'Somebodies' Review

Although I thought the concepts and themes in 'Somebodies' had serious commercial potential, I would not argue that its' appeal spanned far from the traditional BET audience.

As a white, Australian college student, i found myself frequently questioning the authenticity of the characters and their interaction with each other. Either as a result of poor acting or thin character dialogue in the script, I was not fully engaged by the relationships and at times found the interrelation between characters visibly superficial. This was highlighted most by Scotty and Diva's relationship, which was at times dry and hard to believe.

Having said that, coming from Australia, I have never watched a program on BET and am thus unfamiliar with the style of its programs. However, I assume that if a culturally naive foreigner can question the credibility of character authenticity in the script, the average African-American BET viewer would do so even more severely.

UGA vs USYD - The battle begins

If you ask my scholarly advisors, parents or anyone involved in the payment of my college tuition what the most important aspect of attending UGA is, you will undoubtedly elicit a common response; Academics. Even though the social distractions of college life have already rivaled this aspect of my schooling, academic achievement remains my top priority and I have thus been reflecting on the fundamental and striking differences between the scholarly requirements of UGA and those of the University of Sydney.

The difference in academics between the two schools is rooted in the structure of the degree system itself. In Australia, the majority of schools require students to choose their major before they enroll for the university. This, to me, is a questionable notion, considering that most 17/18 year old high school graduates have none to little idea about what they want to do with the rest of their lives. For example, when i graduated my high school with my final grades I chose to enroll in a 4 year Bachelor of Arts in Media and Communications. As a 18 year old, focused more on celebrating the end of an arduous exams period at the time, it did not exactly seem that the decision held much significance. Luckily i thoroughly enjoy my studies and believe I made the best decision.

In my opinion, the American college degree system is far more forgiving for students who are not entirely confident in what they wish to do with the rest of their lives and is thus, a more logical and effective way of doing things. Interestingly, a select few universities in Australia such as Monash University in Melbourne have taken this lead and switched to the US degree system.

UGA 1 - 0 USYD