RCG ; Ugly Bettty

Last class we were let out early so we did not get to discuss much. We got our midterms back and we went over those and discussed the answers. Then we started to watch "Ugly Betty" but Hulu would not stop buffering and loading so we could not finish that. We got to watch like five minutes or so and we wrote down stuff that we saw about race and why producers choose the characters they do for different shows. They chose "Ugly Betty" because they thought it would make good TV because she is in a world that looks like she does not belong. Instead of being a model looking type, skinny and tall woman, she is the exact opposite. She is a latino curvy woman with glasses, braces, and clothes that look like mexican blankets. They picked her to be in the show because people like to see different things happen that in real life probably would not be exactly like that. The theatre teacher comes out wearing a frizzy brunette wig with glasses and braces on and says, "You do not have to be beautiful to be an actor." So she pretty much is describing "Ugly Betty" then Betty walks into the classroom. Our assignment for the week was to go home and watch one of our favorite shows and write down the same stuff such as why the producers picked those characters and if we see any race in the episode.

RCG ; Bamboozled ; Spike Lee's (:

This week we finished the movies Bamboozled. I was really shocked while watching this entire film because of how racists they took it and how far they went with it. It is very risky in this industry to discuss race in movies or on TV shows. Especially when the show is entirely about racist slurs and stereotypes. Delacroix character i thought mean't well, he tried to help those two men off the streets and put them in his show, however you find out that it is pretty humiliating for the two men even though it does make them famous. Fame comes at a cost thought because even though a lot of people found it funny and comical other african americans did not find it so funny and in the end Manray had to pay for it the hard way. Manray had so much talent going for him even though he was broke and uneducated. He just got the wrong kind of show that pretty much caused his death just because some people took it personally and kidnapped him. I really did not like the fact that Manray got killed by that gang it just was very brutal and did not think it was appropriate especially right after he said he was done with the show and quit. I think that was the point of the story thought happy ending do not always happen and even though he learned his lesson in the end it did not matter because he still got killed. Even the gang got killed so J.Smith's brother got killed as well but he definitely deserved to because he has no right to kill Manray just because his character made jokes about his race. When J.Smith's charachter ended up shooting Pierre Delacroix that made more sense to me because she had told him throughout the movie i hope you know what you are doing. She knew it was a bad idea all along and that some people would take it the wrong way and not be able to laugh about it and would get too risky. She was right it did and it was all Delacroix's idea and fault because she lost her brother and Manray because of that stupid satire show. I really enjoyed this movie though it really opened my eyes to race in a new light. I think the people who could not laugh about the show could not take the brutal comedic honesty that was shown. All the show did was try and kill the stereotypes of african americans by making fun of all of them and it just made it a lot worse by having over about eight people die because of the stupid show. I look forward to tonight in talking about how i felt about this movie and how i believe it was truly a good movie to see.

RCG ; Presentations and Video

This class we took the first half of class going over everyone's presentations. All of these presentations were about someone who made a change in the world or had some great importance with something special. My presentation was on Tatanka Yotanka and he was a chief leader in his tribe. He fought Americans for his land because they were trying to take it from his people. He was a very respectful chief who was only doing that for the rights of his people in the tribe. The Americans also thought they were doing the right thing for their people, however, I think they were wrong. A lot of the other presentations were about the important people like the first real tribal chief woman. Another was a man who was a musician of jazz and blues. There were too many to list but all the presentations were well done and i enjoyed listening to what everyone had to say about their person of importance.

We Also started the movie "Bamboozled" by Spike Lee in this class of race, class, and gender. (:

RCG ; Race & The Colbert Report

In this class we talked about race more than class or gender.

We watched the Colbert Report with 2 interviews of women talking about the books they wrote. One book was about a women who was said to be "immortal" because her cells are the only ones that do not die. However, her family is not making any money off of that and they can not even pay for health insurance. The cells were actually taken from the women without her or her families consent and the family would sue but there is not enough money in it for the lawyers to get out of it. This book to me seems rather fascinating because this women was obviously very special but she died from cancer anyways and we never got to tell her she is saving many many lives today. The second book is about white people, from a black persons point of view basically. In the interview she came off as very racist to me not only for white people but to her own race as well. When they started talking about what skin color she had, she hesitated and never really said what skin color she had. He asked if she was white and she said "Well I have a Ph.D. To me that sounded like she was slapping her own race in the face by saying only white people get Ph.Ds while black people on the other hand do not. This show was funny because he is a comedian from comedy central so he had made jokes the entire time both women were on here. With the first women he would say, and this immortal women's family is probably suffering and what not because they can not even afford health insurance, however, the people who stole her cells are getting richer and richer everyday. He stated, that is just absolutely unfair and ridiculous to even hear even if it is not happening to you and he felt bad for that family. With the second woman he just kept saying she was racist because everything that came out of that woman's mouth sounded very racist to all races. It was like she did not think before she spoke and bashed whites and blacks at the same time. She acted like she was better than both of those races and she is not either but even more special for some reason.

