Tom's Film History II Blog

Bling Empire offers a simple answer to why Reaganomics has never worked; the ultra-rich are too concerned with petty melodrama (and, more realistically, maximizing the profit margin) to do their part in meeting everyone's basic needs. Of course, reality TV fabricates its narratives, so the show-runners' depiction of wealth is completely intentional. Its sub-narratives are designed to frustrate the viewer. By nature, the mass audience is well out of the subjects of  Bling Empire's  tax bracket. We hold the knowledge that our practical problems (i.e. student loans) could be solved in a day with their money. When Anna May throws Dior at Kevin like it's nothing, we know how much of a difference that money could make for people that need it. Even Christine's gesture of sponsoring Chinese orphans feels self-interested. Although it is a real, tangible means of redistributing wealth, she mentions it multiple times and uses it as an avenue toward moral relativism against Ann

"Occult Racism" by Louisa Schein and Va-Megn Thoj is one of the best readings from this class so far. While it is disturbing, it includes many thought-provoking insights on race, namely how institutions in America like our legal system and media are set up against people of color. What sets it apart from other articles is the tragic but mind-bending case of life-imitating-art-imitating-life.  "Occult Racism" investigates the extensive reach of systemic oppression. For example, as cited in the article, Chai Vang was set up for failure because he was tried in the U.S.: "it's just an all-white jury, but the defense attorney's got to explain how a person of a minority culture in this country can feel that the majority culture doesn't value their life" (427). In the same way, Chai Vang felt that his life was not valued by the hunters who harassed him. This goes to show how bias works on both an individual and a cultural level. Steve McQueen directin

I cannot call myself a fan of K-pop, but I have no good reason to denounce it, either. In the same way that I have very little interest in Selena Gomez or Ed Sheeran records, I would never go out of my way to listen to K-pop. I think it's pretty formulaic but admittedly a little catchy and, although I don't find it worse than a lot of American pop, I am not generally interested in the bubble gum sound. To me, though, what I respect about K-pop as an industry is how they have played on the formulas of American pop. As noted by Yoon, “Media studies scholars have recently defined the phenomenal rise of K-pop as ‘a way to counter the threat of the Western-dominated media market’” (374). In this respect, K-pop is extremely successful, and I'm sure they would not care to hear my opinion given that they have massive, dedicated fanbases that run up streams and make them millions of dollars. An assertion from Yoon that I am interested in exploring is about the abusive, or at least b

Pen15 deflects pain into humor. We all remember the awkward stage of middle school; it lacks the childlike bliss of elementary and the relative adulthood of high school. I doubt anyone has fond memories of middle school. While I can’t draw conclusions about the show as a whole having only seen 3 episodes, the tone of Pen15 fits my memories of middle school. In fact, I remember learning the joke “pen15” being taught to me around this age by a friend of my older brother. A detail I appreciated was the way they cussed, sounding like they had just learned these foul words and were still working out how to put them in context. At this age, misconceptions about sex, drugs and other “adult” topics are perpetuated endlessly. Unfortunately, the juvenile humor is not always innocent. Maya is bullied ruthlessly, probably due to her race in part. While it seems like mere joking, this sort of bullying can lead to alienation and melancholia.  Is humor the best way to deal with racial melancholia?