I apologize, but the internet is being incredibly stupid lately and won't let me embed "D and D Show" episodes into my blog. Sorry, for the inconvenience but you will have to view them on Dylan's blog.
Episode 4 pt 1
http://aninterestingperspective.blogspot.com/2009/05/d-and-d-show-episode-4-part-1.html
Episode 4 pt 2
http://aninterestingperspective.blogspot.com/2009/05/d-and-d-show-episode-4-part-2.html
Episode 5 (Fox/Dixie Chicks/ Jessica Lynch discussion)
http://aninterestingperspective.blogspot.com/2009/06/d-and-d-show-episode-5-foxdixie.html
Episode 6
http://aninterestingperspective.blogspot.com/2009/06/d-and-d-show-episode-6.html
Jun 13, 2009
May 20, 2009
Rihanna did whaaaaaaaaa?!
Not too long ago Rihanna recovered from the alleged "Chris Brown attack" and, in fact, decided to forgive him and even marry him. After that, just in case the world didn't think she was crazy enough, she decided to take some nude pictures of herself--wait, wha?
If there still are some people out there who are a little skeptical of Rihanna's insanity, I've got some further proof that she has truly fallen off her rocker. Recently, she has decided to spend her time hitting the strip club's. That's right, it's been confirmed that Rihanna has been attending "Flash Dancers" which is a gentleman's club on Broadway [1]. It wasn't even a woman's strip club, it was a gentleman's club! According to sources she and her posse were having a good time and tipping the dancers frequently [1]. This doesn't seem like typical Rihanna behaviour to me, but considering the direction she is heading lately, this doesn't surprise me one bit.
One can't deny that Rihanna is a central point of attention in the media lately. Go ahead and google: "Rihanna news" and see how many articles you find. The article I cited above was one I had first read two months ago. Just today I attempted to relocate it and use it in my blog. I quickly found myself lost in page after page of Rihanna news trying to find this one article. I was so surprised that Rihanna had generated so many articles in the past 2 months. There must be at least one article everyday of the week about her.
As I write this I can't help but get a sense of Deja Vu, like I've written about this before...but when? Oh that's right! The Britney Spears blog of course! I find this whole case awfully similar. You know the story: a young teen gets swooped into instant stardom, the world falls in love with her, people begin to idolize her, her life soon becomes a display, it starts to get to her head, slowly her sensibility deteriorates and eventually she goes, basically, crazy. Britney Spears is a walking example of this, as is Lindsay Lohan and many more. Miley Cyrus is another who is slipping and Rihanna is the next in line for crazy train. Is it just a coincidence that almost every female teen idol has a mental disorder? Or is it something developed over time? Should every young aspiring celebrity be warned of the terrible side effects of instant stardom? Is seems to be that this whole wing of the entertainment business is a health hazard.
I'm glad Rihanna is aware of her slight insanity, I'll leave you with a line from her song "Disturbia":
What's wrong with me?
Why do I feel like this?
I'm going crazy now [2]
Haha, I found it humorous too.
References:
[1] Gibson, Cristina., Ashley Fultz, and Claudia Rosenbalim. Rihanna Hits the Strip Club. 20 May 2009. 13 June 2009.
[2] Rihanna, "Disturbia", Good Girl Gone Bad, 2007.
One can't deny that Rihanna is a central point of attention in the media lately. Go ahead and google: "Rihanna news" and see how many articles you find. The article I cited above was one I had first read two months ago. Just today I attempted to relocate it and use it in my blog. I quickly found myself lost in page after page of Rihanna news trying to find this one article. I was so surprised that Rihanna had generated so many articles in the past 2 months. There must be at least one article everyday of the week about her.
As I write this I can't help but get a sense of Deja Vu, like I've written about this before...but when? Oh that's right! The Britney Spears blog of course! I find this whole case awfully similar. You know the story: a young teen gets swooped into instant stardom, the world falls in love with her, people begin to idolize her, her life soon becomes a display, it starts to get to her head, slowly her sensibility deteriorates and eventually she goes, basically, crazy. Britney Spears is a walking example of this, as is Lindsay Lohan and many more. Miley Cyrus is another who is slipping and Rihanna is the next in line for crazy train. Is it just a coincidence that almost every female teen idol has a mental disorder? Or is it something developed over time? Should every young aspiring celebrity be warned of the terrible side effects of instant stardom? Is seems to be that this whole wing of the entertainment business is a health hazard.
I'm glad Rihanna is aware of her slight insanity, I'll leave you with a line from her song "Disturbia":
What's wrong with me?
