Comm 300: Levi Commercials

First of all, let me tell you that I have a love hate relationship with this commercial. I love it because of the voice actor they have doing the whole narrative for the whole commercial. It reminds me of the movie we watched for the Chicano movement. ( of course, I can't remember the name of it now). Then of course, I absolutely hate this commercial because the narrator is talking about the children of the world, being brought up in peace and equality. Yet, there are hardly any minority people in this commercial. There are three black people, two are children, and one of them is an adult. But, there are no Latino's or Asians, or Native Americans, or Indians, or Israeli;s. The vast majority of these people are white... not a really equal place actually..

Comm 229: T.V. Everyone's best friend

I had to work this evening, and as I am sitting in the break room three other of my associates came in. Immediately they started talking about work, but once that was done they turned to the one subject that everyone has in common: t.v. shows. I just find it intriguing that television has become the one subject that everyone can relate to. We all watch far too much of it, love our favorite shows and vehemently detest the shitty ones. So, I wonder what our children will be talking about when they are at work.. because the technology is changing rapidly. Will they be talking about the 3-d adventures they are having, or the holographic programs that have become available to them?

Comm 300: Chicano Movement II

I was reading for my Women's history class, and the chapter I was reading is focused upon the '60's and the '70's and what happened during this era. What was really cool was that this book addressed the female side of the Chicano movement. Turns out that these women had to fight against their men to try and gain rights for themselves. The men involved with the Chicano movement wanted the women to go back into the kitchen, because that was the best way to alleviate racial tensions. So, the women decided that in order to achieve the liberation they wanted, they had to separate themselves from the male Chicano movement, and that is exactly what they did.

Comm 229: Christmas

Allright, so has anyone noticed the Christmas commercials this year? I never realized how capitalistic we actually were until watching all of these commercials telling people that the best thing to do is buy your kids junk. The best thing about these commercials is that they are not even promoting Christmas at all. Because, in actuality Christmas is not supposed to be about buying each other things, it's about God. I just find all these commercials very interesting, especially since no one can really afford anything right now. Great how the thing to make things perfect is to buy more things that you don't need, and your kids won't really play with three months later?

Comm 300: minorities in the movies

I don't know about the rest of you, but as I have been learning about this course I have been trying to see the minorities that are in the television that I watch. Shockingly, enough, or perhaps not that shocking at all, I don't see very many. And then, if there is a black man, or an Asian man, or a Latino man, they are never the main character. And if they do have a crucial role in the movie/t.v. show they are the bad guy. Of course, this knowledge is daunting when you think about the groups that are trying to correct it. The amount of invisibility they have to surmount is almost incomprehensible. I really don't think they will be able to overcome it... it is far too big, and has been around for far too long.

Comm 229: Freedom of Choice

We have just read the chapter on Freedom of choice, our ability to choose and things like that. And I just watched The Dead Poets Society, which is a great Robin Williams movie. This movie has to do with the life of private school boys. And in this movie, we see that, especially as young adults, our choices are limited by what our parents want us to do. And this plays out through the rest of our lives. WE have the ability to choose whatever it is we want to do, but if I choose to become an Actor instead of a Doctor, I have just disappointed my entire family, and they will use that against me for the rest of my life. What kind of a choice is that?

Comm 300: Memory

I was thinking about what I was going to talk about today and I happened to remember this thing I had seen. I say thing because I'm not sure if it was just a report or a sixty minutes thing, or something else entirely. But, it was a study about what people would do if they were face to face with racial discrimination. They had a black woman go into a store and had an employee harass her and make racial comments about how she shouldn't be in the store because all she's going to do is steal. Both the woman and employee are in the know, it's the other shoppers that don't know what's going on.
What's interesting is that women were more likely to stand up for the woman than men, especially if the men had a gf/wife with them.
So, what would you do if you came face to face with racial discrimination? Would you walk away or stand up for a stranger?