Mickey Mouse Documentary

We finished the Disney documentary this week and just let me say, despite all the accusations made in that film, I still love Disney movies and believe overall, they are good for the public and for children.

People look too deep into these films to try and find something wrong. Face it, Americans get bored. And when Americans get bored, they look for something that pisses them off so they can protest it. They make something out of nothing. And that is what this documentary is trying to do.

First, the whole Beauty and the Beast thing where he is abusive. The beast is a wild animal. How the hell are you supposed to depict a wild animal? But you get those people who think it will teach girls that abusive men are ok. It is a wild animal, and it is just a movie. Besides, there are millions of people who watched that film and turned out just fine, so by the process of a simple survey, I just disproved that theory. What a stupid idea. "Oh no, I watched the Beast be abusive, then they fell in love. Guess I have to be with an abusive person now." Utter idiocy.

Next, every single race in the Disney movies is defined by their stereotypes. Sure, it might seem a little insensitive, but remember, for every stereotype there is a hint of truth to it. Also, if everyone acted the same in the movies, how boring would that be? These movies are made to entertain children, not provide moral and ethical guidance for 10-year-olds. But, here we go again, people making mountains out of mole-hills. And children will learn about race, gender and stereotypes when they get in high school. Presenting this knowledge too early to kids could cause the opposite effect desired. It might make them an outcast at school and might effect them psychologically.

Any person getting their moral guidance from a children's movie is what I like to call a "moron." Pretty simple term there.

These are good, clean movies that have no "hidden" meaning. The sooner people realize this, the better off we will all be.

Also, like always, the white male is depicted as the cause of all these problems. Big shock there. Oh no, a problem in the media, must be the white guy's fault. But hey, if they couldn't blame the white man, who could they blame?

Maybe I'll make a documentary over that...haha, no. No chance. I'll just keep on living and laughing at the rediculous dribble coming out of these people's mouths.

Gran Torino

We continued watching Gran Torino in class today, and so far, a great movie. It has suspense and a deeply rooted plot, as well as some intense moments.

But I think what was on everyone's mind were the racial slurs used in the films. As we sat in class and watched the film, I have to admit it, I laughed...a lot. I couldn't help myself, the movie is funny. And at times I thought, should I really be laughing at these jokes and slurs?

I think more and more people are looking at this the wrong way. This movie does more than just make jokes at the expense of Asian people. It brings to light how racism is still alive and well, and how anyone, no matter what age or past experiences, can change and become a better and more accepting person.

Let's first look at the journey of the protaganist, Walt Kowalski (Clint Eastwood), and his background. He is old school. He was in the Korean War where he learned to despise North Koreans. He then turned that hate into a hate for all Asians. He also makes fun of African-Americans, Latinos and even other white europeans.

But as the film progresses, his heart is won by his neighbor Sue Lor. She doesn't allow his racist comments to phase her. She just laughs it of and keeps trying to connect with Walt. He eventually is taken in by the kindness of her family and her, and developes a friendship with Sue's brother, who he calls Toad.

Many see this change as symbolic as what can happen with people who still hold racist feelings deep inside. But is this realistic, or just another Hollywood feel-good story?

There is still an opinion that this film settles for superficial views of the Hmong people. An article on the Asian Weekly Web site gives another angle on the film.

http://www.nwasianweekly.com/2009/28_02/pages/movie.html.

The article states the flaws in the film, including how all the gangs are the same gun waving, music blaring thugs. Also in the film, the viewer can't differentiate whether Walt's racial slurs are actually "hateful or showing grudging admiration to his targets."

I honestly don't know enough about the Hmong people to say whether or not this film helped or hurt the people, but as for a film that sheds light onto the ongoing race issues in our society, this film definitely succeeds. There is still a lot to be done, but hopefully, with new generations we can change the attitude of all people harboring racist ideals and make everyone accepting and tolerable of all races and cultures.

What's a name got to do with it?

In class the other day, we talked about how names of people can put preconceived notions of race in other people's mind. When someone says Gonzalez, we think Mexican. When someone says Achmed, we think Muslim.

So I thought about how this translates to my friends and how I treat them when we are all hanging out in social situations.

First off, my friends are the coolest. They are crazy, fun, party animals, and everything else.

