Dust To Glory

The movie Dust to Glory is about a bunch of racing teams at the hardest race in their series, the race they are in is over 1000 miles in the desert compared to their other races that are only a few hundred miles in a circuit track. The movie shows positive aspects and the negative aspects of the race through many different ways. The movie challenges some of society’s dominant ideologies about gender, while reinforcing others. The first stereotype that the movie presents is that men should be the ones doing challenging or demanding activities for fun. The next stereotype that the movie present is that the wives and mothers should be supportive but should not really take part in it. The movie immediately challenges this stereotype by showing one of the teams that is made up of some of the wives and mothers of some of the men that are taking part in the race. The last stereotype the movie present is the stereotype that men should be the tough guy and aren't really affected by pain. As a result this movie reinforces the male stereotype and the ideas around male activities. On the other hand it challenges female stereotypes and the ideas around female activities.

In the beginning of the movie it starts out by show all of the different men that will be in the movie trying to finish the race and one of them say “let's face it this race is not for wusses”. This is reinforcing the idea that men could only take part in challenging activities like this because stereotypically women can't handle the same challenging task men can. This is immediately challenged when it presents the next stereotype. The next stereotype that the movie presents is the wife/mother stereotype that it immediately challenges along with the previous statement. The way it does this is by interviewing some of the wives and mothers of some of the men in the race. After some time though it starts talking about how a few of them have started their own team to go against their husbands and kids to prove to them that they too could complete it without the men's help. The last stereotype that the movie present is the male stereotype of the tough guy or the guy that does not show pain. The movie accomplishes this by showing one of the dirt bike riders that got into a bad crash and broke his leg, wrist and a few ribs get up and get back on his bike and finish the last five miles of the race without any problems.

This movie would not be considered a feminist story because it is mostly focused on the men in it and the women are there just to diversify the movie a little bit. Even though this happened in the movie it did present some stereotypes that are still present today in our society and are very influential on both men and women.

The Lego Batman Movie and Masculinity

The Lego Batman Movie presents a much more progressive version of gender roles, where men don’t have to be strong and stone cold and women don’t have to be passive and can hold high ranking positions.

Batman is shown to be old fashioned and behind the times. We see this when Barbara Gordon, the new police commissioner, points out that Batman is ineffective with any permanent solution to the amount of crime in Gotham City. He insists on solving everything on his own. Batman is living out the expectations most men have for themselves. He bottles up his emotions and pushes everyone away to deal with every problem on his own. All of this proves to be ineffective and out-of date.

Barbara Gordon/ Batgirl is a well rounded character not based around stereotypes. Barbara is the police commissioner, the voice of reason in the movie, a capable negotiator, and eventually becomes Batgirl. When we are first introduced to Barbara Gordon, it seems like she will be a generic, uninteresting love interest for Batman that by the end of the movie Batman will serve as a reward for whatever character development he accomplishes. But, we immediately see that is not the case when she doesn’t take Batman seriously as he tries to outdo her. At one point, Batman tries to pull one over on her instead of working with her, since he thinks he knows better. She arrests him.

The film’s message is about dealing with emotion in a mature way and treating others with respect in a way that would seem unmanly 10 years ago. Batman is a jerk during the entire movie, constantly taking advantage of the people in his life and not allowing himself to express how he really feels. All the other superheros don’t like Batman, and don’t want to be around him. Batman clearly doesn’t like any of them either, especially Superman, because they are able to healthily deal with their tragedies and form positive relationships with one another. As most people know, Batman is the way he is because his parents died. This film explores how the cultural expectations and Batman’s own expectations for how a man should act have made that tragedy in his life turn him into a terrible person. Batman only redeems himself after learning to healthily express his sadness and let other people into his life.

I have seen that recently more and more works of culture, like the Marvel movies, Mad Max Fury Road, the Harry Potter series, and even this film’s predecessor, The Lego Movie, have promoted more positive gender roles where men are allowed to have emotions other than anger, and that women are more than rewards’ for the title character.  Ironically, some of the only movies I haven’t seen any signs of this trend are DC’s mainstream live action movies. These have shown almost all  male characters as angry muscle men. All their female characters are set dressing, defined by their relation to whatever action hero they fall in love with.

