Madea is just one of the few characters that reinforces certain stereotypes about African Americans. “She” is played by a male actor (Tyler Perry).

In my previous article, I discussed the idea of “coonery buffoonery” which was presented by Spike Lee when talking about Tyler Perry’s movies. Coonery buffoonery is “antics and behavior” that are displayed by certain individuals in the black culture, resulting in embarrassment for the rest of the black community.

This idea of “coonery buffoonery” has been around since the time of slavery. In the past, it was portrayed through minstrel shows and other forms of entertainment. As time progressed, minstrel shows became socially unacceptable, and the white-owned production companies weren’t forcing this kind of entertainment anymore.

From minstrel shows, certain (and slightly offensive) caricatures popped up such as mammy and Tom. They were interpretations of the characters from the minstrel shows. The character of mammy is shown as a happy, overweight woman. She is a people-pleaser and does whatever she is asked. The character of Tom is supposed to be the male counterpart of mammy. Some of these became toys that were sold for a period of time before being recalled. These were meant to show slavery as a “positive” institution which made everyone happy, which wasn’t really the case.

In 2001, a controversial Spike Lee movie came out called Bamboozled. The movie demonstrates the lengths that some black entertainers go to in order to entertain others. In this movie, a Harvard-educated black man (Pierre Delacroix), who works for a television network, creates a satirical minstrel show in order to get fired. He tries to make his show ridiculously racist and stereotypical. In his show, he has “black actors with even blacker faces.”

Bamboozled presents the idea of a twisted minstrel show and portrays negative black stereotypes. I found this movie offensive because of how real it is. Although the “audience” knew what was going on in this show was wrong, they laughed at the negative stereotypes. Popular opinion spread like wildfire. People accepted this negative portrayal of blacks because everyone else seemed to be doing it.

In the same way, recent movies present similar stereotypes– but in a less threatening way. They are still what Spike Lee considers “coonery buffoonery”– but since they are funny, they are accepted.

If you asked someone in my generation who Madea is, they will associate her with loud, troublesome, full of attitude, and black. In movies such as Madea Goes to Jail, she is not shown in a positive light. There are stereotypes around her that, at times, extend to the rest of the black community. It is similar to the minstrel tradition of the past — the negative portrayal of blacks, except this time the companies are owned and controlled by blacks. The stereotypes that she reinforces are far-fetched and untrue, but because the character is popular and the shows entertaining, people believe them.

Similarly, characters such as Craig and Smokey in Friday are also shown in a bad way. They are poor, living in the ghetto, and lazy– similar to the way African Americans were portrayed in minstrel shows.

In our generation, movies like this are tainting people’s opinions. Kids my age aren’t worldly enough to separate the movie stereotypes from reality. This goes for teenagers of all races– some black teenagers accept and embrace these stereotypes. They believe that this is how they should act.

With Bamboozled, Spike Lee was trying to get people to see that stereotypes such as these are wrong. Has this worked? Since 2001, movies that are considered ‘coonery and buffoonery’ are still come from Hollywood. Movies such as Friday, Soul Plane, and Don’t Be A Menace To South Central continue to spread these negative stereotypes.

For 60 years blacks have been fighting oppression and stereotypes; however, for some reason they continue to generate them. With Bamboozled, Spike Lee was trying to bring attention to these stereotypes by shocking and angering people.

Despite his attempts, it seems like the wrong and negative stereotypes are being accepted because of what people see in movies and shows. Like in Bamboozled, audiences today become comfortable with these slightly offensive shows. They accept and embrace the stereotypes– except this time they are created and owned by blacks. No one is offended even though the line between stereotype and reality is blurred– and it’s hard for some people to make this separation.

The Korean War Memorial, while eerie, is still very important to our nation’s history. During my trip to the capital, I was surprised at the disinterest in this particular tribute and the few visitors that lingered at this spot.

Our nation’s capital is home to several war and presidential memorials, all of which are beautifully designed and appropriately reflect our patriotic appreciation of the sacrifices that our predecessors made. Most of these memorials are found on the National Mall, at the end of which sits the Lincoln Memorial.

