Double Minority

Representation of social diversities within all forms of media plays an important role in our social world views. Being able to see yourself reflected and connect with that fictional character on screen can help people as they change and mold through life. The LGBT community over the past 20th century, have been portrayed in film in cruel and demeaning ways that dehumanize them making them unrelateable. For example, The Celluloid Closet, showed films like, Manslaughter, Algie the Miner, Cruising, Silence of the Lambs, etc. depict LGBT people as flamboyant comical relief, depressed and suicidal, or psychopathic killers who deserve to die. This left very many LGBT people with no one to represent them and no identity to aspire to. Now, in the 21st century, with the Supreme Court ruling and interpreting that the Constitution ensures the LGBT community the right to marry; much has progressed in the representation of lesbians and gays. Even more and more openly gay, lesbian, transgender, and transsexual actors are playing these iconic roles. On television gay actors are now often cast as gay characters and portrayed as human beings who have real lives such as, Chris Colfer in Glee, Guillermo Diaz in Mercy, Jesse Tyler Ferguson in Modern Family, Wilson Cruz in Red Band Society, and many more. This shows that there are plenty of LGBT actors to play roles and characters in not just TV shows, but in film and music as well.

Urban dictionary defines a "double minority" as someone who has a combination of two different social identifiers, such as someone who racially identifies as black, and also identifies their sexuality as gay. While media has made great strides in being inclusive of  LGBT peoples, there still lacks a representation of the real ethnic diversity within the community. Gay and lesbian actors within film and shows are majority white American, and while this gives LGBT people someone to look up to, LGBT ethnic minorities may have completely different social and cultural experiences compared white American LGBTs, that can make "double (or more) minorities" feel alone and isolated. In an article written by a influential Vietnamese LGBT author, he talks about how there needs to be a push for more inter-sectional representation of race and ethnicity within not just media forms, but all parts of our social spheres. Because its not just Hollywood that is predominately white it's all other areas of our social world; politics, businesses, even non-profit LGBT foundations. This may be due to the absence of fictional or non-fictional role models that racial minorities have to look up to. Film, TV, books, music can help to change the trend and show minority children that they can aspire and do great things in their community and other areas. An amazing example of this is Laverne Cox. She is the first transgender woman to star as a major role on an American TV show, first transgender woman to be nominated for an Emmy, and also a very prominent spokesperson within and for the LGBT community. Representations such as these really allow all generations from all backgrounds encourage them to aspire to great opportunities.

February Media Log

The Walking Dead Season 6
Deadpool Movie
Scandal Season 7
How to Get Away with Murder Season 2
Jane the Virgin Season 3
The Baby by Abigail Barnette
Younger Season 2
American Crime Season 2
Reel Injun
Hicksploitation
The Vampire Diaries Season 7
The Originals Season 3
The Road Within
American Crime Season 2
The Celluloid Closet
Rihanna-Work Music Video
Zayn-PillowTalk Music Video
Suits Season 7
Modern Family Season 6
Marriage Boot Camp Season 4
The Bachelor Season 20
Spotify Playlists

The Fosters

The Fosters Characters from Left: AJ, Mike, Mariana, Lena, Brandon, Stef, Callie, Jude

The Fosters is a show about foster children who have been adopted by two women who are in a domestic partnership, and who later get married to coincidentally become "the Fosters". The show portrays a fictional story and plot which reveals the decaying underbelly of our nation's foster system as well as other broken aspects of our society. The characters include an array of multiracial and multicultural people from all different social backgrounds and classes. Some characters that are introduced into the plot exhibit the many stereotypes we see in media all the time (black male as a drug dealer, "the angry black woman", the spicy latina, etc.) but these characters are used in the plot of each episode to divulge the audience in how these stereotypes hurt minorities and overall society.

One particular episode (Season 3 Episode 5) the show unearths and tackles the topic of police racial profiling and discrimination. Mike a San Diego police officer, and also the ex-husband of one the Foster women, is with his newly adopted foster kid AJ who is African-American with an athletic build. AJ and Mike, who is in uniform, are leaving from visiting AJ's grandmother at a nursing home, when Mike gets a police call about a situation near their area. Mike calls in saying he is on his way and that he has a ride-along with him, AJ. They arrive at the house where the other police officers are already combing through the house and the area around it for a suspect/suspects. Mike tells AJ to stay in the car while he goes and assesses the situation. Mike disappears into the house for a while, so AJ becomes curious and walks out of the front seat of the police cruiser, within seconds he is roughly tackled to the ground and handcuffed by a white police officer. Mike quickly runs out of the house to diffuse the situation and let the officer know that AJ is his ride-along, but the white officer still refuses to un-cuff and release AJ, until Mike tells the officer that AJ is his adopted son, which the officer then only apologizes to Mike. This situation also reminds me of a similar story in the news about James Blake, a retired professional tennis player who was tackled and cuffed by several undercover white officers because he was the same race as the suspect they were looking to apprehend. He wasn't running, he wasn't "fleeing the scene" he was simply standing outside his hotel waiting for a car to take him to the U.S. Open Tennis Tournament. Just like AJ who stepped out of the front seat of police cruiser and who was labeled as a ride-along was profiled and forcibly tackled to the ground, many people of different ethnicities have been brutally handled by police in similar ways. This article, talks about the reasons why this type of warrior-like policing came into existence within society. The merging of "kill or be killed" police education and training along with individual prejudices and racial biases creates this dangerous concoction of police brutality towards certain races. Hence, why people like James Blake and AJ are handled in a very violent manner instead of being questioned and treated like a human being.

