Bamboozled

The movie wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, although it was really long.  I wouldn't have picked it to watch but all in all it was a decent movie.  I didn't feel it was very offensive but I could definitely see how the jokes would be to some people.  The watermelon thing was hilarious to me but I know some people who wouldn't think that was funny at all.  I think it is the kind of thing where the movie didn't make fun of anything about me so it wasn't bothersome to me.  But say if it had been about West Virginia I would probably be somewhat offended at what they would depict as our norm.  It would still be funny but it would also irritate me that we would be thought of how most people picture West Virginians.  Mantan was a bum off the streets, living in an abandoned building, performing on the street for money.  His friend was like a manager to him; he got the crowd interested and collected the money.  If they had been in a studio with fancy clothes then nobody would have thought anything less of them than respectable artists and men.  It is weird how much emphasis we put on jobs, race, class, and education.  I, myself, did it and still catch myself doing it even though I know that just because someone doesn't wear the most expensive clothes or have a college degree, they can still be the best people in your life or the smartest and most genuine person you know.

Presentations

The story of the Indian woman, Mankiller, was the most interesting to me.  The name caught my attention of course but her story was so interesting.  I just find it so crazy that she was driving along and wrecked.  But not only did she wreck, but killed the other driver.  But not only was it just a driver, it was her best friend!! It was just shocking because whenever I imagine a car crash I never consider that the people involved would know each other.  I also never thought of Indians having cars.  I know it sounds dumb but my mind was stuck in the stereotype of them riding horses and wearing loin cloths. I never thought about how they evolve as the majority of our societies do.  The name was also a neat story.  It’s a name of respect where she’s from.  In our society if someone earned the name “mankiller” we would be afraid of them. I sure would be! Because in our society killing someone usually doesn’t mean strength or gain respect.  Our killers get locked up, most of the time.

Class Week 9

Ever since we looked at the photo shop disasters website I have been looking at ads and T.V. commercials completely differently.  I have been looking to see what work theyve done on that person to make them look so perfect instead of thinking about what I would have to do to look like that.  I knew there was photo shopping but I never really thought about what that meant.  You can make a person look completely different with photo shop! We talked about how it is used to cover up flaws and how scars were flaws on women but are thought to make a man look more attractive because that means he’s a "badass."  That goes along with the persona that is tied to each gender.  Women are supposed to be soft and gentle whereas men are supposed to be edgy and tough, rough and dirty.  The pictures each group had printed out based on genders or sexes and class were great!  A couple groups did some redneck pictures or low class white trash.  I think that’s because we get that stereotype so often it is just the first thing that came to our minds.  The “People of Walmart” website had a lot of pictures of people who look completely low class and uneducated but you never know! Those same people could be rich or brain surgeons and just not care about their looks.