Final Reflection

If I had to sum up what I have learned from this class in one simple phrase it would be, think critically. As we have seen the world around us is not very straight forward. It is full of deceptive and fearful tactics to make us more accepting of what we are told. I consider myself to be above that now. I know that I must take the news with a large helping of skepticism. I have come to the realization that our government is really not very truthful at all. This knowledge has come not just from this class, but all my Communication classes. I am a firm believer that media studies is very important. Without the classroom setting, it is very difficult to change people's mindsets about our society. One of the biggest problems is that people want to accept things at face value, without having to think. It is because of this that the news media can be so successful with its propaganda type stories. I use the analogy that the American people are sheep. They need to be lead, and without leadership they are lost without direction. However, when this leadership is poor, or misguided, or both, this can turn into a disaster. The clearest example would be the events following 9/11. Everyone was afraid and therefore we were quick to believe anything the government told us. Only in hindsight is the error of our ways revealed.

don't be sheep

All of this subject matter tends to be depressing. So as you might have noticed over the course of the semester I try to throw some humor into these blog posts to lighten the mood. Not only have our discussions been depressing, but also frustrating. I wish we did not live in a world like this, where the culture of fear is so ingrained that is will never disappear. I try to talk to my friends and family about such issues, but I see just how caught up they are in the culture of fear that it s hard to get through. One of my biggest gripes with this country is our military industrial complex. After brining this up my friends acuse me of hating America. Then I thought, do I hate America? The short answer is no. I live here for one, so that would be hypocritical, however America definitely makes me shake my head pretty often. My last piece of advice is don't be sheep, be a Shepard. Try to lead people instead of being lead yourself. If that doesn't work, I have looked into other countries and Sweden looks pretty sweet. High life expectancy, good health care system, lots of labor unions, the list goes on. So I might be buying Rosetta Stone for Swedish and look into citizenship options. Besides half the population is made up of beautiful blonde girls! I am only half kidding about all this by the way.

If this whole America thing doesn't work out...

Review Power of Nightmares Part III

The third and final installment of this documentary series did not waste any time getting to the heart of what this has been leading up to, 9/11. There was some buildup with some further explanation of Osama Bin Laden's image. He was shot on film with many soldiers around him, with the sole purpose to make Bin Laden look more intimidating. Then it happened, 9/11 a day that is not easily forgotten by any means. As the audience, we all knew the events were leading to this and some of the most interesting points of this film series was seeing how we got there. However, our reaction was in line with what the United States had been doing. They said Bin Laden was responsible and made up the idea of Al Queda. The various people questioned for the film were very clear, there is no such thing as an organized terrorist community. The material in this part of the documentary, in retrospect of course, is actually humorous. At the time I doubt many thought to question some of our countries actions, but looking back on them they were ridiculous. The worst was the video of the guys at Disneyland. The video was being used as evidence to prove they were terrorists. As crazy as it seems two of them were actually convicted! People looked into the video trying to ind evidence for what they wanted to see. For example, they said a quick shot of a garbage can was actually a code for a strategic bomb placement. The film gave plenty of more examples of similar stories, but one last one I want to touch on is cave searching. We were convinced Bin Laden was hiding in a superbase in the mountains. So naturally we bombed it. That did not work so we had soldiers search through caves. They never found anything of significance. That was really the gist of this portion of the film series. The whole US vs terrorism thing was a big swing and a miss. The US basically wanted to convince people there were constant terrorist threats. From dirty bombs, to Al Queda, it was all skewed to promote fear. Fear became the only agenda and what if scenarios became evidence. That's pretty convoluted if you ask me. They were trying to fight an idea that did not really have an exact target at all. This whole series raised a lot of questions, many of which cannot ever truly be answered, however it was informative and thought provoking. 

