Kids Today

I was thinking about how much society changes over time. When I was young all I looked forward to was coming home from school and going outside to play. I hardly see any of the young kids in my neighborhood do that anymore. One of my favorite childhood games was kick the can. My friends and I used to make up so many games when we were young. Now all I see is kids on cell phones or computers not using their time to do anything fun. I wish kids knew how much value going out to play has on yourself. You use your mind to be so creative and make up stuff. I didn't even get a cell phone until high school and I guarantee you it wasn't an Iphone either. I just wish kids today would enjoy life because all I think about now is being young again.

Not so Scary Movie

The spoof about the Star Wars movie immediately brought back my memory to my favorite spoofs of movies which was Scary Movie. These movies were just like the spoofs of Star Wars and incorporated many different horror movies into this funny film. I bring this up because there has been numerous Scary Movie films and not to mention others just like it. But to go even further back into the past, certain movies which also tend to be my favorite, and if anyone else has seen before, are Mel Brooks spoof movies. Some of these movies such as Robin Hood Men In Tights, and my absolute favorite High Anxiety have all consisted of the same things. Making fun of movies is what gets fans interested in watching films such as these. Even the movie Airplane was a spoof movie, and might I add a classic.

One other thing that comes to mind about media convergence though, is Itunes. Before the only way you could watch a TV show was by actually watching television. You could only listen to songs by actually listening to the radio, or buying a CD. Itunes has converged all of this, TV shows, movies, music, CD's, and even your phone onto one website. We can access all of this on one website now. Crazy huh? I can't wait to see what technology will be like when I have children. This process is changing faster and faster, and whether we like it or not we are going to have to catch up on get on board.

What about the real working class TV shows?

Although there are plenty of TV shows on that represent middle class and working class that we have talked about in class such as Family Guy, The Simpsons, etc, what about the shows that actually show a real working class figure? I put in some thought about this whether or not there are any shows on network TV that shows a working class. I came up with the Discovery Channel. Although these shows may not directly address class, they provide a good sense of what a working class does. Shows such as Ice Road Truckers or Deadliest Catch provide a good example of the working class. Although these shows only focus on men mostly, the fact that none of these real jobs are given to any character in a sitcom or or drama. These shows specifically follow men around showing the extensive labor and challenges of these day to day jobs. The men on the show basically put their lives on the line for the money that they earn. If any of us have seen these shows such as the ones I've listed or even other shows such as man vs. wild, these men are dealing with human nature and the rick of putting their lives on the line. Something besides the money that these men know they are dealing with is actually putting themselves and their family and safety at risk. Do we see this anymore in certain TV shows such as family guy? Maybe, but if Peter is stupid enough to put his hand in a slicer it becomes funny and comical and most likely he will still end up with his hand. I wonder if the majority of us even watch shows such as these. We watch the cartoons we do because they are comical, but do any of us watch these other shows such as Deadliest Catch and laugh? Probably not.

Enough

The film Tough Guise really brought a lot of important facts to my attention. It is so sad that men seem to think being manly or being a man consists or fighting, hurting others including women, and using violence such as murder to make a point. After reflecting on the video it made me think of the movie Enough with Jennifer Lopez. In the film Tough Guise, it brought up the statistics of women who are abused by men. In the movie Enough, the plot of the story is about a woman, Jennifer Lopez, who is physically abused by her husband. The couple has a child and even the child is subjected to seeing this physical abuse. In the end of the movie she decides to take action and get back at him. I remember him making a comment like, you think your stronger than me? I'm a man you can't beat me. Physical abuse is never ok, but the fact that a man seems to think it is even when there is a child involved really upsets me. He makes her feel like she is nothing, he belittles her any time he can, and he uses the fact that he is physically stronger against her. This issue really makes me mad. Men should never abuse women, and women should never abuse men, but how often do you hear more stories of women being abused than men? What does it mean to be a man? Apparently it means the same to more men then others.

Who is "allowed" to say the "N" word?

I was on Facebook the other night, and I was reading through some of my friends posts. The issue with using the "N" word is very controversial and according to some of my friends on Facebook they were discussing who is allowed to "use" it. I hear this word thrown around with a lot of my friends who are mostly black. They refer to each other as this word mostly, and I suppose some of the white friends that they hang around whom they consider "black". I saw from one of my friends post's that the only white person allowed to say the "N" word was a guy named Josh, and that every other white person shouldn't attempt to say the "N" word. In any case calling each other the "N" word during discussion shouldn't be tossed around as lightly as it is. A lot of friends that I know who are black get very offended when a white person uses the "N" word. When I have heard people throw around this word it seemed very disrespectful for me to hear. Whether or not some people think it is or isn't depends on their knowledge of the term. Many African Americans take offense to white people using this word. Unless an African American friend has used the term with them do they only feel it to be okay to say around them. After reading this post online it just made me question, is it okay for any of us to use the "N" word even if he or she is African American, or should none of us use it at all?