In this class we also discussed what we are doing in next class. We are having a guessed speaker who will be talking about sexuality and homosexuality. Then we talked about what will be on our midterm exam and what kind of questions we will see on the test.

RCG ; Porn Industry & Stereotypes

For this class we discussed about the pornography industry once again and about stereotypes.

The industry of pornography is increasing a great deal these days, even though people do not want to admit it, it is very clear that it is happening. In the reading assignment Naked Capitalist it told you that it is a much bigger industry than people come to realize. Most of the people around the world even buy, rent, or watch pornography, however, all of these people do not want other people to know that they do such things. In our society this industry is really frowned upon and looked at with true disgust and that it does not belong in our society like they put it off as in this country and around the world. Though the pornography is here to stay for quite awhile, even the news tries to hide it from the world and if something bad happens or even something good they try to keep it from being put on air because they are ashamed of this industry and how bad it looks for them as well as the people in it. Even though the people who are in this industry probably love it because it is an easy job and pays very well and they will keep getting paid because people will still keeping buying their magazines or tapes just not having the guts to admit they like it. We said in class how people who watch it will never ever admit to ever buying it let alone being able to admit that they do watch it. The only people who probably are not embarrassed to admit that they watch it are college guys who really do not care what other people say or think about them because they think that is what they are suppose to do in college. However, as those men get older it is more frowned upon and then the secrets start building up that they still watch porn occasionally or buy magazines of it. I do not mean to pick on the males but I am just sure that the majority of people who buy porn are men, even though i am sure there are females who do as well. I just believe the men overweight the females in this category on this specific subject of who watches porn more. We also talked about stereotypes in this class. Stereotypes are widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing. It is a person or thing that conforms to such an image. No one should be treated like a stereotype because that is not who that certain person is. Stereotyping has been happening for so long i do not think people know how to stop putting people in those little groups and saying they are like this or that. No one person is the same, therefore, could not possible fit into a group stereotype that was made in the past by people who were bored with their lives and started saying that kind of stuff to themselves. In conclusion, for this class we talked about how the pornography industry is growing fast but greatly frowned upon by society and the fact stereotypes are bad but are not going anywhere soon.

RCG ; The Longest Yard :)

This week in class we briefly discussed the upper, lower, and middle class ads from the superbowl commercials. We also got to talking about our reading assignment naked capitalists for our homework assignment. It discusses how pornography is such a increasingly growing industry that you do not hear a lot about because people want to ignore it like it does not exist or simply because they are embarrassed to admit they have bought or watched it.

We watched the beginning of the film "The Longest Yard" starring Adam Sandler. It is about a former professional athlete who shaved a football game and it ruined his reputation, power, and prestige. He gets sent to a prison in Texas and ends up becoming the hero in the movie. The whole movie should be an easy decision who to cheer for, however, the whole time you want the bad guys in the prison to beat the guards in the football game they put together. In reality you would believe the guards are the "good" guys but this movie really makes them out to be the bad guys because they are a bunch of racist rednecks who treat the prisoners with no respect at all and it is very unprofessional and cruel. That is why i believe people side with the convicts because even if they are in jail they deserve to be treated like human beings and not like trash. This movie really teaches a good lesson about many different things that comes up in this class Race/Class/Gender. Even though someone has power, prestige, and property does not make them the better person sometimes they take advantage of that and it makes them kind of evil and treat people like they do not matter. I really like this movie because at the end you realize sometimes going through tough or bad times only makes you a stronger person and a better person. :)

Superbowl Commercials for Classes in Society :)

This week we did not have class, however, our assignment was about the classes.

The lower, middle, and upper classes of our society and how they are given to us in commercial ads for the Superbowl. I was surprised how many commercials I saw with celebrities, such as bands, actors, models, or professional athletes to try and sell these products for people in the lower and middle classes. I was not sure about the lower class ads i chose because I do not really know what to look for when I think of lower class and I do not think commercials use too many of them anyways. The middle class was obviously the one most relatable to everyone in this class and almost all commercials seem to be for the middle class. The middle "working" class is the one who watches most of these ads and probably buys the most too, just not the stuff that is so expensive like the upper class does. The commercials try to attract watchers by making them funny or very odd and weird. Usually, people hate commercials and ads on the television but not Superbowl commercials. People love watching those commercials because the people have to pay so much money for them to put their craziest or most creative commercial on the television because they know most of the world is watching this channel right now. Which is very smart and very true, they are the best of the best when you are talking about commercials. In my opinion, I hate them either way, I would rather just watch the show, game, or movie without any interruptions. It was very weird having this assignment because I never really pay close attention to commercials and how they are given to which class in society, but, now It will always be in the back of my mind every commercial I see.

