Trevor Coopersmith Blog #4 extra credit question 1

In David Mamet's Oleanna, both Carol and John represent real life American struggles and ordeals. Carol takes the side of a feminist woman who resents the average white male and his ideas. In the beginning of Oleanna, Carol is portrayed as innocent and craving knowledge. "I'm trying to understand it." "I can't, I don't understand. I don't know what it means." Carol is representing the female working class. She works very hard to achieve her goals, but feels denied and shot down. Carol begins to ask John multiple questions and visits him often to acquire knowledge. John is the white male who is purchasing a new house and uses a wide range of vocabulary, which intimidates Carol. John goes on rants as how he is imperfect, flawed, and was told that he was incompetent as a child. John does this in an attempt to relate to Carol. This correlates to the way that men often attempt to relate to women in the workplace. Men of higher authority tend to comfort women and make them feel safer. Carol is in need of assistance and she turns to John to help, providing John with overall power over Carol. This hierarchy soon shifts dramatically when Carol acclaims that she was raped by John. "Can somebody help me please!" Carol is asking other people for assistance other than John. Soon Carol returns and John realizes that by him grabbing Carol and preventing her from running away, he is being charged with rape. Carol is in complete control over John and writes a list of demands used to bribe John. Carol begins reading the demands and educates John. "You yapping fool!" "You have been wrong." Carol schooling John on common sense and sexual harassment issues in the workplace. John's mistake cost him his job.

 "an unsubstantiated charge could ruin the career and life of an absolutely innocent individual." - J.K. Curry. John is left without his new house, his job, and his reputation. The loss of John's prized possessions are due to Carol's preposterous allegations. This represents real American sexual harassment lawsuits in the workplace. Many men often lose their job due to certain phrases or actions mistakenly done. These charges can be dramatically exaggerated and even very far from the truth. David Mamet's worldview based on Oleanna is that many men are often shot down from well earned power due to false claims and charges. John is a perfect example of a life torn apart due to relatively harmless actions towards a woman.

Blog Post #4 (Extra Credit) Due by FRI, 04/05

*** I'm posting some audience reactions/clips that may be of interest to you as/when you answer the questions below. Certainly feel free to comment on any of them/use them/link them/reference them. I like, and I know a lot of you do as well, video feed and commentary that adds a nicely multidimensional element to the conversation.

Question 1: Marxist theorist Georg Luka´cs, a Russian formalist, believed that “a detailed analysis of symbols, images, and other literary devices would reveal class conflict and expose the direct relationship between the  economic base and the superstructure reflected in art. [This is] known as reflection theory. This approach to literary analysis declares that a text directly reflects a society’s consciousness . . . For these theorists, literature is a part of the superstructure and directly reflects the economic base. By giving a text a close reading, these critics believe they can reveal the reality of a text and the author’sWeltanschauung, or worldview. It is the critic’s job to show how the characters within the text are typical of their historical, socioeconomic setting and the author’s worldview.”

Using the general idea of reflection theory, explain how the characters in Oleanna reflect real-world (and American) ideas, problems, concerns, beliefs (for example, how does the play reveal anxieties about higher education? The tenure system? How does the play reflect concerns about sexual harassment in the workplace (its use as a “tool” to advance versus genuine accusation)? What does the play establish about students coming from a working class, or as Carol says, “a different social, a different economic” place and who endure “prejudices” that can be “economic” and “sexual” (among other things)? Basically, how does the play reflect the position of a lower-class student whose economic and sexual positions/preferences are outside the dominant ideal? What does the play establish about exploitation in the classroom that might mirror what can and does happen to students and professors? Etc. etc. What do you think the author’s worldview might look like based purely on Oleanna?

Question 2: In well known feminist theorist Elaine Showalter’s indictment of Oleanna ("Acts of Violence: David Mamet and the Language of Men"), she writes, “In making his female protagonist a dishonest, androgynous zealot, and his male protagonist a devoted husband and father who defends freedom of thought, Mamet does not exactly wrestle with the moral complexities of sexual harassment. What he has written is a polarizing play about a false accusation of sexual harassment, and that would be fair enough--false accusations of harassment, rape and child abuse indeed occur--if he were not claiming to present a balanced, Rashomon-like case. The disturbing questions about power, gender and paranoia raised in Oleanna cannot be resolved with an irrational act of violence."