I have found, in recent years, as I have started to lose people, that there isn’t an easy way to deal with loss.  I have found myself often questioning my own priorities when this happens. Every once and awhile, I have found a dying animal and tried to help it but it would always die, sometimes within hours of me finding it. I find myself getting emotional afterwards, and I always feel weak or think something is wrong with me.  It would just be an animal that I only knew for a short time. While what I feel is nowhere close to what someone losing their parents feels, I am familiar with that feeling of not wanting to get emotionally invested in other people.

Good Morning Vietnam, Is It True?

Good Morning Vietnam is a popular Vietnam War era movie, about a radio host named Cronauer is brought in to Vietnam and entertains soldiers with his controversial sense of humor, when he makes friends there, he finds his closest one is a terrorist and a spy for the Viet Cong (terrorist group). This particular piece of American culture is relevant to what we’re talking about because it tells a war story. Although this wasn’t controversial, I think it’s relevant to how society views war today. I think this because at the end of the movie, Tuan explains how the war tore apart his city, family, and life. I believe that when we view war, we see the numbers, who died, did we win, etc. We really don’t look at what it does to people on both sides.

I think that this movie, despite being released in 1987, still holds weight today and helps shape the ideology that when looking at war, we should look more towards the people and not just at the numbers. For the sake of this argument, let’s take a look at the character Tuan. The Vietnam war has broken the city he lives in, many members of his family have been killed because of it, and his life has been consumed by it. Tuan tries to explain this to Cronauer, before taking off. I think that this opened some eyes of the viewers. People don’t really see that both sides get hurt. This is the ideology that I think this movie reinforces even today.

American Sniper; A True War Story?

War stories are some of the most common kinds of story in American pop culture. They are everywhere and we hear about them all the time whether it be on the news, in a book or on T.V. In his book The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien talks about telling a war story and how to tell if a war story is true or not. From what O’Brien says when telling how to decide if a war story is true or not, it seems that most war stories we read or see are in fact false. Even the true ones can be false in a sense that is hard to describe. The 2014 Clint Eastwood movie American Sniper tells a war story based off of a real war story. Most pieces of American pop culture contain some dominant ideologies or stereotypes that we often don’t notice. This specific piece of American pop culture does contain some dominant ideologies and stereotypes despite it being based off of a true story. Many dominant ideologies don’t only exist in pop culture. Many of them are alive and well in American culture itself. In American Sniper the movie focuses a lot on the roles of men and women. The movie portrays the man as the protector of the woman and the dominant figure in a relationship/family. This is a very common ideology in American Culture and has been in recent years a topic of debate. In recent years there have been more and more pieces of pop culture trying to defy this ideology of women being dependent on men. American Sniper doesn’t try to defy this ideology, however it does defy the common ideology that all war stories have a happy ending. Usually when we see a war story in a movie or on a T.V. show, there is a happy ending whether it be an act of heroism, or a battle won for the good guys. However American Sniper is based off of a true war story that did not have a very happy ending. In a way that is defying the common ideology that all war stories have happy endings and tells viewers what real life is like. Real life isn’t always happy like the movies.

The Purge

I believe the movie The Purge is a bad representation of America. In the movie there is a time of the year when all the laws are shut down. Most people hide and go on a lock down for the 24 hours while the purge is going on, and some people go out for revenge by killing people or just killing people for fun. The Purge is very violent, and america isn't always violent but there are a lot of occurrences where it might seem extremely dangerous. The Purge is a holiday in the movie but it is not an actual holiday in real life only in the movie. Which thankfully it isn't real because that would be terrifying. Lastly, in the movie the poor people are more likely to die because they don't have enough money for the security and protection while the rich people have all the good security so they are the safe. This is why I think The Purge is a bad representation of America.

Stereotypes in Never Back Down

The movie Never Back Down is a true story in the idea of presenting traditional male stereotypes because it shows a lot of ideas of what men should be. A few of the stereotypes that are presented in the movie are that men are fighters, aggressive, show no emotions and protectors. Jake, Ryan and Hounsou fit the stereotype that men are aggressive and fighters because that's what Hounsou trains Jake to get better at and what Jake and Ryan do when they meet each other for the first time. Throughout the movie all three of them never show emotion except for anger and aggression. The only time any of them show any other emotion is at the very end of the movie where Hounsou breaks down when he talks about what happened to him and his brother and why he left his family and the reasons he tells Jake this story is he always wants Jake think are you doing the right thing.

