Considering that this was a blog that was posted up near the beginning of the semester, but that I am doing it at the end- I think it adds more "depth" per say. Like the General Analysis paper that we had to do- I thought it was going to be a tough road ahead, thinking that I had to do deep, deep research for what exactly I am covering on (which is whitewashing in the media). But after awhile, it actually got easier and easier- I thought that not a lot of people had covered media whitewashing, but quite the contrary, there have been a lot of articles and news posts about said controversy, so I was loaded with sites and articles that would help me out in my General Analysis paper. The Literature Review was somewhat difficult- one main reason being is that I sort of procrastinated for a bit, but I still worked on it by choosing an article that had more- depth into it, that had more ethos, pathos and logos. I would like to think that I chose the right article of all, but- I'm not too sure- there were a lot of great ones that I could've used for my Literature Review, but I worked with what I chose and I was happy with my selection. My Opinion Piece, which I thought was going to be an easy ride to a 100- but I got too cocky and rushed it without going over it thoroughly and getting a better grade that I hoped (I got a 70 out of a 100). The grade I received is not a terrible grade, I mean it's passing, but I still wished for a better grade. I blame myself for not reviewing it before turning it in. And finally, the Documentary Project- this was the project I was waiting all semester to work on, considering the fact that I am a Digital Media Production (filmmaker) major and editing was child's play to me, this was going to be easy. Or so I thought- we had to work in groups. Normally, I enjoy working in groups, but I was paired up with people whom I had no chemistry with, with the exception of my friend who was part of the group. Some of them brought in some research- and by some, I mean my friend and myself- the other two did nothing but had me worried the entire time of the project; worrying if I was going to finish this on time. Editing all together by myself is not a problem but it is still a lot of work. So, with the final project already finished and edited- I thought to myself that I think that I did a really great job on it. Probably my finest work of all of my assignments. There was one aspect that I didn't capture of the documentary, but it's a rather small one, so overall- a great job, if I may say so myself. So, in the end, I think I ended up doing a great job with my assignments in class. Yeah, I did rush and worry with some of them, but I ended up getting good grades with all of them, making me= satisfied.
There was an online opinion piece called "Why Are We Still Whitewashing?", and it covers the basis with racial and gender diversity. I think that it covers most of ethos and logos, but not enough pathos- for one, it explained how African-American models on those beauty magazines, through the photoshop phase, they would make the African-American models-- "whiter". Some of the accusations or some producers would say, reasons, of this is that it would appeal to wider audiences. When you think of it, it sounds ridiculous- but it does happen. It even explains it in the movie industry- that white actors would portray diverse characters because Hollywood studio executives think that white actors sell more tickets and bring in more money and audiences. Once again it uses ethos and logos very well as it cites sources from other works and from producers, etc, but again- no use of pathos. No emotion going in the opinion piece at all. How I would've done with the piece's pathos, is brought up Halle Berry's Oscar acceptance speech where she stated that it's difficult for African-American actors in the industry to get noticed in the Oscars, considering that she was the ONLY African-American actress to have won the Best Actress award. Also, throughout the piece, it doesn't have any advocacy on what to do about it- what I think could be done, is that more recently, since we live in the Age of the Internet, is that when people find out about whitewashed roles, they would sign petitions against the film or the studio so that they would understand what exactly they are doing. So far, studio executives have taken this into account and added diversity into some films. More and more films are doing as such. So, overall, this opinion piece is mediocre, I mean- it just needed work on it's pathos (a lot of work) and it needed advocacy.
Alright, well- I finished watching Artifact, a documentary on the rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars' record problems with their label company. After watching it, I just gotta say- it is so damn interesting! Throughout the entire documentary, I was glued onto the screen with interest. The way it was filmed and told onto the screen- the music they have used is somewhat rock and at times a smooth techno. The way it got information to the audience was so sublime and creative. The entire time I was shocked and intrigued. I didn't think any shots or audio was out of sync or needed improvement. Honestly, if I wanted to make a documentary- this is the kind of style I would want it to be in (even though I already finished the documentary project in a different kind of style). You know who's who and you know what the main goal is, and throughout- It was just an intense viewing. The only other memorable documentary I really liked was Life Itself, the documentary about Roger Ebert, but- I think Artifact is a re-watchable one. Without a doubt. They did use a lot of ethos in Artifact and hell lot of pathos- these guys are artists, and they don't earn a cent from their work cause of corporate greed. That hits you right on the heart- and it also had a lot of logos, explaining why some things were done the way they were. By the end, you're glad that the band got their way after a LONG journey against the label company- but, you kind of understand how the company works- you gotta pay for everything somehow. Someone's going to have to pay for all of it. This documentary has shown me a different kind of viewing towards music artists who put their dedication, their heart and soul into their musical fusion craft, and the consumers (people) and the company just take advantage of it. It's almost pretty sad in a way. Nonetheless, it's still an amazing documentary that has to be seen by fans of Thirty Seconds to Mars, music lovers (technically everyone), aspiring filmmakers- everyone needs to see this documentary, it's not good, it's excellent. It very much so deserves an A.
