What are the challenges when running for public office in a democracy? Can you see situations in your country's political arena that are similar to those in the movie? What are voters responsible for in a democracy?
When running in an election, it is challenging not to get swept up in scandals or dishonesty. It's difficult to pursue one's true beliefs when there are people vehemently opposing you. This widespread pressure can cause one to submit to alternate goals that do not prioritize the people's interest. The children in this film may only be in third grade, but they prominently display the deceit involved with politics. The candidates turn the voters against one another, using anything to get what they want--victory.
In elections, it is common for candidates to find themselves deviating from their own campaign and from the real issues. For Luo Lei, Cheng Cheng, and Xiao Fei, third graders, this was all too easy to do. This is because the opponent could be doing any number of things: tearing them down, drawing attention to their personal life which has nothing to do with the election, or even making up straight up lies about them. This pulls the focus away from communicating their intentions to the people, and towards "trash-talking" the opponent. This, of course, happens all the time in real life elections, and the one thing voters might remember about a candidate is their sex scandal or some crazy thing they did when they were a teenager. This is why it is the voters' responsibility to look past all of that, and base their vote off of the candidate's values and intentions. And they should also evaluate if that candidate is being truthful, and if they will follow through. If these questions aren't being asked, and the winner of the election didn't turn out to be what they wanted, they only have themselves to blame.
The challenges that a candidate encounters, as we can see in Please Vote For Me,is expected when running for public office. Candidates and their campaigns are repeatedly pelted with degrading criticism from opposition sides as well as from the people. For example, Luo Lei, during the debate, calls Cheng Cheng a liar when asked whom he would vote for. On the other hand, Cheng Cheng calls Luo Lei a ''dictator'' and previously tells Xiao Fei that she is a ''crybaby'' and a ''slow eater.'' They scheme and connive each other so that they can come to their own advantage with one goal in mind: to win. This we see commonly in modern day politics. Of course, in a democracy, the people and the voters are entitled to their own beliefs. Very often, the camera switches from the three to-be banzhangs, to the other third graders in the class and are asked for their own preferences. Another challenge that candidates face is that they must be aware of what the voters want. Luo Lei, for example, bribes his classmates with rides on a monorail ran by his father's police department,etc; It is the voters' responsibilities to make it clear to the candidates what they believe in and in doing so, voters must see if candidates are honest and ideally moral and ethical in running for a public office as we see in Please Vote For Me.
There are many challenges when running for public offices in a democracy. The first one would be to be honest when campaigning to the voters. Also to be positive when campaigning and talking about your strengths rather than your opponents weakness. The negativity and name calling in the movie is similar to the presidential debates just a bit more sophisticated. Another similarity is how the candidates will say anything to the voters to vote for them. Voters are responsible to know what the candidates believe in and their stances on topics. Voters should know what they believe in. They should not be voting for a candidate who dresses the nicest or be tempted by the media.
When running for public office in democracy, the typical challenges that candidates face is understanding that not everyone will LIKE you and your decisions for the betterment of society and the people. For candidates to advocate a belief is a risk for hypocrisy if the 'bigger picture' of what is envisioned turns out to be unrealistic and ugly. Because voters have the freedom to choose who they want to run their lives, it is essential to choose someone who is most qualified to provide for them a comfortable and beneficial life, not someone who misleads, bribes, and lies. Candidates must be aware and take word of this, because it is the power of the voters that have the influence to change the world of politics. In the movie, the main characters Luo Lei and Cheng Cheng who posed as candidates, failed to grasp this notion due to their desire to just win, whereas the class who posed as the voters failed to choose the individual who was most fit to be Class Monitor due to being deceived by the candidates. Overall, Please Vote For Me reveals the essence of how third-graders responsible for democracy appear just as the same as what we see and hear from the media of politics. The only difference is that as an audience, we don't see professional wealthy politicians competing for office, but instead ordinary third-graders exposed to a cruel and efficient world, testing to see who it takes to be a leader of something greater than just winning the title of being Class Monitor.
A challenge that one may face when running for office in a democracy is being able to please voters and ensuring that they'll support you to voting day. Many times in Please Vote for Me the children bounced from candidate to candidate, not knowing who they we're going to vote for until election day came. Another challenge one will face is pressure from your competitors. Lots of times you'll see candidates taking jabs at one another through the use of blackmail, witty questions in debates, and pure foul play in public. These things happen all the time in a real world situation, many ads we see on tv are competitors calling one another out about their faults and weaknesses. These challenges are presented so that competitors can win over the minds of their voters, ensuring that they'll be there to support them. The voters' duties are to vote for a candidate and to inform that candidate of what they want.