Another stereotype this movie presents is that men are the protectors of women. When Jake confronts Ryan about what he is doing to Baja and Ryan's response is that he doesn't care. So Jake goes and helps Baja with the problems with Ryan throughout the movie and eventually Baja leaves Ryan and goes out with Jake. All of this happens right before Jake and Ryan go to a tournament that ended with Jake and Ryan fighting and Jake winning. Finally throughout the movie it shows you that you can learn thing from your life and from the things you do in your life. So in the end the movie Never Back Down is a true story because it shows a lot of stereotypes about men.

Dope

The movie Dope is a true story because it is breaking the stereotypes that the media told people to believe. Dope shows people that black people aren’t lazy, uneducated, and that black kids don’t have the same amount of opportunities as white kids have. In the movie the main character Malcolm is writing his admission letter to Harvard University. Malcolm school counselor thinks Malcolm is being arrogant, because Malcolm attends a run-down school in L.A. The counselor tells Malcolm if he really wants to go to Harvard he should talk to Austin Jacoby, a Harvard alumnus. Even though Malcolm have the right grades to get into Harvard he might not get accepted, because his school isn’t seen as an important school. If Malcolm would of went to another school with better education he wouldn’t of had as much trouble to get in. Dope shows that black people aren’t lazy and uneducated by having Malcolm do everything he can to attend Harvard. At the end of the movie Malcolm is reading his admission letter to the audience. In his essay he describes two students – Student A is a music geek that plays in a punk band and gets straight A's, while Student B suffers in the hood and makes money in immoral ways. He asks, "Which student do you think I am?". He also ask that question “So why do I want to attend Harvard?”, and he replies with “ If I was white would you even have to ask me that?”. Most people would think Student A is more of a white kid who goes to a good school, who earn good grades, and who lives in a good neighborhood. Most People would think Student B is a black kid who lives in a more urban neighborhood, who sack off in school, and who earns money by drug dealing. Student A is more ideal for a school like Harvard than Student B.

Welcome!

Welcome to the weblog for our American Studies class. Here's the place we will be continuing conversations from class and starting new ones. We'll be discussing and debating current events, historical controversies, and literary conundrums. We might even see a little poetry.

So, what's a blog? And how will we be using it class? For information on blogging and how to join and post to our blog, see "All About Blogging."

We're looking forward to a great year.

Make sure you check your e-mail for your invitation to join the blog. Also – and this is very important – the first step you should take after you accept the invitation is to edit your user profile so that you control how your identity and your communication preferences.  Click on the pull-down menu next to your name in the upper right corner of the browser and click on “Blogger Profile.” Then click on “Edit Profile.”

You can fill out as much of it as you want, but the only requirement is -- under “Identity” -- make sure your “Display name” is your first name and last initial only -- so we provide some anonymity while still allowing your classmates and teacher to be able to identity who you are. For example, change “Bernie Heidkamp” to “Bernie H.”

Blondes Prefer the Rich

The 1950s was an era of change, and new ideas were being introduced. Gender roles, for example, were changing. Marilyn Monroe supports the ideal body image of the era within her movies. In the 1950s, Marilyn Monroe was best known for the “dumb blonde character,” fulfilling the sex object stereotype. As time moved on, Marilyn Monroe became more of a seductress stereotype, seen by society as a sex icon and was part of the change in the era’s attitude towards sexuality in the 1950s.

One of Marilyn Monroe’s best movies was “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.” The movie is based upon on a character “Lorelei Lee” (Marilyn Monroe), a beautiful showgirl who is engaged to a wealthy character named “Gus Esmond” (Tommy Noonan) who believes that Marilyn is only after his money and discovers later, she really was. As Gus gets deeper into the mystery to disqualify “Lorelei Lee” from marriage, and stopping her from receiving his money. 

