HUMANITIES 006: POPULAR CULTURE - Thinking … · • Best-selling book was about a group of mostly...
Transcript of HUMANITIES 006: POPULAR CULTURE - Thinking … · • Best-selling book was about a group of mostly...
BONUS POINTS
Off the top of your head, list the first 5 male artifacts in pop culture (characters from film & tv, or musicians, or athletes) that pop in your head for each demographic.
First three people with a complete list receives midterm extra credit.
If nobody finishes, extra credit goes to the student with the most entries after 10 minutes.
White Black Latino Asian Gay Handicapped
MYTHS
In groups of 4 or more, combine all lists onto one page. If a male pop culture figure is mentioned more than once, write his name multiple times.
Based on your combined lists, can you see any myths that might be perpetuated by our popular culture regarding these groups?
White Black Latino Asian Gay Handicapped
MYTHS
Pop Culture List
• List 5 current television shows that you are all familiar with.
• Now list five recent (last 5 years) films that you have all seen.
“THE MYTH THAT WOULD NOT DIE”
- BERNARD BECK
Page 124:
“Success, respectability, and familiarity have not
freed them from the taint of the Mob…Through the
dissemination of American ideas in movies and
popular culture, Italians have come to stand for
organized criminality all over the world.”
“THE MYTH THAT WOULD NOT DIE”
- BERNARD BECK
Questions:
• How many of you are Italian-American?
• Can you recall how Italian-Americans have been
portrayed in films and television shows on your pop
culture list?
• How many recent films and television shows can you list
that are about Italian-Americans, or feature Italian-
Americans, that are not about organized crime?
“TRYING TO GET BEYOND THE ROLE OF THE MAID”
- MIREYA NAVORRO (2002)
25 years as an actress, Lupe Ontiveros has mostly
played maids:
• Estimates has played a maid over 150 times.
• About auditioning for roles: “When I go in there and speak
perfect English, I don’t get the part.”
“TRYING TO GET BEYOND THE ROLE OF THE MAID”
- MIREYA NAVORRO (2002)
Questions:
• How many of you are of Latin heritage?
• Have you experienced any affects of this myth or similar ones?
• Can you recall how Latinos have been portrayed in films and
television shows on your pop culture list?
• How many recent films and television shows can you list that
are about Latinos, or feature Latinos?
“TRYING TO GET BEYOND THE ROLE OF THE MAID”
- MIREYA NAVORRO (2002)
25 years as an actress, Lupe Ontiveros has mostly
played maids:
• Notes that film “A Beautiful Mind” made no mention of John
Nash’s wife’s background (El Salvador), and casted a non-
Latina in the role.
Ontiveros’ last point applies to other ethnicities as
well..
BRING DOWN THE HOUSE
• Best-selling book was about a group of mostly Asian American males from MIT.
• Film Version: 21
REPRESENTATION
IN POPULAR CULTURE
• Many groups have limited representation in popular culture artifacts:
• So far we’ve discussed the following:• Women• Italian-Americans• Latinos• Middle Easterners• Asians
• Why might this be a problem?
• How might this negatively impact both those that are members of these groups and those that are not?
“DIFFERENT STORIES”
- CHRIS TUCKER
“It’s hard for everyone but it’s harder if you’re black, ‘cause there aren’t that many good movies being offered…We need to tell the stories from back then, but don’t just tell the stories where we got lynched and we got killed.” (pg140-141)
“In the future of black America, and the future of black Hollywood, there’s gonna be bigger and better stories…We have a culture of our own here in America that’s bigger than just doin’ a cookout.” (pg 142)
What was Christ Tucker’s main point by emphasizing the need for different stories?
FILM AND TV
Let’s see how right Chris Tucker was…
• How many of the following films are centered around an African-American main character?
• How many of the following films at least features a prominent African-American character and how is this character featured?
2013
BOX OFFICE RESULTS
1. Iron Man 3
2. Despicable Me 2
3. Man of Steel
4. Monsters University
5. Fast & Furious 6
6. Oz the Great and Powerful
7. Star Trek Into Darkness
8. Gravity
9. World War Z
10. The Croods
11. The Heat
12. We’re the Millers
13. The Great Gatsby
14. The Conjuring
15. Identity Thief
16. Grown Ups 2
MYTHS
Let’s take a look at the film list again and see how each of the following groups are represented:
White
Black
Latino
Asian
Gay
Handicapped
Females
2013
BOX OFFICE RESULTS
1. Iron Man 3
2. Despicable Me 2
3. Man of Steel
4. Monsters University
5. Fast & Furious 6
6. Oz the Great and Powerful
7. Star Trek Into Darkness
8. Gravity
9. World War Z
10. The Croods
11. The Heat
12. We’re the Millers
13. The Great Gatsby
14. The Conjuring
15. Identity Theif
16. Grown Ups 2
REPRESENTATION
IN POPULAR CULTURE
Many groups have limited representation in popular culture artifacts.
• Why might this be a problem?
• How might this negatively impact both those that are members of these groups and those that are not?
REPRESENTATION
IN POPULAR CULTURE
• If myths are the stories that we live by,• And myths are often perpetuated by popular culture,• Then the less representation in popular culture• Means less myths for a person to choose from.
Under representation can unconsciously limit a person’s view of what is possible for his/her life.
This also limits what other people think is possible for members of the under represented group.
In general, under representation can negatively influence our values and beliefs because they are the result of limited
perspectives.
ANDERSON COOPER AND RACE BIAS STUDY
(KENNETH CLARK “DOLL EXPERIMENT”)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSdKy2q6pEY
W K 8 , D A Y 3 : M Y T H S A B O U T O U R R E L A T I O N S H I P S T O O T H E R S – T H E F A M I L Y
HUMANITIES 006:
POPULAR CULTURE
FAMILY STRUCTURE & DYNAMICS
What myths are being perpetuated about family structures and how family members should interact
with one another?
1950S REVIEW
What myths about family were perpetuated in the 1950s?
The following is an “educational” short film made to teach families
how to interact.
Questions:What is the structure?How do they interact?
POP CULTURE AND THE FAMILY
Teen Mom: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezfAYDCIGoM
AND ALL OTHER SIMILAR SHOWS ON CABLE
FAMILIES ON TV (2012-2013)
Rank
5 ABC Modern Family 4.9 6190
12 CBS Two and a Half Men 4.1 5206
14 NBC REVOLUTION 4 5092
18 ABC Once Upon A Time 3.6 4492
19 FOX Family Guy 3.6 4559
28 CBS MIKE & Molly 3.2 4033
34 FOX Simpsons 2.9 3703
36 NBC PARENTHOOD 2.8 3506
FAMILIES ON TV
So what types of myth are being perpetuated about how family members interact with one another?
So what types of myths are being perpetuated about what a family is and how it is structured?