Why do I feel like this?
I'm going crazy now [2]
Haha, I found it humorous too.
References:
[1] Gibson, Cristina., Ashley Fultz, and Claudia Rosenbalim. Rihanna Hits the Strip Club. 20 May 2009. 13 June 2009
[2] Rihanna, "Disturbia", Good Girl Gone Bad, 2007.
May 3, 2009
D and D show episode 3!!!
In this episode we investigate the swine flu "crisis" and whether or not it is really a crisis?
References:
"2009 swine flu outbreak" Wikipedia.com. 02 May 2009. 02 May 2009
"H1N1 Flu"Cdc.gov/H1N1flu/. 02 May 2009. 02 May 2009
"What is swine flu?"Telegraph.co.uk. 02 May 2009. 02 May 2009
Mulholland, Angela. "Should we be worried about 'swine flu'?"CTV.ca. 02 May 2009. 28 April 2009
"Pig Farmer" 12 June 2007. Online Image. Beeractivist.wordpress.com. 02 May 2009.
"Polar Bear" No Date. Online Image. MP3.com. 02 May 2009.
"Scary Pig" No Date. Online Image. aFunVampire.com. 02 May 2009.
References:
"2009 swine flu outbreak" Wikipedia.com. 02 May 2009. 02 May 2009
"H1N1 Flu"Cdc.gov/H1N1flu/. 02 May 2009. 02 May 2009
"What is swine flu?"Telegraph.co.uk. 02 May 2009. 02 May 2009
Mulholland, Angela. "Should we be worried about 'swine flu'?"CTV.ca. 02 May 2009. 28 April 2009
"Pig Farmer" 12 June 2007. Online Image. Beeractivist.wordpress.com. 02 May 2009.
"Polar Bear" No Date. Online Image. MP3.com. 02 May 2009.
"Scary Pig" No Date. Online Image. aFunVampire.com. 02 May 2009.
Apr 28, 2009
Diversity, Invisibility and Identity on TV
Everyday millions of people tune on their TVs for thousands and thousands of entertainment options, but do they really think about what they are seeing. I mean, we all pay attention to the plot, the jokes, the subject, the special effects and the characters, but are we missing the message behind the show? The possibly unintended message? We never really notice what, or who, is being seen or not seen. These subtle things do influence our everyday lives and we don't even realize it.
As we learned in class, the broadcasters of most things we see on TV are basically middle-aged white guys. The world we see on TV is not the world we live in, it is the world the middle-aged white male has created, filled with their opinions, ideas, concepts and stereotypes. It is impossible for one group to portray another group as accurately as the other group could. We are shown certain groups of people from the wrong perspective. We see Arabs, Asians, Aboriginals and African-Americans from the perspective of Caucasians. We see women from the perspective of men. We see Christians, Jews, Catholics and Buddhists from the perspective of Atheists. Overall, we get the wrong idea of what these things really are. These broadcasters are not Arabic, how can they possible know how to properly portray one? These broadcasters are not Christian, they don't know what it really means, all they know is the stereotypes, what gives them the right to portray Christians with their own opinion? These broadcasters are not Asian or Aboriginal or African-American, nor are they Jewish or Catholic or Buddhist, yet they are the ones portraying these groups to the world. Sure, one could bring freedom of speech into the argument, but is this freedom of speech? Or racism?
Recently, in class, we investigated this subject. We researched statistics and did our own TV viewing to see for ourselves how and if certain groups are being portrayed. Here are some of my groups findings:
The top graph is the 2003 findings of prime time TV, the graph below is our findings.
It's shocking but the representation of "the other" has in fact shrunk over the course of six years. This is surprising because this issue was addressed back in 2003 and yet the broadcasters have done nothing about it, in fact they've done the complete opposite and made matters worse. Our TV is populated with so much white that the other ethnic groups are fading into the background.
Above are statistics of races represented and the role they play (ex: main character, supporting character etc.) Our graph clearly shows that the whites dominate the main character positions. There are few if not any main characters of any other race. In fact there are barely any other races shown in any role except for white. It appears that all the other races only get mere guest appearances or background roles, if they're lucky they just might get one or two supporting roles but that's it. There is clearly a problem here, why aren't all ethnic groups getting fair opportunities? Some cases I can understand, for example in the case of a family based sit-com in which the family is white of course all the main roles will be white. But what's wrong with having some supporting characters of other ethnic groups? I don't understand why this is so. Is it just chance that there is a shortage of acting ability in other races? Or is it just racism?
