South Park addresses the N Word

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuvLUhuo52w


The show South Park, created by Matt Stone and Trey Parker, gets a lot of criticism for the material they show on television. As a huge fan of their work, I believe they do a great job of addressing pop culture and social issues. The scene above is from the episode "With Apologies to Jesse Jackson" where the character Randy says the 'N' word on public television. The rest of the episode displays Randy attempting to make up for his mistake, while that is going on Randy's son Stan is trying to explain to his black friend that it is not a big deal. The whole argument between Stan and his friend "Token" (yes the one black kid in the show is named Token) is based around Stan trying to understand why the word is so offensive to him. By the end Stan realizes that, as a white person, he will never understand why Token is so upset by the word.

After the episode aired there was not a lot of media scrutiny. Many groups and organizations praised the episode. Even the organization Abolish the "N" Word, which is linked to the NAACP, called it a great example of how it felt to be called that word. They said, "This show, in its own comedic way, is helping people to educate the power of this word, and how it can feel to have hate language directed at you." Personally I believe it is hard to address the issue from the outside looking in. Since Stone and Parker are white, they don't actually know from first hand experiences what the effect of the word feels like.

With the discussions of race in class last week it really had me thinking about this issue. With such a touchy subject in terms of a racial slur, it is hard to address the issue in a productive, non offensive manor. Although if South Park wasn't offending someone then it wasn't doing its job, they tend to make great points (by using satire) about social issues. Travis Fickett, a writer for IGN, rated the episode a 10/10. He even went on to say, "There's really no other way to explain how this show remains not only brilliantly funny, but more relevant and insightful than anything else on television." Thats a pretty bold statement right there, saying that there is nothing more relevant and insightful on TV than South Park. As a white male, I am privileged to not have a racial slur that is extremely offensive about myself. In a way I can never really understand why the word is so offensive and thats where South Park hit the nail on the head.

In conclusion, I believe that South Park did a great job addresses this racial issue. If you can't understand the satire behind the show and the real points they are making than I just feel sorry for you. 

Peace, Love, Lax brahhhhhh

Tim 

Lil Dicky: "I'm just a regular dude"

So earlier in our Facebook group I posted a link to a rapper by the name of Lil Dicky. It was during the conversations of fake white rappers and I was just exposed to his music earlier that week so I thought it was fitting to post one of his videos to the group. Ever since I have been super intrigued with his music and videos.

Arguably his most relevant video is "White Dude" which throughout the whole song he just talks about how he loves being a white male. While this immediately reflects the concept of intersectionality because he is discusses being White and a Male, I thought it could also be related to our discussions on class.

You can find the video here:
Lil Dicky-White Dude
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rnFlQAvk8U

In an interview that he did where he discussed why he does what he does(comedic rap) he stated,
 "There just hasn't been a voice for that normal dude when it comes to rap...I think a lot of rap is just escalated to a place that many people can't relate to... My niche is that I’m relatable. I don’t rap about going to the club and popping bottles."

He states that he is a "normal dude", but what makes him a normal dude? The fact that he is upper middle class? That his dad is a lawyer? That he "eats at when he's high where they eat at to survive(food chains)". Dr. C pointed that out in her response to the video and his statements and it really had me re-evaluating his messages.

Ever since discovering his videos(in which I personally think are hilarious) I have proceeded to show them to my friends who also think he is hilarious. The interesting thing is I would say that the majority of my friends and myself are middle class, and throughout asking everyone what they thought of him they constantly said "Its so funny because its so true." In reality, my friends and I aren't popping bottles in the club, selling drugs, or doing any other activity that is portrayed in a large amount(not all though) of rap music. We can relate a lot better to a song about wanting to stay in on a saturday night(see his song "Staying In"). To be honest, I really don't know what to make out of him because he isn't super famous or anything so its hard to gauge his message or image because he doesn't have a super amount of success.

I think overall if you watch all of his videos, he reflects a lot of material that we have discussed (intersectionality, privilege, masculinity, class, and more) and he could be an interesting topic of discussion.

PEACE, LOVE, LAXXXXXXXXXXDLKGJHD:LKGHJKSDL:KJGDL:KJ
Tim

Masculinity in Pop Culture

An advertisement caught my eye the other day. Smith & Forge Hard Cider is a new product from MillerCoors that is trying to establish themselves in the market as a hard cider for men. On a recent statement from the company they said, “Smith & Forge is a strong, just-sweet-enough hard cider that encourages guys to discover -- or rediscover -- the world of hard cider.” So how do they market themselves as a drink for men? I'll let you see for yourself.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEoPUL_W_vo

The ad uses a large, strong, intimidating gentleman as the visual representation of the product. This advertisement combines the themes of Violence as a Genetically Programmed Male Behavior and The Association of Muscularity with Ideal Masculinity. In the ad the scenery/environment shows that this is not today's society, it is back in history. On MillerCoors press release about the product they stated, 

The Smith & Forge packaging features a black, bold orange, and antique white design and a distinctive blacksmith’s hammer icon that delivers a timeless message of a past era - an homage to simpler times when toughness and hard work were celebrated values.

