Reality Vs. Education

Jason Hinmon and Dr. Thomas Earl Midgette come with different views on the influence of the Hip-Hop culture on the youth of America. In today's times where a huge percentage of crimes are being carried out by minorities, it would be foolish of a student who dresses gangster to think they wont be stereotyped. However, it would also be foolish for someone to jump to the conclusion without first getting to know a person first. "These rap artists influence the way they dress," say Dr. Thomas Earl Midgette. It is not just music that influences a way a person dresses. Jason Hinmon has a right to dress the way he chooses. The college is very unfair in treating him any different than the other students, especially when he takes time to get help. I remember in high school being looked at as being the same as my brother. He wasn't a focused student and slacked off on homework. So when I came into high school, teachers automatically assumed I would be the same as him and treated me like I was illiterate. It is unfair of teachers to take it upon themselves and judge students before getting a chance to allow the student to present themselves. With Jason Hinmon, he dressed with dreadlocks, and baggy clothes. The instructors took him as if he was not serious about school, treated him as if he was a gang banger and they didn't want to take time to work with him. Colleges and Universities need to take into account that where someone grows up can influence the way people dress. Overall, this is not a good argument. Music may or may not affect an individual's choice of clothing. I think peers are the most influential factor when it comes to how someone dresses. It would appear that some of the older instructors have found new ways to discriminate against certain student.

Evelyn, J. (2008). The Miseducation of Hip-Hop-Discrimination in Education. In L. Gray-Rosendale, Pop Perspectives: Readings To Critique Contemporary Culture (pp. 559-566). New York: McGraw-Hill.

"The Bias of Language, The Bias of Pictures"

Postman and Powers claim that the difference between stationary pictures, moving pictures, and language is that stationary pictures “speak only in particularities”, moving pictures can present emotions and rudimentary ideas”, and language “makes them comprehensible.” (Neil Postman, 2008) These statements are important to their essay because they help to solidify their argument that news is not as it seems. Postman and Powers think that newscasts today, even with all the accurate information, still misconstrue the information to gain viewer interest and that no one person interprets what they see the same. It would be hard for an individual to completely agree with the author’s argument in this essay. It would very hard for a news reporter to lie about something is coming in live, and it would also be hard for a viewer to misinterpret what is going on. Postman and Powers claim, “Whatever anyone says something is, it isn’t.” (Neil Postman, 2008) This would imply everything has an underlying meaning and that everyone is lying. Mr. Postman and Mr. Powers have set them up for a failed argument on this topic. They have over analyzed language and meanings and went overboard.  

 

Neil Postman, S. P. (2008). The Bias of Language, The Bias of Pictures. In L. G. Rosendale, Pop Perspectives: Readings To Critique Contemporary Culture (pp. 481-489). New York: McGraw-Hill.

The Force

Darth Vader, a character that follows generations. Star Wars is still fairly popular among many age groups. Our children are just as fascinated by the character as their fathers are and were as children. Star Wars not only comes in movie form but now comes in cartoon form. This is what makes it possible for our children to be aware of this character.
The commercial "The Force: Volkswagen Commercial" shows a young boy dressed as Darth Vader trying to use "the force" to start or bring life to objects. The genders all interact traditionally and the roles are all adequate in the portrayal of the 21st century family. As more and more families begin to go back to where the husband holds the job and the mother stays home with the children, this commercial fit that. Child's play can find an interesting role in today's society and apparently Volkswagen found a witty and creative way to draw the eye of their consumers to their products with this cute commercial.

Justin Bieber- Baby

Serenading by moves and song, both classic moves seen in movies over the years. A boy tries to win a girl by singing to her to show his love for her. While this is not typical in our everyday "boy meets girl" world, Justin Bieber chooses to use this scenario in his video for "Baby" featuring Ludacris. The boys and girls interact as they do with most of it being a traditional interaction. A dance off is not a traditional interaction. It is not common to come across teens dancing to win a girl or boy. This throws it way off but by using a bowling alley as a setting shows that it is still reality. It is a throwback to the 90's. The merging of two genres shows that music is expanding and trying to grasp more attention and expand their viewers' interests.