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

Killing Us Softly 4

02/20/11 WOW! I never realized how advertisements give such harsh messages and unrealistic ones too.  The Dove Evolution video was definitely eye-opening, I knew that most advertisements were retouched but I had no idea to what extent. Some of the ads that were shown in the film Killing me Softly exposed women so negatively . I'm sure that I have seen a number of these ads before but I never really payed attention to them in that way.  I guess like many others I am used to seeing these kinds of ads and don't think twice when flipping through my monthly subscription to Cosmo or any other ad I come across.
After watching this film, it reminded me about a show that I watched called "The price of beauty."  It is about Jessica Simpson and her two best friends and how they go around the world to see what other cultures consider beauty.  There are a few episodes that I  can remember that were heartbreaking where the women had gone to great lengths to alter their bodies just to try to fit the image they were exposed to as beautiful







I guess the saying "A picture is worth a thousand words"  is definitely underrated when you come to think of how these advertisements are speaking to young women.

The Black Press

02/14/11 After viewing the film The Black Press: Soldiers without Swords it was clear that African Americans did everything they could to try and pull together as a community after the Civil War.  It was particularly eye-opening to see that young children were asked to read the newspapers to the elderly because the literacy rate was so low during that time.  No matter how many times or how many different ways they tried, the white man could not keep the black man from knowing what was going on. These papers encouraged blacks to head north for jobs after the war and taught them how to survive in their new found homes.  The black press is an area in journalism that is not often taught along with the rest of history.  I personally don't recall learning much about the black press before.  However I am currently taking a History of American Media course that does touch on the subject of the black press, women and what effect they had in the history of journalism.  I think as the newsrooms become more and more diverse (or at least we hope they do)  the history of the black press and history of women in journalism should become a topic that is discussed more often in classrooms.