“Once upon a time, barrel-chested men proudly drank tankards of hard cider,” continued Kroll. “Smith & Forge is honoring those times by bringing back the sturdy side of hard cider.”

This clearly reinforces the ideological premise that Katz discusses in his article that "men have always been aggressive and brutal." He says that using history to reflect the ideology is disguising it as if it should be common sense. MillerCoors even uses the stereotype in their release saying "barrel-chested men".

The advertisement also reflects the idea that big and strong means you are a man. What they are trying to say in this ad is "This guy back here yelling at rocks is super strong so he is therefore manly" which then projects the idea that if I drink this "hard cider" I will be more like this guy which therefore means I am more manly. 

This definitely reflects the idea of "mask-ulinity" and is not a great representation of masculinity in society. BUT,  if you ask me how this can be improved to better represent masculinity...I don't think it can. In order to improve the ads representation of masculinity you would have to completely change the ideology behind it. This ad is effective in what it is trying to do, they aren't the ones that created this stereotype and ideology. They are just using it in order to reach a target market and that is the number one job that marketers are concerned about. These types of ads will continue to be produced because they continue to have success. 

To wrap things up, I personally thought this commercial was funny and to be honest after I saw it the next alcoholic beverage I purchased was a 12 pack of Smith and Forge Hard Cider. Did I buy it because I was feeling insecure about my masculinity? Did I buy it because I support the ideologies behind the product? or Did I buy it because I thought a large man yelling at a rock was funny and wanted something new to drink on a Saturday? Who knows...but I do know two things for sure.....
1. masculinity will continue to be portrayed like this in the media because it is successful
2. I don't like hard cider

peace, love, LAXXXXXXXXXXX
Tim 

Course Reflection

Since when did senior-itis kick in before your senior year even started? I know for me its extensively hard to get back in the school mindset(even though its already the 3rd week). But I digress.

So far I am finding this class very interesting. I have taken classes with Dr. C before so I kind of knew what I was getting myself into when I signed up for it. I always enjoy classes that focus on open discussion because I see myself as an opinionated person. Along with that I always like to question peoples opinions just to really see why they feel the way they do regardless of how I feel about the subject. So that aspect of class I am excited to continue.

After already having one round of the love-hate debates, I think it was a peculiar activity. The fact that we did not prepare arguments with our opposition made it an interesting experience. Mary and I each had specific topics that we were going to discuss and defend about Miley and we assumed that we would alternate rounds. But during their first critique we realized they were discussing one of Mary's topics so we scrambled our material around and sent Mary back out their to have our girl Miley's back(in which she succeeded). I had to rearrange my entire argument on the spot in able to defend what they were saying but I found that exciting as opposed to knowing exactly what I was going to say. 

I am looking forward to the lip sync battle. I didn't even know this was happening until I re-read the syllabus like 5 minutes ago but I AM PUMPED. I like to think of myself as a karaoke connoisseur, my peers have told me numerous times how fantastic my performance of "Total Eclipse of the Heart" was at Jeff's Bucket Shop. The thing that worries me is the atmosphere, I won't be in my normal environment so it may throw me off. But again, I digress. 

Something that I always find challenging in Dr. C's classes are the quizzes and tests. I sometimes feel as if I have the material completely understood but when I get hit with pop quizzes and try to prepare for tests I somehow can't recall the material I just read 30 minutes ago. I have had this problem all through school so I am starting to understand the work that goes into being able to actually "know" the material not just glazing over it and thinking you know it. Also I usually have trouble being extremely thorough in my blog posts. Since it is such and informal thing, I have trouble throwing a lot of thought into my responses. I am used to just mindlessly typing something that sounds like I somewhat know what I am talking about but that clearly isn't going to work in this class(by example of my 1st blog post). In reality, in order to succeed in the things I am worried about I just have to put the effort in. Like I said senior-itis is pretty strong right now since graduation is right down the road, but in order to succeed(and pass my classes so I can graduate on time) I just have to put the work in. 

I want to conclude this post with 3 things.
1. This class is going to get very interesting
2. Me and Mary definitely won our debate
3. YOU BETTER WATCH OUT IN THE LIP SYNC BATTLES. I AM COMING FOR ALL OF YOU.

peace. love. lax.
Tim