What Now?

After reading our last assignment in Soc. 109 called, Interrupting the cycle of oppression: The role of allies as agents of change, I realized that this is a role that I need to take in order to make our world more equal. I am a member of the dominant group because I am a white, middle class, Christian. I also receive oppression because I am a woman. I will work to end oppression from the benefits that I receive from being in the dominant group. I will be accountable for changes I know are essential in our society. I believe that if everyone has this mentality then as a society, we will move more toward equality. In short, as my mom always said when I was a kid, I need to treat people the way I want to be treated.

This is Ashley signing off.......... goodbye

Is reality based on the pictures in our heads?

Walter Lippman’s book, Public Opinion, was a very challenging read for me, but I happened to get a lot out of it. The main point in his book was that our reality is based on the pictures in our head, which is given to us by the media. This is closely related to agenda setting where the media sets the agenda for public opinion by highlighting certain issues. Lippman believes that the media decides what we think about issues. I only partially agree with this statement. I do believe that people have the power to make their own decisions but I also believe that the media has a huge influence on our opinions. Take for example the war in Iraq. The media covers all of the horror stories in the middle east but when I talked to my friends who are in the marines, they say there is not much going on over there right now. Yes, there are killings everyday but nothing to the magnitude that the coverage shows. But on the other hand, people have the choice to choose what source they will get their information from. People can get on the Internet, read the newspaper or watch television. Yet Lippman says “The size of a man’s income has considerable effect on his access to the world beyond his neighborhood. With money he can overcome almost every tangible obstacle of communication, he can travel, buy books and periodicals, and bring within the range of his attention almost any known fact of the world.” This poses a problem for people who do not have the money to get these means. At the same time, it is hard to avoid something that these sources are covering, if it is all that the gatekeepers are talking about. This leads into gatekeeper’s theory. This states that there are certain people who are in control of the flow of information. They can choose to accept or reject information based on their opinions. They also decide the level of priority it is to the public. I believe it is important to look into Lippman and all he has to say because I think he was so intelligent for his time. He came up with some idea’s that turned into theories in the future.

Caitlyn May...

JAMA Productions Presents:
"Caitlyn May. . ."

This is a story about a three year old child with down syndrome. Who knows what Caitlyn may do. . . This is her story

Come and view our documentory-
Date: May 8th
Time: 12:45-2:00
Place: Westminster College - Mueller Theater

Documentory Update

JAMA Productions is doing a documentary on a toddler with Down Syndrome living in New Wilmington, PA. We have interviewed Catelyn’s herself, along with her mother, father, older sister and Dr. Medvin, a psychology professor here at Westminster. The family has opened their home to us and therefore we have received great footage. I believe we have all of the footage we need, and we will be editing tonight to see if there is anything else we need. We have music and pictures that the family has given us, to add in also. After editing, we just need to advertise for our project by making posters and signs to put up around campus. I believe we are right on schedule and everything has worked out perfectly thus far. Everyone makes the meetings, and we work well together as a team. Hopefully everything else goes smoothly leading up to and including the presentation of our film.

Reality and Television

Over Easter break my mom introduced me to the show "Dancing With The Stars”. This is a show that airs on Monday’s at 8:00 pm on ABC. It is a show where “Stars” learn how to ballroom dance with professional dancers. The “Stars” range from football players to actors. I really enjoyed this show because I always wanted to learn how to ballroom dance. Watching athletes learn how to do it made me want to do it more. In reality, when am I going to be able to sign up for dance lesions with professional dancers who have won plenty of awards? Probably never. And if I do get this amazing chance, will I be able to quit school or my job for months to really learn? I don’t think so.

I really enjoy watching the “Hills” that comes on at 10:00, Monday nights on MTV. I was thinking about this assignment and thought this would be a good show to look for things that I normally wouldn’t experience in my life. The more I think about it, the more I realize that I would never get to experience the situation Lauren and Heidi are in. These are 21-year-old girls living in an amazing apartment in California, driving the nicest cars known to man, wearing beautiful clothes and going out to clubs every night. It is amazing how they can afford all of this from an internship or working at a club. I understand that their parents are wealthy, but I will never experience this type of life style unless I hit the lottery. It’s crazy that how watching these shows that we base our lives off what they have. We have to have the new cell phone that LC carries around or the new outfit Heidi has on.

