http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Py5qAH7wELY
I chose a clip from the movie Hitch. In this clip Hitch, who is played by will smith is teaching, Albert how to dance before the party. I think hitch came out in early 2005. I think the release of the movie and how America portrays the white culture as not having rhythm is evident in this clip. The movie is a romantic comedy aimed at young couples and singles, trying to teach them at Love is not something that can be manipulated.
The clip shows Albert ( the uncoordinated white guy) doing all of these outrageous dances, while Hitch ( the cool calm and collected black guy) is trying to persuade him not to do all these crazy moves. It seems like the stereotype portrayed here is that blacks know ahow to be cool calm and collected, while whites do things they don’t need to. The clip, to me gave the message that white people could do things like become successful lawyers, but cannot handle simple things like dancing or talking to females. I think the clip also sends the message that all black people can dance, but I don’t think that is the case in every situation. I don’t think the movie is making these connections in a discriminatory way. But the idea that a black man, knows everything about finding love is not easy to believe. I think the idea that being yourself can go along way, is being promoted in this film. But the clip promotes kind of do what fits the mainstream so you don’t stand out.
This film promotes stereotypes, I think but not necessarily in a negative way. This film shows the black man knowing everything about females, how to be cool, how to go from nerd to mr. everything. Although it is possible but it is not very likely. In the clip Hitch is calmly dressed telling Albert how to dance. Every black man does not know how to dance and dress. I think it is a stereotype that black people can dance and white people cannot. Although in the clip Alberts moves were “different” they were him. The stereotypes in this clip or even the movie, are not very offensive at all. It is good humored fun, its funny to watch how hitch tried to teach him, but in the end he ended up doing his own thing. The idea of this clip is soley from the mans perspective. The clip and the movie has Hitch (will smith) in control throughout the entire movie. Mainly towards the end he loses control of everything, because Albert ends up leaving him and doing his own thing. In the clip Albert is doing everything Hitch tells him, with a twist of his own stuff as the clip moves forward. But through the clip Albert is disciplined when he does something hitch doesn’t like. But Albert gets his way in the end.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Monday, March 24, 2008
Interview about Will Smith
For my interview I, chose to interview my roommate/teammate Adrian. Adrian and I have known each other since senior year of high school were we competed against each other. Although being teammates and roommates has gave me a lot of information about him, we never really get into much about the entertainment side except for Lil Wayne and things like that. So I plan on finding out some things that I never knew before, and knowing Adrian im in for a few surprises.
So in walks Adrian, and it was time to get down to the fun stuff. All he knew coming into this interview was that I had to interview him for class. He did not know anything outside of that. So it was kinda funny looking at the expression on face. So I asked him, off the top what is his favorite type of movie. He takes a minute to think, and says “Romantic Comedy” . As soon as he gave me that reply I was just thinking about Will Smith’s Hitch. I did not say it out loud, but it was on my mind. That is what made it funny when I asked him what his favorite Will Smith movie was, he said Hitch. So I just knew what kind of person he was, the lovey dubby type. So I asked him who his favorite actor was, he said it was a tie between Morris Chestnut and Denzel Washington. I asked him why not Will Smith, since he enjoys Hitch. He told me that Will Smith is very talented, but he just prefers Washington and Chestnut.
So after finding out about what actors he liked and what type of movies he is into, I decided to take it back a few years and find out a little about his childhood. So I just asked him about it. I asked him if he had any, role models on TV while he was growing up. He took the time to think, which was about 3 or 4 minutes, I was really surprised at how long it took. He then said not really a role model as much as it was favorite character on Keenan and Kel. For some reason Kel was his favorite character. He claims he doesn’t know why, but I was still in shock. I asked him what shows he was into growing up besides Keenan and Kel , he said he watched a lot of Martin and Fresh Prince. As soon as he said fresh prince, I said who was your favorite character ,on fresh prince. He said it was the same as everybody else in the world Will. I asked why do you think Will was so popular on the fresh prince. He told me it was because it was because of his troubled background, and his sense of humor. I could almost tell that if he were a young kid answering this question it would not have been the same. My guess is that because we are older we can see a lot of why Will was so popular.