On a walk down the Mall, the first memorial is for World War II. Fountains and a large pool stand in the center of the display, and the courtyard is surrounded by wreathed columns recognizing each of the 50 states. Though a memorial for a devastating and far-reaching war, the monument has a Vegas-y feel. Students on field trips take group pictures with smiles on their faces as adults talk loudly on their cell phones.

Other memorials are appropriately somber and very humbling. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial, designed by Yale University undergraduate Maya Lin in 1981, is made up of two slabs of polished black marble, the ends of which point to the opposite ends of the National Mall: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial. Names of the deceased are inscribed chronologically along the wall, simple chains separate a small path along the marble from shallow flower gardens. One of the more quiet sights to behold in the capital, this memorial is simultaneously eerie and respectful.

Out of thick green bushes emerge stone castings of US soldiers, above whom American flags flap in the breeze. This is the Korean War Veterans Memorial. Though more than five million Americans served in this war, it is little known among non-veterans today, explaining the lack of visitors to the monument.

Finally, at the end of the Mall sits the marble giant, Abraham Lincoln, in all of his glory. This monument is the final stop on a school field trip and best seen at night. Much like the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Lincoln’s is very simple and powerful.

What is it about each of these equally important memorials that generates such different reactions from their visitors? It is inexplicable that bored children use the smooth marble railings on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial as a slide. My first reaction to their behavior was absolute scorn, and yet I wondered – is the right to make anything slippery into a slide, the right to be silly in public, not what Lincoln would have wanted?

Sure, maybe I wish that people would stop texting at the Korean War Memorial, or stop making peace signs and pouty faces in front of marble Lincoln – but these are the freedoms that veterans and presidents were fighting for. In this backwards way, we honor their memory.

The Voice airs on Monday nights on NBC at 8:00. The finals for Season Two will air on Monday, May 7.

Here we go again.

This past fall, as many of my diehard fans already know, I wrote a scathing review of NBC’s The Sing Off, an a capella spin-off of the classic reality singing competition. While I admit that I gradually came to appreciate the vocal intricacies and creativity of a capella, The Sing Off as a whole was subpar.

However, with another new year comes newfound opportunities; therefore, I decided to give the network one last chance. Instead of sticking with a more conventional singing show, NBC opted for a second season of last year’s spring lineup, The Voice.

The Voice differs from any other television singing contest in the fact that contestants are, at least early on, based solely on the quality of their voices. The four judges– Blake Shelton, Adam Levine, Cee Lo Green, and Christina Aguilera– sit with their backs turned to the contestants for their “blind” auditions so as to remain unbiased to their physical appearances. During the performance, if the judge wants to coach that singer and add them to their “team”, then they turn around to see what the singer looks like.

The best part about this new method is it eliminates any unfair physical biases. Where on other singing shows, beautiful women and hunky heartthrobs tend to go farther than their voices would otherwise warrant, The Voice stays true to its title; as a singing contest, they search for the best singers, regardless of how they appear.

To add to that, The Voice doesn’t discriminate against certain types of artists either. For example, over the course of the season, the show has featured aspiring Indy-alternative artist Lindsey Pavao, opera stud Chris Mann, emcee Moses Stone, former Mickey Mouse Club member Tony Lucca and many others. The drastically different styles make judging a challenge, but it makes the show original and sets it apart from other singing competitions.

My only complaint: audience voting. The goal of The Voice is to find America’s next vocal sensation– how can that happen if America never gets to vote? Granted, as semi-finalists and finalists emerge, voters have more influence, but until that point, the decisions are almost entirely in the hands of the judges.

Aside from the voting dilemma, The Voice has proven its worth as the superior television singing competition not only for its high level of talent, but maybe more so for its dedication to finding a true vocal star.

There are several types of blogs, such as entertaining, informative and review. They are all pretty self-explanatory. Entertainment blogs are funny or tell a story. Informative blogs inform people of current issues or news. Reviews rate products and services.

One of the more popular types have become opinion blogs, especially negative opinion blogs. Many people who try to write opinion blogs just end up complaining or they may misrepresent information in order to garner support for their opinions.

My problem with blogs is that oftentimes I feel people hide behind them. Instead of going out into the world and engaging, they sit behind a computer screen and complain about how so-and-so did this wrong and how this or that group screwed up. While blogs can be a useful tool in raising awareness on an issue, often the writer is misinformed and highly biased.

