Halloween

In honor of Halloween I know I have been watching plenty of scary movies. I think it is interesting to see how people are really afraid of these films and when thinking about justice and class I think it would be interesting to see why people are so scared of Halloween and scary movies. I would say that the fear that originates during this time is only present because of what the media has trained us to be afraid of. People are only scared, because they have been taught to be fearful. I think this really applies to the season and I think it would be really interesting if there was a way to test how fearful someone would be of scary movies if they were taught early on, that instead of scary movies that the characters were really funny. I know this seems really far stretched, because it has been engrained in us from a young age to be fearful of such things, but I wonder what the outcome would be. On another note, I think Halloween is an extremely fun time for people of all ages, and society has made this day one that allows people do things they wouldn’t do on a regular basis. All in all I hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable day and eats all the candy they can, and don’t forget to take in a good horror movie to see if you are really scared because of what is going on, or if you are scared because of what society has told you is scary since you were young.

For Colored Girls

For this blog I thought I would look at something that I haven’t really looked at before. I have been paying a lot of attention to the information being given about Tyler Perry’s movie called For Colored Girls. I thought this was interesting first, because the trailer a previews for the movie don’t really tell what the show was going to be about, but further research would should that this movies is based on Ntozake Shange's play "For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf." I thought this was interesting because the play was about various controversial issues that arise in not only being a black woman, but a woman in general. The justice question from this however arises in that as a society we are still uncomfortable when discussing racial issues and sensitive topics, such as rape, abortion, abuse and other things. The basic information provided on tv about this movie completely leaves some people ignorant to the fact that the movie exists and what to expect when going to the theatre. As sad as it may be, I can predict that not many diverse populations will go to see this movie when it comes out next week. This is because as a culture we are still uncomfortable with the topics of race that I mentioned earlier. I must admit that when I first saw the previews for the movie I was not excited about going to see it, but now I look forward to seeing how the struggles of African American women will play out on screen and I hope to see women of other ethnicities in the theatre as well, because at the end of the day, we are all women, and most of our challenges will be universal for this very reason.

1998 film

After watching the 1998 film about copycat examples, I must say it was really creepy to believe that people actually are willing to imitate what they see done in tv and movies. The first example that shocked me was the one that showed the couple from Europe that would meet people, get engaged, get married, and then kill them for the insurance money. The couple would then leave Europe and come to the United States and live off the money. I was really shocked about these crimes, because they got away with this crime for a long time. I never would have thought so many people would commit crimes all in the name of doing something that they had already seen. The other example that made me laugh more than anything was when the women robbed a bank just as they had seen in the movie Set It Off. This was shocking to me, because I love that movie, but have never thought to use what I have seen in it to commit a robbery. I think people that commit crimes such as this lack the understanding of reality and what is fabricated to produce an interesting story line. The other example would be the Scream example. I know I have never seen the movies myself, but I can only imagine having someone fully dressed in a costume coming to murder just as they have in the movie. This is extremely scary and I bet the victims were overwhelmed in the beginning and obviously fearful in the end. As far as the copycat phenomenon I think it is ridiculous that people are willing to sacrifice the rest of their lives all for a moment of exhilaration. I also think that in general it is pure stupidity, because they only see what it right in front of them but they don’t look into the fact that they will be caught. In the end copying what you see on tv or movies is a stupid and irresponsible thing to do, because you sacrifice your life for an outcome seen in a movie, but often forget that what’s done in a movie is not real life.

Copycat Effect

Growing up I remember always seeing movies that would show college aged kids always drunk and at parties and having a good time. For some reason these students never seemed to have anything bad happen to them, and this made me think this is how college should be lived. I remember going to some parties freshman year and although I was copying what I had seen in movies and tv thousands of times, it was nothing like that. The one thing that really made me think was that everyone out partying and drinking got this perception of college life from somewhere, and most likely from tv shows and movies. I could base this assumption on the fact that everyone partying had the same idea of what a fun party going experience would be like which mirrored what happens in the movies. The sad part about me trying to copy as well as others was that no one actually took the time to understand the consequences that truly exist from wild nights of partying. The media fails to show these effects often times, which distorts reality and causes a dangerous downward spiral. Hopefully the media will begin to take note so that we don’t have a generation of people copying unsafe behavior.