Above are occupational graphs, the top one representing race and the bottom representing gender. Fortunately we didn't encounter too many racial stereotypes in this study. It was nice to see that Black actually had a higher representation in professional positions instead of the common stereotype of being criminals. Once we reached the gender graph we enter a whole new realm of stereotypes. We see that men dominate all occupations except homemaker. This feeds the old belief that women belong at home while men should be out doing the work. We live in a country that has evolved from those days, today we have plenty of male homemakers and plenty of working females. Why isn't the real world depicted on TV?
Overall we see little to no improvements in depiction of the "other" groups in today's television. It appears to me that this problem can't be solved by keeping the setup the way it is. Like we learned in class, diversity can't occur in front of the camera if diversity isn't occurring behind the camera. I'm not pointing a finger to all broadcasters. I am very happy to say that the show Corner Gas (a Canadian show) has an aboriginal actor as one of the lead roles playing a police officer. Why can't we see this more often? He is an excellent actor and plays the role amazingly. I think everyone could learn a valuable lesson from shows like this.
As we learned in class, the broadcasters of most things we see on TV are basically middle-aged white guys. The world we see on TV is not the world we live in, it is the world the middle-aged white male has created, filled with their opinions, ideas, concepts and stereotypes. It is impossible for one group to portray another group as accurately as the other group could. We are shown certain groups of people from the wrong perspective. We see Arabs, Asians, Aboriginals and African-Americans from the perspective of Caucasians. We see women from the perspective of men. We see Christians, Jews, Catholics and Buddhists from the perspective of Atheists. Overall, we get the wrong idea of what these things really are. These broadcasters are not Arabic, how can they possible know how to properly portray one? These broadcasters are not Christian, they don't know what it really means, all they know is the stereotypes, what gives them the right to portray Christians with their own opinion? These broadcasters are not Asian or Aboriginal or African-American, nor are they Jewish or Catholic or Buddhist, yet they are the ones portraying these groups to the world. Sure, one could bring freedom of speech into the argument, but is this freedom of speech? Or racism?
Recently, in class, we investigated this subject. We researched statistics and did our own TV viewing to see for ourselves how and if certain groups are being portrayed. Here are some of my groups findings:
The top graph is the 2003 findings of prime time TV, the graph below is our findings.
It's shocking but the representation of "the other" has in fact shrunk over the course of six years. This is surprising because this issue was addressed back in 2003 and yet the broadcasters have done nothing about it, in fact they've done the complete opposite and made matters worse. Our TV is populated with so much white that the other ethnic groups are fading into the background.
Above are statistics of races represented and the role they play (ex: main character, supporting character etc.) Our graph clearly shows that the whites dominate the main character positions. There are few if not any main characters of any other race. In fact there are barely any other races shown in any role except for white. It appears that all the other races only get mere guest appearances or background roles, if they're lucky they just might get one or two supporting roles but that's it. There is clearly a problem here, why aren't all ethnic groups getting fair opportunities? Some cases I can understand, for example in the case of a family based sit-com in which the family is white of course all the main roles will be white. But what's wrong with having some supporting characters of other ethnic groups? I don't understand why this is so. Is it just chance that there is a shortage of acting ability in other races? Or is it just racism?
Above are occupational graphs, the top one representing race and the bottom representing gender. Fortunately we didn't encounter too many racial stereotypes in this study. It was nice to see that Black actually had a higher representation in professional positions instead of the common stereotype of being criminals. Once we reached the gender graph we enter a whole new realm of stereotypes. We see that men dominate all occupations except homemaker. This feeds the old belief that women belong at home while men should be out doing the work. We live in a country that has evolved from those days, today we have plenty of male homemakers and plenty of working females. Why isn't the real world depicted on TV?
Overall we see little to no improvements in depiction of the "other" groups in today's television. It appears to me that this problem can't be solved by keeping the setup the way it is. Like we learned in class, diversity can't occur in front of the camera if diversity isn't occurring behind the camera. I'm not pointing a finger to all broadcasters. I am very happy to say that the show Corner Gas (a Canadian show) has an aboriginal actor as one of the lead roles playing a police officer. Why can't we see this more often? He is an excellent actor and plays the role amazingly. I think everyone could learn a valuable lesson from shows like this.
