Myths of Sports

Is there such thing as a myth of sports? Think about it. Think about what is happening this Sunday. In case you don't know, it is Superbowl Sunday, one of the most watched sporting events of the year. It is ridiculous what people buy in to. This myth that the Superbowl is so exciting and that everyone needs to watch it. There is a fight over the commercials and who gets to host it(TV channel). I think that this year fox is hosting it and they have to pay a lot of money to be able to have the Superbowl on their channel. I think that people just buy into the myth that this game will determine the rest of their life and nothing else can happen on this Sunday except the game. I know that in my family we have a huge party that my parents have been throwing for 25 years and that the hundred people or so that come all buy into the myth also. I probably buy into the myth as well. What about the myth of athletes, they get paid millions of dollars for entertaining. Doing what they are good at. Why don't doctors or teachers get paid that much? Why do people support the myth of athletes and go and support them at their sporting event? I don't think that people control the myths that they believe in, I think that they are just handed something and buy into it with no real thought. What do you think?

Obama's first week on the job

In case you are just an oblivious person and has no idea what has been going on in the United States for the past few months, you should know that we now have a new president. Not only do we have a new president but it is a historic occasion, he is the closest thing that we have had to an African American president, he is half African American and half white. He is the closest thing that we have to a president that does not fit the norm. Every president that we have had has been white and mostly old and has had the same type of look, but I don't think that you can say that with our newest president Barack Obama. On Tuesday it will have been his first week as the president of the United States of America. I wonder how it feels, how can a man go from living in Chicago and being in politics for only a few years to running our country and change the perspective of the U.S. It is a huge change that I am happy that will happen in my lifetime. A few years ago when Hilary Clinton was rumored to run for president people thought that it was a joke. I remember my family at the dinning room table and my uncles and dad laughing about it. At that time no one even knew who Obama was let alone that he was going to become our next president.
Not only is he changing American, but he is changing his life and his children's lives forever. The younger daughter is really young like 6 or 7 and if Obama only id president for one term she will only be 10 or 11 when he is done. She might not even remember some of what happened, but there will be people watching her for the rest of her life. It is strange to think that normal children who just went to a normal school, suddenly get to live in the White House, I wish that I was their friend. I heard that they had a sleep over with all of their friends from Chicago in the White House and they did a scavenger hunt through out the house and their were like their favorite celebrities and stuff their (how cool). How awesome would it be to do what ever you like and meet who ever you want to. It seems that they were just thrown into the situation not saying that it is a bad situation to be thrown into, but I doubt that they had a say in whether or not their dad was to run for president or whether they wanted to move to Washington D.C. they did not have a choice and what if they did not want to, no one thinks about the kids. They will probably rarely ever see their dad and all they get for that is a puppy. I think that it would suck if I got a puppy instead of seeing my dad even if he was the president. One week so far at the white house I wonder how they feel.
I wonder what the big first change Obama will make. Taxes, Economic crisis, war on terror... there are so many issues that he has discussed, and so many things that he has promised and I know that they will not happen right away, but what will the first major thing Obama will do as president.
I guess we will see and find out what is in store for the U.S. with Obama as our new president.

Identity- What does it mean to you?

In my American Studies class, we started a new theme, Mythology and Identity. When the word identity was mentioned, it got me thinking. What does identity mean to me and my life? I have no idea what I want to do when I am older, where I will attend college, what my job will be, if I will have a family, or where I am going to live. The word identity is an interesting word to me, does it physically mean what we do and who we make our selves to be, or is it what we were made into. Can your identity change over time, or once you are something are you that forever? Is your Identity something that you can protect?

In my American Studies class we had to relate TV Tokenism to mythology and identity, by doing so I learned that your identity is something that might not only belong to you, but can be stereotyped into a group of people. Like in TV Tokenism where African Americans were portrayed negatively and their mythology had not really changed, people thought that their identity was the same as it has been for years.

Your identity can be determined in many ways, but how do other people determine it? Can the mythology of your past determine your identity?

Racism or Not?

During the past two days in my American Studies class we have been talking about African Americans and how they are portrayed in television shows specifically in drama TV. Is it better to have no African American people in a TV show, or have one and not give them any role or screen time and be demeaning to them? Before we looked at these shows in class I thought that TV was better and that African American people had big roles and were actually wanted in TV. Now I think that they are only there so that the television companies can be politically correct and say that they are representing a minority. 24 is one of my favorite TV shows, and before today I thought that the African American president in the show was one of the main characters in the first few seasons, but after watching a clip from that pilot episode and seeing that the screen time of the African American president is only like 2 minutes in the whole one hour episode.

How many drama television shows are like this, where the African American people are stereotyped, or portrayed negatively? Will American get better, will television make dramas where African Americans are good and main characters where all eyes are on them? What can we as viewers do to help? Where are the lines of racism drawn?

Hanukkah vs. Christmas

There are many differences between Hanukkah and Christmas, but which one is better. I am partial to this argument. I am Jewish, so I celebrate Hanukkah, but Christmas is my favorite holiday of the year. Every year we go to our friends house and pick out a tree and decorate it, and on Christmas eve, we go to peoples house for a Christmas eve dinner. There are many pros and cons to both holidays. Hanukkah, you get presents for 8 days, and Christmas you only get presents for one day. On Christmas you have to go to church (pro or con depending on the person), and on Hanukkah you have to light a candle each night and say one prayer. I have been debating with people which holiday is better, and I have come to the conclusion that you can't really decide, unless you celebrate both. For example I am Jewish, but I wish that I could celebrate Christmas, but I have some Christian friends, who wished that they celebrated Hanukkah. You decide which one is better, and which one you wish you could celebrate.

What would your parents say?

This week during American Studies, we have been talking about mythology and identity, and what we were raised to be and what is expected of us, and does it matter where you come from. I thought about this question a lot. Someone in the class said that money is everything and that is what our parents have been teaching us, and that we have to have a lot of money in our future. I do not think that this is correct. I think that one of the biggest things that is important to your parents is that their children do what makes them happy. I am at the stage of starting to think about college, and it is a big decision, and I thought of what it would be like if I decided not going to college, and what my parents would say. I told my dad that I don't want to go to college and he said that's fine, as long as you do something that you can be successful in. I think that being successful is one of the big ideas of what we are meant to do. You can be successful in many ways, you could be poor and be successful, and have a lot of money and be successful. I do not think that all of our parents are saying is that you have to go to college, then grad school, and then get a job and work your way up to CEO. I think that we all chose our own destiny, and that our parents can not brain wash us with all that is important is to have lots of money. What do you think, and what do you think your parents would say?

Did Blagojevich really think he would get away with this?

If you don't know yet, which I don't how you would not know yet, but Governor Blagojevich got arrested earlier this week, for bribing people to become senator. I don't know how, but he thought that he would not be caught and would get away with this. He has decided not to resign, and I am not sure what his next action will be. He said when he was running for Governor that he would not be like Illinois previous Governor Ryan who also got arrested, and here we are years later and going against his word and getting arrested. It is such a big deal that even SNL (Saturday Night Live) feels like they have to make fun of him. There is an article at Chicagotribune.com about Saturday Night Live bashing Blagojevich. If he thought that he could get away with this in this age where Bush has the government tapping phone lines. The Governor was wrong, and not being smart, and should go to jail. Why in the first place would he think that this was a good idea at all?