Over this break, I am sure you watched at least one movie or show that addresses a societal problem the writers wanted you to take note of. I had entirely too much screen time. It was nice to just veg out while watching the television. Of the shows I watched, these are some of the social problems observed: society's reliance on technology and how it will destroy culture; bullying and its long term effects; drug use and how drugs destroy the lives of those who use, distribute, and are in the lives of users; the corruption of power and man's desire to acquire it.
I want you to think about what you have watched over the last two weeks. Identify the societal problem presented within the film and what message is being conveyed through this medium. In your post, include the following information: a brief summary of the film or show, how the problem is presented, and the overall message conveyed.
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A social issue that I have seen present in a movie is bullying. In the movie Cyberbully, the main character, Taylor Hillridge, was bullied for creating a fake profile online and flirting and talking to boys. The bullying became so bad that she felt that the only way to handle the pain of the words was to overdose on pills. Before she got the lid off of a pill bottle, her friend came in and saved her. After her hospital stay and a lot of time in bed, Taylor and her mother figured out who the person was who was bullying her online. It was her best friend that saved her. Taylor learned a life lesson about friends, and at the same time her and her mom went to the court about passing a law on bullying that prohibits online bullying. Bullying is shown through the main character and the people from her school. The overall message that the movie was trying to convey is that you never know how people are going to react to words that are being said. Some people could fluff off someones words, while the other tries to take pills to end their life because the pain is too much. Bullying is a terrible social issue that NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED in all schools and in general. Too many innocent people are taking their own lives because of the actions of others.
In the movie Wolf Of Wall Street, the main character Jordan longs to become rich and successful. After lots of deceit and trickery he finally achieves his goal. He falls in love with his money and looks to earn even more. Because he has so much money and doesn't know what to do with it, he gets involved with drugs. Drugs begin to take over and ruin his personality and destroy his family. The problem of drug abuse is presented lightly at the beginning, but as it nears the end his problem is very obvious. The overall message being conveyed is the seriousness of drug abuse. It appears light and fun and the beginning, but once it becomes the only thing you look forward to in life then it will destroy you and everything you love.
Mean Girls presents many societal issues in the average life of a high school student. A the main issue in the movie is how perfect and popular the group of plastics are. The group plastics “run” the way of the school. There are scenes where a girl was happy that Regina, leader of the plastics, just remembered her name. Another social issue brought into play is how the new student Cady transforms into a plastic. Cady was taught that she needs to always look good, throw parties, and not be a “nerd” by joining the math club. As Cady transforms and starts becoming a plastic, she loses her two best friends she met on the first day of school. Cady became to involved in herself, parties, and her social status than actually caring about the real problems in society. There are even scenes where her parents even said its like they barely knew her. The movie makes it clear that the societal problem is the fact many people only care about themselves anymore and focus on becoming perfect. Originality is lacking and being unique is considered weird.
In the show Grey's Anatomy I watched an episode where it was a flashback of the main character Meredith grey's mother Ellis Grey. In this episode it does a flashback to when Elis started to become very successful with medicine and everyone would make comments and doubt her due to her being a girl. When she started to get more successful with things like surgery and medicine people began to talk more about her. Later on in the Episode she is sneaking around with another doctor at the time named Richard Webber, while she is with him she gets told that she was nominated for a harper Avery. This was a big award that doctors would get nominated for because they came up with a new way to better medicine. She decided to name her method the “Grey Method” which created a lot of talk because not only was she a girl being successful in medicine but now she will have a method named after her. When all this was happening Richard decided to no longer be apart of her life. The societal issue shown here is gender roles and how the men in the show thought little of Ellis Grey and didn’t give her the respect that was necessary until she became successful.
