Does Dress and Hip-Hop Define a Person?

This piece is quite unique for the 21^st century. The idea a student wants to transfer to a college in his hometown, is remarkable. The student claims it is for money reasons, and one could speculate it might be because of the health of student, a loved one, or just a monetary decline in the family. For someone in college to continue their education, sometimes sacrifices have to be made.

The stereotype of the younger generation is certainly around, especially on college campuses across America. The older generation tends to have a lot of assumptions concerning the younger men and women. This is the exact case which happened to Jason Hinman when he transferred from Morehouse College in Atlanta to the University of Delaware. Most of his professors, who were mostly White, thought that because of Hinman’s dreadlocks, dark-hued, his being young that he was just a hip-hop thug, uncaring of being a respectable pupil.

“[You see students walking on campus reciting rap lyrics when they should be reciting something they’ll need to know on the next test,” says Dr. Thomas Earl Midgette, 50, director of the Institute for the Study of Minority Issues] (Evelyn, 2008).Certain rap musicians supposedly dictate students dress code, for example young girls look like “ladies of the night” and young males wear their pants half-way down their butt or even lower. Most of the professors and other faculty feel that all students dress this way, and have no desire to be first-rate students. One might contend that dress and appearance do not always decide hoe a student performs on the educational front. It is not fair for the older generations to group all of these students in the same category. This decision should be made on an individual basis, and centered on classwork done within that particular lecture. Students have every right to .ear the wardrobe they choose, however their attitude needs to be one of learning and doing their personal best.

Evelyn, J. (2008). The Miseduation of Hip-Hop-Discrimination in Education. In L. Gray-Rosendale, Pop Pespectives-Readings to Critique Contemporary Culture (pp. 559-565). New York City, New York, United States: Lisa Moore.

Language, Still Pictures, & Moving Pictures

In this piece by Postman and Powers, they are discussing the similarities and differences between a TV newscast story and a newspaper story. They feel there is a difference between the actual displays of images about the occurrences then about the texts of said occurrences. Nobody will use the precise words to define any given situation; therefore one must know that there is more than one way to skin a cat. “In any given situation there will be three types of language variables being assessed, pure description, a judgment, and lastly, an inference” (Postman & Powers, 2008). The issue with these comes into play in both television news program and through a journalist of a newspaper story. Both areas call for an honest approach to the story, however a lot of times the journalist or newscaster will put their own spin on it by trying to use descriptive words. “For example, you might hear an anchor introduce a story by saying: [Today Congress ordered an investigation of the explosive issue of whether Ronald Reagan’s presidential campaign made a deal with Iran in 1980 to delay the release of American hostages until after the election]” (Postman & Powers, 2008).

 When one deals with images, it can only pertain to certain exactitudes. The explanation is restricted to a single point when talking about still images. For moving images to be most effective it needs to be some sort of action like an avalanche, tornado winds, or torrential rains that brought about flooding. Viewers would be more interested in seeing those moving pictures then a still shot of some papers that are supposed to be a budget for Congress to pass. Television viewers are more interested in stories revolving around moving images then of still shots. This is because it adds to the appeal and sensationalism of the story. “the appearance of a scattershot story order is really orchestrated to draw the audience from one story to the next-one section to the next—through the commercial breaks to the end of the show” (Postman & Powers, 2008).

Today there is a necessity for all to be encompassed, so that journalists will not be tempted to have drawn-out or convoluted accounts of situations that occur. The media is only feeding us bits and pieces of the story to prolong all the details and try to get more of society involved. This feeling can be overwhelming at times and frustrate even the calmest of people.

References

Postman, N., & Powers, S. (2008). The Bias of Language, The Bias of Pictures. In L. Gray-Rosendale, & E. Barosse (Ed.), Pop Perspectives (pp. 481-489). New York City, NY, United States: Lisa Moore.

May the FORCE be Bestowed on YOU

 The advertisement is uniquely done because it touches on many aspects of one's being.It draws at the heartstrings of family and the imagination of a child and how the child tries to create what they view onscreen into reality. It is quite heart-warming to see the child try to use the FORCE on a number of thing, such as the bed, the baby doll,  the dryer, the family dog, his mother, and is quite disappointed when it does not work. He gets a new hope of the FORCE working when his father comes home the all-new 2012 Passat. He dismisses his father to try it on the car, and is almost disappointed again, when he gives it another try, and it appears to work. The car makes a noise and the headlights blink on then off, the child looks towards the house and is unsure if he did it or not. In reality the father has caught on to his child's hopes and locks the car at just the right time, giving the sense of accomplishment. The father looks towards the mother as this is taking place and wonders if she gets it. It would appear to have a traditional gender role in this video with the stay at home mother and the father coming home after a days work to his family. The portrayal of an upper-class family is not a normal one in the 21st century, as most households have two working parents and the child has a in-home care-giver or goes out to a nursery/daycare center, if not already in school. It appears this child is not of school going age, hence the mother preparing a sandwich for her child.  Generations of movies can be gapped with remakes of movies in the past and the inventions of the DVD player, or even more current the Blu-ray player. Retail marketing make gains in this as well because with remakes being brought back to the movie theaters, many products can be bought to enhance the movie, hence the Darth Vader costume, etc. Having a classy and reliable car is of utmost importance to families in the 21st century.

Justin Bieber ft. Ludacris--Baby, Baby

Bieber-n-Ludacris

Justin Bieber is a rising star in the tween generation of the 21st century. A lot of tween girls have posters of him, idolize him, and think he is the "cat's meow". The tweens of the 21st century are displayed in this video. This video is done in a way that his youthfulness comes out especially by displaying it in a bowling alley. The potential problem comes when he uses adult symbolism to try to attract a girl, buy promising to buy her a big "ring". This is one of the issues that society has been dealing with for years and it has not gotten any easier some feel it has gotten worse in the 21st century. This is especially true when two different music genres are intertwine.An example such as this video/song with pop/teen pop artist (Bieber) and rap artist (Ludacris) sends mixed signals to both tweens of both sexes. So many emotions are already going through the minds of these tweens, and they try to grow up too fast. Tweens will hear bad language, smart-butt responses, and both sexes being degraded with the blending of music genres. Bad habits breed bad habits, society needs to steer tweens into a positive but realistic approach to life.Society needs to be there to educate, answer questions, and just "be there" for the tweens to feel brave enough.