Need better examples!

Publicized rhetorical situations heavily influence the publics and individuals reactions.  The news channel is an example of a host for these rhetorical situations to take place and the news channels are a major source that the public gets their information from.  Since these news channels are such a big influence and source of information, their representatives’ reactions to rhetorical situations and arguments are widely reflected on the audience’s behaviors when it comes to related situations in real life.  An example would be Bill O’Reilly’s reaction to racial issues (as displayed in my last blog).  His defensive reaction to accusations of racial bias displays a desire to ignore the topic.  By having someone like Bill O’Reilly react so profoundly to racial topics, the audience sees it as a topic that shouldn’t be disclosed in a public eye, kind of like something taboo.  If people on TV continuously talk about race in a taboo fashion, then racial issues amongst the public will never be publicly approached.  In order to fix that, the public needs to be presented with open discussions in order to emulate in real life, therefore heading towards the directions of racial awareness and equality. 

Bill O'Reilly is ridiculous

     For this blog I decided to look at a a clip from the Bill O'Reilly show because I always find his arguments to be extremely ridiculous.  In this particular clip the subject of Barack Obama's presidency and the peoples reactions as a result are being discussed.  At first, the discussion is organized.  Each person is taking their turn to speak.  However, things quickly escalate when Bill mentions that 10% of all Americans are racist.  Dr. Jeremy Levitt pursues questioning Bill where he got his statistics from.  Instead of backing his (Bill's) statistics, he tries to shut down that argumentative point and move one.  As the discussion escalates into more of an argument, Bill O'Reilly continuously cuts off Levitt.  By cutting off Levitt, Bill prevents the viewers from clearly listening to Levitt's argument and understanding it.  Finally, at the end of the argument Bill O'Reilly rudely shuts down Levitt.
     This isn't the first time Bill does this in an argument.  I have noticed in a lot of arguments about a range of subjects, from race to marijuana legalization, that once facts come into play Bill tends to stray away from them.  Bill definitely uses this as a defensive tactic when he can't back up his own information and quite frankly it is very annoying.
     Overall, I think when it comes to controversial topics, discussions often turn to arguments and peoples defensiveness and personal beliefs definitely take the better of them.  As discussed in class, It is very important to listen and understand opposing points in order to approach a matter and hopefully one day resolve it.

2nd Blog Assignment 4

The idea of Devil in a Blue Dress is similar to other Noir films, such as Chinatown and LA Confidential, in a sense that the middle class person is on a detective mission between the upper and lower class.  Ignoring the similarities in cinematic techniques, Easy is just like J.J. Gittes and Bud White except for one major difference, Easy plays the role of a detective from an ethnic perspective.  For example, J.J. Gittes has to deal with Noah in order to get some information, but he doesn’t hold a strong relationship with him because of the difference in ethnicity.  On the other hand Easy is extremely close with Mouse, so he has an advantageous bridge over to the lower class that people like J.J. Gittes and Bud White do not have.  Furthermore, as for the argument of whether or not this film is Noir, I think it fully embodies the Noir idea with a new twist.  Although its opinionated, Devil in a Blue Dress fully embodies all cinematic aspects of Noir filming, using light and camera angles to depict racial issues, which categorizes it as a Noir film.

            In relation to our AMST class, we talk a lot about institutionalized race, insinuating a social hierarchy amongst a population.  In all these Noir films, there are the people in charge who are always white.  Then there is the middle class character that is attempting to bridge some sort of connection between the upper and lower class to solve a case.  And finally there is the lower ethnic class.  All in all this social hierarchy is clearly demonstrated in all the movies we watch and discuss.  By understanding racial issues pertaining to post World War II America, we are able to apply our knowledge and see how it plays out through film which ultimate influenced the viewers at the time.

Guest Speaker

It was awesome having the opportunity to listen to someone like Andrew McGuire , who is so successful in what he does, speak about his career.  He started off by telling us about the traumatic experience he had as a child regarding his pajamas catching on fire.  That is example that remained the driving force behind his career and pushing for the safety of others so they don’t experience what he did.  Furthermore, it was truly inspiring to hear him talk about his process in implementing fire safe cigarettes.  He didn’t know how hard it would be to tackle the tobacco business nor did he have a clue how to approach the matter through legal processes, however with years of persistence, hard work, and passion McGuire was able to accomplish his goal.  

            Andrew McGuire said one thing in particular that interested me the most.  A fellow USC student in the audience asked him how he made his money in order to support himself during his campaign, and McGuire gave a story in order to answer the question.  The response had to do with a film student who didn’t know how to obtain money to start a film and was told that if you want to start a film and need money, you will find a way to attain the money.  Personally, this struck me as the most interesting point of the night because it pertained to what I possibly want to do in the future.  As an environmental studies major I plan on starting my own sustainable permaculture super garden, and my main concern has always been how am I going to come up with the money to start it.  McGuire made me understand that by making the right connections and by truly having a passion to start or pursue something, opportunities present themselves.

Integration or nah

Thomas J. Sugrue’s book, The Origins of the Urban Crisis: Race and Inequality in Postwar Detroit, he touches on the integration of African Americans into white society in post war Detroit.  Two main topics in the work of Thomas J. Sugrue’s book caught my attention.  Whites moved out of their neighborhoods once integration began to take place in order to avoid integration, and secondly real estate agencies took advantage of integration to make money and prevent African Americans from integrating into certain white suburbs.

            Coming back from the war, many African Americans looked forward to buying their own homes in the suburbs, especially now that they were capable of moving out of the inner city.  With America supposedly being modernized, integration was a large part of the movement of African Americans into originally white Suburbs.  Unfortunately, not all white Americans in Detroit at the time were ok with that.  Once African Americans began to integrate into these suburbs, whites immediately put their houses for sales and began to move out to other suburbs.  But if African Americans were supposedly allowed to move into all suburbs where would these whites go?

            Well, that was not the case.  Real estate agencies had the upper hand in the integration situation.  Once African Americans began moving into the suburbs, housing values began to decline.  Because of the decline in property value in integrated suburbs, whites immediately wanted to sell their houses to avoid the loss of wealth.  A majority of families’ wealth at the time resided in the value of their homes.  Furthermore, all white suburbs were still out and about.  When African American families tried to buy houses in certain all white suburbs, real estate agents would inform the buyers that the owners weren’t sure if they really wanted to sell the house, which was completely a lie.

            Overall, its amazing, not in a good way, how African Americans were deceived into being equals when it comes to purchasing of homes into integrated suburbs.  In the end, integrated suburbs would end up just being full ethnic families because all whites would move out in fear of property value decline. 

Work Cited

Thomas J. Sugrue,The Origins of the Urban Crisis: Race and Inequality in Postwar

Detroit(Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1996).