The show Intervention show different types of addictions people have like alcohol, drugs, and eating disorders. The show features different addicts on each episode to show the effects of these addictions. They not only effect the addict but the family and people around them as well. The TV crew follows the addict around to show the impacts of these addictions. The problem is presented by the family members trying to convince the addict that they have a problem and have them believe they have a problem. The addicts family and friends goal is to have the addict go to an intervention for help and then go somewhere to get help and hopefully become sober and stay sober for the rest of their lives. The overall message is to show how these peoples addictions have effected their lives and how they live their life. The goal is to persuade and inform people about the harmful outcomes of these addictions and how bad they effect your body. They show how these people cannot stop but maybe with the help of family and friends they can become unattached to these addictions.
The Show 'How I Met Your Mother' shows many social issues based on early adult life. The plot line of the story starts by Ted Mosby telling his two children the story of how he met their mother in the year 2030. A large plot line in the show is a character's story, Robin. Throughout the show she had many goals in pursuing her journalism career but many people through the show told her she could not accomplish being a successful journalists. I think that this social issue is bringing down other people because their career is no longer popular or common. I think this is a big social issue people face everyday, a big victim would be high school students. Many high school students have big dreams but faculty, parents, or other influences convince them to find a new dream because theirs might be a little harder to get to then the average person.
The show F is for family is a new show that is based in 1973. It is a cartoon comedy similar to family guy and it makes fun of characters and fads of the 70's. One of the problems that was addressed was how men belittled women in the 70's. The problem is presented when the wife of the main character says to her daughter "one day women will be astronauts". Then her husband blandly responds "why do you lie to the girl" saying that he thinks it is not possible for women to have high prestige jobs such as that. This problem is still a problem in america today but this problem is not as prevalent as it was in the 70's.
The movie DUFF is about a average teenager in high school who is friends with two other girls. She is considered a DUFF (designated ugly fat friend). She is bullied by her peers and during the whole movie she is trying to not be known as a DUFF. She gets help from a high school football player in return for her to tutor him. He shows her how to be "pretty" and how to act around others. This movie presents the problem of bullying we have in this world. Teens are living in a constant fear of being judged on how they look or how they act. Bullying has grown to online as well. Some teens feel they are never safe and our society needs to do a better job of teaching younger kids that everyone is equal that way teens never have to live in fear of being judged.
I watch a movie called 'Mean Girls 2' and it's about a group of high school girls battling over popularity basically. In every group war in high school it is the popular girls versus the losers which in this case was Abby and Jo. Abby's father proceeded to pay Jo her full college tuition to be Abby's friend. The only reason this came up was because the popular girl known as Mandy felt her popularity was threatened by Abby so she got someone to paintball Abby's car. Jo did take the money and became her friend but when Jo tried to hand the money back to her father, Mandy saw and it was put into to school's newspaper which then caused Jo to lose all of her friends. Mandy felt her popularity was threatened by Jo so she tried to frame Jo for stealing the School's homecoming dance money to get Jo expelled so she wouldn't lose the crown to her. This movie is a perfect example of bullying and greed. This is a problem that should be addressed by all schools and any student that stops to read this, know that you are part of the problem too.
The movie KingPin is about a young bowler who has a great career ahead of him and then the worst happens. Roy is tricked into something that cripples his hand so he is unable to bowl anymore. After this event happens Roy begins to set himself away from society. He begins to drink his problems away and feels that all hope is lost for him. As the movie goes on he meets a girl, but yet still continues to drink just not as much. She then leaves him and he starts to drink his life away again. Roy finds out there is a tournament that he wants to participate in to win some money. This is where he begins to turn his life around and gain his confidence back in himself. He does not end up winning, but he does get his girl back and stops drinking his problems away. This movie shows how alcohol can affect ones life, causing that person to make choices they shouldn't have. It also shows have one can become the bigger man and over come his drinking problems and get his life back together.
The movie Divergent is about a girl named Tris who lives in a dystopian world. The society tells the world who they have to be, and can only have one personality. Those who yearn to be something more are known as divergent's. The test at the beginning of the movie is to publicly show the individual has made for the greater good of mankind. The problem with this kind of society is that the government is in control and the people have no say. It is a dictatorship and the government wants nobody to be greater than another. This is a metaphorical example to today’s world because people say the government is watching. Some say the government watches our moves and we have no privacy. In ways this is true, whether they track what we do on the internet, or read our text messages, the government gives us no privacy. The message in the movie is to fight back against the government, in hopes for a new life and better future.