Review of Power of Nightmares Part II

Part two of this documentary discussed events closer to my frame of reference. I did not feel as lost watching this segment, as I did last week. Not all of the information presented was new to me, however that did not take away from the impact of the film. I  thought it was important to start where the film did. Most people my age probably just think of our current relationship with Afganistan. However, the film explores that there was once a time where we helped them out. Not only did we support the Afgans against the Soviet Union, but we gave weapons and training as well. Even Osama Bin Laden was involved at this time. One of the more troubling things about this saga, was that when the Soviet Union wanted peace, we denied them and continued to support Afganistan. Eventually the Soviet Union crumbled, and the United States was quick to take credit as a victory. However, the real reason it collapsed was just a poorly structured government. The United States feels like the whole world should end tyranny and that we have the right to do so. This mindset is still prevalent today.

The use of religion was a theme for the neoconservatives and the Jihad. Religion is a powerful tool, when used that way. The neocons used religion as a way to give ordinary people a sense of purpose, a purpose that the neocons came up with. Similarly the Jihad used religion as justification for their actions. They claimed that anyone who goes against the Koran deserves death. Though the comparison may not sit well with some, the neocons and Jihadists were similar. Ultimately, both failed in what they were trying to accomplish. The neocons attacked Bill Clinton, because they felt treated by him. How could you hate this face?

In all seriousness though, the neocons accused Clinton of ridiculous things, such as smuggling drugs and murdering his friend. Of course this was just shameless political terrorism, which was all constructed and completely untrue. In fact some neocons knew the stories were fake, but kept spreading them anyway! You literally cannot make this stuff up. On the other side of this coin were the Jihadists. They tried to use violence and terror as a means to inspire people in to a revolution. Needless to say they were unsuccessful. In this failure they became enraged and directed their anger at the United States.

This documentary series is very well done. Not only is it informative, but also thought provoking. I cannot help but think what happened? It just seems like there were plenty of red flags along the way that someone should have noticed. Then again, I'm sure some people did noticed, but were drowned out or ignored. This series of films is very frustrating. This is the kind of stuff that not enough people know, and even less care to know, and I think that is the worst part. Ok I'm ranting, I have to stop. I am definitely looking forward to watching the third installment next week.

Power of Nightmares: Baby It's Cold Outside

I just wanted to start by talking about the song used for the title, "Baby It's Cold Outside." This is a creepy song. It basically describes sexual assault, so I can see why Qutb saw it as an embodiment of everything he hated about American culture. This is not to say I agree with his ideas, only in this case. This documentary is very layered. There are a lot of names, and covers events from forty years ago. Therefore, I found myself getting lost with all the facts. However, the underlying messages were very interesting and thought provoking. The film starts much earlier in time than I expected. It was interesting to hear about a time period I admittedly do not know much about. One idea that struck me early on in the film was the myth of the nation. This is the notion that America has the right to fight the evils of the world. This is a ridiculous notion,  but that is what we have come to know as Americans. One of the critiques Qutb had of American, that our masses needed to be lead.

these mother...

In a post 9/11 world torture has become synonymis with interrogating. For example, the television show 24 has very popular for years, and featured many scenes of torture. In this film, there are two separate occasions of torture being the reason people were driven to do something horrible. Speaking of something horrible it was very troubling to see how our government handled investigating the Soviet Union. The film made it pretty clear that neoconservatives had a very specific agenda. They needed fear to have power. Therefore, they fabricated evidence that the Soviet Union had super weapons. It was actually laughable that later on, we used our own propaganda as evidence. I also did not realize just how early on Rumsfeld and Cheney became involved. Then the film explored how the neoconservative movement came together. They used religion as a jump pad to boost their power. This again is evidence that certain people will just blindly follow what they are told.

There was a lot of set up, if you will, in the first part of this film. It is important to know the whole backstory, in order to understand the complete story. However, what is clear is that the next two parts will be very interesting. My friends always joke around that I hate America because of all my Comm classes. I do not hate America per se, but films such as this just add to my general frustration with decisions this country has, and continues to make. So no, I do not hate the country I live in, but it can make me shake my head pretty often.

