COMM 300- course evaluation

So as I was finishing up my paper on the ironic narrative of South Park, I have begun to think back on what an interesting semester this has been. As I've never taken a web class before this, I was surprised at how challenging this class was. With a topic like Television, Minorities, and Cultural Diversity, one is prepared to be open and honest. However, I found myself to sometimes be overwhelmed with course work. Mostly, though, I found this to be really enjoyable and much more intellectually stimulating than my other courses. I am so glad that I took this course and really got to understand more about race and diversity and how we still have many issues to deal with today in our society. I hope you all enjoyed this semester as much as I have. God bless, and happy holidays!

16 and Pregnant/Teen Mom

As much as I might try to ignore it, the television show "16 and Pregnant" caught my attention earlier this year. Now, MTV is showing a new series following moms from "16 and Pregnant" and showcase their daily struggles with parenthood. And as much as watching some particular spoiled moms make me very angry, I think that this is one of the more important shows on television. It really shows teens how much their lives change when they have a baby and tries to teach responsibility. However, I wish I saw more diversity on the shows in regards to both race and socioeconomic classes. The 6 girls in the first season consisted of 5 white girls and one girl who is half white, half black (and she is dating a very immature white boy). I found it interesting that she was the only girl who had real dreams- to enlist in the ROTC. I wonder if it was intentional of MTV to try to show any diversity in as good a light as possible in order to avoid planting negative stereotypes, but I feel that the show was sometimes trying to be a little too PC. She and another girl have not continued on to Teen Mom. I feel that the plight of the urban pregnant teen needs to be brought to attention, as they often can only depend on themselves for support for them and their child. I wonder if anyone else has seen the show and agrees with me, and any thoughts you might have on "Teen Mom."

Why spiked the eggnog?

So I'm going to straight out admit that I am a former band/music geek. Yep, there it is. So when I first heard the a capella group "Straight No Chaser," I was beyond thrilled. If you've never heard of the group, they were an a capella group from Indiana University in 1998 that had a concert which they taped. Years later, one of the members posted the videos on You Tube and it has been seen by over 10 million people, one of which was the president of Atlantic Records who signed them. 10 years after they taped their original concert, they started touring with their Christmas music. And this year, they came out with a new cd which showcases their famous "12 Days of Christmas" as well as covers from classic Christmas songs (You're a Mean One Mr. Grinch, Rudolph, O Holy Night, I'll Be Home for Christmas,Hark the Herald Angels Sing, Who Spiked the Eggnog by the Brian Setzer Orchestra, etc.). Pertaining to TV, Minorities and Cultural Diversity, they have a new original song called the Christmas Can-Can which also acknowleges Hannakuh and Kwanzaa. I find this to be awesome that in our PC world, we can find a happy medium and poke fun at our sensitivity to the holidays. So here are the links to the videos, I hope you all enjoy!!!

Christmas Can-Can:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7E-47VmFopE

Who Spiked the Eggnog?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7byjAaLcRM

And just to relate it back to television, here's a clip of them singing a medley of TV songs. It's interesting to see how these jingles can bring us back to a different time and place!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMj1ZaWVc-8

MTV and Jersey Shore

I'm not sure if anyone else has seen the ads for this show, but to me it showcases a blatant stereotype of people from New Jesrsey. The commercials show men and women who are quick to get angry and take way too much time concerned about their appearance. What is it that appeals us to not only allow but to enjoy watching negative stereotypes? I talked to some of my coworkers who watch the show, and they said that it was funny to watch because they consider their behavior ridiculous. As I have absolutely no inclination to ever watch something like this, I really don't understand the appeal of the show. Perhaps it is due to my education through this class (Television, Minorities and Cultural Diversity) where I know what how these negative stereotypes inhibit our society. So I pose the question: have any of you watched this show? Do you like it? Because I don't understand the appeal at all. To me, the concept is offensive and portrays a bad image of our society. However, I have never watched the show so if it the commercials portray something different from the true message than I am making an unfair assumption.

What's in a name?

So I was watching the Tyra Banks show a while back and she was talking about people having racially stereotypical names, and it was interesting how people are perceived based on their name. The audience was shown a group of women and given a list of names for them to match them to the name. Once all votes were tabulated, the women revealed their true names, which most would assume belonged to other women in the group. One of the interesting points made was a black woman named Kim. Most of the audience members thought that a blonde haired, blue eyed woman was named Kim, and the expectations of the name Kim were that she was a cheerleader, homemaker, unintelligent and pretentious. The black woman said that her mother named her Kim in order to stay away from the stereotypes that come with stereotypical black names and would help her succeed. It was a very interesting episode that challenged me how to not pass judgement on just a name alone and not to make assumptions about someone by just learning their name.