RCG ; Social Stratification & Episode of Veronica Mars (:

In our class on Monday, 2/1/10, we discussed social stratification. We talked about how rankings are based on a share of power, prestige, and property, which are considered to be the three variables in the social class system. The importance of studying social stratification is because it is a universal phenomenon, it can be the consequence of life, and it is a simple social structure, which means a cultures value, norms, and morals. India, South Africa, and the old south are examples of people who have used or still use the caste system. The caste system is when you are born into your "class" wether it is for the best or worst. The class system on the other hand is like the opposite. It consists of social rewards distributed according to perceived importance of position. The class system is a more opened system, allowing easier mobility. We talked about some theories such as Social Darwinism, Functional Theory of Stratification, Elite Theory, Contest and Sponsored Mobility. Social darwinism, was known by William G. Sumner, and pretty much stated "The Strong Will Survive." It also said, that society would not allow the weakest to die out, because they believed it would lead to social decay, which is very true. The Functional Theory of Stratification simply does not want our society to collapse, so they believe in helping one another. It states, people who may be more talented control the ideas and other things, but the ones who are not so talented help the ones in charge so everyone has something to do. The Elite Theory was created by Mosca and Pareto. This theory says, that society relies on small specialized groups to rule and provide order. The use 6 basic "sentiments" and "revenues", lions are the aggregates and the foxes are the combinations. The Contest and Sponsored Mobility Theory, known by Ralph H. Turner, says social ascent through schooling where members of a society can attain elite status through competition or sponsorship by a member of the elite group.

After our discussion about social stratification we watched an episode of Veronica Mars. It had a lot of Race/Class/Gender issues in just that one episode. It was mostly "Class" issues though and all about how high you are on the hierarchy in the town of Neptune. Veronica was in the upper class, however, then her dad lost her job and her mom abandoned them. Since, her dad lost his bigger income she pretty much got kicked out of the upper class click at school and in the town in general. However, the prestige of her father being good at what he does for a living still is noticed by the people of Neptune, therefore, people who may not treat them so well because of their social class ask them for help with their problems. Another thing in the episode was how gangs would pick on people or do bad things then help the people out that they once tried to hurt so they are very loyal after they see what they did was wrong or you try to help them out. Kind of like the saying "you scratch my back, I will scratch yours." I really liked how the gang stood up for Veronica and her friend when the rich preppy guys were vandalizing her car, because it kind of gave them a taste of their own medicine.

RCG ; First impressions and our Judgements

In the first class of Race/Class/and Gender one of the first statements Maggy said was simply, as humans we judge people or things without even thinking about it. She said, "As soon as I walked through the doors, you students had something that you were thinking about me, whether it was good or bad." Maggy was right, as human beings it is in our nature to judge without knowing the person. It is not exactly right to do, however, it is impossible to stop. In todays society we judge people if they look "different". By that I mean just if a person acts different or their appearance comes off as different from your own. I know i judge people by what they look like or how they carry themselves as a person. I also know that is not very nice or fair to that person, I even judge someone on personality. However, when I judge it does not necessarily mean it is a bad thing. For example, when I first meet someone I usually can tell within 20 minutes if I could be friends with this person or not. The only bad thing about that is sometimes I am very wrong about a person because they may just not have a good first impression on you. Therefore, you need to give a chance for people to actually get to know you and for you to know them better before judging them so fast. Speaking for myself alone, I could work on that a little bit more and try to understand others who are different than me and be more open to various ideas or thoughts.

In class, we also watched a video from back in the day that was shown in school to show people how to act properly. It discussed manners, relationships, and males being dominant over females pretty much. I was not really shocked about this video, however, because that is how it once was if you have ever watched an old movie that is simply how people acted back then. I believe people should find their manners again because I think in that aspect America has died. Manners are not as important as they once were and that is a shame because it makes people look terrible in my opinion. However, in this video was some things that have changed for the better. Such as women having more independence and men with less power than they once had. Even though now they still have more power but it is a lot less than back then which is a step closer to being equal. I will enjoy this class a lot because it will open my views on things and will hopefully make me a better person and less judgmental.