Well, from what I've seen in our group- we have a lot of research to go through. It's going to be a difficult task to do. Some of the difficulties we face are that some of our group members are not available whenever we try to meet, but I'm fairly certain we can manage. Another challenge would be trying to focus on what particular point of the whitewashing issue to light on. The Academy Awards? Stereotyping certain roles on diverse groups? Or maybe even those two combined together? We have certain points that we would like to talk about, but on how to bring it all together is going to be a challenge... I usually don't like to work in groups, one main point being that not all of the time can we all come together, but I am willing to make this group work. The expectations that I have for this group is that we need to stay focused throughout the entire two weeks, we all need to bring in creative ideas- any ideas that can make this information interesting and can catch people's attention. We all agreed on my topic, which is Whitewashing in the Media, which is a big issue and one that everyone should know, also it seems to be the fairly 'easy one'? But, I am being optimistic about this- which is a good thing, I want to be optimistic about our group working together and making our one true goal work: Getting it Done Right.
After reviewing some of my past work, and the way I'm thinking about plagiarism, I think it's such a dishonest thing to do to not only to your professors or to the original creator, but to yourself when you cannot come up with something original or even take some of the original work and make it into your own words- its dishonest and horrible. I think plagiarism is such an overlooked issue, especially in the day-and-age that we are in, with such advanced technology we students have, I think that plagiarism is still an issue. Not only with "Copy & Paste" existing in technology, but the fact that students can go into the deep web and find citations that are- "untraceable", making it difficult for professors to look to see if what the student says is legit and not simply copied, I think that it's getting easier and easier as the years go by. By the time you know it, plagiarism can be looking at you right in the face and you wouldn't know it. Knowing myself, when I was much younger, I might've committed plagiarism unintentionally, since I didn't know what that term meant. After I learned what it means, I completely stopped because I always wanted to treat everyone fairly.
The primary research is going to be a challenge, but however, I am up for the challenge. The questions I would probably be asking would be "How do you think whitewashing has reflected upon the media?" I think that this is an important question and one that actually gets people thinking. I think I would ask the same questions, such as "Why does it matter in our society?" Another question I would ask would be "How does it affect racially diverse groups?" and "What are studio executives doing about it?" I think based off of people's personal's opinions on these sorts of questions would describe a clear range of how audiences really think of whitewashing in media. The people I would be asking would be my film professor, who writes screenplays every now and then, and I think asking him these questions would be perfect for my primary research. Another would be a survey among students who watch movies, mainly those who are part of "Film Club", and ask them whether that is this really a concern. And recently with a little movement going on through the web called "Boycott Force Awakens" saying that the new Star Wars film is 'Anti-White'. With that going on, I think that would shift people's minds into one certain area- mainly that whitewashing is a concern and that people should be okay and embrace diverse casts. Will be conducting this further...
My topic is Biased Media, or Whitewashing, as it mainly falls under my major (Digital Media Production). I have closed in on a couple of research questions that I would like to answer in the research essays. One of the questions is "Why does Whitewashing matter?"- and that is an important question to answer in our modern time. The next question would be "What are studio executives doing about it?" is also another important question to ask and answer because lately, it either seems that some studios are doing something to avoid whitewashing or nothing at all just to gain money. The third question would be "What are the controversies surrounding the whitewashing and how does it affect racially diverse groups?" is major thing to look at- an example would be Johnny Depp playing Tonto in the Lone Ranger and Native Americans took this to offense. There are many racially diverse groups or religious diverse groups to be looked at when it comes to whitewashing.
Overall, I think these are questions that are great to ask and answer for this specific issue currently going on. |
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December 2015
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