Voters responsibility in a democracy are to vote, have communication, be in formed, and do not follow the masses. Some challenges that may occur when running for public office in a democracy are people maybe deceiving, getting support from the public, and there is always someone going against you. In the movie Please Vote for Me the boy made his candidate cry and was slick enough to blame on another candidate and his assistance. The boy was deceiving, but to the voters he seems like a good person and a peace maker. The situation from the movie can be seen in real life. Although politicians are not making other candidate cry, you do see them helping themselves and showing the world the other candidate's faults.
When running for a public office, there are many factors that come into play. For example, appealing to the audience, and actually fulfilling those conditions that you have promised. There are people who are in a public office position just to "control" and "rule over" other people who are of lower rank then they are. In addition to this, there are also some people-who are naturally born leaders-who stress out too much, and eventually fall in the category of "corruption." Of course, voters have to know what they want, and what to expect of the candidates. Many times, even during the movie, people can jump from person to person because they do not know what they want, and what they want to expect from others. In addition, people can have a sudden change of judgement and opinion towards others. Voters have a choice and duty to find the right person to have elected into a public office, and to help the elected person to become a better leader.
There are many challenges and responsibilities when someone is running for office. The person running must have some sort of plan to achieve their goals if they win. Making a plan is one thing, but they also have to find support from the public. In a way, it doesn't matter if they think that they have a good plan, it's about what the public and voters want, because without them, the people running won't have support. Nobody can please everybody, but it's one of their goals to appeal to as many people as possible to further their range of support. A similarity between the movie and the United States, more specifically the presidential election, is how opponents seek out the others' weaknesses and point them out. Obviously in the movie, the kids are more straight forward about it, but there are commercials where candidates are indirectly attacking each other. Ultimately it's up to the public to choose who they want to represent them. Some people just jump on the bandwagon and choose who ever is popular, or who ever has free stuff or whatever. I think one of the most important factors of a democracy is being able to chose who I think is going to do most for the good of the people. A really responsible voter would get informed and educate themselves on each person, possibly communicate with the person running, and then actually vote.
When you are running for a public office position in a democracy, you always have to look great and keep a positive image. You will also have to know what the people want from you to do for them as their leader. The voters will not vote for someone with a bad image and who does not care for anyone. This is why many government officials lie to people—to get them to vote for them. They have to be appealing and to seem like they would be a great leader. They are able to do this by making their opponents look bad. For example, Cheng pointed out that his opponent is very violent towards everyone in the class and is a dictator. Other people use their power and buy votes by bribing the people or selling them some type of position in the government.
There are several if not many challenges in running for public office, one of which is establishing and maintaining an image that is appealing to the public. Another is being able to lead the people without becoming a power hungary controlling dictator. I have seen real world scenario's that seem to be replicated in the movie, for an example in the real world, politicians cannot complete all the work they do on there own and have assistants. In the file each one of the candidates had there own group of friends that backed them and assisted them in the election. Another similar occurrence in the movie that portrays real world scenario's is the political promise of rewards. When one of the candidate begins to lose the favor of the people he starts to buy back the people by bringing them on a trip and giving them presents. This is also done in the real world by politicians who promise a reform or promise to reduce taxes. In a democracy voters are responsible for making tactical choices when choosing who they want to lead them. They are also responsible for who goes into office, which means they are responsible for there decision when voting.
Many parallels can be drawn from the film Please Vote for Me and our country's political arena. Candidates running for public office, in the classroom setting or in a country, will inevitably run into many challenges along the way. Campaigns must be meticulously planned out in order to win the favor the the people. In the film, Cheng Cheng, Lou Lei, and Xiao Mei are seen with their parents carefully planning out how they would win the votes of their classmates. Of course, there are bound to be efforts to sabotage another candidate's campaign, as seen in Cheng Cheng's repeated attempts to bring down his opponents. Many candidates will also resort to "bribing" the people for their votes. Lou Lei was especially guilty in this when he bribed his classmates with a train ride and gifts, which had an impact on the outcome of the election. Corruption is not something that is new to democratic elections, and it is the voters' responsibility to make the right decision. They must look past the lies, corruption, and bribery to elect who they think would be the most suitable and most responsible for the job. Although Please Vote for Me is a film about young students holding an election, the situation it presents is relevant to politics today.