My next question for Adrian was if he was writing an autobiography what would each chapter would be called. The first chapter according to him, was “the beginning” this chapter would contain information on him up until he was 5 years old. The second chapter, “Wake Up time for school”. This chapter would contain information on grades kinder garden- eighth grade and things of importance that happened along the way. The next chapter would be titled “Lost and Found” chronicling Adrian’s journey to find himself through high school. His next chapter is “Grown Man” it is the chapter which he talks about college and life as it is now. I asked him about chapters after that, he said he did not want to title parts of his life that have not happened yet.
Since we were rapping the interview up, I asked him what movie he felt Will Smith should not have made. He told me Wild, Wild West was pretty bad. I could not do much but agree. I asked him if Will Smith was a legit actor or still living off of fresh prince hype. Adrian said “are you serious?” “Will is as legit as they get he and Jamie Foxx made a transition that is not easy, and making that transition alone makes Will a great actor.” I told Adrian thanks for his time, but I had run out of questions, and he went on about his business.
So in walks Adrian, and it was time to get down to the fun stuff. All he knew coming into this interview was that I had to interview him for class. He did not know anything outside of that. So it was kinda funny looking at the expression on face. So I asked him, off the top what is his favorite type of movie. He takes a minute to think, and says “Romantic Comedy” . As soon as he gave me that reply I was just thinking about Will Smith’s Hitch. I did not say it out loud, but it was on my mind. That is what made it funny when I asked him what his favorite Will Smith movie was, he said Hitch. So I just knew what kind of person he was, the lovey dubby type. So I asked him who his favorite actor was, he said it was a tie between Morris Chestnut and Denzel Washington. I asked him why not Will Smith, since he enjoys Hitch. He told me that Will Smith is very talented, but he just prefers Washington and Chestnut.
So after finding out about what actors he liked and what type of movies he is into, I decided to take it back a few years and find out a little about his childhood. So I just asked him about it. I asked him if he had any, role models on TV while he was growing up. He took the time to think, which was about 3 or 4 minutes, I was really surprised at how long it took. He then said not really a role model as much as it was favorite character on Keenan and Kel. For some reason Kel was his favorite character. He claims he doesn’t know why, but I was still in shock. I asked him what shows he was into growing up besides Keenan and Kel , he said he watched a lot of Martin and Fresh Prince. As soon as he said fresh prince, I said who was your favorite character ,on fresh prince. He said it was the same as everybody else in the world Will. I asked why do you think Will was so popular on the fresh prince. He told me it was because it was because of his troubled background, and his sense of humor. I could almost tell that if he were a young kid answering this question it would not have been the same. My guess is that because we are older we can see a lot of why Will was so popular.
My next question for Adrian was if he was writing an autobiography what would each chapter would be called. The first chapter according to him, was “the beginning” this chapter would contain information on him up until he was 5 years old. The second chapter, “Wake Up time for school”. This chapter would contain information on grades kinder garden- eighth grade and things of importance that happened along the way. The next chapter would be titled “Lost and Found” chronicling Adrian’s journey to find himself through high school. His next chapter is “Grown Man” it is the chapter which he talks about college and life as it is now. I asked him about chapters after that, he said he did not want to title parts of his life that have not happened yet.
Since we were rapping the interview up, I asked him what movie he felt Will Smith should not have made. He told me Wild, Wild West was pretty bad. I could not do much but agree. I asked him if Will Smith was a legit actor or still living off of fresh prince hype. Adrian said “are you serious?” “Will is as legit as they get he and Jamie Foxx made a transition that is not easy, and making that transition alone makes Will a great actor.” I told Adrian thanks for his time, but I had run out of questions, and he went on about his business.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Ethnography Questions
I will either be interviewing one of my teammates or a member of my family. But my questions will look like this.
