Dangerous Hatred in the United States

11/30/10
Andrews


No American will ever be happy with our current president. Many Americans believed that Obama would solve all their problems. The problem for them, is that Obama is human. I don't think he is a racist and out to get whites. I do think that Racist whites against blacks will use anything well know, like healthcare as an excuse to be racism. They will nit pick anything they can, to make him look bad. I don't think anything Obama has done was siding for a certain color people. It is scary that people are becoming violent over this and showing the rest of the world how ignorant Americans can be. If you don't like what's going on, stop whining and acting like an idiot. Try participating when you get your next voting opportunity.

Is Hate Speech in the Media Directly Affecting Our Culture?

11/23/10

Andrews

Issue 12

Is Hate Speech in the Media Directly Affecting Our Culture?

            I think that hate speech does directly affect our culture. However, I don’t think this is anything new. If the new media did not influence people, older forms like word of mouth would. Whatever you are around often I think influences you. It’s up the people out there to choose what they see.  I would say kids who watch South Park are more likely to say hate words that they hear over and over versus not watching it at all. If they were to be around adult or parent who used the same language, the same effect would happen. Hate speech may be passed along through media, but there is deeper reasons why it exists, that should be the focus. If you are a person who can recognize negative/hate views from media, it would be somewhat possible to get away from it, just cut out computer, TV, newspapers, internet and books. I disagree with Giroux with some of the shows they mention being bad influences. I don’t agree with his example of the show Dexter. Looking at Dexter without actually watching the show would give the sense of bad morals. Yet the show is based on how the main character is conflicted with what is moral, right and wrong. The problem with my view, or anyone’s, is it is not concrete. Things just like this topic are interpreted differently.

Issue Three

Do Media Represent Realistic Images of Arabs?

 I don't know, I would like to assume no. Almost everything I see is negative, probably to have Americans support the war in Afghanistan and Iraq by scaring us. The media portrays Arabs as the others, people who we cannot relate to. People are afraid of what they do not understand. Standard images showing Arabs in the Media are often ones from 9/11. Also anyone shown who looks like a stereotypical "Arab", is generally doing something bad or scary. I don't believe everything on the news, but a few blogs from won't change my views instantly. I will keep a open and neutral mind for all groups of people until I have personal experiences with an assortment of them. I hope that others will keep a open mind for us.


http://pressreleases.kcstar.com/?q=node/15658

http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi1479252249/

Do Media Cause Individuals to Develop Negative Body Images?

Do Media Cause Individuals to Develop Negative Body Images?

            The media in my opinion affects negative body images but might actually turn out positive for the individual. I agree with most the things which Dworkin and Wachs say about the media influencing peoples body changes. Dworkin and Wachs say that consumers are striving for a thin toned body. Yes, I agree that people follow what Hollywood and the famous do. Also, generally people in the media are very thin and toned. Is it such a bad thing for Americans to try and be thin?  Gallup-Healthways state in 2009 that 63.1 percent of American adults are obese. I think having media portraying thin people is setting a good goal for most Americans. How many Americans have a negative body image? Well hopefully 63% of them until they become healthy. I don’t expect these people to become walking pencils. I hope the portrayal of healthy or slightly underweight people inspire the obese people to work on being healthy. If a person who weighs 500 pounds tries to be the size of Angelina Jolie, they may drop to 200 pounds. If the media showed people who were 400 pounds, the person would probably drop 10 pounds. Having super skinny people and really big people will give a happy medium. I don’t think people should expect to look like super models, but maybe can help unhealthy overweight people balance their own weight and live a longer healthier life. If people are already in safe proportions, I hope that they can stay healthy, and strive for health over skin and bones.

RA#3 Proposal

Matt Bialick

Media, Society and Politics

Research Project #3 Proposal

Violent Video Games

           I am still trying to decide on the specifics but, when we discussed the issue of violent video games I found out that many people are against them. I thought that people did not have such a negative outlook on them. The media generally talks about how violent video games will promote real life violence. They lack to give concreted details or studies to prove one way or another.  I also have an article about how California is thinking about making a law, which would ban anyone under 18 to buy a video game involving killing. In about a year, the law will be possibly put in effect. This goes against the first amendment and freedom of speech. If we ban this, when do we stop? Do we ban movies? If video games have aliens killing aliens, does that not count as violence? The video game laws in effect now are just fine. I don’t think there is a correlation between video game violence and people’s actions in person.

For my research I would like find out how many people who play violent video games actually commit violent acts. Then I will ask the same question on a different forum I will ask the people on the forums how many times they have been in fights or acted violent.

I think that people will be honest on the forums if I act like one of them. I feel like most video gamers are younger and love to answer questions. I will ask them to not state details or names to keep them from getting in trouble. I have two ideas for getting opposing the gamers’ views. I will ask the same question on forums that have non-violent aspects to their hobby. I assume if I ask on a forum for fish tanks, I will be more likely to hear about docile people. If I decide to ask the question on a low budget car forum, I think I will be more likely to hear about them being violent. I have to decide which side I want to stand up for. I think that I will try and show that gamers who play violent video games are not going to be influenced by them. I think my results will show that gamers’ chose to be violent through video games. I think they are not fueled to act it out in person.

Do Video Games Encourage Violent Behavior?

Matt Bialick

Do Video Games Encourage Violent Behavior?

Video Games do not encourage violent behavior. While Craig A Anderson says that kids are promoted to be more violent through video games than from other forms of media. Anderson has said that the experiments proving that video games do not promote violent are wrong. He thinks that what happens in real life cannot be replicated in a lab. Anderson has said that, "Repeated media violence exposure increases aggression across the lifespan because Of several related factors. 1.It creates more positive attitudes, beliefs, and expectations regarding use of aggressive solutions. 2. It creates aggressive behavioral scripts and makes them more cognitively accessible. 3. IT decreases the accessibility of non violent scripts. 4. It decreases the normal negative emotional reactions to conflict, aggression, and violence." (Anderson Pg 97). On the opposite side, Henry Jenkins feels that violence from video games is overblown. The violent games do not target children, but at adults. 66 Percent of PC gamers are over 18, and 62 percent of Console gamers are over 18. Gamers are able to play as characters and do things they know is not alright in real life. IT is a experience to play a game, with no consequences. IF you shoot a cop in a video game and drive off a cliff, are you likely to drive off a cliff? No, because people have a sense of reality. There is violence in video games, but does not transfer over to the real world. Video games help people problem solve, and learn. They also allow people with common interests, to become friends through online gaming. Women also have picked up games like The Sims, and are often portrayed as powerful and strong. Which is trying to build up women's confidence. Violence only come from one thing, a person making a bad decision.