Sociopoly

When we were playing sociopoly during class, it was very eye-opening to how definitive social class is. I was the upper-upper class, and I didn't have to worry about money during the whole game. I was basically given wealth from the beginning, so I had it easy. It's just like real life. People in the highest classes inherit things from their parents, so they don't really have to worry about their financial situation. And when I was sent to jail, it was very easy for me to get out, because realistically I would have a good lawyer or be treated differently due to my situation in life. I almost felt bad when people had to pay me when they landed on things that I owned, because I was taking what little money they had. I also felt that though I was at the top of the spectrum, everyone else had much less money than me. There was a significant jump from the upper-middle class to me. And although no one went into debt or went on welfare, the lower classes barely had any money, and had to basically only save, and not spend. They had to keep what they had just to stay in. I felt like this game was such a good depiction of today's social class system, because it was so easy to see how the system stays the way it is.

http://insideandout.chicagopublicradio.org/content/marcus-run

I read this story about a 14-year-old named Marcus who had been getting involved with the wrong kind of people. He was into gangs (because he got encouragement from gang members) and running away from home for extended amounts of time. From this, he acquired a stigma of being a troubled kid, and was then constantly viewed this way at school. He grew tired of getting into trouble, and said he just wanted to learn, and liked to write. But he was getting wrongly accused of things at school because of his reputation. His mother would try to set limits for him, but they weren't strict enough, and he ended up running away again. He ran away for months and at the end of the article, he hadn't been found but when he is, he will be arrested, because he was already put under house arrest several times.
This kind of story is frustrating to read, because you realize that if Marcus had been growing up in a more nurturing environment, he wouldn't have had such troubles with the law. He had realized he had done wrong by participating with the gangs, but felt as if there was no true way out. He felt alone, as no one would believe him when he said he wasn't guilty of something at school. The stigma he carried, the one he got at the age of 14, affected the rest of his life. Now, I realize we can't simply eliminate gangs and bad influences in neighborhoods, but I feel like if kids were provided with people at school who gave them a chance and didn't judge them, they maybe wouldn't get into such trouble. No one really believed in Marcus; no one gave him an alternative to getting into trouble. If we would only give kids this chance, and try to understand them, I think more kids would be able to stay out of the court systems and make something of themselves.

Gender Roles, According to Who?

Media has everything to do with the way we behave and the kind of people we've become. Its influence is immense, and is seen as the be-all end-all of what we are. We see it as if we see other people doing something, it is OK for us to do it. This is especially true in regards to gender roles in today's society. This has changed a lot over the years, but we still see the typical husband/wife roles in almost every kind of TV show. These stereotypes are only enforced and perpetuated when we watch these shows. It's like people morph to resemble these people on TV, rather than the shows adapting to how real people actually act. We especially saw this in the episode of According to Jim, where Jim was the insensitive, rude, messy one and his wife took care of their social lives and took care of the house. While this may be true in a great number of households, times are still constantly changing and the media should be adapting to this change. They shouldn't portray women as images of perfection (or make them strive to be so) and men as lazy womanizers. They should take advantage of the huge platform they have and sell positive images that actual people can relate to.

Consuming Kids (Figuratively)

When we were talking about how marketers cater to childrens' wants and desires, I couldn't have agreed more with many of the people in the video who made the argument that this type of advertising and product placement is having a truly negative effect on today's youth. Children are extremely impressionable and vulnerable, and for marketers to be taking advantage of this is wrong. Sure, they need to make money and have jobs, but there are ways they can still do this without sacrificing ethics. We know that kids love junk food and toys, especially with any of these involving their favorite characters from TV and movies. And it's not necessarily wrong to include these characters in certain products. But marketers should consider which characters they're pushing on kids. Certain products can seem like the most innocent things, but when you really think about what they're promoting, you question what kind of message this sends to kids. Characters like the Disney princesses seem harmless, but what do they really teach girls? That being pretty and finding Prince Charming should be your only goals in life? Also, companies use these characters to sell all kinds of junk food, when they should really be using this technique to sell good, healthier things. It's as simple as that, but then it's about giving people what they want. There is a fine line between the two, but for anything to change, people sometimes have to do what they believe is right, not what is popular.

The Un-TV Experiment

Staring at a blank TV screen is not fun. It's not exciting or enjoyable whatsoever. Sitting there staring at nothing was sadly one of the most difficult tasks I've had to do recently. It was hard to keep my eyes on the screen, since nothing was happening. It was also extremely difficult not to grab my computer or phone for relief. Just thirty minutes of silence. Sure, I got some peaceful thinking in. But that took all of five minutes. I was just counting down the minutes until I could stop looking at the TV and go to sleep. But staring at the TV made me realize that when we watch TV, we're essentially doing the exact same thing. There's just sound and movement in front of us. It's almost scary how much attention we give our televisions. They're our source for everything. They shape our culture by what we end up watching. We want to be like people on TV. It makes me wonder what we would be like without having grown up watching all these shows. We would have to come up with ways to act and dress all on our own. We would, in reality, be our own people, our true selves. Sure, there are always going to be influences. But there would be so much less pressure. Also, I just feel better when I don't turn on the TV for a day or two. It gives me time to do other things, like sleep, that are way more important. I truly believe our society would be greatly improved if we put so much less emphasis on the television. But seeing as there's another season of Jersey Shore, it won't happen anytime soon.

What makes us human?

This week when we talked about what qualities make humans unique, I found it somewhat difficult to think of examples. As humans, we really do have a lot in common with animals, probably more than most of us realize. What I find most interesting is the family aspect that most animals seem to have in one way or another. Some stick with their parents, who care for them, until they're old enough to be on their own, just like humans. In this way, we see the need for nurture exhibited, which is something that the isolated children we learned about didn't have. It was because they weren't cared for that they weren't able to function in society. We need people to guide us in our lives. They teach us things like morals, which is something I think is unique to humans. We have a sense of right and wrong, while for many animals it's about survival of the fittest. And although we have very complicated ways of thinking, we don't really know how many animals think. I think it's entirely possible that many animals are very smart. We just don't really know because we live in a totally different world.

Tuesdays With Morrie

Watching this movie in connection with what we've been learning about culture and values really brings everything closer to reality for me. The character Mitch exhibits all of the typical American values: he is consumed with his work, doesn't have time for the people he loves, and is afraid of expressing emotion. I can see that in a lot of people I know, and it makes me sad because there are more important things in life than work. It makes me question the true values of our society, especially at school. Every day we are work, work, work. Most people don't believe in taking time to just relax and hang out with their families, and enjoy life. When Mitch starts visiting Morrie, he begins to see that his priorities were out of whack, and makes a change in his life. It's almost too late for him, which really makes the viewer wonder if it's too late to change their own lives, and question whether what they've built their life on really matters. It makes you realize how precious life really is. Morrie is such a positive and inspiring person, but he doesn't know how much more time he has left. I believe that we should all live our lives just as Morrie does, appreciating everything good we have in our lives, and spending time with the people who matter most to us. I think that everyone should have to learn this lesson, in order to live full and happy lives.