I can appreciate people wanting to express their views on different issues, but I think that many people use blogs just to yell and rant about different things that are wrong with their lives and the world and whatever else they feel the need to yell about.

If every person who had some sort of woe with the world complained about it to strangers on-line instead of trying to solve them in reality, we would never get anywhere. What the world really needs are go-getters who change the things they don’t like so that they don’t have to complain about them on-line.

For example, take Digital Dilemma. It’s written by a 16-year-old girl whose biggest issues in life are people who she thinks are stupid or have limited vocabulary. She has no real reason to share her life story with the world other than the fact that she’s an angsty teenager.

The other problem with these specific types of bloggers is their tendency to dislike all who disagree with them. They aren’t trying to make people think or to expand their own horizons, all they want to do is feed their own personal fires and serve as a fuel to others with the same views.

I know some people need a therapeutic release that blogging may provide for them, but it seems like they could acknowledge the fact that perhaps they had a bad day or are struggling with something that makes them angry. What many bloggers don’t realize is that people are impressionable and will believe their favorite blogger.

So while blogs can be a useful tool or an entertaining distraction, they should not be used to broadcast your negative opinions across the internet without reason.

Apologies are essential for a relationship to last.

I was six years old. My brother and I were sitting in the living room watching “The Wiggles” and eating Poptarts. My brother finished his before me and took my Poptart and ate mine too! I did what any normal six year old would do; I bit him. I vividly remember my parents making me say, “I’m sorry.” Did I sincerely mean that apology? Of course not.

What makes an apology sincere?

“I think it is important that the person apologizing is completely honest and speaks from the heart. A text or a Facebook message won’t do; they have to care enough to talk to you in person. It is much harder to apologize in person,” Courtney Elyard, sophomore, said.

Sometimes, when we are forced to apologize to someone, we don’t necessarily mean it. The fact that a person is forced to apologize means he or she wouldn’t have done it on their own by definition.

“Whenever I am mean to my little sister, my mom always makes me apologize. I don’t really understand why though, because  we all know I don’t mean it,” Kaleigh Thompson, sophomore, said.

Regardless of whether or not the apology is meaningful, people generally expect and desire an apology. Perhaps the reason we like to be apologized to is because it makes us feel better and it’s easier to forgive the person apologizing.

“If you feel like the person apologizing is truly sorry, it’s easier to forgive them and think they’re still a good person. If someone does something to you and doesn’t have any remorse, it can change your opinion about them durastically,” Mrs. Beaver, science teacher, said.

The purpose of an apology is to admit a wrongdoing and ask for forgiveness. To do that sincerely is always the best way to go.

The actions of Joseph Kony have been threatening parts of Africa for over twenty years now. However, Kony may not currently be the threat he used to be.

The minute I saw “Stop Kony” was trending on Twitter, I became a skeptic. My skepticism was because of the overnight uproar a YouTube video caused. My opinions are based off of the ignorance of teenagers I soon witnessed.

Invisible Children recently released a viral video which aimed to make Joseph Kony “famous.” Invisible Children is an organization that specifically uses social media to shed light on the use of child soldiers in Africa. The goal of this particular video was to raise awareness for Joseph Kony’s arrest.

Joseph Kony is the world’s most wanted war criminal; he is the leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army in Uganda. This is an ethnic group working against the Ugandan government and many members see Joseph Kony as a god. He is responsible for kidnapping over 30,000 children in Africa to be used as soldiers and sex-slaves. Proclaiming himself as “God’s Spokesperson,”  Kony encourages his soldiers to rape, kill and mutilate African citizens that don’t share his extreme beliefs.

By making him famous, supporters are raising awareness for his arrest. According to kony2012.com, Invisible Children aims to capture Kony and completely disarm the Lord’s Resistance Army.

However, there is much speculation surrounding Invisible Children’s initiative. It is believed that the LRA’s threat to Africa is not relevant anymore, considering they haven’t been active for years and have lost numerous members.

Another startling fact is that Invisible Children only spends 32% of their 8 million dollar budget for actual programs in Africa. They claim to use film and social media to rebel against the LRA, but where’s the action?

The movement has also taken over social media everywhere. The hashtag “StopKony” has been trending on Twitter since Tuesday, March 5. The YouTube video has also appeared on Facebook because of members attempting to spread the word.

