Have you forgotten?

 Darryl Worley got a little upset about American patriotism.  His song "Have You Forgotten?" reminds listeners about the September 11th terrorist attacks because apparently U.S. citizens have been complaining about the war in the middle east too much. Country songs are on the patriotic side but this one includes a few hidden messages.  The words send the message that we should be supporting governmental efforts in the middle east. Worley sings about the thousands that died in the towers but what about the thousands that have died since the war began?  The stereotypical american is illustrated through the song. We all know what we are fighting for...well some Americans may not share that same belief.

"This country is out looking for a fight...but after 9/11 man I'd have to say thats right."  

Congratulations, you're a racist!

Before you read this post, you better make sure you've watched ABC's Lost.  There are spoilers from the second season.  So, if you haven't seen it, go watch it, come back and thank me for introducing you to the best series to ever grace television, then read this entry.

As you can see from previous posts, TV and movies are full of subtle, subliminal, and secret messages.   It takes some skill to pick up on them.  It takes greater skill to realize that your audience has been brainwashed and use it to your advantage.  Guess what - the Lost writers have these skills.  Let me introduce you to a fairly minor character in the series.  Her name is Rose.  Here's a picture:

Just so we're clear, the guy sitting next to her is not hitting on her.  You see, these people's plane crashed and hard.  And by hard, I mean it split into three pieces while in the air and each of the three pieces landed in different places.  The plot follows the story of the people in the middle section.  In the pilot episode, they hunt down the cockpit and find the co-pilot.  Poor guy only lasted a couple lines of dialogue.  Anyway, no one knows where the tail section is.  This is a problem for Rose because her husband, Bernard, was in the bathroom at the back of the plane the moment things started breaking apart.  That's exactly why I don't like using public restrooms.

In the picture above, Rose is explaining how she believes Bernard is still alive.  Jack, the guy next to her, is trying to explain how big of an idiot she is, but in kinder terms.  It's super-NOT-effective.

Then things happen.  The castaways discover that they're not alone on the island.  The locals speak English, have clothes (fewf), kidnap pregnant people, then murder extras when their preggars escape.  (Lost is a drama.)  These people are quickly named "The Others", despite their lack of Nichole Kidman.

Begin season two.

A trio of main characters find themselves washed up on the other side of the island.  It's a long story that involves supernatural children - but that's not important.  Anyway, the three amigos (not the actual three amigos) get thrown into a pit by... (wait for it)... the others!:

Turns out, The Others aren't that friendly on this part of the island either.  Bummer.  As it also turns out, these aren't The Others.  After some off-screen interrogations (and possibly hop scotch), the two groups discover they both got to the island on the same plane. That's right, these are the survivors from the plane's tail section.  Bummer.

Now look at the above picture again.  Look at it.  Loooook aaaat iiiiit. LOOK AT IT.

Did you really look at it?

Is Bernard there?

Now, I don't fancy myself a racist.  In fact, I try not to be.  However, when I learned that the small group of tailies were not Others, I was sad because I thought Bernard was dead.  But he didn't die.  I'll show you:

Let me apologize for the picture of old people kissing.  I wanted to use something with shock value.  Anyway, don't tell me you assumed it was the black guy from the tail section.  That's racist.  Also, don't tell me you thought Bernard was dead because there was no old, black guy from the tail section.  That's racist.  It's also what I did.  Whoops.

So, thank you, Lost, for showing myself just how terrible of a person I can be.

Now I have a question for you: Did you pass racist test?

Alice is Wonderland is Not a Children's Story

As I reflect upon my childhood I remember many fairy tales and Disney movies that were shown to me but I distinctly remember that my mother never allowed to watch Alice in Wonderland. I was confused because society seemed to approach the delightful story as if it were a classic.  In reviewing Alice's adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll I discovered that the ideas presented in the novel are not meant for children at all.  

Many hidden messages are included in the tale.  The whole adventure seems to examine different aspects of a drug "trip."  The slowing down sensation of time and movement can be found in the rabbit hole scene as Alice has plenty of time to look around her and wonder as she falls.  The whole story includes imaginative visual experiences that can be compared to hallucinations.   



The caterpillar is another blatant example.  The insect is smoking a  hookah or water pipe that is a common way to inhale marijuana.  He not only shows poor Alice a bad example by taking drugs but also tells her to eat a mushroom.  As the mind can expand with drugs so did Alice's size.  

These are just a few obvious examples of drug uses.  The adventure is filled with comparisons. Rooms shrink, cats disappear, riddles do not make sense, Alice is called a weed and tears become an ocean.  Alice seems to partake of any substance that says "consume me" without thinking or caring about the consequences.  What a great lesson for children.  

   

While most children should not understand any of these ideas as Carroll alludes to drugs, we might want to take more caution in media that we expose to them.  Just because someone hands you a mushroom and tells you to eat it to become bigger, this does not mean that you should listen.  You might experience a whole new world.   

Which one shall I eat? After all that I have been through I don't even care!

Michael Bays Racist Robots

Part of the reason we wanted to start this blog was to point out a few of the hidden messages that are so prevalent in media of today. I really didn’t have to look too far.

Anybody remember “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” (2009)?

Of course you do. You either loved it, or hated it. And most people would probably side with the latter.

Well, whether or not you loved it or hated it, you probably remember two distinct characters named Skids and Mudflap. Media had a wonderful time pegging them as racial stereotypes, and I am here to ask: what does it mean if they indeed are such racial stereotypes?

Does our society really condone such degrading material? Obviously there are two sides of the story and a lot of people brush it off as funny, or meaningless, but isn’t that exactly the problem? I don’t think it would be a problem if people saw the characters and said to themselves, “Wow. This depiction of black stereotypes is totally ridiculous.” The problem occurs when people see the characters and think, “Those black robots are funny.”

Oh, well. At least Skids and Mudflap were important characters, right? I mean they wouldn’t put those robots in merely so we could laugh at their “African American stereotypes,” would they?

Still, the characters serve no real purpose in the story, and when the action gets serious, they disappear entirely, notes Tasha Robinson, associate entertainment editor at The Onion.

"They don't really have any positive effect on the film," she said. "They only exist to talk in bad ebonics, beat each other up and talk about how stupid each other is."

-Associated Press, 2009

Whoa! Wait a second! So, do you mean to tell me that they didn’t have a major purpose? That doesn’t make too much sense to me. Why would there be such controversial characters in a movie if they didn’t need to be in the movie at all? Well, I don’t think we should get too riled up about this. Accidents happen, and it was probably a one-time thing that they didn’t foresee being a problem, so just back off, alright?!   

Hmmm… right?

Hollywood has a track record of using negative stereotypes of black characters for comic relief, said Todd Boyd, a professor of popular culture at the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts, who has not seen the Transformers sequel.

"There's a history of people getting laughs at the expense of African-Americans and African-American culture," Boyd said. "These images are not completely divorced from history even though it's a new movie and even though they're robots and not humans."

-AP, 2009

Oh, never mind. Not only has it happened before, but there is a history of it happening repeatedly over and over again.  Well at least most adults are knowledgeable enough to differentiate between portrayed stereotypes and what is reality.

Director Michael Bay insists that the bumbling 'bots are just good clean fun…

"I purely did it for kids," the director said. "Young kids love these robots, because it makes it more accessible to them."

AP, 2009

Wow. Thanks, Michael Bay. Skids and Mudflap may not have contributed much to the movie’s plot, but they sure did play a large part in helping  all of the kids who saw the movie to walk away from it thinking, “Those black robots are funny.”

http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2009-06-24-transformers_N.htm

This is Not a Pipe

Not everything is as it appears