Shows like The Fosters that use their media platform to bring light and awareness to racial biases and stereotypes within our society really opens up the dialogue for people to discuss why these types of situations happen. I would love for you to comment any other shows, movies, or books that use stereotypes within the plot as a way to bring awareness.

Who is the "Good guy"?

Action shows and movies, especially ones containing superheroes and villains, carry a classic theme of "good" vs "evil". Good guys vs bad buys. Bully vs the bullied. Robbers vs cops. Light vs Dark. Dora vs Swiper the fox. We are led and encouraged to root for the "good guy" or "superhero" to win, even though we know the "good guy" always wins no matter what "villain" or adversity they face. These shows and movies also teach us across all generations the hegemonic lesson of always being the "good guy" and to reflect his good deeds and character, so that we too can beat the "bad guy", cause 'the bad guy" should never win. While this lesson is encouraging and uplifting our social reality isn't so black and white.

From a political foreign policy standpoint these movies remind us of all the good the United States government has done and is still doing to protect the homeland. Movies and shows like Saving Private Ryan, 24, Homeland, Taken, and the more starkly stated Captain America all have the "good guys" (United States; America; Americans) versus "bad guys" (any foreign political terroristic threat). This theme of the civilized, lawful society warring against the uncivilized power hungry foreign force that hates and wants to destroy "American Freedom" is strategically placed in some of the American media we consume to instill political ideologies that guide us to vote for certain military and foreign policies. Whether these movies and shows play to the fear of the "outside world" or our willingness to defend the freedoms of others as well as our own, they reflect and shape our social and political world. In my last blog post about Star Wars: The Force Awakens, I talked about how the movie was breaking social and racial conventions of protagonists in movies. But the movie also speaks to our government's current foreign relational climate. In this article by Chris Burnett, he begins breaking down the parallels of how our government and military is often portrayed as the patriotic hero always defending our freedom against those who want to take it away, and how the rebels reflect the ideals of U.S., as the small force fighting against the tyrannical superpower "The First Order". He goes on to say that this use of good vs. evil enforces people's fears and justifies the government's violation of the fourth amendment as well as it's massive defense budget. Movies with ideologies such as these can play into people's' fears and lead to war mongering and the push for more and more military power. And as "The First Order" was portrayed as the colossal imposing militia with advanced weaponry and America having the most advanced aircraft and naval force that rules the skies and seas, as well as the largest collective army...who are the real "good guys" or  "bad guys"?

Star Wars: Breaking Social Convention Using the Force

Action movies have a way of getting our heart rates up with non-stop thrills and adventure that keeps us on the edge of our seats. But in many action movies over the past decade the main protagonists have been written and cast as a white males of anglo-saxon descent . Superman, Batman, Spiderman (twice), Iron Man, Captain America. The list goes on for miles. Which has been the norm within Hollywood in many movie genres, not just action. Hollywood has found a niche in writing cinematic films and casting them in a way that does not reflect our great American melting pot. When Star Wars: The Force Awakens, built their cast, and many saw a black guy as one of the main characters people were up in arms and all kinds of upset. Why? When other people found out a woman would also be a main character people felt they weren't sure how that "was gonna work". Why? Do we not think that a black man and a woman as main characters have the ability to carry the plot of one of the most memorable franchises of many generations? Some of us are so used to seeing the conventional standard heroic mold, that it completely surprises us when that mold isn't followed. J.J Abrams has been trying to do just that by pushing for more diversity within Hollywood. He said this in an interview about a show he directed called Hart to Hart:

"We wrote these characters but when we went to cast it, one of the things I had felt, having been to the Emmys a couple times — you look around that room and you see the whitest f*cking room in the history of time. Its just unbelievably white. And I just thought, we’re casting this show and we have an opportunity to do anything we want, why not cast the show with actors of color? Like not for sure, and if we can’t find the actors who are great, we shouldn’t, but why don’t we make that effort because it wasn’t written that way and isn't that the cooler version of doing this as opposed to saying ‘this is an urban show’. It f*cking kills me when they call something ‘an urban movie’ like its a separate thing, like ‘its that thing over there."