Essentially, Showalter is saying that the characters are drawn so extremely that the play doesn’t accomplish what Mamet suggested it should (he tells us that, no matter who’s side we're on, we’re “wrong”, which suggests Carol's and John's perspectives are presented fairly and evenly, making it difficult for us to determine who to favor). What do you think? Using Showalter’s article, make a determination about the nature of the protagonist/antagonist relationship here: who’s who? 

Question 3: A definition of literary characterization: “Authors reveal characters by other means [than words and actions]. Physical descriptions can indicate important inner qualities; disheveled clothing, a crafty smile, or a blush might communicate as much as or more than what a character says. Characters can also be revealed by the words and actions of others who respond to them” (Making Literature Matter 117). Consider both Carol’s and John’s clothing, general physical appearance, body language, and facial expressions. How do these things contribute to their character development? Consider especially Carol’s changing outfits and demeanor should you focus on her; you might think about John’s clothing, mannerisms, and how he moves in his physical space (as well as what that space looks like) if you focus on John.

Question 4: Scholar Richard Badenhausen (“The Modern Academy Raging in the Dark: Misreading Mamet's Political Incorrectness in Oleanna"), acknowledges that “In discussing the 1992 debut of David Mamet's Oleanna, audiences and critics tended to highlight two features of the play: its indictment of political correctness on college campuses in America and its treatment of sexual harassment, an issue made more potent then by the just-concluded October, 1991, Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings.¹ Both of these timely themes allowed spectators of varied political persuasions to take up the cause of the Left or Right via the play's two characters, characters polarized not only in their gender, but physically, generationally, and educationally.”

However, he argues that, “Oleanna ultimately explores the perils of inferior teaching and the subsequent misreadings that necessarily follow in a pedagogical environment that tacitly reinforces (instead of collapsing or bridging) hierarchical differences amongst its participants. In fact, this is more a play about teaching, reading, and understanding: how to do those things well and the consequences of doing them poorly. As such, Oleanna  offers an ominous commentary on education in America and more particularly functions as a dire warning both to and about those doing the educating.”

Question 5: J.K Curry (“David Mamet's Oleanna as Commentary on Sexual Harassment in the Academy”) asserts that "The problem with Oleanna is that it is not really, or not primarily, about sexual harassment at all, ut rather about false allegations. Or, perhaps more accurately, about exaggerated or distorted claims of harassment, for John actually has said or done many of the things in Carol's report, though in slightly different context. The work obscures the issue of sexual harassment by suggesting that sexual harassment is really a ploy of militant feminists to disempower and destroy white, middle-class, male academics. (The article as a whole offers a Marxist/feminist analysis of the play.) 

Do you agree with Curry? If so, how and where does the play argue that sexual harassment is simply a tool of disempowerment meant to destroy those with more power and cultural cache (educated white males being a major such group)? Be sure to quote directly from the article.

****I will be posting a few more questions over the weekend, so if none of these particularly interest you, you might wait.

****The articles mentioned in the questions are in BB's "Content".

Bryce Lenhart Blog #3

After watching the video I definitely agree with the message that it hopes to deliver to it's audience. Still in today's society, women are treated like objects instead of intelligent, ambitious human beings. I was completely shocked with the statistics that the United States trails behind much of the world, ranking 90th in the number of women in our national legislature. It is amazing that even after all the strides women's rights  has made, there are still 50% less women than men who consider running for office. It is morally wrong that when the women who do look to have more powerful roles in society, they are immediately judged on their looks. In the movie it made the comparison between Sarah Palin and Hilary Clinton. Sarah Palin was compared to as a "sex object" while Hilary Clinton was called an "ugly" bitch. Right away we physically judge women and note if they are "good looking" enough to be in the running for office. Men on the other hand are not judged at all for their looks , but by there intelligence. It is a huge double standard that our society has which is pathetic. We should be more concerned with women's morals, values, and intelligence than their physical attributes. This is a terrible message that we are sending to not only our young girls who learn that the only way to power is sex appeal, but to our young boys who are taught to treat women this way.