Many challenges are faced when running for office. Some such as either if one running for office should run for personal gain while trying to sound like a protagonist, or something simple such as a humble one who wants to cut taxes because one's nice. But in the end, it's all reliant on their publicity skills, speech skills, and being able to "cope" well with the public (or cool), such as one claiming to improve the economy but famous on internet services such as YouTube, which President Obama has done successfully (and to the end, they may not even keep their promises). Please Vote For Me goes well with my point as you may see Cheng Cheng and Lou Lei has their points in trying to gain publicity. Cheng Cheng (the big one I think) claims that he is no dictator, but otherwise he is good with talking to students individually to gain personal respect (also creating bullying themes passively to take down a other candidate such as Xiao Mei; hence practiced often in TV ads in America). Lou Lei tries to gain respect by giving other free things, in which in America, this is just candidates doing things such as donating to poor or agencies, or inviting everybody to a certain party, etc. Although in real life, this costs lots of money, that's how most presidents even become presidents in America; being president doesn't need just talking skills, they need money. Voters should really just be responsible in voting someone they know is honest, and shares the same beliefs as one would, not just voting main stream.
When there are candidates running in an election, there are often many challenges that these candidates face. When it all comes down to it, sometimes this is just a popularity contest. In "Please Vote For Me" the candidates used certain tactics to try to gain supporters, some in moral ways, some not. For example, Cheng Cheng attempted to turn classmates against the other two candidates for class leader. He tried to make the others seem either too weak, or too strict. He tried to sell himself as being a happy medium, which he really wasn't because at the beginning he stated that he just wanted to order people around. Politics can become corrupt very easily as we've seen all throughout history, and it was also displayed in this documentary.
I believe the most difficult challenge that candidates face when running for any form of election is being able to satisfy the voters and then later following through with the promises. If they don't follow through, then they lose their chance to possible be re-elected. In many, if not all, cases, candidates often promise what the voters yearn for in order to receive their votes but don't always fulfill them. An example of this is the debate about Obama and his promise for "change". As Obama nears the end of his first term as president, many argue that Obama was all talk and wasn't enough action. One similarity between the movie and American politics is the act of petty name-calling and obvious verbal attacks. Although the name-calling in the movie was limited to "liar" and "crybaby", the idea is the same. The voters responsibility in a democracy is to ignore all the glitter that the candidates provide and instead focus on their actual plans and how they would be affected when elected. Like Jenny said in her comment, Luo Lei offered rides as well as small gifts that could have distracted the other students and persuaded them to vote for him.
There are many challenges when running for public office in a democracy. I agree with Abel; I believe that making promises to the people and following through with it is the biggest challenge of them all. In the movie, Cheng Cheng made promises with his followers. For example, he would tell them that he'll make them head of nap time or would gain some power for voting for him, yet he may not follow through when he gets elected as banzhang.
Another issue I believe that can be difficult at times is to please the voters and still maintain his/her beliefs. There are many candidates in the movie that forget their position. For example, Luo Lei believed that he wanted the people to vote for who they want and not have a monarchy. Through the competition, he forgot why he wanted to run; he started to yell at people, and he started to become a little more demanding (like a monarchy) in order to enforce his power among his voters.
The responsibility of the voters in a democracy is to vote. It's important to choose a candidate because the candidate is suppose to represent the people. Also, they need to vote for those that have a bigger purpose, not for popularity or fancy things that the candidate may offer.
Please Vote For Me definitely demonstrated the effect of democracy on not only the power given to all individuals of a society, but also the change in personality and behavior in individuals due to the new opportunity given with democracy. In the film, Cheng Cheng demonstrates a sense of greed in which he does his best to influence the people (in this case, the classroom) to vote for him at all costs. For example, he told people to display hate in the classroom towards his competitors just so he had a better chance of winning, and then lied about every doing it. Not only does this demonstrates Cheng Cheng's greed due to an opportunity of power, but it also exhibits the way people are changed due to a voting system of power.
Furthermore, the film displays the importance of the individual and the common citizen's role in democracy. The three candidates for Class Monitor were distinctly different in character and leadership. However, the students took more than character and leadership into account when voting. The students seemed to be mostly influenced by how they were treated and rewarded for voting for a certain person. For example, Luo Lei gave everyone a treat, took everyone on the train, and gave out food. He later won the election, proving that the people have a role just as important as the candidates as they are able to choose how they want their society to run. This exhibits a unique trait in democracy even seen in a democratic classroom located in a communist country.
Please voted for me showed the side of elections that we never knew were there. It shows how easily influenced voters are to vote for the popular canidate; however, voters in America are less prone to this, since voters have more privacy when they vote. Although, this doesn't mean that voters today don't vote for popular canidates, it just shows that voters are not as pressured to vote for someone. I find it very intresting when the 3 canidates for class leader were picking out the faults in the other canidates. Even today, you can see canidates saying " _________ did this, but I can do it this way. _________ is a __________." ect. I never knew that such stratiges were effective. This video opened my eyes to the tricks that cranidates try to pull. For example, when Cheng Cheng try to play a tricks here and there to win, I think it's safe to say that canidates in the past has done so. Not all canidates are sweet, but only to be sugar coated. Voters are responsible to notice who's sweet, and who's sugar coated. If not, you may have a dictator for a leader (EX. HITLER).