Review of Hip Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes

Well "Tip Drill" pretty much sums up all of Hurt's arguments from this documentary. I have to admit I have seen this film before, but I was very excited to watch it again. This is a topic that is very much relevant to my own life. As Hurt points out 70% of hip-hop is consumed by white males and I fall into that category. Just like Hurt, I love hip-hop so it is slightly difficult to look at it critically. However, Hurt analyzes this genre in a loving way. Yes he points out some bad trends in hip-hop, but he does this with hopes of these trends changing. Hurt's film is very entertaining and thought provoking. One of the most outstanding issues with hip-hop is the violence. There is no denying rap has violent subject matter, but Hurt was interested in why that was. When Hurt interviewed the rapper Jadakiss, and asked him why rap is so violent, and his response was wonderfully simple, "have you seen movies?" We have already discussed violence in films at length in this class, but this just further shows that violence is ingrained in our culture, and different aspects influence each other. However, Chuck D. suggested that violence in hip-hop is derived from systematic violence, such as building a highway through a poor neighborhood. Either way is does not fully explain the multitude of violence in hip-hop.

Another focal point of the film was the conversations around women's objectification and the images of males. The video above is all you need to see to understand the roles men and women must take in hip-hop music videos. Women are always subservient and are there purely as eye candy. Men's role is not that complex either. They have to look tough and  never show emotion. I was happy to see Jackson Katz in this film, because I am very familiar with his thoughts on masculinity.  A huge aspect of the male image in hip-hop is that if you do not act this way, people are quick to belittle you. Terms such as, bitch and pussy, are meant to try to insult one's masculinity, and to humiliate you. This reminded me very much of Katz's work with wrestling where the same themes are present. Ultimately, the violence and male imagery that comes out of hip-hop does not paint a very good picture. This is turn leads to perpetuating stereotypes. For example, white suburbia listens to rap and actually thinks they are learning about another culture. That is kind of a scary thought considering what rap is made up of.

I loved the fact that Hurt interviewed actual famous rappers. It helped to sell his argument and it was comforting to see that some of the big time players can admit that there is something wrong in hip-hop. The only complaint I had was that Hurt did not interview Eminem. This film came out in 2006 and Hurt had been filming for years. Eminem had been very popular by then, so it would have fit time wise. I would have loved to hear Eminem's take on the questions Hurt had. However, maybe Hurt just wanted to avoid the whole race issue, or maybe he never even reached out to Eminem, the world may never know. We had begun discussion on Eminem in class and it would have been interesting to see a more direct approach of that conversation. Besides that kind of nitpicky complaint the film is excellent. Hurt does a very good job of both analyzing and entertaining. In closing, I do not know how hip-hop will ever change considering what sells well will always be the trend and the fact that the music is being manufactured by corporations. Maybe by consumers supporting artists that deviate from this trend things will start to change.

the mindset of some rappers

Review of On Orientalism

Edward Said offers a very interesting look into how our culture approaches representation of people from the middle east. This is nothing new, as a Communication major I have come across many articles and films that address this same subject matter. However, Said did make a few points that I had not heard before. Said described orientalism as a lens to make people from the middle east seem different and threatening. That is such a simple, yet perfect way to describe the views of this culture. This is most obviously seen in films, with representation like this:

not exactly accurate...

not Arab

I liked Said's point about how orientalism started with art and literature. I had never really thought about that, because I was just so used to thinking about television and film. However, poor representation in art and literature could be just as harmful. Said told a story about how books about Egypt were written for Europeans. This meant that the portrayal of the Egyptians was very much constructed and not very accurate. It is the same notion that history is only written by the winners. Said mentioned how American orientalism has become politicized. This could not be more true. It has become a weapon to vilify an entire people. Islam has become synonymous with terror. This could not be more clear in the wake of the Oklahoma City bombing. Immediately following the attack the suspect list was only Arab men. The attack was being described as a terrorist attack from an Arab threat. Then of course, when it came out that Timothy Mcveigh was actually responsible the conversation changed. However, it was clear that orientalism runs pretty deep in our culture.