The show Family guy is widely popular throughout the country for its crude humor and confrontational remarks. There are many times in the show where women are not created equal to men when it comes to them socially, politically, or academically. It is very common to hear degrading remarks intended towards women during the show. A large population of the people who watch this show are teenage boys and as they hear and watch what women are compared to can be quite dangerous. The show Family Guy might not be meant to be taken literally, but even though it is expressed through a joke, it can be have a huge reflection on the problem we have in society when it comes the equality for women. No matter what episode you watch of Family Guy there are going to be sexist remarks intended to women and it shows the complete disrespect the male gender can have on women. Women are merely compared to as objects on this show and not people with "voice" which makes us question how low our moral and ethical standards have dropped. 

Andrea Abbott Blog 3: "Feminism"

The documentary, “Miss Representation,” inspired me to become a Feminist. From the comments and concerns among the women representatives, it seems essential for females to fight together to gain more power. One observer commented that men may vote for women in elections but often it’s the women having trouble voting for their own sex. In we cannot respect and believe in ourselves then no one will.

Some statistics that shocked me were that we make 77 cents for every 1 dollar men earn. Also, the power leaders meant to defend our “freedoms” and “equality” only represent 6% of the country (they’re mostly white middle-aged males). Merely 54 women have been a part of congress as opposed to 2,319 men. And, much of the reason that females are still unequal is because the media’s telling us how to look and act. Surrounded by endless amounts of advertisements, shows and movies about weight and beauty we’re socialized into thinking that’s all we should care about. About 71% of girls between 20 and 30 make up our media, while leaving out the majority of females in the country. Only a few play the protagonists in movies, however it’s usually in “chick flicks” and centered on a male. We never see movies about a woman on a journey searching for power such as in “Lord of the Rings” or “Star Wars”. I can’t think of a legitimate excuse as to why the majority of females are fine with this, except that maybe growing up this way, it has become a norm.

The TV show “Girls,” challenges American culture by displaying “average” looking women facing every day dilemmas. Instead of the typical model having sex in a scene, the director herself, Lena Dunham shows the world that ordinary women are intimate as well and should not be ashamed. Dunham wants to portray real life so that females can once and for all be satisfied with who they are, instead of striving for more. For me, the show really demonstrates how to be yourself and feel judged free. Hopefully over time, more productions and advertisements will follow in the “Girls” footsteps so that women everywhere may finally feel accepted and equal to men.

 In my opinion, if this documentary were shown continuously throughout grade schools across the nation, females may fight harder for their freedoms. Towards the end of the video Gandhi wrote, “Be the change you wish to see in the world,” which I believe sums up it up best.

Miss Representation Nicholas Richards

I agreed with most of the stuff that was talked about in this film. What caught me off guard the most was the facts it told us. One major one was about how so many other countries have way more women in politics then the U.S. There were a few things that I did not agree with. One of the speakers said "if girls don't spend time thinking about weight, all the world problems would be gone." I think this assumption is way to out there and doesn't really have any legs to stand on. Another quote I disagreed with was "If the board doesn't have any women, it chooses the wrong thing." To me, this is just a stupid comment. You can't tell me that men have never chosen to do the right thing.One quote I strongly agree with is "Girls are used as sexual objects." Although women choose to go along with these parts, that still is a main role for women. Even the women who play a stronger role, usually still wear sexy outfits and fall in love with a guy in the movie. One movie that really uses women as sex objects is all of the fast n furious movies. Almost every women you see in that movie is wearing the skimpiest outfits. Even the main girl who is supposed to be the opposite of all the "fast girls" still is an extremely beautiful girl who exposes her body through out the movies. One quote that I really didn't expect to hear, but got me to thinking was, "Women had the most opposition to women police chief and fire captain." This really through me off because you would think that women gaining rights would make men upset not women. Something as big as women being able to become chief and captain should be celebrated by women not down talked because by women.   
  