As everyone knows, I am very caucasion. I have blonde hair, blue-green eyes, and am very fair complected. And it's no surprise that most of my friends prior to coming to OU looked like me. They were white. And the fact is, many of their names tended to give people the notion that they were white.

But after arriving here at OU, I started to meet many different people. Now the question I pose to the readers is in these following sentences: What do you think of when you hear these names? At the bottom of this post, I will put up pictures of the people to show you who they really are.

Don't cheat: read everything first, then go to the bottom of the page to see the pictures.

1. One of my best friends is Ruben Ronaldo Gonzalez. What did you think of when you first heard his name? This guy is the best. He is in the army, and just returned from Iraq where he was a prison guard. He is always there for his buddies and one of the nicest and most loyal guys I know.

2. Next is one of my friends I've known since before pre-school. That's Barrett Gilley. Man, we have had some great times. We've been really good friends in grade school, middle school, through high school, and even joined the same fraternity at OU.

3. One of my really good friends is my bud Reagan Millsap. Great guy. He actually just got engaged to his girlfriend Rachel, and when he came to O'Connells last week, we ripped him for a good twenty minutes on how he is going to be even more whipped than he is now.

4. Now this one probably won't be too hard for most people. My friend Ti Nguyen. He is one of the funniest people I know. We constantly rip on each other. He always seems to kick my ass in poker. But someday, I'm going to win, I might have to cheat, but I will win.

Ok, so here are the photos.

1. Ruben. Look at this guy, does he look Latino at all? What went through your head when you first read his name? Did the fact that he is in the army give you any preconceived notions about Ruben?

2. Barrett is the one in the very front, flexing both those guns. Take a look, anything come to mind when you see him? Well, Barrett is Native American. Shocked? I know I was when I first found out, because I had no idea.

3. So now here is Reagan. When I said his name, did you think he was black? Or when I mentioned his fiancee's name, did you think she was white, and did that make you think he was white too?

4. Finally, here is Ti. Now I know most of you probably knew Ti was Asian. But what I want you to ask yourself is why? And did any stereotypes pop in your head when I said he was good at poker. He really is, but that's not the point. Always wins.

After reading all of this, I want you to think about the notions that pop up in your head when you hear a person's name. Sometimes we jump to conclusions when we hear certain names, and I'm not saying it is completely a bad thing, but if we are not careful, it could get us in a lot of hot water.

Check out this video. It will shock you. It is a diverse panel asked to describe a person by only knowing their first name.

http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-us&fg=rss&vid=d7185f4b-b05c-433e-a836-055bae119b75.

Thanks for reading.

Time for a Border-line Change

I uploaded this image because I knew it would start some controversy. This is not necessarily my opinion, but keep reading and I'm sure you will understand why I put this picture up here.

Today in class, I got in a pretty heated debate about illegal immigration with a few of my classmates. This topic is very interesting to me and seems to get me riled up. But most people probably don't know why, so let me try to explain.

First off, I do realize this country was founded by immigrants. I understand that at one time my ancestors were immigrants. But times have changed. As our population grows at a rediculous rate, we must be more selective on who we let in to the U.S.

But why? Well for one, as more illegal immigrants come into the country, issues arrise with taxes, health care, and schooling.

Many illegal immigrants don't pay taxes, but still send their children to public schools and take them to hospitals for treatment.

If you don't believe that the illegal immigrants are costing the United States money, then you should CHECK OUT THIS WEB SITE.

http://immigrationcounters.com/.

The numbers are staggering. Costs of social security for illegal immigrants since 1996 are in the hundreds of billions of dollars. Costs of illegals K-12th grade are nearly 15 billion dollars.

And the numbers are on the rise.

I also had an issue with the fact that many illegals don't learn english when they come here. Countries are unified when they have a single, common language. Despite not having a national language, it is obvious that english is the language of the United States.

If immigrants want to come to the U.S., they need to have at least some understanding of english, or take classes to learn it. I so sick and tired of people saying "it's part of their culture and they don't want to lose that." Well, if they don't want to lose it, then they should stay in their own country, or practice their religion, but still learn english.

A society is more productive and works better when everyone in it is on the same page and speaks the same language, it's just common sense.