Homecoming

The event I have been seeing heavily publicized is the Homecoming step show which is on Saturday. This has been publicized all over campus, in the Breeze on the website and in various ways. This is interesting to me and made me take notice, because although I have known about the show every year through word of mouth, I feel like this year the show was extremely well marketed. The advertisers for the show did a really good job at utilizing the different media sources we have available to not only cause people to take notice and be interested, but to also take the extra step to get people to attend. One other thing I noticed about this year, was that ticket sales were online. I may be wrong, but I do not remember tickets being sold online last year, which shows how as a community we are using our media outlets more and more. Overall I am excited for the events that will occur this weekend around campus for homecoming, and I know for a fact that there will be plenty of media buzz to celebrate the occasion.

Fallacies

I remember learning about these concepts when I was taking GCOM and it is interesting how these same concepts have reappeared in a lot of my classes since then. Although people often like to believe that they have their own way of thinking and that nothing can change that, but I must say that these fallacies are very interesting. The one fallacy I can say I relate to most often and easily is the Bandwagon effect. Not because of what other people say on a regular basis, but I do tend to join in when the media presents an idea. I remember believing that the little boy was trapped in the balloon. The bad thing about this is that I would usually say that this is ridiculous and unbelievable, but in this case, the story was all over every news show and newspaper, which made me believe it, had to be true. Instead of looking at the facts for me, I Believed what the media said was true, because most people believed that the little boy was really trapped inside the balloon, even though that was not true. Although the idea of a Department of Information is ridiculous in our present society, I do think it would be a great idea to have a department whose sole responsibility was to make sure that the information we received was factual. This would be ideal, because it would eliminate the notion of the public not receiving correct information and it would make it so that everyone would have the same facts when it comes to different stories. If only this organization would be able to be formed I think it would be great, but I know it would never happen, because then there would be disputes regarding free speech and I don’t think anyone is willing to fight about it.

Free Blog Due Monday

http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/10/08/connecticut.murder.trial/index.html

For this blog I looked at a case about a home invasion which resulted in the murder of a wife and her two daughters. The husband was beaten but survived. This case occured in 2007 but now it is being tried in front of the jury. Mr. Petit, the male victim in the situation wanted to make a statement at the trial, but was encouraged not too, saying that his statement could allow the murders to appeal their cases at a later date. His statement could possibly cause problems at the appeal trials. This case is extremely sad in that this man  realizes that even if justice is served during trial he will never have his family back. This is interesting in accordance with the media because I have not seen or heard anything about this case since it first occured in 2007. I would personally think that this would be something that should be in the news because relatability. People with families can relate to this situation and thus want to know about it. Although this may be true, the media sets the agenda and if they say it's not important or entertaining enough to be in the news than it won't be. Sad but true I suppose.

Criminal Case Blog

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/03/AR2010100301659.html

The criminal case I looked at was about the lawsuit brought against Bishop Eddie Long. Long is the Bishop of the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church which has grown to become a mega-church in the Atlanta area. Four men brought forth this case alleging Long coerced the men into sexual relationships with them. So far Long has only spoken to his congregation when he told them that he would fight all charges brought up against him. The only evidence so far for this case are photos that were supposedly sent by long to the victims that showed him dressed in tight or scandalous clothing, and the alleged victims receipts of gifts that were given to them by Long. As of right now nothing is certain and the details are still being investigated. When thinking about the reading for this week and this case, it is interesting to see how the media is able to make this story such a large part of the news. I personally have seen this story on television news, various newspapers and all over the internet. Just as the reading suggests, the media is able to regulate public agenda and what is important and what’s not. In influencing criminal justice policy this case may be presented with the media in mind even as the investigation continues, to either show Longs innocence or guilt. The main idea with this is that the media is how most of us will formulate our opinions on cases such as this. This crime is not entertainment to me and I don’t believe others would consider it to be entertainment but news. This alleged crime is not entertainment to me because it provides information of something that I would have otherwise not have known. Some may consider this to be entertainment though because Bishop Long is a prominent leader is his community and because he is the head of a mega- church some may consider him a celebrity, which could pertain to this entertainment factor as well, but not to me.