Kordell Draper, junior, said, “I think that a lot of people on Twitter are genuinely dedicated to Stop Kony. But, I also think that lots of people are just tweeting about it to look like they care.”

The movement spread to Leesville’s walls, where someone posted “Kony 2012” posters around the school.

Draper adds, “I’ve been passionate about Invisible Children even before the recent Stop Kony initiative.”

Unfortunately, a week after the epidemic, the rush to Stop Kony has faded away. I thought everyone wanted to make a global change, but maybe as teenagers we don’t have the means or motivation to. Teenagers resorted to simply tweeting, instead of fundraisers or other means of raising awareness. For such a noble cause, I truly wish more was being done to end Kony’s terrorism in Africa.

Online services are not the only thing that can be found on the internet. Many news and information sites can be found to keep you up to date on the world around you.

Most Internet users agree that the Internet is, in fact, huge. Containing nearly 8 billion websites, it is the largest network of information known to man. But those same users’ purview of the Internet is most likely very small. The average user will check Facebook, make a Google search, but what else? This list is to help you broaden your scope of what the Internet has to offer by showing you what useful services modern man has devised.

Fyels:

To the common user, Fyels appears to be just another cloud storage service. What sets this one apart from others like Dropbox or Windows Skydrive? The most notable feature is the unlimited file storage. Unlike Dropbox, Fyels does not have any desktop applications to use to prevent having to open their webpage. Such a hindrance does not beat the fact that the service is completely free. Users are encouraged to donate, but at no point are they required to. The only limitation is on file size, but with a 11Gb maximum per file. Keep in mind though, anyone can see the files you upload, and files are deleted after seven days without a download.

Bit.ly:

Sometimes, you have a link that’s just too long to remember or give to someone else. Bit.ly solves that problem for you. This service allows you to put in any web address and create a page under the bit.ly domain that redirects to your really long web address. When you create an account, or log in with Twitter or Facebook, you gain the ability to change your shortened URLs to anything you want. Several Firefox and Google Chrome extensions are also available to shorten a URL with just one click of a button.

Imgur:

Uploading images to the Internet can be a pain; most image hosting website have some fee or limit on what and how much you can upload. With imgur, you can host your cat photos without having them disappear after 12 hours. Imgur also has a feature to automatically generate BB codes, HTML codes, email codes and many more for you to place your images in any format you want.

GuerrillaMail:

Many times, when you sign up for an online web service, they ask you for your email. With this, they tend to send you spam every few minutes to make you spend money on their products. You can’t give a fake email though, because a verification email is always sent to make sure your email is legit. GuerrillaMail solves that problem. It will give you a fake email address on a random server that only lasts for 60 minutes. This is enough time to get your verification email, and have the email account destroyed before you are guilted into spending $10 a month to save a child in Africa.

Procatinator:

Many people find they can’t focus on any sort of work for an extended period of time, myself included. So when you start feeling your mind drift, take a break over to Procatinator. This site will immediately pair an animated cat .gif picture with a catchy song that will captivate you for hours on end. Have you already gotten bored of your cat/song pairing? Click the button in the top left corner and you’ll be rewarded with a brand new one.

ToR:

As far as remaining anonymous goes,The Onion Network (TOR) network will serve you the best. By routing all of your data requests through a network of relays, all hosted by volunteers, it ensures that no one tracking you knows who or where you are while you browse the Internet. By using multiple proxy servers as well, it makes it all but impossible to trace the connection back to you.

Zamzar:

Say your friend sends you a .tiff image file that is purportedly the most amazing photo on the entire Internet. You’re about to open it, only to realize that you have no idea what a .tiff file is. To fix this problem, just upload your file to Zamzar. This service will convert almost any type of file to almost any other type of file, from videos to archives to documents. Just send your file, pick a format to output to, hand them your email (from GuerillaMail, perhaps?), and you’ll have your reformatted file in minutes.

SpeedCrunch:

If you have a computer, then you most likely already have a calculator. The limits of this calculator are often pretty extreme though. SpeedCrunch gives you the option to do so much more. The calculator can do most scientific functions, as well as many trig functions. One of the most useful features though is its massive list of constant variables, from Avogadro’s number to the Planck length. This calculator will never leave you without the answer to your terrible math problems.