Said was optimistic in thinking someday we could overcome orientalism and even bring peace to Israel and Palestine. While the Israeli Palestinien is a topic for another day, I cannot say I can be as optimistic as Said. At this point, the concept of orientalism is so ingrained in our culture that I fear that we will never be able to change. It's a shame really, but how would we even start to change the minds of Americans. Sure we could try to get more positive representation out there, but when a group of people are vilified by your government I do not think that would do much. I enjoyed the film, it had some interesting points, but I think other films did a better job. For example, I liked "Reel Bad Arabs" more than this. Be that as it may, Said is very insightful and demonstrates that well throughout this film.

Reflection on Part 1

Dr. Crane as The Scarecrow

I have always been fascinated by fear. When I was a kid I remember watching the Batman Animated Series. I thought it was so cool that one of Batman's villains, the Scarecrow(pictured), literally used fear as his weapon. Therefore, when I saw this course in the catalog I had to take it.

I am very much enjoying the course so far. It is very interesting to see just how much fear has become saturated into our culture. The readings are varied, but all contribute to the same conversation. I think our class disillusions are good, and similar conversations should be conducted in other classes across this campus. Issues we have discussed affect everyone and everyone should be aware of them. The highlight of the curriculum, for me, has been the films we have watched. From enlightening documentaries, to classic horror films, I seem to get more and more out of each one.

As much as I have enjoyed the material, it tends to be pretty depressing. Watching Bowling for Columbine is hardly a pick me up. Realizing just how convoluted our prison and news systems are was tough to swallow. Clearly there are plenty of examples throughout this class so far, that make me wonder how will things ever change? I would like to think that study this material could help, but it is only a step in the right direction. Therefore, I like to make memes related to the topics we cover and put them in my blog. Sometimes, a little humor can make me feel better.

I am excited to see where this class is going, and to further explore Glassner's book. I am confident that this last half of the class will be as strong as the first. However, until then I will be enjoying my spring break on a beach in Cancun! I know I have posted this clip before, but I think it perfectly summarizes the power of fear and many of the themes in this class. This is an episode from The Twilight Zone, about one city block that begins to turn on each other. Even though the fear revolves around communism, it is still very much relevant today.

Analysis of Drugs and Oz

The HBO original series "OZ" is critically acclaimed and beloved by fans. The show's following claims they love how realistic and authentic the portrayal of prison. However, this is not even close to an accurate interpretation of prison life. After watching a few clips I got the basic idea of the show. Murder, is the first word that comes to mind, in terms of how to describe the show. In one scene J.K. Simmon's character is going around asking people if they were willing to kill someone for him. This issue was a matter of fact and it was treated as if it was commonplace. As Yousman pointed out in his article, "OZ" is incarceration as entertainment. Being that "OZ" is a television show, not a documentary, they had to make it more entertaining. In doing so, they sacrificed authenticity. For example, inmates are free to walk around without much supervision and the level of violence is extremely high. Even though audience members thought this was accurate it clearly was not.

"The War on Drugs" film gives a truly realistic view at prison life. As the documentary quickly demonstrated most of the people in jail, are in jail for drug related crimes, not violent crimes. The war on drugs program is intended to stop the drug trafficking in the United States. However, this is not even remotely what is done. As one women said in the film, "this is a war on poor people, with drug involvement." Some the issues addressed in this film were utterly disturbing. The fact that these drug patrol groups can seize basically whatever they want is alarming. This is because these are civil not criminal proceedings, therefore everyone is guilty til proven innocent. Not to mention the amount of drugs need to but someone in jail is so minimal it is ridiculous. What ends up happening is that our prisons are getting filled with all these drug related cases. This leads to more and more prisons being built, and putting the US as the country with the highest percent of its population incarcerated.

In class I mentioned that the show "Beyond Scared Straight" offers a good representation of prison life. I was wrong. It may be more accurate than "OZ," however it does not address the underlying issue that our system is broken. The war on drugs is a total sham. as Glassner says fear dominates the discourse when it comes to drugs. People have been convinced that this is the best and only way to stop drug dealing. When ultimately this system is destroying lives and families. With all this being said, "OZ" does not even remotely depict prison life in a truthful manner. These misplaced fears on drugs need to change, for people to realize just how convoluted the war on drugs is.

