirus. But there is a catch – there are either no fans allowed or very few allowed.
And the NFL is a business at the end of the day, whether you think of it as a business or not, so their goal is to make a profit (money).
So, since they aren’t allowed to have fans, or some teams will allow a maximum of ten thousands fans, where the average NFL stadium can fill up around 70,000 fans, how is the NFL still going to make money, and are they going to be in financial trouble?
The answer is the NFL would lose around 15.47% of their profit if they did not allow one single fan to buy a ticket. Because, in 2018, the NFL made up 15.47% of their profit by selling tickets. So, assuming the 2020 data would be similar to the 2018 data, the NFL would lose around 15% of their profit.
Now, 30 years ago, ticket sales would probably make up around 50% of the NFL’s profit because now, there is more advanced technology where the NFL can sell jerseys and other fan apparel online.
Losing 15% of profit can hurt, but the NFL made 15 billion dollars in 2019, so they will be just fine, and remember, they can still bring in some fans, so they will probably lose around 12% of profit, which is more than noticeable, but won’t hurt them too badly in the long run.
So, to answer my final question, the NFL will still make around roughly 88% of the profit they would’ve made without the coronavirus, this season, by having their games televised with expensive TV deals. And, like I said earlier, they also make money by selling jerseys and other fan apparel. In 2015 the NFL made more than 50% revenue from just TV deals. So the NFL will be fine.
Image taken from: “Women & Media.” 2018. What Will It Take. August 15, 2018.
The media can have a very persuasive and powerful influence on how people view certain things/topics. The topic of the media’s portrayal of women, and the double standard between men and women, is a major theme in the media.
Not only is the portrayal of women stereotypical, but it influences others into believing these stereotypes. There is a huge gender-imbalance in the media where women are far less likely to appear than men and are often viewed differently in comparison to their male colleagues.
The media misrepresents the actual proportions of successful men and successful women in the population. An example of this would be the lack of recognition for female directors. Successful female directors, such as Greta Gerwig, who directed the successful movies ‘Lady Bird’ and ‘Little Women’, has yet to win any awards for directing either of those films. This is despite both of the films having more popularity than the other films they went up against for awards.
The underrepresentation of women leads to harmful stereotypes between men and women. Not only is there a lack of women in media, but the media also perceives women in a very different light than men. A specific example of this would be the double standard for men and women writing songs about love.
When looking at singer/songwriters Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeren, both have very similar careers. Taylor Swift, like many other female singer/songwriters, is judged for using her relationships as inspiration for her songs. While in comparison, male artists like Ed Sheeren, are praised for opening up and using their love life as inspiration. One is praised and the other is criticized.
The double standard, and lack of women in media, is harmful and affects how girls/women perceive themselves and how men perceive women. Although there has been growth in the percentage of women in media, in recent years, the media still struggles to equally represent and portray both men and women.
It’s October! This is the month of Halloween, which means candy, spooky decorations, and of course horror movies. Many people spend this month watching scary films, and if you were looking for any suggestions then you’ve come to the right place. In this article, we’ll be looking at some of the most influential horror films that have ever been made. Let’s start with:
Psycho’ is one of the most well known movies; even if you haven’t seen it, you’ve surely seen references, heard the score, or at least seen the famous shower scene. There’s also the well known prequel series, ‘Bates Motel’.
At its release, it shocked most American audiences. Alfred Hitchcock had trouble with funding due to the horrific nature of the film, and had to put his own money into the making of it. It was filmed and released during the “Hays Code Era of Hollywood”. The code prohibited many things from being in movies. Only “correct standards of life” could be shown in a movie, and things like crime could not be shown unless the criminal was punished. This meant many movies did not show anything like the terror in ‘Psycho’, and Hitchcock’s clever avoidance of the censors and masterful filmmaking helped create one of the most well known horror films of all time.
It was also the first Hollywood film to show a toilet on screen!
‘The Exorcist’ did not have a good start. Many major stars turned down the request to be in it, sets had burned down, and it had to double the budget to finish filming. Not only that, but it had gotten mixed reviews from critics when it finally released.
Despite its problems, audiences loved it. Long lines formed to buy tickets, people waited outside in the cold to see it, and it gained notoriety for being absolutely horrifying. Many people fainted, threw up, and there were even heart attacks. Ozzy Osbourne said the movie inspired him and Black Sabbath to write even scarier music.
It was the highest grossing horror movie until ‘It: Chapter One’s’ release in 2017. ‘The Exorcist’ was also the first horror movie to be nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars. It’s a movie that everyone remembers after viewing, and it’s influence on horror and our culture is undeniable.
Similar to ‘The Exorcist’, ‘Texas Chainsaw’ caused a huge reaction among audiences. The violence in the film stirred a controversy. Many theaters refused to show it, and Hooper had trouble even finding a studio to distribute the movie.
It did make a lot of money however, and helped boost common horror tropes to the mainstream. It used the “based on the true story” tactic that is seen often now (such as in ‘The Conjuring’ franchise). Even though it is not really based on real events, it is loosely inspired by serial killer Ed Gein.
‘Texas Chainsaw’ is cited as the movie starting many slasher movie tropes, and it is safe to say that the genre would not be the same if this film had not been released.
Those are some of the most influential horror movies ever made, and if you’re looking for a spooky movie to watch this season, it wouldn’t hurt to check any of these three movies out.
Many countries are handling this pandemic differently. Many countries are still in lockdown, have certain restrictions, or restrict all travel from or to countries.
The US is still battling this pandemic. Many states still have COVID cases rising.
This pandemic has affected the economy in many different countries.