I think that voters are responsible for knowing what they believe in. They are also responsible for knowing what they think is right. If they don't know what is right or wrong then why did they vote in the first place? It would be voting just to vote and would not be voting to get your voice heard. In the filme Please Vote For Me, it shows how politics here in America are similar to politics China. For instance, people were drawn to what their eyes liked, but it did not mean it was right. Luo Lei gave gifts to the class. I would say that it was a final bribe and the kids liked it. They liked what they saw. In America some people like what they see, they don't exactly always do their research on it. I think some challenges running for office is the fact that you have to run against other candidates. Also, if you have a certain view on one thing it does not mean that everyone will agree with it; it's hard to please everyone.
Please Vote For Me shows how the election works in reality. The voters are easily to convince, and they most likely to vote for who has more popularity or gives them more advantages. The candidates were pointing the faults of another which also happens in real life. This movie makes people realize about what they're doing, and who they should be voting for.
A candidate faces many challenges to his philosophy, policy and track record. In the movie "Please Vote for Me", we saw that each candidate relentlessly attacked each other just to make each other look bad. For example, Cheng Cheng spread rumors to the classmates about the other two candidates. Today, we see candidates running for President attacking each other via negative adds irregardless of whether they are true or not. Personally, I think the job of a voter is to participate in the process while being able to sort through the garbage thrown by the candidates. It is important to to understand what exactly your candidate stands for.
In the movie Please Vote For Me, you can see that each candidate faced difficulties persuading their classmates to vote for them. Some challenges running for public office in democracy, is that voters can be persuaded really easily through gifts or pointing out an opponent's faults. I can see situations in my country's political arena, where politicians would try to get voters by saying they will do what the voters want. Usually the voters just go with the popular vote. Voters are responsible for not being bias and vote for who they want and not be persuaded so easily.
What are the challenges when running for public office in a democracy? Can you see situations in your country's political arena that are similar to those in the movie? What are voters responsible for in a democracy?
I believe that nowadays, running for public office not only requires suitable characteristics for the job, but a ton of money. Over the course of time, campaigning for office has turned more towards lying and cheating for popularity, and away from sincere promises and beliefs that will actually benefit the initial cause. For example, one of the children in the movie gave free gifts to his voters in order to win their votes. This action had nothing to do with how he would be a better class leader, and yet the children still bought it. Voters are just as important to a democracy as the leaders are; they must know about the candidates' beliefs and backgrounds in order to choose the best person to run their country.
Anyone who runs for public office in a democracy is bound to face a plethora of challenges. As pure and as good as one's intentions maybe, corruption/bribery and public image is will always have a major effect of one's campaign. 'Vote for Me' illustrates this problem to near perfection. Cheng Cheng at first, seduced fellow classmate's vote because he would offer him/her a position if he became Ban Zhang. As his popularity rose, so did his chances of becoming Ban Zhang. He was a very good speaker, he made some extremely valid points, and it seemed that his victory was inevitable. But, Luo Lei had a another tactic up his sleeve. He decided to buy his love and support by bringing his classmates on train rides and buying them cards. And it was this, made everyone decide to choose Luo Lei as their new Ban Zhang. I believe voters are responsible for being educated in their candidates, and to choose whoever is best for the community as a whole, not just themselves.
Anyone running for public office has a great deal of difficulties to face. Trying to persuade voters consists of a lot of time, effort, and money. People who run for public office go through stress trying to please their voters. Like in the movie, "Vote for Me", the students running for ban zhang, try and to tell their fellow classmates that they'll do what they want which is similar to people who run for office. Voters are responsible to choose a leader with the best ideas for everyone as a whole, not just themselves.
When voting in a democracy a person running need to gain the popularity of the voters to win obviously. The main interest is how they go about doing it. Some will make appealing promises to the people. In the movie, the kids used simpler ways of gaining popularity. Luo Lei as example, used his parents connections to the public safety dept. to arrange a ride on a train for his class. Cheng Cheng went around a more difficult and sneaky way exploiting Luo Lei and Xiao Fei's faults / sabotaging their debate/performance. The kids in the class were easily swayed but still had the main root of each candidate. Xiao Fei was a nice person but she wasn't strict enough and people didn't respect her as much for being so soft. Cheng Cheng used a lot of sneaky under hand things but was found out in the end and no one felt they could trust him very well. Luo Lei was the best candidate but he did what they all disliked the most, discipline.
When running in an election, it is challenging not to get swept up in scandals or dishonesty. It's difficult to pursue one's true beliefs when there are people vehemently opposing you. This widespread pressure can cause one to submit to alternate goals that do not prioritize the people's interest. The children in this film may only be in third grade, but they prominently display the deceit involved with politics. The candidates turn the voters against one another, using anything to get what they want--victory.