Alternativeto:

Sometimes, you see some software you want, but it either costs too much or doesn’t have all the features you need. To find alternatives to that software, just hit Alternativeto. This site will take any software or service that it has stored in its massive database and compare it against the program you want. On top of that, you can also filter by distribution license, platform, and popularity.

VectorMagic:

Vector images are images that don’t store info on individual pixels, but rather how and where lines are drawn on the image. This makes vectors images infinitely scalable. To obtain a vector image from any other format, just upload it to VectorMagic. This site will read the image and determine how to make it a vector image while you watch, and will allow you to make basic edits to it afterwards right in your browser. Just be sure to download your image right away, because the vectors aren’t stored on their servers forever.

Quizlet:

As far as studying goes, nothing makes it easier than Quizlet. All you have to do is input information for two sides a flash card, and it will auto-generate tests, give you a printable set of flash cards, and even create several games for you to play that will help you memorize the information. More info at http://themycenaean.org/2011/12/a-new-way-to-study/

Google Docs:

Everyone has used Google. It’s almost impossible not to. But what many people may not know of is how many other services Google offers besides just the basic search funciton. Google Docs is one of these services. It allows to make your own online documents and presentations, or upload them from Word documents or Powerpoints. Not only can you now edit these from your browser, multiple people can make edits at the same time. All you have to do is add their email in the list of shared users, and you can both be working on your massive project for school that’s due in 40 minutes.

Pastebin:

Pastebin is a very single purpose web service. What it does though is incredibly important. Pastebin allows any user to paste any text or code into the site, and have it hosted for pretty much forever. With its tiny URLs, this gives you the option to share whatever you want with all your friends. You don’t have to have it up forever though; you can set your paste to only last for a set amount of time.

LogMeIn Hamachi:

The average computer user will never need to use Hamachi; it’s just not practical. But if you ever need to set up a Virtual Private Network (VPN) between you and a friend’s computer, Hamachi does the job. By creating another network interface, you might as well be on a LAN network. The free version supports up to ten users per network.

SpeedTest:

Speedtest is one of the only services on the web that can accurately measure your Internet speed. The site will choose a server close to you, and measure how fast you can upload and download packets to and from that server. It also provides a map of the area between you and the server, so you can trace where your packets are at any point in time. You can also go to pingtest.net to measure your ping.

Every wall in the restaurant is different. This wall has the name of the restaurant written in various ways.

Have you ever wanted to go to a really authentic Mexican restaurant but didn’t know where to find one? I did, and my search ended when I found Dos Taquitos Centros, a little Mexican restaurant on 106 South Wilmington Street, downtown.

As soon as I walked in, I saw decorations hanging from the ceiling, abstract art on the walls, antique-looking mementos from people’s travels, and writings painted on the wall– all in Spanish, of course. Anyone who can actually read or speak Spanish could definitely entertain themselves translating things around the restaurant.

Now, this isn’t your typical Mexican restaurant like Moes or Salsa Fresh–it is much less commercial. The meals seem more authentic– the ingredients are more versatile and the food has many flavors, which is different from your typical restaurant.

When you first enter the restaurant, you are seated at a table and handed a small menu. The odd part is, though, that the menu has about 10 items on it. It would seem like a small selection, but this allows the cook to put more effort and focus into the food they’re making.

They serve brunch and dinner on Saturdays and lunch and dinner during the week. Each of these four menus is different for the times of the day.

This restaurant prides itself in using the most fresh ingredients possible. They support local growers by buying fresh, organic items.

Eating “Gorditas” was a new experience for me. On my plate were two corn mesa patties stuffed with queso, grilled chicken, and pico de gallo. It had a really soft texture and I could taste different flavors and spices.

My mother, who often goes to Dos Taquitos on her lunch break, had Dos Tacos Tacos. This was, according to the menu, two grilled flour tortillas stuffed with Chihuaua cheese, pico de gallo, avocado, and a meat. According to my mother, these were “her favorite tacos in all of Raleigh”.

Nothing here tasted like it was made of cheese that had been packaged and sitting out all day or as if it had been microwaved. It wasn’t put together in front of us by people with clear latex gloves on. This food tasted like someone took the time to make sure it was good quality and appealing.