Apr 26, 2009
The world is just waiting for Hannah Montana to fall
(This Blog entry is in response to Part C: Discussion of Media Studies: Representation Test)
Miley Cyrus, or Hannah Montana, is the latest teen pop sensation. The
re's always some one that all the 7-year old girls idolize and right now it's her. She's basically one big marketing campaign, you can buy Hannah Montana Cd's, Hannah Montana movies, Hannah Montana clothes, Hannah Montana dolls, Hannah Montana pillows, Hannah Montana bed sheets, Hannah Montana video games, Hannah Montana bicycles, Hannah Montana cutlery, Hannah Montana just about anything. What I'm trying to say is this: The world loves Hannah Montana/ Miley Cyrus.
Like all great teen sensations she is bound to fall sooner or later, and if history repeats itself, it's only a matter of time until she shaves her head and checks into rehab. So far, Miley hasn't really done anything wrong, and the media is getting anxious. So, they decided to take her every mistake and amplify it ten fold.
Recently ABC News released a photo of her and some friends squinting their eyes, instantly she was accused of "mocking and denigrating individuals of Asian descent." Of course, she countered back saying that she was merely making a "goofy face."
So, the question is: was she really being racist? Or just goofing around?
I find it strange that it was instantly assumed that she was imitating an Asian. Yes, that is a common gesture used to stereotype Asians but, we must keep in mind, that very same gesture is also used to imitate someone who has had a face lift. So, maybe she wasn't imitating an Asian at all, maybe she was imitating someone who had had plastic surgery.
Or maybe she is, in fact, imitating an Asian. As ABC pointed out: the only person in the picture not doing "Asian Eyes" is the actual Asian. Was it some kind of joke? Did they decide "Lets all be Asian in this picture! But Johnny you don't have to do anything cause your already Asian!" I found it funny that the Asian boy's eyes aren't really squinted at all when you compare it to the imitators, it just shows how ridiculous and over-exaggerated the stereotype is.
Another part of the picture that indicates that they were indeed imitating Asian's is the guy in the back. He is holding up the peace sign (two fingers) which is something the Asian's are commonly stereotyped to do. Then again, maybe he is trying to give the guy in front of him "bunny ears" which also another stereotype of Asian's.
After taking a few looks at the photo I now find it hard to believe that she wasn't imitating an Asian.
Why would Miley do a thing like this? Is she trying to make a stab at an ethnic group? Of course not. She is doing exactly what she said she was, goofing off. This is just common teen shenanigans, she never meant to offend anyone, stuff like this happens all the time. But, like she said herself, the only reason this is a big deal is because it is her doing it. If it was just some average Joe no one would care, but because it is Miley Cyrus/ Hannah Montana doing it, suddenly it's important.
This raises another question: knowing that she is a huge role model for young girls everywhere, is it her responsibility to set a good example? Yes, and she shouldn't have done it. Even if she was just having fun and joking around she still shouldn't have done it. This has to considered from different perspectives. What about all the little girls who idolize her and dream to be like her? They love to imitate everything she does, suddenly they're going to get the idea that it is "ok" to imitate minorities. What about the Asian children? They might get the idea that they are "different" and feel separated from others. Of course parents will be concerned about the kind of impression she is leaving on their children.
This was a mistake on her behalf but I still believe the media is taking advantage of the situation. There are a lot worse things that celebrity role models have done, but the media is just waiting for Miley to mess up so they can be there to publish it. Miley better brace herself, because this is only the beginning.
Miley Cyrus, or Hannah Montana, is the latest teen pop sensation. The
re's always some one that all the 7-year old girls idolize and right now it's her. She's basically one big marketing campaign, you can buy Hannah Montana Cd's, Hannah Montana movies, Hannah Montana clothes, Hannah Montana dolls, Hannah Montana pillows, Hannah Montana bed sheets, Hannah Montana video games, Hannah Montana bicycles, Hannah Montana cutlery, Hannah Montana just about anything. What I'm trying to say is this: The world loves Hannah Montana/ Miley Cyrus.Like all great teen sensations she is bound to fall sooner or later, and if history repeats itself, it's only a matter of time until she shaves her head and checks into rehab. So far, Miley hasn't really done anything wrong, and the media is getting anxious. So, they decided to take her every mistake and amplify it ten fold.
Recently ABC News released a photo of her and some friends squinting their eyes, instantly she was accused of "mocking and denigrating individuals of Asian descent." Of course, she countered back saying that she was merely making a "goofy face."
So, the question is: was she really being racist? Or just goofing around?
I find it strange that it was instantly assumed that she was imitating an Asian. Yes, that is a common gesture used to stereotype Asians but, we must keep in mind, that very same gesture is also used to imitate someone who has had a face lift. So, maybe she wasn't imitating an Asian at all, maybe she was imitating someone who had had plastic surgery.