Stereotypes in TV shows

Recently I was watching some of my favorite shows on TBS. Two of the shows I was watching had certain stereotypes I pointed out. As we discussed in class, there are many stereotypes involved with certain races, gender, etc. I was watching one of my favorite shows, The King of Queens, and in the show it is based on a married couple named Doug and Carrie who live in Queens New York. The episode I watched was about discovering Carrie had a thick New York accent. I have heard from others the people from New York tend to have thick New York accents. I guess you could say the same thing about people who live in Chicago. During the episode Carrie says, "What do you have a problem with the way I talk?" But the way she said it sounded like tawlk. During the episode her friend was trying to get to her pronounce certain words like talk and coffee properly. To me this was a good example of a stereotype of New Yorkers.

Another stereotype that is a little more broad are other shows on TV that stereotype the modern Italian American. Shows such as Jersey Shore, The Sopranos, Real Housewives of New Jersey all portray "Real Italian people." Jersey Shore represents these Guidos and Guidette Italian Americans. Many Italians have made comments that this is actually insulting to the Italian heritage. In the show these "Italians" are tanning, getting there nails done, going out and drinking, fist pumping, and having classic Italian meals. Is this just what we think of Italians because it is portrayed on TV? The Sopranos is about a big family who's associated with the mob. In general do we think all Italians are in the mob? I have a friend who is Italian and her dad is a tall, dark, Italian man. Everyone of my friends would make side jokes like, "Oh he's so scary he has to be in the mob." TV does a great job of representing certain stereotypes that we still today associate with certain gender, races, heritage, etc.

Playboy Club Triangles?

After todays class, the discussion we had about Private Practice made me reflect on the show I just watched The Playboy Club. There is a lot of controversy and interesting things going on in this show. There are many love triangles just like there was in Private Practice, and not to mention a whole lot of drama. If you have not seen this show before, it is based on the actual Playboy Club that started in the 1960's by founder Hugh Hefner. These girls are all dressed up in bunny costumes, and they all have different jobs in the club. Some are waitresses and bring drinks to the club members, others are cigarette girls. These girls have to use their sex appeal to these men. It's what makes the club interesting and fun. They have to put themselves out there more or less to make money. Theres also a few love triangles that go on between some of the bunnies and other men that work there. None of these people are honest with each other, and two of the people, a bunny, and a manager, have a huge secret that they are keeping from everyone else. The Playboy Club is supposed to give opportunities to these young women, but it also seems to belittle them. This show has some great examples of what we were just talking about in class today.

Orientalism today

This weeks class discussion really had me thinking more about Orientalism. I took a class last year for my Sophomore seminar which was all about multiculturism primarily in the Middle East. After watching the video it brought back many memories of discussions in the class. Many Americans don't understand that not all Muslims are Hindu. Right there is a misconception of people from the Middle East. Also many Muslim Americans are considered terrorists, or are considered from a third world country. In America any Muslim Americans are taunted and harassed for sticking to their culture. For example a woman may choose to wear her traditional attire, and be questioned and pulled aside at an airport because of the way she is dressed. Not knowing or being blind to the fact that this is simply because of her culture. Also many are harassed for going to their places of worship, and have been accused of being in a cult, or plotting terrorist attacks. We claim to be a nation that accepts every culture and all sorts of diversity, but yet we still today might take a second look at a Muslim American because of recent events after 9/11.

I also thought about the show that used to be on TV called Outsourced. It was a show about Indian's who live in Dubai which are working for a company in America, but everything is outsourced to them. We put shows on TV such as this, but is it stereotyping? Just like we discussed in class in some TV shows or even movies we portray the Muslim as a convenient store clerk, or a Subway worker, or owning a Dunkin' Donuts. The media constantly puts this out there I believe without any question. We see these Muslim Americans as extremists and not people. After learning more about this issue it really gets to me that in America we aren't really as accepting as we say.

Media and Hegemony

After being in this class and gaining a better knowledge of hegemony I feel like I see hegemony a lot on TV. I believe that the channel E! News definitely represents hegemony. Many of the shows which I am guilty of watching myself are taken over by the wealthy of Hollywood. Some of my favorites such as Keeping Up With the Kardashians, Kendra, or even shows on Bravo such a Real Housewives of New Jersey and Millionaire Matchmaker are all based on a higher level of society. If anything I wonder myself why I can't have a show about my life. I mean it is entertaining, I have a pretty cool job, and I'm a funny person, but would someone like me who's lets say maybe middle class be allowed to have a TV show because I am not famous and rich? They put people on TV who have the money to do all these nice things, and I guess you could say who society looks up to. Are these people actually role models for society or are they just simply in the media and role models because they are on TV? It makes me rather angry sometimes that any ordinary person such as myself or my classmates couldn't have a reality TV show. Our lives could be just as entertaining as the people on TV, but because they are a higher class I feel as if they rule the media. I believe the social group that rules the media is the elite in Hollywood.