The television show, Narcos, shows how the Columbian drug lord Pablo Escobar was involved in the massive drug problems in Miami, Florida. The show regularly addresses how detrimental to society the cocaine drug war was to the city. It showed the massive amounts of people in the city being affected by these drugs being smuggled it. The narrator of the show is a DEA agent in Miami, and about half of the show takes the perspective of him trying to fight against the men behind the smuggling of drugs. The overall message conveyed to the watchers is that a massive influx of drugs anywhere takes over the lives of almost all of the citizens living there and causes an incredible amount of problems.
The television show It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia addresses many social issues. Although most issues are brought up with humor, they are still eminent within the show. It's Always Sunny shows a group of 5 friends going through life and facing everyday issues. The show regularly addresses issues such as racism, sexual orientation, drug and alcohol abuse, and bullying. The overall message of the television show is that these issues are apart of everyday life, even if we don't think they are. This group of five friends goes out and faces these challenges and usually finds a way to over come them all. (although not always in the most appropriate way).
I happened to catch up on Keeping up with the Kardashians over break. This show displays a number of social issues in many different ways. A social issue that is very clear would be the way people get an abundance of money and the things they do with it. A social issue that stood out to me was the way Scott Disick (Kourtneys ex boyfriend)acts in front of the couples two small children. He throws things,screams and drinks too often. Binge drinking is also an ongoing issue that leads to many things mailny divorce and domestic violence. Violence in front of children sadly occurs very often these days. The Kardasians have an issue with their now transgender father Caitlyn Jenner which is considered a form of discrimination against people who choose to be transgender like he did. The show just all around displays alot of issues.
Akame ga Kill is a Japanese anime about an empire's corrupted government, and the rebels that are working to take it down. Tatsumi, a talented young warrior from a small village in the countryside, joins the mysterious vigilante group of assasins called Night Raid to aid in their quest to liberate the people from a tyranical government. One of the horrible markets the members of Night Raid takes down is the slave trade. This applies to real life because sex trafficking is still a huge problem. The best way to fix it would be for law enforcement to crack down harder to find these missing people and free them before critical damage to their mental, emotional, and physical health.
Over break, I watched Cyberbully featuring Emily Osment. In this movie, she is surrounded by two societal problems; social media and bullying. She finally joins a website that all of her friends and classmates go on. As she gets situated on social media, her profile gets hacked. She eventually gains control again, but it gets worse. "Popular" girls start to spread rumors and bully her on this website, gaining people to join in using hurtful words. She cannot escape it for it is online for the rest of her life. Over time she progressively gets worse and has depression and suicidal thoughts. Turns out, her best friend was in on the "fun". In the end, the main character gets help and wants to enforce a cyberbully law. This movie shows the emotions, the torture, the hurtful words, and nerves within bullying and social media. The overall message in this movie is that words do hurt, so if you have nothing nice to say, don't say it at all. Don't use social media to put someone else down, because it never goes away. The characters in the story line fight for a cyberbullying law in which they succeed.
Over break, I watched the movie Brick Mansions featuring Paul Walker. The plot of the movie is to stop drug use in their city. An undercover cop, Paul Walker goes to "Brick Mansions" to try to find the source of the production of the drugs and tries to stop it. The societal problem featured is drug use. The message being conveyed is anti-drug use. The problem is presented by showing groups of people in labs making the drugs, specifically cocaine, and the undercover and another man named Leno trying to find the source and get him into custody. The overall message of the movie is anti-drug use and that the use of drugs is bad, and frowned upon in society, and set apart from everyone else. The Brick Mansions symbolize the separation and discrimination of the drug users and sellers because Brick Mansions is a separate part of the city, blocked off by security. It is shown as a bad and unsafe part of town, symbolizing that drug use is bad.