Blog Post #3 Miss Representation Lee Bowen

After watching the film "Miss Representation" I feel like I have a new perspective on woman in power today. So many people are just not used to a woman taking charge and having leader ship and find it threatening, especially men. Except what people don't account for is that women are just as equal to men in every aspect and that there emotions can be a benefit in certain situations. A quote I found was "You can't be what you can't see" which was by Marian wright Edelman. This quote means that if a woman doesn't hold power and isn't looked at as a leader then how are younger girls suppose to feel like they can eventually have a chance to hold some power among men. Or If you can't see a woman president than how are younger girls suppose to think that they can one day be the president. I agreed with the part of the film that says woman learn to conform by the media's expectation on how to look and act a certain way. Most woman want to be as close to perfect as they can according to the medias outlook of what it means to be perfect and when a woman can't meet these media displays of perfection then she most likely will lose a part of her self confidence. Some of my friends though and my girlfriend have been influenced a lot by overly high expectations in media on how they should present themselves. I gathered a few statistics from the film that I thought were relevant and they are "65% of women and girls have an eating disorder, 17% of teens engage in cutting and self-injurious behavior." I chose these because they show how insecure women have become in the last years due to not meeting what they think is perfect in our modern day society. This leads to depression and a minimized amount of ones self-worth.
After watching Seth MacFarlane's song performance "i saw your boobs" at the oscars I admit I thought it was humorous. Except some parts these woman did which showed their boobs were intense scenes not at all meant to be sexual. These woman are serious actresses and shouldn't just be remembered by how often they showed their boobs on camera. I find it puzzling why women actresses don't get more head roles in hollywood productions. The film had said that even when it seems a woman has an important part in a movie that it still all revolves around the man. That really made me think and when I tried to think back about all the movies I have seen with main women characters that in some way they are connected back to a man. It's like there is no individuality for a woman and a film can't just be about her without it having to do with finding the right guy or living her life without any men trying to take control.
I believe women need to be heard more and presented more in a realistic fashion. I'm a woman but I know I don't look like a fashion model on cable. I am actually completely opposite you could say. I have no intention of meeting what the media wants. I am a homosexual woman who is very masculine you could say, and i'm okay with that. People need to look at themselves and feel comfortable without being influenced every day with unrealistic expectations.

Miss Representation

While watching the film for the second time this school year, I have come to the conclusion that I would have to disagree with what the film has to offer. Growing up as I have, and my personal views, I strongly believe that this film is very one sided. The people that were in the film such as Jane Fonda, who is a successful actress, knowing what I know about her, and what she has done to this country and our military, makes me sick. Know this is just my own personal view, and you may disagree with me. But standing on my views, I did not agree with the majority of the film. A quote that I thought stood out the most to me was "If people knew that Cuba, China, Irag, and Afganistan have more women in government then the United States of America, that would get some people upset". Ok, that might be true, but did we forget that women in Irag and Afgnistan literally have no rights. They are controlled by their man, and have to be covered from head to toe in cloth. If we think that women in the United States have no "power", try to live in places where you literally dont have any say in anything. And in China, males have the upper hand. They are the superior ones. This is were my views come into play, because people over here think that women have absolutely no say in anything. Well, i'd rather live in the USA than in the Middle East.

In class we talked about the academy awards, and the song "I saw your boobs".  I understand why people might take this offensively, but keeping in mind that the host was a comedian, and this was the kind of stuff he makes fun of. He makes fun of everything, just like any female comedian such as Kathy Griffin, Chelsea Handler, or even Whitney Cummings. They all make fun of both male and females. Not just one gender. Another thing while listening to the song was that these actresses knew what they were getting themselves into when they decided to show their boobs. They knew the world would see it regardless if it was a deep movie or funny movie. Some people find the human body to be beautiful no matter what the gender is. And when people say "nipple slip", yeah the poor girl had a wardrobe malfunction. Its not a big deal.

Does the media play a big role in today's society? Sure it does, but to make your own opinion about a certain topic, then dont relay on the media. Do your own research and listen to both parties. Not just one, than decide on where you think you stand.