Along with the great food, the restaurant has an amazing atmosphere. Nothing in the place is dull–there are religious items, souvenirs from trips, letters in Spanish, and more. There’s always something to look at.

“This is a family business,” explained Angela Salamanca, the owner of the restaurant. “Everyone who works here is incorporated into the restaurant in some way. When people travel, things that they bring back are put in here somewhere. Pictures, drawings, letters, art, and things like that.”

Which is part of the reason why the place is so creatively decorated. Take the bathroom, for example–this might be the most exciting part of the restaurant. The door is written on from top to bottom. I, not being able to speak Spanish, was simply amused by the pretty handwriting and nice colors. Someone who spoke Spanish, however, would actually be able to translate this.

Inside the bathroom are brightly colored walls, some of which are also written on with paint. Everything in the bathroom most obviously tells a story– for example, one wall has a picture of a couple and says “love of my life”. The employees let you into their life through the items they put around the restaurant.

This is the most unique restaurant I’ve ever been to, and I highly recommend that people go here. There is never a dull moment and the food is impressive. It is worth taking a trip to downtown Raleigh for this place!

The average number of e-mails sent to a sophomore high school student. Colleges send this kind of junk mail to garner interest in their schools.

On average, I receive around 10 e-mails per day, so I was surprised when my Gmail had 25 e-mails. Most of these e-mails were junk mail sent by colleges in order to entice me to attend their school.  After taking the SAT or PSAT, schools buy the names of students within certain score ranges and then send these students mail to help them choose what college to attend.  Most of these E-mails tell the student to reply to the E-mail with their information in order to receive a copy of some sort of aid for college.  The colleges then use this information to send the student more junk mail, in the hopes that the student will pick their school.

This junk mail is met with mixed reactions, as some students enjoy the attention, while others criticize the incessant spam.  “At first it was pretty interesting to see what schools would contact you, but after your 30th e-mail or so, it gets a little tiresome. However, I did find the e-mails from small, obscure, and/ or private schools useful and insightful. The more options for college, the better,” said Lauren Bullamore, sophomore.

Most of the larger pubic schools that send e-mails to students offer guides and other devices, while smaller private schools typically send more information about the school, admissions and costs.  For example, larger schools such as Ohio State sent me a 1 page letter about a guide, while a smaller college called Macalester sent me 2 packets containing information about the admissions, student housing, scholarships, and majors.

“I think it’s better to research colleges yourself without the influence of their biased recruiting strategies,” said Andrew Norton, sophomore.  Many of these e-mails are trying to simply make their college sound like the best, and make every other college sound horrible.  Colleges do this is by sending you guides to help you get into the “best” colleges, which are almost always biased towards their school.

For example, Rhodes College sent me an e-mail telling me they were the best and that they would give me a guide that would guarantee my acceptance into any college I wanted.  This is obviously an exaggeration and is going to be biased towards Rhodes.

“It’s better to ask your counselor or people you know to get insight about college. When tons of colleges send you mail, you don’t really get anything out of it because there are so many you just stop paying attention,” said Kelly Brown, sophomore.  The people you interact with daily will know you better than some admissions officer at some random school that just bought your name to spam your e-mail.

“I’m afraid to open my email now because I know it will take me at least 10 minutes to find anything that isn’t college related… it was kinda great though to see an email from a college saying ‘Kathleen, can you get any smarter?!’” said Katie Arney, sophomore.  This is an example of a biased message coming from a school.

Colleges only know your name and your test scores, and from this, they think they can judge whether you would be a great fit for their school.

Even though I gave my e-mail address to colleges, that doesn’t mean they can send me junk mail.  I asked for information about colleges, not for offers of biased information that I don’t want to read.  Yes, I can always unsubscribe, but I don’t want to have to do that 400 times over the next year.  Colleges might be advertising, but massive amounts of ads won’t make me want to go to your school any more than I do.

This subversion sculpture, created by Banksy, illustrates the artist’s views on his own style. This piece can be considered one of his “inside works."