1. What is you ideal type of movie?
2. Growing up, what kind of television shows did you watch?
3. Did you ever have any role models from any television show or movie?
4. Do TV show stars, make good movie actors?
5. Do you think Will Smith's name sells more movies than his actual acting ability?
6. IF you were writing an autobiography, what would each chapter be titled?
7. Who is your favorite hollywood actor?
8. What is your favorite movie?
1. What is you ideal type of movie?
2. Growing up, what kind of television shows did you watch?
3. Did you ever have any role models from any television show or movie?
4. Do TV show stars, make good movie actors?
5. Do you think Will Smith's name sells more movies than his actual acting ability?
6. IF you were writing an autobiography, what would each chapter be titled?
7. Who is your favorite hollywood actor?
8. What is your favorite movie?
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Geppi's Entertainment Museum
So im kind of lucky and happy, that we had to re-write this assignment. I was traveling for track most of last week so I was unable to go to the museum until Friday. But I finally got to visit. Being a former orioles fan it was not hard to find Camden yards but the museum was a entirely different story. Soon I found the entrance and my journey was set to begin. Not later than it started did I want it to end. I remember the pioneer Sprit room, and I just thought about how afraid of dolls I am. I don’t know why I just don’t do dolls. There were good things I remembered from my childhood, things like batman and superman, the fantastic four. All of this stuff was amazing, and a lot of it still looked like it could be sold today. I also saw things which I did not really have much information about, things like the old house wife magazines. I am not 100% but im pretty sure that was before my time.
It was so crazy to actually visit this museum. I saw so many things that I just assumed did not exist anymore. Well I knew they existed but I didn’t know that I would see them again. Growing up my brother and I used to watch I love Lucy on Fox. When I saw it playing on the television my mind took me right back there. This entire museum was like a walk down memory lane. I even saw G.I. Joe that took me, right back to playing in the yard with my friends. I also classic examples of things like the Rice Krispies trio back in the day. That is amazing to me that they were around back then and are still around now. That just shows me how some companies will continue to use what works. The museum also showed me how old I am getting, that things I can remember using are no longer used, but are no looked at as artifacts.
The great part of this museum is that all of these things are located right down the street in Baltimore. All of these things are wourth millions of dollars and Geppi actually shares them with the public. I think that is a great thing, and I am completely honored to have gotten a chance to seem them.
It was so crazy to actually visit this museum. I saw so many things that I just assumed did not exist anymore. Well I knew they existed but I didn’t know that I would see them again. Growing up my brother and I used to watch I love Lucy on Fox. When I saw it playing on the television my mind took me right back there. This entire museum was like a walk down memory lane. I even saw G.I. Joe that took me, right back to playing in the yard with my friends. I also classic examples of things like the Rice Krispies trio back in the day. That is amazing to me that they were around back then and are still around now. That just shows me how some companies will continue to use what works. The museum also showed me how old I am getting, that things I can remember using are no longer used, but are no looked at as artifacts.
The great part of this museum is that all of these things are located right down the street in Baltimore. All of these things are wourth millions of dollars and Geppi actually shares them with the public. I think that is a great thing, and I am completely honored to have gotten a chance to seem them.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Semester Topic
My Topic is Will Smith. I chose Will Smith because he is such a great actor. I also feel that he has an amazing affect on culture today and could have alot to do with learning in this class.
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Jason
My name is Jason Powell. I am a sophomore here at UMBC. I am the youngest of five children. My birthday is July 29. I am a member of the Track team here at UMBC. My events are the 200 meters and the 400 meters. I have a lot of interests from popular culture. My favorite television show right now is Deal or No Deal. I also enjoy Sports Center and several other sports programs. Although Sunday I am looking forward to seeing the Patriots win the Super bowl for the fourth time in seven years, the Redskins are m #1 Team. For semester project I had a few ideas.
Will Smith
P. Diddy
Jay-Z
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