How different countries are handling this pandemic shows a lot about their leaders, how quickly this virus has spread, and how dangerous COVID-19 truly is. According to Worldometers.info, there are currently around 37 million cases of COVID-19 worldwide, with the US at the largest number of cases. Following the US is India with the second most cases worldwide.
According to EndCoronavirus.org, some of the countries that are recovering, or have recovered completely from COVID, are New Zealand, Sudan, and Haiti.
In late March, New Zealand put in a very strict quarantine. This led the country COVID cases to decrease exponentially. This was a good move for the prime minister of New Zealand (Jacinda Ardern) because currently there are only a couple, or almost zero, COVID-19 cases in the country of New Zealand.
Other countries that have gone into strict lockdown have been managing their COVID-19 cases as well.
Many different countries are handling this pandemic differently. On different scales, levels, seriousness, and population. There is definitely a trend between what countries are doing better than others. Some countries are back to normal life already.
This is different than some countries, including the US, Canada, etc. We are already far enough into this pandemic to recognize why certain countries have failed to reopen.
*Note, this article may have material that could trigger individuals (descriptions of child abuse), therefore, we present a trigger warning here.
Gabriel Fernández was an 8-year-old boy from Palmdale, California who was tortured, abused, and killed by his own mother and her boyfriend. Gabriel was a very sweet, soft, kind, generous, smart, and innocent child who was helpful and loved his family. He was a happy and healthy child; he loved his mother so much even though she would abuse him along with her boyfriend.
When Gabriel was born his mother had given him away to his uncle and his partner who took care of him, then he lived with his grandparents, then he was given to his mother along with his other 2 siblings in 2012.
His mother had a really bad temper and she had mental problems; she was diagnosed with various disorders like depressive disorder, a developmental disability, possible personality disorder etc. Her family was scared that she had custody of Gabriel and his other two siblings.
They say that Gabriel’s mom (Pearl Fernandez) was abused by her mother when she was younger; her dad was in and out of jail. She has a history of getting raped, and another attempt of being raped. Her childhood was very turbulent.
Pearl had started using methamphetamine and drinking at age 9, this was during the time when her brain was developing; the drugs she was using stopped it from developing. She stopped going to school after 8th grade and has very limited intellectual capacity.
Pearl’s sister and her family noticed Gabriel’s black eye and started getting worried about his safety. In court, she was asked if she had asked him what happened, and she told them that Gabriel had lied to her but later on he told her that his mom had socked him in the face. After that, she would sleep over at Pearl’s house to make sure they wouldn’t hurt Gabriel or his other 2 siblings.
Then, once he started school, he asked his teacher if it was normal that your parents hit you with a belt. She said it depends, then he asked if it was normal to bleed, that’s when his teacher, Ms. Jennifer, took action and called the hotline to report it. His classmates and his teacher started to see a change in him. He wasn’t Gabriel, his classmates and his teacher said he developed a bad temper due to his mother’s boyfriend abusing him.
After Gabriel’s teacher started noticing all the bruises and marks on him, she started to get worried, so she contacted child protective services. That’s when Stefanie Rodriguez was assigned to his case. She was new to the department and they had put her, with no experience, into the emergency response, which is one of the most important departments in the agency.
She was obligated to have submitted a report requiring he been seen at a medical hub, because Gabriel had very significant injuries. If a doctor would’ve seen him, he would’ve reported Gabriel as a victim of very serious child abuse.
Stefanie Rodriguez, and 3 other social workers, knew they had the benefit to take Gabriel to a hub, for him to be seen by a doctor, but they didn’t obtain a warrant obligating Pearl to take him there.
The teacher would call the social worker several times to update her on the recent signs of abuse that Gabriel would come in class with every time. When Gabriel stopped going to school for 13 days, and came back after, the teacher had called the social worker one more time to let her know that the condition had become worse, but she never got a response back.
During his whole case, Gabriel had four social workers, Stephanie Rodriguez, Kevin Bom, Greg Merritt, and Patricia Clement, who were supposed to take care of Gabriel and write down the abuse signs that were clearly noticeable on him. They were all sent to trial, but the case never made it to trial, so the social workers never faced a jury. All four of the social workers were fired after Gabriel’s death. They all failed Gabriel. They all knew his case but yet didn’t do anything to take him out of his home.
Gabriel Fernandez was abused and tortured by his biological mom and by her boyfriend. They would make him eat cat litter and feces, expired food, and his own vomit. They would burn cigarettes on him, hit him with a belt buckle, a wooden bat, a metal hanger, and was shot in many areas of his body with a BB gun. They would torture him by putting him in a locked cabinet and would make him sleep in it without letting him out to use the bathroom. His brother, Ezequiel, who was a minor at the time, said that his mother jabbed Gabriel in the mouth with a bat and knocked out several teeth. Pearl and Isauro would call Gabriel gay and beat him up simply because he would play with dolls, so they would force him to wear girl clothes to school.
On May 22nd, Pearl called 911 to report that her son was not breathing. His mom and her boyfriend fatally beat him because he failed to clean up his toys when he was told to. When the paramedics arrived, they found Gabriel on the floor with several injuries all over his body. When he got to the hospital he was declared brain dead.
On May 24th, Gabriel was pronounced dead at 8 years old. The official autopsy confirmed that he died from blunt force trauma, neglect, and malnutrition.
Pearl Fernandez pleaded guilty to avoid the death penalty and Isauro Auguierre pleaded not guilty. However, they were both found guilty and have been charged with 1st degree murder. Pearl is now serving a life sentence, without the possibility of parole. Isauro is serving a life sentence and has a death sentence, but a date still has to be set for his execution.
Plaid Line 