Socioeconomics In Prime-Time (class project)

Women Aren't Funny?

It staggers me that people in this world, in this day in age, can still be so narrow minded as to believe that one individual or group of people is superior to another. The idea of women not being able to be as funny as men is so outrageous to me that, it is my belief, that this article and author must be, in a sense, trying to be funny. The way the video played out the beliefs of the author by saying this like if a woman is funny then, among other things, she must be Jewish, even a little Jewish. This made me laugh because the idea of someone being "a little Jewish" does not comprehend with me. That seems like a comical statement. Finally, to top off the video, he takes a drink of scotch, which just adds to his image of being so smug. That was obviously staged. We have to take this article and author lightly because, if there was any research done, we would obviously see the list of comical women equals, if not surpasses that of comical men. When I think of the great comedians of the past, while names like Bob Hope and Charlie Chaplin come up, they are followed by names like Carol Burnett and Lucille Ball. Women have a different view point than men and perhaps a woman's perspective is not funny to all men, but then a man's perspective is not necessarily funny to a woman. It all depends on the individual. You must know your audience.

The Femenist Known As Clarissa

I was a child of the nineties and as a child of this decade, I had a responsibility to keep up with the programming scheduled by the children's cable station Nickelodeon. Everything from "Rocko's Moder Life" to the "Rugrats" graced my television set. This was no exception for Clarissa as she explained the femenist movement to a bunch of twelve year olds. This was never my favorite show as I assume their demographic was directed more towards younger girls rather than boys, however, her presence was noted and remembered to this day. I often link shows like "Clarissa Explains It All" to other nineties rooted children's television shows like "Doug" which I believe was also targeted to young "hipsters" of the time. Shows like "Clarissa Explains It All" should  be noted as being ground breaking television for their time. While this may not make TV Guide's 100 Best Television Shows list it should be remembered that until this show, very few positive, thinking young women were being presented in children's television. Like "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" twenty years before it, which presented a working, single female (uncommon for the time in television), "Clarissa Explains It All" was just another step in making the presence of the female with a brain a recurring role on television programming.

The Little Girl vs. The Princess

I do not have an issue with the idea that society is shaped by the media it consumes. In fact, I 100% agree with that statement, however, why is it that every time there is a problem in the world, we turn to media as the cause? I feel that Disney is getting a lot of flack for doing such bad things to our society when we should look at all the good they have done for us. First we must take into consideration that Disney films are 89% of the time based on old European fables and stories written when people didn't concern themselves about being politically correct. In recent years, Disney has worked hard at trying to make sure all corners of the globe have a Disney Princess to call their own. We say that Disney princesses are in good shape and that this gives little girls a false impression of what a woman looks like and then in the same breath say that our country has an obesity problem. I support the idea of having a Disney princess who is more natural looking than the ones we have seen in the past, but I do not think that there should be an issue with the princesses having a good figure, either. We should remember that these characters are fictitious and allow children to dream that one day they could be a princess and be rescued by their prince charming. Diversity is important, but it should not become our main concern. When we begin picking at every detail in the things we love, soon we chisel away everything we loved about it. Since the first cave paintings on the walls, people have been represented in art and yet we have survived with a positive body image or not.

The Things We Eat

The video in class today really makes us think about what we eat and, even more, where what we eat comes from. While I will admit that I have thought about these things before, it never has stopped me from eating said products. We, as a society, are so dependent on corporate America that one could argue that we are addicted! When one hears the word addiction, we attach it to bad things like using tobacco products, however, our dependence on corporate America in today's society is just as bad. I have considered being a vegetarian before when thinking about the treatment of the animals that are set on the plate before me, but I, like most people, get set into a routine and find that it is very difficult to adjust my schedule and my way of life to make room for such a change. I have a hard time eating foods that look like animals. When dinner comes around and a whole chicken is set on the table (when you have to pull the legs off yourself) that is difficult for me to do, however in nugget form, it never crosses my mind. That could possibly be the idea. Reshape the meal to make sure that people do not think about where it came from or even think about the idea that this was once a living breathing thing because by placing these ideas in the public's head, the thought, most likely, will come up of how did this animal go from the farm to my plate and, as shown in the video today, that is not a story that we want to hear.

The Military And The Media

I find it very interesting that in today's world, entertainment can be used as a recruiting tool and be so subversive that we do not even know we are being recruited. Media derives in all sorts of platforms. While most think of movies or television programs, this label also includes such outlets as video games and literary texts. When we think of the top ten selling video games, chances are several of those games will be war related. The U.S. Army has turned to creating recruiting stations in malls that are set up like arcades where the American youth can go to play war themed games and get, both, experience, and mentorship compliments of the U.S. Government. Is this ethical? Well some might argue that the Army is only creating an environment that is a positive outlet for young Americans. It could be argued that the children are not doing anything at the recruiting stations that they would not be doing at home by themselves. However, is it ethical to subversively advertise to and recruit children? This is a touchy subject. My opinion is that if these games are present in the home anyway, what's the harm in allowing the children to play them elsewhere. It is not the location that is the trouble, it is the content. It is the game itself.