As the movie continues Gus sends Ernie Malone, who is a private detective, to investigate what's going on. Lorelei says, “Don’t you know that a man being rich is like a girl being pretty? You wouldn’t marry a girl just because she's pretty, my goodness, doesn’t it help?” The character displays that she can be a seductress, Esmond Sr asks, “Then what do you want to marry him for?” Lorelei Lee says, “I want to marry him for YOUR money.” This is one of the many moments in the movie where the stereotypes still continue.

In the 1950s women were thought to be stupid since women didn’t go to school or didn’t finish college. “Gus” thought “Lorelei Lee” is stupid, and he was expecting her to sound stupid too. “Mr. Esmond Sr” (Gus) says, “Say, they told me you were stupid! You don’t sound stupid to me!” Lorelei Lee says, “I can be smart when it's important.” This reinforces a stereotype of women being dumb and mistreated. The only time when men wanted to listen to women, were only if they were sexy.

Our final stereotype is the character “Gus” in the movie. He is a wealthy man with lots of money and power. In the movie he is seen as an opportunity for Lorelei to get anything she wants. Also Lorelei Lee can keep all the money to herself after a divorce. This example is important because Lorelei is breaking the stereotype of a woman being dumb and only there to serve her husband. She thinks of a method to receive all the money to herself so that she can enjoy life without any worries at all. Lorelei Lee says, “I want to marry him for YOUR money.” 

Our pop culture slightly changes over the years, but can still support the stereotypes that are being presented today. Women today are still being mistreated more or less. Movies, music videos, television, radio, social media or any entertainment supports the stereotypes. The movie The Wolf of Wall Street, who is a wealthy man, constantly throwing parties. As well as having sexual relationships with women throughout the movie. The movie supports the universal idea that has been continuing since the 1950s. As opposing to women they’re only there for his sexual purposes and needs. In conclusion these stereotypes keep continuing no matter what year it is, and wondering if these kind of stereotypes will continue in the future.

The Racism in American Dad

The show American Dad is promotes stereotypes.

American Dad is largely based on stereotypes, which are mostly not the true/good stereotypes.

This is a show that has been out for sometime now, and was meant for grown ups to watch, it is aired on a television channel named Adult Swim. But lately, the show’s audience is becoming younger and younger. Another show that is in the same trend as American Dad is Family Guy, which is created by the same person that created American Dad.

There is a character of Asian descent in the show that goes by the name of Toshi, in which by itself, sounds stereotypical. In the episode, “Best Little Horror House in Langely Falls”, Steve, one of the main characters, takes a liking to Toshi’s sister, Akiko, another stereotypical name. Toshi’s finds out and tries to get revenge on Steve. The way he tries to take, is being a samurai, more stereotypical. If that wasn’t enough stereotypes, like the “typical” Japanese fighter, Toshi did not give up until he completed his mission, or until he was defeated.

#Basedonatruestory

Three Kings is in fact a true war story for many reasons. The movie is unbelievable which is one of the characteristics of a true war story. The story started off with a party and the soldiers having fun celebrating a victory. When you usually think of war you don't see parties. Also, there was so much gold just lying around in the country. There wouldn't just be gold lying around because if there was there would be more people going after it. Another characteristic of a true war story is that it makes you uncomfortable. Many parts in the move mad me uncomfortable, there was the killing of the man's wife, and Troy being tortured and forced to drink oil. These scenes in the movie showed how things went down in that country. The story also was very obscene and evil. They used so much foul language, and had sex with women during the movie. It gave realistic details and scenes and showed many examples of Tim O'Brein characteristics of a true war story, that's why its an true war story.

You Can Always Rely On Family

In the show "Burn Notice" and the movie "The Family" it indicates that you can always turn to family through the worst things in life. The American culture really implies that you can always rely on family when the people that you trusted turns there back on you. In the show ''burn notice'' there's a guy named Michael Westen he use to be a spy then he got black listed and they put a burn notice on him then, they put in miami where his two best friends and mom lives and he tries to do everything he can to find out who burned him.

My next analysis on why the american culture says that you could count on family is from the movie ''family''. This movie is about how a man use to work for this mafia mob and then they turn on him and want him dead so he goes to police to depend on there protection program but that false and he has to rely on his family to keep each other safe.