Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Final Project :) Male Teens in the Media




This project to say the least was definitely challenging. I underestimated how hard the project was going to be when I first heard about it. However, when I went to start the project I could not figure out iMovie to save my life. I texted the teachers and after still not being able to figure it I finally went to the Apple store. They helped me download software and I finally figured it out. I was originally going to do my project on rape victims, however when doing more research; I switched my topic over to teenage males in the media. I watched dozens of video clips before finally figuring out which clips I wanted to use.

The first thing I noticed when my project was done was that every clip showed some parts of S.C.W.A.A.M.P in it. I saw straightness in the sense that whenever a male was doing anything, his focus was always on a female. All these men were also abled bodied and American. Maleness was a given when I watch my final video. The simple fact being that I focused only on male teens. Finally, a lot of the males in my video had property ownership in some sort of way; whether it was shown through their house, clothes, cars or money. Another text I saw was Christensen’s “Unpacking the Myths that Bind Us.” Every stereotype I saw, I felt guilty because it’s often what I think of when I think of black teen males. Even though I have black guy friends who don’t act like these males, I still fall victim to these stereotypes. It’s something that I grew up learning was the norm. For the future generations I think all we can do is teach them at a young age that these stereotypes are not only untrue but offensive. The final text I saw when doing this project was Raby’s “A Tangle of Discourses.” The first discourse I saw was the Storm. These young men were all in turbulent situations of some kind or another. Some of the men were also hormone driven. For example; when Will constantly hit on all the girls he saw. The next discourse was At Risk. The two boys who beat and killed the Asian man were definitely in trouble. They had the free will and chose to do something bad. You also saw sexual scenes and the use of drugs. Finally, I felt I really saw Pleasurable Consumption. With the clips from TV and music videos, the guys were all in nice clothes, had money and women hanging all over them. For any young male, this is a very impressionable view.

When this project first started I really felt like a digital immigrant. I could not figure out IMovie at all and felt really pathetic. I had to get help from not just the teachers, but also the Apple professionals. However, once I got over the initial hump of figuring out the software, the project flowed smoothly.

7 comments:

  1. I love Will Smith in Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. I like how you connected the stereotype of male teens with Will's character. I think you could have changed your topic to black male teens represented in the media because most of the clips in your video are of black teenagers. You are so right that men are oversexed in the media. They are always depicted in films as trying to "get some" or have sex as much as possible. In real life, that is not true about all male teenagers. I think another of Raby's discourses can be added to your movie. Social problem of male teenagers is represented in the media. Male teens are always in the news because they committed or were involved in a violent crime. Male teens as having a lot of sex can result in another problem if they become teenage dads. Then there will be a teenage pregnancy social problem on our hands because it is depicted as unacceptable in today's society.

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  2. Wow I really loved your video! It is organized, smooth, and had alot of good clips in it. The three arguments that you presented that really stood out to me is that black men are oversexed,violent, and do drugs. Just like in the clips you posted, black men are always the violent character or the "player" in the film. I definitely feel that these stereotypes going on in the media is teaching the younger youth and possibly the adults the wrong impression on all black men. There's many times when a person will just look at a black mans appearance and quickly assume that he is violent, a drug dealer and sex crazed. I also agree with Erica that another discourse could be social problem because of the stereotypes and the men who actually represent them.

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  3. You did such a good job with the video! It looks really good and flows great too. I really enjoyed your assessment and your personal touches. In alot of the videos, I instantly think of Christensen's piece in how we are constructed at an early age.

    I have to admit that I loved the Fresh Prince of Bel Air when I was a teen. Looking at it now, I understand that in many ways, the messages being sent are problematic. I have taken alot of courses that have encouraged the "decolonization" of the mind.

    And as far as the stereotypes that exist, we all have them. I live in a diverse area of Providence. My son wanted to play basketball and my husband-who is of African descent, said that he needed to be careful because of the boys that would be playing. I walked to the courts with him only to find middle aged, white men playing. Because we see these images over and over, we don't recognize them.

    Great piece!!!!!!

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  4. Sarah,
    Great job getting to know how to use the programs, its seemed to work out well for you to make things organized and involve alot of good supporting clips. I liked how you said you were looking at teen in the media right away. However, i felt like you looked more at just african american teens. Many thing that pop up in your video to support this was the black teens are in this stereotypes as being violent, doing drugs, and always after females. Or as another classmate said always the "player" in the film. I would have enjoyed seeing what you found on white teens in the media and compaired them because this seemed to focus only on blacks. Many of the stereotypes are going on in the media and sending wrong messages. For example, if you was to ask a elderly person of what they thought about teens after all our video's it would be all based on stereotypes. If a elderly person was to see a black teen they would just assume the worse because of how the media views it. I also agree with other classmates that social problem would be a discourse because of all the stereotypes. However, good project and good job relating to class material.

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  5. Sarah,
    Excellent film. You did so good with the transitions and it was so clear. your argument was excellent. i also had a similar of argument of the portrayal of african american teenage boys. your stereotypes you pointed out were excellent. And because of these stereotypes black men are often pre-judged and not given chances at things they deserve. also i watched the chris rock peice a long time ago and i just laughed thought it was just so funny. but now watching it in your video i see that alot of what he says is true. It's sad to say but African American people also sometimes fall into believing these stereotypes. I have a little brother and i can't even count the times hes been judged and labeled a criminal and a drug dealer. And honestly he does none of that. He was a teenage father and that itself gets him so many unnecessary stares when he's in public with his daughter. As i said in my own argument i hope stereotyping of all sorts someday stops. Once again GREAT VIDEO!!

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  6. You did a great job. It is interesting before this class I did not realize how the laughter affects our viewing of a show. You video really hit the ways black males are portrayed in the media.

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  7. Very good job with your video!
    Your transitions were in fact amazing, (how did you do that) I enjoyed how you told us what you were presenting before hand.
    Your video did a good job showing that what we are laughing at in television show such as fresh prince is wrong, what we are laughing at is just at a stereotype that there is towards the black male teen.

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