Review of The American Nightmare

This documentary pretty much puts an end to the idea that horror is a throw away genre. This film sets out to show how the horror genre can reflect and comment on the real world events happening at the time. It does this by interviewing various horror film directors and creators, and showing clips from a plethora of horror films. I really enjoyed hearing these horror legends give their input on their own creations. This behind the scenes look helped me to better appreciate the films they were talking about. For example, it was great to hear Romero talk about Night of the Living Dead. I liked seeing how the film fed on real world fears, such as the assassination of MLK and Vietnam.

Horror films can also represent aspects of humanity and comment on them. Wes Craven's Last House on the Left is a good example of this. This film demonstrates how all humans are capable of committing terrible acts. In the film a girl is raped by these strangers, after some unforeseen circumstances, end up staying at the girl's house. Her parents learn about what their guests have done and kill them. However, it is the nature of these deaths that is shocking. Pictured above is the girl's father about to kill a man with a chainsaw. This film examined the human psyche and suggested that we are all sadistic if given the opportunity.

My personal favorite example from the film was Romero's sequel to Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead. The film takes place in a zombie infested shopping mall, where humans are trying to survive. They find comfort in taking things from the mall, which includes not only food, but merchandise as well. Romero suggests that the comfort we find in consumer culture ultimately makes us "zombies." Romero himself said during the documentary, "we're the living dead." This is the sort of social commentary that is showcased in horror films at their finest.

This film did a great job of showing just how deep and sophisticated horror films can be. However, all of the films used were pretty old. I understand they wanted to use the classics, but a few modern examples would have been nice. Overall though I thoroughly enjoyed the film and was fascinated by it. One of the closing comments of the film was that the apocalypse is always. I think that is true and that describes the culture of fear perfectly.

Analysis of Night of the Living Dead

To me the definition of a classic is something that stays relavent and enjoyable over time. Though the visuals may show their age, the film is still full of social commentary, about both the time it was made and now. This is ultimately Night of the Living Dead's biggest strength. Watching this film over forty years after it was made, had no effect on what I took away from it.

Harper's essay and the Wikipedia page for this film, both pointed out the various social reflections about the time the film was made. For example, the fact that Ben is killed, even though he is not a "ghoul" resonated with African American audience members, because the assassination of Martin Luther King was fresh in their minds. Along the same lines, the film played on the fears of a race war. The "us versus them" mentality is prevalent throughout the film. The white humans in the film are nervous about how many of "them" are out there, and just how dangerous they might be. This represents white America's fear of African Americans in the late 1960s, and to a certain extent even today.

Harper pointed out that this film also has parallels with Vietnam. "This constant anxiety about catastrophe shows just how concerned America is about radical social change and indicates, he argues, just how concerned America is to preserve the status quo"(paragraph 12). This same idea is still true today. People fear change, that is a simple truth. People are comfortable with what they know and understand, which is why the concept of a zombie apocalypse is so terrifying. Hall's work is also relatable to Night of the Living Dead. His idea of power/knowledge can be seen in the film's use of media. For example, the radio and television control the knowledge, something that the people in the house desperately want. Therefore, the media has all the power. At first, the radio tells them to stay inside and not to leave. However, later in the film when the television says to go to a safe house, they try to leave. This represents the power media has, not just in a catastrophe, but always. We listen to what the television says, because that is where we know to go for our information. This power ultimately tears the group apart, and leads to everyone's death.

Another point Harper and the Wikipedia articles made was the fact that this film has had a huge influence on the horror genre. This is undoubtably true. Both articles listed many films, but one television show neither mentioned was AMC's The Walking Dead. This show is essentially a modern day Night of the Living Dead. If you are not familiar with the show, it revolves around a group of people fighting for survival in a world full of zombies, or "walkers." This show deals very openly with the idea of cannibalism, as did this film. This demonstrates that the fear of cannibalism is still very much a fear that people have. The show is also much more graphic than the film, which shows how integrated violence has become in our culture. When Night of the Living Dead was released its violence was unparalleled. While I watched it I thought it was nothing compared to shows like The Walking Dead.