Lastly, I really got into “Deal or no Deal” that plays at 8:00 pm on Monday’s. This show is very addicting because you enjoy watching people make a lot of money or screw up and lose a lot of money. You cannot stop yourself from saying that you would just take the money and not risk it. This is not something you would normally experience because you would have to get on the show first and then be the lucky person to play. I will never get that chance in my life. That is why I bought the game so that I can play and pretend that I am winning the money.

This leads into what Jean Baudrillard claims, which is that while watching television people are watching something more then reality. This is a theory called hyper-reality. People view something that is false or non attainable to the average person and this can change peoples view of their world. Is the world that we live in the same that is portrayed on television? I don’t think that it is. I can’t think of anyone who has danced on stage with stars, lived in a nice appt. in L.A. while living the party life, or won millions of dollars on a show. “Joshua Meyrowitz argues that the very existence of television is an influence on society because it breaks down the physical barriers that separate people.” (Hanson pg. 256) He believes that television gives everyone the same view of the world, but if we are watching shows like the ones I watched above this is not true. I think we should not base our lives or believe everything we see on television.

Grey's at #3...

For this week’s assignment, we had to look up the Neilson ratings for our favorite TV show. Automatically Grey’s Anatomy came to my mind. I have been watching this show since it started two years ago and I will drop whatever I am doing to watch it every Tuesday at 9:00 p.m. on ABC. For the day of 3/22/07 Grey’s had a rating of 14.4. Since one point equals 1,102,000 households, 15,868,800 households were watching it with me this week. The share was 22.0, and this means that 22 percent of homes were watching on this particular Thursday, putting Grey’s Anatomy number three on the Network Primetime Averages. Grey’s happens to be at the perfect time because the only competition it has is CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and Scrubs, which are not even on the top 20 list. Most people will pick Grey’s Anatomy over CSI because there are so many other shows like CSI (CSI: Miami and Criminal Minds) playing at other times during the week. What if Grey’s happened to move to another date or time? This would affect the ratings greatly because people would have to choose between some of their favorite shows. Just think if it was an hour earlier on Thursday’s. It would have to compete with Ugly Betty; which is a very popular show right now. I still think that more people would watch Grey’s because Ugly Betty only had a rating of 7.3 compared to the 14.4 for Grey’s Anatomy. The only show that beat Grey’s Anatomy in ratings was American Idol. If they were played at the same time its hard to tell who would watch what. I think more people would watch Idol because you can always watch Grey’s online after. This brings up a good point because who knows what people would watch if both their favorite shows were on at the same time. They could just choose one, and then watch the other one later on the Internet.

No one makes it alone...

Based on a true story, Sherrybaby is an emotional independent film written and directed by Laurie Collyer. Actress Maggie Gyllenhaal plays a young strung out single mom who recently just got out of prison named Sherry Swanson. Gyllenhaal really hooks you in with the beaming personality and knock out body yet self-destructive personality. She was put in prison for three years because of her addiction to drugs that lead her to steal anything in order to get a fix. One of her challengers is proving to her parole officer that she can stay clean and keep a stable job. The first thing she wants to do when she gets out is to be re-united with her daughter, Alexis. Sherry starts by moving into a half way house with hopes to start a new and better life. Her readjustment to the real world proves to be anything but smooth. She falls back into her old ways by having sex with a man who runs the recovery program, and telling a man at a job interview, “I’ll suck your dick if you give me the job I want”. Sherry’s five-year-old daughter has been taken care of by her brother, Bobby, and his wife, Lynette, whom are rightfully protective of Alexia because of Sherry being back around. When she sees her daughter for the first time in years, the emotion that Gyllenhaal brings to the scene makes you want to see them be together. Still in the back of your mind you know that this would be a disaster because Sherry can barley take care of herself, let alone another human being. Sherry immediately suffocates her daughter with gifts and affection to make up for lost time. Lynette is extremely attached to Alexis and is very cautious of Sherry being back. This puts Bobby is an awkward position between his wife and his sister. Gyllenhaal does an amazing job at making you believe in her love for her daughter. She has an emotional breakdown because her daughter does not call her “Mommy” anymore, and I felt the pain right along with Sherry. This is a story about how she struggles to earn the right to be in her daughter’s life. Many people try to save Sherry including her amazing brother and a friend she met at a recovery meeting, but no one can save Sherry but herself. Sherrybaby is a riveting tale of personal failings and recovery, which I believe establishes Gyllenhaal as one of the best actresses of her generation. I would recommend this movie to anyone who feels that they can handle the drama and depressiveness the movie portals. I would definitely rate this movie five stars, as I feel it deserves it.