ReplyDeleteIn elections, it is common for candidates to find themselves deviating from their own campaign and from the real issues. For Luo Lei, Cheng Cheng, and Xiao Fei, third graders, this was all too easy to do. This is because the opponent could be doing any number of things: tearing them down, drawing attention to their personal life which has nothing to do with the election, or even making up straight up lies about them. This pulls the focus away from communicating their intentions to the people, and towards "trash-talking" the opponent. This, of course, happens all the time in real life elections, and the one thing voters might remember about a candidate is their sex scandal or some crazy thing they did when they were a teenager. This is why it is the voters' responsibility to look past all of that, and base their vote off of the candidate's values and intentions. And they should also evaluate if that candidate is being truthful, and if they will follow through. If these questions aren't being asked, and the winner of the election didn't turn out to be what they wanted, they only have themselves to blame.
ReplyDeleteThe challenges that a candidate encounters, as we can see in Please Vote For Me,is expected when running for public office. Candidates and their campaigns are repeatedly pelted with degrading criticism from opposition sides as well as from the people. For example, Luo Lei, during the debate, calls Cheng Cheng a liar when asked whom he would vote for. On the other hand, Cheng Cheng calls Luo Lei a ''dictator'' and previously tells Xiao Fei that she is a ''crybaby'' and a ''slow eater.'' They scheme and connive each other so that they can come to their own advantage with one goal in mind: to win. This we see commonly in modern day politics. Of course, in a democracy, the people and the voters are entitled to their own beliefs. Very often, the camera switches from the three to-be banzhangs, to the other third graders in the class and are asked for their own preferences. Another challenge that candidates face is that they must be aware of what the voters want. Luo Lei, for example, bribes his classmates with rides on a monorail ran by his father's police department,etc; It is the voters' responsibilities to make it clear to the candidates what they believe in and in doing so, voters must see if candidates are honest and ideally moral and ethical in running for a public office as we see in Please Vote For Me.
ReplyDeleteThere are many challenges when running for public offices in a democracy. The first one would be to be honest when campaigning to the voters. Also to be positive when campaigning and talking about your strengths rather than your opponents weakness. The negativity and name calling in the movie is similar to the presidential debates just a bit more sophisticated. Another similarity is how the candidates will say anything to the voters to vote for them. Voters are responsible to know what the candidates believe in and their stances on topics. Voters should know what they believe in. They should not be voting for a candidate who dresses the nicest or be tempted by the media.
ReplyDeleteWhen running for public office in democracy, the typical challenges that candidates face is understanding that not everyone will LIKE you and your decisions for the betterment of society and the people. For candidates to advocate a belief is a risk for hypocrisy if the 'bigger picture' of what is envisioned turns out to be unrealistic and ugly. Because voters have the freedom to choose who they want to run their lives, it is essential to choose someone who is most qualified to provide for them a comfortable and beneficial life, not someone who misleads, bribes, and lies. Candidates must be aware and take word of this, because it is the power of the voters that have the influence to change the world of politics. In the movie, the main characters Luo Lei and Cheng Cheng who posed as candidates, failed to grasp this notion due to their desire to just win, whereas the class who posed as the voters failed to choose the individual who was most fit to be Class Monitor due to being deceived by the candidates. Overall, Please Vote For Me reveals the essence of how third-graders responsible for democracy appear just as the same as what we see and hear from the media of politics. The only difference is that as an audience, we don't see professional wealthy politicians competing for office, but instead ordinary third-graders exposed to a cruel and efficient world, testing to see who it takes to be a leader of something greater than just winning the title of being Class Monitor.
ReplyDeleteA challenge that one may face when running for office in a democracy is being able to please voters and ensuring that they'll support you to voting day. Many times in Please Vote for Me the children bounced from candidate to candidate, not knowing who they we're going to vote for until election day came. Another challenge one will face is pressure from your competitors. Lots of times you'll see candidates taking jabs at one another through the use of blackmail, witty questions in debates, and pure foul play in public. These things happen all the time in a real world situation, many ads we see on tv are competitors calling one another out about their faults and weaknesses. These challenges are presented so that competitors can win over the minds of their voters, ensuring that they'll be there to support them. The voters' duties are to vote for a candidate and to inform that candidate of what they want.
ReplyDeleteVoters responsibility in a democracy are to vote, have communication, be in formed, and do not follow the masses. Some challenges that may occur when running for public office in a democracy are people maybe deceiving, getting support from the public, and there is always someone going against you. In the movie Please Vote for Me the boy made his candidate cry and was slick enough to blame on another candidate and his assistance. The boy was deceiving, but to the voters he seems like a good person and a peace maker. The situation from the movie can be seen in real life. Although politicians are not making other candidate cry, you do see them helping themselves and showing the world the other candidate's faults.
