Stereotypes and Pitch Perfect 2

I watched Pitch Perfect 2 just a couple of days after watching The Celluloid Closet, and the week after our discussions and readings about representations of race in the media. Pitch Perfect is a comedy about a group of girls who are an a capella singing group. One of the reasons that it is funny is that it over-plays stereotypes of all kinds to poke fun at them. Rebel Wilson plays a character who calls herself "Fat Amy" and her size is a big part of her quirky personality. Hana Mae Lee plays an Asian girl who speaks so quietly you can never hear what she's saying. Chrissie Fit plays a girl from Guatemala who is always concerned about being deported. Ester Dean plays an African American lesbian girl who is very butch and claims to be the biggest minority out there because she’s black, a woman, and gay.

After watching The Celluloid Closet and thinking about our discussions about race and the way people are represented in the media, this movie got me thinking about how homosexual people or people of color might feel about this movie. One of the things The Celluloid Closet pointed out was that not every gay person feels the same way about movies. For example, one man hated the “sissy” characterization and another liked it. This article from the Canadian Centre for Digital and Media Literacy points out the same thing and says that it should be considered whether the makers of the media product are gay and whether the gay community at large has accepted the product.

I would guess that some people of color and some gay people would laugh at this movie and see that it is pointing out the absurdity of stereotypes, while others may feel that it’s perpetuating those stereotypes. What do you think?

Race portrayals in Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

I just finished reading the YA novel Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews. The plot is basically Greg and Earl befriend Rachel (a girl who has cancer) and make a film for her. The movie based on this book was released last summer. I read it this week, and I was surprised by how much it made the black characters stereotypes. The first thing that struck me was when introducing the “jocks” Greg, the main character, says “they’re pretty much all black, and many of the white kids are afraid of them.” It only gets worse from there.

When Greg introduces his friend Earl, the fact that he is black is one of the first things he tells the reader.  Pretty much the only things Earl says are profane and/or violent. Earl’s family is even worse. There are no men in Earl’s house. Earl’s dad is “in Texas or something” and his half brothers’ dad is in prison. Greg’s dad, however, is a college professor who is an active part of Greg’s life. When Greg goes to visit Earl’s house, Earl’s brother breaks Greg’s arm over a small disagreement because Earl’s family is just that violent. Greg has trouble in school, and a teacher arranges with his parents for Greg to stay after school every day for tutoring. Greg says Earl is in classes where “you could staple a dead animal to your homework and still pass”. Earl’s aspirations for life are to be a manager at Wendy’s. Greg isn’t sure what he wants to do, but the book ends with his hopes of going to film school and it’s clear that he has a lot of options.

This is really troubling, especially because the film adaptation was widely acclaimed and received awards at the Sundance Film Festival. Not surprisingly, I’m not the only one to write about Earl’s portrayal. If you’re interested check out these links:

http://www.metro.us/entertainment/me-and-earl-and-the-dying-girl-is-all-about-white-people-problems/zsJofi---ZlqAeehp5HY/

http://www.newyorker.com/culture/richard-brody/whats-missing-from-me-and-earl-and-the-dying-girl

Ideology in Novels

One of the genres of novels I talked about last week was Christian Romance Novels. These books unabashedly push an ideology. They are written by Christians, about Christians, for Christians. I’m a Christian, and sometimes I like to read these. For a while, this was my favorite genre. I like reading about people who share my faith, and I like a happy-ever-after story.

However as I matured, I realized many of these books promote ideas I don’t agree with and find to be troubling.  For example, many have a perfect ending. This blogger discusses that problem in Karen Kingsbury books (she’s one of the most popular authors of the genre). It is nice to read a story where everything works out for the protagonist, but if these authors are truly trying to present how someone can live out a faith in Christ, they are doing their readers a disservice by neatly tying up all the endings. Just because you are a Christian doesn’t mean everything will work out for you, and I’m concerned that these books could make immature Christians feel as though if only they were better Christians, things would work out for them like they do for characters in the novels they read.

Another problem I have with books in this genre is the idea that every woman needs a man to protect her and be her happy ever after. This isn’t unique to Christian Romance novels, of course, but it is heavily portrayed in many of these books. The book known for beginning the genre is Love Comes Softly by Jeanette Oke. In this book set in the 1800’s, the protagonist’s husband dies on their trip out West and she must marry a stranger in order to survive. The book details how their marriage of convenience becomes a marriage of love. This is a sweet story, but it’s been repeated ad nauseam by other authors who only change the details. I would love to read more novels with strong Christian female protagonists. Anybody know of one I haven’t read? Let me know!