Banksy, a world-renowned British graffiti artist, has become popular in the world of street art due to his controversial political views and unique stencilling technique. Over the years, he has produced several books such as Wall and Piece (2005), Existencilism (2002) and Pictures of Walls (2005). The artist also created a documentary in 2010 called Exit through the Gift Shop. Though Banksy describes the documentary in an interview with Paranoid Pictures as “the story of how one man set out to film the un-filmable. And failed,” he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary in January 2011.

Personally, I am very intrigued by Banksy’s work: It fearlessly unveils his harsh and consistently controversial commentary on politics and society with dark humor and a distinct technique. Banksy’s preferred method of stencilling has allowed his work to become recognized on buildings everywhere. He has erupted into global popularity in the past decade – however, Banksy has managed to effectively hide his true identity from the world.

Many critics degrade his art, claiming him to have copied directly from French street artist Blek le Rat. Comparing the styles of the two artists, one would find they are nearly identical.

In response to the criticism, Banksy stated, “Every time I think I’ve painted something slightly original, I find out that Blek le Rat has done it as well, only twenty years earlier.” However, it’s doubtful Banksy could not have pulled straight from the earlier artist. In 1981, Blek le Rat began to stencil images of rats all around the city of Paris. Two decades later, Banksy populated the walls of London with similar rats. It leaves one to wonder whether Banksy is merely trying to revive Blek’s unique style, or take credit for it.

Either way, his attitude demonstrates an apathy toward either opinion. If you like Banksy, then you’re just one of his many followers and someone he occasionally targets with satire. If you don’t like Banksy, then he couldn’t care less about what you think.

Brian Sewell, an English art critic, does not sing Banksy’s praises. “He brilliantly subverted the global corporate machine by allowing his art to be used in the game Counter Strike… an anti-war game about settling your differences non-violently… is published by IGN Entertainment, a division of Fox Interactive. Peace out, man. That’ll show the pigs. Similarly, his art appeared on the cover of a Blur album, published by Parlophone, a division of EMI Group, the world’s largest music publisher. Fight the power!” says Sewell in the Londonist.

“I have a handful of graffiti friends who absolutely hate Banksy, saying he copied from Blek le Rat… but no artist is original,” said Gene Kim, senior and AP Art student. “[An artist] always… borrows from the previous generations and his peers… I certainly give [Banksy] props for being his own in terms of placement and the subject of his pieces. Although Blek has more of a traditional fine arts mentality when it comes to his works, I’d give the conceptual edge to Banksy… But [Banksy and Blek] have mutual respect for one another,” said Kim, when asked about the similarities between the artists’ styles. “The upcoming generation always has to level up the previous; that’s the way it’s supposed to be.”

There is no doubt that Banksy possesses great artistic ability. The striking concepts that the artist has conjured over the years demonstrate his cleverness and ability to create radical commentary. Aside from his “outside art”, Banksy also creates “inside art:” subversions of famous works of art in which he copies the original but inserts his own artistic views. In his revamp of Monet’s Bridge Over a Pond of Water Lilies (1899), Banksy adds trash and a submerged shopping cart to the scenic water lily pond.

Due to his vast popularity, it is obvious that Banksy’s artwork has reached out to many people. The question is, is his popularity more like that of pseudo-pop artist Rebecca Black, or that of a credible artist with real talent?

In my opinion, the British vandal possesses real talent. Though his style may not have been evinced without the help of previous street artists, it has become extremely distinctive, striking and uniquely Banksy throughout his career. His unabashed graffiti has redefined the meaning of art. This, I think, is a concept which Banksy unveils in Exit Through the Gift Shop.

The film follows the artistic journey of Thierry Guetta, known as street artist Mr. Brainwash. Guetta, who was inspired by street artists such as Invader, Shepard Fairey and Banksy, began producing street art in Los Angeles and later opened his own art shows displaying the works he created. However, as he reveals in Exit Through the Gift Shop, Brainwash often simply hired other artists to create his work for him. He would give them the idea, and they would create the art. This crude technique echoes that of famous artist Andy Warhol. It poses an intriguing question to the viewer: is this true art? However, Banksy seems to ask: what is true art?

As with opinions on all art, the answer to this question will vary with each individual. If a work of art can have an impact on the way a person thinks, than it indeed is art. Call Banksy whatever you like — a delinquent, a vandal, a fraud, perhaps even a genius — he has been able to affect the minds of millions all over the globe, and this is a credible achievement.