ReplyDeleteWhen running for a public office, there are many factors that come into play. For example, appealing to the audience, and actually fulfilling those conditions that you have promised. There are people who are in a public office position just to "control" and "rule over" other people who are of lower rank then they are. In addition to this, there are also some people-who are naturally born leaders-who stress out too much, and eventually fall in the category of "corruption." Of course, voters have to know what they want, and what to expect of the candidates. Many times, even during the movie, people can jump from person to person because they do not know what they want, and what they want to expect from others. In addition, people can have a sudden change of judgement and opinion towards others. Voters have a choice and duty to find the right person to have elected into a public office, and to help the elected person to become a better leader.
ReplyDeleteThere are many challenges and responsibilities when someone is running for office. The person running must have some sort of plan to achieve their goals if they win. Making a plan is one thing, but they also have to find support from the public. In a way, it doesn't matter if they think that they have a good plan, it's about what the public and voters want, because without them, the people running won't have support. Nobody can please everybody, but it's one of their goals to appeal to as many people as possible to further their range of support. A similarity between the movie and the United States, more specifically the presidential election, is how opponents seek out the others' weaknesses and point them out. Obviously in the movie, the kids are more straight forward about it, but there are commercials where candidates are indirectly attacking each other. Ultimately it's up to the public to choose who they want to represent them. Some people just jump on the bandwagon and choose who ever is popular, or who ever has free stuff or whatever. I think one of the most important factors of a democracy is being able to chose who I think is going to do most for the good of the people. A really responsible voter would get informed and educate themselves on each person, possibly communicate with the person running, and then actually vote.
ReplyDeleteWhen you are running for a public office position in a democracy, you always have to look great and keep a positive image. You will also have to know what the people want from you to do for them as their leader. The voters will not vote for someone with a bad image and who does not care for anyone. This is why many government officials lie to people—to get them to vote for them. They have to be appealing and to seem like they would be a great leader. They are able to do this by making their opponents look bad. For example, Cheng pointed out that his opponent is very violent towards everyone in the class and is a dictator. Other people use their power and buy votes by bribing the people or selling them some type of position in the government.
ReplyDeleteThere are several if not many challenges in running for public office, one of which is establishing and maintaining an image that is appealing to the public. Another is being able to lead the people without becoming a power hungary controlling dictator. I have seen real world scenario's that seem to be replicated in the movie, for an example in the real world, politicians cannot complete all the work they do on there own and have assistants. In the file each one of the candidates had there own group of friends that backed them and assisted them in the election. Another similar occurrence in the movie that portrays real world scenario's is the political promise of rewards. When one of the candidate begins to lose the favor of the people he starts to buy back the people by bringing them on a trip and giving them presents. This is also done in the real world by politicians who promise a reform or promise to reduce taxes. In a democracy voters are responsible for making tactical choices when choosing who they want to lead them. They are also responsible for who goes into office, which means they are responsible for there decision when voting.
ReplyDeleteMany parallels can be drawn from the film Please Vote for Me and our country's political arena. Candidates running for public office, in the classroom setting or in a country, will inevitably run into many challenges along the way. Campaigns must be meticulously planned out in order to win the favor the the people. In the film, Cheng Cheng, Lou Lei, and Xiao Mei are seen with their parents carefully planning out how they would win the votes of their classmates. Of course, there are bound to be efforts to sabotage another candidate's campaign, as seen in Cheng Cheng's repeated attempts to bring down his opponents. Many candidates will also resort to "bribing" the people for their votes. Lou Lei was especially guilty in this when he bribed his classmates with a train ride and gifts, which had an impact on the outcome of the election. Corruption is not something that is new to democratic elections, and it is the voters' responsibility to make the right decision. They must look past the lies, corruption, and bribery to elect who they think would be the most suitable and most responsible for the job. Although Please Vote for Me is a film about young students holding an election, the situation it presents is relevant to politics today.
ReplyDeleteMany challenges are faced when running for office. Some such as either if one running for office should run for personal gain while trying to sound like a protagonist, or something simple such as a humble one who wants to cut taxes because one's nice. But in the end, it's all reliant on their publicity skills, speech skills, and being able to "cope" well with the public (or cool), such as one claiming to improve the economy but famous on internet services such as YouTube, which President Obama has done successfully (and to the end, they may not even keep their promises). Please Vote For Me goes well with my point as you may see Cheng Cheng and Lou Lei has their points in trying to gain publicity. Cheng Cheng (the big one I think) claims that he is no dictator, but otherwise he is good with talking to students individually to gain personal respect (also creating bullying themes passively to take down a other candidate such as Xiao Mei; hence practiced often in TV ads in America). Lou Lei tries to gain respect by giving other free things, in which in America, this is just candidates doing things such as donating to poor or agencies, or inviting everybody to a certain party, etc. Although in real life, this costs lots of money, that's how most presidents even become presidents in America; being president doesn't need just talking skills, they need money. Voters should really just be responsible in voting someone they know is honest, and shares the same beliefs as one would, not just voting main stream.