Modern Racism

Talking about Hurricane Katrina is a touchy subject no matter who you are. Whether we want to admit it, things went on there that we wish we could have changed. People were not treated like Americans, society showed its true colors, and the media completely dropped the ball and set us back about 15 years in race relations.

What I thought was interesting is the thought of modern racism in relation to Katrina. How was it used? Who used it? Why is it so prevelent still in the media? Can it ever be completely stopped?

First, the term refugee. Wow, what a rediculous term to use now that I think of it. How can people of their own country be refugees? It's not possible! However, when I first heard this word I thought nothing of it. It sounded ok to me. But it is such a derogatory term. The media threw this term around without even considering the negative connotations it brought with it.

I was looking at videos of Hurricane Katrina, because I honestly had forgotten how bad it was, and I needed to be reminded. I came across this slideshow. I watched it, thinking I could handle it. I almost had to stop it. A warning: There is mature content in this slideshow.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ShF3aMjJYA.

So after that, I got to work looking at modern racism. People don't shout in the streets derogatory terms that much anymore. However, they continue racism by not allowing other races buy houses in certain neighborhoods. They do it by paying other races and women less money than whites.

People even do it subconsciously by acting different around certain racial groups of people than they do with others.

This link is to a video I watched about modern racism. I don't understand why they used a video game in the beginning of the video, but I believe the message the video presents is relevant and very important.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vT27fHB0t6s.

The problem is, if we don't know we are perpetuating the notion of modern racism, how can we stop it?

Many of my friends do it and don't even realize it. Hell, I might even do it and not realize it! How do we stop?!

In my mind, we must start from the top and work down. First, change the way the media portrays minorities in the U.S. Try to alter public opinion and change long-standing views and stereotypes.

If we can start somewhere, we can go anywhere.

Sports Camps

We are supposed to write about the sporting camps going on at OU over the summer. I remember going to all these same camps when I was a kid.

In class today, we discussed the role of gender in sports. As a child, my father was big into the main sports: baseball, basketball, football, and soccer. And that is exactly what I played...all the time. In fact, there was never a season from the time I was 3 years old until I was 18 that I did not play an organized sport.

My girl friends always did cheerleading or gymnastics, while my guy friends and I played the main sports. In fact, as a very young child I can remember that the boys and girls played together, but as we all got older, the girls went to gymnastics and the boys stayed with the main sports.

Is this because of the parents, or is it just the social norm? Or possibly is it advertising and marketing that children see on television?

Honestly, with the way our society is set up, I think it is better for guys to play baseball, basketball, football, etc., and girls to stick with sports like gymnastics and cheer. Kids are judged and called different and weird if they don't play their gender's prototypical sports. Believe me, I remember.

I'm not saying guys and girls can't play any sport they want, I'm merely stating that to fit in to our society, it is better to stick with what is deemed the social norm when it comes to sports.

Just one person's view.

For the good of the media

I thought about discussing the film we watched today in class, but I realized many people would do that. So I decided to talk about something on my mind.

I want to look at the positives of comical media. People need to realize that not all media that makes fun of racial diversity is bad. It makes people look at the issues head on, even if it makes them uncomfortable. I believe this is something that really helps develop racial diversity.

First, everybody's favorite...Chappelle's Show. Who doesn't love this show. What I love is how Dave looks at all races and generally busts chops.

Check out this site and just surf some of the videos.

http://www.comedycentral.com/shows/chappelles_show/index.jhtml.

Some of my favorites are the Racial Draft episode and the White Black Supremisist. But does that make me a bad person for liking these episodes and laughing at this stuff?

These are sensitive subjects, but Dave Chappelle puts them out there anyways for us to decide how we feel about them.

I put the question to everyone. If it bothers you, why?

Should he be more sensitive to people's feelings?

Should Comedy Central be allowed to air these episodes?

Does this show really help or just continue the cycle of racial stereotypes in the media?

In my mind, this is the most revolutionary show on television, along with South Park. They take the stereotypical norms, and but them to light. They throw them in our faces and force us to look at them.

Now, I respect those who don't like these shows. That is your opinion, and I realize many people don't enjoy these shows. But people should keep an open mind when viewing these. Don't look at the negatives, try to focus on the point these shows are making.

Most media only perpetuates the stereotypes of race, but I believe these shows step outside the box and are actually good for racial diversity.

Call me crazy, but that's just how I feel.