Latinos in America

The issue of illegal immigration has been on ongoing topic for many years. Wow what a touchy subject.  I think everyone has their own opinion but for me, being Latina and being an American,  I see both sides of this very important topic.  I understand that immigrants have come over to this country illegally and that it is against the law. I do not think it is right and I believe that there is a legal process to become an American citizen and many people are capable of doing it each year. I also understand that some of those illegal immigrants have brought over young children who did not make the choice to come to the US but will face the consequences due to the fact that they too are illegal, even though they have grown up here and  made this their home. It is not the children's fault, but what I do not agree with is the children continuing to be illegal when they find out their status at an adult age. If someone has gone through the US school system and wants to continue to call this their home then they should pursue citizenship the proper way once they find out they are not an actual legal citizen, instead of continuing to be illegal and obtain false paperwork in order to remain in this country. But in no way do I condone the racial hate crimes that have been committed.  The people that perform such hate crimes like the one in the video should also face legal consequeces for their actions and not just be given a light sentence because it was against an illegal immigrant.  Yet another issue that is talked about is the English language.  Many immigrants can not speak the language.  However, there are those that I have encountered that have refused to learn the language which I think is unacceptable.  Even though we do not have an offical language, I believe that if you want to make this country your home at least put some effort into learning the main language spoken.  But, with that being said,  the Hispanic population is growing at a rapid pace and I think non-Hispanic people will need to realize that if the trend continues they will become the minority and may need to learn their language as well. Many ads can already be seen in Spanish as you make your way around Dallas.  And as many of us have heard we always have to press 1 for English. Not a bad thing just a sign that things are changing.  

Princesses and Disney Films

After watching the video Mickey Mouse Monopoly, I have once again been enlightened by the fact that the movies and cartoons that I grew up with were sending a very direct message. Girls are supposed to be as pretty and proper as possible at all times and aspire to be a princess, while boys are there to take care of the girls and rescue them from evil and live happily ever after. When in fact the real world is nothing like that.  With the high divorce rate in this country these cartoons are painting very false picture of a "happily ever after."  While relationships have their ups and downs there are those that do have a happy endings and I think many people look at celebrities and people in power to try to fulfill their need to see a happy ending.  I believe that is why so many Americans, myself included, have been so fixated on the Royal Wedding.  Over 2 billion people tuned in to watch a regular commoner become a princess on Friday morning.  In essence ever girl's dream and what they have grown up watching in these cartoons,was becoming a reality with the marriage of William and Catherine.

Bamboozled-African Americans

Spike Lee has done a good job of showing a number of stereotypes throughout this movie. Although it was not the best movie in the world it does get its point across which is to identify stereotypes and make the viewer aware that they still do exist and many people still think that way. One thing that I found during the movie that I related with was the artwork in the "White Boss's" office and a stereotype of being married to an African American.  The boss reveals in the movie he is married to an African American woman.  His office is decorated with several pictures of black athletes along with several African artifacts and art pieces.  I relate to this because I too am married to an African American and our home is decorated with several pieces of African art and artifacts. We also have a painting of Nelson Mandela who my husband thinks is one of the greatest politicians ever. When people ask me about my husband and where he is from I always say he is from all over since he is lived in several places all over the world but always follow with letting them know his family is South African and  most of them still live there.  Many people automatically assume he is black because when most people think of Africa they picture black people.  But the truth is there are white Africans (like my husband and his family) as well.  I think that many people sometime forget about them and not only that but when they find out he is a white African they automatically think he is racist and supported the apartied, which couldn't be farther from the truth.  So in a different light he is being stereotyped with a group of people that have oppressed blacks up until 15 years ago, when in fact he idolizes Nelson Mandela who helped narrow the gap between blacks and whites in South Africa. So I understand Spike Lee's point about stereotyping African Americans yet he is leaving out another group African Americans. 

Masculinity in the Media

Like so many other people I never really noticed that the males in Disney movies like the ones in the video below were all shaped after one type of male. Strong, masculine, straight and as a hero saving a women in distress.  I found this video through an online course I'm taking called American Culture. Most of these Disney movies depict women as objects.  The characters are often seen as mothers or servant to the buff and tough men.  They are also seen as week and in need of men in order to survive.  I think this is giving young boys the wrong message making them feel like they have to grow up to be big and tough and not ever show true emotion or compassion.Not to mention to see the girls as inferior and weak. 

GLBT in the Media

The GLBT community has come a long way in the media, today's society seems to be more accepting and inviting toward them. They are becoming more and more prominent in television shows and movies. From gay characters to full series about gay lifestyles, audiences are learning more about the GLBT community. One TV show that I found did a great job of incorporating this group of people in their show was Nip/Tuk. They were able to bring in a transgender male who had undergone surgery to remove his Adam's apple. They also introduced another transgender male who had made a full transformation and become a woman that ends up striking up a romance with a teenage boy. The teenage boy is then confused and goes onto beat up a transsexual. They also took the traditional mom in the series and switched her character up, after she separates from her husband, to become a lesbian. Nip/Tuk has always pushed the envelope with its content but I think they do a good job of introducing some groups in our society that other shows may not be brave enough to introduce.


Clip from the show where Matt gets violent with a transsexual...

Music Race and Gender

In today's class we discussed a number of recording artist that send a negative message in their lyrics and in their videos. As an avid music lover, I can say that before when I listened to songs I didnt realize the actual message they were singing about, instead I focused on the beat and if it was catchy enought to sing along too. Since MTV rarely plays any music videos it is hard to watch any music video on TV. You almost have to search them out if you want to see them. So to some extent I think artist feel like they have to push the envelope when it comes to their videos. Shock value is huge and gets those tons of views and as long as that keeps happeneing videos and music will continue to push things to the limit.
As for the idea of "acting a certain color" I think people can been seen "acting Black" or "acting White" if the person lookng at them has a specific stereoptype of what black or white people are "supposed" to act like or be like.

Project 1 Presentation

02/28/11 I have to say a lot of the projects presented were very interesting.  I was particularly fascinated by the one about how gays are portrayed as characters in TV series.  She brought about very good points on how gay stereotypes were brought into the TV show GLEE and how the characters were portrayed.  In my project I did something similar where I took the characters in the show Modern Family and broke down the stereotypes of each character.  She however focused on one group and did more of an in depth analysis.  I think it is going to be interesting to see her end results and to see how gays are portrayed in regularly programming vs. cable programing. Here is some examples of stereotypes I found in the show I analyzed