ReplyDeleteWhen there are candidates running in an election, there are often many challenges that these candidates face. When it all comes down to it, sometimes this is just a popularity contest. In "Please Vote For Me" the candidates used certain tactics to try to gain supporters, some in moral ways, some not. For example, Cheng Cheng attempted to turn classmates against the other two candidates for class leader. He tried to make the others seem either too weak, or too strict. He tried to sell himself as being a happy medium, which he really wasn't because at the beginning he stated that he just wanted to order people around. Politics can become corrupt very easily as we've seen all throughout history, and it was also displayed in this documentary.
ReplyDeleteI believe the most difficult challenge that candidates face when running for any form of election is being able to satisfy the voters and then later following through with the promises. If they don't follow through, then they lose their chance to possible be re-elected. In many, if not all, cases, candidates often promise what the voters yearn for in order to receive their votes but don't always fulfill them. An example of this is the debate about Obama and his promise for "change". As Obama nears the end of his first term as president, many argue that Obama was all talk and wasn't enough action.
ReplyDeleteOne similarity between the movie and American politics is the act of petty name-calling and obvious verbal attacks. Although the name-calling in the movie was limited to "liar" and "crybaby", the idea is the same.
The voters responsibility in a democracy is to ignore all the glitter that the candidates provide and instead focus on their actual plans and how they would be affected when elected. Like Jenny said in her comment, Luo Lei offered rides as well as small gifts that could have distracted the other students and persuaded them to vote for him.
There are many challenges when running for public office in a democracy. I agree with Abel; I believe that making promises to the people and following through with it is the biggest challenge of them all. In the movie, Cheng Cheng made promises with his followers. For example, he would tell them that he'll make them head of nap time or would gain some power for voting for him, yet he may not follow through when he gets elected as banzhang.
ReplyDeleteAnother issue I believe that can be difficult at times is to please the voters and still maintain his/her beliefs. There are many candidates in the movie that forget their position. For example, Luo Lei believed that he wanted the people to vote for who they want and not have a monarchy. Through the competition, he forgot why he wanted to run; he started to yell at people, and he started to become a little more demanding (like a monarchy) in order to enforce his power among his voters.
The responsibility of the voters in a democracy is to vote. It's important to choose a candidate because the candidate is suppose to represent the people. Also, they need to vote for those that have a bigger purpose, not for popularity or fancy things that the candidate may offer.
Please Vote For Me definitely demonstrated the effect of democracy on not only the power given to all individuals of a society, but also the change in personality and behavior in individuals due to the new opportunity given with democracy. In the film, Cheng Cheng demonstrates a sense of greed in which he does his best to influence the people (in this case, the classroom) to vote for him at all costs. For example, he told people to display hate in the classroom towards his competitors just so he had a better chance of winning, and then lied about every doing it. Not only does this demonstrates Cheng Cheng's greed due to an opportunity of power, but it also exhibits the way people are changed due to a voting system of power.
ReplyDeleteFurthermore, the film displays the importance of the individual and the common citizen's role in democracy. The three candidates for Class Monitor were distinctly different in character and leadership. However, the students took more than character and leadership into account when voting. The students seemed to be mostly influenced by how they were treated and rewarded for voting for a certain person. For example, Luo Lei gave everyone a treat, took everyone on the train, and gave out food. He later won the election, proving that the people have a role just as important as the candidates as they are able to choose how they want their society to run. This exhibits a unique trait in democracy even seen in a democratic classroom located in a communist country.
Please voted for me showed the side of elections that we never knew were there. It shows how easily influenced voters are to vote for the popular canidate; however, voters in America are less prone to this, since voters have more privacy when they vote. Although, this doesn't mean that voters today don't vote for popular canidates, it just shows that voters are not as pressured to vote for someone. I find it very intresting when the 3 canidates for class leader were picking out the faults in the other canidates. Even today, you can see canidates saying " _________ did this, but I can do it this way. _________ is a __________." ect. I never knew that such stratiges were effective. This video opened my eyes to the tricks that cranidates try to pull. For example, when Cheng Cheng try to play a tricks here and there to win, I think it's safe to say that canidates in the past has done so. Not all canidates are sweet, but only to be sugar coated. Voters are responsible to notice who's sweet, and who's sugar coated. If not, you may have a dictator for a leader (EX. HITLER).