So when he was given the opportunity to direct a completely original movie within the Star Wars franchise he ran with it. He believes representation within the media we view, as Americans in our everyday life is important, and so he did that in Star Trek, now in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. He did this by not writing the characters into a certain skin appearance, he kept the casting open to people of any color and ethnicity. Making the roles more available to anyone allows for diversity within all media, which can help influence change in certain conventions and social norms we see all around us. 

Ratings on Music Videos?

PillowTalk Music Video-by Zayn Malik

We discussed the movie rating system in class on Thursday, and the ambiguous ways it rates or grades the movies that are released in Hollywood. For example, violence and blood can make your rating a PG or PG-13, but sexual innuendos and depictions can quickly change your rating from R to NC-17 making it difficult to get advertisements and brands to help with your budget or release showings in theaters. This rating system is supposed to be run by a group of "average every day American parents" who have children from early childhood to adolescents. We put trust in this group of people to let us know what is okay to show to children and what should be "viewed with discretion". A campaign to apply this same type of rating system to music videos released by artists and bands was proposed by the same "average" every day parents. MTV and VH1 used to rule the airwaves as the place for artists to promote themselves and their music videos. The rise of youtube, vevo, and other video streaming sites allows people to view them over and over again all they want (maybe with a few advertisements here and there). While youtube has a few ways to regulate what they deem explicit content (nudity, sexual content, etc.) to help keep people from viewing offensive and inappropriate videos the group wants the government to put stricter policies on music video producers and artists to reduce the amount of explicit content that could be viewed by young underage teens. In the article by Tracy Veigh, she talks about how while some parents approve of the government stepping in, others are opposed to it arguing that the more bans and rules you enforce on this type of content the more teenagers are going to want to pursue it and view it. She goes on to say that its becoming more impossible to put effective bans on content within the internet due to availability and access teenagers have to anything on the web. I can agree that while explicit ratings like R on movies have the ability to prevent a teenager under 17 to view that movie in the theaters, the internet now makes the possibility of watching that movie online easier. Teenagers and children, if told no, makes that thing more enticing and they will find a way to access that thing. What do you think? Should the government step in and put bans on explicit music videos on the internet? 

#FreeCreativity

Devon Aoki-by Minjae Lee

Art used to be free. Art whether, that was music, books, sculpting, painting, drawing, etc. art media was freely exchanged and shared so that it could inspire others to create and build upon the art world. Now fast forward to present day, capitalism, where its all about the " bottom line" and profits. You now have a multitude of copyrights and laws that claim to "protect" the artists work and integrity from being "stolen" but in reality those laws are just used to increase the profits of the corporations and labels that feel they are the only ones who should benefit from said artist. In a world where ideas and inspiration can flow freely, art can progress and grow, but in this world where it costs you to be inspired by others, the creative culture has lost steam. These restrictions have not been placed everywhere in the art media world. In the world of fashion, fashion designers develop their original voice and style by the interchanging of clothes styles, silhouettes, and fabrics which are all used to inspire other designers. Examples of this are in the very clothing trends we follow everyday. The very first blue jeans were developed and created by Levi Strauss, but now we have all types of designs; boot-cut, straight, bell bottom, colored jeans,  etc. This variation and diversity was from years of freedom within innovation and design. A modern day small scale example freedom within 2D media was in Long Beach Museum of art, where street artists were given free reign to create whatever they wanted on the walls of the gallery. You can view the most of art here. Creativity within the music industry has really been curbed by copyright. In music there are only so many notes and even fewer combinations of those notes that create melodies and riffs within songs. So if you were to be inspired by a certain genre of music and want to write a song with a similar feel you now need to make sure that what you have written or created isn't similar to another artists music within that genre. In this Rolling Stones article the author, Will Sheff, talks about how artists creativity is being killed by copyrights and the artistic process isn't able to flow as freely as it is supposed to. The exchange of ideas and inspiration is something that just happens naturally within the world of art but the need for profits and sales has made parts of it a courtroom for "I did it first!"

"I realized that this is what artists are supposed to do – communicate back and forth with each other over the generations, take old ideas and make them new (since it's impossible to really "imitate" somebody without adding anything of your own), create a rich, shared cultural language that was available to everybody. Once I saw it in folk art, I saw it everywhere – in hip-hop, in street art, in dada. I became convinced that the soul of culture lay in this kind of weird, irreverent-but-reverant back-and-forth. And I concluded that copyright law was completely opposed to this natural artistic process in a way that was strangling and depleting our culture, taking away something rich and beautiful that belonged to everyone in order to put more money into the hands of the hands of a small, lawyered few." 

-Will Sheff