I still occasionally read a Christian Romance novel, but now I like to read novels from lots of different perspectives. Novels are one of the few ways we have to climb into someone else’s thoughts and see the world the way they do. I try to choose books from a wide variety of ideologies. Some I agree with, some I disagree with, but I always learn something from seeing the world from someone else’s eyes.

Do you gravitate towards media that promotes ideologies you agree with?

Oh So Conventional

As I may have mentioned before, I'm an avid reader. I like to read all kinds of things from almost every section of the library.

There are two types of novels, as explained in this article:genre fiction and literary fiction.

Some people read only one genre of fiction. At my library, we even have stickers to go on the spines of books so that patrons can easily know what genre the book belongs to. We have Sci Fi stickers, Mystery stickers, Romance stickers, and stickers with crosses on them to identify Christian Fiction. 

I like to read both genre fiction and literary fiction. Sometimes, I'll pick a book out of a certain genre just because I want to know what to expect. Like the article says, it’s an escape from reality. For example, sometimes I'll be in the mood for a mystery novel because I want to get wrapped up in a mystery to solve and have everything explained and settled by the end. Sometimes I read a sappy Christian Romance novel because I know it will end happily ever after. Usually I go for these kinds of books when I’m stressed about school or other stuff going on because I like knowing what to expect in the book.

When I’m not using up all my available brain cells on school, I like to read literary fiction. In these books, I don’t know what to expect, and they often teach me something or help me see someone else’s point of view.

                    

Most bestsellers are genre fiction. Often times, people like to know what to expect from their entertainment.

What about you? Do you gravitate towards a certain genre of books, movies, or music because it’s familiar?

Bernie Sanders and His Views on Media Conglomeration

This election season has brought some surprising characters to the forefront. The American people are tired of the usual politicians and some unexpected candidates are being taken seriously. For example, Donald Trump on the Republican side and Bernie Sanders on the Democratic side.

Sanders has spoken out against the conglomeration of media companies. As we learned in class, 6 corporations control 90% of the media in America: http://www.businessinsider.com/these-6-corporations-control-90-of-the-media-in-america-2012-6

Here is a link to a discussion Sanders had with Bill Moyers: Bernie and Bill Moyers. I believe this was filmed in 2012, but he has posted it on his campaign page feelthebern.org because he and his followers still find it relevant. In this discussion, he makes some good arguments about the fact that very few Americans think its a good idea for just a few companies to own all of the news outlets, whether they be TV, newspaper, or radio. He says "it will be bad for minorities, it will be bad for women, and most of all, it will be bad for democracy." 

One thing I learned from this video that really surprised me was the fact that sometimes several news stations share offices, people, and sometimes even the same scripts. It is scary how few people are in charge of the news the American people hear. Sanders argues that major issues get very little discussion, and the FCC has got to create a situation in which the American people are hearing a diverse range of ideas so that our public world has the kind of debate that our public needs.

I don't agree with Bernie Sanders on everything, but I agree with him that we should be concerned about the conglomeration of media. What do you think?

Book Rating System????

I love to read. I read all types of books-- I still love to read kids’ books and I love to read novels from lots of different genres.  This week in class, we’ve been talking about the effect of politics on media. We discussed rating systems for music and movies and it made me wonder why there is no such rating system for books. I found a couple of book rating systems online here: http://ratedreads.com/book-review-ratings-guid/ and here: http://www.compassbookratings.com/ . Obviously, some people are concerned about the content in books, but there has not been a nationwide ratings system adopted or enforced.

If there were a ratings system, would there be an age requirement to purchase explicitly sexual or explicitly violent books? As a parent of a 10 year old who loves to read, I monitor the content of what he is reading. As he gets older, I want to stay involved in his reading choices, but I think I might be more likely to allow him to read a book with more mature content than I would allow him to watch in a movie. For example, I am considering allowing him to read the Hunger Games novels, but I don’t think he’s ready for the violence of the movies yet.

Even though I monitor the content of what my children are reading, I’m glad there is not a government ratings system for books. Most of the books I read come from the public library- either through their e-book collection or physical books on the shelf. At the public library where I work, the manager is in charge of collection development. She decides which books are appropriate for our shelves, mainly based on popularity. The library is funded by local, state, and federal monies, but they do not censor what kinds of books each library can have. If there was a ratings system, books could be “rated” out of the library.

What do you think about the idea of a book rating system?