While I was watching this film, I could not help but jump to an example of my own that relates to almost all the themes in this film. The paranoia that took over the people in this film, ultimately drove the police to shoot Ben, without thinking twice. A prime example that demonstrates this is the Twilight Zone episode "The Monsters are Due on Maple Street." This is the best example of the power of fear I have ever seen. It is less than half an hour and totally worth watching.

Analysis of Scream

Wes Craven's Scream is over fifteen years old, but it is very much still a relevant and fascinating film. Hall's "The Work of Representation" Can be applied to this film. For those who do not know, the film revolves around a small town being terrorized by a killer who targets high school students, this guy:

From the opening scene, power is very clearly demonstrated. Ghostface uses telephone calls to instill fear into his victim. The power in this situation comes from the lack of knowing. There are many examples of this. Ghostface has all the power because his victims cannot tell where he is, or what he looks like. Another source of power for him is his knife, which is large and almost always visible. They become more and more scared, which only gives Ghostface more power. Ghostface is very much a faceless danger, both in the literall sense and metaphorically. After the initial murders, the town goes into a panic, closing the school and making everyone on edge. This is all done through fear. This demonstrates in a very real sense, that even though this is a movie, fear is very powerful.

There are a number of myths, both directly mentioned and represented, in the film. One of the most dominant myths, is that if you have sex you are going to die. This is stressed throughout the film. The main protagonist, Sydney is a virgin. The rule, or myth, is that virgins never die in horror movies. This is where the film becomes very reflexive, constantly making jokes like, "if this were a movie"and referencing other classic horror films and motifs. In fact, in the film itself one character says, "sex equals death." This is a myth that has a pretty clear message to the audience, sex will kill you. The myth tries to deter teens from having sex. However, Scream turns this myth on its head. Sydney does have sex with her boyfriend, who turns out to be one of the killers. She is no longer a virgin and survives the film, however it was her boyfriend trying to kill her the whole time. Therefore, the myth evolves into, you can have sex, but if you wait too long your boyfriend will try to kill you.

Scream illustrates Hall's concepts of myth and power/knowledge. The film itself is almost a parody of the horror genre and pokes fun at itself throughout. I enjoyed the film very much and it was particularly relavant to the assignment. I typically like to end these blog posts on a lighter note. This was just too perfect.

Analysis of News Programs

I am by no means a regular news watcher, in fact I tend to avoid it. I prefer other means to keep myself informed. Be that as it may I watched a few different news programs, but the most polarizing is the comparison between a Connecticut Fox broadcast and a CNN Newsroom broadcast.

Oh Fox...they do not have the best reputation to begin with. Some call it Faux News or some are just like this guy:

The Fox broadcast was like a machine gun of scary stories. One after another they mentioned stories about job cuts, violence, etc. There were a few stories in particular that really stood out. One headline read an "update on the presidential election," however they only provided an update on the Republican candidates. To use one of Hall's terms, this was definitely an Intentional approach. By excluding Democratic candidates Fox is only providing one side of the story to their audience. At the same time, Fox knows its audience is probably mostly Republican anyway. There was also a story about two high school students getting hit by a car. The people driving the car were also students. Fox used the constructivist approach for this story. Through interviews Fox wants us to think that teenage drivers are dangerous and should be feared.

CNN Newsroom was a less fear intensive program. For starters, it was way more diverse. Fox had all white anchors and all white stories. The anchor for CNN is Don Lemon, a gay, black man. This was reflected in the stories too. One story was about a young gay, black teen, who was viscously beaten by four or five other men. This was an intentional choice for Lemon to show what openly gay youth go through, and maybe even what Lemon himself went through. However, there were still fear inspiring stories in this broadcast. Right before a commercial they showed a burning school bus. As it turned out everyone was okay, but CNN used that image to keep the viewer engaged.

The news is a complicated piece of the media. It seems that no matter where you turn for news, you get mostly similar stories. The culture of fear is very present in the news media. This is mostly why I choose to avoid traditional news programing. It is no wonder why people prefer to get their news with some humor mixed in i.e. The Daily Show, or Real Time with Bill Maher. It was interesting to take an analytic look at the news.