Over the break I watched a copious amount of American Dad! in which each episode has a skit that addresses certain social issues, many dealing with high school problems and opposing political views. Stan the american dad is a very conservative man on a political stand point while his daughter is the complete opposite with very strong liberal ideals, with each episode someone learning a lesson on top of the comedic value the show brings to the table. One in particular instance is when Haley, the daughter, is forced to use a gun to kill an intruder although she is very against using them, which swaps her mentality for a short period until she learns it was staged by her father. Later in the episode Stan soon realizes that guns do have harmful and damaging affects on individuals besides the intended purpose and views guns in a different light. This shows social ignorance and an imbalance in ideals that is resolved through comedic effect and gives both sides of the argument to better educate and eliminate the ignorance around the problem.
Over the weekend, I watched Divergent. Divergent is a movie about Tris Prior who lives in a futuristic world where the society is divided into five factions. When each person enters adulthood, they must decide what faction that would like to live in for the rest of their lives, meanwhile leaving family and loved ones. Tris's initiation to Dauntless leads to the discovery of the Divergent. Someone who fits into too many categories of the society. Divergents are not accepted in this futuristic world. Which leads to the societal problem in our world of bullying. Many people are bullied for the way they look, what they like to wear, or their beliefs. The solution that the bullies have is to make the victim self conscious and embarrassed because of their beliefs. The solution the victim could have is to stand up for themselves, contact an adult, or go on with life not caring about what others think. In the movie Divergent, being a divergent becomes more normal. They become a group who go against Jeanine (the leader) and take her down. Then divergents take over.
To be honest, I actually didn’t wth a lot of movies/tv shows over break. Lots of work, family time, and sleep ensued, but I found time for a few movies and shows. The best, in my opinion, being Parks and Recreation. The show focuses on the Parks and Rec department of a small local government in the fictional town of Pawnee, Indiana. The show follows Leslie Knope, deputy of the Parks and Rec department, as she takes on local government (and non-government) issues. Her dream one day is to become the first female President of the United States. She works with her fellow office members to try to provide the best parks experiences for her constituents, while working on her campaign for city council, combating the image that women aren’t powerful and can’t do a lot, while also balancing time for a boyfriend and a social life. Knope looks up to the women she has seen successful in government, and hopes to add her own name to the list of successful women in government that little girls look up to. She works her butt off to promote gender equality and eliminate the use of gender roles in her community through many hard-driven efforts, including the Pawnee Goddesses (S4xE4), a non-affiliated Girl Scouts that eventually allows boys into the group as well; the Miss Pawnee Pageant(S2xE3), where Knope tried to look past the contestants physical appearance and pick a hard-working, talented young girl; and when she went out of her way to collect trash with the male trash collectors (S5xE11) (side note: I am not this far yet, sourced from Buzzfeed), when she works to get more women involved in government-related positions. Leslie Knope does a beautiful job of bringing to light the disadvantage women have in trying to be genuine, beautiful, kind, and successful.
One of the shows I watched is called "Bates Motel" , Bates Motel is tv series based off of Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho" (1960) but modernized. The show follows a mother and her youngest son Norman throughout the time they operate a motel in Oregon while her son struggles with psychotic mental issues. Norma, his mother tries to protect Norman from himself and from the outside world after he blacks out one day and kills his abusive father with a blender. After Norma realizes what has happen they proceed to cover the murder up and move, purchasing a motel. Because of this incident Norma and Norman grow very close, leaving Dylan his older brother to question their relationship. As time presses on Norman struggles fitting in, while dealing with his 'blackouts' as they become more and more dangerous. Several of the episodes leave on a cliffhanger as Norman has another one of his 'blackouts' with the end result of dead women. As Norman slowly slips from sanity, Dylan realizes that something is seriously wrong with him and pressures Norma to put him in a mental care facility for his own protection. This tv series makes a societal commentary about mental illness through the inability of Norma denying something is wrong with Norman because of the stigma mental illness holds in this society. Norma doesn't want to admit that something is dangerously wrong with Norman and it's nothing her motherly over protectiveness can contain. Although our society is trying to take great steps in, dissolving the stigmas of mental illness. Many people don't understand the broad range of people affected and will stereotype the individual with some crazed version dreamed up in a movie. Bates Motel speaks out about the ability of people to openly ignore the telling signs of mental illness in their loved ones because they are ashamed. Or in Norma's case they think it's their fault that their child is sick, so in turn they try to protect the child while denying he or she the medical attention they need. I think the message conveyed is that, if mental illness is left untreated it can damage both the person and the people around it with dire consequences.
