As I watched TV the past couple of days, I think back on our conversations of individualism.... We are supposed to have a sense of individuality influencing our decisions and lifestyles HOWEVER, television is depicting how society should view things. For example American Idol. As a whole, America is watching live performances and judging the performers not taking into account that they are all different and everyone has different taste in music. We are encouraged and taught that judging is acceptable. Another example when I was watching Real House Wives of Hollywood. These women were referring to the gay community as "my gays" and were planning a private party to host as a "mixer" for gay men to meet each other. There was a "shortage of tops" (referring to gay men who prefer to be on top during sex). What television is teaching us here is that it is acceptable to talk about gay men as a different breed, and to also talk about sex life publicly...... TV has evolved into shaping the minds of Americans to think certain things, and limit the private life of ones household...
These women on Real House Wives, are women of wealthy families and their lifestyle is something that is desired... Their inappropriate gestures are acceptable and often enjoyed...
yes, television does make it acceptable to practice prejudice and exclusion. I'm wondering if the RealHouse wives show tell us something about how class is viewed and represented. Can you use some of the concepts in the film - the invisibility of class, working class as a life style choice, absence of inequality - to critique the Real HW. Or to think about what lessons about the upper class are being taught here?
ReplyDeleteI was using the HW as an example of invisible class... they are upper class and their actions are accepted because of their class... I suppose you could add to that by saying that the lesson being taught here is that with a higher class status some of your actions are acceptable, if someone in the working class made comments about gays and acted the way that they did it would not be accepted at all...
ReplyDelete