Review of Bowling for Columbine

       Love him or hate him Michael Moore is the king of the documentary. Bowling for Columbine, in my opinion is his best work. One technique that stood out to me , is the editing. For example, after a video montage of graphic violence from throughout United States history, he cuts to a woman saying that this is a great place to raise her kids. It is that sort of irony that actually brings a very dark sense of humor to Moore's films. Most importantly however is the amount of information Moore puts in this film. This ranges from statistics about the US funding assassination and dictators, to how many gun deaths there are per year in different countries. These statistics provide the backbone to Moore's film. The real meat however comes in the form of the interviews and the footage from various events.

       To me the stand out interviews were with Marilyn Manson and NRA president Charlton Heston. Marilyn Manson was any easy scapegoat for the Columbine shootings. When Moore interviewed him, he was surprisingly well spoken. It was very powerful to see a man who was vilified and feared to be so down to earth. Manson himself admitted, "I'm a poster boy for fear." The strongest part of the interview was when Moore asked Mason what would he have said to the Columbine shooters. Manson had the perfect response, he would not have said anything, he would have just listened because no one else ever did. The film culminates to the one on one interview between Moore and NRA president Charles Heston. When Moore asks Heston why American has so many more people killed a year by guns than in other countries, Heston gives the same answers Moore has proved wrong the whole film. Heston actually argued that the US had a more violent history than Germany. The most disturbing part of the interview was how Heston refused to look at the picture of the six year old girl shot in Flint, and refused to apologize for having an NRA rally shortly after both Columbine and the Flint shooting.

     There was so much content in this film that it is almost impossible to mention it all hear. However, Moore put together a thought provoking documentary that really made me think about some of the mentalities in this country. Why do we kill so many more people than other countries? As the cartoon in the film illustrates (no pun intended) fear is the driving force behind most of this film.

The only thing I wish the film did more of was offer solutions. It was amazing that Moore helped KMart to take ammunition off its shelves, but it is only a small step. There is not a simple answer to any of the issues in the film. Chris Rock may have been joking, but his idea for a solution to gun violence is the best I have heard.

The Mean World Syndrome Review

This documentary provides an approach to media violence that many people probably have not considered. Instead of the traditional magic bullet theory, Gerbner came up with the concept of cultivation. Gerbner realized that looking for a direct link between media violence and actual violence was the wrong approach. Cultivation focuses on what kind of mind set people have towards different issues based on their media use.  Heavy viewers, he found, developed the mean world syndrome. This means that people believe the world is more dangerous than it actually is.

The film succeeds in conveying how the mean world syndrome is developed through mainstream media. One point that was particularly interesting was the way films are produced. When a film is being made the producers have to consider how the film will fair in a global market. The best way for a film to translate well over seas is to take out dialogue and include more action. This is because violence is a universal language. In addition Gerbner talks about the notion of happy violence. This is violence that is highly entertaining and often has no consequence. One example of this that is not mentioned in the film is the WWE(World Wrestling Entertainment). Wrestlers are constantly slamming each other and inflicting pain, however after the match is over everything goes back to normal.

The films other main point is how the representation of minorities in the media has led to their vilification. For example, the way the news media treats illegal immigrants, implies that they are less than human. This could be seen in the film when the Mexican man was interviewing people that were protesting immigration. They were treating him as if he was an animal, and in some cases verbally telling him so. This same concept extended to blacks as well, but this was really disturbing when it came to Arab representation. Arabs are constantly depicted as villains in films and television. This image pretty much sums up this point.

The best point of the film was that despite fears of crime increasing, numbers show that crime has been on a decline for years. However, you would never guess that based solely on what you see on the news or in movies. This is what Gerbner's study found. The mean world syndrome led people to have these beliefs, when in actuality they were untrue.

Overall this was a very good documentary that did not stumble at any point. The film used an ample amount of statistics to back up its arguments, and used plenty of relatable examples. This was engaging and informative and everyone should watch it. Documentaries like this are one of the only ways to make people realize that what they see is not necessarily an accurate depiction of the real world. 

Overall 9/10