This weekend I watched "The Help" with my Grandma. The problem presented was racism and this was shown in the treatment of African Americans after they received rights. This movie was based about racism in the south and how white families treated the black maids they hired. The main character was a white woman who wanted to write a book with stories the black maids shared. The stories they shared helped the main character understand the cruelty of the white bosses. The purpose of this movie was to emphasize the horrible behavior towards the black families during the post civil war period.
I recently started watching the Netflix documentary "Making a Murderer". It is a documentary about a man who was wrongfully convicted of rape and spent 18 years of his life in jail. DNA evidence proved that he was innocent. He was then accused of a murder a few years after being let out. The societal problem in this documentary is the injustices and corruption of our legal system. The problem is presented by showing evidence about the corruption that led him to be jailed in the first place and the strange circumstances of the murder. The overall message being conveyed is that being innocent until proven guilty is not accurate. The legal system is corrupt and can get away with terrible things.
I watched a lot of the show The Office over break, which is a workplace sit-com filmed in the style of a documentary with confessionals and secret camera work to give the audience an omniscient point of view. In one episode Dwight, a salesman at Dunder Mifflin, is concerned like many of the other employees that their branch of the paper company is being shut down. One of Dwight’s defining characteristics is his undying devotion and admiration for his branch manager Michael Scott, however in this episode he goes behind Michael’s back in an attempt to “save” his and his co-worker’s jobs. He sneaks out of the office and goes to Jan, a part of the company’s corporate offices, and insists that if she promotes him to Michael’s job that he can save the branch. By doing this we see man’s hunger for power and what he will do to seek it. It is very unlike Dwight to sneak behind Michael’s back, whom he likes to consider his friend and his role model, and he does it purely for the power that he is lusting for so that his dream of being branch manager can finally be fulfilled. Even though the branch remains open for a totally unrelated reason than the conflict brought up in this episode, Michael ends up finding out of Dwight’s attempt at his job and punishes him, conveying the message that you should work towards success and not take shortcuts and also that power is not always the most important thing in life.
Over break, I watched my favorite show, Orange is the New Black (or OITNB for short). This show is about a woman named Piper Chapman who is facing, and undergoes, jailtime for a crime she committed 10 years prior. She's a pampered rich girl who must learn how to survive prison life. Leaving her fiance behind was hard enough, but then her ex-girlfriend is shown to be at the same prison, making things even harder for her. A problem which was only briefly introduced in the grand scheme of things within the show was people's disdain towards homosexuality. Piper was in a relationship previously with a girl named Alex and Piper's parents made it obvious that they weren't happy about it very briefly. She shrugs off their ignorance but the overall message being displayed is that people within the LGBT community are *people*, yet some look at them as disgraces for whatever reason (be it ignorance, upbringing, or religion). This ideology is wrong and society should be educated on tolerance of others no matter what.
Over break i started a netflix series called 90210, i used to watch the show a while back with my mom on tv but i started it again because of how much i liked it. This show is about a group of teens that go to high school together but there is a ton of drama. The major problem that caught my eye in the show is this girl Adrienne. Adrienne is 16 year old girl in the show that has a drug problem. She barely has any family, except her mom but her mom uses her and treats her poorly. Her mom isn't wealthy but adrienne is a very good actress and gets money for the shows that she plays a role in. She was very stressed in the first couple of episodes because she has to be the mom in the family and support her and her mom, and i believe that is why her drug addiction started.
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