ReplyDeleteI think that voters are responsible for knowing what they believe in. They are also responsible for knowing what they think is right. If they don't know what is right or wrong then why did they vote in the first place? It would be voting just to vote and would not be voting to get your voice heard. In the filme Please Vote For Me, it shows how politics here in America are similar to politics China. For instance, people were drawn to what their eyes liked, but it did not mean it was right. Luo Lei gave gifts to the class. I would say that it was a final bribe and the kids liked it. They liked what they saw. In America some people like what they see, they don't exactly always do their research on it. I think some challenges running for office is the fact that you have to run against other candidates. Also, if you have a certain view on one thing it does not mean that everyone will agree with it; it's hard to please everyone.
ReplyDeleteLinda Lim
ReplyDeletePlease Vote For Me shows how the election works in reality. The voters are easily to convince, and they most likely to vote for who has more popularity or gives them more advantages. The candidates were pointing the faults of another which also happens in real life. This movie makes people realize about what they're doing, and who they should be voting for.
A candidate faces many challenges to his philosophy, policy and track record. In the movie "Please Vote for Me", we saw that each candidate relentlessly attacked each other just to make each other look bad. For example, Cheng Cheng spread rumors to the classmates about the other two candidates. Today, we see candidates running for President attacking each other via negative adds irregardless of whether they are true or not. Personally, I think the job of a voter is to participate in the process while being able to sort through the garbage thrown by the candidates. It is important to to understand what exactly your candidate stands for.
ReplyDeleteIn the movie Please Vote For Me, you can see that each candidate faced difficulties persuading their classmates to vote for them. Some challenges running for public office in democracy, is that voters can be persuaded really easily through gifts or pointing out an opponent's faults. I can see situations in my country's political arena, where politicians would try to get voters by saying they will do what the voters want. Usually the voters just go with the popular vote. Voters are responsible for not being bias and vote for who they want and not be persuaded so easily.
ReplyDeleteWhat are the challenges when running for public office in a democracy? Can you see situations in your country's political arena that are similar to those in the movie? What are voters responsible for in a democracy?
ReplyDeleteI believe that nowadays, running for public office not only requires suitable characteristics for the job, but a ton of money. Over the course of time, campaigning for office has turned more towards lying and cheating for popularity, and away from sincere promises and beliefs that will actually benefit the initial cause. For example, one of the children in the movie gave free gifts to his voters in order to win their votes. This action had nothing to do with how he would be a better class leader, and yet the children still bought it. Voters are just as important to a democracy as the leaders are; they must know about the candidates' beliefs and backgrounds in order to choose the best person to run their country.
Anyone who runs for public office in a democracy is bound to face a plethora of challenges. As pure and as good as one's intentions maybe, corruption/bribery and public image is will always have a major effect of one's campaign. 'Vote for Me' illustrates this problem to near perfection. Cheng Cheng at first, seduced fellow classmate's vote because he would offer him/her a position if he became Ban Zhang. As his popularity rose, so did his chances of becoming Ban Zhang. He was a very good speaker, he made some extremely valid points, and it seemed that his victory was inevitable. But, Luo Lei had a another tactic up his sleeve. He decided to buy his love and support by bringing his classmates on train rides and buying them cards. And it was this, made everyone decide to choose Luo Lei as their new Ban Zhang. I believe voters are responsible for being educated in their candidates, and to choose whoever is best for the community as a whole, not just themselves.
ReplyDeleteAnyone running for public office has a great deal of difficulties to face. Trying to persuade voters consists of a lot of time, effort, and money. People who run for public office go through stress trying to please their voters. Like in the movie, "Vote for Me", the students running for ban zhang, try and to tell their fellow classmates that they'll do what they want which is similar to people who run for office. Voters are responsible to choose a leader with the best ideas for everyone as a whole, not just themselves.
ReplyDeleteWhen voting in a democracy a person running need to gain the popularity of the voters to win obviously. The main interest is how they go about doing it. Some will make appealing promises to the people. In the movie, the kids used simpler ways of gaining popularity. Luo Lei as example, used his parents connections to the public safety dept. to arrange a ride on a train for his class. Cheng Cheng went around a more difficult and sneaky way exploiting Luo Lei and Xiao Fei's faults / sabotaging their debate/performance. The kids in the class were easily swayed but still had the main root of each candidate. Xiao Fei was a nice person but she wasn't strict enough and people didn't respect her as much for being so soft. Cheng Cheng used a lot of sneaky under hand things but was found out in the end and no one felt they could trust him very well. Luo Lei was the best candidate but he did what they all disliked the most, discipline.
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