Or maybe she is, in fact, imitating an Asian. As ABC pointed out: the only person in the picture not doing "Asian Eyes" is the actual Asian. Was it some kind of joke? Did they decide "Lets all be Asian in this picture! But Johnny you don't have to do anything cause your already Asian!" I found it funny that the Asian boy's eyes aren't really squinted at all when you compare it to the imitators, it just shows how ridiculous and over-exaggerated the stereotype is.
Another part of the picture that indicates that they were indeed imitating Asian's is the guy in the back. He is holding up the peace sign (two fingers) which is something the Asian's are commonly stereotyped to do. Then again, maybe he is trying to give the guy in front of him "bunny ears" which also another stereotype of Asian's.
After taking a few looks at the photo I now find it hard to believe that she wasn't imitating an Asian.
Why would Miley do a thing like this? Is she trying to make a stab at an ethnic group? Of course not. She is doing exactly what she said she was, goofing off. This is just common teen shenanigans, she never meant to offend anyone, stuff like this happens all the time. But, like she said herself, the only reason this is a big deal is because it is her doing it. If it was just some average Joe no one would care, but because it is Miley Cyrus/ Hannah Montana doing it, suddenly it's important.
This raises another question: knowing that she is a huge role model for young girls everywhere, is it her responsibility to set a good example? Yes, and she shouldn't have done it. Even if she was just having fun and joking around she still shouldn't have done it. This has to considered from different perspectives. What about all the little girls who idolize her and dream to be like her? They love to imitate everything she does, suddenly they're going to get the idea that it is "ok" to imitate minorities. What about the Asian children? They might get the idea that they are "different" and feel separated from others. Of course parents will be concerned about the kind of impression she is leaving on their children.
This was a mistake on her behalf but I still believe the media is taking advantage of the situation. There are a lot worse things that celebrity role models have done, but the media is just waiting for Miley to mess up so they can be there to publish it. Miley better brace herself, because this is only the beginning.
Apr 18, 2009
D and D show episode 2!!!
It's the second episode of me and Dylan's very own video blog!!
References:
"9/11, New York" 11 September 2001. Online Image. Politicalbase.com. 16 April 2009.
"Terrorist" No Date. Online Image.Causes-of-terrorism.net. 16 April 2009.
"Hijacked Van" No Date. Online Image. Russianspy.org. 16 April 2009.
"Terrorist" 27 March 2009. Online Image. Mr.MillCity.com. 16 April 2009.
"Threatening Melbourne" 12 September 2005. Online Image. theage.com.au. 16 April 2009.
"Child Terrorists" 7 February 2008. Online Image. theage.com.au. 16 April 2009.
"Politician" 25 February 2009. Online Image. EarlyEdCoverage.com. 16 April 2009.
"Chinese Man" No Date. Online Image. Yemyint88.net. 16 April 2009.
"Muslim Man" No Date. Online Image. Muslima.com. 16 April 2009.
"Black Man" No Date. Online Image. BigSoccer.com. 16 April 2009.
"David Duke" No Date. Online Image. Wikipedia.com. 16 April 2009.
References:
"9/11, New York" 11 September 2001. Online Image. Politicalbase.com. 16 April 2009.
"Terrorist" No Date. Online Image.Causes-of-terrorism.net. 16 April 2009.
"Hijacked Van" No Date. Online Image. Russianspy.org. 16 April 2009.
"Terrorist" 27 March 2009. Online Image. Mr.MillCity.com. 16 April 2009.
"Threatening Melbourne" 12 September 2005. Online Image. theage.com.au. 16 April 2009.
"Child Terrorists" 7 February 2008. Online Image. theage.com.au. 16 April 2009.
"Politician" 25 February 2009. Online Image. EarlyEdCoverage.com. 16 April 2009.
"Chinese Man" No Date. Online Image. Yemyint88.net. 16 April 2009.
"Muslim Man" No Date. Online Image. Muslima.com. 16 April 2009.
"Black Man" No Date. Online Image. BigSoccer.com. 16 April 2009.
"David Duke" No Date. Online Image. Wikipedia.com. 16 April 2009.
D and D show episode 1!!!
The debut episode of me and Dylan's video blog!!!
References:
"media." Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. 08 Apr. 2009. .
Tallim, Jane "What is Media Literacy?"Media Awareness Network.com. 7 April 2009.
References:
"media." Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. 08 Apr. 2009. .
Tallim, Jane "What is Media Literacy?"Media Awareness Network.com. 7 April 2009.
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